560 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Feb. I, 1886, 



burned from off the face of the earth. The dia- 

 coloured condition of some of the gum dug up 

 from several feet below the surface of the grouatl 

 indicates that the trees were at oue time exposed 

 to the action of fire. The gum-fields are partly in 

 the hands of the natives and partly iu those of 

 Europeans, but they are mostly the property of the 

 Government, who have hitherto been in the habit of 

 putting up to auction the right to dig.gum on these 

 fields. It is out of the power of a workiug-man to 

 bid a lump sum for the right to dig gimi over an 

 area of 20,000 acres of laud for a term of two years, 

 and the result is that the right ot digging tor gum 

 falls into the hands of some merchant or storekeeper, 

 to whom all who dig on the land are compelled to 

 fell at a price fixed by the lessee. This method of 

 leasing the.se lands is not by any means an equitable 

 oue. The first thing a gum-digger has to do is to 

 purchase a spear — that is, a piece of round iron pointed 

 at the end, about 3 feet (J inches in length, fixed 

 into a wooden handle; this he can get on credit 

 from the storekeeper, as likewise a spade, knife, 

 some flour, sugar, and necessaries, on the condition 

 that he sells his gnm to him. It .the storekeeper 

 is the lessee of the gum-laud this is a matter of 

 course. Thus provided the digger proceeds to the 

 gum-field (a sort of moorland it woul.l be called 

 in England), builds a shanty of Haupu or Palm 

 Fern, and commences to spear the couutry for 

 gum. An experienced digger will know the likely 

 spots for a good find, and can tell by the feel 

 of his spear as it touches a hard substance under- 

 ground whether it is gum, wood, or stone. If he 

 thanks it is gum he digs it up, puts it in his kit 

 or basket, and goes on. The gum as it comes from 

 the ground is covered with dirt and rust, and every 

 piece has to be scraped with a knife until the gum 

 is fairly clean. A good deal ot judgment has to be 

 exercised in this matter, because if too much is scraped 

 away the digger loses weight, aud if not enough he 

 receives a less price on account of bad scraping. 

 Gum is also obtained iu the forest from under the 

 trees, and even from the tree itself. The best gum 

 is very clear, like amber, and hard, but there are many 

 sorts aud varying prices. Though the average earnings 

 per week of the gum-digger is from £'-i to £4, a man 

 has been known to earn as much as £211. He has 

 to work very hard, exposed to all sorts of weather, 

 digging all day, .scraping his guui at night, aii<l cooking 

 his meals between while. 



The trade in Kauri timber is also very important, 

 aud gives employmeut to a large number of hands. 

 The Kauri forest.'! in the district are of very large 

 e.xteut. and it is stateil, at the piesput rate of supply, 

 will last about another 20(1 years. The timber is of 

 very great value, and is rec)gni~ed in New Zealand 

 and Australia as most useful for all sorts of pur- 

 poses — house-building, ship-buililiiig, masts and spars, 

 railway sleepers, furniture, &c. It is very durable, 

 and easily worked. The tree grows to a height of 

 100 feet without a limb, and measures an average 

 of 5 feet in diamettT. Trees have been found 

 measuring a chain in circumference, but such trees 

 are ot no value to the purchaser, as they are too 

 unwieMy to handle and cut up. In all K.uiri forests 

 there are found at intervals trees of enormous size, 

 which stand alone in their grandeur as pirenr trees 

 to the less unwieldly generation aruun 1 them. In 

 the forest the young trees grow readily, but .so soon 

 as the parent trees are felle.l and remov(«l a fire 

 sooner or later clears the ground, an 1 they peri.sh. 

 Altogether the Kauri is perhaps the most important 

 tree in New Zealaml. 



The exporttttiou of the fungus, llir-ueol i polytricha, 

 from New Zealand has t'roqueutly of la' ■ been com- 

 mented \ipun. Mr. Yarburough speaks of it as a 

 branch of industrv only entere.l upon by children, 

 who make a good deal of piie.ket-mou y by it. The 

 fungvia IS bouglit from the cudector, after being drie I, 

 at prices vjvryiug from -id. to 5d. per pound, and is 

 exported ria Sau Francisco to China, to be used by I 



the Ohinese as an ingredient for soup. In 1882 the 

 export of fungus was 400 tons weight, valued close 

 upon £19,000. — Gardeners* Chronicle. 



. -^ 



THE ENSILAGE PROOES.S IN INDIA. 



TO THE EDITOR OP THE "FIELD." 



.Sir,— I have loug watched with interest the growth 

 of silos for the preservation of ensilage, and iu 18S3 

 my views as to the profitable adaptability of the 

 system to India were ventilated through the press 

 of that country. Most of the cattle fodder iu that 

 far-away dependency is luxuriantly g.-owu and neg- 

 lectfully wasted during the four monsoon or wet 

 months, to be followe i by sooiething like a fodder 

 famine throughout the eight remaining or dry months 

 of the year. The iueitimable advantages of the silo 

 system were then pointed out, whereby great economy 

 would be introduced into the commissariat aud trans- 

 port services, which constitute one of the chief money- 

 speuding departments of the state, while the agricult- 

 ural community would be immensely benefited by 

 the improvement that would .soon be effected in the 

 half-starved, stunted village cattle by husbanding ex- 

 isting resources for consumption throughout the entire 

 year. 



On the occasion of a recent visit that I paid in 

 India to Sir Herbert Macpherson, the distinguished 

 and thoroughly practical commander-in-chief elect of 

 I\Iadras, I was greatly pleased to find the splendid 

 success that had attended the efforts of that able and' 

 public-spirited othcer in establishing a fodder farm 

 in Allahabad, aud in conserving the produce thereof 

 by means of silos, which are neither more nor less 

 than pits dug in the ground 30 ft. by 12 ft. by 6 ft., 

 such as the natives have used from ti me immemorial 

 for the storage of their grain. These pits are dug at a 

 merely nominal cost, aud the earth excavated from 

 them, when heaped up upon the ensilage, supplies 

 all the pressure required to keep the latter in good 

 order throughout the year. No system of ilrainage 

 has been found necessary. 



I beg to inclose for your information a report of 

 Gen. Macpherson 's silo operations during the yearsl884-5 

 from which the following results have been deduced : — 



1 . It does not appear necessary to go to the expense 

 of building masonry silos, or to take any particular 

 precautions in draining and pressing, as an earth silo 

 seems to fulfil all the necessary conditions, aud 

 apparently drains itself if kept air and water tight. 



2. The only pressure that seemsjto be necessary is that 

 caused by the excavated earth being piled on the grass. 



3. The best time to cut the grass is when it is 

 mature — between Aug. 15 and Nov. 1 (in India). 

 This will give a sccoud crop of hay. 



4 The fact of its raining while a silo is being filled, 

 does not appear to do any harni. 



5. The ensilage should be used green — i.e., as it is 

 taken out of the i)it. 



ti. 351b. of ensilage would appear to be equal to 

 20 lb. of bhoosa (cbooped straw) — the ration of a 

 siege train bullock. 



7. Ensilaged karlii (sorghum) forms good food for 

 elephants. 



8. The fact of cutting the grass for en>ilage gives 

 a finer and better second crop for hayuiaking. 



J). Silos should, in my opinion, be made wedge- 

 shaped — i.e., rather wider at the top than the bottom, 

 and with sloping sides, to preserve an even pressure. 

 Tlu^ Hoor and sides might be baked by burning 

 rubbish in the pit. 



These are the conclusions of Capt. I'eile, who con- 

 ducted the operations under Gen. Macpherson 's 

 orders. Patrkk 0.\rneoy, CLE. 



Ellery Court, Norwood, Dec. 15. 



_ ^ 



()0C\1NK Factories im Lima. — Meyer ,^ Haferaann, 

 wholesale druggists in l,imi, Peru, are erecting works 

 iu that city for the purpose of marmfacturing cocaine 

 from the fresh leaves. .V French pharmacist of Lima, 

 TMr. Hignon. has likewise undertaken the manufacture 

 of cocaine, and it is said with good results. — C/(«nn'st 

 and Drugyist. 



