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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1886. 



men, two or three times a week, when fresh vegetAbles 

 canuot be obtaiuetl, and each man is made to swallow 

 a measure of acid juice. To observe the faces of the 

 men as tlie bottle moves down the line, would be 

 enougli to show that it is not a very pleasant draught. 

 To tell the ^truth, if 1 had to take citrie acid, I 

 would prefer taking it in the shape of marmaluile or 

 lemon jolly, at breakfast time, with either bread 

 or biscuit, and without making faces. I doubt not 

 that both soldiers and sailors would prefer them also, 

 to the orthodo.K lime-juice. As to bulk, there woulci 

 not be much difference, as a large i)ortion of t!ie 

 lime-juice is nothing but water. Instead ef the latter, 

 the marmataile and jelly have sugar, flavoured with 

 the rind of the fruit. But in the event of soldiers 

 preferring lime-juice, pure and simple, there woui'l 

 be no dithculty in manufacturing that also. Possibly 

 these hints may not be without result to somM 

 Anglo-Indians who '* do not know what to do with 

 their sons.'' It is no longer a question of making 

 fovtmxrs either in India or anywhere else. I'he urgent 

 question is how to earn a 0<;ctini i^omjortahh limntj; 

 AVheu we find gentlemen's sons either entibliug or 

 accepting the posts of railway guanls with the hope 

 of future promotion, the road to fortune-making must 

 be well nigh blocked up. Those who have read what 

 the Americans are doing with the orange in Florida 

 will understand how much there is left undone in 

 India with regard to these wonderful trees. Theie ar^ 

 not perhaps many p rsons who may have ta-sted Seville 

 orange marmalade pure and simple, as the demand 

 is larger than Seville and other places can supply* ; and 

 therefore the commercial niarmalde is not likely to 

 be "pure and simple." Marmalade made at home 

 from pin*e Seville oranges, and simply boileil with 

 sugar, is truly delicious. Hitherto the oiange and 

 lemon trees in India have been left in the hands 

 of natives only, and a few horticultural gru'dens. 

 There are few trees that repay the cultivator in fruits 

 and other products so well as the orange and lemon 

 trees. They do not merely give a moderate crop every 

 second ye.ar or so. like the mango tree, but are XaduM 

 with fruit year after year, and sometimes all the year 

 round. In order to get this, however, they must 

 be regularly fed and watered at the proper soason.— ■ 



E. BONAVIA. M.D. 



TEA BOXES. 



[Mr. H. DBitMMONO Uk.\kk writes to the editor of the 

 Indian Tea Gawtte : — ] 



Dear Sir, —I have been reading your intereslirig work 

 the " Ti-n- PI a liters' Voile .Vro'm." I would add on 

 page 249: 



" Tea Lead 84 x 22 is the best for full chests, and 

 72 X 22 for half chests ; thes*- sizes are easily pro- 

 curable, and save time ami expense iti soldering ; 4.V 

 oz. lead is more e^'onomical than n oz. lead, whieh latter 

 is mostly used in India, the former in Chimi and 

 Japan." 



Solder. — It is far cheaper to make yonr own, using 

 for this your waste tea lead which you melt down 

 and niiv with Block tin, in projiortion of 2 of lead 

 to I of tin ; when properly mixed run into a wooden 

 mould. A good mould is made of a block of a hard wood. 

 say 18 X 12 X 4 inches, with grooves into which you 

 run thi' solder. 



tVoodn of 'J'ea Ifori>-. — On page 21G yo.i an; good 

 enough to mention tbt. boxes I have l>een the means 

 of importing from .Tapan int<i Ceylon and India. 



Oryptomeria Jajjoniea is a wood resembling Uedar 

 wooil; it has a slight smell, but I have had reports 

 from Messrs. Wdsou *S: Smithett and from Messrs. Kath- 

 bonc Brothers, both of London, which both H.ay that it 

 in no way taints the tea. I am to have tlie honor of 

 exhibiting a set of these boxes at the Colonial ami In 1- 

 ian Kxhibitiou next year, with the consent of the Tlant- 

 ers' Association of Ceylon. I claim for these box-s 

 the following advantages to Tea I'lnnters. — 1st, C-A/'i;t//ts.s. 

 I understand from Messrs. Williamson, I\Iagor & Co., 

 who are my sole Calcutta .\gent.s. that they hope to 

 place the large.st chest /'. o. 4. the Ass.iru Steamer at 

 a tride under 10 annas. — 2iid, 'Slrtnifth, the new system 



of dovetailing every half-inch has been proved by 

 experience of my Yokohama friends (Messrs. Fraser, 

 Farby, and Yaruum) who export close on 8 million 

 lbs. Japan Teas yearly, to be an improvement iu 

 every w:iy ou the old system of 5 or li dove tails, 

 to a chest-side, for the reason that each nail acts as 

 a wedge, and makes itself felt .as such. If a little 

 glue is used before putting the box together, the result 

 is a package simply unbreakable, and by the use of 

 a few extra nails, hoop iron is unnecessary, thereby 

 saving freight.— 3rd, ^S.inplu-iti/. The boxes are so 

 accurately made that no carpenter is required, an 

 ordinary cooly being able to put them together. 

 To prevent all possible chance of warping or swelling, 

 all the planks are passed through a kiln dryer, and 

 all the moisture taken out, thus ensuring ail equal 

 and uniform weight to each package. Care of course 

 must be taken uot to alwai/s put the two Jii:it pieces 

 that come from the shooks together, as itsometimes 

 might then happen that tiro joins would come tuijelher, 

 which would weaken the box. 4t'i. My friends in 

 Japan have a tract of 25 square miles of this timber, 

 and are in treaty for as much again with the Japanese 

 Covernment, so there is no fear of supplies failing 

 for some years. Jly sole Agents are lle.ssrs. William- 

 son, Magor & Co., Calcutta, and we hope and intend 

 to cheapen if possible rather than extend the prices as 

 soon as the cost of these first few trial shipments 

 have been proved. I have no doubt my frieml.-t irill 

 a'h'eriize in the hadirii/ jftanters* papers, and I shall 

 write to them on this subj'ct at once. 



There are two o'her woods in Japan of a nearly 

 pure white color and absolutely free of smell : these 

 are called " Mome " and ••Mat.su." Some planters 

 here seem to prefer them, though heavi(>r in weight 

 than Cryptomeria. The latter weighs about 10 lb", a 

 KW lb chest, the two former 21 and 24 lb. respectively, 

 all in half inch wood, ileanwhile. dear sir, I niust 

 apologize for troubliug you at such length, but it is 

 iu the intere.st of brother pl.anters I have done so, 

 as the advertisements must of necessity be meagre in 

 information. I hope early in the new year lo visit 

 Calcutta, .and by then I hope a business will have 

 sprung up which shall be of benefit to both Ceylon 

 and Indian planters. 



CoFFKE ExeoHTs FROM Rio. — The total ex- 

 port of coffee for the year was .H.tlTo.T'.lH bng^, 

 against 8,7.">;i.()2o bags in lffK4,'* of which two thirds 

 were exported to the United States. The eolTee 

 trade, it is considered, was not entirely satisfactory 

 during the past year. As, however, oin- trade lias 

 become very much moditied through the cslablish- 

 mont of direct represeittatives of consumers in our 

 market, it is extremely dilliciilt lo form an opinion 

 as to the result of business. One would thinkit 

 impossible for important firms to ship, as they do, 

 were the business an unprotitable one ; yet quota- 

 tions from consuming markets, as a rule, are con- 

 siderably under our current quotations. — liio S'eics. 



Thu Effluvium from decomposing paste and glue is 

 as unwholesome as it is olTensiye. If, when making 

 the paste or glue, a small quantity of carbolic 

 acid is added, it will keep sweet and free from 

 offensive smells. A few drops added to mucilage 

 or ink prevents mould. In whitewashing the cellar 

 and daily, if an ounce of carbolic acid is added 

 to each gallon of wash it will prevent mould and 

 also the disagreeable taints often ])erceived in 

 meats and milk from damp apartments. Another 

 great advantage in the use of carbolic acid in 

 paste for wall-paper and in whitewash is that it 

 will drive away cockroaches and other insect pests. 

 The cheapest and best form of carbolic acid is 

 the crystals, which dissolve in water or liquefy at 

 an excess of temperature. — Amerirait Ciiltiralor. 



•The figuref do not ioclude Santos au<l other ports. — 

 Ed. 



