16 THE TROPICAL AGiaCULTCKLST. [July 1, 1«98. 
ia doHtroying the coffee culture of Guatemala, so 
that the whole iridualry in that conntry is lo be 
given up, unless a r. niedy is found. So far no anti- 
dote has bsen iound for this fungus, nor any means 
by which it can bo kcp- in clieck. It not oniy attacks 
coffee trcts, but otiier plants as well. It is lir.-^t 
seen as a lilllo brown tjpot, abaut the size of a pcii, 
on the leaf. There may be a number of tuch spots 
fn a single leaf. In the centre of each spot is a 
little orange red growth, ab-ut the size of a dot, 
which under the microscope looks like a little ball 
oil a stem. The action of this fungus on tlie colIf:e 
tree is to cause the leaves to shrivel up and fall off, 
eo that the tree is entirely denuded of its foliage, 
the growing berries also dry np and fall off. Tliia 
fungus clings lo seed coffee and may be iraosported 
to other c untriis receiving such seed." 
It would be a wise plan for our coffee planters to 
refrain from importing seed coffee from any foreign 
country and any seed coffee for which orders liavo 
previously been sent, should be disinfected as soon 
as possible after bt?ing landed on the wharf. This 
cMi best ba done by immersing the bags containing 
the coffee in strong lime water, made by putting a 
large bucket of unslacked lime into 50 gallons of 
water. After the lime is tlacked it should be well 
stirred np, and the bage of coffee should be immersed 
in the mix ure for at loast ten minutes. This method 
will effectually destroy any fungus spores that may 
be adhering to the bags or seed. Thero seems to 
have been a great and general desire on the part of 
the coffee planters to obtain coffee seed from Guate- 
mala and other countries. There is no doubt but 
that the trees grown from Guatemala seed have borne 
crops much earlier than trees grown from liawaiian 
seed; but it is by no means certain that the supe- 
riority of the Guatemala trees ia maintained as the 
trees become older. Aj a general rule, trees that 
bear at an early age, soon lose their vigour and are 
short lived. We would like to hear from Mr. J. M. 
Horner on this subject. He was perhaps the first 
planter to grow the Guatemala trees. — J. Mabsden, 
Comniissioner of Agriculture and Forestry. 
^ . 
MINOR PxlODUCrs. 
London, May 6. 
Oil, Citronella. — The price of this oil is almost 
cominal at Is Ijd in drums and Is 2d in cases on 
the spot, whilst for arrival it is quoted at la OJd to 
IsOJd c.i.f. 
Amsterdam, May 5, 5.20 p.m. — At the cinchoua- 
anr.tions held here today 7, 081! packages of bark were 
offered, of which .5,520 packages sold at an average 
unit for the manufacturing-bark of 5.20c per hslf-kilo 
(or slightly under Id per unit), against -1.250 paid at 
the auctions on March iil. The American and English 
manufacturers bought 4,561 kilos., the Auerbach factory 
915 kilo.^, the Brunswick factory 4,036 kilos, the Mann- 
heim and Amsterdam facioriea 7,083 kilos, the Frank- 
fort and Stuttgart factories 1,795 kilos, and various 
other buyers 4,885 kilos. The prices realised for manu- 
facturing-bark ranged from 7|c to 58c per half-kilo, and 
for druggists' bark from 12Jc to U5ic. The tone of 
the auctions was quiet. 
Camphor. — There appear to be indications of an ad- 
vance in prices of refined camphor in the not very remote 
future, and German sublimers have raised the price of 
tablets slightly, taking Is 2^d for bells as the basis. 
Camphor (Crude). — A quiet and dull market, with 
easier quotations, There are sellers of Chinese for 
arrival at 82s 6d, and Japanese at 883 per cwt., c.i.f. 
terms. The arrivals of Japanese camphor at Hong 
Kong since March 19 amount to 1,071 cases; sales 
750 cases ; and stock, 7,200. The total exports to the 
Continent from January 1 were 4,291 oaaes ; to the 
United Kingdom, nil. 
Cocoa-butter. — Lower. At the London sales on Tues- 
day, 80 tons Cadbury's brand sold at lOd down to 9id, 
closing at 9.^d per lb. These figures mark a decline of 
gd to |d per lb. At Amsterdam on the same day, 
60,000 kilos, Van Houten's make, sold at 49|c to 52c, 
an average of 51.11c (lOJd.), and other brand at sub- 
KHEA. 
[nV AX OLD I'L.iNTKK.] 
Gil'en, tlicn, a supjily of rootw or ciiUin(;s, the 
next (|ue)?tii>u is tiie i-elet ti..»ii of ;;iuun<l to put 
V'Hir rliea out in ; ami iliiis iiiu&t be of the t«ry 
bot«t. It is no iifu people thinking llieie u u 
valuiible iuljiincl in liiua, tliat it will (1<i to lilt 
up any vacant corner, and thus incrfuwe revenue ! 
lUica (lenianiis the very lille.'^t of »oiU, And to 
this we attribute tlie alow developnieiit that has 
taken place in its ( iiliivation. A liea%y loam 
witli siioiig danipii-li subsoil is the btnu i</<«/of 
what rliea leijuire*. I'osi-iblv Mie piesent |ieat 
bliil.s lliat have been planted with tea will one 
•lay be converted into rliea fields, for in bucIi 
low, <laiiip-lying lands, from 12 to 14 cuttingN 
can be made in one year. Khea abhore water, 
fo that our readers must not run away with the 
idea that it will f;ro\v in rich land that i^ liable 
to be .submergeil. A few iiourh under water will 
kill it, thou;.'ii it is one of the haidieist of plaola 
in other rcfjiects, for it will grow on mountain 
bides, l.OOtJ to l,5(Xi feet above sea level. When 
we say, ncow, we mean it, we don't mean flouii«>h 
and yield a paying crop. 
Havin;; then yot a ;;ooU low [leat Hat, well 
diained, and quite dry, the planting out of cut- 
lings or roots shouhl be he;;un. Kegardinjj this 
llieie is greater diversity of opinion, more en\>e- 
cially as to the distance a[»art to plant. Some 
ar<'ue 12 inches ; some two feet, and ko on. Our 
own exjierience is that 12 inches is the niosi 
economical, as less weeding is Deceeaary. Tlie 
time is short before rhea takes possession of the 
ground, but this it does in real earnest, when 
the ground is covered, so to speak. As soon an 
the grounii is covereil, and the steins attain their 
full height, which takes place during the first 
year of its existence, it will be seen if the planta 
are too close, and if so, they can be thinned 
out, and jiiit into a new e.xtensiou. The al*ove 
method, we recommend as giving a quicker re- 
turn then with two feet planting. The only 
cultivation that will be found necessary will be 
a few hand weedings, just for the first month 
or two, until the rlica has got a good hold, when 
it will not only be more than able to keep 
its own position, but will kill out anything else 
in its neighbourhood, so that the initial out'ay is 
)iracticaliy the only cost in raising this valu- 
able weed, excejjt of course the cost of cutting 
the ribbons later on. At the present time, when 
all products are daily going down in price and 
narrowing tiie margin of piolit, we strongly re- 
commend tiiis new opening t^ our |)lanting friends, 
as, instead of cheapening the product, we feel 
certain that for some years, at any rate, the 
price would be enhanced, as it is simply the want 
of supplies that is hampering our manufacturers, 
and there are a hundred and one uses to which 
rliea can be applied, as yet untouched, on account 
of the want of the raw material. Jute machi- 
nery requires but little altering to work the fibre 
np into fabrics, but the supply at present visible 
is not enough to guarantee even this small 
sxpense. — The Planter, May 14. 
Ceylon Coffee in jNIincing Lane.— At a 
time when coffee can be bought at Brazil ship- 
ping ports for from 18s to 22s per cwt., it is 
cheering to notice in the very scanty sale list 
elsewhere tliat Middleton (Dimbula) coffee has 
been selling up to 107s and Bogawana (Dikoya) 
to to 104s Gd to Ills 6d. Oh, that there were 
some hundreds of thousands cf cwt. of sucU 
cotfee now going from Ceylon I 
