Peb. 1, 1887.3 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



547 



at the " Waluut Hill" the grade was cut about twelve 

 feet deep through a red clay. la the succeeding spring, 

 mullftia, poke and dock plants and others grew in 

 great size and thickness. Now, whence came they 

 but from ancient germs? The rag-weed only comes 

 on my farm in very wet summers ; now but veiy 

 tparsely. On the neighboring farm an immense crop, 

 because I cut them before the seed ripened, and they 

 are nearly extinct near the surface. Hence comes 

 the foolish idea that wheat grows from the seed, but 

 " chess" from abortive wheat. The truth is, the season 

 unfavorable to wheat just suits " chess," and nature 

 is ready for all contingencies. So you see much nonsense 

 is based on so-called "evolution." I have read all the 

 modern scientists, and I see no reason to discard the 

 Mosaic theory. For even, if the Fauna and Flora 

 arose successively in different climes and long eras, 

 the language of the Bible is generic enough to cover 

 the facts. — 0. M. OhkY. Southern Planter. 



COFFEE. 



A breakfast should always consist of a good cup 

 of coffee. I'he simple thing of makintj coffee has to 

 be done three hundred and sixty-five times yearly in 

 almost every family, yet how lew know how to do 

 it, and fewer still know how to order it done. Break- 

 fast is a meal which should be lightly partaken of, 

 its very name implyirg the breaking of the fast, so 

 all such little things as coffee must be made nice 

 and appetizing, so hs to tempt the dainty appetite of 

 the raoriiiug. Speaking of coffee reminds me of a 

 story of a young married couple. During six weeks 

 of matrimony did the young husband at breakfast 

 table make up hard facet over his coffc^e. At last 

 his pitience gave out, and one morning after tasting 

 what he denominated duck puddle coffee he relieved 

 his overcharged mind by saying: " Well, Minnie, 1 

 don't know how it is that our coffee is always so 

 bad ? You know mother's never was so. There is not 

 a bit of taste to this !'' " Well, my dear, I don't 

 know I am sure. I buy the best Government Java; 

 at least it ought to he the best, for I pay the highest 

 price for it." " That may be so, Minnie, and yet 

 it tastes lik-^ anything else thair that mother used to 

 give us." " Well, Walter," replies the young wife who 

 by the by was a graduate from some seminary, " I 

 made that coffee myself, exactly as Mrs. Thomson 

 told me, and you know she thinks nobody can equal 

 her in rooking anything. I took two spoonsful of 

 Java and poured a quart of hot water on it, and then 

 let it boil for fifteen minutes as hard as it could. 

 Mrs. Thomp,-on says it is the simplest way. " O, 

 yes," said Walter, "the way is simple enough, I dare 

 say, but not half so simple as my dear little wife is 

 to try it." So Walter told his nife he would not be 

 home to tea, but would meet her at his mother's, and 

 asked her tj go over and spend the day, and learn 

 from his mother the secret of making coffee. Minnie 

 was well up in mathematics, but a beverage she had 

 breakfasted on fer twenty years she knew not how 

 to brew. The fact is, like many of our young house- 

 keepers, she needed a few lessons in a cooking school. 

 Two human beings, chained by love and strong ties 

 of matrimony, were both sickening for a comfortable 

 meal, and so after Walter had gone Minnie got her 

 work done, and went over to Mrs. Powers, and told 

 her the whole story. Mrs. Powers laughed at the 

 girl arrd and said : "Never mind, dear, it is never 

 too late to learn," ar.d so she told her her way of 

 niiking coffee, and gave her the family cook book ; 

 and now Minne is a splendid oook, and they are 

 a very happy couple. Minnie will give you her way of 

 making coffee for breakfast, whic ' I think is a good one : 

 Take one-half cup Government Java, pour over enough 

 cold wat"r to cover it ; let it stand over night covered 

 with a damp cloth, stir in in the morning one egg 

 and shell ; put this in your coffee pot, in three pints 

 of hot water ; let it simmer a minute on the stove, 

 but not come to a boil; then set on the back of 

 the stove, and it is ready for use. The beautiful 

 aroma which arises from boiliug coft'ee is what you 



nuiit save. Wbeu you heat yuuc bu&bauil eay in tlie 



morning, " How good the coffee smells !" you may know 

 that the aroma which makes it delicious has gone 

 out through the kitchen window. — The Household. 



[As a matter of fact we believe excellent coffee 

 cau be made by pouring boiling water on well roasted 

 and recently ground beans, the hot water being allowed 

 to percolate through the coffee. — Ed.] 



POETABLE FOREST TRAMWAYS. 



By D. Bhandis, late Ins^ector-Oeneral of Forests 

 and Majok F. Bailey, E.E., Conservator of the School 

 Forests. 



The Decauville portable tramway was invented in 

 1876 by a French gentleman of that name, for u«e 

 in his business ; but he very soon began to manufacture 

 the rails and trucks for sale. He Exhibited his in- 

 ven'ion at various agricultural and other shows in 

 France and also in Belgium and Norwaj', obtaining 

 gold medals and other prizes. In 1877 the tramway 

 was shown in Euglamtand Ireland and as orders began to 

 come in rapidly he was obliged in January 1878 to in- 

 crease the number of men empl«yed upon its manufac- 

 ture from 35 to 100. Since then the development of 

 the use of the tramway has been extraordinarily 

 rapkl, and the number of workna>?n employed by 

 M. Decauville had, by the middle of 1884 risen 

 to the large number of 900, a railway staiion on the 

 Paris-Lj'ons railway having been built near the works. 

 Between 1878 and 1884 the invention was exhibi- 

 ted in Austria, Itnly, Buenos Ayres, Calcutta and 

 Japan, orders having been received from the Kussian 

 Government who required the tramway for use in 

 Turkestan, from the French Government for use 

 in Tunis, from England and Australia and many 

 other countrif's. It is at the presi^nt time, almost 

 without doubt, the largest establishmaut of the kind 

 in the world. * « # 



Two portable forest tramways have already, we un- 

 derstand, been laid down in the Nellore district of 

 the Madras Presidency, and others have piobably ere 

 this been established at other places. We assume 

 that the construction of such tramways is generally 

 well understood in India, and that it will suffice to 

 mention a few points relating to the one we have 

 mentioned. The gauge is 0*60 metre, or about 2 feet. 

 The ground is almost level, here and there with very 

 slight undulations. The main line may for the present be 

 regarded as permanent, the positiou of the branches 

 being changed from time to time to follow the pro- 

 gress of the cuttings. The main line is laid in lengths 

 or section.s of 7 metres, on sleepers of woo 1 or iron. 

 The rails, both of the main line and the branches, 

 are of steel, their weight is between 6 and 8 kilog- 

 rammes per running metre. The sleepers are at one 

 metre apart, and the rails are rivetted into the iron 

 or spiked down into the wood. The seventh sleeper 

 supports the joint. The sleepers are laid in ballast 

 at the side of the central metalled portion of the 

 road. The joints are made with fish-plates. 



The branch lines are laid npon the natural surface 

 of the ground, which is not levelled in any way. They 

 consist of sections, 2 meters long, supported at each 

 end by a woolen sleeper. These seetious weigh 3S kilog- 

 rammes {M lb.), and are, therefore, easily carried by 

 one man. In the system here used the sleepers of 

 the branch lines are always made of wood, which from 

 its greater rigidity is found to be more suitable than 

 iron for laying upon an uneven surface. The .sleepers 

 being nearly 2 meters apart, the rails used are stouter, 

 and they weigh ab )ut 8 kilogrammes per ruuuing 

 metre, There is sufficient play iu the joint to admit 

 the line being curved to some extent, in order to 

 avoid stumps of trees and other obstacles. For greater 

 curves spinal sections with curved rails are used. The 

 essence of this arrangement is, that the branch line 

 ie brought alongside of the logs as they lie, and that 

 the logs are loaded upon the trucks without having 

 to be previously moved from the place where they 

 fell. Thi.s of course leads to the line being carried 

 over broken ground, small ditches and pools of water 

 In such cases the sleepers are supported by rough 

 pieces o£ wood oi tu£f| hatiiily laid. la this ^laune? 



