6B8 THE TROPICAL 
1897 late in the season. He manafjed to plant about 
60 acres in coffee by March 1898, but a jangle fire 
broke ouk during aa exceptional dry season and 
destroyed all hia labours. However, he planted up 
during the monsoon weather that year and the result 
showed the exceptionally good country for coffee. 
In the season 1900-00 he took hia first crop of tons 
from the young trees, 40 tons in season 1901-02, and 
40 tons in the succeeding season, while the prospects 
for the coming crop were extremely good. Carda- 
moms were also doing remarkably well. In facts the 
place was the habitat of cardamoms, for Mr. W indie 
had found them growing wild in the jungle. He had 
opened out 130 acres in cardamoms from 1 to 3 years 
old and they were getting on famously. Messrs. 
Martin and Bannatyne, former Ceylon planters, had 
their cardamom plantations coming on well. Besides 
coffee and cardamoms, cinchona was another product 
that appeared to take to the Annamalais. Mr. Wiadle 
planted out Ledgeriana variety some 2j years ago and 
the trees were quite sound and healthy. They grew 
extremely well, and it was hard to say which grew 
better coffee or cinchona. Aa regards rubber, which was 
quite a new product, and vanilla, which was given up, 
Mr. Windle has spoken of them before. Pepper he 
tried but without success. Eoses grew particularly 
well, as also all flowers, which showed a luxuriant 
growth, and vegetables. Poultry thrived wonderfully 
which might be attributed to the absence of disease 
or pests ; jackals, wild oats, hawks, etc., being un- 
known. The Annainalai hills for climate, soil etc., 
for growing products was wonderful and there is no 
doubt, if Government is only willing to sell further 
allotments. 
LAND WOULD BE BOUGHT UP EEADILY. 
The roads, Mr. Windle remarked, were in good con- 
dition, but not so well kept as the excellent Ceylon 
np-oountry roads. They sent their produce by cart to 
Podanur, a distance of 60 miles— distance by the way 
was no consequence to the Indian planter — and thence 
by railway to Calicut. There was some talk of a rail- 
way from Dindigul to Palghat through Pollachi, which 
was only 15 miles from the foot of the hills. This if 
sanctioned will prove a great boon. As regards 
sport, there were elephant and bison in the Annaraalai 
forests, and mahseer in the fine rivers. The only 
expensive item the Annamalai planter had was felling. 
It cost Mr. Windle K30 an acre ; and sometimes it 
would cost more according to the nature of the forest 
There was excellent timber in abundance, both white 
and red cedar, jak, toon, ironwood, and a little 
ebony. 
LABOUR WAS PLENTIFUL 
and easily obtained, and none of the difScnlties that 
beset the Ceylon planter in this direction were 
experienced. — liocal " Times." 
ARTIFICIAL NITRATES FROM THE 
AIR. 
The question of manures for keeping up the pro- 
ductive power of the soil must ever be of the first im- 
portance to planters and agriculturists. In the compo- 
sition of all manures an element of the first importance 
is fixed nitrogen as contained in the various nitrates. 
But the supply of natural nitrates is limited by a 
variety of circumstances, and the expense of applying 
it in the form in which we now procure it is a very 
considerable item. Nature herself adopts another 
method of giving the indispensable nitrogen to the 
soil. The atmosphere consisting of four-fifth free 
nitrogen is a natural laboratory wherein by the effect 
of eletric discharges nitric and nitrous acid are formed 
These being dissolved and washed down by the rain 
rfora a perpetual fertilising agent quite sufficient for 
growth under natural conditions. Artificial culti- 
AGRlCCJLTUEIST. [April 1, 1908. 
vation however, is a much greater tax upon the soil 
and Nature's arrangement, admirable for her own 
purposes, does not suffice under conditions of con- 
tinual cropping. The drain of material is too great 
to be compensated in this manner. 
The balance of nature is in fact destroyed, and man 
who is responsible for the destruction must in his own 
interests set to work to reconstruct more suitable con- 
ditions and by applying an increased quantity of the 
vivifying sgent restore the balance. Thus, in the long 
run, the supplying of nitrogenous fertilisers by the 
agriculturist becomes necessary. Hitherto he has been 
dependent on a comparatively limited number of 
mines, a fact which renders nitrates expensive ; but 
some few years ago Lord Eayleigh showed that the 
artifical union of nitrogen and oxygen by means of the 
eletric spark was so easy a thing to effect as to make 
the method worth trying on a commercial scale. This 
suggestion has now been acted on by two American 
inventors— Bradley and Lovejoy— and a company has 
been formed to work their process. Apart from com- 
mercial importance, the new process is of interest from 
the closeness with which it follows out Nature's 
method of production. 
The apparatus employed consists of a fixed oylindrica 
metal box, inside which, but insulated from it a second 
cylinder rotates 500 times per minute. Oa the surface 
of each cylinder are six upright rows of metal pieces or 
" contacts" 23 in each row. These contacts are insuU 
ated from each other and each isconnected through and 
inductance coil to one or other pole of a 10,000 volt 
dynamo, those on the outer cylinder to the positive 
pole, and those on the inner to the negative. As the 
rotation goes on the negative contacts come up to 
the positive, and each pair then " strikes " an electric 
arc ; aa they move away the arcs are drawn out and 
extinguished, only to be reformed when the next set 
of negatives comes up. About 40,0000 acres are thus 
made and destroyed per minute. A steady flow of air 
amounting to something like 700 cubic feet per hour 
is maintained through the space between the cylinders 
The arcs promote the chemical union of the oxygen, 
and nitrogen and the air leaves the apparatus having 
about one-fortieth of its mass converted into oxides of 
nitrogen. It is then conducted to absorbing towers. 
These are already well known in oonnection 
with other chemical industries, so we need only 
remind our readers that they consist of lofty "stacks" 
loosely packed with bricks or blocks of coke down 
which a stream of water is allowed to trickle. The 
mixed gases entering at the base of the tower meet 
the ifalling water, which dissolves out the oxides of 
nitrogen, forming dilute nitrous and nitric acids, 
which can be continuously drawn off below, and used 
for the preparation of the required chemicals. 
Sufficient data have not yet been published to allow 
the efficiency of the plant to be calculated. Possibly 
the manufactures desire to keep such information to 
themselves ; but there is every reason to expect that 
the method will bring about a reduction of the cost of 
nitrates. Such a result would be of incaluable im- 
portance, not merely will the agriculturist be' helped 
by cheap fertilisers — though this is probably the most 
important benefit to be expected — but many other 
industries will be assisted. To mention one only, the 
manufactures of sulphuric acid is only practicable on 
the large scale by the aid of the oxides of nitrogen. 
These are now derived from nitrate of soda, but it 
would be a great advantage to obtain them direct from 
the atmosphere. Even it it were impossible to utilise 
the new plant, cheaper nitrates would mean cheaper 
acid, which would be an assistance to nearly every 
chemical industry. Moreover, if the nitrates can be 
obtained by the new process in sufficient purity for 
gunpowder making, the public security will be en- 
hanced by -rendering our artillerists independent of 
the Indian saltpetre mines.. — J ndioin Planting md 
Gardening. 
