May I, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



77S 



The Couhn Flohida. — We have already mentioned 

 the very unusual degree of coid experieucetl in Florida. 

 AVe now liarutliatit is expected that the Orange trees 

 will lose their leaves, and that the young trees will be 

 wholly destroyed. It is calculated that 600/00 boxes 

 of Oranges, worth 1,000,000 dol., have been destroyed 

 by tho frost. — Gardentr.s' Chrtmicln. 



Tai'L-woum Cure. — The administration of one drop 

 of croton oil and a drachm of chloroform in an ounce 

 of glycerine having been recommended as useful in 

 obstinate cases of tape-worm, Mr. McCullum, of Ontario, 

 writes to say {Brit. Mtd. Jintrn., June 13, p. 1231) that 

 the vehicle only is necessary for the purpose, since 

 tho glycerine will kill the tape-worm quite as effect- 

 ually without ancethetising it with chloroform, or purg- 

 ing it with croton oil. This property of glycerine, he 

 states, he first observed one day when removing a worm 

 from the stomach of a fish and putting it into a drop 

 of glycerine upon a microscope slide, where it died 

 almost immediately. He was therefore led to dry the 

 experiment of substituting glycerine for the nauseous 

 male-fern dose with good results. Sometimes he has 

 feund it necessary to follow the glycerine with a gentle 

 purgative, but not always. — Phormaceutiral Journal. 



Papee Bedclothixg. — A paper-making firm in New 

 Jersey has for several weeks been turning out counter- 

 panes and pillows of paper. No. 1 maniJa paper is 

 used, two large sheets being held together by a slender 

 twine at intervals of three or lour inches. The twine 

 is gummed, so as to liold the sheets firmly together 

 where it lies. A hem is placed on the counterpane 

 to keep it from tearing ; the .safety edge is composed 

 of twine. Ornamental designs are stamped on the 

 outer surfaces of the covers and cases, giving them 

 a neat, attractive appearance. "When these counter- 

 panes and pillow-cases become wrinkled from use they 

 can easily be smoothed out with a hot tlatiron. The 

 counterpanes can be left on the bed when it is occupied, 

 and in cold weather will be found a warm covering, 

 paper preventing the escape of heat. The new paper 

 bedclothiug is 75 cents per set, and will probably be- 

 come popular. — The Paper Maker. 



Winds sotnetimes prove fertilisers, though the South 

 Indian planter finds that, as a rule, his cot?ee and 

 cinchona will not flourish in exposed positions. The 

 district of liimagne, in Auvergne, is one of the most 

 fertile in all France. It lies east and north-east of 

 the Domes mountain chain, and is swept by the pre- 

 vailing winds of that region, which, according to JI. 

 Alluard, transport the fertilising dusts of the volcanic 

 bills ami shed them, by means of rain or snow, upon 

 the soil below, thus, us it were, supplying the latter 

 with fertilising chemicals. Phosphoric acid had been 

 found in the volcanic dust of the Domes ; so also 

 have potash and lime. From an examination of dust 

 brought down by rain on the Puy dc Dome, 51. 

 Alluard estimates that nearly 400 gramn\ es of dust 

 descend on a scjuare metre in a year. — .'ihidras Mail. 



The Dktkkiohatio.n of Indian Tea. — Every now 

 and then, when prices at home show an appearance 

 of decline, alarmists are found to come forward with 

 the consolation : '■ I told you so ! Your teas have 

 deteriorated, and people are not now so eager to buy 

 them." And not finding any other sufficiently apparent 

 reason for explaining wliy this suppo.^ed deterioration 

 has taken place, these alarmists fall upon Machinery 

 as the cause, — the head and front, — of the stated 

 decadence of quality. A home Paper, rejoicing in a 

 so-callcd " Planters' Supplement," thus sapiently ex- 

 presses itself: — "The consumption of Indian Tea has 

 {mmeoscly increased the price has largely decreased, 

 and the quality steadily deteriorated." As if the very 

 fact of increased, consumption was not of itself a 

 direct answer to the last charge, while the reduction 

 of price shows no more than the success of the 

 endeavour made to compel large absorption by more 

 moderate rates than prevailed heretofore. So long 

 S8 our supply was limited in extent, we could afford 

 to hold out for high prices, but when that supply 

 became largely increa.sed, the necessity followed of 

 more nearly assimilating our rates to those of t'liina 

 teas than proiously wu coulil afford to do ; and by 

 the aid of macbinery tb« reduction io the cost of 



manufacture has enabled us to sell at lower prices 

 with almost equal profit. As to the quality of mach- 

 ine-made Teas presenting a fatal contrast to Teas 

 made by hand, we do not believe thi: assertion, (care- 

 lessness in manufacture will produce equally bad results 

 whether yuu hand-niake or machine-make your Teas ; 

 but it has been undeniably prove*! that well-made 

 machine Teas are fully equal to hand-made Teas. — 

 Indian Tea Ga^ttte. 



Phvlloxeka in Fuance. — The Times correspondent 

 says : — '* The Jom-mit OJficiel publishes the annual report 

 by the Director of the Agricultural Department on the 

 proceedings of the Phylloxera Commission. It has been 

 decided that none of the processes made known during 

 the year 18S5 entitle the inventors to the prize offered 

 by the Government, and accordingly the old remedies 

 continue to be recommended. These are— (1) submersion, 

 (2) sulphuret of carbon, and (3) sulpho-carbonate of 

 potassium. The surface under Vine cultivation attacked, 

 and still resisting, amounted to 642,000 hectares in 

 188.5, against 664,000 in 1814. This apparent diminution 

 is, however, due to the complete abandonment of 

 numerous plantations. Bt-fore the appearance of the 

 disease there were in France 2,503,000 hectares planted 

 with A'ines. Vines now cover 1,990,.')86 hectares, which 

 fact shows that the Vine growers have to a great extent 

 remedied the evil by planting during the last fifteen 

 years, so that the deficit only amounts to 600,f)00 

 hectares, but at the same time the amount of loss 

 remains enormous. In 1885 submersion was applied to 

 24,33(1 hectares, sulphuret of carbon to 40,585, and 

 sulpho-carbonate to 5,227. American Vines which have 

 been planted now replace those de^royed over a surface 

 of 72,2t)2 hectares. Thus the surface which has resisted 

 the attacks of the insect amounts in all to little more 

 than 145,000 hectares, that is, about 22 per cent of the 

 whole surface suffering from the disease. These efforts, 

 which have been continued uninterruptedly for eight 

 years, should, in the opinion of the reporter, inspire full 

 confidence in the future." — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Influence of Lioht on the DEvELOPMENr of 

 AssiMiLATiNO Tissue. — We learn from the Bulletin dc 

 In Societe Botaniijue de France, that Mt. S. Grosglik, who 

 has been conducting experiments on this sub.ject, selected 

 the primary horizontal leaves of Eucalyptus globulus, 

 as on their upper surface when fully developed they 

 have palisade cells, and on their lower surface loose 

 spongy tissue, while the adult leaves directed vt^rlicnlly 

 have palisade cells on both sides. Three principal 

 phases are discernible in the development of these 

 leaves: — I. The very young leaf has between its two 

 surfaces, besides the bundles in course of formation, 

 only one homogenous ti.ssue, formed of cells equal in 

 diameter in each direction, and which the author 

 calls primitive mesophyl. 2. The leaves still 

 remaining vertical develope at the expense of the 

 mesophyl, and in contact with the epidermis on each 

 side a layer of palisade cells. According to Mr. (trosglik 

 these leaves have then the definite structure of the 

 adult leaves. 3. The leaf becoming horizontal the upper 

 surface receives more light than the lower, and the 

 structure appears unsymmetrical. The palisade tissue 

 of the inferior surface is gradually transformed into 

 spongy tissue, and thus the definite structure is arrived 

 at. The author cites some experiences confirming his 

 ideas on the influence of light: — I, He maintained in 

 the horizontal position a leaf taken at the first stage of 

 development. I'nder these comlitions it only developes 

 palisaile cells on one f.ace, and not on both, as it does 

 normally. 2, Oh operating on a leaf arrived at the second 

 stage, and m which, as has just been seen, palisade 

 parenchyma is developed on the two faces, and on keeping 

 this leaf vertical and equally exposed to light on both 

 sides, Mr. Grosglik demonstrated that the development 

 is stopped, and the spongy tissue does not apjjear on 

 the lower surface. The conclusion arrived at is, that 

 there exists in the leaves a tis.sue which is not yet differ- 

 entiated, the priniitive mesophyl, and that it is at the 

 expense of this tissue that is developed either paliwado 

 tissue or sjiongy tissue, according to the conditions of 

 illumination. Light favours the formatiou of jiaHsade 

 tissue, shade that of the spougy tissue. — Gardeners' 

 Chronicle. 



