U THE TROPICAL 
Mixrua Manures. — In the "Science Gossip" at 
the Melbourne Leader it is stated: — " M. Audouard 
has thrown some light on the proper use of 
manures. It is a common practice to mix 
nitrates and superphosphates, but tbis he shows 
to be a mistake, reactions being set up which 
destroy the very qualities for which the respective 
manures are valued and recommended. Used separ- 
ately they react upon the constituents of the soil, 
which is what is wanted. The toper's maxim — 
' never mix ' — is applicable in this case, although 
with most other manures, especially the organiced, 
mixtures are found to be beneficial." 
To Hasten the Germination of Hardshelled 
Seeds. — A correspondent of the " Indian Agricul- 
turist " writes : — 
Some years ago I undertook the raising of many 
varieties of the beautiful Australian acacias, the seeds 
of which I had imported. My object was to ascert- 
ain whether these could be naturalised in this country. 
Knowing full well that to get a crop of seedlings 
at an early date, the outer shell of the seeds must 
be softened, 1 steeped the entire lot in a mixture 
of fresh cow-dung and water — previously heated — for 
24 hours. Having prepared my beds, I sowed the 
seeds (in the beginning of July) and fully 90 per 
cent germinated within three weeks. I have since 
raised hundreds of acacia seedlings — the common 
bahool among them, — and never found any difficulty 
about the matter. This is the native method of sow- 
ing the seed, and is as good as any that I know of, 
Gow's Witheber and its Wobk. — The following 
memorandum from Mr. Jameson should we think 
settle the question as to the enormous advantages 
to be gained by using this machine : — 
Memorandum, Gow's System or Tea Manufacture. — 
Wet leaf put on the Withering Tats at 12 noon and 5 p. m., 
will be ready for commencing manufacture on the follow- 
ing morning at 6 o'clock, when a charge of 4S0 lb. to 600 
lb, leaf may be put into the "Monarch" (2nd size) and, 
after bei"g worked in the machine at about 170° for j 
hour to an hour (according to the state of the wither) 
will be ready for rolling, the leaf being then in a gummy 
state, of a darkish colour, and fermentation being well 
advanced. The fermentation goes cui during the heavy 
rolling, and at the end of an hour the roll will be ready 
for firing, though I think the colour is improved in the 
time occupied iii brekii'g up and sifting the roll, previous 
to firing. When the leaf is very much uuderwithered, 
the large leaf of the roll is much improved in twist, and 
somewhat in colour, by a second rolling of half an hour 
or so. 
hours 
Time of leaf on Tats 
18 
„ of charge in " Monarch'' 
1 
,, Rolling 
il 
,, Breaking up and siftiug 
o% 
,, 2nd Boiling 
Ok 
,, Firing iu " Victoria " .,. 
if 
,, lost moving leaf to and from 
machines 
0$ 
, , from arrival of leaf in factory till 
made into Tea 
23| 
4,000 lb. wet leaf put on Tats at 12 noon and 5 p. m. 
can be made into tea by 4-30 p. m., the following after- 
noon. 
Ordinary System of Tea Manufacture.— The same 
kind of leaf would not be sufficiently withered for rolling 
till the evening after it was put on the tats (possibly not 
then). Manufacture therefore would begin about the time 
the tea was finished by Gow's system. 
hours 
Time of leaf on Tats ... ... 20 
,, of Rolling ... ... 1 
Breaking up, re-rolling, fermentiug 3 
,, Firing ... ... 1? 
lost moving leaf from and to 
machines ... ... 0J 
,, from arrival of leaf in factory 
till made into tea... ... 35 
4,000 lb. leaf put on tats at 12 noon and 5 p. m. can be 
mane into ten by 4 a. m. on the second morning after. 
(Signed) Grco. T), .Iamkson. 
Muriawatte, May 24th, 1887. 
AGRICULTURIST. [July i, tB8y, 
Stock Seed. — The bed in which plants are grown for 
stock seed is the soul of the garden ; it may not attract 
strangers, but its owner sees in it some promise of 
reward, in the splendor which his garden shall possess 
in future years ; and, as a business matter, there is 
no good return surer than from the introduction of 
a flower which presents new and unusual beauties. 
But there is in true floriculture a Dobler object than 
mere money-making; the question is not only what 
can one make of the flower, but what can the flower 
make of us. In elevating its character, the cultiv- 
ator's character is ennobled ; improvement does not 
go singlehanded ; what man does for the plant, in 
making it more beautiful or useful, the plant returns 
him ten-fold — not alone commercially, but in dividends 
of beauty and worth, and in the satisfaction with 
which success crowns a well-directed effected. — 
Nilgiri Express. 
Notes of a Naturalist in South America. — Several 
ports en the rainless coast were touched, and Mr. 
Ball landed at Tocopilla, situated about 17° south 
of Payta, and about 22° south of the equator. '"Here," 
says the writer, "I found what I had often heard of, 
but in whose existence I had almost ceased to believe — 
a land absolutely without a trace of vegetable life. 
Not only was there no green thing ; not 
even a speck of a lichen could I detect, though I 
looked at the rock through a lens. Kven more than 
by the absence of life, I was impressed by the ap- 
pearance of the surface, which showed no token that 
water had ever flowed over it I saw no insect 
and no lizard, no living thing, with tbe strange excep- 
tion that on the rocks nearest the houses there were 
several small birds, which appeared to be rather shy 
and which I was not able to approach. I was 
afterwards told that these birds live on the 
grain which they are able to steal or pick out 
from the manure in the stables where a few horses 
and mules are kept for the needs of the place." Most 
of the water required at these desolate ports is ob- 
tained by distillation from sea-water, but some is 
conveyed to them by steamers. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
A Large "Pearl Blister " is thus noticed in the 
Singapore Free Press: — " There is just now on view 
at Sayle & Co.'s store, an interesting natural curiosity, 
which has just been brought by Mr. Neil Galbraith 
from Western Australia. It consists of a pearl oyster 
shell with a remarkable growth of nacre adherent 
to its internal surface, being what we are told is 
generally termed a "blister." It is about 1\ inches 
long, by 1 inch broad, and stands up in relief to 
a height of nearly five-eighths of an inch. It is 
of the exact appearance of pearl and is the very 
largest example of the kind that has ever been 
met with in the experience of the pearlers of West 
Australia. Mr. Galbraith intends to send it home 
by the next mail. We have heard that a high 
value has been put upon it, but it is doubtful 
whether it will fetch the price named." 
Forestry in Cuylon is thus noticed in a 
review of a work on the Edinburgh Forestry ex- 
hibition by M. Beuss, which appears in Indian Forestry. 
As our readers are aware most of the land " de- 
nuded for the now useless cultivation of coffee" 
will be devoted not to forest trees but to tea bushes. 
There is plenty land for forest operations, however: — 
" Oeylon. — .Returning to Asia, our author notices the 
state of the Oeylon forests, which he says cover 39 
per cent, of the total territory of the island. Here 
also the services of the Indian Forest Department 
were called into requisition, and a forest administra- 
tion has been established on the report of Mr. F. 
Vincent, sent on a special mission iu 1888. The prin- 
cipal object of this new departmeut will be to re- 
afforest the tracts denuded for the now useless cultiv- 
ation of coffee, and to introduce, where possible, 
plantations of teak, which has been grown from seed 
imported from India, with considerable success." 
We believe Mr. Alexander wrote a report on 
the Edinburgh Exhibition for a home periodical, 
