July 2, 1888.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
61 
The Utilisation of Moors. — la some of tho pro- 
vinces iu Holland ex' st large tracts of heath awl moor- 
land which at presont are of little value, although once 
covered with denso forosts. An effort is now being 
made to form a company, whose object it will be lo 
attempt a gradual utilisation of the soil by replan iug 
trees. How much good may result from such an enter- 
prise under careful manegement is shown by a similar 
undertaking iu Denmark, which has started some 100 
plantations in different parts of that country. — Gardm 
eners' Chronicle. 
Dksikoyini; Wkeds on "Walks. — In response to 
" .1. S." (p. 5bf>), 1 beg to inform him I have used sulp- 
huric acid very extensively on our walks and carriage 
drives, of which last-named there are about two miles. 
The i|iiautity used was about one pint to a gallon of 
water, which was distributed with a watering-pot 
having a line rose. The mixture is very effectual ; so 
much so, that after a few seasons' use very few weeds 
grow where it has been applied. Great care is needed 
in its application, as it is very damaging to clothing 
and boots [and water-pots. — Ed.] — J. M. Johnston, 
Hints Hall, Tamworth. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Slavery and Free Labouii in Brazil. — While 
the telegraph announces the important and grati- 
fying news of the total and immediate abolition 
of slavery in Brazil, the Rio Neivs to 24th April 
reaches us with notices of a very mixed state of 
feeling amongst the Brazil planters on the subject: — 
The Diurio Popular of Sao Paulo, of the 18th, states 
that according to trustworthy information from the 
visinity of Jahu the traffic in Indiau slaves is being 
carried on actively. The Indians are captured and sold 
in S. Manoel and other places for prices even as high 
as 200$;. The pretext fur this infamous traffic is " agri- 
cultural education." The attention of the government 
is invited to this report. 
The Gazeta, of Mogy-mirim, Sao Paulo, says that a 
planter in the municipality of Penha his compelled 
his ireednieu to sign a contract, officially attested, in 
which he agrees to pay each one a salary of 100$. 
at the end of the ytar, and every freedman who fails 
to remain in his service to the end of his contract mu^t 
pai/ a fine of 200S. This is called free labor. 
A statistical table just prepared shows that the liber- 
ations registered iu the province of Sao Paulo between 
March 30th, 1887, and March 20th, 1888, (why could 
not the next 10 days have been included to make an 
oven year ?) was .11,774, the number of slaves becom- 
ing free on account of age 55'J, by operation of the 
emancipation fund 1 16, and by death 8S3. lieturns are 
lacking from 13 municipalities. 
On the 1 1th inst. a meeting of planters was held 
at Surraria, Minus Ceraes, to take into consideration 
the questions of emancipation aud immigration. The 
resolutions adopted were : (1) to maintain slavery as 
far as possible without promise of liberty; (2) to pre- 
pare houses for oolonists and to promoto their estab- 
lishment at once ; (3) not to abandon the freedmen 
but to advance them in the regimen of useful labor; (1) 
to protest for tho rights of property. It would ap- 
pear that the Southern Minas planters are a pretty 
hard-headed lot, and the immigrant will do well to 
avoid thorn. They don't waut emancipation anil are not 
ashamed to say it. They want unpaid, whip-compidlrd 
labor, and when the slaves are gone thoy will not hesi- 
tate to take it out of colouists. Ou the following day 
the minister of agriculture helped to found a colony 
of immigrants at Barbacena, to be called "Oolouia 
RodrigO Silvu," which will probably flourish apace in 
the neighbourhood of such planters as those who met 
at Ser > rri >. 
\ 'vmi.i.a UULTOTIE IN MEXICO. — Our contemporary, 
the < 'hi mi.-t an./ />iiw.//.,i, quoting from a St. LaniS 
paper, given soon- details on the cultivation of Vanilla 
in Mexico, from which it seems thai the plant llour- 
IsbjM iii two places, namely, l'ap.intea, in the state 
oi \ i in ( in , and Misanliu; tho first place, however, 
I-. tin- most imp r tun t. It is u town of nbmr 10,0Q0 
inhabitants, ami is iu the laud of tho Tocunaco Indians: 
an extremely indolent and improvident rare. The 
Ynmiu pUntitfoand wild in tub forest*, The fruits 
ripen in November or December, when they are 
gathered and put into sacks and brought into Papantea 
to market. The buyers are Spaniards or Americans 
and the competition is described as similar to what 
'•is to be seen in a street where second-hand Stores 
prevail. The old women are generally in the lead, 
half naked, and with haggard faces begrimed with 
dirt. Then come the children, equally pitiable in 
appearance; and finally the old men bring up the 
rear, with long stiff hair, matted and dirty, sometimes 
standing out 12 inches, while their beards, filthy and 
long, lend a finish to a picture that is most revolting." 
The Vanilla pods are purchased by middlemen at the 
rate of 42.v. to itOs- per 1000, taken as thoy are put up 
by the natives. The average weight of 1000 good 
sized green Vanilla pods is about CO lb., which, when 
dried do not exceed 10 lb. The first fine morning after 
the pods are gathered they are arranged on plank-, 
covered with quilts and exposed partially to the air, 
this being repeated seveu times before the water has 
all evaporated, and they have become sufficiently dry. 
This is known as the sweating process, after which 
the pods are slightly heated aud placed on shelves to 
dry, when they are assorted into lots, each containing 
fifty beans, aud graded according to length. Iu fine 
weather the curing process takes three weeks, but 
such weather rarely prevails, and the curing sometimes 
takes from four to five months. Last year the beans 
sold for 58*. per 100, which was about a pound ; but 
owing to a heavy crop this year, and the growing com- 
petition in the business, the best beans only bring 50? 
a pound or 100, and the inferior from 30i. to 42.,'. 
The principal markets for Vanilla beans are New 
York, St. Louis, aud Chicago. They are bought chiefly 
by wholesale druggists and fine confectioners, and are 
becoming an important article of Mexican commerce. 
Last year, from the vicinity of Papantea alone, 
00,000,000 beans were exported. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Emancipation in Cuba. — Mr. A. de C. Crowe 
Consul-General at Havana, reports that negro 
emancipation has not been followed in Cuba by 
the same results as have occurred in other West 
Indian islands. Two crops of sugar have already 
been grown and worked by freemen, with results 
equal to those in the best years of slave labour. 
Wages have, generally speaking, been moderate. 
Thus neither emancipation without compensation, 
excessive taxation, foreign competition, nor the 
other causes in operation have reduced the sugar 
product. Mr. Crowe adds that the experience of 
the last two years has conclusively shown that in 
Cuba white labour can successfully compete with 
black ; that Spaniards, especially, can easily become 
acclimatised and lit for labour ; and that if more 
expensive, they are worth two slaves or free blacks 
in any capacity in which they may be engaged. 
There is still (the report proceeds) an immense 
amount of soil to be worked up, and room for 
millions more people. Climate and geographical 
position are in favour of Cuba ; and the opinion 
is justified that with the removal of the bounty 
system and a restoration of contidence, the island 
need fear no competition in the sugar markets of 
the world. Mr. Vice-Consul Bamsden, reporting 
on the district of St. Jago de Cuba, expresses the 
opinion that Chinese labour could be profitably 
employed iu tho island. There is little fear of 
the Celestials being ill-treated, and their industrious 
habits would tell greatly in their favour. Tho 
Chinese are more economical and ambitious than 
either the negroes or white labourers, and though 
they have tho reputation of not leaving their gains 
in the country, they make these gains from work 
done by them which does contiibute lo the general 
wealth. Tho country does, therefore, eventually 
gain from their presence, for the simple reason 
that they produco more than enough fur their 
own necessities, while tho nogroes and others do 
this to only u very small extent. — Globe. 
