242 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 1, 1902. 
REALIZATION OF FLOWERS. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " TIMES." 
Sir,— In The Times 'of Friday, July 11, you 
broach a subject of quite as niuoh interesc to 
agricultrrists as to botanists, in reviev.'ing " Tlie 
Primiose and Darwinism." Whilst botanists are 
quibbliug over s.iiall matters, fortunately for 
agriculturists there are men, who have no learned 
degrees, who for years have devoted their tirjie to 
the subject of cross-fertiiization, and turned it to 
practical account for the benefit of others. The 
Laxtous with the pea and the stratvberry ; 
Findlay in the development of the potato ; and 
GartoD in the cross-breeding of almost all farm 
plants, have done more good to British farming 
than has ever been effected by narrow l8 boratory 
tests, carried out without a definite object of 
practical utility. Whilst it has been generally 
accepted that grass such as the rye-grass and 
fescues could not be made to interbreed, Mr Garten 
has broken down the non-affinity of these varieties, 
and in his experimental grounds at Ne»vton-le- 
Willows a large number of new cross-breeds of 
these may be seen growing at the present time. 
Oats which rarely produce more than two or three 
grains in a spikelet, except in a Chinese weed oat- 
grass which produces five, have been made to 
produce seventeen and any number from that 
down to two, and all with permanently fixed 
character. The kohl-rabi has been successfully 
crossed with the common swede ; in fact, as a 
result of twenty years' unremitting work in cross- 
breeding, in the expsiimental grounds, there are 
at this moment tens of thousands of plants which 
shew variation to permit selection to establish a 
new and dietinct breed from any one of them. 
As they are open to inspection this can be put to 
proof by any one interested. 
■In respect to insect-pollination, Mr Garten's 
observations go to show that Darwin far over- 
stated the case. He has found that fertilisation 
occurs, at any rate among farm plants, at a much 
earlier period than is usuaUy supposed, and 
certainly earlier than text-books suggest. So early 
is this performed that when insects enter self- 
pollinating plants, attracted by the colour or in 
search of nectar, fertilisation is completed ; and 
his inference is that nectar is an after-product of 
fertilisation just as he has shown by his rtiicro- 
photographs that an immediate result of fertilisa- 
tion is the filling of the lodicules with moisture to 
ever open the glumes (at the base of whi«h 
they are placed) to allow of the exit of the anthers, 
•which, having performed their part cf shedding 
pollen on the stigmatic surface, are no longer 
required. At this season, when the cereals are "in 
flower," an opportunity is afforded to anyone to 
test what he has so definitely shown, that when 
the anthers appear outside the glumes fertilisation 
has occurred some days. 
Health has not permitted Mr Garton to publish 
a scientific account of his work, but when it does 
many of the points raised in your review will be 
cleared up. I have tioubled you with this because, 
just at this season, the experimental grounds ah 
Newton le Willows give too manj proofs which 
botauists should not fail to see ; and from the 
courtesy with which Mr Garton has shown bis 
micro photographs to me and to others, I feel sure 
he would extend the same privilege to any who 
may be deeply interested in one of the most 
important matters relating to agricultural 
prosperity. 
I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 
W J Malden, Principal, the Colonial College, 
Hollesley Bay.— Loudon Times, July 25. 
■ 
ARTIFICIAL RIPENING OF 
PLANTAINS. 
The forcing to ripen of this delectable 
article of the table, to which a correspondent 
lately drew attention in your columns, is a prac- 
tice for which the grower, and not the dealer, of 
the commodity is primarily responsible. In the 
Pulneys, where an enormous trade in plantains 
is carried on with tiie plains, the Hill ryot de- 
pends mainly, if not eutiieiy, for his bare suste- 
nance, on the sale of his fruih at the weekly 
markets in the iowcountry, and therefore it is 
not surprising he should resort to artificial 
methods for bringing the fruit to maturity. 
Beyond robbing the fruit of its freshness and 
flavour (for who has not relished a plantain 
ripened on the tree?) this "blowing" of the 
half green fruit, as the practice is termed among 
the fruiterers, has not been discovered to pro- 
duce deleterious eff'ects on the consumers. That 
the trade in plantains has, of late years, as- 
sumed vast proportions in the Lower Pulney 
Hills, will be patent even to a casual observer. 
After the wholesale destruction of the coffee, as 
the result of disease, the Hill ryots planted 
up the lands lately occupied by coffee, with 
plantains ; and, in the long run, they found 
the latter more paying. The result is that al- 
most every new grant, under the Darkest As- 
signment Rules, is cultivated with plantains. 
The comparative ease and rapidity with which 
this crop is grown in an eminently fertile soil, 
and the permanency of a crop once sown, added 
to the luxuriant yield in all seasons of the 
year, make the plantain the backbone as it 
were of the Hill population, who, but for that 
would be reduced to dire straits. In fact, it 
is the growing of plantains that alone enables 
them to keep the pot boiling, and to meet their 
Government dues. Cofiee and cardamoms do nob 
pay, except the very large investors, owing to 
the depression in these industries of late. It is 
therefore but fair to say that any restrictions 
placed on the hitherto free grants of Government 
lands, under the Dharkast Rules, would be pro- 
ductive of incalculable harm to the smaller ryot 
as it would be literally taking away the food 
from his mouth. Nd one, who has some acquaint- 
ance of the conditions of the Hill ryot and his 
humble aspirations, will accuse him of land- 
grabbing. His lot is already a hard one, and 
it will be made infinitely worse if undue restric- 
tions are introduced on the easy and inexpensive 
methods, heretofore in vogue, of acquiring land 
on permanent putta. Of the numerous variety 
of Hill plantains and degree of excellence of 
each, a good deal may be written ; but the most 
delicious and, at the same time, least harmful is 
the tiny Navaram, a fruit about 2j to 3 inches 
in length, with a thin rind, and of a most delicate 
flavour and sweetness. The Hill people attribute 
curative qualities to this species of plantain. The 
huge red plantain, which attains perfection on 
the Hills and is noted for its succulence and 
richness, is the largest of the Hill plantains one 
would suffice for a meal, C. J. Stracev, 
—M. Mail, Aug. 20. 
