THE TROPICAL /WnWOOLTURIST, 
[Mav 2 , i 8 q 2. 
8j» 
Shipments Lb. English Under 3% Per- Remain- 
from centago ing for 
shipiiient 
Java for 1891 8,000,000 3,240,000 28 o/o 5,780,000 
Ceylon „ 6,000,000 4,000,000 67 „ 2,000,(K)0 
India „ ■4,.'KX),000 2,025,000 45 „ 2,475,000 
18,500,000 8.265,000 10,235,000 
Bark unlike other produce will keep for years. 
Tjately some Cuproa, which was imported years ago, 
was put up for sale at a London auction. 
If large quantities, especially of the poorer kinds, 
are thrown on tho market, they ore bought up by 
speculative manufacturers or specailators and stored 
for use in the future, or to be resold in cose of a rise 
in price. 
The effeot of this is not only to depress prices 
for the present but to keep them down for years to come. 
There is the danger, too, of a combination among 
buyers. 
This state of things can only be prevented by pro- 
ducers destroying, instead of shipping, their poor barks: 
thus producers have the remedy in their own hands. 
The present alight rise in price is caused by the 
increased demand for qninine owing to the intluensa 
epidemic. When this demand ceases, will not prices 
fall back to their former level, or even lower ? 
Ledgetiana bark gives an average of 4 to 5 per cent 
of quinine. 
Buccirobra and ether kinds, good renewed, an aver- 
age of over 8 per cent of quinine. 
Succirubra and other kinds, bad renewed (that 
which has been renewed over 3 times and has become 
“ corky " and fibrous), under 3 per cent of quinine. 
Succirubra and other kinds natural an average of 
under 2 per cent of quinine. 
If tho value of the unit is Id to IM, 
Barks under 2 p. c. would fetch about about Id p. unit. 
.. 3 „ .. m .. 
„ over 3 „ „ lid „ 
The expenses of harvesting, shipping and selling 
come to about i,'20 per ton. I will call bark yielding 
over 3 o/o good, under 3 o/o bad. 
I will class producers of ledger bark as No. i, 
of different kinds os No. 2, of kinds yielding under 
3°/o as No. 3. 
Class No. 1 need not bo considered. 
Class No. 2 would do well to regard tho following. 
Crop of 10 tons. 
3 tons 2 % at Id per nnit 
Less expenses of harvesting, ship- 
ping and selling at £20 
2 tons 2i °/o at IJd per nnit 
Leas expenses as above 
5 tons 5 o/o at IJd per unit 
10 tons less expenses as above 
5 tons under 3 °/o destroyed. 
5 tons under 5 °/o (overage of good 
ledger) at 2d per nnit 
10 tons less expenses as above 
But would the value of the unit atop at 2d supposing 
tho supplies to bo reduced by one-third or more ? 
Class 3 are the chief producers of bad boik, and they 
have to consider whether (if it pays them at all I it 
will pay them best to continue, to throw on the 
market their bod and to depress and keep down 
prices or to cut down thoir trees and destroy the 
bod bark, in which case there would be a probability 
of prices rising and being really remunerative when 
the suckers which would spring from tho "stools” 
would bo ready and would produce good. 
Class 3 should recollect tliat bad barks had thoir 
day from 1877 to 1883. 
Getting all producers to agree to carry out a pliui. 
This is a point which all bark growers would do well 
to consider. The chief difficnlty is tho intense 
jealonsy which seems to bo felt if one class obtains a 
slight advantage over another. 
Ceylon contains most of tho bad kinds, bat planters 
there are doing well with toa ; they would then bo tlie 
better able to sacrifice their bad bark. 
Java has taken tlio load in thinking of plans to 
meet the situation : there is therefore tho more 
probability of their joining in any good plan. 
W. T. Uoni. 
£ 
Profit. 
56 
60 
58 
40 
18 
291 
100 
191 
466 
100 
366 
NOTES ON POPULAR SCIENCE. 
By Db. J. E. T.vylob, f.l.s., f.o.s., &c., 
Ewtom of “Sciekck Gossip.” 
The active and industrious French agricuUnral 
chemists. Professors Schloesing and IjUilrent, have just 
read another inqwrtant paper before the Paris Aca- 
demy of Sciences on “ The Fixation of Free Nitrogen 
by Plants." They anivc at the conclusions that there 
are some inferior green plants capable of fixing 
atmospheric or gaseous nitrogen. Under the condi- 
tions of thoir experiments they found that peas take 
up much atmospheric nitrogen, whereas fallow soils, 
oats, spurrey, mustard, &c., are not capable of 
fixing it. 
Two French chemists, Messrs. Arnaud and Charriu, 
have been devoting their attention to quite a new 
side in the natnral history of microscopical germs 
and organisms. They find that tho quantity of 
oxygon ahsorlied by them is in proportion to the 
quantity of carbonic acid gas evolved. In a vacuum, 
evolution of the latter gas takes place slowly. In 
an atmosphere of pure carlsmic acid there is no 
devclopmont of microbes. In hydrogen, on the con- 
trary, there is considerable development, with form- 
ation of ammonia. The quantity of nitrogen con- 
verted into ammonia by these organisms is some- 
times as mnch as 70 per cent. With asparagine it 
rises to over 90 per cent. Tho weight of tlie mic- 
robes and of the productions of their secretions was 
found to bo considerably greater witli gelatine than 
with asparagine. 
There are few questions which are more interest- 
ing to scientific agriculturists than the life-liistory 
and work of the micro-organisms in the soil. It is 
to them wo owe tho possibilities of a higher life. 
The old notion that plants could live on inorganic 
matter in tho soil is not correct. Their plant food 
has to be prepared for them, and the bacteria pre- 
pared it. Mr. Muntz has recently shown that nitrites 
aro only found in soils in very small quantities ; 
whilst on the other hand, when nitrifying organisms 
aro introduced largo quantities of nitrites are formed. 
Dilute solutions of calcium nitrite undergo no change 
when left in contact with oxygen for months. The 
Biiiiultiuieously action of oxygen, or of tho ordinary 
atmosphere and carbonic ii' id gas, on solutions of 
calcium nitrite completely converts it into nitrate. 
Oxygenation takes place wliun tlio nitrifying oi'gan- 
isms ore about. Mr. Miintz is of tlio opinion that 
tlie nitrifying organisms convert the nitrogen into 
nitrites, and that the latter are converted, without 
the further action of any organisms, into nitrates 
by tho simnltaneous action of tho oxygen and car- 
bonic acid always present in soils. On the other 
hand, some of our best English investigators believe 
that tho work of producing nitrites and nitrates is 
performed by two distinct species of soil bacteria. 
It is satisfactory to know that microbes are pretty 
much like ourselves — thoir are both good and bad 
among thorn. — Australasian. 
ORANGE UECll’ES. 
OiUNOE Fbitteiis. — Make a nice light batter with 
one-half pound of flonr, one-half ounce of butter, half 
a teaspoonful of salt, two eggs, and sufficient milk 
to give the proper consistency, which would be about 
one pint; peel tho oranges and divide each into eight 
pieces without breaking the thin skin ; dip each piece 
into tho batter; have ready a pan of boiling lard or 
cliirifiod dripping ; drop the oranges in this and fry 
B ilelicato brown — from eight to ten minntes. Wlieii 
done, lay them on a piece of white blotting-paper 
before the fire to drain away any greasy moisture 
that may roraaiii, sprinkle them over with white 
sugar and serve hot. 
Ohanof. Puddinu. — Take the yolks of three eggs, one 
tahlespoonful of cornflour, one breakfastcupful of 
powdered white sugar, one pint of milk ; make into 
a enstard by allowing it to come to the boil to thicken. 
Pool and slice five oranges and put tho slices into a 
pudding disii, with sugar spriuklod over oacli layer. 
While the custard is quite hot, pour it over the 
