Februar? t, 1888.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
SILK CULTURE. 
/'tu and Pencil in Minor; or, Xotus front the. 
Levant. By William Cochran. Illustrated with eighty- 
uiuc engravings, made dii. My Iron) water colour 
sketches by the Author. (London 1 Sampson Low 
aud (Jo., 1887.) . . J 
This well-printed volume of over 450 pages is one or 
a class that we had thought had become extinct. 
The notes begin with the arrival of tho author at 
the Alexandra Docks in Liverpool, and are continued 
almost daily, in some instances hourly, until the close 
11I a Ihi-inonths' tour through tho Mediterranean to 
Smyrna, Constantinople, and then, with some slight 
journeys inland, hack again by the same route toLiverpool. 
No doubt H>e journey was pleasant, and we feel 
sure thai the DOte-taking and the water-colour sketch-] 
. n: vary agreeable occupations for the tourist ; 
but probably even the authors friends would admit 
tb.ii as now laid before the world the text _ contains 
nothing either very novel or attractive, while of the 
many Scenes Bkotched, omitting the sketches from 
photographs, we may say that it would be hardly fair 
to criticize them from an art poiut of view. The 
volume is not, however, without its merits. The 
author deserves credit for the earnest way in which 
called attention to the importance of encour- 
aging tho tea and silk industries, aud we sincerely 
hope for the good of our colonies that his efforts in 
tho direction of silk culture iu Australia and New 
Zealand may eventually be as successful as tea-farming 
has been iu Ceylon. 
One chief object of the voynge to Smyrna was to 
see the result of Mr. John Oriflitt's silk-farming iu 
Am 1 Minor. At one time the silk industry was one 
of great importance in and about Smyrna, but owing 
to the silk-worm disease it became almost extinct, so 
that even the very mulberry-trees were used for fire- 
wood. Now, through the philanthropic zeal of Mr. 
Oriflitt's in supplying silkworm eggs not only free 
from disease but raised from carefully-selected varie- 
ties, the industry is being restored, and largo num- 
bers Of niulbern -trees are being planted. 
Several chapters in this volume aro devoted to the 
subjects of tho renring of silkworms, aud of the treat- 
lm ,nt id the mulherry-l rec. from tin' hatching out 
of the larval forms to the reeling off of the silk, 
only some forty to forty-five days elapse, but though 
the labour be short, the care and attention required 
are very great, and the successful silk rearer learns 
various lupous of method and cleanliness which are 
of permanent value. 
Iu chapter ix. we have a summary of Mr. Oriflitt's 
valuable report on the silk trade, furnished to tho 
Department of State, W ashington. 1'rom it we learn 
that at one time in Smyrna there were three large 
silk-reeling factories, driven by steam, where hundreds 
of female hands were employed. When, on the fail- 
ure of the indigenous worm--, Japanese worms were 
introduced, it was found that it required double the 
number of cocoons to yield the same weight of silk. 
Willi Mr. Grilbtt's improved native race of silkworms, 
the qualify of th' silk is latter, and the produce 
much heavier than before. To those interested in 
nilk culturi we can recommend the perusal of this 
volume, which, indeed, would be better described as 
"Notes on Silk Culture in Smyrna." — Nttlura. 
A NEW II A HI) Y I'.U'AW. 
Thanks to tho courtesy of M. V»h Volxein, of 
Brussels, we bavo been enabled t" see some fruits of 
a hybrid Carica rained by him. Tho parentage is 
comph\ l ust Onrica porphym- 11 pa was pollinated 
by c. candamarconsis, Tho ttowers of tho hybrid 
offspring were again pollinate. I by <'■ oandtmarcen- 
ris. O. oiMidamarcoiiHis wrh first made known (but 
not iiannd) by Mr. SprUOC ftOd M. de Melb< ill a 
uupcr in tbo Jourmd vj il>» Uvnuan Gociitjf, vol. x., 
[Bfn and wheroin it i« nicutiouoil as the common 
Oarioa <>f the Ecuadorian Andes, where il is culti- 
vated up to nu elevation of 9U0)) foot for tho sake of 
its edible fruit. Mr. Spruce adds, that in February 
he found the ground strewn with the ripe and rotting 
fruits of this species which were. 8 — 9 inches long, 
smaller aud sweeter than those of the common p aw, 
and which were the favourite food of the bears whhc 
infest the forests of the mouutain of Tuuguragua. 
Growing at such a height the tree in question is 
comparatively hardy, aud it has, indeed, flowered iu 
tho opeu air, but it requires at least greenhouse tem- 
perature to ripen its fruit. 
Sir Joseph Hooker, who gave a coloured figure 
and full description of the plant in the Bot. Mar/., 
1875, t. 0198, vouches for the delicious scent and 
grateful taste of the fruit, in both of which qualities 
it differs from the common Papaw. O. caudamarceu 
sis is a "graceful little tree," almost hardy, with ob- 
long obovoid, ribbed, yellow, fragrant fruit, the size 
of a large egg, or larger in its native country. 
C, porpKyfoh'dvpq is a tender stove tree, which dies 
off after flowering, and produces scentless red ovoid 
fruit. The hybrid between the two species named, 
raised by M. Van Volxem, is as hardy as C. cauda- 
marcensis, and produced a dark red scentless fruit 
larger thau that of either parent. The flowers of this 
last-named hybrid, pollinated by C. caudamaicensis, 
yielded a metis, the fruits of which are uow before us. 
They are about 4 inches long by 2 [ at tho groatest 
diameter, oblong obovate, slightly ribbed, 5-sided, of 
a rich red colour, and fragrant. As for the flavour of 
the fruits we cannot speak favourably, as, before we 
tasted them, owing to their ornamental qualities they 
had been allowed to remain on the plant for a twelve- 
month, and even then they had to be cut off. 
Here, then, we have an ornamental greenhouse 
plant of the first rank, and one which moreover, pro- 
duces ediblo fruit. 
As happens occasionally in other fleshy fruits, the 
seeds sometimes begin to germinate while still within 
the fruit, so that on cutting open the fruit it may 
be found filled with young seeding plants. In the 
natural state tho seed is filled with white perisperm 
or albumen, which surrounds the embryo and provides 
a store of food for it. This is well illustrated iu 
some of the sprouting seedlings in the fruit before 
us, which have used up the albumen of tho seed, and 
left tho empty husks. In some cases the young rootlets 
may be seen attacking the albumen, and when that 
is used up they avail themselves of the pulp in the 
fruit. A similar occurrence happens in Pernettya 
mucronata very frequently, and we have seen a similar 
occurrence in Tomatoes, Melons, and other pulpy fruits. 
The Pspaws (Uarica) are interesting for uuolher 
reason. It was long ago alleged that tough meat 
could be rendered tender by enveloping it iu leaves 
of the Papaw, or by hanging it amid the branches of 
the tree. We fear these statements were either looked 
on as travellers' tale-, or an explanation was provided 
by the heat of tho climate, Nevertheless, modem 
chemistry has proved the accuracy of tho statement 
by demonstrating the preaeuco iu the milky juice of 
the plant of a substance called papain, which, like 
pepsin, really has the property of softening and 
ultimately dissolving albuminous substances, on which 
account it has been introduced iuto medicine as an 
aid to digestion, and as an application for the purpose 
of dissolving the skin like membrane which forms iu 
the throat in cases of diphthciia. II is as well to 
1111 ntion that the leaves and unripe fruit are filled 
with a milky juice, which has acrid properties, which 
disappear as the fruit ripens. 
As to the pane oandamaroensis, that, it appears, 
was lirut given in Belgian gardens, and adopted by 
Sir .1. I). Hooker in the UofaiUcill Mag<uini before 
eited, but tho name is sometimes written rundinn- 
nmreensis, from thu name of Ihe province iu which 
it grows— OundiNAmahca. — Dtusliiutrs pkroHiae, 
YOU InsF.i i.s P»in:s — Three puts (1 f oh\c oil two 
parts of peony-royal, one part ammonia aud one ol 
glycerine. To be well shukeii before upp!yng to 
tin Imnds or face. Avoid getting the mixture 
into the BJM. — flofid* DUpaiclu 
