842 
THE TROPICAL 
AGPJCULTtJRIST. [June 1, 1903. 
Mess»3. Parry and Bennett were to cxperinien 
with a pure oil and Russian keiosene we tliink it 
very probable tiiat they would arrive at inc. same 
results as they have done in the adulterated 
sam{iles they have examined. — Yours faithfully, 
Cha?. p. HayleyA Co. 
— Chemisi and Druggist, Ai>ril 18. 
VALUE OF THE TREE TOMATO. 
Mrs. T B Shepherd, an emiueut floriat; and who 
resides in Ventura, says that when the value of the 
tree tomato as a fruit is once fully appreciated 
acres of it will be planted, It bears from seed the 
second season, and n young plant set out in the spring 
grows six feet and comes icto bearing by Christniaf. 
The foliage is large and handsome, the branches 
Fpreadiug. The fruit is pendant in clusters below the 
foliage, is the size of a large egg and of a beautiful 
orange salmon colour when ripe. It has a decided 
Bub-acid taste, slightly resembling the tomato. It is 
delicious raw, served with sugar and cream or cook- 
ed as sauce, and for jelly or jam is very liue. It 
will keep for weeks, as it does not bruise on account 
of its very tough skin and the solid nature of the 
fruit co^ring the seeds which are like those of 
Die tommo. It is a showy plant for house and con- 
servatory, and a most beaatlfnl plant in the garden. 
It is a native of Sonth America, and is known as 
the poor man's fruit." — Baial Califoniian, for 
March. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Profitable Poultry.— Nearly 8s per hen pro- 
fit was niad^or the year ending 1st November by 
1 B Koons, of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, USA, 
who started the year with thirty-eighth Plymouth 
Rocks. Tlipy laid 4,118 eggs, which at an averae'e 
of lid per dozen biought alittle over£i5. ChickeDS 
sold and useil brought £4 15s, and the increase in 
the flock of forty-two head ^vas valued at £4, 
making a total income of £23 15s. The expensts 
for feed were £10, leaving a net profit of £13 15s 5d, 
During tiie year four fowls were lost through dis- 
ease. This shows that fowls— well cared for— are 
profitable live stock,— Agricultural Journal. 
Thk " Tea. Tortrix."— Our remarks on 
the "tea tortrix" on page 832, in view 
of the notice drawn to it at the previous 
day's meeting in Dimbula, were none too 
strong and — in higher districts especially — 
if work for the pluckers is short, a care- 
ful round should be made, of search for 
tortrix egg-masses, and coolies paid accord- 
ing to the quantity brought in. This is 
what Mr E B Green has to say on the 
pest in his Administration Report— to which 
we alluded yesterday: — 
{Capua coffearia, Neitner). — This pest, which 
has attracted attention on and ofT fir the last six 
years, has given considerable trouble in parts of 
the Maskeliya and Dikoya districts during 1902. 
Two separate visits were made to Maskeliya to 
study the insect, resulting in a more accurate 
knowledge of its life-history which has enabled 
me to suggest remeiflial measures that should be 
(wfficient to keep the pest in check Tfie eggs of 
the insect have been determined, and it has been 
found possible to collect and destroy thetn in very 
arge numbers at a very small cost. A circular on 
ihe subject was prepared in December, accom- 
panied by a plate showing the insect in all its 
different stages. Through the courtesy of the 
Acting Surveyor General this plate was executed 
by the lithographers of tliat Dejiartnicut. 
The RrsHiPMENT of Tea from America 
TO London. —.Apropos the letters of a firm 
of merchants which have appeared in recent 
issues of the Observer on this subject we 
note the followiog in the American Grocer, 
April 1st :— " Further large quantities of 
Congou teas have been sold for export 
to London. There was talk a^mong 
brokers that several large English firms 
have standing bids here, which, hew- 
ever, are 3/8c. per pound below sellers' views 
here. At the bid prices, the above English 
firms, it is said, ivrer ready to clean up all 
supplies of Congou teas in this market," 
The same paper also states that the new 
crop Japan it is expected will arrive there 
in the early part of May. Formosa and 
Congou will arrive about the same time, 
while new crop Ping Susy will not come in 
until June. 
Intelligence V. Pests.— We commend the 
following from an American journal to the 
attention of our cacao planters, each of 
whom ought to do his duty in fighting 
any fungus or canker, for his own as 
well as the general benefit, without com- 
pelling legislation : — 
When the cultivation of oranges for profit in 
Southern California began, the orchardists were 
met in the outset by the ravages of scales which 
tlireatened to destroy their young orchards. No 
known means of combating the pest was available, 
but such means were soon discovered and the 
powers of the legislature were invoked to compel 
all orchardists to unite in destroying the pests. 
The same is true in the islands. Difficulties will 
be encountered at first, but the intelligent farmers 
will will in the end. 
Consumption and Eucalyptus.— Dr. Qan- 
devia and others in Ceylon interested in con- 
sumptive patients should see a fair trial 
given to the following remedy as reported 
by the Berlin correspondent of a London, 
daily paper :— 
"An important discovery has been made by a 
German savant which, if it does not exterminate 
tuberculosis altogether, is expected by its advo- 
cates to go further to reduce the ravages of this 
dread disease than any other curative agency 
known. Under the supervision of Professor 
Sommerfeld, a physician of great reputation, 
the new method was tried at several hospitals 
for about six months, at the end of which time 
the most gratifying results were recorded. Of 
100 cases of tuberculosis, including all stages 
of the disease, sixty were pronounced entirely 
cured. The piocess is as follows : Oil of 
eucalyptus is mixed with sulphur and charcoal, 
and this mixture is then evaporated over 
specially-constructed alcohol lamps. The vapours 
inhaled by the patients killed the tuberculosis 
bacilli. In some cases ths patients were kept 
day and night in the atmosphere thus impreg- 
nated until they showed signs of relief. 
I have interviewed Professor Sommerfeld, who 
is anything but a notoriety seeker. He said 
he did not wish to encourage any over-sanguine 
hopes, but he was sure that " sanosin," as the 
new curative agent is called, constituted an 
enormous advance towards the extenuinatiou of 
tubcrculo'^i?'," 
