628 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [March  i,  1897. 
la  the  property  known  as  “ The  Moss  ” at  Mara- 
Jana,  which  belonged  to  tlie  late  Mr.  J.  A.  Marleusz, 
it  was  discovered  that  husks  buried  at  the  foot  of 
trees  were  in  a fairly  guod  state  of  preservation  after 
a I ipse  of  20  years,  and  the  trees  had  apparently 
derived  no  benefit  from  them.  There  was  no  mistake 
regarding  the  period  as  records  showing  the  dates 
when  each  field  or  plot  was  “ mainu’ed were  forth- 
coming.— Yours  truly,  C.  A.  G. 
USEFUL  PLANTS  AGAINST  MALARIA 
AND  INSECT  PESTS. 
Deau  Sin, — “ Householder’’  ’s  letter  on  page  573  is  in- 
teresting, It  is  true  we  do  not  hear  of  much  that  is  being 
done  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  trees  for  the  object  of 
warding  off  malaria  and  insect  pests.  The  trees  that 
have  of  late  years  gained  the  highest  repute  from  a sani- 
tary point  of  view  are  most  probably  various  species  of 
Eucaliji>tm,  especially  the  ‘•Blue  Gum”  (E.  globulus) 
and  E.  amygaalina.  These  are  said  to  have  exer- 
cised on  regions  congenial  to  their  growth  more 
hygienic  innuence  than  any  other  arboreus  vegeta- 
tion. They  are  natives  chiefly  of  Australia  and 
'Tasmania  aud  have  been  introduced  into  many  parts 
of  the  world  and  planted  largely  in  malarial  dis- 
tricts, as  in  the  Mediterranean  region  and  parts  of 
Italy,  and  to  some  extent  at  the  higher  elevations 
in  tnis  country.  Species  of  cinchona  also— ‘apart 
from  their  yield  of  quinine,  which  undoubtedly  is  the 
most  powerful  febrifuge  as  yet  known — are  believed 
by  some  to  have  strong  deodorant  properties.  Among 
the  list  of  febrifugal  or  sanitary  trees,  the  Ceylon 
cinnamon,  which  causes  the  proverbial  spicy  breezes 
of  our  island,  should  surely  find  a prominent  place. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  cultivation  of  some 
trees  more  tiiin  others,  whether  by  the  result  of 
the  action  of  ilieir  roots  on  the  soil  or  by  exhala- 
tion from  the  leu,ves  or  by  both,  play  an  important 
part  in  the  purifying  of  the  atmosphere  in  their  neigh- 
bourhood. Yet  one  must  not  be  too  credulous  in 
regard  to  plants  that  are  said  to  afford  protection 
from  snakes  and  mosquitoes,  and  to  be  able  to  drive 
away  rats,  Ac.  Most  of  us  will  have  heard  of  the  Upas- 
tree  {Antuii'ia  toxtcariu)  of  Java  which  used  to  be 
credited  with  having  the  power  of  putting  an  end 
to  any  animal  life  that  came  within  several  yards  of 
the  tree,  on  account  of  an  enormous  quantity  of 
carbonic  acid  gas  which  it  was  said  to  be  constantly 
giving  off.  A i)utch  surgeon  wrote  about  the  end  of 
the  last  century  that  “ criminals  condemned  to 
death  were  given  the  option  of  going  up  the  Upas- 
tree  to  collect  the  poison,  but  not  more  than  two 
out  of  every  twenty  returned.” 
Ved.iialas  tell  U3  with  indisputable  proofs  that  no 
cobra  or  polonga  will  venture  within  some  consider- 
able distance  01  the  “ Ankonda  ” (.IcroMyc/^m  Inv.ii- 
I'olia),  whilst  the  possession  of  a small  piece  of  the 
root  of  “Elawara  ’ {Cidohoyis  gigantca,  var.)  is  said 
1 1 be  one  of  the  best  safeguards  against  snakebites. 
We  ourselves  are  well  enough  used  to  seeing  the 
“Boy”  going  over  the  rooms  on  an  evening  carry- 
ing a burning  lump  of  Uie  guui-resiu  of  ‘‘  Mal- 
kekuua  ” {t'anariuni.  ~eylunicum)  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  away  unwelcome  visitors.  Ocyinuin  sanciuni, 
the  Holy  Basil  of  the  Hindus,  is  acknowledged  by 
many  people  to  be  a great  enemy  of  the  mos-quito. 
Not  loss  important,  however,  is  the  root  “ Vada- 
kaha  ' (.Icoras^  caliiiniis)  said  to  be:  when  freshly  cut 
and  retaining  its  full  aroma,  it  is  reported  to  drive 
away  Ileas  and  other  insects.  BEX. 
IIUW  TU  RAIbE  RHEA  I’LAN  IH 
FROM  yEED, 
Ur.Ait  iSiit, — Many  enijuiries  have  reached  us  from 
India,  Straits,  Sumatra,  Ac.,  as  to  the  best  way  of 
treating  Bochnieiia  Nivea  (Rhea)  seed. 
Our  experience  in  raising  plants  from  seed  is  as  fol- 
lows : — Rrepare  the  nurpery  in  rich  soil,  place  in  the 
top  of  the  nursery  about  half  inch  with  tlio  following 
mixture  and  sow  the  seed  one  part  rich  soil,  one  part 
sand,  one  part  well  decayed  cowdung  manure  and  one 
part  coir  dust,  mix  well,  shade  aud  water  once  a day  in 
the  evening,  avoid  too  much  moisture,  seeds  will  begin 
to  germinate  in  ten  days,  one  lb  seed  produces  over 
twenty  thousand  plants. 
We  find  that  plants  grown  by  the  above  mode  are  a 
success  aud  a six  weeks’  old  plant  has  four  eaves. — 
Yours  faithfully,  J.  P.  WILLIAM  BROS. 
JADUO  : A NEW  “POTTING”  MATERIAL: 
DOING  AWAY  WITH  SUPPLY  BASKETS 
Devonshire,  Jany  27. 
Dkak  Siu, — It  may  perhaps  be  of  interest  to  give 
your  readers  some  account  of  a visit  I recently  had 
the  pleasure,  as  one  of  a party  of  mutual  friends,  of 
paying  Gol.  Halford  Thompson,  the  inventor  and 
patentee  of  a new  “potting”  or  perhaps,  I should  say, 
“onowiNo  material”  for  which  the  "Jadoo”  Com- 
pany has  just  issued  its  prospectus;  enclosed  copy 
of  which  will  help  to  fill  up  the  details.  The  first 
thing  undertaken  was  an  inspection  ef  the  various 
hot-houses  and  conservatories  containing  an  exten- 
sive selection  of  ferns,  shrubs  Ac.,  in  different  stages 
of  growth,  all  raised  and  growing  solely  in  Jadoo. 
Many  of  the  plants  were  in  fine  bloom,  but  what  of 
course  attracted  my  special  interest  were  numerous 
young  Tea  seedlings  of  fairly  vigorous  growth.  'That 
the  latter  should,  with  their  roots  cramped  in  flower- 
pots barely  of  a few  cubic  inches  in  contents,  show  a 
healthy  appearance,  forcibly  supports  the  conten- 
tion that  Jadoo  supplies  in  itself  an  admi>*able 
material  for  nursery  purposes.  I am  convinced  that 
from  a nursery  formed  of  good  loam  with,  to  the 
depth  of  a few  ii.ehes,  an  admixture  of  even  only 
say  one-third  of  Jadoo,  the  young  plants  so  raised 
could  readily,  if  not  allowed  to  get  beyond  a certain 
size,  be  removed  to  the  planting  field  with  Ihe  material 
they  were  grown  in  still  adhering  undisturbed  to 
their  roots,  and  so  entirely  supeisedethe  costly  use, 
aud  inconv,  nience  of  '•  transplanters.”  An  important 
feature  is  that  the  substance  is  extremely  light, 
whilst  being  of  an  essentially  fibrous  nature  the 
pots  upon  removal  invariably  disclosed  an  interwoven 
mass  of  roots  and  jadoo  that  would  tax  the  ingenuity 
of  a more  than  ordinarily  careless  cooly  to  break  up. 
Knowing  too  well  the  immense  aggregation  of  loss 
to  proprietors  in  the  past  in  time  wasted,  waste  of 
valuable  reed  and  plants — not  to  say  by  permanently 
injured  clearings, — which  must  have  been  occasioned 
by  the  crude  system  of  planting,  till  quite  recently 
very  generally  in  vogue,  which  usually  allowed  the 
roots  to  be  bared  and  exposed  ; the  above  would 
point  to  qualities  in  jadoo  that  may  prove  of  much 
value  and  utility.  It  lightens  the  soil,  especially  it  is 
claimed  producing  a heavy  growth  of  healthy  feed- 
ing roots ; and,  not  in  itself  subject  to  decay,  it  is 
a question  of  some  interest,  as  to  whether  or  not 
a layer  if  placed  aiound  matured  plants  (tea,  cocoa 
or  coffee)  a few  inches  below  the  surface  (of  course 
to  be  left  undisturbed)  might  not , from  its  strongly 
absorbent  qualities,  form  an  excellent  yermanent 
medium  in  economising  liquid  aud  o.her  manures  of 
a quickly  solvent  character,  besides  encouraging  the 
formation  of  a mass  of  fibrous  roots  which 
will  form  in  it. 
From  the  Uonservatories  we  proceeded  to  the  factory 
conveniently  situated  with  a private  siding,  close  to  the 
railway  station  at'i’cignmouth.  The  manufacture  consists 
jirincipally  of  boiling  the  peat  litter  or  moss,  with  the 
sundry  chomicals  used,  in  largo  boilers—  the  real  secret  of 
the  jiroccsH  however — the  culminating  discovery  of 
over  11  ycarc-,'  patient  experimenting  by  the  patentee 
— lying  in  ilie  subsequent  reactions  set  up  by  cer- 
tain of  the  latter  under  fermentation.  .Tauoo  will,  I 
understand,  retain  its  qualities,  if  kept  under  cover, 
for  an  indefinite  time,  whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
can  in  use  conveniently  be  ” refreshed,  ’ that  is  to 
say  its  fertilising  qualities  stieiigthencd  or  le- 
plenished  when  necessaiy  by  occasional  applications 
of  a concentrated  liquid,  which  loims  a second 
