512 
THE  TROPICAl,  AG  RICULTU RLS  I . 
[Feb.  I,  1896 
Jilctive  crop  tvyicc  in  each  year,  the  existcuce  of  the 
plant  during  live  seasons,  and  tlie  lieavy  return 
of  tile  particularly  line,  wool  during  the  very  first, 
award  to  the  species  a most  deserving  pre-eiiiiuenee.  * 
The  indigenous  plant  of  Kfat  is  not,  however,  so 
iiiucli  esteemed  as  that  from  (joudar,  which  instead 
of  rising  tall  and  straight  from  the  ground, 
assumes  a S]n'cading  dwaify  appearance,  t The 
wool  is  considered  superior,  and  the  cloth  ]irn- 
duced  is  softer  and  more  tdaslic,  but  the  exist- 
ence enjoyed  by  the  exotic  is  limited  to  three 
years.  Both  are  planted  indiscriminately  in  the  same 
held,  although,  when  gathered,  the  crops  are  preserved 
unmixed ; and  after  the  fifth  j'car  the  Efat  shrub 
is  cut  over  close  to  the  ground,  which  is  then 
ploughed  up,  and  sown  with  w'heat  and  other  grain, 
when,  on  the  removal  of  the  harvest,  the  young  cotton 
shoots  are  well  above  the  ground,  and  will  yield 
during  two  further  seasons.  The  seed  having  been 
placed  for  some  time  in  wood  ashes,  is  well  rubbed 
with  red  earth  before  planting ; and,  wherever  the 
locality  is  favourable  to  irrigation,  water  is  not  spared. 
The  pod,  when  ripe,  is  cut  with  a knife,  the  husk 
removed,  and  the  wool  deposited  in  a bag  with  the 
utmost  care  to  exclude  extraneous  matter.  One  full- 
bearing bush  produces  twice  during  the  twelve 
months  between  four  and  live  pounds  of  raw  stuff. 
Ooffea  arabica  (Boon)  grows  wild  in  many  of  the 
warmer  provinces,  but  is  diligently  plucked  out  by 
the  Christian  population,  who  consider  the  use  of 
the  berry  to  be  as  foreign  to  salvation  as  the  doctrine 
of  the  false  prophet.  Where  his  followers  abide  in 
greater  numbers,  or  uncontrolled,  as  in  Giddem  and 
in  the  countries  of  the  Ittoo  and  Aroosi  Galla,  the 
Coffee-tree  grows  unmolested,  no  care,  however,  being 
taken  of  it ; but  its  proper  home  seems  to  be  far 
to  the  west  and  south,  in  the  kingdoms  of  Caffaand 
Enarea,  where  a donkey’s  load  is  sold  for  the  twentieth 
part  of  a dollar.  Two  kinds  of  jessamine  grace,  with 
their  fragrant  flowers,  the  hedges  and  groves.  Olea 
spec.  (Woird)  is,  with  the  juniper  and  yew,  the 
principal  forest  tree  of  Shoa;  sixty  to  eighty  feet  in 
height  and  four  in  diameter  are  its  common  dimensions. 
The  wood  of  the  wild  olive-tree  affords  excellent  fuel 
and  timber;  but  no  use  is  made  of  the  fruit,  which 
attains  the  size  of  a large  pea. — From  a TrnreUrrx  Hool\ 
Till-;  IHIKM.VNT  PEBIOI)  IN  I'h.AN'I'S. 
A fruitful  cause  of  failure  in  the  cultivation  of 
exotic  plants  is  due  to  ignorance  of  the  climatal 
conditions  under  which  the  plants  grow  in  tin;  land 
of  their  origin,  and  especially  the  jiroper  season  for 
resting,  in  temperate  climes,  where  the  winter  and 
sumnrer  are  pretty  clearly  delined,  deciduous  plants 
discard  their  foliage  as  the  year’s  temperature 
declines,  and  appear  during  the  winter  either  as  leafless 
objects  or  inconspicuous  collections  of  dormant  buds 
more  or  less  hidden  by  the  soil.  Evergreen  plants, 
on  the  other  hand,  retain  their  foliage  till  the  spi'ing, 
but  only,  as  it  wei'o,  on  sulferance,  active  growtii 
ceasing  almost  entirely,  and  tlie  verdure  only  per- 
sisting by  its  own  inherent  toughness.  This  is  easily 
seen  by  our  familiar  Christmas  decorations,  where 
the  Holly,  Ivy,  Laurels,  Ac.,  last  green  for  weeks 
unless  placed  in  hot,  dry  rooms,  where  they  perish 
by  desiccation. 
The  resting  period  in  these  cases  is  clear  enough, 
but  it  is  another  matter  altogether  when  we  import 
])lants  from  tropical  and  sub- tropical  regions,  where 
the  diffcreucc  between  the  seasons  may  be  very  small 
indeed  as  regards  range  of  temperature,  and  altogether 
dependent  u))on  widely  varying  conditions  of  drought 
and  moisture,  so  that  instead  of  having  a w'arm  and 
* Gossypium  J'lfatense  seeds  completely  covered 
with  a close  down.  Cotton  white ; capsules  3-celled, 
:i-valved  ; Howers  small,  with  a red  fundus,  leaves  3 
to  5 lobed;  lol)es  acuminated. 
t Gossypium  Gondarcuse  seeds  sprinkled  with  sliort 
hairs.  Cotton  wliite,  capsules  ii-celled,  il-valved  ; 
flowers  large,  yellow,  1!  to  5 lobed  ; lobes  commonly 
obtuse. 
cold  season,  witli  a fairly  eveiil}'  distributed  rainfall 
throughout  the  year,  we  have  a wet  and  dry  season, 
witli  a constant  high  temperatui'e.  Under  such  con- 
ditions, we  naturally  find  indigenous  plants  to  be  very 
ditl'erontly  constituted  to  ours,  being  fitted  at  once 
to  withstand  excessive  drought  and  heat  during  their 
ri'sting  period,  and  to  assume  active  development 
at  short  notice  immediately  the  raitrs  begin. 
Now,  these  periods  of  drought  and  moistuievary 
considerably  on  different  parts  of  the  earth’s  surface, 
and  the  native  plants  adapt  themselves  in  conformity 
to  it.  Nor  is  this  merely  a case  of  latitude  and 
longitude;  for,  if  it  w-ere,  the  matter  would  be  com- 
paratively simple,  and  the  native  country  of  a plant 
would  determine  its  needs  within  certain  fairly -defined 
limits.  Elevation  .above  the  sea-level  is,  however,  a 
most  potent  factor  to  be  de.slt  with,  and  if  ignored, 
leads  to  many  mistakes  being  made  in  the  methods  of 
cultivation  pursued.  In  the  tropics  we  may  by  ascend- 
ing the  loftiest  mountains,  pass  through  every  grade 
of  climate  from  the  hot  plains  of  the  sea-level,  with 
an  average  mean  temperature  of  80°  or  so,  to  the 
region  of  perpetual  snow  where  only  the  hardest 
alpines  survive.  Yet,  despite  this  obvious  fact,  many 
a plant  has  been  collected,  and  safely  transmitted 
from  high,  cool  regions  in  the  tropics,  only  to  die 
in  a W’arm  stove,  where  they  have  been  placed  be- 
cause they  came  from  the  tropics,  where  a high 
temperature  has  been  presumed  to  be  universal.  In 
several  cases,  presumably  dead  plants  of  this  category 
have  been  thrown  to  the  rubbish-heap,  only  to  as- 
tonish their  owner  by  braving  the  elements,  and 
obtaining  a new  lease  by  their  accidental  exposure 
to  conditions  more  congenial  to  their  needs. 
A curious  feature  in  this  connection  is  the  great 
fastidiousness  of  some  plants,  which  will  only  thrive 
if  their  natural  condition  be  very  closely  imitated, 
and  the  cosmopolitan  tastes  of  others  which  will  stand 
most  diverse  treatment  with  impunity.  Our  native 
Asplenium  marinum,  for  instance,  which  thrives  on 
our  western  coasts,  where  it  must  occasionally  be 
subjected  to  some  frosts,  revels  in  a hothouse  treat- 
ment, and  becomes  a huge  and  much  robuster  plant. 
Such  wide  adaptability  is,  however,  the  exception, 
hence  it  is  of  great  importance  to  the  gardener  to 
know  something  of  the  native  natural  conditions  of 
growth,  temperature,  and  humidity,  and  above  all, 
when  and  how  the  plant  assumes  its  dormant  state, 
and  for  how  long  it  maintains  it.  With  plants  which 
are  to  be  forced  into  flower  it  is  essential  to  with- 
draw them  from  all  disturbing  influences,  and  knowing 
when  the  dormant  period  is  due,  to  lead  up  to  it 
by  reducing  heat  or  moisture  as  the  case  may  be, 
and  maintaining  them  under  such  conditions  until 
it  is  desired  to  start  them  into  growth.  Then  the 
application  of  heat  and  moisture  will  be  followed  by 
a healthy  vigorous  growth,  accompanied  by  an 
immunity  from  vermin,  the  presence  of  which  is  only 
too  often  an  indication  of  a previous  too  short  sleep 
and  consequent  weakness. 
'The  period  of  rest  seems,  as  we  have  indicated,  to 
be  determined  mainly  by  the  nature  of  the  seasonal 
changes  to  which  the  plants  are  subjected  in  their 
native  habitats,  but  in  some  cases  it  appears  to  be 
independent  of  this.  The  bulbs  of  Hyacinths,  'Tulips, 
and  other  spring-Howeriug  plants  arc  busy  during 
the  winter  in  forming  (heir  roots  and  oven  their 
leaves  whenever  not  actually  frozen  up.  and  quite 
early  in  the  year,  little  later  indeed  than  many 
other  plants  that  arc  beginning  active  growth,  and 
lung  before  the  sun  has  attained  very  great  power, 
they  have  flowered  and  formed  new  bulbs,  their 
foliage  has  died  down,  and  they  lie  in  the  dormant 
state  for  many  months,  only  awakening  when  winter 
has  again  set  in.  This  seems  a very  strange  pro- 
vision of  nature  that  a bulb  should  resist  all  the 
vivifying  influences  of  summer  sun  and  shower,  and 
wake  up  into  active  life  when  the  soil  is  at  or  below 
freezing-point,  and  the  great  bulk  of  vegetation  dead 
or  asleep.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  these 
bulbs  would  behave  if  shipped  direct  to  the  Antipodes 
in  the  spring.  In  those  cases  where  the  cycle  of  life 
has  been  fully  completed,  and  the  whole  vitality  of 
the  flower  is  comiucssed  within  the  rootless  bulb,  it 
wems  feasible  that  if  they  could  be  at  once  sub- 
