May I, 1886.J 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



799 



Orn American, cousins are still excrcisiDg their 

 genius in the way of creating butter and cheese. An 

 importation of the latter article from New York State 

 was rect'utly analysed in Loudou and found to contiiin 

 uo product of the dairy wh;itev(-r. Its principal com- 

 ponents wurc Uird and colouring matter. 'Xheso cht'cscs 

 ought to make good cart grt-ase. — I'lantcr ond I'aimcr. 



Immense amount of Water (;ivi-:n to the At^mo- 

 SPiiEiiE nY Thees, — The amount of moisture given out 

 by trees is immense. In some trees the upwar<l rush 

 of moisture from the roots is very powerful. The 

 workmen in ship-yards frequently find in the centre of 

 teak log a core of sand 5(» or GO feet loug, an iueti in 

 diameter, and hardened to a marble-like consistency, which 

 has been carried and deposited there by the sap in its 

 upward course. A few years ago a number of scientists 

 of New England made a calculation as to the amount of 

 water given to the atmospht-rc by tlie " AVashington 

 Kim," Cambridge, Mass. They caculatt d that the k-aves 

 of that tree would covtr over i!0ti,OOU square feet of 

 surface, and that they gave out every fair day during 

 the growing season 15,500 lb or 7^ tons of moisture. — 

 I. li. Teaslee. — Indian Gardemr. 



It is not at all reassuring to Queensland vineyard- 

 ists to find it stattd as a matter of fact that that ter- 

 rible Bconrgo of the vine, the phylloxera vastatrix, has 

 really reached so near as the Camden district in New 

 South Wales. A very striking fact this, and one that 

 suggests a mode of defending ourselves from this ter- 

 rible -courge. It was at Camden that the first Austral- 

 ian vineyard was planted, and we learn that close plan- 

 ting has always been the fashion there. This leads 

 great weight to the opinion that tlie phylloxera always 

 appears first in oUi and thickly planted vineyards. It is 

 eaid by the best authorities that the system of planting 

 en cliaintrc, on which we gave one article last issue and 

 another in this, presents an almost couipiete defence 

 against the ravages of this insect, which increases most 

 in those vineyards where in co-isequence of close plan- 

 ting the roots of the vines form a retwork underground 

 and are more or less interlocked. If wc really would 

 escape the phylloxera then let us plant on this system 

 in rows twenty yards apart, or even more for the 

 Isabella, and with a space of six feet between the plants 

 in the row. — PUihter ai\d Farmer. 



Valuable Kconomic Plants. — Among the collection 

 of valuable economic plants furnished from the Pubhe 

 Gardens, we ma3' specially mention the jL^rafted Kast 

 Indian mango ; the Manilla hemp, plants which belong 

 to the banana, but produce seed and not edible fruit ; 

 the silk grass ; Ramie, two varieties, green and white; 

 the Kola nut; bay rum tree; vanilla with i)ods ; 

 jujube tree; tea tree; Sicily lemon; ca.-5sia. cimiamon, 

 nutmeg, clove, loqimt, cocr., so celebrated fur its an- 

 a'Sthetic properties, and which was introduced about 

 four years since ; the citron, cocoa, Liberian coffee, 

 Brazil nut, cardamom, olive, ginep, sweet oranges, 

 Tangi rine orange, sweet lemon, cashew, shaddock, itc. 

 Thousands of vahiabic ])lants like those on exhibition 

 are obtainable from the public gardens, and Mr, Morris 

 wisely avails himself of these shows to place before 

 the public in an attractive and interesting form these 

 and other plants, and thereby impart general inform- 

 ation. It stands to reason that Mr. Morris cannot 

 meet the people at the pubHc gardens, and therefore 

 he moved the gardens in miniature to "Winchester 

 Park to meet the people and, while giving them every 

 information, show what the (iovernment is doing. 

 In the fern and orchid tent two large tables are filled 

 with s])ecimens from the Gardens, which, while not 

 competing for prizes, add meterially to the attr.iction 

 and bring out the specimens sent by private exhibitors. 

 —Qlcamr. 



BuBMt^SE rAi.:M PnoDUtTS. — A farinaceous substance, 

 resembling sago, is obtamed from the pith of several 

 palms. Sucli are the talipot or pvpi' {Cnri/pha vm- 

 ora'i'.lifira)y another species (('. Gthoaya), the ju>' /ion 

 {C'tryota nrcn.-i), the tomojnng (JiC»f/a surcharifera), 

 and the mudoiin/ (i.'t/ca.t mmjihit). The coco-nut or 

 otvf {('ocos iwr'frra) is cultivated on all parts of the 

 ^eaboard. The leaves of the talipot or pipeu are useil 

 fauB, and for writing on, in the latter case being 

 pegiicd or »ewn together, gilded souittiiufb in patterns 



on a vermilion groimd, and rubbed with petroleum to 

 keep away insects and damp. The leaves of tho 

 minlio afford iibre, and the stem of the ini'.dain<j exudes 

 a resin used in sores. Tlie juice of tho hian atfords 

 tuddy, ond, therefore, by boiling down, sugar; and 

 the trunk is applied to many uses. The leaves of the 

 tonuf/Qfia yield fibre, the hollowed stem serves for 

 pipes, and the juice drawn at flowering-time gives toddy 

 and sugar. These two last-named products an: also 

 derived from the juice of the HienhouDtj [FltuniA- paln^ 

 (l<K«i). The davi or water palm {Nipa frntirans) fulfils 

 many duties ; its roots bind tho soil of the river 

 banks; the leaf is universally employed in thatching; 

 the jin'cR is converted into toddy, sngar, and vinegar; 

 the fruit is eaten when ripe ; the tlowers are made 

 into a preserve, and the branches are used as fuel. 

 The prevalent habit of betel-chewing renders the areca 

 nut palm {Jrica catechu) one of the most important 

 of this very useful family. — Journal 0/ the 8ocict>/ of ArU. 

 Conversion of Weeds into Manure. — A corre- 

 spondent of the Indian A;/iiciiftt>ri.tt, writes as follows 

 on this subject.— Spread thinly a layer of gas lime over 

 tho ground, as a "top dressing." If gas lime fresh 

 froni the purifiers be applied to soil, the salts which 

 it contains will destroy vegetation. It is, therefore, 

 necessary to expose it to the atmosphere in order 

 to transform the injurious solphur compounds into 

 fertilizing agents. The sulphur and ammonia which 

 render fresh gas lime fertilizing agents, and become 

 destructive to vegetation, are the ingredients so valu- 

 able in decomposing compost heaps; it therefore fol- 

 lows that the fresher the gas Hme can be applied to 

 compost heaps, the sooner the results required will bo 

 obtiiined, as the salts whicli f/o off' with exposure to 

 the air, have a powerful effect in decomposing the 

 vegetable substances in compost heaps. 8uch composts 

 when applied as manure, after three or four months, 

 contain sutlicient salts and tarry essences to make the 

 substance uncongenial to in.sect life, so that by the 

 application of such manures a double object is obtained. 

 — 1st, the fertilization of the soil, thereby rendering 

 it more sharp, porous.and friable, and I2nd, the destruc- 

 tion of insect Hfe. It nuist be^emembered that the ap- 

 parent crystaHzation of gas lime is due to its exposure to 

 the atmosphere. It will thus be seen that it is unwise 

 to look upon weeds as of no value, as they[ean easily 

 be converted into manure, in a most inexpensive man- 

 ner, and made to become, praeiically, insecticides as 

 well .-.s fertilizers.— //;r//(f)i Tea Gazette. 



The Ki.xcston (Jamaica) Fr.oUAL and HocrtiuLT- 

 URAL Show, which closed on Thursday evening, was 

 a pronounced success from every point of view, and 

 the fact that about fifteen hundred visitors were on 

 the grounils the first afternoon, and nearly a thousand 

 on the secnnd day, shows conclusively that t)ie resi- 

 dents of Kingston and vicinity are ready to support 

 warmly, both by their presence and contributions, any 

 effort having for its object tho welfare and refinement 

 of the people. This result is in a great measure duo 

 to the iiulifatigable exertions of I). Morris, Esq., the 

 Superintendent of the Public (Jardens and Plantations, 

 and the readiness with which he has afforded inform- 

 ation and advice to those who have evinced an 

 interest in the cultivation of plants. Nor have his 

 efforts been confined by .iny means to that alone, 

 for he has introdnctul and distributed extensively many 

 new varieties, and, by exhibiting specimens of hund- 

 reds of plants carefully cultivated at the public gitrdejis, 

 ami personally explaining the course there pursued, he 

 has rendered very valuable service to the public, as 

 well as contributed yi a large measure to the success 

 of the exhibition. A novelty at the show was a tent, 

 in which Mr. I). IVlfirris harl provided some delicious 

 tea prepared from the leaves of the tea plant grown 

 at Cinchona, and which was pronounced by ail equal 

 to the good grades of foreign tea imported to this 

 country. A very tluiving business was done in this 

 tent, judging by tho largo number of persons who 

 partook of Air. Morris's hospitality, and as ho has 

 designated tho new tea ''No-he," we presume he 

 kuow6 whero the cuphouioub title urigiuated.— 



