728 
TH£ TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April i, 1891 . 
giving the recent iii‘roductious among flowering and 
ornamental-leoved plants ; also new cLapters are 
introduced dealing in considerable detail, witli grass 
conservatories, orchid houses, fernery and propagating 
frames, with illustrations. The largest additions will 
be found in part IV., where new chapters are given 
on Ferns, Orchids, Mosses, Roses, Avoids, Palms and 
Crotons, &c. The volume consists of C62 pages ; 
the type is clear, and ths bin ling substanti.al. 
The first chapter tre ts of Climate, Soils and Manures, 
and this latter subject is treated very fully, the 
directions about preparation of charred vegetable 
manure, about the mix'ure and die proportion of 
fertilizers, and the relative values of various applications 
are all practical, and can easily be followed and 
carried out. Vegetable, mineral and liquid manures 
are separately treated. In Chapter II. are treated the 
Laying outota Garden, Lawns, Hetges, Irrigation, Con- 
servatories, Betel-Houses, Implements, Vermin, &c,, c. 
The informa' ion on the erection of Grasf-Oonservatories 
or Betel-Honses may have practical interest for some 
Colombo residents; IVe quote from it as follows : — 
“ Some time ago the happy idea occurred to Dr. 
Anderson that structures, somewhat similar to those in 
which the natives of Bengal have from time immemo;ial 
grown the Pan, or Betel plant, might be employed 
with advantage in the cultivation of plants that in 
natnre exist in a climate nearly a'iUe to that in which 
the Betel thrives. The attempt was made and proved 
a wonderful euccers. The structure iu itscdf is a simple 
and inexpensive thing. On a piece of ground, measured 
out according to the space required, stout bamboos 
are d.iren at intervals, .so as to stand erect about 
seven feet higdi. To these a jatlice of split bamboos 
is attached, much iu the way in which Gnolosures for 
fowls are usually made iu this country. Over the 
whole lattice, on the sides as well as the tops, a 
layer ef Ooloo grass is bound, just so thin as to allow 
of an tquil proportion of sunlight and shade, pro- 
ducing a kind of subdued light. Stages e then 
erected, either of brickwork or wood to rest the potted 
plants upon, with space left for paths around or 
between them. 
“When about to erect a grass conservatory, select 
a piece of ground away from the shade of large trees. 
Its length should, if possible, run north and south. 
The size will depend upon individual taste, and local 
circumstauces and surroundings. 50 feet by 30 feet 
is a convenient size.” 
The tat-house is, indeed, already introduce 1 into 
Colombo, and ferns and sollagirellas thrive well in 
it ; but to those who have not seen them, the hint 
may be usefu'. Most interesting are the succeeding 
chapters on tho variou-s ways of multiplying ami 
propagating plants, ou cuttiog, budding, layering, graft- 
ing, &c., &c. 
On one of the operations of gardening, i.c., Boot- 
Pruning, it is remarked that the Indian practice is 
the reverse of the English ; instead of removing the- 
soil at some distance from the I’oots, they dig up close 
around the stem, clear away some of the small roots, 
and after a week or two fill in with manure and cover 
over again with soil. The object is to make fruit- 
trees healthy by keeping tluir roots near the surface. 
Then follows next a calendar of operations for every 
month in the your for Vegetables, Fruits and Orna- 
mental Plants. And then comes the Vegetable Garden. 
Every kind of vegetable and of fruit-tree is named, 
and the due treatment of each is given. 
The rGniaiiiing portion of the bo k is devoted to 
the Flower Garden, including Ornamental Annuals, 
Ornameutal Trees, Shrubs and Ilorbaoeous Ferennials, 
a very full list, and the directions for tho cultivation 
of cadi are complete. 
■ 
Cinchona in Uva is fast becomin<r a thing 
of the past, and although the young cle;iriugs on 
Canaverel'n afford a picture of robust hcu'.i i , yet 
ttie laird now looks forward to the day wlien tea 
may take the place of cinchona. Mr. Macfarlano, 
on the wliole, has been, wo suppose, the most 
tncccBBful grower of cinchona in Ceylon on a con- 
Bideruble scalo. 
NOTES ON POPULAR SOIENCE. 
Bv Dit. J. E. Taylor, F. L. S., F. G. 8 . &c., 
Editor of “ Science Gossip.” 
An Americin professor of agriculture. Professor 
Atwater, his just published the result of a series of 
experiments concerning the proportion of nitrogen 
taken up by' plants- He showed that with nitrogenous 
fertilisers the proportion of nitrogen in the produce, 
both stalk and seeds of crops, was notably larger 
than in similar produce where no nitrogenous ferti'iser 
was used. Comparing American with European crops, 
Professor Atwater demonstrated that in re.spect to 
their relative richness in nitrogen the crops fr >m the 
liberally fertilised soils of Europe yielded considerably 
more than the same crops iu America. From this 
it appears that nitr geuous fertilisers vary aud 
increase tbe food value of feeding crops without in- 
creasiiig the yield iu weiglH. 
Professor Bruckner, a Swiss artist of Berne, has 
recently called a'tentioa to the existence of climato- 
logical PERIOD OF AliOOT 35 YEARS FOR THE ENTIRE 
GLOBE. These periods are, of cour.se, more marked in 
the interior of contine its. The years 1700, 1740, 1780, 
1815, 1850, aud 1880 appear as cold, wet periods : 
whil.t the years 1720, 1700, 1795, 1830, and 18G0 were 
warm and dry universal periods. During the warm 
periods, the passage of oceanic air to the continents 
has be'-n hindered, and during the cihl periods it 
has been favoured, increased rainfill taking place in 
the latter ease. 
Paper polp is one of those things a good many 
inventors tiiiiik of. It p-oniises to lend itself (like 
a prof, ssioiial politician) to anything — from cellulose 
or artificial ivory kuifo aud fork heiijl s and billiard 
balls to raiivvay waggon tires and rail.«. It is a 
carbonaceous raw material cut of which a good deal 
can be made — a kind of manufacturing protoplasm in 
short. I refer to this feet because of a paragraph, 
which appeared in a French technological journal 
last week, aQuounoing that a certain French manufac- 
tory is now bleaching p-iper pulp by ozone. The 
latter is a powerful bleachiug agent, as many Lanca- 
shire and Yorkshire bleachers know. In the French 
manufactory, it is stated the ozuiie is prepared by 
passing electrical discharges tlirough oxygeu, whilst 
tbe paper pulp is passed cuitiiiuously through a 
chamber containing it. This process is said to be 
far more rapid than that by chlorine (hitherto the 
latter has b;en chiefly ti«ed in our Lancashire bleach- 
works), and far more convenient. Moreover, the ozone 
does not attack tbe cellu'ose itself, as is almost 
necessarily the cise with tho chlorine process. It 
only abstracts the native or raw colouiing matter. 
This new process will probably startle our Laucashire 
aud Yorkshire bleachers. — Aitstralasian. 
Rio Janeiro. — The Vicomte de Saint Leger 
has just established in Rio a company under the title of 
the Compaiihia Floricultora Brazileira, for the purpose 
of providing amateurs with Orchids and other plants. 
The capital is 500:000,000 reis, or 1,250,000 francs 
= £50,000. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Cement. — Professor Alex. Winchell claims to have 
a cement that will stick on anything. The recipe 
is as follows ; —Take two ounces of clear gum arabic, 
one and a half oui ce of Hue starch, and half an 
ouncj of white sugar. Pulverise tlie gum arabic and 
dissolve it in as mucli water as the laundress would 
use for the qnautity of starch iudicited. Dissolve the 
sta ch and sugar in the gum solution. Then cook the 
mixture iu a vessel siupended iu bjiliug water, until 
the starch becomes clear. The cement should be as 
thick as tar, and kept so. It can be kept from 
spoiling by dropping iu a lump of gum camphor, or 
a little oil of cloves or sassalras. This cement is 
very strong iudeed, and will stick perfecUy to glazed 
surfaces, aud is good to repair broken rocks, minerals, 
cr lossiLs . — Tadlarubber Journal. 
