28o 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
experience go the trees invariably die off at an early 
age in such situations.— The analyses and remarks on 
pages 47-50 are by Mr. Hughes. His item ' sulphuric 
acid, carboinc acid, and chlorine not determined ' must 
have had some meaning, though on the face of it, it 
seems superfluous. 
" Messrs. Eucker & Bencraft's unit value of 1/9 
and l/9j was correct at the time it was written and 
quoted, and is borne out by the sale list immediately 
preceding. 
" The order of formation of the alkaloids as decided 
by Mr. Broughton is not necessarily at variance with 
the fact of the outer cells of the bark being the 
richest in quinine, for in this part such changes as 
take place are slow aud probably consist merely of a 
storage of alkaloid, the younger tissues being the scene 
of the changes described by Mr. Broughton (vide 
pages 45 and 46 of the previously mentioned report). 
" The disappearance of the alkaloids from the bark 
of a dying tree is a fact difficult of explanation, and 
apparently antagonistic to the theory that checking 
the growth of the tree increases the secretion of the 
alkaloids, in support of which theory there does not 
appear to be any evidence which is not capable of 
explanation on other grounds." 
AGRICULTURE IN SCOTLAND. 
(From a Correspondent.) 
The reports by assistant commissioners of the Royal 
Commission on Agricultural distress are now published 
in a Parliamentary Blue-book. From one of them I take 
the following figures that show at a glance how matters 
stand with farmers here, as it is of importance that 
the planter having farming predilections, who manages 
to "get out" with a thousand or two, be posted up in 
latest facts and figures, that his change may not be to 
a fire from a frying-pan :— 
A. 
Rent £600, farm occupied by 
tenant. 
Caithness. 
B. 
Rent £350, farm occupied by 
proprietor. 
Ross. 
Profit. 
Loss. 
Profit. 
Loss. 
Year end- 
ing Oct. 31 
1875 
„ 1876 
„ 1877 
„ 1878 
„ 1879 
£ s. d. 
847 4 3 
577 11 10 
72 7 11 
£ s. d. 
64 17 4 
29 0 10 
Year end- 
ingNov. 22 
1875 
„ 1876 
1877 
„ 1878 
„ 1879 
£ s. d. 
97 6 5 
391 4 3 
206 7 7 
140 16 7 
£ s. d. 
200 9 10 
Rent £800, farm 
occupied by tenant. 
Caithness. 
Year ending 
Nov. 22, 1877 
do 1878 
do 1879 
£ s. d. 
875 8 3 
514 19 11 
445 5 6 
Rent £230, farm occupied 
i y tenant. 
Aberdeenshire, 
Year end 
tig Dec. 31 £ s. d, 
1874157 5 0 
Profit. Loss. 
„ 187" 
„ 1876 
„ 1877 
„ 187* 
„ 1879 
5411 3 
380 5 2i 
377 4 1 
507 11 9 
407 13 8 
Better by far that he build his " Lanka Villa," invest 
hi-. m»ney in house property that yields a certain 
income of 5 to 10%, and live at home at ease. Agri- 
culture will right itself when Government gets time 
to enact laws to facilitate the sale and transfer of land. 
Good seasons alone will not sutfice in the altered state 
of the produce market to restore prosperity to the 
farmer. The axe must strike at the root of the ev il ■ 
land must be marketable. Till then the ex C. P.' 
will keep his funds " in better heart" by laying theni 
out at interest. A leading article in last week's A 7 . B. 
Agriculturist concludes with: — "After whathaehappened 
— after a few very bad years, and a full crop such as 
last year's in Scotland failing in many cases to square 
accounts for the year — the confidence of the most san- 
guine farmers in the stability of their profession is 
being rather rudely shaken. Very material changes 
on the conditions under which land is rented in this 
country cannot be far off One other unfavourable year, 
such as in some respects the present threatens to be, 
will unquestionably pLy sad havoc in faiming circles, 
the results of which are melancholy to contemplate." 
More figures, this time from the Aberdeen Free Press, 
show that the " sad havoc" has begun in our immediate 
neighbourhood. 
PLANTING IN MADAGASCAR. 
(From our Mauritius Correspondent.) 
I translate the following from a letter of the French 
correspondent at Madagascar to one of our leading 
papers. The writer is a native of this colony, and 
has travelled in Australia and ehewhere. He has also 
had a good deal of experience here in planting matters: 
"In Queensland and the other Australian Colonies 
the laud is low and sandy and labor is dear. At 
Fiji the plantations succeed perfectly; but there are 
terrible hurricanes there. The country is unhealthy : 
dysentery exists there permanently, and Sir A. Gor- 
don has upset the system formerly followed in re- 
gard to the employment of laborers by forcing the 
planters to feed them on bread aud meat. At Zan- 
zibar, the cane grows well ; hut the country is too 
dry. At Mayotte and Nossibe (French settlements on 
the east coast of Africa) canes thrive wonderfully ; 
bur. the climate is unhealthy and labor is very scarce. 
Several mills have been abandoned for want of hands. 
At Johanna (Comora Islands) the sugarcane also 
succeeds ; but Europpans are subject to malignant 
attacks of fever and the Island is too small to afford 
space for more than four or five plantations, three al- 
ready existing. 
"Madagascar remains to be spoken of. For every 
competent and reflecting man it will be found the 
most suitable for the cultivation of the cane. The 
land is still virgin, and plantations can be had at 
an any elevation and at a nominal price, while the 
vegetation is splendid without either guano or manure. 
Labor is abundant, costing only R4 to R6 per month, 
including the cost of rations, and there are no vexa- 
tious police regulations." 
I he question of irrigation applied to our cane fields 
continues to occupy the public mind here to a great 
degree ; and, at the last meeting of the Council of 
Government, two extensive schemes for irrigation in 
the windward and leeward districts of the Island 
were discussed, the Colonial Secretary reading a re- 
port thereon to the members of the board. 
There can be little doubt, from the attitude of Go- 
vernment in reference to the proposed enterprises, 
that the question of irrigation on a large scale, ap- 
plied to the culture of sugarcane, will soon be 
practically solved here. It has been remarked, and 
probably correctly, that however unsuccessful irriga- 
tion schemes have been iu other countries, where 
the agricultural produce was of less value than our 
staple, our colo ists should not take such results as 
conclusive for the non-adoption of similar enterprises 
here. In proof of this, it may be mentioned that 
irrigation to a by no means unimportant extent 
has already been carried out with considerable financial 
success on some of our most prosperous estates. 
