78 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agvieulturist 



coast of Tasmania and it has been proved by 

 Botanists and Agricultural experts, to be a 

 nitrogenous plant of the highest order, able 

 to grow on poor sandy wastes or rubbish-ridden 

 country, which it rapidly enriches by the 

 great amount of nitrogen it absorbs from the 

 atmosphere, and conveys to the soil. It has 

 proved most useful as a fodder plant, an 

 improver of poor soil, an exterminator of fern 

 and scrub, and it is especially good for green 

 manuring. It grows from 2 to 3 feet high ; in 

 appearance it resembles lucerno and it yields 

 from 30 cwt. to 2 tons of hay per acre. An 

 American expert of Botany declares that " each 

 well-developed plant conveys to the soil fully 

 4 lb. of nitrogen ". I have read recently that 

 Mr Carruthers, Director of Agriculture, has 

 been searching for a plant for this purpose, and 

 so far has succeeded in procuring only a thorny 

 species of mimosa which adds only about 

 150 lb. of nitrogen to the soil per acre per 

 annum. He also writes :— " The introduction 

 of a leguminous plant to take the place of the 

 weeds, which grow so vigorously and are so 

 expensive, means an automatic manuring of 

 the soil, and a conservation of surface soil that 

 will otherwise be washed away." A writer in 

 one of our Government Agricultural Journals 

 says : "This seed has been sown in raw white 

 sand, and in the course of 5 or 6 years it has 

 changed it into dark, almost black rich loam. 

 We are now growing lucerne (which generally 

 requires the best soil) which, had it not been 

 for Melilot, would never have grown at all. 



Japan Clover {Lcspedeza striata) is an- 

 other splendid fertilising fodder plant, and 

 in nutritive value it stands at the head of the 

 list. It yields from 1 to 3 tons of hay per acre, 

 and will grow in almost any class of country. 

 It is largely cultivated in the Southern States 

 of America, and there are many places in 

 India and the Straits Settlements suitable for 

 its cultivation. Like the Melilot it is a great 

 ameliator and fertiliser. The abundant long 

 tap-roots of both of these plants penetrate to 

 a great depth, and decaying annually, render 

 the soil porous, and leave therein much nitro- 

 genous material and humus. They release and 

 bring up from the sub-soil valuable plant food. 

 The analysis of Japan Glover ashes reveals 40 

 per cent, potash, 29'60 oxide lime, 7 '82 sulphuric 

 acid, 7 '54 phosphoric acid— all most valuable 

 elements in plant life and growth. Soils are thus 

 renovated, slopes prevented from washing, mois- 

 ture solicited and retained, and atmospheric fer- 

 tilisers gathered and garnered. — Y ours faithfully, 



B. HARRISON. 



JAPAN CAMPHOR AND CELLULOID. 



From various sources we learn that the pro- 

 posed company for the manufacture of cellu- 

 loid and artificial silk in Japan has fallen 

 through, as originally intended, the foreign 

 capitalists not having been able to complete 

 their part of the bargain. The enterprise has 

 been reconstituted by Japant se alone, the 

 capital being 1,200,000 yen. The company was 

 created under the auspices of Mr. R Kondo, 

 the president of the Nippcn Yusen Kaisha, 

 and the Iwasaki family. A second company 

 has also been constituted by the Mitsui Com- 

 pany with a capital of 2,000,000 yen. The con- 

 sumption of celluloid in Japan has greatly 

 increasod the last few years, and the annual 

 import has been of the value of about one 

 million yen. As it has to bear a heavy duty, 

 there should be a good chance for the home- 

 made article in competition with the imported 

 commodity. Celluloid is largely composed of 

 camphor, which is a native product and has 

 no duty to be paid on it. A brilliant future 

 is therefore looked forward to by the Japanese 

 promoters. — L. & C. Express, May 29. 



APPLE CULTURE AND GRASS. 



The result of an interesting experiment made 

 to compare the growth of apple trees planted 

 on grass and on cultivated ground is given in 

 the May number of The Journal of the Board 

 ef Agriculture. The growth of three varieties 

 of apples was tested, and it was found in each 

 case that given equal conditions as to manure, 

 the increase in diameter of the stem of a tree 

 grown on cultivated ground is much more 

 rapid than that of a tree planted on grass. A 

 Cox's orange pippin, one of the examples 

 given, planted on grass showed an increase of 

 1-25 in. in diameter of the stem in the year 

 1906, and another on cultivated ground 3-10 

 in. in the same year, In the wet season 

 of 1907, however, there was not such a 

 marked difference in their respective increases, 

 which seems to show that insufficient mois- 

 ture is one of the causes of the poor devel- 

 opment of treee planted on grass. The ex- 

 periment of removing a square of turf (four 

 square yards) from around the stems of some 

 trees resulted in a healthy and strong growth, 

 almost equal to that made by trees in culti- 

 vated ground, and very much better than that 

 made by trees with grass all around the stem. 

 — Home papir. 



