THE TROPICAL ACmCVLTVl 



fpZC. 1, 3S§S' 



drawn from real life can. But " tlie rub " came 

 when the teacher tried to show the unimportance of 

 the present, and the higli future destiny reserved 

 even for the poorest believer, and to work that idea 

 around the " shuck " coffee tree at the same time. 

 How interested I became, feeling assured that we 

 were on the verge of an important discovery, regard- 

 ing the future of coffee, and that to me should be 

 given the opportunity of bringing it before the pub- 

 lic, in the space you reserve for these letters. 

 AJas I alas ! like many auotlicr honest man who 

 has had to do with coffee, the preacher ^vas landed 

 in difficulties, made a stout fight to get rid of them, 

 and, amid big swelling words and much noise, was 

 at last glad to drop all coimection with coffee, 

 " shuck " or otherwise, and try soiiiething else. 



Tea is gi-owing well in this forcing weather, and 

 plants and seedlings are doing their very best to make 

 up for lost time. I saw some tea seed which the hard sur- 

 face of the soil, baked in ths late hot weather, had 

 prevented from pushing through, and it was lookin" 

 very queer. The shoot had wandered about in the 

 loose soil inside the hole, vainly endeavoui'ing to dis- 

 cover a weak point through which it might pass" 

 into the light until it had become an entangled 

 mass. I question if it will come to much good, now 

 that the conditions for its growth are more favorable. 

 It is rather disgusting to see fine young tea plants 

 die out hero and there over a field, ringed just 

 mider ground by some grub or another. But 

 besides this " pestilence that walketh in dark- 

 ness," _ I observed the white-ants busy ubore ground 

 attacking the living plant, liaving eaten a branch 

 through, which was almost as thick as a pencil. 

 I have seen living rose trees destroyed by white- 

 auts, and should the termites follow the public taste, 

 and take a liking for our teas, they will be rather 

 a formidable foe to meet. That is a £ind of patronage 

 we will be all willing to dispense with. 



Coolies are plentiful and to spare, and I hear of 

 casea of gangs paid off, that cannot get work else- 

 where, and hang about their old estates in the hope 

 of being taken on again. By-and-byc there will be 

 lots of work for tliem. and for the Sinhalese also, if 

 they care for it. Coffee is ripening up in the low 

 districts, and the late showery weather has brought 

 the little tliere is in with a rush. The natives too 

 have been sliowing their customary liking for the 

 old King, and have as usual been helping themselves. 

 In this part of the country we are, however, nearuig 

 the end of this woe, and don't exactly as yet see 

 the form in which the coming one will clothe itself. 

 Still that there trill be a coming one we never for a 

 moment doubt. 



Looking over some Indian agrionltiu'al papers the 

 other day, I was struck with the number of quot- 

 ations, and extracts taken from the Tioi^U-al Atp i- 

 cuUurist. Evidently they looked upon your monthly 

 as the fountain-head of all reliable information, in 

 things relating to agriculture in the tropics, and well 

 they may. Peppekcokn. 



A NATIVE BOTANIST IN ENGLAND. 



The Jiulian Daily Neivs writes : — In the spring 

 of the year we took pleasure in wishing Godspeed 

 to our fcUow-tow-nsman, Babu S. P. Chatterjee, 

 the proprietor of the Victoria Nursery, Narcoldan- 

 gah. The Babu iu the pursuit of his business, 

 had visited all parts of India, the Straits, China, 

 the Philippines, and Australia, but this year he de- 

 cided to visit England and the Continent. Many 

 of his compatriots liad made the same journey 

 for pleasure, to study for the Civil Service, the 

 Bar, the medical profession, on political missions; 

 but as far as we know Babu S. P. Chatterjee 

 is the first instance of a native proceeding to, 

 England to extend his business connections, and 

 to gain a further knowledge of his trade. The 

 Babu left Calcutta on the iiOth April, taking 

 with hiui a considerable collection of orchids and 

 I'are plauts, aud armed with numoi'ous letters 



of introduction from his Indian clients. On his 

 arrival he first called on Sir Joseph Hooker, to 

 whom he carried a letter of introduction from Sir 

 Eichard Garth. Sir Joseph was kindness itself 

 to his Oriental visitor, entertaining him as his 

 private guest and personally acting as his Cicerone 

 to all the wonders of Kew. Babu S. P. Chatter- 

 jee, who, having visited many gardens in Australia, 

 is no mean judge, was overwhelmed with the beauties 

 and perfections of the out-door gardens and the 

 celebrated Palm House, but was less impressed 

 I with the conservatories, which, in his opinion, 

 I could not compare with some of the private 

 I collections. Through the kindness of Sir Ashley 

 I Eden, the Babu obtained an introduction to Lord 

 Hartington, who at once conuneuded him to the 

 good offices of IVIr. Thomas, the head gardener 

 at Chatsworth ; the gardens and conssrvatories 

 of which splendid estate the Babu places first in 

 the list of those he visited, one of the most 

 beautiful features being a rook garden of some five 

 acres in extent, veined with rivulets and water- 

 falls and planted out with pines and ferns. The 

 fernery is almost by itself a glass palace, having 

 been built at an expenditure of 1:6.5,000. The collec- 

 tion here is perhaps the finest in Europe, and 

 Mr. Thomas, with the sanction of the noble 

 owner, presented his visitor with cuttings from 

 the collection of the famous Chatsworth Pines. 

 The Babu also visited Worsley Hall, the seat of 

 the Earl of Ellesmere, and here, as apparently 

 everywhere else, he was made a welcome guest. 

 The rhododendron avenue, and the out-door bed- 

 ding especially attracted his admiration. The 

 collections of Mr. Hardy, Mr. Oaskill, and Mr. 

 I'ercival, all near Manchester, w^ere also visited. 

 Each of these gentlemen is noted for liis collection 

 of orchids, several varieties of these plants being 

 named after them. Babu S. P. Chatterjee was 

 made none the less welcome by being introduced 

 to these gentlemen by Mr. Bruce Findley, the 

 well-known Director of the Botanical Gardens at 

 Manchester. At Treutham, the Duke of Suther- 

 land's seat, the Babu met an old friend in the 

 Musa Cavendish, vulgarly known in Bengal as the 

 CabuUi Kala. This esculent fruit was flourishing 

 under glass, and, as the hothouse jiine in Ejigland 

 is always superior to its out-door fellow in the 

 tropics, so was the Duke's plantain a more 

 delicious morsel than our familiar and some- 

 what despised Calcutta friend. His Grace 

 grows for the market, and his hotljouse 

 plantains bring in a handsome revenue. Messrs. 

 Veitch and Son's celebrated Nursery at 

 Chelsea was also visited, and the Babu was received 

 with the greatest kindness and interest by the 

 proprietors. The show of orchids, lilies, and earn- 

 ations, and the enormous extent and ramifications 

 of the business of this establishment, with its 

 connections all over the civilized world, filled the 

 visitor with surprise. Thousands of Wardian cases, 

 huge specimens of palms in enormous framework 

 boxes, were being prepared for transport to the 

 Continent and America. The packing and despatch- 

 ing of seeds from the perfectly arrange 1 and vent- 

 ilated seed houses was another interesting study. 

 We regret that our space will not allow a fwther 

 reference to many other interesting visits to well- 

 known gardens and coUcclions. amongst wliich via 

 may mention Mr. Chamberlain's famous orchid col- 

 lection at Bii'mingham, which supplies the Kadical 

 Member with the rare button-holes, for which he 

 is noted in the House. Privately and publicly Babu 

 8. P. Chatterjee has been received with a kindness 

 otwhicli he speaks most feehngly. His professional 

 brethren recognised his merit and worth with a 



