664 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 1, 1904. 
When a catchment area is covered with trees, and 
with the vegetable rcatter that accumalates on the 
snrface of the ground, the water that reaches the 
Boil as rain is impeded in its flow, and its evaporation 
is hindered, so that the general effect is equivalent 
to an increase in the size of the reservoir. It is also 
important to note that snow melts more slowly under- 
neath trees than in the open country, so that at a 
time of thaw the snow- water is yielded up more 
gradually. Nor must the fact be overlooked that when 
snow in a forest melts, the ground absorbs the water 
to a much greater extent than happens in the open 
country. In the latter case the ground is probably 
frostbound, so that the snow-water cannot be absorbed 
by the soil, whereas forest soil, being protected by 
trees, never freezes to the same extent, aud is conse- 
quently in a better position to absorb snow-water. 
The result is that not only does a forest mitigate the 
violence of floods, but the snow-water that flows from 
its area is less muddy than would otherwise be the 
case. 
INFLTJENCE or FORESTS ON SOIL TEMPEBATUBE. 
Forests not only effect the degree of moisture in 
soil, but they also exert considerable inflaenee on 
the soil temperature. Although this influence is 
greatest at the suiface of the ground, it is also per- 
ceptible to a depth of several feet. On the average 
of a large number of continental stations it was found 
that woods of various species and ages depressed 
the mean annual temperature at the surface of the 
ground by about 2'6 deg. Pahr., while even at the depth 
of 4 ft. the reduction of temperature was 2 deg. 
This general cooling influence is due to a variety of 
causes. The foliage of the trees excludes the sun's rays, 
the decaying vegetable matter that covers the ground 
prevents the free exchange of air between the soil 
and the atmosphere, while the water in the soil 
absorbs mnoh heat without its temperature being 
affected. 
While woods have a depressing influence on the 
mean annual temperature, it is found that this efi^ect 
is much greater in summer than in winter. On the 
average of eleven (ierman stations the July temper- 
ature of the snrface soil in the forest was found to be 
7 deg. Fahr. lower than that in the open field, whereas 
in December the former was rather warmer than the 
latter. Forests, therefore, tend to equalise the temper- 
ature of ffater collected in them, the temperature 
being slightly raised in winter, and markedly reduced 
in summer. This result would appear to be of con- 
siderable practical and hygienic importance where 
a supply of water for domestic purposes is concerned. 
To the credit of forests is also to be placed the fact 
that they exercise a purifying influence both on the 
air and on the soil-germs of all kinds being markedly 
scarcer in a well-wooded district than in a similar 
extent of treeless country. — Board of Agriculture. 
TOBACCO CULTIVATION IN THE 
TRANSCAUCASUS. 
The tobacco plant is cultivated at Kahetia, at two 
points, viz., the town of Signah, on the right bank of 
the Alazani, and in the flab country lying about 
Lagodeb, and the fields of the villages adjacent thereto. 
Of recent years the production of tobacco in the 
Signah region has developed and improved to such an 
extent that the crops have yielded better returns from 
the plantations in and around Lagodeh. It would 
appear that plantations on an extensive scale in Kahetia 
are few and far between, and the largest single areas 
under tobacco cultivation do not exceed 27 acres, the 
bulk of the tobacco being grown on plantations not 
exceeding from one to five acres. 
THE QUALITY OP THE TOBACCO 
grown in the dislrict having any commercial value, 
appears to be exclusively that known under the name 
of Trebizond tobacco ; other qualities as, for instance, 
Samsoon and Dubeck, are cultivated in exceedingly 
insignificant quantities, and therefore are of no com- 
mercial valae ; the latter mentioned tobacco is sold 
at the same rates as the Trebizond quality. Trebizond 
tobacco is subdivided into two qualities, locally known 
under the names of Lagodeh- Trebizond and Tre- 
bizond I'latana. The first-mentioned quality has been 
grown for a great number of years ; on the other 
hand, owing to the distribution of seed among planters 
by the Department of Agriculture, the Piatana quality 
was only introduced into the district at a compara- 
tively recent date. The difference in the two qualities* 
spoken of above consists in the following :— The 
Lagodeh-Trebizond is consic3erably superior to the 
Plaiana. The plant contains a considerable number 
of leaves, the sizes of which are larger than those 
of the Piatana plant ; they are of a round shape, 
whereas the leaves of the Piatana are oblong. The 
so-called Lagodeh-Trebizond being superior in quality 
and colour, as a rule yields a heavier crop; planters 
therefore give this quality of tobacco the preference. 
There are but few plantations on which 
PLATANA TOBACCO 
is cultivated, but this tobacco is frequently to be seen 
intermingled with the Lagodeh Trebizond plant. The 
Piatana quality, however, is gradually acquiring 
the favour of tobacco planters, and the demand for 
the seed is annually increasing. Tobacco grown in 
the district of Signah is considered to be of better 
quality than the Lagodeh tobacco, but the manipulation 
of the leaf is carried ont with greater care in the 
Lagodeh district, where cultivators of tobacco are in 
general better acquainted with the industry than their 
brother planters in the Signah region. 
TOBACCO SALES. 
The difference in the price of the two tobaccos is 
not very great. Sales are principally effected during 
the winter months, but the better qualities of 
tobacco are generally purchased in the month of 
November before they are sorted. Unsold tobacco is 
forwarded from the plantations to the principal towns, 
where it is placed in depots. And is there retailed to 
wholesale dealers. Tobacco, according to the Journal 
of the Society of Arts, is also largely grown in many 
localities of the Orovernmeut of Kutais, the Province 
of Batoum, in which the Mourgoul River valley is 
most celebrated for the high qualities of tobacco 
which it yields, and again in the district of Soukhoum 
and throughout the Government of Tchernomoria. 
THE FIBRE OP CRYPTOSTBGIA 
GRANDIFLORA FROM MADRAS. 
This sample of fibre was forwarded to the Imperial 
Institute for examination by the Agri-Horticnltursl 
Society, Teynampett, Madras. It is stated that the 
plant occurs wild throughout the Teynampett district. 
The present sample of fibre is said to have been 
prepared by steeping the branches in water for 
three days ; the fibre was then easily removed, and was 
afterwards washed with water. 
The sample consisted of about three ounces of a 
nearly white, fine, strong fibre with a staple of 
average length, 16-20 inches. In its general character 
and appearance this fibre resembles that of Marsdenia 
tenacissima, on which a report was recently supplied 
by the Imperial Institute to the Government of 
India (Imperial Institute Bulletin, No, 3, p. 121). 
The results of the chemical examination by the 
Scientific and Technical Department of the Imperial 
Institute show that these fibres are also very similar 
in their chemical properties and behaviour. The 
two plants are allied botanically, both being climbipg 
shrubs of the Natural Order Aaclepiadece. 
