Aug.  I,  1896.'] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGR  ICUI.TURIST. 
Of  tlie  small  plants  received  wo  have  a dozen 
now  growing,  but  at  a very  slow  rate.  The 
order  for  seeds  has  boon  repeated,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  when  received  better  results  will  bo  ob- 
tained. 
PINE  APPLE. 
1(>.  A small  patch  of  land  at  the  base  of  Richmond 
Hill  has  been  planted  with  pine  apple  suckers. 
Daring  the  past  year  the  fruit  obtained  from  the 
usual  pine  section  were  small  in  size,  inferior  in  flavour, 
and  on  the  whole,  very  disappointing.  As  the  sec- 
tion taken  up  by  pine  culinre  is  considerable  and 
runs  into  a few  thousand  plants,  much  time  and 
labour  are  absorbed  in  their  cultivation  and  main- 
taining in  anything  like  cleanly  order.  The  only 
reason  of  foaluro  which  suggests  itself  is  that  the 
ground  had  become  “ worn  out  ” and  rerj[uires  a 
change  of  cultivation. 
There  are  alway.s  numbers  of  willing  purchasers 
during  the  pine  season,  some  taking  as  many  as 
a barrelful  at  a time.  There  is  evidently  an  open- 
ing for  private  enterprise  in  t'ds  direction  and 
would  give  satisfactory  returns.  In  the  cultiv.ition 
of  pines,  sandy  well  drained  soil  is  considered  neces- 
sary for  the  development  of  good  size  and  well 
flavoured  fruit,  providing  desirable  sorts  of  suckers 
have  in  the  first  instance  been  procured.  We  can 
supply  these  at  certain  times  of  the  year  in  limited 
quantities. 
UANANAS  AND  PLANTAINS. 
17.  Mr.  Jenman,  of  the  Botanical  Departnment, 
Demerara,  sent  us,  last  May,  suckers  of  omed 
bananas  and  plantains.  These  together  with  addi- 
tional plantain  suckers  of  the  “giant  ” kind  obtained 
in  the  co’ony,  have  been  planted  to  enable  us  sub- 
sequently to  have  suckers  available  ior  distribution. 
We  have  experienced  difSculty  in  procuiiug  even 
a dozen  or  two  of  the  giant  plantain  suckers  locally. 
In  Grenada  there  are  two  sorts  of  plantain  the  “giant” 
and  “ common.”  Good  sized  bunches  of  plantains  sell 
in  St.  George’s  for  as  high  as  two  shillngs  and  six- 
pence (2/6)  the  bunch  as  cut  from  the  plant.  Mr. 
Jenman  writes  me  in  reference  to  the  plantains 
growm  in  Uemerara: — 
“ Here,  where  they  are  grown  on  a large  scale, 
often  several  hundreds  of  acres  in  a continous  stretch, 
the  farmers  say,  without  thieving  or  disease,  it  would 
pay  them  to  sell  medium  size  bunches  for  twelve 
cents  (6d)  on  the  fields.” 
“AGAVE  RIGIDA  SISALANA.” 
18.  Towards  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  large 
asparagus  looking  heads  began  to  appear  above 
the  leaves,  showing  that  their  flowering  period 
had  arrived."  No  macliino  with  all  the  de.^ired 
requireiiients  having  been  brought  to  our  notice,  a 
trial  was  made  at  decorticatitig  the  sisal  hemp  leaves 
by  hand  labotir,  on  the  piinciplo  adopted  in  the 
Bahamas  by  the  peasantry  there.  Tho  results  of  our 
experiment  were  not  enconraging. 
G ARCIN I A At  ANGOSTANA . 
lit.  A small  plant  brought  from  tho  Trinidad  Bota- 
nic Garden,  in  July  18'Ji,  has  made  such  slow  progrei;j 
since  it  was  planted  that  it  is  now  scarcely  any  bigger 
th.in  what  it  was  at  that  time.  Yet  it  looks  liealtliy. 
It  is  a fact  well  know  11  to  people  on  this  side  of  the 
YVest  Indies,  how  notoriously  stubborn  young  plants 
of  the  maugostecn  are  to  grow  at  all.  Our  plant  is 
placed  on  tlic  section  which  is  chiefly  reserved  for 
nidmeg.s.  Wo  should  be  gr.'itified  to  any  correspon- 
dent who  would  be  generous  enough  to  add  a young 
Durian  plant  to  our  collection. 
rASSIELOUA  SP. 
20.  Tho  seeds  of  this  passion-flower  came  from  Mr. 
J.  G.  Lewis,  Trinidad,  and  wore  sowm  when  received. 
From  them  wo  have  procured  a few  plants  which  aio 
now  under  trial.  A memorandum  which  ticcompaniod 
tho  seeds  stated  it  came  from  Brazil,  and  from  its 
fruit  a good  preserve  is  made.  So  far  the  plants  have 
not  flowered. 
NIPA  ERUTICANS. 
21.  On  November  20lh  we  planted  at  the  Grand 
Etang,  thirteen  plants  on  either  side  of  the  jetty,  and 
close  to  tho  margin  of  tho  lake.  'This  paim  hi  a 
native  ef  tropical  Asia  and  Australia  where  it  abounds 
123 
in  the  estuaries  of  rivers.  Its  leaves  are  used  by  the 
people  of  those  jiarts  for  roofing  their  liouses.  These 
plants  were  raised  from  seeds  received  from  Mr. 
Jenman,  of  Demerara,  and  had  out-grown  the  space 
allotted  them  in  tho  Garden  tank.-?.  Two  remain  in 
the  permanent  collection,  one  of  w’hich  flowered  for 
the  first  time  this  year.  A saline  element  is  con- 
sidered a necessity  to  the  Nipa  in  its  natural  home, 
yet  it  has  tlow’ercd  well  in  the  aquatic  tanks  which 
are  supplied  with  fresh  water  from  one  of  the  St. 
George’s  reservoirs.  Their  growth  has  been  rapid 
and  vigorous.  It  will  be  interesting  to  note  how 
these  plants  thrive  at  the  Grand  Etang,  where  the 
water  of  the  lake  is  very  fresh  and  is  situated  amidst 
tho  highe.st  mountains  and  mo.st  central  part  of  the 
island,  with  an  almost  cold  atmosphere. 
maiXHOLLETIA  EXCELSA. 
22.  Plants  of  tho  Brazil  Nut  lu.ve  made  no  pro- 
gress. These  came  from  tho  Trinidad  Gardens  in 
July  1864. 
— ^ 
PALM  CULTIVATION. 
There  are  iummierahlo  sites  on  our  tea  plantations 
at  present  unutilised,  such  as  in  and  around  the 
coolie  lines  and  factory  buildings,  sides  of  roads  and 
tanks,  etc.,  where  palms  might  with  advantage  be 
put  down.  The  rixenix  daefi/U/em  or  date  palm, 
some  dozen  or  so  of  which  w'ere  successfully  grown 
at  Coochela  in  Hylakaudy  in  the  later  sixties,  suc- 
ceeded well.  If  any  of  our  planters  would  care  to 
essay  the  cultivation  of  this  plant,  it  would  be  ad- 
visable to  go  to  the  expense  of  obtaining  the  seed 
from  Rio  Janeiro,  Pernambuco  or  other  semi-tropical 
South  American  port,  as  the  trees  of  these  places 
frequently  vield  8,000  fruits  in  one  bunch.  As  a 
general  rule  the  date  pahu  lasts  for  twenty  years, 
commencing  fo  yield  in  the  fourth,  if  grown  for  the 
fruit  alone  and  not  tapped ; though  responding  to 
cultivation  and  generous  manuring  it  will  flourish 
pretty  well  if  left  to  itself,  merely  guarded  from 
cattle  and  goats  bv  the  usual  bamboo  fascine,  until  the 
crown  is  high  enough  to  be  beyond  tho  reach  of  these 
animals.  Much  may  bo  done  in  tho  way  of  care 
and  attention  to  improve  the  duntijU/era  indigenous 
to  Lower  Bengal,  but  fresh  stock  would  be  prefer- 
able. The  dale  palm  is  not  likely  to  tlnive,  or,  rathe)', 
mature  its  fruit,  within  the  inllueucs  of  the  rain  belt 
so  that  the  drier  localities  only  should  be  selected  for 
its  propag.ation,  and  there  is  ample  laud  and  to  spare 
in  South  Sylhet,  Gachar,  and  other pilace  in  Assam, 
where  the  date  would  prove  no  mean  addition  to  tho 
income  of  the  factory,  besides  nll'ording  an  inducement 
to  the  labour  force  to  remain  on  the  place. 
The  aieca  palm,  commonly  called  tho  beetle  nut 
tree,  is  too  well-known  to  need  any  detailed  des- 
cription, and  is  so  familiar  that  its  gracefulness  ex- 
cites but  little  admiration  except  among  new  comers. 
The  areca  can  be  raised  even  on  the  hanks  of 
garden  roads,  for  the  shade  given  is  so  infinile- 
sinial,  that  it  would  but  a lire  t U.e  tea  out-turn 
in  a very  slight  degree,  and  this  “ arrow  shot 
from  Heaven,”  as  Sii-  J.  D.  Ucoker  once  described 
it,  would  add  greatly  to  the  appearance  of  tho 
factory.  The  best  nuts  for  planting  arc  to  be  had 
at  Sheila,  'J.’oiriah  Ghat,  Lakat  and  as  far  as  Jain- 
tiapur  on  tlie  north  side  of  Sylhet,  as  they  are  all 
grown  on  the  limestone  formation  and  are  free  from 
ih.o  canker  w'orm  which  effects  the  ]ialnis  giown  away 
fi'om  tho  hills.  An  acre  would  contain  in  round 
nuiaber.s  1,600  plants,  the  usual  income  from  which 
i.s  reckoneci  at  4 annas  each,  so  that  the  areca  is 
worth  attention  from  a commercial  standpoint.  The 
fibrous  envelope  can  be  removed  by  passing  the  fruit, 
alter  being  well  dried  in  the  sun,  between  wooden 
rollers  studded  with  nails,  after  the  pattern  of  the 
ccunt)'y  cotton  gins.  If  estate  owners  who  care  to 
take  up  palm  cultivation  on  an  extensive  scale,  will 
go  to  the  expense  of  importing  ecouoiiic  palms  from 
other  countries,  there  arc  many,  tlie  cultiv.atiou  of 
which  would  pay  hand.somely.  The  sago,  which  is 
abundant  in  the  jungles,  is  hardly  worth  attention  for 
Assam,  )ior  any  iiait  of  India,  can  conqicte  with  the 
Vv'obt  Indies  in  this  and  similar  starches,  high  as  is 
tjie  t)I  iabv'uv  Jluim 
