March i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



611 



9. Joannfsia (Atula) Gouuaii. — This is a haadsome 

 tree, growiug to the height of 50 or GO feet aud 

 belongs to the natural onler Kiiphoi'beacee. It is a 

 native of Brazil where tlie bark is said to be used 

 *' as a certain remedy for diarrhioa brought on by 

 cold,"* while the seeds are reported to possess power- 

 ful but safe purgative ))roperties. I received seeds 

 of this tree last autumn from Mr. Cameron, Curator 

 of the Lai Kagh, Bangalore, who writes word that 

 It nourishes well there. The seeds have germinated 

 and young plants raised from them. 



10. Acacia h'jmah'fihi/lla. — This is the tree wliieh | 

 produces the Australian violet wood. A small speci- j 

 men fruited sparingly for the first time la>t year in 

 the Government Gardens in |Ootaeamunii. The climate 

 here, however, seems to be rather too cold fur its 

 fidl development, but I should think that at elev- 

 ations ranging from three to four thousand feet it 

 would thrive well and might prove an important ad- 

 dition to our timber trees. 



11. //oa-.— This at an elevation from 5,000 to 7,000 

 grows more vigorously than I have ever seen it do 

 in Europe, and I have planted a small plot of ground 

 near the Jail on the Dodabetta estate with the 

 view of finding out if it may not be profitably 

 grown to supply the wood engraver's trade. 



12. Castiltoa ela/tica. — The few plants of this 

 rubber yielding tree, which were put out two years 

 ago at Barlij~lr, are growing grandly. 



Last winter I went down at the request of Major 

 Campbell Walker, Conservator of Forests, Southern 

 Circle, to inspect the nursery of Castilloas which 

 had been formed in Mr. Ferguson's garden and to 

 advise how they might be best increased. I 

 found the plants in beautiful condition and growing 

 vigorously, aud I was able to take from them about 

 1-50 excellent cuttings. These I planted myself in 

 pots aud plunged tuem in beds of soil which were 

 also made under my direct supervision, and I gave 

 minute instructions as to how they should be treated. 

 Since that time it has been reported — i-iile li. O., 

 No. 766, dated 25th June 18s5, relating to a letter 

 from Ma]or Campbell-Walker — that although my in- 

 structious had been followed carefully, not a single 

 cutting took root. 



This is odd, for wheu the same instructions are 

 carried out iu the Gorernment Gardens at Ootacamund 

 the failures are less than 5 per cent of the cuttings 

 planted. The failure at Calicut would appear to have 

 been due to a want of judgment in watering the 

 cuttings in their early stage, before the cut ends 

 had calloused over. 



When the side shoots are used as cuttings, difficulty 

 has often been e.xperieuced in getting the plants 

 rai.sed from these to form a leader and grow upright ; 

 they generally sprawl along the ground. To obviate 

 this it is only necessary to cut the young plants back 

 to about a foot from the grou d when sides shoots 

 will be formed, auy of whieh will of themselves pro- 

 duce a leader, 



13. Crura. — This fruits freely at llarliyar aud the 

 seed appears to be eaten by birds and deposited iu 

 the neighbouring jungle, for young plants have been 

 found growing where they never ha-l been p'anted 

 by man. If this is so, we may look forward to the 

 Ceara rubber tree becoming a denizen of our ghat 

 forests. 



14. Miuigosteetu. — These fruite<l very well last year 

 at Barliyur and arc again this year promising to 

 yield a large crop. The Slangosteen is an extremely 

 beautiful tree and gives a very ilense shade. It 

 ought to be grown all over the Presidency. 



15. lAUhi. — This too fruited freely lust year at 

 Barliyar ; it grows readily from seed and like the 

 Mangosteen deserves to be b«tter known than it is at 

 present. 



16. Caroli trfr. — This thrives well Ijoth at Barliyar 

 and at Kalhatti, but in both places the trees bear 

 staminate (lowers only. 



17. Acacia ilfcnrri-ni, — This tanning yielding acacia 

 is being grown successfully at Coonoor by private 

 persons, and, I believe, also by Mr. Gamble. It grows 



fairly well at Ootacanmnd, but does not fruit, Thii 

 is due probably to the wet gloomy weather coming 

 at the time when it begiiLS to flower, I have sceu 

 it growing maguificiontly on the I'alui hills where it 

 tlowers and fruits freely. 



18. Maho^ani/. — Two casks of mahogany seed which 

 had been received by the Kew authorities from Jamaica 

 have just arrived in excellent order. I have dis- 

 tributed all but a few pounds of it ; the greater 

 amount going to the Forest Department and to the 

 Agri-Horticultural Garden at JIadras. 



19. I'^dibtr Prickly-ptar ft'om i'ljprng. — Living speci- 

 mens were sent to the Government (hardens at 

 Ootiujamuud by the Director of Agriculture aud Ke- 

 veuue Settlement last winter. 'J'ho fruit hail been 

 highly recommended by Dr. Bonavia, Civil Surgeon, 

 Ktawah, Xorth-\\'estern I'rovinces, who thought it 

 might be ad\antageously grafted upon the wild worth- 

 less prickly-pear «f the plains. The plauts arrived in 

 fair condition and have been planted out at Kalhatti 

 where they are doiug so well that it does not seem 

 at all likely that it will be ever neces.sary to have 

 recourse to grafting them upon the wild plants. 



20. The following plants mentioned iu my last year's 

 report are all doing well : — 



liluis \:trmctfira or the ,Tapan Lacquer plant. 

 Rhus siiccedanea or the Japan wax plant. 

 Quilaja sapaiiai-ia. — The latter was put out last 

 year in the Government Gardens at Ootacamund. 

 It was untouched by the winter frosts aud is now 

 more than six feet high. 



The Kilmer X Amelia and Cochin-Ghina tuheruus rootti 

 vine have also been planted out and are doing well. 



21. Waras. — I was asked last year by Mr. Thiselton 

 Dyer to obtain information for him about this 

 dye. This I have done, and from specimens which 

 I sent to Kew varus turns out to be the produce of 

 Fli'mlityia Grahaiiiiaua and F. conyesta. With respect 

 to the distinctive characters of these two species, 1 

 l)ointed out that after studying the plants in their 

 liviug condition, I did not think them sufficiently 

 constant to allow of the two species being kept 

 separate, and in this opinion both Mr. Thiselton 

 Dyer and Professor Oliver now concur. The iraras 

 yields a beautiful dye when applied to animal sub- 

 stances such as silk or wool, but it is inferior as a 

 dye when used for the purpose of coloring vegetable 

 products such as cotton or linen. Mr. Thiselton Dyer 

 has kndly obtained for me a London expert's opinion 

 upon the value of trams, and I regret to say that 

 it is not such as is likely to lead one to believe that 



I it will ever become an object of commercial interest. 



! I may mention that when I was in Madras last 

 winter, I was at the Agri-Horticultural Gardeus's flower- 

 show a specimen of wacas in a native dyer's collection 

 which was being exhibited, and from which it would 

 appear that ifaras is not unknown as a dye in India. 



22. Mr. T. Haubury has seut some three hundred 

 packets of seeds from his garden iu Italy. Most 

 have germinated, and I shall hope to report upon the 

 more interesting species next year. 



I'ahie of Nil'jiri peat as fatl. — During the past year 

 I have paid some attention to the manner in which 

 peat is formed on these Hills and have experimented 

 upon it, with the view of finding out what its value 

 as a fuel may be. The peat on these Hills is formed 

 entirely from plants belonging to the sub-kingdora 

 rhaniiof/amia such as sedges and other marsh loving 

 plants. There are no mosses which enter into its 

 composition as is commonly the case in the northern 

 and more temperate regions. 



The value of the peat as a rule is very inferior 

 to that found in northern countries, and this ii 

 apparently due not to any inherent badness of the 

 plants which go to form the peat, but to the great 

 admixture of inorganic substances which are blended 

 with it. The cause of this ailmixturc is due to the 

 amount of soil which every year is carried down from 

 the Hills during floods and spr«!ad over the surface of 

 the peat forming swamps. There is, however, some 

 which is very good, notably that which is commonly 

 sold as fuel iu Ootacamund by General Baker, This ii 



