May 1, 190D.i THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
77? 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Sweet Potatoes.— Here is what a Jamaica 
planter has to s;iy regarding his method of treat- 
ing vines of sweet potatoes : — "Cut in pieces the 
rigiit length to plant (about 15 inches long) and 
file them in a house or some other shade where 
they are entirely concealed from the sun, and wefc 
them with .water and let them lie in a pile uncil 
little roots put out, which will take a day or two ; 
''.then stick them out in well prepared moist 
ground or in dry ground and water them, and 
' you will hardly lose a plant. Stick I hciu down 
' with a small stick and if you water them do 
not fill the hole." — Journal of the Jamaica 
Agriculfiirnl Society. 
Cubing of Libeeian Coffee. — One of the draw- 
backs to the use of Liberian Coffee has been a strong 
unpleasant taste, and various remedies have been 
suggested. According to the North Borneo Heral'J 
it has now been successfully overcome on the r.urufco 
Coffee Co'b estate in Marudu Bay by washing the 
coffee after pulping and before fermenting. The 
washed coffee is in this way cleaned from all the 
minute bits of pulp which doubtless imparted an un- 
pleasant taste and before being placed in the fermen- 
ting cistern it is thrown into large baskets — " coal 
baskets" — for a few minutes to allow the surplus water 
to drain off and is then fermented in a comparatively 
dry state. To increase the heat sacks are placed on 
the top of the coffee and after some hours the top 
layer is turned in below so as to ferment the parcel 
equally. The " tip" may be worth something, but we 
ara somewhat incliised to lower our estimate of its 
vfclue after reading our contemporary's further 
remarks, viz. : — Liberian coffee, properly cured, has 
a iplendid flavour which is wellknown by the trade 
who value it highly owing to the amount of chicory 
it can assimilate. As an after dinner coffee nothing 
comes up to pure Liberian coffee if properly cured." 
—Planting Opinion, March 31. 
The Supply of Rubber.— An American 
who, for some time, has had charge of a 
rubber estate in Peru, from which the pro- 
fits are small because of the difficulty about 
labonr, is convinced that a great part af 
the Amazonian rubber resources have not 
yet been touched ; but as new districts are 
gone into, the labour supply becomes worse, 
increasing the cost of collection. — Mr. C. 
D. Scott, of Nicaragua, reports rubber cul- 
ture a failure in Centriil America ; but we 
see it stated that the American Government 
is planning a sei'ies of experiments in Cuba, 
. , Porto Rico and the Philippines to demon- 
i strate whether rubber can be produced in 
these islands. As the United States imports 
of rubber have increased as follows : — 
Year. Pounds. Import Value. Average Price. 
. 1897 42,159,129 $21,670,019 51-4 cents. 
1898 44,236,070 2.5,937,108 58-6 „ 
1899 54,408,495 34,219,019 62'9 „ 
It can be judged how important is the trade 
in the Far West. — Just as we are writing, 
there reaches us from a Colombo merchant, 
an order for several of our "rubber manuals " 
for use in Central Africa and the Manager 
of the Company concerned adds below his 
order : — 
British Central Africa exports a very good 
quality of i-ubber at present, but in a year or so the 
supply will be exhausted, unless steps are taken 
to plant up ; for at present it is only growing 
wild and the natives usually exterminate the 
vines in collecting the rubber," 
Coffee Hulling : Dutch East Indies.— A French 
Official Eeport from Java says :— The coffee-planter 
has always been very desiious of finding a huHer 
which, whilst not deteriorating the bean, would at the 
same time be able to deal with different kinds of 
coffee. Th-i problem has now been solved by Al 
Senaap, one of the planters, wh i has invented a ma- 
chine which can hull all the kinds of coffee grown 
in the colony. Afc the last coffce-pliinters' congress 
held at Malnny in Oct. 1898, a pi ize of 2 000 florins 
was voted for the improvement of Schaap's system 
which could be made lighter, more economical iu 
motive power, and able to treat at lea.st; three picuU 
per hour. C 'ffee hullers come generally from Eng- 
land and Germany, but on many plautatioua this woik 
is still done in a very rudinieutury way. The USA 
are now introducing machines made bv the " Engel- 
bere HuUer Co.," of Syracuse, New York. They are 
giving great satisfaction and will soon become very 
widely spread. — Planting Opi March 31. 
Dk. Morris's Scheme for an Agricul- 
tural Department— is not to be accepted 
in Jamaicn, without criticism and opposition. 
A Mr. Robert Craig writes vei-y pungently 
on the mtitter and we quote as follows 
A Board of Agriculture of nominated persons giving 
voluntary services, will not, I feel assured, be the 
solution. The department ought to have a capable 
responsible head, and to aid liim an advisory Board 
el practical men representing the different branches 
of agriculture, and also commerce might be at hia 
service. These men should be paid a fee to ensure 
regular attendance at meetings, I say this because 
few men connected with agriculture can today afford 
the necessary outlay for travelling exfenses. The 
head of the department should be a man really 
interested in agriculture, with some knowledge of it, 
and if possible, with a training such as tho work of 
the English Board of Agriculture would furnish. His 
first duty would be to promote good agriculture in every 
way —to help on Agricultural education and training 
— to advise the Goveranieiit as to m a.sures likely to 
advance and benefit agriculture — to facilitate ' the 
transport and inspection of produce — to assist in the 
suppression of contagious diseases in animals, and the 
improvement of their breeds, to collate statistics and 
generally maintain a bureau of agiicnltural informa- 
tion open to any one in jr out of 'he Colony. The 
Agricultural Chemist should belong to his department, 
and the Public Gardens might be utilized for ex- 
perimental purposes — whether the head of the 
Batauical Department should be subordinate is I 
think very douhtftil — my own opinion is that he 
should not. 
Agricultural and Eotanioal researches are not 
closely allied, and it has alwfi vs appealed to me un- 
just and even absurd to regard, as many persona do, 
the Island Botanist as a referee in agricialtural matters. 
If the Island cannot afford to maintain a Botanical 
Department — although that is not my opinion — it 
would I think be b&tter to abolish it than attempt, 
as our economy, to amalgamate it with au agricul- 
tural bureau. A high degree of science should not in 
my view be aimed at, while the practice of agriculture 
remains primitive and so defective. 
I am strongly opposed to the domination of the 
Secretary of State in this matter, and to the inclusion 
of Jamaica in Dr. Morris's Department of Agriculture 
for the West Indies If a grant of money involves 
either control, it should, in my opinion be refused. It 
is certain, it would be a mere pittance, and to 
abandon our freedom of action for a dole would be 
contemptible. 
The result was a special meeting of the 
Jamaica Agricultural Society on 25th Jan., 
largely attended, when after a full discussion, 
a special Committee was appointed to 
consider the Repox"t recommending an 
Agricultural Department. Dr. Morris was 
not present and is not, of course, on the 
Committee, 
