786 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[March i, 1882. 
useful, even by European practitioners iu Brazil, in 
affections of the liver, jaundice, and dropsy. They have 
also been found valuable as auxiliary remedies in rnen- 
straal disturbances and in scrofulous affections. 
The ordinary dose for a male adult is two seeds, which 
ma/ be increased to three, or even more with caution. 
They are best administered in form of emulsion, or 
combined with starch or sugar, and mild aromatic^ 
whereby their effect is rendered less harsh, and the tend- 
sncy to vomiting which sometimes occurs, is diminished. 
The oil of the seeds is also used as a purgative, but 
it is much less effective than the seeds themselves ; an 
ordinary dose is about 40 drops. It is also used for 
bimmig in lamps, and has the peculiar property of 
being a very rapidly drying oil, for which reason it is 
much sought after by painters and artists. The shell 
of the fruit is astringent, and is sometimes used for 
stupefying fish. After being roasted it is held to be a 
sovereign remedy in diarrhoea brought on by cold and 
exposure. 
Dr. Jorves,* of Rio de Janeiro, obtained very satis- 
factory results with the oil, in 1860, having used it in 
a case of cirrhosis with dropsy, in the dose of two tea- 
spoonfuls in a cup of coffee. Dr. Fazenda also obtained 
very good results. 
SUGAR-PLANTING IN THE MALAYAN 
PENINSULA. 
A few particulars as to the administration of a sugar 
estate in Province Wellesley. The one consisted of 695£ 
orlongs (an orlong being equivalent to 24.0 ft. square, or 
1J acres), and 523 J orlongs were then under cultivation. 
This area was divided in forty-nine fields, all of which 
were divided and surrounded by a continuous series of 
narrow canals, along which punts conveyed the canes 
from the fields to the mill, brought firewood for the 
furnace, carried manure to the young plants, and sugar 
and rum to the landing place for shipment to Penang 
in transit to England. The rum, however, requires no 
punt, the puncheons floating and being pushed through 
the water by wading coolies. Drains traverse the fields 
longitudinally; and when unproductive, cultivation is 
frequently suspended in some fields, and these in a few 
years become covered with juugle, but they are often 
cleared and tried again. I found that the cost of one 
year's working of this estate was calculated in dollars 
and cents as follows: — Salaries, &c, $2,593-19; wages, 
$21,525-15; manure, $8,317-25; firewood, $2,192-58; 
freight, $76-10; brick lime,- $435-18; timber planks, 
$361-45; attaps and attap buildings, $383-68; oil and 
grease, $263-35 ; coppersmith, $290-72 ; tools, $142-40 ; 
small stores, sundries, &o., $395-01— total, $36,276-06. 
1 he Kling is a drudge, who does not object to be 
driven ; the Javanese will know what they are expected 
to do, and have a task set them ; but the Chinaman 
contracts. One with a knowledge of agricultural work, 
a little capital, and some assistance that way from the 
plai er, engages a number of men to work on the estate, 
he paying their w^ages, and receiving a contract price 
for all work done. The prices paid were then, for first 
bunking, $2£ or $3 per orlong; for second banking, $6 ; 
cutting canes, $6 ; weeding, $1 ; breaking banks, $4 ; 
trashing, $1 ; and breaking new land, $10 per orlong. 
They are very industrious, useful, and cheerful, but still 
remain "heathen Chinee" — they will cheat if possible. 
These men use the big toe as an opposable thumb ; 
and where a British carpenter, when planing a small 
piece of wood, would hold it steady, with his hand, these 
men effect the same purpose with the toes. I found 
thai l he wages of these carpenters on the estate avor- 
aged one month, 40, 33* and 25 cents per day. As 
Butters they live in the jungle, and then numbered 
ah il thirty. They split the wood into logB some three 
feci Long, and Stftci it five Chinese feet high, and were 
ilonit, de Id Shsvrm,, 18&1, 20; ' 
paid at the rate of $1 for every Chinese foot in lenght, 
the stack measured. How these men exist in the dreary 
dismal swamp in which their work is carried on, or 
how they resist the malaria, is difficult to imagine. Some 
fall victims to crocodiles, one being taken from his shal- 
low canoe while I stayed there, and the skull of that 
identical crocodile now hangs above me as I write. — Field. 
TROPICAL FRUITS. 
(Field, 17th December, 1881.) 
Amongst the tropical fruits exposed for sale in Lon- 
don, I have often wondered at never having seen that 
prince of fruit, the mango. It is grown extensively in 
the West Indies, but whether it arrives at the same 
perfection there as it does in the East, I know not ; 
but as the fruit, if plucked when it has arrived at matur- 
ity and packed carefully in cotton-wool, will take ten 
days to ripen, I am astonished it is not imported, for 
it would arrive just fit to eat. Col. Hastings Fraser, a 
few years ago, brought some home from Secunderabad, 
a journey of twenty-one days, and they were in such 
perfect order, that he was enabled to present some to 
Her Majesty the Queen. Now, of all the fruits I know, 
I consider none equal to a first-class mango. There 
are, of course, niangdfes and mangoes. There are some 
fifty varieties, and none but those which have been 
grafted are fit for the table. Those from Goa, Malws 
Bombay, and Bangalore are the most esteemed, and 
plants can be procured in any quantity at Bombay, 
and could be easily transported to England and grown 
in a hothouse ; indeed, if I mistake not, I saw in the 
Illustrated London News or some other paper, a fev 
years ago, that a mango tree at Chatsworth, the Duke 
of Devonshire's palatial residence, was then in fruit ; 
but whether it came to perfection, or has borne since, 
I do not know. But I should think it could be easily 
reared in a suitable house, and grafted trees seldom 
exceed 10 ft. to 12 ft. in height. In Burmah and Assam 
the trees are not grafted ; a few are in the latter country, 
but none in the former ; but in both countries the fruit 
is scarcely eatable, owing to a beetle bein^ found 
side almost every mango. Although the Burmese do not 
graft, they improve the fruit by stripping off the great, 
part of the bark, leaving only sufficient to keep the tree 
alive : thus the .sap is retarded, and the mango loses 
that turpentine smell and flavour, which renders the 
ungrafted fruit barely eatable. The latter, too, is very 
stringy, but a graft mango can be scooped out with a 
spoon, and should be destitute of a single fibre. 
Mangoes, like most fruits to be perfect, should 
allowed to ripen on the tree ; but this in India is almost 
impossible, owing to almost every creature, whether two 
or four legged, or winged, preying upon it. Moreover, 
as it arrives at matiu-ity the fruit requires support, as 
from its weight, with the slightest wind, it is very apt 
to fall. Thus very often the best description of fruit 
is supported by tiny openwork bamboo baskets. The 
tree covered over with netting, and watched day 
night ; but it is well worth all the trouble, for, I 
have said, a good mango is certainly the best fruit I 
ever ate. 
Many other Eastern fruits might with advantage be 
introduced into England ; for instance, the custard apple. 
It grows in any soil, and the jungle round Secunderabad | 
is composed almost solely of it. It grows wild ; yet 
when picked ripe off a bush at early dawn it is delici- 
ous. When cultivated it grows to a large size and has 
fewer stones. The very best are obtainable at Bombay. 
It will grow readily from the stones; whether it is ever 
grafted I do not know. 
Another curiosity, and a fruit much talked about, islj 
the Durian. Europeans who have got accustomed to it 
declare there is no fruit like it. I agree with them, but) 
not in their sense; for, whilst they mean it in a com]? 
plimcntaiy sense, I mean just the contrary— for a mor d i 
