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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [November i, 1882. 



Chinese Varnish Tree.— In Dr. Bretschneider'B notes 

 on some botanical que.stions connected with the export trade 

 of China, it is remarked that " It is generally accepted 

 by authors writing on Chinese varnish, that it is produced 

 by Sims vernicifera, the Japanese varnish tree." The 

 Chinese varnish tree is found in the provinces of OhS 

 Kiaug, Kiangsi and Sze-Ohuen. According to Bretschneider 

 the figures of the tree in Chinese botanical books do not 

 at all re.semble Shua vernicifera. I learn from Mr. H. T. 

 Murton that a Chinaman at Singapore has about forty 

 acres planted with varnish trees. Specimens sent to Kew 

 prove that it is Alciirites veriiicia{=A. carduta Elirococca 

 vermcia). Seads o£ this plant had been previously obtained 

 through a correspondent from Sze-chuen, and have been 

 distributed to Ceylon, Demerara, Dominica, Jamaica, Wash- 

 ington (Department of Agriculture), and Zanzibar. Dr. 

 Kirk reports (September 9) from the last-mentioned place 

 that the seedlings " are all a foot high, and I am planting 

 them out. " — Joiirnal of Applied Science. 



Successful Melon-growing. — Mr. 0. Smith describes 

 in the Gardener as follows a fine crop of melons at 

 Cardiff Castle i— " The plants, seven in number, were planted 

 in a border 2ft. wide and 14in. deep, in a compost of 

 soil which had produced two crops of melons before the 

 crop I am going to describe. Mr. Pettigrew is not particular 

 as to the quality of the soil he uses for growing melons. 

 His success depends more on giving the plants hberal 

 supplies of liquid manure and light top-dressings, to in- 

 duce root-action near the surface, than trusting to any 

 special soil. Three crops were taken from the plants which 

 I allude to— namely, eight fruit from each plant each 

 crop, or 2-1 melons from each plant, making a total of 

 168 fruit to the seven plants, which averaged 3ilb. each, 

 or, in all 5881b. Many of the fruit of the first crop 

 were more than 5Ib. or 61b. each, but they were smaller 

 in siie towards the end of the season. They were, however, 

 all presentable fruit, and none of them under 21b. in weight, 

 and of the very best quality. The variety which produced 

 the enormous crop was Eastnor Castle, green-fleshed kind." 

 — A Ufitralasian. 



Note on Hedtosmum Nutans and Ckitonea Dalea.-— 

 Some mouths since a sample of a fragrant volatile oil, 

 said to come from Jamaica under the name of tobacco 

 bush oil, was presented to the Museum by Mr. J. C. Sawer. 

 As that name was not to be found in Lunan's "Hortus 

 Jamaicensis," nor in Barham's "Hortus Americanus," I 

 wrote to Mr. D. Morris, the Director of the Botanical 

 Department at Gordon Town, Jamaica, who has informed 

 me that " the name (of tobacco bush) is applied to Hedi/os- 

 viiim nutans, Sw., a common plant on the Jamaica hills, 

 as about Port Royal and on the Blue Mountains, at an 

 elevation of 5.000 to G,000 feet above the sea. It is also 

 called headache weed, and is generally used by the natives 

 tor making tea and for binding around their heads when 

 in pain." Rosenthal states that the leaves and flowers 

 are used as a stomachic and antispasmodic. The plant is 

 now placed in the Chloranthaceie, although the genus was 

 referred to the Amentaceis by Sprengel, and to the Caprifo- 

 liacese by Reichenbach. Ttje flowers are unisexual, the 

 males bractless, in small, close, oblong spikes ; the females 

 sessile on a corymbose inflorescence. Tlie leaves are opposite, 

 lanceolate acuiminate and serrate, with the bases of the 

 petioles united so as to form a short sheath around the 

 stem. The flavor of the leaves is pungent and aromatic, 

 and the odor like that of scented soap. Indeed, if the 

 oil could be obtained at a cheaper rate it would make 

 a very agreeable perfume for soap, and it it really possesses 

 the property of relieving headache, might form a useful 

 addition to smelling-salts. Another plant which is known in 

 Jamaica by the similar name of cigar bnsh, or cigar maker's 

 vanilla, is the Eupatorium Dalea (Crito)iea Dalea, D. C). 

 This plant grows to a height of 6 to 10 feet ; has lanceolate, 

 tapering, thin, smooth, somewhat shining, distantly ser- 

 rulate, opposite leaves, 4 or 5 inches long, aud ^ to 1 inch 

 broad in the widest part. When held up to the light 

 they are seen to be marked with pellucid lines ami points, 

 something like those of the balsam of peru tree. The 

 leaves are very fragrant, the odor, which is very persistent, 

 resembling that of new-mown hay or tonka bean. The 

 leaves might well form a cheap substitute for tonka bean 

 in perfumery, while a tincture might be useful for disguising 

 the odor of iodoform. — Pharniaceuticrl Journal. 



Carbolic Acid in Small-pox.— Dr. C. W. Thorp writes 

 to the British Med. Journal : — " I have found the carbolic- 

 acid glycerine of the British Pharmacopceia, diluted with 

 four times its weight of glyceriue, a most useful application 

 in small-pox. It should be applied as soon as the pustules 

 begin to fill, and be continued until they desquamate. 

 Such treatment, I think, not alone renders the 

 patient less repulsive to those about him or her, but 

 lessens to a great extent the pitting resulting from the 

 disease. " 



Destroying American Blight and Mildew. — An English 

 contemporary thus answers an inquiry : — If you dissolve 

 6oz. of soft soap in a gallon of water, adding a wineglassful 

 of paraffin, aud apply the mixture to the trees with a 

 brush, rubbing well into the crevices of the bark, it will 

 destroy the insects. Any portions of the trees that are 

 seriously affeetLd may be dressed with pure parafiin, but 

 it must not be appUed to the buds nor to the smooth 

 bark, nor so freely as to drain from the trees into the 

 soil. The soft soap and parafiin must be thoroughly mixed 

 together, and the remedy wiU be safe and effectual. After 

 your roses are pruned dress them with a mixture of lime 

 and sulphur with a httle clay added to make the " paint " 

 adhere to the stems. In the summer syringe them fre- 

 quently with a solution of soft soap, and it will to 

 a very great extent prevent the mildew appearing. — 

 A listralasian. 



Sawdust roR Peopagating Plants. — I have never found 

 any material that produces roots so quickly, surely, and 

 numerously, in all plants that I have tried in it as saw- 

 dust fresh from the forester's sawmills, and it does its work 

 perfectly for 12 months without being renewed. Pitcher- 

 plants, including such varieties as lanata aud sanguinea, 

 strike freely in sawdust, and scarcely a cutting of any plant 

 fails in it. I never saw plants make such enormous numbers 

 of rootlets in any other material. I once potted a pine- 

 apple in it, and in a very short time the whole dust was 

 so permeated with roots that when they were washed clean 

 they resembled a wig of roots more than anything else. A 

 camelha was tried in it \vith the same result. These facts 

 may be of service to many who are able easily to obtain 

 sawdust who cannot so easily procure silver saud or cocoa- 

 nut fibre refu.se. The sawdust used here is from spruce, 

 larch, and oak, all mixed together and laid about 4in. 

 thick over a heated chamber. — D. Thomson, Dmmlanrig, 

 in. Journal ef Horticul litre. 



The Vine Pest. — The battle with the phylloxera isftill 

 kept up here and there in France, but in a disheartened 

 way, and all too late. There is no doubt whatever that 

 where submersion can be employed, and a foot or so of 

 water can be kept on a viueyard for six weeks in the 

 year, the phylloxera can be drowned out. But the treat- 

 ment costs too much, except in naturally favourable situ- 

 ations, and it weakens the wine. The area thus treated 

 is quite insignificant— not more than 12,000 acres annually 

 for the last three years. The application of chemicals also 

 continues, but not to so large an extent. Bisulphate of 

 carbon is the only matter yet discovered which, carefully 

 applied, kills the phylloxera without hurting the vine. It 

 is at best only a partial remedy ; for its application 

 to the roots thi'ee or four times a year requires many 

 skilled labourers, and is so costly as to be confined to 

 \'iueyards which give a large margin of profit — such as 

 those which yield " grands crus. " While M. Balblani 

 hunts after the "winter egg." BI. Dumas, taking a hint 

 from Pasteur's discovery about the corpuscles of the 

 ■silk-worm disease, is searching for a contagious malady 

 or parasite with which he can inoculate the phylloxera, 

 for he maintains it must have a natural enemy of the 

 kind. The reward of £12,000 for the invention of a method 

 of destruction still remains open, and the oddest proposals 

 are year by year renewed. Vinegar and sea-water are 

 very much in favour with these dreamers ; even coffee- 

 grounds and church incense have been suggested. Soifc 

 strongly urge the employment of small birds aiul even 

 ants ; while others sagely propose to graft the vine on 

 mulberry-trees, wihl briars or gooseberry bushes. But the 

 lonely rays that hght up the dark prospect are the hopes 

 founded on the essays made with the American vines. — 

 •S'if. .Jaines's Gazette, 



