December i, 1890,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 
455 
practical cultivation of cinchona in Oeylon vfag en- 
trusted to Mr. Taylor. And so successfully was it con- 
ducted that in the year 1885-86 upwards of 15,000,000 lb. 
of bark were exported from Ceylon. In 1866 Mr. 
Taylor began making experiments in the manufacture 
of tea with leaves growing on buslies in the gardens 
of Loolecondura and Waloya bungalows. During the 
same year tea was first planted out on the former estate, 
the seed being obtained from plants of China tea grow- 
ing in the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya. 
Early in 1868 Mr. Taylor received from Calcutta the first 
consignment of Assam Hybrid tea seed. Unfortunately 
these seeds failed. A second consignment arrived at 
Loolecondura on the first day of 1869 and with 
plants raised from these a field of twenty acres 
that had been cleared for tea in 1867 was planted 
before the end of the year. While these bushes 
were coming into bearing, Mr. Taylor was luv emit- 
ting in his endeavours to perfect himself iu the pre- 
paration of the leaf. And to such good purpose 
did he work that in 1873 he was able at once to 
produce a tea of such quality as not only to ensure 
the ready sale in Ceylon of all his produce, but 
also to secure the approbation of the leading London 
brokers. The following sums have already been 
subscribed : — The Right Hon. Sir W. H. Gregory, 
K. 0. M. G., £5; Sir Alfred Dent, K. c. m. G, £5 ; J, 
Whittall. Esq., £5 ; H. K. Rutherford, B q.,£5 ; J. L. 
Sband, Esq,, £5 ; Messrs. Malheson and Co., £10 : 
Messrs. Baring Bros, and Co., £10; G. D. B. Harrison 
and W. BI. Leake, £6; John Hamilton, Esq., £5; 
Messrs. Anderson Bros., £5; Norman W. Grieve, 
Esq., £5. 
Indian Tea in Russia. — According to a teh gram 
from Vienna, the Russian Einance Minister, M. Vishiie- 
gradski has proposed to the Council of State to sanc- 
tion a considerable increase of the duties cu tea 
imported from British ludia.. The new tariff will 
greatly affect the British tea trade, which is carried 
on through Turkestan. — II. 4' C. Mail, 
4 ^ 
CINCHONA DUTCH MARKET ; 
AVEKAGE 3 93 PER CENT SULPHATE OF QUININE. 
Amsterdam, October 29th. 
All the analyses for the cinchona bark sales to ho 
held iu Amsterdam on November 6‘h have been 
published now, and the manufacturing bark contains 
about 13-J tons sulphate of quinine, or 3 92 per cent on 
the average. About 27 tons contaio 1-2 per cent ; 59, 
2-3 ; 80, 3-4 ; 123, 4 5 ; 31, 5-6 ; 15, 6’7 ; 7, 7-8; 1. 8 9 
sulphate of quinine. — Chemist and Bruyght. 
— - 
A Garden of Pampas Grass. — We read in Oarden 
and Florist of a garden of Pampas-grass of 10 acres 
in extent, whioh is one of tho objects of interest to 
tourists who visit Anaheim, California. This year 
about 40,000 plumes will be harvested, and the yield 
after tho plants have become well-established, will 
average 100,000 plumes. These plumes are worth 
about 5 cents apiece. — Gardeners’ Chronicle. 
Professor Vaughan-Stephens who returned from 
Pal.ang by the last trip of the S. S. “ Glanggi,” 
has covered a considerable stretch of country in 
the course of his recent ethnological explorations 
among the Sakeis and other wild tribes, chiefly 
between the Sungei Bubau and the Kemaman river. 
Ho has brought back a large quantity of the famous 
ipoh poison used to lip blowpipe arrows, and also 
a quantity of various other barks and saps for 
analysis. Thirty-eight living ipoh plants have been 
brought down by Professor Vaughan-Stephens and 
have been handed over to Mr. Ridley at the Botanical 
Gardens. The Professor has also brought down 
a large number of cases of Sakei curios of sorts. 
In the course of his tout he has received much 
kindly assistance from various European officers 
and other rtsidenta in Paining including Messrs, 
Mitohell and Wall, Mr. J A. Boll, and Mr. McEwen 
(Kabaug).— S, F. Fress, Oct. 31st. 
NOTES ON POPULAR SCIENCE. 
By Dr. J. E. Taylor, f.l.s., f.g.s., Ac., 
Editor of “ Science Gossip.” 
Dr. Ouimighaiii’s piper oa the ferlillisation of 
Ficus Uoxlmrghii is creiuing much interest amongst 
liofanists, inasmuch as it reveals the possibilty of 
certain flowers having the female part.s fertilised 
without pollen. Dr. Cunningham shows that in the 
above species of fig the process of ordinary pollenation 
is impossible, and lie believes that the embryo arises 
as an outgrowth of the cellular tissue of the body 
of the ovule outside the embryo sac, and not as the 
result of any development within it such as happens 
after ordinary pollenation. Minute insects gain access 
to the interior of the fig, and these set up irritation 
and overgrowth, so that both male and female flowers 
are pos.sibly matured by the overgrowth of the 
receptable caused by insect irritation, and the embryo.s 
of the female flowers may be due to the same 
agency. 
It is interesting to notice that your Moreton Bay 
pine (Arucaria Cunninghami) which forms such dense 
forests ill Queensland, and is such well-known orna- 
mental tree in and near all Austral an cities and 
towns, has been discovired on the recently explored 
mountains of New Guinea at the height oflO, 000ft. 
What adds to the interest of this remarkable tree 
ia the geological fact that during the early tertiary 
period it was a native of KngBud, for its loaves, fruits, 
&.C., have been found at B .urnemoiitli and else- 
wh re, ami h:;ve been described in the velumes 
of the Pulceoiitographical Society by Mr. J. Starkie 
Gardiner. 
The phylloxera is very mucli abroad in France this 
year, and, you will be all sorry to liear, iu the 
Ohainpagne district, it has hitlierio avoided. An ins- 
pector of vine disease has been sent down to investi- 
gate and report, so you may imagine how hopeless 
the case is. The district between Viiioelles end 
Treloup is that most affected. 
Mr. A. W. Badger read an important paper last 
week before the Royal Horticultural Society on drying 
fruit by evaporati- u. Specimens were produced, and 
subjected to much criticism. The process, however, 
is an accomplished fact, but the worst remains behind. 
At present, drying necessarily destroys the flavour. 
Mr. Badger’s aim was to introduce the American 
fruit evaporators to the notice of British fruit-growers. 
He claimed tliat evaporated fruit keeps better, and 
is more digestible and nutritions than when sun-dried 
or kiln-dried. In one district in the western portion 
of New York State, within a radius of 40 miles 
round the city of Rochester, no less than 37£- mil- 
lions of pounds of evaporated fruit was produced the. 
last season but one, realising the value of £297,000. 
The greater part of these crops consisted of apples- 
One pound of evaporated apples, he said, contained 
all the consti'uents of six pounds of fresh fruit. Only 
water, he dec’arcs, is lost, and this is replaced by 
soaking. But it was contended, in the diseu ion which 
followed, that the evaporation volatiiises the aroma. 
ulr. E- H. Acton has recently shown that, not- 
withslandiug the prevalent opiuion to the contrary, 
some green plants can assiniilate cat bon from 
certain organic compounds iu the absei ce of carbonic 
acid from the atmosphere. He prepared what he 
calls a normal “ culture solution ” for the purpose, 
and he concludes that green plants cannot normally 
obtain carbon for assimillation from any fubstances 
except carbo-hydrates, but that a compound may 
be a source of carton to the lcave.s although not 
to the roots. — Australasian. 
o 
Sunflower Culture in Ceylon. — ^Ve have 
to thank Dr. Tothill tor his letter giving the results 
of his several experiments in sunflower cultivation 
in Ceylon, These are not very encouraging, al- 
though it is evident that a trial uuder the imme- 
diate care of a resident planter might turn out 
much better, and to seouro an oil equal in value 
to olive oil ia a result not to be despieed, apart 
from the other advantages mentioned. 
