3 o8 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
Number of Eggs. — Malpighi has found that the 
number of eggs deposited at one laying is generally 
404 or 516, and sometimes only 446. As an exception 
he met once with only 393, without taking into account 
any which may have remained in the ovaries. 
According to Barti-Pichet, 100 females deposit at 
one laying 40,000 to 45,000 eggs, 108 females of the 
Trivoltine sort are required for one ounce of eggs, 
100 females of the common sort, 95 of the large, and 
105 to 110 of the Japanese. 
Number of Eggs in an Ounce. — 1 ounce-of 30 grammes 
of eggs was found to contain — 
27,000 esgs of the Trivoltine breed. 
39,000 " ,, common ,, 
37,000 ,, large 
1 ounce of 25 grammes of eggs was found to con- 
tain — 
33,550 to 37,000 of the yellow breed. 
48,000 to 51,900 ,, Japanese breed. 
Eggs which are deposited from the first are little 
larger than those from the second, average number 
in one ounce 48,000 eggs. 
Weight of each Lay of Eggs. — To find out this 
without removing the eggs from the cloths or cards, 
the basis of the calculation is to take the • weight 
of each separate laying. It is known that to obtain 
the weight of two grammes it requires 
5 lays of the large French breed. 
6 ,, common ,, 
7 ,, Japanese ,, 
Prom this we can conclude that to make up 25 
grammes there is required — 
63 lays of the first sort 
70 " ,, second ,, 
75 ,, third ,, 
To make up one ounce of grammes 70, 84, 90, respect- 
ively, to make up one ounce of 30 grammes, 75, 95, 
105, respeciively. — Journal of Applied Science. 
BJJST-PKOOF WHEAT. 
(From the Qaeenslander.) 
It is to be be hoped some of our farmers have this 
year experimented with the Champlain and Defiance 
wheats, which were last year introduced into South 
Australia by Dr. Schomburgk, and into New South 
Wales by Mr. Dunnicliff, of Burrawong. As most of 
our readei-s are aware, they were supposed to be rust- 
proof, but this characteristic was not entirely borne 
out by last year's experience. Mr. Dunnicliff's plots 
told almost conclusively in favour of their resisting 
rust. Dr. Schomburgk distributed 100 parcels of the 
seed, and received thirty-nine replies from farmers 
as to the results after harvest. Of these, ten reported- 
that the rust had attacked both kinds more or less, 
but in no instance to the injury of the grain, which 
was plump and well developed. The other twenty- 
nine reports were to the effect that the wheat had 
most effectually resisted the rust, although bhe entire 
crop of wheat >f other varieties— especially the purple- 
straw — had in some instances been destroyed by the 
disease. Whether Mr. E. Way's experience at the Too- 
woomha gardens — that rust-proof varieties retain that 
characteristic only for the first year of their culture 
in Australia— will be borne out by this present year's 
experiments in South Australia, is a point of great 
interest to all our wheat-growers. The Cbamplain 
is said to be rather flinty, and it is thought that it 
will not produce the fine flour the farmers have been 
used to getting from their wheats; but we suspect 
that a certain amount of flintiness — that is, an excess 
of sili a— is a characteristic inseparable from a wheat 
whose constitution is such as to make it capable of 
resisting rust. 
BARREN APRICOTS, &c. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " AUSTRALASIAN. " 
Sir, — I planted a lot of apricots about 1G years ago, 
they are splendid trees, touching one another at 24ft. 
apart, they bloom splendidly, and every flower looks 
perfect, yet some of them never bear a single fruit, 
some three or four, and some about a dozen. I have 
tried all plans that I could think of except pulling 
them up or grafting. The last advice I saw in The 
Australasian was let them grow ; what would you advise 
me do with them now ? Please tell me the best 
stock to graft apricots on. I also planted at the same 
time a lot of damsons, they bloom every year, flower 
all perfect, and yet they only commenoed to bear 
fruit about three years ago little bigger than marbles 
and that falls off after a time. What would you 
advise me to do with this lot ? I put in a lot of 
Muscat of Alexandria vines ; for about five years they 
looked all right, about the sixth year I detected 
black spots on them. I tried all plans that I could 
think or hear of, such as lime, sulphur, soot, and 
ashes. I have kept them extra clean, as they. were 
the favourite grape in the kitchen. The whole of the 
ground where the above are planted is hand trenched 
from 18in. to 2ft. with drains through. 
Rutherglen. J. C. 
[In the absence of information regarding the character 
of the soil and sub-soil, it is almost impossible to offer 
advice on the management of your apricots, which we 
note bloom finely, but do not bear. We should, how- 
ever, be inclined to try root-pruning in this case. It 
might be tried at once on a few of the more vigorous. 
As a further experiment we would take a few in;hes 
off each of the shoots of other trees. From the re- 
sults an indication may be gleaned of the proper 
course to pursue with the whole. The damsons also 
may be similarly treated, i.e., a portion be root-pruned, 
another portion be slightly branch-pruned. The proper 
stockB for apricots are seedling apricots ; the cherry 
plum is also a good stock, and would be likely to 
answer with you. There is some reason to suspect 
that the drains, at so shallow a depth as 2ft., dry the 
soil early and thus conduce to the dropping of the 
fruit. In your climate drains, where employed, should 
be fully four feet deep. For what reasons were drains 
regarded as necessary ? You do not state what is now 
amiss with your lines. — Ed. Australasian.] 
QUANTITY WITH QUALITY. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " INDIAN TEA GAZETTE." 
Sir, — As some planters may at times make teas to send 
home direct, let me offer a few suggestions to the 
new ones (old Planters are warned off) as coming from 
one who has had some little experience of sending 
teas to England direct for retail sale (not for sale on 
the wholesale market, as in the latter case of course 
the same teas as those made for Calcutta are required). 
1st. Make your tea intended for home separately 
from your Calcutta or wholesale teas. 
2nd. Make it in t he middle of the season, not at 
the beginning or end. 
3rd. Ferment to a copper colour, and aim for dark, 
smooth, full liquor. * 
4th. Fire rather highly and briskly, but don't 
burn. 
5tk. Don't sort in any way whatever, but pass all 
the rough tea through a siugle sieve. If for Ireland 
or North of England, the smaller it is the better, 
and no matter how dusty. In sieving send the Pekoe 
and small tea through first by shaking ; break the 
rest through. Some firms of large retail business at 
home have now taken to breaking up all their teas 
to about the size of broken Pekoe, only very dusty. 
This was possibly owing in the first instance to a 
