August, 1910.] 



167 



Corresp ondence. 



menced before long. Pending the re- 

 sults of the first working of the plant, 

 nothing definite can yet be said as to 

 the success of the enterprise, but the 

 founder of the works is fairly sanguine 

 of its prospect. 



VELVET BEANS. 



Matolla, Lourenco Marques, 

 Portuguese E. Africa, 3ra June, 1910. 

 Dear Sir,— I would be much obliged 

 if you would inform me whether the 

 " Florida Velvet Bean " is used as human 

 food, as 1 read an article, lately, in the 

 "Transvaal Agricultural Journal" in 

 which it is stated that it is not. 



Thanking you in anticipation. 



Yours faithfully, 



GEORGE WYLIE. 



[The velvet bean is used for fattening 

 cattle. It can be eaten without injury, 

 but it is liable to have unpleasant purg- 

 ing and vomiting effects if taken in 

 any serious quantity.— Ed.] 



TRANSPLANTING COCONUTS. 



Dear Sir, — Would some of your cor- 

 respondents or yourself be able to tell 

 me why coconut is always planted only 

 after sprouting, some six months, some 

 one year or two years old ? Has the ex- 

 perience proved that a coconut planted 

 after sprouting would bear less or grow 

 slowly, or degenerate in some way ? 



In Mr. A. Ferguson's book "All about 

 Coconuts," Edition 1904, Vol. XVIII., he 

 says that on the Isle of Rilton (?) coco- 

 nuts are not transplanted on the pretence 

 that they bear quicker and better. Now, 

 is that a fact ? This seems important to 

 know, as it would save great work and 

 trouble and many coconuts. 



Yours truly, 



GROWER. 



[If coconuts are planted out before 

 germinating much irregularity is caused 

 in the size of trees through failure to 

 germinate, white ants and wash, etc., 

 additionally, in a drought it is much 

 easier to water nuts in a nursery than 

 in a large area. A lot of unnecessary 

 labour would be caused by planting out 

 direct.— Ed.J 



RUBBER CULTIVATION IN PAPUA. 



Collingwood Bay, 

 Samarai, Papua, 5th July, 1910. 



Sir,— I observe in the March issue an 

 extract from a letter written by Mr. 

 Wallace Wewtland stating that he 'hears 

 Mr. Wickham is to open in a new way — 

 Cut lines through the* forest in which he 

 will plant, etc., etc. 



This is incorrect. By referring to 

 monograph by Wickham "on the plant- 

 ation, cultivation and curing of Para 

 Indian Rubber," Appendix 1, page 60, 

 you will read an extract from the ori- 

 ginal report to the Secretary of State 

 for India in Council of date 1876 or 1877 

 as follows :—" I am convinced that any 

 advice for setting out the Hevea Rubber 

 tree as a self-disseminating forest pro- 

 duct, i.e., planting it out widely under 

 canopy and through areas of existing 

 forest, is founded on fallacy, &c, &c." 



The main difference between Mr. 

 Wickham's method and that commonly 

 in use is that under the latter style all 

 fallen material is burnt off, whereas the 

 method advocated in the monograph is 

 to leave all cut undergrowth and fallen 

 trees to be returned to the ground- 

 thus conserving plant food and surface 

 humus for the soil. 



Planting lines are surveyed and form- 

 ed, but all growth thereafter .is cut 

 down. 



Mr. Wickham is my Co-manager here, 

 where all our work to date on the plant- 

 ation area of 10,000 acres has been carried 

 out as described in the monograph. 



I am of opinion that as against the 

 method of burning off, with its attend- 

 ant heavy annual charge for clean 

 weeding, the plantation cost, until the 

 tapping period is reached, will be less 

 than half by our procedure which should 

 tell on the share value later on. It 

 does appear an anomaly to read of so 

 many advocating burning off, and there- 

 after to grow leguminous plants for 

 mulch. Why not simply permit the cut 

 material to remain? 



Your journal is so widely distributed 

 that I should feel obliged if you will 

 correct the misconception conveyed in 

 the March number. 



I am, &c„ 

 R. TWEED BAIRD. 

 [Mr. Baird forgets that burning off 

 increases the fertility of soil, and legu- 

 minous crops increase its nitrogen sun- 

 ply.-ED.] p 



