170 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 1882. 



and to the public generally, by depreciating the value 

 of the Oranges from St. Michael's, for the arrival of 

 Oranges by steam vessels could be calculated, while 

 that of sailing vessels could not, and the market 

 rigged accordingly. The prices latterly have been so 

 low as to give cause for speculation on the a'ivis- 

 ability of some other article of export being found 

 to replace tlie Orange. The Coffee tree has been tried 

 and found to succeed very well — tliat is, that the 

 trees grow very well in sheltered situations and pro- 

 duce fine Coffee beans, but it has still to be ascert- 

 ained whether the damp cilmate of the Azores will 

 allow these beans to be dried sufficiently for export- 

 ation. Great difficulty attends the drying of the Indi- 

 an Corn cobs, but as this cereal fomis one of the 

 principal articles of food for the inhabitants and for 

 tlie towTis on the continent of Portugal, tlie difficulty 

 has been overcome. The Tea plant has also been tried 

 and found successful, and two Chinamen wei-e sent 

 for to teach the means adopted for curing the leaf, 

 which has also to contend with the extremely damp 

 climate of these islands. In doing so it was found 

 that the leaf requires an innnense deal of manipul- 

 ation before it can be presented for sale, and a great 

 part of this manipulation can only be accomplished 

 by mixing up with the hands the Tea leaves. Per- 

 haps some better way may be discovered in process 

 of time when this cultivation comes to be better 

 known ; in the meantime the plant thrives very well, 

 and does not appear to requii'c more shelter than the 

 Coffee or Orange trees. — Gnrdcners' Chronicle. 



THE CAUSES OF LEAF DISEASE. 



TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PLANTERS' OAZETTE. " 



Dear Sir, — I have read Mr. Holmes's article on 

 Coffee Leaf Disease in the Planters' QazeMe. The view 

 he maintains, that cultivated plants tend to become 

 enfeebled by the artificial conditions under which thny 

 are grown, has often been suggested. I am very doubt- 

 ful about the evidence myself. Facts might be easily 

 adduced pointing in exactly the opposite direction. 



llany of the points in Mr. Holmes's letter seem to 

 me open to discussion. 



From what I know of the luibits of Hemileia, I see 

 no reason to suppose it would have been less deadly 

 if all the coffee plants in Ceylon had been newly 

 obtained from a wild source. The reasons why the 

 Liberian coffee escapes are not, I think, I hose sug- 

 gested by Mr. Holmes, but because the texture of 

 the leaves is unfavourable to the development of the 

 fungus. What I should recommend is, thit planters 

 should try to obtain a race of Arabian coffee with 

 similar resisting powers. This might be done by 

 carefully selecting any plants which seemed habitually 

 less diseased, saving and sowing their seed, and re- 

 pealing the process indefinitely. In this way a strain 

 of seed might conceivably be obtained which would 

 be as little injured by the Hemileia as the American 

 vines by the PliijHoxera. All that is to be said on 

 the present state of the question is contained in Mr. 

 Marshall Ward's last report. It includes some excel- 

 lent practical suggestions. I should scarcely think 

 this important document can have been seen by Mr. 

 Holmes. — Yours faithfully, 



Kew, March 17, 188-2. W. T Thiselton Dyek. 



Mr. Thiselton Dyer's opinions naturally carry great 

 weiglit from his high reputation and hmg experience 

 at Kew, but Mr. E. M. Holmes, F.L.S., to whom 

 we tliought it only fair to send a proof of tbe above, 

 remains unconvinced, for he has returned it to us 

 with the following rt*marks : — 



Dear Sib, — The object of my article on Coffee Leaf 

 Dise.ise was to call the attention of planters to the 

 importance of. regarding the subject from more than 

 one point of view. Any facts that Mr. Dyer can 



.'idduoe from his large experience in the Royal Gard- 

 ens at Kew, to prove, th.at plants iu vigorous health 

 and reproducing freely, are more liable to disease 

 than weakly .and badly nourished specimens, will 

 doubtless tend to throw some light upon tlie question, 

 and open a discussion in your columns, which will, 

 I trust, be advantageous to those interested in coffee 

 planting. 



Mr. Dyer seems to assume that Liberian coffee es- 

 capes the disease. If he will take the trouble to 

 refer to the Ceylon Ohserver, Feb. 27, p. 186, he will 

 find that Mr. Schrottky's carbolic powder has been 

 used to keep down the disease in the Liberian 'coffee 

 nurseries for a year. I attril)uted the fact that Liberi- 

 an coffee is less suhject to the disease to the plant 

 having had as yet hardly time to have its vitality 

 lowered by excessive bearing, or by growth in soil 

 deficient in met.allic uutrltioQ tor the plant. Uuquesti- 

 onably Mr. Marshall W^ard has done gold ser\iceas 

 a crjptogamist in throwing light on the life history 

 and development of the fungus, and the best time of 

 year to take pi-eventitive measures. Of his repoit I 

 received an early copy from Dr. Trinieti, and am not 

 therefore, ns Mr. Dyer presumes, ignorant of its con- 

 tents. But there are other poiuts of view — for in- 

 stance, that of agriculture. If it be true, as stated 

 by Mr. Stephen Wilson, th.at the germs of the fungus 

 are found latent in the seeds of diseased plants ; his 

 suggestion of taking the seeds of slightly diseased 

 plants, can scarcely be of any value, unless he be 

 prepared to prove. that the disease may be prevented 

 by a process of inoculation, similar in some respects 

 to that which has been practised with such success 

 by M. Pasteur on animals ; but I am not aware that 

 this line of experiment has even been suggested. The 

 Joddrell Laboratory at Kew doubtless offers excellent 

 opportunities for .an investigation of this kind. I 

 venture to suggest to the assistant director the poss- 

 ible value of experiments with this view. — Yours very 

 truly, • E. M. Holmes. 



THE COCOA-NUT AND DATE PALM IN 

 QUEENSLAND. 



On the Pioneer Kiver, exactly opposite to the town 

 of Mackay, is to be seen one of the mo.?t remarkable 

 sights in all Australia, the cocoa-nut groves of Mr. 

 Barnes. It is some sixteen years since Mr. Barnes 

 conceived the idea of growing cocoa-nuts, and he 

 selected his present homestead with th.at particular 

 view, and it appears to be eminently suitable for the 

 purpose. The land is a low-lying sandy and vegetable 

 deposit, at one time covered with mangrove trees, 

 and just about on a level with high springtide mark. 

 In fact, dams are made in places in order to keep 

 back these tide waters. 



Mr. Barnes has a grove of 1,200 of these beautiful 

 trees now healthily growing upon 10 acres of land. 

 The oldest planted are perhaps some 20 feet in height, 

 but the majority are not yet up to that. The ago at 

 which these trees commence to bear fruit varies much, 

 some beginning at four years old, and some not for 

 some eight years Later. When once they comnieii':e 

 fruiting they continue without intermission — that is, 

 a fl')wer-stem shoots out from the base of every leaf 

 as it is formed, so that fruit in all stages, from the 

 flower to ripeness, will be upon the one tree ,at the 

 same time The fruit of the cocoa-nut improves with 

 the age of the tree, and these at IJackay are not yet 

 np to their best, therefore Mr. B irnes iia" not ai yet 

 troubled about looking for an ex'port market. The 

 Kanakas on the varioiisplautations buy a large number, 

 so that it p.ays t'e proprietor better to sell, say, oue- 

 half the prorluce at a retail price, .and let the other 

 half waste, than to hunt for a distant wholesale buyer. 

 For the same reason he has not commenced to dry the 



