May 1, 1903.1 THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
717 
carried on vitt Laclak between India and Ya,ikand 
had increased by about 1:^ lakli of rupees as com- 
pared with tlie previous twelve months. 
Trade in lii(!ian tea during 19^)1 02 does nob 
strike one as iiaving made any special progiess — 
9,t least, if any has been made; it does not appear 
to have been proportionate to the general ex- 
pansion of imports. The slackness is the more 
extraordinary because, as explained in this office 
1900 1901 Trade Report, the quantity of Chinese 
tea, on account of transport ditlicalties iu Eaii-u, 
has been diminisliing in the market here, resulting 
in a gradual rise in price. The Indian le: brought 
to Yarkand last autumn consisted mainly of the 
three following sorts : — 
' Green ' — Forming about i of total irrrport price at 
Palarapnr about 7§ annas a seer. All obtain from 
native gardens. 
' Bohea ' — Forming about § of total import Price at 
Palampur about 4 annaa a seer. All obtained from 
native gardens- 
' Black ' — Forming about i of total import Price at 
Palampur about 6| annas a seer. Partly from native, 
acp partly from European gardens. 
It may be noted from the above that what- 
ever be the trade in Indian tea with this country, 
it is almost exclusively in the hands of native 
growers, the European planters of die Indian Tea 
Association having apparently only had an in- 
finitesimal share in it. 
Kegarding the present demand for Indian tea, 
the following information gi\en by traders niay 
be of interest : — The ' Green ' tea is mostly taken 
by the Chinese, and penetrates to regions as dis- 
tant as Kuchar and Hi. This preparation is not 
in special request with the natives of Turkistan, 
who prefer the Chinese brick tea. Since, however, 
the latter has risen in price by reason of dimin- 
ished supply, Indian 'Boliea ' has gained somewl at 
in favour in Yarkand, wh<.re it is said a few 
Tunganis luy it up secretly, and mould it into 
bricks for native consumption. The reason why 
the ' brick ' form is adhered to is that the people 
are accustomed to it, and that it permits of adul- 
teration. A few maunds of Chinese tea, received 
via Bombay, came to Yarkand in the year under 
notice. The importation of this tea, though never 
large, has been a persistent feature in the Ir.do- 
Yarkand trade during at least the last decade, 
(ine cannot help remarking the sense of irony in 
the fact that, whilst our planters are trying to 
gain a market in these parts for their tea by 
competing with Chinese growers, our own traders 
should, all the while, assist the latter by im- 
porting the Chinese production, — Indian Dail'j 
News, March 17. 
BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 
Bordeaux Mixture if required for application to 
leaves or young branches should be made as fol- 
lows :—il/aie}'i«Z».—(l), 8 galls .water ; (2), lib. 
copper sulplate (blue stone) ; (3), ?| lb unslaked lime 
Directions —(\). Put 7 gallons of the water 
into a tub, reserving one gallon to mix with 
the linie ; (2). Put one lb of blue-stone into a 
small muslin or cotton bag and suspend it by 
a string to a piece of wood placed across the tub, 
so that the bag with the blue stone is just a fi;w 
inches below the surface of the water ; (3), 
Allow it to remain for about six hours or until 
all the blue stone is dissolved then remove the 
bag and pour in the lime wliitdi has already been 
niixed witli the other galllou of water. The 
formula given in pamphlet No. 17 of the Inipcrial 
Department of Agriculture is as follows :—(!), 
six lb copper sulphate ; (2), four lb unsiacked 
lime; (3), fifty gallons water.— iV. 5 Wiieu ic- 
quired for dressing the old stems of trees so 
that the leaves or young branches are not touchtd 
by it, the solution of coiiper sulphate may be 
stronger and suHicieut lime may be u-:ed 
to make a thin vvhi e wash. This mixture is 
usefully employed when trees are attacked 
by any kind of fungns, and it has also 
been strongly recommeided tor the rennval 
of epiphytic growths.— TmiicfacZ Bulletin for 
October 1902. 
THE CULTIVATION OF CASSAVA-ITS 
CONVERSION INTO SUGAR. 
1 think the public of Jamaica owes a heavy 
debt of gratitude to Mr Kobert Thomson for 
the great revival of the interest which is now 
taken in the culiivalion of cassava in this Island. 
His interesting pamphlet relating to what has 
been done in Florida has ar.used a well-meiited 
attention , which it is to be hoped will not be 
allowed to subside without prcfiiable result. 
In the course of niy profe^-sional avocations, I 
see much cassava growing in what would appear 
to be its natural haunts, namely Clarer.don and 
Saint John. The long continued dry weather in 
these districts, lasting from Augnst through 
September info October— for the autumnal rains 
have not yet fallen— has caused a retardation in 
the maturing of the crop. Cassava should have 
come into the market fully two months ago, 
and the tubers that are nov,- being lifted are 
small in size, and so stringy by the development 
of tibro-vascular tissue at the expense of the 
starch, that they are scarcely fit for the table, 
However, the peasant-wumen continue their j> re- 
paration of starch, and this artich will soon 
make its appearance in the markets. 
Cassava starch is much undervalued in the 
island as an article of infant's food. Prepared i 
with boiled milk it is highly digestible and should 
be freely given to young children. Mixed with 
even a small proportion of ground malt its diges- 
tibility is incieassd, and it then vies with n^ore 
expensive articles that are much advertised. 
To make a market for this starch, it should, I 
think, be converted into starch-sugar, or glucose. 
There is a demand for glucose which the Amci icans 
have found out, for breweis use it in brewing ales 
and beer, and confectioners employ it in preser- 
ving fruits, in making pastry, barley sugar and 
other sweet-meats. In the very valuable work 
on Sugar growing and KeHning by Messrs Lr.ck, 
Wigner and Harland, there is a chapter of some 
twenty two pages on starch-mgar and glucose, 
giving very clear directions as to the difl-r- 
enb processes in u>e for its manufacture, 
some of which are very simple, requiring 
no great outlay for apparatus. The nio.-t 
simple apparatus is that known as Anthou's, 
Sulphuric aci<l and bone-black are required 
in the process, but the othei substanccs we 
hive here in abundance, namely, starch 
prod.rced more cheaply than corn-starch c.n be 
)iroduced in the Western Stales of Ameiica— 
quicklime and chalk, the latter existing here 
in the form of while marl, ' 
