102 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 1882. 



sa_\3, the tree will prow eq'ually wt-U in India, Central 

 Aiijerioa, ibe Wes Indies, many parts of Africa an J Auslralia, 

 and in the South Sea Islantis. the planters in our possessions 

 the e miglit hiy the ioundatiun of a profitable industry by 

 introducing some of these trees and starting their system- 

 atic cultivation. The tree, besides t,eiug a most valuable 

 one and easily coltivated, is of matrniliceut growth, and 

 would form an ornament in any hindscape. 



We take the following from the Planters' GazcUe : — 



There can be no reason, however, why the cork tree 

 should not be citltivated in some of the British colonies, so 

 that tills country maybe rendered inilepeudeut of foreign 

 supply, since England alone imports about 10,000 tons of 

 cork per annum, and the amount is yearly increasing. The 

 requirements of the tree are an altitude of from 1,(300 to 

 3,200 feet, a climate haWng a uniformly high temperatm-e 

 whose mean annual average is not less than 55 o Fah. and a 

 southerly slope on a gi-anitic, silicious or slaty soil, where a 

 free circulation of air and exjiosure to light is admitted. 

 Profuse nightly dews and abundant moisture with efficient 

 di'ainage favour the development of fine cork, which, under 

 these circumstances, becomes more elastic and less porous. 

 The tree will not tioitrish on calcareous soils, nor beyond a 

 latitude of 45 o N. Wherever these conditions are compUed 

 with the cork tree can be successfully grown ; and there are 

 many places in India, Central America, the "West Indies, 

 Africa, the South Sea Islands and Australia, where the 

 fomidation of a profitable industry might be laid by intro- 

 ducing the cork tree. In the last mentioned country there 

 exists a native cork tree QuercKS occidentalism which is hardier 

 than Quercus Siiber, and which according to Dr. Mueller, 

 yields a very good cork bark. 



It should be stated, however, that the cork oak does not 

 arrived at maturity until fifteen years old, and can then be 

 cut with profit only every six or eight years, so that it would 

 probably pay best when grown, as an adjunct to other 

 plantations. Indeed, it might do good service in preventing 

 the spread of fungi, by forming a separating line between 

 different coffee plantations, since it is imquestionably the 

 case that the coffee chsease extends more rapidly on account 

 of the close proximity of a number of trees of the same 

 species. 



In France, about 110 to 120 trees to 2J acres is thought 

 to be sufficient, and each tree is calculated to produce about 

 181 lb. of cork. The best cork comes from Sardinia and 

 Tuscany, and seeds of these trees are therefore preferable 

 for cultivation Large and sweet acorns develop into the 

 most regular trees, and produce the finest cork, while trees 

 grown from bitter and small acorns yield an inferior bark. 



The inner bark of the tree yields about 12 per cent, of 

 tannin, and an extract is prepared from it which is more 

 easily obtained than that from English oak bark. As it 

 yields a dark leather, and very little "bloom," it is generally 

 mixed by tanners with valonia, or Enghsh oak bark. In 

 Italy it is largely used in tanning sole leather; Marseilles 

 also annually imports large quantities, and Ireland at one 

 time comsunied S,000 to 10,000 tons of it. But this extract 

 can only be obtained where the trees grow freely, or from 

 those wliich have to be thinned out, since its collection 

 involves the destruction of the tree, the tannin being con- 

 tained in the bast layer or inner bark. 



[Has the cork tree rver been tried iu Cejlon, he3'oi d 

 the precincts of the Botanic Gardens? — Fd.] 



THE MAHWA TKEE. 



30th June 1882. 

 Deab Sir, — Referring to the article on the Mahwa in 

 yonr issue of the 27th, there are se^'eral kmds in Cey- 

 lon answering thereto, all known as migas, of which 

 Tehni is the best, and is cultivated for its oil which 

 the Sinhalese mix with their rice. The estate Tamils 

 call it ill.apu and eat the flowers after being dried. 

 Neither the Sinhalese nor Tamils in Ceylon know any- 

 thing of the arrack or whisky that can be distilled 

 therefrom. The Sinhalese value the tree on aocouut 

 of its timber as well as for the oil and bui'n the 



fedi after being dried as a light. The migas may 

 e now seen in flower on the banks of the Mahawali- 



ganga, below Katumittala, in such abundance that 

 they turn the water of all the oyas and small streams 

 quite black in their decomposition, and the nauseous 

 effluvia will indicate their presence long ere the eye 

 alights on the white flower. This scent is supposed 

 by the Sinhalese to give fever, and I have seen 

 Sinhalese vomit frightfully after eating fish (although 

 boiled or cooked) caught whilst the flower *of this tree 

 was falling. ,^ ^ NEMO. 



[The Mahwa tree (BassiJ latifolia) is not indigenous 

 to Ceylon : the tree to which M oon gave this name 

 with the Sinhalese one of Kini-hajmbiliya is no doubt 

 the same as the one described by Dr. Thwaites as 

 Isonaudra graudis, iu En. p. 176, from which an oil 

 is extracted and used like that from the Tel-mee-gaha 

 (Bassia longifolia) which is the Ilupei of the Tamils: 

 4 species of Dasyahis, 1 do. Dichopsis, and 7 species 

 of Isonandra, given by Dr. Thwaites are all now in- 

 cluded as mere sections of Bassia, so that we have 13 

 species of Bassia in Ceylon, but only two of them 

 resemble the Mahwa of India, and it is questionable 

 if they are worth cultivating for then- flowers as food 

 at any rate. The Bassia (Isonandra) grandis is well- 

 known iu the Central Province as a timber tree un- 

 der the Sinhalese name Meeria or Meehii'iya, whilst 

 the same tree is kno^vn in the Western Province as 

 Heen-kiri-heriya. — W. F.] 



GOVEfiING CINCHONA TKEES. 

 No. I. 



1st July 1882. 



Dear Sir, — In your issue of 26th ult., in answer 

 to " Uikoya Planter," I would suggest, on thesubjict 

 of covering cinchona trees after barking, that a col- 

 lodion of indiarubber, guttapercha, or some vegetable 

 gummy exudation, might be used. Should this, how- 

 ever, be rejected on account of its impermeability to 

 gases, i. e. preventing osmosis, I think gum acacia 

 and chalk, or some species of gum and plaister of Paris, 

 wonld, perhaps, be preferable, on account of being porous. 

 In this case (xtenial xuppnrt might he rendered, if ne- 

 cessary, by means of strips of a very thin, nnhleeiched 

 calico, thinner in texture and cheaper tlian are surg- 

 ical bandages, or varroio strips of gaux—m fact 

 any cheap texture to answer the pui-pofe. It is quite 

 possible in time that iwt only inoculation to increase 

 the percentage of sulphate of (/uinme, but aho, after 

 the first and subsequent barkings, the rapid formation 

 of fresh harkhy the applica'ion of some stimulant (liquid 

 or solid); just as in "granulation" is illustrated this 

 point, in the formation of new tissue in" auimalia." 



Planters will do well (not to confine this to experts 

 only, but to extend the number of close observers) 

 to study " Vegetable Histoloiiy," e. r/. cinchona barks, 

 not only in minute structure, but formation and 

 requirements in birth, growth, development, decline 

 and death; and so iirogressing in knowledge, may 

 eventually come to the consideration, understanding 

 •ind explanation of the pathology of cinchonas : but 

 far higber education and keen ai>preciation of symptoms 

 — i e. slight alteiation in the daily condition and wants 

 of plants— is necessary to eflfectively carry out these 

 suggestions than take it as a rule exists 'at present, 

 though of course the scientific cultivation of cinchonas 

 is more or less in Its infancy. 



As to a method of ace lerating the formation of new 

 birk, I wonld su^^gest that "skin-grafting" e.g. (on 

 the surface of wounds, where there is extensive de- 

 struction, or removal of the fxtiTnal covering or .skin — 

 vide Bryant's '^Surgery "), illustrates in animal life one 

 of the siiniulating processes. I now suggest .19 bi'ing 

 applicible to vegetable life, in .assisting the formation 

 of new bark both as to tini" and improvement as to 

 quality (in the case of the latter) under study and 

 care at the proper moment. 



