^18 
Bpecies of trees I have recommended above should 
be raised. All of them can be easily propagated by 
seed. When they are one year old they will be 
lit for transplanting. It would, however, not do to 
cut down existing trees of undesirable species at 
once; but the seedlings of the desirable varieties 
shouM be planted in the spaces between the exis- 
ting trees, and well looked after. They Hliould be 
protected from the ravages of cattle and goatf, as 
at present, until they are big enough to ueed no 
further protection ; and when they have attained 
sufficient height to afford shade the old and useless 
trees should be cut down to make room for the rew 
ones. Those species which bear good fruit, sucli ks 
MiDgoes. Tamarinds, Jack-fruits, Khirnees, Maulseris, 
&c., should, when about to bear fruit, be farmed 
out to contractors, and the sale proceeds utilised 
for the maintenance of nurseries, and other require- 
ments of the arboricultural department An addi- 
tional advantage of this system would be that the 
trees would be well looked after by the contractors 
for the sake of the fruits, and aboriciiltural opera- 
tions would be self-supporting to a larg^ extent : at 
present Government lays out money without any 
return whatever. 
It will, however, be useless to expect anything 
like satisfactory results if arboricultural operations 
are to be carried on under existing rules, when the 
responsibility for success or failure rests with an 
ill-paid native, who has not the least no* ion as to 
what is really necessary- The work should be en- 
trusted to a European or Eurasian possessing some 
fechnical knowledge about trees in general, who 
should receive a decent salary, and be made respon- 
sible for everything within certain areas. This would 
not only ensure good value for money laid out, but 
would open up an avenue of employment for the 
sons of Anglo-Indians who do rot look for very 
high wages. 
The importance of trees in the economy of nature 
is well understood by most people. Tracts of 
count' y which never before received rain, and were 
practicably desert wastes, are now smiling with the 
verdure of frees, and receive a fair rainfall. One 
such place is Mooltan in the Punjab; Aden is 
another. I could name several such places which 
have benefited vastly by the systematic planting of 
suitable trees. Vegetation gives rise to evaporation 
of moisture which in its turn attracts the moisture 
always suspended in the atmosphere, and thus 
produces rain. Therefore, arboricultural operations 
carried out systematically have an important bearing 
on the economy of nature. J. 
• — Pioneer. 
FACTS ABOUT BANANA MEAL. 
A Coming Industry. 
A Mr. Hartog, who went in the beginning of last 
year to Surinam (West Indies), is in possession of 
a method of preparing tine dry meal from bananas 
and plantations, The chemical analysis of both 
sorts of meal have proved that the chemical com, 
position of different banana and plantain kinds is 
almost identical. The principal stuff tlie meal con- 
tains consists of 80 to 85 degs. of starch. This com- 
position induced him to seek the adoption of the 
meal for purposes where other stuffs containiug 
starch are employed, and he chose, in the first place, 
the fabrification of alcohol and glucose (grape sugar). 
As he did not dispose of very large quantities, 
he was forced to apply to laboratorium experiments 
that were made at the Government Institute of 
Alcohols in Switzerland, fixed at Berne. The 
gentlemen there made alcohol of the meal, and 
wrote as follows: — 
>'il rgsvilte de ce gui precede, (^u'il vaut tout 
fa{t la pejne d i^'ili^er ces sirjnes poor la fabrica-r 
tjqn d'aicooL Ija qualite d^e I'alcool S^e farine de 
banSi^es pent aussi etre envisagee comme bonne." 
in the convergation about the object with those 
gentlemen, they gave thfiv opinion that the value 
qI the Tfustk would least be that of maize, th« ataicli 
quantity of the mesA being greater, the saiiie opi- 
nion was given by >ouie manufHctarera of aloobo! 
in Switzerland ai;d in Holland. As proof of h«w 
many stuffs can be employed for alcohol manufactur- 
ing, it may be said that one not very large inanu 
factory in Ho land emplojs in average 25,lX)t) ton>> 
of maize a year. The same gentlemen, in Berne, 
made experiments with glucose making, and itaid : 
— "11 e t evident que la farine de bananas tr&ite« 
de cettu maniere pourrait etre encore utilisee 
pour la fabrication de glucose." The value of the 
meal for glucose would be more than one and 
a half times that of maize, for maize is not 
employed for that fabricatior, but only dearer sort>. 
of stuffs, as potato and sago mral. A certitude for 
the employment of the meal for ^-lucose manufactur 
ing can only be given by employine at least a ton 
of the stuff, but tlier • is very great prob*Lillty it 
will also do for that puri ose. In tiie following calcu- 
lations he estimates the value of the meal on the 
basis of maize, tliat is, at this time being delivered 
by ship in Europe at £0 to £5 l(>s. For manofactur- 
ing 1,000 tons per yeur of niea' there wou'd Ije 
needed an installation that would cost, delivered 
and fixed in the estate, f'2.000 to £'f,!^u. For a 
second l.tyt) tons a similar installation would be 
needed, for it would be difficult to make larger iu- 
sUx lations Fur this reason it would also be profit- 
able to make the manufactory on the estate itself, 
for using the banamts and plantain^. The fabri- 
cation of 1,000 tons will be tnken as a baBis. Cost 
of reaping the fruit, preparing it and making the 
meal, del vered on ship if there is water in the 
neighbourhood, can be put at 188. to dUs per ton; 
for freight to Europe, 188. to 2.')6. per ton. Thus 
the average cost for the rreal delivered in Europe 
would be £2 per ton. He said the value would be 
at least that of maize, or i'.*) to i'5 10s., so that 
there would rest per ton of meal £3 to i'3 lOs. So 
that for l.tKKJ tons an installation of £2 000 to ti.SOO 
is wanted, and a quantity of bananas or plantations 
of about the double or the triple of the meal in 
average 2,500 tons, wbilet the revenue wculd be 
.£.S,000 to £;:},500. In the above given cyphoTB all 
exaggerations are avoided. So it is probable that 
the quantity of 1.00') tons, can be 8urpass<-d. and 
the cost of manufacturing can be reduced, whilst 
the price of the meal would increase if it will do 
for glucose manufacturing. 
L. E. A>«sER. CE. 
[We have examined specimens and samples— both 
of the banana spirit and banana flour— and are 
satisfied that there is a great future before this 
industry. — Editor.] — Hortiailtural Times. 
"Whit to do with ouk Girls — Asngges* 
lion which we originally pat forward in a leiiet to 
he Pall Mall Gazette in 1884— that brother and 
sister, where there were large (amiliee, should be 
prepared to begin a colouial life together,— has 
been taken up by the Lady Lec'.orer Ui3B Shaw 
in her paper on the " Australian Outlook ' before 
the Royal Colonial Institute. We qu jie as follows an 
editorial note in the Daily Chronicle : — 
Miss Shaw'ii practical suggestion towarJs Ihe 
solution of the problem, " What shall we do with 
our Girls'"' that every boy who is sent out to 
Australia to try his fortune ehoald tnke a sistfr 
with tim, is opportunely supplemented by a bitter 
cry for "more girla" Irom Canads. The Canadian 
Gazette is re^poDS>ble lor the stitement that tte 
partintf pa-betic message of a you'g Irishman to 
ine of lost year's delega'ies was, '■ For heaven's sake 
Btnd us some girls!'' The lament, it tei^ms arises 
from the absence of good " lady helps." This is the 
harder to undersiand, because ser^a^^t-giflg ' in the 
north-west receiye £t>Q a yei^, with hoafci and 
lo giug. That tfaey get manied js only the natural 
result of these circuniatances ; so that, whether a 
woman wishes to lead a lite of single blessed re<>8 
or become the bttter half of a farmer. North- West 
Canadft would eeeta to be an admirable pUe« (or ii«r, 
