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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[March i, i88j. 



CooKG. — We learn from Coorg that the coffee crop 

 in that province is likely to he a very small one and 

 that the actual yield will be fifty per cent, of tlie 

 crop estimate. The following riddle is going the round 

 of planting cu'chs in tlie province. 1n what way do 

 the Coorg planters reseinble thejjeople in Newgate ? Be 

 cause they have all got short crops. — Mudyas !it.amlard. 



The Kkesekvation of Lemon Juiue.— A correspond- 

 eut in ^Jim. de Mid. ct de Pharm. M'dit, says, after 

 various experiments and the test of eight months' 

 e.\posure to the sun and heat of Bumnier, he has comi? 

 to the follottiug conclution : — "Heatin;:; the juice or 

 adding alcohol to the same would appear to l)e super- 

 fluous, as it is only necessary to filter i( and keep it 

 sealed in boltles; however, since filtration proceeds 

 very slowly, the best way is, perhaps, to add 10 per 

 cent, of alcohol to the fn-sh juicf, and bottle. The 

 PharinaceuHcal Journal observes that it may be pre- 

 served without the addition of alcohol by h<ating it to 

 150° Fah., and then excluding it from the air by care- 

 fully closing the full bottles at this temperature-. The 

 operation should be carred out in winter. — Knoiuledge. 



Bogus Tea in Au.stralia. — From documents received 

 by last Australian steamer we learn that a large 

 quantity of bad Chinese tea had again been inti-o- 

 duced into the Australian market. The facts briefly nre 

 as follows :—" A new min to Melbourne brings down 

 from Sydney, where they liave no tea act, some 10, 000 pack- 

 ages of low class tea, gives the auctioneers a warr^mtrj of 

 the shipment from Mr. Karl Theodor Staiger, analytical 

 chemist, and the whole is published in the same form 

 as that issued by Messrs. Henty k Co. Mr, Love 

 goes I'ound to the chemists of Melbourne, Messrs. 

 Conar, Newberry and Dunn amongst others, and fails 

 to get a certificate; so makes use of that of Mr. Staiger 

 who is curator of the Museum in Brisbane and cert- 

 ainly had no chance of seeing the teas in Melbourne 

 or Sydney. Mr. Everard buys the bulk of this Mahloo 

 tea 1,050 half oliests at i^'l to 4Jd per lb. in bond; so 

 he vigorously defends the tea as a clean wholesome 'ea. 

 "The report of Mr. Newbery on the tea was as follows : 

 — "All the samples nre of very inferior description, 

 and are in my opinion unfit for human consumption. 

 They all contain rotten and exhausted leaves — leaves 

 that have none of the general characters of tea- 

 leaves, dust (not tei dust), gum, starch, and foreign 

 colour, seeds of various kinds, stalks, bark, svnd and 

 earthy matter, hair, and other matter of animal origin," 

 Mr Moody made a careful examination of 100 grains 

 of the so-called congou t' a the result shewing only 18'13 

 of genuine tea! The "scented orange pekie" gave 

 the following result : — 



grains. 

 ... 15-28 

 ... 2-38 



Dry hard tea stalks 



Tea seeds 



Other rubbish, consisting of 

 gravel, shell, husks, rice, 

 bark, etc. 



Nodules, the agglutinated nc- 

 cretions of rubbish, but con- 

 taining particles of lea 



2-52 



11-64 



31'8 in 100 grains of tea. 

 On this Mr. Moody says : — " Further investigation 

 was unnecessary ; the nodule is a work of art, dis- 

 playing to advantage the ingenuity, patience, and thrift 

 of the Chinese manipulator. An N. B. say.s : — " The 

 total quantity ot tea sold on the 9th January was 

 10,246 packages, of which 4,435 packages are unfit for 

 human food. As only 8,046 package.s have reached 

 Victoria, and a portion of this transhipped to another 

 colony, it seems probable that none of the 4, 43."i pack- 

 ages will noio come under the notice of the Cu'^toms 

 authorities." Mr. Moody deserves the thanks of the 

 planters for the trouble he takes to prevent rubbish 

 being foisted on the Aubtialiaa uiaiket as tea. 



Storing Potatoes. — An excellent suggestion for storing 

 potat./HS iu a hot and moist climate is furnished by the 

 >Si/diu;i/ 31aU ou the 10th December. It consists of a long 

 bin, with buttons both for the bottom and sides, and divided 

 down the middle, the bin standing ou short legs to admit 

 of ventilation underneath. There is uo doubt that an 

 earthern Hoor is too damp, and that jjotatoes huddled to- 

 gether in a close heap cannot receive proper ventilation. 

 These bins may be arranged in tiers one over another so 

 as to occupy comparatively very little space. — Queendander. 



Silk-Cotton. — A box from Thursday Island, well filled 

 with pods of the silk-cotton tree, known to botany as 

 Boinhax Jlalabaricum, has been left with us by Sir. St. 

 John AYood to see if the cotton was of any commercial 

 value. The silky fibre contained in the pods at once suggests 

 the idea of value to anyone seeing them for the first time, 

 but from all the experiments made therewith in ludia and 

 elsewhere to make use of it in textile fabrics, nothing of 

 any real value has been made of it. In our Brisbane 

 Museum is a piece of rough cloth on exhibition, the weft 

 of which is made of this material, but to make it strong 

 enough to hold together the warp is made of a much 

 tougher material. This want of strength, combined with 

 shortness of staple, apparently disqualifies the fibre for 

 use in the manufacture of any textile fabric. In the North 

 of Queensland, where it is plentiful it is used for such 

 purposes as stuffing pillows aud cushions in the place of 

 down or feathers, as it is not foimd to run iuto lumps, 

 but otherwise for much use it is not very durable. The 

 tree which bears the silk-cotton grows to a large size, 

 fully 60ft. high, aud is indigenous to the Northern parts 

 of this colony and also in India. — Ibid. 



Wattle Cultivation. A correspondent wi-ites: — "The 

 best sorts of wattle to cultivate are acacia pycrantha 

 (golden or broad leaf), acacia decurrens (black or feather 

 leaf). Wattles will grow in almost any soil, 

 perhaps not the poorest. Golden broad leaf grow well 

 iu good light soil. Black feather leaf grow in rich or poor 

 soil, but not in poorest sandy soil. The seed should be 

 put in hot, not boiling, water for about 12 hours until 

 slightly softened, and sown broadcast in nursery or prepared 

 soft loamy soil in July or August will spring up (juickly, 

 and when plants are about 1 foot high will be fit for 

 transplanting in June. "When the ground is hard it should 

 be turned up in regular furrows for planting purposes as 

 described hereafter. Plant about 10 or 12 feet apart each 

 way. When they attain 3 or 4 feet the lower branches 

 should be pruned off, and every effort should be made to 

 keep them straight and clear. In order to facilitate even 

 stripping, and increase the yield of bark, cattle should be 

 excluded until wattles are three years old. Wattles may 

 be sown iu the ground intended to grow them. When 

 the plants are poor and weak they may be replaced by 

 stronger plants from nm'sery or seed growing ground." 

 — .We/bourne Aye. 



AusTBALiAN BiG Teees. — The Minneapolis Lmid'criniui 

 has an article on the gigantic trees of Australia, of which 

 the following is an extract : — " The trackless forests iu 

 the west of Tasmania contain huge timber, and bushmen 

 report that they have met with specimens of eucalyptus 

 measuring 200 feet from the ground to the first branch, 

 aud fully 350 feet in all. Until 1873 there was stand- 

 ing on the eastern slope of Mount Wellington, within 

 four miles of Hobart Town, a eucalyptus measured at 86 

 feet in girth and more than 300 feet iu height, and its 

 ruiued boll still forms a grim chamber in which mauy a 

 merry party have enjoyed a picnic. The famous tree of 

 the' Huon forest measures 70 feet iu girth six feet from 

 the ground, and is stated to be 240 feet high, but in the 

 deep goiges of this ground forest the writer has seen high- 

 er trees than this, though not of quite equal circumfer- 

 ence. But Victoria now claims the glory of holding the big- 

 gest of all the living ' big trees ' in theworld, so far as height 

 is concerned. In the Dandenong district at Fernshaw 

 has recently beeu discovered a specimen of eucalyptus 

 amygdaliua, or almond-leaf gum, which has beeu accurately 

 measured as reaching the enormous height of 380 feet 

 before throwing out a single branch, and 430 feet to the 

 top, aud having a girth of 60 feet at some distance above 

 the ground. Some idea of what a height 430 feet repreusts 

 may be gained from the fact that this gum-tree, if grow- 

 ing by the side of the Houses of Parliament at Westminster, 

 would overtop tlie Clock Tower by exactly 100 feet," 



