676 



^HE TROPICAL AGRICUfLTURIST. [April i, 1887 



The Official Calabar Bkan is tlie seed of I'lni- 

 S0)iti(jma veneiwsum, a larffe pereDiiial climber fouiif' 

 Bear the mouth of the Niger Old Calabar, aud in 

 "Western Tropical Africa generally. Lagos and Gambia, 

 tor example, contributed specimens to the Colonial aud 

 Indian Exhibition. The plant has also been success- 

 fully cu.tivated in Ceylon, [By the Messrs, Frasers, 

 uear JMatale. — Ed. 0. O.] and )j;ood specimens of the 

 seed from that island were shown at the exhibition, 

 and are now deposited in the rharmaceutical Museum. 

 — ChuDiHt and JJiuygi.st. 



Tea Cultivation in Ceylon. — Wc are indebted 

 to Mr. Eutherford for the ready transfer to us of 

 the returns he has been getting of the tea acre- 

 ages in the several districts with a view to ar- 

 riving at the total planted in 188(). These returns 

 will be carefully comi^ared with those furnished 

 for our Directoy. Meantime we may mention that 

 Mr. Rutherford makes out ir)2,000 acres under tea 

 at the end of 1886, and although our information 

 is not yet forward sufficiently to enable us to check 

 these, yet we believe, the total is very close on 

 the actual state of the case. 



\0KTH Queensland. — After an interview with a 

 journalist, who is also a planter of considerable experi- 

 ence in India, we were gratified in finding that our 

 convictions with reference to the adaptability of the 

 .) ohnstone Iliver country for the cultivation of tea, co- 

 coa, and rice were substantially confirmed. In India 

 land suitable for rice does not favour the tea plant, 

 for the latter is best on hill sides, where the drainage 

 is good ; and the same is e(}ually true of the theohroma 

 cacao, the Johnstone soil is unsurpassed for fertility 

 anywhere, and the climate is sutliciently moist for 

 tea wherever the land is high enough to allow of good 

 drainage. The swampy portionn would grow rice to 

 perfection, and the back country rising about Herberton 

 into a lower temperature would be the verj' thing for 

 cinchona. The sugar industry there is working with 

 fewer hitches than elsewhere, and so far as that district 

 is concerned it would be, comparatively speaking, an 

 easier matter to bring in a satisfactory substitute for 

 it than in any other agricultural district in the North. 

 All that stretch of country including Port Douglas, 

 Cairns, the Johnstone River, and back to Herberton 

 is included in the above remarks, and has a great agri- 

 jultural future before it. — Queensland.er. 



Vine Diseases. — The various diseases which afl'ect 

 vines, formed the subject of conferences held in 

 last October in Florence, where an exhibition was 

 also given of anticryptogamic aud insecticide appara- 

 tus for combating those diseases. Mr. Consul-General 

 Colnaghi sends a short summary of the conferences. 

 The diseases discussed were Fn-orwspom I'iticu/a (a 

 mildew; AinhracnoiU (Black rot); Mai Xrm (Black 

 sickness) ; and decay of the roots. The character- 

 istics of these are generally known. In the first 

 case, milk of lime and unwashed sulphur liave proved 

 successful antidotes, but those remedies containng 

 sulphate of copper have been found most ethcacious 

 — the latter having drawbacks owing to its deleterious 

 effect on the fruit. In the second case, the prevent- 

 ive used with most success has been the treating of 

 the branches and stems of the plants with acidulated 

 sulphate of iron. For the third disease there are 

 not yet any known reniedit ^, nor has the cause of the 

 malady been ascertained with certainty. Cutting away 

 and precautious against humidity of soil are recom- 

 mended. The fourth disease is not peculiar to the 

 vine, and may be produced by a variety of causes, 

 among which are : stagnant humidity in the soil, 

 want of proper aiiration, damage ])rocluccd by frost, 

 and parasites. As a remedy, the causes indicated 

 must be removed, aud the decayed parts of the plant 

 destroyed. It is proposed to renew the conference 

 this year, at which reports will be presented on various 

 experimental tests. (Miscellaneous .Series, 1887, No, 

 -7.) — Ohaniher of Commerce .Journal. 



Sarsai'akilla — A short time ago a correspondent 

 wanted to know about the cultivation of this product 

 the iintes from a reliable source may be of service. 

 \i\ cultivation, the plant is reproduced from tUe vine 



or stem, which is lifted clear from the ground. The 

 soil is then loosened, the vine is buried slightly into 

 it, roots freely, and forms new stock with new roots. 

 Were the plant once established in open scrub land, 

 its nature and habits induce us to believe that it could 

 be made a valuable product with comparatively little 

 trouble. It is also propagated from the seed which 

 fall around the parent plant in great numbers when 

 they fall in loose and rich soil. This seed is enclosed 

 in a fruit or globose envelope, which hangs in branches 

 from the vine like grapes. Each berry encloses a pit 

 of the size of a pea. It turv.s black upon falling 

 and its envelope is red. Each plant bears twice a year 

 Sarsaparilla can also be made to root by cuttings. 

 This method is more prompt than by the seed. 

 Accordiug to the trials wh'ch have been mide with 

 it, the roots by this method attain full size in two 

 j'ears ; hy the seed three years are necessary, Sarsa- 

 parilla, cultivated with skill, would give a yield of 

 twice what it does in its wild state. It is estimated 

 that if on the space of an acre, one had a thousand 

 plants, whether from seed, from cuttings,or from sprouts 

 the result would be from four to six thousand lb. of 

 dry sarsaparilla, of the quality most esteemed in com- 

 merce. When the roots are ripe they are dug and ex- 

 posed to the sun until they are quite dry ; in some 

 cases the roots are washed before drying. They are 

 then tied up in bundles, weighing from 12 to 20 lb. 

 each, for export. The bundles of South America are 

 packed in bales weighing from 80 to 100 lb. or more, and 

 imperfectly covered with skins. In the interior of the 

 bundles are often found roots of inferior quality, 

 rhizomes with adherent stems, stones, chunks of wood, 

 &c. The roots are furnished with a few rootlets. The 

 general color of the roots is dirty grayish or reddish 

 brown. The cortex is very mealy, and the meditul- 

 lium or central cord is thinner than in the Jamaica 

 sort. 



Cheaper Charges on Tea. — We learn that the 

 Indian Tea Districts' Association are carrying on 

 an animated correspondence with the represent- 

 atives in this country of the great steamship lines 

 running between Calcutta and London, and also 

 with the associated inland companies, with a view 

 to the obtaining of a reasonable reduction of the 

 rates of freight hitherto charged on tea. We 

 hear also that the question of cheaper rates for 

 storing and warehousing teas in bond is also under 

 the cwnsideration of the Association. — H. it C. Mail. 



M, Paul Bert on Tonquin Industries : Ban- 

 .\NAS.— M. Paul Bert, late Eesident-General of 

 Tonquin, forwarded to the Minister of Commerce 

 and Industry the following letter, which he had 

 addressed to the Chambers of Commerce at 

 Mines and Clermont-Ferrand, on the advantages 

 offered by the preserving of bananas in Annam : — 

 Hanoi, 22nd September, 1880, — Annam produces 

 in abundance the best bananas ; it is said that in 

 quality those of Singapore are much inferior to 

 them. At Singapore there are a large number of 

 houses engaged in the preserving and sale of 

 bananas for export, I think it right to bring this 

 fHct to your notice as your town possesses a large 

 11 umber of well known fruit preserving establish - 

 meiiis with a large connection. I think that at 

 least one of them might work the bananas of 

 Annam. 1 would do all in my power to assist in 

 its establishment, — Homikonfi Daily Press. [If really 

 the preserving of bananas for export is a paying 

 industry at Singapore, it surely ought to pay in 

 Colombo. The fruits split in two, lengthways, could 

 be spread on mats aud dried by solar heat, under 

 protection of wire netting. Or they could be baked 

 and packed in jars or tins, like tigs. The Dutch 

 preserved plaintains by solar heat and many Cey- 

 lon children in school in England were made 

 happy by a present of a tin of preserved plantains 

 from the Eev, Mr. Thurstan's Industrial School, 

 The latter were, we think baked and a little white 

 sugar scattered over the layers, — Ep.] 



