Jan. 1, 1902.] THE TEOPICAL 
AGEICULTUEIST. 
491 
tiou upon its parent. It is grown from seed. Those 
whose crops do not come up to expectations, 
especially those who are experimentiug with new 
varieties, should recollect that orange trees require 
plenty of soil, copious watering, accompanied by 
perfect drainage and plenty of manure. They can 
rest assured that the orange will moat surely give 
a full return tor all nutriment properly given to 
' the soil. From an average of several analyses of 
orange trees the following percentages have been 
obtained : — Fresh fruit contains 0.38 nitrogen, 
Q.iO phosphoric acid, 0.38 potash ; fresh leaves 
contain respectively 0.70, 0.10, and 0.38; while 
fresh wood contains 0.70, 0.50, and 0.73 of 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. In return- 
ing these substances to the soil it should be noted 
that the effect of nitrates is to produce excessive 
growth of wood, leaves and skin ; phosphates pro- 
mote quantity, but poorness in the fruit ; potash 
dwarfs the size of the tree, but increases juiciness, 
sweetness and flavour in the fruit. Accordingly 
none are in themselves sufficient fertilisers but 
combined in proper proportions they complement 
each other, counteract each other's bad qualities 
and produce the desiied iean\ts.— Egyptian 
Gazette, Dec. 2. 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH 
GUIANA. 
INDEPENDENT PLANTING EFFORTS VINDICATED. 
With reference to a letter signed " Fair Play " 
and published in our issue of November ISth, deal- 
ing with the development of British Guiana, we 
have received letters in reply from Mr. J E Tinne 
and Mr. Allan Messer, from which we give the 
following extracts. Mr. Tinne writes :— " Dr, 
Morris spent ten days in British Guiana with the 
Koyal West India Commission in 1897, and dur- 
ing that time he attended the inquiry and visited 
my own and oth^ sugar estates, and delivered an 
address to the Iloyal Agricultural and Commer- 
cial Society upon the possible agricultural products 
of the colony other than sugar, and after the 
issue of the report of the Commissioners the retir- 
ing president of the society, Professor Harrison, 
subsequently replied as follows : — ' Dr. Morris has 
alluded to the great fertility of the interior of this 
colony. 1 do net know on what grounds he based 
his supposition of this great fertility, I can find 
no grounds for believing that, in a country hav- 
ing the geological structure the interior of this 
has, great tracts of, land of exceptional fertility 
will occur, although possibly tracts of limiled area 
may occur in valley land and river bottoms or on 
the lines of dykes of certain classes of intrusive 
rocks. I may mention that as far as my analytical 
examinations of some hundreds of the soils of the 
interior and seaboard of this colony extend, no 
indication of exceptional fertility in soils other 
than those of our alluvial coastlands have been 
obtained. All point to the wisdom of our Duccli 
predecessors in ceasing their attempts to raise eco- 
nomic agiiculiural products on many of the soils 
of the interior.' The proprietors of sugar estates 
do not deserve ' Fair Play's ' sneer ; they have 
never claimed to be held up as benefactors of the 
colony because they expended money liberally from 
private resources to keep their estates and labourers 
in existence. They did so for self-preservation 
for sufifarcane is a continuous crop (unlike beet- 
root), and machinery unused even for a year in 
he tropics rapidly deteriorates. As regards their 
ontribution to the general revenue, I would refer 
him to the tax ordinances, which will give him 
the information he desires. I am totally unaware 
of Mr. Laing's reason for voting as he did ; he 
certainly does not take his instructions from my 
firm, nor do we fetter his judgment in any way, 
and in the combined Court he represents Berbice, 
and not us." Mr. Messer writes : — " Sugar estates 
in British Guiana do pay a direct land tax, while 
in addition, as the revenue of the colonial Gov- 
ernment is principally derived from Customs duties 
on imports to which the estate owners are large 
contributors, the colony would be bankrupt in a 
day without their assistance in this respect. It 
seems to be assumed that the planters are res- 
ponsible for the failure to develop the resources 
which the interior of the colony undoubtedly con- 
tains. Nothing could be more unfair. The sugar 
estates are all on the coast line, and their owners, 
while the importation of beet sugar into the mother 
country continues to be assisted by foreign boun- 
ties, have all their work cut out to meet that 
competition without being saddled with a respon- 
sibility which does not really concern them." — 
Landoa Times, Nov. 29. 
♦ 
SNAKE HAD NO TOOTHBRUSH. 
CURIOUS STORY FROM DR. CALMETTE. 
Paris, Sunday, Dec, 1. — Dr. Calmette, director 
ot the Pasteur Institute at Lille, who was re- , 
cently bitten by a most poisonous snake, tells 
the following story of the occurrence:— 
" I WIS handliog the snake, when one of his fangs 
touched the third fiuger of my right hand. I felt 
nothing at first, but presently found blood began to 
flow. It was easy to understand what had happened. 
I ran and placed my finger under a tap. W.thout 
delay one of my assistants inoculated me under 
the skin of the stomach with an injection of 
serum, and in less than five minutes the numbneas 
and the pain had ceased." 
A day or two later, finding that the wound 
did not heal, a surgical operation was performed. 
This had nothing to do with the snake venom, 
which had been completely eliminated from the 
wound. Necrosis had set in from infection of 
the open wound, and the doctor concluded with 
a laugh. "I suppose the reptile had forgotten 
to wash his mouth." — Daily Express, 
MR. HENRY BROWN'S PLANTING 
EXPERIMENTS IN B. C. A., 
Many readers will remember the specimens of 
fibre. Gum Arabic, etc., which were exhibited at 
the last Agri-Horticultural Show by Mr. H Blown, 
Mlanje. These were given by Mr. Brown to Mr. 
Cox, the President, and he sent them home to 
Messrs. H J Gardiner & Co., with a request that 
they would procure a report and valuation. Mr. 
Cox has now sent this report for publication, along 
with the specimens of the fibres which may be 
seen at this ottice. A sample of India rubber 
made from the Ceara tree and exliibited by the 
African Lakes Corporation, Limited, was also 
sent home at the same time and is included in 
Messrs- Lewis and Peat's report, which is dated 
June 1901, and is as follows : — 
We have carefully examined the samples contained 
in the box ex lUovo and beg to report upon same a« 
follows. 
Aloe :— Good length and strength, rather brown— 
(should be got white if possible)— value about 
£25 to £27 per ton ; perhaps more, readily sale* 
able, 
