682 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1886. 



upon barley, the leguminous crops, clover sickness, 

 root crops, and potatoes. The memoranda close with 

 a Kvnopsis of a series of experiment'' upon rotations 

 of crops commenced in 1848 in order to test the 

 effect of growing crops in rotation, instead of con- 

 tinuously, and so to arrive at precise results when 

 ft system of mixed farming is pursued with and 

 without manures, and in conjunction with sheep farm- 

 ing.— John Wkiohton. — Xalure. 



PRUNING. 

 The question is frequently asked, Do you approve 

 or disapprove of pruning. The question thus put is 

 unfair, and would therefore elicit an unfair answer. 

 Principles for pruning may be laid down, but rules 

 cannot be given without incurring the risk of doing 

 more harm than good. That certain operations of 

 pruning can be done with good effect there ought to 

 be no doubt or hesitation, but that much mischievous 

 and injurious pruning is done daily is equally certain, 

 and to be lamented. It gladdens the eye and rejoices 

 the heart of every good forester to see right and 

 proper pruning done, and it correspondingly distrssses 

 him to .see wh.it he is doomed to witness every day 

 in the malpractice of the art. Gutting off a branch 

 is a very simple and unimportant act in itsell^, but it 

 may be a grand and successful stroke or a deadly and 

 disastrous one. The leading principle to be observed 

 is never to cut off a branch from a tree unless ab- 

 solutely necessary — necessary in a sense akin to that 

 of the amoutating of a limb from the human body. 

 One of the causes of improper pruning being so common 

 is on account of the fallacious belit^f that if one branch 

 or limb is cut off, the sap which formerly flowed into 

 it will, after the aniputation is done simply change 

 its current and How into the adjoiuing branch, and 

 thereby give to the one what w-as taken from the 

 othfc.-. In the case of a tree growing up with a forked 

 or double si em, one of them is cut away, for the 

 simple reason that, if allowed to grow in that form, 

 the future tree would be less than half the value it 

 would otherwise be with a single stem or trunk. 



This, however, is not generally regarded as the only 

 object gained by cutting away the twin stem, for it 

 is the popular belief, that if the twin stems are each 

 annu'^lly gaining 2 inches in girth, if one of the two 

 is cut away, the one left will not. as formerly, grow 

 oidy at the rate of 4 inches annually- Tliis theory, 

 though not unlikely, is a false one, for it will be found 

 by any one who may choose to examine the structure 

 of the wood years after the operation has taken place, 

 that the lay* rs or zoin s in the stem had not increased 

 as anticipated, but in all likelihood had rather de- 

 creased. 8ome sections of wood in our possession, cut 

 for the purpose of examining their structures, show 

 one general though not uniform resulL va.ying in 

 certain particulars. Some of them show a consi'^T- 

 able falli- g off in tho thickness of the layers, beginning 

 with the first season's growth, in otiier-i ihe ' crease 

 is not visible till the second year, but in all the 

 sections the third year's laver is somewhat thinner 

 than the one produced dunug the year iu which the 

 operation was made. 



How and by what means, then, ia the stem ever 

 to be increased in tbicknes* if it thus decreases as 

 shove described ? It increases by a new and different 

 Jjrocess of growth altogether, in the following manner, 

 "ioon after the stems have been separated the bark 

 of the remaining one begins to show little risings here 

 Slid there which in due time produce buds, these 

 agsin form .stnall twigs, which ultimately form branches 

 and limbs. It is from this new set of spray and 

 branches that the stem growth begins to increase — 

 from no other source and from no other cause. Now, 

 if we thoroughly understand this principle of physiol ■ 

 ogy, it will help us greatly in regard to pruning, and 

 keep us out of many errors commonly fallen into. 

 The result of pruning is to create rather than de- 

 velope I to form a new series of growths rather than 

 increa?!' and extend the old ones. When any branch 

 is cutolT, the result is, that an embryo bud in its neigh- 

 bourhood is thereby eo far influenced by the operiitiou 



that it developes into a new and distinct branch, and 

 starts growth, as it were, on its own account, rather 

 than by contributing to the growth of the branch 

 from which it takes its rise. I saw the other day an 

 •lample of what I have been trying to describe. It 

 was a Sycamore shoot of underwood of about IJ inch 

 in diameter from which a branch had been lopped off 

 in the ordinary work of heading back game covert. 

 At the cut part a young shoot had started, and at 

 four years' growth had become thicker than the original 

 stem of ten or twelve years' growth from which it 

 sprung.— C. Y. Michie, Csllen House, Banffshire.— 

 Ga/'dfners^ l^hrnnicle. 



LIQUORICE ROOT IN SYRIA AND SPAIN. 

 The United States Government, having sent out » 

 letter of instructions to Consuls to make inquiries as 

 to the conditions under which liquorice root is grown, 

 has received the following reports: — 



Liquorice Root in Syria. — Mr, Oonsjl Poche says : — 

 " From all the information I could gather in the 

 vicinity of Aleppo about the plant, it results that it 

 is not cultivated in any part and grows wild in a 

 large tract of this vill.ige. 



" The root only is utilized. As to the plant itself, 

 it is of no use. The plant that grows iu the vicinity 

 of towns iR \ised for the heating of ovens. The cultiv- 

 ation of the root iu this province, for exportation, 

 dates from twenty years ago, and was inaugurated 

 by a French manufacturer, Mr. Vidal, who established 

 a factory in Antioch for the preparation of the root, 

 which, after being dug out of the gi'ound and dried, 

 used to be scraped, made into faggot packages of 

 three different sizes, and exported to France and 

 Spain, where they used it for the preparation of the 

 drink called "coco" ( liquorice-water l, and for pharm- 

 aceutical purposes. This enterprise, after some years 

 of existence, failed, owing to bad management. 



" For a long time this commerce was abandoned, 

 when a few years since some firms of Smyrna, who 

 deal in this article with the United States, sent their 

 agents to Antioch, and began in the plains which sur- 

 round this city to cultivate this root, which is ex- 

 ported in its wild state, either to .Smyrna or direct 

 to America. The exports have been simultaneously 

 made at the ports of Suedich and Alexandretta. 

 The cultivation of this root — which is considered to 

 be the plague of the lands where it grows, as the latter 

 cannot be u.ied for any other culture, and to clear 

 the same of it would requu'e a long, assiduous, and 

 very expensive work— has become an important re- 

 source for this province, which previeusly used but 

 a very small quantity of it to make the beverage 

 known under the name of ''coco." The right to root 

 up this plaut from the lauds where it grows is bought 

 from f be })roprietors fur a certain number of years, 

 as the reproduction, notwithstanding the uprooting of 

 the plant, is effected very rapidly. As soon as the 

 first rains of November fall, aud the plaut becomes 

 completely <liy, and the sap is re-abo.sorbed by the 

 roots, workmen begin with spades to pull this root 

 out, This article, iu a damp condition, is heaped up 

 in sticks on a bed of pebbles placed on sloping ground, 

 which allows the raiu-waters during the winter to 

 run ea.'iily down. To prevent the overhe.iting aud 

 tho moulding of the root in question, tbe,se stocks, 

 in the month of February, are turned upside down, 

 This expensive operation is repeated at different times 

 until the month of June, at which time, the drying 

 being conipli te, the transport to the port of shipment 

 is made on camrN' backs. The firm of .VIe.vander Sidi, 

 of Smyrna, which hns effected the most important 

 purchases in this year, for the account of on American 

 company, has Just established at Ale.\andretta presses 

 movi d by steam, which will be used for the pressing 

 of the liquorice root. 



" The qnantity which vill be exported thi« year 

 from the ports of Suedich and Alexandretta can be 

 estimated at about G,000 tons, at an approximate value 

 of l!)2,0nO dollars." 



Liiji'oricc Boot in Spnin. — Mr. Consul Marstou 

 eays — "(The plant gfows . iM, It requires wild, low, 



