August i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



163 



This process of "grafting " iari, not in the general 

 acceptation of the word (jraflhig, as applied in horti- 

 cullui-e, applying in this case to bark onli/, brings us 

 to consider how chisely this prooe"S of " bark-grafting " 

 comhhies and rexemhka vaccination and inoculation. 

 Hence I suggest that, instead of grafting a tree with 

 its own barlJ, or skin, it ba grafted as in the case of 

 a fine, large, straight and ^^thy succiiubra with the 

 very finest, healtliiest and^Sost suitable ledgeriana 

 bark, or, if not procurable, %vith at any rate one of 

 the more valuable cinchona barks, suitable of course 

 to the altitud^■, s"il, climate, etc. 



These suggestions are original, and theoretical only. 

 However I hope they will lead practically to further 

 cunsi'leration and result. — Believe rue, yciur obedient 

 servant, S. STIIXINGFLEET 1 WLES.' 



P. S. — Budding roses, as done at home, is an exam- 

 ple of grafting bark. 



No. II. 

 Dear Sir, — If your correspondent " Sceptic," in your 

 issue of the 1st insl., will use ferns as a covering for his 

 sh.ived cinchona trees, he will find the ferns sutJiciently 

 opeu to keep the bark cool and so prevent injury from 

 damp ; and they will also prove a thorough pro- 

 tection to the bark from the rays of the sun. S. A. 



CINN.\MON. 



3rd July 1882. 



Siu, — I am pleased to find that the agitation set on 

 foot by '■ Cinnamon'' in the local " Times" and taken up 

 by me in jour columns has been productive of some 

 g lod. Though there are scores of men iu the country 

 who will be benefited directly by the suppression of 

 chips, yet such is the apathy amongst us natives, that 

 no one interested himself in tlie subject, till ''Cinna- 

 mon" with commendable zcil distrilmted copies of his 

 letter to many of tlie principal n.itive landholders, and 

 thriiUiili the medium of private letters to the most 

 influe itial amongst them maniiged to set on foot the 

 NATIVE AGRICULTURAL A.S.SOCIATION. Long years of 

 usefulness 1 wish it most heartily. 



This is one outcome of the agitation. Another is that 

 the subject has attrncted the attention of the brokers 

 in London, as I find by the letter of your London 

 correspondent. It is idle for your correspondent; to 

 Bay that the withdrawal of chips will not influence the 

 price of quilled cinnamon. If he refers to the export 

 of chips, the quantity sent from Ceylou for the last 

 two years will appal him. I am sorry 1 have not your 

 "Directory" at hand to give the exact figures (please 

 supply the omission*) ; but, if the withdrawal of this 

 immense quantity does not give us a better price for 

 our q'lilled oinuamou, notbing will. We in C-ylon have 

 not the slightort fear of China supplying what we with- 

 draw fn^m ;he market. Confectioners with an estab- 

 lished reputation will be slow to use the next to worth- 

 less c.a»sia bark for flavoring purposes, in i he place of 

 cinnamon. Cinnamon, whether quilled or incliips, must- 

 I suppose, b- ground to powder when used for fla, 

 voring confectionery. No wonder then that cliip- 

 fiiui so much favor amongst small confectioners, 

 as the quills we bestow so much care in prepars 

 ing, when ground to powder, cannot be distin- 

 guished from powdered chip.s, except by an exjiert, 

 who will be able to detect a milder flavor in the former. 

 If chips be wi'hdrawn, and cinnamon be s'ill in demand 

 by confectioners, it is reasonable to suppose they will 

 go in for quilled cinnam m, and with increased demand 

 prices will rise. When thi- prices of cinnamon went 

 up about a twelvemonth back, 1 remember reading 

 iu the commercial letter of either the Observer or the 



* The export of cinnamon chips in the last three sea- 

 sons was 118,518 lb., 474,484 lb., and 321,772 lb. respect- 

 ively.— En. 



" Times" that the keeping up of the prices was practic- 

 ally in the hands of the growers, by keeping back the 

 imm-nse quantity of chips then flooding the market. 

 For the London brokers to now tell us what is opposed 

 to all commonsense is foolish. 



As for the arguments .against monthly sales, I need 

 not tik" the trouble to refute them, as your corre- 

 spondent simply repeats whatthi^ brokers told us before. 

 We were not ' sal islied with the soundness of their 

 arguments, neither are we now. Self-interest makes them 

 still adhere to antiquated and out-of-date quarterly sales. 



I trust, now that the Association has' been formed,' 

 sonie meinber will ere long bring forward a motion by 

 which all members will bind themselves fo discontinue 

 scraping chips on their estates— even for a couple of 

 years. If the withdnawal of chips does not favorably 

 affeci the price of qu'lled cinnamon, then we can all 

 resume scraping. Again wishing the Ceylon Agricult- 

 ural Association long years of usefulness, I subscribe 

 myself, PLANTER. 



RIVALRY IN SILK AND TEA : SILKWORMS 

 IN CEYLON. 



Dimbula, 4th July 1882. 

 Dear Sir,— There are one or two rather misleading 

 statements in the article under this heading which is 

 quoted from the China Mail in your paper of The Istinst. 



First we are told that "the conditions which form 

 the plant are prejudicial to the insect, and vice versa." 

 Then, iu warm regions the silkworm "obtains maturity 

 in less than half the period iu colder locnlitie.s. . . . 

 This reduces the liability of loss from disease." &c. '&c! 



As regards the first statement, can any proposition 

 be more absurd? The mulberry being the natural 

 lood-plant of the silkworm, are we to infer that there 

 has been a grave error made in the liwsof Providence' 

 The mulberry tree may "thrive better in cold clim- 

 ates," but this is no proof that it is better adapted 

 as food for the worm. Most trees may be improved 

 by "highcultiviition," but pruning and manuring th- 

 mnlberry at .all heavily renders the leaf uusuitable. 



As regards the second statement, experience here 

 supports the views of Capt. Hutton, published so long 

 ago as 1859 :— " A temperate climate is by far the most 

 suitable font; beyond 80° Fhr. I confess I should look 

 for nothing but debility and sickness. . . .Nearly all 

 competent observers have remarked that the longer 

 the worm takes to come to maturity the better will 

 be the cocoon." 



It is true, as the China Mail remarks, that cards of 

 eggs sent from China and Japan have reproduced 

 successfully : a large proportion of the grain hatched. 

 One gentleman wrote me thi.t h« had millions of 

 worms, but I have not heard that they were a success. 

 Hatchers of egga from either country continued to 

 hatch out day after day for six months or longer, 

 and, if this was not a sign of debility in the p,arent 

 stock, it was the result of indolence or fraud on the 

 part ot the exporter. I pointed out in a former letter 

 that it was most important in rearin" silkworms to 

 have the utmost regularity in every sta^e from the 

 time the young worm leaves the egg until the spinning 

 of the cocoons. In any properly-managed establish- 

 ment the moths would not be allowed to lay their eggs 

 promiscuously for months together, but each day's eggs 

 would be kept separate. 



I do not think there will be any occasion for Ceylon 

 to procure more "grain" from China or Japan, as we 

 have eggs now of a far healthier standard than "the 

 heathen Chinee" is likely to ofl'er for exportation. 



Sericulturists will do well to bear in mind that the 

 worms should not be fed on leaves fiom trees under 

 three years old, at least, as immature leaf increases 

 the debility of the worm, and, of course, spoils the 

 quality of the silk.— Yours faithfully, B. 



