August i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL 
USEFUL PLANTS OF MAURITIUS. 
Fibre-yielding plants flourish uncommonly well in 
Mauritius, as proved by the experimental culture at 
the Botanic Garden. Cotton is grown in very small 
quantity. The American aloe (Agave Afnevieana) has 
been tried with success, and machinery adapted to 
the separation of the fibre. A local speciality in 
fibrous plants is the vacua or racois (Pandamts 
odoratissimus), whose loog tough leaves are thrashed 
out, and manufactured into bags for shipping sugar in. 
The woods of the island show greater variety, but 
the supplies have been terribly curtailed by the de- 
struction of the forests, to make room for sugar plant- 
ations. The principal timber trees are as follows:— 
Fbony (Diospyros reticulata) grows to a considerable 
size ; olive wood (Olea laucoaj is elastic and good 
for shafts, tool haudles, &c; coloplwne (Oolojihouia 
mauritiana), a large tree often attaining a diameter 
of C feet, gives a resinous heavy wood much 
used for cart-frames, wheels, shipbuilding, railway 
brakes, carriages, and wagons ; ironwood (Stadt- 
mwma siderqxylon), almost indestructable in house 
building ; several kinds of hois de natte from Labour- 
elo)i)t tsia vv'., useful in all kinds of construction, and 
the barks good for dyeing and tanning ; also the 
woods of Jossiida lucida, Memepylontrinerve, Syzygiujn 
-/'., Mangifera i/idico,, TIeritiera littoralis and Acacia 
alia. — Journal of the Society of Arts. 
SENNA. 
Agricultural School, Minuwangoda, 12th July 1887. 
Sib, — I believe the senna plant (Cassia obtusifolia), 
will thrive in many districts of Oeylon and will form 
a good industry for natives, &c, who will take to 
its growing. The leaves cau be exported and fetch 
a good price in England as I see from your T. A. 
also. It is generally exported from Tinnevelly, and 
through the courtesey of Mr. Kwart of Vinidupatti 
I have obtained some seeds which I hope to try 
and send you the results. Until then I hope the 
instructions given by Mr. Fwart will be useful and 
interesting. — Faithfully yours, 
"\V. Arthde de Silva, 
Am '/cultural Instructor. 
{Extract from Mr. Euint's Letter.) 
Vinidupatti, 4th July 1887- 
This plant grows Wild over a large portion of this 
district and the leaves are collected and shipped to 
England. The cultivation is chiefly carried on near 
the town of Tinnevelly on lands which are able to 
be irrigated by the Jampapurni river, the river comes 
in flood with the burst of the S. "West monsoou, 
but the rains seldom get over the Travancore. hills 
into Tinnevelly. The seed is sown in June or July, 
according to the burst of the monsoon, and a 
shower is generally taken advantage of to sow. 
If no rain water is turned on to the land and 
the seed sown after a weeks or so, when the 
plants are well above ground they are irrigated 
once in 3 days or when occasion requires according 
to what rain falls after two months picking com- 
mences and is carried on for two to four months. Second 
pickings are seemed by plucking off the flowers. 
The plants are pulled up at the end of the picking, 
hikI fresh seeds planted every year. The leaves must 
bo dried in the shade. This senna is called' Nanga 
Senna,' and is valued in Loudon at about 1/ per lb. 
according to colour and size of leaf. 
*•»»##*# 
(Signed) E. M. Ewatit. 
I The narrow and broad leaved medicinal sennas 
have been several times introduced into and ex- 
perimented on in Ceylon, and as far as I reeoUept 
without any favourable result. The fact is that 
I'eylon cannot in any way compete with Tinnevelly 
in raising such a cheap drug as senna, aud unhsd 
11 'ft" 1 , in connection with the irrigation scheme 
of Kalawowa it can be raised by irrigation. I do not 
see that any object will he gained by the cultiv- 
ation ot «enna in Ceylon.— /('. /'.I 
AGRICULTURIST. 
KOLA NUTS. 
Before replying to the letter of Mr. Laseelles- 
Scott, there are one or two points to be noticed 
in reference to the letter from Mr. Thos. Christy, 
which appeared in your last journal. That gentleman 
states that my valuation of 3d. to 4d. per pound for 
kola nuts was written to the best of my knowledge 
in regard to the fortnightly auction sales; such was 
not entirely the case, my valuation was based upon 
what I knew had been, and probably would again be 
realised for this article both in public and private 
sales ; but even supposing that the price of 4d. per 
pound had only been obtained in the public drug sales, 
what further criterion of the market value of the 
article does Mr. Christy look for? "With regard to 
that gentleman's statement that "kola nuts came to 
Liverpool, and are sold there, " one would infer that, 
a regular market was established there for this produce. 
The following report, from a well-known firm of 
brokers in that city, tends to show that the market there 
is even in a more precarious condition thin here :— 
"Your note to hand re kola nuts; none here, and 
there is no inquiry at present : they only come in small 
lots, and at very irregular times, no record has been 
left of imports ; demand is very uncertain, and value 
has varied accordingly ; when there has been no chance 
of selling, lots have, at different times, had to be 
thrown away, as they do not keep, soon becoming 
rotten. " This statement is also confirmed by another 
Liverpool broker. These facts seem to me to entirely 
disprove what Mr. Christy says, viz., " that the 
demand for sound kola nuts is far beyond the sup- 
plies." 
The letter of Mr. Lascelles-Scott does not throw 
any light upon the present market value of kola nuts. 
It is quite true that I asked Mr. Lascelles-Scott 8d. 
per pound for half a hundredweight of kola nuts, but 
in discussing the value of this article one does not 
expect retail quantities to be placed upon the same 
basis as market quantities, and I would here remind 
that gentlemau that my original vcluatiou was based 
upon the question. " Would au importer find a ready 
sale, and if so, at what price for a quantity of kola ? " 
Heney R. Aenoi.d. 
16, Coleman-street, London, E. C, 
June 9th, 1887. 
Mr. Christy's letter in the Journal for June 3 fully 
confirms the views expressed by me respecting kola nuts. 
There is no regular quotation for them; the demand 
is uucertain and spasmodic, and, therefore, the plant- 
ers in the West Indies, tempted by Sir Augustus 
Adderley's recommeudatiou to invest in the cultivation, 
are liable to find both their time and money thrown 
away. This is all I wished to say, and, so far, nothing 
has been gained by Mr, Christy, except indicating 
the source of the information contained in Sir Augustus 
Adderley's paper. 
The merits of kola nuts, per s'c, I do not touch. 
They may have, or they may not have a future. At 
present it is purely conjectural. Under these circum- 
stances was it wise to recommend without qualific- 
ation a purely speculative cultivation to small growers 
in the West Indies, when plenty of others, with 
certain returns, were within their reach ? 
It may be not out of place also to point out, in 
reply to both Mr. Chri:-tv and Mr. Lascelles-Scott, 
that the idea of making chocolate from kola nuts was first 
suggested in my "Annual Report on the Public 
Gardens of Jamaica," in 1882. This was nearly two 
years before it was taken up by Mr. Christy. 
Coffee in parchment, and also in cherry, has been 
exported on trial from the West Indies, but the 
prices offered by the merchants were tub low to be 
remunerative, Hence the growers prefer to pu'p and 
clean their coffee themselves, and so place it in the 
market at first hand. They are evidently the sole 
jmlgis of what pays them beM.— D. Mokris. — 9th June, 
1887. — Touraal of ike Society of Arts. 
♦ 
.1011 ORE AS A TEA-PRODUCING COUNTRY 
Sin, — Having recei\ed samples of Johore teas, I seDt 
them to be reported on in Colombo, aud thinking that 
it might iutere.t so'ne of jour readers to kuow what 
