8oo 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March i, 1882. 
The Sweet Potato. — Specimens of this (obtained in 
Convent-garden) seem to be very much more watery and 
soft than those we have had in America. It is strange 
our American friends do not send some mealy and good 
samples of it, for it is an excellent vegetable in its best 
state properly cooked. We believe it is only in the 
warmer soils in the States, where it is in its best con- 
dition as regards texture, but know very little of the 
vegetable which cannot be successfully grown in our own 
country.— Ex. — Field. 
A new Sandal-wood. — M. Pierre describes in the Bul- 
letin de la Societe Linneenne de Paris, 1881, p. 290, 
two species of Sandal-wood growing in Cochin-China, 
and forming large trees, the timber of which is used 
for ornamental uses, while the oil derived from it is 
used for medicinal purposes. When rubbed or burnt it 
emits an odour of Sandal-wood, on which account it is 
employed as incense in the temples. The two species 
are called respectively Epicharis Loureiri and E. Bailloni. 
— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Fruit in Colombo: Mangosteens and Rambutans. — 
A correspondent gives the following hints for the growth 
of these fruit-trees : — " I send 4 mangosteens and 5 
rambutan plants. You ought to have holes of about 24 
inches diameter and 6 or 8 inches deep for them, at 
about 18 or 20 feet apart. Cattle manure is the best 
you can give them. I need not tell you that you ought 
to keep the plants covered during sunny weather and 
during the heat of the day only. They are both slow- 
growing plants ; more especially the former, but after the 
third or fourth year, when they are, or rather will be, 
about a foot and a half high, they get on rapidly. I 
suspect that the growth in Colombo will be even slower 
than it is here (Kalutara). 
Cultivation of Useful Plants in Costa Rica. — In a 
report from San Jose, Costa Rica, it is stated that be- 
sides Coffee, which will always be the principal article 
of export from the country in consequence of the soil 
being so well suited for its cultivation, Beans, Com, Rice, 
Sugar, and Cocoa are also grown for home consumption 
and but for the costly conveyance to the port would be 
more largely cultivated for export. The only new f eatures 
to be observed under this head is the cultivation on 
the coast of Bananas and Cocoa-nuts on each side of 
the railway between the river Sucio and Limon which 
in time promise to be articles of considerable export, 
the want of a railroad hitherto for conveying the fruits 
to Limon having to a large extent prevented then- cul- 
tivation. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Wynaad and its Goldmines. — Devalah, Feb. 6th — 
Since my last communication, I have gathered some in- 
foimation respecting certain Mining Companies here, 
which may not be uninteresting. It is apparent that, 
wben crushing dees begin, it will be continued steadily, 
and by more than one Company. The South East 
Wynaad, Company will soon commence the work of 
getting out the gold. Some trial crushings were, I 
believe, made at Richmond the other day, by Mr. 
Cooper. One hundred and eighty-two tons of quartz 
were crushed, and the yield is said to have been an 
ounce, of gold per ton. This Company is about erect- 
ing a second mil), which speaks well, as Mr. Cooper 
would not surely have incurred the expense of this 
additional machinery, unless he hud some very tangible 
reason for doing so. The " Phoenix " is attracting 
more than ordinary attention. The Australian ma- 
chinery and mill, which Mr. D. Grove has imported, 
in now being erected, and is generally admitted to 
be the best in the Wynaad. The " Phoenix " will 
employ water (of which there is an abundance), as 
the motive power. Of quartz, the shareholders of this 
Company need have no fear, as there is no limit to 
it, arid the character of the stone is considered very 
good. Mr. Grove appears sanguine of success, which 
u encouraging.— Madras Mail, Feb. 9th. 
Harvesting Cinchona Bark.— Au experienced 
cinnamon planter writes hire rubbing cinchona bark to 
facilitate peeling : — " Among the instruments that go 
to the outfit of every cinnamon pneler is a stick about 
six inches long, and one inoh more or less in diameter, 
of the hardest wood he can obtain. This is used for 
rubbing the cinnamon sticks, to free the bark from 
the wood, as only the finest sticks, cut iu the nick of 
the time, can be peeled without rubbing more or less." 
South Wynaad, 29th Jan — I have been listening 
to some spirited discussions lately on the subject of 
pruning. The good old school, we know, recommends 
the use of the knife with great severity at this time 
of the year. " (Jutting up his Tote into hat pBgs" 
was th* expression used as descriptive of the system 
in all its ancient rigour. Later experience teaches some 
of us that severe pruning is a mistake, that the trees 
are shaken by it, and weakened rather than strengthened 
by the immediate and entire cutting off of all the 
old wood from which crop has lately been removed. 
Indeed, enthusiastic disciples of the new school eschew 
the knife altogether. Leave on all the wood they cry. ; 
don't worry the trees just when they most need reet ; 
wait till the monsoon, and let all handling out be 
done then at once— done with sufficiency and withoutthe 
exaggeration or' the hat peg system. In thinking the 
matter over, it seems that the new theory is a sens- 
ible one. Several planters are trying it ; whether with 
good or bad results we must wait for the future 
to shew us. The cry, in re miners, is: "Still they 
come." What with miners and railways, and telegraphs, 
a new era is downing for Wynaad. I know the 
European influx is already raising bazaar prices ; and, 
before long, we must have domestics kidnapped, for 
at present they are as hard to catch and to keep as 
eels. They regard the unsophisticated miner as lawful 
and undisputable prey, and they scorn the very idea of 
going into the service of old residents, who, (as a 
cook naively remarked to me) "know too much, there- 
fore poor man nothing can make in their service." Any 
decent servant could get almost instant employment 
at high wages in Wynaad now a days, — Madras Mail. 
Jamaica. — We have received from Mr. D. Morris, 
the well-known Director of the Botanic Gardens in 
Jamaica, a valuable contribution to the controversy 
respecting the labour question in Jamaica- Mr. Mor- 
ris, who is one of the largest employers of labour 
in the Blue Mountain district of Jamaica, and whose 
opinion is the more valuable having regard to his 
experience in Ceylon, says that, compared with India 
and Ceylon, there is practically no labour difficulty 
with regard to coffee and cinchona cultivation, and 
that with au increase in population during the last 
ten years equal in proportion to that of tbe United 
Kingdom, the labour difficulty is likely to be felt 
less year by year. Mr. Morris has no object to serve 
in describing things otherwise than as he finds them. 
The truth about Jamaica will gradually make itself 
known amid the conflicting statements which her 
friends and her detractors make concerning her. 
All that the colony wants is a fair field and no 
favour. It is no use to try and shirk difficulties; 
but at the same time the advantages of the colony 
ought to be better known than they are. If a num- 
ber of energetic and practical men with capital could 
be induced to take up their residence in the island, 
and do for it, under its present condition, what the 
old planting aristocracy did under its former cir- 
cumstances, the colony would soon emerge from its 
present backward condition. Even the climate is not 
generally understood. In the hills life is most en- 
joyable, and the climate most salubrious. During tbe 
last two years only two cases of yellow fever have 
occurred in the island, and those were among sailors 
at Kingston Harbour. This simple fact should remove 
a thick cloud of misaxmreheneion. — Colonies and India. 
