Feb.  i,  1893.I 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
54 1 
summary  of  tbesp  showing  how  they  apply  or  do  not 
apply  looally.  The  concluding  part  of  the  essay 
is  worth  quoting  : — 
Id  conclusion,  let  me  point  out  the  great  ignorance 
and  negligence  that  exist  nmoDg  most  of  our  country- 
men, about  farmyard  manure.  They  are  blind  as 
regards  its  valuable  qualities.  True,  some  of  them 
mnnure  their  fields  and  gardens  with  it;  but  this  is  more 
the  exception  than  the  rule,  especially  in  many  parts  of 
the  South  and  West  of  our  Island.  It  is  astonishing  to 
see  the  reckless  maimer  in  which  valuable  manure  is 
wasted  by  the  majority  of  our  goiyas.  They  are  no- 
thing of  the  large  qusntities  of  drcppiDgs  that  may  be 
had  on  the  roads  ana  compounds  and  from  the  public 
cattle  stalls.  This  indeed  is  bad  enough;  but  it  is  shock- 
ing to  find  that  they  do  Dot  make  cattle  sheds  for 
housing  their  own  animals  at  Dight  and  collecting  the 
manure.  They  are  sometimes  tied  in  the  open  ; but 
very  often  they  are  left  t o wander  about  on  the  roads, 
jungles,  meadows,  &c.  Many  villagers  seem  to  havea 
prejudice  against  ihe  use  of  farmyard  manure. 
In  s 'me- place-i,  the  leaf  of  the  “Keppetiya”  (Cro- 
ton lucdferum)  which  is  easily  procurable  in  the  low- 
country  jungle  s,  is  used  for  gardens  as  a favourite  sub- 
stitute for  fat  mj  ard  manure.  I will  not  say  a word 
agsi  st  the  nseof  this  leaf  as  green  manure.  As  such 
it  has  apecial  virtues  and  de-erves  to  be  in  good  re- 
pute. But  it  is  r onseDse  to  suppose  that  it  can  supply 
the  place  of  farmyard  manure.  An  exhausting  system 
of  burning  the  land  is  also  practised  instead  of  man- 
uring it. 
JAVA  CINCHONA  AND  CUBEBS. 
The  expoi  is  ol  omrLona  and  cnbehs  from  Java  during 
the  four  months  from  July  1 to  October  31  have  been: — 
1892  1891  1890  1889 
Cubebs  piculs  1,198  714  360  303 
Cinchona,  Govt. 
plantations  lb  204,435  288,761  64,208  231,410 
Cinchor  a,  private 
plantations  lb  2.040  943  3.488,974  2,035,890  1,600.888 
Total  ...  2,245,378  3,777.725  2 100,098  1,832  298 
The  quality  of  the  cassia  oil  which  has  recently 
been  brought,  to  market  in  Hongkong  has  proved  ex- 
tremely unsatisfactory  ; the  hightst  quality  (No.  1)  is 
wanting  altogether,  and  the  percentage  of  cinnamic 
ah  ebyde  in  parcels  pretending  to  answer  the  test  (70 
per  cent  is  required  to  at'ain  the  standard)  is  greatly 
dtficieQt.—  Chemist  and  Druggist. 
THE  AMSTERDAM  CINCHONA  SALES. 
The  b»rk  auctions  to  be  held  in  .Amsterdam  on 
January  12th  will  consist  of  212  cases  and  6 017  bales 
(about  530  tone),  divided  as  fellows: — From  Govern- 
ment plantations,  49  cases  and  324  bales  (about  33 
tons);  from  private  plantations,  163  cases  and  5,693 
bales  Obout  497  iods).  This  quantity  contains:  Of 
Druggists’  bark—Succirubra,  quills,  212  casts:  ditto 
breS'  n quilla  and  emp*,  176  Dales;  ditto  root,  47  hales. 
Of  Manufacturing  bark — Ledgeriana,  broken  quills  end 
chi; a,  4,280  bales;  < itto  root,  860  bales;  Officinalis, 
bioki  u quills  and  ohips,  74  bales  ; ditto  root,  19  bales  ; 
Bybrid,  broken  qu-lls  ami  chips,  499  bales  ; ditto  root, 
62  bales. — Chemist  and  Druggist. 
Coffee. — Have  any  of  our  planting  readers  expiri- 
mentea  with  the  Maragogipe  coffee  plaDt,  and  if  so, 
to  what  ester  t and  wi  h what  resulte  ? There  is  a 
very  showy  little  field  ot  this  variety  on  ibe  “Sophia 
Es  ate  ” at  KutLutty,  aid  the  plants  bo  far  (nearly 
three  years  old)  have  developed  a fir  e healthy  and 
vigorous  habit.  Tb.  y made  a decided  push  of  blossom 
at  the  commence meLt  of  Ihe  season,  but  of  which 
they  were  ptcmptiy  denuded  fiom  motives  of  policy. 
A good  deal  has  lately  been  do:  e in  the  way  of 
putting  out  slade-tree*  on  the  shove  mentioned  estate, 
and  one  of  the  best  binds  with  rapid  growth  wculd 
appear  to  be  as  species  of  jnngle  tree, — the  native  ap- 
pel  a'ion  of  which  .f  we  mistake  not,  is  '‘howlegd” 
and  is  e^tecsiveiy  utilized  by  Mysore  plan*-  __ 
News,  Jan,  4.  - • - "" 
THE  KOLAR  GOLD  FIELD  FOR  3 AND 
7 YEARS. 
Mysore.— During  last  month  3,910  tons  of  quartz 
crushed  at  this  mine  produced  3,320  oz.  lldwt.  of 
gold.,  while  817  oz.  8dwt.  were  obtained  from  4,413 
tons  of  tailings  treated.  The  following  are  the 
monthly  returns  for  the  past  three  years: — 
1892  1891  1890 
January 
February 
March 
April 
May 
June 
July 
August 
September 
October 
November 
December 
oz. 
oz. 
oz. 
5,578 
5,360 
5,003 
5,573 
5,452 
5,884 
5,023 
5,477 
5,869 
4,436 
5,506 
4,571 
4,938 
5,729 
4,263 
4,018 
5,560 
4,461 
4,924 
5,650 
4,174 
5,529 
5,790 
4,118 
6,043 
5,326 
4,258 
6,154 
5,912 
5,014 
6,032 
5,618 
5,250 
6,137 
5,121 
5,316 
Total  64,385  66,501  58,181 
The  yield  of  the  mine  in  the  year  just  closed,  viz., 
64,385  oz  , was  worth  a little  over  a quarter  of  a 
million  sterling,  or  some  £8,000  less  than  in  1891. 
This  is  not  exactly  satisfactory  ; but  the  compara- 
tively poor  result  is  mainly  due  to  the  small  re- 
turns in  April,  May,  June  and  July.  During  the 
last  four  months  of  the  year,  however,  the  returns 
were  very  encouraging,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  mine  will  continue  to  show  as  good  results 
during  the  whole  of  the  current  year.  As  regards 
the  price  of  the  shares  last  year,  there  was  con- 
siderable  fluctuation.  The  highest  figure  reached 
was  £5-7-6  in  January,  and  the  lowest  £4-2-6,  which 
was  quoted  in  July,  November  and  December.  The 
present  price  is  £4-5-0.  In  January  1891,  the  price 
of  the  shares  was  £6,  and  in  December  of  that 
year,  £5-2-6.  The  following  table  shows  the  quan- 
tity of  ore  crushed  and  the  quantity  of  gold  obtained 
—including  that  from  the  tailings-  for  the  years  1886 
to  1892  inclusive  : — 
1886 
. 7,166 
Ore  tons. 
15,917 
Gold  oz. 
1887 
12,001 
do 
12,964 
do 
1888 
20,189 
do 
19,077 
do 
1889 
32,576 
00 
49,201 
do 
1890 
, 38,812 
do 
58,181 
do 
1891 
40,353 
do 
66,501 
do 
1892 
45,482 
do 
64,385 
do 
Total  . . 
196,579 
tons. 
286,226 
oz. 
The  average  yield  of  gold  over  the  whole  period 
of  seven  years  was  thus  1 oz.  9 dwts.  2 grs  — . 
M.  Mail.  s 
REMARKABLE  WEAPONS  OF  DEFENCE. 
The  following  extract  from  a letter  from  such  a 
careful  observer  as  Mr.  E.  E.  Green  is  of  such 
general  and  special  interest  as  to  require  publication. 
Mr.  R.  J.  Pocock  informs  me  that  the  Acaroid  is 
almost  certainly  Holothyrus  coccinella,  Grev.,  a species 
that  appears  to  be  common  in  Mauritius,  and  that 
in  the  lateral  membranous  area  between  the  carapace 
and  the  cephalothoracic  limbs  is  a distinct  orifice 
which  was  regarded  by  Dr.  Thorell  as  of  respiratory 
import,  but  in  connection  with  Mr.  Green’s  interest- 
ing  discovery  of  the  existence  of  offensive  glands 
in  this  animal  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  the 
possibility  of  its  being  the  outlet  of  these  orgapr- 
The  mite  has  such  a hard  integument,  that  Leintr 
taken  into  the  mouths  of  the  lizards  and  kjrds  that 
would  probably  prey  upon  it  in  the  situations  it 
frequents,  would  probably  do  it  ’Mtle  or  no  damage 
if  it  were  speedfly  rejected,  G.  F.  Hajipson. 
Ihe  accompanying  insects — apparently  Orobatid 
mites  were  a me  jn  j.pe  district  of  Tallawa- 
Relle,  Legion  (alt.  4,600  leet),  under  stone  and  rocks 
— ctanip,  shady  situations.  It  was  only  by  accident 
that  I became  aware  of  their  remarkable  weapon^ 
of  defence— an  exceedingly  pungent  secretion, 
