March i, 1883,3 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



15i 



Plajjtino Vines. — I lifted a very old Viae the other day 

 which has never doue wt'll, aod found the main roots all 

 cm-led up into a mass. The roots when planted had not been 

 properly spread out, and conseqaeutly had never left the ball 

 — a fact which should be remembered by others when plant- 

 ing Vines or anything else that has been grown in pots. — 

 W. Ramshaw, [rc.PeiTystoue, Ross. — Giirdejiers' Vhroiticle. 



White Ants and New Pkoducts. — An interesting ex- 

 periment has been tried — the poisoning of white auts with 

 arsenic. Jlodus operandi. Have a bottle of arsenic, and 

 two rods of about 2J ft. long, pointed at one end. Insert 

 the end of one stick into the nest of the auts, dip the 

 end of the other into the arsenic bottle, withdraw the 

 former ono from the nest, and put the arsenic end of the 

 latter into the puncture made in the nest by the first 

 one. Next morning the ants will all be found tlead in 

 the nest. — "Ceylon Times." 



Cork Oaks. — The single cork oak tree at Tallahassee, 

 Fla., was dismantled by a recent storm. It was 30 feet 

 high and in a thrifty state. Some 25 years ago thousands 

 of cork oak acorns were sent out by the patent office to 

 California, for experimental purposes. Very few of them, 

 though jjlaated more from curiosity than otherwise, pro- 

 duced plants. There is one cork oak tree growing \'igorously 

 at Sonora City, one or two in Napa valley, and they are 

 not ijifrequtnt iu the southern section of the state. Those 

 that are growing have attained considerable size anil show 

 a fine uuality of hsirk. ^Chicago Lttmbennan. 



European Forests. — A considerable portion of the wealth 

 of Em'ope is derived from its forests. Those of Germany, 

 for instance, which extend over some 34,000,000 acres, pro- 

 duce an annual income of £10,000,000. Germany's imports 

 of timber nevertheless exceed her exports by over 2,000,000 

 tons. Austria and Hungary, have about 43,000,000 acres 

 of forests. Italy, whoso forests extend over 14,000,000 

 acres, is unable, on account of her bad roads, to do much 

 in the timber trade. Spain possesses about 8,500,000 acres 

 in forest, but is about as badly off as Italy in the way of 

 roads. Portugal, while possessing only about 1,00 i,000 acres, 

 finds a very good market forher timber Parmer. — Farmer. 



Tobacco Growing in Victoria. — The increase of the 

 growth and manufacture of tobacco in Victoria during the 

 last twelve years is something remarkable, and affords a 

 good e.xample of what might be done in this jouutry. 

 In 1870 the maaufactm-e was about 100,000 lb., whereas 

 now it is upwards of two millions of pounds. In the 

 same period the import of manufactured tobacco and ci- 

 gars has fallen from a million and a half pounds to 

 half a million pounds, and the colonists hope soon to be 

 able not only to dispense with imported tobacco altogether 

 but to enter into competition in other markets with the 

 American produce. — Englishman . 



FoKEsrs AND Streams. — A French writer tells of two 

 exactly similar pieces of land, one cleared and the other 

 wooded, where the wooded piece yielded ten times as much 

 water as the open. The open piece had a very irregular 

 flow, while the woodland yielded an even regular supply. 

 Another fact is given relating to America. A stream, which 

 for yt.-ars and years, without failing, had supplied several 

 mills with power, finally gave out. It not only failed to 

 fill the ponds but it actually drieii up. An investigation 

 showed that the woods through which its course tlowed 

 had been cut down. Subsequently these woods were allowed 

 to grow up again, and for the past ten years, in spite of 

 droughts and other troubles, the stream has flowed with- 

 out any interruption. — Journal of Forestri/. 



A NOTE on sugar-cane cultivation in Burmah, by Mr. 

 D. M. Smeaton, the Director of Agriculture iu that pro- 

 vince, states that the production of sugar m Burmah is 

 far from equalling the demand, but Mr. Smeaton shows 

 in this paper that the industry is a profitable one, and 

 probably capnble of much extension as well as improve- 

 ment. He visited cane-growing tracts in the three dis- 

 tricts of Thonegwa. Shwaygeen, and Hanthawaddy, saw 

 the mode of cultivation, and made enquiries as to the 

 cost of production, and the value of the produce. Mr. 

 Smeaton jjives the produce as 3,5001b. per acre, and as 

 the licst estates in the AVest Indies yield rarely more 

 than 5,0001b. per acre, we may take it that Eeelin 

 offers an excellent field for the production of sugar. As 

 to the profit of the cultivator, he states that the cost 



of cultivation is about R 100 an acre, and the value of 

 the produce il. 300, wiiich certainly gives, as he says, 

 A very handsome return. — Madras JIaii. 



SuNELOWEH.— The Katioiud Farmer states that the seed 

 01 the sunflower is invaluable as a means of making horses 

 st)rigbtly. " A lialf-pi-it of seed given to a horse with his 

 otiier food, each morumg and nigbt, wili keep him in bet- 

 ter health and better spirited than he wili be without it, 

 while his hah? will be brighter. When a saddle horse is 

 requu-ed to be particularly sprightly, he may be given a 

 pint of sunflower seed with his oats at night, and half 

 as much in the morning. Ho will be found more antic 

 and sprightly through the day, and consequently be more 

 pleasant to the rider. After a little use horses become 

 very fond ot eating sunflower seed.'' — Ibid. 



Here is a wrinkle for Queensland orange growers who 

 are at a loss for some methoil of keeping their fruit. 

 " Inquiries are sometimes made (remarks the A'. Y. Hun) 

 about the preservation or oranges in our chmate. It is 

 said that dry saml affords the best medium, and fruit 

 packed ii. this can bo kept for five or six months. The 

 rind toughens a little, otherwise the flavour is unchanged. 

 The sand must be clean and thoroughly dry, and must 

 surround each orange. It is not well to wrap each one 

 in paper ; let the sand touch it. A number of persons 

 in this State have adopted this method and find it reli- 

 able. Apples and pears keep well in this nay. Many 

 perishable fruits, such as the banana, can be kept from decay 

 much longer than usual if packed iu sand." — Ibid. 



Flying Foxes. — As fruit-growers everywhere iu Queens- 

 land suffer more or less from the ravages ot the flying fox 

 any device that will mitigate the evil will be welcome! 

 The owner of a garden near Kockhampton found tho fol- 

 lowing simple expedient sutBcieut to balk the creatures: 



He fixed four posts round the tree he wished to pro- 

 tect, the top of each post being level, or nearly so, with 

 the highest branches. He then stretched three or four 

 wires — strong, but fine— round the posts at about a foot 

 apart from the top downwards. The foxes fly against 

 these wires, but do not care to repeat the experiment. 

 If several trees growing together need protection, it ans- 

 wers equally well if extended round them all conjouitly. 

 — Ibid. 



Some very interesting information on the uses of lime as 

 plant food, and respecting its exhaustion, has been commui 

 cated to the directors of the Scottish Chamber of Com- 

 merce by Sir J. B. Lawes. In this report the opinions and 

 experience of the great body of the farmers of Scotland 

 are given, and, according to the evidence thus supplied 

 the shortest period of time during which a full applic- 

 ation of lime is said to last is seven years, whist tMrty 

 years and over is stated to be the longest period. At 

 the Rothamsted experimental farm it was found that lime 

 acts iu a double capacity — it furnishes an important ingre- 

 dient in the food of roots and leguminous plants, and iu 

 addition furuishes the key by which the stones of organic 

 nitrogen in the soil are unlockeil and rendered available as 

 the food of plants. Some of the results at Rothamsted 

 were not only interesting but curious: thus, the ash of 

 leguminous plants, growing in ordinary pasture which has 

 been well supplied with potash, containiued 32 per cent 

 of potash and 22 per cent of lime ; but on pasture where 

 potash was not supplied the ash contained 32 per cent 

 of lime and 14 per cent of potash. The necessity for 

 a frequent application of lime is due to its descent to 

 a lower level in the soil where it is less accessible to 

 the roots of plants. The effects of lime are very good 

 on virgin soil, and it lasts longer upon good than ou 

 bad, and upon heavy loams and clays than upon light, 

 land. Lime acts as the medium by which nitrification 

 takes place, and the almost entire absence of nitrates 



in the water passing through the peat soils iu Scotland 



aud which abound in nitrogen — is due to the abst-nce of 

 liiae. Seeing, then, that lime is a powerful agent iu rend- 

 ering other salts available for plant hfe, aud which 

 without its agency are inaccessible, it may he considered 

 more of a stimulant than a manure, aud therefore Sir 

 J B. Lawes justly remarks that its functions are liable 

 te be abused, aud should be accompauieil by an application 

 of all tliose ingredients Hhich are carried away in the 

 crops or by feeding with stock.— /J/d, 



