May I, 1886,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



78 J 



riucK's Paiknt Candle CoMrAjcv, on llio siiyyeslion 

 of Mr. (.i. May, Reading, are preparing a biniodidc 

 of UiCrcury toap, to be used as a disinfectant after 

 surgical and otlier operations. The biniodide, of 

 wliicli there is 0.") per cent, in the soap, is rendered 

 soluble by the addition oi potassium iodide. — 

 Chemist ami Dimjijht. 



tiiiAi'uiiE Leah.— Says the Rio Neicx : in a short 

 time wiU be commenced the exploitation of mines 

 oi graphite lead, tierrax refnu-turiaa, on the pro- 

 perty of Sr. German P. Konquand situated on the 

 Oriental coast near the San Juan Hills. A com- 

 pany of shareholders with a strong capital has 

 been formed in this eity for the exploitation of 

 the various minerals these mines contain and in 

 Uie opinion of well-informed persons flattering re- 

 sults are assured. — [^Graphite lead is, of course, 

 nonsense. Plumbago, popularly but incorrectly 

 " black lead," is meant. — En.] 



The Eoi.at.y PcNE.m. — Messrs. W. H. Davies & 

 Co. have on view at their oflices one of Blackman's 

 air-propellers arranged as a rotary punkah for 

 ventilating and cooling a room. The revolving 

 disc is fixed on a stand and has a crank attached 

 to which is fitted an accelerating movement by 

 which one turn of the handle gives two turns of 

 the disc. It runs very lightly and can be easily 

 turned by a cooly and the ventilation of the room 

 is perfect. It possesses many advantages over the 

 ordinary jjunkah. not the least of which is that, not 

 being directly over the desk of the person using it 

 it does not fan all papers &c. off the table, and its 

 influence is felt throughout the room and not only 

 in its immediate vicinity. 



Talipot Palm L.vbels. — The editors of the Tropical 

 AiiririiUiirist are sure to be diligent readers of the 

 Ganleiiers' Chronicle, and the following extract from 

 the latter journal will not readily escape their 

 notice. But it may be as well to give it insertion 

 here, as it shows the success Dr. Ondaatje is securing 

 for an adaptation which, it is believed, will do much 

 to stimulate their small local industries in Ceylon, the 

 prosecution of which is very desirable in the domestic 

 interests and general wellbeing of the people : — 

 Since writing to you in September last on the above 

 subject I have been carrying on the following experi- 

 ments with a view of obviating the diificiiltv of writ- 

 ing on the label with a style or sharp pointed instru- 

 ment, and of testing its capabilities generally. Kx- 

 perimeutl: liabuls were ea.sily written on with black 

 Japan varnish and vermilion witli a ([iiill pen and paint 

 brush; they were thin allowed to dry fora few hours 

 and when well (h-ied exp^)^(■d to the open air iu a 

 garden, .\fter they had bci'u thus exposed to the 

 wcathir, and even to the heavy fnowfall lately exjieri- 

 euced, no damage ensued, and tlu' writing remained 

 intact; in fact the labels looked better. No curhiig 

 up followed iu any one. Experiment 2 : A number of 

 labels hung over the kitchen stove were unaffected by 

 the heat, Experiment 3 : A sponge dipped in turpen- 

 tine or methylated spirit and rubbed over the labels 

 effaced the writiug perfectly, thus rendering labels 

 tit for use over and over again. Experiment 1 ; Dilute 

 acids or alkalies applied to remove any writing did 

 no injury, the surtnce Leiug protected by a silicious 

 cuticle. Any soiled label may be cleaned by washing 

 with soap and water. Expeiim'iit 5: Tjabeis writteu 

 on with sulphuric acid by means of a quiil pen and 

 held near the fire until dry, and then fjuickly plunged 

 in water produced a permanent and indestructible writ- 

 ing, the .icid acting on the tissue. Conclusion. From 

 the foregoing experiments I think it is clearly estab- 

 lished that the Talipot Palm label possesses qualities 

 which render it more usefid than those ordinarily used 

 for plants, Ac. I may add that in this climate the 

 label stands exposm-e better than in the tropics, and 

 is likely to be more 'enduring. W. (\ (Jnihtatjee /■'. h.S. 

 I'I'he labels are cheap, durable, and easily written on. 

 flipped in varnish after uritting on tbeni would make 

 them jlmost imperisbable.— Ep.] 



A DiMKiu.A Plantek of the early days is now 

 on a visit to Colombo in Mr. James A. R. Clark of 

 Tinnevelly (son of the late Mr. Kobt. Colvin Clark 

 of Colombo,) who first learned planting under Mr. 

 John Martin on Mount Vernon in lHfi5-7, and 

 has not been back to the district since he left 

 it for India. What a change there has been 

 in the 20 years ! Mr. John Martin is almost the 

 only one left in Dimbula of the few who were 

 at work there in the sixties!. Mr. Elphiustone had 

 begun his Logie clearings, but resided in Kotmale, 

 and Mr. Wm. Smith (now of Pussellawa) was busy in 

 Craigie Lea. Beyond Talawakele all was forest, un- 

 broken save by the patenas; roads and bridges 

 there were none and it was a journey of ditlicnlty 

 even to pass from Craigie Lea across to the New 

 Valley of Dikoya where Messrs. Kelly, Fether- 

 stonhaugh and a few more, mostly dead or gone, 

 had begun pioneering. Mr. Clark means to 

 visit the old hunting as well as planting grounds 

 on his return from Australia in August. He has 

 not been successful in finding a purchaser for 

 his Tinnevelly coffee, cacao and tea properties. 

 They are situated in a deep valley between two hill 

 ranges, get the sun from 8 till 4 p. m. and have 

 exceptionaUy fine soil, and although the leaf 

 fungus is by no means absent, it has not 

 prevented fair crops being continuously gathered; 

 while on the other, the Travancore side, the 

 disease has literally swept coffee out of ex- 

 istence. Some idea of the luxuriance of the 

 soil may be formed from the enormous size of 

 the trunks of the older trees -some of them 40 

 years old, have been cut down to the ground by Mr. 

 Clark and suckers allowed to grow up, so that 

 after two or three years the clearing looked as 

 of that age only and is giving good returns. 

 Even young iilants from the nursery grow and 

 crop fairly well. But Mr. Clark has not neglected 

 new products — cacao and tea especially. Squirrels 

 from the large reserves of forest arc the chief trouble 

 with the former, and as they, if left alone, select 

 the ripe pods and after enjoying the nmcilaginous 

 portion leave the crop on the ground, Mr. Clark 

 is inclined to regard them as harvesters! A new 

 product whicli is found to do and pay well on 

 botli sides of the Tinnevelly-Travancorc range ill) 

 to 2,000 feet is Zanzibar chillies. They have been 

 planted on some hundreds of acres — so good is the 

 price got in London and seed has been got direct 

 from the East Coast of Africa. Has any one tried 

 these chillies in Ceylon and for what can the 

 specially good demand in London be? We quote as 

 follows from Smith's "Dictionary of Economic 

 plants" : — 



CArsiciiji, a genus of the Nightshade family (Sola- 

 uaceael. C aniunnn, is supposed originally to ha^■c 

 been a uativc of some part of South America, but 

 is now cultivated in all tropical regions. It is an 

 annual plant, attaining a height of about 1'2 or 18 

 inches. It is too tender for successful outdoor 

 cultivation in this country but succeeds well and 

 produces tine fruit under glass. There are several 

 varieties, their fruit varynig in shape aud coloifr, 

 being cither long or sbcnt podded, red or yellow, all of 

 which are known nndcr the name of I'od Pepper. 

 There are some very distinct varieties considered 

 by soniG authors as species, such as Cherry Pepper 

 [t'lijtsiciuh ceiLiififuiHic}', Bird Pepper {C. hiiccafitiu); 

 Bell X'epper (C nioxmin); Spur Pepper (C /'nitc«eriu), 

 which are all more or less grown iu different coun- 

 tries, aud extensively used in cookery in hot cliniateB, 

 being considered benelieial in exciting the appetite. 

 The dried fruits when ground constitute Cayenne 

 Popper. In this country they arc generally used 

 as pickles, aud in sauces. The small fruits known 

 by llic names of ('billies, are mostly produced by 0. 

 f'li.^li'liuluiii. Capsicums arc extensively cultivated iu 

 Uuiigary, giving umployiucut to 'i|50U families. 



