204 



well-draiaed loamy land. They should each be 3 ft. square and 3 

 ft. deep, and be filled in with surface soil, vegetable mould and 

 cattle droppings worked up to a friable and fine degree of tilth. 

 In planting, care should be taken to see that every transplant occu- 

 pies the centre of the pit in which it is put out ; for, the species 

 being a surface feeder, the fullest facility should be afforded it for 

 developing its feeding-roots evenly around it. The plants should 

 be shaded with light bamboo-and-grass tatties placed horizontally 

 over each and supported upon bamboo uprights 6 ft. high. This 

 shade should be given directly the transplants are put out and be 

 maintained for at least one year. The tatties may be removed 

 when there is rain as well as at night and in the cooler parts of 

 the day. The plants should also be copiously watered throughout 

 the warmer months of the year for at least two years after they 

 are put out. 



The mangosteen plant has been known to bear fruit in the 

 fifth year from planting out or in the sixth from germination. At 

 this age it ordinarily attains to a height of 10 ft. and a basal 

 girth of I ft., and its conical crown, which is formed low on the 

 bole, casts a cover of about 10 ft. in diameter. The yield of 

 fruit varies with locality as well as care in manuring and general 

 cultivation ; but it usually is small and continues to be poor unti". 

 the plant reaches its tenth year. Again, the earlier fruits are 

 small and irregularly developed and contain very few pulpy seeds. 

 Thus, the number, size, shape and flavour of the fruits are improved 

 only with advancing years ; but, even in young crops, considerable 

 improvement could be effected by heavy periodic manuring and 

 watering. A healthy plant in its tenth year is capable of yielding 

 from two to three hundred mangosteens valued at from Rs. 3 to 

 Rs. 5 per hundred. An acre stocked with plants standing at dis- 

 tances of 20 ft. from one another would hold at least lOO plants. 

 And if, at the end of the tenth year, they yield, on an average, 200 

 fruits each, valued at the rate of Rs. 4 per hundred, the plantation 

 would yield an approximate income of Rs. 800. The species is 

 well adapted for cultivation in all localities with heavy rainfall, a 

 a loamy soil, and enjoying freedom from frost. It luxuriates in 

 bright and vigorous sunshine and demands plenty of light for its 

 most perfect development. The soil, however, should be moist 

 and well drained. It is best grown as a pure crop, unmixed with 

 species other than itself. — Madras Mail. 



CORN PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION « 



It is evident from the experience of the past few years of good 

 crops that the consumption of corn [maize] in the United States has 

 increased much more rapidly than the production. Indeed it may 

 be doubted whether there has been any enlargement in the corn 

 area during the past eight years. The statistics of the Agricultu- 

 ral Department show an area last year 14 millions greater than in 



•From " Tlie Loumanu Planter and Sugar Manvifacturcr," Vol. XXX VII, Ko. 2. 



