April i, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
867 
them at reguh 
to be suppliei 
there is a so: 
cabbage, green 
provided. The 
about an inch 
th.-y can roll t 
ness affecting < 
troubled with 
may be prever. 
food, and an 
utter, doses 
,nd 
aloe pill givon 
st. The food 
that for the 
ball, or administered in milk, w 
two hours after the first dose, 
for young birds is somewhat sii 
old ones, only it should be cut up very short. The 
birds generally lay from ton to .sixteen eggs, and the 
period of sitting is generally forty-two days.. It is 
hardly necessary to say that the less they are dis- 
turbed during that period the butler. The older they 
get 'the more reconciled they become, and sometimes 
they will continue breeding for a long period — per- 
haps for twenty years. — Colonies and India. 
AMERICAN CULTURAL HINTS. 
TI10 name of Peter Henderson, the American 
nurseryman, will soon b; as well known in this 
country as in his own. Mr. Henderson's farm raised 
last season nearly half a million cabbage and lettuce 
plants, which they sold at £1 a thousmd. 
•'They sowed the seed in February (winter) on 
one of their greenhouse benches, so thick that they 
stood 20 plants to the square inch. These thoy began 
to prick out in hotbeds just as the first rough leaf 
appeared, placing 1,000 in a 3 ft, x 6 ft. sash. The 
handling of that quantity was a big job, but. Mr. 
Henderson doubts if one plant in a thousand failed, 
owing, he thinks, to a plan used in preparing 
the bed on the greenhouse bench for tho seeds — a 
plan that is well worthy of imitation in preparing 
a bed for seeds that have to bo transplanted of auy 
kind, whether outside or under glass. He used only 
2 in. in depth of the soil for the seed bed, which 
was made up as follows : — The first layer, of about 
1 in., was a good friable loam, run through a ^ in. 
sieve. This was patted down with a spade, and 
made perfectly level and moderately firm. On this 
was spread about J in. of sphagnum (moss from the 
swamps), which hud bcon dried and run through a 
sieve nearly a3 fine as mosquito wire, so that it was 
of tho condition of fine sawdust. On tho top of the 
moss the ordinary soil was again strewn to a depth 
Of $ in. This being levelled, the seed was sown very 
thickly, mid then pressed into tho soil with a smooth 
bonrd. On this tho lino moss was again sifted, 
thick enough to cover the seed only. The bed was 
theu freely watered with a lino rose, and in a week 
•very seed that had life in it was a plant. When 
the flood of most plants gormiunte, whore thoy are 
quickly sown, the stem strikes down into tho soil, 
tho roots forming a tap-root with few fibres unless 
arrested by something. Hero oomcs the valno of tho 
one-fourth of an inch of eif tod moss placod three- 
quarters of an inch from the top. As soon as the 
rootlets touch tho moss they ramify in all directions, 
80 that when a bunch of seedlings is lifted up and 
pulled apart, thero is a mass of rootlets, to which 
the moss more or loss adheres, a* Inched to each. 
To tho practical gardener, tho advantage of this is 
obvious ; tho tiny seeding hns at once a mass of 
rootlets ready to work, which strike into tho soil 
at onoo. Tho advantage of tho moss covering of tho 
seed is not so apparent in tho matter of a free 
terminating seed, such as cabbage, as in many others, 
lopsis Veilc 
The reason 
never bikes 
of moisture. 
but in many families of plants it is of the greatest 
value. For example, Mr. Henderson, last November, 
took two lots of 10,000 seeds of Centaurea candi- 
dissima ; both were sown on tho same day, and 
exactly in the same manner, in boxes of soil 2 in. 
deep, but the ono lot was covered with the sifted 
moss and the other with fine soil. From the moss- 
covered lot were got over 9,000 fine plants, while 
from that covered by soil there were only about 
3,000. The same results were shown in a largo lot 
of seeds of the now famous climbing plant Ampe- 
i, and in the finer varieties of clematis, 
s plain ; tho thin layer of sil ted moss 
or hardens, holding just the right degree 
and has le-s tendency to generate damp 
or fungus than any other known substance." 
Wc have thought it desirable to quote this fully 
because it contains such an admirable lesson for 
amateurs, who compliin of their want of success in 
raising seeds and in transplanting. The preparation 
of the seed bed, the sowing and subsequent treat- 
ment are all items of the greatest momeut. Where 
moss is not obtainable, rotted stable litter rendered 
dry enough to pass through a sieve in the manner 
described may he employed as a substitute ; or where 
coconut fibre can be got, that would answer the pur- 
pose even better. Mr. Henderson's operations embrace 
the culture of nearly every known family of plants, 
and he says that in his long experience he has yet 
to see a fruit, flower, or vegetable crop that has 
not benefited, and nearly in the same degree, by 
a judicious application of bouedust. Our American 
friends are great in strawberry growiug. The Agri- 
culturist gives an account of several new varieties, 
but speaks most approvingly of "The Manchester" 
as being highly prolific, and, on account of its having 
been raised in a poor sandy soil, more desirable 
than seedlings raised under opposite conditions. Oliver 
Goldsmith and Seneca Queen also came out with 
good characters, but some others that arc mentioned 
are "too soft for market fruit." — Australasian. 
CULTIVATION OF THE PINE APPLE. 
The cultivation of this valuable fruit, for which 
there is a gradually increasing demand in the markets 
of the United States and elsewhere, Is a rapidly-pro- 
gressing industry, and one which cannot fail to return 
considerable profit to the producers, if proper care be 
taken in the selection of suitable tracts of laud, and 
a careful routine of culture be adopted. The soil 
adaptod for this industry is one which is best described 
as a gravelly loam, neither too much clay nor too 
much gravel, the first of which would render the 
ground wet, tho latter too dry : an intermediate one 
botweeu tho two is therefore desirable, and its value 
will be greatly enhanced if it contains plenty of decay- 
ing fibrous material. Tho pasturo land at present in 
"ruinate" on the Liguauca Plaius offers a most suit- 
ablo soil, and one which is also to bo highly recom- 
mended on account of its proximity to tho largest 
soaport of the Island. Commencing tho cultivation 
with a picco of ruinate, tho first work is to cut all 
bush, &c, and, if possible, havo it removed from 
the ground without burning, as by burning tho grass 
and weeds which aro on tho surface of the land will 
bo destroyed, and wo shall see that this is required 
in our method of cultivation. Having laid oil' tho land 
in straight lines by placing stakes lour feet apart at 
tho ouds and straining lines botweeu them, wo com- 
mence aud huooiFall grass aud weed.-", arm nging them 
in the centre between tho first two hues, thus form- 
ing a ridge. After two rows aro thus formed wo 
commence with pick aud shovel and looseu thogrouud 
to the depth of mx inches in tho centre bp.tco between 
