and Magazine of the (legion Agricultural Society, 



1ST 



tiw to 70 Norwegian families bo settle in the last- 

 named country on chosen hind expressly to 

 grow Caravonica. [The Berlin office telegraphic 

 address, t may be incidentally mentioned, is 

 composed of the first letters of the four offices 

 of the Company : Berlin, Alexandria, Cairns, 

 and Dar-es-Salaam, G.E.A.— Ber-al-ca-dar, if 

 we remember rightly. 1 Dr. Thomatis tells us 

 he was somewhat disappointed at the result 

 of the experiment in Ceylon— the effort of Mr. 

 J. W. Chas. De Soysa not representing, he 

 thought, what could still be done with season- 

 able planting and the most careful attention. 

 Possibly Ceylon was not the right climate 

 for it, as the fibre produced here showed 

 some degeneration from the parent stock. 

 But for those who are willing to try again, 

 Dr. Thomatis thinks there would be no diffi- 

 culty in supplying seed through the Ceylon 

 Agricultural Society to approved growers and 

 lending the money required on the Company's 

 easy terms. The Agricultural Society would 

 do well to approach the Head Office of the 

 Company — " Der Baumwohlgesellsehaft Cara- 

 vonica," 80 Constanzerstrasse, Berlin W (15) 

 —and 'obtain full particulars at an early date. 

 It would be interesting if those who are per- 

 suaded by Mr Stewart McCali's forthcoming 

 Report on the conditions of the North-Central 

 Province, to take up cotton growing, were at first 

 to grow both the Egyptian species and Caravon- 

 ica hybrid and compare results— with a view to 

 further operations. Caravonica is said to yield 

 one ton to the acre (2,240 lb.), about 9U per cent 

 of pure fibre being obtainable from a properly 

 orown crop, against a minimum of 800 lb per 

 acre which Mr McCall thought probable hero 

 with Egyptian and 130 lb. per acre actually ob- 

 tained at Maha Illupalama so far. "Caravonica 

 fetches over six times the price and gives two 

 or three times the yield," Dr. Thomatis said, 

 on hearing the Ceylon figures. 



ORCHELLA WEED. 



The Imperial Institute, London, reports a 

 shortage of this dye-weed and enquires whether 

 any merchants in the island would be willing 

 to take the necessary steps to resume the ex- 

 port of the weed from Ceylon. This Colony 

 was rather noted for its orchella weed at one 

 time, we believe, and in a work of reference 

 we see that in 1851 in the Great Exhibition 

 some specimens were exhibited from Ceylon 

 whose estimated value was £380 per ton. in 

 the "nineties' we believe the trade in orchella 

 was very brisk. A. great deal of it used to be 

 gathered in the Jaffna Peninsula, where it 

 grew on trees, and was sold by the 

 natives to merchants in Colombo for from 

 four cents to six cents. The weed is called 

 in Tamil "Marappasi." The market price 

 varies but in 1889 £6U per ton was received 

 for the Ceylon article in London. In view of 

 the interest that is likely to be revived in this 

 commodity by the Imperial Institute's inquiry 

 we quote from an article |by the late Mr. 



Henry Meade, written probably about 60 years 

 ago, an interesting reference to orchella weed. 



Some Interesting Facts. 



We quote the following from the Tropical Agri- 

 culturist, Oct., 1889, as of special interest at 

 this time, in view of the report that there is a 

 shortage of the Weed in the London Market : — 



At the head of the list of Dye Stuffs stands 

 the " Roccella Tinctoria " and " Roccella Fuci- 

 formis," the Orchella weed of commerce. This 

 article was first exported by myself, in the 

 beginning of 1859 ; it was found growing in great 

 abundance at Calpentyn, and ovor a range of 

 about fifty miles of the narrow strip of sand, 

 which lies between the Calpentyn lake and the 

 sea. Enormous filaments of the "Tinctoria,' 

 some of them as much as eighteen inches in 

 length, by three-quarters of an inch in breadth, 

 were found hanging in clusters on the decayed 

 branches of the oldest mango trees, whilst the 

 mimosas and several varieties of '' asclepiadeoe " 

 furnished varieties of the " Fuciformi3,'' still 

 more valuable. The Palmyra trees and Coconut 

 trees were found to be thickly clothed with the 

 lichen, except in those instances where they 

 had been frequently climbed. There was scarcely 

 a tree or bush that was not covered, more or 

 less, with the Roccella, of the worth of which 

 the people were wholly ignorant. It has now 

 become a regular article of commerce. Except 

 on the tract of seaboard, stretching from Chilaw 

 to Tangalle, the whole line of coast exhibits 

 Roccellas, growing more or Jess luxuriantly, but 

 always confined to a narrow belt o£ vegetation 

 within the influence of the sea air. On the salt 

 marshes of the western coast, and on the 

 boarders of the lagoons it is invariably found, 

 and there is a large growth on the eastern side 

 of the Peninsula at Trincomalee, and about the 

 leways of Hanbantota. Where the roots are not 

 torn off, it is reproduced yearly. Though every 

 variety of Roccella is well worth gathering, 

 there are some kinds that are much more valu- 

 able than others ; and the following simple test 

 will enable anyone to ascertain the comparative 

 richness of the colouring matter which they con- 

 tain. Fill a bottle half-full of water, put as 

 much of the lichen in, as will leave room to 

 shake the contents of the bottle thoroughly, and 

 add as much spirits of ammonia as will make 

 the liquor unpleasantly pungent. Shake the 

 bottle occasionally during six or seven days, 

 opening it now and then to admit the air, and at 

 the end of that time the water will exhibit 

 a rich purple colour, deepening in intensity for 

 about a fortnight when the maceration is com- 

 pleted. A comparison of the result of different 

 experiments will show the colourific value of the 

 various kinds of weed, and the test is one that 

 never fails. If a lichen fails to impart colour to 

 a mixture of ammonia and water, it is not a dye 

 stuff, whatever else it may be good for. The 

 Orchella dye requires no mordant. To fix the 

 colour 011 cloth it is merely necessary to pour the 

 solution above-described into boiling water, and 

 immerse the wool or cotton to be dyed in it 

 for half-an-hour. The dye is not a permanent 

 one, but its extreme beauty will always make it 

 acceptable to manufacturers, who use it to 

 impart a finish to their goods. 



