734 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. -[Mav i, ,894 
eny further BStistauoe. There are four kinds of 
Lao known to commerce — Stick Lao, Seed Lac, Shel- 
hio, aiid Button Lac— and it is optioo*! with the 
producer to supply it iu either form. Stick Lac is Lao 
in its I aturttl state, the small twigs encrusted with Ibis 
commodity being broken off twice a year. Seed Lae is the 
purer commodity when otushed aud separated from the 
stick; (his is done to lessen the ezpeme of traoiport, as 
the wood to whiah the Lao is attached ia useless and 
valueless. When fire is brought to bear on Seed Lao, 
this liquifies it, and it in then roagbly made into small 
cakes, these are called Button Lao, and tre exported 
to Europe and America in that form. Any planter 
could euoceasfully prepare Button Lao with must pro- 
fitable resalls. For tbe preparation and manufaotare 
of And Sbrllao mneh more elaborate a'rangeroents art; 
oececsary. Roughly tpeaking, Seed Laoia placed in cloth 
bags aLd held over charcoal fires, pressure in brcn((ht 
to bear on it and the Lac melts and strains tlirough 
tbe cloth bags iu a very pure state, whilst in tliat state 
it is manipulated into sheets resembliug panes of glasi 
aud that is the Shellac of oommeroe — only thot>e plan- 
ters who produced Lac on a Urge scale, or in combi- 
nation, could profitably turn out Shellac. Formerly a 
dye was made from the ineeot, but this is valneieta 
now — but the refuse at a Button Lac or Shellac 
factory is a very Taluable manure and as a fertiliser 
it would benefit the planter. There is au everlastiug 
market for Button Lao and Sbe'hc. It is used by 
batteri) for stifFening hats; it enters largely into tbe 
composition of sealing was , it is a necevsity in the 
preparation of submariue cab'es for telegraphic p<ir- 
poset, and whenever a new cable is lai<1 down price.s 
advance considerably. Varnifh makers oanuot prepare 
their various preparations wiihont Lao, for it is one 
of the cliief ingredients in all really good varnishes 
and it is used iu all lacquer work. There is no otber 
natural production which can enter into competition 
with it for the above purposes. Native mannfictarera 
of Button Lac, as is their custom, tried the cffectR of 
adulteration with resin, but this was found to nullify 
the valuable properties contained in Lao and tbe 
result was very di.«astrous to the adulterators. — 
Indian Planters' Oazette. 
♦ — 
TABLET TEA. 
Tablet Tea, whioh, uolike brick tea, writes British 
Consul Brown, of Kiukiang, is made from the finest 
quality of dust, shows a marked iucreAee in the 1S92 
movement. Tw> Ru.'^sian firms are the only makers 
of brick tea in Kiukiang. One of tbeoi has at pre- 
sent tbe monopoly of the manufacture of the tablet 
tea, whioh is finding a market ecen outside Russia, 
in Germany and France. List 5 ear's report spoke of 
it as " the best and most conreuient form of t'^a that 
o le c«n possibly imagine for tr»veller?, backwoodsmen, 
or armies in the field." There would seem to be no 
reason, however, why whole-leaf tea should not be 
oompresaed into nearly the same compass by suitable 
machinery, much as same kinds of tobacco are treatedi 
and in tlnat case, the leaf being unbroken, oue would 
expect the aroma to be better retained, By an ar- 
rangement of the mould the eake oould pos^ibly be 
divided into rations, and thus economy of space in 
the traveller's box, the arrav commissariat, and the 
man-of-war'n- etorp-room would be rombined with sim- 
plicity in use. Samples of brick and of tablet tea are 
forwarded With th • C )ns-ul'8 report for the inspec- 
tion ( f anyone interiBted in the Bubjeat, and these 
are to be sA^n 'At the India Office. The manufacture 
is orjy ca-ripd OH at Kiukiang duriog August, Sep- 
'ta0}&r„ ttiid Ooti)ber.^Go»imm«,Marob 21. 
♦ — 
VAKlOtrS AGRICULTURAL NOTES. 
"HoBB's Antitannic Tea Infubeb is a most ueeful 
patent. It consists of a little porctlain perforated 
bowel and a saucer to fit on its toy. This bowl 
fits either breakfast or tea cup. The tea ia put 
)nto this, and latter three minutes' infuBion in b. il. 
ing water ia removed, and tho ■ result is a cup i.l 
(,ea free iron; taanio s,<iid,— British Weelly. 
The Indian Tka Associatioh and the Aju^utiAM 
Campaign.— In another csluma we give part of 
the proo^edirgH at a me ting of the IcdiAO Tea 
Assooialiou showing the Etepe wb'cb tltat body 
are taking for the purpose of oontiaoi' g tbe 
campaign in Anurica. They have appoint- d a 
Tea Fund Co Dmiltee to collect bubscriptiooa and 
organize arrangemenlP for tbe further introduction 
of Indian tea into tbe Amrrican and Canadian 
markets, and, followiag up what took plaoe at the 
erfoial menling attended by Hir John Mo^r and 
Mr P. K. Buchanan, have passed a r>'aol(i4ion in 
favour of cnmbinatioa with Ceylon. 
Ur. Geouce Bennett.— We learn from Saiun, of 
the death of our old correspondent, Dr. George 
Bennett, of Sydney. Dr Bennet was, we believe, 
the brother of the late J. J. Bennett, of the Botanical 
Department of the British Museum, nod the con- 
teniporary and friend of the late Sir Richard Owen, 
and of the most distinguished men of the science 
of bis time. He travelled in New (south Wales and 
Ceylon, and a lew years since revisited his old 
home, when hi« vigour of mind and body excited 
the attention of a'l who knew him. Dr Bennett 
was ninety years of age —Carri^ers' ChnmieU 
Light and Floweus.— Tbe action of light on 
flowers has always been a faecinaling Ktudy. and 
many experiments have been made by which pUntH 
have been grown under glass of various colours. 
Amongst the latest researches iu thi« direction are 
those of M. C. de Candolle. He exposed specimens 
of Tropaiolum niajus and Tx>belia erinus to the 
action of light, which had previously passed through 
a solution of cincbonine sulphate' and had thui> 
been deprived of ali rays except tbe altra-violet 
rays. Be found that these ultra-violet rays have 
the efifect of greatly stimuUtting tbe formation oi 
flowers, but that they are not essential to their 
development. Farther particulars of these e«pen 
ments may be found in the Arcfi. 8ei Phyg. et Sat . 
xxviii., p. 265. — Ilnd. 
Wood Paving.— Since the previous note on this 
sabje^t was penned, the writer has observed apara- 
graph in the daily press, in which it was stated that 
sundry streets in Paris are being paved with Maho- 
gany blocks ! This is not the case, as the aatae 
woods are being used there as in London — Jarrah, 
the produce of Eucalyptus^ rostrata ; and Karri, 
anotlier member of the great genus EucalvptUii. 
The Jarrah has been most used with us, probably, 
but the Red Gum is coming to the front. Western 
Australia is the source whence the supplies are 
drawn, and the area now being extensively tapped 
exceeds, or at any rate equals that of Great Britain. 
The forests are not far distant from seaports, and 
the trade is being largely developed by our mer- 
chants and contractors. The results obtained in 
Austral'an towns are very satisfactory — doubtless the 
same record will be given here of tbe Australian 
hard-wood pavements. — Ilnd 
Grafting.— Mr. J. T. Wright publishrs in tbe Bo- 
tanical Gazette for August, an accou'it 1 f his researches 
on the mode of union of cells i ■ herbaceous graft- 
ing. Ti is h ' fin is takes place in two ways, either 
by the compression of the c 'Us of the sci^n and 
♦ hose of the t.tock, l^y which tVie two cells l-eoome 
welded t'-ge her, or by the format ou of Biexi»em 
tifsu- (callus) on the cut surfaces of one or of both 
plants. The broken wa'ls of the injured cells are 
pushed i' to line by the growing tissue, and iorm 
a brown layer nwhich ■ everyone reoofniaes on ex- 
amining, igr^afts by the microscope. The pa{>er is 
of special interest, as showing the causes of failure 
or of success, and why graft hybridisatii n may 
probably occur in some cases, whilst the arrange- 
ment of the tissues would probably rrevent it in 
others. In his experiments, Mr. Wright r^acce<>ded 
in obtaining union between such UDltkely subecta 
as Tradescantia zobrina ou P otato, andGeianinm on 
Potato. He does not tell us, however, how long tt ? 
graft survived.— 
