and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— October, 1911. 375 



single palm or tree sometimes supports eight to 

 twelve vines, giving an average annual yield in 

 good seasons of about 1,000 berry spikes to the 

 vines on one palm. These spikes or clusters of 

 berries vary in size, but 1,000 should yield on ar- 

 average live pounds of dried pepper. An acre is 

 reckoned to bear 2,500 plants, to cost about '20 

 dollars in outlay, and to yield a product o'f 400 

 do lars when in its best condition. 



The flowers appear in July and August, and 

 the berries about seven months later. The ber- 

 ries may or may not be sorted as they are 

 plucked. If they are sorted, those fully ripe are 

 separated. These are soaked in water for seven 

 or eight days, or heaped so that the pulp fer- 

 ments, and are then rubbed by hand or on a 

 coarse cloth, if the quantity is small, or tram- 

 pled under foot if the quantity is large. The 

 pulp is thus rubbed off the inner stone. This 

 stone furnishes the white pepper of commerce. 

 The pulp is completely removed by washing in 

 baskets in running water. The pepper is then 

 dried by exposure to the sun for about a week. 

 This has also a bleaching effect, and the pepper 

 becomes pale grey or pale drab in colour. It can 

 be bleached whiter by a chemical agency. — Gro- 

 cers' Join nat, Sept. 23. 



HENEQUEN AND BANANA CULTIVA- 

 TION IN MEXICO. 



The State of (Jolima is peculiarly adapted for 

 the henequen plant (apava rigida elonqata), 

 which produces the sisal hemp of commerce. 

 The foothills are generally barren of timber, and 

 are often covered with grass, the soil being thin 

 and sometimes rocky, but the climate and all 

 the conditions are perfect for the cultivation of 

 this plant. There is little labour in growing 

 henequen, or in harvesting the crop, and the 

 machinery necessary for the separation of the 

 fibre from the leaves is cheap, and can be worked 

 by the natives. It has been customary in Mexico 

 to cultivate henequen without regard to the 

 number of plants to an acre or to their position. 

 The United States Consul at Manzanillo says 

 that sometimes as many as fifteen hundred are 

 put on an acre of land. The plan usually adop- 

 ted is to plough and prepare about ten acres of 

 level land, to be used as a nursery, in which the 

 small plants are set six inches apart in rows two 

 feet apart. In this manner, while the larger 

 field is being prepared the young plants acquire 

 a vigorous growth. As the fields are planted, 

 the stock from the nursery is replaced until the 

 first ones set out produce suckers, which may bo 

 taken up and left in the sun for two or three 

 weeks, as this makes them better and stronger. 

 Plants in the field are set six feet apart in rows 

 nine feet apart. During the first two years, if 

 the ground is not too rocky, it is planted with 

 maize or beans. After this the henequen re- 

 quires air and sunshine, and needs no care or 

 cultivation. When the plant commences to 

 mature (fourth year), the leaves can be cut at 

 any time during the dry season, and every 

 twelve months thereafter. During the first four 

 or five years the plant will produce from fifty 

 to sixty ' suckers,' which may be used for trans- 

 planting. The net profit from the production 



and sale of sisal fibre is said to be from £20 to 

 £33 nor acre. As the henequen plant dives and 

 produces for fifteen or twenty years, without 

 being transplanted, and is not attacked by in- 

 sect? oi ^sease, and requires little expense for 

 kirvesting, it po -Besses a great advantage over 

 crops which have to be planted each year. In 

 many districts of the State of (Jolima irrigat- 

 ion is not necessary, and banana bulbs may be 

 set out at any time of the year. The native 

 banana (manzana) will not bear transportation 

 for any distance, and for this reason the Gover- 

 nor of Colima appointed a comission to inspect 

 the ' Roatan 1 variety, which is grown in the 

 State of Tabasco. The commission returned 

 with 25,060 bulbs, which were distributed 

 amongst the farmers. The ' Roatan ' banana is 

 of good size, has a thick skin, fine texture, and 

 is free from fibre and lumps, and has found 

 favour in the American markets The soil in 

 which the banana is planted should be a sandy 

 loam, and when ploughed and harrowed 

 the ground is measured in squares of three 

 metres (metre = 39'3 inches), which gives about 

 four hundred plants to the acre. When the 

 sprouts reach the height of one foot they may 

 be transplanted. When the land is marked into 

 squares, a hole three feet square and three feet 

 deep is made, the plant being placed in the cen- 

 tre. The reason the bulb is planted at this 

 depth is because of the accumulation of leaves 

 and debris which form a fertiliser, and also re- 

 tain the moisture. The land being set with 

 barianas, may be planted with maize or beans, 

 thus reducing the cost of cultivation the first 

 year. It requires twelve months for a stock to 

 mature and produce a bunch of fruit from the 

 bulb. During the growth of the first stock there 

 will come several shoots, the largest one being 

 allowed to stand, while the others are taken up 

 and replanted. The stock left will attain suffi- 

 cient growth to produce one bunch of bananas 

 in four months, or three bunches from one plant 

 or 1,^00 bunches per acre annually. Planters 

 receive tenpence per bunch at the plantation, 

 and as the cost of production is £10 per acre, 

 very satisfactory profits are realised. A very 

 fine fibre is extracted from the banana stock, 

 which is used in the manufacture of hammocks. 

 — Journal of the rioyal Society of Arts, Aug, 25. 



CAMPHOR PRODUCTION IN BURMA. 



The camphor tree, principally the Blumea bal- 

 samifera, seems to be indigenous to certain 

 parts of Burma, and the experiments conducted 

 by the Forest Department to cultivate the Gin- 

 namomum camphora show that this tree can be 

 successfully grown in the Upper Chindwin, 

 Myitkyina, and Bhamo districts, as also at 

 Momeik, while in Maymyo the tree is said to 

 flourish. The experiments of the past few years 

 go to show that it can be successfully grown in 

 Upper Burma, and the species is also expected 

 to rlo well at suitable elevation in the Shan 

 States. There is, therefore, according to the 

 American Consul-Genera! at Calcutta, a fair 

 possibility of a camphor plantation on a large 

 scale in Burma proving successful and profit- 

 able, and there is no reason, it is said, why a 



