192 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept,  i,  1892. 
these  papers  are  conoluded  Mr.  Sinclair  may  pos- 
sibly add  a few  chapters  on  “ CeyloD,”  “ Tasmania,” 
&o.,  and  republish  the  whole  with  illustrations  in 
a handy,  attractive  volume — “ a wee  bit  buckie”  is 
his  modest  idea  with  some  such  title  as  “ Travels  is 
SuDny  Lands  in  Search  of  a Home.”  It  would 
certainly  be  interesting  reading  from  his  happy 
pen  and  should  take  with  the  public  in  Great,  as 
well  as  Greater,  Britain — indeed  with  many  from 
Peru  to  Lanka  and  Hobart ! 
Something  must  be  done  about, 
TEA  ESTATE  MARKS 
to  prevent  too  close  assimilation  of  marks 
or  even  of  names  of  plantations.  I have  heard 
of  a case  where  a well  known  Bogawantalawa  estate 
has  got  the  credit  with  many  of  continuous  sales 
of  lowcountry  tea  grown  somewhere  in  the  Galle 
district,  in  a garden  which  it  seems  has  exactly 
the  same  name  (unless  a ‘‘ y ” be  changed  to  an 
“ i.”)  This  Galle  garden  appears  to  have  been  in 
existence  for  some  years,  but  certainly  I never  heard 
of  its  existence  or  got  particulars  for  the  Directory. 
Even  where  the  native  name  justified  the  adoption 
of  a well-known  title,  surely  to  prevent  confusion, 
it  would  be  well  to  vary  the  garden’s  name.  In 
the  coffee  days  we  had  eertainly  duplicates  and 
triplicates  of  one  name;  but  the  matter  was  not  of 
so  much  importance  as  in  the  case  of  tea. 
Roots  as  Indicators  or  the  Son.. — The  researches 
of  A.  Henrich  show  that  the  proportion  of  nutrify, 
ing  matter  present  in  the  roots  of  plants  indicates 
the  amount  in  the  soil.  A.  Yon  Dikow  has  re- 
cently made  some  experiments  to  verify  this  state- 
ment. He  used  barley  which  was  grown  in  the 
same  soil,  but  fortified  with  varying  proportions  of 
artificial  fertilizers.  He  finds  that  the  roots  of 
plants  show  what  kind  of  fertilising  materials  they 
stand  in  need  of  ; but  nevertheless,  the  quantity 
found  does  not  indicate  the  amount  of  fertilising 
matter  in  the  soil  which  is  capable  of  assimilation. 
And  also  that  where  the  roots  contain  the  maxi- 
mum of  nutrients,  it  is  no  indication  that  the 
soil  is  as  rich  in  fertilizing  materials  as  it  can  be. 
— Chemical  Trade  Journal. 
Pineapples  in  Florida.— Pineapples  are  propa- 
gated in  three  ways — from  the  “ crowns, " “ suokers,” 
or  “slips.”  They  are  planted  as  thickly  as  cab- 
bages, and  at  a little  distance  resemble  them. 
From  a five-acre  plantation  another  plantation 
several  times  larger  oan  be  planted  in  one  season. 
This  rapid  method  of  propagating  the  plants  makes 
the  industry  comparatively  easy  of  extension. 
Nearly  all  the  planters  put  out  new  fields  every 
year,  provided  they  have  the  land  at  hand.  From 
10,000  to  15,000  pineapples  can  be  planted  to  the 
acre,  and  in  from  18  months  to  two  years  after 
planting  the  slips  the  plants  will  produce  fruit.  The 
plants  need  little  cultivation  after  the  suckers  have 
once  set,  but  the  top  soil  requires  a little  stirring  in 
order  to  prevent  too  rapid  evaporation  of  the  mois- 
ture. Every  sucker,  slip  or  orown  if  properly  matured 
will  produce  one  fine  pineapple  and  each  grower  ex- 
peots  to  realize  five  cents  apieoo  for  the  fruit  after 
transportation  rates,  cost  of  package,  and  commis- 
sions have  been  deduoted.  This  means  $500  per 
acre,  but  pome  of  the  choioest  varieties  fell  for 
much  higher  prices,  so  that  from  $700  to  $1,000  is 
realised.  The  suckers  are  planted  in  rows  three 
feet  apart  either  way  during  the  rainy  season  in 
August  and  during  June  aud  July  the  crops  are 
harvested.  The  pineapples  are  cut  cff  close  to  the' 
main  stalk  with  a sharp  knife  and  the  thick 
pointed  leaves  are  trimmed  so  that  the  fruits  can 
be  paoked  easily.— Indian  Agriculturist . 
Tea  as  a Corpse  Preservative  ! — A striking  faot 
about  Chinese  use  of  tea,  which  is  told  on  the 
authority  of  a Chinese  officer,  is  that  it  is  employed 
for  preserving  the  bodies  of  the  dead.  A corpse  placed 
the  centre  of  a box  of  tea,  he  says,  will  “ keep  ” 
for  years.  He  further  asserts  that  tea,  which  has 
been  employed  in  this  capacity,  is  often  exported 
for  foreign  consumption,  the  boxes  being  marked 
in  a way  known  only  to  the  natives.  This  may 
account  for  the  superior  aroma  which  Chinese  tea 
is  claimed  to  possess  1 ! — Asian.  [This  idea  is  really 
too  bad. — Ed  T.  4.] 
Fruit  Cultivation  at  the  Cape. — An  earnest  of 
the  intentions  of  those  interested  in  the  Cape  fruit 
trade,  to  develop  it  to  the  utmost,  is  given  in  the 
publication  of  elaborate  suggestions  with  regard  to 
the  packing  of  the  fruit  for  the  voyage  to  Great 
Britain.  The  instructions  refer  to  grapes,  apricots, 
plums  and  gages,  peaches,  nectarines,  figs,  pears, 
apples,  quinces,  melons  and  pomegranates.  The 
hints  given  to  Cape  growers  are  based  upon  the 
experiences  of  the  Syndicate  which  undertook  the 
recent  experiments  to  ascertain  whether  the  fruit 
trade  between  the  Cape  and  Great  Briiain  could  be 
made  a commercial  success.  Among  the  few  kinds 
of  fruit  which  the  Cape  growers  are  not  encouraged 
to  send  are  pineapples  and  oranges.  The  ordinary 
Fatal  pine,  they  are  told,  is  not  suitable  to  the 
English  market  ; and  as  for  oranges  they,  it  seems, 
would  carry  well,  but  would  not  pay  for  two  reasons. 
Their  price  is  higher  at  the  Cape  than  in  England, 
and  they  would  arrive  in  the  latter  country  when 
abundance  of  European  fruit  is  in  the  market. 
OraDge  groves  must  be  established  and  developed 
near  Capetown  before  thiB  branoh  can  pay.  A trade 
in  fresh  peas,  beans,  and  early  potatoes  is  likely,  we 
gather,  to  be  developed  owing  to  the  success  in  car- 
rying fresh  fruits  in  the  refrigerators  of  Sir  Donald 
Currie  Company’s  steamers. — Indian  Agriculturist. 
Japan  Tea  in  America. — After  the  meeting  of  the 
Central  Tea  Merchants  Association,  held  in  February 
last,  Mr.  Tagome  Hachiro  was  sent  to  America  to 
ascertain  the  business  condition  there,  and  we 
published,  says  the  Nichi  Nielli,  his  report,  stating 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  bad 
hitborto  charged  no  import  duty  on  Japanese  tea, 
but  that  lately  there  was  a rumour  as  to  the  probable 
imposition  of  a duty  of  $10  per  100  oatties  of  tea 
imported  from  Japan.  We  now  hear  of  a des- 
patch from  the  Japanese  Consulate  in  New  York 
to  the  effect  that  the  rumour  was  started  by  some 
tea  merchants  in  the  hope  of  stopping  the  importa- 
tion of  inferior  tea  into  the  States.  Stated  accu- 
rately, the  story  was  that  a heavy  duty  would  be 
imposed  on  imported  tea  under  the  provisions  of 
the  MoKinley  Tariff.  According  to  that  tariff,  sugar, 
honey,  coffee,  tea,  and  leather  may  be  imported 
free  of  duly,  but  the  President,  if  he  con- 
siders that  the  circumstanoes  of  the  case  warrant 
such  a step,  may  annul  that  provision,  and  impose 
any  tax  he  thinks  proper.  Hence  it  was  asserted 
that  the  President  contemplated  imposing  a duty 
on  tea  from  the  1st  January.  But  the  rumour  was 
unfounded.  According  to  statistics,  the  total  amount 
of  tea  imported  into  the  United  States  during 
1890  was  over  30,414,700  catties,  the  total  price 
being  $5,323,370.  If  the  Government  imposed  an 
import  duty  of  10  cents  per  catty,  the  sum  col- 
lected would  amount  to  over  $3,000,000.  Such  a 
heavy  tax  could  not  be  paid  by  the  consumers. 
Moreover,  if  the  President  proposed  to  exercise  his 
fiscal  discretion  in  such  a manner,  he  would  be 
obliged,  in  the  first  place,  to  negotiate  with  oertain 
Powers.  At  present,  however,  there  is  no  sign  of 
any  duty  beinR  imposed  on  tea  imported  from  Japan. 
— Japan  Weekly  Mail,  April  23rd. 
