October i, i8qi.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
251 
ECHOES OF SCIENCE. 
The et¥*ct of ftd ling ahimiuium to steel ingots 
fca'j rec 'ijTy hern «li cussed l>y the Ainpric.in IiiRtitute 
cf Miamj: Kns^I leer-*, ami, aocouhug to ITofessof 
Arnold, its ctf c‘. in roudti’in;' steel cj.stiiigR pbrft'Cily 
souu 1 is very ujiirketl. It iA'cuty t nuea as pow«'rful 
as silicon, and the result, ii? s p-d ig toufilu-r. By 
us’ug it, m aigan 'Re c'.Ti bo discarded, and aconsiUr* 
ab'p j-aviiig in nmo ai d lu.>l tfto' ted. 
The new 1 ike which recen'Iy fnimcd in the liollnw 
of S,ui Diego Cuuuty, Cjl forni i, turns out to have 
heen fed by the Colorado lUvrr which, ovcrlluw. d 
its banka owing to the melting ot lln winter 
snow in t! 0 Sierrsa of Colorado, Utah, aud Novads. 
As evaporation proeojda at (ho rato ot BO inches 
a year in this r-gion, it is oJfiiectcd that fcho lake 
will only havr au rphomeval exi-t uicr. 
In ft study cf the Ooia of Gr'Onland, Sir J. 1). 
Hooker came to thccanclu ion tint it aum K rupcan 
rather tluii Anictfrau, anil BrofuSMir K. W^irming has 
since tried to show that it is Ainencan rather than 
Kuropean. As u.HU-iily happens in the crs»^ of two such 
conclusion* tbo truth lies l etweui t'leni, ml Brobs'ior 
Nathorstnow points out thatwhil^* the coast of Grec'.- 
land n»?aro^t to Icslaud coii'aitiB Eunpran forms cuilj’, 
the o< ft't next to America yiidds American forms, and 
at t.io Sontliern extoimity ihn tlora partakes of both 
charactere. On the whole, however, fiir Joeopli Hooker 
aeema to bave been right, tho llora biing ra'.her more 
European than American. 
The flora of an insular couutry comes as a rule 
from the nearest Imd, aud in this leapoct is like 
the human population. Thus iu Britain wi* have a 
pouthera llora opp fito France, a (Tcrmanio flora on 
the east Coast, a Ijiisitauian or Pciiinsahir flora in the 
aouth-went, and in the extreme west ol EngUnd ihero 
arc two Ainciican pluuta unknown in any other part 
of Jhirope. Ttio seeds have proSal>ly liobii brought 
hither by wiinf.s, tides, or hin.s. Since the of 
the glacial epoch art plnntingof our auores with various 
forma from the nearest coasts has been slowly going 
on, and is still iu progres^s. 
A'cordii g to a German scieiitifio jouroal the pUce 
where thunde; etorina are mo^t lr< queut is Java, which 
lias an av. rage of no /ower than 1)7 thundery jtays 
in the 5 ear. Next to Jivu cmios Snmitm with bd, 
tboa Hiiidosfan with 56, B rneo with 54, th(* Uuld 
Coa t vviih 52, and lUo Janeiro w’itU 51. In Europe 
thcli-'t la h.adod by Irnly with flH days, Aust ii with 
23, Bv eu, NVur'cmherg, and Hungary vvitli 22, Silosia, 
Bavaria, Belgium with 21, 1! hland, Snxuuy, aud 
Brjiulenbnrgh with 17 or 18, hTatidp, Austria, Mi l South 
with 10, Britain and tl<o l^wis<4 Moiiutait s 
with 6Gveu, N nvay with four, and Cairo with three. In 
Eastern Turkeslai: an 1 in the extreme nonheni parts of 
the world then* are few or no tMindorstorms. In fact 
tho nortl.ern limit vniis through Cap^ Ogle, Iceland, 
Novaji Seme ju, ft* d tho coa-t of tin-- Siberian S. a. 
It is cleir from these sta isHca that beat is necessary 
for the producti ns of thunderstorms; heiictj it is that 
they are most frequent in tho hoitest summ- r months, 
suchasJuly ftndAugU8% Bntheat aloi.o i* evidently not 
everything; th»rc must be moisture too, rmd iu the form 
of cloud*. Cairi', fur instance is a very hot place, but 
h. ing dry and clou Uo-a it .a seldom visited by 1 ginning. 
It is wiilUkiiown that a rnixuire ol lime and sulphate 
of copper has been used as a germicide iu disease* 
Of tho vine, potato, and tomnto. M. Aiiuc Giraid 
bus also appiiod this remedy to beetr- ota threatcU'jd 
with nttaclvs of tho fungus which cuusoa the disease 
known a.s *• Peroiiospora Schachtti.” Alhruu per cent. 
'*ulution of copper sulphate ia inixi'd with a thr <‘0 
per ceu*-. waU-r of lime, and tho in’xtnre i* sprayed 
on the beet Horn a tank enniod on tho dre'^fler’s back. 
Copper hydrate is the ufluctivo agent, butiUusehad 
bo ter lo watched with caro, lor certain cereals are 
kiUiwii to assiniil ‘t'J metaliio salts, and beet >ugar ia 
now oonsHmed in l>rgo quun>it'C8 by children. 
On the 6th of Juae last a shower of stones fell at 
Pel-Bt-Dor in the D-partn.ent of the Anb<- during a 
violent haiUtorm. Tucae unwonted drops have been 
exaniiuod by a geologist, who finds th* m to be of 
chalk from Uhatenu-Lauclou, which is 160 kilometres 
from Pel-et-Dor, It ia believed that the stones were 
lifted into the atmosphere, aud conveyed by a whirl- 
wild,— 
CACAO, COB’FB^E, AND COCA IN PERU. 
From a rccentiy.publi&bed report by Cousul Mansfleld 
on the Agricultural Gonditiou of Peru, dated Lima, 
October 8th, 1890, wn U-aru something of the valao 
of tbo above-named plants in that couutry. 
Of Cacao, or Cocoa, as we usually call it t'l heobroma 
Crcuo), we are told that up tu a recent date its 
cuIiivaHou in Fern Reems to l aro been coufiued more 
c^petiv'ly to the Trunsaudino elopta, iu the province 
of Convenclon, in tho department of CuRCo; not, 
however, m suMcient quautities to supply the inarkots 
cf the Kouthcru dipsrtmeuts of tbo llcpublio. The 
Cacao produced L* of a superior quality, aud could 
coiupeto ndvautageouRly with the best descriptions 
raised at Booonusen aad iu Vouezuela. The oxcellcDuo 
of tho bean ih, however, rather duo to tho geological 
and topographical couditiou.s of tho Valley of Santa. 
Ana than to tho ofl'orta of tho cultivators. Tho Cacao 
goes by the name of Cusco Cacao, hut owing to the 
cost of production, dlstancii from the son, and defioiauoy 
of transport, canuot compete in price with that im- 
ported from Ecuador j consequently, tho producliuu 
and c msuuiption doe* not extend beyond what is 
roquiaite fur the local demand. Cacao of good quality 
bus also alvsays been lai^od iu the province of Jsdo, 
in the dcpartuunit of Cajamnica, and tbo cuhivation 
of tho pl*nt extends towards tbo Rca*board iu the 
north of the department of Piura ; but upon so limited a 
scale as scarcely to amount to more than an experimeut. 
With ft morn extended development, Cacao could 
easily to prodneed iu suflleieut quunlities for the 
internal oousumpiion of IVru, difapluoing export from 
abr-al, nnd, pLibnpq even competing in foreign 
markets, a future for tho industry which appears 
more than probable, when tho contnnplaie l irrigation 
RcheiuQ in the department of Piuta shall have been 
carried into cfleot. 
With n-giad to Cotfee, it is ssid no better quality 
is produced iu the world than iu Ptru ; nioro especially 
that rai‘oI at Cbauchamayo, in the department of 
Jiiuiu, and iu the province of Carabaya, in the di pii t- 
ineiit of I*uuo. Tho production amply suflloea for tho 
inUuual coiifvumption, notwiihstauUmg that the latter 
has much iuertased during the last few^ears. Small 
quantiiios, durii g fcveral ;^oars, have been exported 
tu Europe, which, on nocouut of the quility, found 
fjivonr ill tlio imirkot, aud felcb* d good pricts, with 
tiio result that foreigners are begiuning to settle in 
I'cra Hs Oofloe planters upon quite a constdorablo 
sonle. The coast vatloys, as woll as those in the 
Tran? undine districls, furnUli a favourable field for 
tho plautaiions. Tlieamouutof the present production 
ia not CRtiDijited. In 1883,27,107 kilos, wore exported 
from Callao, aiid 25,650 kilos were imported from 
OuAyaqiiil thrvugh the same port. 
Tiie Coe.'v plant (Erythroxylon Ccca) to well known 
for its anoiRtheiio and medicinal properties, is iudi- 
peiiquB in IVrii, aud is largely coueumed by tbo 
ludiana in tho Republic, where it is cultivated for 
f xportfttioD. No othtr country, indeed, compotes with 
l*eru iu the quantity exported. Two establiehmeuts 
exist for pn^pnring the Itaf — one iu Lima and quo 
in Cal'ao. Daring ihe last year, 1730 kilos, of Cocaine 
w<ro exported to Europe, pniicipaily for Germany. 
No statiBlical dnla are forthcoming conceroiug the 
amouut ot production, but in iho year 1838, 28,GG0 
kilos, were ixportod through tho port of Callao,*— 
Oardenenf* Ohromde. 
“PUACTICAL Lanscape GAiii>ENiNG.”~.XJiider this title 
Messrs, rutnaiu, of New York, announce the speedy 
jjublicfttion of a work by Mr. Samael Parsons, Su- 
periutondent of Parks iu tho City of Now Y^ork.— 
OanleniTS' i 'hnmicle. 
