114 
THE TROPICAL 
AGEICULTURIST. [Aug. 1, 1903. 
A NEW TROPICAL SEED PLANT. 
There have recently been imported into England 
specimens of the '• glycine subfcerranea," a plant 
which is in some respects the most curious in the 
world. Mr Balland, who has reported on it, says 
that its roots contain every principle necessary 
for human food. Tlie plant was discovered by a 
coffee-sjrower in Uganda. Its bulb is shaped like 
an egg, and is of a dark-red hue with black stripes. 
It is ground into a flour vhicli tastes liue chest- 
nuts. Two pounds of this flour are sufficient to 
keep a man foi a day, and will supply the place 
of bread, meat, buiter, and vegetables. It is to be 
introduced in India and Braail, where it should 
prove an enormous addition to the food plants 
there available. No doubc its finder will make a 
very good thing of his discovery.— [We may add 
to this account in a home paper that this is no 
" new discovery" as the plant is already know 
by the name of Voanclzia suh'erranea. In appear- 
ance and habit it is similar to the common 
ground-nut (Arachis), but is not nearly so prolific. 
It was long ago introduced to India, Java, etc., 
but is grown as a curiosity rather than for use.— 
Ed. T.A.\ 
A NEV/ FRUIT JELLY. 
A delicious jelly known as " roselle " is now selling 
in London. It is even more delicate than the finest 
red-currant jelly. It is made from the flowers of a 
kind of hibiscus known aa the " sabdariffn-" The 
discovery that these flowers were eatable was made 
by an Indian indigo-grower. He knew that another 
plant of the same family— the okra— produced pods 
which were delicious when cooked, and this gave him 
the idea of trying the sabdariffa. After various ex- 
periments he found that the flowers would make a 
preserve. He sent some pota of this to a Bombay 
firm, and asked them what they would offer for his 
secret. They eventually paid him a couple of hun- 
dred pounds, but are now selling more than that 
value of the jelly annually.— [It ia interesting to know 
that what is selling, as the home paper says, in London 
for the "rosello " or " rata-bilinohi " grows in Ceylon 
like a weed ; the natives using the calyces mainly in 
carries. It is cultivated to some extent in Queens- 
land, where jellies and cooling fruit drinks are made 
from the fruit.— Ed. T.A.] 
» 
THE PROGRESS OF SAMOA. 
[To the Editor of the " Field."] 
Sir,— In your issue of April 11th you have a short 
article on Samoa. The writer touches on the culti- 
vation of cocoa and the profits to be derived there- 
from. He speaks the price of cocoa as being £5 
per cwt. 'Fine red Ceylon ' is quoted in niy 
paper today at 80s per cwt., and I do not think 
the price has been higher for a long time. Further, 
' fine red Ceyh^n ' is a small percentage of about 
the \ e<t cocoa in the world. The Ceyion planter 
would be very pleased wiih cocoa atSOi, lo average 
60s for his crop, and, in other parts of the world a 
planter who averaged i50s wou'd, I fancy, be saiis- 
fied. lamspeiking of the price netted after de- 
ducting shipping and selling charges. Here we 
ihink 3 c.vt. to ihe acre a very fair ciop, and about 
haif of this goes for cost of production. Our labour 
force is cheap and good. If Samoa can beat us in 
profit per acre, it must either get very big crops or 
produce a very tine sample. I do not write this in 
a carping spirit, but should like to hear more of 
this paradise for cocoa planters (with reliable 
figures) where ' it is claimed that 20 acres in fall 
bearing yield a substantial income.' My market 
is London — where do the Samoans sell their cocoa ? 
L. STUART. . 
Ceylon, May 6th. 
[The statement referred to was that of the author 
of the Consular report on the trade of Samoa. — Ed.] 
[It is quite possible that for limited quantities 
of cncoa, Australia and New Zealand offer abetter 
market than London. — Ed. T.^.J 
A TURTLE AS IS A TURTLE. 
A turtle hunting party under the leader- 
ship of Mr. W G Winterburn, started out on 
the 6th inst. for some of the islands in the 
vicinity of the Soko group. They were esjjeei- 
ally fortunate in securing a beauty weighing 
222 lb. the shell being 3 feet by 30 inches 
across. Although smaller than the 300 poun- 
der caught by the same sportsman last year 
and which kept the Hongkong Hotel in green 
soup and steaks for several days, this denizen 
of the deep is no mean specimen and will 
provide an aldermanic feast for its captors, 
most of whom are members of the Boat Club 
and intend celebrating the occasion by a 
dinner at the Kowloon Loon Hotel.— 0. C, 
Mail, June 16. 
» 
SOIL NITRIFICATION AND MOSQUITOES. 
Under this title an important paper is contri- 
buted to the current number of the Lpncet by Dr. 
W iddell, of Pocter's-bar, who describes a series of 
experiments showing that the presence in water 
of even a very minute quantity of ammonia is 
fatal to mosquito larvce, and leading to the con- 
clusion that, while ammonia is a poison to them 
in all its combications, the contained nitrogen 
unit is the index of eflectiveness. He infers that 
in the effective nitrification of the surface waters 
and vegetation throush the medium of the soil 
we have a force of enormous potentiality in the 
crusade against malaria, and one which is capable 
of practical application. Nitrification may be 
brought about in two ways — first, by the direct 
application of nitrogenous manures, and, secondly, 
by fostering the growth of certain plants belonging 
to the leguffiiiio.'ge which are known by their 
peculiar root action to add to the nitrogen in the 
so'l through their relations with certain earth 
bacteria. The giowth of these plants may be 
encontaged by the use of phosphatic manures, 
and also by ti eating the ground and the seed to 
be sown upon it wi h cultu;es of the earth bacteria 
referred to, which are sold corauiercialiy under the 
name of " nitragin." Dr. Waddell calls attention 
to the inhibi:ory influence of ammonia upon 
various low forms of animal life, and suggests that 
his culture methods might be tested upon a large 
scale both in India and in the Caiiipagna. They 
would have the incidental advantage of being in 
themselves profitable, and he thinks it probable 
that the methods of modern agriculture may 
have largely co-operated with drainage in bringing 
about the disappearance of malarial fevers from 
this country.— Lopdon Times, June 9, 
