Jan. 1, 1901.1 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
483 
"Planting in Mexico"— is the. heading 
of a very full letter by an ex-Ceylon Planter 
given in our daily and T.A. It contains a 
greater amount of'practical information than 
has hitherto reached us, more especially 
as regards "labour supply"; and it will be 
seen that the report given is not very 
favourable. On the whole, for the British 
capitalist and planter, the advice of our 
correspondent is to follow the flag, either in 
British Honduras or the Malay States. But 
"Planter" affords a great de.-il of miscella- 
neous information regarding Mexico and its 
sub-tropical industries. 
Snipe.— An interesting letter to the Asian 
regarding snipe-shooting in breaks, is quoted 
on another page. The idea of such rapid and 
increasing destruction may ijar upon non- 
sportsmen ; but the capture of live snipe 
a pparently leads to far more pain to the birds 
Live snipe, tortured by being tied together 
by the legs in bundles, are being exhibited 
for sale in the Calcutta Municipal Market, 
says the Asian. Taken up and swung about 
in "the faces of customers and thrown down 
dozens of times a day, starved and maimed, 
the spectacle of the sufferings of these little 
creatures is a disgrace to those who have the 
power to put a stop to it. 
Java Cinchona Seed.— In connection with 
an advertisement of Java seed, we had the 
following note a short time ago : — 
We used to consider bark analysing up to live or 
seven per cent as valuable; but the advertisement 
frona Java vfhich vie publish in our daily indicates 
trees with bark up to 17 per cent! The seed 
from such trees, if carefully plucked and transported, 
must be very valuable. The prices fixed are from 
two to five guilders (each about 2s in value, we 
believe,) per gram, of which about 200 go to the 
ounce. The seed is, therefore, priced very high, un- 
doubtedly ; but we suppose an appreciable quantity 
is found even in each gram, or the 200th part of an 
ounce. Can there be any mistake in our calculation ? 
This was translated and copied into the 
Amsterdam " Indische Mercuur" of 2oth 
September and has led Mr. H. Vaupel of 
the " Preanger Culture Company," Java, to 
send us (November 4th) a letter of correction 
in Dutch, the substance of which (through 
the kindness of Mr. Advocate de Vos of 
Galle) we are able to give as follows :— 
" Now, without discussing how the advertiaeroen o 
in your various issue?, works out, I take it that you, 
in Oeylon, are not up to the mack as to the num- 
ber of plants to be got from a gram of cinchona seed. 
For this reason I to convince, you, 'send you a 
gram Ledgorseed, derived from original mother-trees 
with a standard of 17 per cent z.w.k. and of which 
the price is 5 florins. The number of seeds in this 
gram is 3,700. In Java, it is expected that by care- 
ful cultivation of this amount of seed the yield 
should be 1,200 at 1,000 cinchona plants for the 5 
florins, making at most half cent the plant-which 
surely cannot be called dear." 
We are much obliged for the correction and 
also for the gram of this very valuable Ledger 
seed, to which a careful trial will be given in 
a Nuwara Eliya nursery ; while the resulting 
plants can be tried at different elevations 
, as the Sanatarium is perhaps too high for 
pure Ledgerianas, 
Pepper and Cardamoms.— These two prodncts 
are doing well in S mthern India tiKinfrh the 
former does not realise in En<;;lan(l anythint; like 
the prices that are paid for Singapore pepper. Why? 
—Plantinci Opinion, Dec. 8. 
Para in Brazil. — The output of Para rubber 
this season may possibly be augnienteil (says the 
India Rubber World of Nov. 1.) by the bid that 
the drouglit in the state of Ceaia has lieconie 
so e.xcessive that tiie aoveniniHnfcs of the Amazon 
States have been defraying the expenses of the 
famine-stricken Cearense peasants to Para and 
Manaos, whence they wouhl bo likely torroceed to 
the rubber lie'ds to find enipl(.yment. During the 
first six months of this yeiir the lainfall at the port 
of Ceara ha'l been less than one-fom h as ninoh as 
during tiie same period in 1S99. For the same rea- 
son, a falling off in the production of Ceara rub- 
ber is to be expected. 
Pbiditction of Ipecacuanha. — Cue of the most 
widely used of all vegetable dnig.^ is the powerful 
emetio^ ipecacuanha, which is obtiained from a Brazi- 
lian shrub. The French Conneiller de Commi'rce, at 
Cayaba, in the State of Matto Groso, gives in a 
recent report an intei-estiug account of this plant, 
which has in that State and the neighbouring dis- 
tiicts its only habitat. The dnig is obtained from 
plants which attain a height of from 12 to 16 inches. 
The leaves are oval, daik green, and sharply ribbed, 
and the white flowers givd place to an ovoid fruit 
containing black seeds. Besides the Ipecacuanha 
Cophoelis, or the " white ipecacuanha," as it is gener- 
ally known, there are several other varieties which 
are somewhat different, but all are used for the same 
purpose, and are diatingnished as brown, black and 
striated ipecacuanha. The drug is obtained from the 
root of the plant, where it occurs in quantities about 
the size of a quill, between the layers. The taste is 
acrid and bitter, and the odour is n;iuse.xting That 
found next to the bark is most active in its effoct-3, 
having in the highest degree the emetic property, 
due to the active principle known as ''emetine." 
The State of Matto Grosso which as before observed, 
is the habitat of the plant, is one of the richest in 
Brazil, among its many natural products being gold 
and diamonds, rubber, sarsaparilla, jiilao, jaborandi, 
copaiba, various drugs and gums of several kind?. 
Ipecacuanha is found in the north and north-east of 
the San Luiz-de Carceres, formerly in the VilaMiria 
region, and its habitat covers an immeiise area com- 
prised between a network of rivers in Brazil, Bolivia 
and Paraguay. The dense foliage of the forest of 
this region provides the dank and humid conditions 
which favour the growth of the shrub. The Brazilian 
product is known as Rio Ipecacuanha, and the pro- 
duct secured from different shrubs in other countries 
passes under the name of the port from which it is 
shipped. Attempts have been made to transiilant 
the shrub and to cultivate it in British colonies in 
various pirts of the world, but without success, and 
Brazil continues to be the only source of supply for 
the best grade. The process of gathering the plant 
is perfectly simple, and during the rainy season, 
when the ground is soft, is very easy. A stick is 
inserted under the 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 out- 
put is growing smaller, and the price consequently 
higher each year. The scarcity of workmen is a 
great difficulty. In the dry season the roots cannot 
be gathered, and it is at this season when anyone 
adapted to the work is engaged in gathering rubber. 
During the rainy season, from October till April, 
when the plant may be easily drawn from the (jround, 
women are usually employed fur the work. — ■Scientific 
American. 
