344 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1881. 
Tea. — Messrs. W. M. Jas. and H. Y. Thompson, the 
38, Mincing-lane brokers, in a letter to The Times, re- 
mark that the deliveries of Indian tea in England will 
" soon amount to 50 million pounds per annum, and 
there can be little doubt, considering the growing 
and high estimation in which Indian teas are held 
by buyers throughout the country, that a very much 
larger quantity, if the standard of quality be high, 
would rapidly find its way into consumption. Apart 
from our export trade, the delivery of China tea is 
about 116,000,000 lb. annually. It is fully expected 
that India will supply us this year with one-third 
of our total requirements. For many years past 
Indian teas were only used for the purpose of blend- 
ing with China, but it is now known that some of 
the largest retailers are selling them pure, with ad- 
vantage to their trade, their customers disliking the 
admixture. 
Coca. — Another Specific against Starvation. — 
What the leaves of the coca (Erythroxylon coca) are to the 
South American, the nut of the cola (Cola or Slerculia 
accuminata) are said to be to the West African. 
Weston, the American pedestrian, was, we believe, the 
first to bring into practical public notice the uses of 
the coca-leaves, although their alleged properties had 
previously been described by scientific writers. These 
properties are now said to be possessed equally by 
the cola-nut, the seeds of a tree indigenous to the 
West Const of Africa. The seeds are about the size 
of a pigeon's egg, several of them being contained 
in a single husk. The nut is eaten by the natives, 
who declare that it has the power of satisfying for a 
considerable period the cravings of hunger, and of 
stimulating them to withstand prolonged labour with- 
out fatigue. The nut, which is of a bitter flavour, 
is also said to act like olives in enhancing' the flavour 
of whatever may be eaten afterwards. If the virtues 
attributed to the nut are really possessed by it, it 
would be an advantage to introduce its use among 
the working classes, who require some stimulus to 
increased exertion when, as we heard recently from 
Australia, they are ready to strike for higher wages 
than 12s. for eight hours' labour a day. — Colonies 
and India. 
Cotton-seed as a Fertiliser and as Cattle 
Food. — A series of trials of the value of cotton-seed 
as food for cattle, and still more as a fertiliser, has 
been made in the United States, and the results are 
reported to be highly satisfactory. One member of 
the Cincinnati Convention of Cotton-seed Crushers 
says he has found it 'scarcely inferior to guano as a 
fertiliser, and invaluable as food for cattle.' Another 
finds, as the results of experiments upon land in Con- 
necticut, 'that cotton seed meal is the best fertiliser 
ever used on tobacco lands.' During three years it 
increased the productiveness of the land three- 
fold. He also found it superior to any other food 
for cattle, A cotton grower at Selma, however, has 
made a statement of a very extraordinary character. 
He says that by using cotton-seed meals as a fertiliser 
upon poor cotton lands, he has increased the yield 
from 18 to 145 bales, or eight-fold. It wood be very 
interesting to get a confirmation of this report, for, 
unless relationship between the fertiliser and the fruit 
it stimulates has something to do with this remark- 
able increased produce, it is difficult to place a limit 
upon the results of using such a marvellous fertiliser 
in the production of human food. Before, however, 
any opinion worth having can be formed of the value 
of this discovery, it will be necessary to learn not 
merely the present price of cotton-seed meal, but 
what the price will be under increased and growing 
demand, and to ascertain also the probability of a 
steady supply under the enormous demand which 
must follow a confirmation of the above reports. — 
Public Opinion. 
Silk-growing in New Zealand. — In a letter which 
we published last week a correspondent drew attention 
to the opportunity which New Zealand offers as a field 
for sericulture, and suggested a plan by which the 
industry might possibly be taken up in conjunction 
with tea-planting. Tea and silk in connection with 
China is a natural combination of ideas, but it is 
doubtful whether the comparatively limited area of 
New Zealand affords the same facilities for the pro- 
secution of the two industries as the far vaster extent 
of China, The plains of Lombardy are eminently 
adapted for the culture of the silk-worm, but tea 
could never be grown there as a commercial enter- 
prise ; and although the natural features and climate 
of different parts of New Zealand are sufficiently 
varied to give promise of success in the culture of 
tea, possibly, in the highlands, and of silk in the 
warmer valleys, it is questionable -whether the two 
industries could be carried on in combination. As 
regards tea, we believe several Ceylon planters have 
testified to tbe adaptability of parts of New Zealand 
for the cultivation of this shrub ; and as regards 
silk, public opinion in the Colony is generally in 
favour of the idea of introducing the industry. Some 
years ago the Government of the Colony offered a 
bonus of 50 per cent on the value realised for the 
production in the Colony of the first £1,000 wo)thof 
cocoons or eggs, and the recent Royal Commission 
on the Encouragement of Local Industries has recom- 
mended the renewal of the offer. Mulberry trees 
thrive in the neighbourhood of Auckland, and system- 
atic cultivation of the silkworm would, no doubt, 
if carefully and tentatively introduced, prove a valu- 
able addition to the resources of the Colony.— Colonies 
and India. 
The Nutmeg : a beautiful tree in a garden, and 
although of long infaucy, is the most remunerative of 
all on attaining maturity. It should be planted only 
on rich soils, well drained by a shifting drain between 
the rows : now opened nearer to one row, and in due 
time filled in with manure and covered ; and then 
opened nearer the corresponding row, and in due 
time also filled in with manure and covered. And 
between these shifting drains — which help to winter 
tbe roots of the tree and rest it after producing a 
smaller growth— cloves, &c, might be introduced 
without injury to the larger cultivation. The plant- 
ing distance will have to be regulated by the rich- 
ness of the soil: the intervals being say about 8 or 
9 or 10 feet, and calculating upon an annual produc- 
tion of 1,200 feet upwards, per full grown tree, and 
the average weight of the kernels or nuts 90 to 100 per 
lb., there will be obtained from a tree of 1,200 fruit over 
121b. nutmegs ftverage value El -50 ... ... R18 
4 ,, mace... ... ... 75 ... ... 3 
Per tree ;.. R21 
being very rich remuneration indeed for any amount 
of care bestowed on the cultivation. Of the pulp of 
the fruit has been prepared one of the richest com- 
potes we have ever tasted, but the pulp generally as 
well as tbe leaves should be returned to the soil by 
imbedment in the drains or otherwise. Many years 
ago the nutmeg was planted somewhat extensively 
in the neighbourhood of Galle and failed : for 
instead of the plant being put into permeable rich 
soil, it was struck into the hard cabook of the undu- 
lating hills near Wakwella ; and recently we have 
discovered the death from want of care of some 
splendid trees grown not far from Colombo. The pro- 
perty had changed hands froai European to Native, 
and the trees died for want of continued attention, 
so that unless would-be growers of the nutmeg select 
a rich soil, and bestow unremitting care in the growth, 
they cannot reasonably hope to obtain the rich returns 
now yielded by the cultivation in other countries. — 
Ceylon Examiner. 
