958 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[June i, 1883. 



" A transaction likely to be attended with valuable results ' 

 has been caixied out in the importation, through the 

 niecUum of Mr. John Bramston, of the Colonial Office, 

 of a large quantity of seed of the " guaugo " of Jamaica 

 (Pithecolobium Saman). The rajjid growth of this tree, 

 its elegant umbrageous character and adaptabiUty to arid 

 country, aud its value as a fodder producer, are all quah- 

 ficatious pointing to its usefulness for cultivation on a 

 large scale in Queensland. The seed has been widely 

 distributed, and, as the receipients have been recommended 

 to sow it where they intend the trees to grow perman- 

 ently, it is hoped that in a very few years the guaugo 

 may be found thriving wherever there is settlement and 

 the chmate proves suitable. 



" The exijotation of indigenous seeds to foreign constitu- 

 ents is largely on the increase. Difficulty is sometimes 

 found in obtaining sufficient supplies from trustworthy 

 som-ces; Ijut inteUigeut collectors are not so rare as they 

 used to be. As the processes of preparing, packing and 

 transmitting seeds so as to preserve their \-itality are 

 better understood, seeds become to a larger extent the 

 subjects of exchange, in places of plants, in all cases in 

 which propagation of exact species by seed is practicable. 

 By this means the- lessening of risk and cost of exchanges, 

 and the proportionate increase of material upon which 

 to work, is veiy considerable. 



" The subject of importing game and song birds has, at 

 the instigation of 'Mr. W. Senior, specially engaged the 

 attention of the council, and a good deal of useful inform- 

 ation on the subject has been got together. The ordinary 

 revenue of the society being, however, inadequate to bear 

 the expense of transactions of this character, and the 

 juncture not being considered favoiu-able for the form- 

 ation of a fund for the piurpose by .special subscriptions, 

 the matter has been allowed to remam in abeyance for 

 more prosperous time." — Bri^hmte Courier. [Looldng at such 

 a report as this, we may well wish that the scope of oiu: 

 Botanical Gardens were widened so as to include the 

 introduction of useful animals and fishes. "We want in 

 truth a Ceylon AccUmatization Society. — Ed.] 



HARVESTING IN CEYLON AND INDIA— AND 



IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 



The recent harvest suggests many points of compari- 

 son with the same operation in other lands. In England 

 aud America gi'ain is now largely cut by horse-power 

 or steam. A row of .sharp traingular two-edged knives 

 is fastened to a bar giving the appearance of great 

 teeth of a saw. This bar moves swiftly back and forth 

 through a sHt in a row of solid teeth. The sharp teeth 

 passing thi-ough the sohd teeth, cut off all the stalks 

 of grain that come between. This double I'ow of teeth, 

 4 to 8 feet long, extends from one side of the machine 

 near the sm'face . of the ground, and when the uyichine 

 is drawn by the horses, it cuts aU the grain for a ^vidth 

 of 4 to 8 feet at the side. ■\Vhen grass is cut to be 

 dried for hay it is allowed to fall as cut. In reaping 

 grain a platform is attached on which the grain is gathered 

 in straight bundles for binrling. Sometimes the men who 

 bmd ride, and in some machines more recently invented, the 

 grain is bound up with cords or wii-es by the machine itself 

 "With one of these. one man can cutand bind as much grain in 

 a day as fifty men with sicldes. But irrigation will need 

 to be under better control in Jaffna before "reapers" 

 can be advantageously used. Most of the fields are too 

 small, and often, when cuttmg the grain, the ground is 

 so soft that machines woidd sink in and be impeded. 

 Fields 20 rods square- might admit reapers if the ground 

 were firm. The " cradle " might be used with advantage. 

 This consists of a scythe or knife-blade about 3 ft. loug 

 and slightly curved, attiiehed at an angle to a long handle. 

 P.araUel to the scythe and at equal distances above it are 

 4 or 5 fingers, or smooth pointed rods of light tmic^h 

 wood, of the same length as the scythe. These are attach- 

 ed by light framework aud give the name to the mstrument. 

 The reaper swings this craddie before him cutting for- 

 ward about one foot at each stroke in a path, called 

 swath, .5 or 6 feet wide. The grain is caught by the 

 wooden fingers 'and laid down even and smooth at one 

 side, as the cradle swings back for a new stroke. With 

 this, one man can cut as much as 3 or 4 men with 



sickles. The cradle is not easily used when the grain Is 

 fallen do\vii. 



Threshing is very generally done by machinery. The 

 motive power is fiu:nished by one or two horses walking 

 on an iuclnied plane. This causes a cylinder to revolve 

 rapidly, and teeth iu the surface of the cylinder meeting 

 other fixed teeth tear the straw to pieces and allow the 

 grain to fall into a fan which cleans it, and empties it 

 into bags. In California and Australia the thresher is 

 sometimes one with the reaper, and the same machine 

 cuts the grain cleans it, and puts it in bags. It might 

 be profitable to have a horse-power for sawing wood at 

 all seasons, and in harvest time attach apparatus for 

 thseshing, which would not be exjiensive. Then all the 

 grain of a neighborhood could be threshed in a short 

 time. For small amounts the fl.ail is used. This is a club 

 attached by thongs to a long handle. The club is called 

 a swingel and swings arouud the handle striking hard 

 aud flat on the grain and straw. Any carpenter could 

 make one. 



Probably as long as the farmers have a drove of these 

 wretched starveling stunted cattle they wiU find it cheaper 

 to make use of them for threshing. But when they think 

 that it only pays to keep good cattle, then the flail will 

 be introduced and the more elaborate threshing machine. 

 The flails would even now do better for the dry grains 

 than those ciu'ved clubs used by some. 



Machines enable one man to do the work of several. 

 By their help nature is more thoroughly subdued, and 

 man's wants better satisfied. He has time, opportunity, 

 and means for hire pursuits, aud can come nearer the ideal 

 perfect man. But every blessing may be a curse, and if 

 man's heart is not right, machinery oppresses the poor 

 and brings innumerable evils. — Jaffna Mm-ning Star. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



The following are quoted from the Garilen (London), 

 in which they appear imder the heading"AmericanNotes": — 



Celery Cultuke Made East. — I believe I have lejirned 

 the easiest way to grow a family supply of celery. We 

 this yejir filled our hot-bed frame, 3 feet by 12 feet, with 

 celery plants, setting them about 8 inches apart each 

 way, making CO plants iu the frame. They have grown 

 splendiiUy, and as fast as they gi-ow we fill in with earth, 

 and they blanch nicely. I believe that they would have 

 done as well if planted closer, say 100 plants in the 

 frame. The advantage is that they occupy but Httle space, 

 are not much trouble to cultivate, aud require much less 

 water than if planted iu the usual way, with the rows 

 6 feet or 8 feet apart, besides a much smaller quantity 

 of earth answers for banking up for bleaching, and of com-se 

 If one has not a hot-bed frame, he can set boards less 

 labourround the edge of a bed in the garden, and manage in the 

 same way. Boards 1 foot wide should be used, and very 

 cheap refuse timber will answer for the purpose. — yeii> 

 I'ork Tribune. 



Dry Sand as Packing. — The citrus men of Los Angeles, 

 Cal. have made a discovery of great value to Florida. 

 Dry sand is the best packing for oranges an<l lemons. 

 It must be quite dry and no paper must be used. The 

 fruit must touch the sand. Experience warrants keeping 

 for five months at lea.st. The dry sand has absorbing 

 power that apparently takes up all exudations sub- 

 ject to decomposition, the rind being very porous. Nat- 

 urally the thoughtful mind suggests thiit, on the same 

 principle, dry sand must have a similar preservative effect 

 on other fruits, such as pears, plums, nectarines, apples, 

 and other smooth skinned varieties. 



Classification of Soils. — Professor Johnston classifies 

 soils, says the Juissachusetts Ploughman, according to their 

 clayey or sandy proportions, thus: — First, pure clay, from 

 which no sand can be wa.shed. Second, strong clay or 

 brick clay, which contains from 5 to 20 per cent of sand. 

 Third, clay loam, which contains from 20 to 40 per cent 

 of sand. Foiuth, loam, which has from 40 to 70 per cent 

 of sand. Fifth, sandy loam, which has from 70 to 90 

 per cent of sand. Sixth, hght sand, which has less than 

 10 per cent of clay. 



Labels. — AVe think that the label problem is solved. 



Lead pencil upon zinc mil endure for many years— nobody 



. knows how long. Over thre yeears ago we marked a zmc 



