6o8 



THE TROPICAL AGRfCULTURIST. 



[March i, 1886. 



district Uji, and are supposed to be unadulterated. The 

 accompanyiug table gives the result of the analyses. 

 On examining the table there eeems to be uo eonnectiou 

 between eonjuiereial quality and chemical composition, 

 but it is very interesting to observe how nearly the same 

 is the amount of the constituents in all specimens; 

 so that, in any instance it we find some of the con- 

 stituents, as ash, for instance, in quantity differing 

 from those found in the table, we may consider such 

 specimen lieing previously adulterated. Nitrogen in 

 the table was determined by Dumas' method. 



ANALYSIS OF JAPANESE TEAS. 



— Indian Mercurj/. 



Cocoa.— Accounts from Surinam are very favourable 

 respecting the Cocoa-Oulture ; even the young trees, 

 planted only five years ago in the Districts of Surinam 

 and Commewyue on abandoned sugar-fields have 

 surmoimted the many difficulties, and promise a good 

 crop. The one-year-old trees, on the contrary, are 

 in a less favourable condition, owing mainly to in- 

 sutficieut sheltering against the heat of the sun, and 

 are partially lost. Additional plantings of cocoa are 

 constantly being continued. There is great scarcity 

 of available manual labour, and this want is felt most 

 scTorely in proportion, as the estates are father from 

 the capital, — Indian Mefcv.ri/. 



Ivoaii Mn.UKW — Ojpsum.— Some correspondence having 

 appeared in your columns with reference to the above, 

 it would be well perhaps to consiilcr mildew which 

 affects other plants in order to experiment in the 

 hope of destroying it in Hoses. Hops are likewise 

 subject to a " mould *' or mildew, which Mr, C. AVhite- 

 head remarks in his treatise on *' Hops from the Set 

 to the Skylight,*' ''is due to an insidious parasitic 

 fungus, known as Spa-rotheca Oastffgnei, of the group 

 Krysiphe, allied -to the fungus which causes the 

 mildew in Vines." Sulphur is applied to Hops in 

 the form of flowers of svdphur by means of a 

 machine called a sulphurator, which dusts it over 

 thu plants, and it is generally considered to be a 

 cure for the mildew, and a preventive if put on 

 early. An agricultural chemist, in giving a lecture 

 cn tho subjeet to » funners' club in this neighbour- 



hood, gave it as his opuiion that if sulphur was 

 applied m an available form to the roots he believed 

 that It would pi-eveut mildew. A Hop trrower after- 

 wards stated that he had found this theory cor- 

 roborated by practice, and that having applied sulphur 

 m the form of gypsum to his Hops they were very 

 free from aiould, while his neighbour's on the other 

 side of the hedge were badly attacked. The above 

 cbeniist stated that sulphur as applied by flowers of 

 sulphur is not assimilable by the roots, while it is n-heu 

 supplied in gypsum. As an analogy the human frame 

 needs phosphorus and potash, but they cannot be taken 

 in tho crude mineral form without doing as much harm 

 as good, while if taken in an assimilable form in veget- 

 ables they are of great benefit. Hence those growers 

 who have applied quantities of sulphur at a considerable 

 expense to the leaves have only derived a temporary and 

 incomplete benefit, and have not goie to the root of 

 the matter.— \Vm, Thompson, Tweed V^ineyard.— 

 Joti'i-nal of Horticulture. 



Wynaad Notes, 2-2nd Jan. 1886.— A longer period 

 than usual has elapsed since I last sent you any news ' 

 from our ijuict corner of the world. Indeed there is 

 seldom much to tell of AVynaad now-a-days, and that 

 not generally of too exhilai-,itin^ a nature. Our crop 

 season is pretty nearly over, and carries with it, I fear 

 many disappointments in the matter of unfulfilled 

 estimates. Here and there the balance is to the good, 

 but such good fortune is, unhappily, rather the excep- 

 tion than the rule, The prices, too, are terribly dis- 

 couraging, and do not seem iuulined to improve. Wo 

 pin our faith, as a rule, upon cinchona, and here, if we 

 dare to judge by appearance, we liave good reason to 

 anticipate a more hopeful future. Nearly allour plant- 

 ings, especially of the Ledgeriaua variety, are in splendid 

 condition, and so encouraging is their appearance and 

 growth that largo openings in all directions are in 

 preparation for the next planting season. There will 

 probably be a great demand for first-class plants, 

 which is met in anticipation by sundry extensive 

 nurseries. South \Vynaad is decidedly proving 

 itself to be the home of the Ledger, although not 

 so many years ago it was a subject of nmch speculation 

 amongst those learned in such matters whether 

 Ledger, or indeed any kind of cinchonaj would live in 

 om- climate .and elevation. Opiuioas still vary 

 considerably concerning the best method of cultivation 

 and preparation of the bark. Many devices arc tried 

 to discover the really best way of removiug the bark, 

 of drying it, and, above all, of encouraging a renewed 

 growth upon the denuded st>^nis, .some being in favor 

 of the old system "f protection by moss and grass, and 

 others believing in the better success of a hardening 

 system produced by leaving the barked portions wholly 

 expo.'-ed. It is a question to be answered by experi- 

 ence, nnd, no doubt, the results would depend greatly 

 upon the situation of the trees and the weather at the 

 time of harvesting. Another subject of very keen 

 interest and discussion has been the colour of our 

 coffee. Great complaints were made last year in 

 tho Home markets of the colour of Indian coffee, 

 and strenuous efforts have resulted by our Associ- 

 ation to discover the cause of so damaging an 

 effect. Very many opinions are iu favor of 

 drying the produce under .shade, and e.'.periments 

 avo being tried to decide upon the best way of 

 carrying out so entirely new a system. Vnforttui.itely, 

 the wenthor w,is exceptionally bad just at the tinle 

 whi-n most of us -nerc in full pick. Indeed, .such a 

 season has hardly ever been known, and our climate 

 seems to have altogether altered its usual routine, 

 We have hardly any land-winds, and only a few of 

 the cold nights and mornings to whieli we are accus- 

 tomed in December. Ins'ead of this, there was a 

 considerable amount of r.ain about Christmas, and now 

 we are having reRidnr hot weather such as we nsuallv 

 expect in March and April. Vou may imagine; thi- 

 difficulties of drjing under shade, with a w.inn rain 

 dripping contiinially upon the seething hi-iips of colfcc, 

 which pisitively, iu some cases, commeuccd gcrnn'ii- 

 ating before it "could be removed t) the Coast.— 

 Madrm Time'. 



