588 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1883. 



in a healthy condition, as soon as they are attacked by 

 the enemy H. V. from without. 



Grape vines are not known as a rule to require their 

 leaves stripped and their roots exposed to extort their 

 fruit. An aver.age crop is often obtained iu certain cU- 

 mates without these expedients, and their yielding qual- 

 ities depend very much on the locality, the climate, and 

 the weather before the blossoming season. The " repres- 

 sive " treatment is resorted to to secure an unusual and 

 unnaturally large yield and to make up for deficiency in 

 the quality of the soil, or suitableness of climate, &c. 

 Handling and pruning are the repressive measures in coffee 

 cultivation, and the exposing and cuttiug off jf coffee roots 

 has been a practice unconsciously carried on for a quarter 

 of a century. I allude to the cuttiug of large manure 

 holes, when this result is inevitable. Forking is now a 

 milder substitute. The farmer, it is true, as " W." says, 

 has found out how to prevent his corn from expending 

 itstelt iu stalk, and to secure turnips insteail of tops. 

 Neither his corn nor turnips are however considered dis- 

 eased, because the one gives a redundancy of stalk and 

 the other only tops. He is able to remedy the defect by 

 treating the soil, supplying the deficiency in the necessary 

 food, &c., but has he found any infallible and effective 

 remedy to prevent or destroy rust in the cornfields or 

 the finger-and-toe disease of turnips? Give a practical 

 planter a healthy coffee tree, but unproUfic, and he will 

 soon make it yield by either manuring and forking and 

 pruning and handling, or by all these methods. It is im- 

 possible to expect him to drive off H. V., an evil from 

 without by any treatment of the tree or soil. To alter 

 the natural condition of the tree or its sap so as to de- 

 prive H. r. of its favourite food in the_ cells of the leaf, 

 is not ouly an impossible process, but is one that must 

 prevent a tree from yielding fruit. 



The geueral effect of leaf disease on the whole coffee 

 planting imlustry has been progressive year by year. First 

 was noticed the shrivelling and blackening of the im- 

 mature fruit. Then followed, notwithstanding flu-shes of 

 foliage and good blossom, bad crops both as respects 

 quantity and quahty, and the formation after it of poor 

 wood. Then came imlifferent blossoms and still less crop 

 and of worse quality. This year there has been scarcely 

 any appreciable blossom and crop. Will it be followed by 

 less foliar flushes or good foUar flushes with sickly leaves ? 

 Is it till then only that we can say that the coffee tree 

 suffers from a constitutional distiurbance?— Yours, 



AT. Peowett (Feedinands). 



Soot foe Plants. — "Soot is one of the most powerful 

 and permanent of manures if dug into the soil. It is the 

 volatilised unconsumed portion of common coal. It is thus 

 constituted :— Charcoal, 371 ; salts of aramouia, 426; salts of 

 potash and soda, 24 ; oxide of iron, 50 ; silica, 65 ; alumina, 

 31 ■ sulphate of lime, 31 ; carbonate of magnesia, 2. It is 

 an' excellent manure for peas, onions, carrots, and probably 

 all garden crops. An excellent liquid manure is soot mixeil 

 with rain water, in the proportion of one table-spoonful 

 of soot to a quart of water, for plants in pots; but for 

 asparagus, peas, &c., six quarts of soot to hogshead of 

 water." It must never be applied to plants in a state of 

 rest. It suits bulbs admirably."— ^«s^''«/asia«. 



The New Zealand Goveenment is bent upon " fo.stering 

 native industries," but, fortunately, seems little inclined to 

 do this by means of a liigh protective tariff. The latest 

 additional bonuses offered by the Government are :— A bonus 

 of U. per head for healthy ostrich chicks landed in New 

 Zealand for the purpose of being reared and maintained 

 in the colony, the number of any importation to be not 

 less than ten nor more than 60; a bonus of 600?. for 

 the first 25 tons of butter or the first 50 tons of cheese 

 (produced in a factory worked on the American principle, 

 and to which factory any farmer, subject to certain con- 

 ditions, may send his milk) which shall be exported from 

 New Zealand and sold at such prices in a foreign market 

 as shall show that the articles are of fair quality. Notice of 

 intention to claim either of the above bonuses has to be 

 given, in writing, to the Colonial Secretary not later than 

 December 31, 1882, and the claim must be made before 

 June 30, 1883.— i^n'tisft Trade Journal. 



New India-eubbee Plant. — Some months ago the 0\\\\ 

 Surgeon of Kurrachee, Dr. Adey, had is attention drawn 

 to certain Indian plants capable of producing India-rubljer. 

 Of those he experimented upon, he found that the 

 Ca/plostec/ta c/ramjijiora was the only plant which produced 

 juice in a sufficient quantity to make it worth while to 

 use as an India-rubber-producing plant. The results of his 

 experiments led to a discussion in which the Superintendents 

 of the Botanical Gardens at Gunesh Khind, Saharunpore, 

 and Calcutta took part. The Government has now come 

 to the conclusion that a new and more extended trial of 

 the plant is necessary, and that Jlr. Birdwood should 

 co-operate in the experiment. With this view the Com- 

 missioner in Sind has placed a sum of ElOO at Mr. 

 Birdwood's disposal to enable him to c<mduct the experi- 

 ments on a proper scale. It is understood that a sample 

 of the rubber, obtained from the Cri/ptostiyia r/randijlnra 

 will be sent to England to test its quality, and to ascertain 

 its market value. — Indian Daily News. 



Bot.\nical Gardens and Paeks of the-Nil«ieis. — We 

 have received the annual report on the progi-oss of the 

 Government Botanical Gardens and P.arks of the Nilgiris, 

 for the year 1880-81. Much useful work has been done 

 in the distribution of timber and fruit trees and seeds, 

 and it is noted th.at Cupressus macrocarjm and sempervirens, 

 and Finus lonqifolia and tuhercidata are now being planted 

 out, where fornierly only Australian Eucalypti and Acacias 

 were in demand. It is stated that Ootacamund is so over- 

 grown with Australi.an trees that the view is limited to 

 within a few yards of where the observer stands ; and that 

 on sanitary grounds it would be well if they were thinned. 

 The wattle is especially referred to as overrunning the 

 hills with its dense undergrowth. Amongst fodder pUants, 

 the prickly comfrey and prairie grass are said to be the 

 best in the Nilgiris, and the cocksfoot {Dacti/lis ijlomm-ata), 

 and fescu grass are superior to all the other grasses wliich 

 it has been attempted to introduce from Australia. Ct/tisus 

 proUferaiis (Tagasaste) is said to be very hardly, and to 

 grow where nothing of value as fodder can succeed. It 

 is, however, more relished by goats and .sheep than by 

 cattle. The Ocara-rubber is growing well. Numerous 

 applications for Jalap tubers are received from planters, 

 and its cultivation in the Nilgiris has succeeded perfectly. 

 — Indian Foreste)\ 



The TnniEE Teade of BuRmah. — It it somewhat re- 

 markable how completely the timber trade of Burmah has 

 passed into the hands of one single firm; the Bombay 

 Burmah Trading Corporation, Limited. There are, as 

 hitherto, of course, other foresters working forests beyond 

 our territory, but when their logs .arrive here they are 

 often sold to the Corporation, which indeed at present is 

 both in Rangoon and Moulmein the only firm which can 

 supply any large quantity of teak. It is naturally the 

 interest of a firm possessing such vast resources .and hav- 

 ing successfully applied them to acquiring a virtual mono- 

 poly of teak, to keep prices high, and though this may 

 suit the books of the foresters, it is hardly satisfactory to 

 the general consumer. The result is, that very inferior 

 logs sell for about three and a half times as much as 

 they would have realized ten or twelve years ago, and 

 that anyone building a house now has to expend about 

 300 per cent more than he would have had to spend in 

 1870. How long this state of things is going to last it is 

 difficult to say, but if teak goes much higher in the local 

 market, iron will have to be largely substituted for it. ^ In 

 Upper Burmah, where the demand is very limited, prices 

 have not advanced of recent years in anything like the 

 proportion they have on the British .side. However satis- 

 factory the control of the teak market may be to the 

 shareholders and those interested in the welfare of the 

 Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, consumers of teak 

 throughout the world wiU suffer from the trade being 

 almost entirely confined to one firm. Outside of Rangoon 

 and Moulmein, Bankok is the only port which exports teak, 

 and that in very small quantities. The price there 

 will naturally be affected by the price in Europe and 

 India, .and this is controlled by the powerful joint stock 

 corporation which has achieved such a successful career 

 for itself iu both British and Upper Burmah.— Knnf/oon 

 Gazette. 



