Maech 2, 1903.] 
THE TEOPICAL 
AGEICULTURIST. 
597 
interest throughout the province in its cultivation to 
languish. Notwithstanding this, the Chinaman pro- 
fited by the state o£ aifairs, and proceeded to gather 
to himself anything and everything in the shape of 
tobacco. 
1 cultivated it for some years, long enough to recog- 
nise the requirements of its cultivation, but abandoned 
it when 1 found that it was uj,terly impossible to direct 
the colonists, 
INDIGO 
This product largely cultivated, the natives simply 
growing a sufficiently yields well in this province, but it 
never has been large quantity to enable them to pro- 
vide themselves with their trousers and shirts. Not so, 
however, in the neighborhood of Ilocos Sur, where 
there was a great abundance of this product until the 
Chinaman — the ever evil-doing Chinauiau— commenced 
its adulteration, resulting in a loss ot confidence in the 
market and a consequent depreciation of the article) 
uut'l its cultivation. 
COTTON. 
This is generally grown in soil of poor quality and 
in a manner leaving much to be desired. The variety 
is a good one, but the yield very scarce, due to faulty 
cultivation. Within the last few years it has been 
gvown in greater quantity, but always for domestic 
ngO. Now, due no doubt to the importation ot fibres 
from foreign countries, there is constant improvement 
its cultivation. 
CORN. 
Corn ia planted in all of the pueblos, but on a small 
scale, this province being essentially a rice-growing 
section. Only in times of scarcity of corn in the 
market, is the crop used for food purposes, it being 
generally fed to fowls and hogs. 
On my farm in Bangui I have experimented with 
seeds from various countries, which yielded very well 
for two years; in the third year, however, it began to 
degenerate, due more to deficient cultivation than to 
the climate or soi). 
SUGAU-CANH. 
This ia planted in all the pueblos throughout tiie 
province in small quantities, though only for vicious 
purposes, that is, the sap is allowed to ferment with 
the flowers audleavea ot the tree called lama, resulting 
in a beverage which is preferred to the best qualities 
of foreign countries. Some planters convert a portion 
of their crop into panocha, which they send to 
Gagayau. 
The soil, in spite of deficient methods of cultivation, 
yields much sugar, it being very suitable for growing 
this crop, 
HICE. 
This is the most important crop of the province and 
is planted in moist lands, which abound in all of the 
pueblos; and even in dry lands it can be grown; if 
one takes advantage of the rainy season. Different 
seeds must be used for dry and moist lands, and of 
these two distinct cla5ses there are again many 
varieties. This plant is cultivated according to methods 
acquired during a period of four hundred years, in all 
of which time there was no .Jiuman intervention to 
cauae them to relinquish their ancient methods. 
Aside from the crops mentioned, there are also 
grown on a small scale lentils, otou, beneseed, resin and 
others, of less importance — all for consumption in the 
interior. 
For twenty years the pueblos of Batac, Badoc, 
Bangui andSinaiu have been planting some wheat, 
which did not yield badly and furnished au excellent 
quality of this article to the foreiatu colony in this 
province until the arrival of flour from other parts, 
which speedily ruined all chances of cultivating it to 
advantage. 
Now as regards vegetables, tomatoes are grown 
throughout the entire province and are used exten- 
eively by tho natives ; also ogg-plant; amargoso, 
squash, cucumbers and others. The foreign plants 
grown are lettuce, endive, pepper, spinach and beet. 
These latter are used by the foreigneers for food. 
On my farm in Bangui I always had a pretty little 
garden in which I planted Spanish greens, which 
yielded abundantlj. Among others I several times 
planted large quantities of potatoes and obtained fruit 
of a better quality than that coming from China: the 
same with beans, which were of a superior quality 
whether fresh or dried. 
I place myself entirely at your service, and 
remain. 
(Signed), JEniLio a. y. Lallave. 
— The Manila Times. 
FRUIT TREES IN POTS. 
A LITTLE OBJECT LESSON. 
W. S. CAMPBELL. 
The efforts now in progress, in many of our public 
schools, to make use of portions of the school-grounds 
for nature teaching and simple experiments in plant 
growing are 'greatly to be commended for, doubtless, 
such work, when properly systematised and carried out 
cannot but have an important bearing upon our future 
horticulture, agriculture, and forestry. 
With a view to assist such praiseworthy work in a 
slight degree, as well as to serve as a sort of guide for 
those readers who may carry out experiments interest- 
ing, useful, and at the same time so simple as to be 
within the scope of anyone, I will give some results, 
acquired under extremely disadvantageous conditions 
and surroundings, of fruitgrowing in pots, as well as in- 
formation as to the methods adopted. 
I may say that when I caaae to live in town, or 
rather close to town, after having lived all my life on 
a large area of land,' and was confined to a small 
garden-plot and a miserable back-yard, I felt choked 
and wretched- The garden vpas so absurdly small that 
it seemed hardly worth while to tike off my coat to 
keep it in good order ; and it U3ed to make me laugh 
when I saw the time it took the jobbing gardeners to 
tidy up the wee gardens of my neighbours. To my 
astonishment I found that none of the neighbours, 
performed any gardening work, beyond an occasional 
watering with a hose. 
After a time it occurred to me that I might as well 
put my few square feet of space to some better use than 
the usual prim and absurd little cow-pat designs, 
concocted of echeveria, altemautheras, and suck-like 
plants, and I may say that I have succeeded to a remark 
able degree. 
Hundreds ot valnible plants, economic and orna 
mental, have been given away by me to persons in 
several States of the Commonwealth ; and lately I 
have sent away a vast number of plants of Mr 
Farrer's introduction, the new Paspalum, P. virgatum,, 
which, 1 think, will prove valuable for cold districts 
where the famed dilatatum will not thrive so 
well. 
In this garden, which is generally bat designedly in a 
lovely muddle, are growing a wonderful variety of 
species of plants such as grasses, saltbushes, fruits in 
pots, roses, annuals, perennials, bouvardias, canoas 
— seedlings and otherwise, — dahlias, rice, water-lilies 
bulbs of numerous varieties, some native plants of New 
South Wales, straw-berries, violets, nardoo, Japanese 
roses, seedling roses from Kew Gardens seed, and 
rainy other things besides, with seedling grasses, of 
value for distribution, but which more often than not 
give this garden an appearance of neglect and 
wildness. 
The soil is naturally poor sand, and I discovered to 
my disgust that apparently all the rubbish after building 
such as brokou-up slates, stouoa, old iron, and I do uoi 
