September i, 1884.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



215 



The manufacture of perfumeries from Floridi- 

 growu flowers bids fair to bccume an extensive in- 

 dustry in that State. One firm at Jacksonville is 

 already at work. It is reported that a gentleman from 

 South Florida has patented a process tor the utili- 

 zation of the bloom of the mangrove and sapodilla, 

 and to extract the sweet fragrance from the cassava 

 plant as well. 



The trade of Aden consists chiefly of coals, coffee, 

 cotton goods, dyes, feathere, gums, skins, shells, silks, 

 spices, sugar, and tobacco. The Arabian coffee is known 

 in Aden by Ihenameof Jebeliirom Jcb, a mountain (a 

 root, traceable iu Gibraltar), the plant being grown 

 in the hilly districts of Yemen. Upwards of 7,000 

 camel loads are brought in yearly to Adeu, the export 

 value being something over £300,000, the greater por- 

 tion going to France. The SomaliB prefer Bombay 

 cottou goods 'o those of Manchester, and pay a higher 

 price for them. This trade is chiefly in the hands of 

 the Parsees. Strangely enough, although indigo grows 

 abundantly in Arabia, it is not manufactured to any 

 extent, the Arabs preferring to import the article 

 from India. The ostrich-feather trade has been valued 

 at about £30,000 a year. The feathers come chiefly 

 from the Somali country. The retail price of a bunch 

 of the very bu^t description of the largest white feathers 

 ought not to be more than R30. The deluded pas- 

 sengc-r, how ver, pays much higher prices as a rule 

 to the corkscrew-ringleted hawkers. A considerable 

 trade is also carried on in gum, frankincense, and 

 myrrh, as well as in skins of lions, zebras, and mon- 

 keys. — Indian Agriculturist. 



Manilla.— The following statement of the shipments 

 of the three great staple productions of Manilla — hemp, 

 sugar and coffee— in each of the past six years is from 

 a report by Consul Wilkinson : — 



Hemp. Sugar. Coffee. 



Yeirs. PicuK Ticule. Piculs. 



1 '■■'■'■ •■■ ... 746,870 3,403.500 12s. 1-25 



1882 707,344 2,452,000 81,039 



1881 86S.904 3,362,500 80,082 



1S80 800,926 2,902.300 84,000 



1879 647,959 2,145,000 61,391 



1878 667,878 1,890,000 3S.782 



In 1861, the exports of hem]) were only 3S0.000 piculs, 

 but they steadily increased until 18S1, when they 

 reached their Highest, total of S68.900 piculs. Since 

 1881 there has been a decline, but the diminution, 

 Consul Wilkinson Btates, ie entirely due to exceptional 

 circumstances, such as outbreak of cholera in the latter 

 half ot lfS2, which caused a panic amongst the native 

 cultivators, who for a considerable time abstained from 

 all field labour. The increase in the production of 

 sugar is stated to have been even more rapid than that 

 ot hemp. Iu 1861 the shipments barely amounted to 

 850,000 piculs, while last year they reached a total of 

 3,404,000 piculs, equal to 212,750 tons. The market 

 value of the hemp exported from Manilla in 1883 was 

 £1,383,700, and that of the sugar, £1,523,300, while 

 the value of the total exports from the whole of the 

 Philippine Islands during the year is estimated at 

 little short of £6,000,000. The export trade of Ma ilia 

 is at present almost entirely iu the hands of British 

 firms, but recently the Government, by imposing a 

 species of income-tax on trading and firms, 



and also by prohibiting the acquisition of any kind of 

 Ian property by foreign companies, have been 



em rouring to get the trad' of the islands more into 

 S l ■ This, Consul Wilkinson thinks, is a 



great mistake, as "it ia a well-known fact that the 

 great increase that !:as taken place wi hin the last 

 thirty years in the trade between these Spanish i 

 eious and Great Britain and the United States is 

 an tirely due to British and American capital and en- 

 terprise." — Australasian Trade Review. 



PiBtiE Machines.— The Government of India pro- 

 po is to hold a series of experiments of, and trials 

 with, fibre-extracting machines in Calcutta, in Sept- 

 ember next. These will be in continuation of the 

 trials which were held in February last with the fibre, 

 extracting machines shown at the Calcutta Exhibition; 

 and prizes of considerable value will be oil. red, though 

 not to the extent of R.50,000, as was formerly the 

 ease. The trials will be held under the superintend- 

 ence of Mr. Liotard of the Agricultural Department, 

 and Dr. George King, Superintendent of the Botanical 

 Gardens. — Madras Mail. 



Leaf-disease in- Java is thus noticed in the circ- 

 ular of Messrs. James Cook & Co. :— The Java circ- 

 ulars contain much of interest, and we print the 

 remarks given by friends under date 3rd May, 

 as follows :— " Leaf-disease is reported to have spread 

 over East Java, especially in the Pasoarowani, 

 Proboliugo, and Bezoekie Residencies, which had 

 not been previously attacked. The coffee trees in 

 these districts are in full bearing ; in many plant- 

 ations, however, all the leaves have disappeared, 

 whilst the branches are loaded with fruit, partly still 

 fresh and green, but gradually blackening and fall- 

 ing off. The disease has now extended all over Cen- 

 tral Java, and even seriously affected the Bagelen 

 residencies ; so much so that fears are entertained that 

 the year's crop is likely to show a considerable defici- 

 ency. Everything is done to prevent the trees from 

 dying out, and to give new force to the plants already 

 injured. Though the official estimate has still been 

 put down under 31st March at 915,950 piculs, it is 

 much to be doubted whether the actual "yield will 

 reach over 750 000 piculs. The Menado crop is es- 

 timated at 15 250 piculs, and the Government Pedang 

 at 121,400 piculs. According to private advices, how- 

 ever, the la'.ter will barely amount to 100,000 piculs." 



A Cure for Gumming in Cucumbers.— I have been 

 a Cucumber grower for years, and, like most others, 

 have at times experienced a good deal of trouble 

 from attacks of gumming. Tt,e usual remedies have 

 been resorted to, viz., boring the stem, keeping the 

 stems dry, dusting with dry lime, &c; but the gumming 

 continued, and the plants eventually died, and I don't 

 remember a single instance iu which any of the methods 

 adopted was of any avail. This season I planted two 

 houses in the usual way. For bottom-head I put iu 

 about a foot deep of old Mushroom manure, horse- 

 droppings, and shoddy mixed, and the soil used was 

 from an old meadow. The plants set off and got to 

 such a degree of vigour as to excite great hopes of 

 a fine crop ; but presently they showed signs of 

 gumming, and several went off, and considerable un- 

 easiness was felt as to the fate of the rest, as several 

 showed unmistakable signs of the dreaded disease. 

 Between hope and desparation, however, I set to 

 work by removing the soil from the stem, and with 

 a pocket-knife scraped off every panicle of gum until 

 the stem looked fresh and clean; in some instances 

 the stem was quite half gone. I then got some pot- 

 ting sand and put round the stem, afterwards covering 

 up with some nice fibry soil, taking care that the 

 wounded part was completely covered with the sand 

 and the soil packed up the stem an inch farther. 

 And now as to the result. A week afterwards the 

 stem was examined and found to present a healthy 

 appearance, being covered with white dots, as if 

 di w roots were being formed, and a week later proved 

 that .azh was the case; and now from and above 

 the wounded part roots are betiu; Freely formed in 

 the soil, so that I believe the remedy is in my own 

 hands. It would be interesting to your Cucumber 

 growing readers, as well as to myself, to know the 

 result of such treatment as tried by others. — U. J. 

 A. Bruce, Chorlton-cum-Hardy.— Gardeners' Chronicle. 



