December- i, 1884.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



5°i 



AGRICULTURAL ITEMS. 



Above all things avoid foul seed. 



Gas lime should uot be used fresh. 



Roll the ground before and not after seeding. 



Good seed and good soil are a good beginning. 



Turkeys surfer much from hot weather. Let them have 

 plenty of water. . 



Oil the inside of horse collars after thoroughly washing 

 them with carbolic soap, which both cleanses and disinfects 



The farmer who has first-class farm implements is justified 

 in disliking to lend them. They are never so good after they 

 have been borrowed. — Sydney Mail. 



OIL OF SUN-FLOWER. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE " MADRAS MAIL." 



Sir, — In your issue of the 22nd instant, your correspondent 

 "A Scientific Traveller" has rightly informed" you that I 

 purpose making experiments with the sunflower plant 

 (Helianthux annus) on a large scale, on the Vaheedpoor farm. 

 I shall be highly obliged if you or any of your readers 

 (especially Europeans) will be good enough to reply to the 

 following queries: — 



For what purposes is the oil of sunflower used in the 

 British Isles and on the Continent of Europe? 



Does the oil find a ready market? If so, what is its 

 market value? 



Could the oil be used for culinary purposes without any 

 injury to health? 



* S. COOMAEASAWHY MOODELLIAR, 



Superintendent of Vaheedpoor Farm 



Sir, — In reply to the inquiry of the Superintendent of 

 the Vaheedpoor Farm, regarding the oil of the sun-flower 

 plant, I have the pleasure to intimate that the seed is 

 valuable in feeding sheep, pigs, poultry and other animals; 

 it produces a striking erfeetion poultry, by occasioning them 

 to lay more eggs, and it yields a large quantity of ex- 

 cellent oil by pressure. The leaves furnish fodder for cattle, 

 aud the dry stalks burn well, the ashes affording a con- 

 siderable quantity of alkali. AVhen oil is extracted from 

 the seed, the oil case makes excellent food for live stock 

 and poultry. The oil is sweet, of an agreeble taste, and 

 nearly inodorous. It may be substituted for olive oil, and 

 can be introduced for culinary consumptiou, lamps, and 

 manufactures. When the seed is not well husked, the husks 

 absorb the oil. The seeds should be exposed to the sun, 

 thoroughly hueked, aud subjected to the mills; each flower 

 should produce one pound of see.l, and an acre one thousand 

 pounds of seed, or two hundred and fifty pounds of oil. 

 The seeds maybe sown in a nursery, and transplanted when 

 four or five inches high, iu rows, or at once sown in rows, 

 and watered every other day for four or five days, the time 

 it takes the seed to germinate. The flowers must be 

 collected just as they begin to fade, and the seeds should 

 be well dried. A French been may be set at the foot of 

 each plant. — A. 



THE POSITION OF GUM KAURI. 



Although the market for this important varnish gum has 

 undergone no change for some time, the position of the 

 article has latterly been growing stronger and the pros- 

 pects now point to an early advance. The stock of kauri 

 on hand in London on the first of July was only 784 tons 

 against 1,719 tons at the same time in 1883, showing a 

 decrease of nearly LOOOJmus. As London supplies all Europe 

 with this gum it is plain that London will have to draw 

 largely upon the Auckland market, and an advance in the 

 latter market may be looked fur. the dealers there know- 

 ing the statistical position in London, and are already hold- 

 ing out for better offers. This will naturally cause an 

 advance in London, which will be followed by higher prices 

 here. At the prices now quoted in this market importers 

 cannot sell to arrive at a profit, and with an increased 

 cost at Auckland an advance must follow. The position, 

 therefore, is much stronger than for some time, and with 

 only moderate stocks in the United States, and these almost 

 exclusively in first hands, consumers would do well to take 

 advantage of present opportunities to purchase at current 

 prices. 



The statistics of the London market, aside from the stock, 

 are interesting, as showing the tendency to higher values. 

 There was imported into London during the first six months 

 of the present year 1,240 tons against 1,403 tons during 

 the first six months of 1SS3, and this, with an increased 

 consumptiou, would in itself tend to strengthen the position, 

 even though a considerable surplus had been available. 

 We find that the deliveries during the first half of the 

 present year were 1,339 tons, while during the first six 

 months of 1883 they were only 1,091 tons, an increase of 

 248 tons, and this is believed to represent the increase in 

 consumption. Ordinarily the London dealers carry a six 

 months' supply, while from the figures representing the 

 consumption for the past six months it will be seen that 

 they have only a three months' supply. Here the position 

 is very similar, the supply being estimated as about sufficient 

 to meet four months' requirements, although some dealers 

 claim it is smaller, and that should a considerable increase 

 in demand be developed during the next two months we 

 should be compelled to draw on the London market for 

 supplies. At the last auction sale in London 1,7S0 cases 

 were offered and 1,243 cases were disposed of at prices 

 fully up to the highest realized at bhe previous sale, while 

 the bidding was spirited, indicating that the bidders were 

 in actual need of supplies and that they had confidence 

 in the article. Selected scraped realized £10 5s. per cwt., 

 while common grades were sold at an advance over previous 

 prices. — Independent Journal. 



Sir. — In reply to the enquiries of the Superintendent of 

 the A r aheedpoor Farm, your correspondent "A" writes that 

 each flower should produce one pound of seed, aud an acre 

 one thousand pounds or 250 pounds of oil. I think it is 

 impossible to obtain one pound of seed from one flower. 

 Rather the correspondent must have meant "one flower" 

 instead of one plant; one plant gives several flowers. I 

 once planted this plant, which produced about one hundred 

 flowers, and the yield there from was about two pounds 

 for each plant. If we take the yield of one pound to be 

 for one plant, one acre must contain only one thousand 

 plants, according to the calculation of "A," or one plant 

 to each 43J square feet, or 6'i feet apart. This distance 

 is used for large plants, such as casual ina, &c, but is too 

 much for a sun-flower plant. I remember seeing in the 

 Indian Agriculturist that au acre of sun-flower plants con- 

 tains about 10,000 plants and yields half a pound per plant 

 or 5,445 pounds of seed per acre. I think this calculation 

 is also excessive. I think one plant to each 9 square feet, 

 or 4,840 plants to an acre, and the yield 4,8JO pounds, 

 at one pound from each plant, seems to be a fair calculation. 



SETTLING ACCOUNTS WITH THE GARDEN 



VERMIN. 



Now it is no part of our commission to scold people. 

 Our duty and our pleasure is, and will be, to help thfm. 

 Therefore, iu this time of roses and green fly, we will 

 compress into a few words the sum of our experience in 

 a run of nearly forty years of experimental gardening. 

 It is this: — If all that is ueedful to ensure healthy and 

 vigorous growth is provided for plants (of whatever kind), 

 they will pretty well take care of themselves as regards 

 the vermin. It will be found that the sickly plants are 

 first attacked, and the poor leangrowiug things seem always 

 to invite the vermin. But this is not to be understood 

 as a general indictment implying that wherever the vermin 

 are seen the general cultivation is faulty. By no means 

 is such a positive conclusion to be deduced from negative 

 evidence. As accidents will happen in the best regulated 

 families, so vermin will appear in the best kept gardens 

 and on the most vigorous and healthy plants. But when 

 all reservations and exceptions have been taken into account, 

 the golden rule remains, and should be ever kept in mind, 

 that the vigorous aud healthy growth of plants is the 

 surest protection against the insects that assail them. When 

 you plant, therefore, have the ground well made up for 



i the purpose, and when you give water, imitate the sound 

 logician and go to the root of the matter. You will hear 

 of insecticides innumerable. But amongst them all tobacco 



' is the leading nostrum, aud tobacco and sulphur are often 

 combined. But there is at every amateur's command a very 



