October i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



343 



show us how to dispel it or destroy it. It was all that 

 was bad in cocoa, and was the cause of cocoa not being 

 the wholesome good article that it should be. If that 

 cocoa was to undergo in the docks the same supervision 

 as wheat and other cereals, hundreds of bags would be 

 condemned and burnt; but some how or other it passed 

 and was thrown into the English market to rot. He thought 

 it was our duty to see if we could overcome that. He 

 could not say much about it, except that to him it had 

 been a great source of trouble. 



Mr. Lange argued that the existence of mildew was no 

 cause for alarm. "When they came to inquire they came 

 to the conclusion that mildew was nothing but a sort of 

 fungus. He was sorry to hear an opinion of that sort 

 from a member of the Society, it being possible that 

 advantage might be taken of it to bring down the price 

 of cocoa. It was to be observed that you sent the very 

 best cocoa to the chocolate manufacturer, and after he 

 had manufactured that cocoa into chocolate he exported it 

 — some of it came here with yellow or blue paper round 

 it; next to that was silver paper, and when divested of 

 all that, you would still find traces of mildew on that 

 chocolate. Therefore he said there was not another sub- 

 stance that got mildewed quicker than cocoa, on account 

 of its fatty matter. It was the same with cheese, it soon 

 became mildewed, but who would say that the cheese was 

 unwholesome? On the contrary, people rather relished it. 

 They must not run away with the idea that cocoa was 

 unwholesome, and he assured them that to do so would 

 make a very great difference in the account sales. He 

 must say he did not agree with Mr. Tucker. 



Mr. Tucker said that was prefectly true, hut Mr. Lange 

 had forgotten that cocoa was in very great demand. The 

 manufacturers actually battled with one another as to who 

 would get it. and consequently they were obliged to take 

 what they could get. They would willingly offer us more, 

 but we were so conservative in our ideas that we would 

 not be altered and were obliged to give them in great 

 quantities an abominable rotten substance. 



Mr. Fabien said that in the fermentation of cocoa. after 

 four or five days, mildew did not set in inside. After 

 five days, if bad weather set in there might be a little' 

 mildew on the shell; but they all knew that chocolate 

 was not made from the shell. The shells were removed, 

 and only the interior was used. So that he did not exactly 

 see in what way the fungi, if they were indigestible, would 

 affect the fermentation of cocoa. 



The President: You are mistaken there. If you ship 

 10,000 bags, every single bag is sampled, and if it is 

 mildewed it will cause a reduction in the price. 



Mr. Tucker: If wheat and other cereals are found to 

 be what is called "smutty," they are condemned and burnt. 



Mr. Lange; That is very different. Speaking of cereals, 

 if you take rye, naturally it is condemned, because it con- 

 tains a great quantity of ergot, and it will follow very 

 likely that the mildew on that will be poisonous. 



The Society then rose. — Port-of-Spain Gazette. 



INDIA: —CROP ANT) WEATHER REPORT. 



For the Week ending the 10th September 1884. 

 &ENERAT, Rfmarks.— The rainfall continues insufficient 

 over the Madras Presidency (the Malabar Coast excepted), 

 and the crops in the districts bordering on Mysore and 

 in Madura and Coimbatore are in a very backward ren- 

 dition. In tin- .astern portion of Mysore the state of the 

 crops is reported to be critical, though prospects have 

 slightly improved in the province. Pasture is srarce in 

 Bellary and Coimbatore and parts of Mysore. Rain is 

 also wanted in the Deccan and Southern Mahratta country, 

 while in Shikarpur and Ahmedabad the crops have been 

 damaged by excessive wet. In two districts the wan' of 

 fodder is much felt. Throughout Hyderabad, Berar, ' i n- 

 tral India and Rajputana the prospects are favourable, 

 though in some localities a break in the rains would be 

 beneficial. The same remark applies to the Punjab and 

 the North-West Provinces and Oudh. In the Central Pro- 

 vinces there has been heavy rain during the week caus- 

 ing floods and much damage to standing crops, especially 

 in Seoni. Prospects have somewhat improved in Bengal 

 with recent general rain, but imore is much needed in 

 Behar and Orissa ; and the transplanting of rice is re- 



tarded. The tea plants in Cachar are reported to have 

 been attacked by the tea bug and red spider, and floods 

 have done some injury to rice; otherwise prospects are 

 favourable in Assam. In Burma the crop prospects are 

 also favourable. 



The latest report of the Meteorological Department (dated 

 11th instant) shows that the rainfall is confined to the 

 North -West Himalaya, Darjeeliug, Lower and Western 

 Bengal, the Central Provinces, and the west coast of the 

 peninsula. 



Harvesting of paddy, cholum, rabi, and other crops are 

 in progress in Madras, and the kharif harvest has com- 

 menced in N( rthtrn India, where the land is also being 

 prepared fur the rabi. Weeding is much impeded in the 

 Central Provinces by excessive rain. The aus rice harvest 

 is not yet completed in Bengal, and the transplanting of 

 seedlings for the nex t crop cannot be carried out in 

 several districts till more rain falls. 



Small. pox and cholera are present in most Provinces, 

 but the latter is prevalent only in Akyab, Patna, Ahmed- 

 abad, and parts of Madras. The usual autumnal fever 

 is reported from Assam, Bengal, and the North-West. 



Prices are falling in the Punjab and Nort-West Pro- 

 vinces, while in Bengal they are fluctuating. 



Madras.— General prospects fair, except in Ceded Dis- 

 tricts, parts of Madura and Coimbatore, where rain is 

 still deficient. 



British Burma.— Except for cholera in Akyab 'and to 

 some extent in Prome, public health good; health of cattle 

 also good. Crop prospects favourable. 



Assam.— Weather cool. Transplanting of sali dhan finished 

 and tea doing well. District heathy. 



Mysore and Coorg.— Crops progressing in parts owin<* to 

 the recent ram but in other places prospects have not im- 

 proved. — Pioneer. 



Poett's Punting Scheme in the Northern Territ- 

 ory.— We heard from an Adelaide gentleman who had 

 been a shareholder and director of the Company got 

 up to cultivate "Poett's Land," that coffee and cin- 

 chona nurseries were quite successful, but that the 

 capital of £100,000 estimated as necessary to clear 

 and cultivate could not be obtained. We are now 

 s_.,ry to see the following paragraph in the South 

 Austral, /in Regtster :— In my opinion the best planting 

 venture in the Territory, Poett's coffee and cinchona 

 plantation, is on its last legs, Mr. Poett having 

 received word that no more supplies are to be forth- 

 coming. He is at present in Palmerston tryina to 

 make arrangements for liquidation, and if possible 

 for carrying on the concern. 



Cacao Cultivation.— The publiaation of Dr. Tri- 

 men s report on the enemies of the cacao olant wind 

 shallow soil, drought, but especially Helopdtis, is 

 followed by the publication in our columns of what 

 promises to be a very valuable treatise on the cult- 

 ivation of the plant. It has now been proved that cacao 

 is far more delicate and difficult to cultivate than either 

 enffee _ (before the advent of ffemiU in) or tea. It. is not 

 in »h soils or in every climate that the Sob h 

 American plant will flourish. It require good, deep 

 rather stiff soil; shelter from wiud, and in some cases 

 even a certain amount of .shade seems necessary. In 

 any ease, shelter trees which will generally yield a 

 certain amount of shade seem indispensable If as 

 is supposed, lldopeltu Antonii is not indigenous ' we 

 fear it has been introduced with the seeds of this 

 valuable but somewhat precarious plant. The great 

 ultimate success of cacao can alone atone for such 

 an introduction, and, meantime we can only hope that 

 the catch-and-kill process may be more successful in 

 the case of " the mosquito blight " than ever was the 

 cane in regard to the -'May bugs" and their grubs. 

 What we have most to fear is the extension of the 

 sucking operations of the nail-crowned bug from the 

 cacao plants to our tea; but we trust no such 

 calamity is in store for us, or that, if the turn of tea 

 must come, the visitations may be mild and uufr.-quent. 



