640 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. " Qanuary 2, 1882. 
55. Sites for Species requiring a Lower Elevation. — 
A fine-sheltered shola in the " Silent Valley, " elevation 
about 3,000 feet, has been reserved by the Collector of 
Malabar at the request of the Conservator, in case it 
should be required by this department for the growth 
of " Rubber trees, " or any other products. I now re- 
commend that this should be taken up by the Forest 
Department at Nilambiir, and that a small clearing 
should be at once made for experiments on the growth 
of "grey barks" and " yellow barks" at that elevation ; 
if they grow well, there is ample room for opening out 
a considerable area ; it may also be necessary to try 
"Carthagena" and "Santa Fe " at this lower elevation. 
A small pucka building should be erected, and the Chin- 
chona budget should furnish the necessary funds ; it is 
also desirable to try some of the rubber trees and the 
" Ipecacuanha " (Cephaelis) in the same locality. 
56. Renovating Pits. — Mr. Rowson has much im- 
proved the health of the trees in the plantations under his 
charge (at Naduvatam and Pykara) by the renovating 
pits (2 feet cube). In many parts of the plantations 
the trees have a far more vigorous look than they had 
two years ago ; it has been surmised that the lateral 
roots might be injured by this system, but this is not 
the case ; where the lateral fibrils have been touched, 
they shoot out again with great vigor through the hu- 
mus in these pits ; in some cases cattle-manm-e has been 
put in the pits, but much of this not being available, 
they have generally been filled up with dead leaves, and 
decaying' vegetation, such as the weeds, cleared off the 
plantations ; they have, I consider, improved the condi- 
tion of the plantations in a most marked manner. 
57. Perfect Drainage most necessary. — All the varie- 
ties of Chir.eb.ona appear to grow much better on slopes 
than on fiats, the tree being most impatient of anything 
like insufficient subsoil drainage. 
58. Lichen. — In wind blown situations the trunks 
and branches are often much covered with white lichen. 
Mr. Rowson assures me this in no way affects the 
health of the trees or bark ; it is easily rubbed off. 
59. . Diseases and Enemies. — There is very little sign 
of canker at Naduvatam, and the Chinchona seems to 
have few or no insect enemies ; sanibiu 1 and wild animals 
are, of. course, destructive, and fencing is most necessary 
in some parts if the plantations are to be worked up 
to then- highest possible yield. 
60. Number of Trees in Naduvatam. — Appendix A is 
a statement of the number of casualties amongst the 
trees in Naduvatam Plantation during the last three 
years (or since Major Walker's report), and the num- 
ber of trees now existing based on Major Walker's 
enumeration. ... 
61. Statement showing number of plants in the nurse- 
ries at Naduvatam, 28th May 1881 : — 
Botanical 
Names. 
|w.a . 
!! § ! 
Total. 
M Ml 
3m ri 
Jfw| 
C. Suecirubra 
216,00t 
5K5.950 
801,950 
489.950 .12,000 
300,000 
C. Officinalis 
155,000 
378,000 
533,000 
228,000; 105,000 
200,000 
C. CaJisaya 
var.Ledger- 
iaria 
4,400 
*1,5G0 
5,000 
50 ... 
t2,027 
C. other vaiie- 
tii-s 
4,000 
1,305 
5,305 
2,305 
3 000 
C. Puhescens 
20,010 
20,010 
l,000j . 8,010 
11,000 
Total ... 
37:1,100 
980.82.- 
I.Mi.-.'-j.-, 
719,000 127,315 
51G.027 
* Received from Dodabelta. 
13,383 seedlings have died. 
('in be continued.) 
Lahore. — We have received a copy of the report of 
the Punjab Agri- Horticultural Society for the year 1880-81, 
from which we leam that much damage was done by 
hail in March last. The climate appears to be too cold 
for the rain tree (Pithecolobium Saman), but some of 
the Eucalypti succeed well, those specially recommended 
for planting in the plains of Punjab being Eucalyptus 
bicolor, E. hfematostoma, E. resinifera, E. rostrata, and 
E. tereticornis, besides others not yet named ; Grevillea 
robusta has also been distributed, and is doing well. 
The Carob (Ceratonia Siliqua) succeeds well, and ex- 
periments are to be tried with grafted plants. The culti- 
vated olive does not thrive on its own roots, but when 
grafted on the wild olive stock the result is very satis- 
factory. Apples and pears do not succeed in the plains. 
In Kulu, in the Kangra Valley, the success in fruit 
culture has been such that it is anticipated that Kulu 
Valley and the adjacent district will become a great 
fruit producing country. As regards vegetables, it is con- 
sidered preferable to import seed each year from Europe 
rather than trust to Indian grown seed, but this remark 
apparently does not apply to peas, the "acclimated" 
seeds of which give a greater yield than the imported 
seed. Over 28,000 plants were sent out to various dis- 
tricts in the province, especially to places along the 
Indus Valley Railway. Mr. Edgar Spooner is the 
Superintendent of the Society's Garden. — Gardiner* 
Chronicle. 
The Phylloxera Congress at Bordeaux. — " A very 
slight study," says the writer in the Saturday Review, 
" of the conditions of vine culture in the more valuable 
vineyards is sufficient to reveal the fact that the growth 
of what may be termed high-bred vines is a singularly 
artificial matter, the conditions of which are most deli- 
cately balanced. One of the greatest difficulties of vine 
growing is to determine the particular kind out of the 
immense number known which is suited to the soil and 
physical conditions of a particular locality, and it is not 
unusual to find in the same vineyard a vine which bears 
abundantly on one side of a road, unproductive and all 
but sterile on the other. Quite apart from the phylloxera, 
much money has been lost by planting vines without 
jn-eviously ascertaining the kinds which are likely to 
succeed." It is not to be wondered that in making choice 
of the remedies to be applied, the cultivator should 
wish to do anything rather than interfere with the vines 
themselves when their produce is a valuable wine. The 
T he culture of the vine is possible even in presence of 
the phylloxera where the soil is of a sandy character, 
and this may lead to the extension of the cultivation 
in the Landes. The American vines are but little afiected 
by the phylloxera, that is to say, they have greater 
powers of resistance than the European vines, and hence 
their value as stocks whereon to engraft the finer kinds. 
The produce of American vines excites dismay in the 
minds of those who have tasted it, else it might seem 
feasible to raise hybrids between the American and the 
European grapes, which should possess the resisting 
powers of the former. The probable or certain dete- 
rioration of the flavour would be of the less consequence, 
inasmuch as the great loss at present is not in the J 
higher class wines — the luxuries of the wealthy — but in 
the vin du pays of the peasantry, in which the question 
of flavour is not so important. Besides, in course of 
time, by repeated experiments, the evil flavour might be 
eliminated. All this, however, reqirires lengthened trine, 
wliile immediate action is requisite to save the vines, 
for, as the writer we have already cited remarks : — " The • 
vines of Europe have been the insensible growth of • 
centuries of development ; they are as much products of 
art as a violin. American vines in the nature of things 
are nearer to their uncivilized state, and one might as 
well place a tom-tom in the hands of a Joachim as offer 
American vines to the wine-growers of the Medoc 
to replace those they now cultivate." — Ganlem-rs' 
Chronicle. 
