556 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



a currant of fresh air into the coconuts so as 

 to keep them eweet — as far as I remember, the 

 drying process was said to occupy 24 hours. 



I do not think Mr. V., or anyone else, should 

 feel surprise at the disparity between the out- 

 turn of desiccated nut and copra from kernels 

 of equal weight. Mr. V. thinks that the loss of 

 milk in washing, and the higher temperature, 

 at which desiccating is done, explains the dis- 

 parity in weights. There can be no doubt about 

 it. I do not think the comparison between the 

 out-turn was complete. I do not think five days' 

 sun-drying sufficient. I used to have my copra 

 seven days in the sun. It will be interesting if 

 Mr. V. will carry on the experiment under equal 

 conditions, i.e., dry the copra also in the desic- 

 cator, and communicate results. A comparison 

 might also be instituted between this copra, and 

 copra dried in the grill for four days, not three. 



I cannot quite understand Mr. V. when he 

 compares his friend's one continuous row of 

 shells with thegeneralruleof three or four rows. 

 How is the one row — and how are the three or 

 four rows — placed ? I wish to know the siz e of 

 the grill so as to find out what heat one row of 

 shells can impart to the copra, aod the distance 

 apart of the three or four rows. 



According to the general system, the cooling 

 down of the copra is necessary to allow of it 

 being turned over, top layer down and vice versa,. 

 With continuous night-and-day drying at a low 

 temperature, it strikes me that if the copra is 

 not turned over, there must be only a single 

 layer on the grill ; otherwise the drying will be 

 uneven. To have one single layer in the grill 

 for five days and nights will want very Urge 

 drying accommodation. — Truly yours, 



B. 



CLOSE PLANTING OF RUBBER. 



A correspondent in our last number propoun- 

 ded the question Is thinning out of rubber plan- 

 ted 20 feet by 10 feet necessary P and answered 

 it himself in the negative, The following letter 

 on the 6ame subjeot is the opinion of a well- 

 known practical planter. 



Neboda, May 14th. 

 Dear Sir,— 1 do not consider Para Rubber 

 planted 20 It. by 10 ft. too close, provided it is 

 thinned out soon after the 6th or 7th year from 

 planting, to approximately 100 trees per acre in 

 Lowcountry. It requires careful selection to do 

 this. If 50 per cent of the closely planted trees 

 in old clearings had been thinned out years ago, 



we should have far larger trees ; and renewed 

 bark, better matured, to look forwaid to. 



There is much need of more light, even in 

 clearings planted at wider distances than 20 ft. 

 by 10 ft. as they get older. (Personally I should 

 plant much wider.) 



I doubt if your correspondent would thin 

 out 20 ft. by 10 ft. trees as long as he saw 4s 6d 

 coming along !— but when the ' cow ' ran dry, 

 who would get the 4s. 6d. ?— I am, etc. 



R. J. B. 



HOW TO ACCELERATE " WITHER- 

 ING " OF TEA. 



A great deal has been written from time to 

 time on the subject of wilting or withering tea 

 leaf preparatory to rolling. An Assam corre- 

 spondent is quite right when he says that a 

 natural wither is preferable to an artificial one 

 —every planter knows that perfectly well— and 

 also that " no process has yet been discovered 

 which will insure a better wither leaf." He 

 writes to the Indian Planters' Gazette, May 4;— 

 " There must be some way of accelerating a 

 natural wither and I feel sure that there are 

 many teamakers, who if they had I he opportu- 

 nity and the money, could give us a system 

 which would overcome all our difficulties in this 

 first process of manufacture." This statement 

 is considered somewhat wide of the mark. There 

 are certain conditions necessary to obtain a 

 perfect wither, to which both the leaf and the 

 weather contribute, and which are only attain- 

 able at certain seasons of the year. Indian 

 scientific officers have investigated the subject 

 and written learnedly on it, but they have not 

 discovered nature's secret. Planters, being no 

 better off than they were before, are conserva- 

 tive, and hold to their own ideas, and work on 

 their respective systems which tbey have learnt 

 by experience are the best. 



THE SPRING CUCUMBER. 



A visitor from Queensland called at our office 

 recently and promised us a few seeds of the 

 Spring Cucumber. Wo have not heard of this 

 variety being introduced here as yet. This 

 cucumber, which some people find suits them 

 who cannot digest the ordinary cucumber, 

 grows freely and fruits abundantly on poor 

 soil. It is used green as an ordinary cucumber 

 or boiled as a vegetable marrow. When ripe it 

 assumes a brilliant orange colour and is then 

 eaten as fruit. 



