764 
''rHE TROPICAL AaKICULTURIST. [May J, 1902. 
Dr. Geo. VViitt has iiiucli to say of the 
tree, but we need quote only one passage : — 
" riie uim trt^e is H«iiei'ally sappo-irtd by its pre- 
sence to 111 iieri illy improve ihe health of a iieigli- 
bourhooil, lielieveil lo be ii |)ro|jhy luetic iigainst 
iiialaiia! fovei, ami even a^'aiii-t cholera, it is fre- 
quently planted near buililintrs and vilhige?'. Even 
Europeans Ijelieve in this pi operty to some consider- 
able W' e*»t, espeotaliy in the North- West Pro- 
vinces and Oiidli, and villaj^es surrounded with 
uim trees are frequently cited as proverbially free 
from fever, when neighbourin.i,' villages suller 
severely. It is extremely doulitful, however, 
whether this tree exercises a lieneficial effect to a 
greater extent than any other." 
^ 
THE SWEET CASSAVA. 
Accordui^ to a c juiinunicatiou from the President 
of the Chamber of Agricalture at PoadiLdierry, pub- 
lished iu the Jow'iial d' A(]vicidtiire. Tropicale, the 
cultivation of Cissava is an important industry in 
the wliole of Southeru India. It is a very remunera- 
tive one, with very little risk attnc!iiu:» to it. The 
variety cultivated iu French Indi.1 is the sweet 
Cassava, which adapts itself to all varieties of soil, 
but preteis a sandy, slightly clayish soil to a heavy 
one. G3ner^,Uy speaking, the cuUivatioa is carried 
on iu land that can ba irri^^ateJ, aud, indeed, it is 
only in such cases that cultivation can be advan- 
tageously carried on at all. The Cassava plant takeg 
tea months to arrive at maturity, and during a porio ^ 
of drought from five to six processes of irrigi io ^ 
every month are necessary, The system of dryin 
the roots to preserve them is not adopted in Poud o 
cherry. Cassava, cultivated uiirier good conditions 
with good manure, gives from three to four poundsi 
of roots per plant, and is sold at the rate of 60 rupees 
per candy of 240 kilogs (5281b.) on the field. The 
President of the Chamber of Agriculture thinks that, 
if a factory for the manufacture of "fscula " were 
installed in Pondicherry, the production would in- 
crease so as to supply several millions of tons per 
annum, as from 2,500 to 3,000 plants chu be planted 
in a hectare (2'47 acres). — Friend of India. 
*^ 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Phosphates in Tea Soil. -Mr. John 
Hughes bears out, in his letter published 
elsewhere, the view taken by Mr. 
Mann and generally established, of the 
necessity for the pre-ence of phosphates in 
tea soil, the best tea being richest in 
phosphoric acid. We have already quoted 
largely from Mr. Mann's most useful booklet, 
the tea soils of Assam. 
Mexico."— There is a proper in ih.& Forum, by 
Professor Reinscli, entitled '* A New Era in 
Mexico." The article deals Avith the agricultural 
and commercial resources of the country, and its 
value as a Held for capital. Mr. Reinscli expects 
that the next decade will \yitness great progress 
in Mexico'.s industrial life, and thinks that tlie 
fiolitical and legal conditions of the country give 
air security for investors. Most of Mexico's cum* 
nierce is in the hands of foreigners — Germans, 
French, and Spanish , while the laigest banks are 
tnanaged by British capitalists. The development 
of the tropical agricultural belt is one of the great 
opportiHiities of the country, land being cheap, 
and coffee, sugar, and rubber being ea.sily grown. 
The labour ipiestion is the great difficulty, as 
the natives are shiftless and unintelligent'. At 
present Chinese coolies have to be imported. 
Mexico, however, is not a land for the investor 
with small means, as expensive machinery is 
needed to prepare most of her productiii for the 
The Annamalai Pi..\NTi.:Bs-have been 
favoured with a visit from Lord Ampthill, 
the present Governor, at an early stage of 
his administration. The bulk of their ad- 
dress to His Excellency, together with the 
essential jjortion of the Governor's reply 
appear in ourd.iily and T.A. ' 
" Ckystalltnk Limestonks of Ceylon."— 
The abstract of what is evidently an .able 
geological paper on the above subject by 
Mr. A. K. Coomara Swainy, li. sc.,' k.l.s.. 
F. G. s,, will be found on page 759. 
It was read before the London Geological 
Society on March 12th, the veteran Sir 
Archibald Geikie, f.h.s , being in the chair, 
while an interesting discussion followed in 
which Mr. Parkiunm (also recently in 
Ceylon on a geological visit), Mr. Holland, 
Prof. .Judd and Mr. Greenly took part. It 
is curious and interesting to find compari- 
sons made between our limestones and 
those near Loch Maree and at other j)arts of 
the North-west coast of Scotland. 
Watilk F.ARK.— South Auslralivn wattle bark has 
always held a high place in the market for tanning 
materials. Until prices became gre .tly reduced some 
ten years ago, large quantities were stripped snd 
exported. For a long peiijl the industry in South 
Australia has been depiressed, but of l ite better values 
have induced greater activity, giving employment to 
numbers of strippers, and a welcome contribution to 
the farmers' income a-;d to our s'aple exports. Plan- 
tations have been formed successfully, and more 
steam grinding mills have been erected, employing 
many hands. The qtiautity of bark stripped was 
8,330 tons compared with 8,038 tons iu the previous 
year, aud 3,131 tons in 18ji.3. The quantity ex- 
ported iu 1000 was 8,386 tons, value £63,732 ; in 1899, 
8,953 tons, value i;69,y'?5, against 8,20G tons value 
£62,132, in the previoui year. During the decade 
1891 1900, shipments amounted to 00,166 tons (the 
vaUie being £478,133), of which 21,586 tons (valued 
at £191,237) were exported during the first, and 38,530 
tons (value £287,195) during the second five years of 
the period. — B. Trade Journal. 
Game Protection Society of Ceylon. - 
Our columns are largely filled with 
the annual meeting (.f this Society at 
Nuwara Eliya last month and it will be seen 
that the Society is very much alive, although 
some complaint is made on the score of 
insufficient monetarj' support. Mr. Farr'e 
report is a record one and will provide 
interesting reading to many sportsmen 
desirous of putting themselves au fait with 
current sport in Ceylon. We are inclined to 
support the appeal to sportsmen to do their 
duty by the Society and avoid the lapse of 
the protection of gitme entirely into the 
hands of Government. The announcement is 
made that a new sanccuary is to be formed 
in the Puttalam district; news which|should be 
welcome to all huntsnjen. One district 
which needs attention is that of Trincq- 
malee where our military friends do most 
of their shooting, but unfortunately do not 
too well consider the claims of the Game 
Protection Society. It was natural that the 
shooting of the rogue elephant at the Kraal 
should not go unnoticed and the secretary, in 
general terms, condemns the episode; though 
" inexperienced sportsmen," a somewhat 
strong term, perhaps, is used to include the 
gentlemen who undertook the shooting. These 
are the main points in the report, but it will 
be seen that a good deal of disciission followed 
for which we direct our readers else'wUwei 
