Dec.  2,  1895.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
377 
3,000  ft.  in  altitude.  The  tree  would  appear  to  flomi.ih 
at  a relatively  low  altitude,  inaamueh  aa  those  planted 
in  the  grounds  at  I'^omba,  liclow  the  Kesidenc.y,  at 
an  altitude  not  exceeding  ‘2,;i(IO  ft.  shove  the  sea, 
leave  nothing  to  be  desired  as  regards  their  vigour 
of  growth,  some  of  the  young  seedlings  having 
attained  a height  of  5 ft.  in  two  years.  Mr  Sharpe 
believes  that  he  has  seen  a Widdriu  gtonia  growing 
on  one  or  two  of  the  more  inaccessible  peaks  of 
Zomba,  and,  judging  from  what  I could  see  through 
a field-glass,  I think  he  is  right  in  his  opinion. 
Nowhere  else,  however,  throughout  British  Central 
Africa,  or  in  the  adjoining  regions,  has  any  one 
reported  the  existence  of  this  conifer.  Baron  von 
Eltz  has  made  an  active  search  over  the  lofty 
Livingstonia  Mountains,  at  the  north  end  of  the 
lake,  but  has  failed  to  find  anything  of  the 
kind. 
As  an  example  of  the  rapid  application  to  practical 
usefulness  to  which  we  have  ]mt  this  discovery  of 
Mr.  Whyte's,  I may  mention  that,  whereas  the 
definite  existence  of  the  tree  was  only  first  made 
known  in  October  1891,  in  June  189;!.  Captain  Johnson, 
commanding  the  Indian  troops  at  IMlanje,  was  having 
the  dead  trees  sawn  un  into  logs,  which  were  being 
sold  to  advantage  in  Blantyre,  and  later  on,  in  the 
autumn  of  189:1,  enouah  cedarwood  was  supplied 
from  Mlanje  to  re-roof  the  whole  of  the  Residency 
and  its  attendant  buildings  at  Zomba.  besides  which 
a great  many  useful  ariicles  of  furniture  have  been 
made  of  the  wood. — Timber  Trades  Juurnal. 
I'KODITTS  OF  BOLIVIA. 
This  mountainous  country  has  great  natural  wealth. 
It  is  rich  in  the  precious  metals  and  has  large  stores 
of  coni)er  and  tin.  Lack  of  transportations  facilities 
prevents  free  export  of  the  natural  products,  other 
than  high-grade  minerals  and  cocoa. 
The  torrid  region  extends  from  the  low  tropical 
plains  and  valleys  of  eastern  Bolivia  to  an  altitude 
of  approximately  t;,r>00  feet  above  the  sea.  It  abounds 
in  every  variety  of  tropical  fruits,  iucludgranadillas, 
pepinos,  paltas,  jjaoaes.  a fruit  cf  the  genus  Jni/a, 
consisting  of  thick  pods  about  six  inches  long  filled 
with  a sweet,  refreshing,  white  pulp;  chirimoyas,  a 
species  of  anouct,  one  of  the  most  highly  pi-ized  of 
the  Bolivian  friuts  ; pine-apples,  those  of  the  province 
of  Yungas  being  especially  rich  and  fragrant ; sugar 
cane,  coffee,  rice,  a superior  (juality  of  white  and 
yellow  cotton,  cocoa  (erythroxylon  coca),  the  dried 
leaves  of  which  are  a highly  stimulating  narcotic  and 
are  chewed  by  the  Bolivian  and  Peruvian  Indians, 
by  travelers  in  the  Upper  Andes,  and  by  the  Bolivian 
soldiers,  when  in  the  field,  just  as  betel  is  used  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  East  Indies,  cacao  or  chocolate 
tree,  a species  of  theohroma,  found  also  in  the  West 
Indies,  which  bears  a pulpy  fruit  from  the  seeds  of 
which  chocolate  is  made  One  of  the  peculiar  pro- 
ductions of  this  zone  is  the  guayacu  tree  from  xvhich 
is  gathered  a fruit  containing  a rich  aromatic  flour 
or  powder  neatly  inclosed  in  a strong  box-shaped 
cover  or  shell  and  esteemed  more  for  its  rich  perfume 
than  for  food.  It  is  known  only  by  the  name  given 
it  bv  the  Aymara  Indians,  viz,  hdka  f/iun/dcra.  hdl-u, 
in  the  Aymara  tongue,  meaning  flour  and  yita;/dcra, 
box;  hence  ‘flour  box'  or  ‘box  of  flour.’’  The 
guayacca  is  perhaps  the  tallest  tree  of  Bolivia,  growing 
to  the  height  of  about  1‘25  feet,  with  dense  foilage 
and  wide-spreading  branches,  thus  making  it  one  of 
the  most  delightful  shade  trees  known  to  the  mon- 
taJa.  This  region  also  abounds  in  forest  of  ebony, 
mahogany,  rosewood,  satin  wood,  cedar,  wax,  and 
cork  trees,  palms,  rubber  trees  (caoutchouc),  and 
other  varieties  of  wood  of  great  beauty  and  value 
rarely  met  with  in  other  countries,  including  a species 
of  mulberry  from  the  bark  of  which  are  made  the 
curious  shirts  worn  by  certain  tribes  of  the  Bolivian 
Indians.  Among  the  medicinal  and  other  plants  are 
cinchona,  jalap,  niatico,  sarsapaidlla,  copaiba,  tama- 
I'ind,  palma-Christi,  ipecacuanha,  camphor,  gum 
arabic,  balsams,  valerian,  cinnamon  and  vanilla. — 
^tnerican  Grocer. 
SOMF,  (jUEET!  FOODS. 
'Phero  is  an  old  proverb  to  the  effect  that  what 
is  food  to  one  man  is  poison  to  another,  and  the 
pioyerb  is  wfJl  illustrated  at  the  department  of 
aqriculturo  at  Washington,  hy  an  odd  sort  of  exhibit 
of  queer  foods  eaten  by  out-of-the-way  people. 
Among  the  articles  in  the  exhibit  is  a loft  of  bread 
made  from  the  leaves  of  a plant  that  is  allied  to 
the  century  plant,  as  also  another  kind  of  bread 
from  a dough  of  juniper  berries.  These  are  relished 
by  some  kinds  of  Indians,  while  others  make  cakes 
out  of  diflerent  kinds  of  bulbs.  The  prairie  Indians 
like  a dish  of  wild  turnips,  and  the  “ screw  beans  ” 
which  grow  on  mosquito  bushes,  are  utilized  by  Indians 
for  food.  Soap  berries  furnish  an  agreeable  diet 
for  some  tribes. 
The  Digger  Indians  in  California  do  not  disdain 
the  seeds  of  salt  grass,  and  the  seeds  of  gourds 
are  consumed  in  the  shape  of  a mush  by  Indians 
in  Arizona.  The  exhibit  in  question  includes  a jar 
of  pulverised  crickets,  which  are  eaten  in  that  form 
by  Indians  of  Oreg'on.  They  are  roasted,  as  are 
also  grasshoppers.  These  delicacies  are  cooked  in 
a pit,  being  arranged  in  alternate  layers  with  hot 
stones.  After  being  thus  prepared  they  are  dried 
and  ground  to  powder.  They  are  mixed  with  pounded 
acorns  or  berries,  the  flour  made  in  this  way  being 
kneaded  into  cakes  and  dried  in  the  sun. — L'io  Mars. 
A RETROSPECT. 
We  suppose  it  will  be  at  least  an, orthodox,  if  not 
an  interesting  proceeding,  if,  in  this  our  first  num- 
ber, we  devote  a small  space  to  looking  behind  us 
and  trying  to  recall  from  out  the  fast  receding  years’ 
a few'  facts  as  to  the  beginings  of  the  planting  in- 
dustry in  the  days  when  B.  C.  A.,  as  W'e  now  know 
it,  was  still  a vision  of  the  future. 
We  need  not  here  go  over  the  story  of  the  dis- 
covery of  this  part  of  the  woild  by  Livingstone  in 
1855  and  it  will  he  sufficient  to  note  that  it  was  in 
1875  that  the  late  Ilenry  Henderson  fixed  on  the  site 
of  the  Blantyre  Mission,  a selection  showing  a judg- 
ment and  know  ledge,  which  has  not  since  been  equalled. 
It  was  one  year  later  before  the  first  mission  party 
arrived  among  them  Mr.  John  Buchanan.  In  1878 
]\Ir.  .Jonathan  Duncan  arrived  bringing  the  now  his- 
toric coffee-plant  and  in  the  same  year  Messrs.  .John 
and  Fred  IMoir  established  themselves  at  Mandala. 
At  the  end  of  three  years  the  maiden  crop  of  the 
first  coffee-plants  was  sown  and  the  plants  distributed, 
part  being  planted  out  at  Blantyre,  part  sold  to  the 
A.  L.  C.  and  planted  at  Mandala,  and  part  being 
sent  to  Zomba.  The  second  year’s  crop  was  also 
sown  and  distributed  and  thus  a beginning  was 
made  in  coffee-planting. 
In  1881  Mr.  Buchanan  started  for  himself  at 
Mlungusi  (below  the  Zomba  Mi.ssion  site)  and  put 
the  question  to  a practical  test  as  to  whether  coffee- 
planting  would  be  a commercial  success.  Although 
many  years,  with  varying  vicissitudes,  have  passed 
since  then  we  do  not  suppose.  Mr.  Buchanan  would 
now  materially  alter  the  opinions  he  then  formed 
and  enunciated  in  his  book  “ The  Shire  Highlands.” 
In  the  light  of  present  day  experiences  it  is  inter- 
esting to  r'eread  the  verdict  passed  on  the  first  sample 
of  coffee  from  East  Central  Africa  (Zomba  district) 
placed  before  a London  broker  ' 
‘‘The  following  is  the  report  of  Messrs.  Patry  and 
Pasteur,  coffee-brokers,  London  ; — 
‘‘  The  coffee  particularly  is  remarkable  for  the 
depth  and  brightness  of  its  colour,  which  gives  to 
it  a value  probably  much  greater  as  a fancy  coffee 
suitable  for  certain  foreign  markets,  than  it  would 
possess  merely  from  its  strength  when  roasted ; and 
it  compares  favourably,  for  appearance,  with  the 
products  of  European  plantations  in  British  India. 
Ceylon,  and  Java.  It  is,  however,  a rather  soft  coffee, 
and  not  likely  to  keep  its  fine  colour  very  long. 
‘‘  Indeed  some  of  the  berries  are  already  getting 
a little  faded,  which,  if  it  made  further  progress, 
would  soon  detract  a good  deal  from  its  value  in  its 
present  state.  In  all  othei’  respects  the  coffee  is  as 
