March 1, 1901.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
597 
THE PLANTING OF MANGO GROVES. 
The following brief account of tlie method 
employed in Thana, Bombay Presidency, for the 
planting up of open spaces with mango grafts, 
may interest some of your readers, who have 
not had experience in such planting. 
Pits 4' X 4' are dug and left open for three or 
four days. Grass and dead leaves are then placed 
in the pits and burnt so as to destroy the roots 
of any other trees that may happen to be there. 
Fresh earth from the margin and bed of dried- 
up tanks, and from cultivated rice helda is brought 
and the pits are then filled up, each with an 
alternate layer of tank-earth and field-earth. The 
sites of the pits are well watered daily for about 
8 or 9 days. 
The mango grafts are brought growing in 
earthenware pots. Holes 1 to 1^ feet deep are 
prepared in the sites of the old pits and in them 
the grafts are inserted. But before insertion a 
little fresh earth from the spoil bank above is 
thrown into the holes to render them shallower 
and a layer of cowdung ashes is spread over this. 
It is needless, perhaps, to remark that the earthen- 
ware pots in which the grafts exist are broken and 
that the resulting ball of eai th surrounding the 
roots is inserted in tlie holes. 
More earth is then thrown into the holes and 
carefully arranged with the hands around the 
ball ot earth surrounding the roots. Then a 
second layer of cowdung ashes is applied, and 
over this another layer of earth. When the holes 
are completely tilled, a third layer of cowdung 
ashes is placed at tlie surface surrounding the 
stem, and the ground is well watered. 
The graft is now established and the grafted 
portion of the plant is oii a level with the surface 
soil. In order to induce the plant to grow erect, 
a bamboo support is tied to it. 
One month or 1| months after planting the stock 
is pruned near the summit, and six or eight months 
after it is cutofi almost down to the point of the 
graft. 
The three layers of cowdung ashes are applied 
to prevent the roots being attacked by white-ants, 
etc. 
Mr. Jagannath Damajee, an expert in planting 
mango grafts, for he has established over 2,000 plants 
successfully in Thana informs me that when the 
plants are 3 to 5 years old, a layer of salt, about 
an inch or two deep, should be placed lound the 
stem, commencing at a radius of about feet 
from it— to further protect the plants from 
insects'- attacks. 
He forms mounds of earth round the stems 
during the rains at this age of the plants and 
removes them (the mounds) in the hot weather. — 
G. M. K. — Indian Forester. 
♦ 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Animal Manure.— From a series of careful 
experiments which have been made from time to 
time, it has been shown that a well-fed horse 
produces from 5 to 6 tons of manure per annum 
during the time he is in the stable. A steer of 
1,000 lb. produces about 20 tons of manure a 
year. A sheep weighing 6 ' lb. would produce 
about three fourths of a ton, and a pig from 2 
to 3 tons of manure yearly. These amounts in« 
elude the necessary bedding td^eep the animali 
comfortable— ^wwftsiffnc^ 4-9rict(Uttral Journal, 
INDIA-RUBBER IN SlERRA. Lrone.— The United 
States Council at Sierra Leone reports fa''our- 
ably on the local india-rubber industry. He 
states, however, that the native collectors are 
now frequently bleeding the roots of the tree as 
well as the body — a proceeding which is as fatal 
to the tree as to the quality of the rubber. 
— Queensland Agricultural Journal. 
Keep them Busy.— Hens that go in the corner 
and sit down should be put to work. In the 
morning give them about one-third as much food 
as they can eat, so as to have them hungry. Then 
get some leaves, cut straw or dirt, and scatter 
about a tea-spoonful of wheat, corn, and oats 
(mixed) through it. The liens will soon get hungry, 
and finding one grain will hunt for another. Tliat 
is just what you want. Give them nothing until 
night, then feed all they want. Do this every 
day. Keep them hungry during the day, but 
feed them well befo'e going to roost, and they 
will keep well and lay. — Farm and Fireside. 
French Scent Pabms. — The flowers mostly cal- 
vated on the French scent farms are the violet, 
the jonquil, and mignonette, which are picked in 
February, March and April, though when the 
winter is mild and rainy, violets begin to flower in 
December. Roses, orange blossom, thyme and 
rosemary are gathered in May and June, tuberose 
and jasmine in July and August, lavender in Septem- 
ber, and acacia in October and November. Bat 
the most important crops of flowers are the roses and 
orange blossoms, the others being mostly grown by 
small cultivators in the rural districts among their 
vines and olives. One of the largest fljwer farms 
is one at Seillans, about 2,0l)0 feet above the level 
of the sea, and 20 miles from the coast, until the 
southern slope of the Alpes-Maritimes. — Australian 
Field. 
A Rubber Plant for Temperate Climes. — In a 
recent lecture at the Paris Academie dss Science 
(says Das Handetimuseiim), Messrs, I DyboW3ki and G. 
Frou introduced a new rubber furnishing plant, a 
native of Northern China, which is at present cul- 
tivated with great success at the Jardin dea 
Plantes, the Paris Horticultural Gardens. Up to 
the present time rubber has been extracted from 
trees only, and efforts have been made to accli- 
matise those from the Netherland East Indies ia 
the French colonies, bnt unfortunately, without any 
result whatever. This new plant, called Encomia 
illinoides, whose fruits contain over 27 per cent, of 
iadiarubber, has great economical advantage. It 
can easily be acclimatised and cultivated in countriea 
of ecen a moderate climate. — Queensland Agricul- 
tural Journal. 
Germinating Olive Seeds.— The olive tree is, 
as a rule, propagated by mean? of truncheons, or 
cuttings, or from the tips of the branches, but 
it may also be grown from the seed, the latter 
being first cracked and well washed. Experiments 
have lately been made in Italy to determine 
the effect of different temperatures of water on 
the germination of the seeds. After removing 
the pericarp from a number of olives the seeds 
of eight lots were subjected lor ten minutes to 
the action of water of different temperatures, 
the initial temperature of which varied from 30 
to 100 degrees C. The seeds were then planted, 
and the germinations for seven months were 
tabulated. It appears that the germination of the 
olive seeds was accelerated when they were treated 
with water heated to from 40 to 50 degrees, and 
the maximum was reached at 70 degrees C, 
When the water was hotter than 90 degrees C, 
there was no germination, the seed having been 
killed.— ^weemZttTi'd! Agricultural Journal^^ 
