May I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGKICULTUUIST. 



891 



The Phylloxera, which was thought to have beeu stamped 

 out in Victoria at so high a cost, has now brokeu out 

 again. — Planter and Farmer. [Just what wu anticipated, 

 when the uprooting process was commenced in Geclong. 

 It seems impossible to eradicate this insect past any more 

 than GUI' fungus. — Ed.] 



Will the Tomato be found to protect orange trees from 

 Might and aphis? Our experience points in that direction. 

 Will some of om' veteran orange growers give their views 

 on this very interesting questiouV We observe that the 

 finest and cleanest of our young trees are those near tomato 

 plants. It may be merely accidental, or the strong aroma of 

 the plant may be obnoxious to these insects. — Planter and 

 Farmei'. 



Beee. — A "Bill for better securing the pm-ity of Beer," 

 which has been brought into the House of Commons, provides 

 that every person who sells or exposes for sale, by whole- 

 sale or retail, any beer brewed fi-om or containing any 

 ingredients other than hops and malt from barley, shall 

 post conspicuously in the same place a legible notice stating 

 what other mgredients are contained in it, under a penalty 

 of twenty jjouuds for a first offence. " Beer " is defined 

 as "beer (other than black or spruce beer), ale and porter." 

 — Pharmaceutical Journal. 



OOMPAEATIVE HARDNESS OF WooDs. — Talking shellb.irk 

 hickory as the highest standard and calling that UW other 

 woods will compare with it for hardness as follows: — Shell- 

 bark hickory, 100; pig-nut hickory, 96; white oak, 84; 

 white ash, 77; dogwood, 75; scrub oak, 63; white hazel, 

 72; apple tree, 70; red oak, 69; white beech, 65; black 

 walnut, 65; black bh-ch, 62 ; yellow oak, 60; white elm, 58; 

 hard maple, 56; red cedar, 56; wild cherry, 55; yellow 

 pine, 54; chestnut, 52; yellow poplar, 51; butternut, 43; 

 white birch, 43; white pine, 30. — Journal of Forestri/. 



Curious mistakes are sometimes made with regard to 

 the names of drugs sent from foreign countries; thus 

 safflower seed has been offered for sale as sunflower seed. 

 Recently a fragrant commodity appeared in the market 

 (Gardeners' Chronicle, Feb. 10, p. 184) under the name of 

 safSower, which had not the least claim to the name, 

 masmuch as it was fomid to consist not of composite but 

 of the finely broken leaves of a labiate plant, Zataria 

 multif!ora,a. native of Persia, Beloochistan and Afghanistan. 

 It was shipped to this country from Bombay, but with what 

 object it is difficult to conceive. The odour of the leaves 

 somewhat resembles that of thyme. — Pharmaceutical Journal.. ' 



Tomato Wine. — Exi>ress the juice from clean, ripe tomatos, 

 and to each gallon of it (without any water) put brown 

 sugar — 4 lb. Put in the sugar immediately, or before fer- 

 mentation begins; this ought to be done in maldng any 

 fruit wine. Something of the character of a cheese-press, 

 hoop, and doth, is the best plan to squeeze out the juice 

 of tomatos or other fruit. Let the wine stand in a keg 

 or barrel for two or three months; then draw off mto bottles, 

 carefully avoithng the sediment. It makes a most delight- 

 ful wine, having all the beauties of flavoiu* belonging to 

 the tomato; and, no doubt, all its medicinal properties also, 

 either as tonic, in disease, or as a beverage for those who 

 are in the habit of using intoxicating beverages. — Planter 

 and Farmer. 



The Cinnamon Tree- in Queensland. — The Brisbane 

 Planter and F'armerj in noticing a nursery, states: — "We find 

 several notes in om* book which space will not admit of our 

 amplifying. But we camiot overlook a tree to which we 

 desire very particularly to call the attention of our readers. 

 This is the cinnamon-tree, which has gi-owu to perfection. 

 It is a large shi'ub of about 10 to 12 feet in height, and 

 as many in diameter from branch to branch. It is the 

 cinnamon of commerce, and, according to Mr. Wilhams, will 

 gi-ow on any stony ridge where but little or no frost is 

 felt. The bark is taken from the last growth just as the 

 new shoots are being made, and is cut off precisely as bark 

 is peeled for the tanner. We were told that a tree will pio- 

 duce about 10 lb. of bark, and as little or uo cultivation 

 is required after the earlier days of gi-owth, the people of 

 our coast country shovdd at once enter mto this industry to 

 the extc:nt of a score or two of trees at least. In this way 

 a new and valuable industry might be estalilished, and our 

 exports correspondingly raised. [Oiu' contemporary endently 

 thmks that the bark of cominercf is 1aken fi-om trees such 

 as he describes. It is not, ami from her old eoppic<Ml plant- 

 ations, can Oeylou more than supply the woihl's want*. — liu.] 



Jarrah Wood (Eucalyptus Maroinata). — Reporting on 

 this wooil the Chief Engineer at Adelaide, South AustraUa, 

 says that it has beeu extensively used i u the colony for 

 many years for railway sleepers, piles, and other structural 

 piu'poses. Many of the sleepers that have beeu laid in the 

 permanent way for a period of eighteen years are quite 

 somid at the present time, and show no symptoms of decay 

 or destruction from the white ant. It is recommended 

 that the timber should always be j)rovided from the iron- 

 stone ranges, and not from the Hats or swamps, as from 

 the latter places it is spongy, and is Uable to attack from 

 insects both on land and in the sea. It is also a matter 

 of importance that the logs should be felled when the sap 

 is down, and properly jjitched, by which means any tendency 

 to sphtting is minimised. Sound logs are readily obtainable 

 from 20 to 40 feet in length, and from 12 to 34 inches 

 square. — Gardeners' Ohronicle. 



The Tomato as Food. — Dr. Bennett, a professor of 

 some celebrity, considers the tomato an invaluable article 

 of diet, and ascribes to it various important medical pro- 

 perties. First — that the tomato is one of the most power- 

 fid -aperients of the liver and other organs; where calomel 

 is indicated, it is probably one of the most effective and 

 least harmful remedial agents kuo\vn to the professioji. 

 Second — that a chemical extract will be obtained from it 

 that will supersede the use of calomel in the case of 

 disease. Third — that he has Successfully treated diarrhrea 

 with 'this ai'ticle alone. Fom-th — that when used as an 

 article of diet it is an almost sovereign remedy for 

 dyspepsia and indigestion. Fifth — that it should he con- 

 stantly used for daily food, either cooked or raw, or in 

 the form of catsup; it is the most healthy article now 

 in use. Tomatos a.i Food for. Cows.—The plan is to mix 

 a little bran with them — say, three quarts to a half-bushel 

 of tomatos, when fed. They cause an excellent flow of 

 rich and delicious milk. — Planter and Farmer. 



The Olr-e in California. — It ajjp&ars that Mr. Cooper, 

 of San Bai'bara, Sau Diego, and other places, has demon- 

 strated by his cidtivation of the olive that the tree thi'ives 

 and bears well in California, and also that it is profitable 

 to cultivate it.* The trees begin to pay at three years, 

 and when five years old will pay all exiienses of tillage 

 and harvesting with a sm-plus, while the sixth year the 

 crop will pay for the land, the trees, and the t'dlage for 

 the five yeai's pre\nous, and, with good care, the increase 

 is larger from year to year for a century longer. Indeed 

 there are now alive in Asia Minor trees known to be up- 

 wards of 1,200 years old, and they are still in full bearing. 

 In a pamphlet published by Mr, Elwood C'ooper, the 

 stiiteraent is made that some of his best trees, eight years 

 old, produced 2,000 gallons of berries to the acre, and the 

 European standard is eight gallons of berries for one gallon 

 of oil. so that this gives a product of 250 gallons of oil 

 per acre. The oil finds a ready market at 5 dols. a gallon, 

 which gives an income of 1,250 dols., or £250 an acre for 

 the best eight years' old trees in an exceptionally good 

 year. — Farmer. 



LAYERiNG.^.Anyone having a garden to attend to should 

 understand layering. It is a very simi^le operation, and 

 also a very effective one, for many things that cannot 

 be got to strike from cuttings may, I>y layering, be pro- 

 pagated "with certainity. The operation, as most of our 

 readers are aware, consists in inducing a branch to emit 

 roots before it is separated from the parent plant. Many 

 plants do this of their own accord wherever they come 

 near the ground; others can only be made to do it by 

 artificial means. As a rule, it is necessary to cut or in 

 sonic way injure the branch where roots arc reipiired to 

 make, and this may be done by twisting it, by taking 

 a ring of bark off, or, as is more frequently the custom, 

 by cutting a notch or tongue in it, and pegging the 

 branch with (he tongue open several inches under the 

 surface of the soil. The thing should be done in good 

 growing weather, and the best to select for the purpose 

 is young wood about half matm-ed. Almost anything can 

 be got to grow by attending to all these matters, but if 

 old wood is layered it will oidy succeed with plants tha^ 

 root freely; sonic, it will be found, will never do more 

 than form a hard callus. Layers should not only be 

 I pegged down firmly, but also stakeil securely; these two 

 operations are more than lialf the battle. — Queendander. 



