846 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April 2, 1883. 



a layer of rotten mamu-e wa« placed in the bottom of each 

 trench after it had been stirred with a fork to the depth 

 of 6 inches, another layer of manure was placed above this 

 about 9 inches below the surface. The trees were planted 

 at once, a few spadefuls of good loam from a tUstance 

 being placed round the roots of each tree. Next season 

 the ground was trenched over again to the same depth, 

 and as the work proceeded the trees were moved ^vith a 

 whole mass of roots and replanted on the same ground; 

 this time we worked about a barrowload of loam in amongst 

 the roots of each tree, and when the trees were planted 

 a mulching of good manm-e was placed round the roots of each. 

 I would warn the inexperienced against the danger of 

 over-doing the work — that is, trenching all the good soil 

 into the bottom, and leaving sterile stuff on the top, into 

 which some crops will not push their roots. "We find some 

 soils with the clay very near the surface; the subsoil must 

 in such cases be incorporated gradually, and rather than 

 throw the second spit of such material to the surface I 

 would fork the second trench over, and then place a layer 

 of manure on it before throwing on the top spit from the 

 ne.\t trench. The bottom spit that had been forked over 

 and manured could be trenched up to the top next season. 

 In many places it is quite necessary to dig up and incor- 

 porate the subsoil with manure before placing it on the sur- 

 face, and even then only 2 or 3 inches should be worked 

 to the top each season. It has happened in those eases 

 where ground had been well trenched and manured; it 

 would grow nothing until it was trenched over again, and 

 the fertile mould restored to its orginal position. A faikire 

 of this kind would have been avoided by following the system 

 I have indicated above. — J. Douai,.\s. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



REPORT ON THE BOTANICAL GARDENS AT 

 GANESH KHIND FOR 1881-82. 



Mr. Woodrow, the Superintendent of the Botanical Gard- 

 ens of Gauesh Khind, in the Bombay Presidency, gives 

 us some very interesting and useful information in his 

 report for the year 1881-82. 



One of the most important items in the report is the 

 fact that, from experiments made dm-ing the year it has 

 been discovered that paper of a very superior quality 

 can be manufactured from the buhush, Ti/pha clephantina. 

 A native paper-maker in Poena made some good country 

 paper from bulrush stems supphed to him from the gardens, 

 and that without any great difficulty. Some pulp having 

 been prepared in the gardens which having satisfied the 

 paper-maker that the manufacture was practicable, the 

 paper-maker reported that if he had to make more paper 

 from similar material he could make it of much better 

 quality than what he had ah-eady produced. In experi- 

 ments conducted by Mr. "Woodi-ow himself, it was shown 

 that 4 oz. of the dried crushed stems, boiled with caustic 

 potash, and beaten in a mortar, gave 2J oz. of what was 

 considered to be goocl "pulp." Theweightper acre of dried 

 stems obtained from two cuttings is four tons, and it 

 could be produced in unlimited quantities at R1.5 per 

 ton. Mr. Routledge, the English paper manufacturer, 

 gives the value of "Tufa," the inferior sort of esparto 

 grass, at £10 per ton deUevored in England. If, says Mr. 

 Woodrow, this buhush material is worth half as much, 

 it would be profitable to cultivate. Mr. A\'ooih"ow thinks 

 that it would be probably profitable to cut it up, boil it with 

 alkali and send it to the paper-makers in the condition 

 shown as half stuff, because by this means much valuable 

 plant food would be retained as manure. 



Another interesting item in the report is the account 

 of the experiments made in collecting caoutchouc from 

 the L'riiptosteyia grandijiora. 83 plants of this climber were 

 in existence in the gardens dm-ing the year, varying from 

 three to five years old and growing in a variety of soils 

 mostly fine alluvial. The method adopted for collecting 

 the sap is described as follows: — 100 paper bags were pre- 

 pared, and after weighing each bag was fixed with thorn 

 to the cut end of a branch, the wound being renewed ten 

 times daily; and when the watery portion of the sap had 

 evaporated, the bags were again weighed, and the increase 

 taken as commercial Indiarubber. The average yield of 

 the plants is stated to have been 20 grains, the average 

 ground occupied by each plant being 1 square yard; if 

 these plants, therefore, had been cultivated in a field after 

 making ait allowance for unavoidable blank spaces, Mi-. 



Wooch'ow thinks the yield per acre would be 12 lb. The 

 plants are said to suffer much from tapping, and would not 

 bear the process more than twice in a year, which would 

 give 24 lb. per acre of caoutchouc yearly. The cost of 

 collecting was Re. 1 per lb., but this could be greatly re- 

 duced by improved methods of collecting. A.S the plants 

 grow very slowly when young, the sap collecting cannot 

 be begun before the third year. 



Mr. Woodrow brings prominently to notice the large 

 quantity of water-cress that has sprung up in the streams 

 that run through the city of Poena, and which, he says, 

 appear to be neglected by the people. Water-cress, it 

 appears, has been proved by a French chemist to be rich 

 in iron and iodine, and is beheved to possess in a large 

 degree the nutritive and antiscorbutic properties of the 

 family it belongs te—iheCnicifera. The fact that £150,000 

 worth of this herb is annually sold in Paris, that the 

 value of the quantity sold annually in Loudon is probably 

 30 lakhs of rupees, and that the average price in Manches- 

 ter is twice the price of bread, deserves to awaken interest 

 in the water-cress in Poena which would appear to be 

 despised by the people. 



The experiments made to show how exhausted sugar- 

 cane land can be restored to fertiUty were satisfactory. 

 The Superintendent says: — 



"The ingredients which sugar-cane requires that are 

 present in the soil in very small quantity are sihca in 

 combination with potash, soda, and lime in the soluble form 

 called soluble silicates. To reproduce these soluble sih- 

 cates is not difficult, but in this country, it will be ex- 

 pensive and it is not practicable in a short time. 



"The process necessary is to manure with 2 tons per 

 acre quicklime, and 10 loads per acre wood-ashes, sow 

 and plough in a green crop such as "Tag" (Crotolaria 

 jnncia) or "mohria" (Siniqns mgra.) 



"During four years manure as usual I cultivate such 

 crops as the soil and markets suit, giving the preference, 

 if practicable, to the pulses, and avoiding the cereals, 

 in any case only one corn crop can be permitted. After 

 this treat in the usual manner for sugar-cane and an 

 average crop may be expected." — Asian 



TREATMENT OF SEEDS. 



Have any of your readers ever remarked the difference 

 that treatment, as regards moisture and watering, makes to 

 newly-sown seeds when they vegetate? I believe that, in 

 nine cases in ten, the first thing the gardener does after 

 sowing a pot of seeds is to water them thoroughly. Some 

 even steep certam seeds in water prenous to sowing — 

 which may be advantageous in certain cases; but I am far 

 from thinking that immediate soaking of newly-sown seeds 

 is beneficial. I first noticed this in the case of melon 

 and cucumber seeds, viz., that those seeds which were not 

 watered for some days after sowing germinated most freely 

 and more healthily. Those which were well watered when 

 sown were weakest and palest in the foliage, and the 

 difference was quite apparent to any one. Since then, 

 I have carefully abstained from watering all seeds we 

 are particular about, until they have begun to swell 

 and burst their scales. Several physiological explanations 

 of this suggest themselves; but here I only state the fact 

 that seeds are better not watered till .some little while 

 after being sown. I am speaking of seeds sown under 

 glass in the above cases; but I have noticed the same 

 thing in the case of outdoor seeds, jiarticularly peas, 

 carrots, &c. Peas sown in friable, dry soil, and which 

 experience a short spell of dry, sunny weather after- 

 wards, come up strongly, and fewer seeds rot in the 

 groimd as old seeds are apt to do, especially of the later 

 and more tender marrow kinds. 



This may not appear a great matter; but we know that 

 in the case of fine seed.s, .sown under glass, th' re are often 

 great disappointments, and much depends t n management. 

 The seedsmen, or the quality of tlie seeds, is not .so 

 often to blame as people sometimes think. No gardener 

 of experience expects more than a liberal percentage of 

 his seeds to grow, while some are always doubtful; but 

 unless the sowing is managed skilfully, many things may 

 fail partially, or altogether. Covering seeds too deeply is 

 one of the most fertile causes of failure, for many a fail- 

 me is due to this, and the cause never suspected. Big 

 seeds of vigorous growing plants— like broad beans, for 



