564 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb. 1, 1900. 
FARMERS AMD THE ROADS. 
The fallowitjg extracts from an article by a 
Florida farmer in one of the leading American 
jouri als seem to be worthy of consideration : — 
It is easily possible for farmers to keep conutry- 
3-oads in a much better condition than most of 
them are at preseufc. The individual can .iffoid to do 
road mending on the same principle that he repairs 
fences and buildings : "It pays me;" and a land- 
owner ougbt to fee! as much shame, even gnilt, be- 
fore the general public over ii, mud-bole that can 
be drained, or over a choked-up iiluice along his 
premises, as he ought over neglected cattle or a dis- 
play of filth. 
' it is not necessary to wait for the road-working 
season to come. The most profitable, common-sense 
work cm be put in a little at a time, if at 
the right time. Drainage is the beginning and the 
ending of the whole ma'ter, if roads are to be 
roads and not sloughs. Watering-troughs and hill- 
side springs are common causes of standing water, 
yet it is a very simple matter to direct the water flow- 
ing from the'm in the wo,y it should go. A stone, a 
loose board, a chunk of soil washed down against 
the end of the sluice, may choke it up till it is 
worse than nothing. Five minutes' work would send 
the water rushing through its proper channel. It 
is not uncommon to see water following the wheel 
rut for rods, when a man with half an eye can also 
see that a mere cut through the rigde at the edge 
of the road would lead the water into the ditch- 
perhaps down a Dank. 
Dropping into a bad hole or soft place a few 
superfluous stones now and then to keep the water 
out would work a double headed blessing to all 
passing that way. Heaving out a few stubborn old 
stones fiom the track would work a detriment to 
the blacksmith and waggon maker perhaps, but a 
big saving to |the fp.rmer. If all such patching were 
thus well kept up, the yearly toll of public service 
wonld count mote and more toward the good ronds 
of which all are dreaming and talkinsj. This view 
of the subject is no more than one feature of prac- 
tical farming, intelligent economy, a mere looking 
out for number one, no matter how many others 
are also benefited. — From the Agricvltural Gazette 
of New South Wales. 
SALE OF RUBBER FROM THE CHARDUAR 
PLANTATION IN ASSAM. 
The Assam Forest Department .«old in London 
the first produce of the Cliarduar Rubber Plaiit- 
aticin i)t R2 8-6 per lb. The cost of transport 
from Tezpur and aoent'.s and sale expenses 
amounted to RO 3-7 per lb. We were offered in 
Tezpur Rl-14 6 per !h. By sending it direct to 
the market we profited RO-6 5 per lb. The total 
net profit was Rl-2-6 per lb., but this is of no 
special interest, as the co^t of collection was 
rendered excep'ionaUy high by inexperience and 
bad weather. — Indian forester. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Rubber Supply Dwindling : Substitutes 
Used. — The rubber supply of the world is run- 
ning short, and people are asking where our futuie 
tyres are to come from. Happily, there are one 
or two inventions before the public as a substi- 
tute for rubber. The nearest is " velvrill," (pre- 
pared from semi-dried linseed or castor oil. These 
oils are treated with nitric acid, forming what 
is called " nitrolinolein " or " nitroricinolein." 
This preparation is then mixed with nitroce'lulo'-e, 
of a very l<iw degree of nitration, Jiini the whole 
worked into a houiogeueous mans.— Daily CJironicle, 
Dec. 1.3. 
Some Fruit Crops of 1899 in California.— 
We have been informed that this Garden of America 
lias produced 5,2.50,000 lb. of Figs last year, 
agait'st 4,780,< fX) II'. in the preceding year. The 
" I'-ck" of dritd Peaclies on tlie coast is placed 
at 28,300,000 lb., against 10,960,i 00 in 1898, The 
Apricot ciop of last year was 7,0 0,('00 lb. coin- 
pared with 8,240,000 lb. in 1^^.— Gardeners' Chro- 
niecle, Jan. 20. 
Experiments in Manuring.— From a paper 
on the •'Arrangement of Experimental Plots in 
Gardens," i-^sued by the Soiuh-Eastern Agricul- 
tural College, Wye, the following are mentioned 
as being the requisite amounts of manure and the 
right proportions of their coni-tituent parts -. " The 
quantities required are 2 oz per square yard of 
nitrate of soda sulphate of aiimionia, and kainit ; 
4 oz. |)er square yard of basic slag or superphos- 
phate : and 1 lb. pev square yard of lime." Of 
course, many other measures will supply nitrogen 
and phosphoric acid, but the above are the most 
convenient.— (rrtnfcjicw' clironicle, Jan. 20. 
Economic Progress in Peru.— Our Correspond- 
ent writes on December 9th last from Lima :— 
With the cessation of internal disturbances there 
is every reason to hope that Peru will make 
substantial economic progress in the near future. 
Industrial enterprise is everywhere increasing, 
notably so in the direction of the production of 
sugar, the crop of 1899 being fully 15 per cent 
greater than that of 1898. A larger area of land is 
being devoted to cane cultivation, and this means 
that the production for 1900 and 1901 will be con- 
siderably heavier than in the present year. Limited 
libality companies are now being formed to assist 
the development of the sugar industry in Peru, 
and by this means the necessary capital will be 
obtained for the erection of the required machi- 
nery, and the further extension of the cane fields. 
Small estates will no longer require separate 
mills in many districts, the principle of establish- 
ing central factories for the elaboration of the 
cane into sugar having been recently adopted 
in several of the most prominent sugar -produc- 
ing sections of the Republic. Improved accom- 
modation for the working men on many of the 
more important plantations is solving the difficult 
problem of a steady labour supply to a marked 
degree. Moreover, more energy ani a closer atten- 
tion to work are being shown by the planters 
than have been the rule in former years. The 
higher price of copper during the past 12 months 
has opened up fresh possibilities for the mineral 
industry of Peru, and the export of copper ore 
will form a valuable item in the list of Peruvian 
exports for 1900. The centre of the Peruvian 
mining industry is at Cerro de Pasco, situated 
only 65 miles from the Central Railway of Peru, 
now in the hands of the Peruvian Corporation. 
Railway communication once finally established 
between Cerro de Pasco and the seaboard, and 
adequate transport provided by a re-equipment 
of the Central Kail w- ay with freight wagons and 
locomotives, means an immense development 
in the working of copper ores. The cost of con- 
structing the necessary 65 miles of line to open 
this communication is estimated by competent 
engineers not to exceed £500,000, and the pro- 
spects of traffic over such a railway assure satis- 
factory returns on the capital invested in the 
undertaking. Naturally, it is the Peruvian Cor- 
poration which should "take the initiative in this 
enterprise, for the reason that the new railway 
will act as a feeder to the centreline. The cor- 
poration, unfortunately, however, are at logger- 
heads with the Peruvian Government, and make 
small ellbrt to improve their own position by 
extending the railway system they now contiol. 
—London Times, 
