16 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



foreigners in these hot climates. Their enterprise, such as it 

 is, lies at the basis of nearly all such cultivation of tropical 

 crops. 



Among the more commonly cultivated tropical products are 

 spices, a few palms, textile plants, sugar-cane, certain varieties 

 of tobacco, a few coloring matters, and many food plants. A few 

 of these plants are now to be reviewed, and we may begin with 

 the food plants. 



Rice. — As raised in Ceylon, the land in Avhich rice is to 

 be planted is laid out so as to be saturated with water as re- 

 quired. The soil, being covered with a few inches of water, is 

 stirred up by implements, or by driving bullocks hither and 

 thither over it. In this loosened soil the seeds are placed and the 

 quickly grown plants, with their tender green shoots, soon give 

 the field a beautiful appearance. By and by the nodding heads 

 show that the grain is growing heavy, but the vigilance of the 

 cultivator does not relax. The ground is frequently saturated 

 and search is made for the enemies of the plant. When the 

 harvest comes the laborers secure the crop mostly by hand, as 

 the grains are so easily detached that great care must be taken to 

 grasp each cluster firmly before it is cut off. The rice is then 

 husked and the dark brown grains become the beautiful white 

 ones Ave know so well. In the Botanical Museum at Cambridge 

 these processes are illustrated by photographs and the products 

 are shown in all stages. Near by is another collection which at 

 this time possesses great pathos — that of the famine-grains of 

 India. Only the well-to-do can use rice, and cheaper grains are 

 the food of the poor. But this year these have failed and a ter- 

 rible famine is approaching parts of middle India, and before 

 many months have gone, thousands will have died of starvation. 

 The reason for this is that these people live just north of the 

 equable equatorial belt, Avhere the climatic conditions are unfa- 

 vorable. 



Coffee. — The coffee of commerce is raised within the tropics. 

 Given by Arabia to the Malayan Archipelago and to parts of 

 India and Ceylon, it has generally flourished. In Ceylon, how- 

 ever, it has had an almost fatal check from a destructive fungus 

 and an equally destructive insect. The coffee plant at a distance 

 sometimes resembles one of our Viburnums, but often takes the 

 shape of a tree. Approaching, one sees the glossy dark-green 



