304 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[September i, iSgx. 
I hear that Sutton m the Asras has beou sold 
for fomething over £9»000 — m t so dusty a figure ! 
Fcot-ani> Mouth DiiiKASE b prevalent in pome 
diatriote. With careful dininfcctiug and eo^rcgationt 
this peat can bo much mimmiscd. 
Labour is plentiful at preecut, because there is no 
nashiog to ppesk of. wait till October and then 
we will hear a howl. No tuna fihoulJ bo Icat in 
Bending aomo Qovernment ofliiUl and a planter of 
good etanding to visit some of the districts Buffering 
from food soaroity in districts probably adjoining 
the distiicls we at present get our labour from. 
Such a comraiBsion would cost little, and give us 
some data to work on. 
THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES 
MALABAR. 
Malabar i« one of Uie principal Dutricta where 
European enterprise is employed in the develop- 
ment of the country. The nianufactnring industries 
there from year to year are Increasing wi* the aid 
of European capital. During the past olhoial year 
the Malabar Bplnniug and Weaving Company con- 
tinued ita operations, employing only #01 hands 
against S78 in the previous year. The out-turn was 
1,183,7111b. of j-arn valued at R4,43,0U# agaiust an 
out-tmn of 1,165,9001b. at KM7,7i)0 in the preoed- 
ing year. This is tho only Factory which comes 
nnder the Factory Act, and is subject to the inspec- 
tion of Govermnont officers. The Basel Mission lias 
weaving ostablishnients at Caunauore, Calicut, 
Tellicherry and Churubala, which manufactured 
cotton fabrics to tho valve of Bl, 10, 7.17, Messrs 
Volkart Brothers, of Cocliiu, and Messrs. Henke 
i'j Co., of Calibut manufactured ooir-nialliug to tho 
value of B.SL.H20. This Industry is also carried out 
by Messis. Pierce Leslie rt (.'o., of Calicut. Coffoo 
cuiinc is carried on by seven European firms in 
TolliGierry and Calicut. 'I’hc Basel Mission has a 
tile factory at Calicut with a brunch at Kodacal, 
near Tirm', at which ten laklis of tiles were made, 
of tho aggrogato valno ElO.tiOO. Two hundred 
labourers are employed on those work.i daily. A 
Parsec firm, Messrs. Mnneckji & Co., has a tile 
factory at tho Ferok. Messrs. Henke A Co., aro 
engaged iii the manufacture of cigars at Calient, and 
turned out cigars to tlio value of B!),(KX). Coir and 
cinchona baling, the preparation of bone manure 
and bleaching of ginger are also carried on to some 
e.\teut. Calient has three soda water manufactories 
at which 6.220 dozen bottles of water rrero made 
valued at B3,262 during the year, against e,120 dozens 
in 1886-89. — Jf. Mail, Aug. Tlth. 
- - ■ ■■ ♦ — 
BABK AND DEUG BEPOBT. 
(From the Cltcmut and Druggist. ) 
London, Aug. 8th. 
QnismE,— There is no alteration In tha market. 
Several transactions of secondary ' imporfauce— said to 
be niainly for eou^umutiou — are reported at lOjd per ea 
for Fabbxicu Lombaroa ; aud 10|d to luld per oa for B 
& B and Btunsafek quinine in bulk. Messrs. Uurttord, 
Schoellkopf, and Mobagan, of New York, obeerve, with 
regard to tho poeitlon of quinine in the United Btates 
“ I'lverybody is willing to umit that tho loreigo statie- 
tical position of bark and the unit price paid for same 
docs not warrant such low prioos.iOo being tho pteseut 
New York quotation, but tliero is no largo aomand 
for quinine nt present, and hence the deellno. In the 
face of appareutly favourable oondltlono. Wo take the 
followingiflguiea from the C. 8. Government etatisiioe jnst 
to hand 
libs. 
Quiniue barks Imported for 11 inonlhs 
ended May diet, 1891 2, .181,. 181 
1890 ... a.ais.SM 
Increase #85,139 
If we take # pet cent as a fait average lor the quinine 
contained in tlio bark, we got, say, l.oOO.OOO oz of sul- 
phate nuluine, but a considorablo portlou of this bark 
II need lor druggists' purposes, so that we would oo n- 
aider l,}i0,"0U os 10 be abont the quantity ptoauMlIin 
ttUll ouiintry. Next wc have 
Quinine and its salts imported for 11 
months ending May 31st, 1891 ... 3,;fi2,96i) 
1800 ... 2.839.138 
, , IneraaBn .379, ,83! 
it will bo seen that importations of both bark and 
quinine are Increasing. As ciuchonldla and other salts 
of quinine play minor part now, wo conclude tliat tho 
grout bulk of Iho miportntions were sulehatc of quinine. 
It will, Ihcrofnro, lie notiicd that the Imports snd jpro- 
ducUon give ut leaat <,2SO,(WO oz for tlovou months, or, 
say l,76ii oz yearly, for consumpliaii in this country. 
That thoro Is eousiderablo over-production of quinine 
we have no doubt, aud perhaps this fs the true reason 
why the market has taken a downward ceurso." 
ECHOES OF SCIENCE. 
Tho mushroom has become a simile for vigorous 
growth, and a reoent iuetanco of its capacity for 
thriving in untoward oiroumrtaucee comes to us from 
S'.ookton, California, where several fine epeoiratns 
were found growing on tho conorote fljor of a stable. 
The floor had been laid Bra year, and consisted 
of cement with a top eoxliog of gravel and as- 
palte. Tho mushrooma germinated in the body of 
the ooncrote, breaking through the cement to reach 
the air. One grow to a height of oae-aud-a-half 
inches, and tho diameter of its stem was three 
fourths of an inch, while its lubstance was beauti- 
fully white and firm. Tho oonjeoturo is that some 
mushroom spawn had become mixed mi with the 
concrete when tho floor was laid. Tlioy were rooted 
about IJin below the eurface, and one of them 
had cast a fragment of tlo superinoumbent cement 
about a foot away. 
The power of snnlight in promoting the frag- 
rance of flowers has been investigated by Her 
Begell, who finds tliat when a plant is krpt iu the 
dark tho flowers are scentlesf. If the flower-buils 
alone were kept in the dark, the flowers proved to 
be fragrant. Even flowers wbieh bloom at night lost 
their soent when tho plint was deprived of light. 
On restoring the light, however, tho flowers rcoovered, 
their scent, Bespiration has also an influeooe ou 
their fragrance. For example a plaqtof uyoterinia 
enclosed, in a bell-jar, with oxygen gas, beliavid 
as it would havo daue in air, wher.’as one enclosed 
ivith hydrogen did not open ita Uowor-buds, aud 
these had no scent, 
M. BuUchon Braudely has introduced a simple 
device for faoilitating ihe growth of oysters in the 
French beds. It consists' of a scries of shallo'r 
trays of wire netting, about two feet, square aud 
four inches deep. These are ranged in tiers ou iron 
frames, which are either planted on the bottom or 
tusptudedltom rafts to a suitsblo depth. Tho oysters, 
being placed m these trays, ate easily cidlected, and 
ure prcteotficl from UDnuiiablii soils, or buuIi cnBiuics 
as borera and “ tive-flugorf/' while being exposed od 
all fidcfl to the tree circulatiou of the water. The 
apparatus might be useful in the Thames beds where 
a curiona ciseaae accompanied by rotting of the 
shell has iiiaile ita appearance. 
A Dcw antiseptio called microoidine has been 
broufjbt to the notice of the French Academy of 
Medicine by i rorei‘Bor Berlioz of Grenoble. It ia a 
oompouad of uaptbol and soda, neither poisonous uor 
irritaifiog* and is twenty times as active as borioticid, 
while beiug soluble than carbolic acid, thymol, 
and others. Microoidine is a greyish powder, aud n 
solution of three grammes in a litre of watir does 
not staiu tlie bauds or baudages. It is particularly 
well adapted lor family nse. 
M. DeUeraio, a Freuoh chemist, ha.s devised an 
interest iug way of slowing that sUrch is the first 
stable product of tho aotivitj of li^ht aad chloro- 
phyll iu loaves. It is based ou Ihe fact that starch 
iorms a blue colour whon in coutact with iodiue. 
A growiuK**^^.*® covered above and below withbiack 
paper, which is quite opaque, by menus of gmu 
arable, the upper foil, having been cut into a 
Blencil plate with letters or figuri’S, This should 
be done in the early morning, when tho leaf is 
floe of tiUrob, that made tho day before having 
