66o 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
[April i, 1889. 
Forestry. — Professor Boulger will deliver a course 
of ten lectures on this subject 011 Friday evenings 
at 8 p. m., commencing on January 11, at the Oity 
of London College, White Street, Moorfields, with 
special reference to the examinations of the Surveyors' 
Institution. Practical demonstrations in the country 
will be given durin? the spring. Text-books recom- 
mended: — Hough's Elements of Forestry — Crosby Lock- 
wood. Brown's Forester — Blackwood k, Son. Bagneris' 
Elements of Sylviculture (translated by Fernandez and 
Smythies) — W. Rider & Sons. Syllabus: Climate and 
Trees — Land suitable for Arboriculture — The Draining 
and other preparation of the Land- — Nurseries and 
their management — Planting Operations — Thinning and 
Maintenance — Felling aud Barking — Timber Measure- 
ment — Exploitation and management of Coppice — The 
Distinctive Characters of the various British Timber 
Trees. Free for the course 10.-;. 6d. — Gardeners' 
Chronicle. 
Sulphate op Copper as a Remedy for Fungus 
Moulds. — The value of sulphate of copper for the 
destruction of fungus moulds is so great when pro- 
perly applied, but may be so injurious to the plant 
if carelessly employed, that we think we may be 
doing our readers a service by calling attention to 
the method of preparing the mixture as described in 
the Revue Horticole, December, 188S. "One method 
of preparing this remedy is by dissolving 6 kilo- 
grammes of sulphate of copper in about 88 litres of 
water, using for the purpose a wooden or stone 
basin. Another way is by placing in a separate 
vessel 6 kilogrammes of quicklime, and pouring upon 
it, little by little, and very slowly, 12 litres of water. 
It forms a milky liquid,- which should be stirred with 
a stick, care being taken to break up any lumps 
which may be formed. The lime in mixing with the 
water gives off much heat. When this milky stuff 
is quite cool, it may be gently mixed in the solution 
of sulphate of copper, care being taken that the 
mixture is well stirred. Thus a rather thin liquid is 
obtained, which, if the copper employed is pure, 
should be of a beautiful .sky-blue colour. In the 
formation of this preparation of sulphate of copper 
and lime, there is formed a sulphate of lime (gypsum), 
and a hydrated oxide of copper, in such proportions 
as are not dangerous to plants, but which kill the 
microscopic fungi on the Potato (Peronospora in- 
festans). Finally, the plants must not be watered 
with the water-can, or the solution will reach the roots 
and kill the plants. It is only necessary to spray the 
foliage with the solution." — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
California. — After many unsuccessful trials after my 
landing in this country in 1887 (says a correspondent) 
I entered the service of the University, and have 
been appointed Superintendent Botanist of the Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station at Jackson, Amador 
County, in the foot-hilla of the Sierra. My area 
comprises 34 acres in the most wonderful location, 
on the gently sloping hills now covered with Quercus 
agriifolia, Douglasii, lobata, Oeanothus crassifolius, 
Arctost-«phylos Andersoniana, iEsculus calif ornica, 
after the grand forests of Pinus Lambertiana, pon- 
derosa, Sabineana, Libocedrus decurrens, Tsuga Doug- 
lasii have all been cut down. The people up here 
cannot forget the days of old and their hydraulic 
mining, and they are consequently slow in utilising 
their beautiful soil of Vines, Olives, Peaches, &c, 
in the thermal belts at lfiOO— 2000 feet elevation ! 
The mild winters seem to turn all the native sons 
of the Golden West lazy, and newcomers, the "tender 
feet" from the East, or the boys from the Old 
Countries, soem to get easily ahead of them. It is 
a great pity, though, that even situations like mine 
seem to be dependent upon the changes in the 
administration of the civil service. I have done very 
little scientific work indeed. It takes a long time 
tor a foreigner to make his way; but I am thoroughly 
convinced that J have chosen the right country, and 
I took my oath of naturalisation with full faith. My 
sarriph s of work base secured me the position I fill, 
and I trust I am on the right ttaek.—GarderiiPr 
Qhromcle. 
Anthracite Coal. — I notice in the la6t volume 
of the Gardeners' Chronicle, your correspondent, 
Thos. Christy, on p. 766, highly recommends this 
fuel for horticultural purposes, and invites some of 
the large consumers to give their experience of its 
saving over other fuel. As I am a rather large 
consumer of this fuel, perhaps it may not be out of 
place for me to give my experience, which is as fol- 
lows, I will give one week's comparisons. It takes 7 
tons of coke, at 16s. per ton, which amounts to £5 
12s. 2d , or 6 tons of the ordinary steam coal, at 
15x. 6(Z per ton, which amounts to £4 13<., or 4 
tons of diamond anthracite, at 17*. 8d. per ton, which 
amounts to £3 lO.s. Sd. ■ so, that by u»ing anthracite 
I save £2 Is. 6r/. per week over coke, or £1 2s. id. 
per week over steam coal. Of course the prices vary 
very much in different parts of the country, but I 
am sure if anyone gives it a fair trial, he will he 
more than satisfied with the results. I msy add that 
there are several spurious kinds of anthrasite offered 
to the public under the name of horticultural anthra- 
cite, and which only end in the disappointment aud 
disaster to the purchasers, and 1 would advise 
anyone who has not as yet given the best quality 
of anthracite coal a trial, to avail himself of the 
offer of Mr. Pascoe, Swansea, to supply coal (from 
his own colliery), which is very important, as you 
can always depend upon having the same uniform 
good quality, aud who offers to send to any gardener 
or nurseryman a sample bag, free of cost and carriage, 
for trial before ordering the coal in great quantity. — 
F. L. Jennings, The Gardens. Roselands, Woolston. 
— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Horticultural Instruction. — The course in horti- 
culture of the Michigan State Agricultural College 
includes four general topics: — Pomology, vegetable 
gardening, floriculture, and seed-growing. The in- 
struction is given both by lectures and by practical 
operations in the field. Of the two meth i ds of in- 
struction, it is intended that the field-wo. k shall be 
the more important. The juniors are given instruction 
by the Professor, so far as possible, in sections or 
squads, in budding, grafting, pruning, tilling, harvest- 
ing, marketing and storing fruits and vegetables. All 
vegetables which are suited to the climate are grown 
in the vegetable garden, and all desirable small fruits 
in the fruit garden. Apple, Pear, Plum, and Cherry 
orchards, and two vineyards, are invaluable aids to 
the observing students. Sti'dents who desire to follow 
fruit growing and vegetable gardening can secure 
here the necessary practical training. The class-room 
lectures also cover the practical points of the subjects 
aud enable the student to enter at once, upon his 
field-work. The lectures also treat of the principles 
of plant-growth and their relations to caltivation of 
the classification and nomenclature of fruits and 
vegetables, of hybridisation and cross-fertilisation, 
and of plant diseases. Instruction is given in the 
care of hedges, ornamental trees and flowers, and upon 
the chracters and values of native wild fruits. A 
few lectures are also given upon the history and 
literature of horticulture when time permits. A large 
horticultural laboratory is to be completed by the 
opening of the spring term, 1889. This will make 
possible the teaching of the higher phases of horti- 
culture. Landscape gardening is treated as a fine 
art, and its study is introduced by a discussion of 
the principles of art in general. Unity, harmony, 
and variety are discussed at length, and abundant 
illustrations are drawn from the views and plants 
upon the college premises. The principles of the art 
of ornamental gardening once understood, they are 
applied to the ornamentation of parks, cemeteries, 
and large estates, after which practice the student 
is able to discriminate the features which can be 
judiciously applied to the embellishment of highways, 
school grounds, and country homes. In practical rural 
embellishment the subject finds its greatest expans'Ou. 
Finally, the student is given instruction in rural 
architecture, in the making of walks and drives, in 
sodding, grading, &c. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
