934 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May I, 1883. 



Tea Odeing. — Under favourable circumstances drying 

 machines may do all that is promised by their vendors, 

 but we contend that in dull cloudy weather the results 

 expected are considerably more than can be attained ; 

 and we woidd ask the Calcutta houses largely interested 

 in the industry, to bear this in mind and make a liberal 

 allowance in their estimates for extra fuel. Did they do 

 so we feel confident the result will be satisfactory to all 

 concerned. In these days when one planter is pitted against 

 another to tm-n out his tea at the lowest rate, we con- 

 sider that such instructions as sometimes emanate from 

 "the powers that be," are quite sufficient to make the 

 planter cut it a little too fine, and the result is complaints 

 about soft teas, because a liberal allowance of charcoal 

 has not been sanctioned, and the planter must not exceed 

 his estimate. As we have said in former articles, in olden 

 times pucca hatty lasted about iS to 10 hom-s, and in 

 those days there were no complaints of .soft teas. With 

 drying machines, times, of coiurse, have somewhat altered, 

 but we would adrise planters thoroughly to test the 

 proper dm'ation of kutclitt, and more especially /Ji/rco battv 

 in those dryers, as this alone is the only safe test to 

 gQ by, — lndi(jo Planters' Gazette. 



The Oastok-Oil Tree. — A member of the Limoges 

 Horticultural Society has made the discovery that the 

 weU-known castor-oil plant is fatal to nearly all kinds 

 of insects — a property which adds one more to its already 

 long list of virtues.* Having placed a specimen of the 

 plant in a room infested by flies, the gentleman in ques- 

 tion, M. Eaffard, found that the flies suddenly disappeared 

 in a most remarkable manner. On seeking to ascertain 

 the cause, he found a large number of flies lying dead in 

 all directions, and more particularly close to the plant, 

 while quantities of flies adhered to the under side of 

 its leaves, which exude an oil that is apparently poison- 

 ous to inscets. This discovery has suggested the ^ idea 

 of employing, a decoction of the leaves as an insecticide. 

 It the plant is equally fatal to aphidse and the other 

 parasitic insects which are so abundant this season, the 

 castor-oil plant will demand a place in every conservatory, 

 independently of its value as an ornamental shnib ; while 

 its cultivation would be advantageous out of doors in all 

 countries whose climate is suited to it. The plant is 

 fairly hardy, and deserves much more attention than it 

 receives, especially in oui- warmer colonies, where it should 

 find a place for the sake of its invaluable oil. Castor-oil 

 is best known for its medicinal quantities, but it is 

 equally valuable in many industrial arts, and is available 

 for many more pm-jjoses than those to which it is usu- 

 ally applied. Its newly-discovered property as an insect 

 destroyer is not the least of its virtues. — West Australian 

 Inquirer. 



EXTRAORDINADT ANALYSIS OP SuCCmUBRA BarK. — The 



renewed bark of a succhubra tree on Braemore estate m 

 the Agras, has given the wonderful outturn of 8'06 sulp. 

 quinine ! This comes to us from Mr. J. Buchanan, the 

 manager of the estate. The tree was only 6| years old, 

 and, curiously enough, the bark was 18 months renewed 

 imder mana grass. Most of the former analyses of renewed 

 bark have pointed rather to a decrease of alkaloids after 

 some months or so and certainly seemed to prove that 

 at about 6 months renewal the bark was richest. This 

 wonderful analysis of Braemore bark leails to an entirely 

 different conclusion, and, should other analyses bear out 

 these flgiures. perhaps we have been harvesting our renewed 

 bark too early. It renewed succimbra can give anythiiig 

 like this outtiu-n, oflacinalis even in favourable spots, will 

 have to hide its diminished head. We shall await other 

 analyses from Braemore ivith much interests. — To more 

 thoroughly test the wonderful yield of sulphate of quinine 

 that the renewed bark of a succimbra on Braemore gave, 

 Mr. Buchanan has had an average analysis taken of about 

 1,000 succimbra trees. The sample tested was carefully 

 taken from each sack, containing the renewed bark from 

 those trees, well mixed together, and therefore is a valuable 

 analvsis as showing the average yield of quinine from such 

 a number of trees. Nearly 500 lb. of renewed bark were 

 taken froiA these trees, 12 months after original sharing, 

 and the result, though of coiirse not so good as the 8 per 

 cent that the single tree gave, still is most i navvellously 

 *In the T.A., vol. I, p. 908, a correspondent called in 

 que.stion this property of the castor-oil plant.— Ed. 



good. The figures are 502 sulph. of quinine. The single 

 tree analy.sed, it will be remembered, was shaved 18 months 

 previously, while the present trees were .shaved 12 months 

 before, ami possibly, had they been allowed to remain an- 

 other 6 months, the yield might have been still greater. 

 Mr. Buchanan is about to have another average analysis 

 taken from a number of trees, the renewed bark of which, 

 similarly to the first tree analysed, is now 18 months old. 

 There must be something in Braemore pecuharly suitable • 

 to the rigorous growth of succirubra, and to the formation 

 of alkaloids ; and should all its succirnbras turn out as 

 valuable in quinine as those aheady analysed, they will 

 indeed be a mine of wealth. — -Ceylon Tlmea. 



Kerosin"e and Quinine. — Hitherto the mode adopted in 

 the ■ extraction of the alkaloids, and in the after separ- 

 ation of the sulphate of quinine has been by the employment 

 of ether and alcohol alternately; both these vehicles are 

 ultimately recovered by distillation tor re-use, but for all 

 that there is necessarily a certain amount of wastage in 

 them both. AVe imderstand that a more economical process 

 has been adopted by the Milan Manufactiu'er, by means 

 of kerosine, which is made to do duty tor ether, but 

 this method does notas yet appear to be adopted by either 

 EngUsh or French manufactm-ers. The latest suggestion 

 in regard to this process is that the alkaloids should 

 be extracted in the crude state on the .spot where the 

 bark is grown, and that they be shipped home in that 

 state to the quinine manufacturer who could then with- 

 out difinculty separate the ordinary from the more 

 valuable alkaloid. It this could be done with twigs and 

 other inferior and bulky kinds, it would be the means 

 of saring largely in the items of packing and freight. — 

 "Ceylon Times." 



Oaeob Seed, — During the last two years District Forest 

 Officers in the Bombay Presidency have been engaged 

 in carrying out experiments with carob seed, but the re- 

 sults do not appear to have been very promising. In 

 Sind the Conservator states that all the plants were 

 protected by mats from the frost during the cold season, 

 and adds that when once these plants have established 

 themselves in the soil, they should be able to exist without 

 artificial irrigation of protection; at present they are too 

 small, and it would be premature to express an opinion 

 as to their flourishing in Sind or not. The Superintendent 

 of the Economic Garden at Hyderabad, Sind, also states 

 that though the plant will grow, the slowness of growth 

 will prevent its being of much use except as an orna- 

 mental shrub in gardens. The reports from other stations 

 in all parts of the presidency are of a similar nature. 

 At some stations the plants have died, and at others the 

 growth is very slow. In the Government gardens at 

 Poona there are two trees about fifteen years old. The 

 peculiarity of this tree is that it has the sexes on separate 

 indiriduals. From the female tree in the Poona gardens 

 about 71 lb. of fairly gooil fruit were obtained in May 

 last year, and the crop would have been hearier if pro- 

 tected from parrots. — Indian Daily News. 



The Brinjal: "an Unknown Plant." — The appended 

 letter was addressed by " An Old Indian " to the editor of a 

 well-known London weekly newspaper, and may interest 

 those of our readers who are on the watch to introduce 

 improvements or novelties into the Cliinese-European 

 cuisine:— "In your issue of the 30th ultimo I noticed a 

 paragraph re 'An Unknown Plant,' and from it have 

 gained some information. I recognised the vegetable the 

 moment I saw it as the 'Brinjal,' which is common all 

 over India .and Ceylon, and cooked in a variety of ways. 

 There are two varieties, as we have with the radish, the 

 long and the round. I do not know why the round kind is 

 not imported, tliey are both equ.aUy good. I recollect 

 seeing some of the round kind growing in a garden in 

 AVandsworth some twenty years ago; they were called 

 "egg plant," and were not considered fit for food. My 

 subsequent Indian experieuce has taught me the contrary. 

 It should l)e a valualile addition to our list of vegetables 

 for the table. "Knoll khoU" or "kholl rabi" is also a 

 very good table vegetable, if boiled when not too old 

 and" tough. It is prized as a vegetable in India. In 

 EnglaiKf it is either unknown or despised as only fit for 

 sheep. It is, on the contrary, an excellent vegetable,— 

 Penrliyndendraet. 



