and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— March, 1910, 279 



WEEDING IS PRACTISED CONTINUALLY, 



and when the plants reach a certain height they 

 are topped, and in March picking and curing 

 commences, which means an exceedingly busy 

 time for all concerned. 



In the early days of the industry failures in 

 curing often resulted, which was due to lack of 

 experience and proper convenience, but now 

 well-built brick barns are a feature of many 

 homesteads. In these curing on scientific lines is 

 carried out, and a more saleable article produced, 



Virginian is the chief tobacco grown, though 

 many of the farmers have produced fine samples 

 of Turkish leaf, which has been reported upon 

 favourably by many experts in the trade. The 

 chief obstacles to success up to the present time 

 have been the youth of the country, the inex- 

 perience of many growers and curers, lack of 

 uniformity in the leaf that has been placed on 

 the market, and the consequent uncertainty of 

 the supply meeting the demand. But, although 

 there has certainly been a distinct check in pro- 

 gress felt during the last two years, there can, 

 however, be no doubt as to the future Tobacco 

 grows wild wherever it gains root. A small- 

 leaved variety has been cultivated by the natives 

 for mariyyears, and since the advent of the white 

 man crops of the best quality have been pro- 

 duced repeatedly by many farmers in various 

 parts of the country. The 



GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 ARE FOSTERING THE INDUSTRY 



in all ways in their power, both in producing 

 and marketing the crops. At the present time 

 most of the farmers make their tobacco pay, and 

 some are, in fact, doing so well out of the local 

 market that they are leaving other crops alone. 

 But a tobacco must be produced which will have 

 a distinctive character of its own, and will be 

 widely known and appreciated as "Rhodesiau." 

 Turkish tobacco grown for any length of time 

 in Rhodesia changes somewhat in character and 

 acquires special qualities. And so it is with all 

 tobaccos ; the climate and the soils have their 

 local influence, and produce a local quality in 

 the aroma and flavour. C. E. P. Allen. 



— The Field, January 1. 



BRAZIL NUTS. 



The Brazil-nuts (Bertholletia excelsa) was in- 

 troduced into the Singapore Botanic Gardens in 

 the year 1881, September 20th, from the Royal 

 Gardens, Kevv. Only two plants were sent, and 

 both are still in the Botanic Gardens, Singa- 

 pore. They must first have been kept in the 

 Upper Gardens, as the Economic Gardens were 

 not then established, but when Mr. Cantley ob- 

 tained what was then known as the military re- 

 serve in 1884, the plants were transferred there 

 with many other plants of economic interest, 

 including the Para rubber trees. The trees 

 grew steadily on a clay bank near what is now 

 the clerks' quarters, and flowered about 1901 

 for the first time. The first fruits were pro- 

 duced in 1902, and since then the trees have 

 provided a quantity of fruit steadily each year. 



THE CROP THIS YEAR HAS BEEN MUCH LARGER 



than in any previous year, and there were over a 

 hundred of the large woody capsules on the big- 

 gest tree. The biggest tree measures 65 foet tall, 



with a head of foliage 30 feet through ; the girth 

 at 3 feet from the ground is 5 feet 5% inches. The 

 smaller tree measures 63 feet, with a breadth of 

 foliage of 27 feet and a girth of 2 feet 7 inches 

 at 3 feet from the ground. 



The leaves are oblong and wavy smooth, rather 

 firm in texture, dull dark green, paler on the 

 back, about 12-16 inches long and 4 inches wide. 

 The flower spikes stand erect on the top of the 

 branches and are 2 feet long, a quarter of an 

 inch thick, green and bearing many flowers 

 which open one by one. They are sessile and 

 creamy white, yellower on the back and of a 

 very curious structure, the stamens being col- 

 lected into a curious dense mass in the form of 

 a bearded lip. The fruit takes upwards of a year 

 to ripuii, and by no means do all on the spike 

 ripen. Indeed, this would be impossible as the 



WEIGHT OF THE FRUIT FALL WOULD BREAK THE 

 INFLORESCENCE 



even if it did not break the bough bearing 

 the spikes. The biggest of the trees pro- 

 duced this year a hundred and eight fruits ; 

 the smaller one, which grows only within a few 

 feet of the other, bore only a few fruits. The 

 fruits are round and woody and brown in colour, 

 about 6 inches through. They weigh about 2 lbs. 

 7 oz. and each contains from 12 to 15 nuts, 

 which weighs altogether 9g oz., each nut when 

 peeled weighing half an ounce. The nuts are 

 beautifully packed in the capsule and quite fill 

 it. When it is ripe the fruit falls to the ground 

 while in this differing from the allied Sapucaia 

 nut (Lecythis oleracea) also in the Botanic Gar- 

 dens, in which the top forms a lid which be- 

 comes detached and lets the seeds fall out. On 

 account of this the Brazil-nut is cheaper in 

 the markets than the Sapucaia nut, as the 

 natives find it quicker to pick up the whole 

 fruit of the Brazil-nut than the scattered seeds 

 of the Sapucaia. The seeds from the trees in 

 the Botanic Gardens have as yet 



FAILED TO GERMINATE, 



possibly our fruit falls before it is quite ripe, 

 but they have been highly appreciated by 

 those who have eaten them. The kernel is 

 crisp and firm, and has not the oily taste of the 

 Brazil nut of commerce. The Brazil-nut tree 

 is not cultivated anywhere for profit. The 

 fruits are collected by the natives in the 

 forests of the Amazons, where it grows in 

 abundance, together forming groves, accord- 

 ing to Bates (" Naturalist on the Amazons.") 

 He says it is one of the biggest trees in the 

 Amazons forests, and as the forest trees there 

 often attain the height of 150 to 200 feet, 

 it is probable that the Brazil-nut grows to at 

 least 200 feet. The trees of Lecyfiis, which I 

 saw in the forests of Pernambuco, were truly 

 gigantic, both in size and in circumference, and 

 it is said that Bertholletia is as big. The 

 Brazil-nut is not a tree which would bring a large 

 profit to a planter, even of fruit trees, as its 

 growth is slow and the fruiting not very heavy, 

 considering the cheapness of the nuts brought 

 from the Brazilian forests, but it is a hand- 

 some tree, and when it doe6 fruit it does so 

 quite heavily enough to supply the needs of 

 the planter and many others. — Pi. N. Ridley. 

 —Straits Agricultural Bulletin, for December. 



