Nov,  2,  1896.] 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist” 
.365 
stems  will  be  clean  from  butt  to  point,  tbe  leaves 
of  a ricb  dark  green  above,  and  pearly  white 
below,  and  tbe  branch-buds,  at  the  axil  of  each 
leap-stalk  just  showing.  If  gathered  earlier  than 
this  I find  the  connection  of  the  fibres  very  weak, 
and  that  a considerable  portion  separates  in  the 
operation  of  scraping  the  peel.  If  allowed  a 
further  growth,  the  axillary  branches  will  have 
been  thrown  out,  which  will  cause  breakages  at 
every  point  both  in  peeling  and  cleaning. 
The  average  height  of  steins  grown  here  has 
been  six  feet,  after  cutting  off  the  soft  portion 
at  the  top.  In  gathering  I .<^upply  each  coolie 
with  a sharji  pruning  knife.  With  this  they  cut 
the  ripe  stems  close  to  the  butt ; these  are  re- 
moved in  bundles  by  boys  to  the  nearest 
m.inure  pit.  Here  the  boys  cut  off  nine  inches 
of  the  top  and  pass  one  hand  with  a gentle  pres- 
.sure  from  top  to  butt;  this  removes  every  leaves. 
The  stems  are  then  placed  in  clean  water  from 
whence  the  peelers  remove  them  and  separate  the 
peel,  w'hich  is  again  thrown  into  water,  from 
which  it  is  withdrawn  as  wanted  by  the  men  who 
clean  it.  These  lay  three  or  four  strips  of  peal 
on  a fiat  board,  scrape  it  a few  times  on  the  inner 
side  from  butt  to  point,  then  turn  it  over  and  re- 
peat the  scraping,  which  removes  the  cuticle  : it  is 
then  hung  up  or  thrown  on  clean  grass  to  diy. 
Taking  the  distance  of  four  feet  apart  for  fully 
bearing  plants,  an  acre  will  contain  (allowing  for 
paths  and  water  channels)  3000  plants:  more  than 
this  I find  to  be  too  crowded  and  to  increase 
labour  while  lessening  the  actu:il  yield  during  a 
four  year’s  period.  Thus  planted  the  yield  will 
be  a steadily'  increasing  one,  and  the  plants  will 
not  show  any  deterioration. 
From  repeated  experimental  weighings,  I have 
deduced  the  following  average  proceeds  from 
1,000  freshly  cut  6 feet  .stems  : — ■ 
lb. 
Weights  as  cut  . . . . 286 
do 
when  dried  . . 
. . 77'5  = 27  p.c 
do 
Fresh  jieel  . . 
..  83  =29  „ 
do 
Dry  peel 
..  21 -0=7 -5  „ 
do 
Fresh  wood . . 
. . 203  = 71  „ 
do 
Dry  wood  . . 
. . 56  =19-5  „ 
do 
Clean  dry'  fibre 
..  I8-7=6'5„ 
do 
Water 
. . 208  5=73  „ 
If  larger  stems,  from  7 to  8 feet,  be  taken,  the 
average  is  less  in  the  weight  of  peel,  but  in  the 
outturn  of  clean  fibre  it  is  slightly  greater.  With 
small  stems  from  three  to  four  feet,  the  percen- 
tage of  peel  is  markedly  greater,  but  the  return 
of  fibre  is  barely  3o  per  cent.  Moreover,  the 
e.xtra  labour  in  cutting,  peeling,  and  cleaning 
these  small  stems  is  an  important  consideration. 
The  crop  cut  during  the  rainy  season  wdll  always 
contain  a large  percentage  of  water,  and  that  of 
clean  fibre  be  formed  ratlier  less,  the  fibre  being 
also  softer  than  at  the  other  periods  of  cutting. 
This  1 consider  due  to  the  fact  that  at  this  period 
the  resinous  matter  in  the  plant  is  in  a more 
diluted  state,  and  consequently'  a greater  portion 
of  it  is  removed  during  the  process  of  washing 
and  scraping  the  peel. 
I have  already'  e.xpressed  my  opinion  against 
the  use  of  either  immature  or  small  stems  as  lika- 
ly  to  give  a result  inferior  both  in  quality'  and 
quantity  : yet  1 am  fully  satisfied  as  to  the  advisa- 
bility of  not  only  sorting  the  crop,  as  cut,  accor- 
ding to  length  of  stem  when  necessary,  but  I 
would  furcher  recommend,  that  the  peel  from  all 
stems  of  five  feet  and  upwards  should  be  divided 
into  two,  and  the  fibre  from  the  upper  and  lower 
portions  kept  distinct.  If  cultivated  as  I suggest, 
the  difference  in  length  of  the  stems  at  each  cut- 
ting will  be  found  very  small,  the  monsoon  crop 
always  giving  the  longest  stems. 
Taking  the  above  as  a liasis  for  calculation 
and  knowing  that  each  plant  established  as  I re- 
commend will  give  at  least  an  average  of  si.x  stems 
during  the  first  year,  I assume  : 
3,000  plants  x 0 stems  x 3 crops  x 1 8 lb. 
=972  lb. 
1.000 
per  acre  per  annum 
In  earlier  estimates,  calculating  on  closely — 
planted  crops  and  stems  four  to  five  feet,  I was 
cauti  )U3  to  restrict  my  estimate  to  750  lb.  per 
acre,  but  five  years’  additional  experience  has 
shown  me  that  with  proper  open  cultivation  1,000 
lb.  per  acre  may'  be  fairly  assured. 
T1II«:  NUTRITIVli  PROCESS  IN  PLANTS. 
(Prof.  J.  Rfawolds  Grern,  D.Sc.,  f.rs.) 
Carbohydrate  reserve  materials  are  not  alway's 
deposited  in  the  shape  of  starch  grains  The 
roots  of  our  biennial  plants  furnish  as  with 
examples  of  another  kind  of  store.  If  we  ex- 
amiiie  the  root  of  a beet  or  a mangel  wurzel 
we  fiind  that  the  succulent  substance  is  distinctly 
sweet  to  the  tastes.  This  sweetness  is  due  to 
the  presence  of  a solution  of  cane  sugar  in  the 
sap.  The  cells  are  very  turgid  with  water,  and 
this  contains  a large  percentage  of  cane  sugar 
Indeed,  the  nmnufacture  of  sugar  for  the  market 
from  beet-root  is,  as  is  wellknown,  of  great 
commercial  importance.  The  sugar  here  remains 
111  solution,  and  is  not  deposited  as  starch 
as  in  the  former  case.  IVe  cannot  however, 
think  of  It  as  remaining  unchanged  after  its 
transit  from  the  leaves.  The  process  of  its  for- 
mation is  much  like  that  of  the  potato  at  first. 
Hut  when  the  leaf  starch  has  been  converted 
into  sugar,  that  sugar  is  malt  sugar  as  before 
and  It  IS  transformed  into  cane  sugar  after  its 
arrival  in  the  root. 
An  onion  affords  us  an  instance  of  yet  another 
kind  of  carbohydrate  depo.sit.  Here  the  fleshy 
leaves  of  the  bulb,  wrapping  it  so  closely  round 
as  to  form  a very  solid  body,  are  charged  with 
an  accumulation  cf  grape  sugar,  a third  kind, 
differing  from  both  malt  sugar  and  cane  sugar 
such  as  we  have  seeu  to  occur  during  the  pro- 
cesses already  described.  “ ^ 
in  seeds  is  that  Of 
■starch  which  is  the  most  stable  body  and  the 
least  liable  to  disturbance.  This  no  doubt  is 
ivhy  It  IS  adopted  by  the  iihint  for  this  reser- 
voir, as  generally  a longer  time,  indeed  in  some 
period,  passes  before  it 
IS  called  upon  to  supply  nourishment  to  the 
young  plants.  Carbohydrate  material  is  thus 
s ored  in  many  forms  and  in  various  places  in  the 
plant.  Similarly,  nitrogenous  material  or  proteid 
has  Its  appropriate  reservoirs.  We  liave  in  many 
seeds,  particularly  leguminous  ones,  stores  o^f 
