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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1886, 



Tbb LoQnAT.— In the Zeitschriftd . ally, ostei-rticli. 

 Apoth.-Tereines (.(auiiary 1, p. 13,) Dr. Ppckolt gives 

 an. account of the \oqa\t (Erioboti\i/(( Japiinica).v/hKh, 

 although a native ut .Tapau aud China, Houriahes 

 freely in Brazil. In the flesh of the fruit he finds, 

 as the more important ingre Jients, 5034 per cent of 

 fruit sugar, 1674 of free organic acid, 0-155 of citric 

 aoid in combination, and 0-145 of a yellowish resinous 

 colouring matter ; in the seeds, a fat of the consistence 

 of soft tallow 0416 per cent, a brownish resin OKiO, 

 amorphous amygdaliuO'150, aud bitter extractive niatter 

 1-300. He finds that the leaves taken in infusion, in 

 the proportion of 30 grams to 240 grams of water, in 

 the dose of a tablespoonful every two hours, produce 

 a goad effect in diarrhrea. The tincture of the leaves 

 is employoil in indigestion, and it is saiil with ex- 

 cellent results, but of this Dr. Peokolt has no personal 

 knowledge. — Fharmar/nttical Journal. 



Flowehs .vnd Health. — Professor Mantogazza,_ of 

 Pavia, has discovered that ozone is generated in im- 

 mense quantities by all plants aud flowers possessing 

 green leaves and aromatic odours. Hyacinths, miguon- 

 ette, heliotrope, lemon, mint, lavender, narcissus, 

 cherry laurel, and the like all throw off ozone largely 

 on exposure to the sun's rays. So powerful is this great 

 atmospheric purifier, that it is the belief of chemists 

 that whole districts can be redeemed from the deadly 

 malaria which infests them by simply covering them 

 with aromatic vegetation. The bearing of this upon 

 flower culture in our large cities is also very important 

 Kxperiments have proved that the air of cities contains 

 less ozone than that of the surroumling country, and 

 the thickly inhabited parts of cities less than the more 

 sparsely built, or than the parks aud open sijuares. 

 Plants and flowers and green trees can alone restore 

 the balance ; so that every little flower-pot is not merely 

 ft thing of beauty while it lasts, but has a direct and 

 beneficial influence upon the health of the neighbour- 

 hood in which it is found. — Planter and Fai-,ner. 



Indian Tea. — John Ohinaman had better set to work 

 at once to improve the quality of the tea he sells to 

 the outer barbarians. They are no longer bound to 

 resort to him for their supplies, and the instructive 

 annual report of Messrs. Gow. Wilson, ami Stanton 

 shows that they are more and more availing themselves 

 of this freedom of choice. In 1S64 the average 

 monthly consumption in thi.s country wa.s '\ million 

 pounds, India's share in the supply being only 3 per 

 cent, of the total. But last year she furnished 39 per 

 cent, of the total consumed— a .surpiisiug advance in 

 such a comparatively short period. Nor is this all. 

 Since 187H, when the importati(m of China tea reached 

 its maximum it has steadily diminished, whereas that 

 of its Indian rival has increased largely and almost 

 uninterruptedly throughout the wliole period of 22 

 years. It now has a dangerous competitor in the field 

 iu Oeylon tea, which, according to the circular, is de- 

 stined to revolutionise the markets of the world. 

 Although the industry is of quite recent origin in the 

 sweet-scented island, the average monthly deliveries iu 

 England last year amounted to 26^.000 lbs., or 3,216,000 

 per annum, while the ijuantity estimated as likely to 

 be imported this year is fl,(IOO,0(JO lbs. ]''ortunately for 

 tea growers, there seems no limit to the iucrease of 

 consumption in these inles. Last year's consumption 

 —the highest on record— was 17^.655,000 lb., being 

 4'91 lbs. per head of the population. It seems almost 

 incredible that every man, woman, and child in the 

 United Kingdom consumed, on the aver.ige, very nearly 

 6 lbs. of tea in the course of twelve nwR\h*.—(rlohr, 

 [With the gradual displacement of alcoholic drinks. 

 the consumption per head will probably in the next 

 quarter of a century be doubled, a largo i)roportion of 

 the 10 lb. per caput being Ceylon tea.— En. I 



SUOAB PlANTATION PROPKRTV IN inE iSAVOWirH 



Islands. — The recent annual meeting of the Hawaiian 

 Commercial and Hugar Company disclosed .some inter- 

 esting information relative to the largest sugar 

 plantation on the Hawaiian I.slands. The area of the 

 property is 21,000 acres, only a portion of which is 

 yet under cultiv.ation. This," with the mill buildings 

 and all other property of the company, is worth 

 S3,«75,4(i7-60, The Jiabilities amomit to ,S 1,2 11,975-64, 



thus leaving a surplus of assets of §2.433,491 '96 — more 

 than the amount of the capital paid np, which is 

 •¥2,250, 000. The sugar crop of 1885 was 6,660 tons, 

 which sold at S10218 per ton, yielding the sum of 

 S681,240. The price realised was $14-22 more per ton, 

 than for the 18S4 crop. The 1886 crop, the cutting 

 of which will be commenced iu December, is safely 

 estimated at 11,000 tons. At SlOO per ton this means 

 the nice little sum of §1,100,000, from which must be 

 deducted $60,000 per month, er §220,000 for working 

 expenses, leaving in the neighbourhood of §400,000 as 

 the year's profits. The crop of 1887 will b- still larger, 

 as the area under cultivation is being increased. It 

 may be safe t") assume that iu three years from now 

 the company will be out of debt and have an annual 

 profit of half a million dollars for the declaration of 

 dividends on a paid-up capital of $225,000. The 

 plantation property is the largest aud best equipped 

 on the Hawaiian "islands and it is generally conceded 

 that it has no equal in any )iart of the world. It 

 is fitted with the best and most improved labour and 

 juice saving machinery. Japanese labour is now 

 being utilized as much as possible in preference to 

 Chinese. It has an excellent and complete system 

 of irrigation ; there are 4S miles of railroad. 4 engines 

 and 498 cars for the hauling of cane. Of .the 

 whole crop of 1885, Sn per cent of the sugar, over 

 5,300 tons, was No. 1, the average polarisation of 

 which wa.s 96-5 per cent of .sugar. The remaining 20 

 per cent, second and third grades, averaged a polar- 

 isation of 854 degrees. It would be interestiue to learn 

 where such a showing for so large a yield can be 

 exceeded.— lustra/ffsia/i Trade Kemev. 



The Nut.meg. — Of immense commercial importance 

 is the nutmeg tree, Mi/ristica mn^cliata, or M. aromat- 

 ica. It is also ornamental by its clusters of berries 

 or fruit. The plant is not commonly met with in 

 this country, .nnd it is seldom grown except in botan- 

 ical or officinal collections. Its cultivation, however, 

 i.s not difficult. It thrives in a sandy loam and brisk 

 heat, and cuttings strike freely inserted iu sand and 

 placed in heat under a bell-glass. Of the Nutmeg 

 tree Dr. Hogg has written as follows in; his "Veget- 

 able Kingdom":— "It is a naiive of the Moluccas 

 and neighbouring islands, but it is now cultivated in 

 .Tava, Sumatra, Penang, the Isle of Bourbon, M.auritins, 

 and other parts of the East, and in Cayenne, Mar- 

 tinique, and sonie of the West Indian island.--. It 

 attains the height of thirty feet, with a straight 

 stem and a branching bead. The leaves are oblong- 

 oval. glo,-sv on the upper Rurf.ice and whitish beneath, 

 and with an aromatic taste. The flowers are male 

 and female ou different trees, insignificant, and of a 

 jellowish colour. The fruit is round or oval, about 

 the size of a small peach, with a smooth surface, 

 green at first, but becoming yellow when ripe. The 

 external covering, which may be called .1 husk, is 

 thick and fleshv, containing an austere astringent 

 juice ; becoming dry by maturity, it opens in two valves, 

 and discovers the nut covered with its aril, or mace, 

 which is of a beautiful blood-red colour; beneath the 

 mace is a brown shining shell containing the kernel 

 or Nutme?. A plantation of Nutmeg trees is always 

 made from seed, and it not till the eighth or ninth 

 year that the trees prodvice flowers. The sex> s being 

 on different trees, after the plants are two years old 

 thev are all headed .lown aud grafted with scions 

 taken from the female tree, reserving only one male stock 

 for fecundation. The natives of the Molu cas gather 

 the frnit by hand, strip off and i eject the pulpy husk, 

 iletach the mace carefully, and expose it to the sun, 

 which soon changes it-s beautiful blood-red colour to 

 a light brown: it is then sprinkled with sea w-at<>r 

 to render it flexible and preserve it. The mils are 

 first sun-dried and then smoked, until the kernels 

 rattle against the shell. Tiiis shell being removed, 

 the kernels are dipped twice or thrice in lime water, 

 laid in heaps for two or three days, wiped, ami packed 

 inhales or barrels. The unripe fruit of the Nutmeg is 

 frequently pro.served in sugar in the East ; aud before 

 doing so "it is neee-^Kary to deprive it of its acrid pro- 

 perties by soaking it in spirits."— /oj^rim? nf BorH- 

 culture , 



