26 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, i 88i. 



move the bark under the uotohea and in crevices. 

 Some matting should be placed under the plant to catch 

 all the leavesrbark, twigs, &c., which are tobe burned. 



Secojid— Obtain a quantity of the most deciimposed 

 manure— cowduug preferred— and mix witli it the 

 specific, until it is reduced to a thick paste ; then 

 further reduce it with water, until it arrives at a 

 consistency of treacle. 



Third. — Paib the compound thoroughly into the ' 

 plant, until it adheres to it. See that it reaches to 

 every part of the plant, previously removing all de- 

 cayed wood that may be on the tree. 



Fourth.— A\!\i\y the preparation thoroughly, unless 

 it be washed off by rain or rubbed off by accident, in 

 which case give another application. 



In about a month's time the new leaves will begin 

 to shoot out and the plant will then rapidly assume a 

 healthy appearance 



Do not be afraid of this treatment. It may appear 

 harsh aud novel to you, but we can assure you 

 that the very beat results have ensued from past 

 experiments. 



We would again request you, as the representative 

 of the PLantera' Association, to see that otir interests 

 do not suffer by our absence, a«d that you will inform 

 ns from time to time as to the progress it (the test) 

 is making. 



We are informed that a reward is offered for a cure 

 of this disease. In event of success then, we shall 

 leave ourselves to the honor of the coffee Planters' 

 Association.— Yours truly, Gilbkrt Geo. Smith, 



M. Ball. 



Our readers will observe that the trees to be operated 

 on are to be deprived of uU their leaves, besides a cert- 

 ain proportion (not stated) of the twigs, and all their 

 bark That the whole of the bark is meant and not 

 merely the epidermis, is obvious from the remarks 

 which follow about not being alarmed at the severe 

 nature of the treatment. It had previously been car- 

 ried out and the effects were good. We should have 

 thought the effect would haie been that the disease 

 would have been cured as the patient's fever was. The 

 ftver went off', but he weut off with it. 



We can assure our readers that Mr. Smith, who is 

 DOW sub-editor of a newspaper, shewed no sign of 

 mental eccentricity on the occasions wlien we saw him. 

 He was a quiet gentlemanly man and did not look like 

 a subject for the Yarra Bend Asylum. But of Mr. 

 Ball we know nothing. 



We could have understood all the foliage coming off 

 (although the young leaves would be equally liable to 

 be infected), and we could have seen reason in rubbing 

 off all the rough outside birk ; but when we appreci- 

 a.ed the tact that the directions are to deprive the 

 tree of all its bark, our gravity gave way and we afforded 

 si.rae reason for questioning our own sanity by our re- 

 pftition of "A perfect cure !'' 



In damp retentive soils, young cinchona plants are 

 prone to die oft" in large numbers, and to give very 

 little notice of iho advance of decay. Whole acres of 

 fine, healthy-looking youug cinchonas suddenly droop, 

 and little is gained by working for a change in tlie 

 weather, for it fails lo produce a revival. A planter 

 gives a hint which seems worthy of attention. He 

 Bays that, as soon as yon observe the drooping of the 

 plants, cut a two foot hole on the lower side, and .as 

 near the stem as possible. The bole probably lowers 

 the vpater level, aud thus saves the pl.aut. The remedy 

 is not likely to prove successful, if the plants have been 

 raised from ioimature seed. — Houth of India Observer, 



" FoEKST Ranoers." — The Government of India | 

 hove established a Forestry School in the DehraOun 

 at which it is hoped some 600 natives will be speedily 

 fitted for the duties of " Forest Rangers." We pre- ! 

 sume our own Forest Department nefds subordinate : 

 officers of the class referred to. Has our Govern- 

 ment sent any natives of Ceylon to be trained in ' 

 the Himalayan Forest School, or in the Agrioultral | 

 College at Madras? | 

 Labour in Jamaica. — Mr. Morris recently wrote i 

 to say there was abundance, but the question is one of 

 the wages, and each paper from Jamaica shows that the 

 people are going to work on the Panama Canal and 

 on South American railroads. Wc quote as follows 

 from Gall's Neu^s Letter : — We learn tliat the contractors ' 

 for the Costa Rica railroad, who have all along oljtained ' 

 labour from Jamaica, liave now adopted the less ^ 

 expensive plan of sending to Colon for the unemployed i 

 Jamaican labourers there. 



Tea and Coffee Duty. — A bill is now before 

 Congress (U. S.) to exempt from all discriminnting 

 duties tea and coffee produced in tlie Dutcli Colonies. 

 The law as now enforced provides for a discriminating : 

 duty of 10 per cent, on tea and coffee grown east of ' 

 the Cape of Good Hope in the Dutch Colonies, in view 

 of corresponding Dutch dmies. As the latter have 

 been repealed, the United States is called on to do 

 so also. It will tend to flood this market with a poor 

 quality of Java coffee, which is generally badly 

 adulterated before leaving the colouics. The Rio mer- i 

 chants strongly oljject. — G'a/rs.^oos ierta-. [Naturally; ' 

 but what right have the Rio merchants to complain • 

 because the United .-^lates Government abolish dis- 

 criminating duties?— Ed. C. O.] j 



The Asbestos paint promises to be a complete j 



success, to judge by the experiments recently i 



made at the Crystal Palace, Tlie experiments were ! 



of various kinds and tlie tests applied could not be ■; 

 accused of any want of severity. Logs of wood, partly 

 painted and partly unpaiuted with the asbestos pre- 

 paration, were placed on a tierce tire burning in a large 

 brazier and subjectexl for many minutes lo the full force 



of the flames, fanned by a modi-rate breeze which was i 



blowing at the time. VVhen they were pulled out by 1 



the attendants, the parts which had been paiiued were j 



seen to be blistered in places and to be emitting at first ; 



some light jets of flame, which, however, almost im- i 



mediately extinguished tbemselves when the action i 



of the surrounding fire ceased, leaving the surface \ 



almost as white and uninjured as before the fire had j 



been applied, whereas those logs, which bad been un- i 



painted, or only partially painted, were, of course, ; 

 charred aud almost consumeii. The most interesting 



experiment was, however, afforded by the four wooden ■ 



structures which had -been erected on the terrace, in " 



imitation of theatres and sheds. In the centre of j 



each of these was lighted a vigorous fire fed with ! 



shavings soaked in petroleum and buruing immediately ; 



under the flooring. While the structure which was ; 



unpaiuted blazed up and was soon burning merrily \ 



in all its parts, those which had been painted stood ; 



the test most conclusively and were hardly marked ! 



after about halt an hour's tri.al, when the unpainted ; 



sheds were a mere mass of smouldering embers. It 1 



was clear to all the spectators that the resistance ! 



offered by the ji^iiuc is most obstinate .and certain, | 



and that I he great difficulty which the flames have ; 



in getliug any liold at all upon any substance covered ; 

 with it would, at any rate, afford a long respite, 

 during whicii the fire engines would not only have 



time to come up, but also an audience retaining any • 



presence of mind would be able to escape. The dir- ' 



ectors of the Crystal Palace Company have already ' 



caused their theatre to be covered with the paint. — ; 



New York Hour. ' 



