THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
February 2, 1891.] 
601 
the three years or ® 140 an acre per year. And every 
time these are cut, a new forest springs up from the 
old stumps, and there is no expense to be incurred 
after the first year for either plowing, cultivatiug or 
irrigating, for deep down iuto hidden water courses 
in the earth does the blue gum send down its thirsty 
roots, even thirty feet whore the water is so far below 
the surface; aud it makes its giaut growth in the 
poorest sandy wastes of our river washes, drawing its 
sustenance from tho a'mosphere through its wealth 
of evergreen leaves. What a perfume, what a touio 
is inhaled by the beautiful foliage of the eucalyptus 
when night bring* rest and coolness to our plains. 
Fevers lose their terror aud malaria departs with a 
creeping horror, where the rnstling, whispering groves 
of stately eucalyptus waft fragrance over the home. 
Pour boiling water over the blue gum leaves aud 
drink the powerful tonb. It is equal to quinine to 
dispel the terrors of sickness. Tho contagious atmos- 
phere of the sick room today is denied by sprinking 
on the floor of an essential oil “ Euoalyptole,” extracted 
by the science of the chemist from the resinous leaves 
of eucalyptus globulus or eucalyptus amygdalina. Years 
ago winds swept over our treeles.s, uiiresisling plains. 
The “Northers” were a terror to the farmer aud 
orchardist. Today miles of eucalyptus surround our 
fields, line our avemies and encircle our orchards. 
They act ai powerful wind-breaks, protect the tender 
buds of our fruit trees from the March winds, aud 
yield an abundance of fuel, where of yora the shift- 
less Mexican vainly hunted for dried manure or brea 
to light his smoky fire. Straiigor, imagine the beauty 
of our avenues of blue gums twenty or a hundred 
years from now, when the trees average over 200 feet 
in length, over 15 feet in diameter, as they do today 
in their native land, Australia. Our southern plains 
will rival then the wonders of the Yosomite in their 
big trees. The question of fuel and timber supply is 
becoming more serious, more important from year to 
year on the Pacific Coast, as the giant redwood yields 
to tho greedy axe of the aU absorbing lumber trusts. 
If you own any lots or acres that are idle or un- 
productive, plant them in blue gum. A town lot 
60 X 150 feet will grow 200 trees 6 feet apart, and every 
tree wh n 5 years old, is worth $1-50 for fuel in a 
city. Tour lot thus yields @300 in five years or §60 
a year, and fifty acres in blue gums will yield you 
an aminal income of §7,000. The mayor of Los 
Angeles is planting 150 acres of blue gums this 
Beaton; they will yield him a handsome revenue a few 
years hence. The mighty forest will be an object of 
beauty' to behold and a i-ourcs of perpetual income to 
his heirs. Let the good work proceed of planting the 
beautiful blue gum in foi'ests for fuel, around orchards 
and fields, for wind breaks and for ornament in sightly 
avenues, affording shade and shelter along our streets 
— Rural Californian. 
THR COST OP GEOUND PEPPEE AND 
THE ADULTEEATION ACTS. 
At the public sales this week light shelly Penang 
Black Pepper h is been sold at tho price of 4j 1. per 
lb., the lowest point that has been touched for a long 
time past. According to the test analysis published 
ill the catalogue (as is now usual for Penang Black 
Pepper, under tlie recent arrival c nrraot form), thi.s 
parcel weigh il 31b. TJ oz. per gallm, an 1 contained 
4'.53 per cent of dust, &c. The fol'owiug are the 
regulati'iiis iu the arrival contract form which regu- 
late this analysis : — 
“ (1) The following to bo the standards of quality ; — ■ 
Class .-V, Heavy, weighing 41b, 13 oz. per ga'lon meas- 
ure; B, Fair, Weighing 411). 5 oz. per gallon measure; 
C, Fail .Mercliautalile, weighin ; 31b. 13 oz. per gallon 
measure; 11, Light, weighing 3 lb. 5 oz. per gallon 
nu'H.snro= Dust 3 p r cent. 
“(2) Tho t rin du = t to include 'talks, storey cl.iy, 
a' d other foreign matter. 
“ (3; For tho purpose of ascertaining tho proportion 
of dust, 5 par cout. of each mark shall, in the first 
instance, be^aifted through a No. 9i sieve, in galvanised 
iron with round holes (one of which is held by tho 
General Produce Brokers’ Association). Oftheeifted 
Pepper fifty pounds of each mark shall be hand-picked 
free from stalks, stones, clay, and other foreign matter, 
and the percentage of impurities so found shall be added 
to the percentage of dust as ascertained by sifting. 
These operations to bo performed by one of the 
customary docks or wharves. 
“ (4) Should the Pepper be found to contain more 
than 3 per cent, of dust, any excess up to 2 per cent, 
shall be treated as valueless, and allowed to the buyer. 
Should the additional 2 per cent, be exceeded, the 
buyer shall have the option of taking the Pepper with 
allowance for any dust in excess of 3 per cent., or of 
invoicing back the parcel to the seller at the fair 
market value of the day of the quality contracted for, 
plus a fine of not less than 2 per cent,, and not more 
than 10 per cent., tho value aud fine to be fixed by 
arldtration in the usual manner. Any fraction below 
half per cent, to be neglected, any greater fraction to 
carry the next higher integral. 
“ (5) For the purpo.se of asertaining tho weight of 
a parce l, the average sample taken by the Dock Com- 
pany or Wharfingers shall first be freed from dust and 
other impurities, and then filled into a gallon measure, 
shaken down as closely as possible without pressure, 
and struck off aud weighed, the average of three fillings 
to be taken for 25 tons or less. This operation to 
be performed by the selling Brokers, who shall state 
the separate weights of the three tests on the out-turn 
accouats. 
“(G) In the event of seller or buyer being dissatis- 
fied with the return of the weighing by the selling 
Brokers, either of them shall have the option, within 
a week from the date of the first selling Broker’s 
return, of calling for a fresh average sample to be 
drawn, and the matter shall be referred to arbitration. 
The arbitrators to te.st both the landing and re-drawn 
samples, and the testings to be averaged, and the 
resulr, to be considered final. Should the Pepper have 
been re-shipped before a fresh sample is asked for, 
the first weighing shall be taken as final. 
“ (7) Should the Pepper be found to weigh less than 
the minimum of the clas.s named, the buyer shall take 
the same with an allowance of one quarter per cent, on 
the sale price for the first ounce or fraction of an 
ounce, and a further one-half per cent, for the second 
ounce or fraction over an ounce, but should the defi- 
ciency iu weight exceed two ounces, the Pepper to be in- 
voiced back to the seller at the fair market value of 
the day, of the quality contracted for plus a fine of 
not less than 2 per cent., and not more than 10 per 
cent., the value and fine to be fixed by arbitration in 
the usual manner. 
“ (8) Samples to be drawn of not less than 281b for 
parcels of25 tons or less. In case a second sample be 
requiied, half of the total quantity drawn to be re- 
turned to the bulk.” 
No machine has yet been invented which will entirely 
remove earth or sandy matter from Pepper, and, in 
fact, practical experience shows that in some cases 
screening or brushing machines, by the forcible pres- 
snre used in this process, do harm instead of good, 
by breaking up pellets of earthy or clayey matter 
that a sieve would to a great extent remove unbroken. 
The only plan that the trade can adopt, therefore, 
to avoid risk of prosecution under the Adulteration 
Act, is to buy whole Pepper as free from dust and dirt 
as possible, aud tho analy.ses published with each 
parcel of Penang Black enable them to a great degree 
to do this. It appears, however, that the 
test analyses carried out by the Loudon docks and 
wharves do not mean that all the dusty matter con- 
sists of sand and earth. 
Penang Black Pepper is more largely nsed for 
grinding than other descriptions and heavy Aoheen 
can ii'jw bo bought at 6d. per lb., aud West Coast 
Penang, which is heavier Pepper, at 5Jd. to 5id. per 
lb., according to weight per gallon and percentage 
of dust. In tho best cases the percentage of the 
latter would be 2 to 2-^ per cent. The cost of grind- 
ing, inoluding barrels, and loss iu weight in grinding 
