June i, 1882.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
1031 
alarming activity; but it was the blundering activity 
of ignorance. Having had little need to inquire into 
the physiology of the plant, or the relations subsisting 
between the soil and the plant, they adopted measures 
to set things right which outraged both, and only 
made tilings worse ; but gradually, by the aid of the 
suggestions of science and a teachable disposition, a 
middle course was hit upon, and restorative process 
were prescribed with an intelligent knowledge of 
the patieuts' requirements. At first the trees 
were overloaded with manure and stilled with 
shelter, and a great deal more was done to them 
than they could well bear. Now they perceive that 
thorough drainage is at tlio foundation of successful 
orango growing; that next to this, tienching to a great 
depth is essential; and thirdly, that manure must bo 
applied— but with discretion. It ie true the trees are 
more tiokle than they were, and die more frequently, 
and the fruit will not keep so long. But growers 
can again count with tolerable certainty upon their 
crop. The disease of the orange was first dis- 
covered in the Azores in 1S36, when it was found 
that the oldest and best trees, as much as 200 and 300 
years old, and producing each 0,000 to 20,000 oranges, 
were disappearing. It was observed that all the trees 
affected produced a very heavy crop the very year 
that the disease manifested itself, that the leaves be- 
came yellow and fell off in great quantities, and on 
the trunks or stems near, and sometimes beneath the 
ground, the bark opened, and drops of a kind of yellow 
gum exuded. The drops resembled tears (lugriman, in 
Portuguese), and therefore the disease was named 
lagrinia. Many orangeries were quite destroyed, and 
a remedy was eagerly sought. Opinions as to the 
cause of the disease were much divided Many thought 
it must be that the orange tree had a limited period 
of existence, and this being reached, the tree must 
thus naturally decay. As we then only propagated 
trees by layers, this explanation was not thought too 
unreasonable, but afterwards it was found that sc d- 
lings were attacked in the same way. Then it was 
found that superabundance of moisture in the soil was 
one of the worst conditions for the disease. Soon 
it was discovered that the destruction of the diseased 
bark and wood in the stem of the tree was the best 
method to save it. From February till August a skilled 
horticulturist visits every tree, and at the slightest 
sign of exudation of gum he cuts the bark across, 
to allow i' to run out. If the disease is in an ad- 
vanced state, the bark and the whole of the diseased 
wood is cut out, the roots being bared to a distance 
of a foot or two feet from the stem, every portion 
of diseased root being cut away. By this means 
the tree is cured if the disease is found at an early 
stage ; if not, it is dug out, and a fresh tree put in 
from a reserve which is always kept for such con- 
tingencies. Although the diseaso still continues, the 
gardens now look very prosperous, for the remedy 
M known So we are returning to the old 
traditional culture. We are clearing the shelters, 
pruning the interior of the trees for the admission of 
air ana light, are les* liberal with manure, and keep 
the ground free of weeds, except when we want to 
excite vegetation. have abandoned propagation 
by layers, and graft good chosen kinds upon seedling 
stocks. For shelter wo prefer tries with their foliage, 
and take caro not to let them grow too high. — From 
th Raaff Oriorei Herald. 
tiik tobacco ok uckma. 
A Rangoon paper auticip ites that, und i the | rut 
conditions of tobacco-growing, the supply of Burma 
ohcroota will soon fail altogether : — 
For a good many years past cheroots iiianufuctiiicd 
in this province have boon hold in very high estim- 
ation by a large class of smokers ; and at the present 
more so numerous are the lovers of good Burma 
cheroots, that it is not easy for Europeans here to 
purchase them, the demand for exportation being so 
great. During the past ten years , f .be cost per hund- 
red of Burma cheroots has increased cent per cent, 
and it is not by any means an easy task to g«t cheroots 
at one rupee eight annas a hundred, so gcod as those 
which ten years ago could be purchased at twelve 
annas a hundred. Increased demand has, no doubt 
very much to do with this enchautment of cost ; but 
one have grave doubts as to whether it is entirely to 
blame. The population of the province has steadily 
increased, and it would p;iy to manufacture and 
sell cheroots ut twelve annas a hundred ten years ago, 
one would thinl; that it would pay when the product 
of such manufacture fetched double or more than doubts 
that sum. it may be that the greaq. anil rapid rise 
in the selling price in the local market of paddy had 
something to do in the cheroot manufacture. The 
cultivation of paddy being so easy, and under the 
liighly-eiihanced rates so profitable, cultivators left 
every other article of produce along in favour of 
paddy. But the cultivation of tobacco might be made 
highly profitable if some one could only be got to 
take the matter in ham 1 . The Government have tried 
it, and failed, for reasons into which we do not here 
intend to cuter. The facts remain that good tobacco 
will grow in Burma, that the demand foi good Burma 
cheroots is increasing, and that the supply das already 
fallen short of the demand. Not only has the uupply 
fallen short, but it bids fair to go on in the same 
direction until Burmas are as high in price as man- 
illas, or any other favourite brand. Bad as this might 
be for smokers who like Burma cheroots, it might 
be good lor the province generally, if even certain 
that men could be found to pay a high price for 
them. The Burma cheroot has not a prepossessing 
appearance. It looks a very plebeian affair along- 
side a member of the Manilla or Havannah brands. 
And the habit of smoking Burma cheroots, and get- 
ting to prefer them to anything else, is an acquired 
one, in proof of which if may be stated that the 
chief consumers of the present day are those who 
have either lived for some time in Burma, or who 
have had friends here who furnished them with regular 
supplies, whereby they got to like them. It would 
seem desirable, then, that the supply should be kept 
up, and the question is how can this best be done? 
The Government should do all in their power to 
promote and encourage private enterprise. The capit- 
alist coming to Burma is confronted by two very 
formidable difficulties, namely, these connected with 
the tenure of land, and with labour, and both these 
difficulties it is within the power of the Government 
to reduce to a minimum. As matters stand just now, 
there is, we are glad to notico, a desire on the part 
of the Government to exercise liberality in the matter 
of making giants of land ; and, perhaps, if this were 
made known more widely than it is at present, it 
might have the effect of attracting capital, but the 
labour question, as we have often poiuted out, is 
under existing circumstances practically insurmount- 
able. The petted eooly is virtually muster of the 
situation. The law is all in his favour. He may leave 
the estate on which he may be nnployed tonight; 
and by the timo the court opens tomorrow, he may 
be miles beyond its jurisdiction. Besides ; what i* the 
use of paying ten rupees costs and waste two or three 
valuable days in getting a d.euc against ■ man whose 
estate, real and personal, amounts to littlo more than 
a waist cloth, which no p i sou « i h any regard for 
oleanlineu would touch with his w ■ iking - tick, a 
Contract Act, such as is bu . _o«ted her.-, would cert- 
ainly in one sense involve an infringement of th liberty 
of the subject; but it may well MiqneatiODed whether 
