5 



from the soil different elements to those which the Cacao requires. In fact it is used on the same 

 principle as that on which alternative crops are employed. The Guango or Inga is as moderate in its 

 demands upon the soil as Erythrina, but it spreads too much in proportion to its height. Erythrina 

 throws out its branches well above the Cacao trees. Bananas should only be employed for a couple of 

 years after the Cocoa is planted out. They exhaust the soil and harbour damp. In adopting a tree 

 like Manihot for shade, the above considerations ought not to be lost sight of. 



Climate. — Although Cacao will grow in a hot and very damp climate like Guayaquil or the Atrato 

 Valley, yet it is found in Colombia that it grows best where the temperature (mean) is 26° Centigrade, 

 and where the two dry and two wet seasons are well marked in the year. It is possible or probable too, 

 that a dry season affords a better opportunity of preparing the bean for the market." 



OCCASIONAL NOTES. 



Cave Earth.— On a recent visit to Vere, I visited the Portland Caves, and brought back some of the 

 Cave Earth, which Mr. Bowrey was good enough to analyse for me. He tells me that it is a mixture 

 of phosphate of lime and sulphate of lime. This, I think, ought to be a very useful manure to apply 

 to Sucrar Cane in conjunction with cattle manure. The red Cave Earth appeared to be washed down 

 through cracks in the roof of the Cave, probably resulting from a decomposition of the limestone by 

 the action of rain water, and accumulating by the wash in certain portions of the floor of the interior. 

 The constant deposit of bat-manure on the earth would account for the phosphate. 



Deep Well Piwips. — It is remarkable to find water close to the surface in the alluvial soil in 

 Vere in sufficient quantities to give a continual flow from pumps worked by windmills. It appears to me 

 that, though there is not sufficient water at a depth of 30 feet for the purpose of irrigation, an increas- 

 ing quantity would probably be found at lower depths and even enough to supply the large quantity 

 necessary for irrigation. A series of tube wells driven at intervals with deep-wall pumps attached 

 might bring up a flow large enough for irrigation. The immense value of irrigation is evident to any- 

 one who sees the parched look of the canes this year after the continuous drought, and knows what 

 the land will produce with good seasons. At any rate the experiment of a deep well pump would be 

 worth making. 



Salinas. — Much of the waste land of the Salinas would seem to be well suited to the growth of the 

 Wattle. 



Orange Trees. — When visiting an Estate lately, orange trees were pointed out that had been planted 

 for year?, making growth for a short time and then dying off at the head. They presented a most 

 wrt tched appearance, and scarcely ever bore fruit. More trees were however being planted in new situations 

 in hopes that some at least would thrive. But all attempts at orange cultivation are doomed to failure 

 in such a locality, for the water rose to within a few inches of the surface. Orange trees require perfect 

 drainage, and that is one of the reasons why they do so well on limestone. It was astonishing to see 

 their vitality even with their roots in the water. This was a spot for the cocoanut to flourish and give 

 profitable returns, but the orange needed higher ground with good drainage. 



Kola, or Bissy. — There is a great demand in the London market at the present time for Kola. 

 Inferior, mouldy nuts have been selling at two shillings a pound, and even three shillings have been paid. 

 Applications for seed for planting have been received by the Director of Public Gardens from Ceylon, 

 and the planter? there are evidently alive to the commercial value of the nuts. 



Dr. James Neish called attention to this product iu a public lecture delivered at the Jamaica In- 

 stitute three years ago. The lecture was published and plants were prepared at the Botanic Gardens 

 in anticipation that a demand would have been created by the lecture and the notice of the subject in 

 the press at the time. One planter has with commendable foresight planted out some thousands of 

 seedlings, and, considering the present state of the market, it is considered advisable again to invite 

 attention to the advantages, commercial and dietetic, to be derived from the Bissy. Mr. Prudencio 

 Bravo, chocolate-maker, King Street, Kingston, has been experimenting for the Department for some 

 time in the manufacture of Kola in the form of chocolate, aud has now succeeded in making a very 

 agreeable preparation. Dr. Neish's lecture is still to be had at the Institute of Jamaica, price one 

 shilling. A valuable article on the subject has just appeared in the Kew Bulletin for November. 



Lace Bark. — At the present rate of destruction this most interesting product of Jamaica will soon 

 be exterminated. Any one who has an opportunity of collecting seeds is earnestly requested to send them 

 to the Director of Public Gardens, by whom all reasonable expenses incurred in gathering them will be paid. 



Seeds of Onion and Golden Wattle. — Seeds of both are still available, and information on cultiva- 

 tion appeared in Bulletins 18 & 19. W. F. 



FERNS: SYNOPTICAL LIST : II. 



Synoptical List, with description of the Ferns and Fern-allies of Jamaica, by G. S. Jenman, Super inten 



dent, Botanical Gardens, Demerara. ( continued.) 



Genus II. Trichomanes. 



Involucres urn-shaped, or occasionally tubular. 



a. Fronds small, mouth of the involucres two-lipped. 

 h. Fronds entire. 



c. Fronds under ^-in. 1. with a solitary terminal sorus. 



1. T. setiferum. 

 cc. Fronds under \ in. 1., sori one to several. 



