October 14. 1897] 



NATURE 



579 



cultivators to obtain names for their collections. A correct 

 determination of cultivated Riviera plants is also of value to 

 Kew, as it assists in the interchange or purchase of new and 

 desirable specimens required for the establishment. 



An important paper on horticulture and arboriculture in the 

 United States, prepared by the curator, Mr. G. Nicholson, 

 whilst on a visit, as a judge in horticulture at the Columbian 

 Exposition at Chicago {K.B., 1894, 37), has rendered it possible 

 to obtain a more complete representation of the trees and 

 .shrubs of the United States in the Arboretum of the Royal 

 \ Gardens, and has brought before horticulturists in this country 



\ many interesting plants that had not hitherto received the 



» attention they deserved. Nearer home, a paper on Horticulture 



in Cornwall {K.B. 1893, 355) affords a fairly representative 

 ]iicture of the possibilities of Cornish horticulture, where, owing 

 to the mildness of the climate, types of the vegetation of New 

 Zealand and the Himalaya do better even than under glass at 

 Kew. The "cultivation of vegetables for market" and the 

 possibilities of market gardening in Great Britain {K.B., 1895, 

 ^07) discusses an important economic problem. 



Among other horticultural subjects dealt with are the storing 

 I home-grown fruit (A'.B., 1895, 3^' with an illustration of a 

 fruit room), and a detailed account of the prune industry in 

 France and California. 



Plant Diseases. 

 The diseases of cultivated plants is a subject on which the aid 

 of Kew is frequently sought on behalf of Colonial Governments 

 by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The investigation 

 of fungoid diseases often demands considerable time and attention 

 on the part of members of the Kew staff, while those caused by 

 insects render it necessary to secure the assistance of specially 

 qualified experts to Whose courtesy this establishment is greatly j 

 indebted. The several diseases that have affected the sugar- 

 cane in the West Indies, Queensland, and Mauriiius have been ! 

 described in a series of important articles extending over several ■ 

 years (1890-96), whilst diseases such as those affecting arrowroot 

 in St. Vincent, bananas in Fiji, cocoa-nut in British Honduras, i 

 coffee in East Africa, onions in Bermuda, wheat in Cyprus, I 

 pepper in Mysore, potatoes in India, vanilla in the Seychelles, | 

 have also been carefully dealt with. Of considerable practical ' 

 value are articles on the preservation of grain from weevils \ 

 {A'.B., 1890, 144), and on the well-known plant malady called i 

 " anbury " and " finger and toe," which attacks turnips {K.B., i 

 1895, 129). It is shown that free acid present in the soil is { 

 favourable to the disease, while a free alkali is unfavourable. j 



Fibre Plants. ! 



The large and increasing interest taken in fibre plants, and the 

 numerous references made to this establishment on the subject, 

 rendered it desirable to place within reach of cultivators in \ 

 India and the Colonies a summary of information respecting | 

 them. This is contained in a series of articles begun in 1887, | 

 and continued with more or less regularity to the present time. ; 

 The total number amounts to about seventy. As might be ex- 

 pected, those of chief importance relate to Sisal hemp and 

 Ramie, or China grass, subjects which have received much 

 attention in various parts of the Empire. These articles are of 

 value, not only in encouraging the cultivation of plants yielding i 

 fibres likely to be in actual demand, and yielding remunerative 

 results, but in preventing expenditure upon those that are known | 

 to be useless. 



Many fibres have been traced to the plants yielding them for 

 the first time. For instance, the Mexican whisk, or Raiz de j 

 Zacatoti, was identified, from specimens communicated by the [ 

 P'oreign Office, at the root of a species of Epicampes, a grass ! 

 distributed over the highlands of Mexico. The plants yielding j 

 the fibre called Istle, used, not for rope making, but as a sub- 

 stitute for animal bri.stles in the manufacture of cheap nail and 

 scrubbing brushes, were found to belong to a group of Agaves | 

 with short leaves, of which Agave heteracaulha, Zticc, is the ; 

 type. The first information respecting African bass, a fibre | 

 obtained from Raphia vinifera, was published in the Keiv 

 Bulletin {A'.B., 1891, p. i). This is now a regular article of ' 

 export from our African Colonies ; and the same thing may be j 

 said of the bass fibre obtained from the Palmyra palm in Ceylon 

 {K.B., 1892, 148), and of Madagascar Piasava yielded by 

 a new species o{ Dictyosperma {K.B., 1894, 358). A continuous | 

 account of the hemp industry in Yucatan, an 1 of the similar 

 industry lately started in the Bahamas, is given over the whole 



period. The origin of the white-rope fibres which appeared in 

 commerce as Bombay aloe fibre, and as Manila aloe fibre, have 

 been traced to A^ave vivipara, a New World species now 

 naturalised and fairly abundant in many parts of the East Indies 

 {KB., 1893, 78). 



The recent attempts to extract and to utilise the valuable fibres 

 contained in the China grass {Boehmeria nivea), and Ramie or 

 Rhea {B. tenacisstma), have been placed on record in a series 

 of articles which have been of considerable service to manu- 

 facturers in this country and also to our planting Colonies. 

 The habits and requirements of the plants and the conditions 

 necessary for their successful cultivation have been carefully 

 discussed. 



Rubber Plants. 



The investigation of rubber-yielding plants has resulted in 

 drawing attention not only to new sources of supply, but in 

 increasing the quantity available for commercial purposes. The 

 remarkable rubber industry started in the Colony of Lagos in 

 1889 is described (K.B., 1895, p. 241), and a figure is given of 

 the plant, which hitherto had not been known as a source of 

 commercial rubber. The Lagos rubber industry in two years 

 developed into an export value of nearly 400,000/. A some- 

 what similar industry has been started on the Gold Coast 

 by the efforts of Sir Alfred Moloney, with exports in 1893 of 

 the value of 218,162/. Practically all the more important 

 sources of commercial rubber are reviewed, while particulars 

 respecting two rubber plants, such as Forsteronia gracilis in 

 British Guiana, F. floribunda in Jamaica, and Sapimn glandu- 

 losum in the United States of Columbia, are also given. It may 

 be added that information is desired by this establishment 

 respecting the plants yielding the Esmeralda rubber of Guiana 

 {KB., 1892, 70) and that exported from Matto-grosso in Brazil. 

 There is a doubt as to the distinction, if any, existing between 

 caoutchoucs yielded respectively by the Ule and Tuno trees of 

 Central America. One of these is usually referred to Castilloa 

 elaslica, but botanical specimens are necessary of each tree to 

 definitely decide the point. 



Special Articles. 



These include the results of investigations made at Kew into 

 plants yielding Paraguay tea, or mate, so largely consumed as a 

 beverage in South America \K.B., 1872, 132); vanilla-yielding 

 plants cultivated in tropical countries {KB., 1895, 169); the 

 plants yielding Sisal hemp, {KB., 1892, 21) ; the timber of the 

 Straits Settlements {KB., 1890, 112) ; the species and varieties 

 of Mtisa cultivated for food or ornament {K.B., 1894, 229) ; 

 tropical fodder grasses {KB., 1894, 373 : 1896, 115) ; Chinese 

 white wax {KB., 1893, 84) ; the arrowroot industry of St. Vin- 

 cent {A'.B., 1893, 191); tuberous Labiatce {KB., 1894, 10); 

 Canary rosewoods {A'.B., 1893, 133) ; American ginseng (A' i9., 

 1893, 71) ; palm weevil in British Honduras (A'.B , 1893, 27) ; 

 and sheep bushes and salt bushes {KB., 1896, 129). In addi- 

 tion several articles have appeared describing the various forms 

 in which tea is met with in European and Asiatic commerce. 

 P'u-erh tea is made into balls as big as a man's head, or into 

 cakes ; compressed or tablet tea is manufactured from tea dust 

 by steam machinery ; while another form known as brick tea is 

 used in Chinese Mongolia and Tibet. Lao tea is not used for 

 making an infusion, but prepared wholly for chewing purposes. 

 A pickled tea, called Leppett tea, is eaten as a preserve with 

 other articles. The white tea of Persia has been shown to con- 

 sist of the undeveloped leaf-buds of China tea thickly coated 

 with fine hairs giving them a silvery appearance. A singular 

 beverage known as Faham tea is prepared in Mauritius from the 

 leaves of an orchid {Augrcecum fragrans) {KB., 1892, 181). 

 This is described as agreeable and used as a digestive ; it is even 

 recommended in diseases of the respiratory organs. The leaves 

 themselves mixed with ordinary tea impart to the latter an 

 extremely pleasant perfume. 



The discovery of seedling sugar-canes at Barbados {KB., 



1889, 242) has rendered it practicable to raise new serviceable 

 varieties, and probably to improve the yield of this valuable 

 plant. A seedling raised at Kew has yielded excellent results 

 in Queensland, and has been largely propagated under the name 

 of "Kewensis" {KB., 1896, 167). The possibility of pre- 

 paring a palatable butter from the oil of the cocoa-nut {KB., 



1890, 230) is an instance of the advance made in the chemistry 

 of familiar vegetable products. Canaigre {A'.B., 1890, 63) will 

 probably prove a most valuable tanning agent, while the pre- 

 paration of cutch from the bark of mangrove trees {A'.B., 1892, 



NO. 1459, VOL. 56] 



