1t\ 



tl^OPfCAL AGi^ICULTURIST^ 



[May I, 1886. 



profitable from an elevation of from 2,000 to 6,000 feet. 

 Under favourable conditions, the plant remains in 

 bearing for many (ten or more) years." 



Carica cundiiiamarceHsis (" Mountain Papaw "). — Mr. 

 Nock reports from Hakgala : — 



" Both as a fruit and ornamental plant this is a very 

 vMuable introduction. It grows freely in the moun- 

 tains, and produces an abundance of very useful fruit. 

 Stewed or cooked in tarts and puddings it has very much 

 the flavour of apples, and for mincemeat it is quite 

 equal to tliem. It is also very good when fully ripe, 

 eaten raw with a little sugar." 



Abracacha Escur.ENTA.— The few seedling plants of 

 this vegetable, which were raised during the latter part 

 of 1884 at Hakgala (see last report, p. 1.3) were planted 

 out in February, and have matured a fair crop of the 

 edible roots. A good quantity of young plants have 

 been propogated from crown cuttings, and these 

 »re now available for distribution. This vegetable 

 has a peculiar flavour, and a cheesy consistence, and 

 is not relished by everyone. It might be called the 

 "South American Parsnip." 



Ipomaa chiysorrhka. — The " Kumara " or New Zea- 

 land sweet-potato has turned out very suitable for 

 Ceylon culture, and possesses several advantages over 

 the ordinary sorts. The tubers, though smaller, oome 

 more quickly to maturity, and thus afford more crops 

 during the year. In taste they are much less sweet, 

 and more like the true potato; but the great advant- 

 age is that they can be grown in the hills at the highest 

 elevations. This was received from Kew in 1883 (.see 

 my report for that year, p. 9). Botanically it can be 

 regarded only as a race, adapted to a temperate climate, 

 of the ordinary I. Batatas, 



Chinese itinger. — Of this plant— the source of the 

 preserved ginger of commerce — nothing is certainly 

 known. In China, whtre it is grown, it is said never 

 to flower. I have received from Kew a box of roots, 

 which are growing well at Peradcniya. The plant is 

 clearly quite diistinct from ordinary ginger, and I await 

 itsfloweiing with interest. 

 Eucalyptus Plantation.— Mt. Nock reports :— 

 " The trees — now oj years old— suffered a good deal 

 from the high winds in the South- West monsoon, and 

 most of them, which are now too big for stokes, show 

 a decided lean from that point. 



For comparison of growth I give below the measure- 

 ments of fifteen kinds for the last three years": — 



Jan. 1884. Jan. 1885. Jan. 1886. 



KnEMll Ol-ERATIONS.— The Ennlixliman states 

 that the Governtnent kheddahs in the Garo Hills are 

 yearly becoming mote productive under the superin- 

 tendence of Mr. Sanderson, and the present season 

 is by far the most successful on record. For 

 ten years before Mr. Sanderson's appoint- 

 ment the avcrge capture did not exceed 58 ele- 

 phants, and since then the number has run up 

 to 252. This year, however, during the eighty 

 days from 20th December to 10th March, thi 

 capture of no fewer than :102 elepbauts wae effected 





SvLHET Tea Prospects.— As was stated in the 

 Pioneer yesterday South Sylhet is suffering from 

 drought, hardly any rain having fallen since early 

 m October. A correspondent informs the Englith- 

 man that the districts south of Maulvi Bazaar aj-e 

 in a very bad way indeed. On the tea gardens 

 both old and young plants are dying, and an early 

 leaf season is now out of the question. The \vriter 

 adds that, omng to the exceptional dryness of the 

 weather jungle tires are greatly on the increase 

 in the district of Sylhet. On many tea estates 

 portions of the coolie lines and other buildings 

 have been burned to the ground, together with one 

 of the manager's bungalows in the South SyLhet Tea 

 Company. — Pioneer. 



A Statue to Coffee.— A good deal of literature 

 has been inspired by coffee, but few men of let- 

 ters have sung its praises, and it seems to have 

 been reserved to a Viennese coffee-house keeper to 

 erect the first statue in its honor. Toward the 

 end of the seventeenth- century one Kolsohitzky, 

 who had rendered good service to the besieged 

 during the leaguer of Vienna, opened the first 

 coffee-house ever .seen in the Austrian capital, and 

 now one of his own cloth has put up a statue to 

 commemorate Kolschitzky's two great services to 

 his fellow citizens. The statue, which is said to 

 be " a fine work of art," represents Kolschitzky 

 in a Turkish uniform (the disguise he adopted 

 when carrying through the Turkish lines intelli- 

 gence from the besieged to the Duke of Lorraine), 

 holding a catetiere in his right hand and a cup in 

 his left. At his feet lies a bag of coffee. This 

 realistic piece of sculpture has just been unveiled 

 at the corner of the Kolschitzkystrasse and the 

 Favoritenstrasse, and has been formally made over 

 to the city ; and, as the Viennese loves his cai'e noir 

 with a perfect affection, there is much fitness in 

 the gift. — St. James's Gazette. 



Flying -Foxes in Queensland The curse of 



this colony and the bane of the fruit-grower is 

 the flying-fox. How to checkmate them is thought 

 to be a puzzle. The following from the Leader 

 is stated to be a certain method of destroying 

 these animals. " Select a tree to which they 

 appear to give the preference, and on that tree 

 hang from one to five oranges prepared as fol- 

 lows : — Scoop a cylindrical hole in the orange, 

 then introduce a piece of brass wire bent in the 

 shape of a corkscrew, so that it will securely hold 

 the orange hanging from the limb of the tree 

 where you shall place it. All this being done, 

 just before dark, when the flying foxes begin to 

 make their appearance, force into the orange a 

 quantity of cyanide of potassium the more you can 

 put in the better— but be careful not to keep 

 your nose over the fruit while doing so. The 

 citric acid contained in the orange will immediately 

 attack the cyanide of potassium, and produce 

 eyanhydric (prussic) acid ; this action will be con- 

 siderably helped by the small electrical cun-ent 

 generated between the cojiper wire and the cyanide, 

 and the gaseous product of the chemical reaction 

 will escape from the hole at the top, the flying-fos 

 coming near it dropping dead instantaneously. The 

 fruit will be besides poisoned by the double citrate 

 of copper and potash manufactured inside, so that 

 when the discharge of eyanhydric acid becomes 

 insufficient to poison the flying fox. the animal be 

 ing able (o bite the fruit will be killed, but not 

 instantaneously. The emanations of the eyanhy- 

 dric acid will attract the flying foxes from a con- 

 siderable distance. The poisoned fruits should be 

 removed and buried in the morning, or else they 

 may destroy valuable birds. In the long nights a 

 second hanging of fruit at about ffliduigbt bbould be 

 done."— P/a/i/t-r d? Farimr. 



