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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Feb. i, 1886. 



removed iu strips, which, wheu dry, curl up and form 

 quills, atid the other half has the bark removed by 

 shavint! it otf, is it meant that the former will behave 

 ditferi'iitly from the latwr to the sama menstruum i* 

 We cannot think that this is tlie rrotessor's' meaning, 

 and yet are unable to perceive any oiher. It would be 

 well if he would enlighten pharmacists on this point. 

 Meanwhile, we trust that those who make the Uquid 

 extract of cinchona will experiment with shavings, 

 and give the results for comparison with those obtained 

 from quills ; and if it be found that they do not very 

 greatly differ, it may be possible to obtain official 

 recognition for the former. This would be to the great 

 advantage of pharmacy, which benefits in proportion 

 to the removal of restrictions on the materials with 

 which it works. Mr. Brady says that, with regard to 

 Java, he believes there will be an increased quantity 

 of scraped bark and a diminished quantity of the peeled. 

 There can be little doubt that this will hold good of 

 India, and if there be only 5 per cent or less of peeled 

 bark now, what shall be used in pharmacy when there 

 is none 'i — Chemist and Druggist. 



THE OEIENTAL PLANE THEE. 



Platanus orientalis [and its varieties], that orna- 

 mental introduction of 300 years ago, uative to the 

 Levant, Asia Minor, and Persia — not the American 

 or ^\'esteru Plane tree, P. occi.lentalis— has been 

 largely planted in recent years in situations where, as 

 on the Thames Embankment, the million can admire 

 it, and where, as time passes, our Planes, like our 

 Oaks, will inspire veneration, and elevate the thoughts. 



Referring briefly to the Planes of history, among 

 the many famous trees growing on the shores of the 

 Mediterranean, one of the greatest antiquity, most 

 justly venerated, grows in the pass of Thermopyle. 

 None of the Planes of our own country have yet 

 lived long enough to have attained old age, according 

 to the period of their existence in the East. There 

 are, for example, the so-called " Seven Sisters "' 

 growing on the shores of the Bosphorus whose age 

 has never been discovered, and no remaining record 

 is likely now to reveal it ; but they are known as a 

 matter of undoubted history to have sheltered a party 

 of English Crusaders in the eleventh century. They 

 are believed to be the oldest Planes iu the world. 



Such was the beauty of a large Plane tree standing 

 in its prime on the soil of Greece, on land which was 

 no doulit sheltered, watered, drained, and fertile, 

 that Xerxes, on his invasion of that heroic little 

 eouutiy, was fascinated by it, and remained chained 

 to the spot for a whole day. A Napoleon or a 

 (iladstone would have cut it down and marched ou, 

 but Xerxes remained quite entranced gazing upon 

 the tree and sitting down beneath it. In war and 

 garflening delay of this kind is fatal, and so it proved 

 to the luxurious monarch, who passed on at last and 

 was completely beaten by the Greeks. Among other 

 f.amons and historic Planes Pliny mentions an aged 

 tree which he himself had seen in Phrygia, and 

 among whose boughs the vain musician Marsyas, as 

 the story ran, had been suspended by Apollo wheu 

 he flayed him alive after his defeat, the unhappy 

 miirlal having challenged Apollo to a trial of skill 

 Another Plane of romantic inti-rest was that which 

 Helen of Troy planted in Arcadia, and which 

 Pausanias desoribed as a tree of great beauty, as 

 well as size, at the age of 1,300 years. 



lnt(!risfing notices of another tree were sucoe.ssivo!y 

 publisherl l)y tlie three travellers, Hobhouse, Bucking- 

 ham, and Ohaudler, who each described a noble 

 Plane growing on the banks of the Selinus, near 

 Nostizza. To this tree has been assigned a diameter 

 of 15 feet, a "lesceptive measurement, which must 

 have included spurs at the base, and which conveys 

 to the raincl no idea of the size of the free, in 

 Persia tliis stately tree, called there the Chinar, is 

 frequently met with iu avenues, or in compaii}' with 

 the ]jon\lwrdy Poplar, affording shade and ornament 

 to the dwellings of the peasants, or along the niarguis 

 of the streams and watercourses. 



Planes may readily be found in England 14 feet in 

 circumference, measured fairly at ,5 feet from the 

 ground, and reaching a height of 8) feet. They 

 require suitable soils and situations for their greatest 

 growth. They .are not perhaps fastidious, but there 

 are two or three essentials to their most successful 

 cultivation, which must not be overlooked inplauting 

 them. 



Unlike the Sycamore, an Acer which was dubbed 

 Pseudo-Platanus, and which rUus over the hills of 

 Europe, a native of Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, 

 .and doubtfully indigenous in Britain, a hardy tree, 

 with stout twigs bearing storms well, the Plane loves 

 shelter. It is a tree for vales rather than hill-tops, 

 and requires proper soils, while the Sycamore can 

 accommodate itself to a variety of soils as well as 

 sites. The Plane cannot endure a clay soil, and the 

 shade of other trees proves obnoxious to it. It also 

 requires good land, light rather than heavy, with 

 natural drainage, but at the same time moisture at 

 the roots, and a deep, free soil. In i)roper situations, 

 in short—and, it may be added, wherever the Lime 

 grows best, as single specimens or as groups upon 

 the lawn, where it spreads itself wide and may be 

 distinguished from the Maples at a glance by the 

 scaling off of the bark and the round rough fruit — the 

 Plane may be often observeil. I noticed some very 

 noble specimens last summer at Hursley in the shrub- 

 bery among other trees, all favourites of the .late 

 Sir William Heathcote. Tho - Plane is a common 

 ornament of English parks and gardens, as any 

 observer of trees may know if he consults his memory 

 (having travelled much), or Mr. Loudon, if he has 

 read that delightful writer. 



An enthusiastic admirer of the Plane has said of 

 • it that there is a mild majesty in its asi)Oct and a 

 grace iu its form and in the disposal of its foUage, 

 which admits light playing amongst its leaves and 

 creates shade beneath the canopy of its branches, 

 and renders it one of the best models of elegance 

 which the vegetable kingdom can exhibit. Owing to 

 its great beauty, therefore, as well as its tolerance 

 of smoke, the Plane is obviously the best ti-.'C for 

 the embellishment of great cities,"the best for populous 

 and conspicuous places for the improvement of public 

 taste. — H. E. — Gard/mers' Chronicle. 



COLLECTION AND PHEPAEATION OP 

 GUTTAPERCHA. 



The collection of guttapercha generally takes place 

 directly the rainy season is over, as in the dry season the 

 gutta does not flow so reailiiy, and during the rainy 

 season the collectors are more liable to attacks of a'jue 

 and jungle fever, aud ofieu after cutting down a 

 tree a heavy i-ain will wash away the gutta as it 

 flows out. At times the collectors go in companies, 

 often receiving advances in money, clothes, food, .and 

 tools, to be afterwards deducted from the proceeds 

 of their expedition, although cases are not unknown 

 where the trader who maltes the advances loses 

 principal and interest from the non-success, death, or 

 knavery of the collectors. Sometimes the natives 

 who live in the vicinity of the trees collect the 

 gutta and exchange it at the trading .stations for 

 goods of which they are in want. There is a curious 

 belief amongst the natives that if a tree be cut ilowii 

 at the time of the full moon, the result is betti-r than 

 at any other time, as the juice flows ni.u-o r(;adily, 

 although, on the other hand, other nativ« aftirm that 

 the seasons make little or no difference. 



Yield. — The yield of a well-grown tree of the first 

 or best variety is from 2 to 3 lb. of guttapertdia, 

 such a tree being about 30 years old, 30 to 40 feet 

 hicrh, and 30 inches to 3 feet in circumference. A 

 full-grown tree sometimes measures 100 to 140 feot 

 to its first branches, and with a girth of :10 feet 

 at a distance of 14 feet from the base. Such a 

 tree will somcdimes yield .'SO to 'iO lb. of gutta- 

 percha, which quantity loses about 35 per cent of 

 its weight iu six months from drying. There is also 



