992 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[May r, 1882. 
plants are often offered for sale in thfl streets and 
before the Grand Hotel of Panama, where passengers ob- 
tain them at from three to five dollars the dozen of 
bulbs in flower. They flower in July, August and 
September. Though the Espiritu Santo plant belongs 
to the terrestrial orchids its bulbs should never be 
covered with earihasis generally done They should 
be put in pots when they begin to grow, and though 
they require a stronger compost than those that adhere 
to trees, do not need so much drainage as the latter. 
The Espiritu Santo is best grown in pots with fibrous 
loam, leaf mould, and sandy peat, with a good quant ty 
of water during their period of growth after which 
they must have a good season of rest, and kept 
nearly dry at the roots; if allowed to get wet during 
their rest they are apt to rot. In the hothouses in 
Europe this plant continues blooming for two mouths 
when the flower spikes are strong. In Chiriqui the 
species there called by the same nams is a Oyonoches 
having no resemblance at all to the Espiritu Santo 
plant of Panama, and is an epiphyte growing on 
trees, and so named from the flowers taking the form 
of a swan. There exists on the Isthmus a variety 
of the Espiritu Santo with yellow flower, and the dove 
a fawn colour. — Journal of Applied Seience. — [In Ceylon 
the Pigeon plant is common, cultivated on the steins of 
coconut palms or other garden trees.— Ed. T. A.] 
TWO "NEW PRODUCTS" DISTRICTS IN CEYLON. 
Some information regarding two districts in which 
new products are being cultivated with undoubted 
success ; one of them being au old district rejur- 
venated with new products: and the oilier entirely 
new, being cultivated with Liberwn coffee and tea, 
with a little rubber here and there. The first of 
these, namely the disirict of Matale gives promise 
of as good results as any other part of the island ; 
and all who have witnessed the cocoa and Liberian 
coffee which are the principal products there cultiv- 
ated, agree in opinion that these could be nothing 
finer than is to be seen there. How it comes to puss 
that estates that have for years refused to yield 
profitable returns in the " Arabica" variety of coffee, 
are doing so remarkably well in other products if, 
a matter with which we do not intend to deal ; our 
sole object at present being to set forth the progress 
made in these new industries, and what is likely 
to be obtained from them. Although we have said 
that the old-fasliioued coffee Arabica has not been 
answe itig expectations of late years, much of it is 
undoubtedly at the present time promising remark- 
ably well, and in a number of instances will give 
larger crops than most of the estates in the new 
districts. The estate to which attention is particularly 
directed is situated about three miles from Matale, 
in a north-easterly direction. For a year or two the 
old coffee on this estate suffered terribly from the 
inroads of hemeleia, and most proprietors would have 
lost heart by successive failures of crop, and probably 
have abandoned the estate, or at any rate ceased to 
to have any care for it But not 60 the stout- 
hearted proprietor who has never lost faith in the 
ultimate results of careful and systematic cultivation : 
not the cultivation which means simply pouring in 
cart-loads of manure, but the cultivation which is 
directed to mortal combat witli hemileia, and this 
object has nrVer been lo t sight of on the property 
ckntly, and the result, after an iuterval of lime, is 
quite sufficient to encourage the proprietor to per- 
severe in his efforts. Every one who has visited this 
property admits that the coli'ce looks as well as coffee 
can look ; and that if vigorous vitality can fight 
disease, these trees h re are bound to do it. 
But it is to the new products such as cocoa and 
Liberian coffee to which attention is more particularly 
drawn. On passing through this estate one might 
well imagine on looking at the splendid cocoa trees 
now bursting into fruit, that they hive been planted 
in virgin soil. The red ripe fruit on the Liberian 
coffee have a cheerful, pleasant look, and assures us 
that there is something good in store, and one only 
regrets that something of all this was not done a 
dozen yoar3ag) instead of so recently. This, it must 
be remembered, is in a district not over-favored with 
rain, and in that respect very much the reverse of 
the conditions to which new products in low-country 
districts are cultivated. 
One of the newest opened, and certainly one of the 
most flourishing of the lowcountry districts is that 
of Kalutara, where, although the first Liberian coffee 
estate was opened three or four years ago, yet the 
district itself is comparatively of rpcent date, and 
much of the land is still being opened and planted. 
The only product which does not seem to have 
thriven, in this district is cocoa, which has hitherto 
been a failure. Opinions are somewhat divided as to 
whether this is owing to too much wind or an in- 
sufficient depth of soil, but its non-success is a fact 
all the same. The first estate on entering the district 
is that of Putupaulla, now a thriving Liberian coffee 
estate, almost in full beiring, and shewing a crop 
on the trees that is refreshing to look upon. There 
is no sign distinguishable of hanging back or refusing 
to ripen, as asserted by some writers ; and those who 
are interested in the property declare they are well 
satisfied with the result of the venture. Perhaps we 
can mention no more certain indication of confidence 
in new product'-* in this district, than the action of 
one of the latest pioneers, — one of the contractors 
for the Kawalapitiya and Kalutara Railway lines, 
who has purchased four or five hundred acres in 
this part of the country, and intends to open the 
whole of it out for Liberian coffee and tea, as being 
the most promising products for lowcountry cultivation. 
Nothing could possibly surpass the appearance of 
the Ceylon Company's tea estate in this district. The 
trees are strong, healthy, and with a magnificeut 
show, of wood and leaf-just what one would desire 
for a good paying tea estate, and there is no doubt 
that the Company is fortunate in possessing this 
property. There are other products cultivated in this 
district, such as cardamoms, rubber, &c, but these 
are at present of small extent. All that this district 
now requires for its development is a good road, 
.which shall open up the bulk of the estates, and 
connect them with the 'docks of Crown land situated 
beyond them, in an easterly direction, where a large 
extent of fine forest is available. By the end of January 
the road being completed, a visit to these proper- 
ties will form a pleasant excursion from Colombo, and 
we can imagine no more attractive objects than the 
number of new products in high cultivation and yield, 
which most of these will shew next year. — C. limes. 
Phylloxera. — According to the Queenslander, a 
remedy for phylloxera is claimed to have been dis- 
covered by a Mr. D. M. Johnson, of Pelham Manor, 
New York, who states that he finds crude petroleum 
an excellent destroyer of the insect. He makes mime ous 
holes in the ground with a sharp-poiined stick all 
about the vines, and into each pours about one ounce 
of the oil, which soaks into the soil and destroys 
the insects on the roots of the vine. Mr. Johnson 
intends to claim the reward offered by the Erench 
Government for a practical phylloxera destroyer. — 
Australasian. 
