Sept. i, 1894.I THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
169 
Wallaoe, who are confident that tbe foil of India ia 
Dot being exhausted, but Profe9:or Wallace's conclu- 
sions were not alwajB based on accurate data. Pop 
instnnce he greatly exaggerated the quantity of nitro- 
gen which is given back to the soil in the rainfall, 
thereby of cource mngniij ing its power of eelf -recupera- 
tion. Dr.Votlcker, on the other hanJ, a very cautious 
and competent observer, while hesitating to assert that 
•there is a positive deterioration going en, declares 
that there is absolutely no evidence satisfactorily »o 
establish the oontrary. At the same time Sir W. 
Huater in regard to the N -W. P., Sir Charles Eiliott 
in regard to the Nerbudha Valley, Mr. Robertson 
(formerly head of the Experimental Farm at Siidapet 
in Madras) and many others have expressed their 
opinion that the productive onpacity of the soil is 
declining. Sir Edward Buck, aga<n, in the Resolution 
which Dr. Watt quotes, remarks with satVaotion on 
tbe extension of double-cropping consequent on irri- 
gation but it ia fur from clear that this extension 
in always an advantage. " Undoubtedly," writes Dr. 
Voelcker iu his Report, wi'h the introfuc'ion of a 
canal into a district comes also the tendency to 
force the lard to bear more crops than it ought to, 
unless it be plentifully supplied with manure, wbich 
is seldom the case." Finally, though it ia true that 
100 million acres still await cult>v«tiou, itisalsotrue 
th^t all the best land h;.s already been taken up. 
The Famine Commissioners calculated that the cul- 
tivable waste would on the average produce 
only one-tenth as much as tbe area already 
under cultivation, It follows that if cultivation 
extends, more labour and capital will be needed 
to bring back what will after all be a much 
smaller return. Dr. Watt's rose-coloured view 
of things might be iustified were it clear how 
the ryot in tbe years to come is to get the manu-o 
without which be cannot put back what is taken from 
the soil in crops : were it certain that irrigation is 
always judiciously utilised : and were it possible to 
get the population to move on before the cnlt ; va'ed 
tracts are so overorowded that fallow land has to 
be taken up and the land deprived of its necess'ry 
test. All these are points which an energetic Agri- 
cultural Department may take up and settle satis- 
factorily, but in the meanwhile it is prudent to 
look on both sides of the shield. — Pioneer. 
COCOA IN VENEZUELA. 
The cocoa pods are carried to out-housPB and 
spread in tbe shade, where they should be left for 
eight days in order that they may become mellow. 
They are then opened with a knife, the beans 
taken out and plaoed noon tables exposed to the 
sun until they become red. 
T~> ferment or sweat the beana they shcnld be 
plaoed in a cellar or in boxes and barrels in a cool 
place for 4 or 5 days, covering them with bannni 
leaves with weights above, bat must be stirred and 
aired every morning and evening, after whioh they 
are spread out in the &un and dried until they 
sound hollow on being stirred, when they are ready 
to be Backed for the market. 
These beans, roasted or boiled for some time, 
will make and inferior kind of chocolate destitute 
of any fatty principle, but very ngree«ble to the 
taste ; this process is resorted to amongst the poorer 
classes. 
The ordinary class of cocoa comes from R ; o 
Chioo and Higuerote (Port Carenero) and the better 
class from Ocnmare and C^raoas. Prices ra'-.ge 
from £3 to £3 5s and Irom £5 to £6 per 100 lb. 
Much oocoa has been lest owing to the prevailing 
heavy rains. — British Consular Report. 
E1VE GOOD POINTS IN A COW. 
(From the Australian Agriculturist.) 
Name souie good points oi thedoirycow? 
It ^ >u tan find these five joints in a cow, she will 
suallyhave the power of paying for nor bourd and 
aving a profit for her owner. Wo name them ia the 
order of their value: 1. Long, large udder, broad 
and elastic. 2. Soft, mellow skin, oovered with 
" mossy " silky hair. 3. A large barrel with broad 
ribs, w de apart, and very firm muscles in the abdo- 
men. 4. Broad loins with long rumps and lean hipa. 
5. Long neck, cleau cut face, and large eyes. 
If possible, water should be kept in reach of tbe 
cow, also salt. Give as much food three times in the 
hours— at 6 a.m.. 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. — as the eow wind 
eat without waste and properly digeat ; effect, nutri- 
tious and wholesome milk will be produced if the coil 
is frcm good stock. 
GRAFT, BUD, OR SEED. 
The idea that in order to get good varieties of fruit 
we most bud or graft from existing trees that are 
known to be such prevails so extensively that no 
other system of propagation can be said to be in 
general practice. Yet it is true of the most of onr 
truita that the best as well as the poorest of the 
varieties we have originated are seedlings. Not a few 
fruit growers are suspecting tbat the practice of bud- 
ding and grafting has a tendenoy to degeneration and 
is at a least a cause equally potent with climatic 
charjges and soil exhaustion for lots of vigor and the 
want of the power to resist unfavourable influences 
in whioh the fruit trees of the olden time were' 
superior to those of the present. That gratifying or 
budding on stooks and roots is the only certain method 
of reproducing exactly tbe variety we wish to per- 
petrate is freely admitted, but may it not also be true 
that the practice should become more general oi rais- 
ing fruit trees from selected seeds? In case of the 
peach we may fairly expect trees from the best varie- 
ties to possess many of the gcod qualities of the parent 
stock, and if the vigor, productiveness and freedom 
from disease of old time orchards can to any consider- 
able extent be regained, it is certainly worth trying 
for. That we can originate a variety of the apple which 
will reproduce itself from the seeds with the same 
uniformity as from its soions is scarcely to be expeoted 
It seems reasonable, however, to believe that by plant- 
ing joung trees from seeds of our best apples, short 
distances apart in the rows, and leaving thera to be 
tested in future and then cutting ont the least desir- 
able, we may secure orchards of excellent fruit and, 
at the same time, more prolific and longer lived than 
many of the grafted and budded kinds of the present 
time. — Field and Farm. 
TEA CHESTS. 
Mr Roberts, lately of Ceylon, showed me tbe 
nuclei of an improved wooden Tea Chest 
hs had patented. You know the suooess the 
Acne tea chest has secured; but although these 
are an admitted great improvement upon the 
wooden ohests of recent patterns, the dealers here 
and, more especially, the warehousemen— do not 
like them, beoause they are of metal, and, if 
injured, cannot be patched up as tbe wor'den 
ohest oan be. Mr. Roberts believes that his new 
patent wood chest will meet ail the objections urged 
against those of old pattern. What is more he 
tells me he can contraot to deliver them in 
Colombo for two shillings euch, as against the 
three shillings and fourpecce charged for the 
Acme metal ohest. The sides of Mr. Roberts boxes 
are hinged together ar,d fold flat. When extended 
and the bottom piece placed in the grooves out 
in tLe sides to reoeive it it shuts squarely and 
tightly, and the binding hoops also hing d to open 
cut and finally secured in place by a single ecrew. 
The lid as at present designed though Mr. Roberta 
telle me he ia improving upon this. Slides in the 
grooves in the side, and when in and seoured com- 
pletes a remarkably firm and neat che6t. The lead 
lining is put in while the box ia opened ou» flat 
and bo aeoures a perfeot fit altogether I was mnob 
