3« TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jui^v i 1803, 
The Orange Crox' of Louisiana ie placed at 
500,000 boxes or 200,000 barrels. LesH than one- 
fourth of ihe available land of the State is ut lized 
for orange culture. New orchards are being planted 
rapidly and five years will double the present pro- 
ducing acreage. — Planters' Monthly, 
Caphmib Wine. — Acoording to the Lahore paper 
6,000 to 10,000 bottles of red and white wine 
are made a year by the Maharnja of Kashmir. 
He employs iwo Italians, one to look after the 
vineyard, and the other the factory. The red wine 
18 rich and strong, and resembles Chiante. A good 
quality of cognac is made from this wine. — Pioneer. 
Japan Tea.— Hand-musters of the new seasons 
tea have reached Yokohama and Kol-e from the 
tea-growing districts, but no definite forecasts of 
the quality or quantity of the crop is yet made. If 
the weather of the past few days continues the 
crop will come on rapidly, but at preseut there 
is no trustworthy report as to the probable 
quantity or quality of the outturn. — Japan Weekly 
Mail, April 15. 
An AGRicoLTUEAii Experimental Station has 
been determined on in Japan, and the Imperial 
Orditiance relating thereto was promulgated on 
the 7th inst. The Choya SIdmbun announces that 
the site selected is Niehigahara, Oji, Tokyo; and 
that Mr. Sawano, jun., Chief of the First Section 
in the Agricultural Bureau of the Agricultural 
and Oomiiaercial Department, has br-.en ordered to 
take charge of the experiments conducted there, — 
Japan Weekly Mail. 
The Acid^ op Fruits.— Mr. George W. Johnson, 
in his Chemistry of the World, says, in describing 
the "Vegetable Food of the World" : — "The grate- 
ful acid of the rhubarb leaf arises from the malic 
acid and binoxalate of potash which it contains; 
the acidity of the lemon, orange, and other species 
of the genus C'iirMs is caused by the abundance of 
citric acid which their juice contains ; that of the 
cherry, plum, apple, and pear from the malio acid 
in their pulp ; that of gooseberries and currants, 
black, red, and white, from a mixture of malio 
and citric acids ; that of the grape from a mixture 
of malio and tartaric acids that of the mango 
from critic acid and a very fugitive essential oil ; 
that of the tamarind from a mixture of citric 
malic, and tartaric acids, the flavour of aspara- 
gus from aspartic acid, found a'so in the root of the 
marehmallow ; and that of the cucumber from a 
peculiar poisonous ingredient called fungin, which 
is found in all fungi, and is the cause of the cu- 
cumber being offensive to some stomachs- It will 
he observed that rhubarb is the only fruit which 
contains binoxalate of potash in conjunction with 
an acid. It is this ingredient which renders this 
fruit so wholesome at the early commencement of 
summer, and this is one of the wise provisions of 
nature for supplying a blood purifier at a time when 
it is likely to be most needed. Beetroot owes its 
nutritious quality to about nine per cent of sugar 
which it contains, and its flavour to a peculiar 
substance containg nitrogen m-xed with pectio aciJ. 
The carrot owes its fattening powers also to sugar, 
and its flavour to a peculiar fatty oil ; the horse 
railibh derives its flavour and blistering power from 
a volatile acrid oil. The Jerusalem artichoke 
contains fourteen and a half per cent of sugar and 
three per cent of inulin (a variety of starch), besides 
gum aud a peculiar substance to which its flavour is 
owing ; and, lastly, goriio uiid the rest of ihe onion 
f amily derive their peculiar odour from a yellowish, 
volatile acrid oil, but ihcy are nutritious from con- 
taining nearly fault iheir weight of gummy and 
glutinous subfatanoes not yet clearly defined." — Public 
Opinion. , 
Tea in .Japan.— The writer of this paper 
which we take over from Xature, (eee page 19) ehowa 
great ignorance of what Indian and Ceylon pl&nters 
are doing, iu speaking of the abaence of fine teas 
(Pekoes) from their manafactare ; but we forgive 
him, for the valuable ooofirmation be gives ub, 
writing on a subject with which be is acquainted, 
in saying that no pure tea ie exported from Japan, 
—all is " faced " and often mixed wi'h other than 
tea leaves. 
Coffee.— In eonsequenoe of the impoeition of a 
duty on Venezuelan coffee very little Maraoaibo 
and Laguayra coffee comes to this country today, 
Europe taking the bulk of the supply. Never were 
stocks of those grades in firel hands in this market 
80 light as at present, and as they are very de«ir- 
able sorts the market feele the shortage, prices 
for similar kinde being higher than they would 
otherwise be.—3Ierchanls' Review, New York. 
Dabjuelino and Tebai Plsntbrs say with re- 
ference to a leading article which recently appeared 
in the Englishman, upon Bed Spider, that the 
sulphur cure ie no new ides. In 1876 Mr. 
Ghristison, of Tukvar, conducted exhaustive ex- 
periments with sulphur and published full reports 
of the result. A Calcutta writer expresses belief 
in treating spider by promotion of strong growth 
with liberal root treatment, constitutional rather 
than local Thorough drainage, forking and tbe 
hoe, is be says, the best secret of fretting rid of 
spider. — Madras Time*, May 16. 
The Cultivation of Railway Slopes. — According 
to the Indian Agriculturist, the utilisation of railway 
embankments for agricultural purposes opens up 
rather a novel field for discussion in India, though 
in England and the Continent these arlifioial slopes 
are made to bring grist to tbe mill. It woula, 
of course, be out of the question attempting to 
raise anything requiring actual cultivation, , 
disturbance of tbe soil, as in most parts ot tbe 
country the heavy rains would speedily destroy 
the earthwork ; so that tbe ohcioe of plants or 
cereals must be rather circumscribed. Timber 
likewise would have to be tabooed on account 
of the great risks of uprooted trees being thrown 
on to the rails, and the buttressing of tbe roots 
undermining the permanent, way. The various 
grasses such as sibi acd son or perhaps rhea, 
might do in such tracts where they would thrive 
their roots binding the earth securely, though in 
the dry season considerable inconvenience, if not 
danger, might arise from fire. Anything of en 
edible character would need rather elaborate fencing 
throughout the entire length of the area planted 
The castor plant is, perhaps the best and most 
promising that suggests itself for such lines where 
tbe rainfall is sufficient, but will come to nothing 
in dry arid districts, and the fruit would form no 
despicable revenue ; but from the disturbance 
caused by the rush of passing trains among tbe 
foliage, those who moot the possibility of raising 
such silk-worms as feed on it in situ would, we 
apprehend, be disappointed, though, conoentratad, 
as one may say, the plant would be domesticated, 
worms could be fed on the fresh flushes, ad lib., 
and though the railway people couhi haroly com- 
bine silk-raising with their legitimate avocation, 
the embankment could be leased at a very appreciable 
rentnl. True, castor-planting on railway slopes has 
failed in the Punjab ; but the soil, e^-peoially on 
rapidly filtering slopes, is not of a character to 
retain sufBcient moisture to afford the plant fair 
play. Other economic shrabs, euitable to tho 
climate, will suggest themselves — croton tingrii, for 
iastanoe, — Indian Engineer. 
