260 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1887. 
ture requires very little care, and entails scarcely any 
expense, so that if the price of the seeds or paste 
should not be renumerative, little is lost by simply 
le.ving the crop ungathered. Messrs. Fulwood & 
Bland, and S. G. Clements & Co., who are 
among the principal consumers of annatto, have 
given it as their opinion that annatto cultivation 
■would be found to pay best if the Ceylon and 
Jamaica planters did not ship the seeds to this 
country, but only the prepared article, which should 
be manufactured with the utmost care, and might, 
in that case, speedily drive the French Indian 
annatto from the market. The seeds, if shipped at 
all, might be sent to the United States, where they 
can be imported duty free. Messrs. Clements & Co. 
mention that some time ago they purchased, through 
a firm of London brokers, some exceptienally fine 
annatto paste prepared in Ceylon, but subsequent 
lots received from that quarter showed a falling-off 
in quality, and upon inquiring for paste of the accust- 
omed high standard, they were informed by their 
brokers that it was all shipped to America, where as 
much as 3s. Gd. per lb. was paid for it — a price which 
probably includes the duty. 
The employment of annatto is considerable, although 
systematic cultivation on too extensive a scale 
would soon cause a glut in the market. Its chief 
use is as a colouring material for cheese, and 
butter, for which purpose it is well adapted (sup- 
posing these articles should be coloured at all), by 
reason of its innocuous character. We have heard 
it stated that a pound of annatto prepared by 
the cold-water process mentioned above is suffieient 
to colour 1,200 lb. of cheese. Probably a large 
quality of annatto also finds employment in the 
American butterine industry. In Spanish-speaking 
countries, annatto is employed to impart colour and 
flavour to chocolate, soups, and rice, and the seeds, 
leaves, and roots of the plant are also used as 
condiments, dyeing materials, and, medicinally, as 
a febrifuge. Another use of annatto is as a dyeing 
material for cotton, silk, calico, and woollen fabrics 
to which it imparts a beautiful yellow hue, but it 
is said that the colour does not last. Annatto is 
mixed with yellow dyes in order to give them an 
oraoge shade. The addition of an alkali increases 
its solubility, and it is therefore generally mixed 
with at least its own weight of potash. — Chemist and 
Druggist. 
- -♦ 
A new use for the tobacco plant has been dis- 
covered in England. Its stems and waste, it is 
claimed, are equal to linen rags in the manufacture 
of paper. In that country tobacco waste costs less 
than f 10 a ton, while linen rags are quoted at $55. 
There is no expense in assorting the former, and 
very little shrinkage, as against a loss of one-third 
of rags. The yearly tobacco waste is estimated by 
the census report of England at from 3,000,000 to 
4,000,000 pounds. We cannot give the figures for 
the waste in this country, but compared with the 
above they must be immense, and the discovery of 
this new use for the refuse of the tobacco plant is 
of the greatest importance to us, as we manu>acture 
a very large proportion of the paper supply of the 
world. — Indian Agrimlturist. 
The Camphor J. ea.de of Formosa. — The American 
Consul at Amoy, in his last report, states that the 
statistics of the Chinese Customs authorities in 
Formosa indicate a constant dimunition in the 
production of crud,e camphor during the past two 
ye rs, and the early extinction of that industry in 
the island, Since the termination of the Franco- 
Chinese war Formosa has been made a separate 
province and placed under the jurisdiction of a 
Governoi'-General, who has instituted many new 
taxes. Among his other fiscal measures is a Gov- 
ernment monopoly of the c unphor industry, which 
Beeow likely to hasten its extinction. The mono- 
joy, the Consul says, appears to be a revival of 
the old " co-hong " system, and a restriction upon 
the foreign trade of Formosa, so far as the article 
camphor is concerned. Some intelligent foreigners 
regard this as but the first step by the native 
authorities to similar Government monopolies in 
other and more important articles of industry and 
trade that might cause irreparable injury to foreign 
commercial interests connected with the trade of 
Formosa — such, for instance, as the tea and sugar 
trade. — London Times. 
Increased Consumption or Tea in Britain. — 
In a paper read before the British Association, the 
great writer on statistics, Mr. Giffen, accounted for 
the fact that the percentage of improvement in the 
past decade had fallen when compared with the 
two previous decades, by stating that when a 
country got near the top, her rate of progress must 
necessarily become slower. Amongst the articles 
enumerated as showing a decreased rate of ad- 
vance in consumption was tea. But as regards this 
article a turn for the better must have again com- 
menced, for in the Beport of the British Customs 
for 1886, an increase of duties collected out of 
proportion to the increase in population (the latter 
at the rate of 1,000 per diem) is accounted for 
as entirely due to the increased quantities of tea 
cleared for home consumption. This is an import- 
ant and encouraging fact to put against the pessi- 
mist views we occasionally hear uttered as to the 
early prospect of tea being overdone and becoming 
a drug in the market. There should be no relax- 
ation in the study of due economy in production 
and manufacture, but encouragement is to be de- 
rived from the fact that the use of tea is largely 
increasing and that the process is likely to be 
continued. 
Observations on Coconut Cultivation. — Some 
persons heap rubbish &c. at the foot of trees and 
get good results for a time. By heaping rubbish 
at the foot of a tree, the stem gives off a number 
of adventitious roots, which feed on the loose new 
soil. Then the action of the proper roots gets 
diminished. This process will be all right while the 
heap of soil can be preserved round the stem. 
But it is liable to be washed down by the rain, 
and by that means the delicate adventitious roots 
dry up and become useless. A digging up round 
a tree could be done easily. In digging round a 
tree we must be careful not to cut off roots very 
near the stem, as then their functions will be 
stopped for a long time. I have lately seen a pieoe 
of coconut property where some of the trees looked 
very sickly and the leaves were dropping. On 
inquiring as to the cause I found that the trees 
have been dug round recently and the roots cut 
very near the stem. In digging round trees I 
think about 1J foot from the stem should be left 
without disturbance, and the trench should be dug 
six to eight feet deep and as wide as possible, the 
wider the better. Others might have found by 
practice suitable dimensions for digging round trees ; 
but I can say that this method is very effective. 
After digging round the trees and the soil being 
removed, the length of time the trenches are left 
without covering varies very much among different 
individuals. Some tie cattle or put manure and 
cover the trenches, two or three days after their 
being dug out. But I think if the trenches can 
be left without replacing the soil for a month or 
so, it will be very useful, as by that time at- 
mospheric agencies would have turned a great deal 
of dormant plant-food into an active state. I know 
of some persons who are ignorant of scientific rea- 
sons, dig round their trees and leave them for a 
month or two and replace the soil without adding 
any manure and getting good results.— W. A. D.S. 
