596 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1883. 



LiBERiAN Coffee. — Messrs. Patry and Pasteur, iu 

 their London circular of 23rd Nov., 1882, report : — " A 

 small lot of Liberian imported from Ceylon realiz"d 67s 

 6d per cwt." 



Java, 2.5th Nov. — An ex-Ceylon planter writes: — 

 "Awful weather here now — rain, thunder and lightning 

 every day— anil I am told not to expect fine «eatliei' 

 for anothnf .5 mouths. We have only had 11 days of .luc- 

 cessive tine weiither since I came last March, and another 

 5 months will bring us round to May again; so I should 

 say there was really no fair weather here at all. The 

 damp in these bamboo huts is something awful, and 

 one's clothes, boots and things go to rot and ruination." 



Aloe Fibre and Juice. — Aloe fibre of the first quality 

 fetches a good price ; but inferior samples do not 

 pay so well. A good many years since a sample of 

 the juice was sent home. The judgment pronounced 

 on it was nearly as vahiable as the fibre (then) wa.s; 

 but it had been badly prepared for keeping. Will 

 any of our chemists set to work upon a sample of 

 the juice and find out the means of sending it home 

 with all its natural properlies intact ? In the days 

 we speak of it was s:iid to be good for dyeing purposes. 

 Unless some later discovery has superseded its use it 

 ought to be good now. And it would be a great 

 thing if we could prepare and send it home at a profit. 

 — Mauritious paper. 



Ceylon Cinchona Bark. — Messrs. Robinson and 

 Dunloj) have I'eceived for sale a numt>er of small 

 lots of Hakgalla Government bark, succirubra from 

 trees 18 years old, officinalis 10 to 12 years old, 

 Ledgeriana 3 years old, calisaya 5 years old. The 

 results of analyses are very poor, and one may thereby 

 be convinced that after 6 and 8 years the alkaloids 

 do not increase with age. They are : — 



.Succirubra thick stem quill from 8 years old 

 trees — sulph. quinine ... ... ... 2'41 



Total alkaloids .. ... 5'62 



Do. 

 quiaine 



stem and branch chips — sulph. 



1-72 



Officinalis broken bold quill from 10 to 12 

 years old trees — sulph. quinine ... ... 2'90 



Total alkoloids... ... 3-21 



Do stems and branch chips — sulph. 



quinine ... ... ... ... 2 '22 



Calisaya stem and branch chips from 5 years 

 old trees — sulph. quinine ... ... ... 1'35 



Ledgeriana stem and branch chips from 3 years 

 old ti'ees — sulph. quinine ... ... ... 2 '63 



Total alkaloids... ... 4 '53 



This is certainly a very curious result, but we think 

 part of the explanation in the case of the succirubra 

 bark is found in the unfavourable altitude and climate of 

 Hakgalla (b.OOO feet) for red bark, for trees 18 years 

 old grown in the \Vynaud gave much better results. 

 At the same time, hroughtou established on the Nil- 

 giris the decrease of quinine after the 6th- year of 

 succirubra trees, although the total alkaloids increased 

 up to the 9th year when they also positively declined. 

 Mr. Broughton s conclusion was that the trees m 

 question had passed the age of maximum yield, 

 and he accounted for it by the growth of the bark 

 at this age being mainly an increased development 

 of liber fibres, and not cellular tissu-. He also con- 

 siders it as probhble that a waste of the alkaloids 

 commences from the first year, but is counteibal- 

 anceil by the rapid simnltaueoue formation of al- 

 kaloid in the earlier years up to tlie 9th, when the form- 

 ation becomes less active, and deterioration is the 

 result. — The great value of Ledger bark is strikingly 

 shewn in the above table. We shall be glad if 

 plauters with experience of old trees will make the 

 analytical results known. 



Gum Copal. — West of Mozambique a forest 200 miles 

 long of Gum Copal trees has been found. This gum 

 is referred to in Exodus, Chap. .30, v 34, as " Stacte," 

 and known by the Mozambique natives as "Staka," and 

 by the Zulus it is termed "laihlatka," — Natal Mercury. 



An Experimknt in Silk Culture is to be started 

 on a somewhat extensive scale in the State of New 

 Jersey, about twenty -five miles from New York. 

 Land is to be purchased, divided into silk farms of 

 three to ten acres each, planted with mulberries — 

 L. nnd C Express, 



The Young Growth of the Poplar tree yields a dye 

 which may be extracted as follows : — The young twigs 

 and branches are bruised and boiled for twtnty min- 

 utes with a solution of alum, 10 lb. of wood requir- 

 ing 1 lb. of alum, iu three gallons of water. The 

 solution is filtered hot and allowed to cool, and, after 

 standing some time, is again filtered from a resinous 

 deposit. On exposure to air and light it develops a 

 rich gold colour, and may be used directly for dyeing 

 orange and yellow shades upon all classes of goods — 

 Public Opinion. 



Rkd Spider on Tea Leavis. — A correspondent sent 

 us some tea leaves from Kotmalie stating: — "I send 

 a ft'W leaves from tea seedbngs. Perhaps you can .say 

 if the rtd spider is the .*-ame as our Indian friends 

 have had lo contend with lately. I may mention that 

 the surrounding coffee is pretty well covered with the 

 same disease." We fear tliere is no doubt of its being 

 the " red spider." Our entomological referee writes: — 

 •' I can only see the cast skins of acaridse (niiter<) 

 and one live one, which may be the red spider of the 

 ('eyiou planter. I have not seen the Indian species 

 aud do not know anything about it. "W."'s experience 

 would seem to prove that red spider is not destructive 

 in Ceylon." 



The Influence of Soil on the QuALirr of Tea 

 is thus noticed by the Indian Tea Gazette in re a Chitta- 

 gong plantation : — The tea looked remarkably her.ltliy, 

 and the ground in the very cleanest of order. Seeing 

 the sandy nature of the soil, however, we were sur- 

 prised to find such large bushes, with such good yield ; 

 but the garden has hail the advantage of not changing 

 its innnajjer for 18 years ; ai d there is no doubt th^t 

 Mr. McL. Carter has made the very most of the place. 

 Blight, as we have it iu other tea dis'ricts of India, 

 seems almost unknown here. There are ^hite-antfl, 

 howecer, all over Chittagong, aud they do some dam.ige 

 to the roots of the bushes, — still, nothiui; to compare 

 with tea pests elsewhere. Yet Chittagong tea does not, 

 as a rule, fetch good prices ; and we fancy the soil is at 

 the bottom of it. 



Japan Ieas have cut into China greeus a good 

 deal iu the North. Japan as well as other green 

 t'as have only fotmd partial favour in Eastern States, 

 being principally used iu the Western and South- 

 western States, where strong siimulants are required. 

 The great consumption in the Eastern and Middle 

 States ia in Oolougs and other high flavoured "black 

 teas." China green teas that coiun to this ciuntry 

 now consist oliicfly of cnuntry | acki d chops, and aie 

 assorted as Gunpowder, Imperial, Youug Hysons, Skin, 

 Twaukay. A good part of the teai are covered with 

 native indigo, and ai a whole are free from seriously 

 injurious adulteration. Tlie te.i supply of the States 

 and territories lying on the Pacific slope is now ob- 

 tained almost exclusively through the Pacific ports, 

 and chiefly through the port ot San Francisco. It 

 is found that the aroma of tea is better preserved 

 by being brought overland to the East by rail from 

 San Francisco, and as more speedy transportation is 

 secured, all tea imported direct from China to the 

 Eastern States will almost certainly goby the overland 

 route. I regret to say, however, that nearly all 

 classes of tea show losses more or less heavy for this 

 season. — L, and C, Hxpreas, 



