Feb.  I,  1S96.] 
THE  TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
S>5 
hove  in  sight,  wliich  I signalled  and  they  were  all 
but  on  board.” 
Prom  the  14,000  or  more  coconuts  secured  at  that 
time  their  number  has  increa.«ed  with  each  year. 
Captain  Lainhart  states  that  a few  were  growing 
there  Itefore  that  time,  but  where  they  came  from 
ho  has  11;  ver  learned.  About  0,000  of  those  t' at 
came  from  the  « reck  were  washed  ashore  a’l  along 
the  coast,  and  have  made  stately  trees  that  are 
now  looked  upon  with  much  interest  by  all  those 
who  travel  in  this  dii-eclion. — I'lorida  A<jncultwri>il . 
Tllli  LAUDERDALE  ESTATE,  SOUTH-WEST 
MLANJE. 
One  of  the  best  know'ii  of  the  original  pioneers  of 
B.  C.  A,  whether  to  natives  or  Europeans,  is  Mr. 
John  W.  Moir  the  oiiginal  of  the  i ame  Mandala. 
In  passing  we  may  note  that  Professor  Drummond 
uses  Mandala  in  his  recently  published  Lowell  lec- 
tures on  “The  Ascent  of  Man”  as  an  instance  of 
the  savage  habit  of  generalising  unconsciously  from 
single  terms.  Ho  gives  the  instance  thus  : — 
“Mr.  John  Moir,  one  of  the  earliest  white  men 
to  settle  in  East  Central  Africa,  was  at  once  named 
by  the  natives  ^^anclaIa,  which  means  “ a reflection 
in  still  water,  ” because  he  wore  on  his  eyes  what 
looked  to  them  a mill  water  (spectacles).  Afterwards 
they  came  to  call  not  only  Mr.  Moir  ny  that  name, 
but  spectacles,  and  finally — when  it  entered  the 
country — glass  itself.  ’ 
The  Professor  might  have  gone  on  to  show  how 
it  was  also  applied  to  the  house  in  which  he  dwelt 
and  finally  to  the  community  over  which  at  that 
time  he  presided.  Although  not  now  resident  at 
iMandalu,  Mr.  Moir's  home  at  Mlanje  is  well  known 
even  to  most  of  the  new  arrivals,  and  ihcre  are 
few  visitors  to  that  district  who  do  not  take  away 
a pleasing  reminiscence  of  the  open  handed  hospital  ty 
of  the  modest  bungalow  over  which  Mrs.  Moir 
presides.  Mr.  Moir  has  gone  into  coffee  planting 
with  his  usual  enthusiasm  and  his  place  is  furnished 
W'ith  every  modern  requisite  for  the  carrying  on  of 
the  planting  business.  Unlike  some  of  us  uho  move, 
so  to  speak,  warily,  as  feeling  our  way,  Mr.  Moir 
has  an  implicit  belief  in  the  coffee-planting  industry. 
He  has  now  some  two  hundred  acres  under  coffee 
and  intends  going  in  for  further  extensions  as  he 
has  several  other  tracts  of  land  some  of  which  he 
purchased  during  the  last  year.  The  Lauderdale 
Estate  was  first  opened  up  by  Mr.  Brow  n of  Ceylon 
for  the  African  Lakes  Company  and  some  three 
years  afterwards  was  transfer  ed  ti  Mr.  Moir.  Mr. 
Brown  who  is-  a relative  of  Alexander  Brown  of 
Ceylon,  the  writer  of  the  original  Ceylon  “Coffee- 
planter’s  Manual”,  and  who  is  now  established  at 
Dnnraven  snne  three  or  four  hours  south  from  Mr. 
Moir’s  place,  seems  to  have  opened  the  estate  on 
the  moat  approved  Ceylon  methods.  Unfortunately 
he  did  not  allow  for  the  violence  of  the  Mlanje 
winds  and  hence  the  estate  is  somewhat  wind-blown 
on  exposed  prrts.  Mr.  Moir  is  however  doing  what 
he  c.an  to  remedy  this  over  sight  and  by  means  of 
bananas,  trees  of  the  A’c»f  family  and  others,  is 
endeavouring  to  shelter  and  shade  his  estate  while 
on  his  new  clearings  he  is  judiciously  leaving  up 
shelter  bells  of  the  originil  forest- 
The  elevation  of  the  estate  is  somewhat  low, 
varying  from  about  2,000  feet  to  2, .500,  but  on  the 
other  liand  its  rainfall  is  about  the_  largest  re- 
corded in  the  Piotectorate.  In  180.5-4  it  amounted 
lo  01-18  inches  and  in  1S01-.5'  to  127.70  with  an 
average  of  200  rainy  days  during  each  yearly  period. 
The  crop  in  1801  amounted  t ■ about  one-and  a-hulf 
tons  while  this  year  about  six  tons  (hulled)  w re 
gathered.  The  coffee  is  pulpi  d by  Cordon’s  cylinder 
pulpers  driven  by  an  iron  overshot  water-whee', 
fourteen  feet  in  diameter.  There  is  also  a hulling 
and  separating  machine  and  a circular  saw  dri  eu 
by  the  wheel.  Mr.  Moir  is  the  first  to  introdu  e 
an  iron  water-wheel  the]  only  other  water-wheel  in 
the  country  hitherto  having  been  Mr.  Buchanan’s 
wooden  wheel  at  Zomba  which  is  now  dismantled, 
We  were  much  interested  in  a cocoa  plant,  the 
only  one  in  the  country  to  far  as  wc  are  aware, 
which  seems  to  be  doing  well  and  is  tended  and 
watched  most  carefully.  Besides  the  ordinary  fruit 
trees  we  noticed  also  several  mangoes  which  are 
making  good  progress.  While  on  this  subject  it  is 
interesting  to  call  to  mind  that  to  Mr.  Moir  is  due 
the  honour  of  introducing  ihe  loquat  into  B.  C.  A. 
she  having  brought  the  seeds  from  Algiers,  to  which 
country  she  paid  a visit  some  years  ago.  Besides 
coffee  and  fruit  trees  Mr.  Moir  has  been  experi- 
menting with  wheat  and  ginger  and  is  also  trying 
raurtard  as  a green  manure  to  bo  dug  in  amongst 
the  coffee. 
Mr.  Moir’s  energies  are  not  all  directed  to  tro- 
pical agriculture,  however,  as  may  be  seen  from 
the  young  shorthorn  bull  and  cows  which  adorn 
his  herd  of  cattle.  The  young  bull  is  pure  bred 
from  the  sire  which  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Dloir 
sometime  ago  and  which  unfortunate’y  died  last 
year.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Mr.  Moir’s  efforts 
in  this  and  other  directioi  s will  bo  crowned  with 
success.  It  is  by'  the  efforts  of  such  men  as  he 
that  a country  is  benefited  for  each  solution  of  a 
problem,  whether  positive  or  negative,  is  a distinct 
gain  to  the  community.— Uaff/uf  African  Planter. 
ROSES. 
ITow  Rosf.s  ot'ght  to  bf.  Pi.axtf.d. — Whenever  it  is 
possible,  Roses  should  be  given  a bed  to  themselves, 
in  an  open  spot,  away  from  trees,  and  not  plauted 
among  other  flow'ers.  A bed  3 feet  wide  will  hold 
two  rows  of  plants,  and  one  4 feet  6 inches  wide 
three  rows.  The  distance  tetween  the  plants  for 
dwarfs  should  be  about  18  inches,  and  for  standards 
about  2 feet  0 inches.  The  beds  having  been  made 
ready,  and  the  position  of  the  Roses  in  them  marked 
out,  the  next  thing,  an  1 the  most  important  of  all, 
is  to  see  that  they  arc  pioperly  planted.  Some  of 
the  plants  should  bu  carefully  removed  from  the 
trench  where  they  had  1 een  “heeled  in,”  and  brought 
to  the  side  of  the  bed  they  arc  intended  to  occupy. 
A mat  should  always  be  thrown  over  them,  to  keep 
their  roots  from  di-ying  by  exposure  to  sun  or  wind. 
A hole  should  then  be  dug  about  a foot  square,  and 
of  sufficient  depth,  in  the  case  of  dwarf  ( or  ’’  bush  ”) 
Roses,  to  allow  the  junction  of  the  stock  and  scion 
to  bo  about  an  inch  below  the  surface  of  the  bed 
when  the  operation  is  completed.  In  the  case  of 
standards  the  hole  should  be  (5  inches  deep.  A nlant 
should  then  be  taken  from  beneath  the  mat,  sprinlded 
with  water,  and  held  with  the  left  hand  in  the  ceutie 
of  the  hole,  while  with  the  right  the  roots  are  spread 
out  horizontally  and  evenly  in  it,  taking  care  that 
the  roots  cross  each  other  as  little  as  possible. 
Some  of  the  finest  soil  available  should  next  be 
sprinkled  over  the  roots  so  as  just  to  cover  them. 
Over  this  light  covering  place  5 inches  more  soil 
which  may  then  be  trodden  in  and  the  hole  filled 
up.  Tread  the  soil  firmly  round  the  plant  when 
this  has  been  done.  Firm  planting  is  very  necessary 
for  the  future  well-being  of  Roses. 
In  the  case  of  heavy  soils,  or  where  the  ground 
remains  for  any  length  of  time  is  too  wet  a con- 
dition for  the  planting  of  Roses  to  be  salisfuctoril y 
carried  out,  it  is  an  excellent  plan  to  secure  some 
light  gritty  soil,  such  as  the  clippings  obtained 
from  the  sides  of  roads  when  the  grass-edges  are 
being  cut.  A spadeful  of  this  material  may  then 
with  advantage  be  placed  both  above  and  beneath 
the  roots  instead  of  the  natural  soil.  Soil  of  this 
character  may  be  firmly  trodden  without  cakin;i  to- 
gether, and  the  grit  in  it  en^ourag.  s the  early^for- 
mation  of  roots.  When  planting  Roses  singly  oii 
lawns  or  elsewhere,  the  same  mo.  hod  shoiri.i  be 
followed  as  when  inserting  them  in  beds.  Where 
Roses  are  planted  in  ti  e spring  the  shoois  shoiiid 
be  pruned  before  planting. 
SixoFK  Pr.ANTs  ON  Lawns  oii  in  BciiDKits, 
Previous  lo  planting  Roses  singly  on  lawns’ or  in 
borders  a hole  sh;  uld  be  dug  for  each,  18  inches 
square  and  18  inches  deep.  'The  soil  removed  from 
the  holes  should  be  well  mixed  with  one-foiuth  of 
its  quaatity  of  well-decayed  manure,  before  being 
