Nov. 2, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



327 



A Physician of S. Paulo, Dr. M. Axinda, claims 

 for the juice of the manriabeira (Hoticronia speeiofa) 

 pieat curative properties iu pulmonary consumption. 

 The immense mortality caused by this disease all 

 over the empire makes this question oue of inter- 

 est. A drawback to the treatment is that the patient 

 must reside on the spot where the plant gi-ows 

 and take the juice freshly extracted. — Bio AVics. 



Greex Koses. — A correspondent wiites : — " There 

 is to be seen in the compound of the School of Arts 

 a green rose tree, the property of the Superintend- 

 ent. The plant was ori-rinally imported from 

 Darjeehng by Captain Tufnell, of the Commissariat 

 Department. — Jlodrax j\Iail. [Creiltit ! Some shade 

 of yellow, probably, affected by an abnormal growth, 

 petals being but another form of leaves. — Ed.] 



Ginger. — The Britisli Trade Journal says : — 

 " The cultivation of Ginger in Jamaica is said 

 to be dj-ing out, on account of the persistent 

 cultivation of the same plant on the same land for 

 a long series of years. Only the richest and best 

 lands are suitable for the cultivation of Ginger, and 

 as it is a very exhausting crop, the production of 

 the article sn the island depends on the resene of 

 good land still available where it is cultivated." 



Macatios-i with Tomato Sauce. — Break half a pound 

 of mac;uoni into inch-lengths, and cook twenty 

 minutes in boiling salted water. Meantime, take a 

 cup of broth from your soup ; strain, boil and skim 

 it, an 1 slice into it four ripe tomatoes. Stew tended 

 and strain through net or tarlatan, into a saucepan. 

 Season well ; stir into it a great spoonful of butter 

 rolled in flour. Simmer five minutes ; put the 

 macaroni into a deep dish, sprinkling gi'ated cheese 

 over each layer, and pour the hot sauce over it, 

 opening the mass with a fork, to let it reach the 

 lower layers. — Dinner Year Book. [As tomatoes seem 

 now to be plentiful and cheap, some of our readers 

 may like to try the above. — Ed.] 



Tfa Cultcbe in Natai,. — Mr. HuUett, in the 

 cour-e of a letter to the inj/icw on the subject 

 of tea culture, says : — •• It may be safely assumed 

 that .50,000 lb. weight of tea mil be made in Natal 

 during the coining season, with a very large in- 

 crease each succeeding year." Mr. Hullett and 

 other experts show in tlie Witness that the acreage 

 devoted to tea plants is rapidly increasing in Natal, 

 where a dozen plantations aheady exist, and the 

 climate is not too dry for the scrub. Coffee, how- 

 ever, does not thrive, as it requires a heavy rain- 

 fall and humidity to give fair crops. It also re- 

 quires altitude, which causes much expense in labour 

 ai d transport. The Natal tea is now prepared skil- 

 fully, and s liked by connoisseurs. — Colonics and India. 

 'Ih' h'olonial Polilixrlie Cnrrespoudenz , in an article 

 upf n the flcrman stations in Eastern .\fnca, states 

 that the German East African Company has suc- 

 cjcded in bringing under the (Jerman flag 4,500 

 square miles of fertile and salubrious territory in a 

 ctntral situation. The article continues as follows : 

 — " The experiment of estabhshing a factory and a 

 first agricultural station at Usugara has already 

 bfen made and the company now proposes'to estab- 

 lish five military stations, upon an agricultural 

 1 asis, which on the one hand will servo for the 

 militarj- instruction of the negroes by capable officers 

 now on the spot, with the object of forming a native 

 (orps of defence, while, on the other hand, experi- 

 ments will be made of working plantations by means 

 of native or Asiatic labourers. Messrs. Krupp have 

 provided guns of the new construction for the de- 

 fence of these stations, which are to form the cen- 

 tral point of the labours of the German East African 

 company, and a field for the investment of private 

 capitalists interested in Eastern Africa."— Or^r- 

 land Hail. 



A M.iNGANESE Mine.— For some years past (says 

 ihe Port Aafiiista Despatch) the existence of a de- 

 posit of manganese ore near Gordon has been well 

 known, and the lode was once worked for some 

 time by an Adelaide Company. The lirst shipment 

 of ore sent to England realized about £2 per ton 

 profit, the second just paid expenses, but on the 

 third there was a loss, and the mine was then stop- 

 ped. Mr. George Prout, a gentleman well known 

 in mining circles in tliis colony, has now taken the 

 property in hand, and will give it a more exliaust- 

 ive trial than it has yet had. He has visited the 

 locahty, and is confident that he can raise a 

 large quantity of ore of a percentage sutliciently high 

 to yield a profit after defraj-ing the expenses of 

 working and shipment of ore to England. 



Decay of Gum Forests.— The Eev. Peter Jl-Pher- 

 son's paper on some of the causes of the decay of 

 Australian forests which was read before the Eoyal 

 Society_ last week was both valuable and interesting. 

 There is no doubt concerning the fact of the decay. 

 In some districts there may be seen hundreds of 

 acres of gum forests in this condition. Mr. M'Pherson 

 advances the theory that the destruction has been 

 caused by opossums having devoured the leaves, and 

 in this way produced the disease of tree consump- 

 tion. The circumstance that this decay on such 

 an extensive scale is a recent phenomenon Mr. 

 M'Pherson explains, by the assumption that the 

 opossums have largely increased in consequence of 

 the disappearance of the aboriginals, who used to 

 cat the animals, and by that means unintentionally 

 limited their power to do mischief to the forests. 

 There are weak points in the induction ; but Mr. 

 M'Pherson's theory is supported by intelligent squat- 

 ters and farmers, and also by the blacks. — Sydney 

 Hail. 



[Many square miles of withered gums which we 

 saw near Sale, in Gipps Land, were said to have 

 been destroyed by leaf-eating moths.— Ed.] 



Tba-Deying by Siroccos. — With reference to the 

 complaint of a conespoudent signing " A. F. S." 

 in our columns some weeks ago, Messrs. \V. H. 

 Davies & Co. forward to us a letter from Messrs. 

 Davidson & Co. of Belfast dated 3rd September, 

 from which we quote as follows:— " We notice 

 ' A. F. S.,' the writer to the Observer, on the bOth 

 July states in italics that we laid considerable 

 stress in a circular issued some time ago on 

 the fact that ' tea could not be burnt in a temper- 

 ature of 300 dey. F.' Now we nerer did say any 

 such thing, and ' A. F. S.' must be ([uoting from 

 our pamphlet No. (i'2, copy of which we send you, 

 and on p. 8 you wiU note that we say .TOO dcg. F. 

 can be used if the teas have become soft-fla cored, 

 BUT very great attention is required at this' temper- 

 ature, because, left long in this temperature, dis- 

 coloration of the infused leaf would be the result, 

 whereas at 2<i0 deg. F. the leaf is scarcely percept- 

 ibly darkened in color no matter how long it may 

 be left in the machine at that temperature, Ac. 

 We always pointed to 2G0 deg. F. as the right temper- 

 ature for air to pass through the tea at. Although 

 our No. 3 Sirocco thermometers were marked at 

 320 deg. F. yet the currents mixing therewith ought 

 to have reduced it to 260 deg. F. befoie striking 

 the bottom of the lower row of travs. In point of 

 fact however in the No. 3 this dilution did not 

 properly take place, and point of impact on first tray 

 was often over-dried and burnt. In the T shape, 

 however, the mixing and dilution is perfectly 

 eiTected, and we now do get the amount of drying 

 done claimed for and at the safe temperature of 

 2G0 deg. instead of 320 deg." 



