664 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 2, 1888. 
investigation are entitled to much weight. Farm- 
yard manure was burnt and applied to a field of wheat 
which yielded no better results than a totally unman- 
ured field, and in succeding years " the ash constituents 
were found to be but very slowly available as plant- 
food." Besides, nitrogen is an essential in plant growth ; 
and to drive it out of any substance before using it as 
manure, is not wise. It is accepted as a general rule 
in agriculture, not to burn anything that will rot in 
the soil. In a sandy and hungry soil what better 
substance can be found than fibre dust, which is so 
finely divided, to be ploughed into it both to give 
body to the soil and to increase its retentiveness ? 
Sand is distinguished for its extreme porosity, while 
the fibre dust is so retentive of moisture as to render 
it a matter of extreme difficulty to dry it. Its decay 
can be accelerated by lime. Humus is of great value 
agriculturally. The carbonic acid gas set free in the 
process of decomposition acts as a solvent and renders 
available the insoluble plant-food present in a soil as 
also the temporarily insoluble constituents of artificial 
manures. ." Plant-food in most animal and vegeta- 
ble residues used as manure costs less than in com- 
mercial fertilizers." I think I have written suffici- 
ently before and now on this subject, to convince 
all but those who refuse to be convinced, that the 
wisest and most economical course would be for the 
Directors of the Horrekelly Company to'see that the 
vast stores of plant-food that are lying idle on their 
property be ploughed into the soil with the commer- 
cial fertilizers already in use : at least they can experi- 
ment with it, on say 10 acres, and carefully note results. 
Natives in the cinnamon gardens of Colombo 
have given up to a great extent the pernicious 
habit of heaping fibre dust round the stems of 
coconut trees, to cover the adventitious roots 
that spring from the stem, owing, I believe, to water 
lying so near the surface of the ground, and now bury 
the dust either in shallow tienches all over the ground 
or spread it out on the surface and dig it in. The dust 
can be had at the mills for the mere carting. If the 
mill owners can devise some means to compress it so 
as to render transport easy, I believe it will be largely 
used on coconut estates either to be turned into the 
soil or for bedding for cattle, either in sheds or in shal- 
low trenches round trees. I believe it will also do very 
well for a compost with bones, poonac and potash in 
the form of spent soap-lay ; but the hulkiness of the 
manure must be overcome by compression. 
Wattle Cultivation in South Austealia. — A 
Mr. Clifford, formerly of the Indian Forest Depart- 
ment, is projecting extensive cultivation of wattles 
in South Australia. In connection with his soheme, 
interesting details of a previous experiment are 
given as follows : — Mr. Clifford hails from Mel- 
bourne, and met Mr. Brown at Border Town on 
Wednesday. Today they proceeded to the Mount 
Muirhead Wattle Plantation, where 40 acres were 
planted about six years ago. The success of the 
experiment may be gauged by the results. The 
wattles at the Mount Muirhead Plantation have 
been thinned out for the first time, the yield being 
1£ tons to the acre. The bark is worth £10 a ton, 
so that the return per acre from this source is 
£15. The cost of putting in these wattles was 3s 
per acre. Next year the return per acre will be a 
great deal more. 
Niteic Acid Test fob Gold. — It would appear that 
this pretty generally used test for gold is likely to 
be no longer reliable. It is stated that an analysis 
of " mystery gold " found in a chain, disclosed an 
alloy of copper, silver, gold, aluminium, and iron, 
the latter being present probably as an impurity. 
The aluminium resists the nitric acid test, and even 
where present in only small proportions renders that 
acid no longer a trustworthy test. — Burgoyne, Burlridges, 
$ Co.'s Price Current'. 
The Blistebino Powees op the Aloe have been 
again attracting attention. According to M. Decroix, 
a veterinary surgeon at Algiers, the pulp of the Agave 
Americana, especially that from the young leaves or 
from the foliaceous envelopes of the bulb, possesses 
blistering properties similar to those of mustard flour. 
M. Liquistin has also used the aloe pulp for the sam6 
purpose in Mexico. It is unknown to what principle 
the juice of the aloe owes this property, but the effects 
of the pulp do not appear so reliable as those of 
mustard. — Ibid. 
Extensive Cultivation of the Eucalyptus. — Along 
the embankments and cuttings of the Tunis-Algiers 
Railway, nearly two hundred thousand young red gum 
trees ( Eucalyptus) have already been planted, and the 
number will ere long be probably increased to fully 
a quarter of a million. About half as many plants 
of a tree yielding a fine tanning bark {Acacia cyano- 
phylla) are also in the ground, and appear to be doing 
well. If the Railway Company's experiments in forestry 
succeed in the long run, their vegetable property 
will be worth something in the early part ot the 
20th century. There ought to be some shade along 
that line, too, by-the-bye. — Ibid. 
Pasture Land.— Mr. Martin J. Sutton has recently 
published a detailed account of the experiments made 
by him in co-operation with Dr. Augustus Voelcker on 
the effect of various manures on temporary and per- 
manent pastures. The pamphlet is published at a low 
cost by Messrs. Hamilton, Adams & Co., and is worth 
the serious attention of all concerned in the manage- 
ment of pasture-land. The experiments are conducted 
on a similar plan to those at Rothamsted ; but whereas 
the experiments made under the auspices of Sir John 
Lawes for the last twenty-five years or so have been 
made with a view of determining certain abstract 
questions in chemistry and physiology, they have often 
been made under conditions which would not arise 
in ordinary agricultural practice. Mr. Sutton's ex- 
periments apply especially to the effect of artificial 
manures in such quantities and under such conditions 
as might resonably command themselves to the grass- 
land farmer. The plots do not all form part of one 
field as at Rothamsted, where the conditions of soil, 
exposure, and natural vegetation are Jfairly uniform 
throughout, but occupy six different positions in which 
the conditions are also different, one being old pas- 
ture, another has been laid down for five years, two 
others have been sown since 1884 — the one with, the 
other without perennial Rj e-grass ; while the two 
remaining experiments have been made upon plots 
representing a three years' ley, with, and without Rye- 
grass. The manures employed consist of nitrogenous 
manures, such as ammonia sulphate, or soda-nitrate, 
superphosphate, farmyard manure, cotton cake, guano, 
coprolites, bone-meal, &c, each substance being used 
either alone or in various combinations. It is too 
early to arrive at definite conclusions from experiments 
where so much depends upon the varying amounts of 
light, heat, and rainfall in various seasons, but it is 
interesting to note that the Rothamsted experiments 
are confirmed in many respects, as in the effect of 
nitrogenous manures, in benefiting grasses and discour- 
aging the Clovers, while potash manures do the reverse. 
We do not find any notes concerning the degree and 
date of ripeness of the crop under varying conditions 
of manuring, but doubtless these will follow in due 
time. Decorticated cotton-cake is proved to be valu- 
able manure, and the value of Rye grass is insisted 
on. An incidental point of great practical value comes 
out in the circumstance that sheep do serious injury 
to young pastures by destroying the Clover. It is 
possible that the trampliog of the sheep does as much 
injury as the destruction of the foliage. The cost of 
the manures per acre varied from 14s. to £1 Is. 3d., 
with a nett gain on hay per acre of from lis. 9d. in the 
case of plot 3 (nitrate of soda) to £1 8s. 3d. in plot 4 
(superphosphate and kaiuit). We cite these figures 
merely by way of illustration , and to call the atten- 
tion of our reader to a series of experiments of great 
interest to those concerned in the management ofgrass- 
land. The addition of tables show ng the cost per acre, 
the increase or decrease in value of th° bay per acre, 
and the nett gain or loss on the hay per acre wdl render 
these tables specially useful to the farmer. There is, 
however, so for as we can s?^, no indication of the cose 
of the labour employed. — Gardeners' Chronicle 
