884 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[June i, 1885. 



keep him drUDK until the virus is overcome. Dr. Wen- 

 Mitchell states that delicate women and young oh-lircn 

 under the influence of snake poison could take quarts 

 of brandy without injury, and almost without effect. 

 One man— a man of temperate habits— took one quart 

 and a half pint of brandy, which only slightly in- 

 toxicated him for about four hours. An other man 

 bitten in the throat, was cured at the end of twenty- 

 four hours, during which time he had two quarts 

 of whisky in one night, and renewed, as the pulse fell, 

 besides red pe.jper and other stimulants. —Forest and 

 Stream. 



♦— 



NEW PRODUCTS: KOLANUT, GUTTAPERCHA, &c. 

 Mr. T. Christy has just published another number of 

 " New Commercial Plants and Drugs," and a copy will 

 reach you herewith. It. contains a great deal of inform- 

 ation 'that will interest your readers, European and 

 native, planting anil mercantile, and I may be allowed to 

 mention just one or two points here. You know that 

 Mr. Christy was instrumental in first obtaining fresh 

 seeds of kolanut from West Africa, and in dis- 

 tributing seeds and plants to. Kew and the Botanical 

 Gardens of India and the Colonies. He has also paid 

 great attention to the question of the properties of the 

 nut and its utilization on a commercial scale. For this 

 latter he seems to have been eminently successful, and 

 he confidently recommends planters who own low-lying 

 steamy land with plenty of moisture to cultivate the 

 tree extensively, as he is sure that the demand for the 

 produce in civilized countries will increase year by year. 

 He says that " It is much more easily cultivated than 

 ordinary cocoa, and yields a large crop twice a year ; it 

 does well in low steamy lauds, and gives large crops of 

 fruit in our West Indian Islands. The kola tree will 

 flourish well at elevations lower than 1,000 feet, and even 

 at the sea-level produces crops in the fourth year from 

 planting the seed, aud full crops from the tenth year 

 estimated at 120 to 150 lb., the gathering of the crops being 

 rendered easy by the natural drooping of the branches." 

 He adds instructions for preparing and packing the nuts 

 for shipment, but there is time enough for these by aud 

 bye, so far as Ceylon is concerned. His reason for com- 

 paring the cultivation of kola with that of cocoa is that 

 a paste prepared from the kolanut has recently been 

 discovered to be in itself superior to cocoa, whilst a mixture 

 of it with the latter improves its quality immensely, 

 rendering even inferior kinds equal to the best Caracas. 

 Chocolate made with kola paste is, Mr. Christy asserts, 

 ten times more nutritious than that prepared with 

 cocoa, aud he goes so far as to say that a workman can 

 on a single cup of it taken at breakfast-time go on with 

 his work through the day without feeling fatigued or hungry. 

 All this, mind you, is not mere theory, but the result 

 of actual experience. Our Government has been induced 

 to try kola chocolate for troops on active service, and if 

 it 6hould prove equally successful in their case it is certain 

 that there will be an enormous demand for it. I think 

 Mr. Christy is justified therefore iu his advice to planters, 

 ami those of Oeylou, who have shown such enterprize 

 in regard to other products, ought not to be behiudhaud 

 with this one. 



Referring to the scarcity of guttapercha and the likeli- 

 hood that at no distant date the supply from present 

 sources will still further diminish, Mr. Christy mentions 

 Dr Trimen's identification of Gutta Sundek as Payena 

 Lc'crv, and suggests that it is suitable for swampy land 

 near the coast even where water is salt. There must be 

 abundance of such land in Ceylou which might thus be 

 turned to account, as the difficulty of extracting the gutta- 

 iuice from the bark may be got over by stripping off 

 alternate layers of bark, pounding it, and then boiling 

 it in water. This tree is of more rapid growth than the 

 ordinary guttapercha iouud wild iu Brazil and North 

 Borneo, but no information is given as to the date at 

 which it would first be fit for stripping. 



Mr D Morris, whose aunual report on the Jamaica 

 Gardens and Plantations will also reach you by this mail, says 

 that kolanut plants are now widely distributed in Jamaica, 

 aud its cultivation is being extended in the hope that 



ultimately kolanuts may be a recognized article of com- 

 merce. Locally the nuts are used as a stomachic and a 

 tonic. They are said to have effected very remarkable 

 cures iu dyspepsia and allied disorders, and are used for 

 this purpose in the same manner as cocoa or chocolate. 



I am surprized to find, by the way, that Mr. Morris, iu 

 recommending Jamaica planters to extend cinchona cul- 

 tivation, argues that their soil and climate are far more 

 suitable than those of Ceylon, though he is obliged to ad- 

 mit that the Ledgeriana plants under his care have not 

 been a success. He also gives expression to very exagger- 

 ated notions about the extent to which cinchona is dying 

 out in Ceylon, aud predicts that the industry there will 

 speediiy collapse. You will doubtless be able to correct 

 him on several points in this section of his report, which is 

 otherwise a most creditable document. — London Com. Cor. 



The T. A.— The Secretary of the Agri-Horti- 

 cultural Society's Gardens, Madras, writes: — "Wegreatly 

 value and appreciate it [the Tropical Agriculturist] 

 and should much regret anything which might de- 

 prive us of it." 



Avenue Trees in Colombo.— M. E. Loulie. Muni- 

 cipal Engineer, Pondicherry, writes to ua: — " Six years 

 ago when I was in Ceylon I found the avenues of 

 your town planted with some very handsome trees. 

 If you know any book or pamphlet treating 

 upon avenue planting in general or at Colombo in 

 particular I shall be much obliged to you by 

 kindly giving me the name of the publisher 

 and value of the books if possible." Mr. Wm. Fer- 

 guson has promised to send M. Loulie a copy of 

 his pamphlet on Ceylon timber trees. It jis curious 

 that Pondicherry should appeal to Colombo in this 

 matter. 



The Last "New Product." — At the present day, 

 with the numerous obstacles that exist to the profit- 

 able cultivation of tea and coffee in Iudia, planters 

 caunnt afford to neglect any new means of adding to 

 their incomes ; and as the cultivation of the coca 

 plant promises, from all accounts, to produce this 

 desirable result it is probable that the attention drawn 

 to it by Dr. Bidie's interesting lecture will not be 

 allowed to die out. We hope soon to hear of coca 

 plants and seeds beiog distributed in I he various 

 planting districts, and of experiments in the cultivation 

 being made on a tolerably large scale. In the February 

 number of the Tnpical Agriculturist the editor has, 

 with great industry, compiled a mass of useful inform- 

 al ion on the subject, aud given a very full account of 

 the hiitory, cultivation and scientific value of coca 

 (or as he would prefer to call it " cachuca.") — Madras 

 Mail. 



Ceylon Teas in London. — A grntleman connected 

 with the Tea Trade in the "Lane" writes under 

 date 2nd April :— " I beg to acknowledge with 

 thanks the March number of the Tropical Agriculturist, 

 which contains much interesting information. I note 

 with pleasure that you were ab'e to make use of an 

 extract from a recent communication of miue. Onr 

 tea market has been in a very firm state during the 

 last three weeks owing to the anticipation of a rise 

 in the duty. The euqury for Ceylou teas has con- 

 tinued, and some desirable parcels hav been sold at 

 decidely remunerative rates. A small lot of Blaek- 

 stoue teas brought the good average of Is lOJd 

 p, r lb. These are very good teas having a fairly 

 twisted leaf, good tip, and being well fermented. 

 Another invoice from the G.allebodde estate also 

 brought satisfactory prices, although I hear that the 

 quality of the teas is hardly equal to former ship- 

 ments. I notice that a few packages of Ceylon teas 

 sold lately have been papered, flowered and figured 

 after the Chinese manner. This hardly seems to me 

 necessary, as dtalers w 11 not be influenced by the tea out- 

 side of the packages, but by the quality of the within.' 



