April s, iSS^.'] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



843 



SUGAK. 



There are at last strong signs of progress in some of 

 the West Indies, and the old-fashioned methods of manu- 

 facture are doubtless doomed ; for unless the colonists 

 keep pace with the times the Oaue Sugar industry can- 

 not hold its own. The splendid island of Jamaica ap- 

 pears to be an exception to the progress elsewhere, al- 

 though no place ought to produce better Sugar. It ap- 

 pears likely that refining lands will fetch unusually low 

 prices ne.\t Spring, and this will be a fresh incentive to 

 improvements, which would save the waste, in weight or 

 money, of pi-actically two-thirds of the Sugar in the Oane. 

 In Barbados the necessity for reform is now clearly re- 

 cognised, and the transformation of the machinery on 

 the island can only be a question of time. The Bar- 

 bados Herald (an enterprising journal that has recently 

 appeared in an enlarged and improved form, with a 

 view to bring the local press up to the level of that of 

 neighbouring colonies) has the following ; — '* Unusual ac- 

 tivity prevails in the erection of steam machinery for 

 Sugar-making. No less than eleven plants of steam ma- 

 chinery will be added to the steam Sugar works before 

 the next crop, being, we believe the largest number ever 

 erected in the course of a" single year. We give a list 

 of these new works ; — 



Estates. Makers. Erected by 



Lower Estate... 16 h.p., by Geo. Fletcher & Co.— D.M.Simpson 



& Oo. 



Blackmans 16 



Bath l2 „ „ „ „ J. J. Law. 



Joes Kiver 12 „ 



Mount Wilton. .25 „ 

 Checker HaU... 16 „ 



Hanson 12 „ 



Hopefield 10 



J. Rudder. 

 Gill Brothers. 

 D. M. Simpson & Co. 



This plant has a train of steam pans, thereby doing away 

 \vith the old-fashioned copper wall. 



Hampton 30 H.r., by Geo. Fletcher & Co. (to arrive) — D. 



M. S. & Co. 



Sandy Lane 20 „ by A. & W. McOnie „ 



Goodland 8„ by Jas. Shear.s & Son „ 



In addition to these there is a vacuum pan at Halton, by 

 Fletcher — B.St. Hill; boiler at Blowers— D. M. Simpson & Co. 



These new works aiford a pleasing eridence of activity 

 and a desire to place the manufacture of Sugar in this 

 Colony on a level with our neighboiurs who are ahead of 

 us in the race of competition, the advocacy of which 

 caused us to be gravely rebuked a couple of years back 

 by a journal professing to speak with great authority on 

 Barbados agriculture and its condition. There is still 

 some Sugar from the last crop remaining mishipped, so 

 that the returns are not finally closed. It is rather un- 

 usual to find Sugar remaining on hand so late in the 

 season." — Produce jVarkets' Review. 



TEA— PRUNING. 



To begin with the teelah gardens, they are as we said 

 mostly planted with China or a poor class of hybrid, and 

 that bushes of this class make much more spurious wood, 

 which it is necessary to remove in order to promote a 

 vigorous growth for next season's crop, a more severe 

 pruning can, with discretion, be applied to those old teelah 

 gardens, than is necessary for young and flat gardens. For 

 every one "bangy" or spurious shoot a hybrid bush makes, 

 a China bush makes at least 10. The result of this 

 spurious wood is a closing up of the centre of the bush, 

 and a want of permeation of free air necessary to develop 

 in the first instances strong flushes, and in the second 

 being the foundation of good wood for next season's prun- 

 ing. It is therefore necessary to be more carefvd to clean 

 out all "bangy" or fragile shoots in a China bush than 

 in a hybrid, and the China bush being more of a shrub 

 than its brethern, the hybrid or indigenous, it is not neces- 

 sary to allow it to grow so high, or we may say to prune 

 to such a height, and we consider where bushes are uni- 

 form, a height of from 20 to 24 inches might be laid 

 down. In addition to the above, it is necessary to be 

 careful to remove all flowers, as the China bush has a 

 great incUnation to seed. With regaril to the yoimg gardens 

 planted out since 1870, the class being higher, the prun- 



ing may be lighter, and the bush left to a height of say 

 2 feet 6 inches, oleardng out of course seed twigs, and 

 having as much lateral growth as can be managed, so as 

 to get as much surface to pluck off as possible. In the 

 low flats planted out more recently, say within the last 

 five years, the class of plant, when obtainable, has mostly 

 been indigenous, and, as a rule, the lighter the pruning, 

 the better has been the result. The Burma aud Mmiipoore 

 plant, as a rule, stand a more severe pruning than the 

 indigenous, such as is found in the jungles of Assam and 

 Oachar, aud as the latter plant is only prevented from 

 growing uito a tree by successions of pluckings, and has 

 aU the characteristics of a tree, the pruning knife should 

 be applied very tenderly. The latter class of plant men- 

 tioned IS so full of sap, that if the knife is appUed severely, 

 it suffers immensely from bleeding, and in many instances 

 from severe pruning, has been known to die back 3 to 

 4 inches below the pruning. The mdigenous plant shows 

 very little tendency to seed, unless the Burma and Munipoore, 

 hence there is less necessity to prune hard; and we con- 

 sider the oidy necessity to prune this class is, in order 

 to keep it to a sufficient height to enable the women to 

 reach up to pluck it.— Indiyo Planters' Gazette. 



♦ 



TROPICAL PRODUCTS OF COLOMBIA. 



A correspondent of the New Orleans Times-Democrat 

 who visited Colombia along with a commercial expedition 

 \vrite3 as follows of the products of that country: ' 



The principal exports of Colombia are quiua bark, coffee 

 balsam copaiba, rubber, cotton, sugar, dividi, fu.stic, cocoa' 

 salsaparilla, hides, spices, indigo, hats, .straw goods, cedar' 

 mahogany, various kinds of furniture woods, gold, silver^ 

 amethysts, rubies, tobacco, bananas, and other tropical fruits! 



Colombia, although its territory is traversed by the 

 equatorial line, possesses a variety of climates. Its capital 

 is situated nearly 9,000 feet above the sea, and enjoys 

 a temperate climate. The vast plains that surround it 

 are extremely fertile, and yield plentiful harvests of corn 

 barley, wheat, rye, and oats. But this fertile region is 

 separated from the tropical localities and the coast by 

 high and almost impassable mountains, over which the 

 roads are narrow and rough, aud transportation of freight 

 is almost impossible. 



The wife of one of the early viceroys of Peru, the 

 celebrated Countess of Cinchona, was the first Eiu-opean 



to discover the merits of the incomparable medicine 



quinine— the only drug that conquers the terrible malarial 

 fevers that scoiu-ge the low lauds of intertropical countries. 



Throughout most portions of northern South America 

 where the land reaches an altitude of 3,000 feet, this 

 precious tree is found in valleys and hillsides that flank 

 the deep barrancas which sejjarate the mountains from 

 the lower country. So plentifully is its production that 

 the first groves, which were discovered three centuries ago, 

 are yet unexhausted, while new forests are constantly being 

 discovered. Yet the method of gathering this valuable 

 bark might lead a casual observer to imagine that the 

 demand will soon far exceed the supply, for the carelesa 

 Indians generally cut the tree down, strip the upper portion, 

 and are too lazy to turn it over and gather the bark on 

 the other side. The vast forests of Colombia can afford 

 a su]jply of this bark for centuries yet. 



Coffee does not thrive weU in the extreme tropics, but 

 needs a humid climate, a damp soil, and, in many cases 

 protection from the intense heat of the tropic sun. It 

 is often planted between rows of bananas, or under the 

 shade of frondose trees. It will not grow well in Colombia 

 at a less elevation than 2,500 feet above the level of the sea. 



The coffee of Colombia may be considered as equal to 

 the Rio bean. It is highly esteemed in New York and 

 Europe. A large quantity of the best kind is exported 

 through Maracaibo, and is known as Venezuelan coffee. 

 It is needles to say that New York enjoys almost a monopoly 

 of this trade. Although it is a conceded fact New Orleans 

 is the most advantageous coffee mart in the United States 

 her merchants, as yet, do not control a pound of this traflic! 



Rice has become one of the staple articles of consumption 

 with the poorer clases of the Colombians. Owing to the 

 high price of American rice but little of it is met with 

 in this market. Formerly England suppUed Colombia with 

 Rangoon rice, but some few years ago New York stole 



