462 



THE -TROPICAL AGRICULTUmST. [Jascasy i, 1886, 



plantud. The cortl is theu raised and jiut down again 

 at another distance of 2 feet from the first and so 

 on till sufficient land 1ms been marked ott. This 

 work can be done during the day and the transplanting 

 in the evening. 



Tinmjiladtinij. — Transplanting should be done in the 

 evening if there is any sun; in cloudy weather it 

 can be done all the day long. Eainy weather is 

 most suituljle as it dispenses with watering and the 

 plants settle better. A boy takes a basket of seedlings 

 and walks up the row, dropping a plant here and 

 there where the marks have been made; he is 

 followed by a man who makes a hole with a kv.rpie 

 into which he jjlaces a seedling and theu presses 

 the soil around the roots firmly with his fingers and 

 then goes on with the rest. As transplanting can 

 hardly be done hero without watering, a boy carrying 

 a can without a rose follows the mau who is trans- 

 planting and waters each plant he comes across ; 

 but, as I mentioned above, if the transplanting 

 could be done in rainy weather, the watering would 

 be unnecessary. When growing the young plants 

 require some attention. After the plants have been 

 planted about a week or so, weather permitting, it 

 is advisable to loosen and open the soil around them 

 with a kurpie and also to eradicate weeds which may 

 appear. Later on a kodalie may be used to work 

 the earth between the rows. As soon as the plants 

 have made growth and begiii to throw out (lower or 

 seed-heads, whick will take place in about eight 

 weeks or so, they should be topped, viz., the flower 

 heads should be broken off before they (lower in 

 this way. The stem on which the head was found 

 should be seized about two to three feet from the 

 ground and suapperl clean oif by the hand or fingers. 

 This toppiuf^ will cause the plant to throw out heavy 

 leaves. The higher up the stem is broken off, so 

 will the leaves of the plant become tliinner and 

 smaller. We generally' leave about ten to twelve 

 leaves to each i)lant. After topping, numerous suckers 

 and offshoots will .spring up ; these shouhi be promptly 

 broken off as soon as they appear, as they take a 

 lot of nourishment from the i>lant. The plant ripens 

 in about three mouths. AVe cut here in January, 

 and none but ripe plants should be cut. 



How tu oit ripe plants. — A tobacco plant is known 

 to Vie ripe if the leaf cracks when taken between 

 finger or thumb and pressed, and also when the 

 leaves present a swollen appcarauce and have a bea^y 

 look. The s1,em when cut is fidl of sap, very thin 

 rind on edge, the leaves are carved i>ver and look 

 mottled, the ribs of the plant get brittle and are 

 easily broken off ; when fully ripe, the plant is cut 

 at one stroke close to the ground. The best instrument 

 to cut the ))lant is with a kurpie. When cut, the 

 plant is allowed to hang over on its side and wilt 

 or droop in the sun. This wilting takes from one to 

 two hours according to the strength of the sun. 

 AVhen sufBciently wilted (which is known when the 

 plants look drooping and the ribs can be bent slightly 

 without breakingl, the plants are placed in a cart 

 and taken off to the curing-house. Plants should not 

 be cut in rainy or cloudy weather as it is obvious 

 the sun would not be hot enough to wilt were the 

 weather cloudy and the rain Avashos off the gum 

 and thereby decreases the weight of the ]ilant. 

 Plants should not be cut after the rain uuless the 

 gum has returned to the leaves which is known by 

 their stickj- gummy feeling. Trusting the above in- 

 structions would prove sufficient, I beg, &c. 



Bulb ('t.T.TUUK in Holland. — We ijuote the following 

 detailsfrom the J llustniiion Horiiculc ; — In thirty parishes 

 in the neighbourhood of Haarlem alone, an area of 

 ui)warils of 5!)5 hectares is devoted to culture of this j 

 kind, viz.. Hyacinths, :;;j I hectares; Tidips iinS, Crocus i 

 7li !^pir;ea, .lloteia, ami Dicentra eollcetively, 22 I 

 hectares; Narcissus, I); and miscellaneous bulbs, 52 

 hectares. A hectare is about eijual to 2i acres.— j 

 Gardtners' Cluonick, • 



BRANCHED PALMS OF S. INDIA. 



The most extensively distributed Palms in Soutlieni 

 India are the Palmyra, or £orassus flatillifurmis. 

 and the Coconut or Cocns nucifera; but of the 

 several genera, 'the Hi/pltane Thebaica, or Doum- 

 palm, alone has a branched stem, the division 

 being dichotomous or in pairs; but there arc ex- 

 ceptions to the general rule in the case of the 

 Palmyra and Coconut, which are sometimes found 

 with branches. Since the subject first attracted my 

 attention, some two years ago, I have been searching 

 for these during my peregrm^tions over Southern 

 India, in connexion with my own immediate work ; 

 and in that time I have seen some million of 

 Palm-trees, both on the coast and some hnmlreds 

 of miles inlaml ; and neither my own researches nor 

 the results of my iuquiries have enabled me to 

 trace more than six of the Palmyra and two of the 

 Coconut with branches. The latter I have not seen, 

 but have received <lrawinga of them from my 

 friend Dr. Pulney Andy. 



In the Palmyra the branching is irregular; but 

 in the Coconut the tendency to division in paiis 

 exists. Twin plants from the Palmyra are very 

 common all over this portion of India, but such au 

 occurrence in the t'oconut is a vareity. I ha\e seen 

 but one instance of it, and that was in my own 

 garden at Chingleput ; and a couple of humlred 

 yards from it, beyond my compound, a twin Palmyra 

 of the same age was found growing. 



Since this jjaiitr was written, I observe, from a 

 late number of the Jfailras Times, that in a horti- 

 cultural show the other day at Travancore a Coco- 

 nut was exliibited with five or six shoots growing 

 out of a single root. At the same time a plant 

 of th(! Areka Palm was also said to be exhibited 

 having from seven to nine heads; this is ahso au 

 exception to the rule. 



The following are the localities in which these 

 branched Palms may be seen ; — 



1. A few miles from lyiasulipatam, on the road to 

 Bintrinully, a Palmyra tree existed with twelve 

 branches. During the last cyclone ten of these were 

 broken ; of the remainhig two, oue has withered, 

 the other exi.sls ; seven of the broken branches are 

 lying close by, and three stems have been washed 

 away to some distance. 



2. At Palghaut, about three miles from the town, 

 on the Cormbutne road, and about half a mile frmu 

 the road itself, exists a branched Palmyra. It is 

 a twin plant, and one of the two has six branches. 



3. At Madura, on the northern bank of the river 

 Vegay, there is a I'almyra tree with nine branches ; 

 one is broken, aud the other eight exist ; this is a 

 male tree, shown in the accompanying woodcut. 



4. At IJanmad, on the bank of the river Vegay, 

 is to be seen a J^almyra tree with four well-fornuMl 

 branches of equal height ; below the division the 

 stem is covered with numerous other shoots of 

 different sizes. 



5. Ou the road to Chellembrum from Manargudi, 

 I am told, a Palmyra exists with branches, which 

 I have not seen. 



6. A Palmyra tree, from Travancore, with five 

 branches, sent by Dr. Pidtiey Audy. 



7. Two branched Coconut-trees, from Travancore, 

 also sent by Dr. Pulney Andy. 



Dr. Pulney Audy thinks that the Palm weevil, 

 calitndm /mlmdruin, has something to do in the 

 branching of the Coconut: as it perforates the leaf- 

 bud, the original beetuues di\'ertetl to one side, and, 

 he thinks, this in a mea.sure gives occasion for a 

 second shoot forming. This may be possible ; but it 

 requires further observation and research to determine 

 the (juestion. 



In the genus I'licrnix the Plutnix acaiilis, Buch, is 

 common to all the low liill ranges in Southern 

 India to the height of 6,0011 feet above sea-level. I 

 have seen it on the Shewauys, Kotagherry and the 

 Pulney Hill.s, where it grows commoidy and luxuriantly 

 into a bush caused b^ numerous suckers tluown out 

 ni ouud it, wuvtUiug like the plontuiii. I bav« couuted 



