202 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1887. 
the seed over so as to sow it in the hot weather, 
but unfortunately the pods only ripen in the West 
Indies about March to May, and hence the seed 
cannot possibly reach you much before August or 
September. I secured the last lot while I was 
travelling through the islands, and we shall get a 
small lot this year, not nearly so much as previously. 
It is strange that at Barbados, where the maho- 
gany has been introduced within the last hundred 
years or so, it has established itself freely everywhere 
and forms thickets of self-sown saplings. The large 
trees seed most abundantly in this island, and it is 
much easier and more convenient to get mahogany 
seed fram Barbados than either Jamaica or British 
Honduras : although in the latter places the tree is 
indigenous and the timber exported as an article of 
commerce. The difference is that the Barbados trees 
grow io the open and with a smooth surface under- 
neath them, when the seed can be readily gathered. 
In the forests of British Honduras, the mahogany 
trees are of such large size and their surroundings 
so dense and over-grown that it is almost impossible 
to gather seed or get at the pods before they burst. 
" We shall be sending you some more seeds shortly 
from a supply now on its way from Barbados. 
" I am glad to find that the tree Tomato is be- 
coming established in Southern India; the. chief points 
about it are, if it is to be eaten raw, it should be 
dead ripe, if to be cooked all the seeds should be 
carefully removed. 
" Dr. Shortt sent here some preserve made from 
fruits raised by him, and it was very good. I dare 
say for curries and chutneys it might be very use- 
ful." 
" V"ou appear to be rather badly off in India for 
good fruits, and there was little or nothing shown 
in this way at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. 
Dr, Bonavia has prepared a paper on Indian fruits 
which will probably be read before the Society of 
Arts. This is a useful summary of the subject which 
will do good. 
" Our Bulletin is becoming more widely known, 
and we look forward to a useful career for it. I 
enclose a circular respecting it, which will show that 
it can be ordered through any booksellers in case 
members of your Society wish to see it. 
" There is a variety of Moringa pterygosperma known 
as M. coiicanensis. Do you think this is your plant ? 
We should be glad of specimens. We have no seed 
of M. uptera, but we may be able to spare you a 
plant later. 
" As Gamble is likely to be home soon, we shall 
discuss the Memecylon with him. It quite possible 
specimens may have been selected by him already. 
We have a single plant of Bkamnus Purshiana and 
we shall try and establish a few cuttings from it." 
Read also the following letter from Mr. Morris, . 
dated 9th May, 1887:— 
" Since wntting to you on the I find that we 
have one or two plants of Moringa aptera that are 
now in the resting stage, and we are happy to for- 
ward them in a small tin box, by post, in the hope 
that they will reach jou safely. You will notice 
that the young plants have a very distinct bulb, 
which no doubt enables them to survive the prolonged 
drought of the Sinai desert. Dr. Schweinfurth, when 
at Kew last summer, mentioned that the Bedouins 
u?e the bulbs of this plant regularly as an article 
of food ; and, indeed, on trying them here they were 
very similar to a succulent turnip or radish and if 
once the plant were naturalized in Southern India 
you would have a very agreeable salad, well adapjed 
to the driest parts of India, while, at the same 
time, you would have an oil plant of great value." 
Recorded with many thanks. 
VII. — Read the following letter from the Rev. G. 
Rithtrr, dated, Mercara, 17th June, 1887:— 
" \>y to-day'* post, I send you a specimen of the 
Kroyrontin iffysainica, the seed of which I got from 
yon at the end of February, and which I put down 
on tin 1st March in two beds of different soil, the 
one being dryer and less rich than the olher. The 
ffctd germinated very freely on tho third day and 
soon presented the appearance of a rich verdant 
cornfield, the moister bed excelling in luxuriance. 
In the beginning of May the plants, then 18 inches 
to 2 feet high flowered, and towards the end of the 
month turned yellow, and, as the monsoon set in on 
the 3rd June, I cut the crop, which, however, 
proved useless for grain, but was most eagerly eaten 
as dainty food by my cattle. I kept a little seed 
to make another trial after the monsoon, so as to 
give it the full benefit of the dry weather at har- 
vest time. 
" At the end of May I had the pleasure of watching 
the development of the extraordinary and curious 
flower of an Amorphophallus sp. (?) in my garden, 
whither I had transplanted the root with its four 
feet hh;h snake like marked stem, with culminating, 
large, palmate leaves, three years ago from a jungle 
in South-Ooorg. The herbaceous stem having died 
down after the rains for two successive seasons, this 
year no stem appeared, but the flower unfolded di- 
rect from the root, the purply top of the spadix 
appearing first and then the leathery spathe sur- 
rounding it. The spadix with its peculiar conical 
top, reached a height of 15 inches, and the diameter 
of the spathe exxjanding like an inverted hat, 11 
inches. When the unisexual flowers arranged in two 
distinct belts around the fleshy spike, the female 
flowers being below, were fully matured, the plant 
emitted for one whole day a most foetid smell, like 
rotten meat, and on examining the flower, I found a 
number of blue-bottle flies attracted to it and crawl- 
ing over the spike, no doubt assisting in the process 
of fertilization. The offensive smell completely ceased 
the following day, but then also the whole flower 
rapidly decayed. The development of the flower 
from its first appearance above ground till its maturity 
took just four weeks, and with the setting in of 
the rains the flower rotted away." 
— ♦ 
THE CULTIVATION OF DRUGS IN ASSAM. 
Mr. Oswin Weynton, a gentleman who has been a 
resident in Aseam for about twenty years, recently 
delivered a lecture on the commercial products of that 
province to the members of the East India Associ- 
ation, and pointed out that the country is capable of 
almost unlimited development. Mr. Weynton considers 
that an intelligent, energetic young man of sound phys- 
ique, and possessed of a minimum capital of 4,000^ 
( a condition which, we fear, will considerably reduce 
the number of eligible emigrants), could not look for 
a more certain competence than by starting as a planter 
in Assam. That country, which covers an extensive 
area in the north-eastern corner of British India, and 
is at present mainly known in Europe as a tea-produc- 
ing district, might, if cultivated on scientific and modern 
principles, become a scarce of supply of a large number 
of articles which are at present derived from other 
parts of the British dominions or from foreign countries. 
The obstacles to the development of Assam are in the 
first place, want of capital; secondly, the absence of 
railway communication with the outer world ; and 
thirdly, the scarcity of labour, and consequent high 
rates of wages. The latter difficulty might be obviated 
by the immigration of labourers from Bengal or 
Burmah, or of Chinese; and the subject of railway con- 
struction throughout Assam is receiving the " serious at- 
tention of Government," whatever that may be worth. 
Among the products of the country in which Mr. 
Weynton thinks that profitable business might be 
created are many of pharmaceutical interest, besides 
tea, indiarubber (for which the soil seems especially 
suitable in many parts), silk, and tobacco. 
The cultivation of arrowroot, tapioca, sago, and 
sugar is not considered likely to become profitable 
at present, but indigo planting would doubtless prove 
a satisfactory source of revenue. The drainable 
swamps possess a soil admirably adapted for the growth 
of the plant, while the heavy dew falling up to the 
end of February would bring it to maturity by the 
middle of May ; and the manufacture, by the aid of 
artificial irrigation, might be finished before the regular 
rains set in in mid-June. 
