48S 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [January i, 1886. 



regarded as merely diniorpliic forms of nine other 

 species belonging to four totally different genura. 

 Of several otiiers, only the one form is as yet known 

 in Scotland, althougli both forms have been deter- 

 mined by Dr. Adier in GL-rniany; while there are 

 a ft'w IJritish galls, such as the " JDevonshire i\Iarble," 

 common also ou the Continent, of which no one 

 seems yet to have found the alternate generation. 

 In seeking for these missing forms, on iutf-restiug 

 pursuit^is opened up to IScotti:^h entomologists. — ScotM/iaii. 

 ♦ 



The Adikondack roUKyr.s. — A report has been 

 presented to the State of New York, dealing with 

 the present condition of the forests of the Adiron- 

 dack phiteau, a region ill-adapted for agricultural 

 operations. The forests have been, as elsewhere, 

 reckles-slj' destroyed, but what remain are considered 

 as osseutial to the continued pi'osp(_iity of the State, 

 and their destruction must lie followed by wide- 

 spread commercial disasters. The Commissioners have 

 obtained proof that the flow of the rivers has decreased 

 within the memory of living men from 30 to 50 por 

 cent, whib? the damage from .spring floods and sum- 

 mer droughts is increasing. The report ends with a 

 series of prectical suggestions applicable to the partic- 

 ular case diawn up by the Commissioners, among 

 whom is Professor >Sargent, of Harvard Universit}'. — 

 Gardeners' Chruviclc. 



MrtDKw. — The Journal Officiel publishes a report 

 addressed to th© Minister of Agriculture by M. Pril- 

 iieux, Inspector-General of Agricultural Instruction, as 

 to the results obtained by the use of a mixture of 

 lime and sulphate of copper in counteracting mildew. 

 It lias long been the custom in some parts of the 

 Medoc to sprinkle the Vines bordering roads with 

 lime-water, to which a salt of copper was added. At 

 one time verdigris was used, but it was expensive, 

 and 80 sulphate of copper was substituted. The pur- 

 pose of using it was to prevent children and <lepred- 

 ators from pulling the ripe Grapes which were within 

 their reach. They were afraid to eat the sprinkled 

 bunches. A belt five or six stocks wide was treated 

 in this way along the sides of the thoroughfares. "When 

 mildew spread to a serious extent in the INIedoc it 

 was remarked that the Vines which had been sprinkled 

 with the mixture suffered less from the disease than 

 the others. The leaves attacked by the Peronospbra 

 withered and fell oti' prematurely everywhere except 

 along the roads, where they remained green, and where 

 the Grapes ripened. At Dauzac, the property of M. 

 Johnston, the sto<'ks had been carefully sprinkled by 

 M. MiHardet, Professor of the Faculty of .Sciences, 

 and M. Gayon, Professor of Chemistry at Bordeaux. 

 After studying the results in tliis ami a large number 

 of other places, it was discovered that the .sprinkling 

 of Vines with a li(juid containing about S per cent 

 of sulphate of copper mixed with lime-water checked 

 the progress of mildew, and enabled the Vine which 

 had been attacked to rijjen its fruit. Tho treat- 

 ment is easily applied, and cheap. The earliest applic- 

 ation gives the best result. The action of the mixture 

 is not yet uuderstood, but MM. Millardet and Gayon 

 hope soon to be able to throw light on it. It seems 

 to M. Prillieux that tliis unexpected renn^dy may prove 

 useful to Northern agriculturists. Tbt; Peronospora 

 of the Vine is clo.sely related to that of the Potato, 

 and it seems not improbable that if it is an etflca- 

 eious remedy in the one case it may be so' in the other. 

 The hypothesis has already been supported. At 

 f)hateau l^aDgoa, belonging to Messrs. Barton. Tomatos 

 were attacked by a disease to all appearance due to 

 the development of the Peronospora of the Potato, 

 which is known to attack also tlie Tomato. M. Jouet, 

 t\ui steward oti the estate, who is a scientific agri- 

 culturist, treated the 'J'omatos like the Vines, and 

 succeeded in ilestioying the disease. Isolated as this 

 fact is, M. Prillieux thinks it should be made known, 

 so that l*otato growers may make in their fields, from 

 the first appearance of the ilisease. attempts similar to 

 those which have been carried out with such success 

 this year as regards the Viue in the Bledoc. — Garden- 

 irs' Chronicle. 



Tea in California. — A Oaliforaian paper thus refers 

 to Californian tea :^*' About four years ago Jlr. Gould 

 received from the Agricultural Oepartmeiit u package 

 of Japanese tea-seed. He planted and carefully cultiv- 

 ated it, and now at his ranch can be seen what is 

 a curiosity in this country — a large plot of tea plHnts. 

 They have done remarkably well, and he has raised 

 quite a quantity of superior tea. Some years ai;o the 

 experiment was tried in El Dorado (.'ounty without 

 success, but Mr. Gould has accidentally or other- 

 wise hit upon the right method of raising the plant, 

 and his success is a pointer for other farmers to 

 provide themselves with this luxury. i\Inre than that, 

 the find growth and excellent quality of this tea looks 

 as if its culture might be engaged in as a profitable 

 business. There is apparently no limit to the poss- 

 ibilities of Placer country if she tries." — Indian Tea 

 (tazrtU: [Tea may grow well, but where is the cheap 

 labour to he found? — Ed.1 



Oranges in Dominicv.— The weather has again 

 become excessively dry. Bain is much wanted for 

 the crops, especially for the lime and orange, which 

 are estimated as likely to fail short of even last 

 year's small harvests. In consequence of the past 

 drought a blight has fallen on the fruit of the orange 

 trees in certain localities. In others the fruit pro- 

 mises to be of fine size and flavour though small in 

 quantity. Buyers for the American markets have 

 commenced operations, but there is no reason why 

 freight to ioudon or Liveriiool should not be so 

 much lowered as to tempt large shipments of ffuit 

 at this season of the year, when neither St. MichaeVs 

 nor Mediterranean consignments are to he found in 

 English centres of consumption, and when the lioyal 

 Mail steamers return home half full and the Direut 

 Line has to seek elsewhere a homeward cargo. — 

 Dominica Dial. 



Cocaine. — The Sethia indica having been sent to me 

 under the name of Erythroxylon monogynum, is found 

 upon examination to contain a certain amount of 

 alkaloid. The Sethia acuminata, which has also bueu 

 .sent to me as a variety of Erythroxylon, is a drug 

 that has long been in use in Ceylon as a vermifuge, 

 and I have for some time distributed it in the form 

 of a fluid extract. At that time I was not aware that 

 it had passed under the name of Erythro.xylou. As 

 soon as further supplies of these two drugs arrive a 

 therapeutic examination will bo carefully made with 

 the alkaloids. I am glad to be able to record some 

 further valuable information of general interest re- 

 specting Erythoxylon Coca. Dr. Mamussein, of St. 

 Petersburg, gives au interesting account of the employ- 

 ment of the drug in sea-sickuess. Dr. G. H. A. Dahbs 

 reports this week in the Briti.-ik Medical Journal (p. 

 41'-^) that he has used cocaine most successfully in 

 four consecutive cases of childbirth, and that it is his 

 intention to use it in future cases. I can only add 

 that in one American journ.al that reached me last 

 week there were twelve notices of the employment 

 of cocaine, and in no one instai.ce have I as yet 

 been able to trace any ill efiV.cts from its use. 

 The employment of tlie Erythroxylon Coca has now 

 gone from the barbaric stage of deponding for the 

 effect by chewing the leaves (which might be fresh or 

 stale; this means that they might contain hardly any 

 percentage of cocaine, or, on the other hand, they 

 might contain 055 per cent), to the employment of 

 the alkaloid where the doses can be most accurately 

 a]>portioucd. Tlie solution of hydrochlorate of cocaine 

 with water is always better when made fresh, and it 

 is safe to apply it in any case of pain, even vvith 

 chihlren, by rubbing it in. It is most easily mixed 

 with vaseline, and rapidly allays pain in the joints. 

 A small quantity of the alkaloid may be put with 

 water and then placed on sugar, and it has a marked 

 eifoct upon any one suffering with a sore throat. 

 Thii price having fallen to about \<L per grain, it is 

 quite within the reach of any one.— T. Ohristy,— 

 Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



