THE TROPICAL AGHlCtTLTURIST. [Nov. 2, 1903. 
Peoduce in Zanzibar. — The clove crop does not 
promise to be very plentiful this season. Reports 
from Peniba are bad and most of the. Zanzibar 
plantations bid fair to have a very thorough rest 
after last year's record crop. Zanzibar and Pemba 
copra will soon be able to hold its own against the 
produce of Chole which has hitherto been much 
superior to anything these islands could put on the 
market. The result of this improvement is that 
Zanzibar copra has gone up in price. Chillies 
have also improved greatly and the abnormal de- 
mand in Europe this year, resulting in very excep- 
tional prices, has been bravely met by Zanzibar 
with a finer quality than we had been in the habit 
of shipping. — Zanzibar Gazette, Sept. 16. 
Edible Fungi,— The Royal Horticultural 
Society recently held a special show of Fungi at 
Westminster, a'bd a lecture on the subject was 
delivered by Dr Cooke. " If the mystery of culti 
vating edible Fungi," said Dr Oooke, " could be 
discovered, we should be able to cultivate many 
species." He himself had eaten eighty species, all 
more or less wholesome. 1?he cultivated Mush- 
room (Agaricus campestris) is a most widely spread 
species. It is found in Siberia, Northern India, 
Mongolia, Ceylon, North and South America, 
South Africa, Oceana, Tasmania, and everywhere, 
indeed, if a suitable climate exists. It is recognised 
as good for food in a number of countries. The 
Chinese, he remarked, cultivate a number of 
species of Fungi, but it is not known whether this 
is included. — Journal of Horticulttire, Sept. 17. 
Is Fibre Dust Manure?— In discussing this 
subject in his last communication our Marawila 
correspondent stated that a well-known planter of 
Negombo was reported to have given it as his 
opinion that fibre dust was a manure. His 
authority for that statement was one of our con- 
temporaries, — he believes, the " Standard." What 
gave the colour of truth to this assertion, was the 
laboured arguments of the learned Solicitor-General, 
that fibre dust was not manure. The planter 
referred to writes : — " I gave it as my opinion 
unhesitatingly, that fibre dust is of no manurial 
value whatever, and that I had never used it, nor 
known it used as such. I had, however, seen it 
applied to light sandy soil, with beneficial results, 
due — not to its possessing the constituents which 
the soil requires in order to give crops — but to its 
capacity for absorbing and conserving moisture and 
ameliorating the mechanical condition of the soil, 
I am glad to find you agree with me on these 
points. Will you, therefore, do me the justice 
to put this right in an early issue of the ObserverT^ 
Our correspondent does so cheerfully. He adds; — 
" It is so refreshing to find great minds in com- 
plete agreement ! " 
Ants. — On the extract on Ants reproduced 
elsewhere, Mr. E. E. Green, for whose opinion, 
we referred it to him, says it will no doubt 
interest our readers, as it did him. But there 
is room for doubt as to whether the writer has 
correctly judged between cause and effect, 
in some of his observations. For instance, 
whether the absence of ants caused the dis- 
appearance of aphis, or whether the disap- 
pearance of aphis (from some other natural 
cause) removed the source of attraction to the 
ants, any direct observations, that may 
throw light on the subject, will always be 
valuable. Mr. Green does not think that the 
elaborate theory about a chemical action set 
up by the passage of ants over chalk is 
necessary to account for their inability to 
climb a post rubbed with that substance. The 
mechanical difficulty is quite sufficient.^; The 
dry powder gives way beneath their feet. If 
the chalk is applied wet, in the form of 
whitewash, it will not bar the passage of ants. 
With regard to " white ants " (termites), 
kerosene is a well-known deterrent. Mr, Green 
has not experimented with the crude oils ; but 
ordinary kerosene— as used for illuminating 
purposes— is too costly and its effect too 
transient for extensive use as suggested. 
Carbon bisulphide (at present unprocurable 
in Ceylon) is— in his opinion— the best exter- 
minant for all ants and termites. But, instead 
of setting it alight, after pouring it into the 
nests, Mr. Green blocks up all the openings 
with heated earth or clay, and leaves the 
deadly gas to do its work. Being heavier 
than air, it sinks into and pervades the 
underground galleries, suffocating every occu- 
pant. A local manufactory of carbon bisul- 
phide would be a boon to the Island. 
Ramie fibre,— I have had an interview 
with Mr. Edwards Radcliffe. Mr. Radcliffe 
has a machine set up in Kensington where 
Ramie fibre is decorticated, the gum extracted 
and the ribbon prepared for working up ; but 
his contention is that the waste could be as 
easily removed from the fibre at the spot 
of production by hand labour, as is indeed 
done, I believe, in China. By following out 
this method, freight would be about half 
the cost it is at present and consequently 
profits much larger. The samples Mr. 
Radcliffe has to show fill several books and 
are most interesting as indicating the 
numerous articles which can be made out of 
Rhea. He has specimens of table linen, dress 
fabrics, threads of all colours ready for 
weaving, cords for coarse and fine string 
work such as hammock making etc., 
mantles for incandescent lamps, and 
many other things too numerous to 
mention. When his sons, who were, two 
of them, CIV troopers in the South 
African War, got their kits according to 
Government requirements. Mr Radcliffe had 
khaki suits maide in addition for each of 
them of ramie cloth which they wore all 
through the war instead of the regulation 
suits in their knapsacks. The ramie khaki 
stood the test of the Campaign so well that 
whereas all the other troopers came back 
almost in rags, the suits worn by these young 
men, though stained and splashed with mud, 
were still perfectly serviceable and respect-^ 
able. The truth is that the stoutness of 
materials made from ramie is liicely to be an 
objection to it as a fabric. It apparently 
wears too well ever to be a fashionable article; 
but for military purposes, or for workmen's 
clothes, it seems just the right stuff. Some 
of the samples Mr Radcliffe showed me were 
from rhea grown in England, near Wellington, 
Salop, so that evidently the plant flourishes 
in all sorts of climates. His letters to the 
papers here are exciting attention now in 
various quarters, and the day I saw him, he 
was arranging for an interview with a repre- 
sentative of " Commercial Intelligence." 
London Cor. 
