3°6 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October t, 1884. 



its inferiority for some purposes. On the other hand, we 

 have been assured that an improvement has been noticeable 

 the past few years in the quality of the domestic product, 

 and that the crops to be harvested this year will show a 

 marked superiority over any previous crop. Even granting 

 that this will prove to be the case, the conditions of soil and 

 climate in this country are such that even with careful cult- 

 ivation, which, owing to high cost of labor, is out of the 

 question, the snmac produced contains an objectionable color- 

 ing principle, which no amount of care in experimental cult- 

 ivation has heretofore eliminated. That an improvement 

 may be or has been brought about we have no doubt, and 

 we trust the industry may prove more successful than in 

 years past, but the high prices of the past season may stimul- 

 ate the business, so that it will be overdone, and the com- 

 petition preveut remunerative prices from being realized. — 

 Independent Journal. 



SILK CULTURE— FOOD PLANTS. 



MES. M. J. G. HAMMACK. 



There are hundreds of thousands of women who, being 

 unable to do hard work, have no means of converting labor 

 into capital, and to these silk culture is really the cre- 

 ation of a new industry. For the infirm, the invalid, and 

 the child it is the open door to a competency, with no 

 burden of drudgery. Let no one suppose that the cultiv- 

 ation of silk is a difficult pursuit, for it is a very simple 

 one, and as instructive and interesting as profitable. There 

 is no real obstacle to its success in America, for the dry 

 ami bracing atmosphere of this conutry is extremely healthy 

 for the worms. One of the advantages of the silk industry 

 is that a comparatively small amount of capital will yield 

 a large income, so that to a person with limited means 

 and a family of children, the culture of silk holds out 

 encouragements of extraordinary promise. Women and 

 children can make one hundred dollars the first year after 

 planting the trees, and the second, from one hundred and 

 fifty to three hundred dollars, with one acre of mulberry trees. 

 The gathering of the leaves and feeding the worms may 

 be done by the children, one adult person always direct- 

 ing the business. It should be borne in mind that in silk 

 culture the brain is of more importance than the hand. 

 The first important step is to prepare the proper food 

 for the silkworm. The leaf of the mulberry is the best, 

 and this tree will grow and the silkworm thrive upon it 

 throughout the United States. The maclura or osage orange 

 is a substitute for the mulberry, and a fair crop of silk 

 can be raised from it, but any one hoping for complete 

 success in its use may become discouraged. The danger 

 in handling the thorny osage, the difficulty in securing 

 sufficient leaves on account of the thorns, the danger of 

 the succulent leaf at the last stage of the worm, and the 

 great care to be observed in not using the upper end of 

 the shoots, should prevent any one from relying entirely 

 upon the osage as principal food. It will answer to ex- 

 periment with while the mulberry trees are growing, but 

 to use osage entirely doubles the expense both in gather- 

 ing leaves aud using the branches. Worms fed on branches 

 are the most healthy, as that is their natural way of living, 

 and they enjoy creeping about on the twigs. The mulberry 

 will ever retain its superiority as a reliable and continuous 

 food for the certainty of yielding an unexceptionable quality 

 of silk, and its vigorous growth and production of soitab'e 

 foliage invest it with properties not combined in any other 

 plant. One-year-old trees can be used to make a crop of 

 silk, and where the plants are set out close together as for 

 a hedge, the clipping of the twigs and branches will favor 

 the growth of numerous shoots which will become valuable 

 leaf-bearing branches the next seasou. 



For standard trees they should be set out twelve feet 

 apart each wa}', and in this mode of cultivation the trees 

 interfere but little, if any, with the use of the land for 

 other purposes. Corn and small fruits may be grown be- 

 tween the rows of trees. Planting in hedge rows is the 

 most approved mode of cultivation for convenience in 

 gathering the leaves. 



The Moretti mulberry is profitably grown fur a hedge, 

 as the large size of its leaves make a very desirable 

 variety. The Italian mulberry is generally preferred to all 

 other kinds. It grows rapidly, and is clothed with leaves 

 fifteen or twenty days earlier ihan the other varieties. 

 The Russian mulberry has taken a very prominent place,. 



and owing to its hardiness and rapid growth is in great 

 demand ; it produces fine, strong silk. The trees make 

 excellent timber and are prolific fruit-bearers. The arom- 

 atic and juicy berries are often more than an inch long, 

 one half inch in diameter, and vary in color, from jet black 

 to light red. The fine fruit more than pays for the labor 

 aud expense of growing these trees. All the varieties of 

 mulberry trees mentioned are hardy, grow rapidly, attain a 

 height of twenty or thirty feet, and make beautifid shade 

 trees. — American Agriculturist. 



ECONOMIC PLANTS IN TENER1FFE. 

 Reporting on the trade of Teneriffe, the British Consul 

 makes some remarks on the agricultural capabilities of the 

 island, from which the following notes are taken. He re- 

 marks that it is a matter of some surprise that, notwith- 

 standing the mild nature of this climate, its even temper- 

 ature throughout the year, the absence of all sharp frosts 

 aud scorching heats, and where everything almost might 

 be made to grow, and living rendered cheap, only about 

 one-seventh of the laud is under cultivation. The crops of 

 Wheat, Barley, and Indian Corn raised are insufficient for 

 the wants of the country, and large quantities of the first 

 necessaries of life are derived from abroad. Many kinds 

 of fruit are cultivated, but with the exception of Bananas, 

 which are mostly shipped for Spain, aud Prickly Pears, 

 the fruit of the Tuna, or Nopal Cactus (Opuntia Tuna), 

 which are the principal food of the labouring classes in 

 summer-time, and also perhaps Figs, the different varieties, 

 abundance, aud quality, are far inferior to those of Malta 

 or Sicily. 



Orange trees and Apple trees, although thriving well all 

 over the island, seem to be attacked by blight, or o'idium 

 in some districts after the flowering and before the fruit 

 comes to maturity, nevertheless good Oranges are plentiful. 

 The Caiia dulce (Sugar-cane), Tobacco, and Coffee, also 

 grow easily aud yield returns, but they do not as yet 

 hold out much prospect of becoming articles of export 

 competition, aud the expensiveness of the manufacturing 

 process of sugar being the chief obstacle to the produc- 

 tion of this article; but, notwithstanding the drawbacks, 

 considerable quantities of the plant in the stalk of about 

 5-to 6 feet long were imported last year from Madeira, 

 Grand Canary, and La Palma, and planted in this island 

 with much success. As regards Tobacco, considering that 

 the plant does not call for much care or attention in its 

 cultivation, and only requires water at long intervals, it 

 would no doubt be more extensively grown if only induce- 

 ments were held out to farmers by the authorities. 



The Coffee plantations at Salamanca consist of about 200 

 or 300 trees each ; although bearing abundant fruit, the 

 yield is chiefly consumed by the growers themselves. The 

 Coffee is of excellent quality, and there is no reason why 

 this plant should not also be more extensively propagated. 

 The climate and soil seem very suitable to its growth, 

 especially when protected by the shade of other trees, 

 when it will throw out horizontal lateral branches through- 

 out its entire length, aud in the early part of the year 

 the branches are literally covered with fruit. 



The greatest anxiety of all, however, is the discovery, 

 if possible, of some vegetable product which will replace 

 the Tuna or Cochineal Cactus. In view of this consider- 

 ation, which is still occupying public attention, the Eeal 

 Sociedad Econtimica de Amigos del Paris de Tenerife, the 

 Royal Agricultural Society at Laguna has for some time 

 past been in active correspondence with friends in Eng- 

 land, who have suggested the introduction into this island 

 of fibre-yielding Nettles, especially the Rhea or China grass, 

 and the Helianthus annuus (Sunflower), but on this point 

 Mr. Consul Depuis says: — "Whether any advantage will 

 be taken of the many valuable suggestions made I am 

 unable to say. I have very little doubt, however, in my 

 own mind that the climate and conditions of this land 

 would admirably suit those plants, requiring as they do 

 little cultivation and thriving in almost any soil. The 

 Helianthus is a well-known plant here, and I have seen 

 magnificent specimens of them cultivated as ornamental 

 plants. In short, since the unfortunate failure of the 

 Cochiueal as a remunerative product, the only agricultural 

 resources remaining to this island for exportation seem now 

 to be Potatoes, Onions, and Garlic," — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



