May r, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
741 
can be employed for alcobol manafacturiog, it may 
be aaifl tldst' one not ve;y large manutaotory in 
Holland emplojs ou au' average 25,000 tons of 
m»ize s y ac. The same pen lemen, in Borne, 
made experiments with g!uco«e makicgj anii 
aaid : — "II est evident' quo la farine de liananae 
traitee de cettu maniare poarrait etre eeoore utili^i e 
potir la fabrication de glucose." The value of the 
meal for glucose would be more than one and-a-half 
times that of inaize, for maize is i ot employed for 
that fabriction, but only dearer sorts of stuffs, eb 
potato and eago raeal. A eertitnde for the employ- 
ment of the meal for elnoose manufacturing can only 
be given by employing at least a ton of the stuff, 
but there ia very great probability it will also do for 
that purpose. In the fullowing oalculati -ns he eati- 
ma^es the value of the meal on the basia of mnize, 
(hat is at this time beioff delivered by ship in 
Europe at £5 to £5 lOs. For tnanufaoturing 1,000 
tons per 5 ear of meal thera would be needed an 
iastallatioD that would cost, delivered and fixed in 
the estate, £3,000 to £2,500. For a second 1,000 tona 
a einailar iustallatioa would be needed, for it would 
be diffioult ^6 make large iostallations. For this 
reason it would alao ba profitable to make the 
mauufactory on the f state itself, for using the baoa- 
uaa and plantains. The fabrication of 1,000 tons will 
bo taken as a basi". Cost of reaping the fruit, pre- 
paring it, and making the meal delivered on ship if 
there is water in the neighbourhood, osn be put at 
16a to 20s per ton ; for freight to Europe, 18a to 259 
per ton. Thus the average cost for the meal delivered 
in Europe would be £2 per ton. He said the value 
would be at least that of maize, or £5 lOs. So that 
there would rest per ton of meal £3 to £3 10s. So that 
for 1,000 tons an installation of £2,000 to £2,500 is 
wanted, and a guautity of bananas or plantains of 
aboutthe double or the triple of the meal in average 
2,500 ton', whielt the revenue would be £3,000 to 
£3,500. In the above given cyphers all ex iffgerations 
are avoided. So it ia probable that the quantity of 
1,000 tons can be surpassed, and oost of manufacturing 
can be reduced, whilst the price of the meal would 
increase if it will do for glucose manutucturing. 
L. E. AssER, C. E. 
[We have examined specimen^i and samples — both of 
the banana spirit and banana flour — and are satisfied 
that there is a great future before this industry. — 
Bditok.] — Horticultural Times, 
CLOSE PLANTING OF TEA. 
A matter that ia well deserving the attention of 
tea planters of the present day is, whether or not 
the orthodox 4 by 4 is not too close for bashes, whose 
roots after a few years become interlaced, and whose 
bj-anches, when the pruning has been recovered from, 
approach so closely aa to impede the free circulation 
of air, also confining the effective use of the hoe to 
the narrow strip of ground left between the rows, 
while the soil near the stem of the plant, the most 
important of all, is left undisturbed, or is simply 
scraped, for appearance sake. Overcrowding, it is well 
known, is at the bottom of most of the ills that 
human beings are subject to, by giving an impetus 
to the development of disease germs, and the same 
is equally true in agriculture. Those who are 
inclined to contend ihisX wider planting, say 8 bv 8, 
would diminish the yield, may be reminded tnat 
an experiment was carried out some years 
since in the Punjab with mustard, which in- 
stead of being sown broadcast was drilled in at 
two feet apart, receiving, when the plants were 
about the same hoigbt, a light hoeing, much the 
same as field turnips do in Europe. The result was 1 
Uiabty gcatifyidg, a9 the ^ield, oVer that of a field 
adjaoeht sQwii in the usual tnanaer exceeded the j 
latter by 60 per cent, and there is no doubt thtit | 
the same method of treatiui; tea would be as suo- 
ceesfal. Wide planting, moreover, would enable 
the prnnor to lay the plants more open to th« 
influence of li^ht and Air, thus going far inwards 
eiposiQg the iDseott, that now iufea'a our gar> [ 
dens, to the attacks of the numerous birds which 
prey up in them, but whioh the dense foliage 
thfit the preseiit system engenders renders hlmost 
impofsible — and anyone who has studied the 
subject must be well awnre of the importance 
of encouraging our feathered allies. The exposure 
would abo tend to the greater development of vegeta- 
tion and permit of more openin? out of the centre of 
the plant. Surely the setting aside of a couple of 
acres for determining this matter would not be too 
much for some large concern to undertake. One acre 
might remain as at present, wbila the other might 
have the intermediate plants removed and, though 
rather late in the season, the widened acre could 
still be subjected to the fr=er use of the knife. Of 
course the yield of each would nave to be carefully 
weighed and, though from the lateness of the year, 
the firgi two months' flushes would no doubt prepon- 
derate in favor of the land planted as at present, no 
baaty decision bhou'd be jumped to, but the reault 
ot the whole season left to settle the question. -^/«rfta« 
Planters' Gazette. 
TEA AND SCAI^DAL. 
In 1665, Robert Lovell wrote a book, which he 
called " Pambotanologia, or A Compleat Herbal," 
and your readers may be interested to hear what 
he says concerning tea, cocoa and coffee. 
" Tltee. Place.— It groweth in China, Japonia and 
Chia. Tempebatuee. The time is not observed. 
Name. Serha Tkee Chinensis- TcJiia, Japon. Thee, 
Tulpiua. Tea is moderately hot and binding. ViRTnE. 
The herb is most wholesome, preserving in perfect 
health until very old age : it makes the body active 
and lusty : it helpeth the stone, headache and heavi- 
ness thereof, lippitnde, distillations and difficulty of 
breathing, weakness of the ventricle, pains of the 
bowels, lassitude, and prevents sleepiness, a draught 
of the decoction being taken, and causeth that, 
without trouble, whole nights may be spent in study 
without hurt to the body, by reason that it moderately 
heateth and bindeth the mouth of the stomach, and 
I o restraineth those vapours which otherwise as- 
cending would cause sleep. That of Japonia is the 
best, which the natives powder upon a marble stone 
and mix it vrith warm water, but those of China 
boil the plant with a little salt and sugar in some 
convenient liquor, which afterwards they drink warm." 
Oacao tree. Cacao. Place. — In the West Indies, 
in hot and shady places. Temperatuee. As soon as 
it is touched by the sun it withereth. N.\jie. 
Cacavate ; the confection thereof Chocolate. Kind. 
As the common and broader. TEiiPERiTUiiE The 
kernels of the fruit are of different parts : first they 
are very cold and dry, so should be restringeut and 
obstructive : yet they so far participate of heat and 
moisture, that if they be well ground and mixed 
their restringency and obstructiveness will be cor- 
rected. Virtue. The confection of ckocaUtto being 
taken alone or relented in milk preserves health 
and impinguates ; it helpeth digestion, consumption . 
and cough of the lungs, plague of the guts and 
other fluxes, the green sickness, jaundice, and all 
manner of inflammations and oppilations : it helpeth 
the morphew, cleanseth the t eth, and sweeteneth 
the breath ; cares the atone and strangury, expels 
poisons and preserves from all infectious diseases. 
The Indians use it with pepper for driuk, bat it is 
better for hogs than men." 
" Coffee. Cojthi/. Place.— It groweth upon little 
trees only in the deserts of Arabia. N-Ime. Aa for 
the variety of names authors have as yet 
wrote little. i'EMPBRiTUKB. Ia of an exsiccaut 
quality. ViBm:. It drioth up the crudities of the 
Stomach, comforteth the brain ; it helpeth con- 
sumptions, lethargies, rickets, swoonings of ui>mou; 
it fortifioth the sight with its steam, and prevents 
dropsies, gouta, and the scurvy, together with the 
spleen and hypochondriacal winds : all which it 
doth without any destruction. Hereof may ba made 
an electuary thus. Take of butter and sfUlol oil 
p. aeq. III., and melt them with thrice so macb 
