August i, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



123 



THE CAROB TREE. 



We have received fi'iiu tbe Hon. K. A. Tarlton, of 

 South Australia, some seeds of the Carob, or Locust tree, 

 accompanied by a copy of a letter from that geiitlemau 

 to the .v. A. Advertucr, aud the coiunients of that jour- 

 nal on the cultivation of this useful and valuable tree. 

 Ho writes as follows:— "I au\ iinformcd that tho Hon. 

 C;. i;. Hawker has a tree that has yielded S cwt. of 

 carol) pods in one season. Here then is food for one 

 horse for 1-li) days at the rate of 6 lb. per day. It is 

 said that Thorley's food for cattle consists largely of 

 these pods. Baron Ton Mueller, in his book on extra- 

 trni>ieal plants, readily eligible for industrial culture, has 

 the following — "The carob attains a height of 30 feet, 

 and resists drought well ; succeeds best in a calcareous 

 subsoil. The saccharine pods, algarob.a, or St. John's 

 Bread, is of value for domestic animals. The seeds germinate 

 readily. The e.\portation of pods for cattle food from 

 ('ret;i alone is now about 180,000 tons amiually. The 

 fruit serves for a medicinal syrup, caramel, an imitation 

 of chocolate, and a liqueur. In some of the Mediter- 

 ranean countries horses and stable fed cattle are almost 

 exclusively fed upon the pods. The meat of sheep and 

 pigs is greatly improved in flavor by this food, the 

 fattening properties being twice that of oil cake. The 

 pods contain 55 per cent of sugar and gum. To horses 

 and cattle G lb. a day are given of the crushed pods, 

 raw or boiled, with or without chaff." I have been 

 informed that the Hon. Ci. C. Hawker has been u.snig 

 this food for stud sheep. Xo wonder he turns out such 

 magnificent animals. From beans .nipplied by Mr. Hodg- 

 kiss I have already about three dozen young trees 

 planted out. I purpose putting in a bean wherever I 

 have a vacant spot. Last week I put in beans around 

 all my unplanted fences up at Stirling Kast. The 

 beans were first put in hot water, and were allowed to 

 remain soaking for three or four days. The bean is then 

 plant<-d half an inch deep in the spot where the tree is 

 inte!uled to grow, as it sends down a long tap root. 

 As the season is late, put in only so many as you can 

 manago to water occasionally through tlu: dry summer. 

 Let me urge upon every farmer to go to work earn- 

 estly in May of 1(<85 in surrounding his homestead 

 with the liriug green of the carob tree. It is easily 

 grown. It is beautiful." This tree would grow on the 

 Sandpatch, and why should not the Government spend 

 a little money in procuring seeds and planting them so 

 that the apparently sterile hill wtiich is blowing into 

 the harbor may yield a ustfii! product ? The seeds received 

 we have distributed to suveral gestlemea to plant.— 

 Aibitny Mail. 



KKW COMMERCIAL PL.VN'T.S AN'U DRUG^. 



Mr. T. Christy has pubUshcd the eighth part of his 

 publication on these subjects, comprising a history of the 

 Kola Nut. together with rtraar)« on guttapercha, the tuber- 

 ous Solanums,the genus Myristica, Cuca (Erythroxylon Co- 

 ca), Cuprea barks, and other matters. A paste made from 

 the seeds of Kola acuminata, it appears, can He used with 

 advantaj/c to mix with inferior cocoa. "Chocolate made with 

 Kola paste is ten times more nutritious than chocolate 



made with cocoa aurl a woikmau can, on a single 



cup taken at breakfast time, go on with bin work through 

 the day without feeling fatigued." Such statemeuts are 

 likely to be received with incredulity save by travellers 

 aud botanists who have long heea aware of the com- 

 poiition and effect of these seeds, though it is only now 

 that public attention is being drawn to them. It is many 

 years since Dr. Daniell published an acouiit of the 

 plant, anil his statements have formed the staple of 

 what has been given to the world since up to ipiite recent 

 times. Tlie good effects of the Kola appear to depend 

 upon the large amount of proteid (nitiogenous matter) 

 and of caffein. The fatty matter of ciicoa is here replaced 

 by a large quantity of starchy material, which, of course, 

 adds to its outitive properties. The male or Bitter Kola 

 is a seed produced from a species of O.ircinia or some 

 a)bV;d geaai, of which a fi^uio and description were given 



by Dr. Masters in tho jmtrnal .of Botany for JIarch, 

 1875. The description given by Messrs. Heckel and 

 Sohlagdenhaulfeu ailds nothing to the account given in 

 the work cited, which appears to have been overlooked 

 by the two writers cited by I\Ir. (.'hristy. The phnting 

 of the true Kola tree in low damp situations in tho 

 Tropics is counselled by Mr. Christy, and doubtless he 

 has good reasons for so doing, for the good qualities 

 attributable to the true Kola are by no nieans mythical. 

 AVe say the true Kola (Kola acuminata, K. Brown, 

 Masters in Oliver, Ftom Tjv/>. Africa, i., 220), because 

 the Bitter Kola is probably les.s valuable and devoid of 

 the catfein which renders the true stercidiaceous Kola so 

 valuable. ^Ir. (.'hristy also recommends the planting in 

 our colonies of the Uuca (Erythroxylon (/oca), which in 

 addition to its properties as a stimulant and restf)rative 

 has lately come into use as a local ana-sthetic. It may 

 be well to say that the uanK; (Juca has been proposed 

 and adopted to avoid the confusion arising between Coca, 

 Cocoa, and (_'ocoa-nut, all three referring to different things. 

 Tha Tapaw and its derivative papaine, also conies under 

 notice, and here again the valuable results already obtained 

 suggest the culture of the plant on an extensive scale in 

 suitable localities. A similar remark may bo made about the 

 Simaba cedron, the seed of which is useful in the treatment 

 of fevers. It will be seen from these remarks th.'it Mr. 

 Christy is doing good service in introducing to tho 

 knowledge of couunercial men and practical cultivations 

 a number of plants whose good qualities have, at least 

 in many cases, been well known to and published by 

 botanists. But practical men would no more think of 

 looking into such books as tln! Flora of Tropica! Africa 

 for the speci.d information they required than botanists 

 would consult the trade lists of tho merchants to .asirertain 

 the names and descriptions of commercial plants. Mr. 

 Christy's publication is a medium between the two, and 

 a very serviceable one. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



SOME AVEST INDIAN FIBKE PLANTS. 



In the celebrated Lace-bark of Jamaica (Lagetta lintearia), 

 an arboreous Daphne, we have a bast or inner bark-fibre 

 which is found enclosing the stfrn,, and consisting of 

 numerous concentric layers, which interlace in all directions, 

 presenting in a great degree, and especially when well 

 prepared, a resemblance to the finest lace. 



The purposes to which this lace is applied in the island 

 — for the manufacture of doyleys and light fancy articles 

 —are well known. Formerly, when more aboundant than 

 it is now. it was manufactured into ropes, whips, aud 

 other articles. It can however, even at the best, be hardly 

 includetl amongst fire-plants likely to be usetul on a com- 

 mercial scale. A similar remark would apply to the bast 

 or inner bark fibre of the Mahoe (Baritium elatuin), known 

 in commerce — from the fact of its having been exporti:d 

 from the neighbouring island — as Cuba bast ; as aUo 

 fibres yielded by such trees, as Spanish Elm (Cordia 

 gera-scanthus), the Down Tree (Ocbroraa lagopus), tho 

 Trumpet Tree (Cecropia peltata), the Burn-nose Tree 

 (Daphne tinifolia), the S:rewTrce (Hi-licteres jamaineu'.isi. 

 All these yield fibres of certain ipialilies, samples ofwivcli, 

 prepared by the late Mr. Nathaniel Wilson, are still t ) 

 be seen in the Museum of tho Institute of .Jamaica. 



Of plants belonging to the natural order M^lvacero 

 there are numerous sjiecies besides the Maboe belonging 

 to the genera Paritium, Sida. Al)util')n, Hd>isctis, and 

 Pavonia, which are remarkable as atfoiding the every- 

 day fibre-plants of the M'est Indi''S used by Kuroiieaiis 

 and natives alike for tying up iirotluce, and indee.t fo." 

 all purposes when a convenient and cheap material is 

 required for securing and bintliug. 



The fibieconlaine I in the Sugar-bark of the mountains 

 (MahMviscus arbureus) possesses wonderfvd strength an! 

 ttuacit'.', and probably ranks next in these respects to 

 the bast fibre of the f.ace-hark Tree (Lagetta 'iutcaia). 



Amongst obscure and little known plants wbich yii-id 

 fibrous material, mention might be made of Anthnriniu 

 (Pothos) riolaceum. which is deicribel by Mr. Wilson in 

 the following words: —" Where strength ami lustre (if 

 appearance is an object, 'bis plait will be fomid e(|Ua', 

 if^not superior, to th>-best Ja-ghoiu plait Italy ever produceo. 

 Tbis plaut, though an epiphyte, aud (jrowiug pleutifudy 



