i-tB, 1, 1886. 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



591 



ago caileii to a very stroug form of cobweb, spun by 

 an African species of spider, which yieltleil a fibre 

 scarcely distiug-tishablc from that made by the silk- 

 worm. This notice suggested to Jlr. Duthie the idea 

 of having some experiments made will\ spiders' webs 

 which are fouud in great abundance at lihini Tall. 

 He accordingly obtained a ejuantity of these webs. 

 and sent them on to Mr. Thiselton Dyer, at Kew, 

 to have them examined by an expert. The report 

 received from this expert, Mr. T. Wardle. is most 

 encouraging. The fibre can be freed from the gum- 

 my substance with which it is loaded by boiling it in 

 a solutou of soap, and is then found to have an 

 average thickness of one three thousand one hun- 

 dredth of au inch, which is considerably finer than 

 that of Italian silk. The sti-ength of the fibre is al' 

 proportioually greater than that of silk, butitschiei 

 characteristic is its great elasticty. A piece 30 centi- 

 meters long will stretch to ii6'6 centimetres without 

 briMkiug, whilst China silk of the same length would 

 stretch to only M centimetres. The spider silk has 

 a round lustrous fibre like common silk, but the 

 amount of gummy matter associated with it in the 

 natural state is excessive, amounting to nearly fifty 

 per cent. The fibre dyes readily, aiul Mr. Wardle be- 

 lieves that if it could be obtained iu any quantity it 

 would find a ready market. The specimen sent him 

 was rather dirty, but still he thinks it would be 

 worth at least 2 shillings per lb. Hitherto, we suppose, 

 the only usri to which spiiler's webs have been put — 

 except by the spiders themselves— has been that of 

 forming the '* cross wires '' in telescopes and micro- 

 meters. For this purpose, where a fine and fairly 

 .•'troug fibre is absolutely required, nothing has been 

 found to be so satisfactory as a rapidly spun spider's 

 web. When a web is required a suitable spider is 

 placed on one prong of a frokcd stick which is held 

 ID the baud of the operator. When the spider has been 

 got into the proper position the stick is tapped 

 sharply, so that the spider falls off spinning a fine 

 thread as it goes, this thread is then wound across 

 the forks, and is ready for use. When the operation 

 is properly perrormed a beautifully fine thread is ob- 

 tained wbicli may be used under very high magnifj'- 

 ing powers. Returning to the Bhim Tal spiders : the 

 Kev. O. P. Cambridge reports that they belong 

 to the Ept-irids (yrpltileni/us Malabureii.-ii.i. Il'iilck). 

 It is almost cosmopolitan, and is certainly met with 

 iu India, China, Austra ia, Borneo, and West Africa. 

 He considers the silk very strong, and almost inde- 

 structible, but points out that since spiders devour 

 each other it will be impossible to feed and cultiv- 

 ate them like sdk worms without an unreasonable 

 amount of trouble and expense. 



The report contains, as an appendix, au account 

 of a botanical tour made by Mr. Duthie to North- 

 Eastern Kumain. This journey involved the crossing 

 of the Kal.im Pass I8,7tlO feet above sea level. One 

 night was spent in camp on the glacier at a height 

 of 17,41X1 feet without fuel, and with a very scanty 

 stock of provisions. The whole party- suffered to a 

 cert. in extent from the effects of the high elevation. 

 One man thought himself .so ill that he wished to 

 lie left behind to die when the party moved on next 

 day, aud Mr. Duthie remarks suggestively "a little 

 more than coaxing had to be exercised in order to 

 prevent his carrying out his wish." The inhabitants 

 of the valley bcyoml the pass are mostly Bhutias. 

 They ha%o Iwen hardly at all affected by Brahminisro; 

 have no family priest* or pnrdhits; they worship the 

 local deities, the presiding spirits of the mountain top 

 and stceaui. Marriages result from the free choice of 

 the young men and women, and are celebrated simply 

 by a feast ; seclusion of the women is unknown. 

 They distil a hquor called " jan " from wheat, and 

 take bouts of hard drinking. Their wealth consists 

 of their flocks of sheep, goats, and yaks. They weave 

 and sell woollen cloths, and act as merchants be- 

 t^veen Tibet and India, carrying borax from Tibet to 

 Ba-mdco, and bringing sugar, cloth, &c., from the 

 Indian plains for sale in Tibet. A large number of 

 plants of species which were either new or previously 



unrecorded for Kumaou, were obtained, lists of which/ 

 with the elevations at which they were obtained, are 

 appended to the report. 



A feature of the Ciardens, which seems wortJiy of 

 imitation, is their use as a school for training gard- 

 eners. During the year, fifteen trained men left the 

 fiardens for appointments in various parts of the 

 I ountry, on salaries of RIC to R15 per mensem 

 The distribution of men of this kind through the 

 country cannot fail to have a considerable influence 

 in improving the garden culture of the districts where 

 they settle, by introducing the more scientific methods 

 of horticulture which they themselves have learned 

 at such thoroughly practical schools, — Madras Mail. 



The ENauiKiES under crop diseases and blight show 

 that nearly all our staples are affected by some kind 

 of disease or other. Mr. Ozanne's remarks on the 

 subject are thoroughly practical, and we have some 

 hope that, iu the not distant future, some remedies 

 may be found to rid these crops of their pests. — Indian 

 A'ji'iciUtifiist. 



Fruit Thees i.\ (,(ueensl.\nd. — The following table 

 of the growth of fruit-trees upon the selection of Mr 

 T. E. White (of Alfred Shaw & Co.), situated close 

 to Cairns, is interesting as showing how ferti le is the 

 soil and genial the climate. None of the trees mentioned 

 have been planted over two years. The cocoa-trees 

 are growing without any shelter ; the cinchona were not 

 raised from seed, but were direct importations from 

 Oeylou: — 



Cinchona, up to 



Mango, „ 



Jack-fruit, „ 



Cocoa, ,, 



Lemon, „ 



Tamarind, „ 



Gum copal, „ 



Date plum, „ ... ... 



Flacourtia, ,, 



Brazilian cherry, up to 

 — Queenslander. 



Insecticides. — Dr. Thomas Taylor, microscopist of 

 the If. S. Department of Agriculture, read a paper 

 iu Washington iu December, 1883, showing the value 

 of naphtaliue as an insecticide. The naphtaline ex- 

 perimented with was solid matt*r precipitated in bar- 

 rels from the oil of tar, and was used in the form 

 of a powder. Some of the powder sprinkled in a box 

 was fouud sutbcieut to kill potato bugs, the winged 

 phylloxera, the common house fly, ants, termites and 

 beetles. Worms in flower-pots were driven out dead 

 when brought iu ci/nt.act with the fumes of the gas 

 I given oH' by naphthaline. Frogs were killed by the 

 same treatment, and animal life of all kinds was dealt 

 ! with similarly, proving that naphthaline was an insecti- 

 cide of great value. Other experiments .showed that 

 while it had this great power over in.sect aud animal 

 life it did not affect plant life injuriously. It could 

 be placed in close quarters with the roots, the leaves, 

 1 or the seeds of plants without destroying or mater- 

 I ially affecting their vitality. Buried in the ground 

 j among the roots it would kill or drive away insect life 

 or worms ; shut in with plants it would effectually 

 dispose of vermin, and perhaps cause a leaf or two 

 to wilt, without doing any permanent injury; while 

 put away with seeds for a year it wofild siniply keep 

 away all insect depredators and not in any way affect 

 their germinating powers. This should be of great 

 value in preserving seed, wheat maize— in fact, sheds 

 of every description from the depredations of weevils. 

 Dr. Bancroft has recently experimented in this direc- 

 tion with strong-smelling leaves, such as the leaver 

 of the small-ti-tree to, at least, some purpose ; but 

 this naphthaline appears to be very strongly needed. 

 It might do to preserve grain retpilred as food for 

 stock ; still, it ought to be trie<l and a final conclusion 

 reached — but for banishing weevils from seed of any 

 description it should he invaluable. — Queensland Aj/n- 

 , culturtst. 



