424 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. 1, 1900. 
Mysore and the Coffee Stealing Act.— 
The report on the workinji; of the coffee stealing 
prevention act in the Mysore Frovyice shows 
only seven cases during the year a,!^ainst 19 in the 
previous year. The diminution is due to the 
deterrent effect of (exemplary punishments 
awarded — Times of India. 
The Peanut Oil Industry. — The American Consul 
at Maiseilles reporting lately ou the peanut oil indus- 
try observes that more oil is extracted ia Marseilles 
from oleaginous seeds than in any other place in 
Europe and the industry is beginning to flourish again 
after the depression produced by the introducdou of 
American cotton seed oil and the failure of the seed 
crops elsewhere. As no special mochiuery orprocessis 
emp'oyed in the manufacture of peanut oil as distinct 
from other oil seeds the manufacturers crush a.rachides, 
or peanuts when the market is favourable but not to 
the exclusion of other seeds. List year over 
71,000 tons of peanuts reached Marseilles: at Bordeaux 
a large quantity of West African nuts of good quality 
is. crushed and there are some mills in the north of 
France, but Marseilles stands pre-eminent in the 
industry. Tlie nuts are scarcely overground whole as 
this produces iaferior oil and cake of little value. In 
fact a large quantity of the nuts arrives ehtlled after 
which tlie inner or red skin is I'enioved as much as 
possible by processes resembling those for cleaning 
wheat in fioiu- mills. These are described in detail in 
the report. After the kernels have been separated and 
cleaned they are ground and enveloped in strong 
fibrous mats, are subjected to hydraulic pressure, and 
the clarifying of the oil done by means of filters and 
fuller's earth. The husks are sometimes ground with 
the cake and fo' m an inferior food for cattle and 
when coal is dear tbeyare used as fuel in the oil mills. 
The crude oil runs out thick and troubled, and must be 
filtered to make it a bright yellow, while if it is to be 
water white in colour it muse be treated further with 
animal b.ack wnd fuller's earth. It is stated that no 
alkaline lye is used, but the art is somewhat secret. 
The source of supply are Bombay, Mozambique, and 
Senegal. In some years the African supply is wholly 
swamped by the supplie.'^ from India, and at one time 
it seemed that Africa would be unable to compete 
permanently with India. But though the latter still 
sends large quantities of nuts to Marseilles it appears 
to be using more and more of its crop at home, so 
that while the imports between 1890 and 18^'5 were 
mostly from India, in 1896 to 189;i they were mainly 
from Africa. In the earlier year of the decade Ameri- 
can cotton oil menaced the crashing trfide of Marseil- 
les with extinction because of its low price, but ap- 
parently new demands for oils hwive arisen for the 
production in \iarseillea has returned to its former 
average and prices also after serious derangements 
have resumed their old level. There has been a world- 
wide decrease ir. the amount of animal grease, while 
Ameiicais consuming her own cotton seed oils in 
vastly increased quantities and the consequence is an 
increased demand for vegetable oils. Although the 
production of the nuts in Africa is enormous no im- 
provement in the mode of cultivation or the price is 
anticipated for years to come. The soil is readily ex- 
hausted by the crop and nothing is done to restore its 
virtue; labour, though cheap is thriftless and hard to 
obtain when wanted and transporatioa is defective. 
Tlie uses of the oil are numerous; it ia described as 
"the most polymorphous f all oils, ar! ipfiug itst-If 'o 
all purposes i clu'ling iiiitrilion, iit^ht ng, Inbi ication 
and blendiiig.'' It ia the most (liffii'n)! of a'l oiisto 
detect when aduh crating oli\e oil I >r its chfinica! 
reaction is white. The bi'st qualil les ar i in fi.ct u.sed 
for tlie table, either pare or mixfd with olive or .sesame 
oil; as an illumiiiaiii it gives a soft white light ; when 
neatraliKcd it is much esteemed for lubricating I'.nd is 
always pi eferred to cotton seed oil. It is also largely 
used in the manufaotiue ot soa.p, and is the character- 
istic component of the famoas M-irseilles white soap. — 
London Times, Oct. 13. 
Dendbobium DEN.SIFLORUM.— Mr Fraser Smith, 
The Gaidens, Cullen Hou.se, Culien. N B, enchjses 
a photograph of Dendiohium densifloruni, grown 
by liim, which this season has been much finer 
than usual, having twenty-one tru.*Kes of its beau- 
tiful yellow flowers. This is r special variety 
which he had sent him from Java, twelve years ago. 
It has much longer pseudo-l ulbs, and larger trus- 
ges of flowers, which aie ricliei in colour than in 
any ®ther variety. The plant h^'S ft iwered regu- 
larly for the past ten years. — Gardeners Chro- 
nicle, Oct. 13. 
Uganda Coffee : Best in the World.— 
The development or the coffee-growing; industry 
in tropical Africa is interesting as showing the 
rich resources of tl;at region for plant production. 
The first coffee seed was introduced from Kew by 
missionaries less than five years ago, and from 
it have sprung the extensive crops nvw under 
cultivation. 1-ast season the quantity exported 
from Uganda alone was over one liundted tons, 
which will be greatly exceeded bj' this season's 
production. E.x'perts say that the quality of tiie 
Blantyre coffee is the linest the world can yiro- 
dace, the flavour being superior even to the 
famous Mocha. The great drawback is the lack 
of tran-port, whic/i, however, will be niet by 
the completion in the near future of the Uganda 
V<.A\\wAy.— Daily Mail, Oct. 8. 
Egyptian Phosphate Deposits The 
Egyptian Gazette of Oct. lOtli, contains the 
following; interestiiig information :~ 
The Survey Department has just issued a Re- 
port on the phosphate deposit.^ of Egypt, llie 
Report contains the result of the investigations 
of the members of the Survey in the Keneh 
Moudirieh, in the districts between Keneh and 
Kosseir, and in the Dakhleh Oasis. In the con- 
cluding chapter containing the cfiemical Report 
on the phosphates the writer, Mr. A. Lucas, says, 
" The native phcsphates will be useful to all 
classes of Egy juian agriculturists. They will be 
useful to the Fellahin and small farmers who 
know nothing of superphosphates, nor would be 
able to pay for them if they did, for to these 
classes the choice is not between an imported 
soluble phosphate and a native insoluble phos- 
phate, but between this latter and none at all 
They will be useful also to those who do know 
and can appreciate the difference between a 
soluble and an insoluble phosphate, but whose 
conditions of work are such as to make the cost 
of imported manures prohibitive, and for whom 
it is no longer a question as to which of the 
two gives better results, but whether it is not 
vyiser to use what lies at their feet rather than 
to allow their land to become impoverished. And 
to the large landowners the native product will 
be of value in supplementing the imported and 
high priced article. I am strongly of opinion 
therefore t'lat these recently discovered phos- 
phates ought to prove of great value to Egyp- 
tian agriculture, for the following reasons :— 
1. They occur in immense quantities. 
2. With the exception of those found in Sinai 
and Dakhla they are easy of access and fairly 
close to the river and railway' 
3. By means of a very inexpensive operation, 
namely, simple grinding, they can be prepared 
ready for use. 
4. They constitute a really valuable ard cheap 
manure of a kind that is much needed. 
No other phosphatic manure of similar value 
exists in the country and the price of imported 
phosphate manures is such as to render them in 
many cases prohibitive. 
