December i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
567 
haiie been foreseen, and he answers in the affirmative. 
Having referred to the influence of solar action on the 
atmosphere, he says : — " A very long series of obsei-vations 
has also shown that the moon, which passes every month 
from one hemisphere to the other, influences the direction 
of the great atmospheric currents. The chants in those 
currents, in consequence of the prevailing moisture or dry- 
ness, are intimately connected with the relative position for 
the time being of the sun and moon. The distance of the 
moon from the equator— that is, the inclination of the 
moon's path to the plane of the equator— varies every year, 
pas-iiiL,' from a iii'i.riiniiiii to a minimum limit ; and the 
meteorological character of a series of years appears to be 
mainly dependent upon the change of inclination when 
those extreme limits have been touched. Observations 
prove that the rainy years the tela winters and bet sum 
mers return periodically, and coincide with certain declina- 
tions of the moon. In our latitudes the rainy years occur 
when the moon's declination has touched its extreme limits 
of 28, 26, or 18 degrees respectively. They are separated 
from each other usually by periods of about three years and 
then six years. The following table traces backwards this 
connection between the rainy years and the moon's declina- 
tion : — 
Rainy 
Greatest declination 
of moon. 
Deg. 
1870 
1872 
1866 
1859 
1856 
1853 
1848 
1836 
1828 
1821 
Rainy 
year. 
1819 
1816 
1810 
1804 
1800 
1798 
1792 
1787 
1785 
1783 
: iivate-l declination 
of moon. 
Deg. 
.. 28 
The severe winters as a rule coincide, at least within a 
year, with the same decimations :— 1879, 1875, 1871, 1867, 
1859, 1857, 1853, 1816, 1837, 1835, 1830, 1829, 1822, 1819, 
1818, 1815, 1812, 1809, 1804, 1801, 1798, 1792, 1788, 1785, 
1782. The dry summers come naturally in the middle of 
the period which divides two wet years, thus — 1874, 1869, 
1863, 1857, 1854, 1849, 1842, 1832, 1825. Applying the 
rule which this experience suggests to the summer of 1881 
wc find that the next we,t year ought to coincide with the 
declination of 18 degrees, therefore, with the year 1884, as 
the la-t was 1879 with the declination of 26 degrees. Con- 
sequently the dry summers should come about the middle of 
the intervening period between those two jvars — that is, 
ithey should be 1881 and 1882. It might therefore have 
been foreseen that, beginning with 1880, we were proceed- 
ing towards a maximum of dryness." — British Mail. 
\ 
THE SOY BEAN, A NEW FEEDING STUFF. 
Mr. Wamford Lock has drawn attention to the soy bean 
til China and Japan, Glycine soja ( Soja hispida), suffici- 
ently familiar as the source of the eastern sauce of that 
name, and affording a valuable oil (bean oil), which is the 
subject of an article in the new " Industrial Encyclopedia." 
It in attracting considerable attention among Continental 
■grundtnristB, and has recently been experimented on with 
regard ta its valno as a food for milch cows and fat cattle. 
\~ 1 forcing food for milch cows, the soy bean is superior to 
NStinS; for fat cattle, it is less adapted, and ranks second 
to grains. 
The plant can he cultivated in Central and Eastern 
Europe, and similar localities, especially in unfavourable 
years, when other crops are backward. For growth as a 
field crop it is recommended to be sown in rows 18 in. apart 
in the middle of May. 
The qualities of the beans grown in diluvial and alluvial 
soils are shown by the follow ing analyses : — 
Diluvial. Alluvial. 
Water . . . . . . . . 15-20 19-50 
Fat .. .. .. .. 16-21 17-94 
Protein .. .. .. 28-63 25-94 
Non-nitrogenous extractive matter. . 30-84 33-16 
Fibre .. .. .. .. 4-38 4-45 
Mineral matter .. .. .. 4-74 8-82 
The straw or haulm of the plant is practically worthless 
for neat cattle, hut the husks and leaves, mixed with mashed 
food, or even alone, are readily eaten. It has also been 
found that the chopped beans, soaked for 12 hours in water 
containing a little salt, are greedily taken by cattle, and that 
few pass through undigested. 
According to M. Roman, a French savant, the cultivation 
of the soja or soya, has of late years been largely developed 
in Austria-Hungary, Italy, and parts of France. This plant 
is extensively cultivated by the Chinese, who make a cheese 
and various dishes from its fruit. When roasted the seeds 
foim an excellent substitute for coffee, and altogether M. 
Roman thinks that the plant will pay better than the 
potato. At present the retail price of the soja beans is 
sixpence per pound, but as the plant becomes more exten- 
sively cultivated, they will no doubt he reduced in price. — 
British Masl. 
Enkmies of Ceara Rubber Seed. — A Matale East 
planter writes : — "I have just had my attention 
drawn to the fact that lizards eat up Ceara rubber 
seeds; and this notwithstanding the fact that they had 
been dipped in kerosine oil before planting. The seeds 
were most neatly dug out of their restingplaces and 
apparently not devoured on the spot. It seems to be 
the common green lizard that does the damage." 
Cultivation of the Dm Dm Plant. — A corre- 
spondent writes : — This plant, which grows in many 
of the outlying villages of Madras, and has been up 
to date uncared for, is now found to be a valuable 
article for tanning purposes. Large quantities of the 
pods these plants yield are being shipped to Europe, 
and in fact many persons have begun to pay some 
attention to the cultivation of this plant. A consign- 
ment of S8 bags of dried fruits from this plant was 
shipped to England by the "Duke of Buckingham," 
173 trees of the Divi Divi in full bearing which 
would take an acre of land is supposed to yield fifty 
cwt of pods, which are valued in London at £37-10 ; 
and as the cultivation and care costs literally nothing 
after the trees are once in bearing, it is found to be 
a most profitable crop. — Madras Mail. 
Tea as it ougiit to be drunk.— During the pre- 
sent season there is a public want of a really whole- 
some temperance drink. What do our readers say 
to a teacocktail ? The following is given, in an ex- 
change as an extract from the "Diary of a Hunter" 
by the late Col. Irly, one of the first Englishmen 
who ever visited the Karakorum Pass : — "Now took 
place a very curious and important operation — the 
brewing the real tea — not the "make-believe" as the 
Marchioness styled the choice liquors she concocted 
for Dick Swiveller. The tea being immersed, a ladle 
of ghee is put in, and four or five table-spoons of 
salt added : then much stirring and mixiug takes 
place, a curious implement being used to froth the 
beverage, like what in the navy in my younger days 
— perhaps, the very name now forgotten — was called 
a "swizzle-stick," which, by rapid revolution bet- 
ween the hands, aerated the grog in the tumbler, 
giving it a pleasant sparkling appearance ami fresh- 
ness of flavour. Many a time I applied it in iny 
lirst voyage from England to Hobart Town, via Can- 
ada, instructed by the veteran purser, Tucker ; and 
a by no means contemptible beverage it made in 
tropical latitudes at eight bells. Well, the tea well mix- 
ed, and frothed, and repeatedly tasted, was ladled out 
to the anxious party, and much relished."— C/<i;nj Mail 
