August i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



'83 



Carbolic Acid and Cabbolate of Soda in doses 

 of from 15 to 20 gi-ains daily have been used by M. 

 Raymond (Practitioner, Feb., p. 126, from Joiirn. dc 

 M6d. ) ill tlie treatment of typhoid fever, with the result 

 of a notable lowering of temperature, lasting as long 

 as six hours ; he did not, however, find that the 

 d uration of the fever was shortened by the treatment. 

 M. Hallopeau reports more favorable results, as he 

 found that the etfeets of carbolate of soda in lowering 

 the temperature lasted for many days, and he believes 

 that it did exereise an influence on the duration of 

 this disease. JSl. Raymond says that he has also 

 obtained excellent results from the use of carbolic 

 acid in erysipelas ; he uses a 50 per cent solution as 

 a lotion, and administers carbolic acid internally and 

 carbolate of soda in injections. — Phannaceutical Jimrnal. 



Cotton Seed as Manure. — One of the adrautagea 

 of feeding sheep on oilcake is that the nitrogenous 

 oonstiluents of the diet are conveyed to the soil in 

 the shape of manure; but it appears to have only 

 recently occurred to any one to try the experiment 

 of using cotton-seed as a manure by direct application. 

 The ide.'i seems to have originated in the United States, 

 where cotton-seed meal applied to poor cotton lands 

 increased the productiveness of the cnttou crop eight- 

 fold. Lane), which before the use of this cotton-meal 

 as a fertilising agent yielded only 18 bales per acre, 

 is said to have been eo improved by its application 

 as to have producr^d 145 biles to An acre. The interest- 

 ing question arises, whether tliis remarliabie result is 

 due to any particular connection between the chemical 

 properties of the mannro and those of the crop — both 

 being identical? It would be important to decide 

 this point by trying cotton-meal as a manure fur 

 different crops. It is a well-knnwn fact that a manure 

 which will suit one plant will disagree with, or 

 produce smaller effects on, another, and cotton-seed 

 meal may not give such tiiartliiig results as those above 

 quoted if applied to otli^r agricultural produce. But 

 the experiment is worth trying. It would, if the 

 American reports may be relied upon as accurate, 

 prove invaluable, at least in India, Queensland, Fiji, 

 the West African Settlements, and other cotton-produc- 

 ing parts of our Empire, even if it did not succeed 

 on other crops. — Colonic.^ and India. 



Te.st for Gold. — In the present great search for 

 gold in Ceylon the following te^t, t»ken from the 

 Public Opinion, will be read with interest: — "There 

 is a simple method for the detection of gold in quartz, 

 pyrites, &c , which is not geuemlly deeoi-ibed in the 

 mineralogieal text-books. It is an adaptation of the 

 well-known amalgamatio'i proce-a, and seiTes to de- 

 tect very minute traces of gold. Place the finely- 

 powdered and roasted mineral in a test tube, add 

 water and a single drojj uf mercury: close the test 

 tube with the thumb, and shake thoroughly and for 

 some time. Decant the water, add more and decant 

 repeatedly, thus washing the drop of mercury until 

 it is perfectly clean. The drop of meicury contains 

 any gold that may have i een present. It is there- 

 fore placed in a small porcelain capsule and heated 

 until the mercurv is volatilsed, and the le^idue of gold 

 is left in the Ijuttom of the cap;^ule. This residue 

 may be tested either by dissolving in aqua rekia and 

 obtaining the purple of Cassius with protoohloriile of 

 tin, or by taking up with a fragment of moist til'er 

 paper, aod then fusing to a globule on charcoal in 

 the blowpile flame. It is being shown that gold is 

 much more universally distributed than w.»» formerly 

 supposed. It has recently be -n found in Fulton and 

 Saratoga counties. New York, where it occurs in p»ritei. 

 It has al-o been discovered in the gravel of Cheater 

 Creek, at Lenni, Delaware County, Pa. In one of the 

 Virginia gold mines wonderful richness is reported. 

 160,000 dols. worth of pure gold having been taken 

 from a ape of three square feet." 



A Sign of the Times.— One marked effect of the low 

 prices which prevailed in 1880 has been to stimulate a 

 demand for our medium and cheap qualities, as well as 

 to permanently increase the price paid for them, so that 

 now common grades show an advance of about 30 per 

 cent, while fine teas exhibit a fallinjj-off of fully half as 

 much. It IS behoved that fine sorts will remain- perman- 

 ently weakened, and that the tea of the future lu most 

 general demand will be one which can be retailed at from 

 i.--. to 2s. 6d. — Indian Tea Gazette. 



The LutoEST Tree.— The biggest tree in the world is 

 not m California, as every one supposed, but in Aus- 

 tralia. The champion of the Yosemite Valley must 'dve 

 way to the peppei-mint trees on the Daudenoug ra'n^e 

 of hills m Australia. Baron von MiiUer, who is a <Teat 

 authonty on botanical subjects, asserts that he has^'seeu 

 one of the trees of the enormous height of 480 feet 

 ahnost equaUing the height of St. Paul's Cathedral — 

 Land and Water. 



A Cocoa-nut Grove in QuEENSL.iNo.— On the 

 Pioneer River, ex.actly opposite to the town of Mae- 

 kay, IS to be seen one of the most remarkable sights 

 in all Australia, the Cocoa-nut groves of Mr. Barnes. 

 It is some sixteen years since Mr. Barnss conceived 

 the idea of growing Cocoa-nuts, and he selected his 

 present homestead with that particular view, and it 

 appears to be eminently suitable for the purpose. 

 The land is a low-lying sandy and vegetable deposit, at 

 one tune covered with Mangrove trees, and just about 

 on a level with high sprin-tide 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 beauti- 

 ful 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 age 

 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 



commence fruiting Ibey continue without intermission 



that is, a flower 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 Mackay are 

 not yet up to their best, therefore Mr. Barnes has not 

 as yet troubled about looking for an export market. 

 The Kanakas on the various plantations buv a larce 

 number, so that it pays the proprietor better to sefl 

 say, one-half the produce at a retail price, and let 

 the other half waste, than to hunt for a distant whole- 

 sale buyer. For the same re.ason he has not com- 

 menced to dry the fruit, or express the oil, or utilise 

 the fibre. Thus any selector thinking to goon in for 

 Cocoa nut growing will see that it is entirely owing 

 to the circumstance of Mr. Barnes being so close to a 

 large town that the industry has been made to pay. 

 In these gardens there are many other trees as well 

 the most noticealjle being Date Pdms, of which there 

 are 300 p'anted. These grow quite as well as the 

 Cocoa-nuts, and are equally handsome. Between 300 

 and 400 Orange trees also are planted out, most of 

 which are in full bearing ; some of these were evidently 

 suSering from dryness or p. verty of the soil, and a 

 greas many were injured from having been planted 

 too near the Date trees, which rival che Bamboo in 

 the way in which their roots ramify and rob the 

 moisture from every neighbouring plant or tree. Many 

 Banauas and Pine-apples are grown, and Mr. Barnes 

 adopts the safe plan of frequently changing the ground 

 upon which he grows these, and also plants them 

 wide distances apart. Melons in great quantities are 

 also grown, and are ripe in early September. As this 

 is a full month sooner than they appear in the Brisbane 

 market, doubtless a trade will lome day be carried on 

 in the way of the North export.ing them to the South. 

 — Queendaiidt r. 



