868 



THE TROPCAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May I, 1883. 



Potash as an Insecticide. — A correspondent thus 

 writes on this subject to the Journal of Horticulture : — 

 " I use it for cleaning the glass, swiUing all wood and 

 brick-work everywhere, in fact, inside, and find it useful 

 both for cleansing and as an insecticide ; and I am inclined 

 to think it has another good property — that is, a good dress- 

 ing for the soil. I have used it as strong as one ounce to 

 the gallon of water tor syringing glass over plants, and it 

 has not iiij i - 1 the leaves, but I imagine improved them. 

 However, I would not advise its use in this way, at least not 

 carelessly, but used as I have described it gets into every crack 

 and crevice dealing certain death to the insect tribe. I would 

 strongly advise all who have not had a thorough experience 

 of them to be very cautions in their use of insecticides, and 

 note carefully their results, as many are more dangerous than 

 useful. Paraffin, for instance, when applied to plants in 

 any form whatever kills the insects ; but how often does 

 it close the pores of the leaves, and make the plants un- 

 healthy, and as a consequence more liable to future attack 

 from their insect pests." — Australasian. 



Mahogany Seeds (Transmission of) and Aloe 

 Fibre. — From the proceedings of the Madras Agri- 

 Horticultural Society of 8th March, we quote as 

 follows : — 



"Read letter from Dr. Trimen, dated Peradeniya, Ceylon, 

 27th January 1883. iu which he says the Oirica cundria- 

 marcemis gent in the Wardian case received from him 

 sometime ago is of interest economically, its unripe 

 fruit being a capital vegetable which he frequently has 

 at table and states •' ^Vith regard to Mahogany it is not 

 the case that it seeds in Oeylou in any quantity. The 

 production indeed of a ripe capsule is quite an excep- 

 tional thing. It is very remarkable tliat this should be 

 the case so generally in the East. I alluded to the mat- 

 ter in my annual report tor 1880. p. 7. With regard to 

 Jaffna where the trees are some 50 years old, about 20 

 pods have been obtained from them during the last few 

 years and young trees raised from them. Here in Pera- 

 deniya we get two or three pods off several old trees in 

 all each year." Recorded. — Read letter from J. C. Schmidt, 

 Seedsman, &c., dated Erfurt, Preussen, 12tli January 1883, 

 asking for certain palm seeds announced by '* The Gard- 

 ener's Ohronicle" to be available for exchange and giving 

 the following valuable advice as to their despatch: — "All 

 seeds must be sent off immediately after crop » * » 

 all fresh and good * * The greatest possible attention 

 has to be paid to the packing, and if you follow ray in- 

 structions regarding this part of the transaction, there is 

 not the slightest doubt that the seeds will arrive in 

 splendid condition. Tlie seed must be packed in small 

 but strong wooden boxes, the size of which must of course 

 be regulated by the quantity of seeds to be packed, no 

 zinc lining required. To prevent the seeds from getting 

 rotten during the time they are on tlie way, they must 

 be packed as follows; — Take a quantity of dry saw-dust 

 of fir or pine trees (saw-dust of other trees will do as 

 well in case you have no pine treesj and mi.x it with the 

 same weight of water. To the latter must be added a 

 quantity of Salicyl powder, 5.V ounces English weight to 

 1 cwt. water, which has been dissolved in boiling water 

 before addiug it, and then the water with the solution 

 of Salicyl added to it must be worked thoroughly with 

 saw-dust. This done, a quantity of the saw-dust is put on the 

 bottom of the box, and then a layer of seeds is put in. 

 Over this saw-dust is strewn, and another layer of seeds 

 is put, anil so on. The quantity of saw-dust which you 

 prepare must of course be regulated by the quantity of 

 seeds ready for shipment, and the Salicyl powder is to 

 be had with every Druggist or Apothecary. The boxes 

 must be nailed well and shippid by quickest way". — Read 

 the following letter from John Home, Esq., Director of 

 Forests and Gardens, Mauritius, dated 27th December, 

 last, "I send you by this opportunity a pamphlet on the 

 culture of the Aloes vert' {Fourcroi/a giejaatca) and the 

 extraction of fibre from its leaves I have iust heard of 

 a new, and, said to be, a much improved Machine. But 

 it has not been tried iu the colony. There is very little 

 fibre extracted here from the leaves of Ayam Americana, 

 Fourcroya c/ir/antea yields the whole of it. The seeds you 

 sent arrived in good order, many thanks for thnm. I 

 would Uke if you could send us a quantity of young 

 plants of iSoj/mida febrifuga in a Wardiau case, by some 



of the coolie ships which come here. Seeds of this tree 

 do not germinate after a voyage from Ir.dia to this place 

 and we have not a tree of it in the Island. I shall be 

 glad if you will send me a list of your desiderata and I will 

 endeavour to send you plants or seeds from time to time." 

 . Thk CoooNni-PALM, CoFrBE &u., IN Fiji. — The 

 Chairman of the Levuka Chamber of Commerce, after 

 dwelling on the special oambilities of Fiji for sugar 

 onlturd if only labour coalVl be procured, and stating 

 that within a couple of ye^rs the value of sugar ex- 

 ported would exceed half-a-miUion sterling, went on 

 to say : — 



" Cjpra — At our last annual meeting I had to notice 

 with regrel the cmtinued decline iu the value of this 

 article. It i^ doubly pleading, theretora. on iliis oc- 

 casion to b' able to say that depression has patsed, 

 the value of this product uo.v being 50 per cent, over 

 what it was at this period last yeir. This difference 

 means an increased spending power to those engaged 

 in this industry of from £15 to £20,000 per aunum, 

 and a benelit we all participite in more or less. 

 The large area of nuts planted soma years back are 

 now coming into beariug and we hear from all the 

 merchants that it is coming to market faster than 

 they can get ships to take it away. I believe all 

 available storage in town is occupied, while large 

 quantities are stowed at outstations, awaiting ship- 

 ment. The expirt returns for 1882, I imagiue will 

 top that of former years by at least 1,000 tons. 



" Coflfee, tea, cinchona, and other new industries are 

 gradually forging ahead. The former will probably 

 double in value during this year, as several of the 

 coffee estates will this year commence to yield. The 

 samples of tt;a which have been analysed, show that 

 we can produce an article equal to any grown else- 

 where, but as this industry is only in its experimental 

 stage, it remains to b> seen whether the returns will be 

 such as to induce larger ventures in this way. Cinchona 

 is highly spoken of and is thriving well. — Fiji Times. 

 EoCENTRiciTiES IN CoFFEB GROWTH.— A number 

 of five-seeded coffee cherries have been sent to 

 us from Wilson's Bungalow. As our readers are 

 aware, the normal number of seeds or beans is two, 

 lying in the pulp face to face. When one seed proves 

 abortive tlie remaining one curls round and becomes 

 a "peaberry," or as the Gerinans calls it "pearl." 

 A still more curious monstrosity has just been sent 

 to us from Udapussellawa in the shape of three 

 cherries elongated and united. We shall send both 

 specimens to the Museum. " W. F." writes on this 

 subject : — " Some time ago you showed me some 

 Libarian coflee berries which had several beans in 

 them instead of the normal number of two, character- 

 istic of the genus, but I forget from whom. If I 

 recollect aright, each berry had four beans in it, and 

 they were all the produce of one tree. Two .of the 

 berries which your correspondent H. A. Dauibawinue 

 j from Wilson's Bungalow sends have each 5 regularly 

 j arranged beans iu them, and the other, which is 

 ' somewhat abortive, has shown signs of the same 

 number of beans. This number of beans is, I should 

 say, very abnormal, because they generally consist 

 I of 2, 4, or 6, by a double series, but I see no ad- 

 vantage to be derived from this, even if it keep true 

 ' as a form : because the five beans are, if anything, 

 I less iu bulk than the usual two. Your correspondent 

 '; does not say what kind of coffee it is, but I think 

 ; the fruits arc those of the Liberian plant. Sir 

 I Joseph Hooker has taken a particular interest in the 

 I Rtibiacex. the family to which the coffee belongs, 

 I and has marked it out with great care and admir- 

 1 able skill for the 3rd volume of the Flora of Br'ithh 

 Iwlia and his full and perfect description of the 

 i genus Cofea is so good that I think yon would do 

 well to copy it into your T. A. as a reference for 

 ' all future time." 



