Edible Products. 



30 



[July, 1910. 



from the date of budding, they have 

 taken, and the trees are ready to be 

 lopped. The trees should now be 

 examined every two weeks, the wild 

 sprouts rubbed off, and when the 

 buds have made a growth of 8 to 

 12 inches, the stock may be trimmed 

 back to the bud. It frequently occurs 

 at this period that a fungus, Colleto- 

 trichum sp., enters the wound and kills 

 the bud. The loss of buds may be dim- 

 inished by covering the cut with graft- 

 ing wax, to prevent the entrance of the 

 fungus. 



The discovery of the feasibility ot 

 budding the avocado being very recent, 

 only a few varieties have been distri- 

 buted, Of these, the best known are 

 the Trapp, a variety fruiting until 

 Christmas, and commanding the fancy 

 price because of its lateness. The 

 Pollock, which bears a pear-shaped fruit, 

 is known mainly for the size of the 

 latter, which has been recorded as 

 weighing 4 lb ; it has a fine flavour. 



Anyone in possession of large unpro- 

 ductive avocados can easily convert 

 them into paying trees by cutting them 

 down about three or four feet above 

 ground and budding the sprouts, which 

 will soon make a start. For home use, 

 any fruit of good quality will answer the 

 purpose. In budding for a commercial 

 orchard, it should be kept in mind that 

 the very eaily and late varieties com- 

 mand the highest price. Other desir- 

 able points are : (1) prolificness ; (2) 

 smooth, thick and leathery skin ; (3) a 

 fruit of good keeping qualities ; (4) the 

 possession of seeds which fill the middle 

 of the fruit, as a loose seed bruises the 

 flesh, while the fruit is in transit ; (5) a 

 small seed. 



The best material for making grafting 

 or budding tape is cheap cotton cloth 

 which will tear easily. Rip tip the 

 cloth in strips of desired widths, say 6 

 or 7 inches, and roll these tightly on 

 stout iron wire as long as the width of 

 the cotton strips. Several strips may be 

 rolled on until the roll is one inch in 

 diameter ; tie a string around the roll at 

 each end to prevent unrolling while 

 being boiled in the wax. A good wax is 

 made by boiling together 2 lb. of bees- 

 wax, 2 lb. of resin, and | lb. of good 

 lard ; when the mixture is boiling, put 

 in the rolls of cloth and let them remain 

 for fifteen minutes ; take them out, and 

 allow to cool before putting away. The 

 iron wire is more desirable than sticks 

 of wood, as the weight of the wire keeps 

 the roll below the surface of the boiling 

 mass. Another advantage in using the 

 wire is, that if the wooden sticks are not 



quite dry, the water as it is converted 

 to steam will cause the contents to 

 boil over. 



[The avocado deserves more attention 

 in Ceylon. The fruit is admirable for 

 eating, and has one great advantage for 

 cultivation, that it is not stolen by 

 coolies.— Ed.] 



ON THE PRESENCE OF YEASTS IN 

 FERMENTING TEA, AND THEIR 

 INFLUENCE ON THE 

 FERMENTATION. 



(By C Bernard in Bull. Dept. of Agri- 

 culture, Buitenzorg, 1910, No. 36. 

 Abstracted by J. C. Willis.) 



The author sums up his paper, which 

 is written in French, as follows : — 



The details of the fermentation of 

 tea are not as yet fully understood. 

 Experiments have shown that it de- 

 pends upon a process of oxidation, and 

 in fact one assumes that soluble ferments 

 of the group of oxidising ferments 

 favour or carry on these oxidations. 

 Certain facts permit one, however, to 

 allow the possibility that micro-or- 

 ganisms also participate. It may be that 

 while the soluble ferments act on cer- 

 tain substances of the leaf, the micro- 

 organism act on others, and notably, 

 it has been supposed, in the direction 

 of the development of aroma. 



Among the micro-organisms, one has 

 been isolated which is found on tea 

 leaves while alive, and developes abund- 

 antly during manipulation, It belongs 

 to the Bacteria, which are disadvant- 

 ageous if they develop abundantly during 

 fermentation. They give it a bad smell 

 and a well-characterised viscous consis- 

 tency. Fermentation should always be 

 arrested before this occurs. 



Further experiments are to be made 

 to find out if this and other micro- 

 organisms have any beneficial action. 



REPORT ON THE TOBACCO EXPERI- 

 MENT, MAHA-ILLUPPALAMA. 



I visited on the 24th and 25th May. 



Labour is still insufficient for the 

 needs of the experiment, although we 

 have a good mauy Sinhalese working 

 now ; but this is uncertain. The coolies 

 sent by the Hon. Mr. Kanagasabai 

 arrived at 7-30 oue evening and left again 

 at 6 in the morning, saying the place 

 was too feverish. 



We have now about 12,000—15,000 

 planted out, and of this the first 5,000 



