2i2 
THE TROPICAL 
AORICULTUIilST. 
[Oct. ], \m 
PLANTING IN S. INDIA. 
The following are extracts from llie U. P.S.I. 
Keport : — 
GoviiUNMKN'T CiNcnoxA Uark. — Ke)iiesenta- 
tioiis made to Govei niiieiit have been .so far suc- 
cei^sfiil that Lenders for tiie sunply of Ijark were 
called for durin;^ the year by tlie Uiiector of the 
Goverjiincnt Cinchona Plantation, lu rej)ly to 
your Secretary's enquiry as to the result, the 
Director wrote : — " It was esliniated that about 
100,000 lb of crown bark would be reijuired, and 
the enquiry for tender.s resultetl in 246,018 lb being 
oll'ered to Government, at the unit rale ruling in 
tl'.e London market. The total amount purchased 
during the official year 1897-98 was 108 9S4 lb. and 
payment was made at t!ie unit rale ruling in the 
Loudon market at the tinie of purchase, based on 
the actual out turn of Sulphate of (^'uinine after 
the balk had been worked up in the Nedivattnm 
factory. The pcrcentMge of Sulphate of (jMiinine 
in the barks ranged froiu ;! 2 to 6'40, the average 
for the whole quantity puchasod being '4 'Jo. and 
the amount ])ai(l for the li?8,934 lb ol bark being 
K23i;99'(V5, or an average of annas 3-G"29 yer lb." 
He '(bserved that the ."^ysteui of purchasing bark 
to supplemefit the yield on the planlation.s had 
so far been a .success from the Government's 
poinc of view, and as there was a considerable 
savinj^ effected in freight and Home cli.«rges, by 
the openius.' of a market at Nedivattam it was 
presumed that the planter.s whose bark was 
accepted had benefited. 
SciENTiFJC INVKSTIGATION.— There was no 
strong feeling in favour c)fihe employment of an 
Agricultural Chemist, and a month ago the pro- 
position put forward last year appeared to have 
fallen through. The Government of Mysore then 
submitted a suggestion that gave fresh life to 
that proposal. A circular issued on the •23rd 
July gave details, and the mattc" was also brought 
to tlie notice of the Governments of India, ^ladras, 
Travancore, and Cochin, whose rejdies are awaited. 
The Mysore suggestion comes up for consideration 
at the present meeting. 
Scale I'KSTS — Mr. Newport proceeded to Aus- 
tralia in quest of ladybirds for the extermination 
of certain scale pests on coft'ee. His report giving 
full details is laid on the table, and the accounts 
are also before you. 
Chemical Manures.— Owing to the .active 
personal interest the Matlras Government took in 
this matter, it has been decided that the Inipoit 
Duties levied on certain chemical manures be 
abolished. The Government of India has now 
under consideration what manures, in addition to 
Nitrate of Soda shall be allowed to enter the 
country duty free. 
CHILLIES, 
It is estimated about 100 tons of dried 
chillies are annually received in this country 
from the West Indies and the East and West Coast 
of Africa. The price at which they are sold 
appears to be liable to considerable fluctua- 
tion. In May 1898, " 50 bags dull Zanzibar 
sold without reserve at 29s to 29s 6d ; 
•while 58 bags good Japan sold at 39s to 41s per 
cwt." A sample of capsicums grown at St. Lucia 
in the West Indies, dull and uneven in colour, 
were valued (in February last), in limited de- 
juand, at 20s per cwt. What is evidently re- 
quired i'A an article bright in colour even in 
qu;.iii.y, and possessing great pungency. —iTeM; 
PLANTING NOTES. 
White Ant.s anu Tj.a —We attract attention to 
tlie very useful letter (page i.'kf) on thisisul)j«sct fioin 
the Hon. Government Kulomologiel, Mr. E. K. Green. 
It terries the dispute betweu A and b very batibfac- 
torily. feince both are shown to be light I 
" The Agkicultchal Maoazine," Colombo, tor 
August 189y, has the foUowiug ootitents ; — " i^arreu 
S ila''; UaiafaU taken at ibe School of Agncnl.uie 
during the Mouth of Jurjc, Ib'Jls ; L/ccusioual Notes; 
Milking Experiments; Grceu Rubber; White-Aui» 
as Agrii^uhnr. i PcstH ; The Trmidad Government 
Dairy Faun; Tb, Value of Athc inJ Ciiar'.ual ; 
N .tur.»i Incuaaliuu and the Developiuent of the Chick ; 
the Uses of Wood ; The Castor Oil PUnt ; Oeoeral 
Itemf). 
" The Jouiisal ok tub Jamaica Aobicultvkal 
SociEi-v."— Illubtration of Hackoey Mare " Vivaa- 
diere," (ronticpieoe ; Board of Mana.f;eiueut ; AoDual 
Heport ; Corn Prestivatiou ; A Cup of Coffee ; 
Jamaica Hay; Hints before Starting) Pee-Ee«piUK; 
Pouhry N'olcs ; Wneat Crops of the World ; Sheep 
Breeding ; Condensed Milk ; The Kerry Breed ; A 
Trip to tlie OiuKt-r District ; NuliB ircm the Apiary ; 
A New Way to Tell u Good Cow ; Tobacco ; An 
Experiment with Irish Potatoes; Odda and Euda 
Cuba's Extremity ; Ladies' Coruer ; The Axucu.turai 
Uutlook ; Qtu-stions and Auswera ; Prices oi Meat, 
Vegeinblen, iVc. 
Planting in Sumatra.— The annual rei>ort of 
the company for woiking the I'aruanoekan and 
Tjiassam lands refers to the bad collee crop, but, on 
the other hand, to better retsuits obttiiued with 
rice and cinchona. Plans for the eKtabli«huient 
of a tea undertaking on liie lan<li« are being 
consiidered by an able expert. Concerning petru> 
leum notliin;^ can be said as yet, jis a further 
exploration is necessary. The Djati wood work- 
ing is regularly continuetl. Of rice 58,581 picnis 
were received, against 59,059 in 1896. The 
account cl<>.«es with a credit balance of fl262,2».'6 
against Hl96,(iGl in 1896 .The total proceeds 
of the coffee crop was 11415,347, and the coet 
of production H4l3,299, and further fll77,066 
was spent to begin and maintain cultivations. The 
crop of cinclnma was 130,382 kilos and afforded 
a profit of 11103,267, against 1112,002 in 1896. The 
profit and loss account opcns-»witli a delicit of 
til, 22."), 541, and cleses again with a debit of 
H54,273, so that the total loss sustained from 
1887 to 1897 amounts to 111,279,815. L. & C. 
Express, July 22. 
The Florida Velvet Bean.— This vegetable 
has been verj' much landed as a valuable food 
and fodder crop, — says Indian Gdrdeyiing, August 4. 
The Oardcnerg' Chronicle, we see, has identiled it 
as Mucuna pruricns var. utUis. We had a sus- 
picion that, like the much lauded Soy Bean, we 
had its counterpart in India, and our suspicionii 
are confirmed. We have here the Mricuna 
nivea, a very common Indian vegetable, known to 
the Natives under the name of Kamach. The 
following description of it by Dr. Roxburgh (vide 
Firminger's Manual of Gardening for India, 4th 
edition, p. 156) is quite coriect. He says : " By 
reaioving the exterior velvet sJdn of the large 
fleshy tender pods, they are. when dressed, a most 
excellent vegetable for the table, and the full- 
grown beans are scarcely inferior to the large 
garden beans of Europe." We lia\e in India 
many valuable food and fodder plants, the pro- 
perties of whicii are either not known or not 
appreciated, uniil some one discoveis the pro- 
duct in seme other country, and raves about its 
value. Then we in this eountry'wake up to the 
fact that we have had it vith us all along 1 
Our Mucuna nivea is probably identical with th^ 
Mneiina ^rwiiens var. titiOs of Florida, 
