274 
THK TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct, 1, 1897. 
applying lime and wood-ash, so that we have 
soils which have been foi'ce(l to yield all the 
coffee that could be raised, undergoing the same 
treatment under cacao, and now we are reaping 
the COE sequences. 
Mr. Willis and Mr. Green however disarm 
criticism and invite— assistance and suggestions, 
and I now venture to call on fallen cacao plan- 
ters to work together to find out what is really 
best, under varying circumstances, in the way 
of prevention and cure. 
Undoubtedly in some soils castor and bones 
help trees to throw off the attack, and in sonie 
cases the use of McDougall’s wash — sulphur and 
tar, — after shaving off the affected bark, has pro- 
longed the life of trees, enabling them also to 
go on cropping. 
In tea we find “ Symplocos obtusa (the Sing- 
halese Bombu) very fatal to plants over a year old, 
i.e. after tlie stem is killed or uprooted and the 
roots left in the soil have begun to rot. They 
get covered with fungus which spreads, and attacks 
the surrounding tea roots in a heartrending 
fashion. It is very possible the thinning out of 
shade in cacao iias a cone.«ponding effect, and 
here again the digging in of freshly burnt coral 
lime is useful. 
Mr. Willis deserves the thanks of planters for 
initiating these K. B. Gardens’ circulars, and Mr. 
Green for his enthusiasm in the cause. Our part 
now is to assist them as far as lies in our power by 
taking the trouble to use the means recommended, 
carefully ohserving and reporting results. 
T. KOKO. 
P.S . — Cacao is thoroughly worth per.severing 
with, and unless one is veiy much mistaken, con- 
sumption will largely increase and prices improve. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Factory Bulking. — We specially direct the 
attention of our Ceylon tea planters to the advice 
which Messrs. W. Moran & Co. of Calcutta give 
to Indian planters (in their Report quoted on an- 
other page) as to the importance of care- 
ful bulking in the factory. More than ever does 
this require to be attended to. 
Coconuts and Copra.— While the juice of 
coconuts is given as R35 per 1,000 in or near 
Colombo, it is R30 for selected nuts at Kurune- 
gala and beyond, and only R27 on estates beyond 
Chilaw. The question is, therefore, asked as to 
whether it would not pay better to convert nuts 
on remote estates into copra than sell at R27 ? 
What do planters with experience of both course.s, 
say to this? 
Proceedings of the Agri-Horticultural 
Society of Madras. — April-June, 1897 -have 
reached us. Here are a few paragraphs ; — 
Acacia anricnliformis of North Austr?>lia. — A young 
tree of the above fruited for the first time last Dec. 
It was planted in October, 1894, and is now 25 feet 
in height with a girth of 15 inches at three feet from 
the ground, this is a favourable growth as the gene- 
rality of Australian plants do not take kindly to our 
climate. A small quantity of the seed has been saved 
and will be distributed to members asking for it. 
Paddy seed to Colombo. — Read letter from the 
Superintendent, School of Agriculture, Colombo, dated 
6th April. 1897, thanking for the two varieties of 
paddy sent by us at his request in March last, and 
promising to send shortly some seeds of Milletiasp. 
which makes a pretty flowering tree for parks or 
roadsides. 
Sorghum seed for Colombo. — Read letter from the 
Superintendent, School of Agriculture, Colombo, 20th 
May, forwarding a packet of seed of Milletia sp. and 
asking if we could send him some Sorghum seed, 
Cork Wa.ste. — M r. T. Christy gives us some 
curious information on anotlier page in reference 
to this product and he a.sk.s for liints as to further 
uses, from Ceylon. Meantime we should like to 
know if the cork tree, Qxicmis could not 
he giown ill the drier |iarts of the island ? 
A Tea Factory— on the uttermost borders 
of Uva and amidst palm trees, is the descrip- 
tion given in a chatty letter on )»age 278 
uf the Factory just erected for Walton Estate, 
Moiieragala, by Messrs. Walker & Greig. 
I Ids indicates both Planting and Engineer- 
ing enterjirise of no ordinary type and 
of itself ought to hurry on tiie new road 
and bridges to enable tlic tea to get to the 
Railway. 
Plantains Galore.— T he Demerara Arrftmi 
reports a bnnch of bananas in Britisli Guiana 
tliat weighed, with the stem, 135 poumis. It was 
the Chinese variety known as Musa Cavendishii, 
similar to the same variety raised here for ex- 
jiort. This monster bunch had ten “liands,” 
with a total of 192 bananas or “tigs.” The 
largest band weighed twenty pounds and tliebuncli 
tilled a barrel. Such large bunches are not desir- 
able for export, as they are so unwieldy in 
handling. 
The Elorida Pineapple— says an American 
liajier — has established the standard of excellence. 
Nowhere else in the world is better fruit pio- 
duced, and nowhere else do inlluenees combine to 
produce more excellent fruit. The climate, soil 
and methods are all peifectly adapted. Add to 
this, quick transit, which will permit the fruit to 
nearly ripen jierfectly in the sunshine before ship- 
ment, and one can begin to account for the lack of 
core, the tender pulp, the delightful bouquet, and 
the delicious flavor of the Florida pine, groivu in a 
territory less than 200 miles long by not more 
than 25 miles wide. 
“The AonicuLTUEAL Gazette” of New South 
Wales, July 1897. Contents ; — Useful Australian 
Plants, J H. Maiden ; No. 39 — A Red Box (Euca- 
(lyptxis Bosistoana, F. v. M.) ; No. 40 — Comet-grass 
Perotis rara, R. Br.) ; Botanical Notes — A Fodder 
Plant for the arid interior ( Porlulacana Afra, Jacq.), 
the Alleged Poisonous Nature of Sorghum, Pepper- 
tree Oil; The Sheep Fluke (Part I.}, N. A. Cobb; 
Explanatory Note on the Analysis of Fertilizers, 
F. B. Guthrie ; Separated Milk as a tfood for 
Calves, M. A. O’Callaghan ; Influence of Bees on 
Crops, A. Gale ; Poultry Food, J. J. McCue ; 
Winter Dressing against Black Spot, M. Bluuno ; 
Orchard Notes, Geo. Waters ; Practical Vegetable 
and Flower Growing, W. S. Campbell ; General 
Notes ; Replies to Correspondents ; Agricultral So- 
cieties’ Shows ; Label for Specimens. 
Liberian Coefee, Ac. in the Straits. — A recent 
visilor to the Straits from Ceylon writes; — “I had 
a most enjoyable trip,” but was too much rushed. 
There was no doubt that Libevian coffee has found 
its habitat in the Sti'ait-i, v.ofr.' , 1 , yvo-.vs most 
luxuriantly, but this i..r.:ij:i’ l.il; in | Lorn $44 
to $25 per pical is very alarming 10 inose imeiested. 
I cannot help thiiddog, though, that much might be 
done to improve the sample by more careful drying 
and by picking and sizing it, like on Ceylon plan- 
tations ; the bean has a most excellent flavor, and 
one cannot detect it from “ Arabica ” when carefully 
made and roasted. Kuala Lampur is one of the 
prettiest, towns I have ever seen, most excellent 
public buildings and well kept park and surround- 
ings, in fact, one of the most striking effects in the 
Straits and more especially in Singapore is the neat 
and trim appearance of the compounds, frequently 
some acres in extent, surrounding the bungalows. 
Colombo residents might take a hint with muclT profit, 
