614 THE TROPICAL 
of the berries is manifest. Planters speak of 
the berries as Cherries, with which they have little in 
common save the colour. The portion utilised is the 
seed. With the living plants in tbe houses, the mus- 
eums iu which the. products and processes of manu- 
facture are exhibited, the herbarium in which dried 
sp ciniens of the various species and their allies are 
contained, the picture gallery m which are displayed 
Miss North's beautiful drawings, the laboratory iD 
which the minute anatomy and chemical constitution 
of the plants may be investigated, and the library 
wherein the student may study the literature of the 
subject. Kew may well be proud of the completeness 
of the materials and opportunities she offers to the 
student. Those who are not interested in research 
will nevertheless find that the Coffee shrub, 
apart from its interest, is a beautiful shub for the 
warm greenhouse or stove, as it is beautiful alike in 
leaf, in its white Jasmine-like flowers, and in its fruit. 
The cultural conditions are thus summed up in Nichol- 
son's Dictionary of Gardening; — A turfy loam and sand, 
abundance of water, and ample pot room. The plant 
is readily propagated from cuttings. The following 
note relating to the fertilisation of the flowers in India 
is so interesting tbat we venture to reproduce it from 
the columns of Mature: — 
" The Jasmine-like flowers of the Coffee are borne in 
clusters in the axils of the leaves, and appear simultan- 
eously all over the estates. After a prolonged drought 
of one or two months, or even more, at the beginning 
of the year, there is generally a heavy fall of rain, 
sometimes lasting only an hour or two, sometimes con- 
tinuing for two or three days; the amount that falls 
must be enough to saturate the ground, and should 
not be less than 1 inch. 
" In from six to eight days from the time of the 
first shower, the flowers burst into full blossom, last 
for a day, and then drop off. On the evening before 
the blossom is fully out, if the flowers are examined, 
it will be found that they are partially open, the stigma 
being protruded and receptive. During the night the 
hum of insects can be distinctly heard, and I am of 
opinion that the flowers are largely fertilised by night- 
flying insects which carry pollen from those flowers 
which happen to be open rather before the others, 
as some are delayed. On the following morning all the 
flowers will be found open, aud the field of Coffee 
presents a sheet of white. These flowers are frequent- 
ed by immense numbers of bees, of two kinds, one 
about three-quarters of an inch long, and black, the 
other smaller, and with white bands round its abdomen. 
The stigmas now are covered with pollen, and the 
anthers bursting, and the larger of these bees may be 
seen buzzing from flower to flower sweeping up the 
grains of pollen between its front legs, and rolling 
them into balls. Long before evening all the anthers 
are exhausted of pollen, and the insects have departed. 
Besides bees, some butterflies visit Coffee. 
" The Coffee plant, by being proterogynous, is in- 
tended by Nature to be cross-f ertilisd, but owing to all 
the plants in one clearing being usually grown from 
seed of a single estate, there must be a great deal of 
interbreeding, more especially as all the Coffee of 
Ceylon and most of South India is supposed to be des- 
cended from a single plant introduced into Batavia 
about two centuries ago; This may have something to 
do with tbe manifest deterioration in stamina of the 
younger Coffee." — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
♦ 
FLAX EXPEKIMENTS IN ABERDEENSHIBE. 
The experiments in flax-growing conducted under 
the auspices of the Royal Northern Agricultural Society 
in three different districts of Aberdeenshire, have, so 
far as the results are known, not been (says the Free, 
Press) quite as successful as some anticipated they 
would be. TOxperiments were conducted on the farms of 
CraibRtone, Tillygreig, and Auchnagathle ; the quantity 
sown in each ca^e, if we mistake not, being three acres. 
Neither in the case of Craibstonc nor Auchnagathle has 
a final report been received, but Mr. George Walker, 
Tillygreig— whose flax crop was pronounced by com- 
petent critics to have been exceptionally good— writes 
AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1888. 
to the society to say, that, all things considered, the 
prospect of flax helpi ig the farmers in th^se parts is 
not very certain. The committee appointed by tbe 
Boyal Northern Agricultural Society desire that the 
cultivation of flax should be more fully tested before 
throwing it overboard as unprofitable, especially with 
the view of trying if the cost of cultivation could be 
further lessened aud the value of the crop increased. 
They submit that it has been already proved, that 
flax of a superior quality can be growu in Aberdeen- 
shire, and desiderate further experiments before giving 
any definite statemeut as to whether tbe crop can be 
made a remunerative one or not. Mr. Walker, Tilly- 
greig, has gone very carefully into the details of these 
experiments, and the facts which he has elicited will 
have a value for others contemplating a trial of flax. 
He puts the statement of his expenditure thus : — 
Reut of three acres, at 13* £1 19 0 
Ploughing, grubbing, sowing, &c, at 1?. 3 0 0 
' Manure 2 0 0 
Carting and threshing bolls 0 10 0 
Driving flax by traction engine to Aberdeen 2 18 6 
Weeding and pulling 3 3 0 
Drying bolls at meal mill 0 12 0 
£14 2 6 
The returns are estimated as follows : — 
Flax straw £6 0 6 
16 cwt. linseed, at 10l. a ton 8 0 0 
40 bags bolls, at Is. per bag 2 0 0 
i acre straw not realised 1 4 1 
Linseed of ditto 117 2 
Bolls of ditto 0 8 0 
£19 9 9 
The balance of 51. Is. 3d. of income over expenditure 
which remains in Mr. Walker's hands, is not very much 
to speak of on three acres, and he remarks that, al- 
though his crop was admitted by everyone to be very 
good, the growing of flax does not appear to be very 
profitable. He kept the expenses attending the pre- 
paring of the land for sowing, and in regard to weed- 
ing, pulling, and carting, as low as he could, according 
to the rate of wages, but some additional expense was 
incurred owing to the distance which the crop had to 
be carried to the flax mills. The quantity of green 
straw which he dispbosed of to Messrs. Richards & Co. , 
Aberdeen, was 7 tons 0 cwt. 2 qrs., from which they 
produced and returned to Mr. Walker 1 ton 19 cwts. 
2 qrs. of seed bolls, leaving 5 tons 1 qr. of flax. This 
quantity, after being steeped and dried, was reduced 
to 3 tons 3 cwts. 1 qr. It was then scutched, and 
yielded 5 cwts. 2 qrs. of fibre and 1 ton of scutchings. 
The value of the scutchings has not yet been ascertain- 
ed. The sum allowed for the 40 stones 2 lbs. of fibre 
was 131. 3s. 5d., being at the rate of 521. 10*. per ton. 
From this there had to be deducted 11. 19*. 6d. for 
rippling seed bolls 39§ cwts.; 31. 3s. 3d. for steeping 
and drying 63i cwts. "of straw, and 21. 0s. 2d., for 
scutching 40 stones, 2 lbs. of fibre being in all 11 2s. lid, 
leaving a balance to Mr. Walker of 61. 0s. 6d. The yield 
of fibre, the Messrs. Bichards admit, was rather dis- 
appointed, but, although this experiment has not 
given so gratifying results as were looked for, it would 
almost be a pity if the cultivation of flax, now that 
it has been taken up with some earnestness, should be 
dropped until further experience has been gained, 
which may lead to a saving in the cost of production, 
and a better knowledge of the kind of crop to give the 
best and largest amount of fibre. — European Mail. 
«t> 
Ceylon Tea. Plantations Company, Ld. — In 
our London correspondent's letter we note he ha3 
fallen into an error, and made a statement which 
may be misleading. He gives the dividend of 10 
per cent already declared as the total for the past 
year. This we are assured is not correot, as the 
('. per cent and 4 per cent are both interim divi- 
dends. The final dividend may make the total 
declared anything oyer 15 per cent.— Well done! 
