754 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[June  i,  1893. 
“ TROPICAL  AGRICULTURE..”* 
We  are  told  in  the  preiaoeto  this  little  book  that 
twelve  years  ago,  when  the  author  directed  his 
attention  to  Tropical  Agriculture,  there  was  no 
practical. book  that  he  oould  refer  to  for  help  in 
all  the  difficulties  that  were  constantly  cropping 
up  in  his  pathi  Knowing  by  practical  experience 
therefore  the  obstacles  that  generally  beset  the 
inexperienced  planter  who  is  not  content  to  follow 
the  old  grooves  of  unsoientifio  agriculture,  the 
author  has  so  written  the  second  part  of  his  boob 
as  to  afford  the  information  he  needed  greatly  in 
his  own  planting  noviciate.  This  has,  he  says  by 
way  of  apology,  rendered  it  necessary  to  enter  into 
details  which  to  the  experienced  tropical  agricul- 
turist may  appear  superfluous.  In  the  introduc- 
tion to  the  second  part  of  his  work,  the  author 
inveighs  against  what  he  calls  the  great  fault 
hitherto  committed  by  so  many  tropical  planters, 
namely,  the  oonfining  of  their  attention  to  one 
product  or  one  kind  of  cultivation  on  their  land  : 
“ If,”  he  says,  “ several  different  orops  were 
“ taken  off  alternately  as  in  a system  of  rotation, 
“ or  grown  in  different  parts,  if  the  soil  and 
“ olimate  prove  suitable,  the  planter  would  be  in 
“ a much  better  position  than  he  is  in  now,  for 
“ he  would  not  as  it  were  have  all  his  eggs  in 
“ one  basket.”  This  is  advioe— varied  according 
to  the  different  circumstances  of  the  oase  in 
Ceylon  and  India — that  is  worthy  the  attsntion 
of  every  planter,  and  our  own  Director  of  Botanio 
Gardens  in  Ceylon,  has  not  been  backward  in 
insisting  upon  its  importance.  The  crops  and 
cultivation  treated  in  this  second  part  of  the 
book  inolude  : — Coffee,  caoao,  tea,  sugar  oane, 
fruitp,  spices,  tobacco,  drugs,  dyes,  tropical  oereals 
and  food  plants. 
While  speaking  of  the  necessity  of  shade  for  young 
Coffee  the  author  refers  to  the  pigeon  pea  (cajanus 
indicus)  or  “ dhall  ” as  making  an  exc  llei  t shade 
plant,  and  fertilising  the  soil  by  throwing  down 
large  quantities  of  leaves  rich  in  nitrogen.  Beside'-1 
this,  its  roots  penetrate  to  a considerable  di.-  — 
tance,  and  thus  when  the  tree  is  cut  down,  the  soil 
is  improved  by  the  decaying  roots  and  by  the  free 
entry  of  the  atmosphere  into  the  ohannels  formed 
in  the  ground  by  suoh  decay.  The  importance  of 
growing  accessory  leguminous  orops  or  even  the 
encouragement  of  leguminous  weeds,  as  a means  of 
enriching  the  soil  has  often  been  insisted  on  in  the 
Magazine  of  the  School  of  Agriculture  (given  as  a 
Supplement  to  the  Tropical  Agriculturist)  and  in 
the  light  of  reoent  research  into  the  question  of 
the  fixation  of  free  nitrogen  by  the  Leguminosce, 
the  adoption  of  such  means  would  constitute  an 
enlightened  aud  eoonomio  phase  of  husbandry. 
We  have  heard  cf  one  Ceylon  planter  who 
is  making  the  experiment  of  growing  the 
pigeon  pea  pretty  freely  on  his  upoountry 
estate.  Now  that  the  much  advertised 
lathy rus  sylvestris  of  Professor  Wagner  has  been 
proved  to  be  totally  unsuited  to  the  tropios,  it  will 
be  better  wisdom  for  cultivators  in  localities  which 
have  their  speoial  characters  of  temperature,  ele- 
vation and  rainfall,  to  ohoose  their  own  nitrogen- 
fixing orops,— The  latest  deliverance  on  this  sub- 
ject is  by  Dr.  Taylor  in  his  science  notes  as  fol- 
lows 
The  fact  that  leguminous  plants  have  their  minute 
roots  occupied  by  nodu'es  which  harbour  hosts  of 
nitrogen-secreting  bacteria  is  now  established.  Several 
dietiuguisbed  German  chemists,  however,  have  shown 
that  it  is  the  young  roots  possessing  susoeptible  hairs 
which  are  most  likely  to  be  affected,  although  the  rge 
* A Text  book  of  Tropical  Agriculture  by  Dr.  H. 
A.  A.  Nicholls.— With  Illustrations,  Macmillan 
& Co. 
of  the  plant,  provided  that  the  roots  are  normal,  has 
nothing  to  do  wi'h  the  lormatioD  of  nodules- 
The  subject  of  Cacao,  as  might  be  expeoted,  since 
the  writer's  experience  of  tropical  agriculture  is 
mainly  derived  from  the  West  Indies,  is  fully  treated 
of  under  the  headings  (1)  varieties,  (2)  soil,  (3) 
climate,  (4)  propagation,  (5)  preparation  of  the 
land,  (6)  lining.  (7)  holing,  (8)  planting  out,  (9) 
shade,  (10)  weeding,  (11)  pruning,  (12)  manuring, 
(13)  catch  crops,  (14)  enemies  of  the  cacao  tree,  (15) 
orops,  (16)  fermentiog,  (17)  curing,  (18)  olaying. 
It  is  difficult  to  make  any  selections  from  the 
treatise  on  this  subject,  but  it  will  interest  Ceylon 
cocao-growers  to  find  Dr.  Nicholl’s  saying,  while 
speaking  of  claying  cacao  seed  to  improve  their 
colour:  ‘‘It  is  not  recommended  in  Engl'sh 
colonies  to  clay  any  cacao.  If  improvement  is 
sought  it  should  be  in  the  direction  of  Ceylon 
caoao.”  Mr.  Hart's  Manual  is,  of  course  a fuller 
guide  to  the  Cacao  Plauter. 
With  regard  to  Tea,  there  is  as  might  be  ex- 
pected nothing  new  that  the  author  has  to  tell 
Ceylon  planters,  the  vtxed  qu6stii.n  of  manuring 
not  even  being  touched  upon.  Sugarcane  as  an  im- 
portant West  Indian  orop  is  treated  of  at  length. 
Then  follow  the  fruits : orange,  lime,  banana, 
plantain,  coconut  (on  this  part  we  should  like  to 
have  a review  from  our  correspondent  “W.  T.”) 
and  pineapple.  With  regard  to  the  yield  of  coconuts 
we  quote  as  follows:  “In  Ceylon  it  is  said  that 
the  general  average  returns  of  coconut  estates  is 
not  over  30  nuts  per  tree ; but  individual  trees 
have  been  known  to  give  over  300  nuts  every  year 
for  a period  of  10  years.  This  enormous  yield,  however 
is  most  exceptional ; but,  with  a good  olimate, 
a fair  average  soil,  and  judicious  cultivation,  the 
return  ought  to  be  at  least  50  nu‘s  per  tree,  and 
at  25  feet  distanoe,  this  would  give  a yield  of  3,500 
nuts  per  acre.  By  the  application  of  suitable 
manure  the  returns  may  be  increased  to  80  nuts  a 
tree  or  over  5,000  per  aore.  but  suoh  a y i.  Id  cannot 
be  expected  from  the  light  sand  soils  of  the  ooast 
line. ' 
Under  Spioes  we  have  the  nutmeg,  dove,  pimento, 
cinnamon,  ginger,  cardamons,  pepper,  vanilla. 
Tobacco  oooupies  a fair  space  by  itself,  while  cin- 
chona, castor  seeds,  ooca,  jalap,  and  sarsaparilla, 
represent  the  Drugs.  'The  dyes  include  nnatto, 
turmeric,  logwood  and  indigo.  Tropical  cereals 
are  represented  by  maize,  rioe,  guinea  corn 
(sorghum),  and  the  “ food-plants”  by  cassava  or 
manioc,  arrowroot,  tous-les-mois  (varieties  of  the 
” Indian  shot,”  used  as  substitutes  for  arrow-root), 
jam,  sweet-potato,  and  the  tania  (oolocasia). 
As  a T.xt-book  for  Students  Dr.  Nioholls’ 
work  is  admirably  adapted,  and  it  certainly 
supplies  a want,  in  that  there  is  no  book 
available  at  present,  on  agriculture  as  applied 
to  the  cultivation  of  orops  in  the  tropics  for 
use  in  our  higher  schools  aud  colleges  where  the 
subjec  t iB  taught.  Again  although  rather  too  sketchy 
in  t-orce  parts,  to  the  intending  settler  in  tro- 
pical countries  this  little  volume  may  prove  a 
UBeful  introduction  to  the  several  Manuals  dealing 
more  paitioularly  and  fully  with  the  staples  of  his 
cultivation. 
> 
TEA  PROSPECTS  IN  CHINA. 
A letter  from  Haukocv  to  a Northern  paper  states 
fiat  a larger  nuiucer  of  tea-buyer*  tlaj  usual  have 
lately  arrived  »t  that  port  from  Shanghai,  Fooobow 
and  CaDtou,  which  may  mtau  a prosperous  season 
for  the  Tea  trade  this  year,  although  the  dishearten- 
ing Dews  has  been  received  from  the  interior  that  the 
severe  weather  of  lait  winter  destroyed  about  one-third 
of  the  crop,  so  that  it  ia  to  he  feared  the  out-turn  will 
not  be  ao  great  as  in  preoediag  years. — China  Mail. 
