568 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
March  x,  1893. 
A MYSTERY  IN  FLORIDA. 
Our  excellent  American  contemporary  the 
Mechanical  News,  is  responsible  for  the  following : — 
“ From  1 he  centre  of  a lame  dense  swamp, 
bordering  on  the  Gulf  Coast  of  Middle  Florida, 
ri-es  a misterious  smoke  in  the  day,  which  changes 
to  a reflect!  n of  light  in  the  clouds  at  night,  that  is 
supposed  to  be  a volcano.  This  mystery  was  observed 
by  the  earliest  setthrs  of  that  portion  of  the  State, 
and  has  remained  visible  ever  since.  The  light  is 
particularly  bright  during  hazy  weather,  and  can  be 
se  n for  mi  es  away,  especially  from  the  Gulf.  Several 
att.  mpts  have  been  made  by  different  parties  to  go 
in  this  swamp  to  its  centre,  and  discover  the  cau-e 
of  this  mysterious  smoke  and  light,  but  it  is  so  d use 
and  wattry  that  all  have  failed  to  accomplish  their 
purpose.  Some  distance  in  from  its  edg~  is  growing 
perhaps  one  of  the  tallest  pines  in  the  State,  which 
has  been  made  use  of  by  all  the  explorers.  They 
nailed  strips  on  it  for  steps,  and  ascended  to  its  very 
top,  Irom  which  point  ihey  could  view  at  a distance 
the  spot  from  which  the  smoke  emanates  and  light 
reflects.  They  claim  that  the  smoke  does  not  rise 
in  a steady  flow,  but  in  gentle  puff's  or  billows,  that 
appear  to  be  white.  Some  claim  that  this  is  a bed 
of  burning  peat,  others  a vein  of  gas,  but  the  general 
belief  is  that  it  is  a volcano.  The  swamp  is  covered 
with  rocks,  all  shaped  as  if  they  were  deposited 
there  in  a molten  state  by  a volcanic  eruption, 
which  confirms  the  idea  of  its  being  a volcano.  In 
this  swamp  is  also  an  Indian  arrow  point  quarry, 
from  which  perhaps  all  the  Indian  tribes  of  Florida 
and  South  Georgia  were  supplied  with  arrow  points.'1 
— Discovery. 
o 
NEWS  FROM  THE  SEYCHELLES  : PLANTING. 
Mahe,  Dec.  16tb. 
Immediately  after  the  last  mail  left  lor  Europe  rain 
commenced  to  fall,  and  has  continued  almost  withouc 
iutermi  siou  up  to  the  present.  The  vaDilla  crop  is 
therefore  saved,  but  is  nevertheless  estimated  at  50 
per  cent  less  than  would  have  been  the  case  bad  ihe 
rains  commenced  a month  earlier.  A good  yield 
may  be  expeoted,  however. 
Th-re  is  a very  valuable  vanilla,  clove,  and  hard- 
wooi  timber  estate  at  present  in  the  market  for 
sale,  affording  an  excellent  opportunity  to  an  energetic 
anil  capable  owner  or  manager  of  realising  a fortune 
with  n moderate  amount  of  capital  to  work  tbe  concern 
Reports  are  frequently  circulated  iu  Seychelles 
that  there  is  a want  of  labour,  but  experience  has 
shown  that  where  proprietors  are  prepared  to  pay 
f.  ir  wages,  and  treat  their  labourers  with  oonsioer- 
ation  as  well  as  firmness,  no  difficulty  is  to  be  ap- 
prehended upoD  that  score. — Colonies  aad  India. 
KAPOK. 
Zanzibar. — The  export  tra  ie  in  kapok  in  Ceylon 
is  ot  very  r cent  origin,  probably  not  older  than  ten 
years.  Previuus  to  this  the  pr  >duct  bad  only  a local 
demand  for  the  purposes  of  stuffing  pillows,  cu  hioDs, 
&C.,  and  this  demand  was  so  small  that  it  did  uot  even 
encourage  the  collection  of  the  kapok  found  on  the 
trees  which  were  growing  wild.  Since  an  export  trade 
has  began,  tbe  demand  has  increased  so  much  that 
not  ouly  is  kapok  carefully  collected  from  the  trees 
growing  wfld,  but  great  care  is  taken  to  preserve  it, 
and  plant  new  trees  wherever  Ihe  opi  ortunity  occurs. 
The  e is  a large  demaud  for  the  article  in  Australia, 
where  it  is  m-ed  in  the  manufacture  of  pillows  an  t 
cushions;  and  it  is  alto  exported  to  Holland  aud  Fiji, 
where  it  is  said  fo  be  used  for  the  manufacture  ot 
c'oth.  Ceylon  is  not  the  only  country  whrre  this 
article  is  produced,  for  Java,  Sumatra,  and  the  al- 
jacent  islaud  are  also  exporting  it  largely.  The  culti- 
vation of  the  knpok-pro  luci  >g  tree  in  Ceylon  could  be 
very  much  extended,  not  by  growing  it  as  i;  s parate 
pro  luct,  lor  then  it  would  not  pay,  but  by  planting 
tbe  irees  at  intervals  in  the  low  country  p'anta’ions 
aa  shade  and  boundary-trees,— British  Trade  Journal , 
/an.  I. 
PLANTING  NOTES. 
Lower  Dikoya,  Jan.  30. 
The  Weather  here  at  present  although  apparently 
favorable — showers  and  sunshine  alternating— is 
characterized  by  excessively  cold  winds  at  night  which 
seem  to  prevent  the  bushes  from  flushing  as  freely 
as  might  be  expected.  One  exception  I hear  of  is 
when  a neighbour  thinks  it  necessary,  for  the 
strengthening  of  his  bushes  to  allow  the  flush  to  run 
for  25  days.  Some  of  r.s  think  with  this  leaf  in  the 
London  market  he  might  strengthen  his  purse  more 
and  thus  compensate  himself  for  any  loss  by  harder 
plucking!  The  range  of  planting  ideas  in  this  dis- 
trict seems  to  differ  as  much  as  our  rainfall  : min. 
195  ins.  odd  to  a max.  of  260  ins.  for  1892,  Nov. 
giving  6 ins.  odd  and  Dec.  only  F58  in.,  with  a 
start  for  1893  of  over  Gins,  to  date'  This  is  surely  an 
unusual  range  of  rainfall  for  one  district  ? 
Timber  Tree  Planting.— We  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  find  the  sort  that  will  grow  in  our  ravines 
principally  composed  of  white  clay,  quartz,  rock  and 
swamp,  Ac.,  but  have  anticipated  your  suggestions 
in  the  Observer  by  having  planted  out  as  much  as  200 
acres  on  some  estates  with  greviilea  moiuccana, 
wattle,  iron  bark,  sapu,  and  jak,  Arc.  A good  few 
thousands  of  the  last,  now  over  15  years  old  along 
boundaries  and  roads,  show  a good  many  fine 
specimens  which  will  in  time  give  some  valuable 
timber.  There  can  be  no  doubt  the  greviilea  takes 
first  place  os  being  the  most  suitable  for  tbe  varied 
elevations  and  soils  of  f’eylon.  Perhaps  20  leet 
apart  may  be  rather  close  for  regular  planting  all  over 
tea  estates,  but  a simple  remedy  for  this  is  always 
at  hand. 
Oil-distilling  in  Grasse. — In  an  account  of  a 
visit  to  Messrs.  Sozio  & Andrioli’s  esstn'i  1-oH 
distillery  in  Grasse  which  appears  in  a Fiencih 
journal  it  is  stated  that  an  average  quantity  of 
2,000/  00  kilos,  of  orange-blossom,  1,800,000  kilos 
of  roses,  3<  0 000  kilos,  of  violets,  and  400.000  kilos 
of  jasmine  flowers  is  distilled  every  year  by  all  the 
factories  of  Grasse  combined.— Chemist  and  Druggist. 
Matale  Ea  t.  Jan.  25. — We  have  been  having 
fairly  good  flushing  weather  until  lately  whin  the 
wind  changed  front  moderate  to  what  might  be 
called  immoderate,  or  a beastly  wind,  as  you  have 
got  to  hold  on  to  your  hat  if  you  don’t  want  to 
lose  it,  and  bp  on  the  look-out  at  every  comer  to 
make  sure  of  your  progress.  Under  present  cir- 
cumstances tbe  wonder  is  that  tea  flushes  at  all. 
The  rainfall  this  month  has  been  well  distributed, 
16  of  the  25  will  add  to  the  year’s  total  of  wet 
days.  We  di  l not  do  so  badly  in  that  line  lost  year 
with  1S4  days  and  129  77  inches  to  which  January 
contributed  51-i8  inches  in  26  days.  Our  driest 
months  were : — 
Maroh  2 days 
2 44  inohes 
May  7 ,, 
3'92 
June  2 ,, 
2-26 
July  2 ,, 
3 72 
Sepf.  7 „ 
1-83 
Although  August  with  2-06  inches  Lad  less  rainfall 
than  July,  its  record  was  for  21  days.— Jan  26th. 
— With  the  rain  last  might  which  measured  '37 
inch,  the  wind  has  ceased  and  the  weather  looks 
like  more  rain.  Coolies  are  leaving  in  gangs  for 
the  Coast  many  of  them  via  Colombo  as  they  can 
do  the  journey  so  much  easier  and  quicker.  It  is 
reported  that  East  Matale  area  of  tea  5 years  old 
is  6,145  acres 
867  acres  2 years  and  upwards 
7i9  acres  2 years 
6,731  acres  and  the  estimated  yield  1,950,000  lb, 
for  1893, 
