178 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept,  x,  1892. 
the  Chairman  moved  that  the  statement  of  the 
income  and  expenditure  and  the  balance  sheet  to 
30th  June  1892  together  with  the  Directors’  Report 
be  adopted.  On  being  put  to  the  meeting,  the 
motion  was  unanimously  carried. 
On  the  motion  of  the  Chairman  the  following 
Directors  were  unanimously  elected Mr  C J 
Donald,  Mr.  E.  Hamlin,  Mr.  .T.  H.  Renton, 'Mr 
Giles  F.  Walker,  Hon.  L.  H.  Kelly,  Mr.  W.  H G 
Duncan,  Lieut.  E.  de  Frisch,  Mr.  Harry  Whitham! 
Mr.  G.  E.  Osborne,  Mr.  T.  C.  Owen,  Mr  W D 
Gibbon,  Mr.  J.  Munton. 
On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Edward  Webb,  seconded 
by  Mr.  A.  L.  Cross,  it  was  unanimously  resolved : 
— “That  as  a remuneration  for  their  services  the 
Directors  shall  be  entitled  to  appropriate  annually 
a sum  not  exceeding  Rl,500  to  be  divided  among 
them  in  such  manner  as  they  may  determine.” 
On  the  motion  of  the  Chairman  it  was  unani- 
mously resolved “ That  Mr.  John  Guthrie  be  ap- 
pointed Auditor.”  I 
With  a vote  of  thanks  to  the  Chairman  the  meet- 
ing dispersed.  A.  Philip, 
Secretary  to  the  Ceylon  Tea  Company,  Limited. 
FRUIT  CULTURE  IN  INDIA. 
A telegram  which  we  publish  today  announces  that  ! 
the  Fruit  Culture  Committee  which  has  been  deli- 
berating at  Simla  has  recommended  the  appointment 
of  an  Inspector  of  Orchards,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  services  of  some  such  official  as  this 
will  be  essential  to  the  success  of  any  project  that 
may  be  devised  for  extending  the  industry  that  has 
been  engaging  its  attention.  In  India  fruit  and  tree 
planting  has  hitherto  been  too  much  neglected.  As 
far  as  Anglo-Indians  are  concerned  the  majority  are 
apt  to  think  that  their  stay  in  any  station  is  too 
short  to  make  it  worth  their  while  to  beautify  their 
gardens  very  much.  But  there  are  house  owners  who 
might  certainly  turn  their  attention  more  than  they 
do  at  present  to  the  matter  of  tree  planting,  whether 
for  use  or  ornament.  It  would  certainly  bring  its  own 
reward.  A single  graft  mango  tree  is  often  leased 
annually  on  the  West  Coast  for  over  a hundred  rupees, 
and  at  some  stations  R50  is  quite  an  ordinary  price 
for  the  fruit  of  one  tree.  Even  a common  mango 
tree  gives  from  R5  to  RIO  a year,  and  a plantation  of 
trees  that  would  improve  the  look  of  many  a bare 
treeless  compound  would  often  pay  the  rent  in  the 
case  of  tenants,  or  double  it  in  that  of  house  owners. 
There  is  a particular  caste  in  India  that  make  a point 
of  planting  from  ten  to  a hundred  sapan  trees  when 
a daughter  is  born.  The  trees  take  about  nine  or  ( 
ten  years  to  reach  maturity,  and  it  is  about  that  time  \ 
that  the  betrothal  ceremonies  of  the  girl  take  place. 
The  trees  are  then  cut  down  and  the  money  realised 
furnishes  the  expenses  of  the  marriage  and  provides 
the  bride  with  the  jewels  always  given  as  a dowry  on 
her  marriage.  One  of  the  wise  provisions  made  by  the 
United  States  Government  is  to  have  one  day  in  each 
year,  called  “ Arbour  Day,”  set  apart  as  a holiday  for  1 
the  planting  of  trees;  and  on  that  day  every  man,  woman  i 
and  child,  rich  or  poor,  is  required  to  plant  a tree  of  ! 
some  kind.  This  was  commenced  in  the  State  of 
Nebraska;  and  already  portions  of  the  United  States 
that  had  become  completely  deforested  are  covered  j 
with  a wealth  of  shady  trees,  pines  and  oaks,  walnut,  ; 
maple,  elm,  linden  and  others.  If  the  Government  l 
could  only  institute  an  Arbour  Day  in  India,  and  ! 
people  would  enter  with  interest  and  sympathy  into  ! 
the  movement,  the  country  would  be  greatly  benefited  [ 
in  years  to  come.  The  supply  of  custard  apples,  i 
mangoes,  jack  fruit,  cachu  nut  trees,  oranges,  pum-  j 
maloes,  guavas,  strawberry  guavas,  and  many  other 
less  well-known  fruits  would  increase,  and  take  the 
places  of  the  useless  dusty  trees  that  form  the 
principal  adornment  of  many  Indian  gardens.  One  of  | 
the  fruit  trees  that  flourishes  well  on  the  Indian  plains  j 
is  the  bread  fruit  with  its  broad  handsome  leaves.  ! 
Natives  have  an  aversion  to  planting  it  as  they 
believe  it  to  be  an  unlucky  tree,  bringing  misfor- 
tune to  the  owner ; but  all  the  same  the  fruit  if  well  j 
cooked  makes  a delicious  vegetable.  The  coconut  l 
is  one  of  the  most  profitable  trees  for  cultivation 
The  natives  of  the  West  Coast  calculate  that  a tree 
will  have  cost  one  rupee  by  the  time  it  comes  to 
maturity,  when  it  will  give  a rupee  a year  for  the 
next  seventy  or  eighty  years ; but  this  is  rather  too 
favourable  an  estimate,  R2  for  the  initial  expenses 
and  half  a rupee  a year  clear  profit  being  a safer 
sum  to  calculate  upon,  though  in  good  and  suitable 
soil  and  when  well  cared  for  trees  often  give  con- 
siderably over  a rupee  a year.  Some  of  the  plantations 
of  Ceylon  which  are  under  European  management 
are  most  successfully  worked. 
Whenever  f ruit  culture  be  attempted  it  does  not  do  to 
begin  by  being  too  sanguine.  A fortune  will  not  be  made 
by  asmall  fruit  farmer;  but  a very  fair  return  for  capital 
can  certainly  be  obtained,  taking  the  good  seasons  with 
the  bad  ones,  which  in  all  cultivation  must  certainly  be 
expected.  Lord  Derby  in  an  interesting  speech  on 
fruit-growing  at  a Conference  recently  held  in  the 
Town  Hall  of  Manchester  remarked  that  he  had  heard 
opinions  expressed  from  which  it  would  seem  that 
the  writers  or  speakers  were  agreed  that  fruit  could 
be  grown  by  anybody  anywhere;  and  that  one  had 
only  to  get  five  or  ten  acres,  no  matter  what  the 
soil,  stick  in  the  trees  or  plants,  and  make  a fortune 
in  watching  them  grow.  Anyone,  he  said,  who  started 
with  that  expectation  would  find  himself  greatly 
deceived.  The  story  of  the  old  gardener  who  when 
dying  told  his  sons  that  there  was  a fortune  buried 
at  the  root  of  one  of  the  apple  trees  is  well  known. 
To  find  the  gold  they  dreamed  of  the  sons  turned 
up  the  earth  thoroughly  round  the  roots  of  each  apple 
tree ; and  though  they  found  no  gold  they  reaped  a 
rich  harvest  in  the  plentiful  crop  of  fruit  borne  by 
the  trees  in  consequence  of  the  turning  up  of  the 
earth  round  their  roots.  Lord  Derby  in  the  speech 
referred  to  spoke  seriously  on  the  subject  of  the  large 
amount  of  land  lying  waste,  which  no  longer  could 
be  farmed  at  a profit,  but  which  could  be  made  to 
grow  fruit  very  advantageously.  Some  of  the  statis- 
tics given  by  him  are  interesting  and  instructive.  In 
the  United  Kingdom  strawberries  are  taken  as  giving 
a gross  return  of  £27  per  acre  and  a net  return 
after  all  expenses  are  paid  of  £6  or  £7  an  acre. 
Raspberries  cost  £21  an  acre,  giving  a net  profit  of 
£7.  Currants  £30  gross  and  over  £11  net.  Apples, 
plums  and  cherries  £25  an  acre,  but  the  net  profit 
only  £5.  The  profits  on  apples,  however,  vary 
much  in  the  estimates  given  of  them.  In 
the  year  1883  “ an  apple  Congress  ” was  held 
at  Chiswick  in  the  gardens  of  the  Royal  Agri- 
cultural Society,  when  between  1,500  and  1,600  differ- 
ent sorts  of  apples  were  exhibited,  all  of  which  had  been 
grown  in  the  United  Kingdon.  By  the  way,  much 
valuable  information  as  to  the  best  modes  of  grafting 
the  cultivating  apples  has  been  collected  by  the 
British  Fruit-growers  Association,  which  endeavours 
to  “ promulgate  the  knowledge  of  improved  principles 
in  fruit-growing”;  and  that  and  other  Societies  offer 
large  sums  in  prizes  for  the  best  managed  fruit 
farms.  In  the  year  1889  the  then  Lord  Mayor  of 
London  established  a fund  of  £5,000,  the  interest  of 
which  was  to  provide  prizes  for  this  purpose.  Accord- 
ing to  some  of  these  authorities,  a bush  apple  tree 
has  been  proved  from  experience,  and  taking  good 
years  with  bad,  to  yield  fruit  to  the  net  value  of 
Is  8d  annually.  This  appears  very  small,  but  when 
it  is  remembered  that  a bush  tree  only  occupies  a 
square  yard,  and  an  acre  so  planted  means  £40  a year, 
the  profits  will  be  seen  to  be  very  considerable.  In 
planting  an  orchard  or  garden  care  has  to  be  taken 
to  select  some  quick-growing  fruit  trees  as  well  as 
those  that  take  a longer  time  to  give  a return,  such  as 
apples  in  England  or  mangoes  and  coconuts  in  India, 
all  of  which  take  from  four  to  six  years  to  come 
to  maturity.  There  is  an  old  proverb,  “He  that 
plants  pears  plants  for  his  heirs;’’  but  in  planting  for 
his  heirs  a man  very  often  plants  for  his  own 
benefit  too. 
Over  an  elevation  of  3,000  feet  areally  good  garden 
may  with  a little  care  be  easily  formed  in  India  for 
growing  peaches,  apples,  pears,  loquats,  mangos- 
teens,  etc.  Seeds  can  be  procured  with  little  trouble 
from  Australia  which  suit  an  Indian  Hill  station 
well.  If  plants  are  to  be  procured  direct,  the 
