November i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
335 
amount of bright reddish colored fillers, say lugs, com- 
mon and medium leaf and as free from smoke as 
possible — indeed, the nearer it comes up to the " suu 
cured " flavor the better it will suit buyers. Of the 
tobacco sold iu Petersburg in the last five years, not 
more (if that) than one hi gshead in eight or of oue 
pound in eight of that whicii was sold as loose came 
up to the siaudard required by buyers of fine shipping 
and buyers of good to fioe dark and brown wrappers. 
This beiu^f so, growers of tobacco will, at once, we 
tru-t see the folly of curing more than three-fourths 
of the crop in a way that will kill the sale of it as fil- 
lers. Ouly such as have rich, heavy, lealy tobacco of 
j,ood size should this year think of fr ing it to any ex- 
tent. Planters should avoid crowdiug thick tobacco 
in the barns as is often done by putting too mauy 
stalks on a stick or having the sticks too close together. 
There is now no sort of demand for low, common and 
noudescr.pt hard fired tobacco for shipping! abroad in 
the leaf state — consequently the curing of all such 
sorts sho nd be done in a way that will make them 
suitable to the trade for fillers. 
To cure more than three-fourths of the crop in a 
manner that would kill the sale of it would be, we 
think, most unwise on the part of growers of tobacco. 
All of the present crop (uuless flue-cured) should be 
permittee to yellow after being cut, before any fire is 
put under it, so as to get the tobacco of a brown, 
light brown, or a cherry red color. The less smell there 
is of smoke on three-fourths of the crop grown this 
year will add greatly to the sale of it. Tobacco which 
is sun or air cured can in very damp wet spelts be kept 
from moulding by very small fires (made ot seasoned 
wood, free of bark), being put under it, or, a flue could 
be run through the barn, and when necessary, heat 
enough raised in the barn to prevent the tobacco from 
injuring. The using of a flue would, of course, preserve 
the tobacco, aud would at the same time cause no smell 
of smoke. It will also be remembered that the bulk 
of the tobacco grown in the Southside section tribu- 
tary to Petersburg is now sold in the winter, aud early 
spring months, during which time tobacco is not so 
liab.e to injury as it is in long, wet spells of the late 
spring and summer months. In conclusion, your com- 
mittee wishes to impress it deeply on the minds of 
the growers of tobacco that our trade now demands a 
brighter, sweeter flavored tobacco for fillers than here- 
to! ore, and unless the Southside planters grow such, 
our buyers, as they have had to do this year to a con- 
siderable extent, will be again forced to go to other 
markets to get their supplies. 
Dark, greenish aud hard smoked fillers have " played 
out,'' and there being no practical demand for such 
tob icco for shipment abroad iu the leaf state, it must 
occur to the dullest intellect, that to continue to grow 
tobacco suitable only for fillers, and cure it up, jived 
and hard smoked, would be worse than a mistake, indeed, 
to us it would appear the greatest folly. We have 
tried to write plainly aud truthfully, as we realize the 
situation is one of vital importance to the prosperity 
of our Southside growers of tobacco, as well as to the 
general trade of our city. — Southern Planter. 
A TEA SUBSTITUTE USED IN THE 
HIMALAYAN EEGIONS. 
Office Memo, from Dr. George Watt, 0. I. E., Re- 
porter on Economic Products, to the Secretary to the 
Government of Iudia, Revenue and Agricultural De- 
partment,— No. 51—122—28., dated Simla, the 23rd 
December 1887. 
With reterence to your Office Blemorandum No. 
1010— 115-2A. of the lb'th instant, the undersigned has 
the houor to reply that the suppossed discovery of a 
new tea, thereiu alluded to, is a very old story. It 
was first pointed out by Mr. Bloorcroft in 1821, that 
the natives of Basahr usod the leaves of a species of 
Osyris as a substitute for tea. Latter on, Bishop Heber, 
in his visit to Almora, fell into the mistake with the 
native gentlemen alluded to in Mr. Lawrence's Memo- 
randum has done, viz., of viewing the plant as tea. 
The leaves of Osyris arborea (the plant forwardod 
along with the Memorandum) are used, here an 
there, throughout the Himalayas from Almora to 
Sikkim, in place of tea. As in the case of the sample for- 
warded for iuspection, they smell remarkably like tea 
when specially prepared ; but unfortunately the iulusiou 
has powerful emetic properies which require long usage 
to conquer. Dr. Royle suggested that experiments 
should be made in the cultivation of the plant iu 
order to discover if this emetic property could be re- 
moved by careful cultivation. The discovery of tea 
plant have left the matter of Osyris tea in the 
position in which it was at the beginning of the 
present century, when it first attracted the attention 
of the public. 
The plaut is very common around Simla ; it is known 
as Bahardharra, balcarja, in Kumaon; Popli in Bel- 
gaum, aud Jhuri in Nepal, &c. It is closely allied to 
the sandal-wood, but it seems to possess no properties 
that would justify its cultivation, since tea can be 
produced quite as cheap. I would suggest that one 
of the samples of this tea-substitute, herewith returned 
be sent to Kew, since, as a Museum sample, it may 
be interesting to the Director, and that the other go 
to the Economic Museum, Calcutta, together with a 
copy of this letter. — Indian Agriculturist. 
CINCHONA CROPS AND EXPORTS. 
We call attention to the letter of Baron von 
Rosenberg on page 338 with reference to the es- 
tablishment of a Cinchona Planters' Bank rather 
than Syndicate. This is, however, very much what 
is being done in Ceylon, the Syndicate agency 
offering to make advances on all bark consigned to it. 
Our contemporary of the local " Times " estimates 
the quantity of growing bark in the island just now 
as follows : — 
Quantity of Bark Now Gkowing. 
Maiiuleima ... ... 2,500,000 lb. 
Badulia ... ... 2,500,000 
Udapussollawa ... ... 2,000,000 
Haputale ... ... 1,500,000 
Uva total ... ... 8,500,000 lb. 
Rest of island ... ... 6,000,000 , 
14,500,0001b. 
This is exclusive of stock lying in Colombo stores, 
probably about 2 million lb. Our own calculation 
is, that if Ceylon were cleared of all marketable oark 
at this moment aa much as 20 millions lb. could be 
collected. But, practically, this difference in estimates 
is not of much importance. What is of consequence 
is the estimate for the current season's exports : 
that our contemporary makes 6 millions against 
the 7£ millions in our estimate. We think we are 
more likely to be right. In allowing for a falling-off 
of 3 millions lb. on last season, which gave 10£ 
millions lb, export, we feel we have gone aa far s 
is safe for season 1889-90. 
+ 
Oil of Eucalyptus.— A correspondent writes— 
" Mr. S. G. Wallace of West End, Ootacamund, 
has for some time past been engaged in conducting' 
a series of experiments with the oil of Eucalyptus. 
The oil is extracted from the Eucalyptus globulus 
which grows luxuriantly on the Neilgherry Hills 
and is said to possess great medicinal virtues. It is 
largely used in some of the hill tracts, in Northern 
India, and is gradually coming into use in Southern 
India. It is specially effective in cases of rheuma- 
tism, bronchitis, &c, and is a good deodorant and 
desinfectant. The experiments made with it by 
Mr. Wallace have been attended with very consider- 
able suocess, and the oil is said to have effected 
some marvellous cures, in cases of chronic dysentery. 
The oil has a pleasant taste and odour and is a 
powerful tonic. Mr. Wallace's labours in this matter 
are deserving of enaouragement.— Indian Agri- 
culturist, Sept. 14th. 
