548 
I 
THE TF?OPlCAL AORiCULTURIST. [F^brwary i, 1892. 
Decay Spots upon Leaves.— Plants with large 
leaves are often much disfigured by blotches that 
appear at any place upon the foliage. The cause 
of these spots is sometimes not easy to determine. 
An otherwise perfectly healthy Calla-leaf may have 
a brown spot an inch long and a half-inch wide near 
its "centre, and with no apparent reason for its exis- 
tence. The probabilities are, however, that some 
days before a withered blossom of a plant above it 
fell upon the leaf, and, remaining there for a time, 
began to decay. Soon after, the force of the water 
from the hose drove the blossom off, but not until it 
had left the seeds of decay in the leaf. In other 
words, the fungus, usually a species of Botrytis, 
while flourishing upon the rich succulent substance 
of the blossom, sent its threads into the leaf below 
and began the decay that finally ruined the leaf. 
The Botrytis fungus is not usually accused of making 
its attacks in a direct manner upon living tissue, 
but it does not hesitate to pass from the dead to the 
living when conditions favor it. In other words, the 
Calla-leaf is safe against the attack of the spores of 
the Botrytis, but when the vigorous filaments of well 
established plants present themselves the resisting 
power is not sufficient to overcome them. If we had 
found the remains of the blossom in the centre of the 
dead blotch it would have been natural to ascribe tho 
cause to the flower or the fungus it harbored, but 
in many instances the leaf blackens without any 
apparent cause. Nevertheless the cause remains 
the same, for the source of contamination had been 
removed before the decay in the leaf had become 
perceptible. The practical conclusion is, that no 
opportunity be given these half-way parasitic fungi 
to gain an entrance to healthjr plants. The gard- 
ener knows how important it is to keep all dead 
leaves and decaying blossoms from contact with 
the healthy parts. Neatness as well as health de- 
mands that the living be kept part from the dead. — 
Gwrden and Forest. 
Taking- Tea with a Lama in Mongolia.— 
forms the Bubject of a half-paga iiiustration in the 
"Illustrated London News" of 12th Dec, by its special 
artist, Mr. Julius M. Price, who thus describes the 
ordeal : — 
At ODe of the places where we lialtod, I had a rather 
curious experience of the Mongolian style of taking tPa. 
Accompanied by one of the Oossack?, who ^poke the 
language of this country, I visited a Moogol who was 
Tuther a swell in his way, for his "yourt," which I 
bad been auxious fo see, waa fitted up with some pre- 
tensions to style. We seated ourselves in tho usual man. 
ner on the ground, and onr host, after a few minutes, 
of course offered us the inevitable tea. This was what 
I wanted particularly to avoid ; but there was no get- 
ting out of it this time, A particularly unwholesome, 
old .looking hag then dived into the gloomy recesses of 
a sort of cupboard, and produced three wooden bowls, 
containing some greasy-looking compound, which she 
forthwith proceeded to clean out with her grimy fingerfi, 
finishing up by polishing vigorously with the tail-end of 
her gown. These tasty receptacles were then placed 
before us on the ground and were filled with some vile 
liquid, which bore no resemblance to the " cup that 
cheers but not inebriates." However, it would have 
been an insult to the man to have refused his hospitality; 
80 for the next five minutes I was racking my brain how 
togfttont of even sipping his awful stuff. My com- 
panion, who was used to Mongolian customs, was not 
so delicate in his tastes, and managed to get through 
his bowl all right, at the seme time advising me to try 
and do likewise with mine, so as not to offend the man. 
Providentially, however, at this moment someone chine 
to the door of the " jourt " to speak to our liost. and 
we till got up. I immediately took advantage of the 
opportnnity quietly to empty tho contents of my bowl 
into a d.irk corner near me. We shortly nfter took our 
leave, in npite of the old Mongol's pressing invitation to 
stay andhsveja drop more ten. When wo got outside the 
■' yourt," my companion, who had not noticed my 
niaiiosuvre bat had obstrved the empty bowl, remarked 
that ho know I would like MoDgolian tea if I once 
tried it ! 
Some time last year a native gentleman in Mysore 
sent Mr. D. Hooper, the Government Quinologist, 
a sample of prepared tea made from the leayes of 
of a kind of jumbal for examination and opinion 
as to Its effects if used constantly as a beverage. 
Ihe leaves were identified by Mr. Lawson, the 
Government Botanist, as those of Eugenia caryo- 
2)Mcea, a myrtaceous shrub, which contained a little 
tannin and gallic acids, eolouriDg matter, essential 
oil and ash, but no stimulating constituent, such 
BB the alkaloid caffeine found in tea and coffee. 
Mr. Hooper thinks the beverage would be an in- 
nocent one, and not likely to affect the system 
either in health or disease — Madras Mail, Deo. So. 
Preserved Pineapples.— We recently quoted 
a paragraph from the Straits Times stating that 
the pineapple preserving industry in Singapore has 
been so much developed and the demand from 
Europe 13 so great that the price for fresh pine- 
apples has risen to $4 (about IBs.) per hundred, 
and that even at this enchanced rate the local 
demand cannot be supplied, end those engaged in 
the industry find it necessary to scour the adjacent 
islands and territories in order to keep their 
factories going. Is there any rea?on why the 
industry of preserving pineapples should not be 
equally successful in Ceylon as in Singapoie ? 
It may be that the presence of Chinese gardeners 
in Singapore makes all the diflorence. 
Orange Cultivation in North- vVestern 
India is receiving much attention, as the following 
extract from the Eeport on the Saharunpore Gardens 
will prove : — ' 
Oranges.— The plantation of these made in the year 
1887 is in a healthy and thriving condition, and several 
of the new varieties fruited last season for the first 
time. One of the best of theee new kinds was a variety 
received from China in 1887, under the name of Sz-in- 
Kom. The fruit was something hko the common man- 
darine ornnge in outward appearance, but it was more 
juioy and of richer flavour. The variety is a desirable 
one, and is being extensively propagated for ;di3tribn- 
tion. Seedhrgs of a variety called the Bntwal orange 
of Nepal received in 1886 from Dr. Bouavia, late of 
Etdwah, also fruited for the first time. The fruit of 
this kind was very like that of the common cintra or 
suntra, only smaller, but the flavour was the same. I 
should say this is simply a variety of the cintra, mud 
not sufBcienty distinct to claim another name. A seed- 
ling Malta orange raised from seed grown in this garden 
and sown in 1885 also fruited. The outward appear- 
ance of the fruit was very like that of the common 
Malta, but when cut it showed a thicker skin, and the 
pulp, instead of being sweet, was intensely bitter. The 
seed was undonbtedly taken from a sweet fruited 
variety of Malta orange : therefore, this is an authentic 
case of e seed from a sweet form of orange having pro- 
duced a form with bitter fruit. In the same row there 
are ten more trees raised from the same batch of seed, 
but these have no^; fruited yet. When tbey do, it will 
be interesting to note whether any more bitter varieties 
appear among them. The following varieties of 
oranges were kindly presented to the earden by Mr 
R. D. Uoyte, Bay View, Nurseries, Florida, United 
Statep, America. The ool!ect-o:i as despatched num- 
bered'eightecn varieties, but eight perished in transit '— 
Hart's Liate, Str.r Calyx, iOh iia Aiadariue, Salsama, 
Malt* Oval, Sj.ici T-mgerino, Mediterr^inean Sweet, 
Lahita, Queen and Wasliiugtou Navel, Five plants ot 
each or the following varieties were imported from 
Japan :— Finger, Satsuma and King-Kam. All five 
plants of the "Finger" variety arrived in excellent 
condition and are doing well ; two plants of the 
" Satsuma" survived the journey and promise to grow- 
but all the plants of the " King-Kam " perished in 
transit. In adchtion to the nb ive oranges from foreign 
countries, one variety was obtained from Nagpore eight 
varieties from Poona, ten from Lahore, and twelve 
from Luoknow. These together with tho foreign sorts, 
bavo oonsideralby iuoreased our oolleotiou. 
