Aug.  I,  i895.j 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
8i 
where  it  is  pursued  in  some  twenty  villages.  At 
the  village  of  Suain  Ampil  there  are  eighty-niiie 
planters,  and  more  than  a hundred  plantations,  con- 
taining 48,441  stocks.  The  plants  are  propagated  from 
cuttings,  which  are  made  about  eijhteen  inches  long, 
and  are  taken  from  stocks  two  or  three  years  old. 
They  are  supported  by  stakes  about  ten  feet  high, 
which  are  solidly  planted  in  the  ground  ; and  are 
fertilised  at  the  season  every  year  with  a special 
manure,  which  is  composed  of  eight  parts  of  good 
soil  and  o le  part  of  pounded  shrimp  shells.  The 
plants  are  liable  to  attack  by  a minute  parasite  that 
destroys  their  fruitfulness,  to  obviate  which  they 
are  treated  with  a decoction  of  tobacco.  The  first 
crop,  but  an  insignificant  one,  appears  in  the  third 
year  from  planting.  A corp  of  about  a kilogramme 
per  stake  of  two  plants  is  gathered  in  the  fourth  year, 
and  the  increase  continues  for  eight  or  ten  years. 
Exceptional  plants  in  good  soil  may  return  four  kilo- 
grammes per  stake  ; but  a crop  of  from  two  to  two 
and  a half  kilogrammes  is  considered  a fair  average. 
Some  plants  will  live  fifty  ye  rrs,  but  they  are  seldom 
remunei’ative  after  fortv  years,  and,  as  a rule,  a 
plant  thirty -five  years  old  is  considered  of  no  further 
value.  The  p ants  bloom  in  May  and  .June,  and 
the  gathering  of  the  crop  begins  in  Februiry.  The 
bunches  which  have  turned  red  are  picked  and  the 
others  are  left  for  future  visitations.  The  berries 
are  stripped  from  the  bunches  and  dried  in  the 
sun  till  they  are  black,  when  they  are  packed  and 
made  ready  for  sale.  White  or  grey  Pepper  is  pro- 
duced by  letting  the  berries  get  a little  riper,  and 
cleansing  them  from  their  outside  envelopes.  In 
some  districts  the  removal  is  assisted  by  soaking 
the  berries  in  sea-water.  One  labourer  can  usually 
take  care  of  about  one  thousand  stakes. — The  Indian 
Agriailtunst. 
PEACH  CULTURE  IX  THE  SLMLA 
DISTRICT. 
We  have  received  from  Mr.  W.  Coldstream,  C.S., 
Superintend  nt  of  Hill  States,  Simla,  Tract  No.  8, 
on  the  advantages  of  cultivating  peach -s.  Consider- 
ing that  three  persons,  if  not  four,  were  associited 
in  its  production  we  are  somewhat  disappointed  by 
this  meagre  pamphlet  of  six  pages,  even  though  we 
see  that  it  is  printed  and  p.iblisheJ  for  the  edification 
of  local  zemindars.  After  describing  the  advantages 
of  having  trees  planted  round  houses,  the  conclusion 
is  arrived  at  that  the  peach  is  the  best  tree  to  plant 
as  “ it  grows  rapidly — comes  to  maturity,  or  fruit- 
bearing — in  three  or  four  years — is  most  easily  cul- 
tivated from  the  seed  and  is  usually  very  polific.” 
We  are  then  told  that  “ in  very  rich  soil  trees  six 
years  old  have  yielded  one  thousand  peaches  each 
in  a single  crop,  ” and  here  at  the  outset  we  find 
ourselves  obliged  to  protest.  Any  one  who  has  ever 
tried  it,  even  on  poar  soil,  knows  that  one  can  get 
lots  of  peaches,  but  that  to  get  good  peaches,  not 
the  rubbishy  bitter  little  hard  green  peaches  of  the 
villages,  you  must  obtain  the  best  kinds,  must  cut 
oil  about  three-quarters  of  the  fruit  when  set,  must 
prime  carefully  and  manure  heavily,  and  these  are 
just  what  the  villagers  will  not  do.  No  doubt,  on 
the  outskirts  of  hill  villages,  in  inure  of  a sort! — is 
plentiful,  only  too  plentiful,  but  who  ever  heard  of 
a native  fruit-grower  cutting  off  any  of  the  young 
fruit  to  improve  the  rest,  any  more  than  he  heard 
of  a native  gardener  who  would  of  his  own  accord 
gather  his  peas  before  they  were  as  hard  as  bullets, 
or  his  turnips  until  they  were  more  tit  to  give  rope- 
fibre  than  food  ? 
No  doubt,  peaches,  if  only  some  attempt  is  made 
to  get  good  ones,  are  good  things  to  grow,  and  even 
when  hard  and  bitter  they  make  good  stew;  but 
there  are  other  fruits  as  good,  such  as  apricots, 
Bokhara  plums,  and,  above  all,  apples.  It  seems 
to  ns  thit  there  is  no  w.int  of  fruit  tress  generally 
in  the  North-west  Hills,  but  that  what  is  wanted  is 
improved  cultivation  and  consequent  improved  quality. 
Hints  on  these  important  matters  are  unfortunately 
absent  from  Mr.  Parson’s  ‘ directions  for  sowing  and 
rearing’  which  we  need  hardly  reproduce,  as  they 
contain  nothing  but  whftt  any  Forest  officers  mast 
^aye  known  long  ago, 
We  take  the  greatest  interest  in  the  work  with 
which  officers  like  Sir  Edward  Buck  and  Mr.  Gold- 
stream  have  identified  themselves,  but  we  hope  that 
in  future  Tracts  of  the  kind,  Mr.  Coldstream  will 
impress  upon  his  ranas  and  zemindars  the  advantages 
of  improvement  in  quality  as  much  as  those  of 
increased  number  of  trees.— Indian  Forester. 
AGRICULTURAL  INDUSTRIES-OLD  AND 
NEW— IN  MAURITIUS. 
In  previous  issues  of  our  paper,  we  have  com- 
mented on  Agricultural  Industries  that  we  think 
might  be  successfully  cultivated  on  a large  scale 
in  Mauritius,  such  as  Ramie  fibre.  Coffee,  Tea,  &c. 
We  now  purpose,  briefly,  to  treat  on  minor  ones, 
which  with  proper  attention  should  prove  equally 
if  not  more,  lucrative,  acre  for  acre. 
Vanilla. — We  hesitate  to  touch  on  the  subject 
of  Vanilla  culture,  seeing  that  Mauritius  has  for 
many  years  held  its  own  in  the  London  and 
Continental  markets  against  the  produce  of  other 
countries,  and  that,  in  the  cultivation  of  the  plant 
and  preparation  of  the  bean,  Mauritius  planters 
have  never  been  excelled.  This  being  the  case, 
we  would  eschew  any  attempt  at  giving  instruction 
to  a maternal  grandparent,  and  content  ourselves 
by  saying  that,  disappointing  as  the  cultivation  of 
the  vine  has  been  of  late  years  disheartening  as 
it  is  to  H30  plantation  after  plantation  succumb 
to  a disease  which  has  hitherto  biftied  all  attempts 
at  eradication  and  elucidation,  both  by  experienced 
planters  and  scientific  men,  by  selecting  either 
virgin  forest  or  wellgrown  coppice,  and  by  planting 
on  live  wood  which  has  been  freed  from  excessive 
shade,  vanilla  can  still  be  grown  to  give  a hand- 
some profit  on  the  small  expenditure  this  mode  of 
cultivation  would  entail. 
Cacao. — Experience  shews  that  in  some  parts  of 
Mauritius  the  soil  is  we  1 adapted  to  this  culture. 
The  few  trees  that  are  to  be  found  in  the  country- 
are  strong,  healthy  specimens,  and  they  crop  freely. 
It  is  a tree  that  should  be  planted  only  at  low 
elevations — not  more  than  500  feet  above  sea  level — 
and  in  diep,  rich  soil ; it  requires  a well  distributed 
rainfall  and  should  be  sheltered  from  the  effects 
of  wind  as  much  as  possible.  The  specimens  that 
there  are  in  Mauitius  suffered  severely  from  the 
hurricane  of  1802,  but  the  recuperative  powers  of 
the  tree  are  great,  aud  in  t velve  mouths  after  that 
calamity,  those  referred  to  were  laden  with  fruit. 
The  cultivation  is  very  simple,  and  the  preparation 
consists  in  r moving  the  seed  from  the  ripe  pod  aud 
drying  it  sufficiently  for  transport  to  European 
markets. 
Banana. — The  development  of  this  industry  is 
sadly  behindhand  ; a surprising  fact,  considering 
how  freely  the  tree  grows,  and  the  quantity  of  laud 
there  is  available  for  its  cultivation.  The  varieties 
appear  to  be  but  few  ; whether  this  be  the  case  or 
not,  it  is  seldom  that  any-  but  the  poorer  sorts  are 
offered  for  sale.  No  effort  appears  to  be  made  to 
cultivate  the  fruit  systematically ; stools  are  stuck 
into  the  ground  anyhow,  the  tree  is  allowed  to 
grow  without  any  attention  being  paid  to  it,  and 
when,  or  before,  the  fruit  is  pleine  it  is  cut  down 
and  sent  to  market.  In  countries  where  the  banana 
is  cultivated  for  export,  the  land  is  thoroughly 
prepared,  laid  out  in  squares  and  properly  drained, 
irrigation  being  resorted  t ) when  necessary,  where 
water  is  available.  That  considerable  care  is  given 
to  its  culture  is  not  surprising  as  steamers  of  1000 
tons  and  upwards  are  often  fully  freighted  with 
bunches  of  hananas  collected  in  Fiji  aud  the  ad- 
jacent islands;  these  find  a ready  sale  in  the 
Australian  capitals.  An  acre  or  two  of  laud,  near 
to  a railway  station,  cultivated  on  systematic 
principles,  would  not  only  keep  the  wolf  from  the 
door,  but  enable  its  oauer  to  live  in  comparative 
luxury.  Apart  from  its  value  as  a dessert  fruit, 
it  has  a marketable  value  in  the  shape  of  flour. 
Not  long  since  a sample  of  Hour  prepared  from  the 
Moko  plantain  was  sent  to  London,  for  which  six 
pence  pej.--  lb  was  offered.  A 15  lb  bunch  will  yield 
5 lb  of  prepared  meal,  which  at  fid  per  Ib=one  shilling 
