July i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



87 



Tea and Silk Culture.— Mr. Ernest Tye, Secretary 

 of the Italian Tea Districts Association writes to fay 

 that the wages of ordinary coolies iu Assam, are five 

 and six rnpees per month, and not nine rnpees, as 

 stated by Mr. Cochran {see ante, p. '282). Mr. Tye 

 adds that the cost of producing Indian tei iu 18S0, 

 which rnnged from Is. to le. 3d. per lb., includes all 

 cliaigos for carriage, freight and brokerage, commission 

 &c. — Journal iif the Societi/ of Arts. 



Cola Nuts. — Some vei-y interesting parlioulars are 

 given on the West African trade in Cola nuts, the 

 seeds of C'ol'i acuminata. We are informed that the 

 irapurt of these seeds amounted iu 1879 to 108,000 lb. 

 more than iu 1S78. On the other hand, the expoit 

 was 58,000 lb. in exiiess of the export in 1878 The trade 

 in Cola nuts is an attractive feature Iti the omnierce of 

 tlie Gambia. The Cola nut is the product of the 

 Sierra Leone district, and the trade in it, both .at 

 Sierra Leone and the Gambia, is almost entirely in 

 the bauds of women, to a large number of whom it 

 affords the means of livelihood, and in many instances 

 the .acquisition of considerable wealth. The nut is 

 largely consumed by the natives of the Gambia ; it is 

 of a bitter taste, and produces no exhilarating effect, 

 but is said to possess the power of satisfying tor a 

 considerable time the cravings of huu^er For this 

 purpose, however, it is much less used than it is as a 

 luxury. The trade iu the article is rapidly increasing. 



lb. 



In the year 1860 the import was about... 150,000 

 1870 „ ,, ... 416,000 



„ 1879 „ ,, ... 743,000 



The trade in Cola nuts has also spread to Central 

 Ataioa, and even to the African shores of the Medi- 

 terranean The plant has been introduced from Kew to 

 the West Indies, Seychelles, Calcutta, Ceylon, Dominica, 

 Demerara, Mauritius, Sydney, and Zanzibar. — Journal 

 of the Society of Arts. 



Cultivation of Figs in the Colonies. — The Colon- 

 ics and India, in recommending the cultivation of 

 the Fig in some of oui' colonial possessions, points 

 out that " Plantations have alr>afiy been made in 

 certain districts in Austriilia, but in all parts of that 

 continent there is abund.ant opportunity for the extens- 

 ive cultivation of the tree if only for the sake of its 

 beautiful foliage in the treeless wastes in some por- 

 tions of the interior. Of all the numerous varieties of 

 Ficus scattered over the tropical and temperate zones, 

 there is uoue more easily cultivated, none more striking 

 iu appearance, and none more profitable than the Ficus 

 Cariea. Its fruits eaten green or sun dried iire both 

 palatable and nutritious, and the enormous demaml 

 that exists for them is shown by the fact I hat the 

 annual imports into Great Britain, chiefly from 

 Southern Europe and the Levant, amount to over a 

 thou.iaud tons, while the United States import half a 

 million dollars' worth yearly. According to the New 

 Yoik Sun, in Georgia, where the Fig bears two crops, 

 an ordinvry tree, six or seven years old, will produce 

 5 or 6 bu.ibels of fruit aunuUly, while twice or thrice 

 that quantity may be expected from large old trees. 

 There aic trees in Eastern Florida that may be trusted 

 to yield frou 20 to .30 bushels of Figs a year. At 

 Santa B:'rbara, California, it is said that a tree ten 

 years old will bear about 800 lb. of fruit a year. In 

 Alabama it is considered the most prolific of .all fruit 

 tr OS ; and from Texas it is reported that the fruit 

 succeeds perfectly all over the State. The tree is 

 more hardy than is genenally supposed, and if it will 

 grow so well iu tropical countries, and in the West 

 Indies, iu Fiji, throughout Australia and the greater 

 pa-t of New Zealand, iu South Africa, iu Indi.a— ■ 

 indeed, almost throughout our colonies and Indian 

 empire. Figs ought to bj a 3ta|ile product. The ease 

 with which the fruit is dried and packed is an im- 

 portant point in its (a,yoM\" —Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Callsaya Bark —At a meeting of the Pharmaceut- 

 Ai '^°o"'^t.y "n March 1st, Mr. Umney .said that 

 Mr. Gerrard hud alluded to cinchona bark, awd im- 

 agined that he could standardize it. He would assure 

 Mr. Gerrard that greut difEcuIties presented them- 

 selves, inasmuch as at the present time he believep 

 it would be impossible to obtain in the London market 

 a single hundredweight of flit calisaya bark which 

 would come up to the Pharmacopceia standard The 

 requirement was, as they knew, 2 per cent of quinia 

 The flat calisaya barks, however, now present, would 

 not prob;ibly contain more than O'S per cent of 

 that alkaloid. — Pharmaceutical Journal. 



A Railway iff the Tree Tor.s.— The following 

 paragraph, from a recent isme of tlie Argus ol Peta- 

 lunia, California, has lately been communicated to 

 Notes and Queries :—'• It msty not be known outside 

 of the neighbourhood where it is situated, but it is 

 nevertheless a fact tliut in Sonoma County (Cal.) we 

 have an original and successful piece of railroad en- 

 gineering and building that is not to be found in 

 the books. In the upper part of this county, near 

 the co.ast, may be seen an actual roadbed in the 

 tree top.s. Between the Clipper Mills and Stewart's 

 Point, where the roal crosses a deep r.ivine, the 

 trees are sawed off on a level, and the timber' .and 

 trees laid on the stumps. In the centre of the ravine 

 mentioned two huge Redwood trees standing side by 

 side form a substantial support, and they are cut 

 ofl 75 feet above the ground, and cars loaded with 

 heavy saw logs pass over them with as much security 

 as if it were framed iu the most scientific manner. 

 All roads lead to Rome except this one. The builders 

 never contemplated a terminus at San Francisco, 

 Pet.aluina, or Chicago, but merely to convey heavy 

 timber from the woods to their mill. There are many 

 places in our Redwood forests where this example 

 migiit be followefl profitably, as it would be cheaper 

 to grade through with a cross-cut saw and lay the 

 lies on the stump.s than to remove the trees. We 

 can boast of a broad gauge, a narrow gauge, and a 

 road in the tree tops— yet we are not all happy." — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Te4 Cultivation.— /hc/m.— The following statement, 

 quoted from the Madris Mail, gives a striking picture 

 of the progress made by this industry: — "In 1850, 

 the area under this plant w,as approximately estimated 

 at not more than 1,0011 .icres and the total outturn 

 of tea at little over 2o0,00i} lb. At the [iresent time, 

 the area under plant may be put down at 206,700, 

 viz: As a:n, 8.5,000 acre<; Cachar, 47,000 acres; Sylhet, 

 18,OIJ0 acres ; Uaroiliug and Tend, .Sl.OOO acres; Dehra 

 Doon, 4,300 acres; Kangra Vidley, 7,^00 uores ; Ku- 

 mion, 4,4"0 acres; Chittagong, 4,200 a 're-s; Chuta Na"- 

 poie, 3, 3lJ0 acres; prjduciug about 40,000.0001b. of pre- 

 pared tea, and representing a capital invested not far 

 short of fifteen millions sterling, wiiile about two 

 millions sterling are spent annually iu India in the 

 working and upkeep of the pl.antations. Of the ad- 

 vantages accruing to India — directly to the people, and 

 indirectly to the Government — from the disbursement of 

 so large an amount of money, there can be no question. 

 It will be seen that, of the total area of 207,600 acres 

 brought under cultivation, 150,000 acres lie within 

 the administrative circle of the Chief Commissioner 

 of Assam ; and the statistics of tint province de- 

 monstrate the continuous and rapid progress of its 

 revenue and gener.il prosperity during the period in 

 question — a prosperity wli ch may be fairly claimed 

 as being almost entirely tlue to ihe beneficial intlitence 

 of the tea industry. Tlure still remains, however, 

 a vast field for future development, not merely in 

 the production of tea, but for almost every kind of 

 crop grown in India, more especially rice. — Journal 

 of the Hocietij of Arts. 



