978 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Jtwe I, 1883. 



pentls ; but there is a constant cu-culation of moisture 

 from the waters of the earth to the atmosphere and 

 liitck again. "All the rivers nm into the sea, yet the 

 sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers 

 come thither they return again. " So that in all the 

 variations a law prevails, and those who believe that 

 "chance" or "forces" are alone at work, are not to 

 be congratulated on their creed. Wherever there is 

 water there is evaporation, but as heat is the great 

 agent of evaporation, the process goes on most constantly 

 and powerfully near the equator, and as the warm 

 vapom'-laden air ascends, it is replaced by constant 

 currents from the poles, to be in their turn satm-ated, 

 warmed and uplifted. Thus, there is a perpetual circul- 

 ation, "making the equatorial rain -belt of great dis- 

 tillery of nature. " Again to quote the old liook :— 

 " The wind goeth towards the south and turneth about 

 into the north ; it whirleth about continually, and the 

 wind returueth again according to its ckcuits. " Here is 

 the foimdation of " the law of storms " discovery. But 

 there are distm-bances of the regular la'\\'S in consequence 

 of the greater mass of land in the northern hemi- 

 Bphei'e, and it is to perturbations hence resulting that 

 the "M0NS0i*Ks" and their rain -laden winds are due. 

 In regai'd to those phenomena, we quote from Sk 

 Joseph Fayrer's pamphlet : — 



"The great producers and distributors of rain in 

 India, then are the monsoons or periodic seasonal 

 winds. Tbe term is of Arabic origin, from "Mausim," 

 a season, and is applied to the great air-current that 

 blows for one-half of the year northwards, carrying 

 the moisture taken up from a vast extent of the 

 Indian <Jcean, extending from Africa to Malacca; whilst 

 for the other half the year it blows from the opposite 

 direction. The north-east monsoon corresponds to 

 the north-east trade, and would be constant w^ere it 

 not tor the counteracting influences vphich disturb 

 the atmospheric equilibrium. Monaoons are not pe- 

 culiar to India, but occur in other regions where 

 there are similar distributions of land and water. 

 The Indian monsoons are caused in the following 

 manner : — About the commencement of April, 

 when the whole surface of the continent of India 

 becomes hotter than the eea, the rarified air rises, 

 and is replaced by the comparatively cooler currents 

 drawn in from, and laden with moisture taken up by 

 evaporation from the Indian Ocean. This is the south- 

 west monsoon, which, rising to higher regions, or, 

 being intercepted by the mountain ranges, condenses, 

 its moisture m rain on [the mount;iins of Ceyion 

 Ed. 0. O.] the Western Gh^ts and on the coast of 

 Araoan. Following a north-eastern course, it gradually 

 loses its influence and its rain, as it approaches the 

 northern limits of the continent. About October the 

 winds are variable; there is a reversal of the current, 

 which begins to blow southwards for the most part 

 as a dry wind, till 00 the Coromandel coast it brings 

 tnoisti'.re from the Bay of Bengal, which falls as 

 rain on the coast of the Carnatic and on the Eastern 

 Ghats ; whilst some parts of the South of India 

 receive a certain amount of rain with each monsoon. 

 "This winter or north-east monsoon, which on land 

 has a northerly or north-westerly direction, returns again 

 as a south-westerly current in the upper regions of the 

 atmosphere, having been Iieated in the south. It is 

 sometimes called the anti-monsoon, appears to be felt 

 in the Himalayas, and, descending in the North- West 

 Provinces and Punjaub, brings their winter rains. 



" The rainfall on the southern and western coasts is 

 the heaviest ; but there are many variations and pecu- 

 liarities due to local conditions ; elevated regions re- 

 ceiving almost a deluge, whilst some lower areas are 

 very dry. All the conditions favourable to the con- 

 densation and fall of rain exist in certain localities, 

 whilst the converse obtains in others. " 



AN ABORTIVE LIBERIAN COFFEE TREE. 

 On receiving Mr. Hadow's letter (on page 990), our 

 first conclusion was that the isolated tree which nev«r 

 matured true fruits was uni-soxual. But after a con- 

 versation with Mr. Wm. Ferguson on the subject, 

 and seeing the " leafy matter " in the interior of the 

 apparently well-formed beans, we have no further 

 doubt as lo the cause of sterility. It is one to which 

 individual trees of all species are liable, that of 

 never being able to carry their fruits beyond 

 the leaf stage. One of the most important 

 and most pregnant discoveries made in botanical 

 science was that which proved that bud, leaf, flower, 

 fruit, thotu, branch and twig, were all but develop- 

 ments and modifications of one original principle in 

 plant life. AVhy some plants should bear "nothing 

 but leaves," others nothing but thorns, while others 

 again throw their whole energies into flowers and 

 fruits, we may not be able to understand ; but we 

 well know to our cost here in Ceylon that unfavour- 

 able weather may convert colfee blossom into coffee 

 leaves. In that case, however, the transformation 

 takes place before our eyes, and we are not, as in the 

 case of Mr. Hadow's isolated tree, deceived into the 

 belief that we are to gather a crop of good cherries 

 containing well-formed beans. The beans in this 

 case are just layers of undeveloped leaves. From the 

 external appearance of the cherries no one would sus- 

 pect this, but usually in such cases the pseudo-fruit 

 puts on an abnormal appearance. For instance, we 

 once saw a coconut which looked for all the world 

 like a bunch of plantains, and Mr. W. Ferguson told 

 us of a coconut he had received from the Messrs. 

 Leechman which was a grotesque cross between fruit 

 and leaf. We fear that in the case of the isolated Lib- 

 erian coffee there is not the slightest hope of amendment 

 by any possible treatment which can be applied, 

 although we should be curious to learn the eBfect, if 

 any, of attempting to fertilize the blossoms of this 

 tree by jjollen from the fruit-yielding Liberian bushes 

 in the neighbourhood. It is an unfortunate chance 

 that a tree, isolated, pruned, manured and forked 

 as this one has been, should still resemble the barren 

 fig-tree of the parable. But one further experiment 

 might be tried. As roasted coffee leaves yield an in- 

 fusion acceptable to some, the " leafy matter " might 

 be roasted and ground and then brewed, so as to see 

 whether after all the abortive fruits may not be 

 good for something. If this is done, we should like 



to hear the verdict on the resulting beverage. Mean- 

 time the tree is a curiosity, and we have no doubt, 



Dr. Trimen would be glad to obtain cherries for ex- 

 amination and branches with flowers and fruits for bis 



herbarium. Happily abortive Liberian coffee trees must 



be very rare, for this is the first which has been 



brought to our notice. 



GENERAL PLANTING REPORT FOR THE 

 HILLCOUNTRY OF CEYLON. 



Kandy, 11th May 1883. 

 Sultry, steamy weather up to the 8th instant, when 

 the S. W. suddenly put in an appearance. Rain, cloud 

 and wind have combined to reduce the temperature, 

 the former will help to swell out tbe coffee berries 

 that we may expect for autumn, and planters will 

 soon be able to judge pretty accurately of what the 

 outturn should be. 



Short, shorter, shortest. 

 Let us hope good prices may be realized as a 

 slight make-up for short crops, and tliat " M. plant- 



