230 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1887 
First, with regard to cocoa. It was grown with 
great success in certain districts of Ceylon, but 
the fact that it requires perfect shelter and good 
soil, conditions which do not always go together 
in the island, limited the possible area of its 
production ; and, therefore, it must remain a 
secondary article of cultivation. The fact, however, 
that 15,000 cwt. will be shipped this year is in- 
dicative that it must be no mean help towards 
recuperation of the island's partially-lost prosperity. 
That in the various forms of manufacture of the 
article the Geylonese have attained great perfec- 
tion is made evident by the exhibits in the court. 
Cinchona has found the island so congenial to its 
growth that the Ceylonese producer has been able to 
supply the markets of the world, and thus a great 
benefaction has undoubtedly been conferred on 
humanity ; but the result has been so to reduce 
the price so that cultivation scarcely pays. Card- 
amums, which, it may be necessary to explain, is 
a spice used both in medicine and confectionery for 
flavouring purposes has also proved so successful in 
cultivation that its prime cost has been reduced 
from 6s. to 2s. a pound. 
Now we come to tea, and in relation to it a 
few statistics will prove interesting. In 1880 the 
export of tea was 114,0001b. in round figures; 
1881, 311,000 ; 1882 621,000 ; 1883 1,599,000; 1884, 
2,285,000 ; 1885, 4,352,000 ; 1886, 7,790,000 ; 1887, 
15,000,000 ; and it is anticipated that in 1890 Cey- 
lon will be able to export the enormous quantity 
of 40,000,0001b. The Ceylonese tea- grower does 
not wish to enter into unfriendly competition with 
the Indian grower, but with genuine, unsophistic- 
ated teas he seeks to oust the spurious teas of 
China, which can be purchased, less duty, in Lon- 
don for fourpenee to sixpence a pound. Ceylon 
teas are somewhat higher in price, but they can 
be relied on for purity ; and in use a given quantity 
goes further than a similar quantity of the teas of 
China. For flavour they are incomparable. Cleanli- 
ness, too, which we prize so highly as a virtue 
in this country, is strictly regarded in the manu- 
facture of tea in Ceylon. Whereas in China all 
operations are carried out by hand, hand labour 
on a Ceylonese tea estate ceases almost entirely 
with the plucking of the leaves. Every after oper- 
ation is carried out automatically, and thus secur- 
ity from all possible taint is secured. Under these 
circumstances the hope of the Ceylonese that the 
full tea production of their island will be taken 
by the tea-drinkers of Great Britain and the United 
States ought to be realised. The only check which 
they fear for their production is the want of 
markets, but they have already proved that they 
can place tea in the markets of the world cheaper 
than India can, whilst the wholesale price in Minc- 
ing-lane during the past three years has been 
higher than that of India. It is worth remem- 
bering in connection with the possibilities of this 
trade that, during the past six months, over 
£200,000 worth of machinery lias gone out of this 
country to Ceylon. This introduces the element 
of reciprocity, which we are so desirous of cult- 
ivating xfith our colonies, and which in relation to 
our }ton manufactures we stand so much in need of. 
^Among miscellaneous exhibits, all of which are 
tSi interest, are specimens of tree-cotton of a short 
fibre, for which, however, it is hoped that a market 
will be found for some purposes ; and of aloe fibre, 
which is of great length and strength and apparent 
usefulness. Plumbago, more familiarly known as 
black lead, is an important production of the island, 
and it is shown in huge natural blocks and also 
in various manufactured states. Many other feat- 
ures of the exhibits of this court are Hure to in- 
terewt the visitor, but need not be enumerated here. 
— The Porcupine, 
NOTES ON JALAP TUBEES GROWN AT 
MUSSOORIE, N. W. P., INDIA. 
BY C. J. H. WAEDEN, 
Chemical Examiner to Government. 
The jalap tubers referred to in this note were 
received from Mr. Duthie, Superintendent of the 
Government Botanical Gardens, Saharanpur,. N. W. P. 
and were grown at the Mussoorie branch garden 
at an elevation of 5,000 feet. Mr. Gillan, the 
head gardener, kindly furnished the following partic- 
ulars regarding the cultivation of the Tpomwa purga. 
He states : — 
"We began in 1884 with 300 small tubers weighing 
16 pounds, obtained from the Ootacamund gardens. 
In 1885, when the crop was lifted, the tubers numbered 
2150 and weighed 100 pounds. I am somewhat doubt- 
ful, though, if the weight given was correct. They 
were weighed by the native overseer, who was there 
in charge of the gardens, and I think he purposely 
exaggerated the weight of produce. In 1886 the 
tubers were again lifted and weighed in my presence. 
The crop was a much larger one and equally as healthy 
as in the previous year, but I only found an increase 
of 74 pounds in weight on the crop of 1885. I did 
not count the tubers last year, so cannot compare 
numbers produced in 1886 with those of 1885. 
This year the plot has not been disturbed. I noticed 
when digging up the tubers last year that the roots 
were in active growth and many small tubers were 
destroyed. The vines had died down some time pre- 
viously, and naturally one would not have expected 
active growth in the roots. As jalap will always have 
to be dug up at the same season, viz., during the 
month of February, a certain proportion of young tubers 
will always be destroyed during the process of lifting; 
but this will not matter so much after our stock is 
increased, for one or two plots can be lifted one year 
whilst others would be left undisturbed until the 
following year, and so on. The method of cultivation 
is as follows : — The ground is prepared by digging 
trenches two feet wide, and of the same depth, at 
intervals of six feet. The trenches are refilled with 
open surface soil finely intermixed with decayed cow- 
dung. After all the required trenches have been pre- 
pared in this way a single row of tubers is planted 
in each trench at one foot apart, and the tubers in- 
serted about six iuchea deep in the ground. When 
the vines begin to shoot the rows are staked out with 
branches in the same manner as for garden peas. The 
vines climb on these, and no further care is necessary 
beyond watering during dry weather, and frequent 
weeding during the rains. The season for lifting or 
transplanting the tubers is in the month of February. 
Porcupines are fond of the fresh tubers, and where 
these animals exist the fields must be protected by 
efficient fencing." — Pharmaceutical Journal. 
AUSTRALIAN VEGETATION. 
Mr. Joseph Bosisto delivered a lecture on the 
"Indigenous Vegetation of Australia'' in the Con- 
ference Hall of the Exhibition. The Eucalyptus, 
exists and reigns almost supreme over the 
greater portion of Australia and Tasmania, although 
entirely absent in the other islands of the South, 
with the exception of a few species in New Guinea. 
There can scarcely be a doubt but that at some period 
of the world's history, Tasmania and New Guinea 
formed a part of Australia ; hence the eucalyptus 
may be considered as a vegetation purely Australian. 
Strojag evidences exist proving that the eucalyptus is 
an ancient Australian vegetation. River beds of great 
antiquity have been met with, at depths varying 
from 100 to 20J feet, and even deeper, in various 
alluvial gold-mining districts of Victoria, revealing 
occasionally massive timber trees without any sign 
of decay, belonging to the family of the Eucalyptus, 
chiefly those of the red gum (Rostrata) and the iron 
bark ( Levco.n/lon) species. Some species growing at 
the present day on the alluvial flats, mountainous 
ranges, and in the valleys, attain a prodigious size, 
both as to girth and height, bespeaking their longevity 
