i)EC. 1, 1902.] 
THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
379 
AN EXTENSIVE APPLE ORCHARD. 
A company composed of repiesentativs horti- 
culturists in Iowa and Missouri lias been orp;anised 
with a capital stock of $1,000,000, for the planting 
of what it is claimed is to be the largest orchard 
iu the world. This orchard is to cover 5,<}00 
acres of ground planted with 50 trees to the acre. 
The land for this experiment has been chosen in 
Laclede County, Missouri, about 150 miles south- 
west of St. Louis. This choice has been made 
because of the discovery that apples grown in thi^ 
county have taken the first prize in competition 
with most of the other countries in the same 
State, which is peculiarly adapted both in soil and 
climate to the successful growth of fruit crops. 
About 100 acres of this land will be planted with 
trees nextspring, and it is estimated that with- 
in six years the whole of the orchard 
will be bearing fruit. While the main object of 
the company is that of raising apples, many 
peach and other trees devoted to small fruit will 
be planted during the first years, in order to 
produce an early dividend upon the investment. 
The underlying principle of the company which is 
undertaking this work is that co-operation of a 
commercial character can be developed under the 
direction of men skilled in business and horti- 
culture, and thai if this assumption is correct, the 
venture can be made more profitable than is po-sible 
from individual investments in the same line, and 
that too the chances of loss incident to such 
investments when made in a small way are not so 
great. It is estimated tliat each of the 250,000 
trees to be planted on this area will produce five 
bushels of apples thus making a total yield of 
1,250,000 bushels, equivalent to about 500,000 
barrels. It is expected that the bulk of this crop 
will be exported to Europe. During the fiscal 
year of 1901 the export of apples from the United 
States was 840,605 bushles, of which 794,660 were 
sent to the United Kingdom. As showing some 
of the methods to be adopted, a cold storage 
plant will be built in St Louis as soon as this 
orchard has come into bearing. This will be the 
main shipping point and it is intended that the 
storage plant shall have a capacity for 150,000 
bushels. Another interesting feature of the work 
is the announcement that the St Louis and San 
Francisco Railroad has taken such an active 
interest in the plans of the company that it has 
agreed to constrjct a branch of about 3J miles 
through the property. Ic will also build at frequent 
intervals along the line of this branch warehouses 
which, it is expected, will facilitate the prompt 
handling of the crop.— London Times, Oct. 4. 
COCONUT PLANTING IN CEYLON: 
SUCCESS IN DRY DISTRICTS : HOW TO GET 
APPROXIMATE AREA. 
(Bj/ a Veteran,) 
The number of coconut estates in the island 
that pay KlOO an acre of profit may be counted on 
the fingers of your two hands. 1 was up in the 
Rajakadaluwa District two months ago, and an 
estate about a mile this side of Rattuluoya, 
belonging to a native, just nearly made me 
envious. 1 never expected to see such bearing 
and such fine trees in a district with only 54 
ioQhes of rftia— wlrot I saw there ancl 15 miles 
49 
farther North on the road to Putlalam has caused 
me to modify considerably my views as to the 
bearing capabilities of the coconut palm incom- 
paratively dry regions so long as the soil is free. 
Although headmen's reports are not very re- 
liable, tliey are the only means of knowing the 
acreage of tlie thousands of small gardens planted 
with coconuts in the dili'eient districts. It would 
be impossible for any European to get reliable 
information on this matter, and it would be only a 
very unreliable guess to try and form an estimate, 
I am afraid you must be content with the 
information you can get through the different 
Kachclieiis. [Until the Cadastral survey is closed, 
—Ed. CO.] 
» 
RICE-CROP PROSPECTS, 1902-03, IN 
BURMAH. 
The District Officers' reports on the rice-crop 
prospects on the 30th September 19(}2 in the 14 
chief rice producing districts of Lower Burma 
are to the following effect : — • 
Summarif. — The estimated area under rice in the 
14 principal rice-growing distticts is reported to be 
6,649,006 areas against 6,558,190 acres actually 
cultivated last year. Amherst reports on unex- 
plained increase of 28,900 acres, and Pegu, 
Toungoo and Hanthawaddy report increases of 
over 10,000 acres. Floods have caused damage in 
Tharrawaddy and Thoagwa and have caused a 
decrease in cultivation in Henzada. In Myaun- 
gniya the fallow area is large owing to cattle 
disease and sickness among the cultivators, and in 
Prome owing to untimely rainfall. Otherwise pros- 
pects are bright. 
— — ♦ 
THE TEA BUG OP ASSAM : 
IMPORTANT DISCOVERY BY MR. 
MANN. 
Calcutta, Nov. 10, 7-55 ca.tn. 
Ml'. Mann, Scientific Adviser to the 
Planters, states that the Tea Bug in Assam 
is found from eggs onwards on the tea 
bushes and not in the ground. 
THE STORY OF THE JAK TREE. 
Mr. Carruthera' Lecture, the second one of tha 
■'K mdy Popular Lecturer," was given at the Town 
Hall on Monday evening before a large and apprecia- 
tive audience. The evening was fine, the lecturer in 
excellent form, theChairman (HonMr H Wace jocative 
aud the audience good-humoured. With these condi- 
tions combined "nobody could deny" that the lecture 
was a success. The lecturer (I cannot help calling him 
bo) took pains to say his was not a "lecture." Of 
course, all knew only one, who rose to the heights of 
a "lecturer" — and that was, that grand old dame, 
Mrs Caudle. As the Town Hall is devoid of mosquito 
curtains, the members of the male sex felt safe and 
happy that there was to be no "lecture." Mr 
Carruthera aaij, he was going to treat ua to "The 
Story of the Jak Tree." Delightful visions of dear old 
Hans Charles Andersen and Mra Prosaer rose into oar 
minds and we, indeed, got them reproduced in another 
form. The seed in ita embryo stiite to the plant, 
the radicle, roots, stem and leaves and the flowers were 
described in a free and eaay style. There was hardly 
anything of the technical. The lecture was illustrated 
by lantern slides from the "cradle " to plant-life. The 
drawings for the slides wore stated to have been very 
gOQd, but lay Ihe time tUey ba^ to be ghowa they hat^ 
