520 
THE TROPSCA.L AOJilOULTURISr 
[January i, 1891 . 
digestion and cure themaelvea. North of Fort Myers 
the plants or trees will need some protection from 
very hard frosts. But I hare seen plants wi:h h.if 
a bushel of fiue fruit when not over four .egt high, 
and not, I think, quite two years old. Such plants 
or trees cau easily be protected in any part of Fioriia. 
The seed must bo planted very shallow, barely fdddeii 
with the soil, and the plant set out when about one 
foot high. Where the soil is rich and the trees are 
to be protected from frost, they may be set as near 
as four feet apart, but more room would be better. 1 
cannot learn how high they might grow eveniually, 
tho highest at Fort Myers being near twenty feet. 
Should they grow beyond any prao doable coveriug, 
new p’ants might be started to take the place of 
those that get killed by passing out of shelter. Fur in- 
digestion eat as much of the fruit at suxiper as you 
wish. It being batter, where fruit is rcarce, to make 
its use as uoer continuous as possible. Tbe green 
fruit seema bs effective (or more .‘<0), for indigestion 
as the ripe. The taste is much lise that of the 
musk-melon. They are also called melon-papaws, and 
are, when ripe, from the size of a large hen’.s egg to 
that of a half-gallon measuie. I am told that very 
differently shaped fruit grow from the seed of a single 
tree. Some of the trees have no branchen, while 
others have from one to a dozen. Some writers eay 
they have no branches, but many do. The tree is quite 
novel and ornamental ; well worth all trouble of pro- 
pagation as a novelty, or as a fruit, or a medicine, or 
to mako tough beef tender. 71 South F.orida party 
proposes to use them in canning Florida beet for 
market. I have not a seed or plant to rpare (it 
present. Almost anyone at Fort Myers could {nocoro 
seed if called on for them end postage sent, or I 
will send seed in a month or two if anyone desires 
to test tho matter, W. E. Driscoll. 
Manatee, Fla., June 16, 1890. 
lSf8. 
1899. 
1830. 
cwt. 
210,814 
80,5r0 
113,203 
lb. 
42,326,260 
44,301,931 
44,300,341 
lb. 
100,978 
77,024 
51,:iU7 
lb. 
3,824,-526 
3,079,; 43 
4,860,100 
lb. 
646,022 
263,133 
40i,G.'8 
gals. 
776,437 
702,747 
387,8.51 
cwt. 
6,057 
7,U60 
6,0C5 
Indian Exports. — For the first six months of 
the current commeroial year, namely, April to 
September 1890 inclusive, the expori; of certain 
staples in which we are interested, have compared 
with past years as follows - 
Exj^ort for first six viontlis of three seasons : 
COFFBE 
Tka 
C-IKDAMOMS 
PEPI’ER 
CINCHONA BARK 
Coconut Oil 
CAOUTCHOUC 
In Cinchona Bark, coffee and cardamoms, India is 
not making progress, while coconut oil has fallen 
very low this year in exports. 
The Effect on Plant-Life of Growth at High 
Elevations. — Prom a commuaicatiou on this sub- 
ject by M. G-astou Bonnier, detailed in the Comptes 
Itendu.s for September, we extract the following 
results of comparative resefiichea iu experimental 
nhysiology made by that gentleman. Experiments 
made on two exactly similar idants, subjected to the 
same external conditions, showed that tbe functions 
in a specimen cul ivaled in an alpine climate aro 
BO modified that the amount of feediug-power as 
represented by assimilation aud chiorophyllio trans- 
piration is increased ; while in a iiUut grown in dark- 
ness, respiration aud transpiiation seemed slightly 
modifi'd or even diminished. Therefore, wo may 
conclude, that dttring the short season at high 
alUtuies, plants elaborate more (raely the nutritive 
prinetpies wh'ch are iiece.-sary to them than do 
corrcBiJonding phmts of tho same species at lower 
elavations. Tbrso expozimeuts servo to explain the 
prosence of the larger relative quantity of sugar, 
starches, essential oils, colouring matter, alkaloids, 
&o., whioh are found iu plants native to a low eleva- 
tion, when these are grown iu an alpine climate, as 
all these products are directly dependont upon chio- 
rophyllio assiniihitiun, that is to say, on tho gre: ter 
vigour an 1 Bound l.ealth und nutritive jiuwe.- shown 
by tbe pl inls when tit a high elovatiuji. — (jardentrs' 
( Uroniclo. 
j Westland’s Patent Tea-breaking and Sifting 
Macuike ;.b doing very good work, we are glad to 
learn, and there is considerable differences for tbe 
better between the teas turned out from it, and 
those of the different grades sifted by ordinary sieves. 
Bone Manure. — Professor S. Cooke, of the Poona 
College of Science, has patented a process for the 
manufacture of artificial manure from bones with the 
aid of raw materials found in every Indian village, 
and be has, moreover, proved iis elSoiency by practi- 
cal experiments conducted on his own farms at Pau- 
chgaui and eisewhere .. — Madras Times, Doc. 18lh. 
Yeget.ible Butter — A new ariifioial butter has 
made its cppearanci. on tbe French market, which 
has already been hesi'd of and, it is said, \.ill be 
ialroouced in Enghind. It is inado from coconut 
cul, purified with alcohol and bone-black. The wai-h- 
ing with alcohol removes the unpleasant aromatic 
principles and all tendency to rancidity. The wash- 
icgs are used for making aitificial fiavuurlng essences 
employed for liqueurs and corifeclicnery. As the 
usual tests for margarine fail wi'h the new counter- 
feit butter, analytical ehemists aro clevisiDg methods 
for identiiying coco-butter (cot caoao-lutterj and 
cow-butter “ oocotisei'l .”- — Chemist and JJnujgist. 
North Cachae, Nov. 22ud. — Gardens are sbuitieg 
up very fast iurescl. A iittle rain now would ha a 
godsend, aa r would carry us on into D cember, but as 
ic IS, the quantity of leaf from teeius aud in fact off all 
plants save indigenous, is almost noniiua . Justs'ariiug 
the cold v/eatber deep hoeing — lutaiog up ground 
iu fine big jumps. Kucuen gardens me c.jmiiig- o.', and 
there will be io-s of English vegeiabicB prc^ellti_, . — ■ 
What a tiTa: ! Weather exquisi'.e and all the more 
enjoyable afier tho anful past season. Not the least 
prospect of any rain. River stofemer service appiarentiy 
made up its miud to tread on the British piuiuers’ tail 
as often and as hard possible, and neither to beware or 
have a c.-.ro. But nous verrons. 
Utilization of Bones fob Manure in Bombay. — 
There ai’j 7 bone milk inBombay and i at Thaus. The 
latti t is a large one, leoeutly opened by Mesers. 
Oroft & Wells. Bones ate brought by itinerant uealors 
obi> dy Mnstilmans, who empioy the low-castes of 
villagers to ooUect them. These pretty dealers either 
sell direct to es porters, who employ tbe Bombay mills, 
or to larger dealers, it is estimated that some 10,000 
tons are annufilly collected. Tne prices paid in Bom- 
bay vary ftetri R35 to 45 per ton, but are rising. 
Conversion to one-inch bones costs about R2J aud to 
bone meal about R5. The prevalent prices last season 
in England for the prepared bones were £4-10 and £5 
respectively. The imports by sen of bones to Bom- 
bay for export to Euglnna come chiefly from Cutch 
and Kiithiawsr. The rail imports are larger. The 
difficulty of coUectioa in the Koukan has so far pre- 
vented much export therefrom . — Madras Times. 
MM. Feemy and Verneuil have presented another 
paper to the Academia ues fcicienoes, Paris, on an 
improved method ot manufacturing rubies. Instead of 
employing pure alumina, they now use cluomated alu- 
mina, alkulise l with carbonate of potash, which does 
CO? impair tho purity of the crystals, while facili- 
taiing their formation and enhancing tho beauty of 
their colour. Other improvomeuts have been intro- 
duced, espicialiy iu lengthening the time of tbe reac- 
tion to a week or more, thus ettgendering hard, 
rhombuhedral cryttaia of a largo size. A gas furnace 
is used in place of a coke one, and thus a con- 
stant temperature of l,300dg. 0. can bo maintained 
for weeks. Large crucibles, giving more thau three 
kiiogramnies of rubies at one operation, are now 
adopted. MJyl. Apport, tho well-known glass.. blowers, 
have allowed the investigators to mako use of their 
furnaces and they have thus been able to prepare 
rubies whicli are in part sapphires, or crystals, red 
on out) side and blue on the other, a phenomenon some- 
times found iu uatura. Tho same charge will also 
produce crystals entirely red, aud others wholly blue, 
perhaps ovfing to a uifferoiico iu the oxidation of the 
ehromiiun. — Olohe. 
