548 
THE TROPICAL AORIOULTURI8T. [February i, 1892. 
Decay Spots upon Leaves. — Plants with large 
leaves are often much disiigured by blotches that 
appear at any place upon tno foliage. The caxiso 
ot these spots is soTiiotimcs not easy to deterniino. 
An otherwise perfectly healthy Calla-leaf may have 
a brown spot an inch long and a half-inch wide near 
its centre, and with no apparent reason for its exis- 
tence. The probabilities are, however, that some 
days before a withered blossom of a plant above it 
fell upon the leaf, and, remaining there for a time 
began to decay. Soon after, tho force of the water 
from the hose drove the blossom off, but not until it 
had left the seeds of decay in the leaf. In other 
words, tho fungus, usually a species of Itotrytis, 
while flourishing upon the rich sucomeut substance 
of the blossom, sent its threads into the leaf below 
and began the decay that finally ruined the leaf. 
Tho Botrytis fungus is not usually accused of making 
its attacks in a direct manner upon livmg tissue, 
but it docs not hesitate to pass from tho dead to tho 
living when conditions favor it. In other words, the 
Calla-leaf is safe against the attack of the spores of 
tho Botrytis. but when the vigorous filaments of well 
established plants present themselves the resisting 
S ’ is not sufficient to overconio them. If we had 
tho remains of the blossom in tho centre of the 
dead blotch it would have been natural to ascribe the 
cause to the flower or the fungus it harbored, but 
in many instances the leaf blackens without any 
apparent cause. Nevertheless tho cause remains 
tho same, for tiie source of contamination had been 
removed before the decay in tlie leaf had become 
perceptible. The practical conclusion i.^, that no 
opportunity bo given those half-way parasitic fungi 
to gain an entrance to healthy plants. The gard- 
ener know’s how important it is to keep all dead 
leaves and decaying blossoms from contact with 
tho healthy parts. Neatness as well as health de- 
mands that the living bo kept part from the dead. — 
Garden and h'oreat. 
Taking Tea witu a Lama in Monooi.ia. — 
forms the subject of a half-page illustration in the 
‘Tllustrated London News” of I2th Dec., by its special 
artist, Mr. Julius M. Price, who thus describes the 
ordeal : — 
At one of tho places where wo halted, I had a rather 
curious experience of the Mongolian stylo of taking tea. 
Accompanied by one of tho (Jossacki', who spoke the 
language of this country, I visited a Mongol who was 
rather a swell in his woy, for hia “ yoiirt,” wliioh I 
had been anxious to see, was fitted up with some pro- 
tensions to style. We seated ourselves in thu usual man. 
ner on the ground, and our host, after a few minutes, 
of course offered us the inevitable tea. This was what 
I wanted particularly to avoid ; but there was uo get- 
ting out of it this time. A partioularly unwholesome, 
old-looking liag then dived into tho gloomy recesses of 
a sort of cupboard, and produced three wooden bowls, 
oontainiog some greasy-looking comp’iund, which she 
forthwith proceeded to clean out with her grimy fingers, 
finishing up by polishing vigorously with tno tail-end of 
her gown. These tasty receptacles were then placed 
before us on the ground aud were filled with some vile 
liquid, which bore no resemblance to the “ cup that 
cheers but not inebriates.” However, it would have 
been an intuit to the man to have refused hisbospitality; 
go for the next five minutes I was racking my brain how 
to get out of even sipping his awful stuff. My com- 
panion, who was used to Mongulisu customs, was not 
BO delicate in hla tastes, and managed to get through 
his bowl all right, at the same lime advlsiog mn to try 
and do likewise with mine, to ss not to offend the man. 
Providentially, however, at this moment someone came 
to the door of the " yourt ” to speak to our host, and 
we all got up, I immediately took advautage of the 
opportunity quietly to empty the contents of my bo'.vl 
into a dark corner near mo. We shortly after took our 
loave, in spite of the old Mongol's prossiog invitation to 
•lay and have|a drop more toa. When wo got outside the 
'* yourt,” my companion, who hud not noticed my 
mauoouvre but had observed the empty bowl, remarked 
that ho knew I would like Mongolian tea if I 01100 
tried it 1 
Some time last year a native gentleman in Mysore 
sent Mr. D. Hooper, the Government Quinologist, 
B sample of prepared tea made from Ihe loaves of 
of a kind of jumbal for examination and opinion 
as to its effects if used constantly as a beverage. 
The leaves were identified by Mr. Lawson, the 
Government Botanist, as those of Eugenia caryo- 
phlaa, a myrtaooous shrub, which contained a little 
tannin and gallio acids, ooloariog matter, esBontial 
oil and ash, but no stimnlating constituont, such 
as the alkaloid caffeine found in tea and oofleo. 
Mr. Hooper thinks the beverage would be an in- 
nocent one, and not likely to affect the system 
either in bealtb or disease.— il/adra* Mail, Deo. So. 
Preserved Pineapples. — We rcceutly quoted 
a paragraph from the Straite Timen stating that 
the pineapple preserving industry in Singapore has 
been so much devt loped and the demand from 
Europe is so great that the price for fresh pine- 
apples baa risen to 94 (about Ifla.) per hundred, 
and that even at this enohanced rate the local 
demand cannot bo supplied, and those engaged in 
the industry find it necessary to scour the adjacent 
islands and territories in order to keep their 
(aotories going. Is there any reason why tho 
industry of preserving pineapples should not bo 
equally Buocessful in Ceylon as in Singapore ? 
It may be that the presence of Chinese gardeners 
in Singapore makes all tho differccoe. 
Orange Cultivation in North- Western 
India is receiving nfuob attention, as tho following 
extract from tho Eeport on the Sahaiunpore Gardens, 
will prove : — 
Oranges. — Tlie plantation of these made in tho year 
1887 is in s bealthv and thriving oondition, and several 
of tho new varieties fruited last Beason for the first 
time. One of the best of there new kinds was a variety 
reoeivfd from China in 1887, under tho name ef Sz-in- 
Kom. Tho fruit was something like tho oommou man- 
dariue orange in outward appearance, but it was more 
juicy and of richer flavour. The varietv is a desirable 
one, and is being extensivoly propagated for ;distriba- 
tion. Seedlings of a variety oalhd tho Butwal orange 
of Nepal received in 1886 from Dr. Bonavia, late of 
ElAwab, alio frnited for the first time. The frnit of 
this kind was very like that of the common cintra or 
suotra, only smaller, but the flavour was the .same. I 
should say this is simply a variety of the ointra, and 
not suffioienty diatinot to claim another name. A seed- 
ling Malta orange raised from seed grown in this garden 
aud sown in l^S also fruited. The outward appoat- 
auce of the fruit was very like that of the oommou 
MoUa, but when out it sliowo<l a thicker skin, and the 
pulp, instead of being sweet, was inten.sely bitter. Tbo 
seed was undoubtedly taken from a sweet fruited 
variety of Malta orange : therefore, this is an nutbeutio 
case of a seed from a sweet form of orange having pro- 
duced a form with bitter fruit. In the same row there 
are ten more trees raiseit from the same batch of seed, 
but these have not fruited yet. When they do, it will 
be iuterestlug to note whether any moro bitter variotiis 
apiioar among them. The following varieties of 
oranges »ere kindly proaentod to the garden by Mr. 
K. D. Uoyte, Bay Wow, Nurseries, Florida, Uuitod 
States, America. Tho o dlectiou as despatched num- 
bered eighteen varieties, but eight perished in transit : — 
Hart's Jjate, Star Calyx, ^Oh iia Madariuc, Sstsnma, 
Malta Oval, Spici Tangerine, Mediterranean Sweet, 
Lahita, Qsteu and Wastiingtou Navel. F’ive plants ot 
each of the following varieties wero imported from 
Japan Finger, Satsuma and King-Kam. All live 
plants ol tho “ Finger ” variety arrived in excellent 
coudition and are doing well ; two plants ol tho 
Satsuma ” survived the journey and promise to grow ; 
hut sll tho pJauts of tho ” King-Kam ” perished in 
transit. In addition to the sb ive oranges from foreign 
countries, one variety was obtained from Nagjmre, eiglit 
varieties from Poona, ton from Lahore, aud twelve 
from Lucknow. These together with tho foreign sorts, 
have oonsidoralby iuoreased our ooltootion. 
