October i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



363 



are in satisfactory condition, and the autumn harvest 

 is progressing, with promise of a fair average outturn ; 

 a little more rain would h^ip the transplanting of the 

 winter rice crop in some places. In Assam the trans- 

 plantation of the winter and the. reaping of the early 

 autumn crops are progressing ; rain has been general ; 

 tea and sugarcane are doing well. 



In British Burma good rains has fallen everywhere 

 e.xcept in two distriotn, where it has been light ; agri- 

 cultural operations are, on the whole, progressing satis- 

 factorily, except in parts of Prome and Thariawaddy. 



The general fall in the barometer noticed last week 

 was succoeded liy a rise which, beginning in Western 

 India, spread over all parts of the country, and was 

 agaiti followed by a steady fall all over India. 



Madras. — General prospects good. 



Assam (Caeliar).- - Weather warm; transplanting of 

 sali and reaping of dumahi and murali crops continues; 

 tea doing well; common rice 21-fg seers per rupee ; mi 

 more cholera reported. 



Mysore and Coorg.— Eain continue to fall throughout 

 the Mysore (State in Tumkur 2'29, the Hassan 2'52 Shi- 

 moga3.30, Kadur '43; crops in good condition; prospects 

 favourable ;prioescompare favourably — in Bangaloreragi 

 26^. horse-gram 40|, in Mysore ragi 25|, horee-gram 30j, 

 in Shimoga ragi 19 to 39 ; gram 25 to 40 seers per rupee. 



Frvit Crops in England. — Those who recommend the 

 British farmer to take to fruit growing for market as a 

 partial remedy for agricultural depression would do well 

 to scan previously the annual records of the Fruit Crops 

 given in our columns before they counsel the locking 

 up of capital in fruit culture. We do not now care to 

 say any thing about foreign competiton, the diiticulties 

 of carriage, of realising a satisfactory market price — the 

 glut at one time, the deficiency at another — but we do 

 advise the would-be fruit-grower on a large scale to cast 

 an eye over the records of the last ten or a dozen years, 

 and see if they are at all encouraging. Beginning with 

 1870 — for ten years is quite long enough for our purpose 

 now — we find in 1870 that fruit crops of all kinds were 

 generally abundant ; in 1871 they were scanty and late; 

 in 1872 there was universal failm'e. In 1873 the crop was 

 reported under average. In 1874 the yield was over aver- 

 age, so it was in 1875; but in 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880 

 — five years in succession — a failure was recorded. In 1831 

 the crop was a fair average; and now in 1882 we haveanother 

 general deficiency to record. Taking the whole Vireadth 

 and thleng of the British Isles, there were only three out 

 of thirteen years in which the apple crop was abundant, 

 only one wherein it was fair, and in all the rest deficient. 

 This is not a tempting prospect. — -Gardetier^' Clironicle, 



A AVoNDEnFur, Grass. — The soya hispadu grass is, if all 

 that is claimed for it be true, one that .should be intro- 

 duced into Australia without delay. The uses it can be 

 put to are varied and numerous. The soifa is a native of 

 Central Asia, more particularly of the eastern portion of 

 the continent. It tlourislies in China and Japan, and has 

 found its way to Hungary. It is aLso largely cultivated 

 in .Syria and Dalmatia. The grass, if soaked in water, 

 becomes a delicious kind of lentil. Planted in a dark place, 

 sheltered (rom the sun's action, the long white stalks sprout 

 up into a kind of cel(;ry-endive. The seeds when ground 

 and pressed yield a valuable vegetable oil ; the refuse 

 can then be made into oil cake for fattening cattle. Treated 

 in another fashion, the juice can be manufactured into a 

 sauce, which is much esteemed by Chinese epicures. 'WHien 

 dry and cut up it is a valuable teed for horses. One 

 would almost fancy that the above were sufficient uses 

 for a plant to be put to, but the .■.■oy/rt possesses still more 

 valuable properties. The seed, or grain, wlien dried, roasted, 

 and ground, forms an excellent substitute for cottee. Its 

 stalks are woven into a coarse kind of cloth, and mats, 

 etc., arc also made of it; an<l last, but not least, it has ' 

 fattening properties of no mean order. "We can only say 

 in conclusion that if the soija hUpada is what home journals 

 represent it to Ije, its introduction into this colony will cause i 

 the wail of " feed scarce " to become a thing of the past [ 

 — Planter and Fanner [Queensland.] 



Proposed CnLTrvATiON of Cinchonas in the United 

 States. — In consequence of the resolution recently passed 

 by the House of Representatives recommending that the 

 possibihty of acclimatizing some species of Cinchoim in 

 the United States should be inquired into, a report has 

 been made by the Minister of Agriculture, in which he 

 expresses an opinion that some of the species, especially 

 C. succirnhra, would live in Southern Florida, but suggest- 

 ing as most promising for the estjililishment of an experi- 

 mental plantation the higher lands in Southern California. 

 It may be mentioned, however, that experiments in cinchona 

 cultivation were made in the region referred to a few years ago 

 and were uniformly unsuccessful. — I'harniaceutiral Journal. 



KosEs FROM Cuttings.— I was at Wood and Ingram s 

 nursery a few days ago, where, amongst other things 

 of an interesting character shown me, was a little frame 

 in the propagating house filled with rose-cuttings root- 

 ing in a bed of cocoa-nut fil)re. The cuttings had been 

 taken from plants grown under glass, the shoots of 

 which were just getting firm. Several were pulled up 

 indiscriminately, and each had formed delicate little 

 roots half an inch or so long, just in the right con- 

 dition for potting, or, as was remarked, planting out 

 at once in the open border, judiciously sheltering and 

 .shading for a time. There was no heat in the house 

 beyond sun heat, and of course the fibre being partly 

 decomposed, there was no heat there. The majority of 

 cuttings which fail are killed by the watering pot; but 

 cuttings in such substances as cocoa-nut fibre and sawdust 

 require but little water. As the material retiiins moisture, 

 there is no occasion to be always watering. The middle 

 or end of July is a good time to strike rose-cuttings in 

 a frame full of cocoa-nut fibre, or old moist sawdust from 

 hard wood, not deal. Take the shoots that are getting 

 fii'ni, shade in bright weather, and dew the leaves over 

 occasionally. As soon as the roots are formed, the little 

 plants must be taken from the propagating bed and potted 

 off or planted in good earth, with a frame, over them. 

 Many things strike in some non-couducti-ng material — such 

 as cocoa-nut fibre, old tan, or .sawdust^ — better than in 

 sand, that one has to be constantly watching, for fear it 

 should get too wet or too dry. — E. H. — Field. 



Petroledm as an Insecticide. — After two years' expe- 

 rience I can speak very .strongly in favour of petroleum 

 (erroneously called paraffin) as an insecticide. For that 

 worst of all pests, mealy-bug, on Gardenias and Stephan- 

 otis it is first-rate ; and it is equally fatal to red-spider, 

 tlu'ips, and brown scale. I do not know who iu-.st made 

 known its value for this purpose [Mr. D. Thomson], but 

 I for one am greatly indebted to him. I use one-twelfth 

 part of a pint to one gallon of water, and as often as 

 I find any insects, whether it be once a month or twice 

 a week. The most important point is the thorough mix- 

 ture of the oil and water. I know of only one method 

 by which it can be performed, and those who think it 

 too troublesome had better leave petroleum alone and 

 try Hughes' Fir-tree Oil, which is a capital thing, mixing 

 easily with water, and is not unpleasant in the using; 

 but as the quantity required for one gallon of water costs 

 eighteenpence, while of petroleum the quantity requireil 

 for one gallon of water costs half a farthiug, we use pe- 

 troleum. I j)ut the oil and water in a vessel, and fill 

 the syringe, then force it back into the vessel, repeating 

 this action a dozen times or more before using any on 

 the plants ; afterwards each alternate .syringeful is forced 

 back into the can. It does not injure the roots or blooms 

 apparently in the slightest degree, in fact, I am not quite 

 sui-e that it does not benefit them. I enclose you a few 

 specimens from plants that have been treated in the way 

 I describe for the last two years (indeed, the last apjilic- 

 ation was made four days ago), that you may see whether 

 I am justified in saying so much. If so, I think it a duty 

 to help to make known such a boon. I do not recommend 

 it for such tender foliaged plants as Coleus or Cucumbers, 

 and I thinlc in the case of Gardenias and Stephanotis it 

 is best used on a dull day or in the evening, when the 

 sun's rays are not so powerful. I ought perhaps to men- 

 tion that except on the days when the petroleum is used, 

 the plants .are syringed daily with clear rain-water. If 

 any one has tried petroleum in this w.ay for mealy-bug on 

 Vines, I should be glad if he would kimily give us the 

 benefit of his experience, as I have not so tried it.— 

 G. DuFFiELD, AHnchmore Hill. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



