January i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



5'7 



NEW CANDIDATES FOR CULTIVATION. 



Out o{ the report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 U. S. A., for 18.~3-, recently issued, amongst information of 

 the highest value to the occupiers of land in the United 

 States a few notes can be gathered which may prove bene- 

 ficial to ourselves. The botanist of the department /Mr. 

 G. Vasey) submits a paper " on the grasses of the great 

 plaius," which is illustrated by twenty-five full page en- 

 gravings of uncommon but noteworthy plauts for pasture. 

 Several of these are, of course, wholly unfit for British 

 cultivation ; yet a few seem as if they might be deserving 

 of attention from the rare students of agriculture who are 

 seeking to enlarge the list of those forage plants which need 

 no storage, and no cultivation after they are once rooted 

 in the sod, and which fatten (or at least maintain in health) 

 cattle in that out-of-doors, self-waiting-ou condition of life 

 which is, of all farm processes, the most likely to pay the 

 occupier. Many of the new plans now being recommended 

 for adoption in England among this class of persons call 

 for large immediate outlay and continual expenditure, and 

 therefore seem more likely to put money into the pockets of 

 the tradespeople and other wage-takers than into those of 

 Mr. Pay-for-all, the farmer. Festuca scabrella is described as 

 a "native of the Rocky Mountain region " [therefore hardy] 

 '•with culms growing from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high, according to 

 locality." It is called " buuch grass." Cattle are said to 

 be fond of it, and it is considered " one of the most valu- 

 able wdd grasses of the region where it grows." Calma- 

 grostis (or Deyeuxia) Howellii is described as a recent dis- 

 covery in Oregon, and also in Washington.. "From its 

 habit of growth and great abundance of foliage, this gives 

 promise of being a valuable grass for cultivation." Boute- 

 loua polystacha (low gramma grass) is stated to be one of 

 many species called gramma iu the arid districts of Texas, 

 New Mexico, and Arizona. It is an annual 6 in. to 12 in. 

 high. Near the banks of streams, where it abounds, it 

 furnishes excellent pasturages. 



Another mixture has been found very profitable in Caro- 

 lina. One of the great pests of the cotton-planters there 

 has been Cynodon dactylon, better kuowu as Bermuda grass. 

 This plant does not ripen its seed in America, but, having 

 undergrouud stems, when once established, is not easily 

 killed by ordinary means or temperature. It has hitherto 

 been looked on as a weed. But a few years ago the ex- 

 periment was tried of planting the rhizomes and sowing 

 with them red clover, whose roots feed deep, whereas the 

 Bermuda grass is a surface feeder. The result was a very 

 heavy crop, several years running, of hay, amounting to 

 from 4.UUI) lb. to 6,000 lb. per acre, " which, baled and deli- 

 vered on the cars at any railroad station, has ranged from 

 J20 to $25 per ton: and it has met with as ready a sale 

 as beef or mutton, cotton, or any other product of the 

 farm." Are we looking out as eagerly for new farm plants 

 or new methods of utilizing old ones, as are the corre- 

 spondents of Mr. Vasey? — A. P. — Vidd. 



occurrence to find them making a profit of from $300 to 

 $350 per month, and in one case a negro named Blackey 

 possesses a fine plantation, upon which he clears an average 

 of s5ih_) a month. In Saint Andrews all goods that are sold 

 to the people are free of duty, but the captain of the ship 

 is obliged to pay a license of sL'O. This port possesses a very 

 fine harbour and the trade in coconuts is increasing. 



It sometimes happens that the Captain is not able to 

 dispose of the whole of his cargo at the above port. This 

 being the case, he leaves on a tour of the following places: — 

 Old Providence, Corn Island, Pearl Cay Lagoon, Grey Town, 

 Port Lamont, Bogas Bilcora and Blewfields. Principally the 

 business is done on barter. The natives, who are a mixed 

 race, purchase calicoes, white cotton and prints, flour,provisions, 

 boots and shoes, &c. In most cases they pay for these in 

 coconuts, at the rate of 1,000 nuts for $30 worth of general 

 supplies. The duty upon goods sold in this way is 2J per 

 cent. Sometimes it happens that there are no nuts, and 

 then they pay, if it be in the United States of Colombia, 

 with coin, there being no paper money. 



The natives have many peculiarities; one of them, and 

 perhaps the strangest, is that they have a novel way of 

 saving their money by burying it in the ground and thus 

 making mother earth act as a safe. Although the native 

 language in this part of the continent has been for quite a 

 longtime Spanish so great has been the influence of American 

 traders that English is now spoken by nearly all, and is 

 the language of trade, only a few officials speaking Spanish. 



The very finest coconuts that are grown in these regions 

 are shipped to this country, and the lower grades are generally 

 forwarded to Europe; j>30 per thousand is the price for 

 good average qualities. A peculiarity about the coconut 

 harvest is that it goes on all the year round ; this being 

 the case the traders can nearly always depend upon getting 

 a good return cargo in a reasonable time. The time it takes 

 a nut to fully develop, that is, from the blossom to the 

 ripening of the nut ready for gathering, averages fourteen 

 months. 



Having visited the neighbouring ports the captain then 

 returns to Saint Andrews, and collects either his cash or 

 coconuts, for the goods he left on his outward journey. 

 As a rule, no credit is given. Cash or coconuts are the 

 terms, but if the native is well known to the captain for 

 honesty, then he can be accommodated. 



Having parted with all his American produce and obtained 

 all the nuts he wishes, he returns with them to New York, 

 which he reaches in from 16 to 20 days after he sails. 

 Thus it will be seen that before our street-arab, or the 

 more lucky maiden can enjoy their coconut it has got 

 through many vicissitudes. — American Grocer. 



SOMETHING ABOUT OOCON1 TS 



The little street Arab when he buys his slice of coconut, 

 or the muie lucky young mai len when she eats her coconut 

 pie with her silver fork and spoon, never gives a thought 

 from where or how the nut that suppli Mi came 



into port. 



•■Annie L. Palmer " makes four round trips ear, 

 during her journey she is occupied in gathering the finest 

 coconuts grown in Central America. When she starts from 

 this port she is loaded with a variety of American produce, 

 which she dispenses at various calling ports along the c< • 

 of Honduras and the United States of Colombia Shopping 

 at Saint Andrew s we find the population to consist principally 

 of negro emigrants from the AVest India Islands. These 

 people are in reality coconut farmers. They grow coconuts 

 in a similar manner to what our North-western farmer grows 

 wheat, but hardly so extensively, for their territory is some- 

 what limited. 



Cultivating coconuts no doubt suits the inclinations of the 

 negro. For after the trees are once come to maturity they 

 require little manual labour to keep in order. 



This comparatively new industry has benefited the con- 

 dition of the population very materially, some of them 

 possessing plantations that pay well. It is a common 



Insect Pests in Ceylon. — Amongst the " Notes " in 

 your last issue, p. 615, is an extract from a Ceylon paper 

 of a report by Dr. Trimen as to art insect " which has 

 caused much alarm by its depredations on cacao and cin- 

 chona plantations." and that Dr. Trimen thinks " the only 

 serious damage to cacao comes from the Helopeltis antonH^ 

 which appears to be a recent importation to Ceylon, although 

 well-known in Java." Quite recently I received from my 

 friend Mr R. McLachlan some fragments of several specimens 

 of a Hemipteron which he had received from Ceylon, identified 

 as ffehpeltis >i><t'>nii, and said to be causing damage to 

 the planters' crops, and my correspondent, having doubts 

 as to the proper identification, had forwarded the specimens 

 (!) for my examination. Before stating that an error of 

 identification had been made, it is necessary to say what 

 Helopeltis antonii really is' That species described by Dr. 

 Signoret is a member of the Capsiihe. possesses nodulose 

 or incrassated femora, and of course, like other members 

 of that family, may lie considered as injurious to some 

 kinds of vegetation. The specimens I received (sans head 

 and pronotum) bad also nodulose or incrassated femora. 

 and though somewhat similar also in colour t<> the Helopt Hh 

 ■, i [early belonged t'i the Reduviida?, whose habits 

 and food are of a totally dissimilar character. It is there- 

 fore possible that both species occur in Ceylon ; the one 

 is being frequently mistaken for the other, a matter of 

 some moment to the planter, as in destroying the le duviid 

 he may he at the same time killing the worst enemy of 

 the rial pest. — W. T.. Distan, Russell Hill Road, Pnrley. 

 Surrey. — Nature, 



