88 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [August i, iSg^. 
and says that this may be taken as the only safe 
basis when calculating the profit attending invest- 
ments in the sugar business. And even to obtain 
this, we are told, requires not only good field work, 
but the highest skill in every department in the 
mill. The fact is that with the good prospects held 
out by tea, cocoa and coconuts, there are few capita- 
lists that will venture to invest in sugar, especially 
with the bad record it has in Ceylon. 
The German Experimental School has during tlie 
past year been inquiring into the action of Kainit 
and other substances on manure. Kainit, it may be 
mentioned contains about 22 per cent of sulphate of 
potash, with sulphate of magnesia, chloride of sodium, 
and chloride of magnesium. Hitherto its chief value 
was held to consist in the potash it adds to the soil, 
but now well-known chemical authorities are agreed 
that it unites with the ammonia in manures, and 
that it also has another valuable quality of gathering 
additional ammonia, — most probably from the atmos- 
phere. Tbe following is the result of the German 
investigations : one per cent of lime caused a loss of 
9 78 per cent of the nitrogen of dung: one percent of 
plaster resulted in a loss of only '1^4 per cent of 
nitrogen: one per cent of sulphate of magnesia 
aavfd all the nitrogen, and attracted an addition of 
.5'06 per cent of ammonia : lastly one i)er cent of 
kainit saved all the nitrogen, and added 7'97 per 
cent to it. It is suggested that one pound of kainit 
should be either spread, or sprinkled after dissolving, 
in each stable or byre, to retain the nitrogen of manure. 
In addition to its preservative influence, kainit has 
also great purifying powers, and its free use is 
advised in horse and cow stables, muck and compost 
heaps, pig pens and chicken houses, as well as in 
closets, as it would not only keep down all offensive 
odours but would also promote the healtli and comfort, 
and lessen the mortality both in the dwelling and 
the stable It is further advised, in order to make 
a complete and evenly balanced manure, that in 
addition to the kainit, dung and compo.st heips should 
get half a bushel of bone dust to each cart load of 
manure. 
THE ISLAND OF JAMAICA. 
In his report to the Colonial Office on the Jamaica 
Blue-book for 1891-92, Sir H. A. Blake, the Governor, 
states that since the closing of the Jamaica Exhibi- 
tion on the 2nd of May, 1891, many applications 
have been made for information about the island of 
Jamaica and its possibilities, and it may not be 
amiss to supply some general information that may 
be useful to inquiring capitalists. The island of 
Jamaica contains about 2,083,000 acres, of which 
about 413,000 are flat and the remainder hilly. 
There are 640,000 acres under cultivation, cr about 
one-fourth of the whole ; but if there is deducted 
from this the 372,000 acres in common pasture, 
the amount of actual cultivation is reduced to 
about 268,000 acres or one-tenth of .the total. 
Along the centre of the island run ranges of 
hills attaining an elevation in the west of 1,800ft. 
and in the east of 7,500 ft. There is a great variety of 
soil and climate, and every tropical product, save, 
possibly, those requiring the streamy swamps of 
tropical South America can be grown, while mai.y 
of the products of the temperate zone can also be 
successfully cultivated. Lying as the island does 
with its longer axis from east to west, the north 
side, exposed as it is to the constant north-east trade 
wind, is several degrees cooler than in the south ; 
but all round the island a strong sea breeze blows 
during the day, which is replaced at night by a cool 
land breeze blowing down from the hills. The climate 
is extremely healthy. The average death-rate of 22-4 
per thousand hardly conveys a true impression, the 
mortality among negro children here, as else '.\ here, 
being very high as compared with the children of the 
Caucasian races. The climate is particularly suitable 
for luug complaints »ud ncivouB affectioue. There 
are tiev. lal n>ii.eral spriu{>.-< of great mediciual value. 
The temperature of tbe epxiug at Bath in St. 'Xbomaa* 
in the-East it 126° P., and (hat of Milk Bivet B«th. 
in Clarendon, 92° F. These epriogg are etSeAeioai 
for gout, theumatisoi, parulyaiK, kc. " Tbe Jaaiaie4 
Exhibition of 1891 wee," says Sir Henry Hlake, " coo- 
(civcd and carried out an advertirement, a ittimuluf, 
and an object lemoD. It was carried through without 
any interfcreDce oa tbe part of tbe GoTeroment, tbe 
proposal being sr cured by private euaraoteoi which 
were given to the Btnount of ±''.J7,000. It was op<<Drd 
on 4hc 27th of January and closed on tb^ 2ud May ; 
during tbat time it was visited hy 302,631 percoiia. 
Tbe fu'l r(>«u1t of tbe exbibi'ion has cot yet b^en 
shown, piij it will afford a measure of tbe capacity 
of the people for improvement, but already there 
are gratify ing rvidruces that the effort^ cf tbrse 
who brnii.jht about the czhibitioD have cot been in 
vail'. Th> re baa been a coueiderable sale of im- 
proved 8 igar mills for rmall caltivatora. Dairy 
farming has been startrd, and macbinery imported 
similar to that exhibited, tbe beglvninK of what may 
le an importHut iudus'ry, sk we import annually 
over 720,000 lb. of butter. Pottery works have been 
begun, as it was diKCOvered that we have in Jamaica 
as 0ond clays for tbe purpnee as cun be procured 
ia EnKlaLid, and theie had betu cencrally excited aa 
inquiriog interest ia possille additions to tbe pro- 
dacta of the island that must bear iruit in tbe near 
future While Great Britain, tbe Utited States, and 
Austria, Frai ce. Gi'rmanj, and Italy wer«> re!>reaeDted 
the principal ex'iibitur waa Canada, and the Dominiua 
has laid the fou'idatious of increased trade with Jamaica 
that already be^Mua tu show eifrne of expansion. Tb« 
exiiibition cIobliI with a i et deficit of £'28.-](>5 lo 
meet which i'19,0<)0 has already been paid up b; 
the guarantors." 
FOUR WORDS L\ COMMON USE. 
Probably no f ur words in common use have be- 
come moto taugled and confnsed in the mind* of 
learned and unlearned than cacao, coca, coco, and cocoa, 
Dr. Eugene Murray Aaron points oat th«t even 
critics tbem6e!vej stumble in attempts to clear away 
tbe confusion, and he mentions tbat the four distinct 
products to which tbe names belong — tbe first and 
last of great importaic-: — are commonly mixed under 
the one term cocoa. I'hese prolucts are: I. Cocoa 
{Theohiotna Ccicuo,} the chocolate berry tree. This is 
an evergreen growing from 15 to 45f et, a native of 
iropicil Americi but now become wild in Africa. It 
bears poin!cl pod^, each of which coataitii a number 
of the nutritive seed?. From the see^-a are derived 
"cacao nibs." ' chocolate (tbe most imiiortant sub- 
stance,) "cacao" (erroneously called cocoa in English 
counlries,) " bioma," "cacao shells,'" and "cacao 
bu 'er,"' 2. Coca (Erythro.rylon Coca,) the coca leaf 
bush. XhiB shruh IS fuuud in the Andes, and is famed 
for the extfRordiuary stimulatiug properties of its 
lehVis. which are known as "spadic" as well as 
"coca" and contain two alkaloids — ccciiu acd bygrin, 
3 Co.o, (Caltnium esculentuiu, et al.) the coco toots. 
The name is pioperiy applied, only to tbe tubers of 
B'.ViTsl allied spicies of plants, which furni-b a s^arcb> 
laden food :q tropical countries. 4 Cocoa [Cocos 
nucifera,) th*? coconut palm, which yields tbe well- 
kno^n hard-shelled fiuit, together with valuable fibre. 
— Straits paper. 
[No distinction is made between the product of 
tbe cbooolate plant, namely " cocoa " and the palm 
fruit in the above, so far as spelling goes. A3 
it is impossible to get Mitiong Lane to give up 
the use of "cocoa" for pods and uibe, to make 
some d stinction, we on the Euggestion of Dr. 
Trimen, have dropped the " a " in the palm's 
name making it "coconut" which is mora in 
accordance with the botanical name Cocos nucifera. 
This has been iollowed. we are glad to see, by the 
Kew authorities, by Nature and other London 
papers. We seldom or never hear of " coco roots." 
—Ed. T.d.] 
