and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 

 ENZYMES IN BANANAS. 



7!) 



When a fruit such as the banana becomes 

 ripe, and still more when it reaches the pulpy 

 stages of over-ripenoss, it might well be sup- 

 posed that micro-organisms are at work, and 

 that very likely the over-ripe fruit might be 

 harmful upon that account. This is not the 

 case, however. Dr. Giuseppe Tallarico has dona 

 some very elaborate and exhaustive work upon 

 the subject, publishing his full papers upon 

 " Gli Enzirni ideolitici e catalizzanti nel pro- 

 cesso di maturazioue delle frutta " in the 

 " Archivio di Farmaeologia speritneiitale e 

 Scienzeaffini.'' His main conclusions are two- 

 fold ; first, that the pulp of the banana remains 

 absolutely free from microbes so long as the 

 pericarp is intact; cultivations upon bread, agar, 

 gelatine, and so forth remained completely 

 sterile. Secondly, that the maturation of 

 the fruit is due to ferments, of 

 which there are three main kinds— amylotic, 

 invertive, and proteolytic — -each of which is 

 present in quantity in the ripe banana. It 

 is, perhaps, upon this account that the fruit is 

 so beneficial in many cases of simple dyspepsia. 

 ^-S. China M. Post, May 28. 



FUTURE OF THE JAPAN TEA TfiADE. 



As some time ago the Tokyo Keizai Zasshi 

 editorially remarked, the future prospect of our 

 tea trade solely depends on the authorities' 

 measures for dealing with the trade. At pre- 

 sent the bulk of Japanese tea exported abroad 

 is green tea. As to 



BED TEA 



it is in a state hardly worth mentioning, proba- 

 bly owing to the limited amount of its produc- 

 tion. The statistics show that the greater 

 amount of red tea in this country is made in 

 some districts of Kyushu in comparative abund- 

 ance, while the remaining small quantity is 

 produced in Shizuoka Hyogo and a few other 

 prefectures. 



THE PRODUCT FROM CHINA, INDIA AND CEYLON 



is greatly esteemed by westerners for its excel- 

 lent quality while the Japanese production is 

 in quality by far inferior to the product of those 

 climes and so quite unable to suit the taste of 

 western people. Lately the Fukuoka Experi- 

 mental Farm set about the manufacture of red 

 tea with the aid of the state treasury. The 

 result is reported to have proved so satisfactory 

 that orders are constantly pouring in from 

 Kussia Having obtained from 



THIS YEAR MOKE THAN THE USUAL SUBSIDY FROM 

 THE TREASURY 



it intends to make greater efforts in the manu- 

 facture with the view to improve the quality 

 and to largely extend its sale to Russia and 

 other countries. This will probably encourage 

 general manufacturers of red tea to put more 

 stress on the industry. As regards 



GREEN TEA 



the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce 

 recently ordered the Shizuoka Experimental 

 Farm to start its manufacture and the cultiva- 

 tion of the plant for which purpose a subsidy 

 of 1,600 yen has been conferred for the current 

 year. Shizuoka is widely known as the impor- 

 tant centre of tea manufacture and its produc- 

 tion is universally recognised as the best in the 

 empire. There is a promise of the industry 

 there being improved hereafter. At the same 

 time efforts are being made in all other pro- 

 vinces for the 



IMPROVEMENT OF THE INDUSTRY 



so that we may be assured of the future deve- 

 lopment of the export trade. The total yield 

 during last year throughout the country 

 amounted to 27,210,564 kin, of which Shizuoka ' 

 heads the list with 15,377,954 kin, next coming 

 in order :— Miye with 11,422,138 kin; Kyoto 

 1,501,319 kin; Fukuoka 749,670 kin; Kara 

 745,756 kin ; Shiga 455,140 kin ; Hyogo 541,525 

 kinandGifu with 455, 140 kin other prefectures 

 ranging between 366,664 kin (Kumamoto) and 

 270 kin (Kanagawa).— Japan Times, May 16. 



THE SECRET OF THE SOIL. 



(1) TILTH ; (2) MICROBES. 



When the farmer in ^Esop's fable told his 

 sons that he was leaving them treasure buried 

 in his fields, which they would find if they dug 

 for it, he gave them nearly the sum of the 

 knowledge which the modern agriculturist pos- 

 sesses of the soil he ploughs. With all the add ed 

 learning of a thousand experiments in manuring, 

 in irrigating, and in applying the science of 

 bacteriology to tho cultivation of crops, the con- 

 clusion is still the same. Tilth is the essential, 

 imperative need. Farmers ihave learnt a great 

 deal about the values of different manures for 

 different crops, and a great deal, too, as to the 

 necessities and possibilities of rotation of one 

 crop after another, though the Roman farmer 

 had discovered that principle two thousand 

 years ago. Virgil's first Georgic is full of 

 advice as to alternating crop and crop— lupins 

 before oats, for example— which is really tho 



