514 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[December i, 1882 . 



As an experiment, undertaken in the interest of pro- 

 prietors of coconut plantations, the results are worthy of 

 notice. Placing the vaUie of the nuts at 40s. per thou- 

 sand and 5,500 nuts to the ton of copra, this would give 

 £11 as its first cost per ton. To this must be added cost 

 of preparation and shipping ex^^enses, which would be not 

 less than £5, hence with coconuts at 40s. per thousand, 

 the cost of placing a ton of Copra in the London mar- 

 ket would be about £16. At the present high price of 

 coconuts it is certainly more remunerative to sell them 

 as they are ; but should the price of coconuts fall below 

 40s. per thousand, it would be better to make Copra and 

 ship the produce in that state. In the Pacific Islands and 

 other places remote from good markets for fresh nuts, 

 the manufacture of Oopra has become a large and itn- 

 portant industry. The extension of coconut plantations in 

 Jamaica may therefore be undertaken with every confi- 

 dence that they will prove of a thoroughly remunerative 

 character, and this, it must be noted, without any refer- 

 ence to the coconut husk, which, with suitable machinery, 

 might in itself form the basis of an important industry. 

 Coconut Disease in St. Elizuheth. — In a note on the dis- 

 tribution of the coconut in Jamaica, I lately made some 

 observations with regard to what has been termed the 

 coconut disease in the Parish of St. Elizabeth, which may 

 be noticed here. 



It has been remarked as somewhat strange that while 

 the coconut palm grows freely everywhere along the coast 

 of Jamaica, it is almost entirely absent from Alligator 

 Pond to Black Eiver, and indeed along the Southern Coast 

 as far as Sav.-la-Mar. At first, this was taken as an 

 accidental circumstance; but careful enquiry on the spot 

 has convinced me that although the soil and cUmate differ 

 very slightly from those in other portions of the Island 

 where the coconut thrives luxuriantly, all efforts to estab- 

 lish it along the sea-board of the Pari.sh of St. Elizabeth, 

 and especially in the Pedro district, have signally tailed. 

 The plants appear to thrive for a few years and to grow 

 remarkably well, but before coming into hearing they 

 suddenly die off from the top, leaving nothing but a bare 

 frondless stem. After examiaing several trunks of the 

 Big Thatch (fiahal umhraculifera) a palm which is so abund- 

 ant in the district, and finding them completely riddled 

 by the attacks of the larva of a beetle very closely allied, 

 if not identical, with the destructive palm-beetle of the 

 East Indies, I came to the conclu.sion that one, if not 

 the chief cause of the absence of the coconut palm was 

 the abundance of this beetle. Further information and 

 inquiry in the neighbourhood has fully confirmed this view. 

 The Big Thatch appears to exist and indeed to thrive 

 luxuriantly in spite of the beetle but the cocoiiut fails. 

 The terminal bud of the latter offers an easily accessible 

 and tempting bonne houche to the larva, and it succumbs 

 to its attacks. On the other hand the Big Thatch thrives 

 and covers the country. 



It seems as if in this instance a choice must be made 

 between the Big Thatch and the coconut. The work of 

 exterminating the former palm, covering several thousand 

 acres, is an alternative which is neither practicable, nor 

 for some reasons is it indeed advisable. If the ravages 

 of the beetle do not extend to other portions of the Is- 

 land, it would perhaps be better to accept the inevitable 

 and devote attention in this district to other plants of 

 a more promising and remunerative character.* 



Oil of Jy'in.—A piece of waste land to the eastward of 

 the lighthouse has been cleared and planted with the Mo- 

 ringa or Horse Radish tree {Morinya pteri/f/osperma) which 

 is one of the trees yielding the celebrated Oil of Ben. 

 Under the impression that the true Oil of Beu was the 

 produce of .Uorint/n rijitenc, 1 made inquiry in 1879 re- 

 specting this species and asked for supplies of seed from 

 the Royal Gardens, Kew, from Alexandria ami Madras. 

 As a result I was informed that Oil of Ben, " though at 

 " one time a valuable branch of Eastern commerce, had 

 " been almost entirely thrown out of the market by exces- 

 " sive imparts and extensive adulterations, and but little 

 " of it can at the^ijresent time be commercially obtained." 



* Accordiug to the Honorable D. Marshalleck, Ctistos of St. 

 Thomas-in-the-East, slaked lime applied to the ltowii of the 

 cocouut palms has proved of si^rviu-e in destroying the larva of 

 this beetle. This is t>o simple and eoiiveuieut a treatment, especially 

 for young trees, tJiat it might well be tried. 



Moreover it appeared that what little of the oil that can 

 be obtained is the produce of Jforinr/a jiteii/i/osperma. 

 This species grows more luxuriantly in all the dry plains 

 of the coast, and it continually bears abitudant crops of 

 fruit. SVith the view of testing its value as a minor 

 jiroduct, about 5 acres have been established with it at 

 the Paiisadoes Plantation, and in a few years the oil, 

 which is described as the " finest fat oil which a perfumer 

 could use," might be submitted for approval. The seeds 

 are said to yield twenty-five per cent of oil, which at a 

 price say of five guineas a hundredweight — the present 

 market value of sweet almond oil — would surely offer 

 sufficient mercantile inducement for its production ; but 

 there is every reason to believe that it would realize never 

 less than ten pounds per cwt. in the open market. For 

 making cold cream and all kinds of unguents it would 

 prove invaluable and without a competitor. Supposing that 

 it would not pay its producers to ship it in its natural 

 state, they could enflower it with the flowers of the plu- 

 meria, acacia, jasmin, and pancratium, and numerous other 

 flowers which abound and bloom tmregarded : it would 

 then yield six to eight shillings a pound.* 

 HOPE plantation;. 

 This establishment has received special attention during 

 the year, and it now possesses large nurseries for the 

 propagation and distributioii of economic plants, which, 

 in view of the shipping facilities at Kingston, are found 

 of great value. 



The chief operations at these gardens consisted in sup- . 

 plying and keeping up the small plantations of Cacao, 

 Li'berian Coffee, Nutmegs, Cloves, Cinnamon, Mangosteen, 

 &c. These, when established, are intended to afl'ord seeds 

 and cuttings for the nurseries and for maintaining sup- 

 plies of these plants in the plains. The Cacao plants, 

 although only 18 months old, are five feet high and ex- 

 hibit a remarkably healthy appearance. About GOO Ma,ho- 

 gany plants have been supplied through the plantation. 

 The Teak plantation of about 10 acres has received two 

 cleanings and is in good order The largest of the Te.ak 

 plants are 40 feet in height and measuring 2 feet in cir- 

 cumference at the base. The collection of Piue-apples, 

 consisting of the Queen, Prince Albert, Charlotte Roths- 

 child, Jloutserrat, Kiply, Black Pine, &c., has lately been 

 removed and is now well established in a good position. 

 All the outside fences have been carefully repau-ed; 80 

 chains of the penguin fence adjoining ''.he public road has 

 been cleaned and thoroughly established, and a new wire 

 fence placed at Merryman's piece. 



iVurseries. — A piece of good laud about 2 acres in extent 

 has been enclosed with a hedge of limes and laid out in 

 beds for raising the most important economic plants. The 



arina. Juniper Cedar, Kola Nuts, Teak, Guango, Maho- 

 gany, Sapucaya Nut, Bols immortelle, Divi-divi, Madras 

 Thorn, Oil Palm, Sappan, Balsam of Peru, Rosewood, 

 Cherimoya, selected Pine-apples, &c., &c. 

 king's house gahdens. 

 General I^'otes.—ln June last an immense number_ of 

 butterflies of the yellow and white kinds were noticed 

 for several days uniformly flying in an easterly direction. 

 The Grape Vines, last year so much affected by varioiis 

 fungi, have been replanted, fresh soil being added to their 

 roots and all the old entirely removed, with the effect of 

 reducing the virulence of the attacks of these parasitical 

 growths. Stocks of the native vine, Vitis cariliaa, have 

 also been obtained for the purpose of grafting or inarch- 

 ing on them the European varieties, with a view of ob- 

 taining growth free from disease. 



THE LACQUER INDUSTRY OF JAPAN. 



BY JOHN J. (3UIN, 



Her Jtajesti/'f Acting Consul at Ilal;o(late. 



The following particiUars are taken from a report intended 



chiefly as a, description of the articles of various kinds 



illustrative of the lacquer industry of Japan, collected for 



the use of the Museum of Economic Botany at Kew, under 



'Art of Perfumery, Q. W. S. Piesse, Ph. D., F.O.S,, p.390. 



