Oct. 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
237 
KUBBEE IN THE BASIN OF THE AMAZON. 
CRUISE OF THE U.S. GUNBOAT " WILMINGTON." 
The United States gunboat " Wilmington " has 
arrived at Blanaos, a thousand miles up the mighty 
Amazon, says the N.Y, Tribune. Here the wide, 
deep Rio Negro mingles its placid black water with 
the swift yellow current of the sealike Amazon thus 
joining the Amazon with the Orinoco. 
The credit is given to Captain A. S. Crowninshiel, 
of Washington, for the present extensive cruise of the 
"Wilmington" in South American waters, a crusie 
which was interrupted by the Spanish war. Her prim- 
ary object is to show the American flag in ports where it 
is seldom, if ever, seen ; cultivate friendly relations with 
the oiflcials and encourage American merchants and 
commerce wherever possible. So far the '' Wilmington" 
has -visited over twenty ports, among them being such 
important commercial and political centres as Tri- 
nidad, Barcelona, Carupano and La Guayra (the sea- 
port of Caracas), on the Spanish Main ; Las Tablas, 
Barranca and Cludad Bolivar, on the Orinoco: 
Georgetown and Paramaribo, in British and Dutch 
Guiana, and Para and Manaos, Brazil. 
The " Wilmington" will ascend the Madeira River for 
six hundred miles to the first cataract, near the Boli- 
vian boundary. Thus her voyage will open up to the 
knowledge of the world the great Amazon basin, 
the extent of which is enormous and the resources 
of which are unlimited. But the high price of rubber 
to-day ($1 a pound for the crude article, in the United 
States and Europe has stopped for the present, and 
undoubtedly for many years to come, any other form 
of industry. The Indians and halfbreed Portuguse 
demand and get their own price for working in the 
rubber forests, and only they seem able to stand the 
deadly levers and miasma. To-day the rubber industry 
is both the blessing and the curse of Brazil, though 
for the moment it appears to be the former, as every 
one seems to be making money. This can be easily 
understood when it is known that the Amazon basin, 
with its sparse population, exports nearly §50,000,000 
worth of rubber annually. The key to this rich product 
and regino is Para, a thriving, rich city of about 10,000 
inhabitants, seventy miles above the mouth of the 
Amazon. As is well known, the delta of the Amazon 
for serveral hundred miles is composed of large low 
islands, covered with water at "big river," (July and 
August), and abounding with rubber trees, the product 
of which is known commercially as " islands rubber, " 
and it extends three hundred miles up the Amazon to 
Gurupa. Thence for several hundred miles the forest, 
though densely tropical, is sparse in rubber trees. They 
become thick again, however about Abidos, three 
hundred miles further up, and around and above 
Manaos is the tine Upper Amazon rubber, coming 
from the Rivers Tuara and Tavary, Rio Negro. Rio 
Branca, Solimoens, Puras, Madeira and hundreds of 
other streams tributary to Manaos. 
While Para, by its wealth and situation is the 
key to the rich Amazon country, entirely controlling 
the valuable delta district output and largely that of 
the up-country, it has a new rival for the Peruvian, 
Bolivian and Upper Amazon rubber output in Manaos, 
a young giant of about thirty thousand inhabitants 
of recent and mu.sh-room growth but having a beautiful 
opera.house, palace of justice, electric railroads, electric 
hghts, modern waterworks, sewers and asphalte 
streets, and is altogether such a remarkable city of 
great commercial future as to deserve a special letter. 
Exact knowledge of the rubber districts, the gather- 
ing of the crop and the curing and transporting of the 
same is confined at present to three classes. The first 
are the " aviadores, " or buyers, merchants who ad- 
vance large stocks of goods, gewgaws and rum to head- 
men in the forest. The aviadores are mostly Por- 
tuguese, and having a "good thing," will not tell much. 
The second are the men or branch storekeepers in 
the jungle, usually half Portuguse, half-Indian, 
who are suspicious and secretive and great liars. 
They absolutely control the third class, the In- 
dians, who work in the dense tropical forest, and 
gather and cure (smoke) the rubber. Left to themselves, 
the Indians are generally hospitable and communi- 
cative ; but their dialects are little understood and their 
knowledge is local. 
Recently a ship of only 2,500 tons left Para for New 
York, with a cargo of rubber, which was insured for 
$3,000,000. Nowadays only a bullion ship or one 
loaded with fur seal skins from the Pribylov Islands 
would carry such a valuable cargo. Naturally this 
valuable and constant output demands many large car- 
goes in return payment. Heavily loaded steamers leave 
New York and Europe for the Amazon three times a 
month, and this number may soon be increased. The 
United States is getting a large part of this rich trade 
and can increase it by judicious efforts. — The 
American- 
A TEXT-BOOK OP PLAN! DISEASES. 
Whilst much may be effected to prevent the occnr- 
rence of disease in plants, and to put a stop to its diffu- 
sion, and whilst something may be done to mitigate 
its consequences, little or nothing can be done in the 
way of cure. Day after day we receive samples of 
diseased plants with an enquiry as to the nature of the 
disease, and almost invariably an enquiry as to a re- 
medy. Sometimes no information is vouchsafed as to 
local conditions, and as to the method of cultivation 
adopted, and often, indeed, nothing but continued in- 
spection during growth would enable us to arrive at a 
satisfactory diagnosis, In most cases absolute cleanli- 
ness and free ventilation, together witn the methods 
of cultivation appropriate to each plant, will sufdoe to 
keep plants in health. Indeed, in very many instances 
it is obvious from the specimens sent to us, that 
slovenly or careless cultivation has been practised, per- 
haps unavoidably, from adverse circumstances not 
known to us. However this may be, disease and 
parasites, whether vegetable or animal, often find the 
condition suitable for their growth and propagation 
in plants whose cultivation is neglected. This is, how- 
ever, by no means invariable. Many of the samples 
sent us come from establishments where rigid care is 
exercised, as in market establishments where superb 
cultivation is the rule. Nevertheless, a fungus may 
make its appearance, and quickly destroy the hopes of 
the cultivator. Over-crowding, and the growth of the 
same crop in the same houses year after year neces- 
sarily favour the spread of the disease when it does 
break out. How often do we find the Tomato crop 
spoiled from this cause ? 
We see the same carelessness in woods ; the un- 
forttinate trees get injured in a variety of different ways, 
but all resulting in an open wound. Nothing is done 
to cover this over, and so the wound, it may be a mere 
crack, offers a resting place for tha spores of the fungi, 
which, as in the case of canker of the Apple, even- 
tually compass the destruction of the tree. Now the 
main reason for this loss — much of it avoidable — the 
main reason, is sheer ignorance — indifference and 
apathy do the rest. 
It cannot be expected that the cultivator who has 
his business to attend to can attain that knowledge 
of detail that it is the duty of the expert to accumulate, 
but he should get a sufl&cient grasp of general princi- 
ples, and sufdcient information as to the manners and 
customs of fungi and insects, to be able to avail him- 
self of the teachings of the expert, and turn them to 
practical account. It is with this object in view that 
we desire now to call attention to Mr. Massee's recent- 
ly published Text-hooh of Plant-diseases caused by 
Criiptogamic Parasites (Duckworth & Co.) After some 
generalities, the author proceeds to describe seriatim 
the chief parasites which affect our cultivated plants. 
The order followed is that of the botanist, the author 
going from order to order in systematic series. 
We have waited long indeed for anything like a com- 
plete handbook of this kind. We have had special 
books like those of Marshall Ward and Worthinton 
Smith, excellent in their way, but strictly limited ; n9 
