April i, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



711 



they workfd half-time, and so reduced their iucome 

 to what it was liefore, or thej adiled additional mouths 

 to eat it up. Thus it was found that when rice was 

 cheap, the workpeople went away for half of the week 

 aud left the machinery standing idle. This had an 

 imjiortunt bearing on the silk (tuestion. A vast quantity 

 of silk material could be procured from India, but it 

 would always be of poor quality' unless it were prepared 

 under European supervision. The silk was .good, but 

 it wa."; not well reeled, and the people were too 

 indifferent to improve it. The one thing needed for 

 the resuscitation of the English silk trade was a large 

 supply of cheap and good material, and for that they 

 might look to India, not only from the Jtomhi/x mori^ 

 but from other and indigenous kinds wldch Mr. Wardle, 

 bad devoted so much time and study to ; but it must 

 be reeled better. He feared this would never be the 

 case if they trusted ouly to the n^.tives. Anything 

 which ret|uired no very skilled labour, such as rice- 

 growing, or perhaps cotton, they did very well, but 

 where skill was required, they could not be depended 

 ou. If they had been trusted to grow tea, and prepare 

 the leaves, there never would have been any Indian 

 tea worth speaking of, but under European supervision, 

 this trade hail grown enormously. The same policy 

 should be pursued with regard to .silk, and the 

 machinery should be, as far as possible, automatic. 



Mr. W'ailly said he knew very little about silk, 

 though he had done something to introduce new 

 species of silkworm into Europe. He had lately seen 

 carded silk from various species, such as Indian Tussur, 

 Pfrnvi from North China, and some from North 

 America. He had sent specimens of these carded 

 .silks to the Paris Acclimatisation .Society. Hia main 

 work had been the introduction of the insects, and he 

 had no doubt that, this year, the Indian Tussur 

 .Vi/litta would be acclimatised in Spain, and perhaps 

 in some parts of Italy, though it would hardly suit 

 the northern parts of that country, as it wonid take 

 three months to rear. 



Mr. W'ardle, in reply after thanking the meeting 

 for the compliment, said his p'incipal feeling in this 

 matter was one of anxiety and disappointment at the 

 great loss which this country had sustained withiu the 

 last thirty years, by the gra.lual decay of the silk 

 industry. It behoved everyone who was aii.\ious to 

 regain it to set about the work at (mce. It was a 

 melancholy fact, which could not be repeated too often, 

 that for the last ten years the average value of manu- 

 factured silks importeil into Englaml from European 

 countries had been twelve millions sterling, aud he 

 believeil Mr. Birchenough would bear him out that 

 if Knglish ?nanofactur'-rs received orders for one-third 

 that amount, it wonId make the sUk centres of 

 Coventry, .Macclesfield, Oongleton, ."\t--ichester, and 

 .Spitalfields, very busy imleed. In reply to Mr. Hart's 

 (|Uestiun as to what he suggested, he would say study 

 carefully the report of the C'ommis.sioners on Technical 

 Education, for if he understood it aright it contained 

 everything necessary to regain not only that, but any 

 other artistic industry, either European or Eastern. 

 It was a most valuable report, aud he was sure it 

 would do a great deal of good. It contained a va*t 

 amoimt of information, and the deductions which the 

 Commissioners had drawn from their travels and 

 observations were such as would enable any energetic 

 per.ion in time to overcome any difliculties. Mr. 

 Wardle concluded by drawing attention to and describing 

 the various specimens of silk exhibited. — Journal of 

 tfif -SiKietj/ of A)ij. 



TOBAfCO On.TivATiON IN Bkitaiv and Ikkiand. — 

 A crop which could pay to its cultivator — over and 

 above outgoings of rent, rates, taxes, wuges, inter- 

 est on capital and plant, ic. — jE^iJO and tipwards per 

 acre, would s-em fat'ulous in the eyes oi the British 

 farmer, if he were told that such produce liad in com- 

 paratively mo<lern times been raised on soil of the 

 I iiited Kingdom ; and yet, if we may gather inferences 

 from the Statute Book, the profits of cidtivation of to- 

 bacco (irrespecrive of penalties to the revenue) appear 

 to have be»n on something of the aforesaid scale in the 



days of Charles II. The plant seems to have obtained 

 a rapid and a firm footing in these islands within little 

 more than a century from the discovery of the New 

 World.— i''i«/ii. 



Samples 01- TEA.—i'rom proceedings of Agri-Horti;alt. 

 ural Society of Madras, January 18t(G. V.— Kead the 

 following letter Irom WiUiam O. Deane, Esq., the Man- 

 ager Kudanaad estates, dated Kotagiri, 5th ' December 

 IBSo:— "1 have the honour to suggest that at the 

 approaching Exhibition in Madras you make it a rule 

 that samples that havi' been on show on previous oc- 

 casions be debarre^l from competing for an award In 

 the case of teas it improves by keeping and a planter 

 who keeps back the sample that has been awarded 

 tlie goUi medal aud scuds it down to you year after 

 year, practically keeps out of the running aU vouiig 

 eslateb. comiug forward with his champion sk nple. 

 whilst it IS equally unfair to estates who manufact- 

 ure Iresh samples every year for show, as we have 

 invariably done ourselves tor many years past The Ei- ' 

 hibitor should m every case add ' to the declaration 

 that It is the l<o,m fde outturn of his plantation 

 that the sample has been specially manufactured for 

 your kxhibitiou, 18SU, and that it or na portion 

 ihcreot has ever been ou show or competed for a 

 prize on any previous occasions." ilead also letter 

 trom the Hon. Secretary, dated lOth Uecember ltJS5, 

 in reply, stating that a was too late this season to 

 enact a new rule, but that Mr. Deane's letter should 

 be laid betore the committee and the result com- 

 municated in due course. Kesolved that the follow- 

 ing additions be more to the comUtioiis of compet- 

 ition tor next season :— After the words "that land" 

 add '• anu in the case of tea, that the whole sample 

 has beeu actually manufactured withiu the year in 

 which It is sent.' For "tea must bo sent not J«fer 

 than the 16th December," read " Tea will be reoeivcd 

 not later than the end of December." 



SuLPHUH AS A.N 1 NsKCTRiDE.— In our last appeared a 

 brief but, interesting letter reporting a successful result 

 from applications ot sulphur to the soil in which orange 

 trees atlected wiih scale were giowiug. Sulphur being 

 so geuerally employed as an insecticide, both alone aud 

 in combinations, such as Gishuist's compouud, it is sur- 

 pri»iiig that its value as a destroyer of the sc'ale insect 

 when applied ni the manner described, has not been 

 made known. The plan is sure to be tested very gener- 

 aUy, tor the scale is a pest of increasing magnitude 

 and if sulphur in the soii will keep orange tret» free' 

 ftoni Its attacks, it should operate iu Uke manner ou aU 

 other trees and plauts that are subject to scale The 

 whole order .Myrtace.-e Las to sruggle agaiust this pest 

 and even vines, begouias, ind other deciduous shrubs 

 are hosts for different forme of scale. Our correspond- 

 ent, " Amateur, ' has suggested that a trial should be 

 made ot sulphur as a cure tor or preventive ot phyllox-ra 

 on the vine. He would institute inquiry whether 

 phylloxera has attacked vines in country kuowu to be 

 naturally •■ saturated with sulphur." A\-e are disposed 

 to suggest that there can be no possibility of phyi.oiera 

 living 111 soil -saturated ' mth sulphur, and that vines 

 also won :d stand a very bad chance of living under such 

 conditions. Vines certainly grow on the lower slorej of 

 V esuvuis, whence sulphurous fumes are emitted at a 

 great altitude. That the lumes do not reach the vines 

 may be accepted as certain, Ijecause fatal results so fre- 

 quently occur trom the injudicious burning of sulphur 

 in vineries ami greenhouses. The question whether the 

 soil ot \osuvius contains sulphur in large quantity is 

 quite another matter, and one on which information 

 would he acceptable. The letter of " Selector" in an- 

 other eoluinn opens up new views of the scale insect 

 question The writer appears to assume, in effact, that 

 soil well drainea at a suthcient depth to all.iw the fr-cs 

 ample fecdmg-g-ouud, .-md thus to insure freedom 

 of gro«-th, IS ine condition essential to the absence of 

 all such peats as those referred to by "Amateur" 

 We shall doubtless hear results of the trials iiiitit 

 uted by "Amateur's" frieud.s, .^o that when sufSci- 

 . nt time has elapsed the whole matter my b« revis ",ed 

 from a sund-poiut based on those results, and which 

 does not at presi-ut exist.— i[.<5^v/toiVtn 



