592 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[March 2, 1903. 
glaaa to help it, was able to reaoh." Afbei' travelling 
for days and diiys through sioailai- country, at last, 
" All of a sudden, Kuim stopped short, gripped me 
by the shoulder, and with widely staring eyes, 
pointed towards the ea5t ^vithout uttering a word. 1 
looked and looked in the direction towards which he 
pointed, but could see nothing unuBual ; but Kisiin's 
eagle-eye had dipcoverei on the verge of the hoi izon the 
green foliage of a Tamarisk— the be icon upon which 
all our hopes of safety were now concentrated. We 
steered our course straight for the solitary tree, taking 
the utmost precaution not to lose its bearing?. A5 
length we reached it. O n- first act wis to think Gad 
for bringing us so far safe. We revelled in the gr^eoa 
freshness of the tree, and like animals, chewed away 
at its sappy leaves. It was really alive. Its roots 
evidently wont down to the water stratum. We 
were now within reasonable distance of open water. 
The Tamarisk shot up from the top of a sand-due 
and there was not a yard of flit, hard ground any- 
where near it. A strange existence these Tamarisks 
(Tamarix elongata) lead. Their branches and tough 
elastic stems, seldom exceeding 7 feet in height, are 
bathed in burning sun-hine, while their roots p me- 
trate to an almost inorelible depth, and like syphons 
suck up nourishment from the subterranean supplies 
of moisture. In fact, that solitary tree reminded me 
of a Water- Lily swimming, as it were, on the billowy 
surface of the desert ocean .... I gathered a hand- 
ful of the leaves, which were not unlike the needles 
of the Pine, and thoroughly eaioyed the sweet fresh 
scant they gave off." — Gardeners' Chronicle, 
RUBBER IN PERU. 
Peru (Mollendo). — In a recent Consular report it 
is stated that the rubber industry still occupies a good 
deal of attention, and although the quantity shipped 
this year only exceeds last year's output by 15 tons, 
this is accounted for by the fact that large quantities 
are being prepared in the interior ready to ship when 
the dry weather sets in — from the baginning of April. 
A few remarks on the difficulties that attend this 
industry may be of interest. From the time of landing 
here, about 15 days will be occupied in travelling by 
train, steamer, mule, and canoe to get to the rubber 
districts. The first range of the Andes has to be 
crossed at 17,500 feet above the level of the sea b = fore 
the descent into the valleys can be effected. Strata, 
jn Bolivia, is the place at which nearly all the roads 
into the rubber and mining districts converge. The 
traveller will often be delayed for several days, as all 
the owners of beasts of burden take advantage 
f the scarcity of means of transport, and extort the 
highest possible freights for their animals. Once 
hwork has been started, the cheaper plan is to buy 
mules and horses. All supplies hive to be carried in, 
as scarcely anvthiog can be purchased there. However 
stores are gradually bein2 established on the different 
claims. The descent is very dangerous in some places, 
the incline being from 30 to 45 degrees, and the 
animals often slip and are thrown over the precipices 
This part of the road, 23 miles in length, takes 12 
hours, when Piirarani is reaihed, 4,600 foet above sea- 
level. From Pararani to Mapiri the road is more 
practicable, and rubbsr, Peruvian bark, and cofiie 
plantations are m&\ Mapiri is thd centre of these 
regions, and from there one strikes oft to wherever 
the claims may be. At least 9') p^v cent of tlia 
travellers fall sii'k with m vlarial fevers, more or less 
intense, nlthouKh sel lora fatal. From NIapiri, Guanay 
is reached in canoes, or rafts, made of nine sticks 
fastened with vines; three of these rafts dn-m what 
is called a callopi, cap ible of carrying tons of 
cargo. The distance is 62 miles, and can ba done in 
one dny, going down stream, but coming b ick it takes 
three days, tlie current running sisc miles an hour. 
The Indians can only pull at the ra'^e of 1^ miles 
per hour, From Guanay there are roads that lead to 
the placer mines on the rivers Tipuani, Oovahuira 
Challana, etc., in which regions gold is found in 
abundance, but machinery is badly required, especially 
to dredge the rivexi.— Imperial Institute Journal. 
THE PITOHBR PLANT AS A PLANT 
PROTECTOR. 
One of the greatest enemies to Orchid plants in the 
West Indies is Blatta americaua — the American cock- 
roach. Numerous are the traps devised and the 
poisons compounded for the destruction of this in- 
sect, and yet it does not appear to decrease in 
numbers, and regular plans of trapping and poisoning 
must be adopted by the cultivator if he is to keep hia 
Orchids free from these — a'most ubiquitous — 
enemies. 
There are however, natural checks which deserve 
attention. First among these comes a large spider, 
commonly though erroneously* known in Trinidad as 
the " Tarantula." 
This spider, with other large species, are very bitter 
enemies of the cockroach, and assist not a little in 
preserving the balance of yatnre. When it is men- 
tioned that one of these creatures is large enough to 
capture and kill a full grown moase — an occurence 
once witnessed in the Berbarium, and recorded in 
the BallHin, January, 1895 — it is easily understood 
how the cockroach falls an easy prey to it. 
Poultry and larger lizards also feed upon the cock- 
roach. To the barn-yard fowl it appears 
to be a specially delicate morsel, as is re- 
cognised by the negro proverb " When cockroach gib' 
dance, him no ax fowl." 
We have recently observed the help given to the 
cultivator in the destruction of these depredators 
by the various species of Nepenthes or pitcher plants. 
As th'^y assume full development, the Pitchers de- 
veloped on the end of the leaves become filled with 
liquid, into which the cockroach is apparently 
attracted and eventually drowned. The liquid con- 
tained in the pitchers is of a similar character to the 
gastric fluids of the human stomach, and renders 
any animal matter fit for absorption by the plant, 
so that the cockroach is ultimately digested as plant 
food. 
The Nepenthes have been found to be so useful 
for this purpose that they have been deemed advis- 
able to largely increase the, number of these plants 
among Orchids, as the damage done by the cockroach 
has been largely decreased by their aid. The various 
species of Nepenthes thrive well in the climate of 
Triniad, and are grown in suspended baskets made 
of Cedar-wood, in a similar manner to Orchids. — 
Bulletin OT the Trinidad Botanical Garden, October, 1902 
Manures fob Vines, — As a result of numerous ex- 
periments recorded in the Comptei Eendus, Messrs. 
GuiUon and Gouiraud show (') that on a calcarious 
soil the effects of the application of chemical manui es 
do uot show themselves till after a considerable 
interval, (2) that potash salts are the most effectual 
then phosphitic compounds and hastily nitrogenous 
manures; (3) f-irmyard manures is highly valuable; 
(4) chemical analysis of the soil does not give suflS- 
cient indication of the kind of manure that should be 
employed. Experiments followed out during several 
years are alone capable of guiding the cultivator 
in his selection. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
■* Lycosa tarantula, the true trantula, is only found 
in Southern Europe, and differs in many respects 
fi'om the West Indian insect, which has been deter- 
mined as Eurypelma versicolor. Walk., and ia some- 
times spoken of as a species of Mygale, 
