December i, 1884.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



5°3 



Observations in Germany would seem to prove that the 

 life history of some species may be extended from three to 

 four years. The females deposit their eggs in the soil, bur- 

 rowing into it for about 8 inches, and laying about 40 eggs. 

 She prefers a soil which has been loosened by cultivation to 

 a hard soil covered with vegetation. Manure heaps are a 

 favourable place for depositing the eggs, and the pests in 

 Europe are often spread over a district by using a manure 

 infected with the eggs, or with the young larvaj. 



The larva;, which remain small during the first year of 

 their lives, begin to do serious damage in the second year 

 by eating the roots of all sorts of plants and grass, cereals 

 as well as shrubs, and young forest trees. In the winter of 

 the second to the fourth year (according to the climate) they 

 are transformed into nymphs, and the beetles make their 

 escape in the following May. 



The winged insect is also most destructive to vegetation 

 during its brief lifetime, stripping the trees of their entire 

 foliage. In 1866 the damage done in the Department of 

 Seine Inferieure by the larva; and perfect insects of the 

 M. vulgaris was valued at one million sterliug.— I have, &c, 

 John Anderson, Honorary Secretary. 



♦ 



If cut-worms infest the garden, lay pieces of board about. 

 The worm will take refuge under the boards in the heat of 

 the day, and may then be killed. — Indian Agriculturist. 



Among recent patents is a substitute for caoutchouc, by 

 John J. Hang, of St. Petersburg, Russia. It is prepared by 

 boiling skins and glycerine under pressure, and mixing gly- 

 cerine and chromate or bichromate of potash with the mass. 

 Ground cork, ox gall, and color may be added. — Independent 

 Journal. 



Mangrove Bark.— The bark of the mangrove tree 

 fRhizophora mangle) is coming forward as auagentin tanning. 

 It is crushed, and if necessary soaked in cold water to remove 

 the salt (the trees grow on the tropical coasts), then boiled 

 with water, put under pressure, and the extract evaporated 

 to the consistency of treacle. — Monthly Prices Current. 



Weeds. — It is better to prevent weeds by such frequent 

 stirring of the soil as will prevent their development than to 

 let them get established, and then attempt the' labor of killing 

 them. This frequent stirring of the soil serves a double pur- 

 pose. It not only prevents the weeds, but supplies to the crop 

 just the conditions needed to stimulate it to the best develop- 

 ment. The surface sod camiot be stirred too often,pro vidiug 

 it is not stirred so deeply as to interfere with or injure the 

 roots of the growing plant. Frequent shallow stirring is the 

 secret of good crops in the corn field or garden. — Indian 

 Agriculturist. 



Rainfall and Water Conservation in Australia. — The 

 late disastrous droughts in the central districts of Australia 

 direct our attention to the questions of rainfall and con- 

 servation of water. If we gather together the statistics 

 of rainfall for Australia for all the years in which records 

 have been made, and plot them graphically, as I have done 

 in the rainfall maps for the last two years, a very promin- 

 ent fact appears, namely, it is only a fringe around the 

 great continent — deep in some places, narrow in others, 

 and much serrated in portions — that is blessed with 

 sufficient rainfall to render successful agriculture possible, 

 while over a vast central area the average is so small as 

 to make it a matter of surprise that iu such an arid 

 region can be maintained vast flocks of sheep, which re- 

 turn in favourable seasons enormous wealth in the shape 

 of wool. Now, over the regions I am speaking of, the 

 average fall is from 10 in. to 5 in. per annum. This seems 

 to be the maximum that can be expected in the most 

 favourable years, and it is now well-known that favourable 

 years are the fewest. It appears inevitable, therefore, that 

 to avoid disaster and loss flockowners should not be tempted 

 by a year or two, when the rainfall h:is not only been 

 near the maximum, but also well timed, to increase their 

 flocks beyond their power of maintenance in the drier years 

 which are always found to follow. If we examine the ruin- 

 fall map we find that between these comparatively arid 

 central regions and the coastal fringe of bountiful rainfall 

 lies an area, iu some measure parallel to the coast line, 

 but whose inlaud margin is very irregular (owing to the 

 physical features of the couutry), which is shaded to re- 

 present an annual fall of from 15in. to 20in. This margin 

 may be assumed to be the limit of our wheat-growing areas. — 

 My. Ellery's Address to tlie Royal Society of Victoria. 



Mr. Woou-Mason has just sent me his paper 

 (writes Dr. Tnmeu): there aie three very fine plates 

 illustrating the Tea Mite, but no figures of the Tea 

 Buy are given.* 



Cacao Growing in Old Paddy Land.— A planter 

 writes: — "By parcel post I am sending a cacao pod 

 from a tree '2| years old planted in old paddy land. 

 There are some 40 more on the tree which is of the 

 light red Forestero variety. What think you of it?" — 

 [One of the finest we have ever seen : it measures 10 

 inches in length, 12J inches in circumference, and weighs 

 30 ounces — Ed ] 



Ferns. — In some of the streams in the interior of 

 Queensland, among the tropical luxuriance of veget- 

 ation, there glows a curious and, wheD closely ex- 

 amined, very beautiful water fern ; it grows so densely 

 that the surface of the water is covered with it, 

 excepting only where the lily spreads its leaves. In 

 colour the fern is, when massed together, a dark 

 crimson, and the contrast between it and the bright 

 green vegetation on the margin of the creek is exceed- 

 ingly picturesque. — Australasian. 



Ostrich Farming in South Africa has advanced with 

 such strides that the number of tame birds there is estim- 

 ated to have increased from SO in 1865 to at least 

 70.0U0 in 18S4, producing feathers for export of the 

 value of about £600,000. The business is, to all appear- 

 ance, practically without limits, as the demand for the 

 feathers seems to be an ever increasing one ; and the 

 profits, although fluctuating, are usually so large that it 

 would appear to be just the kind of industry to tempt 

 those with sufficient capital whose lot is east in a country 

 with a semi-tropical climate, and where land is cheap. — 

 Australasian. 



The Immense Deposits of Saltpetre in Bolivia are 

 well-known both in commercial and agricultural circles. 

 E ow came they there, and what is their origin ? These 

 questions have both been answered by Mr. S^iec, who, 

 in a paper read before the Paris Academy of Sciences, 

 gave a full account of the deposits and their vast extent. 

 He says they will supply the whole of the world with 

 nitrate of potash. They contain over 60 per cent of that 

 salt, associated with more than 30 per cent of borate 

 of soda, better known, perhaps, as borax. Mr. Sacc 

 believes that the saltpetre is nothing more nor less 

 than the result of the decomposition of an enormous 

 deposit of fossil animal remains. Every year is demon- 

 strating how much the present inhabitants of the earth's 

 surface are inhabited to those which preceeded them in 

 one or another of the various geological periods. — Austral- 

 asian. 



North Borneo. — Over two hundred thousand tobacco 

 plants have, been put out on the Suan Lainba Estate, 

 and planting is going on as quickly as possible. The 

 Manager expresses his satisfaction with the experiment 

 so far. His Excellency the Govemer, accompanied by 

 the Acting Resident, visited the Chinese Hakka settle- 

 ment at Kudat on August 9th. The gardens were 

 looking exceedingly well, and it was evident that the 

 men rever were so happy and prosperous and there was 

 no sickness It is satisfactory to rind that the settlers 

 ar- planting produce for the China market, instead of 

 growing vegetables only, as at present there is very little 

 sale for the latter, owing to the Chinese who are 

 planting near the settlement growing more than enough 

 for local consumption. Some young Liberian coffee plants 

 were looking very healthy. If these Hakkas will grow 

 ground nuts ami other valuable products for export in 

 fair quantity there is no reason why they should not 

 get on well, and form the nucleus of a large agricultural 

 settlement. — Stra its Times. 



* At which we also felt disappointed. Mr. Peal's paper 

 and plates are referred to. — Ed. 



