April i, 1885] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



783 



present attar of roses reaches this country mainly from 

 Smyrna and Constantinople, the oil of lemons from 

 Sicily and Portugal, bergamot from Sicily, anise from 

 Germany and the East Indies, and oil of cloves to a 

 small extent from the Malay Islands, though it is 

 believed that a large amount is distilled by the London 

 wholesale druggists. Oarraway is, however, still mainly a 

 home product, and should the experiment pronounced 

 so successful in East Kent be extensively followed, the 

 not inconsiderable quantity of oil of lavender aud oil 

 of peppermint distilled in England is likely to be largely 

 increased.— Standard. [The article is incomplete as 

 failing to notice the considerable quantities of lemon 

 grass and cinnamon oils which reach Europe from the 

 East, the first mainly, and second almost extremely, 

 from Ceylon.— Ed.1 



•♦ 



A Coffee Plantation has been established by a land- 

 owner in the neighbourhood of Rome. It is stated that 

 he realised a fair profit with this year's harvest, which con- 

 sisted of 2 tons of coffee per hectare.— Nature. 



Successor to the Late Dr. Voelckeb. — At a meeting 

 of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England 

 on Feb. b', Dr. John Augustus Voelcker was appointed 

 Consulting Chemist aud Director of the Society's Labor- 

 atory, in succession to his father, the late Dr. Augustus 

 Voelcker. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



The Tkke Tomato (Cyphomandra hetacea). — The 

 plant (belonging to the natural order Solanacea?) is of 

 shrubby habit, and 5 or 6 feet high. It is not generally 

 known, and seldom used, in Jamaica, but it is without a 

 doubt a fruit that should be more largely cultivated, as 

 it answers in every respect the purposes for which the 

 ordinay Tomato is esteemed. Plants are easly raised from 

 seed, which come into bearing in about two years. They 

 •re" very prolific bearers, and the fruit is available during 

 the winter months — November to March — wheu ordinary 

 Tomatos are not so easily obtained. — D. Morris. [A plant 

 bearing fruit may now be seen in the Temperate-house 

 at Kew. — Ed.] — Ibid. 



Mohwa Sugar. — A note on Mohwa sugar from Bassia 

 latifolia was recently communicated to the Agricultural 

 aud Horticultural Society of India. In this communic- 

 ation the writer refers to the presence of sugar in the 

 petals of the flowers, and says that this " indicates that 

 the rising sap of the tree in spring, and just before the 

 flower-buds swell, must be rich in saccharine matter, and if 

 so tapping the Mohwa trees in the same manner that 

 the Sugar Maple (Acer sacchariuum) of North America 

 is tapped may lead to the production of sweet sap, which 

 on being boiled aud concentrated would yield sugar." 

 It is suggested that it would be well worth while 

 tapping or bleeding the species of Bassia for their sap, 

 and if this should be found to contain true sugar, the 

 discovery would be one of considerable importance, for 

 a large and Very profitable trade would be called into 

 existence in India. — Ibid. 



Snow Mountains of Eastern Africa. — At the last 

 meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, Mr. H. H. 

 Johnston read a paper on an expedition to Mount 

 Kilimanjaro and the Snow Mountains of Eastern Africa. 

 Mr. Johnston said that he went to the alpine district of 

 Eastern Africa as head of an expedition plauned by the 

 British Association and the Royal Society. Leaving Mombas 

 towards the end of May last at the bead of 120 men,, 

 of whom about a quarter deserted on the road, he 

 reached Kilimanjaro at the beginning of June. The 

 cultivated zone, he found, ended at a height of 5,500 feet 

 At 10,000 feet the thermometer descended every night 

 1° or 2° below zero. "While mentioning this fact he 

 gave details showing that the land even up to that 

 elevation is both beautiful and fertile. He reached a 

 hei gbt of 16,315 feet on Mount Kilimanjaro— something 

 like 2.500 feet from the summit — where the fog prevented 

 him from seeing anything but stones aud snow. Notwith- 

 standing the latter, his thermometer recorded a temper- 

 ature o above freezing point. The lecturer went on to 

 describe his attempt to ascend Kibo, the monarch of the 

 range Here he learned that the buffalo, the koodoo, 

 and the elephant wander as high as 13,000 or 14,000 

 fill. He reached the snow region of Kibo, but not the 

 summit, being compelled by bad weather and unwilling 



followers to return. The Rev. Archdeacon Farler, as 

 one familiar with the country visited by Mr. Johnston, 

 pointed out that the lower slopes of the Kilimanjaro 

 mountains were very suitable for European settlers. — Ibid. 

 How Sou. is Made Fertile.— The current number of the 

 Journal of the Chemical Society contains a valuable com- 

 munication from Mr. R. Waringtou on the subject of 

 nitrification, being the result of five years' patient in- 

 vestigation in the laboratory of Sir J. B. Lawes at 

 Rothamsted. The practical conclusions from these im- 

 portant results are obvious. The experiments clearly 

 point out why liquid manures should always bo applied 

 to plauts in a state of great dilution. The effect of 

 liming soils will also be better understood. Further, 

 when rich stable or farmyard manure is left exposed on 

 the surface of the land, there is undoubtedly in dry 

 weather a considerable loss of ammonia or plant-food, 

 as the fermented urine in the dung is in a condition too 

 concentrated either for nitrification or the retention of 

 ammonia by the soil. A similar loss of plant-food would 

 occur in very dry weather when sheep or cattle are fed 

 on the land. — /hid. 



New Cultures in South Australia. — A recent num- 

 ber of the Colonies and India states that an interesting 

 report from the Conservator of Forests in South Australia 

 has been laid before Parliament on the question of the 

 cultivation of Olives, Dates, and white Mulberries for 

 sericulture. The different kinds of Olives flourish in al- 

 most every part of the colony, aud are very profitable. The 

 Date Palm, Phoenix dactylifera, also grows well; a hundred 

 trees are also growing well in Adelaide, and though fruits 

 have formed, it is stated that they have not ripened. The 

 reporter considers, however, that this will probably be ob- 

 viated further north, where the climate is hotter, and sug- 

 gests that the employes on the Overland Telegraph line 

 should make experiments in planting the Date Palm. 

 The white Mulberry grows splendidly in many places. 

 The extensive planting of all these plants is recommended 

 as a means of transforming some of the arid places in 

 the north into oases, thereby increasing the production of 

 the colony generally. — Ibid. 



A New Cotton Plant.— Mr. A. A Luber, of Macon, 

 Georgia, has (we quote from the Times) been experi- 

 menting for several years to hybridise the Cotton plant 

 that grows wild in Florida [?] with the common Ochra, 

 and he appears to have been at last successful. The new 

 plant retains the Ochra stalk and the foliage of the 

 Cotton. Its flower and fruit, however, are strikingly 

 unlike either Cotton or Ochra. The plant has an average 

 height of 2 feet, and eaeh plant has only one bloom. 

 Thin is a magnificent flower, very much like the great 

 Magnolia in fragrance, and equally as large. Like the 

 bloom of the Cotton plant the flower is white for several 

 days after it opens, after which it is first pale pink, 

 and gradually assumes darker shades of this colour until 

 it becomes red, when it drops, disclosing a large boll. 

 For about ten days this boll resembles the Cotton boll, 

 and then its growth suddenly increases until it reaches 

 the size of a Cocoa-nut. The lint does not appear until 

 this size is reached. Then its snowy threads begin to 

 burst from the boll, but are securely held in place by the 

 Oehra-like thorns or points that line the boll. Each boll 

 is said to produce about 2 lb. of very long-stapled Cotton 

 —superior to Sea Island Cotton [!]. There are no seeds 

 in the lint — from four to six seeds, resembling those of 

 Persimmon, being at the bottom of the boll. The new 

 Cotton consequently, it is stated, needs no ginning, and 

 it is thought will revolutionise the Cotcon industry of the 

 South. The Ochra, we may add, is known to botanists 

 as Hibiscus or Abelmoschus esculentus, the pods of which 

 are used to thicken soups, they being rich in mucilage. 

 It is not many years since that a statement of the sainr 

 kind was made with reference to a so-called hybrid Cotton 

 rais"d in Egypt, between the Cotton gossypium herbaceum 

 ami the Baniia, or Ochro (see Gardeners' Chronicle, n. s., 

 vii.. p. 501, and vol. i\, 1879, ]>■ 16); but we believe tie 

 hybrid character of the plant was not borne out, and the 

 account given by the ZYmes is assuredly not one that should 

 be accepted without evidence. The size of the boll and 

 capsule, and the quantity "T Cotton as given are so largo 

 as to bad one to doubt very strongly. — Ibid, 



