66 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[July 2, 1900. 
OPKODUCTION OF IPECACUANHA- 
One of the most widely used of all vegetable 
drugs is the powerful emetic ipecacuanha, which is 
obta;ined from a Brazilian shrub. The French Con- 
seilior de Corainerce, at Cuyaba, iu the State of 
Matto Grosso, Brazil, gives iu a recent report an 
ititerestiug account of this plant, which has in that 
Sttite and the neighbouring districts its only liabitat. 
The drug is obtained from plants which attain a 
height of from 12 to 16 inches. The leaves are oval, 
dark green, and sharply ribbed, and the white flowers 
give place to an ovoid fruit containing black seeds. 
Besides ilae Ipecacuanlia Ceplioelis, or the "'white ipeca- 
cuanha," as it is generally known, there ace several 
other varieties which are somewhat different, but all 
are used for the same purpose, and.are distiuguished 
as brown, black, and striated ipecacuanha. The duug 
is obtained from the root of the plant, where it ocouis 
in. quantities about the size ot a quill, between t,!ie 
layers. The taste is acrid and bitter, and the odour 
ia. nauseating. That found next to the baik is most 
active in its effects, having m the highest degree 
the emetic property, due to the active principle known 
as ' Emetine." The state ot iVIatto Grosso v/hich 
as before observed, is the habitat of the plant, is one 
of the richest in Brazil, among its many uatiinil 
products being gold and diamonds, rubber, sarsapa,rilla, 
jalap, jaborandi, copaiba, various gums and drugs of 
several kinds. Ipecacuanha is found iu the noith and 
north-v.'est of the San Luiz-de-Cacei-es, forn^'erly in 
the Villa Maria region, and its habitat covers au 
immense area comprised between a network of 
rivers iu Brazil, Bolivia, and P.n,raguay. The dense 
of, foliage of the forests of this region provide the 
dank and humid conditions which favour the growth 
of the shrub. The Brazilian product is known as Rio 
Ipecacuanha, and the product secured from similar 
shrubs in other countries passes unier the name of 
the port from which it is shixjped. Attempts have 
been made to transplant the shrub and to cultivate 
it in British colonies in various parts of the world, 
but without success, and Brazil continues to be the 
only source of supply for the best grade. The pro- 
cess of gathering the plant is perfectly simple, and 
during the rainy season, while tho ground is soft, 
is very easy. A stick is inserted under tho root, and 
while this is raised with one hand the entire plant 
is pulled out with the other. As little care is given to 
the protection of enough plants to secure a future supply, 
the output is growing smaller and the price conse- 
quently higher each year. The scarcity of workmen 
is a great difficulty. In tho dry season the roots 
cannot be gathered, and it is at this season when 
any one adapted to the work is engaged in gathe.ring 
rubber. During the rainy season, from October to 
to April, -when the plants may be easily drawn from 
the ground, women are usually employed for the 
work, — Journal of the Societi/ of Arts. 
WEEDS ON PATHS. 
Theae may be destroyed without breaking up the 
paths by treating with hot brine — lib. salt to 1 gal- 
fqn water; or 1 part sulphuric acid to 80 parts water; 
cr 1 oz. carbolic acid to 1 gallon water ; or 1 lb. 
powdered arsenic in 10 gallons water. To dissolve 
the arsenic, place it iu 3 gallons cold water, bring 
up to boil and keej) stirring, then wliilo boiling add 
7 gallons water and 2 lb. washing soda. — Queensland 
Ayi icullural Journals 

GOOD MANURES. 
.For rolaloes-~''i cv/t. superphosphate, 2 cwfc. kainit, 
and 1 cwl. sulphate of ammonia. Mix before 
planting- 
. J'or C'lhhii'jtH and Cavhnomers.—Z cvit. bonednst, 1 
cwt. sulphate of potash per acre, followed by a top 
dio-sing. after the plants havo recovered from trans- 
plunling and commenced to grow, of IJ cwt. of 
sulphate of ammonia, mixed with soil and sprinkled 
roaud the ^Iwin.—QueendaiKi A<jricv.ii,ural Journal, 
COFFEE SHADE TREES. 
[Specially THAi«sLA.Tr.D fop. "Indian Gaiide:,-ikg-"'J 
M, PiEniiB, late Director of the Jardin d'essai of 
SaiKOii. in reply lo a reqiiost of the Editor of the 
Jlcvtic de.i daltures (JoJonia/fS, treats in tho January 
number of thai Jouinal, of the Kapok tree utilisi--d in 
Java as a shad'> tree for coffee. He states that tliern 
aie two tret s known in Mala\a as the " Kapok ootan " 
and tnfi " K i.pok. " Kapok u'lau. — Boinbax ceiba L.; 
Bomb ix malabaricum D. C , Salm ilia inalabarica 
Sell. et. Endl. This is a tree of CO to 90 f.'e^, wliicli 
attains a considerable diann.'ter, 13 to 3ti inche.^. It 
SfCietP.s a gum known in India under tiie name of 
Mucin. With age tlis trunk becomes hollow. l!;s wood 
i.s white with loose fibres, not durable, ver* light, 
and liiis but small \alue relatively to it.s emnloynient 
in the manufacture of buoys, boxe^ and toys. The ' 
eridocarp of it-; fruit is covered insiae with a silky 
gloss ot bhoi't fibiea of which the only is lo stuif 
certain articles of f luniture, cushions, pillows, matt- 
res.ses, etc. Perhap.5 it might be used in hat making. 
It is certain that no one has yet succeeded in spin- 
ning the fibre- 
The fact that it loses its leaves in the dry season 
contests its utility as a protective tree in coffee 
plantations. However, it might be found o: advan- 
ta^-e when a rapid result is desired, because its brauchoa 
have the property uf striking root at all times in 
soil the least favourable. 
KapoJ;. — Ceiba pentandra (L) Gicrtn ; Eriodendron 
anfractuosum, D. C. Bombax peutandrum L. This is 
'he " silk-cotton tree" of the English and the 
'' ouatier " of the French colonies. All the properties 
of the Bomhax ceiba are those of the Cciba pentandra, 
and iu order to be complete it may be said that oil 
in small quantities may be extracted from the seeds 
of the two species." 
It appears then (continues M. Pierre), that the ouly 
advantage of these trees in a coffee plantation is to 
take root quickly from cutiiugs ; thus quick-set 
hedges in Indo-China and elsewhere are made rapidly, 
completely and very ecouoinically by .setting the best de- 
veloped branches pai ticularly those of Ceiha pentandra. 
'i heir produce in wood, silli, resmou.; gum and the 
oil from their seeds, does not appear lo me of suffi- 
cient importance to take into account. 
To shade a coffee plantation with trees losing 
their foliage in the dry season seems to me of an 
utility little demonstrable, if it is remembered that 
it ii positively in that season that the effects of re- 
verberation make themselves felt. 
That is a personal opinion which tray hi con- 
tested. Nevertheless, it is permitted to me to think 
that it would be more practical to make trial with 
other growths, even though their foliage should offer 
the same drawback with those of the Kapok ; and 
in that way I make allusion to rubber plants such 
as Hevea, Manihot, etc. ; necessarily many other 
useful plants might combine with the cultivation of 
coffee. Their number is considerable: first, at the 
commencement of a coffee plantation, bananas, above 
all the Musa textilis, would reduce in a large measure 
the expenses of planting, all in fulfilling the role of 
protection from or straining the sunlight, claimed 
for the Kapok. The Bread-fruit tree, the Jak, the 
Garcinias productive of gamboge, the Ochowa Gabonii, 
so rich in sebaceous matter and in the same order, 
the Pentadesma butyracea and leptonema, the All- 
anblackia Klainii, Saileuxii and Stuhlraanii, the 
Poga and Paud oleosa, the Ongokea Gore, the Vitellaria 
paradoxa (which is always wrongly called the 
Butyrospermum Parkii), etc. — Indian Gardening, 
The Cable Laid from Paea up the Amazon was 
quickly destroyed by the driftwood of the mighty 
river, and a landline is now in course of construc- 
tion. About 180 miles of it are completed, not- 
withstanding; the expense and difficulty of cutting 
a way through the tropical forests— obe, 
Jhuc 1. 
