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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1883. 



land by the last mail ivniarks that at home, too, 

 they have hud to complain ao much lately of absence 

 or want of sunshine. 



"I see Mr. Bosanqunt, in his late valuable letter 

 in the Observer, confirms me in respect of the 

 dull cloudi,' weather we have of late experienced. 

 Can you not ascertain from him whether he was com- 

 paring his manured coffee with uumauured good or 

 bad coffee? The former, I have no doubt, but he 

 d'es not say so, and so his comparisons have been 

 cavilled at. 



"We are having fine, dry weather here just now, 

 and 1 hope it will last. There is plenty of good 

 wood on nil cultivated cofTee, except where the 

 monsoon g>it .■>( it too much last year; and all such 

 laud promises well." 



Ill connection with what is said about unfavourable 

 seasc'us, the following table referring to Agriculture 

 in tlie United Kingdom, t.iken from " Whittaker" 

 for this year, is curious : — 



Good and Bvd Seasons anb Harvests, 



And the Number of cwts. of Wheat Imported in order to 



supply detioienciea, with the average Price of Wheat 



per Quarter. 



Years. Harvest. Cwts. Price. 



s. d. 



1869 Deficient ... ... 37,620,239 48 2 



1870 Under the average ... ... 29,807,731 46 lU 



1871 Dehcient ... ... 38,750,196 56 10 



1872 Ditto ... ... 41914,547 57 1 



1873 Much below the average ... 42,835,504 58 8 



1874 Very good ... ... 40,807,040 55 9 



1875 Very unaatisfaclory ... 51,802,477 45 2 



1876 Unsatisfactory ... ... 43,632,550 46 2 



1877 Ditto ... ... 53,317,482 56 9 



1878 Good ... 49,053,163 46 5 



1879 Worst harve.st known ... 59,090,900 43 10 



1880 Harvest deficient ... ... 55,261,924 44 4 



1881 Deficient ... 45 4 



1882 Little under average. 



It will be observed that (he last four years have 

 given crops below the average. 



CINCHONA. LEDGEEIANA SKED. 

 {To the Editor of the " Madras Mail.") 



Sir, — A short time ago I read in your columns a 

 rather lengthy correspondence about C. Ledgeriaua seed, 

 and, though I was interested in the particular seed re 

 ferred to, I took no part in th" correspondence, but sent 

 it all to tbe gentleman from whom I obtained tlie seed, 

 asking him in reply to send me a letter for insertion 

 in the Mail, containing his view of t'e questions at 

 issue. This letter I now have the pleabure to enclose, 

 and shall be obliged by your inserting the same in your 

 next issue. F. Bell. 



Coouoor, 22nd Jany. 



F. Bell Esq., Coonoor. 

 SiK, — Thanks foryouia of Ist instant, ciiclosiDg cor- 

 respondence from the Madras Mail about the ouncs of 

 C. Ledgeriana seed which you had last year. I think 

 Mr. Brown was very fortunate in raising 60,700 s<-ed- 

 Hnos, and I have never been able to get so good a return ; 

 tUouch I know it to be quite possible, for, on an 

 average, an ounce, of well-cleaned fresli dry Ledgeriana 

 seed contains 76,000 seeds. Working with much larger 

 quautities, it is impossible to get .as large a return ppr 

 ounce, 83 one can with a single ounce. I certainly can- 

 not agree with Mr. C. M. Grant that " 60 per cent, are 

 empty or abortive. " It is not so with ripe fresh seed, 

 90 per cent, of which will germinate, but there is often, 

 from onie cause and another, a very disproportionate 

 out turn of plantable plants. Ledgeriana, if planted in 

 a low hot climate, ma^ seed at an early age, but eovoral 



of mj" trees here, though now rising seven years, have 

 not a single capsule on them— this at au elevation of 

 4,200 feet. 



It is a pity that "In Doubt," and so many others, 

 should apply the title "Ceylon Ledger " to seed that 

 has not thfl slighest right to be so called. One might 

 just as well call China tea purchased inMadras " Indi- 

 an tea." What " In Doubt" means by "Pata Kardy" 

 it is difficult to understand. If he means " Pata-de- 

 Gallinatzo," the epithet which CoL Beddome applied to 

 the hardy Sucoirubra OfScinalis hybrids otherwise Ro- 

 bustfi, otherwise Pubescens, there is no similarity 

 between them and Ledgeriana, even as the youngest 

 seedling. The resemblance between Ledgeriana and the 

 commoner Calisayaa is very great until they assume 

 their permanent foliage. Seed from a reliable source is 

 therefore of every importance and, "though I says it as 

 shouldn't," I venture to think that all who have got 

 Ceylon Ledger seed will not be disappointed. Java 

 seed sold in Ceylon may or may not be genuine. 



I do not know what your climate at Coonoor is like, 

 but — unless in very high exposed situations, where, in- 

 deed, the cultivation of C. Ledgeriana had better not be 

 tempted — glass house.i are not necessary. The growth in 

 my house is better than in the open sheds, but for all 

 ordinary purposes the latter answer perfectly, and I 

 have successfully raised several pounds of ledger seed 

 in single thatched shedi, faciug the ea»t, with a coir 

 mat hung in front during germination, and when the 

 sun is strong. If frost is feared, the beds should be 

 well damped in the afternoon, and closed up with mats 

 or sacks before sunset. To prevent the ipread of any 

 fungoid or insect blight, I always have a large space, 

 need for pricking out between my seed sheds, and I 

 would advise you to do the same, for one never knows 

 when BUch blights may appear. 



Thos. North Christie. 



St. Andrew's, Maskeliya, Ceylon, 10th Jan. 



Chicory will hardly be longer made to serve as a 

 substitute for coffee if it is true that, as a European 

 technical journal asserts, it can be made to give an 

 alcohol of a pleasant aromatic taste and great purity. 

 An adulterant of higher value than the substance it 

 is designed to simulate is never introduced, and for 

 very obvious reasons. — San Francinco Weekly Chronicle, 



The Consumption of Indian Tea.— A correspondent 

 calls attention to a fact likely to be overlooked by those 

 in anxious expectation of the time when Indian teas are 

 to supersede those of her rival China. He remarks 

 that ae the teas of India possess such well known 

 strength, a de luction of at least .33 per cent, from the 

 pre'^ent quantity of China tea used by the public must 

 be m.ade in calculating the quantity of Indian tea 

 re<iuired to take its place. Thus as only 4 lbs. of 

 Indian would be needed to brew ae strong an infusion, 

 anil make as many cups of tea as 6 lbs. of China, 40 

 million 1 bs. of Indian tea would suffice in theplace of 60 

 million lbs. of China. If, therefore, the growth of the 

 consumption appears to be incommensurate with the 

 growth of the population, our correspondent thinks it is 

 to be explained by the faot that a stronger tea is used, 

 and therefore a less quantity is needed. He points out 

 that with the bulk of Indian tea S"lling under Is a lb., 

 not to speak of China tea a' 3d to 6d per lb., it is a 

 monstrous parody on the f;-ee trade policy of this 

 country to levy a tax of Od per lb. on tea. It would be 

 betlerfartoimposeaddition.nl taxes on intoxicants than 

 to handicap a temperance beverage to the extent of an 

 ad vnloremdaiy ranging from .50 to 100 per cent. We 

 need scarcely add that we entirely agree with our cor- 

 respondent. Wo think that the free breakfast table is a 

 programme to which the Liberal party is pledged, and 

 we trust ere long to see a step taken in that direction. — 

 Home and Coioiual MatL 



