'12 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [April i, 1886. 



Tea in tbe JIadhas Phesidkncy. — ThuJinfllislimaji, 

 commenting on this subject, says: — *'Tlu* eultivatiou of 

 tea appears to be t''''*<'u&'ly. if somewhat slowly, ex- 

 tending in tlie Madras Presidency, principally in the 

 Vizagapatam, Madura, Neilgherries, and Malabar 

 districts. The tea estates have an area of 7,55^ acre.*, 

 of which but little niurc than half is actually unilur 

 cuUivation. The outturn last season was .'il>.s,04.") lb. 

 There are also twenty-seven tea plantations in 'I ravan- 

 core, which yielded 11)5,740 lb. last year." M'e do not 

 think, however, that there is much to be feared from 

 this competition, as houte prices for these teas have 

 not'as yet proved encouragiuK 



KAxn.iPoii.A, NuwAKA Elda, Feb. ISSG. — Tea has 

 proved the saviour of Ceylon, all Indian and other 

 crokers to the contrary. New machinery is being 

 erected in every direction, but we want cheap or 

 moderately cheap machinery ; we cannot atford to pay 

 the prices for heavy machinery like Jackson's. Who 

 will prove the good Samaritan and send us a cheap and 

 effective withering machine y During her best flu.^hing 

 months we cannot wither our leaf under two days. A 

 friend has just sent me sketch of his trade mark, a 

 tea busli with the motto Oeyloniensis Salvator. — Cot. 

 " Ceylon Advertiser." 



Nails. — It is predicted that in the course of the next 

 five years, the si.eel nail M'ill have aa comijletely 

 supplanted the iron nail as the steel rail has its 

 iron predecessor. Already one of the nails manu- 

 factured in Wheeling are made of steel, and the 

 machinery and plant necessary for their manu- 

 facture are heins set up in every nail centre and 

 at nearly every nail foundry. It is said that, 

 under present conditions, steel nails can be made 

 about ten cents per Keg cheaper than those made 

 of iron, even where the manufacturer has to pur- 

 chase his ingots. — Ainerran < ultinilor. Dee. 1S85. 

 CoFFEK. — With regard to coffee, Dominica was 

 once one of the chief coffee-produfiiif, countries in 

 the Western Hemisphere, and capital ajjd enter- 

 prise alone are wanting to make its name known 

 again in the hnnie markets. Liberian coffee grows 

 well in the low lands, and, in spite of the '• white 

 Hy " blight, the so-called "Creole" variety gives 

 remunerative crops in lands situaled over 1,000 

 feet above the sea. It is to be hoped, therefore, that 

 there will he a good colfee exhibit at the forthenni- 

 ing Kxhihition. -t'(i/(i«/i'.s' <///</ Imlin. 



CiTRK I on Mii.nv.w.- in suppoit of his prt-viitns testi- 

 mony with regard to the effi,;acy td' -sulpliiib' of potass- 

 ium in checking the ra\'age.s of mildew and allied forms 

 of fungus giowth on pboits, Mr. Task-^, of Jviiowie, W'ar- 

 wifkshire, has e.\hibited a fine healthy speeiinen of a 

 zonal pelargoniuiri which a month pre\'ious was rapidly 

 perishing from the disease. 'I'ht- pbtiil. had l)eeii totally 

 immersed, soil .-md all. in the solution, to tbe ronipltte 

 cure of the malidy. It neetl not be sugj,'ested that very 

 bad culture nuist have caused so hanly a plant to be 

 mildewed, and that clean roses au<l vines would have 

 affofdeii testitnony of a more encouraiiiug character 

 than the plant chosen for the purpo'ie. Kvperimeiits 

 .should, liowever, and doubtless will be, tried with sulph- 

 ide of potassium by many amateurs who are trtudiled 

 with this very common pest, espi'cially upon roses. — 

 AustiatiLfiuit. 



Qrebx ISIaNiirks. — We notice that tbe question of 

 green manure is assumiui,; iniportauce ou the eoniiiient 

 of Europe, especially in places where the soil is sandy. 

 The procedure is to sow some crop that iloe.'t iiot require 

 manuring, and when full grown to ha\'e tbe field rolled 

 over, with tbe plough following, by which thi- entire 

 cx'op is plougtied in. IJy this nu-ans, every four or live 

 years a very large percentage of the I'eriilisiiig agents 

 are sjiread over the ground, by which tbe favmei' is 

 enabletl to get a fine crop of Wheat with several ci-ops 

 of other cereals and gr.isses. ('hemically, it is expbtiiieit 

 that it is tlie iiuantity of nitrogen in the succuleHt gri'eii 

 plants that works the chief part of the benefit, while 

 tbe decomposition of the fresh vegetable matter nniler- 

 ;frouuil gives oil' carhoiiie hei*l gas which attacks the 



inert silicates and turns them into assimilable sorts. 

 AVhen the decomposition is complete, a capit tl manure 

 is the result. In Saxony this is usual method of manur- 

 ing and fertilising the sandy soils in which the country 

 abounds, tireat efforts are being made in France to in- 

 troduce this practice into the vast tracts of poor land. 

 \N'e wotdd recommend this to the notice ot o rr agri- 

 cultural departments, as a means of fertilising and utili- 

 sing waste and poor tracts of land in this country. — 

 Giirdeners^ Cliivnicle. 



Manooks .VNi) M.vNGOi'Js. — The following list of 

 twenty- two mangoes, which Dr. Short states are 

 procurable in Salem, was read at a recent meet- 

 ing of the local Agri-Horticultural Society : — 

 Gooudoo, naduchalai, kelimoohu, thil pasunthu, 

 James pa3unthu, bavutheen pasunthu, otiice pasun- 

 thu, rungu-haria thil pasundu, seriam-kusarow, ara- 

 balatt, gatbairaaru. raulgova, Yacooh Homani, 

 thuthpeida, sakkaiai kuttali, hathanii, ameergoln, 

 banther gandi, apcem am, thothapari, bengalura, and 

 gova bunder. — iJadrns Mail. 



How TO Maick Good Tea. — A correspondent to 

 The (irocer writes, recommending the following 

 system of making tea: — First, put the desired 

 quantity of tea (one spoonful for each person, and 

 one for the pot) into a small muslin bag, whicli 

 drop into the teapot, after thorouglily warming and 

 drying the latter; then pour suflicient boilng water 

 into the teapot, and let it stand for .about five 

 minutes ; after which, extract the muslin bag con- 

 taining the tea leaves, and then the tea may be 

 poured out, and drank with real satisfaction. The 

 advantages of tliis system are that the second and 

 third cup will be found equal to the tirst : that the 

 tannin and other properties of tea not considered 

 beneticial are left in the muslin bag ; and ihat 

 the consumer gets a beverage which in this case 

 may be described with pertect triitii as 'cheering, 

 bitt not inebriating." 



J.WA may be expected to run ahead rapidly 

 now as a tea producer, seeing that its planters, 

 who have hitherto been absorbed in sugar and 

 cottee, have at length awakened to tlie need of a 

 new string to theii bow in tea. Tea has been reg- 

 ularly planted and prepared there tor a generation 

 back, but (as in Ceylon) no one cared to extend .so 

 long as other staples paid their way, and so Java 

 exports annually no more than the ('. to 7 millions oi 

 lb. anticipated for Oylon during the present 

 st^ason. But it did not require Mr. Alundt's 

 visit to warn us of tbe serious compet- 

 ition which may shortly be anticipated. Mr. Mundit 

 has come specially to learn all about our improved 

 nnichiiieiy, system of cultivation and preparation. 

 He has already on his plautatifm two of Jackson's 

 Hollers (Excelsiors) at work to he followed by two 

 of the Victoria Driers, and when we inentinn that 

 Mr. Mundt has some (100 acres under Assam ten 

 as well as an equal area under China, an idea 

 may be fornu-d of the large scale on wliicli tea 

 cultivation will now be undertaken in llie rich 

 volcanic island ol Netherlands India. .Neverthe- 

 less we abate not a jotof our belief in the ability of 

 Ceylon to hold her own in the tea struggle : Assam and 

 India generally, not to speak of China, must surely 

 surt'er lirst. Mr. Mundt has brought over a liberal 

 supply of the seed of a tree which is universally 

 used in Java tor tea-hoxes, being a rapi.l-grower 

 giving good wood under favorable conditions at (ive 

 to six years, and growing at an\ elevation while by 

 no means inimical to the tealmsli. Messrs. .Mstons, 

 Scott cV Co. are distributing the seed to try in 

 dillerent parts of the island and we are indebted 

 to Mr. Percy liois for a package to which a care- 

 ful trial will be given at different elevations and 

 tlie result reported. 



