56 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [July 1, 1902. 
" inteniiediate host " it may be explained, is the 
technical term for the plant on which the fungus 
liv3s during tlie interval between one crop and 
the next, much as the malaria parasite finds 
a temporary rest in the body of tlic mosquito. 
The search for this intermediate host, if 
indeed there be one, for even that is still a 
matter of doubt, involves the patient examination 
of every shrub and weed that exists during 
the rains, an impossible labour for any in- 
dividual, but quite within the power of an 
organised band of zsalous students. It is the 
absence of the trained observer tliat, more than 
anything else, retaids the progress of agricultural 
science in this country, and it is one of the main 
arguments for tii'e establishment of agricultural 
colleges that they would ir. time tend co remove 
this ditiiculty ; but in the meantime the experts 
must work alone. 
But the question is sure to be raised : Supposing 
you know all about the pesfcs and have found 
means of combating them, what is the good ? The 
cultivator will take no notice of your suggestions, 
even if he ever happens to hear of them. This is 
in fact the great obstacle to improvement in the 
agriculture of this country, and it is too large a 
subject to be discussed at the close of an article. 
Biietiy speaking, our view is that information or 
such matter must proceed from the experts to the 
wealthy landholders, and from them to their tenants; 
and this is the second 
ARGUMENT FOR ESTABLISHING AGEICULTURAL 
COLLEGES, 
and using all legitimate means to induce the sons 
of thi laiidholding classes to attend them. Some- 
thing doubtless can be done by lessons in the ele- 
mentary schools, but results obtained in this way 
will be very limited, and not to be compared with 
what will follow when in every district there are a 
few landholders cultivating their sir, or home farm, 
in accordance with the teachings of science, and 
influencing their tenants to follow their practices 
in combating disease. In this way a natural system 
of sanitary inspection niighfc gradually be evolved, 
for a landholder who saw his tenants allowing pre- 
ventible disease to spread would probably take 
efl'ective steps to protect his own interests. Paid 
inspectors are of course out of the question, ab least 
tor very many years to come ; but it is only a 
natural development of the authority of the land- 
holders that they should take the lead in influencing 
their tenants and npighbours for objects that will 
benefit all alike. — Pioneer, June 11. 
— o — - . 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Sir Frank Swettenham has made a grant 
of 118,750 for ihi; purpose of completing the 
publication of llio " niateiials for a Fbra of the 
M ilay Peninsula, ' by Sir George King, formerly 
Superintendent ol the Botanic Gardens near 
Calcutta. Its pnblicvtion l:ad been s opped for 
want of funds.— 'SYvtmY.s Times, May 16. 
The Value of (trevilleas— is usefully 
argued in Mi'. Maclui'e's letter to the Myco- 
logist quoted elsewhere. At 1.5 years, the 
correspondent reckons, a grevillea is worth 
R3'4(J, and a tea-hush a small fraction of 
tuis : so where crowding occurs he would 
remove the tea-bush. Havti other planters' 
experiences and estimation of the grevillea 
been different? 
Essential Oils.— All conoerned with 
citronella, cinnamon, camphor and clove oils 
will peruse the report of Messrs. Schimmel 
& Co., quoted on page 37 with peculiar in- 
terest. We had no idea that Java had gone 
in so extensively as it has for citronella oil, 
A Special Manure to Secure Quality 
IN Tea — is likely to be the next improve- 
ment made available to the tea planter. 
The working-out of the constituents are in 
competent hands and careful experiments 
are to be made, so as to afford satisfactory 
teits, before the new fertiliser is brought to 
the notice of the planters generally. 
200,000 Gallons of Water a Day.— "What 
is said to be the deepest artesian well in Rangoon 
has just been completed by Mr D D Coath at 
the Italian Colonial Company's mill at Dowbong. 
The well is 348 feet deep, and ab a recent test 
gave water ab the rate of 200,000 gallons a day. 
Daring boring a boulder was encountered about 
200 feet from the surface ; that tube had to be 
withdrawn and put down in another place." — 
Times of Burma, April 26. 
Produce and Stock in the Northern 
Province. — Interesting information from the, 
Government Agent's Report on Tobacco- 
Wild Beast Destruction, Cattle, and Horses 
breeding in the Northern Province is quoted 
today. In the islands devoted to the latter 
there has been serious mortality both in horses 
and cattle. On Iranativu a poisonous plant, 
which Mr. J. C. Willis may be called upon 
to investigate", is thought to be the cause: 
insufficiency of pasture accounts for it among 
cattle on Delft. General Olivier, it appears, 
has olfered valuable suggestions. 
" Machinery in T.iE Tea Indj;jstry."— We 
ha\e received froin Feilden Publishing Company, 
Limited, a Copy of " Feilden'a. Magazine" for 
April 1902, which contains the first part of an 
interesting article on " Machinery in the Tea In- 
dustry " from the pen of Mr H J Kersting Green. 
The article is intended for readeis at Home and 
elsewhere who have never had the opportunity 
of visiting a tea estate and seeing for themselves 
the buildings and machinery erected thereon. The 
article is well-illustrated, and will prove of value 
to planters in foreign lands (other than India), 
who may be thinking of going in for tea, — Indian 
Planters' Gazette, April 26th. 
The Trade of Jamaica.— For the year 
ending March ,31st, 1901, the following were 
among the Exports from the Island : — 
Ginger 26,530 cwt, value .£66 324 ; logwood 
34,006 tons, value £98,618 ; pimento 100,547 cwt, 
value £110,602. In the previous year the figures 
were: Ginger 2 \205 cwt, value £60,615 ; logwood 
28 871 ton.«, value £77,971 ; pimento 123,973 tons, 
value £173,562. The falling off in qujantity of 
pimento was due to short crops result ng from 
unfavourable seasons: The price moreover, fell 
from 28^ to 22s per cvc. Logwood shows an 
increase in qu.Tntity, price and total value the last 
by £20,647. Logwood extract was valued ab 
£31,599, in place of £15,881 in 1809-1900. The 
bee-keeping indu;itry, which is almost enliiely 
in the hands of persons of limited mean^, 
shows remarkable improvement, honey having 
increased in value in live years from £1,891 to 
£10,73y. This fact indicates the exercise of in- 
creased intelligence and iHdustry.^.B. and/ C, 
Drvoggist, May 9. 
