6oo 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[February 2, 1891- 
iture of capital on either by anyone who could not 
afford to risk a loss by the venture. 
The Niyanda fibre is superior to either of those just 
mentioned. It is of groat strength and flexibility, and 
is of beautiful texture. It is not cultivated anywhere, 
so far as we are aware, but grows wild in some parts 
of the Island, and is largely employed by natives, who 
collect it and prepare the fibre for mats and other 
nsaful articles. Whether it would repay regular cul- 
tivation is, however, just what we should have expected 
our practical friend, W. A. D. S., would tell us. In the 
absence of the necessary data by which to estimate 
the chance of successful cultivation, it must be relega- 
ted to the same category as the two jjlauts first men- 
tioned. Over them, however, it has the advantage of 
being already in considerable use, and of therefore 
possessing a certain economic value. 
Hitherto, notwithstanding the large number of fibre 
producing plants that grow freely in this island, and 
the high value of the fibre some of them produce, the 
attempts that have hitherto been made to produce 
fibre, as a commercial enterprize, have resulted un- 
favourably, except in regard to Coir and Kitool fibre, 
which we number amongst our regular exports. 
A1 oes, plantains, and other plants have been repeat, 
edly and extensively tried, without success. Cotton 
promises to do well, and possibly some other of the 
numerous plants that are profitably cultivated else- 
where may hereafter be cultivated successfully in 
Oeylou, but the difficulty as regards nearly all of them, 
is to free the fibre from the pulp in which it is 
formed. This is not peculiar to the plants of Ceylon, 
but is coniason to nearly all, The separation and 
cleansing of the fibre is therefore in almost all cases 
the chief part of the work, and the essential feature 
of success iu regard to the profitable production of 
fibre. 
It is possible that the forcing climate of this island 
may cause the fibres that are formed in the tissues of 
the plants that produce them to adhere more closely 
to those tissues than in countries where growth is 
periodically interrupted by winler or other change of 
season. Be that as it may, the art of separating and 
cleansing the fibres of Ceylon-grown plants has not 
hitherto been successfully acquired, and until that 
cardinal difficulty is overcome, the cultivation of fibrous 
plants is not likely to be remunerative. 
Considering the importance of the subject, as shown 
by the magnitude of the jute industry in India, the 
extensive coir manufactures of this Island, and other 
similar industries, it is one to which the School of 
Agriculture might give particular attention, especially 
as the students possess the advantage of a chemical 
laboratory and a fair elementary knowledge of the 
science of chemistry, which may be expected to sug- 
gest or to supply solvents suitable to aid in the process 
of separating the fibres from the pulp in which they 
are formed. 
It may be here remarke 1 that the failure of sugar 
as a profitable product, in all those parts of Ceylon 
where the cane has been cultivated, is due to the fore-- 
ing climate and its influence in promoting an uninter- 
rupted growth. The ripening process, in which the 
saccharine is formed, is unduly di layed for want of an 
effective check to the flow of sap. The experience of 
the past attempts to cultivate sugar profiiably in 
Ceylon suggest that any future trial should be made 
iu parts of the Island where there is a definite growing 
season and a marked period of comparative stagnation 
of growth, Porsibly; the same may apply to the cul- 
tivation of thote plants in which llie fibre is formed 
in the substance of the tissues. Here again, the 
Bchool of Agriculture could do good service by making 
trials in some of the nnmeroua stations where they 
carry on 'heir useful and practical operations in differ- 
ent parts ol the Island. — Local Indepcudoiit.” 
-• 
I’hAXTING IN GUATEMALA, 
<S'«r.ia;)a/tVfa. — Among tlio products which find sliip- 
inent from tbo Atlantic coast, of wliicti the town of 
J.ivingst.m is the jtort, strsaparilia should be uinitioned. 
The exports of this article during 1887 were 51,311 lb- 
This product was in such demand at one time, and 
commanded such good prices, that the natives gave 
up almost every other kind of employment and devoted 
themselves entirely to its production. During the past 
two years, however, the price has receded by one-half, 
and the demand has largely fallen off. It grows readily 
from cuttings of the indigenous vine, and, as the 
natural supply is giving out on account of careless 
digging, it is possible that the cultivation could be 
made profitable, even at the present low prices. 
Drug Cultivation. — The Government is offering a 
good many inducements to agriculturists to take up 
the cultivation of economic plants, including many 
varieties of drugs. Anyone desirous of cultivating 
sarsaparilla, rubber, or cacao, and not having land for 
the purpose, can, on requisition, be pnt in possession 
of a suitable lot. The following rewards are offered 
to agriculturists who at the end of eight years can 
show healthy plantations of cinchona (calisaya or 
succirubra) ; — 154L for 1,000 plants eight years old to 
the first cultivator, 77L to the second, 362. 10*. to the 
third, and 162. 10s. to all others. A premium of 42. 
for a term of three years is given for every 150 lb. 
of indigo grown and made in the country, and at the 
end of ten years after commencing the cultivation a 
reward of 112 10s. for every thousand gum trees 
planted out, c f five years old. 
Cochineal. — The industry of oochiueal-raising has 
almost entirely disappeared from the country. For 
thirty years cochineal was the principal article of ex- 
port, but now what little is grown is used for native 
consumption. 
Coca. — A quantity of coca seed was imported from 
Peru in 1888, for distribution among the people in a 
suitable zone for its growth ; but the result was un- 
satisiactory, from the bad quality of the seed, and 
fresh means are being taken to extend the cultivation 
of this plant. 
I'epper and Cinnamon. — Pepper and cinnatnon are 
grown in the departmr-nt ef Alta Verapaz ; good seed 
has been imported from Ceylon, and ijlauting is ex- 
tending in the fertile district, while good r suits have 
also been obtained in the department of Escointla, 
where a few plantations have been made. 
Vanilla, Cinchona, ^c . — Tne Tanilla plant grows wild 
on the mountains all over the o uniry. The quantity 
of the vanilla is good, but though it figures as an 
expoi’E it is not cul'ivated for that purpose. Peruvian 
bark has proved a lai ure, and the cost of introducing 
the tree has been practically lost. Indigo works are 
subsiding iu the country; a few still exist in the east, 
but though means are taken to encourage them, oniy 932. 
of indigo was exported in 1888. — Chemist and Druggist. 
^ 
EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS. 
Of all the 150 varieties of eucalyptus, the common 
blue gum is the most, useful and the most important 
tree for Southern California, It does not thrive in 
Florida; the cold spelhs of winter out it down or stunt 
its growth ; but on the Pacific Coast, from Eureka to 
Til Jutinn, a distance of 800 miles it is a stately, 
mighty advance agent of our now civilization. Twenty 
years ago our plains were absolutely treeless — desert- 
bke, parched and brown, lifeless almost — a picture of 
despair. Then the first boxes of seedlings were im- 
ported from Australia and sold at the public auction in 
San Francisco, at So a tree. 
Today the precious little giants sell for one cent a 
tree, llemi Nadeau, a recently departed genius deeply 
regretted by his friends, was one of the first men to 
appreciate the value of the eucalyptus as a fuel tree. 
Me conceived and executed the gigantic project of 
planting 1,200 acres of sandy land at Florence to blue 
gums. Over One million trees in one plantation ! To- 
day is a stately fo. ost of mighty trees, towering tall 
and straight 150 feet, a monument to the enterprise 
of our bygone friend. Every third year the trees are 
cut down, yielding 00 cords of 4 foot wood to the 
acre, worlh $6 to $7 a cord standing, or $7 to S18 
cut and corded ; the net iuoome is therefore S1420 for 
