746 



THE TROPICA.L AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1883. 



bearing, but I luaiutain that, if we could preserve the 

 rootlets, whether from the ravages of grub or the 

 hemileia spore, its effect on the leaf would be almost 

 entirely minimized. 



That the d^ath of the rootlet is owing to grub at first 

 hand I begin doubt, for in recent communications 

 with the entomologist to the R)yal Agricultural So- 

 ciety as to the babits of cockchafer grulie, I learn 

 that they have a decided preference for decaying roots 

 as food — in fact that an abundance of this is possibly 

 the reason for their being there at all, but that fail- 

 ing this source they will devour fresh rootlets. In 

 this fact, and the coincidence oi ihe largely increased 

 number of grub with leaf-disease, is there not further 

 evidence in support of my theory ? But more tlian 

 all : Mons. .Jans^n's recent discovery that protecting 

 the potato tuber from the spore-laden haulm almost 

 entirely protects the potato from disease. 



In reply to Mr. Jardine's query, "has the tough 

 skin of Liberian berries storaata" he can draw 

 his own conclusions from the following quotatiou 

 taken from Robert Brown's " Manual of Botany : Ana- 

 tomical and Physiological." Under the head "stoma," 

 he says : — "Tbey are found on leaves, prineipally on their 

 inferior aspect, on herbaceous stems, bracts, calyxe. 

 &o., and are ordinarHi/ (the italics arefor "VV."'s benefit) 



wanting on roots the epidermis of old stems (italics 



are mine) that of fleshy fruUs, seeds, &c. There are ex- 

 ceptions to tliis rule, however, as the student can dis- 

 cover for himsielf by examining the epidermis of the 

 common holly berry." Perhaps Dr. Trimeu would 

 kindly enlighten us whether this epidermis of Liber- 

 irn coft'ee berries and coffee rootlets have stomata? — 

 Faitbfully yours, J. S. 



EFFECTS OF MAMURE, AS MODIFIED BY 

 SEASON, ON COFFEE. 



Yoxlord, Dimbula, Feb. 10th, 1883. 



Dear Sir, — I promised List year (in T. A. Sept- 

 eml>er 188-), in reply to your question whether my 

 manuring pays, to give you the riyui'es as soon as the 

 crop was picked. The result of the plot manured with 

 Messrs. Crossman & Paulin's mixture is 7cwt.an acre 

 as against 2f cwt. for the plot uumanuivd, or an 

 increase of 4'| cwt. in favor of the manure. The 

 cost of the manuring was R48'75 per acre, or .say the 

 value of 1 cwt. of coffee at the present price iu Col- 

 ombo, leaving 3| cwt. for profit. The question as to 

 whether it pays is therefore pretty sa tisfaotorily 

 answered .as far as this estate is concerued. 



Lest however others should be disappointed at not 

 obtiiinitig the same results I will mention what I 

 consider necessary conditions of success. 



I have before this advocated the application of 

 manure to good coffee only, and it must be otherwise 

 well treated as regards pruning and handling. For the 

 rest all the conditions may be summed up in the 

 one word seo.son. Season is always more powerful 

 than manure, and without a suliioiency of sun t" cause 

 the tree to blossom it is hardly reasonable to expect 

 manure to tell on the crop. The soil best supplied 

 with what the tree requires will however produce the 

 best result in a doubtful season such as the last was at 

 the elevation wberethe manure was supplied. On the 

 upper part of the estate as with the hijih estates of the 

 district generally, tbe season was by no meaus doubtful : 

 there was no blossoming season at all in the usual sense 

 of the word, and such manures as were applied have 

 not told at all. Given a sutEuieney of sun therefore 

 during the blossoming se-isun, and my experience is 

 that manure applied with judgment pays. Tiie effect 

 of such a season as we have pissed through siuce 

 the b'.r.st of the S. W. monsoon must not pass 

 unnoticed, though it only modifies in a degree 

 the question whether manure pays. The result of the 



long-continued rain and unusually low temperature 

 was to cause such a cheek iu root development that 

 the trees were unable to carry through their full crop 

 and consequently with a dying back of the branches 

 a portion was lost : otherwise the effect of the manure 

 would have been still more marked. If root develop- 

 ment is not aetivf, the nitrates will be washed down 

 into the subsoil (and possibly out of it) before the 

 tree can avail itself of them, and to this is probably 

 mainly due the dying back of the branches, there being 

 little or no leaf-disease to account for it. With tbe 

 return of sunshine however nitrification actively pro- 

 ceeds again, being assisted by the abundance of leaf 

 returned to the ground, and the tree at the same time 

 forming root quickly resumes its normal healthy con- 

 dition. I am here applying well-known facts to our 

 own observed conditions with the object of demon- 

 strating that tbe effect is but the natural sequence 

 of the cause. 



There is one still worse effect of the abnormal sea- 

 sous to which I would desire to call attention, and 

 that is that men's judgment appear to be thrown off 

 their balance, and one hears on all sides that the coun- 

 try and its enterprise is doomed. Let such as hold 

 these opinions keep them to themselves — their very 

 uttei'Buce has already gone half way towards their 

 fulfilment — or else they should clear nut and leave the 

 more hopeful ones to fight through their diflieuhies, 

 which are already sufficient to try the oour.ago to the 

 utmost, without the heart being taken out of our 

 work bv the ill-omened prophets who tell us that our 

 efforts are unavailing. Let such self-appointed seers 

 recognize the fact that their mission is ended,* and, 

 if they have one spark of feeling for their struggling 

 fellow-planters left in them, let them join with us 

 iu putting their shoulder to the wheel iustead of still 

 further siuking it in the slough of despond.- Yours 

 faithfully, Wm. D. BOSANQUET. 



THE CEYLON CORK TREE. 



Sonneratia acida : Nat. Order Lytheaeiaoe.e ; Oedde- 

 KiUaluijuha, Sinh. 



Sir, — Most of tl 

 found iu hot climates at low elevations. This tree is 

 found in the moist and swampy districts by the coasts. 

 I have found it gi-owiug in the Kalutara district. The 

 timber is white and very light ; it is excellent firewood. 

 Spongy gi'owths from the roots are used as corks for 

 bottles and for lining insect cases, &a. I am told 

 on good authority that these corks are used at the 

 Nuwara Eliya Brewery, and that the beer is not so 

 good, nor does it keep so well, as in bottles where pro- 

 per corks are used. Oue of our most gorgeous flowering 

 tees belongs to this same order, Laqerstni'inia reqhia, 

 Murutu, Sinh.— Yours, OLD 'BOTANIC BOY. 



SEEDLINGS IN NURSERIES DYING OFF— WHY ? 



SiK, — Some of your correspondents complain of ths 

 seedlings in their nurseries dying off in patches- 

 It is probable that in many of these cases tbe depredae 

 tion is caused by small maggots, which may b. 

 destroyed by tobacco water, or one of the ordinary 

 insecticides. But I have seen numerous instances in 

 which tile cause of death was that the roots of the 

 seedliugs had never succeeded in penetrating the soil, 

 and the seedlings had died as soon as they had 

 exhausted the nourishment contained in the seed 

 itself. It is a common pmctice to sow the seed on 

 the surface of the soil without any covering, and, if 

 the surface be soft and open, the roots will generally 

 penetrate ; but where the beds have been flattened 

 with a board, and the pressure b.is been raher heavy, 

 or the soil rather tenacious, a thin film of crust is 



* A tact which the railway authorities should " when 

 found take a note of." — Ed.J 



