106 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aufi. 1, 190] 
There were great possibilities for opening up 
a trade in packet teas with tlie Arabs wlio 
of late have taken to dritil-iiiK tea. If India 
and Ceylon turned their attention to these 
parts of the world, over-prodnntion would 
cease to cause alarm. Asked about the in- 
creased duty on tea, Sir Harry said he would 
have taxed fifty other things before he 
touched tea; he would have clapped the duty 
on, say, champagne, velvets, silks, and 
various foreign importations. Sir Harry, 
himself a good judge of tea, is a confirmed 
tea-drinker, and believes thnt tea is 
DISTINCTLY BENEFICIAL, ESPECIALLY IN 
MALARIOUS REGIONS. 
"Bad for the nerves and digestion,the Doctors 
say ? Well, it has not injured mine," said 
Sir Harry, " and I don't care a rap for 
Doctoi's' fads. xMuch of the illness in Uganda 
is caused by scarcity of good cooks and 
good food, with too free and too frequent 
use of alcohol." 
®> 
"EPIPaYTlC PLANTS." 
SECOND LECTUPai AT THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 
Professor J. B. Farmer gave the second and 
last of his lectures on the " Biological Cluiracters 
of Epiphytic PUuus" at tlie Koyal IriKtitution 
last Satuiday. Some plants, he explaiiieil, began 
life as epiphytes, and later made connexion with 
the earth, The seed of the common india-rubber 
fig usually germinated in the fork of a tree ; the 
roots grew down the trunk to the soil and were 
firmly glued to the bark by a cementing sub- 
stance ; any excels of cement was re-absorlied, the 
roots coalesced and soon enclosed the tree, causing 
its death. The fig continued its exi-tenee as nn 
individual. lu one epiphytic, Anthurium, the 
leaves formed a sort of funnel in which vegetable 
detritus accumulated, sometimes to tlie ani'iunt 
of 20 or 30 pounds, and in this solid matter the 
roots ramified. In a tern called Dy'ymoc/lossum 
the root hairs stood absuiute drying up, and 
when moistened new root hairs sprung from the 
bases of the old. In Polypodiiim quercifolimn 
one kind of leaf manutaoturad carbohydr:4te food, 
while another kind resembting oak leaves were 
adpressed to the bark, forming pockets in which 
humus accumulated and in which i he roots ramified. 
Plutycerinm also had two sorts of leaves ; one 
for aisimilation and one which, though beconi'ng 
dead ;ind brown, collected nutriment and water. 
Liverworts showed very diverse adaptations and 
occurred wherever there were epiphytes ; they 
covered leaves or even grew on one another. In 
Gottschea the leavi s folded over one another and 
held water by capillary attraction. In one species 
of Physiotiu'in the leaves consisted of two lobes ; 
one, acting as a gutter, conveyed water into the 
other, which was hollowed out and provided with 
% valve 'M prevent the essape of water. In Physio- 
tium acinoHunh there were lart;e sacs at the apex 
of the stem, which it>. most species contauied the 
spore-bearing or;;ariisins, but had here become for 
the most part water reservoirs. Frullania, in 
addition to ordinary leaves,' had piicliei-like 
leaves, which held water and in which small or- 
ganisms lived. Lichens endured unlimited dryin /, 
and very little moisture .'erved to swell them out 
and make them fndatinous. Only plants with 
email seeds or spores could attain to an epiphytic 
existence. After Krakatoa was blown up, the 
whole island %vas covered with red-hot cinders. 
Three years after these were oveigrowu wiili a 
g(*laiin'ius alga, in which new vegetation, cliiefly 
feiiis, had liiUen root. 'I'he spores had had a dis- 
tance of 25 miles to co\er, and <nily the .•smallest 
kinds cuuld be borne so far. Few, even of siiidU- 
seeded plants, could beci^ve epiphyies ; success 
dependeil on the adaptauiliiy of ihe imiividual 
to change of enviionmeiit. —London Times, 
June II. 
TEA DISTRIP>UTIOX AMONG N \ FIVES. 
AN APPEAL To CAPITAI.I.ST.S. 
Up to date only some .3ii0,000 lb. of tea have 
been subscribed to the scheme for disseminating 
our tea= among the natives in this country. To 
ensure the project being a Raece.«s, one million 
eight hundred and seventy thousand pounds Is 
wanted ; but, as is usual, in »ll matters relating to 
the welfare of the tea industry in this land, utter 
apath i' is being evinced by those whose interests 
are most at stake. It is difii -ult to fathom the 
reasons for this only too apparent indifference, but 
one of the motives asfit;ued is that the larger and 
moi-e substantial proprietors (who are in a iiosition 
to pull through the crisis and stand a prolonged 
strain, having ample means at their back) do not 
wish their weaker brethren to pull tliroiii;li, as 
it will be to their advantage if they fall in the 
struggle and go to the walT In stich cases it is the 
essence of selfishness which is at the boitom of tiie 
great want of support, which is at present so con- 
spicuous. To eliminate self-greed is impossible, 
and we fear that the small concerns, with no re- 
serves in the way of capital to help them to pull 
through, will ultimately have to cave in and give 
up a hopeless contest against adverse circum- 
stances. This is the age for great things, for 
colossal undertakings, but compressed int.") one 
woril they simply mean "Money." vVithout capital 
nothing can be done; with capital there is not dng 
that cannot be done. It is hopeless, therefore, for 
those who have not capital to try and compete 
with those wh > have. But this is no reason why 
capitalists should hold back at the present 
juncture ; yer, we are told they are doing so, in 
the hope that they will therein' t,he indigent 
concerns out of exis:ence. — I.P.G,, June 8tli. 
THE POSITION IN CASS \ VX. 
A recent analysis made by Professor Carmody, 
Government Analyst, conlirins the previous work 
of Francis as to the presence of Prussic >icid in 
sweet cassava, the proportion found varying from 
O'OOo 'to 0"0I9 per cent. The skin vvas found to 
yield from 0014 to 0'042 per cent., while the 
inner part gave only O'OUS to 0'015 per cent. 
The interior part of bitter cassava yielded 0*013 
to 0-0.37 per cent., \\hile the skin and outer layer 
yielded from 0'012 to 0 033 per cent. Peeling 
sweet cassava before cooking is therefore a wise 
precauiion. Piofessor Carmody als.i sngLfescs that 
the acid may in pai t ''e for iied by fcniieniative 
change. — Trinidad Bulletin. . 
Nn:\v ZsALA'TD p )n "ioNEY. — \ shipm-^nt of 
honey rece iily made by a Poverty Bay (N Z) set- 
tler realised £il per ton in the Lo'hIoh m uket. 
The settler in question has been '>b:ain!!g an 
average yield of 911b. honey per hive during the 
season. — Sydney Mail, June 1. 
