438 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1882. 



for a supply of what is pre-emi?ieutly a Ohiliau product. 

 The article referred to is as follows: — " Possibilities of 

 horticulture in California are so great that hardly a tithe 

 of what might be grown here Is in any way tested, nor 

 cau lie for many years to come. But there is a South 

 American tree of commercial and peculiar value which 

 deserves immediate attention. Baron Von MuUer, of 

 Melbourne, Australia, a veteran botanist, and a man of large 

 and practical attaiuments, who has established forests and 

 botanic gardens in many places, calls the attention of the 

 Australian public to the Quillaja Sapouaria (the soap tree 

 of Chili). An English journal asserts that the tree is fast 

 disappearing from the forests of Chili, its chief habitat, 

 owing to the recklessness with which the natives strip off 

 the bark, which contains the saponaceous element. It also 

 says that for dressing silk and wool, chemical science has 

 not yet discovered any equally efficient substitute for this 

 bark, and it has accordingly come into large demand both 

 in France and England. IJut Australia and New Zealand, 

 being great wool-producing countries, are interested in 

 procuring a supply of such a powerful alkaloid. There is, 

 therefore, a decided anxiety in these countries to plant 

 quillaja groves. But California has equal if not superior 

 advantages for its culture. Seeds of quillaja have "twice 

 been distributed on the Pacific Coast by the *' Bulletin," 

 and quite a number of small trees from these importations 

 are thriving in various parts of California. The alkaloid 

 from the bark of this tree is also coming into use as a 

 cooling and healthy wash for the hair, and as a component 

 part of vari )us preparations used by barbers and hair-dressers. 

 There is likely to be a scarcity of quillaja bark in a few 

 years, and plantations of the tree might with profit be 

 established on the hills of this State." — South American 

 Journal. 



ABOUT CORK AND ITS USES. 



Thirty years ago, it is said by old dealers, there was not 

 one-tenth as much cork used in the United States as there 

 is today, and the rate of increase is not only steady but 

 rapid. A reporter who has been invesigating the matter 

 for the Times, gives some information on the subject, which 

 is undoubtedly true, but not very new. A chemist in this 

 city, he says, when applied to for information, frankly 

 admitted that he had always had an idea that cork had 

 no chemical properties. He looked over his authorities, 

 however, and ascertained in an old chemistry that when 

 treated with nitric acid, cork was found to contain proportions 

 of white fibrous matter, resin, oxalic acid and suberic acid. 

 The latter is an acid not in practical use and is comparatviely 

 unknown among the dealers in chemicals. Cork has a very 

 high percentage of carbon, and when treated ;in the same 

 way that wood is burnt to make charcoal, it produces a pig- 

 ment known as Spanish black, which is used to a slight extent 

 among artists to procure certain dark tints. It is claimed 

 by some American dealers that cork cau be profitably grown 

 in the Southern States, and a few modest efforts have been 

 made in that direction in Georgia and Florida. A New 

 York cork importer said that he had seen American-grown 

 cork, and thought it of a very good quality, but he had 

 never seen any of it iu the New York market, and had 

 heard of no attempts being made to introduce it here. 

 England and Kussia used by far the larger quantity of 

 cork, the people of those countries applying it in a hundred 

 different ways, both domestically and scientifically. 



There has been a great deal of the rough bark of the cork 

 tree imported lately. It is called virgin cork, and looks 

 very much like the bark of an oak tree. It is quite cheap, 

 and is used for decorative purposes in gardens and conserv- 

 atories. Florists also use it to some extent in thfir fancy 

 designs. Rustic devices made from virgin cork may be seen 

 in several of the handsome grounds along the Hudson Kiver 

 and on Long Island. In England* it is extensively used in 

 the public parks and in the formation of picturesque grottos 

 in private estates. A gentleman who visited Portugal and 

 Spain as buyer for a New York cork firm.last year, says that 

 in that country the cork bark is used by the peasantry for 

 cradles and chairs, beds and sofas, and even to make Iiouses 

 of. He saw scores of little row-bo.its on the small ri\ers 

 of Portugal which the cork cutters had hastily fashioned 



* And in Australia. — Ed. 



out of virgin cork. Some of these boats were large enough 

 and strong enough to hold six or seven persons. So cheap 

 is the virgin cork, even in this country, that enough can 

 be purchased to tastefully ornament a whole garden for 

 SIO or $15.-~Druff Xews. 



THE BEGONIA, 



(which must not be confounded with Biynonia) is a plant 

 conspicuous often on watery rock faces in Ceylon, having 

 pretty pink blossoms. That that this is only one of mciny 

 varieties, enormously multiplied by the gardener's art, is 

 evident from an article in the Asian, from which we 

 quote : — 



There is probably hardly any other genus of plants that 

 has been either so much improved or havo attained such 

 a degree of popularity in such a short period as has the 

 Begonia during the past few j'ears in Europe, and also 

 to a some what less extent in this country. This is scarcely 

 to be wondered at when we consider the ease and rapidity 

 with which they can he propagated, either from seed or 

 cuttings, and many of them from leaves or parts of leaves 

 only; and certainly as foliage plants a large section of 

 them occupy a unique position iu plant society ; for what 

 other genus of dwarf ornamental plants have we that 

 can be compared with the beautiful foliage of the immense 

 number of new varieties of what is known as the "■ Rex 

 Section." Of this large family, vni\\ their bold fantastically 

 marked leaves, embracing almost every shade of colour, 

 from pure silvery white, through all the shades of green 

 to the deepest black and frequently also blended with 

 pink, crimson, and maroon, the original parent of this 

 large group " B. Rex*' a native of tliis country, has been 

 RO far outdistanced by the beauty of its numerous progeny 

 that it has been almost entirely driven out of the field, 

 and yet scarcely ten years since it was the only variety 

 known iu our gardens. It is not, however, as a foliage 

 plant that the Begonia has made such rapid strides to 

 attain popularity in such a short period, but as a flowering 

 plant; and in Europe at least it bids fair to rival e\i^n 

 such old-established favorites as the Geranium or Calceolaria 

 as bedding plants, being equally hardy and more diverse 

 in its various shades of colouring. These now form an 

 entirely distinct class, and are known as the " tuberous- 

 rooted section," the history of which is certainly interesting. 

 The parents of this group are B. holiviensi.t, B. Veitchi 

 B. ros(Pjtora, and B. Pearcti. The first hybrid vainety raised 

 was B, Sedeni by that prince of hybridisers Mr. Seden iu 

 1868, and since that time the number of named Irinds 

 sent out might be reckoned by the thousand, an.l it is 

 computed that at the present time there are at least six 

 hundred standard varieties in cultivation. During this brief 

 period of fourteen years an immense improvement has 

 been made in the size and form of the flowers, which in 

 some of the best of the new varieties it is stated measures 

 nearly sis inches in diameter ; but undoubtedly the crowning 

 triumph of all was the introduction of varieties with 

 perfectly double flowers in 1876. There has since then 

 been a great addition to the list of these also, and vast 

 improvement raa-ie in them, some of the new varieties 

 being described as being as perfect in form as a Camellia. 



THE DECLINE OF COFFEE IN CEYLON. 



Sir, — In reading through " AV.'s " letters on the decline 

 of coffee in Ceylon, and the various agencies which may, 

 or rather, according to liim, may not have brought about 

 the present lamentable results, I fail to notice any allusion 

 to a most important point, viz., the nurseries, tlie source 

 from which every estate must trace its origin. 



Now to digress a little. There are but few cultivators 

 of cinchona, who have not had to mom-u the loss or debility 

 of their plants in all their stages, from the unsuccessful 

 nm'sery to the fast diminishing three year old plantation. 

 This is chiefly attrihutaiJe, no one will attempt to gainsay, 

 to the folly displayed in the purchase of most of the seed, 

 and the carelessness with which it was collected. I am 

 certain that more than half the seed sold was quite unfit 

 for propagating its kind, either on account of the immaturity 

 of its parent, or its own unripeness. I could dilate mncli 



