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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



(June i, 1883. 



atinn of carbolic acid. Its disinfectant and medioa- 

 s-uses too, 're well establislitd, and we do not feel 

 that this substance ought to be in any way discredited 

 because, used in the open air in saucers placed at 

 intervals over a field, it has not answered the ean- 

 euine expectations of men like Messrs. Schrottky and 

 Storck. Messrs. Calvert & Co. enclose the following 

 paraf;rai)h in their letter : — " A French chemist claims 

 ti' have discovered a method of overcoming the 

 danger threatenini; vineyards from the ravages of 

 the phylloxera. His process is to inoculate the 

 vine with the phenol [Phenol is carbolic acid. — F. 

 C. C. & Co.] poison. The phylloxera do not attack 

 plants thus treated, and are extirpated for want of 

 food. The vines are in no way injured by the 

 inoculation process. — Luchnow Express, Feb. 3rd." 

 We b' lieve Mr. Scrottky tried inoculation, but 

 without succens. Inoculation of the vine with a boI- 

 ution of phylloxera insects, and of the coffee trees with 

 a Rolution of the fungus, would seem, from the ana- 

 logy of Pasteur's experiments in the animal world, 

 to offer more chanceiB of success. Messrs. Calvert 

 & Co. send also copies of printed certificates from 

 medical and scientific men as to the disinfecting pro- 

 perties of carbolic acid in cases of smallpox, fever, 

 &c. , which are familiar to most of our readers. We 

 think it liighly iirobable that the vapour of carbolic 

 acid would be potent to the extermination of leaf 

 fungus on co£fee trees iu a conservatory. Fields of 

 hundreds of acres iu the open air seem beyond the 

 power of any remedial agent except that of the great 

 heah'r, time. — Ed ] 



ANDROFOGON MUEICATUM (CUSCUS 

 GRASS, ENGLISH). 



Dear Sii:, — Kindly let me know per your columns 

 if there is any demand for cuscus root and what 

 will be the price jser owt. of root. These are used for 

 making fans &c. , and there is little demand for medical 

 uses in this country. The Tamil name is vatti-vam. 

 This grass is growing very splendidly on upcountry 

 estates, the root is giving a good lavender smell, so 

 why not they used for mattresses ? — I i-emain, dear sir, 

 yours obdtly., J. P. ABRAHAM. 



[Perhaps some of your readers may answer Mr- 

 Abraham as to the sweet- smelling roots, ''Wiiy not 

 used for mattresses ? " We fear they would be brittle 

 -md perishable. Kuskus tatties are largely ueed in India 

 in I he hot weather, and we do not see »hy, to .some 

 extent, they should not be used here. W'liat has Mr. 

 Sumps to aay? For tats, fans, &c., made of kuskus, 

 we should think there would be a demand in Australia. 

 Ed.1 



SHAND'S PATENT STEAM DRIER. 



Colombo, 23rd April 1883. 



Dear Sir,— Will you allow me to point out to the 

 writer of the letter in your Saturday's issue on 

 tea drying by steam that the machine referred to 

 is an infringement of the patent granted to me by 

 Oovernment in 1S79. In using my drier there is uo 

 l)09sibility of an explosion, as the steam is allowed 

 to escape as fast ae it is generated : in fact there is 

 no more danger in boiling water in it than there is 

 in boilmg in an ordinary tea kettle. To thoroughly 

 dry tea a temperature of from 213 to 280 degrees is not 

 required. 



Any person desirous of ascertaining this can 

 satisfy himself without even investing in one of mv 

 models, by putting a wide-mouthed chatty of water on 

 the fire, and placing over it one of those large earthen- 

 ware rice bowls : the surface will heat 170 degrees 



which is hot enough to dry thoroughly anything. 



Yours truly, C. SHAND. 



TEA-PLUCKING. 



Nawalapitiya, 28th April 1883. 



Dear Mr. Editor,— Yourcorrespondent "A. B. C."'s 

 notions of tea-plucking are apparently very crude 

 and fairly well represented by his signature. Does 

 he imagine that our " teatotams" are stripped of all 

 their young leaf once in, say, 8 to 10 days ? The 

 growth of flush (allow me to enlightftn him) is 

 gradual. Our "Hindu brethren" are therefore in- 

 structed to pluck only that tlush which has attained 

 a given size. An eight daily round secures all leaf 

 frorii hardeniug, viz. from growing (jaat the flush 

 period, and also ensures the whole produce — in leaf 

 — of the best quality, from your estate. 



If the flush is small " Ramasamy and his satell- 

 ites" have only to get over more ground to obtain 

 their " kanak" for NUMONA THARMA DURAI. 



Of course the tree makes an effort against nature 

 from the very first pruning, and plucking is only a 

 miniature pruning. — N. T. D. 



Qdeensland and New Guinea.— From an article 

 in the Slraiti Times on the recent annexation, we 

 quote the following paragraph : — It will be interest- 

 ing to read the remarks of the Continental press with 

 reference to this step with New Guinea ; although 

 Queensland enjoys self-legislative powers, yet in matters 

 of Imperial interest the sanction of the Home Govern, 

 ment has to be obtained, especially before any alter- 

 ation of her boundaries can be made, as in the case 

 only a year or two ago when she "amended" and 

 extended her maritime boundary to within three miles 

 of the New Guinea Coaet ; this included the whole of 

 Torres Straits now so fast becoming a highway for 

 vessels ; indeed, Colonel Scratchley, R.E., on his recent 

 Colonial tour of inspection, recommended a echemeof de- 

 fence commanding the main passage, and the Imperial 

 Government already allow £500 per annum towards the 

 maintenance of the establishment at Thursday Island. 



CiNCOHNA : Yarrow Ledgers' Analysks. — We learn 

 that the last mail brought out the results of further 

 analyses of Yarrow ledger bark from 5h years old 

 trees by Dr. Paul of London, and we feel, sure our 

 readers will agree with us that they are simply 

 ssphnidiil, especially No. 5 — 14:jO per cent of crys- 

 tallised sulphate. The superintendent of Yarrow has 

 sent dowji 100 lb. of ledger bark from trees thinned out 

 and, as a test of what it will fetch in the local 

 market, Messrs. Somerville & Co. have been instructed 

 to sell it on Mr. Symons' act/yir/e analyses of S'" 7 per 

 stem and 4-17 per branch bark. The result of 

 .sale will be duly reported. With Dr. Trimen's 

 report and such eucoura,ging results as we are now 

 able to place before the public there should be no 

 hesitation about extending the culti\'atiou of ledgers. 

 The analyses are as follows : — 

 Analyses of Yakkow Ledger bauk from 5J year old 



TREES. 



