February i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



639 



this year ; retain the clay pertinaciously, aud so in- 

 volve aiUlitioiial expense for cleaning. The density 

 of tlie juice is a one-tentli less than last year. Tlie 

 roots keep very badly, the tenf.perature being so mild. 

 Some fanners made a joint-st'ck arrangement, and 

 invested in a portable railway to cast off the beet. It 

 is estimated that the total yield of beet sugar will 

 be the same this year as in 1881, viz., 380,000 tons. 

 The question is being discussed: ought a iarnier to 

 raise his own beet seed, or purchase it ? There are 

 sound authorities in favour of both practices, but 

 opinion inclines rather to not self-raising, which exacts 

 much care, but to patronize the best dealer. It should 

 not be forgotten that ihere is on advantage in em- 

 ploying seed from elsewhere. 



Ammonia and the nitrates play so important 

 a role in vegetation and cultivated soils, th:it 

 too much importance cannot be given to clearly 

 indicate what, is exactly known, and what is uncert- 

 ain. The Pic du Midi in France is a meteorological 

 station, 3,164 feet above the level of the sea. Messrs. 

 Muutz and Aubin have analyzed the ammonia con- 

 tained in the air at that altitude, but found no ptT- 

 ccptible difference as compared with that contained 

 in the air at the level of the sea, and in the low- 

 lands. Water collected at the same height, from rain, 

 snow, and " fog," contained less ammonia than that 

 contained in the vicinity of Loudon and Paris : in 

 other words he strata of air nearest the ground are 

 richer in ammonia, due to the drops of water sweep- 

 ing through a larger extent of air. It is to Bouss- 

 ingauit reverts the honor of demonstrating the per- 

 manency of ammonia in fogs and dew ; that permanency 

 has not been proven in the case of rain water. One 

 fact admits of uo question : that the quantity of 

 ammonia in the air' is variable. M. Schlcesing emits 

 the opinion that the ocean is the great I'eservoir 

 of ammonia. This is not wholly exact, as certain 

 electric influences can produce ammonia in the atmo- 

 sphere. Messrs. Muntz and Aubin did not discover 

 any nitrates in the air. Such do not, as a rule, there 

 exist ; nitrates are only produced in the atmosphere, 

 following electric discharges : hence, why nitrates are 

 always present in meteoric rain water. The form- 

 ation and the deconiiosition of nitrates, by opposite 

 causes, have been demonstrated in the case of drained 

 lands by Barral and Kublmann. A new explanatory 

 fact has been made knonn, that one class of animal- 

 cules makes the nitrification, while another destroys 

 the combination of the elements. The process of nitri- 

 fication takes place, according to the experiments of 

 Messrs. Deherain and Maquenne, only in soils rich 

 in organic matter, and exi-mpt from the action of 

 oxygen. These conditions can only be fulfilled in the 

 case of bog lands or flooded soils. One fnct wirrthy 

 of notice is th.it the decomposition of the nitrates, or re- 

 duction to their original elements, is accompanied 

 by the production oi potoxyde of nitrogen, com- 

 monly known as laughing gas, and employed as an 

 antesthetic by dentists in "painless" tooth extraction. 

 But what is tljo ciuse of these changes? When a 

 portion of rich soil was healed, or submitted to the 

 fumes of chloroform, it lost its property of decom- 

 posing the nitrates. On the other hand, when fresh 

 soil was mixed with that heated, etc , the decompos- 

 ition set in, because the aniinalcules (vibrions) existing 

 in the fresh eartii attucked the organic matter, set 

 free carbonic acid and hydrogen ; the latter, seizing the 

 oxygen of the nitrates, disengaged the nitrogen under 

 the form of prot. oiyde. 'I'he animalcules were 

 readily detected, and were identical with the vibrions 

 found by Pasteur in his elebrated researches on ferment- 

 ation and decomposition. 



A writer urges a more careful study of pure water 

 and of drinks in general on the economy of animal". 

 The privation of water tolls more rapidly on health 



than abslinence from food. In every kind of beverage, 

 the part efficacious in as.^uaging thirst is the water. 

 The quantity ot water required by an animal varies 

 with the air's temperature and humidity. A sheep 

 requiies least and a pig most water; horses aud cattle 

 come between. In the case of sheep much water thins 

 the blood ; they oiiglit never to be ''eprived of water, as 

 leany shepherds practise, nor at tlie same time allowed to 

 fully slake their thirst : the latter observation applies 

 also to horses. The sheep and horse are, of domestic 

 animals, the most sensitive to impure water. For 

 drauglit animals and sheep, warm drinks are enervating. 

 Professor Miirker's experiments on meadow lands, in 

 the Bavarian and Swiss Alps, with superphosphates 

 and potash salts, reveal two interesting facts: soil 

 do.sed with these fertilizers not only yielded returns 

 2J times greater, but ihree weeks earlier than those 

 soils not so treated. It is, however, well known that 

 superphosphates advance the maturity of all cultivated 

 plants. But what is not so well known is that the salts 

 of potash also hasten maturity, but on one condition 

 that the .«oil be rich in lime. Wood ashes, as a con- 

 sequence of their potasa, proved an invaluable fertil- 

 izer for meadows, while extirpating those acid weeds 

 peculiar to moist lands. 



France h.as suffered from the excessive destruction 

 of her forests, especially in mountainous districts ; 

 hence it is only natural that replantim; is being largely 

 resorted to. M. Muel, Inspector of Forests, has been 

 conducting experiments with chemical, &c., manures, 

 ! on plantations of pine, oak, ash and elm. It results 

 that farmyard manure produced no results commen- 

 , surate with the quantity applied : nitrogenous fertil- 

 ! izers proved rather a hindrance than a help, whilst 

 mineral manures ncied in a marked manner, especially 

 on seedlings. These results are but natural ; analysis 

 proves tliat nitrogen figures in the composition of 

 wood only for one per cent., while the mineral salts 

 range from 3 to 7- This may explain why trees grow 

 and even flourish, on soils too poor for cultivatea crops. 

 The Sugarbeet Root Society of the north of France 

 counsels those who desire to grow their own seed, to 

 select for that, purpose medium-sized roots, of a pale 

 rose color, but slightly out of the soil, and having 

 neither too few nor too many haves. A spindle- 

 shaped rubt is preferable, but not with a narrow crown, as 

 that indicates a tendency to lun to seed. Plant early; 

 cover well ; and avoid nitrates, guano, and sheep manure. 



CINCHONA CULTUKE ON THE NILGIRIS. 



Is thus noticed by a correspondent writing recently 

 to the Madras Mail : — "Remarkable weather is with 

 ua still, pours of rain and rain of the dampest descrip- 

 tion, accompanied by high cold wind, and thermometer 

 at 64°, in a room with tire. That it should rain on the 

 Kartighi feast day, is said to be lucky in native estima- 

 tion, but we have had just alittle too much of it this 

 year and our, growers' complain that their tea, coffee, 

 aud cinclioua are coming to erief. Cinchona, of course, 

 suffers least ; it is so adaptable a creature, willing 

 to flourish in almost any ground, and at almost any 

 altitude, from 7,500 feet down to 3,li00, if but due 

 regard be had to its varieties. Crown bark (Condamiuea) 

 may be seen growing far up towards the crests of 

 the Dodalietta range ; red bark (Succirubra) succeeds 

 best ai .5,000 feet, but never refuses to try down to 

 3,000 feet. Yellow barks (Calisaya) aud the more delic- 

 ate hybrids (Lanosa, Pubescens, &c.) and also the 

 recent varieties imported lately from Java, are, as 

 distinguished strangers, accustomed to greatercare beinc 

 shown in their rai.sing and bringing up, and a lower elev- 

 ation to live in ; they flourisb well in an altitude of 

 5,000 to 3,500 feet, and repay their grower for the extra 

 anxiety bestowed upon their education by a large 

 yield of quinine. It may be said probably that when 



