February i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



627 



OOFFEE CULTIVATION. 



TO THK EDITOR OF THE " MATIRAS MAIL." 



Sir,— Referring to the latter of "Agricola" on "Grass- 

 kniving !'.■;. CIcan-wceding," in yoiir issue of the ISth. I 

 certainly admit that soil kept bare of vegetation, and ex- 

 posed, must lose the properties in it necessary in growing 

 coffee, Imt at the same time with coffee planted on steep 

 land and on very good soil, and when the ground is literally 

 covered with the coffee trees, clean-weeding or hard-weeding 

 is the thing, with a trenching right through once a year. 

 Following this system, I have no wash whatever, although 

 sometimes in the year I get four inches of rain in an 

 hour and-a-half. aiiil the tote is very steep, average 1 

 in 4, .and the coffee is the best I have seen anywhere. 

 If '■ Agricola " will tell me how to mamotie _wee(l a 

 tote where if even the soil is scraped with a " Kalario," 

 a weeding scraper, causes wash, and the trees so cover 

 the ground that it is a job for a cooly to make his way 

 up a "Thaal,"and give me data for his doing so, I shall 

 be obliged. ' A Pl.vntek. 



South Wynaad, 2l8t Nov. 



CINCHONA DRYING. 



Sir, — In reply to "W. R." in your i,<,sue of ■24th in.stant, 

 the bark artificially dried with the .aid of Davidson's Siroccos 

 at a temperature of 280 ° to 300 ° realised prices on a 

 par with naturally dried bark, no difference being made 

 in character and valuation. W. D. 



CINCHONA SEED AND PLANTS. 

 Sir, — I obtained from j oz of choice selected seed 10,000 

 seedlings, and io this instance I may state nearly every 

 seed germinated at this rate, and calculating 16 oz. to the 

 lb. some 040,000 seedlings only would be produced. " 0. 

 M. G's." calculation, that 60 per cent of seed is abortive 

 or unfertile, is extremely erroneous — probably it may be 

 the case so far as his own e?fperience is concerned, notably 

 if the seed is obtained from three year old " trees " as 

 he mentions, but very few I think could cou.scientiously 

 expect to realize R250 to R500 per 1,000, on seedhngs 

 raised from "trees'' of that description. We learn from 

 Sir. Moens of -Java, that a good class Ledger tree on its 

 own roots seldom produces seed before eight years. On 

 my own part, I can safely assert from practical experience 

 that Ledgeriana seedlings can bo rai.sed successfully at any 

 season of the year when seed is jirocurable, at the com- 

 paratively low cost of from Rl.j to KJ5 per 1,000, accord- 

 ing to elevation and locality. Therefore, if vendor.", of 

 these pl.ants charged say, R50 or 60 per 1.000, a price 

 w-hich would realize fully l(tO per cent profit, they should 

 be quite content without wishing to ask such prohibitive 

 prices as E2o0 and R500. AV. J. Kemp. 



BUFFALO AND GUINEA GRASS, TEOSINTE AND 

 TRICHOLCENA. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE " AUSTRALASIAN." 



Sir, — In your foot-note to a Fijian correspondent's 

 letter in your is.sue of 5th August, you invite information 

 from warm latitudes in reg.ard to buffalo and guinea grass 

 and teosinte. All the above are grown in this colony 

 (Queensland). Buffalo grass (Stenotaphrum Americanum, 

 Schank) makes an excellent thick carpet lawn ; but as a 

 fodder grass it is of very little value. Guinea grass (Pani- 

 cum maximum, Linn.) is highly valued as a cattle grass 

 in the central coast district of this colony. It is growing 

 luxuriantly without cultivation — beyond merely covering 

 the seed — at about 23 deg. south latitude. The cattle keep 

 it down sufficiently so as to preserve its succulence. Teo- 

 sinte (Euchlojna luxirrians, Ascherson^ is an excellent fodder 

 plant, but can only be cultivated with profit .is an annual 

 for hand feeding. There is. however, an excollont grass 

 introduced into this colony by the Queensland .'Acclimatis- 

 ation Society called red grass of Natal (Tricholrena rosea. 

 Nees), which would appear to me to be just the sort of 

 grass your Fiji correspondent reiiuires. It is a most ex- 

 cellent fodder grass ; has become naturalised here ; makes 

 splendid hay, and is perennial. P. R. Gordon. 



Brisbane, Aug. S. 



MUSA TEXTILIS. 



By E. M. Holmes, f.l.s. 



One of the most valuable of fibre-yielding plants, is the 

 Mtisa te.Hilis,th<i wild plantain or "abaca" of the Phillip- 

 piue Isles, from which the celebratctl manila hemp is 

 obtained. Now that Mr. Eknian's patent process for obtain- 

 ing ultim.ate fibre in one short operation, and without 

 any loss (such as occurs under the modes of preparation 

 hitherto adapted,) is miide public, few fibrous plants are 

 likely to come more into requisition than this one, to 

 whicli attention has already been directed by the Indian 

 Government. M. Perroutel, a French botanist, remarks in 

 regard to the capability of the abaca for the manufacture 

 of fine fabrics : — " Of finer sorts of this fibre tissues or 

 muslins of great beauty are made, which are very dear 

 even in manila. I had a number of shirts made of this 

 muslin which lasted me a long time, and were cool and 

 agreeable in use. But it is especially in France that tissues 

 of this material are best made, and of the greatest beauty. 

 They receive all colours with equ,al perfection. Veils, crapes, 

 neckerchiefs, robes, and women's hats, all of great he.auty 

 and high cost, as well as of wonderful durability, are 

 among the manufacturers from the fibres of abaca." Beauti- 

 ful shawls, as well as vests, pantaloons. &c., are also made 

 from the Manila hemp. Even as hitherto prepared, the 

 fibre is white and lustrous, yet stiff and very tenacious 

 while it is also very light, which is a great advantage 

 when the fibre is used for the rigging and running ropes 

 of ships. It appears to be stronger than English hemp ; 

 a rope of Manila '2 fathoms long, 3j inches in circum- 

 ference, standing a strain of 4,669 lbs. before giving way 

 whilst a similar rope of English, hemp broke with 3.885 

 lbs. On a second trial a rope IJ inches in circumference 

 and of the same length, gave 1,490 lbs. for the Manila, 

 and 1,18-1 lbs. for the English hemp. An Indian can only 

 prepare 12 lbs. of fibre per day, for which he receives 18 

 cents, half its value; and, although this is a small sum, 

 it is obvious that the co.st might he reduced to a minimum 

 by the use of Ekm.an's process, which can be applied to 

 the stem as soon as cut, while by shortening the process 

 or stopping it at different stages, any kind of fibre from 

 that required for ropes to that used in preparing the finest 

 textiles can be obtained. Specimens that I have seen 

 were hardly distinguishable from silk. One New York 

 manufactory used, in 1879, 41,366,710 lbs. of this fibre, 

 costing 7h cents per lb. In the Philippines the abaca is 

 cut when about IJ year old, just before its flowering is 

 likely to appear. If cut earlier the fibres are said to 

 be shorter, but finer. The fibre of the wild and hitherto 

 usele.ss plantain, growing .at tho foot of the Himalayas, 

 might be worth ex.amination. Royle says of it, " It seems 

 worthy of enquiry if it may not yield a stronger fibre 

 than any of the cultivated kimls." Both these plants deserve 

 attention at the hands of planters. I understand that T. 

 Christy & Co. intend to pulii^h shortly a pamphlet con- 

 taining a largo amount of valuable information concerning 

 these and other fibrous plants, which will be well worthy 

 of perusal by those interested in new plants. — Planters' 

 Gazette. 



THE CALCUTTA HORTICULTURAL OOJIPANY. 



The nurseries of this company are worth a visit, as the 

 crotons, dracieuas, ferns, and other foliage plants are now 

 at their best. It has long been a reproach to India that 

 in horticulture, it is far behind any other civilised country 

 in the world, but it is evident that there is now a gradual 

 awakening from the lethargic state in which our prede- 

 cessors have indulged in this respect ; otherwise the forming 

 of a cnmpany of this kind would never have been con- 

 templated, for even in luxuries of this description the 

 sujiply is regiilatcd by the demand as invariably as in 

 that of any other commodity. To .ittcmpt to give any- 

 thing in the form of a detailed description of the immense 

 number of rare and beautiful species in cultivation here, 

 would not only take up too much .space, but would be 

 a task beyond our capabilities with our limited knowledge 

 of horticulture, — not that wo think it would prove wearisome 

 to our readers. There are, however, a few plants that 

 struck us as being so remarkably unique or beautiful that 

 we cannot forbear briefly mentioning them. The splendid 



