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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



iJUNE 1, 1883. 



Maturity of AVood. — The question is often put, At 

 what age is wood of the different species of trees most 

 profitable and advantagously cut as a ripe and mature crop ? 

 This is not a simple but compound question, and requires 

 a somewhat lengthy explanatory answer. Two things in 

 particiJar contribute materially in determining the age at 

 which each species of tree should be cut as properly 

 mature. First, the situation and kind of soil on which 

 the tree grows; second, the number of trees upon the 

 ground and manner in which they were thinned at the 

 various stages of growth. — Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



Oamthor assisting the Gehmination op Seeds. — It is, 

 I believe, not generally known that most seeds are greatly 

 hastened in their germinating process by being soaked, 

 previous to sowing, in soft water, to a pint of which a 

 lump of camphor about the size of a large nut has been 

 added. I have tried this experiment on many vegetable 

 seeds, such as Peas, Beans, &:c,. as well as Palms, Ricinus 

 and various other tropical seeds, which we often receive 

 with very hard testas, many of which would require soak- 

 ing for a long period in the ordinary way ; but with the 

 addition of camphor, as before stated, only a very short 

 period of soaking is required. A\''hen time will permit I 

 intend undertaking a series of experiments relative to the 

 value of camphor, &c., in influencing or hastening the 

 germination of seeds generally, and will, with the Editor's 

 permission, communicate the results in these columns. — 

 T. AV". S. Lee. — Joxinud of HortictdUtre, 



Malaria in Italy. — An Embassy report from Italy in 

 referring to the subject of malaria in the country, which 

 is very great, says the chief causes of the complaint are 

 attributed to stagnant water and the destruction of timber. 

 It is poiued out that while in France the forest service 

 costs the State 14,000,000 francs per annum, Italy spends 

 no more than 150,000 hre. France has laid out 23,000,000 

 francs on rewooding her forests during the past twenty 

 years; Italy in five years has completely denuded of timber 

 1,500,000 hectares of land. Emigration increased from 19,000 

 persons in 1876 to over 40,000 in 1879, to a great extent on 

 account of the malaria. The sole practical effort to combat 

 this plague has been made by the indi-\ndual energy of 

 the French Trappists at the monastery of Tre Fontane, 

 near Rome, where they have planted Eucalyptus trees on 

 a large scale in one of the most unhealthy parts of the 

 Oampagna. — Gardeners'' Chronicle. 



" Native Bread." — A few specimens of a curious tuberous 

 body, which occm's in small quantities in clayey soil in 

 Jamaica, have been forwarded to us with the following 

 account by Mr. J. Hart : — " It is apparently of fungous 

 origin. It may be an edible species of Tuberacei. It is 

 found about 2 inches from the surface of strong clayey 

 pastures at 5,000 feet elevation ; mean temperature 63 '^ 

 Fahi*. The specimens are found solitary, at very iri'eguiar 

 distances from each other, and of different sizes, at all 

 seasons of the year. They are often discovered on the 

 surface after heavy rains, the wash from which has carried 

 away the surface soil." Mr. Hart's specimens at once 

 reminded us of those which were sent more than twenty 

 years ago from Ti'avancore by Horaninow under the 

 name of Myhtta lapidescens, Hor., and which are figured 

 in Linn. Transactions^ vol. xxiii., tab. 9, fig. 14 — 17, and 

 they are doubtless identical, though coming from such a 

 distant locality. They accord closely in structure with 

 Mylitta austraUs, a fresh specimen of which was sent 

 both to Tulasne and Corda, and figured by the latter in his 

 Icones, vi., tab. ix., fig. 93, from which it is clear that 

 the affinity is with Eudogone, but unfortunately perfect 

 fruit has never been seen. The production is well known in 

 Australia under the name of " native bread," and there is 

 no doubt that it is perfectly wholesome, but the Jamaica 

 specimens are too small to make them of any economic 

 importance. The white veins consist of threads less com- 

 pacted than those of the intermediate mass, the tips of 

 which swell, and doubtless are the infant state either of 

 asci or spores. A long account of similar matters will 

 be found in the Jovrnnl of the Linnean Society, vol. iii.. No. 

 10. The Ti-avancore specimens are used as medicine by 

 the Chinese, but, like many other of their remedies, are 

 of very doubtful utility, and perhaps rather tlependent 

 on their nutritious property, like Salep, than on any sanative 

 attribute. — M. J. B.—Gard^^iei's^ Chronicle. 



TEaiPERATURE OF SoiL AND " Oanker " are thus noticed 

 in the Journcd of Horticxdiure -. — Barren cankered trees 

 have been cured of their disease, and their barrenness 

 \ replaced by fertility, by simply having their roots lifted 

 I out of the cold under soil and placed near the warmer 

 1 surface. Dr. Lindley, quoting from the Memoirs of the 

 Caledonian Horticultural Society, in his " Theory of Horti- 

 culture, " mentions a case of this kind. Mr. Reid of Bal- 

 carras cured cankered trees by taking their roots out of 

 soil which at 3 feet deep was diuing the summer months 

 44°, at 18 inches 50 ° , at 9 inches 57 ^ , and at 6 inches 

 61 ° . In a raised border where the soil was dark wr, 

 ten years ago, found a thermometer indicate 67 ° 6 inches 

 from the surface ; near by, on the level, it was only 59 ® . 

 The border, it should be added, had a slope of 25° or 

 thereby. • 



An Angry Tree. — A very entertaining and amusing 

 scrap-book could soon be made by any one who would take 

 the trouble to cut out paragi-aphs on the idiosyncracies of 

 plants, and the various other items of information on 

 botanical and horticidtiu-al sulijects, which appear in news- 

 papers. Performances altogether putting into the shade 

 anything recorded by the author of Freaks and Marvels 

 of Plant Life are gravely related. The following, recently 

 published under the above heading by more than one Lon- 

 don daily, is a good instance in point: — ''A .singular 

 species of Acacia is growing at A'^irgiuia, which shows all 

 the characteristics of a iSensitive I'lant. It is about S feet 

 high, and growing rapidly. AYhen the sun sets its leaves 

 fold together, and the ends of the twigs coil up like a 

 pig's-tail, and if the latter are handled there is e\adent 

 uneasiness throughout the plant. Its highest state of 

 agitation was reached when the tree was removed from 

 the pot in which is was matured into a larger one. To 

 use the gardener's expression, it went very mad. It had 

 scarcely been placed in the new quarters before the leaves 

 began to stand up in all directions like the hair on the 

 tail of an augi'y cat, and soon the whole plant was in 

 a quiver. At the same time it gave out a sickening and 

 pimgect odoiix, resembling that of a rattlesnake when 

 teased. The smell so filled the house that it was necessax-y 

 to open the doors and windows, and it was a full hour 

 before the plant calmed down and folded its leaves in 

 peace." — Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



Castor Oil Plants. — Few plants that are grown for 

 the beauty of their fohage are more ornamental than 

 the different varieties of ricinus or castor oil plants, 

 which are not half so much grown as their merits dt- 

 serve, as not only are they suitable for pots, to use for 

 the embellishment of large conservatories or halls, but 

 they are grand outdoors, where, if planted as single speci- 

 mens on lawns, dotted here and there in borders, or 

 grouped in masses, they produce a striking effect. If 

 arranged in the last-named way, the stronger sorts should 

 be placed in the centre, and the weaker around, that 

 the group may as,sume uniformity: and where single plants 

 are used in prominent positions, the most robust look 

 the boldest and best. There is one among the weaker 

 growers deserving of special mention (R. Gibsoni), which has 

 leaves and stem as darkly-coloured and rich-looking as 

 Iresine or Dell's beet; and, if planted with an edging of 

 Abutilon Thompsoni, the contrast between the two is 

 most pleasing, as they associate and look well together. 

 As these castor oils are gross feeding plants, the .soil 

 should be si^ecially prepared for them by being trenched 

 or deeply dug, and at the same time heavily manured 

 with rotten dung; and if this is done, they will develop 

 magnificent leaves, and have a shapely appearance the 

 whole of the .summer. Many make mistakes with ricinus 

 in sowing them too soon, and starving the plants at first 

 starting; for if thej' become drawn and checked then, 

 they run up with weak naked stems instead of being fur- 

 nished with foliage below. As the seeds germinate so 

 quickly, and the jilants grow so fast, the middle or end 

 of April is quiet time enough to sow, for it is not safe 

 to plant out till the first week in June, and they get to 

 a large size in a month or six weeks, if well treated and 

 nursed on in heat. liefore planting out it is necessary 

 to harden them by gradual exposure, and directly they 

 are in the beds they should be staked and securely tied, 

 or the wind will break and destroy them. — D. — Field. 



