6 o 
THP TROPICAL AORICULTURIST. 
[July i, 1891. 
I honestly sey that of my own personal knowledge I 
<lo not know that ho is a Professor. Not only must ho 
be a Professor, bnt one who “ has made a name and 
position in his own hraooh of investigation,” or accord- 
ing to his own showii g “ Old Planter” would net 
have thought fit to parade liis opinion. In the March 
number of the Ti-opical At/rifuHurht there app»ared 
an article on "The Action of Lime on Clay Soils” signed 
“ Alexander Johnstone,” K linhurgh University, and 
extracted from Kuture. In it I read with a great de- 
gree of astonishment the statement quoted by "Old 
Planter,” and 1 mentally olsssed it with the startling 
and revolutionary theory of ftfr. J. A. Iteoves, that as 
it was ngainst the laws of gravitation for water to as- 
cend and it could rise only some thirty feet hy capil- 
lary attraction, therefore it wes impossible for sap to 
rise. He attributed to the roots the functions usnally 
ascribed to leaves and vice ver.ia, 1 regarded it ns a 
bold bid for fame, more especially an he states in the 
opening sentenoos of his artiole thst to the best of his 
belief " the soientific reason for the beneficial action 
arising from the application of quinine has not licen at 
any time satisfactorily explained” ! This intho face of 
all the "soientific reasons” given by learned cliemists 
down to very recent timos. To stqtply this emission, he 
offers " an explanation, or ratlier theory, which, to my, 
doubtless, somewhat partial mind, seems to go a con- 
siderable way towarilstho oincidation of the problem.” 
It will bo observed that what ho advances is only a 
" theory,” which seema to go a considerable way to his 
yjarh'ai mind towards &o. And yet this is what “Old 
Planter” triumphantly puts forward. Professor John- 
stone goes very much further than there whose ei- 
peripe nts only went to prove that sihoi was not es. 
sential to plant growth. Ho avors that it is " de. 
oidedly injuriotis,” particularly to agricultural plants. 
And yet it abonnd.s in tlie earth, from which I suppose 
people yet believe, in spile of Mr. Itoevcs, that plants 
mainly draw their ansti nance, to tho extent of more 
than a half of its composition. I snppose it will be 
conceded withnnt demur that the earth was mainly 
created for the growth and support of vegetation. Can 
we reconeile with our belief of an all-wise Creator the 
composition of the earth with a substance wbicli is its 
predominating constituent and which is yet “ deci- 
dedly injurious” to nil vegetation ? If it were an injuri- 
ous plant food, plants would avoid it, but what do we 
actually find? “Tho wheat plant is always found to 
contain a largo proportion of silica, although it may have 
been raised on a lime soil.” Is it not against the laws 
of nature to Hud a plant deliberately choosing what is 
“ decidedly injurious" to it P 
Wh at to my lay mind is a weak argument that Pro- 
fessor Johnstone adduces iu support of his theory, is 
the fact that silica is to be found gonerally in tho ex- 
ternal tissues of plants; this iiu regards as llio at- 
tempts of vegetation “ to. got ridofitas speedily as 
posB jblo — that is to get it out of the way of its general 
ciron lation." To my mind these external incrustations of 
liUoa both on grain uiidiu the outside tissues of plants 
and trees prove that they are intended bjs nature 
to serve a very uaefiil purpose. Tliey not as a 
shield to them agoin.st injury and insect attacks. In 
the case of paddy we know that till the ontside 
covering of the grain is hardened they are liable 
to bopunotured or sucked dry by bugs. In the case 
of coconut trees, the hard outer-covering of tho stem 
is tliat which protects them from the attseks of 
rod beetle. So with other trees. 
Believing as I do, what Dr. Wolff'a experiments 
prove that silica helps in the assimilation of o' her 
plant food, and that its presence in a soil helps to 
the better development of vegetation, I mu.st he 
pardoned for bolding tenaciously to the b( lii f that 
silt by helping towards the solution of plant food 
in the soil, iuolnding silics, will help coconut trees in 
time to overcome toe bad habit of not being able to 
support unsided their fruit bunches. 
It may be stiporilnous to add that I have discus-teil 
th’s question entirely from the point of view of a 
I|/man. B. 
[Iron has long been undervalued as a mineral 
poseessed of fertilizing properties. It is so under- 
valued no longer, at any rate by tea planters in 
Ceylon. Soils largely ferruginous suit this plant 
admirably, while tho virtues of iron slag as a manure 
are now loudly proclaimed. Silica, ton may have 
virtues not dreamed of in our philosophy. In any 
case wo cannot bring ourselves tu believe that the 
most prevalent of all minerals is injurious to 
Bgrioultural plants.— Eu. T. A.j 
TEA STATISTICS AND PROSPECTS. 
Colombo, May 20th. 
Sib, — In 1868 the export of tea 
from China by sea was 
do by land 
The export from Japan, India 
*0 , say 
Oow, Wilson & Stanton’s " Tea 
Consumption ” make the World's 
annual average oonsumptiou of tea 
for the 6 years 1885 to 1889 
Increase 
Taking the ' average of 1885 to 1889 to be equal to 
the ooneumptiun of 1887, the increase in 19 years, 
as we may suppose the expirt for 1868 to equal 
the consumption of that year, is at tho rate of 
10 681,210 lb. 
The export from Ceylon for the present year to 
I8th May (5| months) is 9,604,025 lb. in excess of 
the export to same date last year, so we seem to 
be going ahead too fast. The talling-oS in exports 
from China may be balanced by increase from 
India and Java. — Yours truly, NEMO. 
164.000. 000 lb. 
14.000. 000 ,, 
12 . 000 . 000 „ 
190.000. 000 lb. 
893.000. 000 „ 
203.000. 000 lb. 
PLANTING STATISTICS. 
0. P., May 2lBt. 
Sir, — Up to what date were the figures lor cultiva- 
tion on estates given in your last Directory 7 Am I 
not right in saying they are now about a year 
old and that the area under tea must be a good 
deal larger now? — Yours truly, 
TEA PLANTER. 
[Our Planting Staliatios in last "Handbook and 
Directory " wore made up as to 80tb June 1890. 
No doubt there has been a oonsiderable increase 
in planted area since and, notwithstanding the 
risk of over-produotion, we suppose a good many 
clearings are to be planted during the present 
monsoon Boason. Wa are arranging for a fresh 
oompilation in a smaller volume, of which more 
anon.— Ed. T. A.] 
AN ENEMY OP THE COCOUNT. 
May 26tb. 
SiB, — Under separate cover I try to send y"u two 
beetles, the larvoi of which are called by the 
Sinhalese kaiuta panmva and which are responsible 
for an immense amount of damage in yoong 
oooonut plantations. Will you kindly give their 
soientific name, (or which I have searohed through 
your publication " All About Coeonuts," but 
without sueoess. COCONUT PLANTER. 
{Wo cannot find tho aoientifio name of this 
very common weevil : perhaps some reader can 
supply it.— Ed. T. A.'] 
LABOUR SUPPLY FUND. 
Qammadui, May 28th. 
Dear Sir. — The present time is not prooisoly 
similar to the past, inasmuch as in the past (the 
old ootlee days) tho labour supply was required 
