March i, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
773 
British Honduras.— Every endeavour is to bn made 
to foster the fruit trade between Belize and New | 
Orleans. The planters are constantly adding to the 
area under fruit cultivation, and the trade promises 
eventually to assume immense proportions. For want 
of roads, the mahagony trade is coming into stand- 
still, though there are inexhaustible supplies of it in 
the forests of the interior.— Colonies and India. 
Agricultural and Horticultural Society to 
Inuia.— Tea Cultivation in the Andamans.— Read 
a letter from Major Protheroe, 0. I. E. , Officiating 
Commissioner of the Andamans, of which the follow- 
ing is an extract : — 
"You will be glad to hear that the tea experiment in 
Purl, Blair, begun a lew years ago, has so far been suc- 
cessful, and that the hybrid variety of tea, the seed of 
which was supplied by you from, I think, Assam, nour- 
ishes in these islands, Hushes well, and the tea prepared 
from it has been highly valued by experts. The China 
and Assam varieties of tea have not, however, succeeded 
so well as the hybrid." 
Oui: LABOR supply upcountry is, in many cases, 
embarassingly deficient even on estates which have 
never been behind in the payment of wages. Instead 
of from 1 ()(),( )()() to 200,000 immigrants, as in former 
years, the arrivals in 1881 were only 53,000 and the 
departures exceeded this figure by 10,000. This is a 
sad and significant sign of the times, but, as there 
is "a tide in the affairs of men," so there must be 
ebb as well as flow. Even now we look lor the 
"good time ooming" for employers of coolies as well 
as coolies themselves. 
Tub Hyhkil) Cinchonas on the Nilgiris. — 
A correspondent writes :— " Colonel Beddome has | 
changed his opinion regarding these hybrids so often 
that 1 cannot place much reliance on what he writes. I 
am able to deny emphatically that Mr. Cross found either 
of what we call hybrids in the original planting of 
1862. True there are a few there in 18(i2's planting now, 
but they were in the nursery in 1S70. Mr. Mclvor's 
report lor 1S75 first mentions these trees and it is not 
likely that, if Mr. Cross introduced one or both of 
them in 1861, they would have passed unnoticed for 
14 years. All the analyses up to date shew that, what 
we call Pubescens, is equal to, if not . better than, Offic- 
inalis, and the growth, — therefore the weight of bark, — 
is infinitely superior even ou grass had."— Madras Mail. 
Mr, 11. C. Bury, a well-known Uva pioneer 
after^a short 'vi-it^to the Central Province. Mr! I 
Bury is on the whole well pleased with the appearance 
ami prospects of coffee in the premier district. He 
is delighted with cinchona cultivation more especially ] 
at an elevation of 5,000 feet and upwards. The one i 
great drawback is transport, aud if it had not been 
tor the absolute necessity to the Government them- 
selves now, of extending the Nanuoya line to 
Haputale, he and other proprietors would devote 
a'l their energy to tho promotion of a low-country 
dambantoti hue with a curing establishment 
at that port. Such a railway, tho Government, ot 
course, will not now allow, and we have pointed out 
to Air. Bury, advantages in direct communication 
with Colombo, even though the line only sti>rt fioin i 
the tip el the I'h.-s. 'I'll" over-hill line will certainly 
lie a lirst-i'la^M Work at the money allowed and once 
made, no Hood or landslip noed oe feared such as 
have been experienced all round the Uva lowoonntry 
on the llalpe, Hambantota and B.ttie.doa roads dur- 
ing the bant of the north-east monsoon. If o>>ly 
the "twenty live mi lei' M-etion " were commenced to 
sittlu nil ilotibts ! Mr. Bury HiieeeH-lullv experimented 
uitli ■ Ikwormi lome ten vesn ago hi Hapntale^and 
i jut hereafter r.f.r to his experience in this 
im.m.tiy to eiunaragf lu» successors of tho present day. 
The Erythroxylon Coca. — The Madras Museum 
is in receipt of some samples of this plant, which is a 
native of Peru and Equatorial America. The leaves 
possess very powerful stimulating and sustaining 
properties, and are eaten for this purpose by mountain- 
eers in the localities where the plant grows. It use 
enables them to carry heavy burdens, and the leaf has 
also tho property of assuaging hunger. Its is now 
being introduced on the Continent of Europe, where 
the leaves are used as the ganja leaves are used in 
India. — Madras Mail. 
Shevaroy, Jan. 27th. — The crop, which is very late 
this season, is now being despatched to the coast. The 
quality on the whole appears to be good, increased 
attention being paid to the washing of the coffee — a 
defect pointed out by the jurors of the Sydney Ex- 
hibition as applicable to all Indian coffee. The quant- 
ity as anticipated is lamentably small, falling in many 
cases far below estimates, and in all below the average 
Trees are, however, in good heart, and estates have 
never looked so well as they do at the present moment. 
Eight rupees per bushel of dry parchment, delivered 
in Yercaud, has been accepted for a small parcel on 
Pondicherry account. — Madras Times. 
White-ants and Living Trees. — Most books on 
gardening state that wh'te-ants will not eat anything 
that has life in it. The Forest Report of the Punjab, 
however, states that, during last year, two of the 
Eucalyptus trees at Changa Manga, some 60 feet high, 
were blown down ; when it was found that white- 
ants had eaten up the greater part of the support- 
ing roots. The Conservator fenrs that dnmage of this 
kind will seriously interfere with the raising of. 
Eucalyptus on a large scule. The report does not show, 
however, whether it was quite certain that the roots 
had not dried up and become dead before the tree* 
fell down ? — Pioneer. 
The Coffee Crop in Southern India. — The cof- 
fee crop is expected to be late this year. The 
late spring rains brought the blossoms out a little 
after time, and the dry weather generally that suc- 
ceeded did not contribute to develope the berry. 
In some localities it is abnormally small, but the 
beau shows compact and firm. The crop will prob- 
ably be characterized as light and small. Most 
estates are short, aud even this limited outturn 
was menaced during the year. If prices rise, work- 
ing expenses may be recovered; if not, the outturn 
will leave many of the estates with an increasing 
debit balance. The gold industry has thrown coffee 
back considerably, but beyond a temporary depression, 
this product will assert its superiority and re- 
munerative character before long. — Indian Agriculturist. 
Scorpion Sting. — When cases of scorpion-sting were 
brought to me, I used to follow the old plan of treat- 
ment, viz., incision of the part stung, touching the 
part with Liquor Ammonite, and then the application 
of a paste of Ammouioe Carbonas and Ipecac to the 
same part. After reading in your paper the different 
reports of Liquor Potassir- as an antidote to snake 
poison, 1 gave the Liquor PotABSOB a trial in scorpion- 
sting, aud tho results were so good, that I now gjye 
all my cases the benefit of the latter treatment. I 
iuvanably give internally SO drops of Liq. Potass, and 
touch the part with Liq. Potass. Both the Ammonia 
aud Potash plans of treatment wen successful. I rind, 
however, the Potash superior. The Liq. Potaeece when 
applied, gives less pain, and the pati. at is almost im- 
mediatel) relieved of the agonizing pain of the iting 
I may mention that I uave some Potass to a M>. 
ionarV Priest* as vry often cases are brought to him. 
He had one soveie ca*o. thai of a boy. When firHt 
«e i the boy was l ad, he was given the benefit of 
ti e Liquor PotaSftOl plan of treatment, anil the n i. i 
MM imuieiiute. — " K. A. J." in Madrus MM 
