672 
THF TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [April i, 1889. 
3. Dr. Thwaites states that the habitat of the 
plant is the Deltota district, at an elevation of 3,000 
feet ; but he adds, on the authority of Mr. William 
Ferguson, that it grows near Colombo also. 
4. The late Director of the Royal Botanic Gar- 
dens tells us that; so far as he could learn, the Sin- 
halese make no use of the plant. 
5. A copy of Mr. Evans' letter shall be sent to 
Dr Trimen, to whom it will probably be of interests 
—Your obedient servant, F. H. M. CORBET, 
for Director. 
[Copy referred to ] 
66 Stackpoie Road, Bristol, Feb. 8th 1889. 
W. N. Evans, f.c.s. 
Sir,— I take the liberty of writing to enquire, if 
among your many tropical plants, the Uncaria gavibir 
and U. acida are indigenous, as we are now supplied 
(the dried extract) of same in large quantities from 
Rhio near Singapore. The Chinese as growers and 
merchants have the trade in their hands, and manu- 
facture it in a very crude fashion, also adulterate it 
badly. We as tanners are desirous of encouraging its 
growth elsewhere, and of growing it largely, or at least 
dealing direct with the growers. We should need from 
8 to 10,000 cons yearly at the least if we can get the 
article pure. Are there any facilities for growing it 
on your island, in labour, land &c. V Could you furnish 
me with the necessary information, and could you put 
me into communication with any respectable or trust- 
worthy firms, who would be prepared to treat with us 
in the matter ? 
Any help you may be able to render we shall be 
thankful to receive. Awaiting the favour of your reply, 
Yours faithfully, (Signed) W. N. Evans, 
Technological Medallist 1884, Late Editor of 
" Leather," Technical Teacher and Adviser in Tanning. 
Coffee in Haputale. — There is good news 
of coffee from this district: one report speaks 
of a fine blossom coming out, and another of very 
good spike, the best seen for some years. 
Sponges. — Professor Oscar Schmidt, of Gratz, in 
Styria, has suggested that sponges could be pro- 
pagated by fixing pieces detached from living 
sponges to sandy coasts by means of wooden skewers, 
and leaving them to grow. The Austro-Hungarian 
Government has recently taken steps to protect the 
sponge industry on the shores of Dalmatia, reckless 
gathering having threatned extermination. — Standard. 
Coffee in Dimbula. — The special telegram 
of Monday from Hattoh was intended to indicate 
that a planter in Dimbula had last year what, 
we suppose is the unique experienoe during the 
year of makiDg £3,600 profit by coffee. But 
this was on an estate which had been always 
liberally manured. In another district the same 
planter is rapidly converting what was once a 
fine coffee plantation into a tea estate, and all 
the profits on coffee were spent for this purpose. 
The planter in question makes light of green bug 
in comparison with leaf disease as an enemy of coffee, 
Tea. — The Lahore paper writes : — " We have 
referred to the efforts which the Kangra Valley 
tea-planters are now making to help themselves ; 
aDd it would be well i£ the Punjab Government 
could see its way to help them a little also. The 
Government of the North- West Provinces and Oudh, 
o stated in a recent issue are endeavouring 
popi i j i80 tea by abolishing the octroi duty on 
irtiele in all municipalities. Now, this is un- 
doubtedly a step in the right direction; and we 
consider that the same thing ought certainly to 
be done in the Punjab, where the natives use, 
bi lieve, more tea than in Oudh or the North- 
\Y<: t Provinces. The Government requires, we fear, 
occasional reminders of the existenoe of the little 
band of adventurous spirits who have struggled 
no long against reverses in the Kangra Valley." 
— Pioneer, 
Lemon-growing in Florida is so successful that 
the industry is enormously spreading, and the 
results are affecting Sicily in a very high degree. 
It is feared that lemon-growing in the latter country 
will soon become extinct. Moreover, the Florida 
lemons attain a size far beyond those grown in 
Sicily. They are not popular, however, in the 
States because they don't fit the lemon-squeezer. 
— Australasian. 
Agricultural Companies in Netherlands India. 
— The Amsterdam correspondent of the London 
and China Express wrote on Feb. Gth : — Several 
new agricultural undertakings connected with India 
have been established. The Cinchona agricultural 
company Langan Ardjo, has been established at 
the Hague with a capital of 250,000 guilders in 
shares of 500 guilders. Another, styled " Toengkal" 
Tobacoo company at the Hague, proposes work- 
ing certain lands in the uisinct of Palembang 
(Sumatra.) The capital is fixed for 600,000 guilders, 
divided in 5,000 shares each of 120 guilders, 
2,500 of which have been fully paid by trans- 
ferring the estate, while on the remaining shares a 
provisionally 20 per cent, will be payable. 
Cudrania Triloba as a Silkworm Plant — This is 
the Silkworm Thorn, known in China as the •' T»a " 
tree. It is evidently of wide distribution in China. 
Dr. Henry says it is common about Tchang, where 
" it is considered to be as good for silkworms as 
the Mulberry, but is not used so long as Mulberry 
leaves can be got, because the tree is thorny, and 
it is troublesome to pick off the leaves. It is hence 
given chiefly to adult silkworms, and as Mulberry 
leaves soon become finished, it is much used." The 
tree belongs to the Artocarpese, and attains a height 
of about 20 feet. The leafy shoots, probably more 
especially from near the base, are often armed with 
strong, stout, straight-pointed axillary spines. It is 
figured in the October number of Hooker's Iconei 
FLantarum, 1888, t. 1792. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Schweinfurth's Method for Preserving Plants. 
— H. Schenck (in Bot. Centralis. , vol. xxxv., p. 175) 
calls the attention of collectors, especially those 
travelling in the tropica, to a method of preserving 
plants for the herbarium recommended by Schwein- 
furth, and which he found exceedingly convenieut 
and efficient during his travels in Brazil. The plants 
when collected are at once put between the sheets 
of a leather portfolio. On his return from the ex- 
cursion the collector places the specimens between 
single sheets of common grey, unsized paper (to be 
had in every ''venda" in Brazil), which are firmly 
held together between two pieces of stout pasteboard 
by means of a strap. There the bundle is set 
upright in a tin box, and strong Sugar-cane brandy 
or common alcohol is poured on the sheets from 
above, until the paper and the plants are thoroughly 
moistened and the liquid begins to run off below. 
The bundle or bundles are kept in the tightly-covered 
tin box until a quantity of them has accumulated. 
Then the straps and boards are removed, the single 
packages are wrapped up in paper and packed as 
closely and firmly as possible in a tin box about 2 
feet high, which, finally is tightly closed by soldering 
a flat cover to it. Several suoh boxes are packed 
in, a wooden case for shipping. Some small tin boxes 
ought to be taken on more extended excursions. 
The preservation of plants after this method requires 
very little time (an advantage of the utmost impor- 
tance for a traveller), for it is not necessary to 
arrange the specimens carefully between the. sheets. 
The plants remain in good order, soft, pliable, and 
moist, for years, and may be dried for the herbarium 
at the collector's convenience, after his return from 
his travels. They also remain in good condition fur 
anatomical examination, and all kinds of flowers, as 
well as thick-leaved plauts — such as many species of 
Orchids, Cactaceso, &c — will arrive at home in ex- 
cellent order. Besides, plants may be collected and 
placed between the sheets in rainy weather. — Gar- 
deners' Chronicle, 
