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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST.' [December i, 1884. 



The Tobacco Crop just gathered in the United States, 

 has been good alike in quality and quantity. The total 

 acreage is slightly less thau in 1883, but the proportion of 

 Havanah seed leaf has greatly increased. From the to- 

 bacco-growing states of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, the 

 reports are not so favourable. Notwithstanding the excel- 

 lent supply of tobacco from America, Manilla aud other 

 countries, Southern India cheroots are becoming better 

 known and appreciated in England. — Madras Mail. 



The Phyi.'-Oxera and Heltopeltis. — M. Balbiani, Pro- 

 fessor at the College de France, was commissioned a short 

 time ago by the Minister of Agriculture to report upon 

 the best mode of destroying the winter eggs of the phyllo- 

 xera, as it has been found that it is in this way the pro- 

 gress of the parasite is very materially checked. M. Balbiani 

 tried several fresh experiments, among others a mixture 

 of oil, naphtha, quicklime aud water. This mixture has 

 been tried upon a very large scale in the vineyards of the 

 Lot-et-Garouue and the Loir-et-Oher, and it possesses, 

 according to M. Balbiani, the double recommendation of 

 being effectual and cheap, as the cost is under a frauc 

 for a hundred stocks, f Query ? Coconut oil, kerosene, 

 quicklme and water as a remedy for heltopeltis and red- 

 spider.— Ed.] 



Canned Foods. — The editor of tho American 

 Grocer sends us a copy of an article by Brevet 

 Major General J. V. Hawkins, U. S. Army, on 

 this subject, with a request to give insertion to its 

 main features, in order to allay any distrust which 

 may have arisen in the minds of the public regarding 

 tinned goods, some cases of poisoning having recently 

 beeu reported. General Hawkins speaks from an ex- 

 perience of 20 years, during which period the 

 U. S. soldiers have used canned foods habitually, 

 and he states that cases of sickness have been ex- 

 ceedingly rare. 



Cinchona. — General Morgan goes out of his way to 

 repeat the time-honoured statement that Sacdnibra will 

 not grow at elevations above 6,000 feet in the district 

 ■ to the west of Oolacamund. I know of at least one 

 large field of matured Succiruhras (not hybrids) west 

 of Ootacamund, and at a higher elevation than 6,000 feet; 

 and all the Succiruhras on that large field, not ouly have 

 grown, but have flourished as luxuriantly as any Sued- 

 rutrras I have seen grown at 3,000 feet elevation. Of 

 course this field is not on the crest of a hill or an ex- 

 posed ridge, but on a slope fairly protected from the 

 south-west winds. How many commonly received state- 

 ments are founded more upon inference than upon the 

 results of experience ! — Cor., Madras Mail. 



Tin: Position of Quinine. — The market for both 

 American and foreign quinine remains fairly steady, 

 the only change being a reduction by one American 

 manufacturer, which we announced last week, which 

 has not, however, been followed by a gmeral 

 reduction by other manufacturers. We stated some 

 time since, when the results of the Milau failure 

 first became apparent, that we looked for no speedy 

 advance, and although alone in this opinion the 

 subsequent course of the market has confirmed our 

 views. Quinine at present prices may be considered 

 cheap, and is doubtless good property for the money, 

 but we can expect no early important advance under 

 existing conditions. — Independent Journal. 



Bed Bark to the Front. — A Colombo merchant 

 give< us iuformat on which seems to bear out Mr. 

 Cross's praise of Red Bark, as follows : — " Sucoirubra 

 bark, which in the early days of planting was rather 

 despised, now seems coming to the front : an analysis 

 that we received by last mail of some renewed 

 shavings off 5 to 6 years old trees on an estate in 

 Udapussellawa (Beckington) were: 

 Crystallized sulph, of quinine ... 4 '36 per cent. 



Cinchonidine ... ... 3'30 



Cinchonine ... ... 2 '40 



Total alkaloids ... 10 06 percent." 



The bark was sold for 2s 3d per lb., showing that 

 there is a fair market for a good article. 



The Forestry Medals at the International 

 Forestry Exhibition bear, on the one side, a view 

 of Edinburgh from the neighbourhood of Craigleith 

 Quarry, one of the most comprehensive views, care- 

 fully aud delicately wrought in the die, giving a very 

 fine impression indeed. On the obverse is a wreath of 

 laurel, intended lo have the winner's name in the 

 centre, while outside of it is the quaint legend, in 

 relief, 'Be aye stickin' in a tree, it 'II be growen 

 when ye 're eleepin'." The medals have been de- 

 signed and made by .lames Crichtou nnd Company, 

 Goldsmiths, 47, George-Btreet, Edinburgh. — Indian 

 Agriculturist. 



The Fibre Extracting Experiments. — A Calcutta 

 paper gives the following account of the experi- 

 ments with Messrs. Death and EUwood's machine, 

 the invention of Mr. H. O. Smith, on Saturday : — 

 Mr. Death conducted the trial himself, aud the result 

 was an unqualified success. The machine which ia 

 a very ingenious contrivance, has been successfully 

 used for extracting the fibre from the moorva (sanse- 

 viera zeylanica) from the leaves of the ayave 

 plant, and from several other leaves ; but some doubt 

 wa9 entertained at the outset whether it would 

 answer for the rhea, that is to say, whether, having 

 extracted the fibre, it would leave it in a good con- 

 dition as regards quality. This, the experiments in 

 England, Paris, and Calcutta, show the machine can 

 do very efficiently. But the main difficulty which had 

 to be overcome was the separation of the bark from 

 the fibre. The outside portion of the bark consist?, as 

 those familiar with the plant know, of a film, to 

 which has been applied the term cutose. Below that 

 there is a bark called vaecnlose, containing the green 

 colouring matter of the plant, and next to that comes 

 the fibre itself. This problem Messrs Death and EU- 

 wood's machine has solved completely. The secret of 

 the success of the machine l:es in the fact that one- 

 half of it is, so to speak, water. The machine is 

 worked by steam, the engine employed in the present 

 experiments being a 2-^-horse-power one, which, by 

 means of a shaft, could work two sets of machines. 

 The machine itself consists of a cylinder 18 inche* in 

 diameter, which is provided with what are called 

 beaters, that is to say, a certain number of project- 

 ing ribs, and it revolves in front of the feeding table 

 at a great rate, something like 600 revolutions a 

 minute. The operation goes on in front of the feeding 

 table, and constitutes the entire mechanical portion of 

 the machine, with the exception of tho water. Below, 

 and at an angle of about 45°, a strong flattened jet 

 of water passes. The effect of this is, that while 

 the water cylinder is rapidly revolving, and the mach- 

 ine is being fed the beaters catch and break up the 

 stalks into very small piects and the jet of water 

 coming up from below, meets the fibre, and keeps it up 

 against the beaters, so that it is really beateu in a 

 stream of water. The result is — as Saturday's trial 

 proved to satisfaction — that the fibre is not only cleared 

 of a large portion of its gum, but there is next to i o 

 waste, and what little, there is can be utilized for 

 several purposes. The waste is used for making 

 blankets. The machine is very easy to work, and any 

 ordinarily intelligent native could learn to work it in 

 a few hours. They are used in Madras, from where 

 some native workmen are daily expected in Calcutta 

 to show that natives can use the machine with 

 facility. The experiment with the rhea plant has 

 proved a complete success, the fibre from 12 setrs of 

 stems being extracted in 23 minutes. Rhea is the 

 strongest fibre in nature being two-and-a-half times 

 as strong as the best Russian hemp. It is used to 

 make table-cloths, is an admirable substitute for 

 wool, especially mohair and other lustre wools, and 

 "is far superior even for mixing with silk than jute." 

 —Pioneer, Oct. 29th. 



