320 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[October i, 1882. 



CiTKON-ORANOES — Large quantities of citron-oranges 

 have been received from Jaffa, and its neighbour- 

 hood. They are produced from oraugesets grafted on 

 citron-stocks. They are much larger than oranges, 

 and sell for 10 to 20 leptas each. The oil obtained 

 from the peel by distillation or bj the Sicilian method 

 of expression differs from both orange and citron oil. 

 — ChemiH and Drtiggis'. 



Planting in Sarawak. — Mr. Loyalty Peake writes 

 to lis by this mail : — " My cinchona nurseries are now 

 doing very well and the plants looking very strong and 

 healthy. I hare some sucoirubra about 10 months old 

 from date of sowing seed, about 3 feet high, and very 

 vigorous. I was fortunate enough to obtain J lb. of 

 Ledger seed from Mr. Gammie and a small quantity 

 pubescens. I liave also the promise of some Java 

 Ledger from the Dutch consul in Singapore. I am 

 also trying tea, Liberian coffee, cocoa and rubber : 

 present appearances are in favour of them all." 



Hybrids. — It has long been matter of dispute with 

 some as to whether in-and-in breeding is per se inimical 

 to health. Notwithstanding that it has been shown, 

 times out of number, that all the greatest improvements 

 in the domestic animals have been brought about by 

 closely in-breeding, many fail to be convinced that 

 it does not result in degeneration. Mons. V. La Perre 

 De Roo, of the Soci^t^ d' Acolimatation, France, has 

 published a work on "consanguinity." In it he states 

 that at one time he shared tlie common opinion, 

 which led him to make varions inquiries as well as 

 to experiment upon animals. The net result of tliese 

 observations and inquiries — practised at the institu- 

 tions of Paris, Lyons, Bordeaux, Rouen, Antwerp, 

 Liege, Berlin, Munich, Milan, &c., and also at the 

 chief sheep depots of France, and of the experiments 

 made and continued for twenty years on all sorts of 

 animals — is that the ill effects attributed to consang- 

 uinity are purely imaginative. So convinced is Mons. 

 De Roo of the absence of any evil effects from in- 

 breeding that he says, "the question of consanguinity 

 does not deserve to be considered by science." — 

 Queenslander . [This is contrary to Darwin's doctrine 

 that an occasional cross, even with an inferior variety, 

 leads to good results. — Ed.] 



Indian Tea. — Several small invoices of new sea- 

 ason's tea have been placed on the market, re- 

 presenting some of the principal districts, and in 

 every instance the quality appear much below the 

 average of the first imports of previous years, thus 

 confirming the early advices. The recent news of 

 the crop has,l however, been more encouraging, and 

 the latter shipments will probably bring stronger and 

 better teas. It will be more than ever necessary this 

 season for the Planters to produce Teas possessing 

 the above characteristics, and even in some degree 

 to sacrifice weight to quality. Indeed, it has long 

 been a question whether the incessant pickings in 

 India are not likely to bring about in time blights 

 and other plant diseases, which will seriously com- 

 promise the industry. The Chinese do not pick the 

 leaves nearly so often as is done in India. It is 

 true that their climate, at any rate in the northern 

 districts, is not so hot and moist as in .\ssam, so 

 that the flushes are probably not so frequent. On 

 the other hand, the Chinese variety of the plant 

 has not nearly so strong a growth as the plant in- 

 digeuous to India, and it is obvious that incessant 

 pruning and picking is more likely to do harm to 

 ■ what, if left alone, would grow into a tree, than 

 to a plant that would not become more than a large 

 bush. If incessant pickings are kept up, it is a mat- 

 ter of consideration whether it would not be desir- 

 able to let the plants lie fallow at intervals to re- 

 cover themselves, and in any case, the complaints 

 of various blights already heard in ludia are of seri- 

 ous potent. — Produce Markets' Review, 



Antimony. — Our supply of antimony has hitherto 

 be.-n brought from Great Britain and the island of 

 Borneo. But mines of it have been found in the 

 southern part of Utah, whence ten tons of ore, yielding 

 60 to 65 per cent of antimony have lately been received 

 at Baltimore. — Oil and Drug News. 



A Memorandum for every Planter's Note-Book. 

 — The following may be accepted as the dates on 

 which tea cultivation commenced in the different dis- 

 tricts : — Assam 1835, Kumaou 1850, Cachar 1855, 

 Dehra Doon 1855, Sylhet 1857, Kangra 1858, Dar- 

 jeeling 1860, Terai 1860, Chittagong 1860, Neilgher- 

 ries 1862, Chota Nagpore 1872, Dooars 1S75. These 

 dates are from a London contemporary, and we believe 

 are generally correct. — Indigo Planter's Gazette. 



Tea. — In the following advice to Managers of tea gard- 

 ens is given in Messrs. Moran & Co.'s last circular : — 

 'The manufaetu ling season is now about half through, and 

 we would again warm all concerned in the industry 

 against overplucking- Production so far is generally 

 much ahead of what was expected. This has bees 

 brought about in a great measure by the leaf having, 

 chiefly in Cachar, come out faster than usual owing to 

 favorable growing weather, but, unfortunately, in some 

 cases, too fast to allow of its being plucked sufficiently 

 quickly. When this is the case, of course a large 

 quantity of leaf accumulates, and cannot generally be 

 worked off fast enough to make good tea, and con- 

 sequent on this is tt>e falling off of the quality which 

 has in many cases been noticed." — Pioneer. 



White Ants.— If X. will try kerosine oil, I think 

 he will not be disappointed. It kills all black ants it 

 falls on almost directly. Whenever black ants appear, 

 I stuff their holes up with cotton or cloth well wetted 

 with kerosine oil, and pour some round the holes. They 

 won't go near it. It is equally gond for white ants. 

 They will not touch anything rubbed over with it ; 

 nor will they .nppear again (at least for a long time) 

 where it has been put down. If the ants (black or 

 white) appear high up on a wall, squirt kerosine oil 

 into the holes they have made. I should think it 

 might be tried on trees with great adv,antage to save 

 them from white ants. The wood-work of doors and 

 window."!, and innumerable other things, can be pre- 

 served by being rubbed over with a cloth wetted with 

 kerosine oil, I am quite surprized how few people 

 know of this simple and cheap remedy for getting rid 

 of ants of all sorts. I don't see why it should not 

 answer for other insects, but have not as jet tried it. 

 — B. — Pioneer. 



Japan Tea Trade.— Conflicting rumonis as to the 

 actual condition of the American tea-markets generally 

 continue current; some evidently taking a pessimist 

 view of the position, whilst others show, that although 

 no very brilliant results can be expected, affairs are not 

 really so bad as some would make out. We believe 

 that when the present feeling of alarm amongst buyers 

 in New York — caused by the unprecedentcdly large 

 shipments from this, — has pubsided, it will, as a rule, 

 be found that the tea crop of the present season has 

 been — as regards quality— the best that we have had 

 for several years. The only fault about it is the price, 

 and for that the Japanese are not to he blamed. We 

 hear that, thus far, the results of the campaign have 

 been very satisfactory to native producers, although they 

 still complain of the high cost of labour resulting from 

 the present enhanced prices of most of the necessaries 

 of life. We trusi, that for the balance of the season, 

 the producers will not fall into the grievous error of 

 bringing into this market an inferior article, with the 

 view of saving the expense. It would be far better 

 for them to sacrifice some, if not all their profit, than 

 to adopt any course which may again endanger the 

 popularity of Japan Teas in tl:e States — a popularity 

 winch they now seem to have a good chance of re- 

 gaining. — Japan Herald. 



