November i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
3^5 
collectors. The finest known ccfilection of precious 
stones, and the finest collection of those found in the 
United St-Jtes, is the one 25resented by Mr. J. Pierpont 
Morgan to the Americ'»n Museum or Natural History, 
Central Park, New York. It contains over 1,000 
specimens. 
We recommend this magnificent volume to all our 
readers, ijarticularly those who reside in New Mexico, 
Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington and the 
Soulhern States. Each important gem is described 
and a series of ana'yses given, indicating the com- 
position of each precious stone. There are many 
illustrations other than the colored plates, the work 
of Messrs. L. Prang & Co., of Boston. Orders can 
be filled at the subscription price direct from this 
office . — A merican Grocer. 
♦ 
THE NEEDLE-AND-THEEAD TEEE. 
Imagine the luxury of such a tree, and the delight 
of g.dng out to your needle- and-thread orchard and 
picking a needle threaded and already for business. 
Odd as it may seem to us, theie is, on the Mexican 
plains, just such a forest growth. The tree paHakes 
of the nature of a gigantic asparagus, and has large, 
thick, fleshy leaves, reminding one of the cactus, the 
one iroijularly known as the “ prickly pear.” The 
“needles” of the nee lie aud-thre.rd tree are set along 
the edges of these thick leives. In order to get one 
equipped for sewing, it is only necessary to push the 
thorn or “needle” gently backward into its fl-sshy 
sheath, this to loosen it from the tough outside covering 
of the leaf and then pull it from the socket. A 
hundred fine fibres adhere to the thorn like spider 
webs. 
By twisting the “ needle ” during the drawing 
operation this fibre can be draw out to an almost 
indefinite length. The action of the atmosjihere 
toughens these minute threads amazingly, to such a 
degree as to make a thread twisted from it, cot larger 
than common No. 40, capable of sustaining a weight 
of five pounds, about three times the tensile strength 
of common six-cord thread. The scientific name of 
this forest wonder is Tcnsyana mxicadina. — St. Louis 
RepuU ic. 
An Entebpiusing Geocer at Petersburg, Virginia, 
has hit upon a somewhat novel plan for taking 
orders from his customers. He sends to different 
residences each morning tame carrier pigeons. 
Small order slips with a loop on the end of (hem 
are furnished the customers, and on one of these 
is written the order. The loop is thrown over 
the bird’s neck and it sails back to its owner. 
After all the birds have returned the orders are 
at once filled by delivery wagons. The scheme 
works admirably . — Farm Journal. 
African Fever and the Blue Gum Tree.— Dr. J. 
Croumbie Brown, with his customary zeal, has com- 
piled some particulars relating to the culture of 
the Eucalyptus in Italy, and its effects in amelio- 
rating the climate. The results obtained are such 
as to warrant the culture on a large sca'e of the 
Eucalyptus in the malarious parts of tropical Africa. 
From experiments made and calculations based on 
them it is phown that the leaves of these plants eva- 
porate double or treble their weight of water, and 
even a much larger quantity. The trappist monks 
who formerly could not sleep without risk of life in 
their monastery in the Pontine Marshes, but betook 
themselves every evening to a convent in Borne, can 
now remain at their monastery of Tre Fontanes, with 
little risk, and the peasantry who wore formerly 
obliged to migrate to the mountains in summer 
now reside on the Oampagua all the year round. 
This improvement has followed upon the exten- 
sive plantation by the monks of various species of 
Eucalyptus. — Gardeners' Chroniele, Sept. 0th, 
Tropical Products in British North 
Borneo. — The information given by Mr. W.D. Gibbon 
in his letter elsewhere regarding the cost of and 
profit from a Liberian coffee estate in British 
North Borneo is interesting, but we fear of no 
practical value to Oeylon planters, — Liberian coffee 
being now little more than a name in our island. 
The pamphlet which accompanies the letter consists 
largely of extracts from letters and reports that 
have appeared in the B. N. B. Herald, and which 
we have extracted from time to time ; to which are 
added land regulations and rainfall and other tables. 
Hop Tea ; A New Industrt in Kent.— There is at 
last some hope for the unfortunate hop growers who 
for so many years past have been carrying on their 
business with the figures on the wrong side of the 
ledger. Hitherto they have only had one outlet 
for their produce, but in future they will have a 
choice between the brewers’ mash tun and the British 
housewife’s teapot. A company has been floated for 
the manufacture of the hop tea, to be blended with 
some of the stronger qualities of the Assam and 
kindred sorts. In view of the approaching hop-pick- 
ing season, the company have acquired the large 
riverside premises belonging to Mr. E. S. Tapply, 
near Maidstone Bridge, where the work of drying 
and preparing the hops for conversion into tea will 
be carried on. Already 700 casks of the mixture have 
been disposed of in the tea trade, and the “ brew” is 
highly spoken of by those who have tried it. A 
Maidstone grocer has, it is stated, given an order for 
a ton of the hop tea, and it is expected that the 
commodity will command a ready sale on the 
market. The premises are, we are informed, being 
fitted with the necessary enginery by a local firm of 
engineers, and in the course of a few week it is 
hoped that the new industry will be in full opera- 
tion, and thus add another important branch to the 
commerce of the county town . — Sussex Express, 
Aug. 26tb. 
Opicm-Dbinking in England. — T he use oP 
opium is alluded to after a rather too trifling 
fashion in the story (fictitious of course) reproduced 
in our Household Begister today. Our readers arc 
aware how serious an evil the addiction to opium 
in the shape of laudanum drinking, has become 
in the Fen districts of England, and about 
Gravesend and other low-lying parts. We have 
shown how great a boon quinine ought to be in 
these oases ; that is for example, if every clergyman 
and philanthropist in the Fen districts got the 
people suffering from ague, to try quinine in place 
of laudanum. The opium practice we refer to is of 
long standing and it may be worth reproducing the 
paragraph in which (in Charles Kingsley’s “Alton 
Locke”) “Varmer Porter” enlightens Alton, during 
their drive to Cambridge, on the meaning of “ a 
penn’orth of elevation — 
T’armer Porter Love ye then! they as dinnot 
tak’ spirits clown thor, take their pennord o’ elevation, 
then — women-folk especial.’ 
‘ What’s e levation ?’ 
‘ Oh ! ho ! ho ! — You goo into druggist’s shop o’ 
market-day, into Cambridge, and you’ll see the little 
boxes, dozens and dozens, a’roady on the counter ; 
and never a ven’man’s wife goo by, but what calls in 
f r her pennord o’ elevation, to lust her out the week. 
Oh ! ho! ho ! Well, it keeps women-folk quiet, it do 
and it’s mortal good agin ago pains ! 
‘ But what is it t’’ 
‘ Opium, bor alive, opium !’ 
‘ But doesn’t it ruin their health b I should think 
it the very worst sort of drunkenness.’ 
‘ Ow, well, yow moy say that — inak’th ’em cruel thin 
hen, it do ; but what can bodies do i’ th’ ago Bot 
it’s a bad thing, it is,’ 
