68<5 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April a, 1894. 
was refnsed for Gprman balk qninine in the open 
market; Imt at auction 1,000 oz. Fabric* Lombarda 
qainine, in tins (year of import not stated), cold very 
oheBply at 1) id p<T rz. la ndditioa to this lot there 
were 7,500 oz. of B & B »nd Brunswick quinine in sale. 
Thefe were bouplit in at from ll^d to 12d per oz. 
The Homand ia the States during the lait two months 
of 1893 is said to have been unprecedentedly large. 
The totnl annual consumption of quinine in tbiit 
country ia cow estimated at from 4,000,000 to 
3^00,000 oz. 
PICKINGS WITH A LOCAL APPLICATION. 
. The Peefwood Tkee (Casnarina Eqnisitifolia) has 
been recommended by tlie "Kcw Uiillctin" for plant- 
ing on sandy Khorcs in tropical conntries. The tree 
is being extensively planted in West Africa, and 
a report by Dr. Rowland on the Banitary condition 
of Lagos refers to the Casnarina as of very rapid 
growth, and preferring a sandy and saltiRli soil. It 
is suggested that the tree might be advantageously 
cultivated on the borders of swamps where the 
Eucalyptus will not succeed. 
An Australian paper is serious in its recommcnda- 
iion that a Noxious Inskct Bill fihould be passed, 
''prohibiting diseassd plants of iiny kind beinit 
intrcduced, whether infected with fiiDgoiJ diceafes 
or infefted with insects." It is suggestpd tbat every 
imported plant or free of whatever kind shoold I e 
qnaranlined end be either fumigated, or disinfected 
by other means; further that every person sending 
fruits •cross the country should be compelled to 
have hia fruit cases dipp(d in boiling water 
and that fruit phops should be fubjccted to thorough 
rxtmination and supervision. "The machinery of 
such an act," ooncludee the Australian paper, " need 
not be diffioalt to form," 
Wood for Pianos is kept ss rule for 40 years 
before it is considered sufficiently in con Mtion to bo 
used : wood for tennis racquets are ssid to require at 
le&st 6 years' Eeasoniog. 
dOFFEE LEAF DISEASE IN CEVLON. 
Ceylon would seem to be earning a bad name as 
an infected area of coffee leaf disease. The A'r;;' 
Bulletin for December mentions that Mr. Thisleton 
Dyer (who was consulted by the Foreign Office as 
to the advisability of enforcing certain regulations 
for prohibiting the importation into Central Africa 
of any seed or plant likely to introduce the coffee 
leaf fungus) gives it as his opinion that it was 
without doubt from Ceylon that the disease was 
conveyed to South India, Sumatra, Java and Mauri- 
tius : and he again repea,ts "it is clear that starting 
from Ceylon a wide area has been progressively 
infected, extending, at the present time, from 
Natal in one direction to Fiji in the other." Dr. 
MacGregor, who was charged with the duty of 
stamping it out in the latter country reported that 
the probability was pretty strong that the disease 
was introduced in, and spread from the charcoal 
packing of imported seed, and that it was by no 
means impossible that the disease was introduced in 
the clothing or personal effects of some person or 
persona arriving from Fiji in Ceylon. — Com. 
A NEW FODDER PLANT. 
An interesting account of a new fodder plant that 
has been turned to good purpose in the Australian 
colonies is supplied by a correspondent of the Fidd. 
He says : " Inere are few people who suffer so much 
from the constant want of a suihcient rainfall as 
our far-o£E cousins who dwell beneath ihe Southern 
OroBfl. Many expedients have been had recourse to 
by Ooeacian stockmen to tide their Ajcks over 
perilous times, w th various results. Perhaps one of 
the most Bacceeeful fodder plants introduced into the 
Antipodean colonies is that kuowa as the lagaEasti 
(Cjtjgui prolifeius), the ssed 9f wbiob in 1876 was 
imported by the late Dr. R. Schomborgb, of Adelaide 
from Madeira tu South Australia. The plant, wbteb 
is now receiving the uot^ivided attention of the colo- 
nists, belongs to the genus Legumenuct. or laburnum. 
It, however, differs from the beautiful Kiigliah 
tree, inasmuch as it is not po sonous, the yellow la- 
burnnm bloraomB having provtd fatal in neveral 
instances to stock. Tho taga«a»ti, on th*- oiher 
hand, is the principal creeu forage tor cattle 
nud horses, not only in Madeira, but also in tl>e otber 
Canary Isles, and the Azores. When first introduced 
by Dr. Scboibburgb, it met with only a lukewarm 
reception by Australian farmer*. Daring a htvere 
dearth of supclies, however, in \f><F,, tlie merits of the 
immi-rant plant were tested. The shrub pave every 
FatisfactioD, and, Itourii-birf; in the geniki climate o( 
South Aueirnlii. Ims increase'l in favour with the 
colonists ever fince. In r.'tgard to its propaRatlon, th« 
seed can be sown broadcast in the ordinary way, it 
being first soaktd in worm water for a few hoars »o 
as to soften it, and allow it to germioats more quickly. 
When the plants come too quickly, tbej should be 
thinned, end those taken np planted elaenb' r--. about 
8 feet apart. For the tiiat coaple of yiars the crop 
does not olitain its full development, but io Ibc (bird 
yrar the fu'l yield of forage is obtair'Oil, and ontiooes 
annually. If pprmitted, the plan's will grow to » be gbt 
of from 8 feel to 10 feet, but the u»ual plan adopted is, 
about twice a y<ar, according to tbtir growth, to cot 
them down to wit'iin two or three feet of the gronnH, 
so that thpy may become busby. Taga-asti fodd<>r has 
the advantage r f containing a large quantity ot n'trogeo 
ouB matter, the estimated proporticn being 1.136 of 
nitrogen, ag<in^t 1,028 yielded by tbe liae*t clover 
bay. Every 100 lb. of ftiJJer is calculated to produce 
2'60 lb. of meat, and animals fed oo it come into 
condition more rapidly tban with any otber kind of 
food, except co'n. The fornge is usually prepared 
by mixini} 35 lb. ef green tagasasti with £Olb, of 
ohopptd straw. This amount is cons dered sufficient 
for the daily nourishment of either a bors« or a cow. 
The theory propmiided, tLat tagasasti fcdder will 
fatten stock more rspidly tban bay, ia due t? tbe 
presence io the ahrab of an esreotial oil. which is 
supposed to retard waste of tissue 'nd thus caD<e 
fattening ; on this account tugasasti is recommended 
for feeding those animals not nsed for working pur- 
poses. The plant, though rather intolerant to frost 
readily adapts it-elf to climate. Eicessive rain or 
drought has no detrimental effect on it ; it luxuriates 
in light, fanity soil, and with but slight attention 
goon stocks land where it i.s sown with a profitable 
supply of fodder. Both cattle and sbeep delight in 
the green forage derived from tbe tagaea^ti shrub, and 
the "colocists of South Austra'ia have been left a last- 
ing memorial of tbe enterprising Dr. Sobomburgb.— 
Farmer and Stockbreeder. 
■ ♦ ■ 
MY.SOEE A PARADISE. 
"Gold, Sport, and Coffee in Mysore." By Robert 
H. Elliot. With a Map, in colours. (Westminster : 
Archibald Constable and Co.) 
Those who, like oni selves, have a pleaeirg, if 
not exaotly lively, recollection of a book publif hed in 
1871, under the title " Tbe Experiences of a Planter 
in the Jungles of Mysore" will be glad to see Mr. 
Elliot in print again. According to him there is no 
place on eaith that is teittr tban Mysore icr 
those who have their own way to make iu the 
world. There is sport galore, from bear and tiger 
to snipe. There is gold in abundance if ycu are 
content to dig deep for it, and we are told that 
the chairman of one company, whose Ehares were a 
little while ago worth cext to nothing, has recently 
apologised to his meeting of shareholders for pay- 
ing no more tban a fifty per cent, dividend. But 
coffee planting is almost a gold-mine in Mysore. 
So to the problem, " What shall I do with my sen? 
the answer now presented is "Send him to Mysore." 
And tbe State — for it is cue of tbe native 
States once admioiEterid by outsdves but cow banded 
