HQ 
Supplement to the " Tropcal AgrcuUurisV^ [Auti. 1, 1902. 
and gathering of the nuts had to be done, 
but he would sooner supply the pluckers with pro- 
tection for their feet than go without " nidi- 
kumba." 
The Florida velvet bean is credited with 
containing a deleterious principle which is 
said to be the cause of colic in consumers 
of this prolific legume, and many people have 
given the vegetable a wide berth in making up 
their daily bill of fare. The truth is that the 
velvet bean requires rather more careful prepar- 
ation than most vegetables, though even the 
ubiquitous potato demands some care to make it 
as wholesome a food as it is. The manioc — at least 
one variety of it — has to be very well cooked to 
lid it of the volatile poison (no other than the 
deadly prussic acid) vs ith which it is associated. 
■^A reliable authority informs us that there is now 
quite a run on Florida beans for vegetable 
'curry, and that the natives have overcome their 
prejudice against the vegetable by discovering 
that the beans when first boiled in water with 
turmeric !and salt, lose any noxious properties 
they may possess. To prepare the curry the 
whole beans (with of course the hairs all rubbed 
_ofE) are, after boiling in the way referred to, fried 
with onions, &c., and then mixed with 
the ordinary curry ingredients. If any bean is 
worthy of being called the " poor man's vegetable " 
we think it is this hardy and prolific legume, 
and we are glad to hear that its use is likely 
to axtend. V/e shall be glad to supply seeds 
on application. 
In our June issue we speculated as to what tree 
could be traced the peculiar odour of chlorine. 
We have now found a tree, the wood of which 
when freshly cut emits a decided and strong 
odour of iodine or iodoform. 

RAINFALL TAKEN AT THE SCHOOL OF 
AGRICULTURE 
DURING 
THE MONTH 
OF 
JULY, 
1902. 
1 
Tuefday 
•06 
17 
Thursday , . 
•10 
2 
Wednesday . . 
•32 
38 
Friday 
•06 
3 
Thursday 
•45 
19 
Saturday . . 
Nil 
4 
Friday 
•12 
20 
Sunday 
Nil 
5 
Saturday 
•75 
21 
Monday 
Tuesday 
Nil 
6 
Sunday 
■62 
22 
Nil 
7 
Monday 
1^36 
23 
Wednesday 
Nil 
8 
Tuesday 
Nil 
24 
Thursday ,.. 
Nil 
9 
Wednesday ... 
Nil 
2.5 
Friday 
•72 
10 
Thursday 
Nil 
26 
Saturday 
•15 
11 
Friday 
•60 
27 
Sunday 
Nil 
12 
Satnrdiiy 
•70 
28 
Monday 
Nil 
13 
Sundiiy 
•40 
29 
Tuesday 
1^46 
14 
Monday 
Nil 
30 
Wednesday . , 
■23 
15 
Tuesday 
Nil 
31 
Thursday .. 
■02 
16 
Wednesday ... 
Nil 
1 
Friday 
Nil 
Total. ..8^06 
Mean.., -26 
Greatest amount of rainfall registered in 
24 houi's, on the 29thTuesday 1902, 1^46 inches, 
Eecorded by Alex, Pereba. 
PLANT LIFE. 
[a seeies of simple lectubes intended fob 
a class of junior students.] 
Lecture VI. 
From what I have already said you will infer 
that the greater part of the food of plants is 
got from the soil. We have been considering 
the nature of the atmosphere and the important 
element of plant food which it supplied. Wo 
might therefore make some enquiry into the 
nature of soil and its relation to plants. The 
soil we said is the medium in which the plant 
grows. Soils differ in texture, that is they may 
be loose in texture or more or less close or 
firm. Soils are generally classified according to 
the proportion of sand, clay, organic and calca- 
reous matter which go to compose them, Thest 
substances are familiar enough to you. Now a 
soil consisting almost entirely of any one of them 
will, as you must admit, be an unsatisfactory soil 
for the growth of plants. Good soils consists of 
a mixture of sand, clay and decayed organic 
matter with some proportion of lime (carbonate 
of lime). Experience proves that a soil is best 
adapted for purposes of cultivation when it 
contains from 
50 to 70 per cent Sand 
20 „ 30 „ „ Clay 
5 „ 10 ,, Humiis 
5 )) 10 ,, ,, Carbonate of Lime. 
Such a soil contains enough sand to make it 
warm and permeable to air and moisture ; enough 
cl»y to render it tenacious or cohesive and reten- 
tive of manures ; enough humus to keep it 
moist and porous and to assist in supplying the 
nitrogenous food of plants, as well as to keep up 
the supply of carbonic acid in the soil ; and 
lastly, sufficient lime to meet the requirements 
of plants and help in the decomposition of 
organic matter. 
The reason why alluvial soils (found near rivers) 
are so fertile, is the mixed character they possess, 
having been so mix«d by the action of running 
water. Most soils, however, are not of such 
a perfect character, and have generally an excess 
of one or more of the constituents above named. 
A pure sandy soil is deficient both in physi- 
cal and chemical properties. On such a soil 
plants are unable to get a hold for their roots, 
they would have little or no moisture supplied 
to them, and derive nothing in the way of 
nutriment flora it. But aa an ingredient of soils 
sand is of tlie greatest importance, since it gives 
them a loose texture so that they are permeable to 
air, moisture and warmth. 
Clay has properties very different to those of 
sand. Asoilof pure clay wouldbe as unsatisfactory 
as one of pure sand. Such a soil would be too 
cohesive and impermeable to water, cold and damp, 
and in dry seasons would bake as hard n» a brick,' 
while from a chemical point of view it is of no 
value as a source of plant food. But as one of I 
the constituents of soil clay is of the greatest i 
value, absorbing gases from the atmosphere, 
keeping a soil moist and cool, giving tenacity to 
it, and retaining useful plant tood which would 
otherwise be washed out of the soil. 
