October i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



2S9 



SKED-SOWING IN DRY "WEATHER. 



To obteia successions of many things, it is necessary to 

 BOW frequently. Though spring is the season for sowing 

 the bulk of the main crops, yet in well-managed gardens, 

 where every yard of land is made the most of, seed sowing 

 must be a constant business; and if dm'ing a severe time 

 of drought the seeds cannot be got in, or if they do not 

 germinate, there \s a break in the supply of that particular 

 article. Take the case of any common vegetable in daily 

 use, such as turnips or lettuces. The seeds will not grow 

 in a dry dusty noil at this season ; and yet it is important 

 that both these crops should be sown now, more or less 

 in proportion to the demand. Tlie same thing occurs iu 

 the case of late peas. The season will soon be past 

 for them, and iu tlry situations the seed may sometimes 

 be in the land for days without making a move, simply 

 because there is not sufficient moisture iu the soil to induce 

 germination. Ours is a porous soil, and at this season, even 

 if there are flying showers, as there are now, we always 

 like to well soak with liquid manure the drills for peas, 

 French beans, turnips, radishes, endive, lettuces, and other 

 things sown, for the next six weeks and ckaw the drills 

 slightly deeper than would be necessary early in the season. 

 "Where there is no liquid manure tank, put a pound of 

 guano, or t^?o or three pounds of superphosphate, into a 

 barrel of water, and a couple of pounds of salt. Stir the 

 water well with an old brich broom, and well soak the 

 drills; sow the seeds immediately, and cover with the dry 

 soil drawn out of the drills. So treated, the youug plants 

 come up strong and vigorous, and get away from insect 

 pests at once by their rapid growth. Iu some cases shade 

 may be employed with great advantage. I found the simple 

 expedient of hanging nets over a bed of turnips of great 

 value in a twofold sense during the dry seasons we had 

 ten or a dozen years ago; and these dry times may come 

 back again. — E. H. — Field, 



DR. BONAVIA'S HYBRID HIPPEAS TRUMS. 



In 1875, in the Lucknow Horticultural Garden, I had 

 five or sis kinds of ordinary Hippeastrums; one was a 

 deep carmine, a second an expanded scarlet, a third v 

 cream coloured one (probably H. Solandraeflora) ; a fourth 

 a curious small but firm petalled orange variety, with up- 

 right flowers ; a fifth, a red one with bands on the middle 

 of the petals, evidently a descendant from Amaryllis vit- 

 tata, and another or two. I had them all in pots, in 

 what is called a " chick " house — a house with walls and 

 tops of reeds to keep out excessive heat and sunlight, and 

 under which Ferns, Palms, kc, are successfully grown. 

 "With these materials, in April I began to cross promiscu- 

 ously, to obtain as much Hippeastrum seed as I could. 

 A large number seeded well. The seeds were sown as soon 

 as ripe, and they germinated within a fortnight or twenty 

 days. The bulbs were given more space every year, and 

 eventually planted out in borders under the shade of shrubs 

 and trees. They grew wonderfully, and about their third 

 year many flowered, producing interesting varieties. These 

 were crossed again among themselves, and with their 

 parents, and the process of crossing aud sowing went 

 on aunually ; after the first time I showed the native head 

 gardener how to manage it. These crossings and recross- 

 ings have now produced some marvellous results — both of 

 form and colour— and something quite different from their 

 original ancestors. Several of the most distinct have been 

 lately named and catalogued. 



Some marvellous forms and colourings have been pro- 

 duced from five or six of the most ordinary Hippeastrums, 

 and taking those now iu existence as a basis for future 

 work, there is no telling wliat grand future is in store for 

 the Lucknow hybrid Hippeastrums. They are cultivated in 

 the open, and with the most ordinary care. They have 

 taken to the soil and climate very kindly. Here are a 

 few points which have been brought out during these 

 experiments: — 



1. I have in many cases tried them with their own 

 pollen in order to endeavour to repeat in the seedlings 

 the fine coloiuring of the parent, but have failed in every 

 case. They appear not to be susceptible of fertilisation 

 with their own pollen. Some of them set seed with for- 

 eign pollen with great ease, others do not. 

 27 



2. It would appear that these Hippeastrums have Sprek- 

 elia blood in their composition, otherwise the form of A. 

 formosissima iu formosa and DUkoosha is not easily 

 accounted for. 



3. There is often no knowing what form and coiom-s 

 may result from the mixing of the elements of two plants. 

 It is like shaking their atoms iu a kaleidoscope— every 

 shako produces a new pictm-e. 



Truly, as Mr. Douglas says iu the Gardeners' Chronicle 

 of April 8, 1882, the Amaryllis has a great future. Some 

 of the Lucknow strains crossed with the fine English ones 

 might produce marvels of beauty. I gave up charge of 

 the Lucknow Horticultural Garden in 1877, and the work 

 of hybridisation is now carried on by my former assist- 

 ants, Mr. Ridley, who is now superintendent, and Girdhari, 

 the native head gardener. This is a Government garden, 

 and is supported by the sale of produce and plams of 

 all kinds. I have some of the Lucknow hybrid Hippe- 

 astrums, and intend making further experiments with them. 

 — E. BoNAviA, M.p., Civil Surgeou, Etawah, June 3, 1882.— 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR.* 



Area and Physical Geography. — The island of Madagascar 

 is exceeded in size by only two other islands, namely, 

 Australia aud Borneo. It is about 1,000 miles long, with 

 an extreme width of 360, and an average width of more 

 than 260 miles, which give an area of 250,000 square miles, 

 or nearly four times that of England and Wales. It is 

 separated from the east coast of Africa by a cluiuuel 

 nearly 250 miles broad, aud is situated almost entirely 

 within the south tropical zone. A lofty granitic plateau, 

 from 80 to 160 miles wide, and from 3,0(tO to 5,00(i feet 

 high, occupies its central portion, on which rise peaks 

 and domes of basalt and granite to a height of nearly 

 9,000 feet; and there are also numerous extinct volcanic 

 cones a^nd craters. This mountain mass runs north aud 

 south, sloping steeply to the east, on which side are many 

 of the numerous rivers, all of which flow througli shoit, 

 deeply cut gorges, making their way to the plain by a 

 succession of wooded cataracts. The fails of the i\Iatinaua, 

 for instance, leap at a single bound a depth of 500 or 

 600 feet. A good deal of this central elevated portion is 

 bare and somewhat dreary-looking country, consisting of 

 rolling moor-hke hills, covered principally with long grass, 

 which gets very dry and brown by the end of the summer. 

 The soil generally is a red clay; and the highest level 

 anywhere reached by the forest is 6,000 feet. In the 

 Betsilo country there is some fine mountain scenery, 

 and in the centre the Ankaratra Mountains rise to a 

 height of 9,000 feet within a short distance of the capital, 

 which itself is situated at a hight of 4,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea. There are trai'ks of rich black " 

 alluvial soil in .some of the valleys, where Rice, the staple ' 

 food of the inhabitants, is cultivated. A belt of primaeval 

 forest runs all round the island, descending to the sea- 

 shore in the north-east, opposite the French island of St. 

 Marie. It is substantially continuous for a length of upwards 

 of 2,000 miles, and the trees which compose it are imperfectly 

 known. There is a vast extent of uninhabited country 

 in the plains, where the soil is fertile, and there are wide 

 tracts of land between the territory occupied by the 

 different tribes in the hill country, as, for instance, what 

 is called "No-man's Land," between I merina and Betsileo, 

 which are only peopled very thinly, or not at all. As 

 scarcely any of it is desert, or rainless, it could doubtless 

 support a large population, and there is probably nowhere 

 el.se in the tropical zone such a wide extent of country 

 so little interfered with, or where man has done less to 

 modify the natural distribution of the plants and animals. 

 Climate. — Madagascar falls within the zone of regular 

 periodical raius and winds; but there is no record of 

 observations sufficient to give any precise idea of the 

 climatal conditions of different parts ot Madagascar, though 

 enough is known to afford a general i-lea. In July, 1862, 

 Dr. Moller made a trip from Tamatnve, on the east coast, 

 to Antananarivo, the capital, when the maximum shade 

 temperature noted was 88° and the minimum 49°. The 



* Chiefly comp iel frcm an eatsay on the subject by J, 

 G. Baker.' 



