JANUARY 1, 1886.] tHE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



499 



in fertile tracts which only required draining to 

 adapt them to the prolific growth of English grasses 

 and a variety of paying crop!, to make way for 

 which the most eligible "flax liclds" were doomed 

 to extinction at no distant date. Nor couLl I recom- 

 mend the cultivation of the plant in view of the 

 time required to mature a crop and the high price 

 of labour, which then amounted to i*s. a day. Con- 

 sequent on these represenutions the project was 

 abandoned as regards New Zealand, and wisely so. 

 It may, however, be mentioned that the^ pUuit has 

 been cultivated with marked success at St. Helena, 

 aud consideraWe shipments of fibre were at one time 

 made from that island, but the cost of freight and 

 charges, coupleil with the depressed condition of the 

 English market, soon killed the industry. The con- 

 chisions I have arrived at, after careful ohservatious, 

 are that the phormium fibre is unsuitable for the 

 manufacture of textile fabrics in this country in 

 competition with (lax and jute; that the price it 

 comiiiauds in the I-ondon market in comparison witli 

 Manila hemp is not such as to enable its shipment 

 from Xew Zealand at a profit; but that it is admir.ably 

 adapted for ropemakurs to utilise on the spot. I 

 believe I am correct in stating the bulk of the rope 

 used in New Zealand is made either from phormium 

 fibre pure and simple, or else in combiuatiou with 

 the well-known product of the Miisa te.rlilis. 



It should be mentioned that the mills aud rope- 

 walks in the Colony afford employment to upwards 

 of 400 persons. The exports of phormium in !>>',() 

 were valued at l.'i2,.5;S?. ; in 1S71, 90,011/.; in 1S72, 

 99,405/. ; and in 1»73 the amount reached 143,799/. 

 Then there was a falling off until 1879, in which 

 year the exports represented only 7,874!. ; but in 1KS2 

 they rose to 41,955/.— J. S. 0'H.—Colom(s and IniHa. 



♦ 



THE BEETBOOT SUGAB QUESTION. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE " OLASCOW HERAI.D." 



Greenock, 2(ith February 1885. 



Sir,— I have delayed replying to yours of the 28th 

 ult. in order that I might complete some inquires I had 

 set on foot aneiit the cost of beet sugur production in 

 Germany. 1 am inclined to believe the following to 

 be facts — i.e., to represent a fair average condition of 

 the elements of cost in ordinary years:— 



1st. Koots cannot be grown with even the slightest 

 profit under 90 pfgs.=18s per ton delivered at factory, 

 the pulp being returned free to the farmer. 



2ud. That even the best factories cannot work- 

 pay wear and tear and 5 per cent on capital — under 

 10s per ton of roots worked. 



3rd. Taking an average of the last five years, it re- 

 quires (in districts of average fertility) 10 33 cwt. of 

 roots to make I cwt. of sugar of 955 polarisation=(say) 

 Xil-D net analysis. In this calculation after-products 

 aud molasses are reduced to the standard of 955, and 

 included in the weight. 



Now let U3 calculate on this basis: — 



Koots cost 18s per ton 



AVorking expenses ... ... 10s ,, 



2«s 

 Therefore 10:i:: cwt of roots aud expenses... i.O 11 (i 

 Knot duty, 10-33 x 80 pfgs ... 9-25 

 Drawback, 1 cwt 900 



Gain or bounty on export 74 pfgs= 



13 9 

 Deducted l.\ degrees @ 3d. calculation being 

 1 cwt. at 891 f " ■^i 



Costof 88 P cent delivered loose on factory floor 13 4^ 

 Add — For discounts and lo.ss of interest,") 



Bags, 



Transit to Hamburg, 



t>month.s*io^.tof iIlt^:^^ftOll(lm^^l»ack, >- ...0 10 



Shipping expenses. 

 Insurance, 



'2 months' interest st 5 per cent, j 

 Cost price on EDglish coiiditious, f.o.b. Hamburg ... £0 14 U'i 



In reference to the cost of roots, I may say tbas 

 iu the Dantzic districts, where rents are low roote 

 can be grown 10 pfgs. to 15 pfgs. per ton bolow tlis 

 price calculated, but then there are some (lisadvantagef 

 also in those districts, ami owiiig to the position or 

 the factories the whole proiluctioa has to he sold fos 

 exp ort, and the fabricant gets a lower price lor hi* 

 sugar f.o.b. Dantzic than f.o.b. Hamburg. Some fact 

 orici wark below 10.-i per ton of roots, but the average 

 is right. The yield of 1 cwt. of sugar I'rom 10'3:i cwt 

 of roots must not be taken as applying to this year 

 or to the most fortunate fabricants. A yield of 1 cwt. 

 from 8"31cwt. of roots has not been uncommon, but 

 the past two yeais have been of such an exceptional 

 cbaiacter both as regards weight of roots and richness 

 that it would be unfair and imprudent to reckon on 

 their repetition. By the employment of the villmorin 

 seeil ami high manuring, jields of 14 percent to 15 

 per cent have been reached, but always with a diminu- 

 tion of weight iier acre, and at a heavy expense. At 

 present jirices there is not a suHicieiit premium to 

 pay for this " forcing" of richness. Many competent 

 agriculturists and fabricants consider that, counting the 

 cost, i'^ is more profitable to cultivate the kinds giving 

 a large yield per acre and a moderate richness. I 

 think that cultivators who are not fabricants (about 

 20 per cent of the whole in Germany, about 20 per cent 

 iu Austria, aud about 50 per cent in France and 

 Belgium) will not sow soot unless they can make con- 

 tracts for roots at above the prices ottered by fabric- 

 ants, and I think the latter won't see their way to 

 bid higher aud will not be sorry to see less sown. 

 If the bills now being discussed iu Germany aud France 

 become law promptly, then I feel certain that the 

 average diminution of sowings will be 25 per cent. 

 Another point to be consideret.1 is that farmers gen- 

 erally in Germany aud Austria Have not dune well 

 lately. They are in many cases economising their 

 labour and manure expenses — just letting the laud 

 produce what it will by its unexhausted fertility. This 

 I hear from several people who sujjply the German 

 farmer with manure. The results will surely be that 

 the yield per acre, aud possibly the richness, will fall 

 below average instead of being, as it has been for two 

 seasons j.ast, above average. — I am, &c., H. 



THE REGENERATION OF THE POTATO. 

 There seems to he good ground for the theory 

 that the cultivated potato is to a certain extent "run 

 out," and that its increased susceptibility to disease 

 in these latter days is partial!}-, if not entirely, due 

 to this diminished vigor or vitality. This has led to 

 the suggestion that the plant may be regenerated or 

 re-vigorated by judicious "crossing" of varieties that 

 seem to resist disease better than others, and more 

 recently it has been proposed to cross the cultivalnl 

 potato with some other species. Some interesting ex- 

 periments have been made in England during the 

 past year in the way of thus * introducing *• new 

 blood "into the worn-out and degenerate tuber. Mr. 

 J. G. Baker, the eminent botanist connected with 

 Kew Gardens, was led to make a careful iuvesligatiou 

 of the history of the jiotato, its geographical range, 

 and tile dilferential character of its varieties, or their 

 relationship to each other. He made his report in 

 the form of a " Uevicw of the Tuber-bearing Species 

 of Sulanum." from which wc learn that .-dl the cult- 

 ivated species of potatoes consist solely of one species, 

 Huluninn lulii rusvm ; that there are six species of 

 iiotatoes which produce tubers; aud that some of these 

 seem to be worthless, while others yield good crops 

 of tubers uuder cultivation. Mr. Baker fixed upon 

 Stilniimi llciiiliii as the best species for the purpose 

 of hyliridizing with the cultivated potato for the pur- 

 pose of invigorating the breed. He selected it partly 

 on account of its largo production of tubers, and 

 partly for its vigorous growth, and its habitat as a 

 native of a moist and cool climate on the coast of 

 South AniCiica; while our cultivated plant is a native 

 of the mouutaiiis of Chili, growing at an altituds of 



