644 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February i, 1883. 



rate of freight from India to Europe will not allow a 

 ma' gin of prolit iu the shipment of Divi-Divi husks." 



Toward the middlu of last year the following ap- 

 peared ill a Calcutta paper :— " The Superiuteudeut 

 of the Government Farm, Khandeish, recently ship- 

 ped a consisniiieut of Divi Divi to the London mar- 

 ket. Divi-Divi is the fruit of a tree which has 

 some res^m'ilrmce to the tamarind. It is used for 

 tanning purposes, and meets with a ready sale. 

 The consignment consisted of 14 cwt. and realized 

 £10-7-1, or close upon £15 the ton. From this sum, 

 however, must be deducted the charge for freight, 

 insurance, brokerage, &c., a deduction which brought 

 down the balance to £6-17-7 ; which at the rate of 

 exchange at. the time of the transact. on was equal to 

 E83-1-1. The expenses of production in India had 

 amounted ti R29-7 ; accordingly the superintendent 

 cleared a balance of H53. 10 1. At thsse rates, for every 

 ton of Divi-divi sold iu Loudon the exporter migh count 

 upon a prolit of R80. The advantages of the cultiva- 

 tion of the Divi-Dive tree are that it will grow m 

 aoil which is sandy and contains little nuriahmeut 

 and is thus useless for average agricultural purposes, 

 nnd that consequently, as may be imagined, the tree 

 seeds little attention and care. The demand in Eng- 

 land can be reckoned upon as a fixed element " 



In Chambers' EucyclopiEdia we lind the following re- 

 ference : — " Divi-Uivi, or Libi-Bidi, the curved pods of 

 Ccesalpinia Coriaria a tr^e which grows on tlie coasts of 

 Curacoa, Carthagena, and other parts of tropical 

 America. They have been long need there for tan- 

 ning, but have recently acquired importance as an 

 article of commerce. A considerable quantity is now 

 annually brought to Britain. Divi Divi is one of the 

 most astringent substances known. 



"A.," writing from Kellore a few days ago, says :— 



Adverting to the enquiries of your correspondent 

 " Planter," I have the pleasure to intimate that Divi- 

 Divi is the common name of th" pod of the Vesidpinia 

 Coriaria, a leguminous plant fcmnd in low marshy 

 situations in the northern parts of south America. It 

 is used both for dyeing and tanning, but chiefly for 

 the latter purpose. The pod is from 2 to 3 inches in 

 length by 3J inch in breadth, and when in perfection 

 is of a rich brown colour. It contains a few small 

 seeds, but the only valuable portion is the matter of a 

 bright yellow colour, easily pulverized, which lies 

 betwixt the outer skin and the husk that encloses the 

 seed, and contains a large quantity of tannin. Uiyi- 

 Divi is used not for the colouring principle but for its 

 strong astringent quality as a mordant and is used 

 instead of sumach, which is scarce. In tanning it 

 accelerates the process and imparts to the Ipathcr a 

 clean and healthy appearance. Mr. T. Ward at Mad - 

 napuUy is the owner of some trees there, and may 

 probably be able to give more iufi'i-m.ition, and also 

 furnish seeds, if applied to.— Madras Mail. 



NILGIRI l^ETTLE FIBRE. 



(To the Editor of the "Madras Mail.") 



Hope Villa, Ootacamund, 25th Dec. 

 Sir —The following information may probably be 

 welcomed by some of your readers interested iii the 

 production of fibres. Some two mouths since I tor- 

 warded to Messrs. Cliristy & Co., London, a sample 

 of theNilgiri nettle fibre, and, in a communieation troni 

 that firm recently received Mr Christy, writes;— 

 "According to promise I send you the best price that 

 I can obtain up to the present for your fibre, which 

 is £G0 per ton." The fibre sent was prepared from 

 mature i stems just as they commenced to turn yel- 

 low, and after undergoing a few days' maceratioiiin 

 water was washed and cleaned by hand. 



W. J. Kemp. 



JUTE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



The New Orleans Times-Democrat notices an experi- 

 ment with a quantity of jute raised in Point Coup6e 

 parish. It was planted after the overflow had gone 

 down, and was, consequently, barely three mouths old ; 

 but such is the adaptability of the soil to jute that it 

 had attained in that short period of time a height of ten 

 feet. A gentleman interested in jute culture, and 

 particulary iu the process of disintegrating it and re- 

 ducing the fibre, experimented on the plant and reduced 

 it to fibre and in perfect condition for the manufacture 

 of bagging by his process in twenty-four hours Several 

 varieties of fibre were produced, the long, the rough 

 and the combed, but all iu condition to be at once 

 utilized iu makiug bagging. It is claimed that the 

 machine with which tlie experiment was conducted 

 will be able to disintegrate 10,(JOO poumls of jute in 

 twenty-four houis, and tliat the process is not expensive, 

 — Rio Ndvs. 



COFFEE PLANTING IN COORG. 



{To the Editor of the "Madras 3Iail.") 

 Sir, — In the Mail of the 15th of Dpcemb'r, under the 

 above heading, is stated : " The following information 

 is gathered from the last Administration Report of 

 Coorg. " As this information is very interesting to 

 those engaged in the cultivation of coflee iu India, it is 

 to be regretted that its general value should be weak- 

 ened by the astounding assertion " the average yield in 

 most European estates, which are much better cultivated 

 than native estates, reaches 7 cwts. the acre." Now the 

 "Little Province of Coorg" has two Planters' Associa- 

 tions, together wi'h a round dozen of Scotchmen to blow 

 the pipes, so that the usual system of mutual admir- 

 ation is sedulously cultivated. But these fortunately 

 located immigrants will not think it unreasonable, if 

 disappointed, but expectant, outsiders, should desire 

 some specific and precise information as to the happy 

 valleys wherein these wonderful bearing coffee trees 

 grow I Will one of the possessors of these very luxuri- 

 ant plantations give its out-turn for the past five 

 years or any five years — for, as compared to Ceylon, 

 VVyniad, Travanoore, &c., or any coffee growing dis- 

 trict from which statistics have been given, the state- 

 ment of the last Administration Keport of " Coorg" is 

 astounding and stands confirmation. South. 



Tea and Coffee Exthact.s.— An aqueous extract of 

 tea, coffee, cocoa, or ginger, is made by boiling it for 

 fifteen minutes in water containing sulphate of lime 

 in solution, then cooling to 60 deg., vvlieu a solution 

 of tinnic acid, previously boiled till nearly devoid of 

 smell, is added. A precipitate occurs, and Is filtered 

 out. It is t'len left to stand for a d ly, and an aqueous 

 gelatine solution of three or four grains to the ounce 

 of water is added in quantity nearly sufficient to preci- 

 pitate all the tannic acid. The liquor still containing 

 a little tannic acid is strained and bottled, — Overland 

 Mail. 



Prickly Comfret. — Sir — With reference to your 

 correspondent "Enquirer," in your issue of the 23rd 

 December last, anent "Prickly Comtrey," or S'/m- 

 phytum asperrimum, allow me to state that 1 have 

 bad the plant here for some two or three years. Last 

 year I had tliem pulled up and planted .along the 

 inner walls of an enclosure formed around a recovered 

 swamp which I reserve for experimental purposes, and 

 here they seem to have done fairly well, left to nature, 

 and I liave now several hundred of good heilthy plants; 

 but cattle, sheep, or rabbits do not relish them much. 

 If irrigattd and manured, they will do well, I dare 

 say, in the plains, but I think we have better fodder 

 in the varieties of sorghum, hoisegram, huriallee, guinea, 

 and other grasses, if tried in like manner. John Shohit. 

 —M. MaU. 



