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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1882. 



the maize of Cuzco siuTJasses all otlier kinds in it3 yield and in its 



The earliest notice of this maguificent corn is -from the Ynca 

 Garcilasso de la Vega who was horn at Cuzco and brought up upon 

 the Cnzco maize, and who pablished his account of it in 160W. He 

 says that what the Mexicans and people of the Antilles call mai', the 

 PeruviauB call sara. He adds that there are two kinds of sara. One 

 is bard and the other is tender and highly esteemeil. The Peru- 

 vians made different kinds of bread and cake from the maize. 

 The sacrificial bread called canca, tile festive bread hiimiimta, or- 

 dinary bread thanta. Thev also made fritters called api, boiled 

 puddings called mufi.toaste'd grains called camr./ia, and cakes. They 

 made a fermenteil li.iuor from the flour called acra.and a strong spirit 

 called »ora and riiiapii, as well as vinegar. A good sugar was 

 obtained from the stolk. The stalks and leaves were used as food 

 for cattle, whilst the leaves of the cobs were in request for rubbing 

 and smoothing stones for sculptors. The Ynca Garcilasso tells us 

 that he saw all this with his own eyes, and was sustained and 

 nourished on this •'ara until his nineteenth year. ^ 



The .Tesuit Acosta, who was in Peru from 1.570 to 15S6, speaks 

 in admiration of Peruvian maize. He s;ns it grows on stalks, 

 each one producing one or two cobs, ami that on some of the 

 cobs he counted 700 grains. It must be planted by the hand, one by 

 one, and not very close together, and it is not uncommon to 

 gather 300 bushels for 1 bushel gown, whilst the green leaves 

 and stalks are used for food for cattte and mules. 



The Cuzco maize is so called from being cultivated in tlie 

 warm valleyi in the neighbourhood of the ancient capital of the 

 Yncas, but two to three thousand feet below the site of tlie old city. 

 Its grand proportions are due to the careful agriculture of the 

 Yncas during many centuries. The stalk grows to a height of 

 15 feet, and the grains are four or five times the size of ordinary 

 maize. The grains were white, red and yellow, yellow, red, and 

 purple, and there were double cobs of immense size which were 

 looked upon as sacred. 



The year of the Y'ncas was regulated with reference to the 

 maize ciUtivation. In June the people were occupied with the 

 irrigation channels. Then came the sowing, the ripening, and 

 the harvesting, each ^vitll its solemn festival. In the month of 

 Ayrihiiay (April) they reaped and harvested the crops, singing 

 a chant calleil yaravi: and the Ynca himself with his nobles 

 assisted in reaping the crop on the Colcampata, beneath the 

 fortress of Cnzco. These wise sovereigns held the science of agri- 

 culture in high honour. 



Cnzco maize wa-s, and still is, cultivated in its greatest glory 

 in the lovely valley of Y'uoay. It should be grown at heights 

 from 8,000 to 3,000 feet above sea-level. 



Here the Yncas constructed those marvellous hanging gardens 

 ■which bear testimony to the skill and taste of the designers 

 and where the Cuzco maize was gradually brought to perfection. 

 The terraces are wider at the edges of the level ground, and, 

 as they ascend the mountain sides, they become narrower until 

 the topmost terrace, some 1,00U feet above the valley, is scarcely 

 two feet broad. The terrace walls .are of rou^h stones, slightly 

 inclined inwards, and varying in height according to the slope of 

 the mountain, from 3 to 15 feet. An artificial aqueduct, starting from 

 the verge of the snow, is conducted tlirough the amieiies, whence 

 the water is led along each terrace. The terraces were filled with 

 rich soil from which every stone was removed ; and here grew 

 the noblest of all the varieties of Cuzco maize, > the yiira-sara 

 or white maize (J/ai2 S^awc) of Y'ncay. The palace of the Yncas 

 high up on one of the loftier terraces was surronndevl by the 

 glorious maize of Yucay, and had a view from its halls quite 

 unequalled for combined loveliness and grandeur. 



In a subsequent report Colonel Chamberlain said that the Cuzco 

 maize was incomparably the finest variety he had ever seen, and 

 that for table purposes there was nothing known to him equal 

 to it. He adds that it could be used as a most excellent and 

 nutritious food for cattle. 



The next year Colonel Chamberlain sowed a quarter of an 

 acre with 400 seeds which produced 38,000 grains in magnificent 

 cobs and GBl) lb. of greem stems. He pressed out 640 lb. of 

 stems in a sugar mill and boiled the juice which gave 15 sirs 

 of raw sugar or 4 lb. of refined suijar and foOT bottles of spirits. 

 This sugar was of good market value for refining, worth 8s to 

 148 per cwt. If the proper methods had been used from 10 to 

 IB lb. of refined sugar, instead of 4 lb., would have been obtained, 

 which is a third of the quantity produced from sugarcane. But the 

 sugar is an Axtra product. 



GRAFTING LEDGERIANAS ON SUCCIBUBRAS : 



IMPROVED METHODS. 



[The following very iuterestiug letter deserves and 

 will receive the best attention of cinchona planters. 

 —Ed.] 



Ouchterlony Valley, India, September 12th, 18S2. 



Ueak Sir, — The following remarks regardinjr graft- 

 ing C, Ltdgeriana upon Stici-indira may prove of interest, 

 if not of })enoHt, to some cf your numerous readeis 

 in Ceylon, at present engaged iu propagating this 

 valuable variety. I have seen several luetlu'tls de- 

 scribed from time to time, but, as the foUowiag are 



original, as practised by myself, I now embrace the 

 opportunity of placing them at your disposal. 



In the tii'St instance, the stocks suitable for grafting 

 are prepared as follows : — Select the requisite number 

 of plants, the size and age of which must correspond 

 as nearly as possible with that of the graft, and, after 

 trimming the roots liber.ally back, head them down to 

 within 6 or 8 inches of the collar, and plant them 

 temporarily in a shaded bed of light soil until fresh 

 young rootlets commence pushing, when the plants will 

 be ready for the grafting operation. 



My grafting is performed by stumping the stock 

 finally to within 2 or 3 inches of the collar, then 

 with a sharp knife make a clean cut upwards entirely 

 through the plant, leaving a clean, sloping surface about 

 1 in. or IJ in. iu length, terminating it practicable 

 with a bud. Then take the graft, and, after making 

 a cut of a corresponding and similar length downwards, 

 place the cambium lips at once together, binding the 

 whole gently but firmly with any good tying material 

 available. 



I find a vegetable fibre which decays in a short 

 time when subjected to atmospherio moisture prefer- 

 able, as it. obviates the necessity of loosening the ligat- 

 ure after the graft has united with the stock ; and, bear- 

 ing this well in mind, I have used the tine fibre of 

 the Neilgherry nettle ( Urtka hcterophylla Rox. ) with 

 signal success. The operation is completed by clay, 

 iiif the grafted part, for which purpose an excellent 

 composition can be prepared by taking a quantity of 

 the well-worked clay from the haunts of those busy 

 creatures, the white ants, and kneading it thoroughly 

 with one-fourth of its bulk of freshest cow manure. 

 Plant out in a well-prepared bed, burying the collar 

 and greater part of the clayed part below the surface, 

 and for protection adopt either bamboo cylinders or glass 

 bottles. 



If above the region of white ants bamboo cylinders 

 are the best and cheapest Snd prevent chills. These 

 are easily prepared by sawing them to the required 

 length and placing one over each graft sheltering at 

 the top with a broad leaf or any substance through 

 ■which a little light can penetrate. 



At the elevation where white ants abound bamboos 

 are practically useless ; so the grafts are sheltered by 

 bottomless bottles which are in every respect as effic- 

 acious as the more expensive bell-glasses. The bottles 

 are prepared for the special purpose by the following 

 system. Having collected a sufficient number of bottles 

 (no easy matter sometimes), pour in each a sufficient 

 quantity of coconut or other vegetable oil enough to 

 cover the bottom ; heat tbe oil quickly by immersing 

 the red hot end of an iron bar, and after withdraw- 

 ing the bar place the bottle a few inches iu cold 

 water. This at once causes the bottom to crack off, 

 leaving the necessary part intact, which can be in- 

 verted over the graft when required. After a bed 

 is carefully planted, a thick, substantial screen or pandal 

 should at once be erected, not only to shade the 

 plants from eun during the day but also as a pro- 

 tection against the deposits of dew and moisture at 

 night, which condensing inside the bottles would cause 

 a large proportion ot grafts to rot, should such a 

 precaution be neglected or considered unnecessary. 



No. 2 — is a system performed in a somewhat similar 

 manner, the chief difference lieiug that the mode of 

 attaching tlio graft to the stock is identical with that 

 practised by Mr. Moens, of Java. 



No. 3 — suggested itself to me on observing aerial 

 roots emanating from the point of junction in several 

 instances on grafted plants and for simplicity of con- 

 ception and general utility is 1 am convinced one 

 of the most expeditious methods of propagating C. 

 Ledgeriaua as a cutting. 



Take a piece of the stem of a young snccirulira 

 plant or sucker with at least two joints, the age and 



