August i, 1884,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST* 



167 



which deserves attention. I do not for a moment wish 

 to damp the enthusiasm of advocates of wattle cultivation, 

 but I would point out: — 



1. — That if the production of wattle-bark varies between 

 two given numbers per acre, it is safer in estimating to 

 take the lowest and thus be prepared for casualty. 



2. — That although there is every reason to believe that 

 " cultivated " wattles could be stripped for at least half 

 the amount paid for stripping those which have been 

 left to nature, still there is reason to doubt whether strippers 

 at the present time make really good wages at the work, 

 and the reduction that would ensue is, therefore, problem- 

 atical. 



The 'Wattle Oomnvission and Dr. Schomburgk show a 

 profit of over £2,000 per 100 acres in a run of eight years, 

 and arrive at this highly desirable conclusion by estimating 

 a return of 1,213 tons of bark from those 100 acres. On 

 the other hand stripping is estimated at 15s. per ton as 

 against 30s. now actually paid in this colony, while cartage 

 is put down at 10s. per ton, which, at the present price 

 of wages, I consider, with all due deference, to be at 

 least 30 per cent below the probable expenditure. 



As selectors in this colony are permitted to take up 

 1,000 acres, I have chosen that area for my calculations, 

 and this, according to the Wattle Commission, would yield 

 over 12,000 tons, whereas I put it down at 5,000 so as 

 to be on the safe side. With regard to pruning the Commis- 

 sion estimate 10s. per acre as against my 4s., and this is 

 the only item in which my figures come under those of 

 the Commission and Dr. Schomburgk. I am of opinion 

 that the item might be left out entirely, as the Manager 

 would almost as a matter of course take this into his 

 own hands, and lus salary is scheduled. Attention is 

 called to the following facts : — 



1. — The bark from the broad-leaved wattle is the best 



in the world ; that from the black wattle the second best. 



2. — The price of bark is rising, and good material is 



so scarce that a quantity of inferior bark is used by European 



tanners out of sheer uecessity. 



3. — Land that will grow wattles successfully is not at 

 present looked upon as worth £4 per acre, the amount 

 set down in the following estimate: — 

 Estimate of Expenditure on a Wattle Plantation 

 op 1,000 Aches, Valued at £4,000, for Six Yeaes. 

 Interest on freehold, + compound thereon ... £2,150 

 Ploughing and sowing, at 10s per acre, + interest S35 



Pruning second and third years, at 4s. per 



acre, for the two years, + interest ... 291 



Scarifying twice, + interest, say ... ... 500 



Unforeseen expenses, say ... ... ... 100 



Cartage to market and stripping, at £1 and 



£1 10s. respectively ... ... ... 12,500 



Supervision ... ... ... ... 860 



Balance of profit over and above good com- 

 mercial return for capital throughout ... 7,764 



Total 



... £25,000 



Recetpts 

 Sale of 5,000 tons bark, at £5 ... ... £25,000 



It will be seen that no credit has been taken for the 

 gum procurable from the plantation, nor for seed. Again, 

 the price of bark has been set down at £5, while it is 

 being sold for considerably over £7 at the present time, 

 and in .six years' time must fetch more. There were sales 

 in London of chopped bark at £17 per ton recently. Some 

 believers in wattle-growing advocate sheep being run over 

 the plantations after the first two years, but there are two 

 objections to this, viz., if the ground be thoroughly planted 

 there will be very little grass, and that of an inferior 

 character; and secondly, this plan would interfere with 

 the natural regeneration, involving resowing and consequent 

 delay. If the plantation be devoted to wattles, and 

 wattles only, a crop may be relied on every third year 

 after the first six. Yet another point to be remembered. 

 The galls growing on the trees are of considerable value, 

 and could be most profitably utilized on large plantations. 



Note. — The above article has been read by me, and I 

 can confidently endorse the general remarks, while I con- 

 sider that the probable profits shown in the balanc si «1 

 are in no way over estimated. — J. E. Brown, Cons' 

 of Forests.— Adelaide Observer. 



Olives are as easily raised from cuttings as grapes. 

 The slips are usually set in a sandy soil. The cuttings 

 used by Americans are a little more than a foot long; 

 but it is said that the Spanish people sometimes plant great 

 branches, II) ft. or so in length, packed round about with 

 clay. Such branches as these will bear in two years from 

 the time of planting. — Qtieenslander. 



Tahiti.— The Industrie! Francais calls attention to the 

 natural and climatic advantages which are enjoyed by 

 the above island, the connection between which and France 

 is a feature in the scheme of French acquisitions in the 

 Pacific. For many years business was to a great extent 

 monopolised by a few houses, but competition has now 

 greatly increased, with the result of a diminution in the 

 profits of trading. Special importance is attached to the 

 position Tahiti mil probably attain in the future, when 

 the Panama Canal is completed, and the efforts of the 

 French Government and of the mercantile community have 

 succeeded in obtaining for French commerce a higher 

 position than it now holds amongst the general trade of 

 European nations in the Pacific waters. The necessity of 

 improved harbour accommodation at Tahiti is likewise 

 dwelt upon.— Journal of the Society of Arts. 



Tropical Products in Queensland. — A correspondent 

 of the Port Douglas Chronicle gives a very interesting account 

 of a garden on the Mosman River, the property of Mr. 

 Dan Hart. Here the writer obtained a cup of coffee " far 

 and away" the best he had tasted since leaving Ceylon, 

 and which was made from berries grown on the place. 

 He adds : " the growth of such trees as Mango, Cinna- 

 mon, Nutmeg and Lichee staggered me. I never saw then- 

 superior. The Orange, of all kinds, Shaddock and Pomelo 

 trees grunt again under their fruit-burden. The sample 

 of cinnamon shown me was a fine, clean, full-scented bark, 

 greatly superior to the stale stuff imported. The sugar- 

 cane had evidently mastered Dan, the growth being too 

 rapid to get the attention required." Slowly, but we be- 

 lieve surely, our northern districts are being utilised for 

 the growth of various descriptions of tropical products, 

 which will yet become of immense, value. — Planter and 

 Farmer. 



The Weekly Drug News of New York, in referring to 

 the process recently described by Professor Redwood for 

 the exhaustion of cinchona bark, speaks of it with approval 

 as a step towards the standardizing of pharmaceutical pre- 

 parations and as yielding "an elegant extract which has 

 the great advantage of bearing dilution with water with- 

 out precipitation." But it points out that this desirable 

 quality of water solubility is secured by the elimination 

 of the "peculiar extractive, chiefly quinovin, " and demurs 

 to the assumption, in the present state of our therapeutic 

 knowledge, that this "quinovin" has no medicinal value. 

 Against the reference made by Professor Redwood to Mr. 

 Howard's opinion, it quotes a passage from Professor 

 Fliickiger's recent work, 'The Cinchona Barks Pharm- 

 acognostically Considered,' to the effect that "chinovin parti- 

 cipates in the medicinal activity of cinchona barks." More- 

 over, the Weekly Drug News thinks that "if elegance and 

 water solubility are the objects to be attained, the alkaloids 

 may be employed in preference to the bark." — Pharmaceut- 

 ical Journal. 



Green Manuring is worthy of more frequent use than 

 is at present attempted. It is Nature's own method of 

 stimulating plant growth, and should commend itself to 

 those who are unfavourably situated or circumstanced for 

 obtaining a supply of a good fertiliser to keep their lands 

 in good heart. The principle that needs to be borne in 

 mind, for success to be realised, is to sow some crop suited 

 to the soil, locality, or climate, which will make rapid 

 growth. In cool climates the lupin is a favourite for the 

 purpose, and, in some instances, buckwheat is used. In 

 special cases, such as where wheat is to follow, it has been 

 found extremely useful as a preventive to rust to sow 

 down with mustard and plough it under as a green manure, 

 the pungent or other properties of the mustard being 

 found more or less a hindrance to the growth of rust. 

 Whatever may be thought about this method of manur- 

 ing, it is worthy of serious thought that Nature kiK.ns 

 little or nothing of any other, and laud increases in fert- 

 ility, mid consequently in productiveness, wherever it is 

 adopted. — Queemla 



