288 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



INDIGO AND SUNN HEIffF AS 

 GREEN MANURE. 



(To the, Editor, "Madras Mail.") 

 Sir, — I beg to approach you with the confi- 

 dence that the agricultural population of the 

 Cauvery Delta may be benefited by the publi- 

 cation of the following news in your columns. 

 The Agricultural Department has stocked 

 Sathier wild indigo (Kuavaalay or Kolonji) Nan- 

 dyal indigo (A very) and Bezwada Sunn hemp at 

 Ammapet, Nidamangalam, Koradacheri and 

 Nannilam, S.I.R., and sell them at cost price. 

 These are to be used as green manure. The 

 first two may be seen alone, or together, with 

 field gram, and cattle do not graze them. 

 Sunn hemp serves the triple purpose of fodder, 

 fibre and manure, for the first two uses of 

 which it can be advantageously sown now. If 

 green manure, the fitting season for wet land 

 is just after the new freshes have come in, 

 when they are sown on ploughed land and 

 used as green manure within four to six 

 weeks, when the field may be required for the 

 transplantation of Samba. The seeds can be 

 had on application to Mr. C Narayana Iyer, 

 Agricultural Inspector on special duty, Gamp 

 Nannilam. 



V. V. SuNDARAMIEtt. 



—M. Mail, Jan. 11. 



TUBERCULOUS ALIMENTARY PLANTS 



(Review.) 



We have received from Messrs. O. Doin and 

 Sous, Paris, a neat and compact little book of 

 some 400 pages, written in French by Professeur 

 Henri Jumelle, of Marseilles, and entitled "Les 

 Plantes a Tubercules Alimentaires des Climats 

 Temp6res et des Pays Chauds/' (Tuberculous 

 Alimentary Plants of both Temperate and Tro- 

 pical Climates), which, as far as we can gather, 

 is a valuable addition to botanical, agricultural 

 and industrial literature. In it all plants, the 

 tubercles of which are used for food or for the 

 preparation of starch, are reviewed from the 

 three points of view mentioned above, For each 

 plant the author has given a description of the 

 type and its varieties, reproduced analyses of the 

 tubercles, mentioned their principal properties, 

 and indicated the processes of cultivation and 

 harvesting, the whole forming a mot-t excellent 

 resume\ embellished by the results of the 

 author's own observations and study, of the 

 numerous and important researches which have 

 recently been made in tropical countries with 

 reference to the manioc and its varieties, yams, 

 the sweet potato, and other plants, as well as of 

 what is already known with regard to tuber- 

 culous plants in temperate climes. The first 

 chapter explains what a tubercle is. the mode of 

 formation and its anatomical construction, de- 

 scribes the different varieties, and treats of the 

 localisation of their reserves, such as starch from 

 the potato, and saccharine from the beetroot. 

 This chapter is of interest principally to bota- 

 nists. The others are written from the triple 

 point of view mentioned in the first sentence, 



giving exhaustive information regarding the 

 potato, the manioc, yams, the sweet potato, 

 arrowroot plants, the colens, the tuberculous 

 monocotyledons, and apetalous, dipetalous, and 

 gamopetalous plants. The particular value of 

 the book is that, although a large part of the 

 information contained therein can be obtained 

 separately in larger and more expensive books, 

 it forms a handy treatise containing the prin- 

 cipal facts of interest in connection with the 

 subject, dealing with all plants appurtenant 

 thereto irrespective of the climate in which they 

 thrive. The letterpress is illustrated and elu- 

 cidated by a number of sketches of plants and 

 machinery, and chemical and other tables. 



TRIPOLI ESPARTO GRASS. 



For more than fifty years Great Britain has 

 been a large importer of esparto grass for use 

 as paper stock. This fibre, called variously ' es- 

 parto grass," "Spanish grass," ''halfa," and 

 "alfa," is found in Southern Spain, Algeria, 

 Tunis, and Tripoli. The pulp-making process 

 does not differ greatly from those of other paper 

 stocks ; the esparto grass is boiled with caustic 

 soda, washed, and bleached with a chlorine 

 solution. It has been imported into the United 

 States on trial, but seems not to have been able 

 to compete with wood pulp. According to the 

 American Consul at Tripoli, esparto grows wild 

 in Barbary, and is brought in on camels to Tri- 

 poli and one or two of the smaller towns on the 

 coast. The shipments from the district average 

 from 35,000 to 40,000 tons per annum, and oc- 

 casionally exceed the latter figure. The supply 

 is affected by the state of other crops. In a good 

 year the barley fields attract many esparto 

 gatherers; in a very bad year it is difficult to 

 find camels to bring the grass to the coast. The 

 slack season is from October to February, an 

 improvement then begins which lasts until the 

 barley harvest time: During one day in April, 

 1909, as many as 1 ,800 camels loaded with es- 

 parto came into the market at Tripoli. The 

 grass is sold by public auction, and then deli- 

 vered to the "funduks," or warehouses, of the 

 exporters. Then it is sorted and baled by hydra- 

 ulic pressure. The bales weigh about 600 

 pounds. The trade is in the hands of three 

 large fi nis, who have esparto presses in Tripoli, 

 and in one or two of the smaller towns along the 

 coast. The shipment is mostly by chartered 

 steamers, and the entire output goes to England. 

 — Journal oj the Royal Society of Arts, Dec. 31. 



COFFEE IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



From the trade and commerce report of the 

 Philippine Islands we learn, that the coffee- 

 planting once a thriving industry in the islands, 

 has been steadily on the down-grade for the past 

 twenty years owing to the coffee blight, and that 

 imports of coffee have in this period been steadily 

 increasing, British India being, until recently, 

 the chief source of supply. Java, however, has 

 commenced to compete, and in 190S the imports 

 of Java coffee wer« almost equal in value to the 

 British Indian product. — M Mail, Feb. 8. 



