5'4 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb. i, 1895. 
fourteen miles from B lan tyre, the metrop>li.s of 
the Stiire Highlands, and four hours' walk 
through most beautiful scenery soon brought 
us to our journey's end. 
The Church of Scotland Mission Station at 
Blantyre occupies a most delightful position, 
nestling amongst the many undulating hills for 
which the scenery of the Shire Highland- is 
justly famed. We entere 1 the Station from the 
Man lala side, passing up a mileloug avenue of 
Eucalyptus trees, planted some thirteen years 
ago. They have now attained to a great height, 
some of them to nearly 6 J feet. In the centre 
of the square is to be seen a giant specimen, 
towering to a height of 80 feet, with a 
stein 18 inches in diameter, and as straight as 
a telegraph pole. The square in front of the 
church is a delightful spot. In the wide flower 
borders which surround it are to be seen Buoh 
plants as lioses, Pelargoniums, Pentstemons, 
Dahlias, and Sweat Williams growing alongsi Le 1 
Poinsettias, Clerodendrons, Hibiscus, and Plum- 
bagos, bordered with Alternantheras ; while the 
lawn in the centre is dotted over with some fine 
specimens of Conifers, Eucalyptus, two Cocoa Nut 
Palms, and some native trees. 
The kitchen garden covers an area of a little 
over 2 acres, and is laid out in the form of ter- 
races, five in number. An irrigation stream, 
brought from a distance of nearly two miles, 
runs through the garden, and, but for a few 
weeks towards the end of the dry season, gives an 
ample supply of water, consequently vegetables 
can be grown nearly all the year round. Let- 
tuce, Leeks, Onions, Carrots, Asparagus, Peas, 
Beans, Tomatoes, and English Potatoes do well, 
giving an abundant return. One cannot say the 
Cauliflower is a success. The plants grow well, 
but the " heads'' are small, while Cabbages, as 
may be imagined, are a never-failing vegetable. 
We were rather interested in the propagation of 
the Cabbage, as practised at Blantyre. When the 
Cabbage proper is cut for table the steins are 
owed to remain in the ground for a fortnight or 
so, by which time " offshoots'' will have formed. 
These are taken off and inserted about 6 inches 
apart in the ordinary garden soil, which 
at Blantyre is of a light texture, a 
little sand being first placed on the surface, 
and are well attended to in the matter of 
watering, a process requiring to be done every 
day in Central Africa in the dry season. After 
about a fortnight or three weeks the cuttings 
are sufficiently rooted to allow them to be planted 
out, and in another four weeks' time, are ready 
for use. We have seen Cabbages grown in this 
^-ay at Blantyre weigh from 15 to 25 lb. weight. 
D J r ^ n S * n e ^ r y season > from May to November, 
all veo-^tables are best grown in trenches. A line 
is set Ivnd trench taken out about a foot in depth, 
and the same 2 Q breadth, which is filled with water 
from the irriga + 'i° n stream. After abont a 
week some well-u^ayed manure is dug into 
the trench, and the .seeds sown. In the rainy 
season ridges take tie place of trenches. 
Turnip seeds germinate in from two to three days, 
Peas in four days. The varieties of Peas which 
seem to do best in this part are' Lightning, Fill- 
basket, and William the First. We have never 
yet been able to grow Melons. They grow to a 
certain length until the fruit is the size of an 
Orange, and then the plants become cankered and 
ultimately die. . 
About a quarter of the garden is devoted to 
fruit trees, Apples, both culinary and dessert, 
do extremely well. The trees are all about 
ten years old, though there are some fine 
young ones t > be seen. Orange, Lemon, Gra- 
naJilla, Gaava, Peach, Pomegranate, Fig, Lo- 
quat, and Papayas are all grown. Cape &MM- 
berries have inane their home in the Shire High- 
lands, and are to be found in nearly every tillage. 
Pine Apples and Banaixs are equally as plenti- 
ful. A b nuti'ul avetiu-? of L;;noa tree* .«tret. % 'i- 
ing through the station gives a never-failing sup- 
ply of fruit, and in a tropical climate there are 
worse things than a " i^mon squash" when one 
is thirsty. 
Tea is also grown in the Blantyre Garden, 
though not to any great extent. In the dry sea- 
son it is only by irrigating the plants that a flush 
can be had. Little over a year ago acou»pi?iious 
object in the Blantyre <; irden was the lirst Cotfee 
tree (Coffea arabica) introduced into the Shire 
Highlands in 1873. Mr. Duncan (then gardener 
at Blantyre) brought with him from the Botanic 
Gardens in Edinburgh three coffee tre»- ; two 
of them died, but one lived, and grew, and 
flourished. In 1878 there was one coffee tree in 
the Shire Highlands, today there are millions. 
The Shire Highlands of British Central Africa 
have come mu'di to the front of late as being 
suitable for coffee growing and in looking 
pround at the many well managed coffee 
plantations in the district one lias no hesitation 
in saying that there is a bright future before it 
Noticeable amongst the foreign trees is the 
Camphor Laurel, Camphors olfi^inarum, the well- 
known Laurel of China ami Japan, introduced 
into the Shire Highlands in 1884. Nothing as 
yet has been attempted in extracting the cam- 
>hor, but if any of your readers wish to know 
low the camphor is extracted by distillation we 
would refer them to page 289 of the Journal of 
Horticulture for September 28th, 1893. 
But apart from home flowers and plants 
there are many handsome ones indigenous 
to the country, and that rightly merit a 
place in the garden. There is the fine 
shrub, Tephrosia Vogeli, having a profusion of 
large white flowers, and it keeps flowering 
all the year round. There is also the white variety 
of the Datura, Datura alba, but it is not very 
abundant, and we scarcely think it is a native 
of the district ; very probably it has been intro- 
duced from the coast. Lilies are not very numer- 
ous, and as far as we have seen there is but one 
variety worth cultivating. The name of it we do 
not know, but its flowers, and in fact the whole 
habit of the plant, is closely allied to Gloriosa 
superba. Water Lilies are more abundant, but 
their home is down the lower river and hidden 
away in the marshes. There is one species, a 
pale blue Nymphsea, which is well worthy of cultiv- 
ation. Irises are to be found, one variety, a char- 
ming yellow, named Cadalvna spectabilis, we 
have never seen before. Of ground Orchids there 
is an endless variety, but nothing very special. 
Such families as Maivaceie, Labiatoe, Convolvu- 
lacese, and Sterculiacese are very numerous, and 
include many species. 
But now the sun is far down in the west, 
and soon darkness will be upon us. So we 
retrace our steps to the manse. From the manse 
verandah what a beautiful scene is before us ! 
We first rest our eyes on the Palms and other 
fine-foliaged plants beneath us, and then they 
wander away to the fine undulating belt of hills. 
"The Minchiru Range," over which the sun is 
just setting in all its beauty of crimson, 
blue, and gold— truly an African sunset. We 
will not attempt to describe it, but surely 
it requires no great stretch of the imagina- 
tion to convince one that n Central Africa 
