$82 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[March i, 1895. 
grown in great quantities, especially in the province 
of Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe, but, hitherto, it 
has been produced more for the seed than the fibre. 
The exports of linseed, in 1890, were 30,720,636 
kilogrammes, and in the first nine months of 1892 
they amounted to 44,160,163 kilogrammes. Prom 
these figures it will be seen that the amount of 
fibre left for home consumption must havd been 
very considerable. Besides iha above, there are nu- 
merous plants, especially in the Gran Chaco, known 
only by the Indian or Guarani nam*, which produce 
fibre of more or less excellence. One of these is 
the caza-guata, a species of aloe, which grows spon- 
taneously, not only in the Gran Chaco, but in 
Paraguay. A few yeara ago a firm of American 
merchants at Buenos Ayres, who own an Cat ten ire 
tract of land a few leagues above Asuncion, on 
which this plant grows in a very rauk condition, 
undertook tlie production of fibre, not only for 
rope and cordage, but also for wovrn goods. The 
tests which were made by experts from tin United 
States were most satisfactory, the fibre, as tiny 
reported, being equal, if not superior, to any pro- 
duced in the world; but the field of operations was 
so inaccessib'e and so remote f'om market, that 
the industry was given up. There is, however, be- 
lieved to hi a field for this fibre fully iqual io the 
one which Manila enjo s. Jute is not cultivated, 
not because it could not be grown to advantage in 
many parts of the Argentine iienublic, but because, 
in a n-w country ike Argentina, there is not the 
enterprise or manual labour to cultivate it. A'l the 
jute used in manufactures, or at least a very large 
proportion of it, is imported from abroad. For 
several years experiments have bee i made in Bue- 
nos Ayres with the ramie plant, and they have 
been s ) satisfactory, cha a company has been for- 
med in that city to grow the plant in large quan- 
tise i in the southerii port'on oi he Gran Chaco. 
Consul Ba<er says that, in the Arg- ntine cuitti- 
bution to he Chicago Exhibiiion, there will b<s 
found a full and interesting display of all the t x- 
tile plants grown in the country, the whole number 
amounting to 140 varieties, not including the cotton 
plant.— Journal of the Society of Arts. 
. * 
CINCHONA GATHERING IN PERU. 
The mountains of Peru form the natural home of 
the cinchona-tree, which is easily distinguishable from 
surrounding foliage by its beautiful leaves and magni- 
ficent proportions. The trees themselves frequently 
attain a height of eighty feet, are straight as a lance 
and covered with foliage. The leaves are large, 
and of a deep glossy green, relieved by diioate pink 
lines, producing a beautiful effect in the sunshine 
of that country. Since 1638 the medicinal properties 
of the cinchona-tree have been known in Peru. The 
life of a cascanllero, . or bark-hunter, is one of constant 
toil and incessant hardship, and his main reliance 
on his long and solitary journeys in search of the 
bark is the coca leaf, which he masticates for the 
strengthening and stimulating qualities it possesses. 
Since the days of the Incas this coca has been in 
common use locally, and it is said that among the 
mountains of Boliva and Peru, Indians using coca 
freely when driving pack mules over the roughest 
roads along the Sierras outstrip well-mounted horse- 
men. From thirty to fifty grammes are consumed 
daily, serving both as food and stimulant. The 
cascarillei'o, constantly using coca, finally loses the 
senses of taste and smell. There are many varieties 
of cinchona, which the hunter learns to distinguish 
through the texture and appearance of the bark. They 
are red, white, orange, yellow, blue and grey ; the 
yellow being the finest. Although the pay of the 
quinine-hunter is very small, it suffices to meet the 
tijmple requirements of himself and fami y, and as a 
class they are happy and contented with their lot. It 
' is a vocation that is handed down from father to son, 
but, despite long years of experience, coupled with 
an intimate knowledge pf the intricate trials leading 
to the cinchona-tree, the Indian hunters frequently 
lose their lives in the jungles of the wilderness. 
X-ccaBionally, a number of hunters start together as 
a great protection against disaster. Upon reaching 
a desirable spot where the signs of paying trees are 
considered good, preparations for careful are at once 
made, and from the tops of the loftiest trees the 
hunters the scan forest, quickly recognising the 
cinchonas. The task of gathering cinchona bark 
occupies all the working hours between sunrise and 
sunset. Armed with knives and keen-edged hatchets, 
the tree is quickly felled and the trunk is stripped 
and cleared from all foreign growth. This is a task 
of considerable magnitude, frequently requiring davs 
of constant labour, the sharp edges of lance-like lea\e*. 
mingled with thorns and briars, "lacerating and wound- 
ing the hunter s flesh. The bark, when removed, is cut 
into small curling slips and piled np in a convenient 
spot, where they are subjected to a drying process. 
The thin portions of the bark curl up, drying rapidly, 
while the larger and thicker strips retain their shape 
and are easilv packed for transportation. When all 
is pronounced ready hy the toH^tfO, or head hunter 
of the party, the hark is neatly lashed together with 
plaited grass and hound round with broad tough leaves, 
as a protection to the cured bark. The Indians and 
jtemiH then shoulder their burdens, often weighing as 
much as one hundred and fifty or two hundred pounds 
— these are kept in position by plaits of grass passing 
round the foreheads of the bearers, and are thus carried 
to market. — Ibid. 
KEROSINE VS. COCONUT OIL. 
Dkar Sin. — Although the discovery mode by one 
of our planters is not much extraordinary of a na- 
ture, yet so far as I can judge it is a creditable 
one to some certain exent, for the discovery in 
question might have s-ientifically attracted the a - 
tention of some plan ers who are nsi"g Kerosine 
oil lamps for the preparation of tea or desiccated 
coconuts. It is t ue as statod by your correspon- 
dent that to detect disco'oration in prepared tea is 
not easy 1 mat er since it bears the same resemblance 
similar to t e discolored desiccated stuff. But, how- 
ever, it would be advantageous and some benefit 
would follow if planters wmld u-e c^conat oil 
lamps in factories erected for the preparation of 
eitber tea or desiccated cocoannt, instead of any 
Kerosine lamps which contain more carbrqjic acids 
and fumes, and fffects 'he flavour of v getab'e snb- 
stances as wi 1 be seen by the following experi- 
ment: — 
Kerosine is nothing bit* liquid carbons e. Carbo- 
nate is a compound substance formed by the union 
of carbonic acid, and is litre common air a colour- 
less invisible gas we cannot s c. Some of tins 
carbm you may notice going away unburnt as 
smoke or soot and thus affects the gentfi' e colour 
of substances, notwithstanding the burning wick 
of a lamp is covered with its chimney and nv di- 
cinal gla<s. If you quickly press a sheet of white 
paper on to the flame so as not to burn the paper, 
you will see tbat it becomes stained with a b ack 
ring ot so >t or carbon which by tbe b ow of com- 
mon air naturally combines with other substances. 
Now the question is whether it is po;sib e for 
a scientific ma i to prevent this carbonic fume from 
combining with other matters? I thick not, as 
carbon, however, exists combined not on'y in tha 
bodies of plants and animals, but also in the sir as 
carbonic acid gas. Yours, <tc, 
B.D.LYE. 
Colombo, 16 th Feb., 1895. 
— ' Ceylon Independent." 
Selanoor Planters' Association.— We at- 
tract attention to the extracts we take from 
the latest Report of this body. We quote the 
portions of most interest to our planting readers, 
and these shew continued progress in this 
flourishing division of the Straits Settlements. 
That 1,000 additional acres of coffee were opened 
in 1894 is very satisfactorily represented, anrj 
sliewa full' confidence in our old staple, 
