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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIS'y. [Dec. i, 1SS5, 



Cultivation of Scnflowees.— Iu reply to W. 6. 

 andO. v., we give a few notes upon the cultivation of 

 sunflowers as carried out to a great extent i.i America. 

 The two varieties most commonly grown are the 

 Giant and the Egyptian. The seed is sown broadcast, 

 or drilled in March or Apul, according to season, at 

 the rate of 6 ib. to 8 lb. per acre, the plants being 

 left about a foot apart. By leaving the plants some- 

 what clote together, they are protected against high 

 winds, and the yield per acre is larger. Sunflowers 

 will grow on almost any soil, but perfer a dry one, 

 and for good returns it should of course be rich. It 

 is the custom to plough in with a good bold furrow 

 plenty of good farmyard manure, and when the seed 

 bed is ready, just before sowing the seed, ptut on a 

 few hundredweight of guano, harrowing in the seed 

 and guano together with light barrows, as with barley 

 or oats. The yield per acre is about 25 bushels, the 

 crop ripeniug about August or September. The 

 leaves are sometimes stripped off and given to 

 stock, but we should not recommend the practice. 

 The conditions as to soil and climate described by W. 

 G. appear most favourable for the growth of the 

 plant. We do not know a work on the subject, but 

 will inquire and give results. — James OAurEit & Co., 

 237 and 2o8, High Holborn, ^Y.C.—F!lM. 



Anothkr New Tea Machine. — We learn that 

 Mr. D.avid Fairweather, of Sembawatte, has invented, 

 and, we believe ijatented, a machine for breaking 

 up the balls of rolled leaf after coming out of the 

 roller. This machine, if a success, will undoubtedly 

 save a good deal of labour. The le;if will now pass 

 from the withered state direct into the rollers, then 

 into the "ball breaker," and will drop from this 

 into the "roll sifter." It is then placed to ferment. 

 Following up the arrangement which is now in force 

 on Mariawatte estate, the tea will then pass through 

 the Automatic Victoria Dryer, red leaf being separ- 

 ated by hand. The tea next passes into the sifting 

 machine, the coarser teas being discharged direct 

 into Jackson's Invincible Cutter which is driven from 

 the sifter. It will be seen that throughout the whole 

 operatiou the oidy handwork is the picking out of 

 the red leaf. We are afraid this is a portion of 

 the manufaeture that will always have to be done 

 by hand. The above description shews the strides 

 we are making in perfecting and simplyfyiug the 

 art of tea manufacture. Mr. Fairweather deserves 

 credit for not only this latest but many other im- 

 provements introduced by him into the mauu- 

 f actm-e of tea, all of which can be seen by the visitors 

 to Sembawatte or Mariawatte factories. — Local " Times." 



Cactus Hedoes. — The Cactus makes an admirable 

 hedge, and is easily propagated by cuttings. Snip off 

 a piece and bury its end in the ground, and it will 

 generally grow. Some nervous people, however, object 

 to it foj- its sujjposcd property of harbouring snakes 

 or vermin, and the authorities, in some places, wage 

 a war of e.vterminatiou against this useful plant. A 

 sort of Cacticide epidemic raged some years ago m 

 Madras, and a native medical officer won both honour- 

 able mention and a tangible reward by divulging to 

 the authorities his discovery that the " (?occus," or 

 Cactus bug, was the natural and ajipointed destroyer 

 of the Cactus tree, and should be therefore enlisted for 

 its destruction ! The suggestion was rapturously re- 

 ceived. The labours of gangs of coinicts employed in 

 grubbing up and burning the plant were dispensed 

 with, and iu lieu thereof a departmental issue of 

 Cactus bugs was at once ordered on the most profuse 

 scale. For motiths the luckless postal runners gro.aued 

 beneath the weight of jiarcels of the Cactus plant, 

 with healthy '■ cocci " adliering, pieces of which in- 

 fected i)laiit were to be distributed in spots where the 

 Cactus was plentiful, that the great battle of Coccus 

 versus Cactus might I'C Fairly fought out. It reads 

 like a scheme disinteired from the archives of the 

 philosi)hers of Lajiuia, but was actually conceived and 

 earrieil out iu Madras, and is too curious an example 

 of intellectual idiosyncracy (o be passed over iu sileuee 

 by the con^cientious iiibloriau. — '• MASOH'ij iiUKMAII." 

 •-Gardentii' Ohimiicle, 



Oamphoe in China. — Reporting on the trade of 

 Tamsiu, China, the Commissioner of Customs says 

 that the trade in camphor is re])resented iu the 

 returns by such an insignificant figure that there is 

 great fear of its total extinction iu the near future. 

 The immediate cause of its rapid coUapse may be 

 traced to the eagerness of the Chinese to acijuire, 

 by all possible means, as much territory as possible. 

 During the last three years hills thickly wooded 

 with camphor ti-ees have been burned over by the 

 Chinese, in order to compel the savages to withdraw. 

 Destruction on so large a scale naturally tells on 

 the camphor trade. Forests of camjihor trees >lo 

 still exist further inland, but tlie absence of all 

 beaten tracks across the mountains renders them 

 difficult of access. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Seed Adultf.eatiox. — The Act that was passed a 

 few years ago does not, it appears, suffice to en- 

 tirely i)revent the evil j^ractices of seed-doctors, or 

 probably that fault lies with those who should avail 

 themselves of its provisions and do not. A\'e h.avc 

 before us samjjles of very old Trifolium seed and 

 other samples of the same seed sulphured and re- 

 polished, and intended presumably for mixing with 

 geuuiue seed. We are informed that as it is requis- 

 ite to wet the old seed to enable it to tske up the 

 sulphur there is ah increase of weight of about 20 

 per cent, which more than pays all the expense of 

 the operation. The value of the old seed, we are in- 

 formed, is about -Is. the cwt., while the doctored 

 seed sells for 20s. or thercabAits the cwt. "Wc do 

 not know where or by whom this bit of meanness 

 is perpetrated, but are astonished that farmers do 

 not it not taste at least try before they liuy. The 

 much derided ilower-pot experiments are sufticicnt to 

 reveal the state of the case, for on trial we fiiul about 23 

 per cent of failures in the old seed as against LHI per cent 

 of failures iu the doctored seed. — Cfaydcncrs' Chronicle, 



Vegetable Pboddots of Nice. — In a report from 

 the British Consid on the trade and commerce of 

 Nice for the past year, it is st.ated that the Olive 

 crop suifered considerably from the long droughts. 

 As the harvest commences iu October, and lasts 

 till March, when the drought is very prolonged, the 

 Olives .shrivel up and drop off before coming to 

 maturity, while when suffering from drought they 

 seem to be more easily affected l>y the ravages of 

 the '*keirou" insect, the damage done to agricult.- 

 ure iu this department by the wholesale destruction 

 of birds is said to be incalculable. The subject is 

 attracting the serious attention of the local agri- 

 cultural society, and is also being ventilated from 

 other motives by the Societies for the Prevention of 

 Cruelty to Animals of Nice, Cannes, and Meutone, 

 and it is hoped that their luiited efforts n)ay lead 

 to a beneficial change in this respect. Another in- 

 stance of short-sighted policy referred to is the 

 wholesale destruction of the forests. Tlie wise rt- 

 loisemcnt commenced during the limpire has been 

 discontinued,. pro!>ably from motives of economy, 

 until the last three years, and the ignorant mount- 

 ain communes have been growing rich on the pro- 

 fits of the destruction of their remaining timber. The 

 matter has, however, been taken up once more by 

 the Government, aud the reboisemcit of some dis- 

 tricts is now being energetically carried on. The 

 cidtivation of flowers for perfumery purposes and 

 the manufacture of perfumery for exportulieu havo 

 been carried on for years on this coast, but the cul- 

 tivation of flowers for direct exportntiou is au 

 industry of quite recent birth, and is due to the 

 additional railway facilities, the accelerated service, 

 and to the establishnxut of the Parcel Post. They 

 have led to the establishment of the Socieli Florala 

 Company, who grow their own Bowers, anil export 

 thi'in to all parts of Huroiie. 'J'he British Consul 

 expres.ses himself as being sati.-fied th.tt this is an 

 industry which is capable of great developmrut, anil 

 which will well repay the producer. What is wauteil 

 for the local gi'ower is to be put into liirc c t com- 

 munication with the flower tihupii of Louduu aud Paris. — 

 (ja riioieis' Chron kh. 



