March t, 1888.J THE TROPICAL 
inundated by nuts. Fortunately they will keep well if 
necessary until next season. Hazel nuts come from 
Spain ; chestnuts from the north of France. All the 
chestnuts which you sec in the streets come from North- 
ern France. As many as 150 to 200 tons of chestnuts 
will bo delivered iu a morning by rail. The Kentish 
filbert is almost the only nut with which England supplies 
her own people The Brazil nut comes from the Ama- 
zon. Last year wo had a cargo which w is collected by 
a small steamer two thousand miles from the mouth of 
that great river. The coconut, of which thrro were 
about, twelve millions last year, comes eliiclly from 
Trinidad and Ceylon. Trinidad held possession of tho 
field for some time, but Ceylon is pressing on hard, 
and driving down the price to a figure which renders 
tho produotion of coconuts profitable. There is a ship 
in just now from Trinidad containing 320,000 nuts, 
half of which are in their husks ar.d half peeled. 
The latter are stowed in the bottom of the hold to 
steady the ship, and tlio husk nuts piled on the top. 
The husks are sold at prices varying from 7s. to 15s. 
per thousand, nnd they usually command a sale for a 
groat variety of purposes. The shell of the nut is 
worthless. The price of coconuts runs at about fls. 
to 10s. a hundred, and they are mostly sold to be 
eaten. There is, however, one manufacturer in Rod 
Lion-square who for the last three years has had an 
American patent for what is called desiccating the 
coconut. He buys the nuts, removes the brown skin, 
grinds tho white kernel, and then desiccates and 
sends it into the market for use iu cooking and for 
other purposes." 
'•Do you import tropical fruit 'i" 
"No, for two reasons: (1) tropical fruit does not 
keep, and (2) it is not popular except among those who 
have lived in the tropics. The flavour of mangoes 
and such like fruit, is not generally appreciated. 
Apples come from Canada, Tasmania, and from the 
Cuilcd States. The apple crop was very short in tho 
States, and they have uot had much to spare there. 
Wo liavo not received many oranges from Florida, 
although the supply is likely to increase. Those that 
havo come hitherto have been sent over when the 
market in New York was glutted." 
" May I say,'' said Mr. , in conclusion, "that 
it is a very wonderful thing to us that, with all the 
outory on the part of tho unemployed, we could uot 
for some woeks obtain labour for unshipping the fruit? 
No doubt it is hard work ; but an able-bodied man 
who was willing to carry could easily make O.v. a day. 
Wo have been at our wits' end again and again to 
obtain men to do work, and instead of unloading by 
hand we have been compellod t > employ stoani. 
It is this fact which makes me rather sceptical as 
to tho roality of the distress among the unemployed. 
If they wire .suffering so much, and (hero were so 
many of them, we surely should not have to g* 
a-bogging for hands to discharge our cargoes. This 
often occurs at the wharf when the pressure takes 
place iu November and December, when thero are 
sometimes as many as five or six steamers, fruit 
ladon, lying alongside Fresh and Nicholson's wharves." 
— Pall Mall Budget. 
(From OassM'i Family Magazine, Nov. 1887 J 
Japan Clovkr. — A clover of Japan, tho Betptityq 
Striata, is coming into use in tho Southern States 
of America. It is said to bo relished by nil kiuds of 
stock, and is grown largely iu orchards, where it 
displaces weeds and some wild grasses. It also grows 
on waste lands where other forage plants would 
thrive but poorly. 
Paper i-rom Toiiacco Wash;.— The waito cuttings 
and stems of tobacco are now u led in manufacturing 
paper pulp. They are much cheaper than waste linen 
rags ; uud the paper made from thorn is said to be 
as good as that from the rags. 
NiriiAK-MAKtNi; nr DilTUSlON.— In America, a system 
of attracting sugar from cauo by diffusion, hns beon 
worked out. Instead of crushing the sugi\r-raiio bot- 
wecu rollers in the ordinary way, tho cauo is cut up 
and water is forced through tho chips iu couGuuU 
AGRICULTURIST. 647 
cells, thua extracting tho sweet juices, which aro 
afterwards evaporated. The system is to be prac- 
tically tried on the plantation of Governor Warmouth 
in Louisiana. It is expected to allow of tho maximum 
quantity of sugar being extracted from tho cane. 
S\ff:guard Against Insects. — It is stated by the 
Lancet that weak carbolic ;>cid sponged on the 
skin and hair, or on the clothing, is a protection 
against the bites of gnats and other insects. The 
safest place, according to the writer in question, is 
46 keep a saturated solution of tho acid. The solution 
cannot contain more than six or seven per cent ; 
and it may bo added to water until the latter smells 
strongly. This may be readily and safely applied with 
a sponge. Horses and cattle could, perhaps, bo pro- 
tected in the same way. 
Vegetable Leather. — A process for making a sub- 
stitute for leather from gutta-percha and sulphur, 
has been brought out in France. Raw cotton and 
oxide of antimony are well mixed with these ingre- 
dients, and the whole vulcanised by bteam. The 
artificial leather is said to be useful for making 
the soles and heels of shoes. 
•* 
Coal. — The Civil and Military Gazette states that it is 
quite truo that anthracite coal of most excellent quality 
has been discovered in the hills along tho Peshin 
Valley route from Sibi to Quetta. There is one seam, 
about half a mile in length, appearing liko a black 
line on tho side of tho hill close to the station of 
Nasik. — Italian Agriculturist. 
Useful Gum from India.— In a communication on 
Indian dyes and methods of dyeing followed in India, 
read recently before tho Liverpool Section of tho 
Society of Chemical Industry {.Town., S. C. I., Dec. 
31, p. 79), Mr. Elworthy calls attention to the gum 
known in India as "dhaura," derived from Anogeissus 
latifolia, which ho thinks would be found a useful 
gum in English dye works, as yielding a thick viscid 
liquid much superior to dextrin or " British gum " and 
at tho same time cheaper than gum arabic. When 
mixed with a small proportion of hydrochloric acid, 
Mr. Elworthy says, the liquid gum keeps good for 
several mouths, and although its adhesive qualities 
are lessonod by this addition it still answers very 
well for labels. This gum, it may be mentioned, is 
referred to with approbation by Dr. Watt, in his 
'Economic 1'roducts of India.' Professor Dymock 
also speaks of it (Mat. Med. W. Ind,, p. 324) as a 
valuable gum, occurring in vermicular pieces, very 
slightly coloured, translucent, tasting like gum arnbic 
and readily soluble in cold water, with which it forms 
a strong, almost colourless, mucilage, having a faint 
peculiar odour. The tree is common in the Concan 
and Khandeish and tho gum is collected by the 
Bheels. — Pharmaceutical Journal. 
DISTRIBUTION OF CEYLON EXTORTS. 
( From 1st Oct. 
iVSY 
to 1st 
Mar. 
1888.) 
Countries. 
Coffee 
C'chona 
Branch 
0s Trunk 
Tea. 
O'coa 
Carda- 
moms. 
cwt. 
lb. 
lb. 
owt. 
lb. 
To United Kingdom ... 
aiosa 
3638727 
0087101 
52-11 
76791 
,, Marseilles ... 
358 
3Jil 
383 
ii Qcnou ... 
20 
600 
ii Venieo ... 
917 
05113 
„ Trieste 
:i3-Jii 
"' 40 
M Hamburg 
1 16 
34138 
"37 
H Antwerp 
a 
"';oo 
20 
,, liremeii 
8 
1091 
il Havre 
woo 
"8174 
,, Kotteriliiui 
■j 
,. Africa 
"aooo 
,, Mauritius 
""so 
... 
OtMO 
„ India * Eastward ... 
6001 
C..-S1 
"476 
83000 
Auntmliu 
5450 
171**1 
187 
,, America ... 
4MM 
13485 
"«;7 
Total Bnorta from Oct.l. 
1887 to Mar. 1, 1854 
:>-.'-■; 
378SKS 
6331110 
6706 
1 0001s 
Do 1S80 do 1887 
70080 
053407a 
3J3«tl.»l U»>.'< 
Do 1885 do 1*88 
u; ji i 
8019NS 
IS-'xiKl 
br,j 
Do 1st I do LttOMUMl 
1833 
0;; 'J 
