Vol. V. No. 119. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



357 



HEDGE PLANTS FOR TROPICAL GARDENS. 



Among the chief beauties of English country and 

 suburban homes are the straight lines of wall-like green 

 hedges, which encircle the lawn or flower-beds. Dwellers in 

 the West Indies have a great advantage over the people of 

 England in the charming variety of beautiful flowering 

 shrubs which can, with a little trouble, be made into pleasing 

 hedges around their gardens. 



An Eranthemum (E. maculatmu) makes a very good 

 wall-like hedge in about three years, and is fairly free from 

 scale insects. The line for the intended fence should be dug 

 as deeply as convenient and preferably about 4 to 6 feet wide. 

 No large tree must be allowed to come nearer the intended 

 fence than about 10 to 1-5 feet beyond the spread of the 

 tree's branches. For Eranthemum the cuttings should be 

 first well rooted in sand and planted deeply in wet weather 

 about 1 foot apart. For the first year or so, at each 

 pruning, every stem should be cut back to 4 inches in length, 

 to induce branching; but after two years, the hedge may be 

 trimmed square with a flat top and perfectlj' vertical sides. 

 The best way to do this is to trim the top by carrying 

 a straight lath across the top at the reijuired height, and to 

 stretch a string on the ground on each side of the fence at the 

 proper distance and moving the lath kept vertical along the 

 strings, to trim the sides. 



A striking effect may be obtained by surrounding the 

 garden with a fence of hibiscus, of which there are several fine 

 varieties and species. For instance, in a square garden, the 

 centre half of one side fence may be made of the large single 

 pink hibiscus with each end quarter of the double pink 

 'peach-blow;' the second side may have a centre of the large 

 single scarlet, with the end quarters of the large double dark 

 scarlet ; the third side may be of the large single yellow 

 (salmon), with the terminal quarters of the large double 

 yellow ; the fourth side may have a centre of the single white 

 species, with one of the double whites at each end quarter. 

 If these varieties cannot be obtained locally they may be 

 purchased in Florida. Every time after the flowering 

 branches have grown 3 or 4 feet long, they must be cut 

 back to 6 inches, some care, however, being taken to keep 

 the hedge approximately even, the slower-growing kinds 

 being allowed a little more than 6 inches, and the rapid 

 growers a little less. In about three years, the hedges, when 

 in flower, will be a beautiful sight, the flowers showing on 

 the single kinds almost as great a spread as the leaves. If 

 scale insects are seen on the old stems, they must be wiped 

 off with a rag dipped in strong kerosene emulsion. 



It may not be generally known that the Casuarina, the 

 tamarind, and the lime can be made into hedges, if kept well 

 shorn. Excellent examples of the two former can be seen in 

 Barbados. Good hedges can also be made from the Barbados 

 cherry (Mcdpighia glabra), wild coffee (Clerodendroti 

 aculeaticm), the limonia ( J/m-j-aya exotica), Acali/j^ha tricolor, 

 the sweet lemon (IViphasia Aurantiola), the Cape jasmine 

 (Gardenia), the Ixoras with their brilliant scarlet flowers, 

 Thunbergia erecta with its bright violet-blue blossoms, the 

 cushaw(.4(."a/'jrt tortuosa), bread-and cheese {Inga Vnguis-Cati), 

 and from Acacia ipliaerocephala. But if not kept regularly 

 shorn or pruned they soon become irregular and unsightly. 



A promising plant for a hedge is the large-flowered 

 scented jasmine {Jasmirmm grandijiorum). It can b.- 

 readily propagated by layering or by making cuttings oi 

 pieces of stem with large buds. It must be cut right back 

 with pruning shears every now and then. 



The growth of hedges at the Montserrat Botanic Station 

 is described in the Agricultural Neios (Vol. Ill, p. 233, and 

 Vol. IV, p. 287). 



ORNAMENTAL SEEDS. 



' The use of ornamental seeds in the manufacture 

 of household articles and for personal adornment is 

 common in many countries,' says the Kew Bulletin, 

 ' but in few perhaps has the application of natural 

 forest seeds become an industry so definite as appears 

 to be the case in Mazagon, Bombay.' 



This industry was described in an article in the 

 Times of India, for July 13, 1906, the following 

 brief summary of which may be of interest : — 



The Indian jungles are remarkable for the number of 

 hard, bright seeds of many colours which are found upon 

 their trees and climbing plants. The beauty of many of 

 these seeds and their durability must have suggested their 

 use as ornaments, but the difficulty of piercing them 

 regularly and cheaply seems to have stood in the way until 

 the Editor of the Indian Textile Journal took the matter in 

 hand. 



The drilling of the seeds was the first problem to be 

 solved, and as they varied greatly in shape, appliances had 

 to be devised that would hold them and at the same time 

 guide the drill so that it might pierce them in the desired 

 manner. The seeds were finally held in an instrument 

 resembling a nut cracker with conical recesses on the inner 

 sides which held the seeds, and a hole passing through the 

 apex of the cone which guided the drill. These ' clamps ' 

 were made of hard Indian wood, while the steel of knitting 

 needles and old bicycle spokes was found to be of excellent 

 quality for drills. 



The typical machine now consists of small horizontal 

 drill-heads arranged along a narrow table which accommo- 

 dates six drillers. The clamp holding the seeds rests upon 

 a small adjustable bracket, which supports it at the level of 

 the drill point ; and power is applied by a coolie who turns 

 a wooden wheel at the end of the table. A cord from this 

 wheel makes a single turn around the small pulley of each 

 drill and returns above them to the wheel. One labourer 

 thus serves six drills without any complication of mechanism. 



The seed and bead industry is interesting for several 

 reasons. It is based on the use of materials which were 

 previously without value, and these materials are worked up 

 with the aid of new tools and appliances designed expressly 

 for them under very strict limitations as to cost and complica- 

 tion. It should take a prominent place among the small 

 industries of India. 



Among the charming devices produced from these 

 ornamental seeds are necklaces, napkin-rings, hat-pins, 

 buttons, bracelets, seed-partiere.s, and screens, which find 

 a ready sale at remunerative prices. 



There are in the West Indies many of these 

 ornamental seeds, and it is likely that a greater use 

 might be made of them, especially if some such simple 

 contrivance as that described above were adopted. 

 A fairly complete list of West Indian ornamental seeds 

 was published in the Agricultural Hews, Vol. Ill, 

 p. 395. Of these mention may be made of the 

 following : — 



Crabs' eyes (Abrus ^.H'ecatof'ij^s), Circassian seeds 

 {Adenanthera pavonina), coral beans {Erythrina Coralloden- 

 dron), jumbee beads {Ormosia dasycarpa). Job's tears 

 (Coix Lacliryma-Jobi), soap berries (Sapindus Saponaria), 

 lucky beans {Thevetia nereifolia), and the grey and the 

 yellow horse nickers {Caesalp>inia Bonducella and C. Bonduc). 



