130 
THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTUBIST. 
[Aug. 1, 1900. 
FRUIT IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
A man who lias a very large estate witli 
millions of fruit trees in Sonth Africa finds that 
ib takes two years for well-trained Englisii 
f^ardeners to get used to the soil and atmosphere 
before thej^ will succeed out th ere. Trees and 
grain need very ditl'erent planting in Soulli Africa, 
the English modes do not answe r there. 
The corresjiondent to the "Women's Agri- 
cultural Time?," who gives this information, says 
th'it as the railway freight makes produce grown 
far from the coast valueless for England, 
this estate owner thinks of having his fruit tinned 
and dried, and tor this he might employ ladies 
who mighc develop the industry very much. 
Grapes, oranges, cherries, pears, lovely apples, 
blackberries, peaches, strawberries, apricots, and 
even English gooseberries (which require frost), 
grow in that part of the Orange Free State 
bordering on Basuloland, yet tons of fruit must 
rot yearly for lack of means to get it to the 
coasc. — Home paper, July 3, 
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS FOR COLOMBO. 
A proposal has been made to establish zoo- 
logical ga\dens. The position of Colombo is so 
exceptionally favourable that the success of such 
an institution is practically assured, but it is open 
to question how far it should be supported by 
Government, and how far left to private enterprise. 
There may be some difficulty in reconciling the 
ends of science with those ot the promoters. If 
the institution receives Government support, it 
must be of value fram a scientific point of 
view, and must not degenerate into a bear garden, 
while a number of cheap and common specimens 
sufficient to attack the ordinary sight-ster would 
probably serve the purpose of a company better 
ihan a really valuable zoological collection, 
The question of a site is a serious difficulty 
owing to the greatly enhanced value of land in 
the vicinity of Colombo, but this can doubtless 
be overcome if the undertaking receives the sup. 
port of Government. — (Mr. Foivler's Adininistra- 
ion Report on TT estern Province for 1899. ) 
^ 
A YOUNG SCIENTIST AND PATENTEE. 
We are much pleased to have the fol- 
lowing Information from Mr. Carruthers, 
respecting the son of an old and esteemed 
friend, and one who will yet, we believe, 
reflect great honour on Ceylon, the place of 
his birth : — 
" Re your note in the Observer about H. 
Martin Leake who is going in for plant 
pathology, much to my delight, as 1 am 
Kure no one ever regrets choosing such an 
inten.sely interesting corner of biology — this 
cutting (from advertisements of "Nature" 
this week) will show that he (H. M. Leake) 
has already been of use to workers at science 
by the Microtome which he patented : he 
made a model for his own use and it had so 
many improved points, as compared with 
the 'Cambridge i-ocker' and other instru- 
ments, that on advice and hints from different 
people, he has patented it. I got the first 
one made, which I am using now in the 
Laboratory here, and am quite as pleased 
with it as 1 thought I should be, when I talked 
it over with him and we tested it in the 
Botanical Laboratory at the British Museum." 
The advertisement is as follows : — 
W. G. Pye & Co., " Granta ■' Works, Mill Lane, 
Cambridge. Makers of Physical, Physiological, and 
otho; bciontific Instraments. Sole f.lakerBof Leake's 
Patent Flat-cutting Rocking Microtomi'. Unsurpassed 
for ordinary work, unequalled for Botanical work. 
Price, as illustrated, in Case, ±'6 6s Od. 
PLANTING NOTES 
Mr. Hart, of the Botanical Department, is 
offering plants of Kicksia elastica for sale. This 
produces the Ire rubber of the West Coast of 
Africa, and is doing remarkably well in Trinidad. 
— India Bubbcr Journal. 
Rubber,— The Sandakan correspondent of the 
Smgapo?-e Free Press writes :— " I hear it is in- 
tended to turn Mr. De Nijs' rubbyr plantation 
on the Labuk River into a Company shortly, but 
whether any shares will be offered to the public 
or not has as yet not been announced." 
Ceylon Tea Plantations Compant,— 
We are very glad to learn that Mr. William 
Herbert Anderson has joined the Beard of 
the Ceylon Tea Plantations Company, Ld., 
in place of the late Mr. Henry T(k1. It will 
be remembered that Mr. Anderson sold his 
Waverley and East Holyrood estates to the 
Company some years ago ; while all who 
know him will agree with us that we 
should have difficulty in finding a better 
man than Mr. W. Herbert Anderson in 
connection with the Ceylon Planting En- 
terprise. 
The Society op Experimental Fish 
Culture— held a meeting at the Crystal 
Palace, not long ago, at which (inter alia] Mr. 
Alfred Allison pointed out that the " society- 
could not have been organised except at 
great expense, but for the facilities which 
the Crystal Palace afforded. Anyone who 
examined the aquaria as he had done would 
know they were the best in the land. 
Abundant basins, &c., were there, and in 
them he had, on bright days, seen fish basking 
in the sun — a sure sie-n that they could and 
did thrive in the Palace waters. With re- 
gard to the hatcheries, he believed the shrewd 
curator used purified water, as he should do, 
and the comparatively small quantity re- 
quired for this purpose was quite easily ob- 
tainable. By promoting the culture of fish, 
apart from the likings of fishermen, addi- 
tional pleasure and most instructive educa- 
tion would be given to the public. Only the 
other day he had heard from Ceylon of the 
successful oper;ition there in connection with 
fish ctiltnre, and if they could succeed it 
was perfectly certain we could also." The 
correspondent who calls our attention to 
the above, pertinently asks : — " Why not 
have an aquarium for pearl oysters at- 
tached to the proposed Zoological Gardens 
for Colombo ? " Why not indeed ; but first 
we must get the Zoological Gardens, 
