556 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



[January i, 1885. 



A New lNDUSTB.¥~nas just been started in East Kent — 

 that of growing crops of lavender and peppermint for the 

 purpose of extracting the oil and supplying it wholesale. 

 A large breadth of land at Grove, near Canterbury, was 

 planted with lavender and peppermint by way of experi- 

 ment, and the result proved in every way satisfactory. 

 It has, therefore, been determined to establish extensive 

 works on the spot (which is in close proximity to the South- 

 Eastern Railway) in order to carry on the process of ex- 

 tracting the oil from these plants, neither of which, it is 

 stated, has ever been cultivated before in Kent. — ■ 

 European Mail. 



The Rubber Industry of the United States. — The 

 rubber industry of the States has no rival in foreign coun- 

 tries. There is something like $75,000,000 invested in the 

 business of manufacturing rubber goods, §30,000,000 of which 

 is confined to the rubber boot and shoe industry. The 

 total number of employes is placed at 15,000, and the total 

 number of factories at one hundred aud twenty. Accord- 

 ing to a recent census bulletin the value of the annual 

 product is $250,000,000. Some 30,000 tons of raw rubber 

 are imported every year, which, when combined with other 

 materials in manufacturing, amount to 300,000 tons. The 

 market price of the raw material has been forced up to 

 $1"25 per lb., while six years ago the price was scarcely 

 fifty cents. In consequence of the advance in price, sev- 

 eral substances have been prepared as substitutes for it, of 

 which celluloid is the most important. — Industrial South. 



Insects and Hot Water. — Speaking of the destruction 

 of insects on plants, a writer in an English publication 

 gives his experience of a novel remedy, and one that to 

 the inexperienced would perhaps appear quite as fatal as 

 are the various insects. He advises the application of hot 

 water. He says:— "Hot water at a temperature of about 

 120° I find the most effective remedy I have ever tried 

 for destroying insects on plants in the green-house. The 

 plants may be either immersed in it, or the hot water 

 may be applied with a plant-syringe, which is the more 

 convenient of the two modes of applying it. If applied 

 $ ith a plant-syringe the water may be a few, say 10° hotter. 

 While death to insects, the hot water seems not to injure 

 the plants in the least. I find one drenching of hot water 

 with a plant-syriuge has been sufficient to rid plants of 

 red spider, where time after time cold water drenchings 

 had been in vain." — Planter and Farmer. 



The Wire Worm. — This insect is about the thickness 

 of a pin, with a stiffish, yellow-brown, shiny appearance. 

 He may be found almost anywhere in gardens, to which 

 he is a determined enemy. He devours all kinds of agri- 

 cultural produce, roots, grain, and fodder crops all coming 

 alike tc him. The click beetle is his father or mother, 

 or both; and Knowledge describes the skipjack or click 

 beetle thus : — Skipjacks are narrow, elongated insects, with 

 short legs aud hard integuments. The head is small and 

 often much sunk into the thorax, and carries a pair of 

 long, distinctly jointed antennae ; the thorax is of a large 

 size, and roughly speakiHg, more or less quadrangular in 

 outline, and convex above and beneath. The elytra or 

 wingcases cover the body, and conceal a pair of ample 

 membranous wings. Each is somewhat triangular in shape, 

 and tuey form when closed a strongly-arched, shield-shaped 

 surface ; they are usually marked longitudinally with parallel 

 grooves or furrows, and covered more or less densely with 

 short hairs. The under surface also is strongly convex, 

 and the legs are short, and capable, like the antennae, of 

 being folded close up to the body. When surprised or 

 alarmed it will thus feign death, relaxing its hold of what 

 it may have been clinging to, and falling to the ground 

 as often as not, on its back. There are about 60 species 

 of skipjacks, some of which are very common. Wire 

 worms are the larvae of these insects. Fortunately they 

 have a good many natural enemies. A variety of artificial 

 remedies has been proposed. To apply liquid manure freely. 

 This first of all strengthens the plant and has the effect 

 of driving away or killing the enemy; paring off a thiu 

 coating of the soil, which will contain most of the insects, 

 and then buruing it ; imbedding in the soil at short dis- 

 tances apart slices of carrot and turnip to serve as traps. 

 By the latter method as many as 150 wire worms have 

 been entrapped close to a single hop-hill. In this case 

 as in many others insect-pests are the outcome of careless 

 or bad management. — Ibid. 



Insecticide.— What is known as the kerosene emulsion 

 is one of the cheapest and most easily applied insect- 

 ic d is that can be used. It is made by adding one quart 

 of Kerosene to five quarts of skim milk in a close vessel, 

 and shaking till the two unite, after which it can be 

 diluted with water to five or six times its bulk, applied 

 to vegetation with a sprinkler, or force-pump sprayer. 

 It is effectual against the entire class of insects which 

 feed upon vegetation.— Indian Agriculturist. [Yes, but 

 unfortunately even if sufficient skim milk could be obtained, 

 there is the difficulty and expense of application over large 

 surfaces. It seems likely enough, however, that much good 

 might be done by means of pumping machinery dashing 

 jets of ordinary water on patches of plants known to 

 be affected by insecticides. — Ed.] 



Fertilisers: Wood Ashes.— Now that the question of 

 fertilisers is coming more and more to the front, the follow- 

 ing hint will be of value to every farmer and selector, for 

 all have more or less wood ashes at their disposal. Accord- 

 ing to a recent authority, the best results are obtained from 

 ashes by the admixture of a small proportion of salt. As 

 is well known, wood ashes contain nearly all the mineral 

 elements necessary for plant life. There is one exception 

 to this — burning causes the chlorine to be carried off in 

 the smoke; this is readily supplied by the application of 

 chloride of sodiam, or common salt. Hence a sprinkling 

 of salt ou a heap of ashes will very materially enhance 

 its value. Besides and beyond this, it should always be 

 remembered that the application of salt to land has two 

 specific advantages : it keeps the soil moist, and it destroys 

 insect life— two most valuable properties in this climate. 

 — Planter and. Farmer. 



The Valuable Medicinal properties of the Eucalyptus 

 globulus or blue gum of Australia are, we are glad to find, be- 

 coming more aud more recognised every year. The latest use 

 to which the product of the tree has been put is in the 

 manufacture of soap, and, according to the Rangoon Gazette, 

 Mr. Hugh Fraser, a native of Aberdeen, has established a 

 factory at Poozondoung for the manufacture of a soap 

 which will impart disinfecting properties, as well as 

 thorough cleanliness, to all linen and to the skin. It had 

 been ascertained beyond a doubt from extensive wooden 

 hospitals and other buildings constructed from the wood 

 of the Eucalyptus that highly satisfactory results, aud an 

 influence beneficial as a preservative and preventative against 

 fever, cholera, and smallpox, from the strong, pungent, 

 but most agreeable and pleasant odour, had been the 

 outcome, and this fact led Mr. Fraser to utilise the pro- 

 duct of the blue gum in the manufacture of soap. If 

 the "Euealyptal Soap" is a success in India, surely there 

 is an opening for some enterprising Australian to start 

 the manufacture of a similar article in the colonies. — 

 European Mail. 



Rosellas. — By an advertisement in this issue it will be 

 seen that a firm of Brisbane jam makers, Messrs. McLeod 

 & Co., are proposing to enter into contracts with growers 

 for the purchase of any quantity of rosellas. AVe are 

 exceedingly glad to be able to make this announcement. 

 Rosella jam is purely aud distinctively a Queensland pro- 

 duction, the hibiscus sorbifolia growing in no other part of 

 Australia, nor so far as we know, in any other couutry 

 occupied by a European race. It is, too, one of the best, 

 if not the best, of all the local products as a jam, having 

 a flavour and piquancy of it« own, superior to any other 

 jam. It is, therefore, highly desirable that this much- 

 prized delicacy should become widely known ; it is then 

 certain to be very much sought after. As the rosella be- 

 comes more widely known, its cultivation caunot lail to 

 be a source of wealth to the East Moreton gardeners aud 

 farmers. Unlike all other fruits— if indeed the rosella may 

 be characterised as such— this is an annual and can be 

 raised in consequence with great expedition. There is 

 no reason why the poorest farmer should not grow an 

 acre or two of rosellas this coming season. One strong 

 point about this crop is, that it does not require particularly 

 rich soil. Given deep cultivation and liberal manuring around 

 each plant, with stockyard manure, and the poor clay soils 

 around Brisbane will produce the very best crops of rosellas. 

 —Planter and Farmer. [The rosella grows freely in Ceylon 

 and could be turned to account if there arose any appreciable 

 demand for the preseve, which can be made from it.— Ed.] 



