November i, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



433 



Stock's Carbolic Acid Cure for Coffee Leaf 

 Disease, is, we regi'et to learn not turning out a 

 success so far in Ceylon. On Warleigh estate, Dikoya, 

 where it has been applied on an elaborate scale, 

 the report is very qualified as to results, even though 

 the coffee has the advantage of being interspersed 

 with cinchona, so checking the spread of tlie spores. 

 On UdapoUa Liberiau coffee again, Mr. .Jardine has 

 experimented with a mixture up to 25 per cent of 

 the acid, without being eatisiied that the fungus 

 spoi-es in the immediate neighbourhood were dis|josed 

 01. In fact they were said to be ripening fast. 

 Mr. Jardine will now try up to 50 per cent and 

 watch the results as an e.xperiment. 



"Salt Bush" Australia and India. — Amongst 

 the beneficial results of Mr. Buck's visit to Australia 

 as Commissioner for India at the Melbourne Interna- 

 tional Exhibition, will probably be the introduction 

 of the valuable salsolaceous plant, known in Aust- 

 ralia as "salt bush." Originally regarded by the 

 Australian settlers as useless or worse, it turned out 

 to be one of the most nutritious cattle feeds in the 

 world. Now it is likely to confer a double benefit on 

 India. Not only is good cattle feed wanted, but a plant 

 desiderated which will feed upon and rid the soil of 

 the saline inflorescence called ivh, the result of 

 frequent irrigation and the cause of sterility. The 

 Australian salt bush is being tried for these purposes in 

 North Western India and with every probability of suc- 

 cess. Query whether the salt bush might be successfully 

 grown by the sides of marine streams and onthe sea shore 

 and other places in the Northern Province of Ceylon. 



The Cultivation of the Potato is thus discussed 

 in the Sydney Mail : — " To obtain profitable root 

 crops it is imperative to pulverize the ground thoroughly 

 and to manure it highly. The first of those root 

 crops demanding manure in large quantities is the 

 potato, introduced into notice only some 260 years. 

 It has found its way into every garden, and in the 

 face of loud and constant assertions to the contrary, 

 has proved itself a very valualje and wholesom* 

 article of diet for man and beast. That mode of 

 culture which shall at all times and in all situations 

 tend to produce the heaviest crops and of the finest 

 quality is of material importance, not to the farmer 

 alone but to the consumer also. Mr. Knight, the late 

 president of the Horticultural Society, in his admir- 

 able lecture on the culture of the potato, declares 

 *' that li(/ht is of the utmost importance to the growth 

 of this plant, and advises all potato-drills to nm north 

 and south, thus insuring the greatest breadth of light 

 daily. To plant old potatoes, good sized ones, none 

 of less weight than four ounces, indeed he uses six- 

 ounce ones in preference ; each set to be six inches 

 apart in the rows, and two feet six inches from the 

 centre of one row to the centre of the next. One 

 fact Mr. Knight mentions, and as it is of importance, 

 I may quote it : — " The outer rows and single rows 

 produce far more potatoes than those in the inside." 

 The best soil, where you can choose it, for growing 

 potatoes is light sandy and moderately rich land, if 

 fine mealy potatoes are required. When potatoes are 

 boiled or steamed carefully they are eaten by horses, 

 cows, pigs, and poultry with the best results ; but 

 raw potatoes are not so fattening. In Tasmania as 

 much as sixteen tons have been dug from an acre 

 of land. Indeed, 1 have been told that carefully- 

 selected seed will make the difference of two or three 

 tons per acre. The potato prepares land for the wheat 

 crop admirably to follow, having well manured the 

 ground and ploughed it with a deep rather than a 

 wide furrow, let it rest until you wish to put in your 

 crop. Ash-leafed kidney or silver-skin may be planted 

 in May and June ; the end of July and August is 

 time enough for the main crop. If you have a grubber 

 put it througli tlie land ; then, with a light double 

 mould-board plough, open it into ridges and furrowa 



about two feet from centre to centre ; but, if the 

 land is rich, two feet six inches will be even taken ; 

 along these furrows lay evenly tlie manure, which 

 sliould contain a large proportion of slacked lime and 

 salt ; on this lay the potatoes, and then, with a plough 

 split the ridges from end to end, covering up the 

 tuckers and making fresh ridges with the manure, and 

 potatoes as a centre core. We have no potato disease 

 here, but a grub is sometimes troublesome. Lime and 

 salt clears tlie ground of this jiest speedily." 



'J'liK Rloo.N- AND Tiir. Weatiikk VVe observe that 



Sir VV. Thomson, in his address on Friday week 

 to the liritish Associ.ition, declared authoritatively 

 that " careful observation with the barometer, ther- 

 mometer, and anemometer, at the time of new moon 

 full moon, and half-moon, has failed to establish aii\' 

 relation whatever " between the phases of the moon 

 and the weather. " If there is any deoendence of 

 the weather on the phases of the muon, it is only to 

 a degree quite imperceptible to ordinary ohservation." 

 It is difiicult to account for the deep-rooted popular 

 prpjudice that the weather does change more and 

 with more significanee, at the time of the phases of 

 the moon, than at any other time. This is a point 

 on which ordinary people will no', accept scientific 

 opinion. They raise their brows, and evidently think 

 that vague, popular impressions must havn more value 

 than scientific ob-ervation. We wonder why. It 

 seems precisely one nf the matters which soientiflc 

 observati 111 should set .at rtst. — Sptclator. 



Aloe Cultivation.— On page 426 appears an extract 

 from the Indian AgricuUnrist referring to aloe fibre. 

 If aloe fibre is of such commercial value as is repre- 

 sented iu the extract in questiou, a bright future is 

 certainly in store for poor Jaffna. Perhaps, it is not 

 generally known that aloe is a common plant ia 

 Jaffna. Uucared for, it grows luxuriantly not only 

 in the peniusula, but also in other parts of the 

 Northern Province. It is found in wild abundance 

 in tlie Pachchellapally district. The species of aloe 

 known in Jaffna are chiefly three, and their Tamil 

 names are (1.) Kimiarikaththadai (?) niarel) and (.3) Put- 

 laikalhthalai. The first-named species attains a great 

 height, and its stalks, measuring 6 or 8 feet in length, 

 give it a noble appearance. It is common in Paoh- 

 chellap.ally, and is a favorite fence plant with the 

 coconut planters. A traveller by the central road may 

 see it in unbroken succession, forming the boundary 

 fences of the estates in the district. It is never 

 watered nor any care bestowed ' upon it : jet there ia 

 hardly any other plant which grows eo luxuriantly 

 and rapidly as this. The late Mr. D. Todd who knew 

 more of it than his fellow-planters, a short time 

 previous to hia death, cut down some which grew in 

 his estatr, prepared the stalks into fibre and took it 

 with him to England. On his return he informed one 

 of hia friends in course of conversation that the aloe 

 fibre which he took realized a good price, giving him 

 a clear .and an unexpected profit of R,000 on the whole 

 tiansac'ion. This was the first and only transaction 

 in Jaffna aloes, and Mr. Todd having soon after died, 

 it is kno"n to a few only. The other day the enter- 

 prizing broker of Messrs. Delmege Reid & Co. pro- 

 cured fir his principals a small lot of fibre extracted 

 from one of the species mentioned above. It was 

 obtained from the Wanni, and, although it was not 

 subjected to any patent process, yet it looked remark- 

 ably fine. It has been sent to England, labelled 

 probably "Jaffna fibre." The result is anxiously looked 

 for by all interested in Jaffna. The marei grows in 

 Wadamarachy and may be seen in large groups in the 

 plains of Semmani. The remaining species is a favorite 

 medicinal plant with native doctors and is not so 

 conim-u as the others. Surely ;i cultivation which 

 requires but little money and trouble must be at once 

 undertaken, and there ia no placL in Ceylon so fitted 

 for it as JaiBhs. — Oor, 



