472 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



del's laws, and reject all such forms as are not 

 perfectly true to seed. The greater the diver- 

 sity in his raw material, the greater are the 

 possibilities of their improvement.... 



The sooner the various Agricultural Depart- 

 ments start upon the new road opened up by 

 Mendel's discovery, the sooner will they justify 

 their existence. Not only must they seek to 

 obtain plants with greater cropping powers, 

 greater resistance to drought and so forth, but 

 ever held prominently in view must be their 

 liability to the prevalent disease of the country. 



And what is true of fungus diseases is also true 

 of insect pests. These latter are not all due to 

 deficiency of rainfall or other climatic influences, 

 for we know already that certain varieties are less 

 liable to attack than others. Take, for instance, 

 the green bug in coffee. Planters in South India 

 are calling out at the inadequacy of the usual 

 spraying methods recommended. But the coffee 

 plant flowers and fruits fairJy early, and it should 

 not be impossible, by suitable crossing experi- 

 ments, to obtain immune varieties here as else- 

 where, and the sooner the task is undertaken the 

 better for all concerned. — M. Mail, May 2. 



PLOUGHS USED IN COORG. 



Mr. L T Harris, Commissioner of Coorg, 

 has sent us the following note compiled by Mr 

 G Haller, Assistant Director of Land Records, 

 on the ploughs in use in Coorg : — Various types 

 of ploughs have been tried in Coorg from time 

 to time but all failed mainly on account of the 

 excessive weight and dearness. What is re- 

 quired is a cheap plough that will last for 

 many years and which is light. The ordinary 

 ryot spends yearly about eight annas for his 

 plough, ^.e„ the plough itself costs eight annas, 

 and the yoke eight annas, the plough lasts about 

 two years and the yoke three. The length of 

 the plough is 22 inches ; and weighs about 9 J 

 lb. The shape of it resembles a boat that has 

 been cut in two. It is five inches at the 

 broadest part and only one inch in the front. 

 The body of the plough ia made of wood on 

 which the ploughshare is fastened, consisting of 

 a piece of iron about one foot in length ; the 

 ploughshare is renewed after the first year at a 

 cost of two annas. To the plough the handle 

 and yoke are attached, the length of the former 

 is three feet and four inches, while the yoke 

 consisting of a straight pole is eight feet and 

 four inches in length. To this pole a cross pole 

 is fastened by ropes to which the bullocks are 

 tied. The weight of the handle is 3^ lb. and that 

 of the pole is 5£ lb., thus the entire weight is 

 about 18 lb. The plough itself becomes worn out 

 in one season and is used in the following year for 

 the third and subsequent ploughings, i.e., after 

 the soil has been made loose. It is rarely used 

 after the second year. Deep ploughing is not essen- 

 tial in Coorg. The bullocks used for ploughing are 

 about four feet in height, and five feet in length, 

 and are very weak. The fields are in terraces in 

 the greater part of the Province and the ryot is 

 thus obliged to carry his plough from field to 

 field unassisted. It is, therefore, apparent that it 

 is very essential for the plough to be light. Mr 

 Haller will be glad to supply any firm which 

 desires a specimen or photograph of the plough 

 used in Coorg.— Indian Trade Journal, April 7. 



WEST AFRICAN RUBBER 

 PRODUCTION. 



GREAT HOPES FROM HEVEA AND FUNTUMIA. 



In a report on the Bordeaux rubber market in 

 1909, Messrs. Fauches and Channel make a 

 number of interesting observations on the Ivory 

 Coast and its present and future as regards 

 rubber, from which we select the following : — 



Two schools of ' monitors' have been at work 

 under the direction of teachnical agents — one 

 at Assikasso, in the eastern part of the Colony, 

 and the other at Bouake, in the west. The 

 natives who have been educated there have 

 become in turn salaried agents, at the dis- 

 position of the district commanders, in order 

 to extend in the villages the knowledge required 

 for the good preparation of rubber ; and, in the 

 meantime, the action of these agents has been 

 combined with that of the administrators — 

 station chiefs— who have received special in- 

 structions that in all their travels they are to 

 train the natives in the matter of rubber 

 preparation. The application of a programme so 

 methodically conceived must, say the brokers, 

 soon produce excellent results, which will be 

 largely helped forward if the merchants on 

 their part will lend their assistance by applying 

 just principles in their purchases. 



The question et production is being very care- 

 fully studied. The planting of lianes and trees is 

 being continued everywhere and with regularity. 

 Besides, there are districts still unexploited in 

 the depths of the Cote d'lvoire forest land, and 

 the production of Funtumia rubber may still be 

 increased, judging by reports that have heen 

 received from the Lieut. -Governor. 



According to observations made by M A 

 Chevalier and Capt. Schiffer in their travels 

 over the Cote d'lvoire, the Funtumia reproduces 

 itself naturally and without care with great ease, 

 thanks to its light seeds and its rapid develop- 

 ment. By preserving these reproductions until 

 they arrive at maturity new sources of supply 

 will be available. Besides the Para plantations 

 made in 1898 have prospered so well that the local 

 administration is now engaged in effecting a large 

 plantation of this variety at the station of Agbo- 

 ville on that part of the railway which is already 

 working. The object of this plantation is to en- 

 courage colonisation and to put a sufficiently 

 large nursery at the disposition of planters. 



With the Hevea and the Funtumia, which pros- 

 per well together the Cote d'lvoire may become, 

 thinks the Lieut. Governor by reason of its favour- 

 able situation one of the principal rubber coun- 

 tries. These data should prove of especial interest 

 to all concerned in rnbber. — Financier, March 15. 



RUBBER-GROWING AMONG THE 

 NATIVES IN DUTCH S.-E. BORNEO 



is going ahead rapidly under official prompting. 

 Government land has been granted to hundreds 

 of natives for that purpose. In the district of 

 Amuntai, there are extensive plantations of 

 Ramtiong rubber. Several planters, who have 

 been up there, have formulated a scheme for 

 buyii g up this rubber from the growers and for 

 working it up on the spot. Native rubber 

 growers have ordered large quantities of rubber 

 seedlings from Singapore. -Straits Times, April 15. 



