454 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
[Jan. i, 1895. 
forces in a different way. They owe nothing to man, 
not even the sowing of the parent seed, and " the 
human being's pride " asks, how came they to be there, 
and to be what they are, an embodiment of that idea 
of magnificence, which we so often wish to realise, 
and fail ? 
The grandeur of a tree does, in a great measure, 
depend upon its size. The national pride of Amenta 
in its giant trees is well founded. In the Situ a 
Nevada, there are three groves of the " Mammoth 
tree," which, like the beeches of the New Forest, will 
for ever be protected as a national inheritance. At 
the head-waters of the San Antonio river, the num- 
ber still standing is about two hundred, of which 
ninety-two are of the largest size. Six hundred mure 
of these giants stand at a distance of fifty miles, on 
the slopes of the mountains. At a short distance 
beyond there are five hundred more, and it is said 
that a fourth grove has been discovered, which i to 
be included among the national parks. The average 
dimensions of these trees are 300 ft. in height 
and 30ft. in diameter near the ground ; hut some 
specimens are 400 ft. high, — a few feet lower than the 
cross of St. Paul's. If the giants of our own woods 
appeal to us as an embodiment of magnificence, what 
must be the impression created by this hall of 
columns, in which each equals in height the spire* of 
a cathedral, and has stood through ages of whose 
duration the years of the oak are an inconsiderable 
fraction ? These Californian giants lack one element 
of impressiveness. They have no associations other 
than those which their size conjures up. Human 
fancy has never played with their mighty forms ; so 
far as is known, no human eyes have watched the 
ages of their growth. They have no place in the 
story of nations, they have built no temples, 
furnished no navies. They have no place 
in story. They were found alone in the v 
Hess, as the Siberian fur-hunter found the ice-cased 
mammoth, in a world of their own. To the mind of 
the educated West, the groves of the cedars of Leba- 
non would appeal more strongly than the grove* of 
the Sierra Nevada; the bulk of the one could not 
outweigh the associations of the other. But to the 
primitive notions of Eastern peoples, the giant tree 
makes a direct appeal, not only for respect, but for 
worship. Whatever departs from the ordinary course 
of nature strikes them as the immediate work of 
God, and one which necessarily preserves something 
of the divine. Such, for example, is the holy pine 
of Japan, with its double stem, pictures of which 
are presented to every bride and bridegroom on the 
marriage day ; and this claim to worship is shared 
potentially in the East by every great tree that 
Overtops its fellows. — Spectator. 
THE LONDON CINCHONA-AUCTIONS. 
London, November 15th. 
Before the commencement of Tuesday's bark auctions 
Mr. David Howard proposed that the public sales of 
cinchona-bark in London be held, in 1895, on the twelve 
dates specified below. He thought that these dates would 
be the most convenient ones because they were chosen 
so as to fall, as far as possible, midway between the 
Amsterdam auctions. At present it happened occasionally 
that a heavy cinchona-auction took place in Holland 
within three days of a London sale, with the result that 
the market was temporarily overfilled, whereby both trad- 
ing centres were injured. The dates mentioned by him 
were only thrown out tentatively, and any suggestions 
on the subject sent to him before the next (December) 
■ sales would be welcome. Mr. W. W. Green observed that 
the Produce Brokers' Association were considering the 
whole question of the bark-sales, and that the brokers in- 
tended to confer with their principals on the subject. Sub- 
sequently Mr. A. Davitt (Lewis & Peat) remarked that 
the dates suggested by Mr. Howard would suit his firm 
very well. The proposed bark-auction days in London and 
the dates already fixed by the Amsterdam cinchona-trade 
for 1895 are as follows : — 
London. 
Amsterdam. 
Jan. 
Feb. 
8 July 
19 Aug. 
March 19 Sept. 
April 30 Oct. 
May 28 Nov. 
June 25 Dec. 
r~Chmitf (md Druqqist. 
23 
Jan. 
24 
July 
18 
20 
Feb. 
28 
Aug. 
29 
IT 
March 
Sept. 
15 
April 
4 
Oct. 
3 
12 
May 
9 
Nov. 
7 
10 
June 
13 
Dec. 
12 
A CHEAP '• Bl'LK" MA N I KE . NILGIKI 
LEG U WHNOUS PLANT*. 
We have alreiudy touched once or twice on the 
gravity of the manure question on these hills, as 
iu other districts, and recommended giving a trial 
to the various leguminous plants so abundant on 
the Nilgiris. We sent Mr. liooj.tr. Government 
Quiuolo^'ist a few specimens to kindly identify for 
us, which lie has done, despite the press of his 
other work. We thank him cordially for his as- 
sistance, it is but another instance of the interest 
he displays in all matters planting; it is a pity 
that a short-sighted Governiuent does not render 
his services more available to the great industries 
of coffee and tea. 
The wild leguminosae or pod-bearers are known 
generically on the Nilgiris as katlu-urari or kadu- 
hulaU : jungle-pc 1 - ; the botanical names are some- 
what different. We may as well mention before 
proceeding further that in the following list, Mr. 
Hooper is only responsible for the botanical names 
and the properties of the plants. 
1. Cassia Occidentalis is perhaps the commonest 
of our wild pod-bearers, as it is certainly the most 
conspicuous. It is a shrub, growing perhaps up 
to 8 or 10 feet high, and its great clusters 
of bright yellow blossoms contrast markedly 
with its bunches of pods, which turn a deep 
black when ripe. The seeds are also black, are 
thin and flattish, and are closely packed. It 
springs up freely on all fallow land and yields a large 
quantity of foliage. In common with other cassias, 
the 0. Occidentals possesses aperient properties in 
medicine and yield Senna leaves and cassia and pulp. 
2. Atylosia Casdollei is a shrub of about the 
same size as the fore-going, but its flowers are of a 
deep orange, and its pods are flat and covered with 
a thick down. Its foliage is darker than C. Occiden- 
talis and hangs in clusters. Mr. Hooper informs us 
that nothing whatever is known of the properties of 
the Atylosias. 
3. Sophora Glanca does not us ually exceed, 
we think, three feet in height but is more bushy 
in its growth than either No. 1 or 2. The flower 
is pink and insignificant, and the leaves are of a 
peculiar dark shade of green, easy to mistake for 
that of other plants when growing in the jungle. 
The Sophoiax are very poisonous, the leaves and 
seeds being used for destroying fish in many parts 
of the world, their poisonous properties are due to 
their containing certain alkaloids. 
4. Ckotolakia Kubiginosa. This is somewhat like 
No. 1, Casia Oceidantalis, the flowers and pods being 
very similar, the latter are perhaps more strikingly 
like the common pea-pod. The properties of the 
CrotoJaria are like those of the Sophoras being very 
poisonous. 
In answer to a query as to whether it would be 
safe to use wild pod-bearers indiscriminately as 
fodder for cattle (after having first made them 
into ensilage) Mr. Hooper points out that many 
of the leguminosae — as instance the Sophoras 
and Brotolarias — are virulent poisons. The Cala- 
bar bean or Ordeal bean of Africa may be taken 
as an example of the deadly properties of these 
plants. 
Poisonous, however, or net, when given to cattle, 
it would not matter to the plants if used as 
a green manure. All pod-bearers possess the 
valuable property of storing up the free nitrogen 
of the air, as doubtless all our readers know 
by this time. Instead of, therefore, buying the 
very costly cattle-nitrogen or the cheaper form 
of it in poonacs, why not utilize the products of 
Nature's laboratory supplied in most cases at 
one's door ? At first a trial could be given by simply 
gathering the plants as they stand ; did the experi- 
ment turn out successful, a piece of so-called grazing 
land might be cleared in Badaga fashion for a few 
rupees and the seed sown in broadcast in the rains. 
Bulk for bulk green manure made of pod-bearing 
plants is superior far to cattle-dung, while it is 
usually its equal iu nitrogen and minerals. It is 
difficult at first to say what would be the best means 
