March  2,  1896.] 
Sii]>p lenient  to  the  ‘‘  Tropical  Agriculturists 
657 
of  fruit  witliout  retarding  maturation,  and  even 
to  hasten  the  latter,  provided  there  is  sufficient 
heat  at  command. 
The  usual  distance  apart  tomatoes  are  planted 
is  4 ft.  Upon  this  basis,  an  acre  will  coitain 
about  2,700  vines,  weighing  after  the  last  picking 
about  8,700  lb.  The  roots  will  weigh  about  l.OoO  lb. 
Taking  10  tons  as  an  average  yield,  a tomato 
crop  will  take  from  the  soil  in  pounds  per  acre 
Nitrogen — In  fruit  28  lb.,  in  vines  28  lb.,  in  roots 
3 lb. ; total,  59  lb.  Phosphoric  acid — In  fruit  11  lb., 
in  vines  6 lb.,  in  roots  1 lb.,  total,  18  lb.  Potash 
— In  fruit  53  lb.,  in  vine  44  lb.,  in  roots  4 lb.  ; 
total  1011b. 
Dr.  Jenkins,  of  the  Connecticut  E.vperiment 
Farm,  reckons  that  one-half  of  what  is  taken 
up  by  the  plants  from  the  soil  is  returned  to  it 
again  in  the  vines  and  roots,  that  is,  presuming 
these  are  returned  to  the  land  as  manure. 
In  some  parts  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
the  tomato  crop  is  aii  important  one,  and  with 
skilful  cultivation  15  tons  to  the  acre  are  often 
secured.  The  Canary  Islands  export  to  England 
about  150,000  cases,  or  something  like  2,700  tons 
of  tomatoes  per  annum.  They  are  grown,  packed, 
shipped,  and  delivered  in  London  at  a cost  of  2d, 
per  lb.  The  seed  they  import  from  England,  and 
this  is  distributed  among  them  on  their  under- 
taking to  sell  their  produce  at  so  much  per  cwt. 
GENERAL  ITEMS. 
A cursory  glance  at  the  Report  on  the  Abori- 
cultural  operations,  N.W.  Provinces  and  Oude,  for 
the  year  ending  31st  March,  1895,  reveals  the  fact 
that  the  authorities  concerned  have  been  very 
active  in  the  matter  of  roadside  aboriculture.  We 
are  told  in  the  report  that  the  actual  length  ot 
avenues  at  the  beginning  of  1894-95  was  8,251 
miles  ; that  234  miles  of  new  avenues  were  planted 
during  the  year ; and  that  tlie  total  length  of 
avenues  on  the  31st  ol  March,  1895,  was  there- 
fore 8,485  mile-s.  Roadside  aboriculture  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Colombo  would  seem  to  have 
almost  died  out  with  the  latelMr.  William  Ferguson, 
with  whom  the  work  of  tree-planting — for  orna- 
ment and  utility — wuas  indeed  a labour  of  love. 
Such  tiee-planting  as  is  at  present  iione  is  carried 
out  in  a perfunctory  manner  with  little  display  of 
taste,  and  the  result  is  that  while  many  public 
thoroughfares  provide  no  shelter  from  the  burning 
rays  of  a tropical  sun,  the  rest  present  wretched 
specimens  of  vegetation,  left  to  struggle  on  as  best 
they  can. 
Meehan’s  Monthly  for  December  makes  the  in- 
teresting statement  that  the  Tangerine  orange,  and 
possibly  some  other  varieties,  are  formed  through 
the  effort  of  the  oiange  to  make  a secondary  fruit 
at  the  apex  of  the  original  one,  only  that  it  failed 
to  make  any  original  at  all.  In  other  w'ords,  the 
Tiingerine  orange  is  a well-developed  secondary 
fruit.  How  this  can  be  brought  about  may  be 
readily  understood  by  carefully  examining  the 
oranges  known  in  the  markets  as  the  Navel 
variety.  In  these  cases,  a small  orange  can  often 
be  found  at  the  apex,  sometimes  of  considerable- 
size.  When  this  small  one  is  largely  developed, 
and  the  larger  one  wholly  suppressed,  then  we 
have  the  Tangerine- 
A writer  (W.  B.  Hall)  on  “ lemon  culture  ” gives 
the  following  hints,  wdiicli  w'e  take  over  from  the 
Rural  Californian  : — “ The  distance  trees  should 
be  planted  apart  depends  somewhat  upon  the  soil 
and  their  future  management  or  training.  I 
believe  25  feet  to  be  generally  about  right.  Head 
the  tree  about  two  and  a hall  feet  from  the  ground, 
keep  it  shortened  in  for  three  or  four  years, 
forcing  a thick  stoclq  basis  for  aftergrowth.  The 
tree  by  this  time  is  bearing  freely,  and  the  fruit 
will  pull  or  bend  down  the  long  shoots,  which 
will  then  put  up  or  throw'  out  small  fruit-bearing 
timber  along  the  upper  side  of  the  drooping  limb. 
1 think  this  preferable  to  a continuous  short- 
ening of  all  long  growth.  A dense  shady  tree  is 
what  is  wanted,  since  the  denser  the  shade  the  more 
symmetrical  and  smooth  the  fruit  will  be.  Limbs 
tiiat  reach  to  and  lie  upon  the  ground  may  from 
time  to  time  (as  needed)  be  tipped  off.” 
The  treatment  of  the  lemon  tree  in  Sicily 
is  agai-i  very  different  from  the  method  above 
described.  In  the  report  of  the  British  Consul 
at  Farlenno  (published  in  the  Keiv  Bulletin  for 
October  1895)  we  read  with  regard  to  lemons  ; — 
“ Tree  should  be  trained  high  to  admit  free  ventila- 
tion, pruning  to  take  place  regularly  once  a year. 
The  clearing  away  of  dried  twigs  and  suckers 
precedes  the  pruning  and  sometimes  renders  the 
latter  unnecessary. 
An  exceptional  crop  of  onions  is  said  by  an 
American  paper  to  have  been  raised  by  the  follow- 
ing method.  A patch  three  rods  long  and  two  w'ide 
w'as  selected.  The  ground  was  prepared  in  the  usual 
way,  w'ell  fertilized  and  raked  smooth.  Then  foot 
boards  12  feet  long  were  placed  so  as  to  leave  an 
opening  about  4 inches  betw'een  them.  Along  this 
opening  onion  sets  w'ere  planted  about  six  inches 
apart.  The  boards  were  not  removed  during  the 
grow'ing  of  the  crop,  and  acted  as  a mulch  through 
w'hich  weeds  could  not  peneti'ate.  A very  little 
labour  kept  the  weeds  out  of  the  rows,  and  the 
cro])  matured  in  fine  shape,  giving  an  extra- 
ordinary large  yield.  It  took  sixty-si.x  boards  to 
cover  the  patch,  and  they  cost  the  grow'er  about 
S^5.  The  boards  will  last  many  seasons  for  this 
purpose,  if  taken  up  during  the  winter,  and  the 
cheapest  kind  of  lumber  w'ill  answer  the  purpose. 
The  enforced  idleness  to  the  land  conveyed  by  the 
boards  adds  greatly  to  the  productivenes.s,  claims 
the  grow'er  of  the  crop.  Six-inch  boards  would 
answer  the  purpose  fully  as  well,  and  then  nearly 
twice  the  quantity  could  be  grown  upon  the  same 
amount  of  land. 
The  Madras  Government  lately  appointed  a Com- 
mittee to  report  on  several  water-lifts  for  agri- 
cultural purposes  that  are  now'  in  the  market.  The 
Committee  found  some  good  jioints  in  these  lifts, 
but  suggest  that  a rew'ard  of  R1,000  be  offered 
for  a really  efficient  lift  suitable  to  the  needs  ot 
the  average  ryot.  As  the  matter  is  of  imperial 
interest,  the  Government  of  India  are  to  be  asked 
to  consider  whether  it  would  not  be  possible  to 
})romote  a competition  throughout  the  country  by 
the  offer  of  substantial  prizes. 
No  absolute  specific  has  yet  been  discovered  for 
the  various  diseases  to  which  the  tomato  plant  is 
subject ; but  correspondents  of  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  recommend  that  the  plants  w'hen 
