January 2, 1888.3 THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
rnoDucTs : British & foreign consuls, 
REPORTS. 
China. 
Ginger Preserving »i Song Kong. — Though most 
of (he preserved ginger sold a.t Hong Cong is made 
in Canton, a considerable quantity, which is steadily 
increasing, is now prepared in the colony itself. The 
process is simple. Alter first boiling the fresh root 
until it becomes soft, it is punctured all over with 
a fork, and then boiled in syrup until the proper 
consistence is obtained, when it is placed in jars 
for market. Other fruit and vegetables are preserved in 
substantially the same manner, holes being pricked into 
them to allow the syrup in which they are boiled 
to penetrate them in every part. A favourite preserve 
is made of small oranges, called cumquats. The fruit 
is presorvod whole, after being scraped all over to 
frco the essential oil from its containing vesieles. It 
is then punctured and boiled. Young bamboo shoots 
are largely preserved, as are snap-beans, tomatoes, 
and most of the vogetable roots. 
Dotch Colonies. 
Jam Indigo.— The indigo crop of 1886 was satisfactory' 
both as regards quality ami quantity. During the 
year 612,000 kilos, were exported from Batavia, against 
601,000 kilos, in 1885, and an average export of 422,000 
kilo<. froa? 1880 to 1884. The high prices which 
ruled at the commencement of 1880 could not be main- 
tained, and t ho seasou closed at decidedlj lower rates 
than the one preceding. Prices, in fact, were so 
low that the planters would not sell outright, but 
preferred to ship the bulk of the crop to Holland 
for their own account. The finest varieties are be- 
coming more and more scarce. The 1887 crop does 
not look favourable as regards quantity, having suffered 
from excessive rains and insects. 
Spice Exports. — The following figures relate to the 
quantities of the principal descriptions of spices ex- 
ported from Batavia :— 
Average 
1385 188G 
1875-9 1880-4 
Cassia kilos. 30,000 71,000 4,800 10,000 
Cloves , 150,000 45,000 42,000 37,000 
Mace „ 2o:i,00!> 87,000 10,000 3,130 
Nutmegs , 125.010 280,000 100,000 42,000 
The falling-off in the exports of cloves, mnce, and 
nutniogs is not due to the decrease in the production, 
but to direct exports from the producing islands 
(Amboiua for cloves, Banda for mace and nutmegs) 
to Singapore and to Holland direct. Cassia is the 
produco of the islands of Flores and Timor, east 
of Java. 
Lampohg Pepper. — In the Lampong districts of 
Sumatra the expert of pepper in 1880 was almost 
treble that of the preceding year, the figures being : 
1886, 2,487,000 kilos, j 1885, 070,000 kilos.; average 
of 1875 to 1884, 1,370,000 kilos. Of the shipments, 
Holland receives 3d J per cent, Italy 25 per cent, Singa- 
pore 18i per cent, Trieste 14 per cent, and Prance 
12 per cent. White pepper is exported iu very 
small quantities ; in 1880 2,500 kilos., mostly from 
Beucoolen, wore shipped to Singapore. 
Hayti (San Dominoo). 
I.ogwootl — The logwood trade has been much de- 
ptetaod lately, mainly in conscqueuee of excessive 
competition. Then is a very good demand, larger 
in fact than Iho supply, for the better varieties of 
'ojiwood. In GOniequenoe a good deal o( inferior wood 
is brought down from the interior, aud these ship- 
ments give riso to claims On the part of the recoivcrs 
in Borope. Exports from Baytl tell from 298,648,760 
lb. in IS8'j to 273,.".2i'i,277 lb. in HsO. The decrease 
i» rrlncipsdb owing to reckless destruction of the 
wooils and to tin hnsto with which young trees are 
felled before th >y l ave attained maturity, an I by 
th I wretched OOndllion of tho roads in MM islnnd, 
which are never repaired, and have now becomo so 
hail that it is Impossible to bneg d iwn the 
fine trees which are still found plentifully in the 
interior. In thu co.ist districts th'To is uo wool left. 
0c ' <.— Thu o.iltivaiion of the cuco.i plaut i» steadily 
153 
increasing, tho high prices which have lately prevailed 
in Europe having caused many farmers to take up 
this industry. If proper attention were paid to the 
cultivation tho island could produce an excellent 
quality of cocoa, but as it is, the gathering and 
treatment are most carelessly effected, the beans being 
brought to market mixed with earth and imperfectly 
dried. The crop in 1880 was only a medium one 
—3,304,305 lb. were exported against 3,156,957 lb. 
in 1885. On tho local markets the avornge price is 
about 34s. per cjct— Chemist and Druggist, 
ON ALLEGED DEGENERATION OF TEA 
SEED THROUGH CHANGE OF HABITAT 
ONLY. 
Tho question as to whether or no a degeneration 
takes place with indigenous tea feed by a mere 
transfer of site or change in locality, is one that 
interests a great mauy engaged in this industry. It 
is frequently asserted that a change of habitat alone 
seems to produce a marked effect, that the seel of 
an indigenous patch of tea, in hills or plains, when 
transfnred to another district, or habit it, prolucjs a 
plant less vigorous than the paronr. It is presumed 
that, of course, in all cases tho effects of intercross- 
ing with lower varieties as "Hybrid" and '"China,'.' 
is carefully avoided, and that the indigenous flowers 
are in all cases fertilized by their own pollen. The 
difficulty then is to see how such a change for thu 
worse can arise. There is generally supposed to bo 
a cause for everything, aud hence if it is Irt'.c that 
change of site alone causes elistinct degeneration in 
tea seed, that cause with a little cue and investig- 
ation should become apparent. 
_ Iu tho first place, it is very difficult to fiud re- 
liable cases where distinct degeneration has undoubtedly 
taken place. Few patches of really indigenous tea 
havebeeu cropped for leaf, or prune I lik ; t he oil ' iv i- 
ted tea, or statistics kept showing the outturn iu 
lb. per acre and recording the qualities of the manu- 
factured leaf aud liquor. And until we have data to 
go by — not in a few isolated cases, but in a fairly 
large number — can we have reliable means of judging 
this cruestion? Simple assertion that tea degenerates 
by chango of habitat is worse than useless; in 
fact, when looked into is probih'y untrue, for the 
simple reason that transfer to a site, where the no-mal 
conditions of growth are improved, should, aud iudee 1 
would, give au improvement in the growth an 1 vigour 
of the indigenous jdt. 
To those who understand tho doctrine of evolution 
and development, the origin of species by natural 
selection, it will be needless to point out that every 
change in habitat probably produces some effect. If 
the change in the surroundings is slight, the change 
in the animal or plant will he slight also, ami if the 
change is great in the surroundings, the effect pro- 
duced will be great also, and may cause death r von. 
Small annuals of tho temperate zone becine arboreal 
and perennial in the tropic--, and vice versa, A chango 
of habitat with indigenous tea, may, therefore, be ex- 
pected to produco some slight change in the plant, 
though not at all nece.-sarily one for tho wor-e. Ii 
taken from a hill, and planted in the open in I ivi I 
laud, or perhaps laud having a ditferi nt soil or 
drainage, the change may be for the worse. If taken 
from tho plains ami planted in a rich hi t soil, tlu're 
may be a very distinct improvement, as there also 
would he if transferred from an average hill soil 
to a better one in the plains. The conditions nee - •. v 
for growth aro various: good soil alone is not enough. 
We might have magnificent soil in QreOlland, and 
a temperature of only 45?; or a fino soil awl quite 
suitable temperature in the vi.-inity, sav, of Bilunir, 
where the rainfall is often nil for the yrar. \\ r 
tho change of habitat is not great locally, if, is 
wi hiu the >aino province, or district, where rainfall 
an 1 temperature do not vary greatly, the obanpa 
wo ild mainly bo one of soil and drainage. If ll es.. 
I t er w. re g >od, therefore, wo might s il.lv s»y III,, 
chiuces of dogeneratio i were reduced to a n ioimum . 
sn I where soil was better, there would probably bo «,J 
— actual improvement. 
