8 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [July I, 190S. 
on, a3 no partionlar msthod of cultivation can be exi 
pected to meet all conditioua of soil and sitnatioaa ; 
and much must depend upon the care and energy 
with which the iadu3try is developed and failures, 
successes, and other experiences turned to account. 
Planting on the flat without any ridge may be 
found in many cases to have not a few points to 
recommend it, but the writer's method, as before 
described, is one which may be depended upon aa 
supplying to the uninformed the maiu pointd which 
lead to success in the production of large and well- 
flavoured fruit. 
As fruits suitable for cultivation in Trinidad I 
should recommend the two varieties of "Bipley," 
the dark variety of which is identical with the 
"Black Antigua," The Smooth Cayenne and the 
La Brea variety. An article relating to the packing 
of the Pine-apple for market appeal s in the Bulletin 
of the Botanical Departmeut for January, 1903.— 
Agricultural Society . 
How TO DEAL WITH NATUEAL MANUEES m 
THE INTERESTS OF SANITATION 
AND AGEIUULTUEE. 
Br Eev. Dr. Morton 
{Bead before The Society, 13th January, 1903, andfirdered 
to he printed for general circulation.) 
Natural manures are drawn from the Soil and it 
is an ordinance of Nature that they should be re- 
turned to the soil with as little waste as possible. 
The penalty of disobeying that ordinance is two-fold, 
namely, loss to the soil and injury to health — that 
is, both Agriculture and Sanitation suffer. 
It has been contended that in towns and villages 
you cannot conserve the manure and preserve the 
health — that one or other of these must be sacrificed. 
And very often as things are now managed both are 
sacrificed. I have been asked to prepare for the 
Agricultural Society some suggestions on this subject, 
and I submit the following :— 
1. The Creator who wishes his earth to be fertile 
and his creatures to be healthy, has given us a short 
time in which to deal promptly and safely with 
waste substances. 
2. The exposing of so-called waste substances to 
the weather is a first-class misdemeanour ; for by 
evaporation and excessive fermentdtion in dry weather 
and by washing-out under rain the best elements of 
the manure are wasted and the air thereby rendered 
impure. All such substances should be kept under 
cover. 
3. The liquid direct from the stall or washed out 
of the heap is the most valuable part of the manure, 
and when left to decompose the most dangerous to 
health. 
4. The liquid should be collected in a concrete well, 
and thrown over the solids to prevent excessive fer- 
mentation and to render them of increased value as a 
fertilizer. 
5. The contents of such a shed should be removed 
at least once a week. But they can be kept for 
that time with less danger Co health than a pile of 
manure left in the weather will cause in only two or 
three days, for in point of fact you never can gather 
up the dangerous elements washed into the soil. 
6. Jovered manure never gets sloppy and does not 
produce Water-itch on those who remove it aa 
exposed manure does. 
7. It will pay for cartage and railage, for it is at 
least of double Vdlue to the soil. 
8. la this matter the Government should seta good 
exaiuii'c to all. What can be expected of our villagers 
beyond what they see at the Public Works stables ? 
9. It should go out from this Society that Stable 
Manure, well kept and wisely applied, has a place 
iu agriculture which no other sustauce can supply. 
•^Ac/rionUviral Society- 
CULTIVATIOH" AND TREATMENT 
OF EAillE. 
Mr. James Anderson, of Abroath, Scotland, writes 
as follows to the Penang Gazette : — I have had the 
pleasure of reading an article from the pen of Mr. 
Carts in your interesting paper on Ramie, Bhea or 
China grass, Prom extensive experiments made in 
the different grades of this very fine fibre I have 
arrived at different conclusions from the Authorities 
he quotes, and am qaite confident that, although the 
ribbon could be delivered at the degumming factories 
at £793. a ton instead £12 in comparison with other 
fibres, it would pay handsomely and be largely used, 
al:hough £26 a ton was paid for it. At that price 
the finished article would not cost more than 4d. per 
lb. in a condition similar to the enclosed sample. 
Contrary to the recognised theory I have conclusively 
proved to my own satisfaction that it is one of the 
least difficult of fibres to prepare for manufacturing 
purposes, and that the returns from dry stems grown 
in suitable localities such as the Straits Settlements 
far surpass those obtained fiom flax or heaip, with 
both of which I am intimately familiar, were Bamie 
put to the same ordinary use as flax. The waste 
after being degnmmed would scarcely be a half of 
that iu flax. 1 notice that there is a difficulty in 
connection with the cutting of the ribbon from the 
stems and that a machine that will accomplish this 
at the rate of half a ton a day is needed. There 
are such machines in use now employed for other 
purposes, through which 1 have passed stems grown 
in the Botanic Gardens of Glasgow with far more 
wood than fibre on them and nearly as solid as a 
walking cane. These came out without a particle of 
wood adhering to the ribbon. The machine that I 
nsed I am sure would deliver not less than % ton of 
clean ribbon a day. With a simple machine that can 
be got here for about £2 two men could easily re- 
move not less than 200 lb. a day of fibre from dry 
stems. Any patent machine driven by steam needing 
the attention of two men and only turning out say 
one cwt. a day is a costly farce. 
In conclusion, allow me to say that no patent 
machine is needed for the preparation of the fibre, 
and that the process of degumming it cannot be 
protected. It might be kept a secret, but that is 
all, as I know ut half-a-dozen ways of doing this 
all of which are equally cheap and effective. When 
the so-called expert, whose ignorance of fibre and its 
treatment is amply demonstrated by the absurd and 
costly method he employs, disappears and the mecha- 
nical efforts of the patentee are found in the scrap heap, 
then and not till then will Bamie, Bhea, or China 
Grass get the chance that it has been denied. When 
this comes to pass it will revolutionise the industrial 
affairs of the Empire and bring untold wealth to 
Eastern climes. In this prosperity your favoured 
locality will largely share." We would suggest that 
those persons who intend to experiment with the 
Calotropus Gigantea described in our last issue would 
do well to apply to Mr. Anderson for farther 
particulars — Indian Planters' Gazette, 
NINE NOVELS-4,000 TREES. 
A recent calculation made by the Sc%*ntifia American 
shows wh-fc an immense quantity of timber is used 
to supply the preseat-day readers with the substance 
for their popular novels. Estimating that nine novels 
have a total sale of l.GOO.OOO copies each book 
containing 20 ounces, the total weight is 2,000,C00 
lb. of paper. Spruce is used to make the cellulose 
for the paper, each tree yielding about 500 lb. A 
simple calculation shows, therefore, that these nine 
novels »lone swept away 4000 trees. We wonder 
whether they were worth it,— Commercial Intelligence, 
