604 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[March 2, 1903. 
pamphlet, aud 1 should imagine that there 
would be difficulty iu so domg atid great 
loss of time, au article of which the Chinese 
take little account. As the crop of Oolongs 
'in Formosa andOhinais gatliered only three 
or four times during the season— the bushes 
yielding nothing in thB winter, the loss of 
time is of far less consideration there than 
it would be iu Geylon where the gathering 
of the crop would be continuous. As I said 
in my remariis — I do not think that Ceylon 
can successfully imitate the Formosa Oolongs ; 
but I think it cim do so as regards the 
Foochow Oolongs. But as- Foocbow can 
largely increase its production of Oolongs, I 
doubt whether the average price, which 
Ceylon might expect for its manufacture of 
them, would be good enough to induce estate 
to make them. And I also doubt whether 
Oolongs made by machinery would compete 
successfully with those made by hand— that, 
however, remains to be proved and is, I think, 
worth trying. Since reading my paper I have 
seen a sample of green tea (young hyson) 
which, I consider, is an excellent tea, and 
which is an exact imitation in m;ike, liquor, 
and aroma, of the China article and will, I 
think, certainly pay v/ell." 
J'GOOD CULTIVATION AND DISEASE." 
Mr. Carruthers writes with reference to 
the following paper as follows :— 
" A few notes I have jotted down when 
reading Marshall Watd's recent paper on 
most interesting experiments with rust on 
Brome grass —perhaps the T.A. would like 
the MS. 1 want to kill the idea of ' feed up 
your plants and no disease will come' which 
makes men allow insects and fungi to go 
on unhindered." 
A recent paper by Professor Marshall 
Ward, describing the results of some ex- 
periments on the relations between some 
species of sfrass belonging to the ~ genus 
Bromus and the rust fungus Puccinia dispersa, 
which attacks these grasses, is of wider 
interest because it tlirows additional light 
on the question of predisposition of plants 
to disease. A belief is very general among 
horticulturists and agriculturists both in 
Europe and the tropics that most, if not all, 
diseases of plants can be avoided by keeping 
the plants well nourished. This is, of course, 
true of diseases due to unhealthy conditions. 
Such diseases as come from starvation, freez- 
ing, excess of sun, excess of water; &c., &c., 
will be prevented if these conditions are 
not allowed to exip.t ; but these are not the 
diseases that the farmer and planter most 
fears. Uf fears most those of which he does 
not understand the exact cause ; and as 
he knows well the causes of the evils Just 
mentioned and the way to prevent them he 
is not troubled, and proceeds to prevent and 
cure them by giving bis plant healthy 
conditions and plenty of food. 
The fact the planter has learned by ex- 
perience—that by keeping his plants in a high 
state of health he ward.s off these " environ- 
mental " or " physical cause " diseases — has 
unfortunately led him to believe that in 
other diseases, caused by the attacks of 
specific organisms such as insects,' fungi, 
or bacteria, feeding the plant and giving it 
healthy conditions, will be of use. While 
there can be no harm in carrying out this 
treatment, yet if these are the only measures 
taken against such diseases as linger and 
toe, cacao canker, rust in wheat or any other 
such disease, the effect can only be to pro- 
long the struggle without altering the final 
result, just as to feed up an animal suffer- 
ing from the attacks of internal parasites, 
without removing the cf<use of the illness, 
would only bring a temporary appeariince 
of health, if even that. Professor Ward's 
experiments consisted in starving some of 
the Brome plants by various methods— chiefly 
mineral starvation — and by keeping another 
series in a vigorous state of health by ample 
nutrition. The plants showed the effects 
most plainly in their reduced root system, 
narrow and pale-coloured leaves, .and stunted 
gro vth, their lack of health. When, how- 
ever, the healthy and unhealthy plants were 
both submitted to similar infection of the 
rust fungus, the fungus grew equally on 
both strong and weak plants. The starved 
ones did not, as might be supposed, afford too 
little food for the fungus and thus be im- 
mune to attack, neither did they, as the 
practical man's belief often leads him to 
think, fall an easier prey than the well-fed 
plants. And still further it was found that 
though the size and quantity of the. fungus 
on the starved grasses was less than on 
the healthy ones, owing to their obtaining 
less food, yet the spores formed by the 
fungus from the weak plants were equally 
virulent in their capacity of infecting other 
plants. 
The moral of this and much other scientific 
work on plant pathology is that the motto of 
the planter should be— not : Keep your plants 
well fed and tended, to prevent disease — but : 
Keep your plants well-fed and tended, in 
sanitary conditions, and remove chances of 
%nfection~to prevent disease. 
J. B, Carruthers. 
THE GOLD COAST COLONY. 
The of&oial report on the Gold Oo^st Colony for 
the year 1901 has been issued aa a Parliamentary 
paper in the series of Colonial Reports [Ci. 788-45]. 
The revenue from ordinary sources amounted to 
£47L193 33. In addition to this must be reckoned 
grants in aid of £25.000 for the Northern Territories 
and £197,700 for the Ashanti disturbances. The net 
increase in the general revenue, exclusive of grants 
in aid, over the revenue of 1900 was £138,840 193. 
Under the head of Customs there was an increase 
of £68,264 53 lid, this being attributable to the 
marked expansion of the colony's import trade. There 
was a falling-off of £411 15s 5d in the revenue from 
the Northern Territories which is ascribed to the 
stoppage of the caravan trade with Ashanti and the 
failure to obtain the annual supply of trade goods 
owing to the Ashanti rebellion. There was a total 
increased expenditure of £110,847 Ss lOd ; the expend- 
iture on the Ashanti disturbances during the year 
was £124,392 53 2d. The Government loan for the 
Ashanti war, received partly in 1900 and partly in 1901; 
vi^as £400,000. The total value of exports and imports 
combined amounted in 1901 to £2,360,760, the highest 
figure yet reached except in 1899. But whereas in thct 
last few years imports and exports have shown a more or 
less equal proportion of value, the large total for 1901 is 
