40 
THE tropica! AQRiCULTURrST. 
[July i, 1891. 
enterprise, may daunt them. Pepper is growing well, 
and a good deal of it is bIso being plaute 1 and we hope 
to get a better crop on that as well as on our coffee. 
I am afraid this is ratboi- a Peter Grievous sort of 
letter, but Icon cheerfully assure you that we shall all 
of US get some crop this seaBon, and this, after lust year s 
experiences, is no small cause of gratitude ior ail of na. 
—Madras Times, May 15th. 
SOME EVILS OF ACCLIMATISATION. 
The evils that have resulted from the injudicious 
and thoughtless introduction of new animftls into va- 
rious parts of the world can hardly be ovur-stat(i<.l. 
The million of ucres desolated by the rabbit m Aus- 
tralia the infinite amount of damage 4 (id clod by (ha 
soartow ia America (where ihe bird w;is mtroduced 
as a means of chcckmf; the numbet.s of caterpillars 
which existed in the trees of the Urger cities), Bud 
til" extirpation of edible birds by letting pigs run 
wild in the islands of the Sonih Seas, might be re- 
<^arded as sufficient to prove the evils nf iil-uonsid^red 
accliojatisHtiou; but apparently these t-xamples have 
no titeot' A" '''^ exi'-tenCH ot some 
noxious i-.nimal, and thoughtless persons, without cou- 
siderini' the ultimate result of what ih. y are aomg, 
introduce some other animal to check its carfcer— not 
re'fleotiue for a moment thi-,t the remedy tuey propose 
may be a "hundred times worse than the disaase which 
they attempt to cure. The employmeut of stoars, 
weafels, ferrets, &c., for the purpose of ch. cking CBe 
progress of the rabbit pest in Australia is eviaeutly 
oue of these shorE.sii;hte,d proc; t dings. What wili us 
the ultimate result of that action, provided it is suc- 
cessful may be inferred from the consequences which 
have followed the introduction of (he n-.o.igoose into 
Jamaica, for the purpose of des'royiug the ri*ts that 
fed on the sugarcanes and other agricultural pTOCiuce. 
Tiie tropical climate of this isianH, the nature of tf e 
coumry the varii-ty of food which it is al-de to obtain 
have been favourable to the reproduction of the mon- 
goose which now en.-t;s in Jamaica in large numbers. 
Much may even be sai'l in fa«iur of this animal. It has 
cleared the island of auakes (harmless as well as pni- 
s0L0us),and ii. hbs c- v. u pated the rats (rom the sugar 
estates. Ntvertnelesf, mon ooee has corae bo be 
ree'.rded as an iniolerahle cuiee, not ouiy to the set- 
tlers and plauGi-rs, but to the people of Jamaica as a 
whole Jauwica uted to be celtbrattd for certain 
tabic delicacies tliat existed in a wild utatc. Guiuoa- 
tbwl were inti educed from Africa some two centuries 
ago and for 150 }oars have been reyard.d a-s fenn 
nalura They laid tliiiir abundant; eggs on the ground, 
and consequently have been exteraiinated by the mon- 
goose The large pis^eons which held a foremost place 
amongst the u.aivd delicacies of the is'and are j,:one. 
Tlie edible I'-nd era! s that were foni d m itgions at a 
certain st asou of the yeai are now as rare in Jamaica 
as they were at one time plentiful. These are some 
ot ihe rt-salts of the imporiation of the mongoose into 
Jamaica • but worse still remains to be recorded. The 
whole of the fauna of the oouutr) is being i.lfectt d by 
this x.oxious animal, which was introduced with tne 
idea that it would act beneficially. 
The manner in which the existence of one ammal 
acts on another WiS curiously evidcrced wheu Darwiu 
prejved the connection between the existence of the 
humbl.-hee and that of old maids. The sts of the 
huinlde bees are apt to be destroyed by field mice, 
which in their turn are preyed upon by cats, and 
ca B are- encouiaged bv Uaies who are not oocu- 
nied Willi the cares ot matenuly ! in this way the 
chain of protocLiou, which exlcuda from old maids to 
bioB is traced— the lad.r being more frequent near 
human httbitilions than in district-) whore field mice 
are uneihf'cUed bv the picsenee of cats. A similar 
untoward result has occiiin ii ii> Jamaica, which at 
tlu present time is snid lO he su(feriiig from au in- 
toime plague of ticks auci gre.ss lice, that ahouud in 
huu;r. d8 of thousands, and are lound on every blade 
of grass, leaf, and twig in the rural districts of the 
island, entailing an immense amount of suffering on 
man and beast tbroufihout the colony. This plague 
is duo to the introduction cf xhe mongoose, which, 
having destroyed the ground lizsirds and well-nigh ex- 
tirxjated the insectivorous birds thit used to prey upon, 
the t:e?, has given rise to the increase of this terri- 
ble annoyance. So gieat has been the damage done 
by the introduction ot the mongoose that during the 
last session of the LegiBlativo Council a commiusioii 
was appointed to deviee means for its extirpation, 
hey examined witneises from all parts cf the island ;. 
Tney presented a report to tbe Governor, which was 
placed before the Legislative Council, and they sug- 
gested that a hilt ehouid be passed for the protection 
of the country from the ravages of the mongoose, 
which, as It v\aa introduced by the Govercmeut with 
a view to the Obstruction ot the rats in the sugar 
plan!ation*, should, it is contended, be extirpattd by 
the same authotiiy now that it has become an intole- 
Ti.blu uuisauc3 and pest. The committee su'jgtsted that 
three halt-pence should be offend for the skin of 
4;very male, and three-pence for every female mon- 
gouse — a reward regarded as sulficitntly high to induce 
the ne.tcio peasjutiy lo purchase traps, and to encour- 
-age their ardour in the work of txiermiuatiug thia 
savage animal throughout the whole colony. A feel- 
ing ot intense irritation and dissalistaciion is said to 
be iuamiuent, unlets the Government adopts some 
measures for .lestrt/ying aa animal, the iutrcduction 6? 
which has produceei tuoh au infinite atnount O! barm 
If) the colony The enormous .imouut of evil that has 
been effecteU by the thoughtless introduction cf ai i- 
mais, usuiilly with (he most beneficial iuteutions, into 
cceintries wUrre they did LOt prevu/usly exi t, should 
cause all v.'ould- be acehmatiser.- to consider well what 
may be the ultimate, as well as the ima^ediate, etfeot 
of introducing i.ew species into countries where they 
were previously uuknowu. — Field. 
CINCHONA CULTIVATION. 
TO THE EDITOB OF THE " MADRAS TIMES." 
Sib, — Ba'on J. Von Rostn: erg in his interesting 
letter appears, by his ternatk?, to iniES the economy 
of tbe que>ti>;u. It is all very well to say that bad 
prices neeesoitate cdo.-e planting anel inaitention to 
soil, but- the question is wbich method is more last- 
irg? There is no tound argument iusaiing (assum- 
ing Baron Kosenberg so intends; that his methods 
give quickest tetums, udIc.s he can prove they also 
in-^tire reaeonable perrnauency. Prom observation, else- 
where, 1 dtubtit. Prom nature's lawsit seems practi- 
cally imposs-ible. H .w can any soil, even with manure, 
mnuitain to best auvantage 2,000 trees to toe acre? 
A Strong Oincboua nee is surely a more permanent 
investment than au atteuuitrel stripling ? Plautctions 
4 by 4 when ten years old ure litole else than the 
latter, they do not thicken in st m satisf'actoriiy aft' r 
six years; thorough thinning migit aid, but; still toe soil 
has had a great; lU^al to sustain, and to hones-tly reduce 
the number by one half ii a p. aotice that thohsrd- 
up planter intensely dislikes. If liable to ailments, 
the stiong grown tree is afc least more likely to re- 
cover, if not to av;id them. It is no advice to a 
jouug pl 'Uitr to hear what the best foils for cinchona 
can achieve for 3 or 4 years. If North Travancore men 
can cjntinue to .stiip 2,000 trees to theacrefor 8 or 10 
years, then they are in a happy position, for the 
\aluo of bark is !;olerably sure oc advance, nor ia there 
any doutit now as to tbe qeialiiy tbo;e forests produce. 
It is the best perhaps in the world. The iorests run 
from 5,500 feet down to 2,000. Suited admirably for 
cinchona, tea and coflee, it is a mj'Stery why that 
Guschen has been so little touched. 
A beginner must judge I'or himself between the 
champions of various methods. May he however, 
avoid the fatnl error of starling an estate too lirge 
for his capital, and always bear in mind that more 
than half the failures in India and Ceylon are due to 
the fanciful theory that soil can ma'ntniu products 
without thu thorough attention required and admitted 
in every other country. 
Scorched. 
