1040 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[June i, 1882 
Sulphuh for Potato Disease. — A letter was read 
(at a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society) 
advocating the notion that the disease was due to 
constitutional debility, consequent on mismanagment. 
The treatment recommended was to mix substances, 
such as sulphites, with the soil in which the Potato 
is grown, so as to destroy the fungus germs, aud to 
treat the growing plant with flowers of sulphur for 
the same purpose. — Gardeners' 1 Chronicle. 
Peruvian Bark. — India is rapidly coming into the 
market as a competitor with South America in the 
supply of Peruvian bark. The amount sent to the 
London market in 1879 80 is divided as follows : — 
lb. 
Colombia 6,002,330 
India and Ceylon 1,172,060* 
South America (except Colombia)... 959,030 
Jamaica, about 21,140 
Besides Java, for the Amsterdam market 70,088 
— British Trade Journal. 
Cinchona and Eucalyptus in Mauritius.— The 
superintendent of the Botanical Gardens at Port Louis 
in his past annual report states that 287,000 useful 
trees, shrubs, and plants were propagated in the 
gardens during last year, the greater portion of which 
were either planted on public lands or on the road 
sides, or else sold. The Lieut. -Governor, in placing 
the report before his council, stated that the euclypt is 
and cinchona plantations had been successful ; and 
that it was in contemplation to try an additional 
plantation of the latter at 2.000 feet above sea level, 
this being the lowest, altitude at which it is believed 
the chinchona plant thrives in those latitudes.— 
Colonies and India. 
The Germination of Seeds. — The Lahore paper 
mentions that Professor Tyndall has, by a series of 
experiments, proved that sulphuric acid possesses the 
power of promoting the more speedy germination of 
seeds, or rather fruits, contained in shelly capsules 
— such as nuts, almonds, and fruit stones— in a re- 
markable degree. In India, a difficulty has often been 
experienced in raising fruit trees from imported stones, 
mildew so often setting in before germination takes 
place. If, however, seeds and stones be soaked in a 
solution of the acid they "receive such a germinating 
influence from this tonic" that they shoot in an in- 
credibly short space of time. — Madras Times. 
Liberian Coffee takes longer to ripen than the 
Arabian variety. Last year's crop took thirteen months, 
and this year's will, I expect take eleven, but it does 
ripen, and reaches Colombo in a more satisfactory 
state than coffee Arabica has been doing of late years. 
It is too soon to say that Liberian on good soil 
will not bear 10 cwts. an acre, and putting extravagant 
estimates out of the way, there is no doubt that con- 
fidence in this product is daily increasing both amongst 
Europeans and natives, and I see no reason to doubt 
that large tracts of the lowcount.ry will shortly be 
covered with it — however as hardly a tree in the 
Island has yet attained its full growth, it is premature to 
talk positively one way of the other. — Planter, C. Times. 
Food Consumpton in Australia. — The following are 
the rates of various articles in Australia, showing 
the quantities used per head per annum, the calculation 
being the mean of 1S7S-80 — 
Tea 8-05 lb. 
Coffee, Chocolate aud Cocoa ... 1'09 ,, 
Sugar 82-2 „ 
Bice ... ... 1561 ,, 
Dried Fruit .. 7 TO ,, 
Spirits ... ... 1-43 gall. 
Beer (imported only) 150 ,, 
Compared with the consumption of the same articles 
in the United Kingdom, the difference is striking. 
~ Ceylon _ aIone _ "sent l,0U0,OU0 lb. in 187!) 60 ~~io 
Loudon. — Ed. 
These are — 
Tea 4-66 lb. 
Coffee (alone) .. 0 97 „ 
Sugar ... ... 48 - 55 ,, 
Rice ... 7-05 „ 
Unless Australia turns its attention to growing tea, 
this consumption opens up a fair future for trade with 
India. We do not think Australia will ever do much 
in tea growing, as tne climate is not suitable, except 
perhaps towards the north, and even there the rain- 
fall is deficient. This opinion receives weight from 
the recent success of the tea syndicate in introduc- 
ing tea into Australia, and it is to be hoped that the 
efforts recently made will be followed up by a judicious 
nursing of the new trade.— Produce Markets Review. 
The Western Catalpa. — Doctor John A. Warder 
prepared for the Journal of the "American Agricultural 
Association" a memoir upon the Western Catalpa, 
which paper has been issued in a pamphlet form by 
its author. Some three or four years ago, when the 
discovery was made that there were really two species 
of Catalpa, heretofore regarded as one, we published 
the fact, and also gave the evidence of Mr. E. E. 
Barney, Dayton, O., as to the remarkable durability 
of the wood, and have from time to time given notes 
as to the value of the tree. The present paper brings 
together, in a compact form, the facts that make up 
the history of this tree. The new species is named 
Catalpa speciosa, and differs from the ordinary Catalpa 
bignonioides, in being a taller and straighter tree: its 
larger nearly pure white flowers appear one to three 
weeks earlier; the pods are larger, more cylindrical; 
the seeds also are larger, with the wing broader and 
not pointed as in the other. The Catalpa has such 
a remarkable adaptability to a variety of soils and 
climates, is so easily raised from seeds, and grows 
so rapidly, that it is worthy of the attention of all 
who propose to raise forest trees. The durability of 
its timber has been subjected to the severest tests, 
and there are few of our native woods that excel it 
in this respect. — American Agriculturist. 
Earth Worms. — The interest excited in these 
creatures since the publication of Mr. Darwin's book 
on this subject, reviewed in our columns (vol. xvi, p. 
500) will be increased by the interesting communic- 
ation made by Dr. Gilbert to the Scientific Committee 
on Tuesday last, and reported in another column. 
The quantity of nitrogen in the worm-casts in pro- 
portion to that of meadow or arable land is not 
absolutely greater, but what there is is rendered more 
available by being brought more to the surface and 
more within the reach of the roots by the agency of 
the worms. Nitrogen in Worm Casts. — Dr. Gilbert 
announced that since the publication of Mr. Darwin's 
work on earth worms he had collected a quantity of 
earth casts from his lawn, dried them to remove the 
water, and then determined the percentage of nitrogen 
they contained, comparing the proportion with that 
obtained from a sample of soil taken from the first 
9 inches of the soil of adjacent pasture land. The 
result was that the dried earth casts yielded a per- 
centage of - 35 of nitrogen, which is higher than that 
of the ordinary pasture soil in the adjacent park, 
where the percentage proportion of nitrogen is 25 to 
•30. Thus the proportionate amount of nitrogen in 
the worm casts is higher than in the pasture land, 
and two or three times higher than in ordinary arable 
surface soil; but not so rich as in the highly manured 
soil of the kitchen garden. Ten tons per acre of 
worm casts would, it was estimated, supply about 
80 lb. of nitrogen per annum — more than double that of 
rdinary meadow land without manure. It would appear 
tli u that there would be no absolute gain in nitrogen 
from the action of the worms, but that they would bring 
up from below a larger available supply, just as would 
be afforded by trenching, — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
