May I, 1886,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



783 



found in the Aru islands, and the small emerald (P. 

 papuam, Bechst), the plumage of the latter being 

 used to decorate alike the head gear of eastern rajabs 

 and western dames of fashion. The redbird has Hew- 

 ing side plumes of rich crimson instead of yellow. 

 The king-bird is a little gem of exquisite plumage, having 

 two slender wire-like shafts, nearly 6 inches long, pro- 

 truding from the tail, each terminating in a broad 

 emerald green spiral fish. 



Birds of paradise must have been found by the Por- 

 tuguese on their conquest of Malacca in 1511, brought 

 to that emporium by the Malay and Javanese merchants 

 for the markets of China. At all events they must 

 have seen them on their arrival in the Moluccas in 

 the same year or the beginning of the following. But 

 the earliest accout we have of them is that given by 

 Pigafetta, who was at the Moluccas ten years after 

 the Portuguese had reached them. His description, 

 taken from the original manuscript published in 1800, 

 ia as follows: — 



" They gave us also for the King of Spain two most 

 beautiful dead birds. These birds are about the size 

 of thrushes. They have a small head and a long bill ; 

 legs fine as a writing quill, a palm long. They have 

 no wings, but in their stead long feathers of various 

 colours like great plumes. The tail resembles that 

 of the thrush. All the feathers except those of the 

 wings are of a dark coloui-. They never fly except 

 when the wind blows. They told us that these birds 

 came from the terrestrial paradise and they called 

 then hum nil dinata, that is 'bird of God.'" 



It is probable from this account that the birds of 

 paradise sent by the King of Tidor, one of the five 

 Moluccas, to Charles V., was not the great emerald 

 bird with which we are most familar, but one of 

 those which are natives of the Moluccas. At present 

 the principal emporium for these birds in the East is 

 the Aru Islands, and to the west,;Batavia and Siusja- 

 pore ; they are brought to the tn'o last ports by the 

 prahns of the llugis of Celebes. ^\'e obtain our supply 

 by way of Holland, and they cost from 2()s. to 258. 

 each at first hand, according to quality. In 1872, 

 3,1100 of the.se bird skins were shipped from the port 

 of Doliho in the Aru Islands. 



The delicate feather sprays of the ospery or fish 

 hawk (T'andwn ImHoetus), of a light yellowish-browu 

 or snowy white, are largely used in making aigrettes. 



Prodigious quantities of the feathers of th') Impeyan, 

 argus, and other Indian pheasants are also received. 

 Even in Leadeuhall market the plumassier will pur- 

 chase the freshest common pheasants for their plumage ; 

 they are skinned and dressed for ladies' hats, and the 

 oarcases of the birds sold cheap. 



If we tui-n to South America, we find that there is 

 s demand for the feathers of the American ostrich, 

 as it is called, the Rhfa Jmeriraixa, which are known 

 in commerce as "vulture feathers." In 1S65, there 

 was shipped from Buenos Ayres 15:i,330 lb. of these 

 feathers, valued at £38,408. The quantity shipped 

 later from Buenos Ayres was in— 



1871 



1872 

 1873 

 1874 



Kilos of 2J lb. 

 . 31,177 



73,132 



69,202 



59,454 



Most of these go to France, but our imports were 

 to the value of £8,422 in 1875, £10,735 in 1876, .£4,520 

 in 1877, and the imports have now dropped to about 

 half this quantity. 



The feathers of the male bird realise more than 

 those of the female. 



The tail feathers of the golden ed.g[e (Aquila cana- 

 denxh) are used by the North American Indians for 

 head ornaments. The yel\o-w Hicker [Colajites anratus) 

 and other gaudily arrayed summer birds yield their 

 plumage for oi'namenting dresses. The feathers of the 

 Australian emeu are of a brown colour, fiuo but brittle. 

 The plumage near the tail, however, is long and grace- 

 ful. The feathers are dyed almost every shade, and are 

 now much used for trimming and ornament. From 

 Victoria these feathers, to the value of £3,187, were 

 shipped in 1883, chiefly to the United Kingdom. 



The quantity of these feathers obtained in Uruguay 

 in 1875, was 92,400 lb. ; but this fell, in 1877, to 44,000 lb., 

 valued at £20,000. This decrease arose from several 

 causes. First; the indiscriminate slaughter by the 

 hunters, not only of the birds, but of their eggs and 

 young ; second, the extension of the cattle ; and, lastly, 

 a Government decree, in 1877, forbidding the chase 

 of the bird under heavy penalties, and eircouraging 

 production by offering a premium to the first person 

 who should produce a certain number of birds in a 

 domesticated state. This decree had the efl:'oct of re- 

 ducing the total production of the feathers from the 

 chase by two-thirds. 



A great many farmers have now seriously under- 

 taken the work of domesticating and raising the birds 

 soas to obtain the feathers at certain times. It is 

 thought that, in a few years, this will lead to increased 

 quantity and improved quality, the feathers plucked 

 by the hand being said to be finer and more downy. 

 Fine feathers, in packets, fitted for the European 

 market, are valued at about 12s. per pound ; and they 

 fetch, in France, 16s to IS.?, a pound. They are nearly 

 all sent to Havre ; a few stray cases mav occasionally 

 be shipped to New York. 



About £500 worth of feathers and bird skins are 

 annually brought to Cayenne, including tufts of the 

 heron, skins of the rapapa, the turkey sultan, and 

 varieties of the humming birds. From South America 

 also came the red cardinals, the blue crupus, and 

 many other birds of lustrous plumage. 



From the feathers of T. resplendens and other 

 trogons, the mosaic pictures of the Mexicans were 

 made. One of these, most delicately and beautifully 

 executed, containing many figures, is now in the Ash- 

 molean Museum, at Oxford, and is there said to be 

 made of humming birds' feathers. The subject is " Christ 

 tainting under the Cross." The whole picture is about 

 the size of the palm of the hanil, and the figures 

 are barely half an inch in height. 



The above cited facts and figures will convey some 

 idea of the importance of the commerce in feathers 

 and bird skins chiefly for personal adornment.— ,/o«?-«a/ 

 n/' thf Society of ArU. 



The l.<st quarterly eepokt on the Dutch Government 

 Cinchona Plantations in .lava quotes some remarkable 

 results obtained in the examination of bark from 

 " succirnbra hybrids raised from Ledgeriana seed." 

 The total alkaloids in ten samples ranged from 0'66 to 

 14-46 per cent., and in most cases the quinine was 

 relatively high. In one instance out of 12-26 per cent, of 



total alkaloid the quinine is given as 10-67 per cent. 



Pliarmaceatical Journal. 



Effect of Frost on Orange Trees in Florida. 

 —A correspondent of the San Francitco Chronicle, 

 says ; — " I have travelled away from my theme 

 which was in the beginning the cold wave. Some 

 friends, with myself, were talking about it to a gentle. 

 man, long a resident of the State, and its effect upon 

 young orange trees. Some rather remarkable incidents 

 bearing upon this subject were related. Among other 

 tilings, he stated that it was not the cold or the frost 

 by which the trees were killed, but the heat of the 

 sun closely following it. ' If,' said he, ' any one will 

 take the pains to get up before sunrise and make an 

 incision in every tree, two or three inches long, with 

 a sharp knife, there will be no danger of harm from 

 the heaviest frosts. I had a neighbor, who, going 

 through his grove before sunrise, found his young trees 

 all killed, as he supposed. In a sort of rage he took 

 out his knife and scored the bark of about a dozen 

 or two, to make the destruction sure, but in a few 

 days— lo ! and behold !— those he had cut came out 

 in renewed life and beauty and were the most vigorous 

 trees in the grove, .\cting upon this hint, he always 

 afterward saved his choice trees by an application of 

 the kuife before the sun had a chance to get at them 

 after a frost.' I give this for what it is worth, being 

 assured of it as a fact. It is the newest thing out, 

 and 1 leave it for gardeners rnd philosophers to give' 

 the reason vihy."— Gardeners' Monthly Horticulturist 



