310 
I'HF TROPICAL. AQRICULTURIS1 
[November 2, iSqi. 
Planthui . — The pine-apples should be planted in rows 
feet apart, and 3 feet apart in the rows; at this 
distance an iwre will take 4,840 plants. When layinK 
out tho land for planting, 0-feet slakes should be fixed 
in an upright position, about 50 feet or more apart, 
to mark the linos whore tho pines are to be planted. 
This will ensure the rows being straight; this not 
only facilitates working tlielaud, but the fruit, when 
ripe, is easier to gather. When everything is ready 
for planting, liucs should l)c strung between each stake, 
then witii a spado ox hoe take out just sufficient soil 
to make a mark close to and parallel to t)ie line. A 
straight line might be made, however, with the aid of 
stakes Itnd a very light plough, yoked on to a pair of 
horses driven by a good ploughman. After tho lino is 
made, a man sliouln then come along with armsful of 
young plants, and lay them at 3 feet distances; another 
man should follow and plant them, tn planting, 
see that tho soil is made considerably finn about tho 
young plants; neglect in this particular will prevent 
them making roots as quickly as they otherwise would, 
which, of course, woul<i also retard their growth coii- 
fliderably. After the planting U done, the stakes may 
bo taken out. The only attention that the plants will 
require, until tho fruit is ready for cutting, is to keep 
them free from weeds, and the soil kept loose between 
the rows by moans of tho hoe. 
Age of iM riant when the fist crop of fruit is ready 
for gathering . — This may safely bo reckoned to bo at 
from 18 to 22 months, according to the size and strength 
of the suckers when planted. The first crop will be 
quite 4,000 marketable fruits to the acre ; but consi- 
derably more would be procured from tho second and 
third year's crops, because tlie suckers that have for- 
med round the parent idiiut would bear fruit. If we 
calculate tho return per acre at 4,000 pines, these 
would, at 3d. each (both very low estimates), return 
a handsome profit of X50. The working expenses to 
bo set against this sum arc not heavy, and our far- 
mers are cultivating crops at the present time at 
far less profit. If tlie fruit is required for market, 
and it has to travel some distance, it sliould ire cjit 
before it is quite ripe; but if it is reqirivcd for cann- 
ing purposes, and tlie cannery is not far distant, 
tlio fi'uit may l)e left on tlie plant until it is nearly 
ripe. A convenient contrivance for liriuging tlio fruit 
out of tlie rows is a liglit hand-cart, made of lattice- 
work, and set on two wlioels with broad tiros. Its 
size should bo such that it will go between tho rows 
of jilants. After a plautotion has been in bearing for 
four or five years, the plants will cease to bear- fine 
crops of fruit, and it will hardly pay to keep them 
on tho ground. The next best thing to be done is 
to break up tho plantation, save the best of the 
suckers for planting a new one. and put tho land 
under another kind of crop, or give it^ a rest for a 
time, and, if suitably situated, plant it again witli 
pine-apples. 
leihlieers.—U tho laud is not very rich at the 
time when the pine-apples wore planted, some manure 
should be applied to after tho first crop of fruit is 
taken from the plants. I have found nothing bolter 
than bone dust or super-iibosphato of lime applied in 
moderate quantiles, and with discretion. For instance, 
the manure sliould not be applied when the fruit is 
forming on the plant, neither sliould it be applied 
when the fruit is near ripening. 
Insect rests . — The only insects whicli I have seen 
preying upon tho piiio-apple are the Mealy Bug and 
the Scale: but neither of those peats are very trouble- 
some to the plant when it is under good cultivation. 
If these insects should, however, estaulisli themselves 
oil the plants, spray them with a strong solution of 
tobacco water, at any time except when the plant is 
in bloom and the fruit is new ripening 
Fine-apple iVfu-c.— Besides the splendid fruit tliat 
tills plant produces, it has another iinpoitmit economic 
product in the capital fibre that can be obtained 
from its leaves. But it would not pay in Australia 
to cultivate tho plant for its fibre alone. However, 
it would be a very good tiling to take m hand as an 
auxiliary product, for tlio preparation of tlio fibre for 
market; since it is claimed that machinery can be 
brought into use to clean and turn it into a mar- 
ketable cbtumv^ty. \Ye eewW never hope t<? separate 
the fibre from the spiny leaves of the pine-apple by 
hand, as it is done by the Ohinese, aiidthenoouipeto 
witli them in the market with the produce. Neither 
is it desirable that we should; for not only is tho 
process a tedious one ; but the spiny leaves will, on 
coming in contact with tho flesh, often cause sores. 
Leaves that are wanted for making fibre from should 
bo taken from the plants soon after the fruit has been 
gatliered. Cut tho loaves as low down as possible ; 
But, at the same time, care must be taken that the 
suckers, arc not interfered with, because it is from 
these that tho future crops of fruit are expected. 
Bine-apple fibre is remiukably strong— as has been 
proved from some tests conducted at the arsenal, Fort 
iVilliam, with a rope made of this fibre 3^ inches in 
circumference. The Govoriimout proof was, that a 
rope of this size should bear a weiglitof 42 cwt.; but 
it bore no less than 15 cwt. more, that is, it broke 
with a weight of 07 cwt. The following extract from 
a Singapore paper describes tho process that the 
Chinese follow in preparing tho pina filiro for market : 
— The process of extracting and bleacliiug the fibre 
is exceedingly simple. The first stop is to remove the 
fleshy or succulent sides of the loaf. A Chinese, as- 
tride of a narrow stool, extends on it in front of him 
a pine apple loaf, one cud of which is kept firm by 
being placed beneath a small bundle of cloth on which 
be sits. He then, with a kind of two -handled plane 
made of bamboo, removes the | succulent matter. 
Another man receives the leaves as they are planed, 
and witli his thumb-nail loosens and gathers tlio fibre 
about tho middle of the leaf ; this enables him by 
one effort to detach the whole of them from the outer 
skin. The fibres are next steeped in water for soinj 
time, after which they arc washed in order to free them 
from tlie matter tliat still adheres and binds them 
togetlier. Tiicy are now laid out to dry and bleach 
on rude frames of split bamboo. Tlie processes of 
stooping, washing, and exposing to the snn are repeat- 
ed for some days, until tho fibres are considered 
properly bleached. Without further preparation, they 
are sent into town, for ex]iortatioii to China. Nearly 
all tho islands near Singapore are more or loss planted 
with pine-apples, whicli, at a rough estimate, cover an 
estimate of 2,IXKJ acres. The enormous quantity of 
leaves tliat aro aniiualiy allowed to ymtrify on the 
ground would supply filiro for a largo manufactory of 
viUnablo pina cloth. Tho fibres should bo cleaned on 
tho spot .” — Agricultural Onxctlc. 
THA AND COFFJilC SUBSTITUTES. 
LAOniNEiE. 
07. Sassafras officinale, ’Neon.— Warge tree of North 
America, well-known for its aromatic bark, which is 
used in medicine as a tonic. A decoction of the root 
is used in America under the name of Sassafras tea, 
as a warm, mucilaginous, aromatic drink, esjiecially 
ill fevers, bronchitis, catarrh, Ac. In military encamp- 
ments in America, Sassafras tea is said to have been 
at one time in almost daily use both by officers and 
men as a favourite substitute for green tea. It has 
a reputation as a blood purifier, and was many years 
ago used in tliis country for tlie same purpose, and 
as a warm aromatic drink, being sold in the early 
morning at the temporary coffee-stalls which then 
existed at the corners of tlie streets in the southern 
and eastern parts of London. 
Proteace.k. 
(18. Ihahojum stellatiim, R. Bi-. — A shrub 8 to 10 feet 
high, growing in thickets and woody ravines on the 
east Bide of the Table Mountain, and in many other 
localities at the Cape of Good Hope. It is known 
as the wild Almond, in consequence of tho fruit and 
seed being Almond-shaped, the latter, after being 
soaked for some days in water, are eaten by the natives 
who also roast and grind them and use them as coffee. 
Santa LACE.'E. 
62. Osijris arhorea. Wall. — Tliis plant is described as 
being very common around Simla. In Knmaon it is 
knqwa asBftkw.dkw'Xft, bivkorja; iuBelgavim, m i’oplii 
