ess tne Tfto^ieAt 
Not only is tea a success, but Liberian coffee 
thrives admirably, and its cultivation is being extended. 
Cacao is also very promising; all the seed hitherto 
grown has been planted out ; and the musa textilis 
bids fair to become an important local prolufei ere- 
long. Nutmegs, ceara-rubber, arrowroot, the Otahe- 
ite potato, and tapioca have been introduced. The 
mangbsteen thrives, and has been planted pretty 
extensively; the trees, however, are slow growing, 
and will take some years to come to maturity. Va- 
rieties of the nutmeg, tapioca, arrowroot, and vanilla 
are to be found wild ;n tue jungles. The chief cereals 
grown are Indian-corn and paddy. Tobacco, though 
given a full and fair trial under an experienced 
European grower, appears to have failed. 
It is curious that the coconut, which is indigenous 
at the Cocoa Islands in the north and at the Nicobars 
to the south, had to bo introduced into the Anda- 
mans. There are now some 116,000 coconut trees 
at Port Blair, and in time they will no doubt yield 
an excellent revenue. The betel-nut palm has been 
extensively planted; but there seems some difficulty 
in finding a market for the crops. 
Native vegetables, such as the bhindi, pumpkins, 
brinjal, gourds of sorts, &c, thrive well, and are 
largely grown for supply to the labouring convicts 
and for sale. The cold weather is too mild to admit 
of European vegetables thriving. Tomatoes, lettuce, 
Prenoh beans, celery, parsely, and mint do well, and 
those are about all. 
The author, who paid several official visits to Port 
Blair between the years 1883 and 1885, noticed a 
great falling off in the quality of two very important 
items of food, viz., mutton and bread. The settle- 
ment was, in past times, famed for its fat sheep, so 
much so that vessels calling at the port often beg- 
ged a sheep or two as a favour. Now the animals 
may be classed with the proverbial "Lean kine." 
The bread also is very inferior and gritty; and it 
surely should not be difficult to start a station 
bakery on sound principles, using Oalifornian flour 
and yeast instead of Cocoa toddy; The cost would 
be somewhat greater, but the extra expense would 
be compensated by immunity from dyspepsia, which 
is a common complaint here. 
Among the products of these islands are the edible 
birds' nests and the heche dt mer ; they are exported 
to the Straits, being dainties peculiar to the Celes- 
tials. 
The forests are full of valuable timber, such as 
Tadauk, satin wood, marble wood, and <jnrjou. Teak 
has been introduced, and bids fair to become of 
great value in the course of time. 
The jungles are for the most part almost im- 
penetrable, owing to the dense undergrowth, matted 
and tangled as it is with canes and creepers. The. 
foliage affords few varieties of tint; but here and 
there, during the dry months, one sees a tree with 
its leaves of flaming red, adding great beauty to 
the forest. 
The pillar palm, the traveller's tree, and other 
ornamental varieties have been introduced ; and a 
plant of the palm— which yields palm oil — that im- 
portant product of the Gold Coast — which was in- 
troduced from the Royal Botanical Gardens in 1878 
by Mr. Horace Man, has thriven, and is now seeding. 
Many trees are abundant, but the fruit would 
probably be much improved if a regular system of 
wintering were adopted. The litchi, papaya, and 
plantain do well, and of course the pineapple, 
which loves a moist heat. 
The chief attraction in gardens lies in the lovely 
flowering shrubs and crotons. The latter produce 
seed freely; and Doctor Reid, a former resident, 
succeeded in raising a number of hybrids, one of 
which is a superb variety and has been named Croton 
Rei'lii. Tropical flower gardening is, however, not very 
advanced, and even at Government House, which 
possesses au Indian conservatory, the collection of 
foliage plants, ferns, and orchids is poor, consider- 
ing what is possible in that direction in this climate. 
Orchids abound in the jungles, but only a few va- 
rieties are worthy the notice of the horticulturist. 
A"GtttCt31.TUmST. [April i, 1889. 
Among the good sorts may be named Phalcenopsis 
tetraspis and Aerides Emericii, both peculiar to these 
islands ; also Dendrobiurn formosum, Aerides odovatum, 
"Vanda teres, and a variety of vanilla. Ferns are 
equally abundant, and many of them exceedingly 
beautiful. Kurz details 13 species and 31 varieties. 
The most striking is the birds' nest fern, Asplenium 
Nidus, which grows to an enormous size. The Da- 
vallias, too, are very beautiful with their delicate 
fronds gracefully depending from the trunks of forest 
trees. 
Pish, as may be supposed, is excellent, though not 
too abundant. The best are soles and mullet, and 
the rock oysters are very good. Occasionally enor- 
mous fish are caught in the harbour. Not long ago 
the men of the S. S. Kwdngtwng hauled in a rock- 
cod which weighed 1(55 pounds and measured over 
five feet in length ; and quite recently a 621b. fish 
jumped into the station horse-boat as it was cross- 
ing the harbour. Sharks are, of course, numerous. 
Whales are far from rare. The dugong, a species 
of seal some five to eight feet long, is sometimes 
captured by the Anda manege, who regard its flesh 
as a great delicacy. This creature is a mammalian ; 
a female, suokling her young, ig said to appear parti- 
cularly human, and probably gave rise to the mythical 
mermaid.- The saw fish is also caught at times ; the 
largest recorded was 17 feet in length, of which the 
saw measured six-and-a-half feet. Andaman shells and 
corals are famous for their variety and beauty. The 
shells of the large varieties are washed ashore in 
considerable numbers, but it is very unusual to ob- 
tain one inhabited by the living fish ; only three are 
known to have been found since tbe settlement 
was started. There are several varieties of the oysters 
some of which yield pearls of sorts. Black pearls 
are occasionally found, in a species of Pinna, popu- 
larly known as the " bouquet holder." It is said 
that the true pearl oyster exists here, but as it is 
a deep water variety, and there are no appliances 
for dredging, pearl fishing is not followed as an in- 
dustry. 
Sea weeds, so common on our British coasts, are 
conspicuous by their absence on these shores. Two 
or three lovely varieties of coraline are, however, 
occasionally met with, and after storms, masses of 
green bladder sea weed drift to land. — Englishman. 
+ 
AGRI-HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OP 
MADRAS : SKETCH OP THE 
SOCIETY'S HISTORY. 
Almost coeval with the reign of Her Most Graci- 
ous Majesty, and fostered and encouraged by the 
peace which has shared her throne in the Carnatic, 
has been the prosperous career of the Madras Agri- 
Horticultural Society. To the enthusiasm of Dr. 
Robert Wight, — the eminent botanist, and author of 
leones Plcmia/rwm India: Oriental is, which is to this 
day the standard work of the kind, and a monu- 
ment that will endure while libraries exist, -the 
Society to a great extent owes its being. On the 
15th of Joly, 1835, at a well-attended meeting of 
Native and European gentlemen held at the College 
Hall, it was inaugurated. Two days later the first 
Committee of twelve met, and it was announced 
that Sir Frederick Adam, the Governor, had accepted 
the invitation of the Society to become its first 
Patron, the Honourable Mr. John Sullivan, the Ju- 
nior Member of Council, being its first President, 
and Mr. Baynes its first Secretary. A little later 
the Nabob of the Carnatic and Sir R. Palmer, the 
Chief Justice, were invited to become Vice-Patrons. 
In 1836 the Society was in occupation of the land 
which now forms the larger portion of the Orna- 
mental Garden on the Mount Road, Madras. " This 
was then," we read in Dr. Bidie's Report, " the only 
spot available; it was very ill-suited for horticultural 
experiments, and the Society was long embarrassed 
by expenses connected with its improvement." The 
Society has ouce or twice since been embarrassed, 
