-^(58 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[May ], 1902. 
" THE UTILITY OF ALKALINE PHOS- 
PHATIC MANURES. ' 
Mr. Joha Hughes call-) our .-iLtenlion l.o 
a paper under llii-J he.uHii^'T read by liiiu 
at a. ineetinuf of tlie Society of Arts oi 
12th March nit., when Mr. A. U. U.iW, Principal 
of the Soutli-Kastern Aijriciiltura! (inUf^c, 
occu|)ied the cliair. We sli.ill reprcrli ce the 
essay and discussion in lull in our Tropical 
Agriculturist ; but nioa.ntinie nriy mention 
that al'ter an auiui.'ited discussion, in which 
nearly all the Rpeakors - ( he Ciiaii'inan, 
Messrs. lierinanu Voss, Jolm Ihiffle, V. .) , 
Lloyd, Dr. S. llideall, Messrs. lOdw.ird Packar.l, 
Jaines Huds(^n, Dr. Teed and !). A. i^oui.s 
-^spoke ot' tlie f,'reat v.ilue of ]\If. ]ln,:^-hes's 
disccvory, the latt(!r in suniniiii;.^- up, s.aid : — 
'•He thoroughly l)elieved in superph ).,p!iale ; 
but its use ought to 1)3 restricted to soils 
which contained pleiiiy of lime, just as 
basic slag \vas coi)lined to soils .vhich were 
particularly .'■our, and tiie n:'W manure to 
intermediate soils It is not scieiititic, 
it is not economical, that one kind of 
manure should be sold lor aiiplication to 
all kinds of soils —Acid manures may with 
advantage be ai)iilied where^there is jilenty 
of lime, and alkaline manures m ly ix' more 
profitably applied where lime is deficient," 
HUMUS AS A PERSERVATIVE 
AGAINST FROST. 
I h.=ive just read a French translation, by my old 
friend, rrof. nenr),ofthe Nuicy Foi'est Bjhoul, ol 
WoUny'ii olasji: woik on the deo.inipo-iition of oiganic 
mi.ti.ei". la it I fiiii the sciiteaisiu that sprint; iv\d 
Rutuma fi-osls aie daugei-nns on peity suiU-, only 
•when tlio surface of the lit cr is dry, Wellny gives 
no illustration? of this law, but I rcc-'Jitly obietved 
one in my garden at Ojopjr'a liili. 
List Septe'ubsr, I da>; up seve)-al rose bed.s on my 
IfiWU and povved then; wiUi g;rasi sc-^d, whicii has 
produced a flae crop of yoiuig ^{lais X'ni^ 1 catetully 
Water.ad, and tlie soil in ihj bads was v/'ell ireucbed 
ivnd covered \vidi deco.iiposad leaf mould bjfore ihe 
seed •W-ia so .vn. Ta-; r.ist of the 1 ivvu has not b :cn 
trenciiod, prjbibly f ;v -Lhirty year-, aurl iha .sod under 
thegrass in it a siilli di l.jani, i j now siuguUi ly dry for 
the time of the year. On themondnc; oi D.'C. 6th lb-re 
was a sHght frost, ofo F b ;ing regis ered fix in hes 
a^ove the grass. At 8 a.m. th ; 1 iw.i w is white with 
rime, except on the new ^r .s-, which rem lined green. 
This must be due to thj fntihit tne moist, widl- 
tcenched humus soil under the new g ass wa-i able 
to oonduct lieat from bjlow and t'>u-. kept the air 
in contact with it above the freezin>;-p ant, while 
Ihe dry, romp'.ct ioarK uiider ilie, old turf coul.l n')t 
supply suffi'dent heat to the old i^i'a^s to prc.sjrve it 
from freezing. Dry Immns, accjr ug tu Wullu}', ln.s 
a low specific heat, and ii a bad c^inductar, whle 
■wet humus lias a liigh s))jcifi; lie.it, and is a good 
conductor of heat. Oa aiioliier occasion vvliou snow 
fell, It meUcd much sooner on the new grass tlmu 
onj the le-st of the g-irdeu. As a further illustration 
cf Woliny's law I m ly cite the fact tli it w,i.t.:r isl..t 
ou to cranberry swamps in Caioiiua wlu-n frost is 
feared dui-ing ihe blosaoiuiog period, and also that 
jli north- West India, on clfjar evenings when frost 
ie feaid, veget!<ble gardens and sugar-cane plant- 
nllOUH lire irrigated iu ordwr to obviate danger from 
froaf. JCikur {Ac'icia arahica) plnaitationa in the 
]*iU)jab are aUo irrigated when fiost is feared. 
It is al-.o v.cdl kn )wn in Germariy that, if a pphag- 
Dum pep,*; b'.g in to lie reproduced, a thin layer of 
.peat Piii'it life left ^'^^^^ 9^ '^°S *fier tii^ 
upper peat has been removed, and this layer kept 
carefully under water, as otherwise the drying up 
:'nd consrq'ient freezing of the peat will kill the moss. 
Slight frosts are very prejudicial to vegetation in 
Kub-trofiical forests, and when fr. st is imuiineni, the 
preciulion of trenching the soil, removing weeds and 
irrig iting coltivatious is extr'uiely irninrtmt for 
■vouug sugar-cane and othe.r crops. W li Fishek. 
Cooper 1 Hill, Dec. 8. 
— Indian Forester. 
TEA IN NATAL. 
20) PER CIlNT 1N-CIIK.\SE IN isiroHTS : 
KO EXTKNSIONS RECORDKD. 
The Annual Report of the Durban Chamber 
of Oommerce, shows £37,000 \^ ortli of tea im- 
ported during 1901 as ag.iinst £12,000 wortli in 
1900. On the other hand exportsof teagrown 
in Natal show but a slight increase, under 16 
per cent— £1.3,000 worth in ]9ttl as against 
£13,01)0 worth in 19 jO. £4, 111 wortli of tea was 
sent from Natal into the 'I'ransvaal, £1,238 to 
Orange Jtiver Colony, €916 over the East 
Griqualau 1 border ito the s )uth west) and £143 
over the Pondolaiid border. 
We have also the following "tea" para- 
graph :-- 
No accurate statistic.* aie available of the area 
under cultivation or the crop for the .season. An 
estimate, however, has been made that by tlie 
end of May the output will be not far ssiiort 
of one-and llnce quarter iiiillioii pounds weight, 
say, an advance if 2.50,000 lb, on that of last 
year. The cbi^f consumption is within lim Colonj', 
but of the exports of 545,047 lb., valueJ at 
£22,8-2.3, the Cape Colony ab.^orbed 44-2,OjO lb. 
Tuu aiea nnd.'r cultivation mxy he rockoued as 
about 4.000 acres. 
THE PEARLING INDUSTRY IX NORTH 
AUSTRALIA. 
Represen f alive V, L Solomon (S.A.) has 
addressed ihe following letter to the Prime 
Minister o'i the ComUiOn wealth ; — "'My at- 
tention hiib been drawn by my constituents 
in the NorLiiern territory to the position 
in wliich son;e of them are placed owintr to 
the provisions of the Immigration Restric- 
tion Act of 1901, which will render it diffi- 
cult, if not impossible, for those engaged in 
11)0 ])earliug industry to jjrocure the neces- 
sary labour for manuiug their boats. The 
magnitude and importance of this trade will 
be better understood after a glance at tire 
following figures. The export of shell from 
Queenslaiul for the year 1900 was 1,2.50 tons, 
valued at £128,451; from W'osterii Australia 
for the same period, 733 tons, valued at 
£S3,42rf, and pearls valued at £20,000; from 
the Northern Territory, 175 tons, valued iit 
£22 074, or a total of 2,158 tons of shell and 
pearls valued in all at £257,553. There iire 
a vei^y large luiuiber of boats employing 
manj' thousands of hands is divers, crews, 
&c., iu this industr.y, the whole product of 
Avhich p isses through the hands of European 
traders at our ])orts, and the whole of the 
stores and su|)|)lies required by the men are 
obtained iu Australian ports, and contribute 
customs duty to the Coaujionwealth jt'eveuiiQ 
