jiiLV t, iS8y,j MS TROPICAL 
A&MCULTUMQT, 
Under cultivation they are shorter and more slender, 
with rather deeper vertical grooves, but no bands or 
markings. A small sample of the fibre of 8. sulcata 
was prepared, and the broker's report upon it was 
as follows: — "Similar to fibre of Furcraa cubensis 
"and of about equal strength. It is, however, cleaner, 
" aud would also compare with Mauritius hemp. Value 
" 26V. per ton." 
It is quite possible that other species of Sansevieria, 
may be found in tropical Africa, whilst some more 
or less distinct may be under cultivation in colonial 
gardens. The illustrations given on page 3 of this 
Bulletin will assist in the determination of the species 
mentioned here. Specimens of any others will be 
gladly accepted for the Kew collections. 
In his synopsis of succulent plants, Haworth de- 
scribed briefly a number of additional species of 
Sanseiieria, which are now lost to cultivation, so far 
as we are aware, and of which no figures or dried 
specimens are known. It is not improbable that there 
are many more types in existence than we possess 
materials for individualising or recognising at present. 
Of plants once in cultivation which Haworth briefly 
notices, we should be glad of information or specimens 
of the following : 8. Icvtevirens, S. ensifnlia, 8. glauca, 
S. polyphylla, S. c/randicuspis, 8. pumila, and 8. 
fulvocincta. 
As regards machinery for the extraction of fibre 
from these plants, the subject is one which lies out- 
side the scope of the Bulletin. Machinery is in use 
in Yucatan and Mauritius for the extraction of fibre 
from Agave and Furcrcea leaves, and machines are said 
to be made suitable for the treatment of leaves, of 
Sansevieria, and others. We cannot do better, how- 
ever, than refer to the literature given on this sub- 
ject in Spon's Encyclopaedia, Div. iii,, pp. 923-930. 
In the chemical extraction of fibres from plants 
there are sev eral methods under experimental trial, 
some of which may prove ultimately successful. 
♦ 
CLIMATE AND CULTIVATION IN TEXAS. 
In a report on the trade and commerce of Texas 
during the year 1886, the British Consul refers to the 
present state of the trade in cotton seed as follows : — 
" Cotton-seed oil is a great export staple of Texas and 
other cotton-growing States, from which it is sent to 
Europe, chiefly to Italy, where it is refined, bottled, 
and sold all over the world as olive-oil, for which it 
really forms a wholesome substitute. Cotton seed was, 
therefore, not long ago a profitable article to the 
cotton farmers, but a syndicate has recently been 
formed under the name of the American Oil Mill 
Company, which has bought up nearly every oil mill 
in the Southern States. They have, in consequence, 
already run down the price of seed from 7 dols. 
50 cents, the normal figure, to 5 dols. per ton, while 
they have run up the price of oil from 28h cents 
(Is. 2hd.) to 40 cents, or Is. 7§d. Having purchased 
the mills, they close down such of them as are not 
convenient for their operations, and thereby lessen the 
rates of labour and expenditure, while tbey contrive 
to break down such opposition mills as hold out for 
ft time by paying high prices for oil-seed." 
In a description of the climate and soil of Texas 
the following interesting notes occur :— Northern aud 
Central Texas contain the best farming and orchard 
land in the State, with a good rainfall, in consequence 
of the proximity of the hills aud forests of the Indian 
territory ; there are also numerous creeks and rivers. 
Eastern Texas is in great part covered with Pine 
forests; there is a fair rainfall, aud the foil though 
sandy, is fertile, the drawback to farming more or 
less throughout the State, but especially in South- 
western Texas is the prevalence of long spoils of dry 
weather, which, since the felling and clearing of large 
tracts of forest in the interior, are undoubtedly on 
the increase. Texas is in thr same dgn e of lat'itudc 
as Algeria, Syria, Southern Persia, \c .and the cliinato 
will, no doubt, eventually become, at any rate in the 
South and west, much what it ut preseut is in the 
»bove countries— afflicted with dry, hot summers, little 
or no rainfall, and agriculture entirely dependent on 
artificial irrigation. Irrigation has hardly been at- 
tempted as yet in Texas, though at least half its area 
is practically unfit for cultivation without it. Another 
climatic defect is the " northers " — cold piercing winds 
of the nature of the mistral, which suddenly descend 
during the cold months from the Rocky Mountains, 
often causing serious destruction both to vegetation 
and to live-stock. These "northers" will kill off all 
but the very hardiest subtropical vegetation, so that 
although the mean temperature of the climate for 
the year round is very much higher than that of 
European and Asiatic countries where the Orange, 
Lemon, Date, Pomegranate, Fig, Citron, &c, per- 
ennially flourish, these fruits can hardly be grown in 
Texas, the trees being continuously killed off by frosts. 
On the other hand the heat is too great for the fruits 
of temperate climates (except far to the north) such 
as the Vine, Apple, Pear, &c. 
In January, 1886, a " norther" set in which in a few 
hours sank the temperature 45°. Galveston bay long 
before morning was a sheet of solid ice for many 
miles. Fishermen were frostbitten in their boats, and 
in two or three instances actually frozen to death. 
This frost killed every subtropical tree or shrub. Orange, 
Lemon, Oleander, Date, &c, in and around Galveston, 
and temporarily ruined the entire Orange industry in 
Florida for 4° or 5° to the southward. Cattle died 
of cold in thousands all over the country. Southern 
and Eastern Texas have this year (February, 1887) 
suffered from a prolonged drought, no rain to speak 
of having fallen for nearly two months ; and were it 
not for heavy dews, fogs, and mists which have set 
in occasionally, every blade of grass would have been 
burnt up. The climate of Texas is perpetually in 
extremes either of heat or cold, damp or dryness. — J. 
R. Jackson. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
♦ 
Coca. — It is reported that Coca leaves (Erythroxylon 
Coca) are becoming a recognised article of export 
from Peru, a demand having " sprung up for them 
for the manufacture of Cocaine, now so much used 
in surgical operations for killing pain." The quantity 
exported from Blollindo during the year amounted to 705 
quintals, valued at 17,625 dollars. — Gardeners' Chro)iicle. 
Coffee Culture in Rio Janeibo. — Reporting on 
the general state of the province of Rio Janeiro, the 
British Consul thus speaks of the Coffee crops. The 
tree, he says, is found growing in almost every part 
of the province — in the plains as well as in the high- 
lands. The principal plantations are situated in the 
Cantagallo range, in the lands in the vicinity of the 
Parahyba River, the bed of which is from about 900 
to 1,050 feet above the level of the sea, at Commercio, 
Uba, Vassouras, and other places. The trees are there 
planted ou the sides of steep hills. The Coffee blos- 
soms from August to October according to locality, 
and is picked in March and April. A hectare of laud 
is supposed to contain some 918 Coffee trees, which 
yield from 675 to 2,000 kilos, according to the fertility of 
the soil. In the districts of Cantagallo, S. Fidelis, aud 
other parts, for some years past, the Coffee trees 
have been subject to a disease manifested firstly in the 
yellowness of the upper leaves, and afterwards in the 
shoots, the trees soon drying up. In this way about 
one-tenth part of the trees in the above-named districts 
have perished. This disease is supposed to be pro- 
pagated by an insect which lives iu, aud feeds on the, 
roots. It deposits its eggs iu the knots of the roots 
causing the fibres of the same to rot. On this the 
eggs are seen, having the shape of Mushrooms. This 
geuerally takes place in the heaps of weeds or grass 
which rot at the foot of the trees, forming a fiuo 
soil for the new root fibres. As a remedy against 
this evil it is recommended by Dr. Glazio that tho 
weeds aud grass should never be heaped up to rot 
near the roots, but should be left to be dried by the 
sun and afterwards brought together and burned. 
The Orange trees are also subject to be attacked by 
the same plague. Dr. Glaziou is convinced if this 
rule be attended to that in two years* time the Coffee 
estates will return to what they wore formerly.— 
Gardeners' Chronicle, 
