May I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



871 



or 40, averaged from 1ft. to 2ft. in height, and were raised 

 from seed supplied by Sir John O'Shauassy. 

 Subjoined is Mr. Ferguson's report: — 

 " State Nxu'sery, Macedon, 



"Sir, — I have tlio hounur t(i" acknowledge the receipt of your 

 letter r? catalpa tree (speciosa). 



** I have the lionour to repoi-t that I i-eceived from the late 

 Secretai-y for Agriculture, in JHSO, a package of seed of the above 

 ti-ee, and beg- to inform the honourable the Miiustor of Lands 

 that I have here about \,C}(K> plants that have been tmnsplautcd 

 fnto nuiseiy mw-s, nmst of wliieh will be fit for plauting' out 

 penuanently in the forest diuiug the ooniing autumn and winter, 



•• The ratiilpu sprriu?;a is a native of the Suuthem States of 

 Nortli Aiuen.il. wliere it yi'ows to a niodemte-sized tree, seldom 

 being met with more than tiuft. in height, with a meiliuni tronk. 

 "When in flower it is a gi'and sight, andhkoits cou'j'enev, ratalpa 

 big-noniuides, of our gardens, is mueh admired for its large loli- 

 age and beautiful tloweis. 



" The tunlur nf sijuTiosa is mueh sought after in Aineriea for 

 piles and posts tor tViiring. and has been found to last for niauy 

 years when subj-ricil to damp and mai'shy places, where other 

 kinds of timber have pehshed, 



" Since its hitruductinu to this colony, I find it to be a tree of 

 rapid growtli, well suited for a diy country, and I have no doubt 

 when it beeoraes better known it "wdl be extensively planted. 



" About 250 trees were raised in tlie State Nui'sery at Lon- 

 gerenong, in the Wimmera District, and during last season I 

 had them transplanted into nui-sery lines, and they are growing 

 rapidly. 



" The catalpa speciosa, like the Paidovnia, walnut, ash, and 

 other deciduous trees in this locahty, are hable to get cut up by 

 spring frosts, find I intend next season to make a permanent 

 plantation of the catalpa in some more suitable locality in the 

 state forests. 



" I have the honour to be, Su-, your most obedient servant, 



" W. Ferguson, 

 IiLspector of State Forests. 



"A. Moirah, Esq., Secietary for Lands, Melbourne." 

 — Av;itralasi.an. 



ABRACACIA ESCULENTA. 



(From the Fhuicra' Gazette, Feb. 16th.) 



The cultivation of the Arracacha (Arracacia EscukntaJ 

 has been more than once referred to of late in this Journal 

 (vol. xsiii, pp. 178, 297, 401) ; the following additional part- 

 iculars as to its cultivation may therefore be of iutereat to 

 our readers. Thd subject of its growth in India having 

 been brought before the Agri-Iioi-ticultural Society of Madras 

 at one of theii- recent meetings, the iuforniatiou here re- 

 forred to was eUcited, it seems to have been contained in 

 a letter dated so far back as 1878, from Mr. Henry Bii-ch- 

 all, an accomplished English gentleman, who resided 

 many years in the countiy, to the British Consul Gener- 

 al, Mr. Charles O'Lcary, at Bogot-a. Mr. Birchall writes, 

 that as a large number of sets is produced by one plant 

 the propagation is rapid. The tuodiis operaach is thus ex- 

 plained by him : — 



''The propagation of the Ai'racacha is effected by the 

 separation from the plant at maturity of a nmnber of small 

 peduncles or heads (leaf-stalks) sitreading fi'om the central 

 root, wlncb also, underground, throws out the carrot- 

 shaped horns, which are the best of the edible part. Tlie 

 hard upper pai"t of the central tuber to which these leaf- 

 stalks are attached serves for hogs or cattle, as do the 

 leaves for the latter. 



The planting is done in rows with a distance of from 

 3 to 4 feet between each row, and as much between 

 each set in the rows. 



"The sets are planted by simply making a hole about 

 six inches deep with a pointed stake and inserting the 

 set slanting with the concave of its curve upwards aud 

 then treatUng in the soil slightly, leaving the slioot-bit 

 of the stem barely at the surface. The average length of 

 the set with the small piece of root attached will not ex- 

 ceed '6 to inches. . . The set being broken off the root 

 should be neatly trimmed to a clean smooth sui'face. 

 Weeding and eartliing-up constitute the subsequent cult- 

 ure as often as required. le is customary also where the 

 plant grows large to gather together the leaves and twist 

 their necks moderately, a process said to prevent running 

 to head and favoring development of the root. In favor- 

 able situations the planting may take place whenever 

 ground aud seed are available. We are always planting 

 AiTacacha, and see no particular advantage in one seaj^on 

 over another. But the distinction between wet and dry 

 aeasous iu this country [Fusagasuga] is less marked than 



in some otiier tropical regions, and probably the close o* 

 a well-defined di-y season would be the safest period. 



" The plant requii'es from 10 to 12 months to reach 

 maturity, but the tubers (or carrot-shaped roots) may be 

 gathered two months earlier than tins period if much wanted. 

 In this case the produce is of course smaller, but it is 

 said to be equally wholesome aud agreeable to the taste." 

 As to diseases, properly so called, Mr. Birchall ^ ys he 

 " knows of none to winch the Arracacha is subject.'' 



"Occasionally, when exposed to too much di'ou^ht, it 

 becomes as it were frost bitten, called here chucfia or 

 euch/a-udfi, in wldch state it boils semi-transparent and re- 

 mains hai'd after cooking and is unlit for human food. If, 

 however, plants so affected are allowed to stand till the 

 return of the rains and to renew their fohage the root 

 will recover. Manure is never employed for this or for 

 any crop, I can, therefore, give no opinion based on ex- 

 perience as to its application. But analogy would indicate 

 that, as in the case of all other edilile roots, the supjjort 

 and stimulus of manure could hardly fail to produce greatly 

 increased crops. Here aU we do is to clear the forest and 

 plant the Arracacha among the maize which is the uni- 

 versal first crop." 



Considering the risk and difficulty of transpoi-t for the 

 living plants I vautm-e to suggest the sending of the true 

 seed of the Arracacha if for tiial in other coimtiies. The 

 central peduncle of the branch of stalks ia never inten- 

 tionally planted as it produces the Jlae/to, or male plant, 

 which proceeds immetliately to flower and yields no edible 

 root. Tliis for production of seed is never, so far as I 

 have seen, cidtivated in this counti-y, but in every plan- 

 tation, by oversight, these flowering plants occur. It ap- 

 pears to be certain that by sowing the seed and proceed- 

 with the resulting plants, which are small at fii-st, exactly 

 as with those produced in tlie usual w^ay, iu two or thj'ee 

 seasons the i>lants will attain fully theii' gi-owth. This is, at 

 any rate, what experienced farmers tell me, and it may 

 be worth while to try this for tlie possible case of failure 

 iu those sent in a growing state." 



We are further informed in some observations on the 

 foregoing notes that several attempts have been from time 

 to time made to introduce the plant sor field cnlture in 

 Europe, but without success, ouing probably to the pec- 

 uliar climate wliich it requires, and the great difficulty of 

 preserving the roots through winter. The French made a 

 fi-esh trial in 1876 to introduce it into the neighbourhood 

 of Paris, but without .success. Several iitteni]-ts have also 

 been made to iutirxluce it into lutba, the latest Ix-ing about 

 187i* from the Koyal Gardens, Kew, whither they liitd been 

 sent for transmission to India. "Of these twelve were 

 alive, but they were not in a condition to bear the jour- 

 ney to India. They were, therefore' kejot at Kew, and 

 were sent out subsequently imdur case of a gardener who 

 was coming out for the Bengal Cinchona Plantations. They 

 reached Calcutta in March, 1879, and only two were alive, 

 and Dr. King reported that even these looked sickly. After 

 a few days they were sent to the Cinchona Plantations in 

 Sikkim, under care of the same gardener proceeding there. 

 On the way thither one died, so that only one reached 

 Sikkim. This was kept at Mengjioo, near DarjUing, and 

 on enquiry. Dr. Kaug reported in June, 1879, that this 

 one also died. Meanwliile, the seeds asked for were re- 

 ceived, and sown in the Chajuri Gardens at Mussoorie 

 by Mr. Duthie, who, in his annual repoit for 1880-81 

 on the Saharunpore and Mussoorie Botanical Gardens, 

 said that even plants were the result, but that none 

 ai-e sufficiently grott-n yet to say more of them than that 

 they look quite healthy." 



"Judging from the information th&y brought together, 

 it seems i^'obable that parts of British Bunnah and Assam 

 wall be suitable for the growth of the Ari'acacha, and it 

 may perhaps be considered desii-able to make an atsempt 

 to mtroduce the esculent into those provinces," 



TEA IN CEYLON. 



Imbulpitij'a is one of the few tea estates in Oeylun that 

 have machinery fitted up, though it will not be long be- 

 fore all tea estates have the necessary rolling machinery 

 and firing apparatus, as a great sa\-ing of labor is thereby 

 ffected. A small-sized roller, such as I saw, takes from 

 TiO to 60 lb. of leaf, and in twenty minutes the roll is 

 finished, so that not more tlian 150 lb. can be rolled in 

 one hour, and when the pickings mcrcase as the estate 



