THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[June i, 1883. 



EXPOSING THE ROOTS OF FRTJiT-TREES. • 



[The author of the following, letter, it will be seen, is 

 opposed to the Jaffna system of Vine-culture, viz., exposing 

 the roots.— Ed.] 



Regarding .Jujube's comments on my remarks on exposmg 

 the roots of fruit trees, in the last number of the Indian 

 Forester. The soil in his garden must be very good for 

 the cultivation of rines. I find no difficulty here, in ripening 

 the wood without having recourse to exposing theii' roots 

 to sun and air, however my vines do not make a super- 

 abundance of wood and I fancy his do. If he would reduce 

 the amount of his wood by lopping off the leading shoots 

 and thinning out the lateral ones periodically during their 

 season of growth, he would not have to dig a trench round 

 his ^unes in order to make them hibernate. By adopting 

 that plan, I am certain he woidd obtain even better crops 

 than at present. When %'ines are very kvxm-iant and pro- 

 duce more wood than they can ripen, it is better to cut 

 it out as soon as made, than run the risk of injuring even 

 a single fibre of theu- roots. Vines are very tenacious of 

 life, and will stand very rough treatment for years, but 

 the roots of those that have lioen least disturbed will 

 remain in a bearing and healthy condition the longest. 



Regarding his query as to the length of time a i-ine will 

 live productively. This depends greatly on circumstances. 

 If these are favourable it will live to a great age. The 

 famous vine at Hampton Court was planted in 1769, and 

 when last I heard of it (1S78) was bearing a heavy crop. 

 — "W. G. — Indian Forester. 



OAOAO, LIBERIAN COFFEE, AND TEA GROWING 

 ON THE OLDEST COFFEE ESTATES IN CEYLON. 

 The older cacaos in the lower fields ofthe estate (SiN- 

 napittia) are very forward for their age. and wiU next 

 year yield a fairish crop. The strong and vigorous growth 

 of cacao in an old field of coffee, probably unilcr cultiv- 

 ation for about 50 years, is really surpisiug. Anyone ac- 

 quainted with hill cultivation, and who has seen the color 

 of streams during a shower of rain, must have been sadly 

 impressed with the sight of thousands of tons of valu- 

 able soil carried away to the sea with every rain-storm. 

 Contour drainage, or even terracing, only tends to lessen wash, 

 not to arrest it effectually. Well, I say those experienced 

 in hill cultivation can quite understand the state of the soil 

 of a field under cultivation for half a century, and subject 

 to monthly scrapings and exposed to the rains of two 

 monsoons annually. Plants growing in this field have 

 nothing but subso'il to subsist upon, yet cacao is tlniving 

 apace. As cacao does not draw from the soil the same 

 constituents as coffee, it may be said that the constituents 

 it requires, never having been drawn upon, abound in the 

 soil; but what explanation can be given of Liberian coffee 

 not 'only growing in these fields, but flourishing mth a 

 vigour not to be surpassed even on virgin soil? About 

 three years ago the plants put down amongst the old and 

 washed out coffee, were bearing at such a rate, that the 

 trees had to be supported with a dose of manure. The 

 effect of the manure was to put on the trees a crop the 

 branches were not able to support. They had all to be 

 propped up with sticks and kept in position by strings 

 drawn from the stem under everi/ branch. The trees pre-, 

 sent a ve y ludicrous appearance now, with such a mass 

 of rope on them. For some idea to be formed of the 

 number of cherries a single tree has been bearing, I will 

 quote from a letter in the Tropical Ayricultnrist, written 

 e\'idently by the Superintendent, and therefore authentic: — 

 " I picked off one Liberian coffee tree this morning 4,75.5 

 cherries. *** I am sorry I did not keep an account of 

 what I picked in January. It was at least 3,000, and there 

 are more than 4,000 more on the tree. Do you think 

 any tree in Ceylon could beat this?" At the period of my 

 visit the trees were enjoying a well-earned rest and had 

 no crop on them to speak about, but they were looking 

 far from played out, and seemed fit to hear many more 

 large crops. " The above has reference mainly to new pro- 

 ducts in fields of old coffee, but Sinnapittia has taken a 

 new lease of life in its new clearing opened within the last 

 three years. The traveller by train is introduced to these 

 from the Gampola station onwards for over a mile. The 

 land has a beautiful lie, and is composed of very fairish. 



porous soil. Most of the land was under heavy lautana 

 when cleared. It is one continuous strip of about twelve 

 chains in width, and running for very nearly 2 miles from 

 end to end. These clearings, in extent about 150 acres, 

 are planted with Liberian coffee and quincunxed with 

 cacao. The growth of both products is very fair. I think 

 the large quantity of loose boiUders that are met frequently 

 in the clearing, can be profitably utlized to terrace it. 

 An ordinarily intelligent coolie can in a vei*y short time 

 be ti-ained to masonry, and can with a coolie to assist 

 it cariying stones, build from 100 to 120 feet a day. This 

 is as cheap as tiraining and much more effective. Besides scat- 

 tered as they are broadcast, the stones are very much 

 in the way. These clearings of Liberian coffee and cacao 

 are now being lined 4x4 and holed for tea. — "Examiner." 



MR. VINCENT ON MADRAS AND ITS 

 VAGETATION. 



The gentleman who was deijuted from India to report 

 on the forests of Ceylon has given his impressions of 

 Madras in the Indian Forester^ in a letter from which we 

 quote as follows ; — 



There can be no doubt that Madras is in process of be- 

 coming one of the handsomest towns in India. Were it 

 not for its great area and want of local municipal funds, it 

 would long ago have been undoubtedly one of the finest 

 as it is one of the healthiest of them. A great feature in 

 Madras is the number of large buildings, mostly public, built 

 in the oriental style of architecture. Most prominent of 

 all these is the Ohepauk Palace, an old palace of the 

 Nawabs of the Oaruatic, largely added to, and now used by 

 the Board of Revenue. Here I foimd the Forest office, 

 mth a fine verandah looking out to sea, over a pretty 

 grass lawn adorned with fountains and young Poon trees. 

 Near it is the grand new University Senate house, which 

 seems to the uninitiated to be a mixture of Gothic and 

 Saracenic architecture. Behind these and other neighbour- 

 ing large buildings are the grounds of Government House, 

 in process of transformation into a Botanic Garden, 

 and a very pretty garden it will be when completed, for 

 besides the sea frontage and the broad mouth of the Coom 

 river, there are large tanks and the Buckingham Canal, 

 pretty bridges and groups of trees of various kinds. The 

 summer avenue trees of Madras are the Nim, the Casu- 

 arina and the Odina Wodier, the latter most remakable, 

 as Dr. Brandis has pointed out, for retaining its leaves 

 the whole year round, while only a few miles into the 

 country it may be found in its usual cold weather leaf- 

 less state. Hedges, principally of Imja dulcis, surround the 

 large compounds of the houses, while in places groves of 

 Coconut palms remind us of the first impressions of India 

 we gained on landing in Ceylon. A special feature in 

 Madras, and most of all in the more aristocratic quarters 

 of Nangumbaukum, Chetput, Egmore and Adyar, is the 

 immense size of the house compounds. Some of them 

 would make a not inconsiderable park for an English 

 squire, and the hou.ses are generally large, airy and com- 

 fortable. The gardens seem to keep themselves ; ferns and 

 especially Adianta thrive most luxuriantly in the shade, 

 while the magnificent growth of Orotons, which in Calcutta 

 one is chiefly accustomed to see carefidly tended in small 

 pots, is in Madras a mo.st striking feature, and makes gay 

 the lawns and shrubberies with every shade of red and 

 yellow and orange and purple. Here they are not small 

 plants in small pots, but either in the ground direct, or 

 in huge pots, they show tall masses of column often ID 

 to 15 feet high and proportionately broad. The great num- 

 ber of Nim [Margosa. — Ed.] trees is very noticeable, 

 whUe the yellow pods of Alhizzia Lclibek keep up their 

 ceaseless rattle at every puff of sea breeze which shakes 

 the roadside trees. The pubUc gardens, besides the new 

 one which is being made near Government House, are the 

 Peoples' Park and the Agri-Horticultural. The former, 

 near the handsome Madras Railway Station, is not very 

 well kept, and possesses very few trees of any size, but the 

 latter has, though of small area, a particularly fine collec- 

 tion of trees and interesting plants. The curious Kir/el ia 

 pinnata with spreading branches and huge pumpkin-like 

 fruits hanging at the end of long strings from the branches 

 attracts attention at once, and there is a Baobab which 



