June 1, 1904.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
837 
have I found a single specimen on Uie coffee bushes 
planted between the rubber trees. Endeavours 
have been made to obtain a fresh supply of seed 
and, if successful, these vvill l,e planted in lines 
cut tlirousli the jungle. It is hoped that here they 
will be less subject to attack, owinw to the increased 
diffi«utty the mollis will experience in singling,' 
ouc the particular food plants, when depositing 
their eggs. 
Coffee. — An acre of Maragogapie hybrid coffee, 
planted in the previous year, hdsmade satisfactory 
growth, and so f ir is entirely fiee from disease. 
The heavy soil in which it is planted does not, 
however, seem to be best suited to its needs, as, 
owing to the lack of roots which it makes, it does 
not seem to obtain sufficient purehase in the soil 
and suffers from strong winds in consequeuce, 
Another piece of land on the hill, about a quarcer 
of an acie in extent, has therefore been planted 
with this same variety. Half an acre of hill land 
has also been planted with Coffea stenophylla, 
10 by 10, and this appears to be doing well. 
Sago Palm. — The banks of the river have been 
planted with small plants of the sago palm (Sagus 
laevis). If they grow successfully they will be 
useful in helping to prevent the banks from wash- 
ing away, while the ataps which they will furnish 
will prove valuable for many purposes. It is a 
pity this plant is not cultivated more generally 
by the natives, for in addition to the sago pro- 
curable from the stem, the leaves furnish the best 
of ataps, and these at the present time are almost 
unprocurable. Any waste swampy land would 
suffice, for, unlike the nipah palm (Nipa fruticans), 
which furnishes the ataps most generally used, it 
is not necessary to plant it within the influence of 
the tide. The length of time which it takes the 
plant to come to maturity — 10 to 12 years— is the 
great drawback, and I am of opinion that Go- 
vernment migbt with advantage come to the 
assistance of the native agriculturist — say, yb 
offering him a bonus on each acre planted, with 
probably a further bonus for the first four to five 
years, conditional upon the plantation being kept 
in good order. A plantation once established being 
perpetual, this might be recovered by degrees, 
when the plants reach maturity. At the present 
time, the cultivation of this palm would appear to 
be restricted to a few plants stuck in the corner 
of the padi fields up and down the country ; and 
this is perhaps as much as we can reasonably 
expect, for the native cannot afford to make this 
cultivation a special subject. 
Sansevieka Roxburghiana,— As a 'catch 
crop,' or perhaps more correcdy a permanent 
subsidiary crop, for growing beneath the shade of 
Para rubber trees, this sanseviera promises to do 
well. The conditions generally suit it well and it 
increases in vigour as the shade becomes more 
dense, although beyond a certain limit the shade 
may injure the quality of the fibre. A sample of 
the libre obtained from the leaves of this plant, 
which is known as ' Murva fibre,' was valued in 
London at £.35 per ton. Sisal hemp being then £.37 
per ton. Half an acre of this plant has been 
planted with the object of obtaining reliable data 
regarding the expense of cultivation and prepara- 
tion of the fibre, and the yield per acre. 
Cotton.— In view of the existing state of the 
cotton market, suggestions have been made that 
cotton might i: rove a reniuneralive "catch crop", 
though personally 1 am of opinion, that so much 
depends upon the state of the weather at the time 
the crop is ready for harvesting, that the uncer- 
tainty of our seasons makes its success too proble- 
matical to warrant anyone embarking in this 
cultivation. Experiments, however, were initiated 
during the year under review, and will be carried 
on as seeds of the various varieties are obtainable. 
Through the kind agency of Messrs Pritchard and 
Co. seeds of the Egyptian variety were obtained 
and planted ; one acre being planted on undulating 
lanrl, in soil of a very sandy nature, and about a 
quarter of an acre in stiff loamy soil, on the fiat. 
The seeds were planted in holes lij in. by 1^ in, 
previously dug and filled with good surface soil, 4 
feet apart and 3 feet apart in the rows, being at 
the rate of over 5,000 holes per acre— a very expen- 
sive method of cultivation ; but of course plough- 
ing, as is generally practised, is out of the question 
on land newly cleared of heavy jungle. At least 
90 per cent of the seed germinated and grew well 
for a few weeks, when — owing to the excessive 
moisture, I believe — they began to look sickly and 
were attacked by a mite(presumablya speciesof the 
family Tetranychidic), and the large majority 
gradually perished. The fact that both the plants 
on the hill, and those growing in totally different 
soil on the flat, behaved in precisely the same way, 
leads me to the conclusion that this particular 
variety is quite unsuitable to the climatical condi- 
ditions obtaining here. 
Para Rubber Seed Oil.— An interesting 
report from the Imperial Institute, on a consign- 
meut of the seed of Hevea brasiliensis (the Para 
rubber tree) forwarded to that Institution [has 
already appeared in the Tropical Agriculturist.] 
Ngai Camphor. — A report on Blumea balsami- 
fera was also kindly furnished by Prof, Dunstan. 
This plant is widely distributed throughout the 
Malay Peninsula and elsewhere, and yields a variety 
of camphor used largely by the Chinese under the 
name of ' Ngai Camphor.' The report, however, 
was not very encouraging, as only a minute 
buantity of the essential constituent (laevo borneol) 
was found to be present ; though, as pointed out) 
in the report, ' some of the volatile camphor may 
have escaped from the consignment during its 
transit' : it is intended to forward a further con- 
signment in hermetically closed vessels. 
Rainfall. — The total rainfall for the year 
ending 31st December was 103"79 inches, Decem- 
ber was the wettest month and September the 
driest, though the rainfall was fairly evenly dis- 
tributed throughout the year. The monthly 
returns are as follows : — 
January 12 72 in. February 917 in. March 5'61 in. 
April 9-85 in. Jlay 10-20 in. June 6*98 in. July 3-85 
in. August 10 30 in. September 3 56 in. October 872 
November 9-57 in. December 13-26 in.— Total 103-79. 
STANLEY ARDEiNT, 
Superintendent, Experimeutal Plantations. 
COTTOJs -GROWING IN TILE SOUDAN. 
MR. LEIGH HUNT'S SCHEME. 
The Soudan Government and Mr Leigh Hunt 
have signed an agreement in virtue of which Mr 
Leigh Hunt is about to begin experiments in 
cotton-growing in the Soudan in order to learn if it 
can be conducted there on a sound commercial 
basis. The question of cotton-growing in the Bahr 
el-Ghazal province, on lands well watered by rain, 
is being examined. But even when the Suakim 
railway is finished, it is doubtful whether the cost 
