Aug.  I,  1895.J 
THK  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
129 
fl'uit  and  not  tlie  llower  tli.at  is  most  onlorons' 
The  fniit  when  ripe  is  so  redolent  that  its  scent 
can  be  recognised  a mile  I'rom  where  the  orange 
is  growing. — Public  Opiuioii. 
Tea  in  Ieici.AND. — Some  curious  'nlormation 
on  this  subject  will  lie  found  elsewhere 
gi\'en  before  a lioj'al  Commission  ; Irish  witnesses 
made  out  that  the  linest  of  Indian  teas  weie 
drunk  in  Ireland,  that  tea  makes  an  excellent 
substitute  for  milk  and  meat  and  that  if  the 
uouulation  of  Ireland  had  not  been  allowed  to 
fall  oir  through  emigration,  Ireland  would  re(juire 
nearly  a million  sterling  worth  more  of  tea  per 
annum  than  at  present. 
Aiieca  Palm  : Aijnokmal  Ciiowtii. — A Ne- 
gombo  corresjiondent  sends  us  a part  of  the  top 
of  an  areca  palm  with  a series  of  young  plants 
developing  from  the  fruit — a case  of  vegetable 
monstrosity  in  fact.  The  Director  of  the  School 
of  Agriculture  Avho  has  seen  it,  u rites  : — 
“ Instances  are  fairly  common  of  premature  ger- 
mination of  seed  as  in  the  jak  fruit  and  papaw — 
the  latter  fruit  when  cut  very  ripe  sometimes  pre- 
senting a mass  of  little  seedlings.  But  to  judge 
from  the  specimen  sent  the  ovary  would  seem  not 
to  have  developed  into  the  typical  fruit,  and  the 
ovule  on  being  fertilized  would  appear  to  have  passed 
into  seed  (which  then  germinated  prematurely)  while 
the  pericarp  became  suppi'essed.  It  is  impossible  to 
assign  an  ultimate  cause  for  such  abnormal  growths.” 
Sisal  Hemi*  (Agave  hkmda,  vak.  Sisalana) 
AT  Veka  Ckuz. — In  a report  on  the  trade  ami 
commerce  of  V'er  ^ Cruz,  reference  is  made  to  the 
Henegreii  or  Yucatan  heiii|),  which  has  become 
more  gener.ally  known  of  late  as  Sisal  stated  to 
be  from  the  fact  that  the  l.bre  was  first  exi)ortcd 
from  Sisal,  a small  coast  port  about  27  miles  west 
of  Progre.so.  In  view'  of  the  low  price  that  has 
ruled  from  Si.sal  hem])  for  some  time  past,  it  will 
be  of  interest  to  know  that  the  export  from 
^'er<a  Cruz  varies  from  19,000  to  4.5,000  bales  per 
month,  the  average  weight  of  each  bale  being 
about  350  lb.  It  has  been  rem.arked  that  this 
year  1895  will  have  the  maximum  ([uantity  of  hand 
under  hemj)  cultivation  in  \'uc,atan,  wdiich  me.ans 
that  the  j)roduction  of  hemp  has  reached  its 
limit.  Cmler  the  existing  circumstances  of  low' 
])rices,  high  monetary  exchange,  and  scarcity  of 
the  Imlian  labour,  many  of  the  farmers  are 
])lanting  Maize  instead  of  re])lanting  Iiemp. 
New'  lands  .as  well  as  old  liemp-growing  areas, 
are  now'  being  used  for  grow'ing  Maize  and  other 
])rod nets.  — tfarrfcaciw’  Chronicle. 
Coffee  in  Si.am. — A recent  visitor  to  Singgera  tells 
ns  that  he  found  there  a coffee  estate,  managed  by 
a European,  w'hich  w'as  most  healthy  and  flourishing. 
There  was  not  the  faintest  trace  of  disease,  while 
every  indication  was  present  of  a bumper  crop  in 
November.  There  were  500  acres  all  fully  planted 
with  trees  8 ft.  apart.  In  the  centre  of  each  group 
of  four  is  a pit  about  18  in.  deep,  and  measuring  18 
in.  by  12  in.,  into  w'hich  all  the  primings  are  thrown, 
together  with  cattle  manure.  The  son  of  the  Gover- 
nor, we  are  told,  has  also  gone  in  for  the  same  cul- 
tivation, but  on  a different  principle.  He  has  400 
trees  planted  .about  2oft.  apart,  and  he  manures  them 
in  the  .Java  style.  That  is  to  say,  he  digs  a cir- 
cular trench  one  foot  wide  and  two  deep,  at  about 
18  inches  from  each  tree,  into  which ' he  puts  cattle 
manure.  Then,  at  about  (5  inches  from  the  trunk,  he 
digs  a second  smaller  trench  in  which  rotten  fish  is 
placed.  The  result  of  this  rich  feeding  has  been  that 
the  trees  went  ahead  well  at  first,  but  are  now  begin- 
ning to  droop.  We  also  know  of  a coffee  plantation 
not  100  miles  from  Bangkok  the  progress  of  which 
is  being  very  anxiously  follow'ed.  So  far  all  is  going 
well,  and  the  first  crop  is  beginning  to  shew  itself. 
It  looks  so  promising  that  it  seems  a pity  to  have 
tp  sacrifice  it  to  the  law  which  declares  that,  to 
allow  the  first  crop  to  mature,  is  to  ruin  the  tree*. 
. — Siam  Observer, 
f’lc.vo  AND  “'Will  Ve  No’  Tome  Back 
Again.” — 'I'lie  Ameriivan  cacao  buyers  whose  ab- 
sence from  tlie  London  m.arket  we  have  all  load 
to  (lejilore,  and  w hose  spirited  bidding  and  solid 
coin  are  still  with  gratitude  remembered,  are  said 
to  be  turning  up  again  at  Mincing  Lane  and 
“feeling  .around”  c.acao.  A London  correspon- 
dent writing  on  the  25th  June  says The 
market  for  cacao  is  better  during  the  p.ast  two 
or  three  week.s,  and  our  brokeis  are  more  hopeful 
of  the  future.  Some  American  orders  have  come 
on  the  market,  and  jirices  h.ave  hardened.” 
The  “Oil  Find”  at  Calcutta.— With  reference  to 
the  supposed  discovery  of  kerosine  oil  in  Calcutta, 
the  theory  now  put  forward  to  account  for  the  pheno- 
menon is  that,  some  time  ago,  retail  dealers  in  ex- 
plosive oils,  such  as  kerosine,  were  restricted  from 
having  on  their  premises,  at  any  one  time,  more  than 
a few  cases.  The  dealers,  however,  found  it  more 
advantageous  financially  to  purchase  a large  number 
of  cases  at  once;  and  to  evade  the  restrictions  im- 
po.sed  upon  them;  all  cases  in  excess  of  the  number 
allowed  by  law  were  carefully  buried  so  as  to  be 
out  of  the  way  when  the  authorities  came  to  ins- 
pect their  premises.  It  is  supposed  that,  while  the 
cases  lay  buried  on  the  plot  of  ground  in  question 
some  or  all,  of  them  succumbed  tc  the  effects  of 
damp  and  rust,  and  the  contents  of  the  cases  escaped 
into  the  ground.  To  make  matters  certain,  the  piece 
of  ground  not  yet  excavated  will  be  dug  up,  and 
there  is  little  room  for  doubt  that  what  remains  of 
the  original  oil  cases  will  be  found. — Times  of  India. 
The  Cevlon  Cinchona  Entekpki.se.— MTiat 
.a  pity  that  “ Bail  lie  Street  ” planting  publications 
are  not  in  the  hands  of  our  contemporaries. 
Tlie  followim.>-  is  from  the  local  “Times”: — 
A handful  of  early  pioneers,  who  had  planted  cin- 
chona unwitting  of  the  high  value  of  its  bark,  and 
who  were  able  to  harvest  before  the  great  rush 
into  cinchona  in  1878,  1879,  and  1880,  undoubtedly 
made  large  sums  of  money.  Those  who  were  wise 
enough  to  grow  cinchona  seed  or  plants  for  new 
clearings  also  did  remarkably  well,  but  for  the  re- 
mainder, who  made  use  of  this  same  seed  and  these 
same  plants,  only  to  find  their  fields  of  cinchona  killed 
out  ruthlessly  and  suddenly  by  canker,  in  spite  of  all 
precautions,  their  experiences  were  sad  in  the  extreme. 
Now,  the  first  private  planting  of  cinchona  in 
Ceylon  took  place  in  1868,  and  the  prices  con- 
tinued to  be  remunerative  up  till  1884-5— or 
for  17  yeans.  One  would  think,  following  the 
above  parallel  th.at  tbe  time  to  iv.arn  Ceylon 
Camphor  pioneers  would  be  in  1912  .and  not  in 
1895 — jnst  as  the  enteiqirise  is  beginning  ! 
The  Teak  Tiiahe  op  Siam.— An  extremely  interest- 
ing State  paper  on  the  teak  trade  of  Siam  has  been 
written  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Black,  Acting  British  Vice- 
Consul  at  Bangkok.  He  st.ates  that  practically  the 
whole  of  the  extensive  teak  forest  of  Siam  are  in 
the  hands  of  mitish  subjtcts,  either  in  virtue  of 
original  lease,  or  by  an  amwvgcmeut  which  practically 
gives  a lease  of  the  forests.  Nearly  half  of  the  pur- 
chasers of  the.  wood  are  also  British  subjects,  many 
of  these  are  Bumians.  who  are  gcneriidv  men  of  small 
moans.  With  the  traditional  lact  of  their  race  these 
tradesmen  manage-  to  win  the  confidence  of  Bangkok 
capitaii.-.ts  wiio  advance  thorn  almost  the  whole  of 
tlie  necessary  outlay.  This  is  no  oi dinary  undertaking, 
for  three  or  four  years  must  elapse  between  the  times, 
when  operations  commence  to  the  time  when  the 
wood  reaches  the  market.  In  addition  to  this  large 
numbers  of  expensive  elephants  require  to  be  secured, 
while  considerable  disbursements  have  to  be  made 
in  the  shape  of  advances  to  coolies.  Serious  loss  ia 
occasioned  every  year,  again  by  thefts  of  the  teak, 
which  is  apt  to  get  stranded  in  the  rice-fields,  or 
stuck  iu  the  banks  in  its  passage  down  stream.  At 
these  points  thieves  are  always  watching,  and  they 
seldom  miss  an  opportunity  of  making  off  with  the 
loss.  More  than  half  a million  sterling  is  said  to  bo 
embarked  in  this  industry. — Pioneer,  dwna  28. 
