3P 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Nov. 2, 1885. 



of florets are laid, and water is slowly poured over 

 them, while a man trends ihem out with his feet, 

 supporting himst-lf on two sticks, used as crutches 

 In this way the yellow colouring is eliminated from 

 the flowers, the presence of which would detract from 

 the beauty of the crimson tint, for which they are 

 chiefly prized. When the water (^which at first is 

 coloured yellow) comes clear through the strainer the 

 process is eomple're. The flowers aif then made up 

 by hand into round fl.it cakes, the water squeezed off, 

 and they are dried in the sun. In this form they are 

 known as the Satflower of commerce. 



Saffiower intended for local use in India is not 

 washed in the method above described at the time 

 they arc picked. The flowers are .simply dried, in 

 which state th^y are sold by cultivators. 



There are thus two pigment principles in Safflower 

 — Safflower yellow, which is extracted by pounding 

 and washing, and SatHower red (or carthannn), which 

 is the dye of commerce. The carthamin is a resiuoid 

 substance, giving to cloth a beautiful crim.son colour, 

 which, however, oxidises yellow in light. It is one 

 of the chief ingredients in rouge. It is soluble iu an 

 alkali, which is used to e.xtract it from the cakes of 

 florets; an acid precipitates it. The colours, however, 

 obtained from this vegetable dye are not very fast. 



The following shows the exports of .Safliower frora 

 India in the years eiuling March ^il : — 



Cwt. Value. 



1877 7662 £3U,4<>7 



1578 ... ... 36i)8 14.880 



1579 4077 1J^,67I 



IHirO ... ... 2411 18.145 



1S81 ... ... 6675 35,115 



18.-2 2293 9,475 



18^3 SQ08 9.203 



18^4 2333 6,449 



Tiie shipments are principally to the I7nited King- 

 dom, the rest goes to China and the Straits Settle- 

 ments. There can be no doubt that the competition 

 of chemical dyes has ousted this beautiful aud once 

 favourite colour from the home markets, and it is 

 very unlikely that it will ever regain tin* position it 

 once held. — P. L. S. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



BTTRMESE LAOQUER. 



The lacquer manufactures of India, IJninia. and 

 Japan, are, as is well known, important industries 

 By far the best known in Europe is the lacijuer-ware 

 uf the Japanese, the production of which has been so 

 well described of late in a report by the British 

 Consul at Hakodate. Specimens ot Indian lacquer- 

 ware are also often seen in this country, but are not 

 so common as the last, while the Burmese work is 

 much mure rarely seen than either. These three kinds 

 ot manufactures are vei-y distinct iu their character, 

 in their mode of preparation, aud in the material 

 used to give the well-known polished surface. Thus, 

 while the Japanese luctiuer is obtained from the juice 

 drawn from the trunks 0* Rhus vernicifera. the lu'liau- 

 lac(|uer is prepared from Jac, which is produced by 

 the puncture of an insect on species of Fiitus ; and 

 the Burmese lacquer is the juice obtained from Me- 

 lanorrhuja usitata. "Wall. Though this lacquer, or 

 varuish, is largely used iu Bi.n-ma, but comparatively 

 little has been written on its preparation .lud uses; 

 the following notes from a recently issued report on 

 the subject will therefore probably be interesting: — 

 The Varnish-tree, as it is called, is a large deciduous 

 tree of ftlmmipur, Burma, and Tena.sserim. The lac- 

 quer-ware used in Burma is described as of two kinds — 

 that in which the article is made of basket-work 

 lacquered ov(*r, and that in which the article is made 

 of wood. All the lac(|uer-ware of tlie basketwork-furm 

 conies from I'pper Burma, where it constitutes a very 

 important trade. In liriMsh Burma the trade is con- 

 fined to the production of wooden articles laccpiered 

 over, such as the large round platter with a raised 

 eilge in which tlm family dinner is served, round and 

 8(piare boxes, and bowls. Aiul the Jiurmese aritists 

 produce ri<ddy gilt Imxes useil in tlit; mojjastei'ies for 



holding Palm-Ieaf manuscripts, the bowls with a 

 p:igoda-shaped cover employed for carrying food to 

 monasteries, and pagodas and shrines on which to place 

 images of Gotnma. The culTers refered to appear 

 as if covered with pictures drawn in black on a gold 

 ground, aud the effect is so good that a small de- 

 maud for tables, panels, bowels, iS:c., of the same work 

 has sprung up. If a black-coloured lacquer is required, 

 the sap of the tree is used alone, but a ileep red 

 lacquer i.s mueli used, and is prepared by mixing the 

 sap of the Licijuer-tree with Vermillion iu the pro- 

 portion of 12^ parts to 10. 



The wooden bowels, platters, vS:c., are scraped »lown 

 with fine steel scrapers, to nuke the surface as smooth 

 as possible before laying on the lacquer. All cracks, 

 holes, and chippe4l edges are filled aud built up, as 

 it were, with a putty made of the lacqu';r itself 

 mix'd with Teakwuod sawdust. The articles .are then 

 put away uatil the putty is dry aud tjuite hard. 

 The raw Iac<pier is next rubbed all over the article 

 with the bare hand, so that the least particle of .sand 

 or stone maybe detected, and the article put in a cool 

 and airy place to dry — not, however, in the sun, which 

 would cause it to crack or blister. The articles are 

 sufficiently dry iu three or four days to receive a thick 

 even coaling of " thayo," made of ''thitsi'" (the sap), 

 rice-water, and Paddy-husk ashes. The article is again 

 put away to dry and harden, when it is smoothed 

 down with water and Paddy-husk ashes aud stone 

 polishers of graduated fineness from sandstone to a . 

 smooth pebble. This proce.ss removes all gloss or 

 polish, and the last coating ot either black or red is 

 given to the article as a polish. The grounding is 

 invariably black, and oidy the last coating red, if red- 

 coloured ware is required. The black enamel used is 

 made of two ]>arts lead, one part silver, and one part 

 copper, melted in a fierce lire, and sulphur addeil at 

 discretion. — Gunh'/urs' ( "lironich-. 



Wooden, Metal or Steel Sleepehs. — At the re- 

 cent Railway Congress at Brussels the question 

 whether it would be economical and desirable to 

 use iron or steel instead of wooden sleepers was 

 fully discuf^sed. It was stated thai metal sleepers 

 of various patterns are being used iu Holland and 

 India to a consitierable extent, aud that they are 

 being ti'ied experimeutally in Belgium. England, autl 

 other countries. An opinion wasexpressed that sleepers 

 of the description which is being tried in Englanl. 

 would afford good material support for the rails on 

 main lines, although .some inconvenience might be 

 felt from a quoin of wood being used with it. It 

 was also considered that other metal sleepers which 

 are being tried in Hfjlland and elsewhere had given 

 srtisfactory results. The cost of metal sleepers is 

 higher than that of wood. They require good ballast, 

 and there had not been sutficient experience from 

 their u.se, iu regard to their duration and maintenance, 

 to enable the .section to state specifically the relative 

 advantages of the new description of sleepers. It 

 was therefore considered that further experience is 

 necessary. The difliculty of arriving at a conclusion 

 as to what would be applicable in all countries and 

 under all circumstance.s was exemplified in the discus- 

 sion of this subject by the representative of the Egyptian 

 railways. He stated that, iron or steel sleepers can- 

 not be economically used in Egypt, because they 

 become corroded by the saud. The representative of 

 the Indian railways, on the other hand, informed the 

 section that iron or steel sleeper.^ only can be used 

 in India, because the white ant destorys wooden 

 sleepers, ('onsiderable discussion took place as to the 

 construction of railways in regard to the curves, 

 gradients, and works generally, including tlu- question 

 whether lines with a comparatively small traJhc 

 .should be laid with heavy or light rails. It was. 

 however, fouiul impossible to lay down any general 

 propositions which could be adopted under nil the 

 circumstances iu which railways have to he made,— • 



