Sli 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [September i, li 



luxuriaut hybrids. This same writer heads his 

 'enemies of the ten- plant' with the porcupine. "First 

 and foremost," he says, "among these, from the 

 wholesale havoc that he occasionally makes, stands 

 the Indian porcupine (Hystrix cristata). At no 

 period of its existence is the tea-pLnt safe from 

 his attacks, from the seed put down in the nursery 

 up to the full-grown plants. * » ♦ Their 

 mode of going to work is very systematic ; having 

 fixed upon a good hybrid plant, they commence with 

 the lateral roots close to the stem, cutting them through 

 as cleanly as an axe could do it. They then burrow 

 below these and bite through the tap-root in the same 

 maimer. This accomplished, they hoiBt the tree up, 

 and when it has fallen on its side, leave it. I cannot 

 recollect having seen a single China plautof any size 

 attacked." We have long known how inimical to a 

 vegetable garden porcupines in Ceylon are, but have 

 they yet been found doing damage to our te i? We 

 have heard of wild pigs, in their search after white- 

 grub, upsetting bushes as above described, and rolling 

 huge trees on top of them, but they ought to be looked 

 upon as friends rather than foes, for that white grub 

 does attack tea there is undeniable testimony. The 

 Laird of Mattakelly, with abundance of reason on 

 bis side, we admit, holds the opposite view. One of 

 his arguments is that the tea-root is too bitter a 

 morsel for the grub's delicate digestion ; but as a 

 doctor very aptly enquired, "how is it then that he 

 too evidently enjo\s our very bitter cinchona roots ?" 

 We only hope that Mr. Smith may be able to de- 

 monstrate to us that the exception proves the rule. 



LIBERIAN COFFEE PROSPECTS, 



At the present moment, the prospects of Liberian 

 coffee in Singapore are singularly good. Strange that 

 this sentence should be penned in the face of an 

 assertion which the writer has heard time and again 

 made that coffee, or if it comes to that, anything 

 worth the cultivation, will not grow in Singapore. 

 But the experiment has been tried, and it has been 

 found that Liberian coffee at all events can be made 

 to grow here, that is with ordinary foresight, watch- 

 fulness, and care. M. Chasseriau's charming estate 

 (we use the word charming for it only is applicable 

 to a state of things in which the beauty of nature is 

 enhanced by the efforts of art) now offers evidence as 

 to the success of Liberian coffee cultivation here. 

 Not only has he succeeded marvellously well, but Syed 

 Mahomed Alsagoff also has reaped already large profits 

 from growing this kind of coffee, and what its future 

 will be it would be rash to prophesy. A visit 

 to his estate whereon flourishes the tree will 

 convince more cogently than volumes of description. 

 Now M. Chasseriau having " made an example " of 

 Liberian coffe, and one or two Arab gentlemen having 

 likewise put their hands to the venture and so far 

 succeeded, quite a mania has fallen upon the Datives 

 for growing the Liberian berry. Many parcels of seed 

 have been purchased, and several small cultivators 

 in Singapore have abandoned crops on which they 

 formerly relied to plant the hardy Liberian tree, and 

 reap, as a Kling speculator told the writer, a sure 

 aud large fortune. It would be scarcely far to men- 

 tion small estates that are to be devoted to coffee, 

 on the strength of what has been done by the gen- 

 tleman referred to in the matter. The fact that the 

 native ear is pricking up at the mnetionof two things, 

 the appearance of the dreaded hemileia vastatrix in 

 Brazil, and the probable rise of Liberian coffee, is 

 sufficiently ominous of the extension of coffee growing 

 here. A financial estimate of the cost of planting Libe- 

 rian coffee here will not, under these circumstances, be 

 Uninteresting. The writer has interviewed M. Chaese- 

 riau who has the largest area under coffee cultivation in 



the island, and whose trees are now thick with fruit, 

 giving an earnest of what the future will bring forth, 

 and has been courteously favoured by that gentleman 

 with a few figures on the subject, which will be of 

 interest and use to those concerned in the industry. 

 Let it be understood that M. Chasseriau has at pre- 

 sent 100 acres planted with Liberian coffee, and what 

 a picture of phenomenal prolificuess, robustness, and 

 health the trees present? Before the end of 1S85, 

 he will have 500 acres planted. So it will be seen 

 that an estimate from him would be based on a compar- 

 atively large foundation with the hopes of large re- 

 sults. The figures that he has favoured the writer 

 with are in regard to returns below the expected 

 average, asauyonecan see who knows the present price, 

 aud his computations are carefully worked out. It 

 would be best to give his rough estimates as it 

 was received, so as to avoid the suspicion of 

 misapprehension, and it must be understood that the 

 financial prospectus is made solely with reference to 

 the prospects of Liberian coffee in the Straits, not 

 simply in regard to auy picked bit of land. It runs 

 as follows : — 



Estimate of the cost of planting one acre of land 

 with Liberian coffee, and of upkeep during the first, 

 second, third, fourth, and fifth, and sixth years. 



First, to plant an acre of Liberian coffee on the above 

 estate costs ... .. ... ... $ 40 



The upkeep for first year ... ... ... „ 15 



do do second year ... ... „ 15 



Third year including the gathering and prepar- 

 ing the crop .. ... ... ... ,,30 



Expenses for fourth year ... ... ... $ 50 



do do fifth year ... ... ... ,, 60 



do do sixth year ... ... — „ 70 



$ 280 



Returns. 

 Third year, one catty per tree ou five hundred 



trees per acre planted at 9j feet, by 9J feet, say 



five piculs per acre at $10 per acre ... ... $ 50 



Fourth year, three catties per tree which is fifteen 



piculs per acre, $10 ... ... ... 150 



Fifth year, four catties per tree, 20 piculs per acre, 



at $10... ... ... ... ... 200 



Sixth year, five catties per tree, 25 piculs per acre, 



at $10... ... ... ... ... 250 



$650 

 Total Expenses ... ... ... $280 



Net Profit ... ... ... $370 



M. Chasseriau feels confident that, with continued 

 high cultivation during the seventh and eighth years, 

 the yield per tree may be raised from five to eight or 

 more catties per tree. He is now perfectly convinced 

 that our climate and soil are admirably adapted for 

 growing Liberian coffee. — Straits Times. [We should 

 judge by this article that Hemileia vastatrix has not 

 as yet made its appearance on M. Chasseriau's trees. 

 He is the owner of, we suppose, the largest cassava 

 plantation in the world. He grew coconut-palms for 

 fourtetn years along his paths, and then cut them 

 down as utterly unproductive. The peculiar clay soil 

 did not seem suitable for the palm. — Ed.] 



YEMEN, OR ARABIA FELIX. 



{Extracts from Pah/rare''- Artie', " Arabia," in the 

 " Encyclopedia Britannica.") 



The south-eastern coast, extending from Bab-el Mandeb 

 up to Ras-el-Hadd, is not less dreary than that of Hejaz 

 in appearance, and, like it, presents a low and barren 

 mountain range, diversified only by jagged rocks amid 



