,^lf? 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [}vm i, 1886. 



eoniBwIiat misleailiui;. 'J'lie sap wood is, nevertheless, 

 founJ in commerce, for Balfour* describes it as "coated 

 witli tliitk compact bark, has a grey and brownish 

 cpiitormis, it is nearly inodorous, and has a slightly 

 bitter taste." As the white is doubtless a lighter shade 

 of the yellow, so is the red (apart from that obtained 

 from Pterocarpiis s«Ji<aK««s, which is truly red) a deeper 

 shade. The red kind was not recognized in Sanskrit 

 medical works, the only kinds mentioned Yieiug srikhandii, 

 or white sandal v:ooAf&ni\ pitackaiiduiia or yellow sandal 

 wood. When the wood has reached the depots it is cut 

 into billets from -' to 4 feet long. In cutting down the 

 trees the earth i.^ removed from about the root so that 

 the collectors may cut as low as possible. The billet 

 taken from the trunk immediately above the root is 

 called the root-billet and is of superior quality. 



The tree grows freely in hedges and gardens, and in a 

 rich soil attains its full size ; but in such localities the 

 the timber is of little value and has scarcely any smell. 

 Soil and elevation have great influence on the amount of 

 oil produced. It thrives up to an elevation of 4,000 feet, 

 and yields the largest quantity of oil when grown in dry, 

 sunny, rocky, mountainous di.stricts, although it does 

 not reach its full height. It is rarely found in forests. 

 As has been previously stated it it is now grown in 

 Government plantations from seed ; but it also springs 

 from roots which have been left in the ground. 



Sandal wood. — iiansknt,chantlana,srikhtmda. Verna- 

 cular: — Bengali, (;/M/7w/'7n; Hindi, safrd chaiidun. The 

 wood and essential oil have been esteemed for the last 

 2000 years by the Hindus. The straight pieces of heart 

 wood are much valued for carving boxes, desks, and 

 other useful and or'jameutal articles. Rich natives use 

 the wood for burning their dead relatives, and all classes 

 .xdd at least one piece to the funeral pile. In powder 

 the Brahmins mix it with the pigments they use for 

 making their caste marks. As a meihciue it is considered 

 by them as bitter, Booliug and astringent. Reduced to 

 ;>owder it is taken in cocoa-uut water, and an enmlsion 

 is used to anoint the body with after bathing. It is 

 ,ilso burned to perfume temples and dwellings. 



Sandal wooil is imported into this country in logs 

 from y to 4 feet long, ami, from 3 to « (rarely 14) inches 

 iu diameter. Tliat the alburnum is imported is very 

 iloubtful, as 1 have not found any mention of its presence 

 here. The duramen is very heavy, somewhat hard to 

 cut transversely, but easily cleft. In colour it is 

 yellow, fawn-coloured, or reddish-brown. It has a 

 very strong, persistent, agj'eeable odour. The taste is 

 aromatic. " Three sorts are recognized in the coumiercial 

 houses of China, iiAme\y, 'South St/a Isfohil^ Jimor &i\A 

 Mafaho'' ; the last fetches from three to four times as 

 high a price as either of the others. "f — Pharmaceutical 

 Joitrnaf. 



POTATO CULTUKE. 



SELECTION Of GKOUND. 



Success in potato culture is attainable not only in 

 different climes, but also in a very great variety of soils. 

 I'nder otherwise favourable conditions, the tuber will 

 grow as well in clear sand as in stiff clay. The happy 

 medium is generally the best. 



,V thin Layer of fertile surface-soil, resting upon clay 

 sub-.soil. which is impervious to water, should never be 

 usoil for potatoes, not even if thoroughly underdrained. 

 The tubers .are more apt to rot in heavy, sticky soils, 

 jiarticulary iu a wet season, than on light sandy or 

 grnvelley ones. 



It is a very common practice with farmers to plant 

 potatoes on clover sod, plowed in the spring. This 

 Bclectiou is a good one, provided, however, that as in 

 the case of young and rank-growing clover, the sod is 

 such us to admit of thorough pulverization, or that the 

 field can be plowed early enough during the summer 

 or fall previous to give ample time for the sward to rot 



* Op. cit. 



t Fliickigor and Hmdiurv, ' I'harmacographia ' 

 54;!. 



(1«74). 



and thus make cross-plowing practicable. Otherwise, 

 when the clover-field is old and the roots of grasses and 

 weeds are woven iuto a tough, thick sward, which 

 cannot be easily broken and pulverized, it would be 

 advisable to have a crop of wheat, rye, oats, or corn 

 precede the potato crop. 



An admirable selection . — For early sorts— clay loam, 

 very rich. For late sorts — Sandy or travelly loam, of 

 medium fertility. Naturally drained, loose and mellow 

 clover-sod, or stubble after stiff sod is the best imaginable 

 condition or state of cultivation in either case. 



MANUIE AND ITS APPLIC'ATIOK— KEED THE LAND AND 

 THE LAND WILL I'UKD YOU. 



Coarse, unfermented stable dung is nearly worthless 

 for the potato crop, unless as a much on very porous 

 and dry soil. Thoroughly rotted compost in moderate 

 quantities is a good fertilizer for tall-growing varieties, 

 while low-growing (early) sorts are greatly benefitted 

 by more liberal applications. 



The clover on the pasture lot or meadow selected for 

 a potato field should not be grazed or cut very late in 

 the fall. M'e could hardly wish for a better fertilizer 

 than a good growth of clover, covered during the fall 

 with a coat of fine old manure or barn-yard scrapingsr 

 lighter w heavier — according to variety to be planted — 

 and, if possible, applied with a Kemp manure-spreader 

 or, at least, evenly and finely distributed by means of 

 harrow or otherwise. 



For stubble ground, fall manuring can be recommended 

 only on condition that the manure is harrowsd or culti- 

 vated into the soil and thus left until spring. 



On land manured the year previous, potatoes will do 

 well without additional fertilizing, still the application 

 of wood ashes or lime often increase the yield. Newly 

 applied stable manure seems to attract the wire-worms, 

 and therefore has the tendency to produce scab in the 

 tuliers. Coar.«e manure is a fre^jueut cause of prongs, 

 protuberances, ** fingers and toes." 



Commercial fertilizers meet with no objections of 

 this kiml. The fairest, smoothest and best shaped 

 tubers ere generally grown on well pulverized soils which 

 were fertilized with chemical manures, or not at all the 

 same season. In recommending such fertilizers, we 

 enter debatable ground. While we have never failed 

 to see good results from the application of phosphates, 

 etc., whenever we tried them on potatoes or other crops, 

 there are many cases on record, as reported hy different 

 farmers, where even complete fertilizers — those contain- 

 ing ammonia, phosphoric acid aiul potash — utterly 

 refused to respond. Still we believe that the fault is 

 with the man oftener than with the material. Commer- 

 cial manures and chemicals give us one great advantage. 

 Of the three most important elements, ammonia, phosp- 

 horic acid and potash, the soil may contain n sufficiency 

 of one or two. If we know, from previous experiments, 

 which these elements are, it will be only necessary to 

 supply the one that is lacking. Thu.s, our own soils were 

 always deficient in phosphoric acid, and therefore 

 greatly benefitted by its application, next by that of 

 potash, but not noticeably by ammonia. On other soils 

 ashes, or some other forms of potjish, either alone or in 

 combination with phosphoric acid, or ammonia, will 

 greatly increase the yield. • 



If previous experiments have not been made to deter- 

 mine the relative proportion of these elements in the 

 soil, complete manures like Mapes' or Stockbridge 

 (Bowker) special potato fertilizers, Powell's potato 

 producer, etc., which contain the three ingredients in 

 about the right proportion for the crop, can be relied 

 on with safety. From 600 to 800 pounds to an acre 

 should be applied broadcast, just before planting, and 

 deeply harrowed info the soil, or in ilrills, ahoutan iuch 

 or two above the seed and covered by a few inches of soil. 

 The well-known English experimenter, Sir ,T. B. Lawes, 

 of Rothamstead, used 30U pounds of sulphate of potash 

 (130 pounilrt actual potash), 350 pounds superphosphate 

 of lime, 6.50 pounds of nitrate of soda, to produce a crop 

 of 4t!0 bushcds. This me.ius almost a mere manufactur- 

 ing of the crop out of chemicals, without oatling on the 

 soil for assistance (as to the supply of raw material); 

 and such manufacturing might ho carried on year after 

 year on the same land. 



