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https://archive.org/details/tropicalagricul341910ceyl

~The Tropical Agriculturist

Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.

(FOUNDED 1881.)

} EDITED BY
J. CG. WILLIS, D.Sc.,

Director, Royal Botanic Gardens; Organizing Vice-President, C.A.S.

Vol, XXXIV.

Containing Numbers | to VI,: January to June, 1910.

Ret ae Ph Ce pa esr UE BERS areas ’.
44352
A. Mic&. J.. FERGUSON,
COLOMBO, CEYLON:

1910.

INDEX.

Page.
A.
Absorption of Ammonium Salts by
Plants, Direct es 233
Accacia Decurrens ... 363
Acid Soils for Rubber and other Culti-
vations, The Treatment of 234
Additional Notes on Rice Culture ; 22
Administration of Agricultural Ed uca-
tion ; 354
Agricultural Associations 427
~do Bank Act of the Philippine
Government 519
do Banks .. 52
do Chemistry 413
do College and Farm, Saidapeth 255
do Conditions in Java 350
do Credit Development in Assam 87
do Departments and _ their
Functions 438
do Developments 425
do Education, Administration of 354
do do for the Ryot.... 422
do do in the Schools 417
do do , Problem of 415
do Fertilizers 98
do Experiment Station, Pera-
deniya, Progress Report 55
do Experiments, Minutes of
Committee Meeting of... 54, 244
do Experiments at Peradeniya 552a
do do , Committee of 356
do International Congress of
Tropical and Colonial
Developments Ne 2
do Progress in Ceylon 432
do Research Institute, Pusa... 246
do Society Annual Report,
Ceylon Ba 546
do do Meeting, April
56, 354, 546
do do Progress Report 450
do Work in Barbados : 414
Agriculture, American Method of Deve: aware erele
loping 263 = 516
do in India, Progress of = *2.0++3 +383
do in Nyassaland
do , Introduction of Tuiprove:
ments into Indian? = 2°...’ ++:
do , Literature of Economic Bot-
any and 50, 131,

do , Southern
do The School of
Aleohol and its Possibility as a Source of
Power in the Philippines
Aliens of Victoria, The Weeds, Poison
Plants, etc. :
Alimentary Plants, Tuberculous
Amazon vs. Plantation Rubber
A Mechanical Polisher for Cacao
American Method of Development of
Agriculture
~ Ammonia, Availability of Sulphate of.

Pre

235, 352, 434, 532

ee swe 22250
<P

535566

355
423

A New Cane- eae Machine
Angola, Plantin
Annual Report, oe S.
Anti-Rinderpest Serum, its Production

and Use
Antwerp Rubber Trade
Artificial Cultivation of Sponges

do Manures ...

A Russian Method of Corn Cultivation...
Assam, Agricultural Development in
A Useful Leguminous Plant
Austrian Rubber Plant, A New
Availability of Sulphate of Ammonia
Averages for 1909, Tea Sale

B.
Bacterial Blight in Cotton
Bahia, Rubber Planting and Exploit-
ation in
Banana Cultivation ..
do {ndustry, Question ofa
Banks, Agricultural...
Baobab Trees used for Storage of Water
Bee-Conversation with Doolittle
Bee-keeping in Ceylon S- "45,
Bees in the Fall, Uniting ac
Begasse for Paper ‘
Belgian Congo Taxes on India- rubber...
do, Rubber Co. Director in Colombo
Black Cotton Soil a
Bleeding Disease of Coconuts
Blight of Tea, Mosquito
Board of Agriculture Progress Report ..
Books in the Tropics, Preserving
Bordeaux Mixture and Pink Disease of
Para Rubber
Brazil Nut, The...
do , Tea ‘and Rubber in
Brazilian Rubber Exports
do _ Iadustry
British Cotton Growing
Budding of Mango, Shield

C.

1.279,

serresee 4 - Cacao, A Mechanical Polisher for

Butter, German Method of Manu-
facturin

do , Canker o if

do , ’ Coffee and Tea Consumption

do ” Culture i in German Samoa

do , Diseases of ...

do ” ‘Exports from Trinidad

do , Fermentation of

do a Grenade, Manurial Experiments

n Per
do if the Gola Coast D0
do inthe s ubppines in 1909 Pt
do , Manuring o ae
do , Nicaraguan Criolo
do , Products obtained from

° s

eee

400 —
do The Production in Ecuador in 1909 of 554 —

Me

% Oe F

4 INDEX,
: PAGE.
Calcium Oyatainide.| Bone Notes on 159 Coconut Production in the Philippines
Cambodia Cotton, Cultivation of 378 in 1909 ...
Camphor in the Gold Coast 287 Coffee Robusta as a Catch Crop in Rubber
do, Natural and Artificial 203 Coffee, Cacao and Tea Consumption
do Sy nthetic . 369 do in the Philippines
eaaceauee Machine, A New 321 Colombo, A Floral Parade for
Canker of Cacao... 325 Colonial Development, Brussels Inter-
Caoutchoue and its Collection 297 ‘national Congress of Agriculture and
do Production in Asia 485 Committee of Agricultural Experi-
do Production of Asia, its Dan- ments
gers, Mistakes and Im- Committee Final Report, Tobacco Ex-
provements, etc. 393 periment
Castilloa Rubber ... 572 do Meeting of Agricultural Ex-
Castor and Theobroma Oils 236 periments
do Oil Bean in the Soudan 285 Committee’s Renee. Model and Experi-
Cattle, Improvement of 229 mental Gardens ... te
do do Indian 125 Company Promotion in the F. M. 8.
do Indian, Recent Exports of High Composition of Indian Rice
Class 44 Conditions of Establishing Gardens
do Plague or Rinderpest 230 Consumption of Cacao, Coffee and Tea..
do , Prickly Pear, Digestibility of, Conversation with Doolittle, Bee
when Fed to 513 Copra Exports of the Dutch Indies
Cause of Tackiness in Rubber 89 do in the Gold Coast
Ceara Rubber in Coorg - vais 192 do , Moisturein ... wea
do in German East Africa |. 486 do , Preserving, from Mould oe
do in Mysore, Tapping _... 298 Coorg Ploughs a
Ceylon Agricultural Society Annual Re- Co- poperdtinn of Small Holders ns
port, 1909-10 546 Co-operative Credit Society :
do gage ced) Socioty Meeting, April6 354 do __ Society for Farmers
do do Progress Eten 450 Corn asa Sugar Producer, Indian ca
do Reece Progress i in : 432 do Cultivation, A Russian Method of
do , Bee-keeping i in see | 45, 513 do , Sugar Produced from Indian
do , Cinnamon in aes 493 Cotton, Cultivation of Tree
do ’ Citronella Oil ae 300 do , Bacterial Blight in
do Coconut Oil in America aT, 375 do ; Cambodia, Cultivation of
do Green Manure, A New 181 do , Egyptian, Changes when Grown
do , Impressions of Mr. Benson on. 145 in United States
do ” Rubber and other Products 368 do Experiments in Honduras
do , do Cultivation in Bi 362 do Federation, International
do Tea Estate Averages for Ist do Growing, British
Quarter, 1910 eer 3 do in Tinnevelly
, Tobaceo Experiment i in 63 do in the Field, Method of Esti-
Chalk, "Utility (0) Bae 475 mating Yield of we
Changes in Vevptian Cotton when Grown do Seed es
in United States ... 12 do do for Planting, Rate of _...
Chemical Sprays for Weeds, Insects, &c., do do , Observations on the Effects
~ Destruction 473 of Storage on
Chemistry, Agricultural 413 do Soil, Black ..
Chena, Thuming, Taungya or Ladang .. 48] do Varieties for ‘Uniformity, Selec-
Cinchona and Rubber Booms Compared 369 tion of 5
do , Java sa 205 do, West Indian
Cinnamon in Ceylon... 493 Credit Societies, Co-operative
do Oil, Ceylon 574 Crop Values, Some Comparative
Citronella Oil’ 467 Crops by Seed Selection, Improvement of
do Oil, Ceylon 300 do in India, Water Requirements and
do Oil Tests .. as 400 do of India, Some Commercial ;
Clean Weeding for Rubber ..371, 372 Cultivation and Fertility oe
do do vs. Tephrosia 297 to) do Preparation of Para
Coca Cultivation in Peru 110 Ruober
Cocaine, Memorandum on the Produc- do do Production of Rubber
tion, Distribution, and Sale of 110 in German Colonies..
Cockerill’s Patent for the fueatatonts, of do of Estates, Theoretical and
Latex 376 Practical Ee
Coconut Bleeding Disease 172 do of Tree Cottons
do Coffee Robusta as a Catch Crop i in 362 fare oe
do » History of the Sea eS 505, D.
do ‘‘Milk,” The Food Value of 567 Dangers, Mistakes, and Improvements
do Oil, Ceylon, i in America bes 874 in the Caoutchoue Production of Asia
do Palm Disease in Borneo »» 666 Dear Rubber 0h mm

54, 356, 5520

63

rate) for Tea sae 450

iv INDEX.
PAGE. ’
Death by Eating Poisonous Fruits rae 71 Fibre Plants in India, Extension of Culti- cha
Depts. of Agriculture and their Functions 438 vation of _.. 15 5
Development of Agriculture 2 do Producing Plants, Some Notes on 2
clo of Science in Horticulture 446 Various Oil and os 8 )
Device for Measuring and Taking a Census Fibres, Madras Sisal and other ant 201 e.
of Girth of Rubber Trees nice 5 Field Trials, Experimental Errorin ... 46 ane
Die-back of Hevea Braziliensis 286 = Fiji, an Ex- Ceylon Planter on bed 80 .
Direct Absorption of Ammonium Salts Floral Parade for Colombo, A 4 455 BS
by Plants are te 233 «=F. M.S. Rubber Company Promotion ... 83 |
Diseases of Cacao... ade 407 Fodder Plant, Prickly Pear a Pest or a 115
Disinfection of Tea Seed nee 375 do , Prickly Pear as a ; 504. %
Distribution and Sale of Cocaine ane 110 Forests of the Gold Coast ae 404 ;
Draining, A Manual on 508 237 Fruit Drying, New Process for we 370 3
Dry Farming Principles he 69 Fruits, Death by Eating Poisonous — ... 71 :
Funtumia in the Ivory Coast i 485 |
E. f
Economic Products in the Seychelles ... 281 G.
do Value of aSchool of Hopi Garden’s Committee Report, Model and
Medicine 156 Experimental i 62 a9
Edinburgh Professor of Agriculture in do Conditions for Establishing ... 63 3
Colombo 565 German East Africa, Ceara Rubber i in a 488 - 4
Education, Administration of Agricultural 354 do Samoa, Cacao Culture in 206
do of the Young Farmer ae 140 Girth of Rubber Trees, etc. eae 5
Effect of Grass on Trees Ke 129 Gliricidia maculata ... <e 407
Elementary Principles for Manuring _... 443 Gold Coast Forests ... id 404
Enemy of Thrift in Ceylon ae 370 Grass on Rubber Estates : 2 285
Entomological Notes 119, 228, 322 do on Trees, Effect of 5a 129 ‘,
Establishing Gardens, Conditions for ... 63 Green Dressings ... pee 256 ~' ;
Estate Animals, Selection in Breeding 42 do do and Applications tas 149 Po
Eucalyptus Leaves, Utilisation of 40d 511 do do for Wet Lands 35 258 is
Experiment Station in Sumatra bop 88 do Manuring. bon 288
do do , Peradeniya, Report Grenada Cacao Manurial Experiments ... 308
on 2a Growing of British Cotton mA; 106
do do Progress Report, Agri- Guano for Rubber Trees E ae 377
cultural 55 Guatemela, Rubber and Hemp in_ ac 376
do do , Report on Ace 356 Gutta Percha Cultivation an 196
do do , Rothamsted 259 ;
Experimental Committee's final Report, H.
Tobacco 63 H Rabo @uatomal 376
do Error in Field Trials __... 46 bt sec Fd aca in Guatemela = : 7
) Hevea Braziliensis, Die-back of en 286 >
do Gardens Committee’s Re- H .
port, Model and 62 istory of the Sea Coconut 00 505 14
Experiments, Committee of Agricultural 54, 356 Holes oe: pparaticn of Small a re 4
do with Cacao in Grenada, Hor COE E eR OOS Oa SOE ae a
208 orticulture, Science in 500 446 aM
MIR -» 308 Human Life and Relation to Science 136 2
Exports of Trinidad Cacao 369 f re gy:
Extension of Cultivation of Fibre Plants 1. *
dia an dos 15
te Imperial [nstitute, Scientific and Bs
nical Department of the
F. Improvement in Paddy Cultivation
Farm, Saidapeth Agricultural College apd 255 do of Cattle
Far met, Position of the Village ; 351 do of Crops by Seed Selection
Farmers’ Co-operative Societies Oe 424 do of Indian Cattle
do __, Education of the Young ae 140 Indian Corn asa Sugar Producer
Farming Principles, Dry ae 69 do Paper Industry
Felling, Tree oh 321 do Rice
Fermentation of Cacao eee 115 do Soy Bean...
do Cigar Leaf Tobacco ... 109 do Tobacco Trade
Fertilisers, Agricultural Fe 98 India-rubber Market for 1909
do and Manures ave 863 India’s Tea Country
do on Rubber Plantations ey 363 Indigo and Sunn Hemp as Green Manure
Fertilising Influence of Sunlight san (9459 Industries, Alcohol, etc., in Philippines
Fertility and Soil Exhaustion, Soil ae 46 Industry, Science and
do, Cultivation and «. 127 ~° Inoculation of Leguminous COPS W. I.
Fertilization for Rubber 377. Intensive Cultivation of Rubbe
do of Soil, Important Dis- International Congress of Tropical and
covery in Aon alley Colonial Development...

do Cotton Federation we

PAGE.
International Rubber Testing Committee 272 |
Introduction of Improvements into In-
dian Agriculture . eee OOS
Trrigation Methods .. 430
Ivory Coast, Funtwmia in the ~ 485
J.
Japan, Paper Industry in 71
Java Cinchona 205
do, Tea and Rubber in 174
Jequie Manicoba Hubber Tree 393
Ao do Tre re 364
Journey Around the World, A ...193, 289
K.
Korean Rice Trade ... 317
L.
Labour for Cochin China, Java 187
Ladang, Chena, Jhuming, Taungya or.. 481
Landolphia, Tapping of 359
Laplae’s Visit to the East, M. vw. AGS
Leaf Cigar Tobacco, Fermentation of ... 109
Lecture, Masters Second : 439
Legume for Rubber, A New 82
Leguminous Crops in West Indies 49
do Plant, A Useful 227
do Plants, Observations on Wild 228
Literature of Economic Botany and
Agriculture 50, 131, 235, 352, 434, 532
Lodoicea Sechellarum (Sea Coconut) : 505
M.
Madras Sisal and other Fibres 201
Manaos Rubber Conference 76
Mango, She Budaine for 498
do 311
Past menor Tr 80, Jequie 393
Manihot Glaziovit, Remarks on Selection
and Bleeding of... 86
~ Manual on Draining... 237
Manure, A New Ceylon Green ari 181
do for Orchards, Vineyards, ete. . 151
Manures, Artificial .. 518
Manurial Experiments. with Cacao 308
Manuring, Elementary Principles for 443
do for Wet Lands, Green 258
do of Cacao... 95
Marshall’s Oil Tractor e 445
Masters Lecture II .. 439
Mate or Parana—Tea_ 401
Medicine, Economic Value of a School ‘of
Tropical 156
Memo. on a Recent Visit to India : 65
do Production, Distribution and
Sale of Cocaine 110
Method of Estimating Yield of Cotton.. 305
Mexican Rubber, A Wonderful 80
Mimosa Pudica in Coor 184
Mirigama School Garden Show 50 69
Miscellanea : Chiefly Pathological 40, 123, 225
Mistletoe Pest in South West 10
Model and Experimental Gardens Com-
mittee Report 62
Moisture in Copra ... 169
Mole Cricket a Pest to Rubber Stumps 285

“INDEX.

Mosquito Blight of Tea

Mulch, The

Museums, Philadelphia
Mycology and Economic Botany

Natural and Artificial Camphor
do Sterilisation of Soil
New Legume, an Austrian

do for Rubber
Nicaraguan Criolo Cacao
Nitro-Bacterine

Notes on Rice Culture
Nutmeg Industry, State of the
Nyasaland, Agriculture in

do - Tobaccos, Examination of .

0.
Obscure Causes of Unproductiveness in
Land
Observations on the Effects of Storage
on Cotton Seed
do on Wild Leguminous Plants

Oil and Fibre Producing Plants .
do, Ceylon Citronella ae
do Tests, Citronella a
do Tractor, Marshall’s

Orange and how to Grow it

P.

Packing Plants for Export
Paddy “Cultivation, iimproveniont in
do Experiments in India

do , Single Planting in "378,

do , Single Planting of
Palm Products for 1909, Our
do do for 1st Quarter of 1910 ..
Palo Amarillo ore
Rubber
Paper, Bagasse for ...
Industry, Indian
do in Japan
do Making in India
Papua, Planting i a ee
Para Rubber Cultivation & Preparation
do do , science and
Practice of
Paspalum Dilatatum in the North
Pepper, Wilt Disease of

' Percentage of Scrap to Fine Plantation

Rubber
Eiiladelphia 2 Meseums
Philippine Islands, Products of the _...
Pineapple Growing i in Bataan and Bula-
can
Pink Disease of Para Rubber and Bor-
deaux Mixture
Plant Breeding
do Diseases
Plantation Rubber vs. Fine Para
Planting in Angola...
cdo Products in Samoa
Plants for Export, Packing
Ploughs, Setting and Features of
do Used in Coorg
Poison Plants and Naturalised Aliens of
Victoria, The Weeds
Position of the Village Farmer

oe

et 6 aes SSP

INDEX, —

_ Rabber at the Brussels Exhibition

vi
Page.
Potash, A Manure for Orchards, &e. ... 151
Preparation of Funtumia on Ivory Coast 486 do
Preserving Books in the Tropics 158 do
do Copra from Mould 379 do
Prickly Pear, A Pest or Fodder Plant... 115
do as a Fodder 504 do
do ; Digestibility of, when Fed do
to Cattle 5138 do
Problem of Agricultural Education 415 do
Production of Rice in the U.S. A. sees ele) do
Products in Ceylon, Rubber and other... 368 do
do obtained from Cacao Bot 400 do
do of the Philippine Islands 469 do
Progress in Ceylon Agriculture 432 do
o Report, Agricultural Experi- do
ment Station nts 55 do
do do , Board of Agriculture 56, 159, do
350
Prospectus of Pusa Agricultural Research do
Institute as 246 do
Prosperity and Rubber 4 do
Pierocarpus Trees Destroyed by a Fungus 466 do
Pusa Agricultural Research Institute, do
Prospectus of wa a 246 do
do
do
Question of a Banana Tnduein y 212 do
Quinine in India ‘ 2 do
——— do
R. do
Ramie Wool 372 do
_ Rate of Cotton Seed for Planting 455 do
Recent Exports of High- Class Indian do
Cattle 44 do
Relation of School Gardens to Nature do
Study 358 do
do Science to Human Life 240 do
Remarks on Selection and Bleeding of do
Manihot Glaziovir .. 486 do
Report on A ricultural Experiments, do
: Boradenie a 552a do
do Henenaent Station, Pera- do
deniya 356 do
do Mirigama School Gerdens do
how.. es 69 do
Rice, Consumption of Indian ne 210 do
do Crop Prospects, Burma 1909-10 ... 22 do
do Cultivation, Additional Notes on 22
do Culture, Notes on af 22 do
do Growing in U.S, A. 402 do
do in Burma a: 315 do
do mU.S.A,, Production of 313 do
ge Investi ations in Hawaii 575 do
do ‘Trade, Korean 317 do
Rinderpest, Cattle Plague or 230 do
do Serum, its Production and do
Use, Anti- Bie nodal: do
Rothamsted Experiment Station 259 do
Rubber, A French View of 89 do
do Amazon vs. Plantation 179
do and Cinchona Booms Compared 369 do
do do Clean Weeding 368, 371, 372 do
do do Dragon Flies ms 470 do
do do Hemp in Guatemela 376 do
do do its Substitutes A 195 do
do do Tapioca ...178, 468 do
do Artificial... 574 do
do as an Imperial Asset, Sir Frank do
Swettenham on wr £68 do

Belgian-Congo Taxes on ors
Bleekrodea Tonkinensis
Bordeaux Mixture and Pink Dis-

ease of Para 565
Castilloa... 572,
do bythe Centrifugal Process 77
Cause of Tackiness in 89
Ceara in Coorg 192
do Seed and Ants 558

Co. Director from Belgium .. 468
Company Promotion-in the F. M.S 83
Conference at Manaos ie 76
Convention...
Crops, Monthly Publication of 83

do of 1909 191
Cultivation, Science and Prac-
Hise of Para 29), 387
Dea ie rk)
5 Air , What helps to keep ihe 99
Die-back of Hevea oh 286
Estates, Grass on 285
do, Silt Traps for 458
Exports from Brazil 271
, F.M.S. Conference on 575
from Sierra Leone me 560
from West Africa Bt 73
, Future Supply of oF 7
’ Gathering i in Kastern Peru... 486
Growers’ Association eas 269
Growing in Queensland hog 84
Industry and the Brazil Government 77
do , Brazilian ies 299
do ‘of Ceylon or 362
do of Japan 480
, Intensive Cultivation of Bon 368
in Bahia... ...180, 181
in B.N. Borneo ...270, 283
in Brazil... 93, 174, 181
in British East Africa ons 176
in British Guiana HES 77
in Ceylon ... ze Tp fee

in Cochin China aS
in Dutch South East Borneo ... 472
in East Java ree 93
in French Indo-China Be 270
in German Colonies, Cultivation

and Production ef 101
in do _ Kast Africa, Ceara ,. 488
in Indo- ae se 93 —
in Jamaica... ee 92
in Java 174
in Labuan ... 192
alabar ..: 5 269
in Malaya ... Brn 192
in Mysore, Tapping Ceara ___... 296
in Queensland Say 84
in South India 475
in Spanish Possessions in Gulf of :
Guinea... ns 476
in Sumatra.— ..270, 569 —
in the F. M.S. 192, 171, 569
in the Philippines 574
in the do , Record Growth of oe a
in the Straits
in Tobago ...
in Travancore eel
in Trinidad.. ivahbe
in Venezuela ~ Hu

Pere

id
BS
AW

we re 04%

oS

Te Pe
ht

INDEX. vii
Pace, Paae.
Rubber, Jequie Manicoba .. 364 School Gardens, Relation of 358
do Latex, Mr. Cockerill’s Patent do Garden Show, Mirigama 69
for esting oe 376 do of Agriculture, The eget 4
do Manihot on the Nilgiris Lig: 573 do of Tropical Medicine, Economic
do Market, 1909 1.185, 188 Value of ... -- 156
do do and Supplies aM 46g Schools, Agricultural Education in the... 417
do do Report, 1909 178 Science and Ind ustry 97
do do Source of 284 do do Practice of Para Rubber
do — , New Austrian Plant, A 77 h Cultivation --291, 387
do , New Legume for ) do in Horticulture : ai 446
do on the Gold Coast 89 do to Human Life, Relation of, 240
‘do, Palo Amarillo 3, 105 Scientific and ‘Technical Department,
do, Para, and Exploitation in Bahia 180, 181 Imperial Institute . 143
do , do Coffee Robusta as a Catch Sea-Coconut, History of the 505
Crop i 362 Selecting in the Breeding of Estate
do , do, Growth of 568 Animals : 42
do>. do. , May-June Seed Crops 71 Selection of Cotton Varieties for Uni-
do ; do’ Pests in Borneo 181 formity 200
“do , do, Pink Disease of 565 Sesamum Cultivation. a 359
dos, do oiStatishios 564 seychelles, Economic Products in the .. 281
do, Plantation, by J. Perkins 562 do Vahea Rubber from 76
do do vs. Fine Para ‘ 971 Shield Budding for Mango 498
Pe eMienters.in Brazil: (“Government Show Repo:t on Mirigama School Gar den 69
Aid to at g4 Single Planting of Paddy lll
do do in Deli g4 Sisal and other Fibres, Madras 201
do Plants in Singapore Botanic do Hemps and Hurricanes 470
Gardens ... : 965 Silt-Traps for Rubber Estates 458
do, Prosperity and 4 Society of Chemical Industry, Lecture on
do —_ Production in Angola 90 India-rubber oo 479
do Products, West African 472 Soil, Black Cotton ... 415
do Sanitation, Lecture on 267 do Fertility and Soil Exhaustion 46
do Senlolont Para 471 do Fertilization, Important Ee: in 182
do ,Society of Chemical Industry do , Natural Sterilisation of - 413
; Lecture on 479 do, Sterilisation of.. 127
do Statistics from Hawaii 375 lo, Tilled and Untilled 262
do do of Hawaii 397 Soils for Rubber Cultivation, Treatment of 234
theo. Strange Growth ofa Para Cutting 979 Some Commercial Crops of India ‘ 155
do- Strength of Old and Voung By do Comparative Crop Values 401
do Stumps, Damage by Mole Cricketto 985 Ye Metas on Calcium Cyanamide 159
do, Substitutes font 483 do do Various UII aud Pibro-pro S
do Supply, Future 75 ducing Plants 8
do, Synthetic ie 482 do peas on Rubber eee in
do apping of Hevea, Prof asvern 4 eri 486
eae Fitting on ne aed 177 Source of Rubber, A New 284
do do Ceara 178 South Indian Planters and their Scienti-
do do System and Planting fic Officer 575
Methods 460 Southern Agriculture 355-
do do Up-to-date 457 Soy Bean ot 78, 198
do Taxes in Belgian Congo 565 0, Indian oon 27
do Testing Committee, International 272 {lo ’ Trade 301
do Trade of Antwerp : 270 Sponges, Artificial Cultivation of ph 88
do , Treatment of Acid Soils for 934 Standardisation of Tree Measurements.. 32
du Tree of Tonkin andNorthAnnam 576 Strange Growth of a Para Rubber Cutting} 272
do Tree, Jegue Manicoba 5 393 State of the Nutimes Industry 492
do Trees, Device for Census ot Sterilisation of Soil 127
Girth of e 5 Storage of Water, Baobab Trees used for 505
do do , Guano for 377 Strength of Old and Young Rubber 268
do Vahea, from Seychelles 76 Substitutes for Rubber 483
do — Wonderful Mexican 1g9 Sugarcane Experiments 272
Rupee Rubber Co, Crops, _Monthly Pub- Sugar- -making, Demonstration in 280
lication of ne g3 Sugar Consumption in the Orient 7 403
Ryot, Agricultural, Education for the ... 499 do Growing and Manufacture in India 31
Fl do Produced from Indian Corn 118
s ae eae Indian Corn as a 117
. o , Tali 217
pxdapettt Poulhirel at Coleg and Farm 255 Sulphate AM Ammonia, Availability of . 558
Samoa, Products of .. 468 Sumatra Experiment Stations be 88
Lebanese AB . 306 Sunlight, Fertilising Influences of 459
ape Dane Aa eylon é 96 Sunn em and Indigo as Green Manure 288
cale on Para Rubber ae 174 Synthetic Rubber ... nth 482

ii oa Ae

bs des pn OCEAN ee ee ee ee
7 - '%
viii INDEX,
PAGE
T. Tobacco in Burma ... ia
Tackiness in Rubber, Cause of 89, 379 do in Nyasaland -
Talipot Sugar 217 do in Rhodesia vee
Tapioca and Rubber — 468 do inthe U.S. A. .
Tapping Ceara Rubber in Mysore 296 do ‘Trouble in Travancore
do — Landolphia 359 Treatment of Latex, Mr. Cockerill’s
Tea and Rubber Crops of 1909 270 Patent for the ;
do do in Brazil 174 Tree Cottons, Cultivation of
do do in Java 174. do Felling
do and do in Various Climes 87 do Measurements, “Standardisation of
do Association, Indian 276 ‘Trees, Effect of Grass on
do, China, in 1910}. 477 ‘Trinidad Cacao Exports
do, Consumption of Cacao, Coffee and 493 ‘Tripoli Esparto Grass
Aci Country, India’s gg Tropical Agriculture, International Con-
do Cultivation, Lecture by Mr. Anstend 466 gress and Colonial peau
do Culture 466 Tuberculous Alimentary Plants Ba
do Estate Averages for 1910, Ist Quar ter 462 aaa
do Experiments at Per adeniya 459 U.
do, Fertilisers for ... 459 | Uniting Bees in the Fall ay
do’ Industry of India 208 Unproductiveness in Land, Obscure
do do , The 313 Causes of
do do ’ The Indian 112 Utilisation of Eucalyptus Leaves
do in Chinese Turkestan : 84 ae
do in Natal os. 95,372 ~— Vv.
OF
pon the Kachin Hill Hes 401 Vahea Rubber from Seychelles
do- Memorandas for 1909, Wilson, Smithett ae Crop, The World’s
Re Ga ls 380 anilla Crops of the World
do, moRanite Blight ae 35 do Culture for Tropical Queensland
ouNalo Averages for 1909 273 Village Farmer, Position of the
do Seed, Disinfection of 375 ~~ Visit to Ceylon by Mr. Benson
Tephrosia Purpurea, A Ceylon Weed 458 do South India, Memo. ona Recent
Tephrosia, Clean W eeding vs. 297
Termes Gestrot 322 Ww.
The Cultivation of Ylang- Ylang 6 Water Requirements of Crops in India
do Indian Tea Industry 112 do Storage i in Baobab Trees 5
do Mango A 311 Weeding, Clean, for Rubber 368, 371,
do Mulch 515 Weeds vs. Tephrosia, Clean a 2
do Question of a Banana Industry 219 Weeds ~
om choDl at Agrionlemre— 493 West Indian Cotton ..
do ‘Vea Industry 313 do Leguminous Crops
do Tobacco Industry 2] What Helps to keep Rubber Dear
do Treatment of Acid Soils for Rubber 234 Wild Leguminous Plants, Observations on
do Weeds, Poison Plants and Natural- Wilson, Smithett & Co. ’s Tea Monga
ised Aliens of Victoria 1 for 1909
do World’s Vanilla Crop 499 Wilt Disease of Pepper
Theobroma and Castor Oils 236 Wood Finishing...
Thrift in Ceylon, Enemy of 370 do Preservation .
Tilled and Untilled Soil 262 do -preserving Process in Cormanyas and
Tobacco Experiment in Ceylon 63 France :
do do Committee’s Final fase rary
Report 63 Y.
do enoe nian. of Gent Leaf 109 Yields of Coconuts per Tree .¥
do ” Industry, 21 Ylang-Ylang, The Culture of AS
do Trade, Bere 204 Young Farmer, Education for the ae

Macmillan.

Photo by A. F,

STENOCARPUS SINUATUS.

Fuowens BRicut SCARLET.

oy

TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

AND

MAGAZINE OF THE

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Vou. XXXIV; COLOMBO, JANUARY 157u, 1910, No. 1.
Review. fashion with the factors which influence
palin Ses the spread of weeds and with the best
THE WEEDS, POISON PLANTS, methods for their suppression.

_ AND NATURALIZED ALIENS OF
VICTORIA.

By A. J. EWART, D.SC., PH.D., F-L.S.,
assisted by J. R. Tovey.

(PP. 100 AND 83 COLOURED PLATES,
MELBOURNE, 1909).

_A description in popular language ac-
companied by coloured plates of the
weeds and deleterious plants of an agri-
cultural country is one of the most
useful works which could be put into
the hands of farmers and planters. In
Victoria such a volume is rendered speci-
ally necessary by the existence of legis-
lative enactments enforcing penalties
upon farmers who do not carry out the
prescribed measures for the eradication
of proclaimed pests. The coloured
figures of these pests have already been
published serially in the Journal of the
Agricultural Department of Victoria.
The plates and published descriptions
are now collected into one volume which
is rendered more complete by a full
account of the properties and best modes
of treatment of all the commoner weeds
of the country, to which is added a
complete list of all the naturalized
aliens and introduced exotics, An intro-
ductory section of twelve closely printed
pages deals in an able and interesting

Space only allows of our selecting for
quotation two brief passages which can-
not be taken too seriously to heart by
all planters and agriculturists of what-
ever country.

‘“No point is more important to the
settler on forest land than that he
should clear no more land at a time than
he can keep clear and free from weeds.
Any slackness in this respect soon re-
duces the land to a condition which,
from the point of view of cultivation, is ©
as bad as, or even worse than, when it
was under forest.”

And on page 7: “It is not too much to
say that no new plant should be intro-
duced into this State, and not evenina
private garden, if there is any chance of
its spreading, unless an official report of
its capacities for good and evil has been
obtained, and unless the report is a
favourable one.”

The descriptions of plants which
occupy the bulk of the book are written
in popular language, and the meaniags
of the few technical expressions used
are explained in a short glossary. The
author is to be congratulated on having
produced an admirable model of what
such a book should be.

R, H, L;

JANUARY, 1910.]

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF
TROPICAL AGRICULTURE AND
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT,
BRUSSELS, 1910.

We have received from the Director
of the Imperial Institute, London, an
account of the preliminary proposals
with regard to the British Section of the
abovenamed Congress.

It appears that an International Con-
gress of Tropical Agriculture and
Colonial Development was held in Paris
in 1905, and at the close of that Con-
gress an International Association was
founded, having for its principal object
the Organisation of such Congresses in
the future. Itis proposed by the Inter-
national Association to hold a second
Congress at Brussels in May, 1910. The
local arrangements at Brussels will be
made in co-operation with the Belgian
Association for the study of Tropical
Agriculture. The International Botan-
ical Congress will also meet at Brussels
at the same time and will take part
in the proceedings. Representatives
have been appointed in Great Britain
and its Colonies, Germany, France, Italy,
Belgium, the United States and else-
where, and local committees are in
process of formation in those countries
to make arrangements for the reading of
papers and other matters,

The following is a schedule’ of the
subjects proposed for discussion by
the British Representatives at the
Congress :—-

1. RUBBER.

Utilisation of natural rubber resources.
Acclimatisation of exotic rubber trees,
Formation of rubber plantations.
Methods of tapping. Composition of
latices, Composition of raw rubber.
Methods of preparing rubber. Storage
and transport of rubber. Insect and
fungoid pests affecting rubber trees.
Economics of rubber production, ete.

2. COTTON.

Cultivation of exotic cottons in new
countries. Improvement of native
cottons. Breeding of more productive
or pest-resistant varieties. Schemes for
seed selection. Utilisation of bye-pro-
ducts. Organisation of ginning stations.
Packing, transport and shipment oft”
cotton. Methods of disinfecting cotton
seed. Remedial measures against insect
pad fungoid pests of the cotton plant,
etc.

3. TOBACCO. "<a
Cultivaticn.
tries.
tion. Manures. Organisation of field
experiments. Composition of tobacco.
Methods of analysis. Fungoid and
insect pests affecting the tobacco plant
or stored tobacco. HKconomics of tobacco
production. Varieties in demand in
different consuming countries, etc.

4. WHEAT.

Methods of cultivation. Accounts of
field experiments. Methods of manuring.
Breeding of prolific and rust-resistant
varieties. Analysis of wheat required
by different markets. Methods and
times of marketing. Transport and
storage. Remedies against insect pests
affecting stored wheat.

5. CANE-SUGAR.

Field experiments with sugar-canes.
Selection of canes. Maintenance of rich
varieties. Manuring of sugar-ecane.
Organisation and working of cane-
sugar factories. - Utilisation of bye-
products, ete.

6. GENERAL AGRICULTURE.

Organisation of field experiments and
demonstration plots. Improvement of
native agriculture in the tropics.
tions suitable for the tropics. Catch
crops. Methods of manuring suitable
for use by natives, Improvements in
agricultural tools and machinery, ete.

7. FORESTRY.

Schemes for forest conservation.
Working plans. Re-afforestation in the
tropics. Timber and fuel supply. Utili-

sation of minor forest produce. Special
forest products such as palm oil, oil
seeds, tanning materials, gums, resins,
turpentine, etc.

Sections (1) Rubber and (6) General
Agriculture are those which most nearly
affect the patrons of the Tropical Agri-
culturist, although the discussions on
Cotton and Tobacco are likely to be
followed with interest by a considerable
section of readers. At the present stage
of the Rubber industry the questions
relating to that product may probably
be relied upon to afford the subject cf
keen and valuable discussion. It is to
be hoped that the problems of general
native agriculture will meet with equally
full attention, and that they will not be
relegated to a secondary position owing
to the competition of the more opulent
industries. ‘

R. H. i -

Planting in new coun-
Soils suitable for tobacco cultiva- -

Rota-_.

3

GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS.

PROSPERITY AND RUBBER.

(From the India Rubber World, Vol. XL:,
No. 5, August 1, 1909.)

Our regular British correspondent on
another page voices a suggestion which
is apt to be heard whenever crude rubber
prices are on arising plane—that it may
be due to “manipulation.” This is an
euphonious word, and its use is safe
because the assertion involved cannot
readily be proved or disproved. Besides,
while the charge of ‘‘ manipulation” may
be meant to be uncomplimentary to
somebody, it neither carries a criminal
imputation noris aimed at any onein
particular. Itis, therefore, harmless.

Usually a rise in rubber prices is
attributed in Kurope to influences on
this side the Atlantic, and vice versa.
But just where or how rubber prices are
fixed has not yet become a simple
question. Assuming that advances in
rubber are due to speculative manipula-
tion, how about the fallin prices which
generally follows ?

All buying and selling of commodities
is more or less speculative, but what is
criticised is the alleged ccntrol of the
market by other influences than mere
supply and demand. Itis certain that
much trading in crude rubber is of the
class known as ‘“‘short” sales, which
involves an effort to depress prices. Most
purely speculative effort in the rubber
market is of this kind, instead of creat-
ing a ‘‘ corner” in the supply and forcing
consumers to pay exorbitant prices.
Most attempts to corner rubber have
resulted disastrously to the promoters,
and if high prices have resulted a speedy
‘*slump” has followed,

Whatever the cause of fluctuations in
rubber, however, each succeeding slump
» has stopped a higher point than the one
before, until it would now appear that
the normal price of rubber is twice as
high as twenty years ago, in spite of the
greatly increased production meanwhile.
Surely this general and long sustained
advance—to say nothing of the earlier
steady advance from 25 cents per pound
—cannot be attributed to any purely
speculative influences. The demand for
rubber has grown steadily from the date
of its first utilization, and continues to
grow. Whatever may be the future
capacity of the world to produce rubber,
itis now below the world’s needs for the
material.

The automobile situation in America
alone points to a vastly enlarged increase
in the world’s demand for rubber,

During the recent year of depressed
business there was no loss of activity in
the automobile industry in the United
States, but each year showed a larger
production of vehicles. This year’s out-
put is larger than ever, while every,
indication points toa still greater rate
of increase for 1910. The condition is
near at hand when automobile tires
alone will call foras much rubber as
was consumed in the whole industry in
the United States ten years ago—the
date of the introduction of the automo-
bile. The condition of the country asa
whole is most satisfactory. The period
of depression referred to did not leave
the country poorer, but in many respects
in a better condition, and there is reason
to expect a more notable era of progress
than has-yet been witnessed. To note a
single feature, the normal condition of
agriculture in America is the ownership
of the land by the men who till it—every
farmer his own landlord—with such
results that the farmers are becoming
notably wealthy as aclass; the typical
farmer to-day is an automobile owner.

But the future of the rubber industry
will not be concerned with automobiles
alone. The commercial truck and the
farmer’s and villagers’ buggy demand
rubber tires. And all the other branches
of the rubber industry show a steady
rate of growth. While the sale ot
mechanical goods, footwear, and the
like during a year or so past fell off in
volume, the profits reported by the large
manufacturers were no less than in
former years, and the condition of the
industry was never more promising than
now. It is such conditions of prosperity
in America—to say nothing of the rest
of the world—that make rubber cost
more—not the manipulation of a few
traders buying and selling, They could
not sell at current prices unless the
world wanted rubber goods in larger
volume year after year. Better consider,
as affectIng rubber prices. such factors
as the ‘‘ record” American corn crop this
year, estimated at 3,000,000,000 bushels,
and the sale of which will help to swell
so many farmers’ bank accounts.

PALO AMARILLU RUBBER.

(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol,
XV., No. 185, October 14, 1909.)
The Palo Amarillo tree was discovered
a few years ago on the slopes of the
Sierra Madre, and upon investigation it
was found to bea botanically unknown
species, It is known in Mexico under

Raa) gee Tae, Soe ae PRR or) Pe

Gums, Resins,

a number of common names, such as
palo amarillo, palo colorado, papelillo,
and cucuracho, the first-mentioned name
being generally used. Jt occursin the
dry semi-tropic zone on the slopes of
Sierra Madre, at an elevation of 900 to
4,800 feet, generally being found above
the oak zone, and frequently reaching
,as high as the pine zone of the moun-
tains. It extends southwaids from
Durango to the southern part of Oaxaca,
along the Pacific coast, growing on
rather poor, rocky or sandy voleanic soil,
and it often forms a part of the xero-
phytic plant formations that have
established themselves on the dry moun-
tain sides. The tree grows toa height
of between twenty and thirty-four feet,
with a trunk diameter of from seven to
twelve inches. In theinner bark of the
stem and its branches occur numerous
latex-bearing vessels, containing a semi-
liquid fiuid of milky whiteness, which
solidifies on contact with the aiv.
Chemical examination of this latex
shows that it contains from 7:3 to 157
per cent. of rubber, and from 19 per cent.
upwards of resins. The United States
Consul at the city of Mexico says that he
has personally analysed seventeen latex
samples from different parts of the trees,
and from trees growing in different
soils. The latex from the lower parts of
the trunk contains the higher percent-
age of rubber, as is the case with all
rubber-producing trees. The branches
earry a latex containing mainly resins,
the rubber being about 3 to6 per cent.
aud occurring in a form which makes it
very difficult to be separated from
impurities. The coagulation of the
latex is not easy, although it can be
accomplished. The resulting rubber is
of inferior quality and would commer-

cially be classed with Guayule rubber,

which, it is stated, has commanded a
price of about one shilling and three-
pence, whereas the price of first-class
wild Para rubber was 33. and 9d. per
pound during the last year when rubber
_ prices were low. It may be noted
that rubber made according to modern
methods from the ordinary Mexican
rubber tree--Castilloa elastica--has reach-
ed the highest standard of Para -rubber
and_ has realised the same price. The
product of the palo amarillo tree being
new, the test of time, which after all is
the most important one, has not yet
been applied, but taking into consider-
ation the low tensile strength, the large
percentage of resins, and the rapid
deterioration of the latex through
enzymes, it is not very likely that palo
amarillo rubber will show a better
result than the rubber obtained from
the guayule shrub. Therubber is easy

of the rubber

[JANUARY, 1910- fs:

to vulcanise by the ordinary methods.
The exploitation of the latex of palo —
amarillo is beset with considerable diffi-

culties. The Consul states that he has
tapped these trees in ali the different
manners generally employed in tapping
Hevea, Manihot, Castilloa, Funtumia,
Ficus, or Sapium trees, and he has used
over twenty of the different tools and im-
plements, patented and employed in the
rubber fields in Brazil, Central -America
and Africa, and he says that the proper
method of tapping palo amarillo is not
easy to determine. It is claimed that
the palo amarillo tree is very easily
propagated. A young branch cut from a
growing tree and planted in the ground
will grow. Commercially this does not
mean much as the exploitable age of a
palo amarillo tree must be at least ten or
eleven years. A tree of this age does
not give avery large amount of latex.
The ordinary Mexican rubber tree,
Castilloa elastica, can be exploited when
eight years old, and it then gives a
larger yield of latex per annum than a
ten year old palo amarillo tree. Con-
sidering that the latex of the former
contains from 25 to 47 per cent. of pure
rubber, against about 8 per cent.in the
palo amarillo latex, itis difficult to see
the advantages of the latter under
cultivation.

THE CULTIVATION AND PREPAR-
ATION OF PARA RUBBER,*

(From the Gardiner Chronicle, Vol.
XLVI., No. 1192, October, 1909.)

To Mr. W. H. Johnson belongs the
distinction of having, some four years
ago, written the first treatise devoted
exclusively to Rubber, -As might have
been expected, when the rapid growth
industry and the ex-
cellence of Mr. Johnson’s text-book were
considered, the first edition was soo
exhausted. /

The present, second, edition has been
thoroughly revised and extended to in-
clude a wider range of information.
The statistics relating to rubber afford
the raw material for a striking chapter
in the romance of modern industry.
From 1770, when Priestly reeommended
its use for erasing. lead-pencil marks, till
the twenties of last century, when
Macintosh began to manufacture water-
proofs, the use of rubber was remark-
ably limited. The extension of its em-
ployment dates from 1836, when Thomas
Hancock discovered that crude rubber,

* The Cultivation and Preparation of Para
Rubber, by W. H, Johnson, F.L.8. (London ;
Crosby, Lockwood & Son.) 7s. 6d, ~

JaNvARY, 1910.)

cut up, pressed and heated, could be
moulded into almost any shape, and
when, in 1874, the method of vulcanising
rubber by heating and treating it witb
sulphur was discovered.

From that date the imports of rubber
into this country have increased enor-
mously, and on the whole steadily, from
about 150,000 ewts. in 1874 to 194,000 in
1886, 430,000 in 1896, and 600,000 in 1906.

It is a remarkable fact that, of the
rubber consumed throughout the world
in 1906, almost one-half was derived from
rubber imported into this country. It
is also noteworthy that more than half
of the rubber used is Para rubber, that
is, material derived from the latex of
species of hevea, and chiefly from that
of H. brasiliensis. Now that so much
capital and industry are being put into
the cultivation of rubber-producing
trees, it is interesting to note the
attempts to produce rubber syntheti-
cally. Already various “rubber substi-
tutes” manufactured from the seeds of
Poppy, Rape, Flax, &c,, are in use for
mixing with crude rubber for special
manufactures; but, so far, all attempts
at the artificial manufacture of the
genuine article have failed. He would
be a rash man, however, and one ignorant
- of the wonderful fertility of resource of
organic chemistry who predicts that
synthetic rubber is an impossibility.
The main reason why its manufacture
is likely to prove difficult lies in the
fact that rubber is not a single sub-
‘stance, but a mixture of complex com-
pounds such as proteins, resins and
caoutchouc. The significance to the
tree of the latex from which crude rub-
ber is prepared is doubtful. Most autho-
rities regard it as a waste product of
vegetable metabolism; but the author,
having regard to its widespread distri-
bution of plants, is inclined to think
that it plays some part, albeit a small

art, in the economy of plants. Mr.

ohnson has given'a most comprehensive
account of the various processes con-
nected with cultivation and preparation
of rubber, and brings out incidentally
the prominent part—on which we have
more than once insisted in these pages—
played by British Colonies, particularly
by Ceylon aud Malaya, in introducing
rubber plants for cultivation.

From his estimates of cost it would
appear that the cultivation of rubber is
an extraordinarily profitable industry ;
but as to whether at the present prices
of rubber shares it is a profitable invest-
ment the author is properly silent.

In conclusion, we would say that Mr,
Johnson has written an admirable book,
interesting not only to the expert but

Saps and Feudations.

also te the layman who. takes an intelli>
gent interest in the progress of agricul-
ture and of commerce.

A DEVICE FOR MEASURING THE
GIRTH OF RUBBER TREKS AND
TAKING A CENSUS.

By P. J. BuRGEss.

(From the India Rubber Journal, Vol.
XXXVIII., No. 8, October 18th, 1909.)

With the large number of young
rubber plantations now approaching the
tapping stage, positive information of
the number of trees classified according
to their girths is necessary both on the
plantation and in the board room. To
obtain this information by measuring
with a tape and writing down the result,
is slow and expensive in labour, and, in
addition, requires skill labour, in that
the coolies must be able to read figures
and write them correctly, and thereis a
lot of further clerical labour wanted for
sorting out the mass of results obtained.

The device Iam going to describe was
made to overcome these difficulties, and
it was entirely a success in practice.
The apparatus wanted can be made by
any one; it is figured below. Takea rod
3 ft. 6in. long, and 6 in. from the end fix
a leather strap so that three or four
inches project, and into this projecting
end fix a drawing pin.

Lhe strap should be about an inch
wide and not too thick. On the surface
of the Strap fixed to the rod, paste a
strip of white paper and the instrument
is ready to use.

A B Rod 8 feet 6 inches long.
D E Strap.

F Point of drawing pin.
C Bis 8 feet in length.

The surface of the strap shewn
is applied to the tree.

The strip of paper is pasted
to the other surface of the
strap.
B p
To use it, stand the rod upright against
the tree, wrap the strap round the tree,
the paper-coated side will be away from

Gums, Resins,

the bark of the tree, make a prick in the
paper with the point of the drawing pin
where the short projecting end overlaps.
eis registers the girth of the tree on the
strap.

The tree is then marked with a cross
with a piece of chalk to show it has been
measured, pass on to the next tree and
repeat.

At the end of the day the strap is
handed over to the superintendent, who
rules off the pricked-marked paper into
inches measuring from the point of the
pin. The number of pricks ineach inch
is counted and recorded which, of course,
is the number of trees of that girth
measured in the day.

In this way one coolie on a clean estate
can easily measure a thousand trees a

oP ate

+

day. To allow for the.thickness of the .

strap the superintendent may make a
few control measurements with a tape,
butas a general rule half an inchis
ample, and this is allowed for by measur-
ing off the strap, not from the actual
point of the pin, but half an inch
inside it.

There isin practice no real difficulty
with more than one prick being made in
the same place, and the census taken in
this fashion is accurate to three per
cent., which is as much as is, in reason,
ever wanted.

The advantages are, it is quick, it does
not need skilled labour, it is simple, it

automatically sorts out the results into ~

the form required, namely, numbers of
trees of specific girths.

OILS AND FATS.

THE CULTURE OF YLANG-YLANG.*
(From the Philippine Agricutural Re-
view, Vol. Il., No, 9, September, 1909.)
DEVELOPMENT IN REUNION AND

CocIN CHINA.

Our readers may have noted in the
last statistical tables of our valued colla-
borator, Mr. G. Ernst, that Reunion has
now won recognition among the Ylang-
ylang-producing countries. The _ dis-
tillers of Manila and Java will have
henceforth to reckon with this new
source of supply, for it is now an estab-
lished fact that this tree prospers

remarkably in the lowlands of Réunion.

and furnishes, in economic quantities,
an essence equal to the best quality
obtained in the Philippines.

MARKET CONDITIONS.

In order to reply in the most ade-
quate manner to the inquiries that have
been addressed to us regarding the
present market conditions of the essence
of ylang-ylavg, we have sought infor-
mation from the most competent indus-
trial and commercialexperts. First, Mr.
- Roure-Bertrand Fils, the abie manager
of the important firm at Grasse, France,
gives, ina letter dated May 14, 1508, the
following opinion :—

**Considerable quantities are beginning
to arrive in the different markets from
Réunion. We have had occasion to
examine samples tothe value of 450 or
FOO franes, and in our opinion this

* Translated from Journal d’Agriculture Tropi-
gale, June, 1908,

essence is at least equal, if not superior,
to that furnished by the Philippines,
to which it bids fair to become a formid-
able rival. The shipments being made
by post, itis very difficult to ascertain
the figures regarding the importation
into Kurope.”

With equal courtesy, Messrs. Schim-
mel & Co., of Miltitz, France, to whom
we frequently apply for reliable informa-
tion, have communicated with us as
follows:—

“Tt is certain that the ylang-ylang
met with in commerce is distilled prin-
cipally in the Philippines* and in Java,
and other countries are scarcely heard
of in this connection. The present value
of the very finest quality is about 5,000
francs per kilogram, while the medium
quality scarcely exceeds 300 frances,
The present production largely suffices
for the demand, more especially since
many perfumers and soap manutac-
turers prefer our synthetic essence of
ylang-yJang, which is finer and more
marketable.t ”

In a more recert letter (May 30, 1908),

Messrs. Schimmel eall our attention to ~

a passage in the Diplomatic and Con-
sular Reports (No. 8973, April, 1908),
which we here reproduce :--

* The value of the exports of this product were

$15,930 in 1900, $46,296 in 1901, $63,270 im 1902, —

and $123, 182 in 1903.

+ This artificial product has already been dis-
cussed in No, 17 of the Journal d’Agriculture Tro-
picale, where it was seen that its influence on the
market price of the natural product has not been
yery great, ;

¥
4
oe

January, 1910.

‘Two hundred liters of essence have
been sold by Réunion dealers at an
average price of 500 francs per litre.
Many new plantations of ylang-ylang
have been set out, and it is estimated
that in three or four years the pro-
duction will increase to 400 or 500 litres
per year. The planters undoubtedly
realize a very good profit at present,
but it is to be feared that, as in the
case of vanilla, an overproduction will
lead to a fall in price.”

PRopucTION OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES,

We find in the Bulletin Commercial
of Réunion that the total exportation
of essence amounts at the present time
to only 279 kilograms. The importance
and the value of the ylang-ylang culti-
vation in Reunion being thus established,
we shall discuss what has been un-
‘dertaken in other places.

In Jamaica there was an attempt,
without very conclusive results, to dis-
till the flowers of the trees which were
cultivated in Hope Gardens. The details
of this experiment, which does not seem
to have been repeated since then, may
be found in No. 52 of the Journal
d Agriculture Tropicale, 1905.

In Indo-China ylang-ylang is widely

cultivated as an ornamental tree, but
up to the present it does not seem to
have been exploited for its perfume.
Some cultural enterprises in Cochin
China have been noted in a United
States consular report (April, 1908), in
which we read :—
The plantation of ylang-ylang lies in
the Province of Bienhoa, where the first
results are encouraging. The present
high price of the essence renders this
culture very remunerative. It is esti-
mated by the planters that a hectare
planted with 600 trees will produce
9,500 kilos of flowers, which when dis-
tilled will furnish at least 16 kilos of
essence.”

In India attention has been drawn
to ylang-ylang by the exhibition, at
Kuaal Kangsar, of a sample of essence
from the estate of Pula Daat, in Labuan.
It was after a long sojourn in the
Philippines that the director of Pula
Daat undertook the extensive cultiva-
tion of this plant, He hopes this year
to distill a considerable quantity for
market. (Supplement to the Tropical
Agriculturist, September, 1907.)

We have thus found that ylang-
ylang is cultivated under excellent eco-
nomic conditions in Réunion, and that

*Mr, Martin de Flacourt estimates that in
Reunion 1 hectare planted in ylang-ylang will
yield about 4 kilograms of essence, (N. 4.1, R,)

Oils and Fats,

the area planted to it is extending
rapidly there as well as in Cochin China
and British India.

THE CULTIVATION,

Useful information regarding the cul-

ture of this plant will be found in
No, 17 of the Journal @ Agriculture
Tropicale, and more recent documents
enable us to add to this, now that
the subject is again attracting at-
tention.

Botany.—The botanical species which
furnishes the essence of ylang-ylanug
is Cananga odorata, Hook F. and Thoms,
more or less widely distributed through-
out southern Asia. It appears that it is
incorrect to distinguish, as is often
done, between this species and Unona
odorata, Dun., which is identical with it.
Unona odoratissima, Steud, on the
other hand, is the same as Artabotrys
odoratissimus, R. Br., a species that
differs absolutely from Cananga, both
in its general characteristics and the
inferiority of its product. It is im-
portant in cultivation to plant Cananga
odvrata, which is easily distinguished
from Artabotrys by its distichous
arrangement and more herbaceous ap-
pearance, recalling by these character-
istics ‘‘anone coeur-de-bceuf” (Anona
reliculata), and finally by its large
flowers wlitich grow only in groups of
two or three.

In the specimens of this plant at the
museum, examined by the late L.
Pierre, a botanist whose work the
Journal ad Agriculture has published,
the identification is absolute between
Cananga odorata aud Unona odorata.
If there exists a difference in the value of
the essence produced, as Mr. Guerlain,
the great Parisian perfumer, has indi-
cated to us, it can only be attributed to
physiological differences.

The culture of Cananga odorata in
Réunion has been described explicitly
by Mr. Martin de Flacourtin an article
published by the Journal Officiel de
Madagascar, March 19, 1904. According
to this author the tree had been grown
in Madagascar a long time, when a
planter of Saint Paul decided to sub-
mit some flowers for distillation, and
the excellent quality of the essence was
revealed. This was the beginning of
methodical cultivation.

Climate.—Y lang-ylang requires a warm
and even climate, soil that is rich, per-
meable, and healthy, and in Réunion it
will not flower at an altitude of more
than 400 metres.

Methods of reproduction.—The plant
multiplies by means of seeds, which may
either be planted directly in place, or

Oils and Fats.

‘in well-drained seed boxes and later
transplanted. The seeds are taken from
the fruit when it is perfectly ripe. and
washed to free them from the sugary
pulp which would attract ants and
result in irregularities in germination.
The plants sprout in from forty to
sixty days, being sprinkled twice a
day, After the plants area month old
they are transplanted into a_ shaded
nursery and spaced at 20 centimeters, or,
as is preferable, placed separately in
cornucopias made of the leaves of Pan-
danas utilis to serve as flowerpots, or
in bamboo pots which are protected by
shelters made of palm leaves. The
sprinklings are continued as before, and
in two months the young trees are 25 or
380 centimeteres high, and worth 40
franes per thousand, pots included.

Planting.—The permanent planting
is made on clean ground, the trees are
placed 4 or 5 meters apart, in holes 50
centimeters in diameter three-quarters
filled with vegetable mold or manure
and good earth. By following this
scheme of planting five or six hundred
trees can be planted to a hectare.

During the first years it will be found
necessary to keep the soil clean between
the trees. The crops that can be raised
in this way will more than pay for
the trouble. In order to encourage the
growth of the lateral branches, and
by this means produce flowers that are
more accessible, the trees are topped
at a height of 23 or 3 meters.

In the third year there may be a
crop of flowers that will bring 150 or
500 frances per hectare, This return
will increase rapidly, and the period
otf full bearing will last eight or ten
years.

GATHERING THE FLOWERS.

In Réunion the harvest lasts from
May to September. The work is done
by women and children, who are careful
to detach only full-blown flowers, and
those of aclear yellow colour. At the
height of the flowering season the trees
are gone over every two or three days,
and the process of distillation can go
on almost without interruption. Fresh
flowers give the best essence.

Under these conditions, says M. Martin
de Flacourt, 1 hectare regularly planted
should furnish 38 or 4 kilograms of
essence per year, estimating that from
50 to 64 kilograms of fresh flowers will
yield 1 kilogram of essence. ‘he cost
of distilling varies with the country,
depending upon the equipment in use,
the price of labour, and the cost of fuel.
The price, fixed at 22 to_30 francs per
kilogram of essence for Réunion, rises

[J ANUARY, 1910,

to 20 frances per pound in the Philip-
pines, and 4 francs 65 centimes per
ounce in Jamaica.

In Manila, the distillers, who are all
Germans, buy the flowers from _ the
native inhabitants at the rate of from
1 frane to 1 franc 50 centimes per pound.
The picking is brought in the morning
in order to subject the flowers to the
vapour as early in the day as possible.
In the period from July to December
the trees furnish the best product, often
averaging 100 pounds of flowers to the
tree. It requires from 80 to 200 pounds
of flowers to make one pound of essence.

Under present market conditions the
raising of ylang-ylang of a _ superior
quality would be remunerative, even
though the yield might not exceed 3
or 4 kilograms per hectare. But it
would be necessary to consider, before
setting out new plantations, that the
product is one for which the market
is rather limited, that the synthetic
essence is to be reckoned with, and that
there are many young plantations that
are coming on to increase the present
supply of the market. These facts de-
mand serious consideration, especially
when it is a question ot undertaking
the culture on a large scale.

SOME NOTES ON VARIOUS OIL
AND FIBRE-PRODUCING PLANTS,

By S. H. Boye.

(From the Transvaal Agricultural
Journal, Vol. VIII., October, 1909, No. 29.)

Having been engaged recently in
investigating the conditions governing
the production of oil seeds in the
Transvaal, with the object of discover-
ing the chances of success which an oil
factory would meet with, the following
notes may prove to be of some interest
toagriculturists in the Transvaal. These
investigations were instituted with the
idea of finding out to what extent oil

seeds were grown at the present time; —

whether the results so tar had been
satisfactory, and what varieties of seed
seemed to be most profitably grown,
while methods of cultivation, value of
by-products, and other kindred ques-
tions were not omitted. The existing
soap and candle factories provide a
market for oil seeds of certain sorts;
and this market is likely to be largely
increased by the establishment in South
Africa of branches of other great manu-
facturing firms. The farmer will thus

‘probably benefit by being able to obtain

better prices than heretofore, on ac-

| JANUARY, 1910.)

count of the competition which must
inevitably ensue.

The principal oil seeds grown in the
Transvaal at present are peanuts, castor
beans, sunflower seed, .and cotton seed,
but there are others well worth atten-
tion,

Dealing with those in the order named
we find that peanuts have been grown
extensively, and if prices prove remuner-
ative, will be grown ona larger scale.
There isa great deal of light soil well
adapted to this crop; but the trouble
has been in the harvesting—the cost of
labour eating up nearly the whole profit.
With improved implements this _ will
be avoided to a great extent, and the
“Rice” peanut harvester, now under
trial, may solve this difficulty. Another
solution to be fcund is the choice of
variety, and reports have reached me
from many districts that the Viriginian
‘‘Bunching” variety gives less trouble
than any other.

Another trouble has been that, al-
though the plants grow well and pro-
duce pods plentifully, many of the
pods areempty, This may be accounted
for by the abnormally wet season,
fertilisation being interfered with. It
is not proved yet whether the plants
are self-polinated or not, and undoubt-
edly the drenching rains would have
a disastrous effect in the latter case.
Peanuts should be marketed clean and
dry, and, if possible, without the pod,
Before expressing oil, the seed have to
be cleaned of the inner skin, which
would impart a bitter flavour. Any
process which can be easily and cheaply
performed on the farm to prepare seeds
for crushing will, naturally, result ina
higher price being obtained from the
manufacturer, and the initial outlay on
a small dessicating machine will soon
be covered by the enhanced value of
the product,

Castor beans have not so far won a
high opinion from the farmer as afford-
ing a profitable crop. This is probably
due to the fact that the wrong variety
has been planted and by a_ wrong
method. In India and United States
the only profitable form of cultivation
has been found to be that in which the
plant is treated as an annual, and the
maximum number of plants grown to
the acre. In the United States the
best results are obtained by planting 18
inches apart in rows 4 feet asunder. In
India the plants are generally employed
as a shade to the young rice plants and
pulled up as_soon as the seed is ripe.
This method of treatment could only
be employed where there is a long
growing season free from frost. The

9 Oils and Fats.

variety which under these circumstan-
ces gives the largest yield is the small-
seeded one; and the seeds of this
variety also yield a higher percentage
of oil. The whole of the plants, with the
exception of seed, should be ploughed
in as manure, and the waste from the
oil factory also affords a manure rich in
potash.

Castor oil plants require feeding, and
will not yield good harvests if starved—
in which they resemble most other
plants. They should therefore only be
grown as rotation crops, and follow
mealies with good results.

Sunflowers appear to be growing in
favour. The cultivation is simple and
the returns good. In wet summers there
are likely to be numerous empty fruits,
this may deter some from making a
second experiment. Sunflower seed oil
is of great value as a basis of fine soaps,
especially shaving soap, and for mixing
the finer and lighter shades of paint.
For the latter purpose it is considered
superior to linseed oil, as it does not dry
yellow. The Russian variety which has
been introduced by the Department of
Agriculture gives the largest returns.
The oil is also largely used for food
purposes.

Cotton seed is now been grown ex-
tensively in the lowcountry. It is only
in the warmer parts of the Transvaal
that good results can be expected of this
crop. The seed givesa certain amount
of trouble in its preparation for oil
manufacture, owing tu fluff remaining
on the seeds after ginning. Several
processes are necessary before it can be
extracted. But the whole seeds furnishes
such a number of products that the
labour is rewarded. Linters as the fluff
is termed, and husks, or “hulls,” furnish
material for paper; the hulls are an
excellent substitute for bran, and can
be utilised for fuel and the ash for
fertiliser. The kernels, after giving up
their oil, form a most nutritious food
for live stack of all kinds, and also area
valuable fertiliser,

Cotton seed has one drawback—it
cannot be stored in bulk for any length
of time, owing to its capacity for heating.
Heating destroys its qualities for all
surposes but that of manure. There-
fore cotton seed should be marketed
immediately after ginning, and should
be treated for oil as soon after its arrival
at the mill as is possible. For this reason
cotton oil mills are usually found close to
the cotton plantations, easily accessible
to the producers, and in fact are in some
cases an adjunct of the ginnery.

In addition to the abovementioned
seeds there are several worth attention,

Oils and Fats.

one of which is already grown in the
Transvaal, but not for oil. . The soy bean
yields 18 per cent. oil of fine quality, and
is attracting the attention of oil manu-
facturers in Europe. This plant is
well known as a forage and green
soiling crop, and it is only to the
additional source of profit in the bean
itself that I would turn the atten-
tion of the farmer. The ‘‘cake” has
a high value for feeding purposes, as
is the case with all ‘oil cakes,” except
eastor oil cake, which is extremely
poisonous.

Another of the seeds worth attention is
linseed, the oil from which is well known
and for which the demand always exceed
the supply. Linseed meal and cake are
also highly esteemed by stock raisers,
and it is satisfactory to know that there
are many farmers who realise the value
of these concentrated foods; and who
would readily purchase them, if they
could be produced locally at a moderate
price. I have heard it said by dairymen
that they should be obliged to charge
more for their milkif they fed their
cows On oil cake; quite forgetting that
well-fed cows would give more, and
better, milk. A large increase in culti-
vation of oil seeds would have a far-
reaching effect if it made it possible for
a local oil factory to turn out oil cake at,
say, £5 per ton. There is, however,
another aspect to the question. Oil cake
is not the only by-product of oil seeds.
The cotton seed is merely a by-product
of the cotton fibre, butin the case of
sunflowers and linseed the fibre may be
considered as a by-product of the seed,

The fibre of the sunflower is almost as
fine and strong as silk, and the greater
proportion of Chinese and Japanese silks
are largely adulterated with this fibre.
The clean fibre is worth upwards of
£20 per ton, and the preparation involves
little expense. The same may be said
of flax. In both cases ratting may be
postponed until the work ot harvesting
is at anend, and the scutching can be
performed at any slack time. In the

ease of sunflower fibre a few natives— |

children—could do all that is required,
while flax requires rather more elaborate
arrangements. The cultivation calls
for no special notice. Sunflowers require
much the same treatment as mealies,
bothin preparation of the soil and in
after-cultivation.

10

Erawoned

Linseed or Gare does best in

broken soil, or soil that has been fallow.

ed; and for fibre should be sown thickly,

“1910.

= .

-

to prevent branching, and by drawing —

up the plants to produce longer fibres.
For seed production thinner sowing is
advisable. Usually the plants are
grown to produce beth seed and fibre,
and although better results of one kind
might be obtained by growing for seed,
or for-fibre only, the difference is hardly

so great as to compensate for the loss —

of the other product, and in practice is
rarely done in the flax-producing coun-
tries of Europe,

Hemp is another fibre-plant that
should succeed in deep and fairly moist
soils. The fibre of hempis unsurpassed
for ropes—it is stronger than manilla,
and has twisting qualities unequalled
by any other fibre. The plant attains
large dimensions, which vary with soil
and climate. The usual height is from
8 to 12 feet, though in China 17 feet is
obtained. Every foot in length gives
150 lbs. of fibre to the acre. One-and-
a-half bushels of seed are usually sown
to theaecre. The seed yields an oil of
no great value, and the cake is too
pureetwe for general use as a cattle
ood.

In conclusion, I would urge farmers
to endeavour to attract a market by
growing marketable oil seed. 33,000,000
tons of peanuts are annually exported
from Madras to Marseilles. Soy beans
are being shipped from Manchuria to the
European ports. There is already an
oil, soap, and candle factory in the
Transvaal, and every prospect of further
undertakings of this nature. It should
be quite possible in the near future to
establish a cotton spinning industry.

There is great talk just now of support-
ing local industries—a very patriotic
sentiment. It may not be forgotten,
however, that the producer has the same
duty to his country as the consumer,
and his business should be to
articles for which there is a local demand,
and of such quality as will attract the
consumer. The man of limited income
must necessarilly buy in the cheapest
market—that is to say, get the best value
for his money. It should be the aim of
the South African producer to supply

the best quality at the most moderate — <

price possible.

roduce —

Janvary, 1910.)

4 sos

tl t

FIBRES.

BAGASSE FOR PAPER.

By WILIIAM RAITT,

Chemical Engineer and Fibre Expert,
: Bangalore.

Bagasse or megass, the refuse crushed
sugar canes or chips from the diffusion
batteries, has come into some degree
of prominence of late asa possible raw
material for paper. It may therefore
be useful to consider, from the collective
experience available, modified or con-
firmed by our own, how far the hopes
he!d out regarding it in some quarters
are likely to be justified. The growing
searcity of wood-pulp in Hurope and
America is giving occasion for a. great
amount of research and experiment
with the object of finding a suitable
substitute, and while several have been
suggested which combine all the advant-
ages necessary to a commercial as well
as a technical success, it is to be feared
that an insufficient acquaintance with
the scientific and economic problems
evolved, has resulted in others being

brought forward which hold out very:

little prospect of practical usefulness.

It may be as well, first; to enquire
as to what grade or class of raw material
is wanted in supplement of, or in sub-
stitution for wood-pulp. For this pur-
pose, paper may be broadly divided
into three main grades, corresponding
fairly accurately with the principal
divisions of the raw material market :—

(1.) The best qualities of writing paper,
—manufactured almost wholly from
linen and cotton rag.

(2.) Inferior writing paper, book print-
ing and news paper,—manufactured
mainly from wood-pulp.

(3.) Coarse unbleached paper, wrap-
ping and packing paper,—manufactured
from textile wastes, old sacking and
such like materials.

Now, the growing demand for a new
material arises solely from No. 2, since
rag is now reserved almost exclusively
for No..1, the supply is quite adequate
to the demand, and, apart from this,
no other material is likely to be found
which, at the same cost, combines the
necessary requirements of strength and
colour. | For No.3 where strength only
is required, the market is also fully
supplied, and the steady development
of iextile industries, with the resultant
continual increase in the output of
wartes, seems likely to keep it so.
But although the new demand is con-

2

fined to No. 2, it represents about 75 %
of the whole, and at present uses up
about six million tons per annum, so
that there is plenty of scope for a
material suitable for it. In this case,
suitability means thatit be bleachable
at a low cost.

Bagasse contains about 50 % of avail-
able cellulose. Our own investigations
of it have yielded from 46 to 50 %, and
with a comparatively mild soda treat-
ment it could be depended on to give,
in mill practice, an average yield of
45 % of air dry unbleached cellulose or
pulp. So far, it appears to fill the bill,
but there is more than that which goes
£0 the making of a good pulp for No. 2
class,

With all fibre-yielding plants, there
is a point or period ot growth at which
the fibre is at its best, not only in
quantity and quality, but (what is of
serious importance to the paper-maker)
in uniformity of its qualities throughout
the whole plant. The pulp to be pro-
duced must be of uniform quality, and
this cannot be got if there are serious
differences in the nature of the raw
material as between one part and
another of the plant. With plants
grown primarily for fibre, a period can
generally be fixed on for cutting at
which the fibre is at its best, not only
in strength and colour, but also in uni-
formity throughout the whole plant.
But with cultivation primarily for other
uses, the case is very different. Gener-
ally, when fibre only is wanted, the
plant is at its best when fully mature
but not ripe. Where fruit or seed is
the chief object the mature stage of
the fibre is passsd; where juice is
wanted, it has not been reached.

The stage at which sugarcane holds
its maximum saccharine contents ap-
pears to coincide with a state of partial
and irregular maturity of the fibre.
While the fibres on the outside, or just
under the skin of the cane are firm, long
and good, of strength though somewhat
harsh, those from the interior are short
and weak. It therefore presents the
most difficult of problems to the paper-
maker, Since the chemical treatment
must be uniform, it follows that it
must be severe enough to reduce the
outer fibres completely, thereby largely
destroying the inner ones, or it must
be mild enough to conserve the latter
and leave the former only partially
resolved into pulp. In the first case the
yield is largely reduced, and what re-
mains is expensive to bleach because

Fibres;

‘the severity of the treatment has de-
graded the weaker fibres into insoluble
brown compounds which stain the pulp.
In the latter case, the yield is good, but
the product is almost equally difficult
to bleach satisfactorily because of the ad-
mixture of partially digested outer fibre.
The pulp is consequently full of specks
and blocehes, unfit for anything but
the commonest of bleached paper, and
that only in conjurction with some
better and more uniform material.

This feature of bagasse explains the
wild differences in yield reported by
various experimenters,—those using the
- severe treatment gettingas low as 25%.
Our own preference is for the method
which gives the largest yield irrespec-
tive of bleaching qualities, since by
neither process is the bleaching satis-
factory either in efficiency or cost.
This opinion is reinforced by the fact
that the larger yield is obtainable at a
lesser cost for soda, and, further, by the
technical difficulties and cost of bleach-
ing in the tropics with imported chemi-
eals, It must, however, be conceded
that in no department of chemical
technology is progress more hopeful
than in this, and it is quite possible that
Wwe may see a considerable improvement
in bleaching processes during the next
few years.

We do not think, then, that bagasse
can be seriously considered as a candi-
date forclass 2, but there are localities
in which it may find avery profitable
entrance into class 3.

Cane sugar factories are usually situ-
ated in localties where all manufactured
goods have to be imported at-a consider-
able cost for freight, and, probably,
import duties also. Where such circum-
stances exist together with a sufficient
local demand for unbleached wrapping
and packing papers, or even for the thin
unbleached paper so largely used by
the natives of India and elsewhere for
correspordence and accounts, it is quite
possible to show thata paper-mill may
prove a very profitable auxiliary to
asugar factory, and that the bagasse
may be worth considerably more for
this purpose than its present fuel value,

A paper-mill suitable for this class of
paper, to produce 40 to 50 tons per
week, would cost roughly £20,000. A
conservative estimate of the cost of
production, under average conditions,
exclusive of the fuel value of the bagasse
but including repairs, depreciation and
5 % interest on cost of plant, amounts to
£1010s. per ton. Under the conditions
above referred to the product should
be worth £15, leaving £4 10s. as the paper-
making value of the 2} tons of bagasse

-unless

> fe Y , oo
[JANUARY, 1910.

required to produce it, or say £2 per
ton. The cost of steam coal to replace
it in the sugar factory furnaces would
be at the outside £1 10s. per ton, In
calorific effect a ton of good steam coal
is usually assumed to be equal to 4 tons
of bagasse, so that the full value of the
latter cannot exceed seven shillings and
six pence per ton. Deducting this, there
remains an estimated profit of £1 12s. 6d.
per ton of bagasse converted into paper.

CHANGES IN EGYPTIAN COTTON
WHEN GROWN IN THE UNITED
STATES.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIL,
No. 194, October 2, 1909.)

In Bulletin No. 156 of the Bureau of
Plant Industry, United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, the following con-
clusions are arrived atin connection with
the diversity which arises in Egyptian
cotton when it is introduced into that
country :—

The diversity foundin the Egyptian
cotton in Arizona appears to be of four
different kinds, evidently arising from
different physiological factors. Precau-
tions which may tend to avoid one kind
of diversity will not be fully effective
other factors are taken into
account at the same time. Methods of
acclimatization, breeding, and culture
have all to ke adapted to the special
needs of the case, if the full possibilities
of the new crops are to be definitely
ascertained.

The first and most striking of diversity
is due to hybridization. The ceross-
fertilizing insects are much more abund-
antin the south-western States than in
any other cotton-growing region thus far .
investigated. This will render it im-
possible to maintain a culture of pure
Egyptian or other high grade cotton,
unless all other kinds otf cotton are
excluded from the localities in which
superior stocks are planted. Though the
lint of the hybrid plants is often superior
to that of the pure Egyptian plants, it
is sufficiently different to interfere
with the commercial uniformity of the
product.

The second kind of diversity that
affects the Hgyptian cotton is evidently
due to incomplete acclimatization. As
with other types of cotton, transfer to-
new conditions induces great variation,
not only inthe habits of growth and
other vegetative characters of the plants,
but also in fertility, and in the abundance
and length of the lint. This form of
diversity is to be eliminated by the

3 ~TanNvARY, 1910,]

selection, each year, of the plants that
approach most nearly to the normal
form of the variety, are the most fertile,
and have the best lint. :

The third kind of diversity is more
directly connected with differences in
the physical environment which cause,
or call forth, differences in the individual
plants, Itis shown most strikingly in
comparing the behaviour of the plants in

the different localities, but includes also

some of the differences that occur in the
same locality or in differeut parts of the
same field. This form of diversity is
familiar in all branches of agriculture
butis greater with a newly-introduced
variety, and may be expected to decrease
asa better adjustment to the new con-

ditions is attained. The second kind of
diversity represents incomplete accli-

matization, while the third kind is more
elosely connected with the phenomenon
of accommodation.

The fourth kind of diversity is shown
in the different parts of the same piant,
and is often very pronounced, especially
in the characters of the lint. If the
plants become too luxuriant, fruiting is
deferred until late in the season, or the

early bolls remain poorly developed and

produce a very weak fibre. To avoid
this form of diversity, a proper relation
has to be established between the habits
of growth of the plants» and the
methods of culture and _ irrigation.
Sudden changes in the rate of growth
are particularly to be avoided, as tending
to produce fluctuations in the fertility of
the plants and in the commercial quality

_of the lint.

The principal reason why diversity
has such serious effects upon the yield
of lint is found in the habit of the cotton
plant to produce two types of branches,
which are quite distinct in form and
function. Slight differences of external
conditions which might have very little
direct effect. upon the size and vigour of
the plant are able to induce relatively
great differences in the yield by inducing
a preponderauce of the sterile, vegetative
form of branches over the fertile form.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE EFFECTS
OF STORAGE ON COTTON SdED.

By H. A, TEMPANY, B.SC. (LONDON),
B.I.C., #H.C.S,
Acting Government Analytical Chemist,
and Superintendent of Agriculture
for the Leeward Islands.

(From the West Indian Bulletin, Vol. X,
No. 2, 1909.)
Cotton seed at the present time-is a
product of considerable value in the

13 - Fibres,

West Indies, both from the point of
view of growth of the cotton crops
and also on account -of its. usefulness
as a stock feed, and as an oil crop.
On this account the changes which it
is likely to undergo as a result of
keeping are matters of importance.

It frequently happeus that cotton seed
may, for various reasons, be stored for
considerable periods of time before it
can be used, and observations are here
brought forward which throw some
light on a few of the effects likely to
be induced by storing.

Such effects fall naturally under two
heads: (a) Effects on the actual chemi-
cal composition of the seed; (b) Effects
on the vitality or germinating power
of the seed; and the results given be-
low are grouped accordingly.

(A.) Effects of Storage on Chemical
Composition of the Seed.

When crushed cotton seed is mixed
with water, the resulting mash is usu-
ally ofa bright yellow colour. In Febru-
ary, 1908, a sample of crushed cotton
seed was received at the Government
Laboratory from the Leeward Islands,
which, when mixed with water in this
way, was found to give a bright green
colour, instead of the usual yellow tint.

At first sight it was thought that this
peculiarity was due to the admixture
with the sample of.some_ inorganic
mineral substance, such as Paris green,
either by accident or intentionally;
chemical examination, however, soon
showed that this idea was erroneous,
and that the green colouration was more
probably due to some organic substance
derived from the seed itself. When the
crushed seed was examined under the
microscope, it was found that it con-
tained numerous opaque masses, which
broke downin glycerine and water to
small round green bodies.

Enquiry elicited the fact that the seed
in question was of considerable age,
having been grown in 1906 and kept
until 1908, before crushing. It therefore
appeared likely that the development of
the green colour might be due to changes
which had taken place in the seedas a
result of long keeping, and this sup-
position was subsequently verified, in-
vestigation making it clear that the
observed appearances were due to
changes in the resin masses.

If a cotton seed is cut across, the
cotyledons are seen to be marked with
a large number of dots; these are the
resin masses mentioned above. Accord-
ing to Hanausek, ‘ the secretion contain-
edin them is olive-green, flowing out

Fibres.

of the cavities in the form a yellow-
green emulsion, the particles of which
arein lively motion. Strong sulphuric
acid dissolved the secretion to a beauti-
ful blood-red solution ’.* A sample of
freshly grown cotton seed was examined
under the microscope in the laboratory
in February, 1908, when it was found
that the secretion in the resin cavities
appeared clear brown instead of olive-
green, as stated above. Treatment with
sulphuric acid gave a very beautiful
crimson solution. On the other hand,
when a sample of seed which had been
kept in the laboratory for some years
was examined, it was found that the
contents of the resin cavities were olive-
green, as described above, Treatment
with sulphuric acid resulted in the
formation of a blood-red colouration as
stated, but less intense in colour than
with new seed.

From these observations it appears that
the contents of the resin cavities under-
go change on keeping, either by oxida-
tion or other means, whereby they are
changed from a clear brown toa dark
green.

This was subsequently verified by ex-
amining, after a lapse of fourteen months;
seeds of the sample on which observa-
tions had been made when in fresh con-
ditionin 1908, when it was found that
those seeds which had not undergone
other changes now possessed resin cavi-
ties with dark-green contents. Hence
it appears probable that Hanausek’s
observations were conducted on old seed.

Further, it was found that when seed
of considerable age, of which the resin
masses had become green, was crushed
and mixed with water, the resulting
mash was of a bright-green colour, ex-
actly resembling the effect which origin-
ally called attention to the phenomenon
in the case of the sample of crushed
cotton seed first examined. (It is of
interest in this connection to note that
the resin waste from refining cotton
seed oil is used for the production of a
green dye.)

On cutting open and examining a
number of fresh cotton seeds, it is
generally found that a few of them
are discoloured, being brown inside.
This discolouration may vary consider-
ably in extent, all stages being exhi-
bited, from a slight to a complete
change of colour. When thin sections
of seeds affected in this way were ex-
amined under the microscope, it was
found that the cell-walls were stained
brown, and, in some instances, much
disintegrated, and throughout the stain-

* Winton's Microscopy of Vegetable Foods, p. 209.

[JaNUARY, 1910,

ed areanumerous oil drops were distri- —

buted. It appeared that the brown
staining was in all probability due to
the bursting of the resin cavities
already mentioned, whereby the con-
tents became distributed throughout the
body of the seed.

It was thought that possibly this
might have been due to injury to the
seed by the gins*, but the fact that the
pereentage of seed affected in this way
tends to increase on keeping, would
appear to negative this suggestion.
Thus a sample of seed, which in February,
1908, showed a percentage affected in
this manner of 34, presented, eight
months later, 66 per cent. of seed simi-
larly affected. Itis interesting to record
that this increase corresponds approxi-
mately with the coincident decrease in
the percentage of germination.

It is not clear whether the death of
the seed was connected with this ap-
pearance, though it seems likely to
have been. If it was, it yet remains
to be decided whether it was the cause
or the result of the phenomenon.

(B.) Effects of Storage on the Germin-
ating Power of Cotton Seed.

That cotton seed, on being kept, tends
to lessen in its percentage of germin-
ation is a well-known fact. To investi-
gate this, a quantity of fresh seed was
taken in February, 1908, stored in the
Government Laboratory for the Lee-
ward Islands, and periodical germin-
ation tests were conducted on it.

The results are given below :—

Date. Germination, per cent.
February 24, 1908 51
June Bon 49
September 14, ,, 32
November Ds 99 36
April 24, 1909 8

The seed was stored in a covered
wooden box lined with brown paper.
The germination tests were performed
on 100 seeds; the germinator used was
of the ordinary type, and was sterilized
in every test by boiling before use.
The seed used was from Centreville

* Injury by the gin may be sufficiently severe
so that it is easily seen or that its effects are
manifest in a short time. On the other hand,
an injury from this cause, or from any other
cause, such as the puncture produced by a cotton
stainer or other insect, might be so slight :hat
it could never be detected as an injury to the
seed, and still be sufficient to liberats the enzymes
which cause the changes in the substance of the
seed. The action of enzymes being progressive and
cumulative, the results in deterioration and in’ de-
creased geaminating power would be yee those
obtained by Mr, Tempany.—Ed. WW, J.

_—

ts

___ Janvary, 1910.)

cotton grown at Skerrett’s Experiment
Station. It will be seen that the per-
centage germination of the seed was
low, and decreased fairly steadily on
storage. It was found that the decrease
in the germinative power was of the
same order of magnitude as in the
increase of the seeds which showed the
internal brown discoloration mentioned
above. This is illustrated by the fact
that in February, 1908, the percentage
of seeds thus affected was 34, while in
November it was 66, as already stated.

To ascertain whether seed kept better
if stored in an absolutely dry atmo-
sphere, a portion of this same lot of
seed was simultaneously preserved in
a desiccator over strong sulphnric acid.
In November, 1908, the seed was examined
at the same time as that stored under
ordinary laboratory conditions. The
percentage of germination was found to
be 26, On eutting open and examining
these seeds, it was observed that a large
proportion showed the brown discolour-
ation seen in seeds stored under normal
conditions, the percentage of internally-
brown seeds being 69. As one would
expect, all the seeds examined were
very hard and dry, doubtless on ac-
count of the exceedingly dry atmo.
sphere in which they had_ been: kept.

It appears, therefore, that storage
under conditions of extreme dryness
does not tavourably affect the rate of
deterioration.

SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS.
a. Cotton seed undergoes certain
changes on being stored.

b. The contents of the resin cavities
undergo a change, the nature of which
is not known, whereby the original
brown colour is changed to green.

ec. Theresin masses tend to become

ruptured, causing brown discolouration

and disintegration of the internal

tissues of the seed.

d. The germinating power tends to
decrease on storage. This appears-eclose-
ly to follow the increase in the per-
centage of seeds showing brown dis-
colouration, but whether this latter isa
causative or consequent factor of the de-
crease of the percentage germination
is not clear.

e. Thestorage of cotton seed under
very dry atmospheric conditions does
not appear to affect favourably the
decrease in germinating power, as com-
pared with storage under normally dry
conditions.

“15

Pibves.

THE EXTENSION OF CULTIVATION
~ OF FIBRE PLANTS IN INDIA.

(From the Agricultural journal of India,
Vol. IV., Pt. 1V,, October, 1909.)

The following is a report drawn up
by a Committee consisting of Messrs.
Gammie, Burkill, Finlow, Clouston and
Subba Rao, for the information of the
Board of Agriculture. It was prepared
in 1908, laid before the Board for ecriti-
cism, and subsequently slightly amplified
by the Committee, on information
obtained by the Inspector-General of
Agriculture from the Directors of Agri-
culture of the various provinces :—

The Committee limited consideration
to particular crops :—

(1) Ryots’ crops—Jute, Hibiscus: can-
nabinus, Crotalaria juncea and Coco-
nut.

(2) Capitalists’ crops--Rhea, Agave,
Pine-apple, Sansevieria and Flax.

(8) Fibres worth experimental atten-
tion, e.g-, Plantain, Malachra and Sida.

Jute.—At present the cultivation of
juteis practically confined to Bengal
and Hastern Bengal and Assam. In both
of these Provinces, itis one of the most
important crops, and its cultivation
increased rapidly, owing to high prices
until 1907. During the last two years,
however, there has been a diminution of
between 30 per cent. and 40 percent. in
the area under jute, caused, partly by
low prices, due to bad trade and to over-
production, and partly, by the great
rise in the price of rice produced by
famine conditions in Bengal and in other
parts of India. While there is little
doubt that, in some districts, jute has
replaced rice to a certain extent, the
ryots who grow jute now generally
know that paddy or a rabi crop can
usually be grown in the same field in the
same year, This should be considered
by those who think that the extension
of cultivation of jute would seriously
interfere with the food-supply of the
couvtry, for, on tbe other hand, the
little diminution in outturn of rice
caused by increase of jute is more than
compensated by the enhanced buying
capacity of the country on the return
of the more profitable crop. The culti-
vation of jute is extending in Assam and
is very profitable there, where large
areas of virgin land are available for the
crop. Its cultivation increased rapidly
in Behar during the years 1904-1907 when
prices were high; but latterly the area
has decreased to about one-third. Its
place in thecrop rotations of this tract
is still indefinite. During thelast four
years, trials with jute have been made in

Fibres.

other parts of India. The results of the
experiments indicate that jute might be
grown in—

(a) The Deltas of the Godavari and
Kistna, Madras (with irrigation).

(b) The Malabar Coast, Madras.

(c) The Chhattisgarh and Nagpur
Divisions of the Central Provinces (with
irrigation).

In the Madras Presidency, a number of
private landowners are trying jute in
small areas on the Malabar Coast
districts. Experiments in the Kavery
delta have been abandoned, as want of
skill on the part of the cultivators and
the remunerativeness of paddy augured
no success. Thesame causes will pro-
bably hinder progress in the Godavari
and Kistna deltas. In the Central
Provinces, the crop will continue to be
grown on demonstration plots. — Its
cultivation will probably be limited to
tank-irrigated areas where it may
possibly alternate with wheat, the latter
being a dry rabi season second crop. In
Bombay, the experiments were not
successful, and the crop is not likely to
be introduced on a large scale anywhere
in the Presidency. Itis not likely that
Jute can be profitably grown in the
irrigated districts of the Punjab, unless
practical arrangements can- be made for
retting the crop. Artificial tanks filled
from the canals would as a rule be
required. In the United Provinces of
Agra and Oudh there does not seem to
he, at average prices, much room for this
crop in the districts served by the
canals, and if the crop is grown to any
extent, difficulties many arise, as in the
Punjab, in making proper arrangements
for retting. Jute has been successfully
cultivated in the lands belonging to the
Maubin Jail in the lrrawaddy Delta for
anumber of years; but although this
success has been duly advertised and
quantities of seed have, from time to
time, been distributed to other parts of
Burma, the experiments have failed to
induce general cultivation. The crop
has not become popularin Burma pro-
bably on account of the dearness of
labour and the extra trouble involved
in its cultivation as compared with
paddy; buta number of private indi-
viduals have taken up jute cultivation
in an experimental way. The suitability
of the crop for Lower Burma will be
particularly studied at the Hmawbi
Agricultural Station, especially iu regard
to the right times of sowing, the varie-
ties which can be most profitably grown
and the possibility of growing rice and
jute on the same land in the same year.
Itis believed that the development of

[JANUARY, 1910,

jute cultivation, on any commercial
scale, will depend on the erection of a
Jute Mill in Rangoon or any other
convenient centre, but the cost of labour
in Burma, as compared with India, may
form a serious commercial disadvantage.

Hibiscus cannabinus (Ambadi, Mesta-
pat, Gogu, Sankukra).—This plant is
cultivated in many parts of India as a
mixed crop, but rarely as a pure crop
excepting on the East Coast of Madras,
and, to some extent, in the jute-growing
districts of Bengal. It grows excellently
on well-drained land in a wet climate,
such as may be found in the jute dis-
tricts ; but itis capable also of thriving
under conditions which would not suit
jute without irrigation. In this last
fact lies the importance of the plant.
There is no advantage to be got by
extending its cultivation where jute
will easily thrive; but in regions of
more moderate rainfall the cultivation
of Hibiscus cannabinus might profitably
be extended. In Madras, its cultivation
is firmly established in Vizagapatam and
Guntur, which include 6/jths of the
total acreage of the crop in the
Presidency (68,000 acres in 1906-07). In
1907-08, when the total acreage was
71,476, it was, in these two districts
60,620-acres. Ithas been suggested that
the quality of the fibre has deterior-
ated, but enquiries made on the spot in
1906 indicated that the alleged deterior-
ation is due to fraudulent watering and
to carelessness in preparation owing to
high prices, rather than to any actual
deterioration of the plant. Prices have
recently been low. A mill for spinning
this fibre and manufacturing it into
gunnies has been worked for some
years at Bimlipatam, which probably
accounts for the considerable area under
the crop in the Vizagapatam District.
Another mill has recently been opened
at Ellore in the Kistna District and
may encourage extended cultivation.
The total acreage under this crop in
1906-07 in the Bombay Presidency was
said to be 145,628, but for 1907-08 only
97,821 acres are recorded. It is generally
mixed with other kharif crops, and the
fibre is used chiefly for well ropes and
for other home purposes. In the Cent-
ral Provinces, it is grown in mixed
crops. Its fibre is considered inferior
to that of Sann (Crotalaria juncea) ; the
general opinion being that Sann gives a
better outturn of fibre and a greater
profit per aere when each crop is plauted
alone. The extent to which Hibiscus
cannabinus is grown as a mixture with
other crops in the United Provinces is
not known. It is usually grown as ‘a
border crop, and calculations regarding

JANUARY, 1910.]

areas and outturn are very uncertain.
The fibre obtained in the east of the
United Provinces is perhaps of better
quality than that grown in the west.
It occupies in the Punjab an insigni-
ficant area. Itis frequently grown as a
border crop round sugarcane, cotton
and maize, as a protection against stray-
ing cattle, It is never grown in separ-
ate plots. The produce is chiefiy used
locally. It is cultivated, to some extent,
throughout Upper Burma; but it is not
likely, in the near future, to have any
particular commercial importance. The
total area is at present about 10,000
acres.
Crotalaria juncea.—The fibre of this
erop does not compete with jute as does
that of Hibiscus cannabinus; but in
market value it is superior to both.
Sann-hemp can best be grown in dis-
tricts of moderate rainfall, and, there-
fore, does not compete with rice. It is,
in some parts ot India, frequently grown
as a green manure crop before rice, and
in others as a second cropin the same
year after early rice for fibre. This
rotation is advantageous, because Sann
isa leguminous crop. The total acreage
under the crop in the Bombay Presi-
dency in 1906-07 was 23,700 acres and in
1907-08, 25,470 acres. It is chiefly grown
as a kharif crop for fibre, but also toa
considerable extent as a green manure
erop. In the Thana District it is grown
as rabi crop, in succession to early rice,
for fibre, which is used by fishermen in
making twine for nets, The returns for
Madras give a total of over 300,000 acres;
but itis known that only a very small
proportion of this—less than 20,000
acres —is grown for fibre. It is most
extensively cultivated for fibre in the
Northern Cirears, chiefly in the Amala-
puram and Narsapur Taluks of the
Godavari and Kistna Districts. In the
rest of the Presidency, with the excep-
tion of the Tinnevelly District, where
some fibre is manufactured into ex-
tremely durable gunny bags, the culti-
vation of the crop is confined to the
production of fodder. In Hastern Ben-
gal and Assam this crop is largely
grown in the Serajganj sub-division of
the district of Pabna, where the esti-
mated area is 33,900 acres, and where it
is generally grown, in the cold weather,
on Jand which bears a jute crop in the
same year. The area in Chittagong,
where itis also grown as a rabi crop
decreased from 7,900 acres in 1906-07
to 1,600 aeres in 1907-08. The total esti-
mated area in Hastern Bengal and
Assam is about 42,000 acres, and the
estimated export of the fibre is 30,000
maunds. In KHKastern Bengal jute is
much more important, but it is possible

*

Ait

Fibres.

that the cultivation of Sann-hemp can
be somewhat extended with profit,
though as the water-supply for retting
is limited in Kebruary and March, the
months of its cutting, this would only
be along the banks of rivers. In the
Serajganj sub-division it is only grown
for fibre quite close to water.

A note by Mr. Clouston, the Deputy
Director of Agriculture in the Central
Provinces, on the cultivation of tibre
plants in the Central Provinces, was
published in the Agricultural Journal
of India (April, 1908). The total area
under Sann in the Central Provinces
was 55,400 acres in 1907 which increas-
ed in 1908 to 85,044 acres. In Berar
the acreage was 382,860 in 1907 and
35,484 in 1908. It is always grown as
a pure crop and is cultivated for
its fibre chiefly ; but the seed is a valued
cattle food. It is generally believed that
only one variety of Sann is grown
throughout the Central Provinces and
Berar. Retting costs a good deal, anda
suitable cheap machine to extract the
fibre might be advantageous in extend-
ing the cultivation. The area in the
Central Provinces has nearly doubled
duriug the last ten years, where Sann
cultivation is so profitable that the crop
has been largely substituted for wheat.
The cultivators understand that this
crop isa hardy one and improves the
condition of theland. Itis grown toa
small extent as a green manure crop,
particularly for irrigated wheat and
sugarcane. In the cotton tracts no
extension of this crop can be expected,
as cotton pays better. In the rice tracts,
Sann could probably be profitably grown
on much of the land which is planted
with other second crops. The total
quantity of Sann-hemp exported from

_the Province and the value of the same

from 1904 to 1906 are shown below :—

Year. Maunds. Value.
1904-05 226,751 12,18,788
1905-06 201,402 10,82,534
1906-07 168,096 9,038,513
1907-08 271,727 14,60, 53%

In the Punjab there were 57,000 acres
under Sann-hemp in 1906 and 52,400 acres
in 1908. The sub-montane tracts showed
the greatest area, very little being
grown in the south-west of the Province.
Throughout the Punjab, the crop is
usually sown in very small plots, and
very little is marketed. The crop is
sown almost solely for fibre, but in the
Hoshiarpur District, it is estimated that
1-10th of the crop was grown for green
manuring. The practice of green manur-
ing with Sann is rare at present. The
retting and cleaning of the fibre are
regarded as being tedious and expensive,

Fibres.

and Sann is consequently considered
- to be less remunerative than some other
crops. The imports of Sann-hemp fibre
into the Punjab in 1906-07 were 15,382
maunds and in 1907-08 20,984 maunds,
almost entirely from the United Pro-
vinces. The exports amounted to only
4,078 maunds in 1906-07 and 2,584 maunds
in 1907-08.

The returns of the United Provinces
show an area in 1906-07 of 133,000 acres of
hemp, which include both Hibiscus
cannabinus and Sann-hemp: and in
1907-08 of 158,000 acres. Practically the
whole of this area is devoted to Sann-
hemp, which is grown for fibre and
almost universally alsu as a border crop
with kharif crops. Part of the produce
is worked up by cultivators into ropes
for home use; but the export is consider-
able. The trade returns of the United
Provinces for 1906-07 show practically no
imports of hemp, but exports aggregating
400,000 maunds valued at 22 lakhs of
rupees and in 1907-08 of 409,800 mannds,
valued at Rs. 26,15,000; most of this is
Sann-hemp. There is a steady trade
with Caleutta and a very fluctuating
trade with Bombay. The crop is a well
recognized feature of the local agri-

culture, and the trade in fibre is an
organized one. The area generally

responds to the prices offered.

The crop does well in the Tavoy
District of Tenasserim, where it is grown
there after paddy. The estimated area
is about 400 acres in Lower Burma, when
the fibre is used for fishing nets. It is
very doubtful whether there will be any
great development of Sann in Burina
unless the Department of Agriculture
succeeds in introducing it for green
manuring.

Coconut Fibre —The coconut palm is
grown in all the Coast districts of India,
but to the largest extent, in the southern
portion of the Bombay Presidency and
in Madras. Inthe Malabar Coast dis-
tricts, the coir industry is a very large
one, amounting to many lakhs of rupees
per annum. Although this palm takes
time to mature, its cultivation is popular,
because it supplies food as well as fibre
for many years after it has reached the
fruiting stage. In Bengal it is plentiful
in the lower Gangetic basin; but it
exists practically only in garden culti-
vation; there aie no large plantations.
The coconut palm is grown on a large
seale in Bakarganj and Noakhali in
Eastern Bengal and Assam, but the fibre
is never extracted. There seems no
reason why this industry might not be
introduced with profit into the Province.

Little, if any, attention hasin the past
Geen devoted to the fibre of the coco-

for food purposes eoconuts have to be
imported largely. The cultivation of
the palm for fruit and fibre has been
taken upin Akyab by one Huropean. If
he succeeds, his experience may attract
attention to this crop. There is a coir
factory in Rangoon, and the collecting
of coir for it would seem deserving of

encouragement. The wart of sufficient
cooly labour in Moulmein and other
centres makes it impossible to start

coir factories inthem. The total area
under this crop was returned as 13,590
acres in 1906-07, and 13,070 acresin 1907-08,

Plantain Fibre.—There are possibili-
ties of a useful industry in plantain
fibre. In many parts of India the plan-
tain is common in every garden; and
in Bengal, Assam, the Bombay and
Malabar Coasts, the Delta tracts of
Madras and in parts of Burma, whole
groves of plantains are quile common.
The fibre of the plant which produces
good fruit in India is usually, however,
far inferior tothat of s/uwsa textilis—
also a plantain—which is the source
of ManillaHemp. Moreover, the amount
of fibre obtainable from a_ plantain
in India is very small. Kxperiments
have shown that the fibre can be ex-
tracted bya simple hand machine; but
in view of the low market price obtain-
able—as arule, vot much more than halt
that of Manilla Hemp—it remains to
be proved that a plantain fibre industry
in India is a commercial possibility.
The fibre is of little use for the manu-
facture of cordage as its strength is
below the standard usually demanded for
rope-making. There are about 124,000
acres under plantains in Burma, but
nothing is done with the fibre, The
crop might give paying resultsfor fibre
after producing fruit.

Sida.—Species of Sida are quite com-
mon jungle plants in most parts of.
India ; but in order to attain the length
necessary for a fibre plant the crop must
be grown on well-drained land, either
in a moist climate or under irrigation.
Experiments under these conditions
have given promising results. It is,
however, necessary to overcome certain
difficulties before reeommending the crop
for general cultivation.

Agave and Khea.—For the purpose of
this note, Agave and Rhea may be taken
together, The conditions of soil and
climate suitable for these crops are now
fairly definitely known. It used to be
thought that Agave would grow and
thrive on any soil and under any con-
ditions of climate. It has, indeed, been
stated that the poorer the land, the better
Agave will thrive ; but experience indi-

@

[JANUARY, 1909,

nut in Burma, except in the jails. Even

i ita 3 «Ae ian IE

JANUARY, 1910.]

eates that both Agave and Rhea require
good land for rapid growth. For the
latter also fairly heavy rainfall is
required, Although it is possible to
extract both Agave and Khea fibre by
hand, the products obtained are usually
inferior to those obtained by machinery,
Therefore possibly the cultivation of
these plants should, for some time, be
continued by capitalists who can afford
to pay tor expensive fibre extractors.
Rhea has been extensively cultivated on
the estates of Indigo Planters in Behar,
but has not proved a profitahle crop.
Both Agave and Rhea require some
years’ growth before they give any con-
siderable yield of fibre, a fact which
discourages the ordinary ryot from at-
tempting their cultivation.

The results of the recent experiments
at Dalsing Sarai and elsewhere have
been set forth excellently by Mr. B.
Coventry in the Agricultural Journal
of India, 1907, pages 1-14; they practi-
cally proved that the climate of Behar,
with a rainfall of 45inches, is too dry to
admit of a sufficient number of cuttings
being made per annum to make rhea
pay. This crop thrives in the moist eli-
mate of Assam, where it is possible to
obtain five cuttings per annum, and
where, to a small extent, it is a ryots’
crop. Io Madras, rhea is grown on a
small scale in the Shevaroys. The Glen-
rock Company opened a rhea _ planta-
tion near Metupalayam in the Coimba-
tore District 25 years ago, but did not
make a profit out of the cultivation.

In Bombay, where rhea has_ been
under experimental trials for many
years, further recent experiments with
it at the Ganeshkhind Gardens, Kirkee,
have confirmed the conclusion that the
soil and climate of the Deccanare un-
suitable for the plant, It is said that
in Lower Burma, a variety of rhea
grows wild on the banks of streams in
the Tharrawady District, along the
foot of the Pegu Yoma range, and that
the fibre is used to make twine for
fishing lines. Experimental plantations
of B. nwea and B. tenacissima have been
started by the Forest Officer in Tharra-
wady, who reports that the latter species
1s growing with success. Rhea grows
wild both in the Northern and Southern
Shan States. The fibre is chiefly used
for making paper, but is also made into
cloth and strong twine for fishing lines,
etc. Two varieties of the plant are
known, one being considered better
than the other for the above purposes.

Varieties of Agave are to be found in
most parts of India under widely
different conditions of climate and soil ¢

3

Fibres.

but Sisal Hemp (Agave sisalana) is the
only variety with which systematic
attempts at cultivation have been made
excepting by the prison authorities.
Sisal Hemp yields the largest and
quickest returns under careful culti-
vation on good land ina moist climate;
but only one plantation (Dauracherra
Fibre Company, Sylhet, Assam) has
existed long enough to yield definite
results, and these do not prove that
Agave cultivation in Assam is certain
to be a profitable industry. A few
plantations of Agave exist in the United
Provinces, but have hardly reached the
cutting stage. The raw material which
is at present dealt with is chiefly obtain-
ed from railway fences taken on Jease.
The only place in the Madras Presidency
where Agave fibre has been extracted
on a commercial scale is in the Coim-
batore District from the plants growing
along the railway lines. This species
proves to be Agave vera-cruz. Several
European planters are trying Sisal in
the planting districts, and the Madras
Fibre Company has some plantations
in the Anantpur and Chingleput Dis-
tricts. The cultivation of Agave is not
likely to be taken up in the near future
by ordinary ryots. The extraction of
the fibre by hand is unpleasant on ac-
count of skin irritation caused by the
sap. The chief purpose of the Hindu-
pur Government plantation is to grow
Agave experimentally on land where
the rainfall is too precarious for other
crops. It is also intended to supply
Sisal plants to those who are interested
in the cultivation of this plant Agave
has been but little exploited in the
Central Provinces, and the cultivation
is not likely to become popular. The
common species there is Agave cantala.
Itis usually grown in hedges, around
groves and gardens, but nowhere in
abundance. Fibre is not extracted from
it extensively. In the Kawardha Feuda-
tory State adjoining Bilaspur, its culti-
vation is fairly large and the fibre is
used in making ropes and cloth. The
labour involved in extracting the fibre
is considered both hard and degrading,
while the juice of leaves produces
eczema on the legs and arms of the
labourers. Agave cultivation has been
extended of late at the jails in the Cen-
tral provinces, and the Inspector-General
of Prisons had 87,459 aloes planted out
last year in his various gardens. At
these jails, all the work of cultivation,
of extracting the fibre and of making it
into rcpes, rugs, ete., is done by the
prisoners. This industry engages labour
at ali times of the year. On the bhata
plains of Chhattisgarh where there are
very large areas of waste land, it may

Fibres.

be possible to start aloe plantations;
but if this is to be done successfully, the
work will have to be undertaken by
an enterprising firm with sufficient
capital and practical knowledge. It has
yet to be proved that the aloe can be
profitably grown for commercial pur-
poses on such _ soils without irri-
gation. Experimental trials are being
made. So far as is known, the Agave
vera-cruz is the only Agave found in
Burma. It is not systematically culti-
vated for its fibre, though it is used
in some prisons for rope-making. It is
not yet certain whether Agave would
repay cultivation, and in any case a
better species than A. vera-cruz should
be grown.

Fibre from Pine-apple and Sanse-
viervia.—The extraction of fibre from
pine-apple is not likely to become an ex-
tensive enterprise in any part of India.
Sansevieria has been repeatedly tried
by planters in Assam, but without pay-
ing results. Itis possible that fibre can
be profitably obtained from the pine-
apple in Southern India.

Flax.—Flax as a fibre crop is not yet
produced on a commercial scale in
India; but extensive experiments were
begun in Bengal about four years ago
and are still in progress. They will,
when complete, probably indicate that
fibre of good quality can be profitably
produced from this crop in several parts
of India. There are large areas under
linseed in the different Provinces, and
in some places where the conditions are
specially favourable, it may he possible
to produce good fibre as well as seed.
In other tracts the coarse stem of the
country linseed may yield fibre which is
inferior but still worth extracting.
Experiments are, however, required to
determine this, and also to show how
such fibre can best be utilised. Flax
cultivation has no particular prospect of

success in the United Provinces, except -

perhaps in a few favoured localities;
unless the growers can afford to stack
their straw until clean water is avail-
able. Except on the Dharwar Farm, the
‘different varieties of imported flax have
not yet been found suitable for cnlti-
vation in the Bombay Presidency. It
has, so far, not succeeded in Burma, but
no very systematic experiments have
yet been made. Inthe Punjab, 39,874
acres of linseed were sown in 1906-07,
14,669 acres being in the Kangra District
and most of the balance in the sub-

20 _ [JANUARY

as
~ ra

29,348 acres were sown. The crop is

grown for seed. Itis thought that good

material for fibre has been obtained
from trials made with Russian linseed ;
but the difficulty lies in the retting,
which is being studied at Lyallpur as
well as at Pusa and at Dooriah in Behar.
Experiments in the Punjab which were
conducted many years ago were well
reported on as regards the growth of
the plant; but the retting question was
not then fully examiued. The local
variety of the Punjab is not suitable for
fibre purposes, owing to its established
habit of short and bushy growth.

Malachra Capitata.—The Bengal Agri-
cultural Department tried Malachra
capitata at Cuttack, but gave it upas
hopeless after two years’ trial. Similarly,
experiments conducted at the Rajshahi
Experiment Station in Eastern Bengal
and Assam, indicated thatits cultivation
is not likely to be profitable. Experi-
ments have not yet been made in other
provinces.

General Conclusion.—The Committee
believes that it is possible to extend
largely and profitably in the immediate
future, the cultivation of Jute, Sann-
hemp and Hibiscus cannabinus, and that,
later on, itis possible that a portion of
the linseed grown over large areas in
various parts of India may be utilized
for the production of fibre as well as
seed. A considerable increase of Agave
cultivation is possible in Assam and in
tracts which have similar physical and
climatic conditions. Successful rhea
cultivation must apparently be limited
toa comparatively narrow zone where
both climate and soil are particularly
suitable. The Committee affirms that
jute isa very paying crop and believes
that it can usually be followed by a food
crop in the same year.

The Committee lays great stress on 30
arranging the rotation of food and fibre
crops, that the encouragement of the
latter shall not be at the expense of the
former. From this point of view, those
fibre crops, which occupy the ground for
one season only, are preferable to those
of a perennial nature.

The Committee believes that the
demand for fibres is bound to increase,
as they are essential for nearly all
branches of trade; also that it is not
likely that prices will fall so low as
to render fibre cultivation in India
unremunerative. :

, 1910. ey ;
montane districts; but in 1907-08 only te.

2g

January, 1910.] ane 21
DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS.

THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY.

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 11, November 1, 1909.)

The tobacco industry is somewhat
seriously handicapped in many parts of
India by the heat and dryness of the
climate, butthose who had studied the
matter are well aware that excellent
tobacco can be grown in this country,
though the climatic conditions are hostile
to the curing of the weed. Good curing,
it is needless to say, is absolutely neces-
sary if a high class product is to be
obtained Another thing which mili-
tates against the production of really
good tobacco is that this crop, per naDs
more than any other, demands care,
skill and sound judgment on the part of
the producer to secure a marketable
leaf of good quality. Tobacco is not
only a difficult crop to grow; itis alsoa
risky one unless all possible precautions
are taken. The plant is very sensitive
to the surroundings in which it is grown,
and its physical character is greatly
influenced by soil, climate, manures, and
the care or neglect which it receives at
the hands of the grower. Moreover, the
plantis very liable to the attacks of
certain insect pests and to fungus disease.
These considerations are brought out
prominently in an articleon the Indian
tobacco trade which appears in the
latest issue of the Indian Trade Journal.
It is pointed out that Indian tobacco
is not only grown from inferior plants
but is cured in a very primitive style.
This crude stuff, however, seems to be
considered good enough for the manu-
facture of the native cigarette or biri
(sold at ten annas or less a thousand) and
for export to Burma to_ be mixed with
other tobacco and made into what is
known as the Burma cheroot. This; we
are informed, is at best a very rank sort
of cigar—an assertion that will very
possibly be disputed by those who have
acquired the tastefor it. Indian tobacco,
on the whole, is not nearly up to the
standard required for export to European
countries, where there is a keen demand
for first-class leaf. The Indian Trade
Journal goes on to say that experiments
are now being carried out at Pasa with
various kinds of tobacco to discover the
best variety for exploitation in this
country, and it is suggested that central
curing factories should be established
in certain tobacco tracts and controlled
by experts who have had long experience
in America, An undoubted demand
exists for properly cured Indian tobacco,

and since the climate is hostile to good
curing, the best chance of securing a
good quality of leaf is to establish
properly equipped factories where the
conditions of heat and moisture neces-
sary for the curing process may be arti-
ficially produced,

QUININE IN INDIA.
(From the Chemist & Druggist, No.
1, 552, Vol. LX XV., October 23, 1909.)

The fact that a Malaria Conference
is now being held at Simla has excited
some interest on this side, and a report
has been current on the markets that
the Indian Government’ may possibly
sanction a general and free distribution
of quinine in the malarial districts;
but we are afraid the report has been
circulated more as a ‘bull point” for
quinine than anything else, and that
the wish is father tothe thought. As
throwing some light on the distribu-
tion of quinine in India, we notice that
a recent number of the United Pro-
vince Gazette contains a_resoluticn
signed by the Lieuntenant-Governor of
the Punjab, which accepts the principle
that quinine should not be distributed
at the public expense, unless it is abso-
lutely necessary to combat a _ severe
epidemic of malaria. From past ex-
perience it is calculated that the
amount which could be distributed
among a million people would be from
25,000 oz. to 30,000 oz., not a very large
amount. This, it is presumed, is quinine
manufactured by the Indian Govern
ment. The above resolution also states
that ‘‘the Lieutenant-Governor ap-
proves the Committee’s proposals to
increase the amount of quinine sold
for a_ pice ({d.) from 7 gr. to 9 gr.”
Additions to agencies for the sale of
these packets are under consideration,
and arrangements have been made for
the experimental issue of the drug in
the tablet form, three tablets of three
grains each being contained in a packet.
It is quite possible that the larger the
sales the greater will be the loss to
the Government, considering that 9
grains is sold for a farthing, but the
inference seems to be that, whatever
the loss, the Government is anxious
to incur it in its efforts to encourage
the use of the drug as a prophylactic.
Recently several important changes
have been made by the Government
in order to effect economic distribution
of quinine, the chief being the concen-
tration of the “putting-up” of packets

Drugs and Medicinal Plants.

at the juvenile gaol at Alipore, where
thirty boys are engaged in the work.
Special arrangements have been made
to stock the tablets in large quantities,
and the Inspector-General of Prisons is
confident of being able to meet any
sudden demand when malaria appears
in epidemic form. He reports that over
four millions of pice packets were made
and despatched to various post-offices
during last year, and operations heunce-
forward are to be on a much farger
scale, which probably accounts for the
fact of the recent purchases in London,
but those, it need hardly be said, did
not awaken any responsive chords in
the quinine-market here, speculation
being to all intents and purposes dead.
In view of this increased consumption
of quinine. the annual reports of the
two Government cinchona-factories in
India for the year 1908-9 are more
interesting than usual. Last autumn,
it appears, there was a_ considerable
demand for quinine when a widespread
epidemic of malaria occurred, and both
the Madras and Bengal factories readily
disposed of their stocks. The former
produced about 420,000 oz. of quinine, or
128,000 oz. more than the annual average,
but itmust not be supposed that this
was all indigenous bark. On the con-
trary, the output was the result of
working up Java bark imported into

JANUARY, 1910, _

India from Amsterdam, the yield being
5°5 per cent. of quinine sulphate, against
3'1 per cent. from Indian bark. In the
Bengal factory, where the output of
quinine was about 586,000 oz., Java bark
was also used, the percentage of quinine
being 6°71 per cent., as compared with
3°59 per cent. from local bark. The
question arises: Why should not the
Indian Government bein a _ position to
import bark direct from Java? Valu-
able analytical work has been accom-
plished at the Bengal factory during the
year, and some time has been devoted
by the quinologist and his assistant to
the production of quinine tablets. The
results were very satisfactory, and it is
now stated that the factory, if required
to do so, could turn out tablets in any
desired quantity, with the necessary
additional machinery. Entirely new
arrangements have been made for the
re-crystallisation of quinine sulphate,
and a quinine-drying room has been
built with the machinery essential for
maintaining aconstant supply of fresh
air. The profit of the Bengal factory
was Rs. 1,29,805, but as the price of the
quinine was estimated on the highest
market rate rather than the average, it
is doubtful if such a profit would be
realised if the quinine was suddenly
thrown on the market.

EDIBLE PRODUCTS.

RICE-CROP PROSPECTS, 1909-10.
Lanp RecoRDS DEPARTMENT, BURMA.

By H. M. S. MATHEWS,

Commissioner of Settlements and Land
Records, Burma.

(Summary of Rice-crop Forecast for
the month of October, 1909.)

(On an average of the five years end-
ing 1907-08, the area under rice in the
territory to which this forecast relates
has represented some 10°02 per cent,
of the total area under rice in British
India.)

The area under rice cultivation in the
fifteen chief rice-producing districts is
now reported to be 7,571,559 acres. Oor-
rections of local estimates of planted
areas are the cause of the reduction
of 20,733 acres from the estimates of
October. Notwithstanding favourable
early’ rains, comparison of the area
planted this year as estimated by
District Officers with last year’s actual

area shows less than the ordinary rate
of annual increase; and owing to the
extensive destruction by floods (now
reported as 232,499 acres), the nett in-
crease is further reduced to 5,480 acres.
In localities immune from floods, how-
ever, the rains have continued favour-
able with late showers in November,
and the cropis reported almost every-
where to promise an excellent harvest.

Rangoon, 12th Nov., 1909.

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON RICE
CULTURE. F

(From the Philippine Agricultural
Review, Vol. Il., No. 7, July, 1909.)

METHODS OF SEEDING.

Jn addition to the report on rice eculti-
vation in Zambales and Pangasinan pub-
lished in the May number of the Review,
the writer desires to mention a third
method of seeding, or preparing the
“semillero” practised by the rice growers

- PALA ON

janvary, 1910.]

of a great portion of the Province of
Nueva Ecija. This is done where the
water supply is under control. The
ground, as usual, is ploughed and harrow-
ed three or four times, or until it is well
pulverised for good germination. The
seed is put in a rice sack and then placed
in water and left there tosoak. After
three or four hours the seed is removed
from the water and hung up wet for
about twenty-four hours, or until at
least about 50 per cent. of the grains
have sprouted, when it is sown broad-
cast on strips or lots about 8 or 9 feet in
width. The soil at the time of sowing
must be well saturated and kept in that
state until the young plants have acquir-
ed sufficient height and vigour to stand
more water. Some farmers keep their
seed beds under water all the time,
while others cut off the water supply
for a day or s@ every once in a while
and thus expose the growing plants
and the soil to the tree action of the
sunshine and air.

Of the three methods of seeding-—-
namely, (1) the one described in the
foregoing, (2) that by drilling the seed,
or the Ilocano method, and (8) that by
sowing it without sprouting on a drier
bed than that used for sprouted seed —
I have been informed by almost every
one whois familiar with them that the
Ilocano method of drilling is the surest,
especially where there is any danger
from lack of rain or the water supply is
not under control. The seed _ being
equal, the Ilocano method generally
gives a germination of not less than 90
per cent., while either of the other two
methods gives only 75 or 80 per cent. or
less. On the other hand, the seed stools
less with the Ilocano method of seeding.
There is no noticeable difference, how-
ever, in the behaviour of the plants
transplanted from seedlings produced
by these three different methods of
seeding,

In Tarlac Province, especially in the
municipalities of Capas, Tarlac, and
Concepcion, dry-season rice growing is
more or less practised. Of course only
those lands with artificial irrigation can
be utilised for this purpose, and there
is only a small area in each town that
has such requirements. There are a

number of varieties adapted to the dry -

season. They are collectively called
“palakaya” or ‘ tag-araw” rice; “‘inita,”
an awnless variety, is the one mostly
grown. The planting is done during
the early part of February and the crop
is harvested in May. The process of
growing or cultivation is very simple:
After the land is cleared of the regular
crop—about the middle of January the

23, Edible Products.

field is flooded, drained, and then the
rice stubble is ploughed under. Some
plough the ground a second time, then it
is harrowed and the seed is sown broad-
cast while the soil is still saturated. I
cannot give the exact rate of sowing
because I could find no one who was
able to furnish such data. From what I
have seen, however, I reckon it to be
about 14 cavanes of seed to a balita of
land, or about 375 liters (10 bushels) per
hectare. After the seed has germinated
and rooted, and is therefore free from
the danger of floating or being washed
away, should there be any danger of
the young plants suffering from drought,
it may be watered again ard drained.
The water has to be kept on after the
plants have produced three or four
leaves and cut off again after they have
fully headed. Itis said that only from
6 to 10 ‘‘cavanes” (450 to 750 liters),
generally about 7, of crop are obtained
from dry-season rice.

In Zambales Province the highland
rice growers, like the American Indians,
I am told, practise boiling the rice
before hulling it, after which it is
cooked and used for food. This is done
when the rice has been freshly cut and
thrashed and sometimes is still green,
or when there is not enough sunshine
to properly dry the paddy. The process
of boiling is rather one of steaming than
actually boiling. It is believed, and I
know it isa fact, that by so doing the
rice kernel is made tougher and thus is
better able to stand the pressure of
hulling.

IMPROVEMENTS IN PADDY
CULTIVATION,

(From the Indi A griculelinst, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 7, July 1, 1909.)

Ryots in our Presidency can learn a
good deal from the improved methods
adopted in cultivating paddy at the
Court of Wards’ Home Farm in Sivagiri
in the Tinnevelly district. Sivagiri lies
about six miles from the foot of the
Ghauts. The average rainfall is about
25 inches perannum. The Home Farm
consists of 252 acres of wet land under
four tanks, besides dry aud ‘“ poram-
boke.” The soil under tank irrigation
varies in texture from sandy to clayey
loam, the sub-soil is clayey and overlies
a bed of nodular limestone. Some of
the land is very much subject to drought,
whilst other portions were originally
saline, but have now been much im-
proved, The farm has been under the
management of the Court of Wards for
a considerable number of years, but, it

Edible Products.

was only about eight years ago that the

operations were begun for introducing
improvements in the cultivation of
paddy for which this farm has become
famous by reason of the success attained.
The lines upon which improvements
have been introduced may be briefly
reviewed here. First as to ploughing,
the ordinary wooden plough has_ been
almost superseded by au iron plough
made on the same principle as the local
wooden plough. These iron ploughs are
used both for ploughing dry, and in
puddle, and it is surprising with what
ease the small farm cattle seem to pull
them and the ploughmen (when at least
they have become accustomed to them)
- prefer them to the old wooden plough,
because three ploughings with this iron
plough produce quite as good a tilthas
five with the wooden one. The action
of this improved plough is to cut the
soil into slices or furrows and turn the
furrows over tace downwards, thus
burying the weeds for the sake of which
it is necessary tc plough so often with
the wooden plough. These iron ploughs
are made by the village blacksmith from
old shipsplates bought from Raja-
palayam in the Srivillputtur Taluk.
The total cost, without draught and
yoke poles, is about Rs, 6, and anyone
who wishes to purchase one may order
the same from the Farm Superintendent.
As regards manuring it is well known
that paddy is a crop which exhausts
the soil, and (if the irrigation water is
not heavily laden with silt) manure of
some kind must be put on every year if
good crops are to be obtained. Experi-
ments carried out from year to year
at Sivagiri show that the best and
cheapest manure for paddy is that
obtained from the dung, urine, and
litter of animals which has_ been
properly, whilst rotting, commonly
known as farmyard manure. On this
Home Farm all the manure which can be
conveniently collected both on the Farm
and in the village is gathered up every
day and put into pits and well mixed
up with litter and refuse and left until
it is sufficiently rotten, Whilst rotting,
itis occasionally moistened with water
or urine to make it rot more quickly
and in order to preventits becoming too
heated. To protect it from the scorch-
ing sun, it is kept covered witha layer
of tank silt or soil. Because of the
immense quantities of cowdung used for
fuel and also because the farm livestock
of this country are so poorly fed, the
amount of farmyard manure available is
by no means sufficient to maintain the

fertility of the paddy lands up to an.
therefore, *

average standard. It_ is,
absolutely necessary to devise cheap and

convenient methods of obtaining other
kinds of manures besides farmyard
manure, and this branch of investigation ©
has received a great dealof attention at
Sivagiri and with great success. Of all
the supplementary manures used, the
most successful in producing results
have been leguminous plants. Kolingi
and sann-hemp have been used for green
manuring in the Home Farm. Another
excellent manure available in large
quantities at Sivagiri is “tank silt.” 1t
is applied alone to saline lands on the
Home Farm which have been greatly
improved thereby. It is also mixed
with the farmyard manure. This silt is
dug up from the tank bed and thrown
down the outer side cf the tank bund at
a cost of one anna per cubic yard. The
most important factor in the successful
cultivation of wet paddy is the pos-
session of a sufficient supply of irriga-
tion water from the timie of transplant-
ing up to the time when ripening is well
advanced. Ithas Jong been considered
by some, however, that the quantity of
water said to be necessary to grow a
crop of paddy, according to the variety
of the paddy and its environment, is far
too large. It was with the object of
trying to prove the truth of this that
experiments have been carried out for
the last 3 or 4 years at Sivagiri. The
results of the experiments go to show
that a grievous waste of water does
occur when paddy is irrigated according
to the customary method at Sivagiri.
Quite as good crops have been obtained
in many cases with 30 inches of
irrigation water as with 60 inches,
provided the former amount is used
judiciously. In the case of a five-months
crop of paddy transplanted one month
after sowing in nursery, it is customary
to keep the plots deep in water after
the transplanted plants have picked
themselves up, in order that weeds may ~
be smothered. Itis well known that
paddy can have too much water known
as ‘‘neer-shavi” (waterchoked crop). If
the wet land was ploughed inthe dry
season or even a month or so before the
time for puddling, as nursery beds are,
the weeds would already be killed and
would not require drowning with water,
and muchof the water which runs to
waste at this time would be saved up in
the tank or canal. Even when the
weeds are killed, it is customary to still
keep the plots deep in water, and it is
only a short supply running from the
sluice gates which forces a reduced level
in the plots; the result is that, if the
supply of water fails, paddy grown
under these conditions almost im-
mediately succumbs to drought, but it
is found that paddy irrigated and then

oe”
+

JANUARY, 1910.)

allowed to become almost dry between
each application of water can with-
stand drought fora longer time. Large
areas of paddy have been grown in
seasons of scarcity on the Home Farm by
not letting irrigation water into the
plots uutil the surface of the soil had
just begun to crack. Seed is specially
selected every year from the local
varieties of paddy which prove most
profitable and also from the introduced
varieties. This is used as Home Farm
seed the following year. Some selected
seed is also available for sale to ryots.
The selection is done by picking out the
best ears immediately before or after
the crop iscut. These are bundled and
thrashed separately, and the seed is
carefully dried in the sun and stored in
large earthenware pots. Special atten-
tion is paid to picking out ears which
are- quite true to the variety and
quite free from disease. Care is also

‘taken that all the grains in the ear

are fully ripe and close-set. An ear is
rejected if many of the grains have
already been shed from it, and also if
the glume or_ outer skin of the grain is
empty. Seed is not usually selected
from crops growing on patches of ground
which are badly drained, even though
the ears thereon are good specimens of
their kind, unless it isa variety of paddy
which is specially suited for water-
logged soils like ‘*Kulavalai” paddy.

_ On the other hand, ears are picked from

a crop growing ona plot which has been
subjected to drought, even though the
ears are not quite so large and good as
ears of the same variety growing on a
plot which has not been subjected to
drought. One of the chief points to be
considered in the selection of most
varieties of paddy seed is to try and
increase the ‘“‘ drought-resisting ” power
of the variety, even though the yielding
power is slightly decreased.

CULTIVATION OF TEA IN THE
KACHIN HILL TRACTS OF
KATHA, BURMA.

By C. K, DAvIs,
Civil Officer, Kachin Hill Tracts, Burma.

(From the Agricultural Journal of India,
Vol. IV.. Pt. 1V., October. 1909.)

Civil Officer, Kachin Hill Tracts, Burma.

Kachins are great tea imbibers, and
it was vot surprising to find in the
course of my recent tour in the Kachin
Hills of the Katha District that almost
every village tract boasted of a number

on | Edible Products|

of trees varying from 60 to 6,000. The
plant is probably the same variety
which occurs wild in some parts of
Burma.

The gardens which exist have not
been laid out on anysystem and small
patches of from 20 to 60 trees may be
encountered in the thick of the jungle,
each with its owner. The gardens or
claims are not fenced. Hach man knows
the number of trees he owns, All the
care the owner bestows on his claim is
to clean the undergrowth, leaving only
the young tea plants that have grown
of themselves from seeds shed. Too
great care, it is said, will kill the trees.
No kind of manure is ever used. Efforts
to sow seeds are only successful in a
measure and things are left very much
to Nature. An _ enterprising Shan of
Thayagon, a village at the foot of the
hills in the Mawlu Township, has year
in year out, failed to grow from seed
or transplant young trees to his village.
He has now discovered that tenderness
and care are wasted on the seed, a
handful of which, if thrown into a
clump of plantain, gives excellent results.
The seeds germinate readily and dis-
place the plantain which is cut away.
It is noticeable, however, that the tea
gardens are only found where the water
enny drains away and there is much
shade.

The following method is adopted by
the Kachins in raising plants from seed.
Seed collected is sown just before the
rains commence in circular beds of two
feet diameter. The earth is dug up a
span or two and in the deeper holes
stones are placed at the bottom. The
seeds are then thrown in and covered
over with the earth which has been
excavated. Dried leaves are sometimes
thrown in. No further attention is
paid. At the beginning of the follow-
ing rains the seedlings have attained
a height of from 6 to 10inches. They
are then transplanted. Fair-sized stakes
are fixed to the earth to mark the
locality of the little plant and to pro-
tect them from being trampled on by
cattle. In some cases the seedlings are
Be transplanted till they are two years
old.

Like teak seeds, tea seeds are said
to come up spontaneously after aclear-
ing has been fired. Seeds that have
been scattered by Nature and buried
under dried leaves and twigs have then
a chance of springing up. In many
places lands devoted to taungya or
shifting cultivation have developed into
tea plantations.

Three years after transplanting, the
Kachin nips off the tops of the young

Fdible Products.

plants by way of pruning them. The
following year they are ready to be
picked. Frequent picking without prun-
ing gives a fair yield and the Kachin is
satisfied.

The tender leaves are first picked in
the month of April and they are ready
to be picked again every alternate
month up to August. The April pick-
ings are the best and later pickings
have not the same market value and
fall as much as one-half in price. What
is picked is either boiled or broiled
according as wet or dry tea is required.
What is boiled is squeezed with the
hand on cooling to release the water
and is packed in leaves in convenient
packets for sale. It is sometimes put
into big bamboos of one viss capacity
which are plugged at the open end
with bamboo leaves and _ buried two
feet under ground, This keeps as long
as two years. Wet tea sells at four
annas a viss (3°60 lbs.) at Mohnyin on
the line of railway,

The leaves that have been broiled are
kept over the fireplace in the house,
and when enough has been collected,
they are smashed with the hands and
rammed into green bamboo tubes about
18 inches long and 13 inches in diameter.
The green bamboo, in the operation of
filling, is placed over the. fire or in
hot ash and what moisture is contained
is absorbed by the dried leaves which
in time form a hard cake in the bam-
boo. Such tubes contain from 25 to 40
ticals and sell at two annas and eight
annas each. Dry tea is also sold loose
at Rs. 4 a basket of four viss,

A plant is said to attain a girth of
ten inches in ten years. There are
trees with two feet girth, said to be
25 and 30 years old. The average yield
of a plant is one viss of dry tea a year.
The big trees yield according to Kachin
methods as much as two viss.

Insect pests are not unknown on the
Kachin Hills and their inability to guard
against them isa source of great anxiety
to the Kachins.

The Kachins do not pluck tea syste-
matically or with a view to trade.
During such time as the women can spare
from taungya work and_ household
duties, they pick enough for home
consumption and perhaps a little extra
to buy salt and cotton yarn with. The
tender leaves only shoot forth in
taungya cutting time and the industry
cannot receive attention even as a second-
ary occupation. The men find more
profitable employment with the timber
firms which pay them handsomely.

26

z 7
.

Tea is brewed by Kachins ina small
bamboo which serves as kettle, tea-pot
and tea cup. Water is boiled in the
bamboo, caked tea is scraped into it,
and when the concoction has cooled a
little, it is sipped and passed round.

Shans and Burmese whu have acquired
a taste for Kachin tea prefer it to im-
ported brands. If taken up on a com-
mercial basis. the cultivation of tea on
the Kachin Hills would be profitable.

At present the markets of Myitkyina.

and Katha districts could be confidently
countedon. At Kongra (square No. 33 K)
&@ man came to purchase bamboos of
dried tea which he took away to sell
at the Jade Mines in the Myitkyina
District. He brought at three bamboos
i rupee and expected to sell each at
cight annas to a rupee.

There is some hope that the tea in-
dustry will be taken up in earnest by
the hillmen. It is asserted that before
the Kachins took to working for a
monthly wage much tea was exported
from the Kongra and Lamai tracts on
the Western Range, and that to this
day Kongra-Lamai tea is well known
in the plains.

A MECHANICAL POLISHER FOR
CACAO.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIII.,
No. 190, August, 1909.)

The following information respecting
a mechanical polisher for cacao, invent-
ed by Mr. George Barnard of St. Lucia,
and known as ‘ Barnard’s Patent Cacao
Polisher,’ has been received through the
Acting Agricultural Superintendent in
that island :—

This cacao polisher consists of a hollow
cylinder, made of wood or iron, through
which runs a shaft on to which are
keyed a number of ‘eccentrics.’ Attach-
ed to the lower or under side of these
eccentrics are feet or ‘pedals’ which are
jointed, like the human ankle, in order
to give a rocking motion as the eccen-
trices rise and fall. Hard rubber pads are
attached to the bottom of these pedals
which give under pressure to pievent
the beans from being crushed; an addi-
tional safeguard against crushing is that
the pedals do not come within 2 inches
of the cylinder, and are spaced sufficient-
ly far apart on the shatt to allow the
tacao to stir about frecly and become
thoroughly mixed as the pedals rise and
fall alternately.

Jaxvany, 1010,

s JANUARY, 1910.]

-The cylinder and shaft are run in
opposite directions, so as to complete
the stirring of the beans, in order that
each bean shall get an equal amount
of polish. The cylinder is driven at the
rate of ten revolutions per minute, and
the shaft at sixty toeighty. At this rate
of work, the machine in operation at
Park estate, which is a four-pedal
machine, polishes one bag of cacao of
200 lb. in ten to twelve minutes. This is
a record unattainable by the present
method, in which the polishing is done
by means of the human foot, The
machine may be had in various sizes,
from those which may be worked by
hand to those which are engine-driven.
The beans are fed into the polisher and
damped (just as at present) before start-
ing and, on removal, are placed either
-in the sun on trays or direct into the
drier. Thus it will beseen that with a
polisher and a drier the cacao planter
is now enabled to hold his own against
the uncertainty of the weather, the
excessive rainfall in some districts at
the reaping season, or the indolence of
the labourer.

INDAIN SOY BEAN
(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol,
XV., No. 189, November 11th, 1909.)

The India press in echoing the repeat-
ed allusions made by this Department
to the importance of the trade in the
Manchurian soy bean, and to the menace
offered by it to India’s business in Other
oilseeds, is in some danger of doing
injustice to the Agricultural Depart-
ment which is working in the back-
ground. The Commerical Intelligence
Department has done no more than to
draw the attention of the public and
of other Departments of Government
to those trade developments which
is its function to mark, and to bring
together such relevant data as were on
record. Assoon as this was done it was
found that India’s knowledge of the soy
bean was notlimited to the indigenous
variety known as Glycine Soja (or G.
ussuriensis), but that the Agricultural
Departments in several provinces had
practical experience of the cultivated
plant. As long agoas 1885 the seed was
tentatively grown as a_ possible food
erop by the Agricultural Department
at Nagpore; and the Annual Report of
the agricultural stations in the Central
Provinces, which has just issued, con-
tains a reference to the cultivation of
a small plot and to the absence of a local
demand. Other provinces also made
some experiments. In those days the
merits of the soy beau as a source of oil

4

27 Hdable Products,

were scarcely recognised, and no demand
for it on this account existed in west-
ern countries. Consequently the culti-
vator found small profit and the agricul-
tural authorities as little encouragement
in their attempts. But the crop was
never quite lost sight of ; and, so soonas
a foreign demand for the seed appeared
and was brought to the notice of the
Agricultural Department, it was able to
supply small samples of the produce
grown in India. These were sent home
and have through the kind offices of one
of the leading Kuropean firms in India,
been technically reported on. The result
of the analyses is shown below; and it
may reasonably encourage further
efforts to establish the soy bean as a
commercial and technical crop.

The samples in question were supplied
by the Director of Agriculturé, Bombay,
and were grown from seed of Japanese
origin at the Manjri Experimental Firm.

ANALYSES OF FOURTEEN SAMPLES.

Sample No. Moisture per cent, Oil per cent,
2 1131 16°80
3 11°18 19°42
5) 10°86 20°28
6 11°12 19°12
7 11:00 19°30
8 10°93 19°34
9 11'21 16°44

10 10'75 20°46
11 9°90 22°48
12 11°74. 17°26
14 1115 20°36
17 11°37 21°22
18 12:06 19°18
19 11-28 21°95

The crusher to whom the samples were
submitted added the following com-
ment :—

‘“* Bleven of the fourteen samples are,
in our opinion, distinctly good, and
those showing above 20 per cent. oil very
good indeed and better in this respect
than the best Sakura Manchurian beans.
No. 11 (the best resultant) we are analys-
ing fully for albuminoids, but shall not
have the result for a few days. We beg
to add that the Manchurian soy beans
contain on an average about 193 per
cent. oil, of which about 6 per cent. 1s
left in the cake.

«The present value of Sakura beans
(with 1 per cent, franchise for admixture)
is £6-12-6, and for Harbin beans (with 2
per cent. franchise for admixture) £6-10.

“We will forward to you the full
analysis of sample No. 11 as soon as we
receive it.”

For purposes of comparison we give
below the range of oil content quoted

Edible Products. 28

by the Reporter on Kconomic Products
in respect of seeds of diverse origin :—

Chinese beans bec .. 17°60 to 26:18
Japanese ,; a ibe BERT cra)
Java 90 is 18:37 ,, 26°18

Grown iv Europe ... o. 15:6 ,, 21:89
Grown in North America... 18°42 ,, 19°52

We also append a note of an analysis
made last July by the Office of the Re-

orter on Economie Products for this

epartment with reference to a sample
of Manchurian beans obtained in the
London market by the firm to whom our
acknowledgments have already been
expressed :—

CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF MANCHU:
RIAN Soy BEAN Rea. No. 31887.

Per cent
Moisttire Be 13°6
Oil wee aig lyr,
Ash Kas 51

From this comparison it is apparent
that while the oil content of the Indian
samples recently examined falls short of
the highest percentages recorded in
respect of seeds from some other coun-
tries, it compares well in some instances

with the percentage found in the
Manchurian seed.

The yields per acre obtained in 1906-07
on various plots at the Manjri Farm
were as follows :—

No. lbs.

5 1,166 This plot bordered on black soil.

6 5138

7 650

12 575

13 395

Average 660

PINEAPPLE GROWING IN BATAAN
AND BULACAN PROVINCES.

Se

By MARIANO M. CRUz,
Agricultural Assistant

_(From the Philippine Agricultural
Review, Vol. II., No. 9, September, 1909.)

The Pineapple (Ananassa sativa Lindl.)
has never been, and is not as yet, com-
mercially grown in the Philippines. It
is true that it is well adapted to most
places in the Archipelago where the
soil and climatic conditions are so similar
to those of its native place in South
America. Unfortunately it is grown
only to supply the home consumption
of the fruit and the demand for the
eloth that is made from its fibre. Of
course there is some of this cloth ex-
ported annually, but this amounts to
only about P1,200.

(JANUARY, 1910.
PRODUCTION OF FIBRE AND FRUITS.
In 1903 there were in all the Islands ;
about 613 hectares of land devoted to a

pineapple growing, from which about
952,400 pines and 292,400 kilograms of fibre
were taken, giving an average production
of 1,500 fruits and 470 kilograms of fibre
per hectare. The provinces in which the
yield of fibre amounts to 15,000 kilo-
grams or over are grouped, with re-
ference to the amonnt of fibre produced
as follows :— as

Area cul- : Average
tivated ae dl pane
Or- Provinces (hec- kilos) hectare
der. P tares). ( * — (kilog).
1 Negros
Occidental ... 4] 46,600 1,122.
2 Samar... si 51 30,229 593
3 Bulacan ares 31 18,400 - 594
4 Cebu AR 25 17,296 692 <
5 Leyte Sit 29 17,086 589
6 Laguna ved 25 15,772 631
7 Batangas... 27 15,114 560

The following table shows the Pro-
vinees in which the yield of fruits
amounts to 20,000 and upward :—

Area cul- «+, Average
6 ii ypted ae : BoE
r . (hee ectare
Stare Provinces. tares) duced, (fruits). ~ 4
1 Samar ae 51 93,000 1,824
2 Bataan aS 30 46,620 1,554
3 Negros d
Occidental ... 41 44,400 1,083
4 Tayabas and :
Marinduque 4} 42,000 1,024 |
5 Cebu Bit WO 31,200 1,246
6 Leyte a0 29 25,700 886
7 Bulacan 00 31 24,900 803
8 Zambales ... 12 22,700 1,892
9 Cagayan ab 17 21,300 1,253

In the Philippines, Luzon stands first
in the list of all the pineapple-producing
islands, having more than one-half of
the total area and fruit production, |
while it produces about 46 percent. of . =
all of the fibre. ;

LEADING PINEAPPLE DISTRICTS.

Some time ago I visited two of the
leading pineapple districts in Luzon, ia
namely, the towns of Orion and Bulacan ce
in the Provinces of Bataan and Bulacan, oe
to make a study of the pineapple eulti- |
vationin these places. These two pro- <
vinees being situated near the coast of
Manila Bay their most important in-
dustry, of course, is fishing. While it is
true that fishing is often very profitable,
yet it is somewhat uncertain, like gamb-
ling, and not all people can depend upon .i
fishing for their living. The leading
residents in these places are anxious to
find the best means for fully developing. -
their farms. It was suggested to me, wa
owing to the fact that many of the 4

JANUARY, 1910.)

farmers are not able to understand either
the Spanish or the English publications
of the Bureau of Agriculture, that it
would be well to hold an_ occasional
convention in the provinces, similar to
farmers’ institutes in the United States,
so that the farmers would be put in
direct touch with men trained in the
science of agriculture.

The chief agricultural products grown
at Orion are, in their order ot im-
portance, rice, pineapples, and corn;
while in Bulacan they are rice, sugar
cane, pineapples, and ylang-ylang; so
that, generally speaking, we can classify
the pineapple industry as third in rank
of all the industries of these two places,

Orion.—In going over Orion, which is
the chief pineapple-producing town in
Bataan, I found a whole barrio devoted
to pineapple growing—that is, the barrio
of Damlog situated on the south side of
the town—while some other sections of
the town, like that on the west, may be
equally adapted to the pineapple indus-
try. Since the insurrection in 1896, the
barrio of Damlog had been entirely
abandoned by the people who once
inhabited it, so that the first pineapple
plantations which were established there
some five scores of years ago by a
Spanish military sergeant, are now
almost a jungle left to the mercy of wild
pigs and rats.

Bulacan.—In the town of Bulacan
pineapples are grown principally in the
barrios of San Nicolas, Balubad, Tibig,
Pitpitan, and Tabang. The conditions
here are somewhat different from those
in Orion, due to the fact that better care
is given to the plantations here where
people live nearer to their plantations
than the people in Orion. In both
places only a few people are opening up
new plantations, and the old plantations
are not cultivated or fertilized as they
should be, and therefore produce but
little each year,

INDIVIDUAL PLANTATIONS.

The size ofa pineapple plantation in
the places I visited ranges from 10 to 50
ares, giving an average of about 30 ares
(0°3 of a hectare) for each plantation,
However, each of the principal growers
in both provinces, namely, Sr. Mariano
Grei y Angeles, Sra. Pelagia Estacia,
Sra. Romana Labrador, and Sr. Teodorico
Tria in Orion, and Sres. Edeudato Lava,
Francisco Fernando, Manuel Catindig,
Jorge Tablan, Anastacio Rodriguez,
Francisco Baltazar, and Sra. Isidora
Serpio in Bulacan own much larger
tracts of pineapple land.

next year.

29 Rdible Products.

VARIETIES.

The variety of pineapple that is now
raised in Orion has a much larger fruit
but is not so sweet as the Bulacan
variety. In Bataan the leaves are not
used for their fibre as is the case in
Bulacan, and the Bataan pineapple, that.
is said to have been introduced from
Bulacan, has apparently been producing
larger fruits at the expense of the
leaves. Another kind sometimes found
in Bulacan is a mestizo variety about
the size of the red Spanish. The existing
varieties of pineapples in the Philippines,
including the Marinduque variety, are
supposed to have sprung from pine-
apples that were introduced from South
America by the Spaniards more than a
hundred years ago.

METHODS OF CULTIVATION.

On examination of the number and
kind of plants in the field, we noted that
the plants were set out without leaving
any space for a pathway between the
rows, and that after each plant had
produced its full number of rattoons,
suckers, and slips, it rendered the
harvesting of the fruits amongst the
thorny leaves a most difficult task for
the farmers. During the harvesting
they often chop off the dead leaves and
the miniature plants above the soil.
This of course serves to thin out the
plantation; but as these young plants
which are leftin the ground grow vory
thick, the plantation may again be turned
into an impenetrable field before the
The fact that only from 40
to 60 per cent, of all the plants bear fruit
each year shows not only the effect of
close planting, where each plant grows
at the expense of the other, but also
that selection for the most productive
mother plants is not well put into
practice. The lack of proper selection
and cultivation are also evident in that
the plants produce fruits of such vary-
ing taste and size (from 0°69 to 1°61
kilograms each). However, it is safe to
say that the Philippine pineapple is
almost free from any pest or disease, save
from what is commonly known as
‘‘tangleroot.” The leaves produced are
from 8'34 to 18°07 decimeters long, but it
is to be regretted that the fibre from the
leaves is not as yet much used for textile
purposes. The leaves of plants aiter
maturing their fruit usually produce one
or more suckers, and not merely become
waste but a source of danger from fire.
The present method of extracting
pineapple fibre is merely by scraping the
fresh leaves with a sharp knife or a
broken piece of glass, leaving the fibrein
a clean condition to be dried in the sun,

Edible Products.

SEASONS FOR PLANTING AND
HARVESTING.

The planting season in the Philippines
is during the months of July and August.
The young rattoons and suckers are
gathered from the old plantations and
planted in a clay-loam soil about 5 to
75 centimeters deep and from 60 to 80
centimeters apart. At the time of plant-
ing such fruit trees as the ‘“‘lanca”
(Artocarpus integrifolia), ‘guayaba”
(Psidium guayava L.), ‘‘santol” (San-
doricum indicum 1.), **mabolo” (Dros-
pyros discolor Willd.) are set out to
shade the new plantation. About 40 to
60 pex® cent. of the plants bloom during
the months of February and March of
their second year of growth, and the
fruits are harvested in the months of
May, June,and July. In most provinces
the fruits are consumed in the locality
where they are produced, but in Bataan
-and Bulacan the product is sold to
local dealers who in turn ship it to
Manila for sale in the raw condition.
Commercially speaking, none has yet
been prepared or canned for home con-
sumption or for export, The fruits are
usually sold without even being graded
for size and quality, all of which means
a reduction in the selling price.

ESTIMATED EXPENSE AND INCOME.

The following estimate of the expenses
and the income from a pineapple plant-
ation of one hectare was given me by
some of the growers. This will give
prospective investors an idea of the
present cost of production and the
annual receipts from‘one hectare of land
planted with pineapples.

Huepense or capital invested.
1. Average cost of a hectare of

land (P150 to P3800) +0225:00
2. Tools, ‘' dulos,” a spatula-like
bolo, andabolo ... ae 5°00
3. Cost of clearing of brush an
timber land ay ee 30°00
4. Cost of planting (20,886 suck-
_ ers), at P2 per 1,000 o.- 41°67
5, Costof harvesting 10,417 fruits,
at P1-50 per 1,000 vee Ll e63

Tax, at six-eighths of 1 per cen
ofthelandvalue,fortwoyears 3'36

Total

INCOME.

From 40 to 60 per cent. of the 20,835
plants will produce about 10,400 fruits,
which sellat from P38 to PS a hundred,
giving a total income of at least P416
for the first year. This shows that for
the first year of production the returns
are much greater than the total ex-
pense or the capital invested; while

320°66

te se
s

it

for the succeeding years the only ex-
pense would be for cultivation and
harvesting, which when intelligently
carried on with the judicious use of
fertilizers would give a continual in-
crease in the income of the grower.

SUGGESTIONS.

With an industry which has received
so little attention it would seem proper
that some elementary directions be
given for the improvement of the Philip-
pine product.

Selection.—We must resort to proper
selection or crossing of the individual
plants to obtain a greater number of
bearing plants, say not less than 80
per cent., to raise larger fruits, not
less than 1°38 kilograms, and at the
Same time a better quality of fruit.
Of course to maintain such desirable
characteristics we must give the field
proper cultivation and use of fertilizers.
_Cultivation.—In the way of ecultiva-
tion, hoeing can be done three or four
times a year, enough to stir the sur-
face of the soil around each plant to
hold the moisture as well as to kill the
weeds. In the first place, a sandy soil
should be selected as it is usually free
from obnoxious grasses and it forms a
desirable bed for the pineapple, owing
to its great looseness and porosity.
The superfluous leaves, rattoons, suckers,
and slips should all be destroyed, un-
less the rattoon or the lowest sucker
must be saved to take the place of the
mother plant. Good cultivation will
act as a remedy to the disease known
as ‘“‘tangleroot,” which is characteriz-
ed by the roots growing round and
round the stem or tap root in search
of food instead of reaching out into
the ground. Of course, to facilitate
hoeing and cleaning, an ample space
between the plants should be allowed,
for instance, about 80 centimeters be-
tween the plants in rows about 120
centimeters apart.

Fertilizers. —At the end of a period of
about eight years the old plantation
must be aJl cleaned and ploughed under
with some manure or fertilizer to restore
the elements which have been taken
from the soil. It has often been said
that our soils in the Philippines are very
fertile, but ‘‘Where does their fertility
goto?” It often goes to waste without
farmers paying any attention to return-
ing it to the soil. It has been found by
scientific agriculturists that an applica-
tion to the soil of the proper kind of
fertilizers containing nitrogen, potas-
sium, and phosphorus in the necessary
proportions will improve the fruit or
the plant, and sometimes both, and thus

oH

OEE PRE NS See
¥ 23

4

Janvary, 1910,]

inerease the market value of the pro-
duct. It is therefore necessary for
Filipino pineapple growers to apply fer-
tilizers to their soils so as to provide them
enough of the necessary plant foods for
their proper development, Pineapple
fields should be given at least two ap-
plications of fertilizer each year. The
plants should be fertilized the first time
immediately after their fruits have been
harvested, and again about two months
previous to blossoming. The last appli-
cation should contain a large amount
of potash to improve the quality as well
as to develop the size of the fruit.

The following composition is taken
trom Bulletin No. 8 of the Porto Rico
agricultural experiment station, and
shows the necessary elements and the
amount of such mixtures which should
be used for every 1,000 plants. A suffi-
cient quantity of tobacco dust should be
dropped into the heart of each plant ;
the tobacco serves asan_ insecticide as
well as a fertilizer. The application
per 1,000 plants following the harvest
should consist of about 19 kilograms of
dried blood, 14 kilograms of high-grade
sulphate of potash, and 13°34 kilograms
of acid phosphate; while the second
application may be made of the follow-
ing combination: 184 kilograms tank-
age, 22°08 kilograms of low-grade sul-
phate of potash and 5°98 kilograms of
basie slag.

Canning Factories.--The desire of many
people to establish pineapple-canning
factories in Manila must be known to
the growers so that the latter can be
induced to produce fruits of a desirable
size and quality for shipping purposes.

- There is also a demand, from some

firms in Manila, for pineapple fibre, and
the planter might just as well take ad-
vantage of this product which is usually
left in the field to decay.

PINEAPPLE PRODUCTION IN OTHER
COUNTRIES.

Before closing this article, we must
take a glance at_ the situation in the
principal pineapple-growing countries of
the world in order to realize the true
importance of the industry. Let us
look first at the United States and one
of her island possessions, Hawaii. The
State of Florida produces annually
about 15,000,000 fruits ; while in Hawai,
where planting of pineapples has just
been started, itis estimated that 4,560,000
fruits will be produced in 1910. To take
eare of this product, Honolulu, the
capital of Hawaii, has established a
canning factory that is claimed to be
the largest in the world, with a capacity
for canning about 132,000 fruits every

81

Edible Products.

day. At present, Singapore produces
the most pineapples, supplying nearly
all England and the European Conti-
nent with an annual export of about
20,318,424 canned fruits. ‘The variety
that is most extensively grown in the
places mentioned above is the “red
Spanish,” while the other varieties raised
are the ‘‘ Abbaschi,” ‘‘smooth Cayenne,”
‘*Porto Rico,” and ‘Natal canning.”
Some of these varieties are now being
tested at the Government experiment
stations along with our native varieties.
With favourable soils and climatic con-
ditions, with a growing interest and
enthusiasm on the part of Filipino far-
mers and business men for improved.
methods, we could soon place the Philip-
pines side by side with the places above
mentioned, in supplying the world’s
demand for pines.

SUGAR GROWING AND MANU-
FACTURE IN NORTHERN INDIA.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol, VIII.,
No. 190, August 7, 1909.)

The following article, from the Agri-
cultural Journal of Northern India,
Vol. IV., Part 2, gives some tacts in
connection with the sugar industry in
Nortbern India :—

Several attempts have been made in
recent years to manufacture white sugar
direct from sugar-cane as is done in the
West Indies, Egypt, Mauritius, and
other sugar-growibg countries. Con-
siderable capital has been invested in
these undertakings, the best up-to-date
machinery imported from Europe, and
skilled Kuropeans with expert know-
ledge, commercial, technical and scienti-
fic, have been employed. In spite, how-
ever, of what would appear to be most
favourable auspices, careful supervision,
and a very large demand for the manu-
factured article, none of these under-
takings have so far achieved more than
a very moderate success, and most have
had to face serious pecuniary loss,

At first sight, no country in the world
would appear to offer a better field for
the cane and sugar industry than India.
The consumption of sugar by the in-
habitants of this country is enormous,
apd upwards of halt a million tons of
sugar are imported into India annually.
Why then has the sugar-making indus-
try not made better progress? Various
causes have contributed to handicap
these pioneer efforts, Although sugar-
cane has been grown’ throughout
Northern India for some 2,000 years, the
quality of the crop has never been as
high as in other cane-growing countries,

Edible Products.

either as regards the weight of cane
grown per acre, or the sugar content
per 100 of canes.

~ The Indian cultivator at his best is
hard to beat, although his methods and
implements may appear primitive to
western agriculturists. He is quick to
adopt improvements in cultivation and
seed if he is satisfied that they will
increase his profits ; but in the growing
of sugar-cane, he is faced with two
serious problems. The soil has been ex-
hausted by many centuries of conti-
nuous cropping, and the supply of suit-
able manures at a moderate cost is very
limited. <A greater difficulty still is the
climate. The annual raintall,
usually sufficient in quantity, is badly
distributed throughout the year, being
concentiated into a few months, fol-
lowed by many months of extreme
dryness. These two causes, however,
would not alone be sufficient to account
for the indifferent success of large
central cane factories; fresh sources of
manure can be discovered, and the short
period of growth, due to the concen-
tration of the rainfall, can be mitigated
by carefully thought-out schemes of
irrigation,

The Indian cane factory has against
them, on the credit side, the saving in
manufacturing losses by a continuous
process, and the economy in freight and
transit charges by having a _ ready
market at the door. The greatest diffi-
culty, however, with which a central
cane factory has to contend is the
nature of Indian land tenure, by which
the country is splitup into a multipli-

32

though ~

: ee Tl ee * | *
[JANUARY, 1910,

city of small holdings, and this seems :

to be an insuperable one. The effect of
this system of cultivation in innumer-
able small farms is that concentration
of crop round the factory is in most in-
stances impossible. The cane is grown
in small isolated patches, and in order
to feed a large factory, it has to be
collected from a very large area radiat-
ing many miles from the factory, with
all the consequent heavy cost of hand-
ling and carrying entailed in dealing
with a commodity so heavy and bulk
as raw sugar-cane: this, combined wit
the inevitable deterioration and loss of
sugar by inversion during the period of
transit from the fields to the mill,
more than counterbalances the benefit
gained by the continuous process, It
would seem, therefore, that central
sugar factories can only be profitably
worked, if at all, in canal colonies or
large zamindaries where a concentrated
area is available under the personal
control of the owner or planter.

If the sugar industry in India is to
hold its own against the foreign im-
porter, development will have to be
along the line of intense cultivation by
the grower, to increase the outturn of
sucrose per acre, and improvements in
the making of raw jaggery or Gul by
the villager, preventing the heavy losses
by inversion and adulteration entailed
by the crude methods at present em-
ployed. If this can be done, the Indian
refiner will have nothing to fear from
foreign competition in India, and may
even in time be able to export to other
markets, if not barred by prohibitive
protective duties.

TIMBERS.

STANDARDISATION OF TREE
MEASUREMENTS.

(From the Indian Forester, Vol. XXXV.,
No. 11, November, 1909.)

There is a considerable amount of con-
fusion in the matter of the measurement
of trees in India and Burma, and it isa
matter for regret that definite rules on
the subject were not formulated when
the Forest Department was _ started.
We wish to draw attention to this most
important subject in the hope that
definite rules will be drawn up and
adopted generally for the future.

In the first place, there are two
systems ordinarily in vogue for the
classification of trees; one by girth

classes and the other by diameter
classes. For the former, classes of 18
inch periods are usually adopted, and
for the latter, classes of 6 inch periods.
Thus for girth classes it is usual to
speak of trees measuring less than 1
feet in girth at breast height as

class trees, those above 14 feet and up to
3 feet as 1V class; those above 3 feet and
up to 44 feet as III class; those above
44 feet and up to6 feet as II class, and
those above 6 feet in girth as I class.
It is equally common, when reference is
made to trees classified by diameter
measurements, to speak of trees up to
6 inches in diameter at breast height as
V class trees, trees above 6 inches and
up to 1 foot in diameter as IV class, trees
above 1 foot and up to 14 feet as IIL

rr ee a re oa eg ee 2 ee ae

J ANUARY, 1910, |

class, trees above 14 feet and up to 2 feet
in diameter as 11 class, and trees above
2 feet in diameter as I class.

It thus comes about that I class trees
are loosely referred to as being either
above 6 feet in girth or above 2 feet in
diameter, as if these measurements were
synonymous. An instance in point oc-
curred a few years ago in an important
working-plan. The enumerations were
done with callipers graduated for 6
inch diameter classes, and the results
obtained were treated as girth classes
and the prescriptions made accordingly.
Owing to this, trees in the first coupe
above 6 feet in girth which were found
available for felling were 2,000 more
than the number expected, for the
change from diameter to girth classes
really brought more than one-sixth of
the trees shown in the enumerations as
II class according to diameters into the
I elass according to girths, 7.e., above
6 feet in girth.

Again, the classes mentioned above
have practically become, throughout
India, standard classes of measurement,
and it only remains for it to be decided
whether girth classes or diameter classes
are to be adopted for the future. Thus,
almost all forest officers if asked what a
I class tree was, would say it was a tree
measuring over 6 feet in girth or over 2
feet in diameter; some would say the
one, some the other, and some, speaking

loosely, would speak of the _ two as
synonymous. Thus, a class I tree is
practically a standard size, differing

only within the above limits. This
being so, it is very confusing to find
that in some cases trees of other sizes
are called I class, and so on. For an
instance we refer to page 571 of the
October number, where the _ classes
adopted are quite different. Any one
after reading the article on this page
would, on turning to page 588 of the
same number, be puzzled to know what
is meant by a III class tree in the last
sentence of parall. —

It is therefore, we consider, most
advisable that definite standard classes
should be fixed so that it will always be
known what is meant by a I class tree,
II class, and soon. In our opinion girth
classes are the most suitable, for the
sections of trees are seldom circular, and
it isa matter of some difficulty to ascer-
tain the exact average diameter of a
tree, whereas the exact girth can always
be easily ascertained. By this we do
not mean that all measurements of trees
for marking, etc., should be done by
tape. Itis easy to have callipers gradu-
ated to correspond to the diameters of
the 18 inches girth classes, and it is

Tim bers,

usual in practice when using callipers
to measure each tree in two directions
at right angles. We have found it
quite accurate, if it is found that a tree,
measured in both directions, falls to the
same class, to record itas belonging to
that class, but when the measurement
in one direction locates a tree in one
class, the measurement in the other in
another class, we found the simplest way
to decide the right class was by girth
measurement with a tape. We recom-
mend that the girth classes given above
be now officially adopted as standard
classes, so that in future there will be no
doubt as to what is meant by aI class
tree, II class, and so on, and as these
clasess are already generally known
and used, it would be simpler to adopt
them than tolay down a revised scale
of classes together.

Of course we recognise the fact that
for many working-plans and other pur-
poses, the standard classes would not be
sufficient, as it is often necessary to dis-
criminate between the sizes of trees
above 6 feet in girth and to differentiate
in more detail between smaller trees.
For the latter, subdivisions of the
standard classes will generally suffice,
but for all other divisions from the
standard classes we recommend the
adoption of letters to indicate that the
class referred to is aspecial one. Thus,in
cases where a minimum exploitable size
of above 74 girth is adopted, the class
above 73 feet in girth might conveniently
be termed M. class, meaning mature, or
by any other appropriate letter. Any
officer coming across the mention of an
M. class tree for the first time, would at
once enquire what it meant and no con-
fusion would arise.

The question as to the height at which
the girth measurements should be taken
is more complicated, for on account of
some species developing large buttresses,
they cannot be measured at the usual
breast height which is generally taken
to be 44 feet above the ground. For
practical purposes it will probably be
sufficient for the girths to be taken as
they are now at breast height where
there are no buttresses, and as near
above that as the buttresses will allow, if
there are no buttresses, except when the
buttressed portionis utilised, in which
case a correcting factor might possibly
be adopted. This matter is one on which
some enquiry is necessary before stand-
ard rules can be decided on.

At present in India, so far as weare
aware, there are no height classes in
general use, and it may be argued that as
there are so many different species to
be dealt with, it would not be of much

Timbers:

use to have standard height classes laid
down. We, however, are of opinion that
it would be most advantageous, aud we
suggest that asuitable standard scale
of height classes be drawn up and pres-
cribed officially at the same time as that
for girth classes. Height is the most
reliable indicator as to quality of soil,
and oncethe standard height classes were
adopted, it would in time lead to the
classification of soils by the height class
attained by important species at different
ages.

We trust that this important matter
will now receive the attention it deserves,
and, if standard classes are adopted, we
recommend that the details concerning
them he included in the revised edition
of the “Glossary of Technical Terms for
usein Indian Forestry.” It might even
be possible to include, from time to time,
any special classes indicated by letters,
as proposed above in the glossary by
means of adenda slips, indicating the
area in which the special classes are in
force. In this way all confusion would
disappear, andina few years the stand-
ard girth and height classes would be defi-
nitely known and adopted throughout
the Indian Empire.

WOOD PRESERVATION.

GERMAN AND FRENCH PROCESS.

(From _ the Indian Aogriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 9, September, 1, 1909,)

Various methods of applying preser-
vatives to rail-road ties and telegraph
poles have been in practical use in
Europe for more than twenty years. It
would be difficult to find in any advanced
European State a single railway, tele-
graph, or telephone line the ties and
poles of which have not been impreg-
nated with au antiseptic composition,
Figures are published relating to twenty
German telegraphic lines, the impreg-
nated poles of which were set at various
intervals from 1877 to 18938. Of those set
in 1877 about 35 per cent. were still sound
and in use after twenty-six years’
service, and of those set from 1891 to
1893 there are records of five lines upon
which all the poles are still standing.
The American Consul-General at Ham.
burg says that the Bavarian postal
service, after thirty years’ experience,
certifies that the known average life of
impregnated poles in Bavaria is seven-
teen years and a half and the German
Imperial Administration calculated, in
1903, that the known average life of such
poles was about sixteen years. In the
meantime the work of impregnation is

thirty-five years.

being more perfectly performed, so that
future statistics will show better results.
In France, the Eastern Railway Com-
pany announced, in 1889, that in the
twenty-four years preceding 67 per cent.
of its untreated oak ties had been re-
placed, while only 16 per cent, of such as

ad been treated with creosote had been
removed. Beech ties properly impreg-
nated, according to the Chief EKugineer
of that Railway, have an average life of
More recent con-
clusions reached in the same system
were to the effect that 80 per cent. of
ereosoted beech ties were good after
twenty-seven years of service, while
only 54 per cent. of oak ties treated in
exactly the same manner were good
after twenty-four years of service, The
results of impregnation appear so con-
elusive and undisputed that it would be
futile, says the Consul, to present
further details on the subject. In recent
years the most useful preservative
agents in use have beenchloride of zinc,
creosote and bichloride of mercury,
applied by imbilition, or by impreg-
nation by injection forced by the pres-
sure of the air.

This second method of treatment
generally consists in placing the wood in
closed metallic recipients from which
the air is pumped, and the liquid then
introduced under high pressure. Until
comparatively recently, it was very
common to treat wood by injection
under pressure of chloride of zine, diluted
with water. While this antiseptic is
efficacious, it loses its qualities and
becomes hygroscopic. To overcome
these disadvantages, creosote was added
to the mixture, and under the title of
‘*mixed impregnation” this system has
been adopted for the treatment of white
wood ties which are too cheap to warrant
the use of creosote alone. Hard wood
ties, on the other hand, are impregnated
with creosote alone, the general effect of
which is to close the pores, coagulate
the sap, and kill the micro-organ-wood.
The use of creosote alone is quite un-
usual in the treatment of telegraph and
telephone poles, because of odour, ten-
dency to melt and run under the
sun, and objection raised by the men
employed to deal with them. It is
common therefore to use bichloride of
mercury (the French Government use
sulphate of copper), the efficacy of which
has been known since the middle ages,
when it was used to arrest decay and
the action of insects. At the Himmels-
bach plant, near Freiburg, this is used
in 66 per cent. solution. The wood is
plunged into timber or cement recep-
tacles, and there remains from ten to
fifteen days. In this plant, moreover,

(oe, ah oe ee

Mie phate Reet Ne erage we we edi
ae

JANUARY, 1910.)

treated poles are given a special coating,
of some unknown _ antiseptic, which
extends about 2ft. above and 2 ft. below
the point where the pole enters the soil.
This application protects the part where
variations in humidity commonly attack

Timbers.

the pole, In the Himmelsbach establish-
ment there are tanks for impregnating
forty ties at a time, under pressure ; these
tanks being about 65 ft. long, and over 6
ft.in diameter. Their baths for treating
telegraph poles are 98ft. in length.

PLANT SANITATION.

REVIEW,

The “ Mosquito-Blight” of Tea. (Helo-
peltis theivora.) Investigations during
the cold weather season of 1907-1908.

**Mosquito-Blight.” Report on EHx-
periments during Season 1908 at Rampore
and Koombergram Tea Hstates.

By C. B. ANTRAM, F.E.S,,

~ Entomologist to the Indian Tea Asso-
ciation.

These two circulars, issued by the
Indian Tea Association, were published
in 1908 and 1909 respectively, and detail
the results of Mr. Antram’s investi-
gations into and experiments upon the
treatment of this most important tea
pest. In his Preface to the first cir-
eular, the author states that he has
‘purposely refrained from giving the
life-history of the Tea Mosquito in any
great detail, as many matters relating
to the insect have seen so thoroughly
gone into and thrashed out in the last
few years, that to do so now would be
to goover much old ground.” He fur-
‘ther remarks that he has contented
himself ‘‘ by touching only upon those
points that have been left undecided,
and by giving particulars of the latest
discoveries and observations made in
connection with the life-history and
habits of the insect during special in-
vestigations carried out in the past sea-
son, and in particular the cold-weather
of 1907-1908.”

Although our local Tea-bug (I use this
name in preference to the misleading
term Tea-mosquito) Helopeltis antonni,
is considered to be specifically distinct
from.its Indian ally, the appearance and
habits of the two species, and their
effect upon the tea plant, are so similar,
that we—in Ceylon—may take advant-
age of Indian experience, witb modifi-
cations necessitated by the difference
in cultural methods that obtain in this
country, on which account I propose
to quote at some length from Mr.
Antram’s valuable and interesting obser-
vations, In fact, my remarks will be
more of the nature of a resumé than
of a review.

5

The author estimates the pecuniary
loss through the ravages of Helopeltis,
in the year 1907, at ten lakhs of rupees.
His observation that alow jat of China
hybrid suffers most from the blight,
accords with our own experience in
Ceylon, where the difference in the
severity of the attack upon different
varieties of tea is most marked.

The first part of the earlier circular
is devoted to a study of the habits of
the insect during the cold weather
months, which—according to the author
— have never been completely followed
out until this last winter of 1907-1908.
Previous pamphlets record observations
mostly made during the time when the
insect is most active, i.e., at the height
of the season, and hitherto very little
has been found out with regard to how
its life-cycle is affected by the cold
weather.”

Mr, Antram sets himself .to solve
the following important questions, ap-
parently with complete success :—

1. ‘* What became of the insect in the
cold weather, and where did it hibernate
if definite hibernation takes place ?”

2. ‘* How far is the life cycle affected
by the cold weather ?”

3. “How long do eggs take to hatch
out in the cold weather, and do they lie
dormant until shoots are developed on
the bushes ?”

With regard to the first question, he
finds that there is no true hibernation,
but that the ‘insects in all stages, from
freshly hatched specimens to adults,
could be found in large numbers on all
blocks of differently pruned tea as well
as on the unpruned. It was even quite
easy to find specimens upon very hard
pruned tea upon which there was hardly
a vestige of leaf.”

The answer to the second question
may be quoted in full, “Eggs laid in
November, December and January,
owing to the low temperature at that
time prevailing, take two and three
times longer to hatch out than at the
height of the season. The same applies
to the larve which are very much longer
in reaching maturity, or the winged

Plant Sanitation.

state during the cold weather months
compared with the period passed by
them in the rains. The term of life of
the adult, on the other hand, to all
appearances, is cut short during the
cold weather, the insect not living so
long at that timeas during the height
of the season. It has not yet been
definitely ascertained how long it lives
in this state during summer, buta few
individuals kept in captivity at that
time, in 1906, live for 24 months and
more.

Mr. Antram’s investigations into the
subject of the third question proved that
there is.a steady retardation of hatching
out, commencing from the middle of
November and culminating in the middle
of January, after which there is a reverse
progression of acceleration until the nor-
mal period of from eight to ten days is
reached towards the middle of March.
A chart shows the curve of retardation
and accellaration plotted out to intervals
of from oneto three days. Itis a pity
that these intervals could not have been
made regular ; but the general tendency
of the curve is quite clear, and it can be
gathered from it that eggs laid in the
middle of November hatched in from
eight to ten days; by the 16th December
the period had risen to fourteen days;
from which date there is a steadily
ascending gradient to the 18th January,
when the*period has increased to sixteen
days; after a few slight fluctuations the
maximum period of twenty-seven days
is reached on the 20th of January. It will
thus be seen that the maximum is just
three times as long as the normal period,

By keeping a number of the insects
under observation from the time of
hatching until the date of attaining
maturity, Mr. Antram has shown that
there is a corresponding lengthening of
the larval period during the cold weather
months. The maximum period seems
to have been reached by the middle of
December, and to have remained fairly
constant until the end of that month,
after which there is a gradual reduction
in the number of days spent in the
larval stage. Itis stated that, during the
height of the season, the insect completes
its transformations in from ten to
twelve days. Incidentally, Mr. Antram
has found that the insect ‘‘undergoes
five moults altogether before reaching
maturity or the winged state,”—a point
in itslife-history that had not previously
been established in India. While the
development of the egg and of the larval
period is delayed by the cold weather,
the length of life of the adult insect is
somewhat shortened. But the total
existence of the individual—from the

that period. over 200 eggs.

~

(JANUARY, 1910,

time that the egg was laid to the death
of the adult insect—is extended, during
the cold season, to more than three
months. ‘During the whole of that
time the insect is active and feeding
except on very cold nights in November
and January when it would be shelter-
ing inside the bush or in the jungle
growing at the foot of the bush.”

It has been known for some time that
the Helopeltis insect does not—like so
many insects—lay all its eggs withina
short period after fertilization. Dis-
section reveals the fact that only a few
fully formed eggs are ready for ex-
trusion at any one time, though the
ovaries are packed with undeveloped
ova. Butitis rather startling to find—
as has now been determined by Mr. An-
tram—that a fertilized female may live
for seven weeks and deposit, during
Indeed, one
prolific individual, kept in captivity
during the rains, laid nearly 500 eggs,

Another interesting fact, observed by
Mr. Antram for the first time, is the
actual manner of the laying of the
egg. It appears that the insect first
punctures the stem with its proboscis
and then inserts its ovipositor into the
hole so made.

The author of the circular then gives
the results of his investigations as to
the positions—on the tea bush and else-
where—in which eggs are deposited,
when the bushes are not flushing. He
observes that eggs may be found in any
of the following sites :—

‘1, In the succulent stems, from the
base of the first open leaf down almost
to that part of the shoot which isnot
reddening into wood.”

“2. In the midrib of leaves, both
old and young, towards the base.”

“3. In the tips of ruptured stalks
where green shoot has been plucked off.”

“4, In the tips of ruptured stalks
where both old and young leaves have
fallen off or have been broken off,”

“5. At the base of minute developed
and undeveloped buds in the axils of
the leaves.”

“6. In the stalks of flowers and seeds
on the bush.” -

“7, On two different plants growing
in the jungle,”

He remarks that ‘‘it seems therefore
from the foregoing that the insect has
no trouble in finding places in which
to lay her eggs under almost any cir-
cumstances and nothing sort of collar
pruning or very hard pruning will do
away with egg sites. It goes without

w
_

January, 1910.)

saying that such a procedure for deal-
ing with the pest is out of the question.”

Mr. Antram finds, by experiment that,
failing young leaves, the adult insects
are able to subsist upon fully matured
leaves. The punctures are clearly visi-
ble, but the leaves ‘‘do not curl up
or become deformed as in the case of
young leaves.” Insects kept entirely
without food invariably died within
two days.

The second part of the first circular
deals with remedial measures, and
it is this section that will be of the
greater interest to tea planters in
Ceylon, As I have the author’s per-
mission to make full use of his circulars,
I quote the following passages without
further comment.

‘‘There are two methods of dealing
with the pest, and that at the most
convenient time of the year, namely,
at the pruning season.”

“It has been shown that those insects
reaching maturity towards the end of

the cold weather survive the rest of

the cold weather, during which time
they are laying eggs. It is these in-
sects that are responsible for the count-
less number of insects which turn u
later in the year and do so muc
damage.” :

“Ror the destruction of these the
method is simple enough, and is brought
about by the burning of all prunings
while they are still green, the best
method being to burn the prunings the
same day they are cut from the bushes.
The area pruned in one day should be
cleared that same day, and no prunings
allowed to remain on the ground or in the
pruned bushes. If the pruned area can
then be hoed overand thoroughly cleaned
up immediately after pruning, this will
do away with fallen leaves and bangy
shoots that have been cleared out of the
bushes. The leaves, ete., properly
buried, cannot produce insects, as the
latter are so fragile when just emerged
from the egg that they would find it
quite impossible to work their way
through the soil to the surface.”

In the case of very light prunings, if

these can be hoed into the ground and ~

completely covered by the soil, removal
of the prunings for burning need not be
resorted to. Conditions now are such
that a cold weather hoe immediately
after the pruning is clearly indicated,
specially if spraying is to be carried out
after pruning. When the area is clean
and the collars of the bushes are free
of weeds, the insecticide can be applied
with greater economy.”

37 Plant Sanitation.

“ During these investigations, experi-
ments have proved that insects will
hatch from eggs in prunings lying on
the ground up to fourteen days, or so
long as the tops of the prunings are not
absolutely hard anddried up. With
heavy pruning the shoots remain fresh a
long time, especially when lying in damp
nullahs or on the shady side of bushes
and edges of the jungle.”

‘* Burning the prunings the same day
they are cut from the bushes will, at
that time, destroy all eggs laid by
insects during the previous fifteen
days.”

“In the removal of prunings and the
cleaning up of the area by hoeing as
above suggested, together with careful
thinning outin pruning of all useless
twigs and ‘bangy’ shoots, it is only the
eggs and some immature insects that
have been dealt with. The next process
is the treatment of the pruned bush by
spraying, the object being to destroy
all living ‘ mosquitoes,’ whether im-
mature or adult, that have been left
behind on the bushes after pruning, and
by the destruction of which further
deposition of eggs will be prevented.
Spraying must be carried out as soon as
possible after pruning, as, if delayed,
eggs will be deposited in the pruned
bushes. Weare now able to recommend
an insecticide that is cheap and easy
to use; three or four boys kept for
spraying affected bushes all the year
round will do a hundied times more
than alarge number of collectors.”

“Ttwas found, by careful experiment,
that Kerosene Emulsion kills only those
insects it comes in contact with at the
time of spraying, andthe presence of
the material on the bushes does not
prevent the insects from feeding on the
sprayed foliage, neither has it the effect
of stopping insects from laying their
eggs in the bushes. More than this, the
emulsion in no way prevents emergence
of insects from eggs that have received
the spray, and as conclusive proof, it
was found that a number of eggs con-
tained in shoots that had been dipped
in pure kerosene oil produced young
insects that lived to reach maturity.”

“After long experiment, I have been
successful in finding a solution which is
equally as deadly in its action on the
insect as Kerosene EHKmulsion, and at
the same time canbe applied at twice the
rate per acre at one quarcer the cost of
thelatter. In January last ‘Primrose’
soap 1 lb. and water 20 gallons was
recommended as the composition ~of
Soap Solution for Mosquito Blight, but
since that date the ‘Imperial’ brand
has been discovered to be in every way

Plant Sanitation.

as effective as ‘Primrose,’ but at the
same time nearly half the price. The
Imperial Soap solution is made as fol-
lows :—Dissolve 1 1b. Imperial Bar Soap
in 1 or 2 gallons of water by boiling,
and dilute to 20 gallons.”

‘Imperial Soap is an ordinary Yellow
Bar Soap made by the Bengal Soap
Factory in Calcutta; it has been select-
ed on account not only of its superior
insecticidal effect, but for its property
of forming a clean solution which will
not form sediment when left to stand,
and therefore does not require to be
kept stirred up, and which will readily
pass through the fine Vermorel nozzle
of the sprayer; other makes of soap
having a tendency to form gritty de-
posits which choke the nozzle.”

“The simplicity of the solution makes
it very much easier to prepare and use
than Kerosene Emulsion, nor has the
soap any tendency to burn the bushes.”

The solution should be applied at the
rate of from 200 to 300 gallons per acre
for each round of spraying, the cost
of which application will be, for the
larger quantity, a little over Rs. 2 per

acre, as compared with Rs. 6 peracre
for applying 150 gallons of Kerosine
Emulsion.”

“Tt is obvious that the thoroughness
with which saturation of the bush can
be accomplished with the least amount
of labour and material must depend
largely upon the style of pruning carried
out before the spraying takes place.
Thorough cleaning out of the bushes
is an essential preliminary to effective
treatment of this blight, and should,
indeed, invariably form part of the
method of cold weather cultivation on
gardens liable to ‘Mosquito.” The
amount of solution required to thorough-
ly saturate a well-cleaned bush is less
than one quarter the quantity neces-
sary for use on one full of small shoots
and with its base choked with accumu-
lation of refuse.”

‘As has been referred to earlier in
these pages, experiments have shown
that the supposition that Kerosene
Emulsion isable to destroy the eggs
isnolonger tenable. Unfortunately the
same applies to Soap Solution, therefore
it makes it necessary to include at least
two rounds of spraying, so that those
insects present in the egg stage during
the first round may be destroyed as
larvee by the second; the cheapness of
Soap Solution making two or more
applications possible,”

‘Tf, later onin the season, when the
bushes are fuller of foliage, insects are
keginning to appear and fresh punctures

38

are seen in the flushing shoots, sprayin :

should be carried out immediately, and
the quicker the round of the affected
are completed, the better will be the
results.”

‘““Some of the advantages of using
Imperial Soap Solution are :—

Samer

That it is the cheapest insecticide yet

discovered for Mosquito Blight,

That it is exceedingly easy and simple
to prepare.

That the solution need not be kept
stirred up while using it, as no sedi-
ment forms,

That it does not wear out the spraying
machines.

That it has no effect upon the young
foliage of plants.

That plucking of leaf can be carried
out two or three hours after applica-

tion, or i.e.,as soon as the solution

has dried on the bushes.

That, when applied during a drought,
it znalsoe the bushes flush exceedingly
we a

The circular ends with an account of
the jungle plants upon which the insect
is known to feed in India. There are
four of these:—Melastoma malabathri-
cum, Mesa ramentacea, Hurya acumi-
nata, and Jasminum. scandens.
Antram has found Helopeltis breeding
in the first two of these plants, and he
very rightly recommends their eradi-
cation from the neighbourhood of the
tea fields. Melastoma malabathricum
is a comnion plant in Ceylon and is
conspicuous by reason of its mauve-
pink blossoms. Trimen gives ‘ moist
low jungle up to 3,000 feet” as its habi-
tat. Masa ramentacea does not occur
here, but a closely allied species—M.
indica—is one of the most abundant
shrubs in waste land. fHurya accumi-
nata is common in “ moist low jungle up
to 2,000 feet,’ according to Trimen. It
is not unlike the tea plant in appearance,
and belongs to the same natural order,
Ternstromiacece, We have several wild
Jasmines in Ceylon, but Jasminum
scandens is not amongst the number.
In this country I have found Helopeltis
anton feeding upon and breeding
in the succulent shoots of a species of
HKugenia.

The second of the two circulars gives
the results of experiments with the
Soap Solution. These experiments were
carried out, under practical conditions,
on two estates. :

The Manager of Rampore Estate,
Cachar, reports :—

‘‘Blight made its first appearance on
the 8th of May, and spraying was start-

Mr. .

Janvany, 1910.) z

ed. Bushes here and there over the
whole garden were slightly affected,
and these were sprayed with Soap
Solution, being thoroughly saturated,
which was repeated after 7 to 8 days,
the result being that the Blight dis-
appeared from the busines so treated.”

“Throughout the months of May, June,
July and August, wherever blight ap-
peared, it was sprayed with soap solu-
tion with good results. During Septem-
ber Blight began toshow up in places
where it had appeared before aud had
been treated with soap solution. The
Blight during September and October
was of avery malignant type, so much
so, that although only in: small patches
it completely destroyed all signs of leaf.
Spraying was continued, but it was
found necessary to use 50% more soap
in the mixture.. Wherever it was pos-
sible to give the bushes a downright
thorough saturation followed by another
washing after a space of 7 or 8 days

the leaf came through.”

“In conclusion, the soap solution was
-found to give as good results as other
insecticides formerly used—with advant-
age of being less expensive. After a
somewhat lengthy battle with Mosquito
Blight the conclusion arrived at has
been that it is quite impossible to eradi-
cate, but that by continually worrying
it the same can be kept in check, only
appearing to do very serious damage
when assisted by favourable condi-
tions.”

Commenting on this report, Mr Ant-
ram remarks:—‘‘I think we may say
that the experiment has been a success,
in that, on the first appearance of the
insect and punctures in the young
‘leaves on individual bushes and on
blocks of tea from the 8th of May, the
immediate application of soap solution
to the affected parts, carrying out com-
plete saturation, resulted in the dis-
appearance of the disease from the
bushes so treated all over the garden.”

“It will be noticed from the above
report that, up to and including August,
wherever the Blight appeared, it was
treated at once and repeatedly with
soap solution with good results, and I
am confident that if measures are taken
in time, 7.e., atthe very first appearance
of the insect, by going round a garden
and spraying affected bushes and blocks
of tea, the insect is unlikely to obtain
the upper hand and leaf will be got from
all blocks of the garden throughout the
year. On my visit to Rampore at the
end of October I noticed that the garden
was practically free of Mosquito Blight.

39 Plant Sanitation.

The very serious nature of the blight
which suddenly visited many gardens
of Cachar in September absolutely ruined
a very large portion of the tea, and
leaf was entirely: stopped for the rest
of the season. This, in a less or greater
degree, might have happened at Ram-
pore tea estate if it Gaal not been for
the methods of prevention that were
carried out. In the Manager’s report
it is remarked that the attack at that
time was of a very malignant type.
For that reason we decided to use the
soap solution stronger, and applied it
to the affected areas most thoroughly,
getting through the work as quickly
as possible.” F

The report from the other estate
(Koombergram) is as follows :—

‘With reference to the results of
experiments carried out here during
August, Ssptember, and October, I ma
say that blocks Nos. 1 and 5 (whic
are on either side of Nos. 2 and 3, the
sections treated with soap solution) have
been practically closed up since the
beginning of September, while Nos. 2
and 38 continued to flush throughout
September and October. On block No.
8 the Mosquito had got the upper hand
when operations were started, but I
would like to mention the fact that
after two applications of soap we got
a little leaf off this section, although
during the three previous rounds of
plucking [ did not consider it worth
plucking. Whether this was due to the
spraying or to some other influence I
am unable to say.”

Mr. Antram remarks on the above :—
“At Koombergram, blocks Nos. 1, 2, 3,
and 5 were blighted to the same degree
and all giving some leaf when oper-
ations were started on Nos. 2 and 3.
After application of Soap Solution to
blocks 2 and 3 these improved while
the others became worse. Nos. 2 and
3 were never closed througout the sea-
son, while the rest of the China por-
tion of the garden was for several
months.”

‘*When I last visited Koombergram
Tea Hstate in November I noticed that
the treated blocks, Nos. 2 and 3, had
made more growth than the bordering
numbers which had received no treat-
ment, and the appearance of the treat-
ed area was in September and Octo-
ber far healthier than that of the un-
treated. Blocks Nos. 2 and 3 were giving
quite a fair quantity of leaf at each
round of plucking during those months,
while the untreated China portion of
the garden was closing. The results of

Piané Sanitation.

the experiment on these two, Nos. 2
and 3, comprising 58 acres only, were
not expected to turn out better. Mos-
quitoes from the outlying untreated
area must have been visiting them
throughout the operations. Also the
correct time for starting this work was
long past. and the insects had well
established themselves when spraying
was commenced in August.”

The cost of these experiments, ‘‘ with-
out taking into consideration the initial
cost of spraying machines,” works out
at Rs. 1:37 per acre. ‘‘In this work
the two ‘Standard’ pumps. three
‘Knapsack’ sprayers and some water-
ing cans” were used. ‘‘Five big boys
were employed to each ‘Standard’ pump
and two boys to each Knapsack sprayer.
Two boys prepared the soap solution and
smaller children with women supplied
the water. The average number of
acres done in a day with the above five
machines amounted toeight. The Knap-
sack sprayers proved the cheapest and
got over the ground quickest.”

Subsequently, in a private letter, Mr.
Antram informs me ‘that from prac-
tical work and observations it is not now
found necessary to carry out spraying
on the large scale suggested, just. after
pruning the bushes. In India, climatic
influences kill off the insects in early
spring, and if weather continues unta-
vourable for the insects, blight does no
damage till late in the season. I find it
quite sufficient to start spraying when
the insects first appear and punctures
show up on individual bushes... . By
continuing application so long as fresh
punctures appear, the blight can be
kept in check throughout the remainder
of the season, two to three applications
generally eradicating it. Blight will
appear in fresh places, and it is these
that must be carefully looked for after
the blight has once appeared on a
~ garden.”

These two circulars must be consider-
ed a valuable addition to the literature
on the subject. If the results of this
treatment continue to bear out the ex-
pectations of its inventor, Mr. Antram
will have earned the gratitude of tea
planters who have been battling against
this--the worst of all tea pests—for so
may years with such poor success.

Although our local conditions are
somewhat different to those in India,
the treatment would appear to be equal-
ly applicable in our case, and is well
worth an extensive trial.

EH. ERNEST GREEN.

(JANUARY, 1910, Ks

MISCELLANEA: CHIEFLY
PATHOLOGICAL.

By T. PEtTcH, B.A,, B.SC.

It is rather a difficult matter to invent
popular names for fungus diseases,—at
least, names which will distinguish
any given disease from any other.
‘**Root rot,” for example, does not differ-
entiate between several root diseases,
even when the name of the host plant is
added. ‘‘ Root rot of tea” might mean
the disease caused by Rosellinia both-
rina, or Ustulina zonata, or Poria hypo-
lateritia, ete. The mycologist knows
diseases by the name of the fungus or
other organism which causes them; and
incidentally it may be remarked that
an account of a disease which does not
give the name or description of the
fungus is not of much assistance to a
mycologist, however learned it may
appear. Attempts have recently been
made to popularise a system in which
the name of the disease is coined from
the name of the fungus, but this nomen-
clature is neither ‘happy ” nor distinc-
tive. By this system, the root disease
of Hevea caused by Fomes semitostus
would be called ‘‘ Fomose of Hevea,” but
since several species of Hones will grow
on Hevea, the name does not fulfil our
requirements. It would seem that the
planter must add a few Latin names to
his vocabulary. ‘Pink disease,” for
the disease caused by Corticium javan-
icum, was sufficiently descriptive to
enable dozens of planters to identify it.
But it has been objected to because
‘‘there is more than one pink fungus,”
and it is proposed to remember it by the
name Corticium. But this critic neg-
lects to inform his readers that there is
also more than one species of Corticium!
If the Latin name is used, it must be the
full name, Corticitum javanicum.

As the market price of rubber is
governed to some extent by its
appearance, any departures from a
uniform colouration are undesirable;
consequently spotted biscuits are fre-
quently sent in for examination and
report. Clear red spots in rubber bis-
euits or crepe appear to be fairly com-
mon; the cause of these has not yet
been ascertained. Another colouration
has just been reported; in this case wet
biscuits were covered with black spots,
up to an inch in diameter, the discolour-
ation extending right through the bis-
cuit. These spots contained bacteria,
together with minute particles of a
black pigment to which the discolour-
ation was due, Itis probable that in
this case the pigment was excreted by

J

mas. >

JANUARY, 1910.]

the bacteria ; several bacteria are known
to produce black colouring matters in
this way. These biscuits had been coagu-
lated with formalin. In another case,
the biscuits when held up to the light
wereseen to bemottled with dark brown
patches. These were dark biscuits
which had not been subjected to any
hot water treatment. In many ex-
amples of dark coloured biscuits it will
be found that the colour is due, at least
in part, to a thin film of brown colouring
matter on the under (?) side of the bis-
cuit. In some cases, if the biscuit is
sliced into two horizontally, a marked
difference will be seen in the colour of
the two halves, the upper half being
more or less amber coloured, while the
lower half, though of the same thick-
ness, is dark, owing to the presence
of this brown film. The presence of
this film may be demonstrated more
clearly by cutting a thin slice through
the biscuit and placing it in chloroform
or some other solvent under the micros-
cope. As the rubber absorbs the solvent
and swells, the film on the exterior
shows up quite plainly. This film is
composed of some amorphous brown
substance whose nature has not been
ascertained, usually with some yeast
cells; and, as a rule, it is spread uni-
formly over one side of the biscuit.
In the case of the mottled biscuits re-
ferred to above, the discolouration,
which was quite superficial, wasdue to
an abnormal development of this film,
and most of it was collected in patches
instead of being spread uniformly over
the surface. Yeast cells were present
in abundance in the sediment obtained
on dissolving the rubber in chloroform
or carbon bisulphide.

Bacteria and yeasts appear to be the
chief organisms concerned in this spot-
ting of rubber biscuits ; of course, moulds
grow on the surface, but I have not up
to the present observed any effect which
eould be attributed tothem. An exact
investigation into the causes of these
spots would occupy one or more investi-
gators for at leasta year, and would
require all the appliances of modern
bacteriological research. It would de-
mand a strictly scientific examination,
in each individual case, of the fungus
and bacterial flora of the collecting
cups, the setting pans, the curing house
and the water supply, together with
experiments to determine which of the
organisms found would grow in latex
or wet rubber, and their effect on either.
But although this problem cannot be
dealt with under the present circum-
stances, it is possible to lay down more
or less general empirical rules as to the
course to be adopted in order to get

Plant Sanitation.

rid of the cause of these brown or
black spots. It is unlikely that the
effect is in any way connected with
the tree, and it must be assumed for
the present that some organism is
introduced into the latex or the coagu-
lated rubber either by the wind or by
the water supply. In either case, if the
collecting cups, pails, ete, are once infect-
ed, they will remain infected, and the
biscuits will continue to be discoloured,
until some method of sterilisation is
adopted, Therefore, when this trouble
makes its appearance, all collecting cups
should be boiled, and the dishes, pails,
ete. scalded with boiling water. It has
been found sufficient to do this once, but
it would be a wise precaution to scald
the dishes and pails periodically, as
part of, the general routine of the
factory. In one instance, that of the
mottled biscuits referred to above, this
treatment was adopted; and the super-
intendent writes: ‘‘ With reference
to the black biscuits about which I
wrote to you some months back, it may
interest you to know that since I took
your advice and boiled all the utensils
used, and had my store thoroughly
cleansed, no black biscuits have put in
an appearance.”*

If the infection is introduced with the
water supply, the above treatment will
not stop it, because the dishes will be
reinfected. To determine whether the
water supply is at fault, biscuits should
be made, using water which has been
boiled and cooled, and these should be
compared with biscuits made with the
unboiled water. Of course, the dishes,
ete., must be sterilised before the experi-
ment is attempted, otherwise that pos-
sible source of infection will not be ex-
cluded. If the water were infected, and
no other source of supply were available,
more elaborate experiments would be
required to determine whether the in-
fection could be avoided.

As an instance of a similar problem
the tollowing may be quoted. In a cer-
tain glue factory it was found that the
glue turned black; and its value was
seriously reduced, not only because of
the undesirable colour, but also because
its setting power was diminished. This
was found to be due to a bacterium
which excreted a black pigment. The
source of infection was discovered in a
dirty pipe previously used for the con-
veyance of ditch water, and afterwards
for delivering the finished glue into the
setting pans. When this pipe was
cleansed the evil disappeared entirely.
In such cases, the removal of the source

* Since the above was written, I have been
informed that this blackening has reappeared,

Plant Sanitation. 42

of infection is usually an easy matter,
once it has been discovered, but its dis-
covery often entails elaborate and care-
fully planned investigation.

It may be noted that none of the dis-
eoloured biscuits referred to here were
in any degree “‘ tacky.”

In issuing circulars on plant diseases,
the avoidance of lengthy correspondence
is one of the objects sought to be attain-
ed. Itsets free more time for investiga-
tion when the Mycologist can reply:
‘This is a case of pink disease; see
Cireular 21.” Such a reply may appear
discourteously abrupt, but the know-
ledge that it enables more research to be
undertaken should ensure its ready
acceptance. Butitis rather surprising
to receive, in reply, payment for the
Circular named, with the information
that the applicant does not subscribe to
them. Itis surely not too much to ex-
pect that all estates should file these
Circularsfor future reference. It would
be more satisfactory if the subscription
were paid by the estate, as that would
ensure a complete file in the estate office,

na pa

= :

Ms

independent of any change of superin-
tendents. It is hoped to reduce the
clerical work by the publication of brief
leaflets which can be given away in
answer to correspondents, but it is the
common experience that such leaflets are
soon lost.

Yet another growl. All letters relat-
ing to the diseases on any estate should
be filed for the information of future
superintendents. A folded sheet of
brown paper, labelled ‘‘ Diseases,” is all
that is required. In the majority of
cuses, at present, the new comer knows
nothing of the past history of the estate
in the matter of disease. One such in-
stance may be given here, that of an
estate which has changed its superin-
tendent fairly frequently during the last
four years. In 1906 Fomes semitostus was
reported from this estate; it was visited,
and all the affected areas were defined.
Yet each succeeding superintendent has
sent in examples of Fomes semitostus as
a new disease. When this is possible,
there is a screw loose somewhere in the
method of dealing with the estate corre-
spondence.

LIVE STOCK.

SELECTION IN THE BREEDING OF
ESTATE ANIMALS.

(From the Ag7 cincat News, Vol. VIIL.,
No. 194, October 2, 1909.)

At the present time much is being
written about the beneficial results of
careful selection inthe production of
better strains of plants, such as corn,
cotton, fruits and sugar-cane. The
general principles of selection are funda-
mental, and may jbe applied with
success to the breeding of animals, such
as cattle for beef, for milk production
and for draught, horses for draught or
forspeed. Donkeys, mules, sheep, goats,
rabbits and poultry may all be improved
by careful selection of the parents, by
the use of good judgment in fixing
upon the desirable characters, and in
rejecting, as far as possible, all others.
Selection as a process for the improve-
ment of plants is beginning to be under-
stood ina general way in the West
Indies, and it might be well if certain
points were brought forward for con-
sideration in connection with the im-
provement of estate animals by this
means.

On most estates in the smaller islands
cattle are maintained only for purpose
of draught, and the milk and butter

needed are obtained from such cows as
happen to be in milk. The animals used
for beef are generally imported, or are
estate animals which have not been
raised as beef animals. On other estates,
a point is made of the production
of milk for sale. For each of these
lines of work, different points would~
have to be selected, and it would.
be necessary, before starting out, to fix
a definite system, and always to select
with a view to the continuation of the
same desirable points from generation
to generation.

In the first place, whatever line is
decided upon, the parents must be good
animals of their kind, It hardly needs
to be stated that poor, scrubby, under-
sized, weak animals are not suitable
for breeding purposes. On many West
Indian estates it would be _ possible
to maintain cows for breeding only.
They shculd be well fed, and kept
in good condition. Estates which
buy, on the average, ten working cattle
every year might well keep ten or
twelve selected cows as breeders. Most
estates would keep a bull for breeding
only. If these cowsand the bull pos-
sessed the qualities which were most to
be desired in the offspring, it will easily
be seen that the estate would produce

te

: pa
(JANUARY, 1910,

© a ne
ih alt di
yey eee

i Ay
eS al ee Se a

JANUARY, 1910.]

its own supply of cattle of the type

desired. All the offspring, male and
female, could be trained for draught
except a few of the best of the females,
which should from time to time be
selected for breeders. The males which
have been bred in the herd should not
be used as sires in the same herd, nor
should the same sire stand at the head
of a herd formore than three or four
years at a time, except for the strength-
ening of certain especially desirable
characters, and then care should be
exercised not to weaken the animals in
some other particular. The strength of
the herd should be kept up by the
periodieal introduction of strong young
males from other herds, whose animals
possess ina marked degree the desired
qualities. For general estate purposes,
the Indian breeds of cattle, the Zebu

‘and the Mysore, are especially adapted,

since they are capable of making their
greatest development, and of maintain-
ing good health and vigour under the
peculiar conditions of a tropical climate.
They also provide the necessary size and
weight for draught animals, and often
develop good milking qualities.

Itis well known that certain breeds
are well-established as beef, and others
as dairy, animals. Under conditions of
intensive agriculture, these two types
are kept separate, for it has been found
that the best beef animals are not often
profitable for dairy purposes, and that
the best dairy animals are not usually
suitable for beef production. Many of
these breeds have been introduced

during past years, and cows possessing

some of their characters in a marked
degree may be easily recognised.

Dairymen find that, in addition to
maintaining the desired breed characters,
it is also necessary always to select for
individual characteristics. The pro-
duction of milk and butter is often an
individual character, thatis tosay, the
variation in these points is often greater
between individuals of the same breed
than between individuals of different
breeds. The ability to produce Jarge
quantities of milk, or milk containing a
high percentage of butter fat, is a
guaracterisee which has relation to

reed.

_ The amount of milk produced by any
individual cow piey be greatly varied
by the quantity and quality of the food ;
but the quality of the milk, that is to
say the percentage of butter fat, can-
not be changed. It is a characteristic
of the individual. The amount of but-
ter produced by a cow may be increased
by care and good feeding, but the
increase in butter is a result of an
6

45

Live Stock,

increased flow of milk, and not of a
change in the quality of the milk. The
appearance of the dairy cow should be
an indication of her milk-producing
abilities, in the same way as the appear-
ance of others would indicate their suit-
ability for draught and beef animals.

A dairy cow should be able to convert
food into milk and butter to the best
possible advantage, while the bheef
animal should produce tender flesh, and
the draught animal bone and muscle.
It is obviously unwise to expect that
the machinery—if the digestive and
secretory organs of the cow may be so
designated—which has for its object the
conversion of food into milk should be
expected to manufacture beef or muscle
to the best advantage.

With regard to the qualities required
on any given estate in the animals
maintained for draught, the peculiar
conditions on the estate should govern
the selection. The size will naturally
vary with the nature of the hauls; long
pulls in which short, steep hills occur
often are much better managed by com-
paratively small, wiry, nervous cattle,
while long pulls on level ground and
rough roads are often better done by
heavier cattle with less nervous de-
velopment. These are all points that
should engage the attention of the
estate Owner, manager, or attorney.

More attention has been paid to selec-
tion in the breeding of horses than in
that of cattle. Animals are chosen,
because of their qualities, to produce off-
spring which should have all the desir-
able ones of the parents, possibly with
ats of them improved upon, or intensi-

ed.

The production of mules in the West
Indies has not been accompanied by any
systematic process of selection. Excel-
lent sires have been imported, and when
the limited number of mares available
for this purpose is considered, it would
seem that this is all that can be done.
Much might be accomplished by selec-
tion in the matter of obtaining a better
class of estate donkeys.

During the last few years a very
considerable improvement in the local
animals has resulted from the introduc-
tion of good sheep and goats. Many of
these pure-bred and half-bred animals
are not on estates, butit is within the
province of the estate to make the most
of theimproved strains, and by weeding
out undesirable animals and allowing
those to reproduce in which desired
characters are evident, to maintain a
steady improvement. MKabbits, hares
and poultry may all be improved by
similar means.

Live Stock.

It is evident that much remains to be
done in the matter of definite control of
the breeding of animals for the produc-
tion of improved kinds, and of obtaining
carefully separated strains for definite
purposes, The efforts made in this
direction should not be confined to the
importation of pedigree animals, but a
definite and continuous selection of the
dams, with certain ends in view, should
be made, with the result that individuals
will be obtained whose character has an
intimate and useful connexion with the
purpose for which they are used. In
this way, 2 greater intensive efficiency
of both the large and smaller animals
may be gained.

RECENT EXPORTS OF HIGH-CLASS
INDIAN CATTLE.

By E. SHEARER.
(From the Agricultural Journal of
India, Vol, 1V., Part 1V., October, 1909.

During late years there has been a
considerable and increasing exportation
of the best of our Indian breeds of
cattle to various parts of the world.
The agents deputed to select these cattle
have paid and are paying very high
prices for those selected. The exports
have chiefly gone to Africa, North and
South America, the Straits Settlements,
the West Indies and the Dutch East
Indies.

No harm to India is being done-as a
demand of this sort must encourage
the breeding of high-class cattle if it
is definitely made known to breeders
that the demand is likely to continue.

Professor Wallace, of Edinburgh, who
is at present travelling in America,
communicates the following information
from Chicago:—‘‘I have seen on the
Pierce Estate, Texas, a lot of 23 pure
bred Indian Cattle, nearly all bulls,
which at great expense were impurted
by the Trustee, Mr. A. Bordin,
fully two years ago. The Gujarat,
Hissar, Krishna Valley, Nellore and Gir
breeds are all represented. The cross-
ing with the ‘‘range” cows of the
country has been most successful. The
young cattle are a decided improve-
ment in size on the indigenous stock.
Ticks do not live on them and flies do
not trouble them much. I really
tbink that the Indian cross is the one
for the hot Southern States where
European cattle do not do well, cannot

- [JANUARY, 1910,

keep fat and do not breed regularly.
This is very much the same problem
as I found in Rhodesia last year, and
it may probably be solved by obtain-
ing a strong blend of Indian blood.”

The justly reputed Gujarat and Nellore

¢

breeds which have the advantage of ©

being found near the shipping ports
have hitherto been most in demand for
export. They are not heavy milkers,
but they are unsurpassed in India as
draught cattle, and for this purpose
and for crossing with the range cattle
they are becoming popular abroad.
India is not usually regarded as the
home of milch breeds, and the tendency
has been to import (with the scantiest
of success) rather than to export the
latter, but from Karachi considerable
numbers of Sindi cows, the best of
which are good milkers, find their way
every year to the Duch East Indies.
If India can produce a really good strain
of milch cow, there is little doubt that
there will bealarge demand for it at
remunerative prices, in America and
Africa and the East and West Indian
Islands. In the Montgomery breed,
which is closely related to the Sindi
breed mentioned above, we have the
material from which to
sucha strain. The average yield of milk
in the Pusa herd of 39 Montgomery
cows last year was over 4,000 lbs. One
cow gave 6,300 lbs., another 5,700 lbs. and
several over 5,000 lbs. [n Mr. Keventer’s
herd at Simla a Montgomery cow gave
just about 7,000 lbs. in her last milking
period. The percentage of butter fat
in the milk is high, averaging probably
45 to 5 per cent. Montgomery cat tle
are small and shapely, having well de-
veloped bodies supported on rather
short clean legs. The head is neat, with
fairly short horns, and the tail is long
and thin, almost sweeping the ground.
There is a wide range of colours including
red, red and white, black, black and
white, white, grey and various spotted
colours, but the best cows are perhaps
most frequently red or red and white.
The cows are exceptionally docile and
good-tempered. The young stock ma-
ture comparatively early, heifers at
Pusa having their first calves at 23 to
3 years old, The male stock develop
into good work cattle. The breed seems
to adapt itself very readily to changes
of climate, doing well in the arid tracts
of its original home in the Montgomery
District of the Punjab, in the moist
climate of Behar and at altitudes of
over 7,000 feet in the Himalayas.

develop .

‘a
s

JANUARY, 1910.] | 45

APICULTURE.

BEE-KEEPING IN CEYLON. IV.

By A. P. GOONATILLEKA.

The native method of bee-keeping in
Ceylon depends more on chance or luck
than anything else. A start is generally
made by fumigating a pot or some such
receptaacle with resin or other sweet
smelling substance and placing it ona
tree, mouth downwards. During the
swarming season bee scouts, sent out to
find out a place for the swarm to settle
in, come across these pots or receptacles
and direct the swarm which starts work
forthwith. Such a hive, when the bees
are once disturbed’ or their combs
taken, is quitted for good. Under this
primitive arrangement the manipulation
of the bees is difficult, and they are
permitted to live in asemi-wild state.
In extracting honey from such hives
which is done by violent means, one is
liable to receive innumerable stings.

With the present method one can
force a swarm to settle down in any sort
of hive he likes by clipping a wing of the
queen. When she is once clipped and
unable to fly, all the bees settle down
with her and start work. The attach-
ment of the bees towards the queen is
extraordinary and their regard for her
induces them to stay with her even at
the risk of their lives. I have described
the difference between the queen, the
worker, and the drone. One can easily
pick out the queen ina swarm if he only
watches patiently fora few minutes. A
novice naturally dreads to approacha
swarm of bees, but if he is not nervous
and handles them gently, he will seldom
or never get stung. A nervous person
may protect himself with a bee veil and
a pair of gloves.

The beginner should not attempt to
keep foreign bees, as this would certainly
end in failure for the want of experience.
Foreign bees are only for the experienced.
Italian bees are available in the Island
now, but for the present, attention
should be directed to Apis indica, since
it is easily procured, and is less expensive
to gain experience with. In Ceylon
these bees may be obtained everywhere.

If the villagers keep bees, pot hives
with bees may be bought from them.
The best way to procure bees is, how-
ever, to capture them during swarming
season, 7e., February and March and
July and August. To the beginner this
is more troublesome than buying a hive,
but the greater trouble of transferring
the built combs of a stock is avoided.
If bees cannot be purchased, nor swarms
captured, then they must be sought for
in hollow trees, cavities in rocks, and
similar places. Swarms may be dis-
covered by watching for their move-
ments, or getting information as to
their whereabouts from villagers.

The beginner should commence with
one or two hives only and increase the
number as he gains experience. It is
better to commence with two, because
one can be compared with the other,
and anything noticed in one can be
checked by reference to the other.
Spare combs may be used for foundation,
Veils and gloves may be used at first,
but they impede free manipulation and
should be ultimately discarded. The
beginnner should not try to get super
honey, nor should he try to raise
queens. He should make himself ac-
quainted with the principles of bee-
keeping to begin with, and become
familiar with the different members
of the hive, and various forms of
cells, &c. He should try to get some
one with experience to show him how to
examine a hive, transfer combs, rear
queens, clip the wings of a queen, capture
a swarm, &c.

If it be asked why bee-keeping has not
been carried on asa regular industry in
Ceylon, the reply is that it has not been
possible because of the barbarous method
of collecting honey stillin vogue. That
this precarious and unproductive system
has not been replaced by the modern
system is a matter of surprise. But on
the other hand modern bee-keeping is
comparatively new even in the West, and
even now in the rural England, the old
show skep is still used. The adoption of
modern methods is gradually spreading
in Ceylon, but they are bound to
eventually take the; place of the old,

SOIL FERTILITY AND SOIL

EXHAUSTION.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle, Vol.
XLV., 1, 171, June, 1909.)

The theories as to the cause of soil
fertility arein general vogue. Accord-
ing to one, which may becalled the
chemical theory, a soil is fertile which
possesses the chemical compounds such
as nitrates, phosphates, and salts of
potash, necessary for the growth of
plants, in sufficient quantity and proper
condition of solubility. The second or
physical theory, holds that the essential
factor in soil fertility is its relation to
water. Roots of plants require air as
wellas water, The root has to supply
the leaves with large quantities of
water. Only when the physical condi-
tion of the soil admits of the root .of a
plant obtaining adequate supplies of
water and also of air, can the plant
grow properly. On the physical theory
alone such soils are fertile in which these
conditions obtain.

These two theories are not necessarily
mutually exclusive. We may combine
them into a chemico-physical theory,
and attribute fertility, in part, to the
presence in the soil of the essential
mineral substances, and, in part, to the
proper relations of soil to water.

The extreme adherents of the physical
theory go further than this, and are apt
to maintain that a soil does not become
exhausted by plants in consequence of
the removal by the latter of the avail-
able chemical food materials. They
urge that as such materials held in
solution in the soil-water are taken up
by the roots of plants, corresponding
quantities of similar substances pass into
solution and thus replace in the water of
the soil those absorbed by the plant.

On this view it is not easy to under-
stand how the addition of definite
chemical fertilisers produce their well-
marked effects on soil fertility. If a
soil slacks phosphates, for example, it is
easy to understand the beneficial result
following on theaddition of phosphatic
fertilisers. Butif a soil does not lack
phosphates, how can the addition of
these substances produce, as in certain
soils, and on some crops it indubitably
does produce, an improvement in ferti-
lity? The workers in the Bureau of
Soils of the United States Department
of Agriculture propose to explain such
facts as these on a new hypothesis of
soil fertility and soil exhaustion. Accor-
ding to this hypothesis, soil fertility is

2 age

46

not reduced because of the removal by
the crop of mineral food materials, but
because the crop forms a_ definite,
chemical poison, which is liberated in
the soil and acts adversely on the follow-
ing crop. The rdle of artificial, chemical
manures is to neutralise the poisonous
effects of the toxic root excretions. The
supporters of the toxic theory, as it may
be called, have brought forward a con-
siderable body of evidence in support of
the suggestion that plants excrete
definite poisonous substances, and they
urge that the common practice of rota-
tion of crops lends support to their view.
It is tooearly yet to pronounce defi-
nitely either for or against the toxic
theory, though that it will replace
altogether the chemical theory would
seem improbable.
that the toxic substances produced in
the soil represent not the excretion of
plants but the by-products of the acti-
vity of certain races of soil bacteria. A
vast and almost untilled field of investi-
gation is presented by the hacteria of
the soil, and it is probable that soil
fertility will be found to depend on
chemical, physical and biological factors,
not solely on one ot these, and to be the
consequence of complex, diverse condi-
tions rather than of one condition only.

THE EXPERIMENTAL ERROR IN
FIELD TRIALS.

By A, D, HALL, M,A., F.R-S.

(From the Journal of the Board of *Agri-
culture, Vol. XVI., No. 5, August, 1909.)

In all experimental work some error is
inevitable; it is only on paper that
results come out exactly, but when deal-
ing with things, even the simplest
measurement involve an error, the
magnitude of which depends on the
methods employed. A carpenter measur-
ing a table witha foot-rule can with care
be exact to within an eighth of an inch;
the maker of fine machinery will only
allow himself a margin of about a
thousandth of an inch; whileit is pos-
sible with the utmost» refinement to
make sure of the length of a small piece
of polished metal to within about a
millionth of aninch. Granting, then,
that itis impossible to eliminate error
and that absolute correctness is unattain-
able, the scientific method is to ascertain
how large the error is likely to be and
decide whether it is such as will vitiate

s

It is not unlikely .

~

the conclusions drawn from the experi- —

ment.

Wy

Po geen ‘_ "
[JANUARY, 1910. —

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. :

_ JANUARY, 1910,] ; “47

As arule, we can do this most readily
by repeating the measurement, chang-
ing, if possible, the process and the
instruments used; a consideration of
the differences in the results obtained
will then show us what is the most pro-
bable result and within what limits it is
likely to be correct. If, for example,
successive measurements of a piece of
land bring out the area as 184,184°3,
183°5, 184°6, and 183°3 square yards, we
may accept 184 square yaids, the mean
of the results, as the most probable
area, and we may further conclude
that we are then not likely to be
more than a quarter of a square
yard wrong on one side or the other.
The more measurements we make
the nearer the mean will be to the
truth, always provided that there is
not some definite source of error which
is repeated in all the experiments, such
as would be caused by want of truth
in the measuring taps in the example we
have been using.

Field trials, whether they are to test
the effects of different manures, or dif-
ferent varieties of the same crop, or
variations inthe cultivation, are gener-
ally recognised as being subject to a
large number of sources of error, so
that it becomes of considerable import-
ance in drawing conclusions from such
experiments to know what degree of
accuracy in the results we can expect,
supposing all the conditions have been
favourable. Of course, after a set of
field plots have been laid out, great
variations in the soil may reveal them-
selves, due either to changing subsoil
and drainage or to some past irregularity
of manuring or cropping. Again, the
plots may suffer most irregularly from
some insect or fungoid attack. In these
cases One must ignore the results entirely
and begin atresh. But supposing the
field to be sensibly uniform and a good
stand to h3ve been obtained, what sort
of differences in the yields from two
plots may be taken toindicate an effect
ot the treatment they have received,
and what must be regarded as covered
by the natural variation due to unknown
causes ?

We may take the Rothamsted experi-
ments as satisfying all the external con-
ditions of accuracy; the land is reason-
ably uniform, more care is given to the
plots than would be_ possible under
ordinary farming conditions, while the
staff have both experience and organi-
sation to ensure accuracy in weighing
and measuring the produce. If we then
select from the Rothamsted records
various pairs of plots receiving the same
treatment, we find at once that they

Scientific Agriculture.

do not give similar yields year by year,
but vary with considerable irregularity.
Asan example, we may take the two
unmanured plots on the grass field and
set down both their actual and relative
yields for the last fifty years. If the
soil of the two plots is identical, they
should show the same result after a
certain number of years; butif there is
some permanent difference between the
two revealed by the averages, it will be
possible to see how far this difference
would be made evident by a single
year’s trials.

Looking at the relative yields set out
in Table I., we see that Plot 12 in 37
years out of the 50 gave a bigger crop
than Plot 3, but on thirteen Occasions it
gave less: taking the mean of the whole
period, its relative yield is 110 against
100 for Plot 3. Granting, however, that
it is really about 10 per cent. the better
plot, there have been many years when
it gave a 30 per cent. better yield, and
in one year it was 96 per cent. better;
on the other hand, it was on two oc-
casions 10 per cent, below Plot 3. Mathe-
maticians have devised a process where-
by we can calculate from such a collec-
tion of results the value we may safely
attach to the result, and using this
method, we shall find that the ‘ pro-
bable error” of the mean result is about
2 per cent,; «te., from the fifty years’
results we may conclude that there is
an inherent superiority in Table I.

ACTUAL AND RELATIVE YIELD ON Two
UNMANURED GRASS PLOTS,

ROTHAMSTED.
is de
Ono Ow =
zen = on
em Il eau Il
Yield of Hay. 33% Yield of Hay, ann
M38 B38
Plot 3. Plotiz. “ Plot 3, Plot12. ‘2

pM

1881 1,480 1,398 94 Ay, 2,057 2,254 110™

\

Scientific Agriculture.

Plot 12 over Plot 3 which is certainly
more than 8 but less than 12 per cent.
The mean error of a single year’s re-
sult is, similarly 10 per cent.

Table II.
na et

wa S as) S a og
S88 eS ISS S| 6,8 5
=e 32 Sa SP Sh S38 82
mM aa = = i) So

A... 98°l 88°8 95°38 = 86°3 92°8 92°3,
B... 95°38 92°4 90°6 = 95‘1 94°9 93°7
C... 101:0 98:9 99:2 102°4 100°2 100°3
D... 101°7 114°1 105°0 10971 11499 109-0
E... 103°4 105'8 1092 107° 973 104°5
Taking another example, Table II.
gives the results obtained in the last

five years on five plots in Little Hoos
Field which have received exactly the
same treatment; in order to make it
easier to judge the figures, the actual
yields each year have been reduced to
a common standard, taking the mean
of all the five plots as 100.

The experiment had to be started on
the assumption that all the plots were
exactly alike, and if so, the mean error
attaching to the result of a single plot
in any year is 7°5 per cent., but with
the five years’ trials it is beginning to
be clear that there are some real per-
manent differences between the plots,
which improve from A. to E. Still,
whatever may be the real position of
each plot ag revealed after further years
of experiment, we may expect in any
one year to find a particular plot 75
per cent. in error on one side or the
other.

Space does not permit of the con-
sideration of more cases, but the general
result of the examination of many
series of experiments indicates that the
mean error attached to the yield of a
single plot is about 10 per cent. plus
or minus. In other words, if we have
three experimental plots giving yields
of 91, 100, and 119 respectively in any
one year—for example, 18, 20, and 22
tons of roots—it is not right to con-
clude that such differences have been
brought about by the treatment; the
three plots must be considered as giving
equal results. Of course this figure
is obtained from a consideration of
the Rothamsted results only, and
other soils might be found on which
the conditions were so much more uni-
form that the experimental error will
be reduced and a closer agreement be-
tween duplicates would prevail. The
examination I have made of other data,
however, though they do not permit
of working out the mean error over
such long periods, yet lead me to sup-

48

pose that a 10 per cent. error is near
the truth generally, and may be taken ~

as a safe guide tor working purposes.
In the records of experiments a good
deal of strained arguments is often
spent in explaining results or drawing
conclusions from them when the dif-
ferences are much less than the 10 per
cent. which we have thus found to be
the average error attaching to a result
obtained under favourable conditions.
Much of this might have been spared
if the experimenter had kept clearly
before him the fact that nothing less
than 20 per cent. differences have much
significance in a single experiment. The
only way of reducing the experimental
error and obtaining a closer result is
to multiply the experiments, either by
repeating them year after year or by
increasing the number of plots, prefer-
ably both, because there may be constant
differences in the soil, while the seascn
also may induce variations in the effect
of the treatment. The first step, how-
ever, is to multiply the number of plots
set aside for each kind of treatment;
taking five plots irregularly distributed
about the field, we shall obtain in a
single year a result that is as accurate
as need be, except for special variations
induced by the character of the season.
Of course this means a considerable
increase in the amount of work attached
to the experiment. For example, instead
of six plots each of half an acre, we
ought to take thirty plots of a tenth of

‘an acre, six different kinds of plots and

five of each kind; every plot would also
need to be harvested and recorded separ-
ately. Such a form of experiment is
necessary if small differences are to
be brought out, as, for example, the
differences that exist between the
various kinds of barley usually grown in
this country.

Increased accuracy is not to be
obtained by increasing the size of the
plots; it is questionable whether irregu-
larities of soil are likely to be more or
less pronounced on large plots, and with
very large plots one new source of error
is always introduced—the difficulty of
getting the cultivations, sowing, harvest-
ing, &c., of all the plots carried through
in the same day. As long asthe plots
are above 1-40 acre size does not matter
much, and the size that is most con-
venient for the handling of the crop, its
weighing, storage, threshing, &c., should
be selected, always remembering that
itis by the number of plots only that
the error can be reduced.

It is altogether wrong to take large
plots and then select small areas within
the plot for weighing. Such a proceed-

“=

[JANUARY, 1910, —

JANUARY, 1910,]

ing introduces the most fatal error of all,
a selection biased by the preconceived
opinion of the experimenter. It is also
incorrect to make allowances for missed
plants, as is sometimes done by counting
the number of roots and calculating
what the weight per acre would have
been had there been a perfect plant.
Most manures affect the texture of the
soil, and therefore the number of plants
which establish themselves is one of the
factors in the result that is directly
affected by the manure.

One or two other practical points are
also raised by the recognition of an
average error of 10 per cent. in the
results of a single plot. In designing
field experiments, it is useless to include
small differences in treatment which are
not likely to induce more than 10 per
cent. differences in the yield, unless the
experiment is going to be repeated very
widely or carried on for several years.
For example, in dealing with hay it
would be of little use to set out con-
clusions from comparative plots,
with one ewt. and the other 13 cwt. per
acre of nitrate of soda, orin an experi-
ment on roots, one plot with 4cwt. of
superphosphate per acre as against

‘another with 6 ecwt.; in each case the

differences due to the manuring are
likely to be smallar than the_ experi-
mental error. Finally, in view of a
10 per cent. experimental error, it is
no good pretending to an accuracy in
recording the results.

For example, we have read the follow-
ing figures :—
Weight of roots per acre.

Tons. Cwt. lb.
Swedes, Champion erg db ey 9 2-28
=F Crimson King ... 14 16 48

Now, putting aside the barbarous units
ot tons, cwt., lb., so cumbrous to write
and difficult to read, what possible value
can be attached to the figures represent-
ing cwt.andlb. Asonly the pioduce from
1-40 acre was actually weighed and then
multiplied up to obtain the figures
quoted, the inclusion of a few clods of
earth more or less with the roots, or an
error of a few inches in the measure-
ment of the plot so as to include one
root extra would makea difference in
the cwts. moreover as duplicate plots
would be likely to differ in the tons,
very little attention need be given to
the cwts. Had the results been written
11°5 and 148 tons respectively, the
figures would still be a degree more
accurate than the reality, Of course,
the experimenter must record what_he
actually obtains to the nearest pound or
ounce if his scales tellit to him, but to
set out such figures in the published

one.

49

Scientific Agriculture.

report is to make a parade of accuracy
which cannot be sustained.

Returning, however, to our original
point of view, we may conclude that
as absolute correctness in our results
is impossible, it is only by recognising
and measuring the extent of the inevi-
table error that we can reach a due
measure of accuracy in the conclusions
we draw from them.

INOCULATION OF LEGUMINOUS
CROPS IN THE WEST INDIKS.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VILL,
No. 184, May 15, 1909.)

During the year 1908, the effect of
inoculating the soil, or in some cases the
seed to be sown, with prepared cultures
of nitrogen-gathering bacteria was tried
at Antigua and Grenada, with the
object of ascertaining whether such a
procedure would stimulate the growth
and increase the crop returns of various
leguminous crops. At Antigua, where
cowpeas, woolly pyrol, and alfalfa were
the crops under experiment at the
instance of Messrs. Henckell, Du Buisson
& Co., Professor W, B. Bottomley’s
‘Nitro-Bacterine’ was the inoculating
material used, but at Grenada, a culture
preparation sent out from the United
States Department of Agriculture was
employed. It may be added that experi-
ments in which a small number of sugar-
cane plants were inoculated with a
special culture prepared by Professor
Bottomley, in the hope that it might
be beneficial in increasing the yield,
were also carried out at Antigua and
Barbados.

At Antigua inoculation experiments
were conducted at the Experiment
Station, and also at Fitches’ Creek,
Gambles, and Cassada Garden.

Seed of the different crops sown was
inoculated at the Laboratory, and part
of the culture solution was used in
inoculating the soil, and later on the
growing crops. Where crop and soil
inoculation was carried on, two appli-
cations of the solution were made, at an
interval of a fortnight.

No effect of inoculation could be traced
in the case of the cowpeas grown.
Practically no differences were observ-
able between the treated and the un-
treated plots. It is therefore to be
presumed that the soils in the experi-
ment plots were well stocked with the
bacteria responsible for nodule forma-
tion on this crop, or that they were well
supplied with available nitrogen.

Scientific Agriculture.

With woolly pyrol the results of
inoculation were, in the case of one
estate, more definite and satisfactory.
The experiment plots were each }-acre
in area, and from the plot sown with
seed that had not been inoculated 330 lb.
of green bush was gathered. A second
plot also sown with uninoculated seed,
but which was ‘watered’ with the
culture fluid, yielded 700 lb, of green
bush; a third plot that had been sown
with inoculated seed gave 970 lb. of bush,
while from the fourth plot, sown with
inoculated seed, 1,015 Ib. of bush was
reaped. It will be seen that in the cases
indicated, inoculation seems to have
been distinctly beneficial for woolly
pyrol. At two of the stations, however,
all the plants on the experiment plots
were destroyed by caterpillars. No
report has yet been received on the
trials with alfalfa.

The Grenada experiments were designed
to ascertain (1) whether any benefit is
to be derived from inoculation of legu-
minous crops on Grenada soils, and
(2) whether, by inoculation, leguminous
green dressings, such as cowpeas, can be
grown under the shade produced by full-
crown cacao. The trials were made at

[Janvary, 1910,

the Experiment Station, and on six

different estates in the island, where the
crop under treatment was cowpeas,
which were inoculated with a material
prepared especially for this plant.

At. the Botanic Station and two of the
estates, the results obtained showed no
difference whatever in favour of inocula-
tion. At two other estates, the returns
from the inoculated plots were slightly
superior to those which had not been
treated. Finally, on the two remaining
estates—Dougaldston and Diamond—it
is reported that the inoculated plots
gave yields very considerably higher
than the untreated plots, although no
actual figures are stated.

Inoculation, however, had no effect in
influencing the growth of cowpeas
planted beneath the shade of cacao trees,
and these failed completely -in all cases.
The results of the experiments, there-
fore, give a.negative reply to the second
question suggested above,

It may be added that the inoculation
of sugar-cane plants with Professor
Bottomley’s culture preparation could
not be observed to have any effect what-
ever, either at Antigua or Barbados.

MISCELLANEOUS.

LITERATURE OF ECONOMIC
BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE.

By J. C. WILuIs.

Fibres :— °

Philippine fibres and fibrous sub-
stances. ‘‘T.A.” Mar. 1907, p. 140.

The fishing nets of the Kolis of
Bandra, Bombay Presidency, Agri:
Ledger, 7, 1905, Ind. Series 5. ‘‘T.A.’
Sept. 08, p. 222,

Sunn-hemp, ambari, and Agave as
fibre crops in the Central Provinces
and Berar, Ind. Journ. of Agr.
Apr. 1908, p. 144.

_L’Aramina (Urena ete).
: Col. Jan. 1902, p- 49.

Preparation of Fibre for Panama
Hats. Trin. Bull. Oct. 1908, p. 17.

Some Fibre plants of Upper Burma.
Agr. Journ. of India, Oct. 08, p. 333.

La defibration des plantes textiles a
pulpe. Journ. d’ Agr. trop., Oct.
1908, p. 295.

Fibres from the Gold Coast. Agri.
News VIL., No. 174. Dec. 08, p. 405.
The Fibre industry. ‘‘T:A.” March

909, p. 231.

Rev. Cult.

New Fibres for Paper, W. Raitt,
“T.A.” May 1909, p. 422, June 1909,
p- 519, III. July 1909, p. 11.

La question de la Ramie. Journ.
d’Agri. trop. No. 94, Apr. 09. p. 97.

New Fibre’ extracting Machine.
Queens]. Ag. Jl. XXII., 5, p.. 263,
May 1909.

The Aloe fibre industry. Indian
Trade Journal, Mar. 1909, ‘*T.A.”
June 1909.

A valuable fibre plant. (Asclepias
Semilunata), Trop. Life, Apr. 1909,
“'T.A.” Aug. p. 117,

Une nouvelle Fibre textile au Mexique
L’ Ag. pract. des pays chauds, Sept.
1909, 1p. 255.

Fibre producing plants in India. Ind.
Forester, Oct. 09, p. 561.

Ramie Fibre. Queens]. Ag. Jl. Oct.
1909, p. 225.

A Fibre Plant (Asclepias Semilunata),
Ag. Gazette N. S. W., Sept. 1909, .
“'T.A.” Nov. p- 411,

Faserstoffe. _Verhandlungen Kgl.
Wirt Kom. No. 2, 1909, p, 24.

Aloe cultivation in the Satara Dis-
ae Ind. Forester, Nov. 1909,
Dp.

‘

JANUARY, 1910.]

~~ The Mangosteen.
p. 159,

=

‘Fodders a :

Jamaican fodders. Jam Bull. 3, p. 209.

Se dilatatum. Kew Bull 1902,
. 1.“ T.A.” Mar. 1907, p. 164.

kt Use of Prickly Pear as Fodder.
«1, A.” Mar. 1907, p, 167.

Teosinte. ‘‘T.A. Aug. 1907, p. 124.

Mexican Clover. U.S. Dept. of Agr.
Farmers’ Bull. 300, 1907,

do.

Is silky heads (Plilotus al opecuroides)
a nutritious fodder plant? Agr.
Gaz. N.S. W. Sept. 1907, jp. 754.

Medicago sativa, een veevoedergewas.
Korte Ber. Buitenzorg, 1907.

Zimmermann, Ueber tropische Fut-
terpflanzen. Der Pflanzer, 1908, p.
225, 250, 269, 278, 300.

Forage Investigations in the Philip-
pine Islands. Phil. Agr. Rev., Feb.
1908, p. 71.

Para grass (Panicum molle) Louis,
Planter Aug. 1908. ‘*T.A.” Nov.
1908, p. 481.

Conservation of Fodder.
Agr. G
p. 37.

Knsilage and how to make it.
Jan. 1909, p. 50.

Fruits :—
The conservation of fruit by the use
of formalin. ‘“T,A.” Apr. 1906,
p. 222

Beggarweed, etc. ete.

Geo. Marks.
az. N.S. W. XX, I, Jan. 1909,

eobeAcs

“T.A.” Mar. 1906,

The Economic possibilities of the
Indian Jak. ‘‘T.A.” Feb. 1906, p. 40.

Melon cultivation in South India. do.
Jan. 1906, p. 830.

Quelques arbres fruiters Indochinois.
Journ. d’ Agr. trop. Jan, 1907, p. 4.

La manipulation des fruits pour I’ ex-

portation ala Jamaique. do,
_ 1906, p. 326. !
_ The roselle. Haw. Forester, Jan.
1908, p. 425. .
Fruit cultivation in Ceylon. ‘ T.A.”

May 1907, p, 277.
Fruit in Hawaii.
1906, p. 287.
I*ruit preserving.
p. 367, ee
The durian fruit at the Royal Agri-
cultural Show. Trop. Life, July
1907, p. 104.

Fruit in Porto Rico. Agr, News, 1.
6, 1907, p. 196.
7

Haw. Forester, Oct.

“1A,” June 1907,

‘Miscellaneous.

Packing fruit for export. Journ.
; pt. of Agr., Victoria, Feb. 1908.
em A.” Apr. 1908, p. 349.

Le ceriman de Mexique (Monstera
deliciosa), expéce fruitiére. Journ.
d’ Agr, trop., June 1908, p. 169.

Fruits in Hawaii. Haw. Forester
Oct. 1906. ‘T.A.” Dec. 1907, p. 481.

The food value of tropical fruit. do.
do., p. 445.

Fruit culture an industry in Hawaii.
do. do., p, 448

La multiplication du Nephelium
Litchi. Journ. d’ Agr. trop., Sept.
1900, p. 281.

Notes on varieties of Fruit grown
at various Orchards. Agr. Gaz.
N. S. W., Dec. 1906, p. 986.

Tropical Fruits in Covent Garden.
Macmillan. Gard. Chron. 26. 12,
1908, p. 448. **T.A.” Mar. 1909, p. 288.

The Marketing of Hawaiian fruits,
Haw. Forester, May 1908, p. 96.

Decay of oranges while in transit.
Agr. News, VII. 174, Dee. 1908, p. 404.

The Tree Tomato. Macmillan. ‘‘T.A.”
Aug. 1909, p. 120.

Indian aud Californian, fruit. Ind.
Agr., May 1909. ‘‘T.A.” Aug. p. 129.

The Litchi or Litchee Bruit. “7D: A. e
Nov. 1909, p. 418

The Granadilla. PoE ‘to Rico Hocbicnk

tural News, Feb. 1909. ‘| T.A.” Nov.
p. 426.
Furcrea :—
Agave and Furcrea fibres from
Madras. Imp. Inst. Bull. IV. 23.

“TA.” May 1907, p. 269,
Drummond and Prain. Notes on
Agave and Furcreea in India. Agr.
Ledger 1906, No. 7.
Gambir :—
Gambir cultivation in West Sumatra.
“T.A.” Supp. Nov, 1908, p. 488.
Garcinia :—
Select Edible Garcinia fruits. Mac-
millan. ‘*T.A.” Sept, 1908, p. 230.
The fats of Garcinia species. Hooper.

Journ. As. Soe. Bengal. IIT. 1907,
p. 257.

The Mangosteen. Trin. Bull. Oct.
1908, p. 40.

Gardening, Schvol :—
School Gardening in the Province of

La anton. Phil, Agr. Rev., Feb.
1908, p. 9
School

Gaddens in HEngland. Agr.
News, 8. 8. 1906, p. 247, ;

Miscellaneous. |

Gingeli :—
adie Sesamum. Ind. Agr., Feb. 1907,
p. 44.
Sesamum in Burmah. do.
p. 18

Ginger :—

Die Kultur und Bereitung des Ingwer.
Mitth, Amani 28, 2. 7. 1904.

The cultivation of Ginger. ‘“T,A.”

_ July 1906, p. 80.

The curing of Ginger. Agr. News,
nee p- 221. ‘*T.A.” Sept. 1907,
D. ;

Jan. 1908,

Cultivation and Preparation of
Jamaica Ginger. W. Ind. Bull. 8.
264, ‘“‘T.A.” Feb. 1908, p. 161.

Memorandum on the cultivation and
preparation of ginger. ‘‘T.A.” Aug.
1909, p. 127.

Ginger. Jamaica Bull. Vol. 1. No. 2,
“T.A.” Nov. 1909, p. 425.

Ginseng :—

Japanese Ginseng.
26. 1. 1907, p. 144.

Ginseng in Korea. Kew Bull. 1907,

Chem. & Drug.

p. 71.
Ginseng. ‘T.A.” Nov. 1905, p. 679.
Ginseng in China. Kew Bull. 1902.
Glycune :—
The soy bean as a forage crop. U.S,
Dept. of Agr, Farmers’ Bull. 58,

“TA.” Oct, 1908, p. 323.

Soy beans as foodforman. do. do.
p. 331.

Soy bean varieties. do. B. P. I, Bull..

98, 1907. :

Soy Beans, oil and Cake. Indian
prods Jl., July 1909. ‘*T.A.” Sept.
p. 207,

Soy Bean. ibid. ‘‘T.A.” Oct., p. 295,

The Soy Bean. Agr. News. VII. 174.
Dec. 1908, p. 403.

AGRICULTURAL BANKS.

By T. B. PoHATH-KEHELPANNALA.

The proposal to establish Agricultural
Banks should be heartily welcomed by
all who are interested in agriculture.
Though the suggestion is said to be due
primarily to the stagnation in paddy
cultivation, it would be impossible to
limit the operation of the banks to the
encouragement Of rice-growing only,
especially as improved methods of culti-
vation include the rotation of crops.

(JANUARY, 1910. SRE ph

e - i, f .
DISADYANTAGES TO AGRICULTURE. -

The falling off in paddy-cultivation in
spite of the high rates that have for —
some years ruled for imported rice, is ~
due to various causes. Many leading
Kandyan families have sold their ances-
tral holdings to Huropeans and others,
often below the real value, owing to
their want of funds to cultivate them.
It frequently happens that the lands
are situated in distant parts, difficult
of access, and the owners have consider-
ed it more profitable to sell them, in
some cases, 10 devote the proeeeds to
the purchase of lands nearer home, or to
pay off debts, or to defray the costs of
some tedious and. ill-advised litigation.
The poorer members of the community
think it hardly worth while to cultivate
them with garden products, considering
the difficulties occasioned by long dis-
tances, of continuous watching to pre-
vent trespass and theft, and many have
taken up work on tea and cacao estates
for daily wages,

Others who could afford to cultivate
them neglected to do so; the spread of
education has resulted in a_ general
yearning for work in Government offices.
One :

DISASTROUS RESULT

in the sale of chena is manifest by the
obstruction to paddy cultivation by the
washings of silt and debris to the irri-
gation channels and fields. litigation
on this point between planters and
natives are not uncommon in our law
courts. Added to this, the

SALE

of chena by the Crown is, in many
cases, responsible for the neglect of
paddy eultivation. In former days
every field had its appurtenant chena
lands to provide pasturage for cattle, ;
reepers, and timber for agricultural
implements. The purchasers of these
lands have planted them up to the very

THRESHOLDS

of the villagers; the paddy cultivator
has no longer any space for breeding or
even feeding cattle, the supply of fire-
wood is almost improcurable, and the
slightest act of trespass by his cattle on
the adjoining estates involves a heavy |
fine on the unfortunate owner of the 4
cattle,

The villager has never been in the-
habit of tethering his cattle, but he
allows them to roam about at will, to
return home at dusk. Among the many
subjects connected with paddy culti-
vation, the establishment of village
grazing grounds and the introduction of
new and useful fodder plants would

January, 1910.]

afford welcome relief in every village,
where pasturage is at present a scarcity.

The neglect of paddy cultivation is
due, in some parts, to the abnormably

IRREGULAR RAINFALL

in recent years; but in nearly every
district there are fields which might be
relied on to give regular crops, if small
storage tanks were constructed at the
head of each range of fields. Many
fields are only occasionally cultivated,
only at intervals, for the reason that
they are wholly dependent for culti-
vation on rain-water, The cost and
maintenance of these would be little,
and the whole expense of bringing a
few acres into permanent cultivation
would be reaped in a single season.
Other fields which are irrigated by

-amunu (water courses), where there is

an inexhaustible water-supply, yield re-
gular crops, and could be cultivated both
for yala and maha seasons.
It is generally believed that the
INDEBTEDNESS ~
of the paddy-grower is due to the ex-
orbitant rate of interest paid for seed
paddy. It may be that this is so in some
cases, but it is notsoinallcases. The
customary rate of interest charged is 8
lahas for every 10 lahas seed-paddy,
viz., 5 lahas as interest, and 3 lahas
in addition for wastage called bollehi
or “diyabesma.” In lending out paddy
for ordinary purposes, for one pela or
10 lahas, anly 5 lahas paddy is charged
by the lender, by way of interest,
whether the borrowed paddy is returned
within a year or bothafter the lapse
of 4 or 5 years. The period of time
during which the loan is outstanding
makes no difference. The interest is
always the same and does not increase
by increase of time.
I should say that the Kandyans are
a very
P LITIGIOUS

people, they often contract heavy debts
for law-suits. Unlike the low-country
Sinhalese, the Kandyans are not ex-
travagant in dress, food, building houses
or marriage festivals.

But it is obvious that, when an
Andé-cultivator is obliged to borrow
seed paddy he must also

INCUR DEBTS

to provide for the hire of buffaloes and
men, and for other items connected
with cultivation; he will alsoin many
cases be prompted to borrow sufficient
paddy to provide food for himself and
his family untilhis crop is harvested.
The poorest Kandyan villager, who
possesses nothing beyond his hereditary
love of paddy cultivation, often takes

53 Miscellaneous:

up the work of a field on the karu
andé system (for a ¢th share), jointly
with the owner, Even if the crop is
a good one, he will, after paying off
his liabilities, have very little return
for his labour.

The smaller paddy-fields are usually
cultivated by the owners themselves,
buat owners of large fields lease parts
of them on the half-share (andé) system.
When paddy-fields are let out in this
way, the owner takes no share in the
labour, nor does he bear any part of
the expenses, so that practically he re-
ceives as rent half the crop plus the value
of the expenses of cultivation. Here the
andé-cultivator runs into debt to carry
on the different operations in the field,

It has been found that the

MooRMAN

is the greatest pest to the Kandyan
villager. He haunts about the whole
village, and buys everything he could
lay his hands on, at the cheapest rate
possible, and sells his purchases to the
nearest¢town at great protit to himself.
What is worse, he lends out money and
paddy at exorbitant rate of interest,
the poor ignorant villager is easily
victimised, with the result that he is
obliged in the end to transfer his
ancestral property to the rapacious
Moorish usurer.

The operations of the Agricultural
Banks in advancing seed paddy and
cash to cultivators may be greatly
helped forward if

INSTRUCTION

in improved methods of cultivation is
made treely available. The effect of
occasional demonstrations of ploughing
with new styles of ploughs, &c., is limited.
It ought to be possible to arrange for
the systematic cultivation of paddy-
fields in convenient centres, where, every
operation—from the sowing of nursery
plots and transplanting the seedlings
to the harvesting of the grain—may be
studied.

As regards the issue of seed paddy
and cash advances, it would perhaps
be advisable to stipulate that the loans
be made only on the condition that
the cultivator adopts all the new
methods suggested for the improvement
of agriculture.

The Committee will doubtless insist
on local branches being formed, com-
posed only of those who are especially
qualified as land-owuners and those who
take a real interest in agriculture.
Many of the Minor Headmen can hardly
be classed as such.

Pohath Walauwa, Gampola,
19th November, 1909,

Miscellaneous. 7 Sas

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE
COMMITTEE OF AGRICULTURAL
EXPERIMENTS :

HELD AT THE EXPERIMENTAL STATION,

PERADENIYA, ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 1909.

The following members were pre-
sent:—Mr. R. H. Lock (Chairman), the
Eutomologist, the Mycologist, the Agri-
cultural Chemist, the Secretary (C. J. C.
Mee), the Hon’ble the Government Agent,
Kandy, the Hon’ble Mr. Edgar Turner,
Messrs. Rosling, Jowitt, Anderson,
Davies and Vanderstraaten,

Mr. Bamber read the Progress Report
on the Experiment Staticn since the
previous meeting, and the foJlowing
resolutions were passed :—

1. That quarterly measurements of
rubher trees, referred toin Mr. Bamber’s
report, be taken, and that Plot 87 be
forked every three months very deeply.
For the first time 9’ and later forkings 6’.

2. That an estimate of expenditure
for 1910 be drawn up, showing the dis-
tribution over the various itenfs. This
was placed in the hands of sub-Committee
consisting of Mr. Jowitt. Mr. Bamber,
and the Superintendent.

Mr. Vanderstraaten suggested that co-
conut trees be scientifically ir vestigated
as regards planting distances, habit of
flowering and maturing nuts, and the
time occupied during the various stages.

Rosolved, that a scheme be drawuup
for the future, and the plan definitely
followed out during a period extending
over seveial years, and that Messrs.
Bamber and Vanderstraaten submit
it at the next meeting in January, 1910.

Cuas. J. C. MEBs,

Secretary and Superintendent,
ment Station, Peradeniya.

16th November, 1909,

Hxperi-

PROGRESS REPORT ON HXPERIMENT STA-
TION, SINCE PREVIOUS MERTING HELD ON
STH SEPTEMBER, 1909.

TEA.—Plots 141-148 and 1513-155 have
been tipped.

Polts 146-150 of Manipuri indigenous
have been pruned.

Plot 142 had Indigofera cut at 8’ in
September yielding 1,6231b. It has again
formed a good cover.

Plot 148 was sown with Crotalaria
just before pruning at.8 lbs, per acre,
broadeast up alternate lines,

The plots of Single Indigenous were
supplied again with plants from Cool-
bawn Kstate, poor Jat plants being
removed.

: ~~ aa ~
Plots 151-154 have been re-supplied with

Udapolla Para stumps. BS

Cacao.—The 5 acres of Forastero from

No, 2 tree have been fully supplied, and

the Dadaps cut on the various half-acre
plot as required for high and low shade

,

The plot of Crotalaria and Indigofera
half-acre was pruned at 3’ and gave 5,204
lbs. of material which was mulched. ~

More space was cleared round the cacao ~
plants, which were fully supplied.

The steep banks were all sown with
Crotalaria and Indigofera. The growth
is good and the heavy wash almost
entirely prevented. ;

The Iudigofera recovers more rapidly
and completely than Crotalaria, and is
gradually killing out the latter.

CAcAO—OLD.—AII the plots were spray-
ed with Bordeaux mixture. All plots
have had Canker removed. It was and
is most prevalent in the riverside plots,
8, 9. and 10 and 94-95 by the paddy-fields.

Plot 8 receives 5 cwt. Kainit. Plot 9
5 ewt. Bone Dust. Plot 10 Cdntrol.
Plot 944 had Potassium Chloride. Plot
948 Potassium Sulphate. 944 Sodium
Nitrate. 958 Grcundnut Cake. 964
Concentrated Superphosphate. 96B Pre-
cipitated Phosphate. Apparently none
of these manures have any preventive
effect.

A new census of the trees on the plot
is being taken, so that the yields can be
reduced to a standard.

Manufacture.—The fermenting process
was changed according tothe sugges-
tions of the Committee at the last
meeting, and samples are submitted for
inspection.

Experimental fermentation for the
production of Alcohol from fermenting
beans was tried, and the distillate sent
to Colombo for analysis. It was found
to contain much ethyl acetate as well gs
alcohol, and further experiments are
being made to regulate the acetic
fermentation going on simultaneously,

Coconuts.—The 10-acre coconut plot
has been supplied with the seed from
Me. Nicholas, of which only 9'6 % failed
to germinate.

A further 100 germinated coconuts
were obtained from Mr. G. T, Nicholas,
Goluwapokuna Hstate, Negombo, of
which 92 were supplied, completing the
10-acre plot. ‘

A further 100 seed have been put —

to germinate for future. supplies if
necessary. Py,
Twelve varieties of cocovuts are being
eobtained from Mr. A, de Soysa,
who has kindly offered them tree of cost.

Jett

bs
ie

- ences.

Na Pi ge ir aa ee aT a ang

< JANUARY, 1910.)

Three of the largest kind of coconuts
from the Penang Show have been put to
germinate.

An experiment with Copra manu-
facture was tried, the following being
the figures obtained. The nuts were
generally small :—

10,000 nuts weighed ... 1284°5 Ib, :
and contained water ... 163°5 ,,= 1272%
11210

The shells weighed 3765 | = 28-61%

» Kernels 753°5 ,, = 58°66%

Weight of dryCopra ... 337'°5 ,, 100°00%

Loss of moisture 31°23 %
Prop. of dry Copra 48-77 %

The oil Chekku mill has been com-
pleted and experiments on oil extraction
will be made,

It is- proposed to experiment on the
effect of sun and heat drying, as the
former is said to be better for copra
manufacture.

’ Coconuts from 15 separate plots have
been collected and counted prior to
manuring experiments being commenced.

RUBBER.—Tapping experiments on the
Manihot dichotoma were commenced on
the 8th October when exactly two years
old from planting by two methods.

Ist, by cutting a shallow channel and
pricking, z

2nd, by cutting out the bark to the
wood.

~The rubber from each tree was weighed
and the yields point to great variation
In individual trees.

Ceara tapping experiments were also
commenced onthe same lines on trees
six years old and show the same differ-
The yield from the Manihot
dichotoma was generally poor, and the
cost of collection, if the yield continued
the same throughout the year, would be
about 2/30 per lb.

Castilloa tapping experiments have
been resumed.

_Half-acre plot planted 8’ x 8 has been
fully supplied, 165 cuttings being re-
quired. Dry weather occurred after the

previous planting which accounted for
most of the deaths.

Germination experiments of seed from
ten months old and two-year old plants
are being tried.

Seed received for testing showed a
germination of 85 %.

1,000 seeds of Manihot heptaphylla
have been obtained and a_ nursery
formed.

ae Miscellaneous.

The Para rubber trees planted in 1905
have been again measured and show the
following increase for ten months :—

a0 22
a3
2 a5
“ Row 3. Row2. Rowl. @4
Plot 78
Soluble manure;
Dec. 1908... 10°27” 10°71" 10°52” 9°60”
Oct 1909... 14°78” 14:97” 13°63” 4°18”
Plot 79
Crotalaria Striata :
Dec. 1908... 9°96” 10:41” 9°83” 9:63”
Oct. 1909... TE16% 13:72" 13°39” 3°80"
Plot 80
Leinen Grass :
Dec. 1908... 7°97” 7:71” 8:12” 8-03”
Oct. 1909... 11°29" 11:20" 10°83” 3:15”
Plot 81
Indiagofera :
Dec, 1908... 9°27" 934” 9:41” 9°04”
Oct. 1909... 12°99” 12°98” 14°19" 4°12”
Plot 82
Blank :
Dec. 1908... 9°58” 10°41” Or Gan Oo
Oct. 1909... LS piattOr daes- to.) 04

Plot 80. The Lemon Grass was cut in
October and mulched.

Plot 81. The Indigofera has recovered
after cutting, while the Crotalaria on
Plot 79 all died, being too old and the
shade too dense.

Plot 82. Crotalaria was resown in
curves below each tree 6’ from the stem,
much of the first sowing having failed
from the drought.

EUNTUMIA.--This plot was attacked
with the usual caterpillar Caprinia
conchylalis in September, and spraying
experiments with lead arsenate were at
once done, but with only partial success

Pappy.—The transplanting of the
paddy on half the area bas been com-
pleted, the lower half being manured as
in the broadeast portion.

The effect of the manure was most
apparent in the colour of the plants.

Where leguminous plants only had
been grown before the paddy the effect
was still more marked in the luxuriant
colour and sturdy growth.

Oi. GRASSES.—-A distillation of Maha
Pengiri from Java has been made, and
the plot utilised for planting out a larger
area near the curing house.

The ground has also been prepared for
planting out other varieties, which will
now be done. :

The modified stillis being erected and
will be completed this week when
furthe1 experimental distillations will
be made with the various pure oil
grasses.

°

Miscellaneous. 56 | LTanvaRy, 1910,

CatcH Crops.—The sun-flower plots
have grown well and are now flowering
and seeding. The germination of the
Mammoth Russian seed was very good.
Of the Giant Russian only 50 % germi-
nated.

It is proposed to sow two more plots
of Sun-flower now to ripen in dry
weather.

Gingelly plots sown on the 25th August
seeded but are not yet ready for harvest.

A leaf disease appears to be attacking
parts of the plots. Specimens have been
sent to Mr. Petch. :

Several other plots will be commenced
at once in the 10 acres of coconuts now
that the N.d, rains may be expected.

Fruir Puots.—The land cleared for
plantains is still unsupplied, but the
plants are expected to-day, four varieties
being promised by the Ratemahatmaya,
Beligal Korale, viz.,Kolikuttu, Suwandel,
Embul and Alukehel.

Soi WASH PLots,—Further plots have
been made below the former ones, and
all borders grassed and catchment drains
deepened and levelled.

The weight of soil from the Desmo-
dium plot given at the last meeting
was erroneously entered, as it was from
a fall of earth from the path side of
the drain and not from the plot itself.

One plot planted with dadap stumps
shows a loss of over 61 tons of soil per
acre since April, containing at least
207 lbs. of nitrogen, 110 lbs. of pbos-
phoric acid, and 138 lbs. of potash. The
cost of supplying this as manure would
be nearly Rs. 200 per acre.

Grass.—Much labour has been utilis-
ed to weed supply and manure these
plots with cattle bulk.

A roof has been erected over the
manure along the whole length of the
cattle shed.

NURSERIES.—A new plot by the cattle
shed has been cleaned and fenced, and
beds of Coffea robusta from Java, coffee
from selected trees on the Experiment
Station, Liberian coffee, Manihot hepta-
phylla, &c, have been planted.

Coouiges.—A transfer of money from
certain other votes was made on the
25th September amounting to Rs. 500
per month for extra coolies. Owing to
the paddy planting season, no Sinhalese

- were then obtainable but more are now
working on the estate, and it is hoped to
have a full number until December 3lst.

The outturn to date is about 1:25,
but from this week an additional fitty
coolies are working.

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. x

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON
DECEMBER 18TH, 1909.

Minutes of the 49th meeting of the
Board of Agriculture, held at the Coun-
cil Chamber on Saturday, the 18th
December, 1909, at 12 noon,

His Excellency the Governor presided.
There were also present :—Sir Hugh
Clifford, K.c.M.G., the Mr. H. L. Craw-
ford, G.M.G., Hon. Messrs. W. H. Jack-
son, P. Arunachalam, FE. C. Loos, c.M.G.,
8S. C. Obeyesekere, Dr, H. M. Fernando,
M.D., Messrs. J. Harward, R. H. Lock,
R, W. Smith, W. A. de Silva, Tudor
Rajapakse (Gate Mudaliyar), L. W, A.
de Soysa, J. D. Vanderstraaten, S. D.
Dabere, James Pieris, J. P. Jayawardene
(as a visitor), and the Secretary.

Minutes of the meeting held on Octo-
ber 8th were read and confirmed. ry

Progress Report No. 47 was adopted.

Statements of Expenditure for Octo-
ber and November, 1909, were tabled.

The consideration of the Report of the
Model and Experimental Gardens Com-
mittee was, on the suggestion of His
Excellency the President, postponed for
the next meeting, when it is expected
that the Hon’ble Mr. Kanagasabai will
be able to be present. ;

The final Report of the Tobacco Sub-
Committee was presented by Mr. R. H.
Lock and adopted on the motion of Dr.
Fernando, seconded by the Hon’ble Mr.
Loos. .

The Secretary reada ‘‘Memorandum
on his Recent Visit to India.”

At the close of the meeting, His Excel-

-lency presented Mr. Philip Denzil Jaya-

wardene a gold medal awarded by the
Society to his father, Mr. G. W. Jaya-
wardenya (deceased) at the last Anurad-
hapura Show for a collection of new
products and for pioneer agricultural _
work in Tamanakaduwa district.

C. DRIEBERG,
Secretary, C, A. S.

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. ~

PROGRESS REPORT XLVII.
Membership.

Since the meeting of October 18, the
following members have joined the
Society :-—-T. E. Wanger; B. J. Santiago ;
L. S, Woolf; B. Wolde; the Superin-
tendent of Police, Central Provinee; the
District Inspector of Police, Hatton;
the Sub-Inspector of Police, Nuwaia
Hliya; A. C. Chamberlin ; the Manager,

JANUARY, 1910.}

Jendarata Rubber’ Co., Ltd.; S. Dias
Krisnaratne ; C. J. Hutchinson; Ronald
Wells. This makes a total membership,
up to date, of 899.

Anew Branch Society has just been
established at Ranségoda, fin Matara
district, with a membership of 108. The
Honorary Secretary, in applying for
affiliation with the Parent Society,
reports that experiments on an extensive
scale are undertaken by individual

members. :
Official Tours.

The Secretary visited the Northern
Province, the Dumbara and Hamban-
tota Districts, Mirigama, and Kitulgala.

Mr. Wickremaratna, Agricultural In-
structor, was engaged for some time at
Tissa, co-operating with Mr. L. A. D.
Silva~ in supervising the ploughing
operations; visited Chilaw to lay out
the Chena Experimental Garden ; and

has since been engaged in giving a series

of demonstrations in ploughing in Uva,

Mr. Molegode, Agricultural Instructor,
after completing his tour in Matale East,
took up the Southern division. He was
summoned to Colombo to assist in the
distribution ot the large consignment
of grafted plants imported from India,
after completing which he visited
the Chilaw district, and returned
to his station. He has since visited
Leliambe, Kuruwila, Tenne, Owiilikande.
Palapatwela, Teldeniya. Udispattu,
Alawatugoda, Idamagama, Ankumbura,
Talatu-oya, &c.

Mr. L. A. D. Silva, Agricultural In-
structor, was specially deputed to super-
vise the ploughing operations in the
Hambantota District, aud is at present
incapacitated from active duty by a
severe attack of malaria contracted at
Tissa.

Mr. Breckenridge, Agricultural In-
structor, visited Kalmunai, Akkarai-
pattu, Mahilur, Mandur, Samanturai,
Kulavady, Tambelivil, Sampuveli, &c.,
in connection with ploughing trials and
experiments in cotton cultivation.

Mr. Chelliah, Agricultural Instructor,
did some good work in demonstrating
the use of light iron ploughs in the
Eastern Province, at the request of the
Government Agent; since his return to
his Province he visited Vavuniya, and
subsequently held a ploughing demon-
stration at Anuradhapura.

Branch Societies.

The Dumbara Branch held a Special
General Meeting at Teldeniya on October
16, when Mr. Dunuwila, Disava, pre-
sided, and the Secretary of the Ceylon
Agricultural Society was present as a

‘up by the Hon. Mr. A.

Miscellaneous,

visitor. Mr. Rambukwella, Korala, read
a report on his experiment in the culti-
vation of paddy with artificial manures.
It was resolved that the report be
printed and circulated for general infor-
mation, the Secretary, Ceylon Agricul-
tural Society, undertaking to get the
necessary number of copies printed.
The Honorary Secretary gave notice
that he was ready to receive applica-
tions for manure recommended for
paddy by Messrs. Freudenberg & Co.

It was resolved to holdan Agricultural
Show at Teldeniya in July next, and
a Committee of Management was ap-
pointed. At the termination of the
business on the agenda, the Secretary,
Ceylon Agricuitural Society, addressed
the meeting on various matters con-
nected with the work of the Society.
Following upon the General Meeting. a
meeting of the Co-operative Credit
Society was held. Five members repaid
loans to the amount of Rs. 282, and Rs.
40 were received for deposit.

The Harispattu Branch held a meeting
of committee on October 17, when the
question of a model and experimental
garden again came up, and the Koralas
of Kalugammana and Medasiya pattu
were deputed to select a suitable site.
It was decided to hold a Show in 1910,
The President consented to distribute
the prizes awarded by Mr. Molegode to
the boys possessing the best knowledge
of gardening at the competitive exami-
nation held recently ; when 19 boys.from
Nugawela, Alawatugoda, and Idama-
gama schools entered, and the successful
candidate was G. W. Mutu Banda of the
last-named school; B. Appuhamy of
Nugawela Boys’ Vernacular School, and
L. B. Ratnayake of _Idamagama coming
second and third respectively.

Hxperimental. and other Gardens.

The question of the Society giving
systematic aid to model and experimental
gardens established in the Provinces
came up in the form of a motion brought
Kanagasabai
at the meeting of the Agricultural Board
held on October 18, when a committee,
consisting of the Hon. Messrs. Bernard
Senior and Kanagasabai, Sir Solomon
Dias Bandaranaike. Messrs. W. D.
Gibbon, R, H. Lock, W. A. de Silva, Dr,
H. M. Fernando, and Mr. C. Drieberg
was appointed to report on the proposal.
This committee met on October 30 and
November 25, and its report is submitted
at this meeting.

Existing gardens will probably have
to be brought under the general scheme
from next year.

Miscellaneous. 58

Implements and Appliances.

The Secretary’s visit to the Ham-
bantota District was chiefly in connec-
tion with the ploughing operations
carried on there. It was reported that
some difficulty was being experienced in
the setting ct the “ Meston,” and that
the arm of the ‘Climax ” required
strengthening, and these matters receiv-
ed attention. The American ‘‘ Pony”
plough is proving to be the most satis-
factory of the three, and when the
cultivators have become reconciled to
its novel appearance and weight, and
see the economical work it does, they
will probably not mind the extra cost.
The more intelligent, who can afford

to pay its value, are adopting this
implement,
Mr. Valoopilley, writing on October

15from Anuradhapura, reports: ‘The
Pony plough and the Cultivator do good
work. They are not atall too heavy for
a good ordinary pair of bulls. I have
decided to cultivate about 25 acres this
year with the aid of these implements.
I beg to thank the Society and its
Agricultural Instructor, Mr. Chelliah,
for their assistance.”

The Government Agent, Hustern Pro-
vince, writing on October 4, forwards
a letter from Mr, J. W. Cotton, of
‘Master Seaton,” Batticaloa, who states:
‘‘The Pony plough is the best of the
three.”

The following letter, received as this
report was being drawn up, furnishes
pleasing testimony of the good work
done by the Society in rescuing the
eultivators of the Hambantota District
from financial loss and possible want :—

‘“«Sir,—In continuation of my letter
No. 3,865 of the 4th instant, I have the
honour to inform you that the results of
the work done by the Society’s officers
are most gratifying.

“2. A large acreage of land has been
ploughed, and I do not anticipate that
at the end of the cultivation much less
Jand will be sown than in previous
years. What this means may be under-
stood from the fact that between 4,000
to 5,000 acres are normally cultivated,
and that the buffaloes now in Tissa are
scarcely sufficient to mud 500 acres. The
result is largely due tothe assistance
given by your Instructors.

“Tam, &e.,
“LL. S. WOOLF.
“ Assistant Government Agent.”

Paddy.
Mr. N. A. S. Jayasuriya, whose experi-
ment in the cultivation of paddy by
transplantation was referred to in the

ne

a eee
2 ee
[JANUARY, 1910,

last Progress Report, has furniseed the ~

tollowing details:—‘‘The extent culti-—
vated was one acre, the quantity trans-
planted eight seers, the yield 79 bushels,
of which, however, 49 bushels repre-
sented good seed, 74 broken in threshing, +
and the balance empty grains. The only
additional expense was on account of
transplanting (Rs. 4°50) and manure (Rs.
2°50). The highest yield of my broadcast
fields for the same period was 20 bushels
per acre, and for these 2 bushels of seed
per acre were used. Taking the yield
in the transplanted bed to be, in round
numbers, 50 bushels, we get with + bushel
(8 seers) of seed a yield equal to 200-fold,
while with broadeasting the yield is
only equal to 10-fold. The distance
observed in planting out was 9 inches
each way.”

The teacher of Talatu-oya Boys’
Vernacular School is conducting an
experiment in paddy cultivation by
transplanting, under the instruction of
Mr. Molegode, Agricultural Instructor,
who reports that the teachers and boys
are takink great interest in the experi-
ment.

A small quantity of Samudrabali
paddy was received from Chinsurah for
Mr. C. M. Sinnayah, Mudaliyar of Jaffna,
and seven varieties of Samba were

rocured for Mr. K. Canagasabey of

atticaloa, through the kindness of
the Deputy Director of Agriculture, -
Southern Division, Trichinopoly.

‘Cotton.

The Sea Island seed received from
Liverpool was distributed among appli-
eants, chiefly in the Northern and
Eastern Provinces and the Hambantota
District; some of it also going to the
Maldive Islands. The seed, on being
tested, was found to be in excellent
condition.

Re Tea-cum Cotton planting, Mr. M.
Kelway Bamber reports: ‘‘I should
certainly not recommend cotton as a
catch-crop for tea, unless the soil and —
climate are particularly favourable. It
would also certainly check the growth
of the tea, and might be the means of
intruducing some pest into the fields.
A separate experiment might be tried,
if it is thought there is sufficient labour
to harvest the cotton when ripe. If the
estate is liable to wind, much of the
cotton would be lost.” ;

Seed and Plant Supply.

The distribution of the regular consign- _
ment of vegetable secds for north-east
monsoon planting has been completed. 3
The grafted fruit plants that were

- months.

JANUARY, 1910.)

expected in October (all except Sapodilla,
vatich ran short) have also been distri-
buted.

Cluster Sweet Potatoes yielded a most
satisfactory first crop within five
There has been a brisk demand
for cuttings, and the new introduction
has already spread farand wide. Lima
beans received from America and. India
were sent to suitable localities.

A variety of other plants, such as
cacao, Johore jak, custard apple, pome-
granate, rambutan, orange and man-
darin, bamboo and shade trees, has been
sent out to applicants.

The publication of Mr. Macmillan’s
illustrated article on the tree tomato
in the Magazine of the Ceylon Agricul-
tural Society has brought a number of

- applications for seeds of this fruit.

The Secretary received from Mr:
George Schrader of ‘Wester Seaton,”
Negombo, a magnificent sample of
Chinese ginger raised trom ‘seed”
supplied from the Government Stock
Garden. Mr. Schrader, in forwarding
the sample, writes that he got as many
pounds as he planted ounces. The
Secretary is shortly expecting a hundred-
weight of seed-ginger from Cochin.

Applications for seeds and plants are
being constantly received from non-
members who are coming to look upon
the Society asa universal provider for
agricultural and horticultural purposes.
Such applicants should realize that it is
not the cbhject of the Society to make
free gifts to all and sundry, but that
the privileges offered by the Society are
available only to members who pay a
small annual subscription for which they
get a great deal more than the value of

their money in return.

Analyses and Reports.

On a proposal to cultivate sugar-cane
on an extensive scale in Matale North,
the Government Agricultural Chemist
reports :“‘ Unless irrigation is possible,
sugar-cane is hardly likely to grow
profitably in the Matale District. It is
a plant that requires a fairly rich soil,
and even under the best conditions in
Java, with every facility for transport.
&c.,is hardly paying. A small area to
supply sugar-canes to Kandy might pay,
but ona large scale it would, in my
opinion, be a very risky experiment.”

The two chief regions where cane is
cultivated are the low lands of the
Colombo District, which supply the
town with sticks for chewing purposes ;
and the Baddegama district, where it is
cultivated on a fairly extensive scale for
sugar manufacture, which still pays as
a native industry, particularly when the

8

a

Miscellaneous.

produce is disposed of as unrefined sugar
and treacle, for which there is a ready
demand.

Mr. Bamber has kindly favoured the
Society with the following report on
the question of how best to eradicate
grass on gravel paths:—I have made
several experiments to destroy grass
and other weeds on roads and paths.
Arsenite of soda applied at frequent
intervals destroys them temporarily,
but grasses with stoloniferous roots keep
on growing until the whole reserve
starch in the roots is destroyed, This
can only be done by spraying as soon
as new blades are a few inches high,
and before new root development has
taken place. Experiments are now
being made with a strong solution of
sulphate of iron as recommended for
killing charlock in wheat in Europe,
and I shall be glad to give the results
later. Sulphate of iron can be obtained
from Messrs. Freudenberg & Co. at a
cheap rate, and the solution is made
by dissolving it in water, cold or warm,
in old iron or wooden vessels. When
the latter are used, some rusty nails
or old hoop iron shall be put in to
reduce the ferric sulphate to thesolu-
ble ferrous salt.” In a further report,
and in reply to an inquiry as to whether
sulphate of copper will not do as well
as the iron salt, Mr. Bamber writes :—
“It may possibly do better, but it is
more expensive. Further experiment
appears to show that common salt is
the most promising agent for getting
rid of grass on roads. If this proves
correct, it would be the cheapest mate-
rial to apply. I would suggest trials
with 10 to 20 per cent. solutions.”

A disease on nutmeg trees at Weli-

“gama is reported by the Government

Entomologist to be due to Lecanium
expansum, a large scale insect, with
which is associated a black fungus
which subsists on the ‘‘honey dew”
secreted by the insect. ‘The fungus
does not injure the leaves to any
appreciable extent, but the scaly
bug sucks the sap of the leaves and
may cause a partial fall of the foliage.
This insect occurs very commonly on
the nutmeg tree. It has been present
in one tree in these Gardens (Peradeniya)
for many consecutive years without
appreciably affecting the health of the
tree. The treatment for such scale in-
sects is by spraying with kerosine
emulsion or MacDougall’s insecticide,
but it is doubtful whether the treat-
ment will repay the cost.’

Messrs. C. & A. Bohringer, in reply to
an inquiry made on behalf of a cor-
respondent, state that they are buying

Miscellaneous.

pure well dried papaine at Rs. 5 per
pound, if up to their analysis.

The Government Agricultural Chemist
reports as follows on a sample of Su-
matra tobacco grown in Jaffna by Mr.
V. M. Muttukumaru :—‘“‘ The leaves have
+ good sweet and mild aroma, and are
of a good size and fairly uniform colour.
The texture, however, is far too brittle,
breaking at the slightest touch, which
renders them unfitfor wrappers. Some
also have several holes in them, ap-
parently the result of insect attack,
and this again renders them useless for
the above purpose. These defects, and
the coarseness of the midrib, could no
doubt be remedied by cultivation and
better methods of drying and fermen-
tation; but in its present form the
tobacco cannot compare with the wrap-
per leaf of Sumatra, except perhaps as
to the aroma.”

Samples of soil taken in the Batti-
caloa District have been forwarded to
the Government Agricultural Chemist,
at his request, and his report is awaited.

Mr. K. E. Green, Government Entomo-
logist, reporting on specimens of root-
galls on a Cucurbit, says:—‘‘I have
examined the specimens of nodular roots
of the Cucurbit, and find that they are
the result of infection by the ‘ root-gall
worm’ (Heterodera radicicola). It will
be advisable to give this land a heavy
dressing of lime and leave it fallow for
several months, or to plant it with
some product that does not attract the
nematode. An application of vaporite
would probably act more quickly than
the lime and permit of recultivation
after a shorter interval. In any case,
a rotation of crops would be advisable

before replanting with any cucurbit.” °

In this connection it may be mentioned
that Mr. Green’s recommendation of
vaporite for termites has proved useful
in the Balangoda district, whence the
following reportcomes: ‘‘ The vaporite
has done much good in the way of
ridding us of the white antin our vege-
table beds, and a further supply of it
would be most welcome.”

With reference to the query raised
as to the value of iron sulphate as a
weed eradicator in paddy cultivation,
the Government Agricultural Chemist
writes :—‘‘ Spraying with sulphate of
iron has long been known as a good
means of destroying weeds, especially
charlock in grain crops. The reason
given for its non-injury to the grow-
ing corn is no doubt correct, and if
the paddy has the same waxy covering,
experiments might well be tried with
air prospect of success, as the cost of

en a pean a ae Sn ee a 7

[JANUARY, 1910.

sulphate of iron is small. A _ 20 per
cent. solution at 100 or 120 gallons per
acre is the quantity recommended. The
following precautions are necessary :—
(1) To spray in fair weather, when the
water is off the fields; (2) to cover
the leaves of the weeds as completely
as possible.

‘*One of the main reasons why broad-
cast paddy yields less per acre than
transplanted paddy is that the weeds
have a greater start over the paddy,
and the irregularity of the latter makes
weeding more difficult, if not impossible.
Spraying would therefore be of con-
siderable advantage, but would not tend
to encourage transplanting, which is
evidently the best method of cultivating
paddy. Thereshould be no difficulty as
regards water, but only hand machines
could be employed.”

In August Mr. R. Paramananda report-
ed that he sustains considerable loss
through a disease called ‘‘ Karuthandu,”
which attacks tobacco in the Trincomalee
District. He states that the disease
begins in the nursery and shows itself
in different ways when.transplanted. In
some cases blisters first appear on the
leaves, and later on the stems, after
which the tree begins to decay. In other
cases the disease seems to start from
the roots. The following is the Govern-
ment Entomologist’s opinion and recom-
mendation on this report:—‘‘From the
symptoms described in the letter of your
correspondent, it is evident that more
than one disease has been confused under
the name of ‘Karuthandu.’ Specimens
should be submitted for determination.
To expel subterraneous insects and
worms mix vaporite with the soil before
making up the nursery beds or putting
out the plants.
the rate of lsoz. per square yard, and
well mixed with the soil some three
or four days before planting. The most
serious disease of tobacco in Ceylon is
the stem-borer (deseribed and figured
in the Tropical Agriculturist for March,
1909, p. 177). The only treatment for
this is to pull up and burn all the
affected plants.”

TheSecetary, Wellaboda Pattu Branch,
forwarded a specimen of diseased ban-
dakka (Hibiscus esculentus), upon which
the Government Entomologist reported
as follows :—TIhe plant, as received, was
very much withered. The ends of the
branches appeared to be dead, and some
of them had died back to the main stem.
On splitting open the dead branches, a
small irregular tunnel was found run-
ning down the pith. In one such tun-
nel the living larva of a moth (probably
a pyralid) was found,

It should be applied at

This boring

x

Sanvapy, 19101.

insect is probably the cause of the
disease. It is impossible, at present, to
determine the species of the borer. It

- is being kept in the hope that it may

complete its transformations; when it
may be possible to give it a name. In

the meanwhile, the best treatment will

be to prune out any branches that
appear to be withering, or—in the case
of badly diseased plants—to cut out the
plants and burn them.”

On specimens of cankered bark, which
the Secretary found on some fine orange
trees at eetiyagoda (Ambalangoda
district), Mr. Green wrote :—‘ The can-
kered areas
species of mite; but it is improbable
that they had anything to do_ with
the condition. The bark was evidently
attacked by some fungus. Mr. Petch
agreed with me, but could not deter-
mine the fungus as it was not in a recog-
nizable stage of growth. The best
treatment would be to excise the dis-
eased spots.”

A paragraph in the local press having
drawn attention to the damage done
to coconuts by a plant louse in British
New Guinea, the Secretary communi-

- gated with the Director of Agriculture,

Territory of Papua, who replied as
follows :—‘‘So far as the British portion
of New Guinea is concerned, I have no
hesitation in saying that the statement
is devoid of all foundation. We have

‘an estimated area of 355,000 acres of

native-owned and plantation coconuts,
and I have never seen or heard of a
single tree in the Territory having been
killed by the disease. Inquiries from
planters and others have failed to re-
veal the slightest trace of the disease
referred to.”

The Government Veterinary Surgeon
reports as follows in reply to an in-
quiry from the Eastern Province for
improving the breed of poultry there :—
“If required for the production of good
layers I would recommend Minorcas
or Leghorns; if for table birds Ply-
mouth Rocks or Wyandottes.”

Fodder.

The Under Secretary for Agriculture,
Brisbane, has kindly furnished the Secre-
tary with further information about
the ““white mangrove,” an analysis of
which was given in the Queensland
Agricultural Journal, as that of a good
fodder. It turns out to be Avicennia
opie a fairly common tree in

eylon.

The following is the analysis by the
Queensland Agricultural Chemist ;—

61

were swarming with a-

Miscellaneous.
Per cent.
‘s Dry substance in green
material ... a 43°10
Moisture ... oe Hy ULGRia
Ash as ate ae 9°87
Fibre 18°02

Carbohydrates (by difference) ae :

Fat and oil... PGs! :
Protein (nitrogen x 6°25) ... 8°68
Total nutrient matter 1. 46°36

* Albumenoid ratio... Pais bey
“Brom the analysis it will be seen

that these mangrove leaves are quite a

valuable fodder. The leaves could un-

doubtedly be mixed with other mate-
rials, and also used by themselves for
making ensilage.”

“It may be added that the nutritive
value of other foods—dry matter—has
been recorded to be as follows :—Me-
dium hay, 18 per cent.; alfalfa hay,
23 per cent.; oats, medium quality,
49 per cent.; maize, 70 per cent.; peas,
59 per cent.; linseed cake, 56 per cent. ;
potatoes, 20 per cent.

“The green mangrove is likely to
possess a greater feeding value than
the dried leaves.”

Mr. J-.F. Jowitt asks us to correct
the botanical name of Congayum grass
which last month on his authority was
given as Cenchrus biflorus, Roxb.

He writes as follows: ‘‘It appears
that in 1887 this grass was identified in
India as Pennisetum cenchroides, Rich.
Mr. Lock kindly looked up the syno-
nyms of this grass in Index Kewensis;
under Cenchrus there are seven and
under Pennisetum five.

‘In Flora British India this grass is
described as Cenchrus mutabilis, Wight
ex Hook, and I do not think we can
do better than adopt that name for
Congayum grass in Ceylon,

In Agricultural Bulletin, No, 27 of 1908,
issued by the Department of Agricul-
ture, Madras, there is a lengthy refer-
ence to this grass, which is said to be
extensively cultivated in Southérn India,
and highly valued there. As a rule, it
is cultivated as a catch crop and treated
as anannual, but it may be allowed to
occupy the ground for a number of
years like our Guinea grass, and used
either for pasture or for soiling, but
seldom for hay. Cattle are not allowed
on to new fields till at least six months
after sowing. If cut, three or more
cuttings could be gotina year, and a
total of approximately 25 tons green
grass secured per annum. The grass was
considered by the Principal of the Agri-
cultural College at Saidipot, after twelve
years’ experience, one of the hardiest of
fodder grasses, It is usual in villages

Aliscellaneous.

to securely fence the grass fields against
cattle trespass by fences made of mul-
killivai (Balsamodendron Berryi), a tree
extensively employed for fencing in the
Jaffna Peninsula.

The only possible apprehension in
introducing the grass into Ceylon is the
possibility of its proving a weed in cul-
tivated land; but, as Mr. Jowitt states,
there does not appear to be the sange
danger to be feared from Cenchrus
mutabilis as from Cyperus rotundus.
The bulletin referred to mentions that
the vitality and propagating power of
the grass are remarkable, but as the
roots are very short it can be cleared
off the land without much difficulty.
This opinion, compared with that of
Duthie, that the grass is ‘‘a most
excellent fodder, thriving jest where
the soil is sandy,” givesa good char-
acter to this new introduction. For

long the great cry from thedry districts -

has been fora drought-resisting fodder
grass, and here is one at last. Those
who wish tosee how, freely Cenchrus
mutabilis grows candoso at the Govern-
ment Stock Garden, and any one wish-
ing to lay down the grass in the drier
parts of the Island should apply for
seed to the Secretary, who is expecting
a large consignment in March next in
time for planting during the south-west
monsoon rains.

Errata.—In_ Progress Report No.
XLVI.. for Phalaris gayana (Rhodes
grass), read Chloris gayana, Var.

Miscellaneous.

The description of a mechanical
polisher for cacao, known as Barnard’s
patent, reterred to in the West Indian
Agricultural News, was sent to a well-
known local cacao planter, who writes:—
*“*This will not help us in Ceylon, as we
wash before drying and do not clay after
fermenting asis done in some places.
We do our drying inspecial rooms with
fans and heaters.” ‘

The Superintendent of School Gardens
has forwarded an excellent report on the
work going onat the Weragala School
Garden, which is said to be one of the
best in the Kegalla district. He says :—
“The whole place is under systematic
meanagement, and the work well organ-
ized. The teacher is of a type not
often met with, and has the children
under good discipline and careful in-
struction.”

Mr. K. Bandara-Beddewela has for-
warded to the Secretary an interesting
memorandum on fruit cultivation as
carried on by him in the neighbourhood
of Kandy. ,

Mr. James Perera of Molligoda has
forwarded a specimen of a fancy cur-

(JANUARY, 1910,

tain in imitation of those imported from

Japan, and made entirely of local
materials. Thearticle is submitted for
inspection of members.

C. DRIEBERG,

Secretary.
December 18, 1909.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON
MODEL AND EXPERIMENTAL
GARDENS.

(Submitted to the Board, Dec. 18th, 1909.)

The Sub-Committee consider that there
is no reason for anxiety on the score
of expense. They think it very unlikely
that a larger sum than Re. 18,000 can be
profitably spent on model gardens within
the next five years. Even if the whole
of this sum is spent at once the Society
will still be left with a balance sufficient
to defray the cost of an experiment in
Tobacco Cultivation and Curing. The
Committee therefore reeommend that a
sum not exceeding Rs. 18,000 be voted
by the Board to be used as grants-in-
aid for the establishment of model and
experimental gardens in the different
Provinces.

2. It is recommended that grants
should be made under the conditions
laid down in the annexed statement,
each garden to be under the manage-
ment of a genuine Branch Society re-
presented by a properly appointed

ecretary.

38. A proper account of all experi-
ments should be kept by the Secretary
of the branch society, showing the area
of ground devoted to each experiment,
the cost of seed, manure, &c., used and
the amount and value of the labour em-
ployed, These details, as well as the
results of each experiment, should be
recorded in a book kept for the purpose,
and the proceeds of sale of any crops
should be shown as a set-off against the
cost of growing.

4. Asregards the profits which may
be expected toaccrue from the sale of
certain crops, the Committee reeommend
that, should any;garden show a surplus
at the end of the year, such surplus
should be placed on deposit with the
Parent Society to form a fund to be
used for the ultimate benefit of the Ex-
perimental Garden Scheme.

5. It is further reeommended that a
permanent Advisory Committee be ap-
pointed to discuss what plants should
be grown and what experiments made
at each garden, and that a programme of
the work to be carried out at each
garden should be submitted periodically
for the approval of the Committee.

<. ~~ a
cop
f i Soe

=

\

era ese ee tae eee Oe im gf 4/ Ses
KEY ’ "
‘

Janvary, 1910.)

6, It is thought that each garden
should be made as far as possible the
headquarters of an ‘Agricultural In-
structor, and with this end in view it is
anticipated that at least two additional
Instructors will be required, The ap-

ointment of one Instructor for the
ahaicce and one for the Tamil dis-
tricts is recommended as soon as duly
qualified candidates are available.

7. Each garden should be provided as
early as possible with at least one
labourer who has undergone a brief
training in simple gardening operations
at Peradeniya.

8. In order that the use of machinery
may be demonstrated, machines, bulls
and drivers should be provided by the
Parent Society, which could pass in cir-
cuit from one garden to another—cost
of upkeep for the time being to be paid
by each garden in turn.

9. As regards existing gardens re-
ceiving grants from the Society the
Committee are of opinion that each case
should be considered on its merits. At
the same time they desire to discourage
grants by the Society to gardens worked
by individuals.

10. The suggested conditions under
which grants to experimental gardens
should be made are attached.

R, H. Lock (Chairman).

BERNARD SENIOR.

A. KANAGASABAI.

H. Marcus FERNANDO, M.D.

W. A. DE SILVA.

S. D. BANDARANAIKE.

W. D. GIBBON.

C, DRIEBERG (Secretary).
CONDITIONS FOR ESTABLISHING MODEL

AND HXPERIMENTAL GARDENS. ©

1. The Ceylon Board of Agriculture
is prepared to make grants-in-aid to
local Societies for the establishment and
maintenance of Experimental Gardens
for the next five years commencing from
July 1, 1910.

2. Applications for such grants-in-aid
will be received by the Secretary of the
Board of Agriculture up to March 31,
1910, These applications will be con-
sidered by the Advisory Committee on
Model and Experimental Gardens.

3, It is proposed for the present to
subsidise one garden in each Province.

- The Parent Society will give in
the first year an initial grant not exceed-
ing Rs. 1,000 for the starting of a garden,
and an upkeep grant not exceeding
Rs. 200 per annum tor five years on
condition that the local Society will con-
tribute sums not less than those granted.
These sums may be exceeded in the

68

2 Mascellaneous. »

case of certain provinces should funds
become available through failure of the
scheme in others.

5. Gardens established under this
scheme should not as arule be less than
5 acres, but in no ease will any site less
than 3 acres in extent be allowed. They
must be within easy reach of some
public road, and the sites must be ap-
proved by the Parent Society.

6. The land should either be pur-
chased outright or leased for a period
of not less than five years, and be avail-
able for the sole use of the garden.

7. The funds contributed by the local
Society. for the working of the garden
should be deposited with the Govern-
ment Agent of the Province, either ina
lump sum annually or in instalments;
and the Society’s grant will be similarly
deposited with the Government Agent
on intimation being received of the
deposit of the Local Society’s contri-
bution. :

8. The garden will be under the
supervision and control of the Parent
Society, and cultivation and _ experi-
ments will be conducted according to a
scheme to be drawn up by the Advisory
Committee.

9, Proper accounts of all expenditure,
with receipts, should be kept on an
approved system by the Local Societies,
and a copy of such accounts forwarded
to the Parent Society half-yearly. The
books shall be open to the inspection of
officers of the Parent Society.

10. The Local Society should be
properly represented and controlled by
a local board, with the Government
Agent of the Province or the Assistant
Government Agent of the District as its
Chairman,

“PROPOSED EXPERIMENTAL
TOBACCO CULTIVATION.
FINAL REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE.

(Submitted to the Board, Dec, 18th, 1909.)

The Committee have re-considered the
resolution submitted to the Board at the
last meeting, together with the amend-
ment then proposed.

The Secretary of the Society has been
in correspondence with the Agricultural
Departments of the United States of
America, Philippines, Cuba, and_ the
Transvaal, with a view to ascertaining:

‘a) Whether a fully qualified expert
could be obtained from some country
outside Ceylon, and

(b) Whether an institution exists at
which a probationer recruited in Ceylon

Miscellaneous.

could receive a thorough training in the
scientific treatment of tobacco culti-
vation and curing.

With regard to (a) the only suitable
expert whom the Committee hear of as
being available is Mr. A. VanLeenhoff,
Tobacco Expert to the Transvaal De-

artment of Agriculture. Mr. Leenhoff
is understood to be willing to leave the
Transvaal for a permanent position in
the tropics accompanied by increased
emoluments. Mr. Leenhoff’s present
salary is £1,000 per annum.

The Committee is of opinion that the
present prospects of the tobacco indus-
try in Ceylon do not justify a perma-
nent expenditure on the scale necessary
to secure the services of Mr. Leenhoff.

With iegard to (b) the Committee
learn that students at the State Univer-
sity of Lexington, Kentucky, are at
liberty to attend special courses in
tobacco cultivation as part of a four
years’ training for an Agricultural Dip-
loma. After careful consideration of
the arguments adduced at the special
meeting of the Board, the Committee
have arrived at the conclusion that the
project of sending out a student from
Ceylon to undergo such a training is
not to be recommended owing to con-
siderations of time and expense.

At this point the Committee entered
into communication once more with Mr.
Edward Cowan, and it was found that
he was willing to supervise an ex-
periment at Maha-iluppalama, making
periodical visits and a continuous stay
when necessary—for a fee of Rs. 3,000
for one year and a commuted allowance
of Rs. 500 and a free railway pass
between Nanuoya and Talawa—with
leave to retain his present appointment.

The Committee consider the fee now
asked by Mr. Cowan to be decidedly
moderate. They consider that the ex-
periment should be carried out, if it is
carried out at all, without further delay,
and they consider that an experiment
extending over a year will provide a
satisfactory test as to whether a high
grade of tobacco can be grown at a profit
in such a situation as Maha-iluppalama.

The Committee accordingly recom-
mend :

(a) That a sum not exceeding the
araount of Rs. 27,500 already voted for
the purpose be expended upon an ex-
periment in Tobacco Growing and
Curing for one year at Maha-iluppalama.

(b) That Mr. Cowan be appointed to
supervise the experiment on the terms
reterred to in para 5.

(c) That Government be requested to
provide Mr. Cowan with a free railway

: 64

[JANUARY, 1910

pass between Nanuoya and Talawa, an

during the period of the experiment.

Mr. Cowan’s estimate of expenditure— ~

a copy of which is annexed—shows that
the experiment can be carried out with
the funds now in the hands of the
Society, and at the same time leave a
balance amply sufficient to defray the -
expenditure on a scheme for the estab-
lishment of Experimental Gardens.

In the meantime, in view of the neces-
sity for commencing operations at once,
owing to climatic considerations, His Kx-
cellency the President of the Board has
been asked provisionally to sanction a
commencement at once on the lines
above indicated.

R. H. Lock.

BERNARD SENIOR.

A, KANAGASABAI.

H. Marcus FERNANDO.

M. KeLway BAMBER.
EDWARD COWAN.

JOHN D. VANDERSTRAATEN.
C. DRIEBERG.

RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED.

H. EH. the Governor: Members will see
from this report that the Committee
have gone into the matter quite
thoroughly, and the result of their en-
quiries has been that they recommend
to the Society that Mr. Cowan should
be engaged at a fee very much less than-
that originally mentioned which would
have practically swamped the vote.
Mr, Cowan is at present going to retain
his present post and carry on the experi-
ment, keeping watch at Maha-ilupalama,
and continue there, when necessary, on
receiving a moderate fee of Rs. 3,000 a
year which will leave us quite a good sum
to carry on the experiment. I think lhad

- better read these items of expenditure :—

ToBAcco ESTIMATE 50 AOREs.

Cooly pay and rice 100 at R. ec.
40 each ms ..- 14,600 00
Superintendent’s fee or ;
Conductor’s Nez a
3 drying sheds (1 to be used
for F. shed) .-. 08,500 00
Tools, 1 mamotie, 1 rake, a5

W.can percooly) ... 385000
Planks for shading 150,000... 200 00
Seed, string, needles,

mats 1,000 00
Leaf baskets 200 00
Mats for stapling and

baling 300 CO

Contingencies, including ee
baling press

26,300 00
~ (Sgd.) EpwarRpD CowAN.,
Dessford, Nanuoya, Noy. 16th, 1909,

x

OS eras Cae

~

"JANUARY, 1910.)

,

Dr. H. M. Fernando moved that the

recommendations of the Tobacco Com-

mittee be adopted.
The Hon. Mr. F. C. Loos seconded, and
the motion was carried.

THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

MEMORANDUM ON A TOUR IN SOUTH INDIA
(Nov. 29—Dee. 17, 1909).

Read before the Board of Agriculture,
December 18th, 1909,

Believing that it would be a good thing
to show some of our Instructors the
work going onat one or more of the
Agricultural stations in India (which
with the enormous resources it com-
mands and the settled policy it has
adopted, presents special opportunities
for study to those who are concerned
with the improvement of native agri-
cultural methods), I conceived the idea
of conducting a short tourin Southern
India accompanied by the two senior
Instructors; and I feel grateful for the
sanction which H. H. the President gave
to my proposal that we should visit the
Koilpati Agricultural Station and the
Home Farm at Sivagiri.

The futility of attempting to effect
agricultural reforms among a conser-
vative people, wedded to

THE SETTLED PRACTICES OF AGES,

by the wholesale introduction of the
methods and appliances of another
nation with which they have little in

ce eae eer ie Mee A Hee fe Bead Baa ee oa

common, has been proved too often.°

The more rational policy is undoubtedly
an evolutionary one which seeks to

- bring about the gradual improvement of

existing methods and appliances. The
Imperial Agricultural Department of
India, working on these lines is endea-
youring in the first instance to spread a
knowledge, aad popularise the practice,
of all that isbest in the Empire before

- jooking to outside sources for means of

improvement, and it is surprising how
much good work has been done in

- this way.

I selected the two stations referred
to above owing to the fact that the one
illustrates the system of cultivation
recommended for dry lands, and the
other for wet lands.

The Koilpati farm is conveniently
situated abouta mile from the Railway
station of the same name. This insti-
tution is one of three working under
Mr. H. C. Sampson, Deputy Director of
Agriculture forthe Southern Division
of the Madras Presidency, whose head-
quarters are Trichinopoly. Of the other
two stations one is at Palur, a

Miscellaneous.

CENTRE OF THE GROUNDNUT AREA,

and the other at Talliparamba in the
Malabar country where the principal
crops are paddy and pepper. Koilpati
is the centre of an important cotton
district.

The permanent staff at the station
consists of a Manager, two assistants,
and a clerk, besides watchers, overseers,
and coolies.

The farm is 140 acres in extent, and is
made up of a black soil tract of 115 acres,
andared soil of 25 acres, The farm
stock cousist of 8 pairs of working bulls,
chiefly Congayum cattle, noted for their
strength and endurance, and costing
from Rs. 150 to Rs. 250 a pair.

The station is allowed an annual vote
of Rs. 5,000, more than half of which is
recovered in one way or another. The
average rainfall at Koilpati is 25 inches.
The implements used are of the simplest
description, consisting of the country
plough and three other appliances
employed in the Northern districts, viz.,
the seed drill or ‘‘ gorru,” the blade culti-
vator or ‘‘ guntaka,” and a combination
of blade hoes called the ‘* Dantalu.”

The ordinary method of cultivation
by the ryot is entirely dependent on the
plough which is used to prepare the
land for sowing, cover the seed, and for
stirring the soil and thinning out after
the plants are up.

By the use of the three other imple-
ments named much more

SYSTEMATIC AND SATISFACTORY WORK

is possible, The seed drill enables the
seed to be sown in straight rows in
narrow furrows opened out by the tines
running in front of the tubes (of bamboo
or tin) through which the seeds are
dropped. The drill is constructed to
sow from 2 to 6 rows, and is worked by a
pair of bullocks, a driving man and a
boy feeding the seed. After the drill
comes the blade cultivator which acts as
a harrow and covers the seed.

The blade hoes are employed for weed-
ing and ‘stirring the soil while the crop
is growing, the regular sowing allowing
of inter-cultivation resulting in a soil-
mulch which is so important a provision
in dry cultivation. A set of these imple-
ments—-which I have secured—costs only
Rs. 15 onthe spot. They are easily made
and repaired, and should at least serve
us as models.

The station
with the
IMPROVEMENT OF COTTON CULTIVATION,
and the importance of this work may be
judged from the fact that there are
about 1# million acres under this crop in

is cbiefly concerned

Miscellaneous.

the Madras Presideney, while the Tinne-
velly district produces about } of the
cotton yielded by the whole Presidency.

Cotton is sown with the N. HK.
Monsoon (i.e, in September-October)
which begins with copious rains that
gradually diminish in December, while
the period from January to March is
comparatively dry. This distribution
of rainfall allows time for the proper
setting of the main crop, while the N. EH.
wind is reckoned un to ripen the cotton
and burst the pods. The picking gener-
ally begins in February. The April-
May rains, as a rule, produce another
flush of blossoms which yield a second or
“summer” crop. Occasional heavy rain
is to be preferred to frequent light
showers. By June the crop is over and
the preparation of the land for the next
season follows.

Two kinds of cotton are commonly
cultivated, the produce of which is
known as ‘ Tinnies,” viz., ‘‘Karangani”
which is indigenous and ‘‘ Uppam,”
a naturalised species. The former is
classified as Gossypium obtusifolium and
the latter as G. herbaceum. The aim of
the cotton operations on the farm is
directed towards producing a

UNIFORM LINT OF IMPROVED LENGTH

and quality and a higher yield. To this
end plant-breeding and selection, and
better methods of cultivation and
manuring are being carried on. As the
supply of superior Karangani seed does
not suffice to meet the demand, seed-
farms have been established in con-
venientcentres. These farms, if worked
entirely by the Department, would
naturally cost a great deal, for which
reason an arrangement which is of
mutual benefit to the cultivator and the
Department is resorted to. The Depart-
ment selects what is considered to be a
suitable site in a village, and enters into
an agreement with the owner to carry
out the object it hasin view. On the
one side

SERED AND IMPLEMENTS ARE ALLOWED

FREE

by the Department which pays the
assessment irate and also gurantees to
purchase the seed cotton at Rs. 4 per
eandy of 500 pounds above the market
price. The implements it is sought to
popularise are worked by the station
farm hands, and the crop is thus cultivat-
ed according to the most approved
system.

The ryot on his side is expected to do
the preliminary work of ploughing,
manuring by penning sheep and weed-
ing, and also supply cattle. By this
arrangement the Department carries on

demonstrations in the working of imple-
ments, proves the value of better
methods of cultivation, and, at the same
time, secures a supply of good seed for
distribution, The farm labourers are
men whoare taken from among the ryots
themselves, and are made the effectual
means of proving the advantages of the

METHODS AND APPLIANCES RECOMMENDED
BY THU DEPARTMENT.

It may be thought that the terms
offered to the ryot in connection with
liese seed-farms are too liberal, but
such terms are necessary at lirst if any
reform is tobe effected. A niggardly
policy under such circumstances is only
calculated to defeat the objectit has in
view. Gradually, however (as is indeed
the case at Koilpati) the concessions may
be withdrawn as confidence is gained in
the methods and appliances reeommend-
ed by the Department. Already the
ryots are adopting these, and as the
prejudices of one locality are overcome
the scene of operations is shifted to
another.

Authorities do not seem to be agreed
as to the seed-rate for cotton. The West
Indian Department advises 6 lbs. for
Sea Island and Mr. McCall 48 Ibs. for
Egyptian. At Koilpati for drill sowing
10 lbs. are considered as ample and
leaving a good margin for thinning.

Various tests are being carried on as
regards seed rate, depth of cultivation,
spacing, and manuring.

IN THE MANURING EXPERIMENTS

acre plots have been treated with cattle
manure as conserved by the ryot as well
as according to improved methods. The
ryot collects his manure either in
exposed heaps or. pits, interlayering it
with silt, while the more approved
means of storage are the loose box
system, in which the manure is collected
in situ in aloose box and covered over
each day witha layer of litter, and the
byre-pit system in which the manure
and litter are removed daily and
collected in a covered pit. Manuring
with artificials is also being tried.

THE TWO CHIEF CHREAL CROPS

of the district are Cumbu (Pennisetum
typhoideum), and cholam (Sorghum
vulgare). Cumbu, the favourite grain
crop of the ryot, is being grown on
the farm in combination with various
legumes, e.g., dhall, lab-lab, cluster bean,
and sunn-hemp). New varieties from the
Transvaal are also being tried, The
fodder from Cumbu is reckoned to be
poor. :

Ragi (Lleusine coraccana) our ‘‘ Kurak-
kan” isalso cultivated to a considerable

,
?
4
:
.

Si Me in) 2
ik Ss ae aaa 3

ow

JANUARY, 1910.}

extent, andis being grownat the station
in depressed beds as well as on ridges
with a view to demonstrating that
the former is the better method for
* summer” and the latter for ‘“‘ winter ”

- eultivation.

Cholum (Sorghum vulgare) is very
extensively cultivated in the district as
a fodder, for which purpose it is sown
very thick.

A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS ARE IN
PROGRESS

with eighteen varieties, to ascertain
which are best for fodder and which for
grain. The proper rate of sowing is also
the subject of enquiry. The ryots sow
about 40 up to 100 lbs. ; on the farm rates
varying from 8 to 20 lbs. are being tried,
The best period for cutting for fodder is
another matter being looked into. The

- practice of growing fodder for cattle is

one that cannot be too highly com-
mended, showing as it does that the
cultivators place a proper value on their
stock. The result is that they keep only
as many animals as they need and can
feed and look after properly. Cattle are
always tended,and fields are seldom
fenced. Sorghum fodder (dried into a
kind of hay) is highly esteemed and
fetches a good price.

Various other crops are being
RAISED FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES,

€.9.. Ccow-peas, to ascertain the best
varieties for fruit and for green mature,
Dolichos lablab as a soil renovator and
smother crop, and so on.

A very interesting object lesson was
furnished by the onion plantation in
propagating (1) with seed-bulbs, (2) with
bulbs from seedling plants, and (3) with
seed from a succession of seedling plants.
The results were most strikingly in
favour of the last system. The method

of cultivation was also well worth
studying.
The instructors were given every

facility for seeing the working of the
various farm implements. They also
had an opportunity of seeing the

TRAPPING OF GRASSHOPPERS ON
DRY LAND,

and of paddy-flies on wet land by means
of the bag recommended by Mr. Lefroy.

The Koilpati agricultural station is
well organised and efficiently managed.
The experiments are carefully arranged
and carried out on a sufficiently large
scale to give them weight. The de-
monstrations are conclusive and appeal
to the visitor. The work on the farm
is influencing the operations of the
ryot. I congratulate the Deputy Di-
rector and his staff on these results.

9

67

Miscellaneous.

Sivagiri, says Mr. Lonsdale, the Agri-
cultural Expert, in one of his reports,
is 12 miles as the crow flies from San-
kuranakoil, but

IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY MEANS OF
AVIATION,

I found it 48 miles by bullock carts
from Satur railway station; and when
it was stated that this same road had
to be traversed on the return journey,
it is hardly necessary to add that the
Home Farm is not very conveniently
situated for visitors.

The Farm consists of 281 acres, of
which 2538 are under wet cultivation.
It is prettily situated at the foot of
the Western Ghauts, beyond which lies
the State of Travancore.

It is best known for its successful
results in paddy growing, and was,
therefore, I reckoned, a suitable place
tor my Instructors to visit. This suc-
cess, as Mr, Lonsdale himself admits,
is to a great extent due to the labours
of the Farm Superintendent,

The Sivagiri plough, of which I have
secured a sample, is used both on dry
and wet land, and is now being adopted
by many cultivators in the Tinnevelly
district. It is simple in structure,
weighs about 24 lbs., and costs on the
spot only Rs. 6. These

PLOUGHS ARE MADE ON THE FARM

under the eye of the Superintendent,
and my Instructors not only had op-
portunity of taking part in a plough-
ing demonstration, but also in seeing
how the ploughs are made.

On the 5th instant the extensive paddy
tracts were visited and the different
operations in progress carefully followed,
Here wet land ploughing, the method
of applying green manure raised in situ,
and the transplanting of single paddy
seedlings were watched.

The farm has done much to encourage
the use of green manure by inducing
cultivators to sow ‘‘ Kolingi” (Tephrosia
purpurea) as soon as the paddy crop
is harvested, about March-April. The

GREEN MANURE IS WORKED INTO
THE LAND,
when it is ploughed again in Septem-
ber-October.

Tephrosia, the Sinhalese ‘pila’ and
Tamil ‘Kavalai’ is a common weed on
waste lands. To prove its value, and to
meet the demand created by the suc-
cessful operations on the KFarm, the
Superintendent by offering a measure
of paddy for one of thrashed ‘ Kolingi’
seed, has collected large quantities, In

Miscellaneous.

THE RECLAIMING OF SALINE LAND

it has been found a good plan to dig
in ‘Tephrosia’ till the land is able to
grow the plant itself and ultimately
support other crops.

Another green manure recommended
is sunn-hemp (Crotalaria juncea), our
‘Hana,’ which givesa crop within eight
weeks, so that it may be sown much
later and almostat the regular ploughing
seasons. It is recorded that paddy land
which was never known to yield more
than 700 Madras measures (about 32
‘bushels) per acre, had its yield in-
ereased to 1,225 measures (about 55
bushels) by a dressing of sunn-hemp
raised in the field. ‘This crop has the
additional recommendation of being an
excellent fodder, 3nd evenif the stalks
are cut for that purpose, is found to
leave the land enriched.

The results of

PADDY CULTIVATION AT THE FARM
as given by Mr. Lonsdale in the Agri-
cultural Journal of India are interest-
ing, and to many in Ceylon will be
startling. Hesays: ‘* The value of the
average yield of each of the 252 acres, viz.,
1,840 Madras measures, was Rs. 210°10.
The cost of production was also care-
fully worked out. As practically the
whole of the Farm receipts are obtained
from paddy, the whole working expenses
ot the Farm were charged to paddy.
The cost of production of the 1,340
Madras measures (the average yield per
acre) being approximately Rs. 37:00, the
net profit per acre was Rs. 83:10.”

Among other interesting work going
on is

SEED SELECTION WITH PADDY-

The finest ears are picked out from
the best fields at harvest time. These
are threshed separately. Care is taken
to pick out ears true to variety and
free from diseases with the grains fully
ripe and closely set. One of the chief
objects in selecting is to increase
drought-resisting properties. Hxcept
in the case of very sandy and poor
soils, the dry cultivation of wet lands
is found to have a very good effect.
Anticipating the objection to breaking
up the sward on paddy-fields, Mr. Lons-
dale says: ‘‘ More is lost in paddy than is
gathered in grass, and the shortage in
grass must be replaced by the growth
of some fodder such as sunn-hemp.”

The inspection of the seed store, the
examination of various kinds of paddy,
and the discussion ot their properties
occupied the morning of the 5th, and
may result in the

INTRODUCTION INTO CEYLON

ot some suitable varieties. I have
secured samples of the best kinds of

if desired. Spacing and irrigation _re-
quirements are also being studied. The

planting of one or more
a hole and at varying distances has
gone to show that the single seedling
method is the best. As regards irriga-
tion the results of experiments has
proved that a 3
GOOD DEAL OF WATER IS WASTED
under ordinary conditions of cultiva-
tion; and_ that quite as good crops have
been obtained in many cases with 30 as
with 60 of water, provided the small
quantity is used judiciously.

Mr. Lonsdale has. found that, if wet

seedlings in

lands are ploughed in the dry state, even ~

a month before they are to be brought
into a puddle, the weeds will have been
killed and will not require drowning with
water, much of which is allowed to run
to waste ; and further, that paddy irri-
gated and then allowed to become al-
most dry between each application
of water can withstand drought for a
longer time than under ordinary condi-
tions.

Among other crops rasied on the Farm
fre sugar-cane, which yields a handsome
return, and plantains—set’ out 1,000 to
the acre and kept as single plants—
besides a variety of grains and pulses.

Altogether the work going on at
Sivagiri was full of interest, particularly
the systemetic way in which green
manuring is done in connection with
paddy cultivation, by growing Tephro-
sia on the land. At the time of our
visit there was a tract of over 20 acres
carrying a heavy growth of this
legume, ready for ploughing in before
preparing the land for paddy.

At the end of the ten days to which
the sanctioned tour was limited, I was
to have entered upon a week’s holiday,
but the Instructors, having had their
appetite for travel and study whetted,
pressed for a few days’ leave to enable
them to visit

ONE OF THE CENTRES OF FRUIT
CULTIVATION,

and under the special circumstances I
acceded to the request. After discuss-
ing Salem and Bangalore, I decided in
favour of the latter as being par excel-
lence the
India, where the flora of Hast and West
blend with astonishing fara
The time spent in Bangalore was fully
occupied in visiting gardens and nur-
series—studying methods

conditions under which the high grade
produce, for which the district has be-
come so famous, is raised—from apples

fruit garden of Southern >

of propaga- _
tion and cultivation, and noting the —

“January, 1910.]

wy

_ and grapes to oranges and mangoes, and

from potatoes and cauliflowers to
paral and chillies, A day was given
o the

MYSORE FRUIT SYNDICATH’S FARM

of over 40 acres, where especially select-
ed strains of fruits are being cultivated
according to the most up-to-date
methods, and three visits paid to the
State Botanical Gardens, which, under
its new Superintendent, Mr. Krum-
biegel, is fast developing the economic
side of horticulture. These experiences
presented opportunities which it would

have been a pity for the Instructors to

have altogether missed, as they would,
had they terminated their tour at
Satur; and personally I am glad—even

- at the costof my holiday—that I ac-

companied them to Bangalore, and
showed them much that should prove
useful to them in their sphere of work

in Ceylon.

Mr. DRIEBERG THANKED.

H.. EK. the Governor : 1] am sure mem-
bers will agree with me that we are very
much indebted to Mr. Drieberg for
having passed his holiday in such a very
useful manner, and having furnished
us with the remarkably able memoran-
dum which he has just read. (Applause.)
It is full of practical remarks, and shows
that he has certainly exercised his
powers of observation to the maximum
extent. I thinklam voicing the views
of this meeting when I say that our
hearty thanks are due to Mr, Drieberg
for his paper. (Applause.)

REPORT ON SCHOOL GARDEN
SHOW :

HELD AT MIRIGAMA SCHOOL,
30TH OCTOBER, 1909.

Fruits.—There was a comparatively
large number of entries in this class,
and the quality of the exhibits was
generally good. Oranges, limes and
woodapples of good quality were much
in evidence; but, contrary to what
might be expected, pineapples and plan-
tains were poorly represented. Rambu-
tan, Mangosteen and Durian, being out
of season, were of course not entered.

Vegetables.—Of these there was a good
miscellaneous display. The most stand-
out exhibits were in the Gourd family,
there being very fine pumpkins, Among
the ‘‘yams” there were numerous gro-
tesqve specimens, and the task of the
judges in deciding on the best was a
difficult one.

ear

Miscellaneous.

Plants in Pots.—These were few in
number, but the specimens shown were
well grown and of good quality.

The Show on the whole, though the
first of the kind held in Ceylon, would
compare well with many a village show,
and reflected credit on those School
Gardens participating in it.

H. F. Macmityan, Co-Judge.

Royal Botanic Gardens,
Peradeniya, 4th Nov., 1909.

DRY FARMING PRINCIPLES.

(From the Queensland Agricultural
Journal, Vol. a ies Part 2: Aioaat:
109.)

From evidence given by practical farm-
ers engaged in dry farming through-
out the State of Wyoming, U.S.A., in
response to letters addressed to them by
the authorities of the Wyoming Univer-
sity and Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion, it would appear that, with the em-
ployment of proper methods, combined in
a measure with stock-raising, dry farm-
ing is a profitable enterprise. In that
State there are over 14,000,0000 acres of
land with a rainfall of over 15 in. per
annum. There are nearly 39,000,000 acres
with an annual precipitation of between
125 and 15 in. All the arable land in these
aveas will grow profitable crops by dry
farming in a majority of seasons. Then
there are nearly 19,000,000 acres, of
which probably one-half receives less
than 10. of rainfall.

Under the most favourable conditions
crops have been successfully grown on a
precipitation of less than 10 in., but still
it would he hazardous fora settler to

-venture much in the hope of gaining a

livelihood on a 320-acre homestead when
he knew that 10 in. per annum was the
average, and that in one-half the seasons
it would fall short of that amount.

Total annual precipitation is no con-
clusive guide in locating districts where
dry-land farming can be successfully
practised. The quantity and character
of rainfall during the growing seasons,
together with altitude, length of
season, amount and severity of wind,
hail storms, early and late frosts, are
all factors which contribute to the solu-
tion of the question. The heavy dews
which trequently occur in Queensland
would also be a factor in this State,
Now, as to the ‘‘Principles of Dry Farm-
ing,” the first to be considered is—

Miscelianeous. 70

Ploughing.—From the evidence above-
mentioned, there seems to be no question
of the desirability of having the plough-
ing done some considerable period
before the time of planting, and that
the land should be so handled during the
fallow period as to render it capable
of taking up and holding every particle
of moisture possible. Autumn plough-
ing is recommended, where it can be
practised, for spring crops and _ for seed-
ing the following autumn. Whenever
autumn ploughing is done, the ground
should be left as rough as it can be, in
order that it may catch the snow (that
isin. Wyoming) Kor summer tilling,
land ploughed in autumnis better; but a
summer-tilled ground for an autumn-
sown crop may be ploughed early in
spring. Where possible, a depth of 8in.
should be maintained, while some advo-
eate ploughing 10 in.

Harrowing,—As a rule, all land should
be harrowed almost immediately after
it is ploughed, the only exception being
autumn-ploughed land, which should
lie rough during the winter. As a rule,
summer-tilled land should be ploughed
after each shower of heavy rain, es-
pecially when the storm has compacted
the soil in any degree. The harrow
should be used on cereal grains in the
spring and on cultivated crops, should
the ground become encrusted before the
crop is sufficiently far advanced to
cultivate. The dise or lucerne harrow
should be used on permanent meadows
and lucerne fields early in the growing
season to aerate the soil and mellow
the surface to as great an extent as
possible.

The Roller.—The roller and the sub
surface packer are valuable implements
in the hands of the dry farmer, if used
with caution. The ordinary smooth
roller should be discarded for the cor-
rugated roller, which serves to pack the
ground; at the same time it leaves a
roughened surface from which the mois-
ture does not readily evaporate. The
sub-surface packer performs the same
kind of work, and, on fresh-ploughed,
mellow soil, may be more desirable.
The corrugated roller serves many pur-
poses, and does not leave the hard,
smooth surface which seems to encour-
age rapid evaporation.

Weeder.—The most_ useful of imple-
ments for rapid work in light cultiva-
tion isthe weeder. This cultivates the
surface of the ground to a depth of 1
or 2 in:, is operated very easily, and
one team can cultivate a large surface
in a short space of time. It is practi-
cally a light harrow, and does the work

-ally bear in mind that,

much more cheaply than the OLDTAEE
harrow, wherever the ground is in suc

condition that the weeder will penetrate
the ground to the necessary depth:

For the cultivation of cereal crops, the ~

first process would naturally be to
harrow with the ordinary spike-tooth
harrow. Following this, one or two
cultivations should be made with the
weeder, which may operate on fields
of grain until the growth is 1 ft: op
more iv height. It serves to preserve
the soil mulch, break the crust, and pro-
mote ventilation. ‘

Drills and Seeding.— While all the re-
ports mentioned indicate that a variety
of drills have proved successful, it is
universally conceded that some form
of press drill is necessary to get the
best results from dry-land farming. Any
means whereby the soil is well com-
pacted around the seed produces the
desired result. Rolling the land, how-
ever, should be followed by the harrow
or weeder, in order that the surface
may be roughened and evaporation
checked. Where one is compelled to
sow broadcast, the corrugated roller
is recommended. Even the ordinary
smooth roller may be employed to com-
pact the ground after seeding, but the
process should be followed at once by
some sort of light cultivation.

Cryps.—The dry farmer, more than
the humid or irrigation farmer, must
select and grow crops adapted to his
local conditions. The developing of
varieties capable of contending with
aridity is progressing rapidly. Rotating
of crops, conserving and utilising of
farm manures, and maintaining a full
complement of live stock are essentials
to the highest degree of success in dry-
land farming. Some of the crops which
have demonstrated their adaptability
to Wyoming dry-land conditions are—
Beardless Barley, Macaroni Wheat,
Turkey Red Winter Wheat, Winter and
Spring Ryes, Oats, Spelt, Broom Grass,
Lucerne, Potatoes, Sugar Beets, and,
in the lower latitudes, Indian Corn
and Milo Maize.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.

The dry-land farmer must continu-
in order to
succeed, he must study the physical
characteristics of his soil, and take
advantage of every possible means of
conserving allthe moisture that falls,
whether it comes during the prepar-
ation of the Jand for seeding, during the
growing period of the crop, or after
a crop has been harvested. The found-
ation principle of conservation of mois-
ture is to provide and maintain at the

~

- JANUARY, 1910) &

surface a layer of loose soil, which
serves to prevent the escape of moisture
by evaporation. In the majority of
cases it will be necessary to conserve
the moisture of two seasons for a single
crop; and early, deep ploughing, sum-
mer tilling of the land, and so arranging
the crops that two seasons’ rainfall will
be largely utilised for each crop, are

Miscetlaneous.

the means Of securing the desired results:
The dry-land farmer cannot afford to
be at all careless about any of these
operations. He should also remember
that every weed allowed to grow in
his cultivated crops saps its proportion
of the moisture from the land, and thus
robs him of a portion of his just dues.

Correspondence.

DEATH BY EATING POISONOUS
FRUITS.

Dear SirR,—The annexed cutting ap-
pears in the Ceylon Observer of Friday,
August 20th :—

“A woman, 30 years of age, of Nuge-
goda, died in hospital this morning,
having eaten poisonous fruits. She went
to the jungle to pick firewood, and there
was attracted by fruit on a tree. Pluck-
ing one she ate it, and finding it tasty,
plucked three more and ate them, On
returning home a native doctor was
summoned, and he advised her removal
to hospital. The fruit was called
Hondala. The doctors could not cure
her and she expired this morning.”

‘‘Hondala” is the Sinhalese name for
Uodecca palmata, one of the Passi-
floraceze. It isa common plant in the
jungles, with a showy orange-coloured
fruit containing black seeds surrounded
by a sweetish white pulp.

I can speak from bitter experience of
the extremely irritant character of the
poison, asI very nearly died from the
merest taste of two or three seeds.. To
the best of my recollection, I only bit
through the seeds and pulp and im-
mediately ejected them. But within an
hour I began to vomit violently, and
continued doing so, at intervals of a few
minutes, all through that night and—at
gradually longer intervals—throughout
the following day. The poison then
worked lower and caused intense griping
and diarrho@a, from which I did not
wholly recover for nearly a week.

Yours, ete.,
E. BE. GREEN.

PAPER INDUSTRY IN JAPAN.
21-35, Nakamura, Yokohama,
Dear Sir,—By way of response to an
article on the ‘*‘ Paper and Papier Mache
in Bengal” by Mr, D. N. Mookerjee, M.A,,
which appeared in your Magazine of

October number, I venture to write on
the subject of hand-making bast paper
industry of Japan.

Our process of manufacture is essenti-
ally same asin Bengal with the exception
of some improvement in tools, some-
what larger in sizes of paper made
and undoubted superiority of materials
used here. Amongst the so-called paper-
makers there are very few who solely
subsist in the avocation, but mostly they
are semi-agriculturists even in the noted
paper-making districts,—the artisan who
produces the finest art paper in the
world at least cultivates enough food
stuff for his own use. Paper made in
cold season is much better, as our
vegetable mucilage gets decomposed
quicker in warm seasons and the paper
is not made all the year round. This
change of occupation may do good for
their existence, as the paper-maker’s lot
is hardest drudgery everywhere,

; MATERIALS.

(1) Gampi—Wickstremia paucifiora,
shrub attaining 5-8 feet high, growing
wild along the southern fringe of Japan
in the climate where camphor _ trees
thrive, from the bast the celebrated
Japanese copying is made. The pure
pulp costs as high as two shillings per lb.
The supply is getting exhausted fast,
because, if cultivated, the plant loses the
original quality and the fibre gets very
weak in strength.

(2) Broussonetia papyrifera is the most

useful plant and extensively cultivated
all over the country but requires no
attention—three to five years old with
stems of aninch diameter at the base,
6-8 ft. high produce the best fibre, Very
strong paper is made as is used for the
Japanese paper door panels, umbrellas,
lanterns ; where tension strength is need-
ed no other paper can take its place.
_ 8) Kdgeworthia papyrifera,—weakest
in strength, but fine paper is made such
as the Japanese bank notes, document
paper, known as the vellum paper, just
like the Kuropean imitation paper called
the ‘“ Japan,”

Correspondence.

(4) Hibiseus Manihot root is used for
the mucilage. This requires no after-
sizing unless the paper be used for
special purposes.

The preceding three principal fibrous
shrubs compose the materials of our

bast paper. In this age of machinery
and science, the hand-making process
seems too primitive and tedious in

sympathy with general progresses, and
the makers have constant struggles
against the force and feel’ sometimes
disheartened to meet the demand for
exactness in every respect. But, for-
tunately, whether be it an encourage-
ment or simply a forceof habit, our
Government made it a rule to use the
hand-made paper only for their corres-
pondence, legal forms and all lesson
books for the primary schools, as the
paper stands better for children’s rough
handling; besides the manifold uses in
toilet and hygienic purposes the hand-
made paper is indispensable in Japan for
some generations to come. -

Mr. Ferdinard Flinsch, the famous
German paper-maker, who sent his son
here some years ago in order to make
the bast paper by machinery, bought
several tons of the materials and export-
ed them to Germany ; but he did not sue-
ceed in devising either suitable machin-
ery or found the supply of the materials
too limited and gave up the attempt
since. An English paper firm has been
contemplating the same project, but
stands still at present. Two Japanese
makers contrived machinery by which
copying paper is being made into rolls of
about 20 inches width and sold at about
1s. 6d. per lb., but the paper is weak as
“compared with the hand-made, and con-
sumers prefer the latter, so very little
business is done in the former.

There will be a steady demand for the
hand-made paper in Japan so long as
people write with brushes and Indian ink.
It has a porous rough surface and absorbs
ink as one writes. The Japanese archi-
tecture requires the paper door which
gives the light effect of ground glass
and imparts warmth to the house. In
some stormless patts of the country we

have houses that have the outside shut-
ters made of half wood below and paper-
ed upper part. Such paper is usually ~
changed yearly. People pay four or five
times higher price for this than for
machine-made-paper, yet competition
compels the makers to mix 30-50% straw or
wood pulp to the detriment of their own
interest, and there are worthless hand-
made papers on the market. Sentimental
people, as we are, must use the conven-
tional kind of paper on all occasions
of ceremony, but soon as the con-
sumer find no goodness in the hand-
made paper the industry must go to the
wall. Genuine quality of the paper is
now getting rare; still fine paper can be
made for specific requirements. Such is
the state of affairs the makers have to
contend with, but nevertheless the de-
mand is ever increasing as people pro-
gress towards material advancemennt.
One can see a part of the trade in the
volume of exports of the paper for the

year 1908 :—

é lbs. Value Yen.
Copying paper... 684,159 428, 186
General Aye ecto od iyste aya 424,146
Vellum se Peele COD ES 155,515

ora rough total of 1,188 tons valued
£100,000 at an average price of 10d. per Ib.
Besides, there are innumerable fancy
articles made of the bast paper. I myself
have been manufacturing leather paper
for wall hanging out of the waste paper—
gold embossed decoration with painted
back ground costing a shilling per square
yard. We exported up to nearly £20,000
a year once, but the demand has now
dwindled down to about £5,000.

Knowing nothing about the quality of
Bengal paper and domestic requirements,
I cannot express my opinion, If the
nature of fibre be good and the hand-
made paper can command four or five
times over and above the value of
machine-made paper, the industry should
be encouraged by administrative policy
or other means to_revive the art, which
otherwise must submit to the force of
machinery as is the fate in every branch
of industries.

Yours faithfully,
Ss. TIDA.

THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE

Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the G. A. 8.

Compitep BY A. M. & J. FERGUSON.

—

=S==s —

No. 1,]

JANUARY, 1910.

[ Von. WAL

. RUBBER FROM WEST AFRICA.

SOUTHERN NIGERIA.

The following specimens of rubber from
Southern Nigeria have been examined recently
at the Imperial Institute :—

Funtumia Etastica RupBER.—-Three specimens
of this rubber, prepared in biscuit form, were
forwarded by the Provincial Forest Officer at
Benin City for comparative examination.

‘A, Biscuit rubber made from F, elustica,
under supervision of A H Unwin, Provincial
Forest Officer, Benin City.’ Weight, 1 lb.—The
specimen consisted of rough sheets of rubber,
varying in colour from light to dark brown,
clean and well prepared. The rubber exhibited
good elasticity and tenacity. An analysis of it
showed it to have the following composition :—

Percentage Rubber as Composition of
of received, dry rubber,
Moisture 5G 16 : =
Caoutchouci ae 87 9 89 4
Resin fa 8°5 8°6
Proteids me 1°6 16
Ash 04 04

8 The rubber was valued at 3s 2d to 3s 4d per
Ib. in this country, with fine hard Para rubber
at 4s 6d per !b. and Benin lump rubber at 2s to
2s 1d per lb. on the same date.

‘B. Biscuit rubber made from Ff, elastica, by
Igodaro, Deputy Forest Ranger, Benin City.’
Weight, 1 lb.—Sheets of rubber similar to
sample A, but rougherand darker in colour,—
The rubber had the following composition :—

ercentage Rubber as Composition of
E of : received, dry rubber,
‘Moisture tity 71 =a
Caoutchouc G 81°6 at
Resin oo 83 a
Proteids 3 23 Be
Insoluble matter 07 8
‘Ash 0°40 0°43

The specimen was valued at 33 to 3s 2d per |b.
in this country, with fine hard Para at 4s 6d per
lb, and Benin lump rubber at 2s to 2s 1d per Ib,

‘C. Biscuit rubber made from F'. elastica by
the natives, and sold by them to the Factory,
Benin City.’ Weight, 14 lb,—Coarse sheet rub-

10

ber of uneven thickness, dark colour, and not
thoroughly dried. Tho rubber was alittlo weaker
than the other sumples. The results of the

chemical examination were as follows :-—
Percentage Rubberas Composition of

of received, dry rubber,
Moisture 84 —
Caoutchouc Smee tent 85°8
Resin us 3°3 91
Proteids ne 2°8 sel
Insoluble matter ae 1s 2°0
Ash ze O63 0°69

The rubber was valued at 2s $d to 2s 9a per Ib.
in this country, with fine hard Para at 4s 6d per
lb, and Benin lump rubber at 2s to 2s 1d per lb.

THE RESULTS

of the investigation show that these three
samples of Funtumia rubber are of very fair
quality, andit is evident that if prepared in
this form the rubber will realise much higher
prices than the ordinary Benin Lump rubber.
Sample A,, prepared under the supervision of
the Forest Officer, was the best of the series,
both as regards chemical composition and ap.
pearance, but was closely followed by B. Sample
C, prepared by the natives, contained a larger
amount of proteid and insoluble matter than
the other two specimens, and the percentage of
caoutchouc is correspondingly reduced ; it was
also much rougher in appearance and had not
been dried so thoroughly. For these reasons
its value is a little lower than that of the other
samples. The preparation of Funtumia rubber
in the form of sheotsis a great improvement on
the usual native methods, and should be en-
couraged as far as possible,

BENIN LUMP RUBBER,

Two specimens of this rubber
examined :—

1) “161 B.” Weight, 8+ lb.—The sample con.
sisted of two large lumps and one_ thick
‘* biscuit” of rubber, which were dark-coloured
and dirty externally, but whito, porous and very
moist within. The rubber was soft and had a

very disagreeable odour ; its physical properties
were, however, fairly good

have been

74 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

A chemical examination gave the following
results :—

Percentage Rubber as Composition of

of received, dry rubber.
Moisture . ons 22°3 —
Caoutchouc Se 63°8 82°1
Kesin ae 6°8 87
Proteids bd 51 66
Insoluble matter Bb 2°0 2°6
Ash 0°63 0°82

The rubber was valued at 1s 10d to 1s 11d per
lb. inthis country, with fine hard Para quoted
at 3s 53d per lb. This sample is an average
specimen of ordinary ‘‘ Benin Lump” rubber.

(2) ‘*161C. Ugege tree and vine rubber.”
Weight 7 lb.—The sample consisted of three
large and three small lumps, which were all
dark-coloured and dirty externally. Some of
the lumps were fairly dry throughout, whereas
others were white and very moist internally.
The rubber was rather weak and ‘‘dead”; it
had a very unpleasant odour. The results of
the chemical examination are given in this table:

Percentage Rubber as Composition of
of received. dry rubber,
Moisture aie 65 _
Caoutchouc wo. 58°9 63°C
Resin Fe ey PES
Proteids ce 72 77
Insoluble matter os 77 8°23
Ash ve 1°57 1°68

The rubber was valued at 1s 6d per lbin this
country, with fine hard Para quoted at 3s 5$d

er lb, This is a sample of ordinary ‘ dead”

enin Lump rubber, containing a large per-
centage of resin.

“TUBABIKPAN” RUBBER (Clitandra Elastica.)—
The specimen, which weighed 5% lb., bore the
following label :—

‘No. 2. ‘Ubabikpan’ rubber from Clitandra,
elastica.” It consisted of 18 ** biscuits ” of rub-
ber ranging from 3 to6 inches in diameter, and
from % to l}inch in thickness. The biscuits,
which were covered with mould on arrival,
varied from brown to black externally, and
many of them were white and moist within
when freshly cut. Therubber was free from
stickiness, and exhibited good elasticity and
tenacity. The composition of the rubber was
found to be as follows :--

Percentage Rubber as Composition of
of received, dry rubber,

Moisture oe 5°2 _
Caoutchouc ag 85'7 90°4
Resin on 3°8 4°0
Proteids on 3°0 8°2
Insoluble matter 2.3 2°4

® at EES RS
Ash oo 040 0°42

The rubber was valued at 28 8d to 28 10d per
lb. in this country, with fine hard Para quoted
at 38 5$d per lb. The results of the chemical
examination are very satisfactory, the percea-
tages of resin and proteids being low. The
rubber would be improved in quality if the
‘¢ biscuits” were made thinner and were more
thoroughly dried.

RUBBER OF THE ‘‘MARODI” VINE.

The specimen was labelled ‘‘ Rubber from
‘ Marodi.’ A H Unwin, No. 269” ; and weighed
5202. It was a thick, rough biscuit of brown
rubber, about 6 inches in diameter, and from

3 to 4 inch thick. The rubber was dry, well
prepared, and exhibited very satisfactory phy-
sical properties. A chemical examination fur-
nished the following results :—

Percentage Rubber as Composition of
of received. dry rubber.
Moisture are 24 —
Caoutchouce ac 73°83 80°8
Resin BO 5°2 63
Proteids ne 9°3 95
Insoluble matter Ad 4°3 4°4
Ash ate 0°63 0°69

The sample was valued at 2s 6d per Ib. in
this country, with fine hard Para from South
America quoted at 3s ld per Ib.

This ‘‘ Marodi” rubber is of very fair quality,
and consiguments of similar character would be
readily saleable. The percentage of proteids is
rather high, and the amount of caoutchouc is
correspondingly reduced.

The Forest Officer stated that botanical speci-
mens of the ‘‘ Marodi” vine had been for-
warded to Kew for determination, but it appears
that they arrived in such bad condition that
identification was impossible.

RUBBER FROM THE GAMBIA,
oF Ficus Vogelii.

The results of a previous examination at the
Imperial Institute of a sample of the rubber of
Ficus Vogelii, Miq., from the Gambia, showed
that the product was of resinous nature, but
that it might be suitable for certain technical
purposes, larger specimens were, therefore,
requested in order that manufacturing trials
might be made, and as a result the samples
dealt with in this report were forwarded for
further examination,

_ Description of Samples.

No. 1. From the Kommbo district. Weight,
81 lb.—-I'he sample consisted of two large balls
of pale brown scrap rubber, which contained a
fair amount of vegetable impurity. ‘he rubber
was slightly moistin places and obviously very
resinous ; its elasticity and tenacity were poor.

No, 2. From the Bathurst district. Weight,
18 lb.—This consisted of a number of thick
cakes of rubber, which were very dark exter-
nally, but slightly moist and reddish-brown
within. The rubber obviously contained a large
amount of resin and exhibited poor elasticity
and tenacity, —

esults of Examination.

The results of the chemical examination of
the rubbers are given on the following table :—

Percentage Samples as Composition of
of received. dry rubber.
No. 1, No. 2. No. 1. No, 2
Moisture tas var 73 — ae
Caoutchouc .. 58°0 61'2 60°6 659
Resin .. 33'8 29°5 35°4 31'8
Proteids oer 12 15 1%
Insoluble matter.. 2*4 U8 2°65 U9
Ash ann WH 1.3 6 4

It will be seen from these figures that the two
specimens are similar in composition, but No. 2
is slightly superior in quality to No. 1,

e

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jans;, 1910, 95

Technical Trials.

The two samples of ruisber were submitted to
rubber manufacturers for technical trial and com-
mercial valuation, with the following results :---

One firm reported that after a careful exami-
nation they found that the rubber from the
Bathurst district (No. 2) is somewhat better
than that from the Kommbo district (No, 1).
The loss on washing was 6'2 per cent. in the
case of the former, and 7'l per cent, in the
latter. They valued the washed rubber from
No. 2 at 1s 1ld per}b, and that from No. 1 at
1s 7d per lb, with fine hard Para rubber quoted
at 2s 9d per !b (Nov. 1908).

A firm of cable manufacturers reported that
this rubber could not be employed for their pur-
poses, but might be usefulin other branches of
theindustry. They stated that the rubber is
very sticky in working and possesses very littie
elasticity or resilience ; the stickiness, moreover,
increases as the rubber is worked.

Conclusions.

These two samples of Ficus Vogelit rubber cor-
respond fairly closely in composition with the
previous specimen forwarded from the Gambia
to the Imperial Institute. It is evident that
the rubber is of very resinous character, the
three samples examined containing 29°9, 35-4
and 31'8 per cent, respectively, of this con-
stituent, but the results of the manufacturers’
trials show that the product conld be utilised
for certain technical purposes, and that if well
prepared it will realise a very fair price in the
market. The tree, therefore, appears to deserve
attention in those countries where it is suffi-
ciently abundant to furnish commercial supplies of
rubber.—Imperial Institute Bulletin, No. 3.,1909.

FUTURE RUBBER SUPPLY.

PROBABLE WORLD’S PRODUCTION
IN 1915.
Malacca Plantations’ report Criticised by Mr
Stanley Arden.

The report of tho directors of the Malacca
Rubber Plantations Ltd., submitted to the
third annual meeting of the shareholderson the
26th November andadopted unanimously, should
provide food for reflection for those interested
in the probable supply of rubber in the not ar
distant future.

In this report the directors inform us, that
‘‘the time has now arrived when they feel
justified in passing on to the shareholders the
carefully prepared estimates of future yield
made by the local management.” ;

These ‘‘ carefully prepared estimates” allow
for a production of 750,000 Ib. in 1910, increa-
sing steadily to 7,500,000 lb. in the year 1915:
as there are, according to the report 2,750,000
trees planted on 15,000 acres, this is equivalent
to an awerage yield of 2°72 lb per tree or 500 Ib.
per acre.

It is not my intention to criticise these
estimates; but, on tho assumption that they
are fair and reasonable, to follow the lead
whieh the Malacca directors have given us and

to endeavour to deduce from them an approxi-
mate estimate of the supply of plantation rubber,
say 5-6 years hence.

The average age of the trees on the Malacca
Kubber Co.’s estates works out at 2°83 years, but
owivg to lack of data I am unfortunately unable
to state definitely the average age of the whole
of the 573,138 acres wader cultivation, though
from the data at my disposal, [ shou!d put it at
just under 3 years at the time of writing. How-
ever, as we are not dealing with anything planted
during the current year, I think we are certainly
justified in assuming that the average age and
the average yield of the area under cultivation
will compare favourably with that of the Malacca
Rubber Co. estates; and it will probably come
as a surprise to some to find that on the basis
allowed by the directors of this Company—viz.
500 lb. per acre—the production of plantation
rubber from Southern Asia alone will amount to

NO LESS THAN 127,932 TONS 1N THE YEAR 1915,

At one-third the present price this would be
worth £38,379,600 sterling.

[ offer no comment upon these figures beyond
stating that although acquainted with the majo-
rity of rubber estates in the Malay Peninsula and
Sumatra, I have yet to learn that the Malacca
Co.’s estates enjoy any special advantages in the
matter of soil, climate, labour supply, transport,
or immunity from plant diseases and pests ; so,
allowing that the condition of these estates is
neither better nor worse than that of the average
rubber plantation, and that the estimates of the
management are approximately correct, we are
confronted with an estimated world’s output of
just under 200,000 tons in the year 1915, assu-
ming the yield from present sources remains
stationary at about 70,000 tons.

The estimated output for the whole of
Southern Asia has been put by various autho-
rities at from 25,000—35,000 tons by the year
1914 or 1915: occassionally someone has had
the temerity to suggest that the probable out-
put will be much more, but even the estimate
of 35,000 tons has been questioned by those
who should be ina position to form their own
opinion. Let us, however, look stern facts in
the face, and see how the production works
out on the basis allowed by the Directors of
the Malacca Rubber estates,

We find in the annual report of the director
of Agriculture, F.M.S., for 1905, that there were
241,138 acres planted in the Malay Peninsula by
December, 1908; while the Ceylon Directory gives
the area under rubber in that Island as 184,000
acres in June 1909—say 182,000 acres by Decem-
ber, 1908 as only 4,000 acres were planted during
the year ending June, 1909. It is not possible
to obtain accurate figures of the area planted
with rubber in other countries, but Sumatra,
Java, Borneo, India, Burmah and New Guinea
propably account for at least another 150,000
acres. As we are dealing with Asia, we will not
take into account Afriea and tropical America,
although planting is proceeding on a large scale
in both countries. Excluding these countries,
then, we havea total of 573,138 acres planted
by December 1908, an average which has pro~
bably been increased to considerably over 600,000

>

16 » |. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

acres during the current year. For the purpose
of this estimate, however, we will confine our-
selves to the area planted prior to Dec. 31, 1908.

Amid the glamour of record prices and huge
dividends, it issomewhat difficult to see things
in their true perspective ; but even if we halve
these estimates, it is obvious that the days of
competition between the wild and the cultivated
product are not very far distant. There is vn-
doubtedly a period of severe depression ahead,
and it is equally certain that asa result, the wild
rubber industry must go to the wall, for it
is inconceivable that, with the exceptionally
favourable conditions obtaining in the plan-
tation rubber industry, the wild product can
possibly withstand the competition for any
length of time. It follows, therefore, that rubber
planting companies already firmly established
have little cause for anxiety, though I am afraid
the samo cannot be saidot some recent flota-
tions, many of which although highly capitalised
are not over-burdened with working capital :
and herein lies the danger, for the bogey of
overproduction willloom very large abead, when
serious competition with the wild product
results in a very small margin of profit, and the
working capital of the younger estates has
reached vanishing point.

Stanuey ARDEN, F. L. 8,
— Straits Times, Dee. 4.

THE RUBBER CONFERENCE AT
MANAQS :

PLEA FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF THE
SrRAits AND F.M.S.

It has been represented, and we agree entirely
with the representation, that the forthcoming
international Rubber Conference to be held at
Manaos, the great Amazon seat of Brazilian rub-
ber export should demand on the part of the
Straits and F M S Governments, the. closest
possible attention. The great riverine valley of
the Amazon, with its numerous tributaries,
forms that largost area for the collection of wild
rubber at present being worked. It has been
announced that, with an eye to some possible
shortage in the output of natural rubber, the
position of Brazil as the premier exporting rub-
ber region should be maintained by a large re-
course to rubber planting in the lower reaches of
the Amazon, particularly in the Para district.
That rubber planting to be fostered and _ pro-
moted by the Brazilian Government with all the
energy and financial support it can bestow. It
is easy to see that the proceedings at the Con-
ference and the possible action of the Brazilian
Government are matters which must have a very
direct concern for the rubber-planting industry
of the Malay Peninsula. That industry is prac-
tically monopolising the attention and absor-
bing the bulk of the resources of the planting
communities in the several States. To develop
that industry something like ten millions ster-
ling have already been invested in the Malay
Peninsula, and the stream of capital continues
to flow. ‘he prosperity of the Native States,
_astime goes on, must come more and more to be

associated with the extension of rubber cu!i-
vation apart from the revenue derived from
mining. This fact, with all the underlying
financial and economic considerations, must
be held to induce the Governments concerned to
take what steps may seem proper in order to
acquaint themselves with the lines to be adopted
for the systematic promotion of rubber-planting
in Brazil, and to ascertain the general purport
of the proceedings at the Manaos Conference,
The suggestion we allude to is that the plan-
ting industry of the Malay Peninsula, as well as
the Straits and F.M.S. Governments, should
be represented at Manaos by highly qualified
delegates, who should watch the proceedings
of the Conference, enquire, and report. -It
seems to us that the matter is one on
which the Planters’ Association might well
take the initiative, for it may be taken
for granted that so sensible and_ practical
a course as that implied by the sending of one
or two qualified representatives to the Manaos
Conference would at once commend itself to the
approval of the Governments. . It might be
prudent, although there is no imminence, for
Malayan rubber planters to make quite sure
what Brazil is going to do in extending its sys-
tem of working natural rubber and, more parti-
cularly, in the extension of Government sup-
ported extension of plantation rubber on the
lower Amazon between Manaos and Para. But
the scientific interest attaching to the Manaos
Rubber Conference would of itself alone justify
the Governments and planters of the Malay
Peninsula taking steps to inform themselves of
what takes place there, for, whatever that be,
it is bound to have a very direct concern for
the planting industry in this part of the world.
—S. F. Press, Dec. 3.

‘VAHEA’ RUBBER FROM SEYCHELLES

Two specimens of rubber derived from a
species of Landolphia (Vahea) have been exam-
ined at the Imperial Institute. The plant, which
is @ vine, was introduced into Seychelles from
Madagascar, and is stated to grow luxuriantly,
but the cost of preparing the rubber ina clean
form is practically prohibitive. The results of
the investigation will, however, be of interest.

‘‘No. 1. Vahea rubber obtained by pounding
the bark.” Weight, 12 oz. An irregularly-
shaped piece of dark-brown rubber, resembling
scrap rubber in appearance, and containing a
considerable quantity of bark. The rubber. ex-
hibited good elasticity and tenacity. The results
of the chemical examination were as follows :—

Porcentage Rubber as Composition

of received. of dry rubber.
Moisture ite 2:2 =
Caoutchouc et HOLT, 83'5
Resin a 5:2 53
Proteids a3 18 18
Insoluble matter ite 91 O'4
Ash 11 11

The value of the rubber was given as pro-
bably about 3s per Ib. in London, with fine hard
Para quoted at 48 7d per lb. This rubber is of
good quality, the only defect being the large
amount of vegetable impurity present in it
owing to the method of preparation, ,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jan., 1910. 17

‘‘No. 2. Vahea rubber obtained by tapping.”
Weight, loz. Asmall biscuit of clean brown
rubber, the physical properties of which were
very satisfactory. Tie composition of the rubber
was as follows :—

Percentage Rubber as Composition
of received, of dry rubber
Moisture NB 3° _—
Caontchouc .- 880 90°9
Resin bi eee 79
Proteids de 03 os
Insoluble matter Rte 0°3 0°4
Ash te 03 03

The specimen was valued at about 4s to 4s 3d
per lb. in London, with tine hard Para quoted at
4s 7d per lb, The rubber prepared in this form
is of much better quality than No.1, owing to
the absence of vegetable impurities, and would
realise a higher price. The results of the analysis
are very satisfactory, but it is noteworthy that
the percentage of resin is considerably higher
than in No. 1.—Bulletin of the [Imperial Insti-
tute, No,3, 1909.

BRAZIL GOVERNMENT AND THE
RUBBER INDUSTRY.

The Brazilian Government is waking up to the
fact that the rubber industry of the State needs
stimulating. In an article on ‘‘The Rubber
Problem in Brazil,” the ‘‘ Economist” says that
with the tapping on a larger scale and increased
consumption it is feared the normal supplies
will soon not be sufficient to meet requirements.
After pointing out the wasteful way collection
is madein the forests and the excessive cost
owing to the remoteness and difficulties of
transport, our contemporary says that the Gov-
ernor of Para has sent a message to the State
Assembly, urging merchants to take more care
in the extraction and curing of the latex, hut
especially bids them to cultivate trees in more
accessible districts and thus compete with the
plantation companies. The ‘‘ Economist” fur-
ther adds that to combat the various existing
abuses the State Government is proposing to re-
gulate the tapping of trees, fixing the time when
the first incision may be made and its height
above ground. Whilst recognising, that these
regulations will be ditticult to enforce, our con-
temporary thinks it imperative that this Govern-
ment inspection should be started without delay,
and concludes that ‘‘ everything goes to show
that the Brazilian rubber industry is approa-
ching a critical point in its career; for unless
it is placed ina position to compete with the
more modern and scientific methods of culture
adopted in other parts of the world it must in-
evitably lose its present predominant position.”
To which may be added that, seeing thab rubber
is the greatest revenue producor Brazil possesses,
with the exception of coftes, it appears suicidal
not to prevent the industry goiug to the dogs.—
H, & C, Mail, Nov. 26.

RUBBER IN BRITISH GUIANA,

It is reported from, British Guiana that rubber
planting 1s being conducted with enthusiasm. The
supply of hevea (rubber) seedlings at the Botanic
Gardens is already nearly exhausted, but a large
quantity is expected to arrive from the Straits
Settlements next month.—Z, & C, Mail, Nov. 12.

A NEW AUSTRIAN RUBBER PLANT.

Planters who have been asking for some plant
which would give them an annual crop of rubber
in the interval between planting and tapping
their Para rubber trees, will read the account
of a recent discovery in Austria with interest. It
appears that Lactuca viminea, a biennial plant
of the order Composites, found in Austria,
yields a latex which contains an amount of rub-
ber corresponding to about 0°5 per cent of pure
caoutchouc on the weight of the dry substance
of the plant, [t thus yields, says an enthusiastic
correspondent, more rubber than Hevea brasi-
liensis, from which—according to Alexander and
Bing—only about °3 per centis obtainable. The
writer, however, does not point out, as he should
if unbiased, that Para rubber trees are not felled
and macerated, but are tapped every alternate
day throughout the greater part of the year
and allowed to live for twenty or more years
under such treatment, Hor the determination
of the caoutchouc content of L. viminea, the
plant, at the period of its maximum growth, was
dried, extracted with petroleum ether, the ex-
tract treated with 10 per cent alcoholic caustic
potash to remove saponifiable matter, and then
extracted with carbon bisulphide. From the
evaporation residue of the carbon bisulphide
extract, the resin is removed by means of
acetone, and thenthe pure caoutchouc deter-
mined by Harries and Weber’s method, and
Kendler and Kuhn's modification of Budde’s
method.-/.Rk. Journal, Nov. 15.

RUBBER IN CEYLON.

A Souts Inptan Visitor’s IMPRESSIONS.

At the Peradeniya Experimental Station, I
saw the Dichotoma rubber growing. Some of
this had been brought under tapping and if the
result (details of it are in the current Tropical
Agriculturist) is disappointing, it must be re-
membered that they are very young. Ceara
there is being tapped like Para and the results
from those trees that will yield is considered
satisfactory. Although this 1s so, I gather from
what I heard (Lam not an eye-witness) that Mr
Westland’s method is the better. It would be
advisable for those who have Ceara trees to
cherish them; they are worth more standing,
than as fence posts or firewood. No doubt in
time seed will be available froma strain of well-
known latex givers.—-Madras Times, Dee. 9,

‘‘GASTILLOA”’ RUBBER BY THE
CENTRIFUGAL PROCESS.

The rubber delivered by the Lesher centri-
fugal machine, now in use on La Zacualpa planta-
tion, in Mexico, isin the form of biscuits, which
would readily be taken for typical fine para bis
cuits. When one of them is cut in two, it shows a
very densely coagulated light-coloured surface
with a suggestion of thin layers, such as are pro-
duced by the smoking process, The rubber is very
clean and tough, and the outside surface, where
16 18 exposed to the air, has a mahogany colour
instead of the black that Castilioa so often
acquires.—India Rubber World, Oct. 1.

78 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

THE SOY BEAN.

ccf CULTIVATION AND UTILISATION.

During the present year an important com-
mercial development has taken place between
this country and Manchuria with reference to
the soy bean, the seed of Glycine Soja (Soja
hispida). The soy bean is a leguminous plant
which grows abundantly in China and espe-
cially in Manchuria, where the seeds form an
important article of diet and are highly ap-
preciated on account of their valuable nutri-
tive properties. The occupation of North Man-
churia by Russian troops during the Russo-
Japanese war created a large demand for pro-
visions, whereby agriculture was stimulated
and considerable expansion took place. After
the close of the war and the withdrawal of the
troops, the local demand naturally declined
and it became necessary to find an outlet for
the crops in foreign markets. From 1906 to
1908, much of the staple produce of North
Manchuria was exported to Japan through
Viadivostock, but in 1908 the trade suffered
owing to the depression in Japan, and towards
the end of that year beans and wheat began to
be exported on a large scalo to Europe. En-
ormous quantities of soy beans are now being
imported into the United Kingdom and the
Continent,

The first large cargo of soy beans consigned
to the United Kingdom arrived in Hull! on the
2nd March, 1909, and amounted to 5,200 tons.
It is stated that before June contracts had
been made for the delivery of no less than
200,000 tons. The beans are said to arrive at
their destination in perfect condition in spite
of the great distance they have to be carried.
They are classified into three grades: No. 1,
shipped at Dalny; No. 2, shipped at Vladivo-
stock; and No. 3, shipped at Hankow. The
value of grade No. i is about £6 88 per ton
gross, c.i.f. European port direct, whilst the
values of Nos. 2 and 3 are equal and about £6
6s per ton gross, these prices being, of course,
subject to the fluctuations of the market. The
greater part, if not the whole, of the soy beans
imported into this country is purchased by the
proprietors of oil-mills, who crush the product
aud thus obtain a qnantity of oil, amounting
to about 10 per cent by weight of the seed, and
a residual oil-cake which has proved to be a
valuable cattle-food.

CULTIVATION.

The soy bean grows most satisfactorily on
soils of medium texture containing fair quant-
ities of potash, lime and phosphoric acid. It
is said that good results have been obtained
on comparatively light soils and that an abun-
dant crop is sometimes produced ou land too

oor for clover. In South Carolina, good re-
sults have been obtained on sandy, limestone
or marly soils, and also on drained swamp or
peaty lands, If the soil is lacking in potash
or phosphoric acid, these constituents should
be supplied in the form of artificial manure.
It is not necessary to apply nitrogenous
manures, since the soy bean, like other legu-
minous crops, has the property of extracting
nitrogen from the air and thus enriching the

soil in which it is grown. With regard to cli-
mate, the soy bean requires about the same
temperature as maize. The plant is very re-
sistant to drought, can endure slight frosts,
and is capable of withstanding excess of mois-
ture; in this last respect, it is said to surpass
cowpeas or even maize. The cultivation of the
soy bean is carried out in much the same way
as that of ordinary field beans. The soil should
be well tilled and left smooth and free from
clods, The seed is best sown in drills from
two to three feet apart, the exact distance
depending on the texture of the soil. The
amount of seed required is about one-half to
three-quarters of a bushel per acre, enough
being sown to give on the average five or six
plants per foot in the row. After sowing, the
the land must be kept fairly free from weeds
and the surface soil must be occasionally
broken up. The pods are usually harvested
before they are quite ripe, as otherwise they
are liable to burst on drying, a loss of seed
being thus occasioned. The plants may be
pulled by hand or cut with a scythe; they
are collected into small heaps in order to fac-
ilitate drying. When dry, the seed can be
readily separated by means of an ordinary
threshing machine.

Under ordinary circumstances, a yield of 22
to 40 bushels per acre is obtained, but under
specially favourable circumstances the crop
may be considerably larger.

Glycine Soja is not only of value to cultiva-
tors for the sake of its seeds, but it can also
be grown for green forage, for ensilage, for
hay or as a pasture plant. Reference has al-
ready been made to the special value the plant
possesses due to its ability to restore im-
poverished soil by affording it a supply of
nitrogen. It has been found that the earlier
varieties are best for seed crops and the later
vatieties for hay, forage and ensilage.

CoMPOSITION OF THE SEEDS.

Although there are several varieties of the soy
bean, differing in the size, shape and colour of
the seeds, there does not appear to be any
definite and constant difference in the chemical
composition of the latter. The following ana-
lyses indicate the usual composition of fresh or
airy-dry soy beans. No. 1 gives the results
obtained by Professor A H Church with a sam-
ple of the beans grown in India. ‘The figures
recorded under No. 2, also quoted by Professor
Church, were deduced by Dr. Forbes Watson
from eight analyses of unhusked soy beans, four
of the samples being of Chinese origin, and from
two analyses of the husked beans, The results
under No. 3 are the averages obtained with
several different varieties of soy bean grown in
the United States of America, and are taken
from the Farmers’ Bulletin, to which reference
has already been made.

No. 1 No. 2 No. 3
Percentage With husk. Husked.
of

Water ve 11:0 orl 10°3 10°8:
Albuminoids ra 35°3 40°4 43°6 34°0
Carbohydrates 260 25°1 2t°0 28°9
Fat 18°9 165°8 15°b 169
Fibre 4°2 5:2 4°h 4°8
Ash 46 4°4 5°2 47

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jan., 1910, 79

The value of the beans as a food is evident from
the large amounts of albuminoids and fat they
contain, It has been stated by Japanese autho-
rities that the product does not contain any
sugar or starch, and for this reason the bean
has been as a basis for foods recommended for
persons suffering from diabetes.

UTILISATION OF THE SEEDS.

In the United Kingdom, as stated previously,
the seeds are mainly employed as a source of
oil, an oil-cake being obtained as a by-product.

The oil possesses an agreeable taste and odour,
and is largely used by the Chinese for edible pur-
poses. It belongs to the class of semi-drying oils;
that is to say, it has properties intermediate
between those of the drying oils, such as linseed
oil, andthe non-drying oils such as almond and
otive oils, On exposure to the air, a thin skin is
gradually formed on the surface. It resembles
cotton-seed oil in many respects, but is of a more
pronounced drying character, as is indicated by
its higher iodine value. The oil consists mainly
of the glycerides of palmitic, oleic and linolic
acids. The physical and chemical constants,
which have been recorded for soy-bean oil are
given below, the corresponding figures for
cotton-seed oil being added for comparison.

Soy-bean oil. Cotton-seed oil.

Specific gravity at 15°C. 0°9240— 0°9270 0°9220— 0°926)
Saponification value 190°6 - 1929 191° —~196"5
Todine value 121°3 -—121°0 101 —116
Hehner value 95°5 95°9 —96 '2

The oil is chiefly used in this country for the
manufacture of soap, and is very well suited for
this purpose. [t is quoted in the London market
at £21 5s per ton (September, 1909), with crude
cotton-seed oil at £23 to £23 5s per ton.

The oil-cake left after the expression of the oil
is hard and heavy, and resembles linseed cake,
but is lighter in colour, and has a characteristic
taste recalling that of peas. The nutritive value
of this product is approximately equal to that
of decorticated cotton-seed cake. The average
composition is as follows :—Albuminoids, 41 per
cent; oil, 6 per cent; carbohydrates, 3) per cent ;
moisture, 12 per cent ; fibre, 5 per cent ; mineral
constituents, 6 per vent.

FEEDING TRIALS WITH THIS CAKE IN COMPARISON
WITH DECORTICATED COTTON CAKE

have been carried out at the Cumberland and
Westmoreland Farm School at Newton Rigg, and
also at the Royal Agricultural College, Ciren-
cester. At the former institution it was found
that the cows, when fed with soy-bean cake, gave
rather more milk than when fed with cotton
cake; but the difference was so small that it
may be considered that the two cakes are equal
in this respect. The proportion of fat in the
milk was the same in each case, During the
trial the cows gained in weight, the soy-bean
cake causing a slightly larger increase than the
cotton cake. The soy-bean cake used in these
experiments contained 6°0 per cent of oil and
44°4 per cent of albuminoids, whilst the cotton
cake contained 13°1 per cent of oil and 39'9 per
cent of albuminoids.

The experiment at Cirencester showed that
the yield of milk was but little affected by the
kind of cake used, The percentage of fat in

the milk was slightly higher with the soy-bean
cake than with the cotton cake. The butter
produced from the milk of the cows fed with
soy-bean cake was quickly obtained on churning,
but was softer, and of a paler colour and
somewhat inferior flavour to that from the
milk produced by the cows fed with cotton
cake. The soy-bean cake used in these trials
contained 6 per cent of oil and 40 per cent of
albuminoids, and cost £6 10s. per ton, whilst
the decorticated cotton cake contained 8 per cent
of oil and 34 per cent of albuminoids, and cost
£7 10s. per ton.

In the experiments at Cirencester no dif.
ference was observed in the effect of the two
cakes on the cows with regard to their laxative
or constipative action. It may be mentioned,
however, that certain cases have recently been
brought to the notice of the Imperial’ Insti-
tute in which it was stated that the soy-bean
cake when fed to cows produced a ‘scouring ”
or laxative effect. It seems not unlikely, how-
ever, that these symptoms may have been caused
by the use of an ill-proportioned diet. Owing
to its excessive richness in albuminoids, soy-
bean cake should be used with the same precau-
tions as are observed in the case of decorticated
cotton cake, which is said to be unsuited to
calves and lambs, and when used for adult
stock should be mixed with about an equal
weight of some cereal product, such as maize,
barley meal, wheat meal, or American flour,

In view of the importance of the trade in soy
beans, it has been considered desirable that
attempts should be made to grow the product
in other conntries than China. The Imperial
Institute has already brought the matter to
the notice of the Governments of several British
Dependencies, and experiments are now in pro-
gress in the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the
East Africa Protectorate and the Gambia. An
effort is also being made to stimulate the cul-
tivation of the soy bean in India.

It is stated that considerable additional areas
are avilable for cultivation in Manchuria.—
Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, No. 3, 1909.

PARA RUBBER SEED MAY-JUNE
CROPS: A QUERY.

In reply to the Indian Forest Officer who
writes below, we may say, on authority,
that the rubber seed crop obtainable here in
May or June is very small. Our correspondent
would probably be safely able to procure 5,000
seed then, though not large supplies; such
earlier seed, we understand, would be quite
as reliable as any borne in July.

, Gersapa, Kanara, Dee. 5th, 1909,

Sir,—On page 39 of the Supplement to the
T. A. for August, 1907, | find the statement
made that the Para tree yields seeds in the
month of July every year in the lowcountry (in
favourable years.) I should feel greatly obliged
to you if you could get the following informa-
tion for me:—‘‘ If any reliable seed of Para
Rubper could be obtained in Vay or June in the
coming year—say about 5,000.”— Yours truly,

: M. 8S. TUGGERSE,
Forest Ofticer. etc., Gersapa, Kanara,

80 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

AN EX-CEYLON PLANTER ON FIJI.

A veteran Ceylon planter, who has been at
home for a holiday, sends us a letter, a little
belated but none the less interesting, from an
old Colonist of Ceylon who migrated early
from Fiji. We make the following extracts :—

Levu, April 23.—... Memory often calls back
to me the old times when coffee was king, and
bumper crops, tots of arrack and Mootoma and
Meenachie moved things so merrily along; when
the vestige of a weed a wrongly pruned secon-
dary—or even tertiary—bone dust poonac and
cattle manure gave the old gentleman so much
concern, Tea and rubber, I suppose, now reign
supreme. ‘Tea, | believe, is now fetching a fair
price. I infer that there is good acreage of
rubber now fit for tapping. What with these
products times ought to be bright and cheery
in Ceylon now. ... What an ignis fatwus that
Alpha coffee in its opening glory proved to be
to many of us. It issomewhat flattering to my-
self to know there were wiser and more knowing
ones than me dupes of the illusion. Short as
was its career, there has not been so much in-
dividual enterprise shown or private capital
spent since in so short a time in any other in-
dustry in Fijii—The high prices ruling for

COPRA ,

during the last few years has led to no influx of
new settlers, extension of cultivation, or im-
provement of existing properties worth men-
tioning. Although the Indian element has con-
siderably increased since you left, the Euro-
pean and Fijian popuiation has fallen off. The
Indians appear to thrive well on their crime and
filth—and the congenial conditions under which
they are living. As regards the Fijians, the
legislation—and what is termed civilisation—
appears to be too much in advance of their in-
telligence, customs or requirements. In regard
to Europeans with all the accumulation of laws
and vaunted measures for the welfare of the
Colony, there were more men with brains and
money coming to Fiji under the old condition
of things than even now. Enquiry for land is
chiefly confined to Indians and a few of the old
settlers anxious to augment their present re-
stricted resources—or those of their children.
Any general determination on the part of the
present settlers—or real Governmental practical
help or encouragement to do so—to give any
fair trial to any new product brought under
their notice likely to be successful—even by those
who have ample means for doing so at their dis-
posal—is almost totally totally absent. Indeed,
it may truly be said, enterprise is altogether
dormant—except in a very few exceptional in-
stances. Progressing as things have been doing
during the last 10 years,
THE OUTLOOK DEPICTS A COLONY OF INDIAN
SHOPKEEPERS

and small Indian lease-holders with a regiment
or two of soldiers to suppress disturbances,
Some extension of operations on the part of
the C. S. R. Co.—and well-trimmed Government
reports and messages—help to gild over the
actual conditions of things, Although, as you
know, the Company’s operations are large—

excepting the Indians and a few shopkeepers—
only a few others—and these in a very scanty
measure —have profited by them, and it may
truly be said that the planters have sutfered by
their monopolising influences. Blot out the
Company and what remains! ——— told me
three or four years ago that not 10 per cent
of those engaged in cane-growing had bettered
themselves, and most of these only in a small
degree, Banana-growing still survives with all
its fluctuating results,

COCONUT CULTIVATION

—as it now appears, the best Fiji can boast, in
my mind—owes its origin rather to the persever-
ance and struggles of the old settlers than any
other cause. A few engaged in this cultivation,
such as Tarte, Coubrough, Miller, Borron, &c.,
who, with good luck and favoured circumstances,
have been able to grasp their opportunities, are
now, in their eleventh hour, deriving appre-
ciable incomes. Whilst the smaller fry, through
the absence of hurricanes prevailing for the last
few years, are generally contented with their
smaller share of the loaves and fishes.... Unlike in
former years, the Garden of Fiji now supports
its dignity by the production of copra and beei
alone. ... lam located on the —-—— plantation
belonging to Mr. -——, making what I can out
of the manufacture of scents, perfumed and
other soap, and perfumed—and other oils—for
the local market. I am just at present making
arrangements for trying to enlarge my opera-
tions and think there are some. possibilities

attending my plans. Mr, ——— has about
THREE ACRES OF LAND PLANTED WITH PARA
RUBBER

The plants are now about 13 months old. They
were raised from stumps obtained from Wil-
liams, Ceylon. The stumps were somewhat small
with a paucity of lateral roots and spongioles
—as if they had been cramped and stunted.
Holes (18”) were dug for them on new land, A
little shade at time of planting, and a few
months following was employed. The stumps
were planted 15 by 15—with Fiji kava and to-
bacco as acatch crop. They encountered a mild
blow in March, but, being staked, did not ap-
parently, suffer any injury. The plants are
somewhat irregular in size and growth, owing,
I think, to the irregularity of the size of the
stumps used for planting. The best of them are
now about 10 feet high and 23 inches in girth 3
feet high from the ground, [t is proposed they
shall be topped at 12 feet. What do you think
about the growth they have attained—aud
prospect of the cultivation in Hiji 2

You will remember how strongly you advised
me many years ago to plant rubber in Fiji, Iam
now sometimes inclined to think I should have
considered the matter more seriously. Had I
done so my fortune might perhaps have been
changed. The great difficulty has been the
scarcity and dearness of the seed. I[ suppose
this is now disappearing. As I have been partly
instrumental in —~—— making the experiment,
and am watching it with much interest, any sug-
gestions or wrinkles you can offer me in regard
to the cultivation or best and cheapest way of
procuring seed will be much valued,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jan., 1910, 81

RUBBER ON THE GOLD COAST.

[By a Recent Visitor TO PERADENIYA.]

The rubber at present exported from the
Gold Coast is the product of several latices, the
most important of which is that of the

FUNTUMIA ELASTICA.

The jungle vine (Landolphia owariensis) also
furnishes a good deal of ball rubber. The
quality of most varieties of Gold Coast Rubber
is poor, owing to the sticky, resinous, un-
attractive mass which it presents. This is
mainly due to two causes :—(1) the native igno-
rance of improved methods of preparation ; and
(2) their habit of collecting and mixing every
latex having a white milky appearance, in the
belief that they profit by having for sale a
greater quantity of so-called rubber. Much
attention has been drawn to this product
of late and to the wasteful system of
tapping which has been going on. The
Department: has done much good work in de-
monstrating various improved methods in the
manufacture of rubber and in afforestation,
several million plants and seeds having
been raised and distributed from the Agricul-
tural Stations for planting in the forest areas.
The system of tapping practised by the un-
instructed natives is very wasteful, and the
trees, where they have not been killed, have
been very much disfigured by excretionary
growths due to injury to the cambium, which
renders a second, or repeated, tapping in sub-
sequent years, well-nigh impossible.

It has now been clearly demonstrated that
rubber of very fine quality, second only to the
very finest Para, can be made from the latex of
Funtumia elastica; moreover it would appear
that the trees reach maturity, when favourably
planted, almost as soon as the Para variety. It
is true also that the older the trees, the better
will be the quality and greater the quantity of
rubber produced as in the case of Para ; and it is
somewhat reassuring to know that trees of this
species can be replaced in such comparatively
short time from seed.

The chiefs have of late been interesting them-
selves very much in the work of the Agricultural
Department, and if we are able to get their
hearty co-operation, as well as that of their
followers, it should be possible to effect a marked
improvement in the quality of this product in
the course of afew years, and a considerable
increase also in the quantity exported.

The trees of this species on the Agricultural
Stations have not yet proved altogether satis-
factory rubber yielders ; but it is possible that
the best method of growing the trees has not
yet been ascertained, and I propose to institute
experiments in thisconnection. No exhaustive
experiments, however, have yet been made to
ascertain the exact amount of rubber yielded
per tree, and this isa subject worth careful in-
vestigation (see previous reports of this De-
partment.) ‘‘ Funtumia ” offers one considerable
advantage over ‘ Para,” i.¢,a greater quantity
of latex can be extracted in a single tapping,
and for this reason it is perhaps better suited
to native methods,

11

Krerr Batt or “‘ Pempene” RUBBER.

The jungle vine, Landolphia owariensis, from
which the ball rubber of commerce is mostly
obtained, appears to be of slow growth, Experi-
ments made at the Agricultural Station indicate
that along time must elapse after planting
before it can be tapped.

In any case, this is not a species that could be
cultivated in the ordinary sense of the world ;
itis purely a jungle plant and climber ; but
when found in the open country, it seems to de-
velop a tuberous, rubber-yielding root, speci-
mens of which have been collected in the Nor-
thern Territories and identified at Kew.

‘MeMiexu Rusper.

_Another indigenous rubber tree worth men-
tioning is the Ficus vogelii, which in certain
parts of the Colony, notably the Krobo-Afram
country, is fairly abundant.

The rubber obtained from this species is of a
very poor quality owing to the large percentage
of resin it contains, but as each tree yields a
large quantity of latex this rubber is possibly
worth more attention. In continuation of pre-
vious tests I hope to send a large sample of this
product to the Imperial Institute for commer.
cial tests. The previous valuations of it were
from 2s. to 3s. 6d. per lb.; but even at
these prices it was not certain whether 4 market
could be established in this article, (See
Annual Report for 1907.)

The Product is more after the nature of
Balata and I presume that if a market could be
established it would be used for somewhat
similar purposes. A small area was plauted with
this rubber tree at Aburi Botanical Gardens
from cuttings, and it is evident there is more
than one variety of Ficus yielding this rubber
but a close examination has not yet been made,

PARA RUBBER.

Amongst the many other introduced products
that promise fairly well is that of Para rubber
(Hevea brasiliensis.) A few trees were first
introduced at Aburi in 1893 and rubber was
extracted from them in 1903. Small plantations
were formed at thé Aburi and Tarkwa Agricul-
tural Stations in 1900-1 and 1904 respectively. At
Tarkwa the trees were planted at experimental
distances, particulars of which will be found re-
corded under the notes on the station in this
teport. They have not yet been tapped, but the
rate of growth is very satisfactory and compares
favourably with that of the same species in the
Federated Malay States and Ceylon, where it is
now being cultivated on an extensive scale,

In the East, when a tree has attained a circum-
ference of 18 inches to 20 inches at 3 feet from
the ground, it is considered tappable, This is not
usually reached before the sixth year after plan-
ting, so an average of 17 inches for every tree
4% years old on the plantation at Tarkwa shows
great promise for the spacies in the Gold Coast.

At Aburi the small plantation of 154 trees
planted at 15 ® 15 ft, in 1900 and 1901, shows
an average circumference of 204 inches at 3 ft.
from the ground which is also very grati-
fying, as the soil here is more dry and stony
and not therefore what is usually considered
quite suitable for Para rubber,

82 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

I had a small experiment conducted in the
latter part of the year with a view to deter-
mining the quantity and quality of rubber
these trees are likely to yield. One row
through the plantation containing 15 trees was
selected, one of which was considered
too small to tap; but the results, as represen-
ting the produce of the plantation, have been
calculated on the total. They were tapped
on the half-spiral system and3 times a week,
the period extending from 19th November
to 3lst December. The latex was coagulated
with the addition of a little acetic acid and the
rubber prepared in biscuit torm. 2 |b. 84 oz. of
dry rubber were obtained, this being equivalent
to 324 Ib. per acre. Assuming that the trees are
given a rest of three months every year, this
works out at 206 lb. per acre per annum, The
rubber is of good quality and the result, consi-
dering the age of the trees, the nature of the soil
on which they are grown, and the season of tap-
ping (which was just previous to the wintering
of the trees) may be considered very satisfactory.

It is evident that this rubber tree will grow
and yield well on the Gold Coast, and as cur
trees are now seeding freely, [ anticipate a some-
what extensive multiplication within the next
few years. The natives who have already planted
it seem very pleased with its rate of growth, and
are asking for more plants. As a native culti-
vation it should be very profitable for it can be
carried on in conjunction with cocoa, amongst
which it may be either planted as shade or set
in belts round the plantation ; but it is not likely
to succeed well if planted under jungle shade.

CEARA AND CASTILLOA RUBBER,

Ceara (Manihot Glaziovii) and Castilloa
(Castilloa elastica), two other varieties of rub-
ber trees, have been introduced, but neither of
them are at all promising. The former suc-
ceeds best in the dry zone and it is just possible
that it may grow more satisfactorily in the
Northern Territories, where, on the establish-
ment of a station next year it will be given a
trial. The Castilloa would not appear to be at
all suited to this coast, for, besides showing
only a very indifferent growth, the trees are
badly attacked by a longicorn beetle which
practically destroys them.—Offcial Kkeport for
1908 of W. 8. Tuvnore, Director of Agricul-
ture, Gold Coast.

NEW LEGUME FOR RUBBER.

(To tHE Epiror, ‘‘Macay Mat.”)

Sir,—I shall feel greatly obliged if you will
kindly publish the following in your esteemed
columns. Mr. J.B.Carruthers, Director of Ag-
riculture and Government Botanist, Federated
Malay States, in his report for 1908 on cover
plants, sums up his tdeal plant as follows :—

“Theideal plant for the purpose of protecting rubber
land and eliminating or reducing very considerably the
weeding bill isa plant which grows not more than a foot
to 18” high, is permanent for 3 or four years,producing shade
over the ground, growing so luxuriantly as to exclude weeds,
without forming a thick turf, is leguminous, has no thorns
or spikes to interfere with coolies working, has no leaves,
fruit or flower which will attract vermin or other animals.
None of the plants at present in use or being tried in the
experimental plots of the 4 gricultural Department fulfil ab-
solutely all these requirements, and it is probable that plant
will yet be found, better than any yet at present tiied.”

He then mentions a number of cover plants,
but none of them come up to his ideal. I there-
fore presume the ‘‘cassia mimosoides” is a
stranger to him, as he does not mention it, and
funnily enough it’s a legume that comes as
close to his ideal as I fancy wiil ever be found.
To enumerate—it’s a fat spreading leguminous
plant, absolutely thornless, sensitive in so far
that it closes its leaves at night and during rain,
opens directly the sun shines and thus conserves
moisture, grows thick to the exclusion of weeds
is inno way turfy, does not attract vermin as
far as my experience goes (I vouch for this as
this district is rich in vermin of sorts), grows
quickly, is a particularly free seeder. and if nota
permanent cover will certainly resow itself so con-
tinually that the ground will never beclear ofit un-
less desired to be forkedinasamulch. Another
advantage : it saves wash during heavy rain.

The plant grows well at all elevations. Its
height will, | am sure, never exceed 18” at the
lowest altitude and from 4,000 to 6,000 feet
above sea level it grows practically flat. There
is no doubt that it will as a cover plant rich in
nitrogen suit all products. I do not know Mr
Carruthers’ address, but if he or any planter in-
terested in the subject wishes for any further
information [ shall always be happy to reply.—
Tam, etc.,

Put. BEAVER.

Sholarock Estate, Katary P. O, Nilgiris, S.
India. Nov, 25th, 1909.—Malay Mail, Dec. 11.

GAUSE OF TACKINESS IN RUBBER.

Dr. Fritz Frank, in a communication to the
“Gummi Zeitung,” attributes the occurrence of
‘‘tackiness’’in certain raw rubbers to the pre-
sence in the rubber, as coagulated, of imper-
fectly polymerised portions, which owe their
existence to unsatisfactory methods of coagu-
lation. In the smoking process employed in
the case of fine Para, every portion of the latex
comes under the influence of the coagulating,
polymerising agent, and ‘‘ tackiness” is normally
absent. Whena mass of raw rubber containing
imperfectly polymerised portions is subjected
to mechanical working, the faulty portions be-
come distributed through the mass, upon which
they exercise a solvent action resulting in
general deterioration. The presence of water
in the raw rubber tends to check any action of
this kind. It is possible that bacterial or enzyme
action may play a part in the spread of tacki-
ness, the heat generated either rendering the
sound rubber more liable to attack (solution), or
even bringing about a direct depolymerisation.
The following precautionary measures are
advocated: (1) Intimate mixing of the coagu-
lating agent with the latex. (2) Use of only
small quantities of latex at a time, in all cases
where the process employed is such as to render
likely the formation of lumps and consequent
inclusion of uncoagulated latex. (3) Protection
of the coagulated rubber from the action of Jight
and heat. (4) Minimum mechanical treatment
of the rubber at the place of origin. (5) Packing
in cases, and storage in cool places during
transport. (6) Presence in the raw rubber of
a certain amount of moisture.—India Rubber
Journal, Nov. 29,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agrwultural Society.—Jan., 1910, 83

RUBBER COMPANY PROMOTION IN
THE F.M.S.

A Lurid Picture.

The Penang Gazette is very jealous of tho fair
name of the sister colony in the matter of Com-
pany promotion. In the course of an article in
its issue of 7th December headed ‘ta rubber
warning ” the following sketch appears and we
are assured ‘‘there have been several flotations
recently of which it represents a faithful des-
cription”:—During the last twelve months we
have seen a select little band of persons, whoa
year ago hardly knew the difference between a
rubber tree anda coconut palm, desert their
desks and rush wildy about the country, getting
options on every httie bit of a native-owned
Kebungetta where a couple of Para seedlings
peep coyly out through the™ undulating lalang.”
Wearing an air of importance and ill-fitting
khaki clothes, talking in millions and thinking
in square miles, they seem to have succeeded in
finding ‘‘ experts” willing to furnish fora con-
sideration the reports they require.
merely becomes necessary to share the spoils
with ‘ta firmin the City,” get an ornamental
board of guinea-pigs together, advertise and
puff the flotation extensively in the London
financial papers and the public—the same dear,
stupid old public which rushed after John Law
and dabez Balfour—wiill fal: over one another to
obtain shares. The issue is ‘‘largely over-
subscribed ” and for the time being everyone is
satisfied. The towkay has got rather more than
the value of his kebun, the philanthropic pro-
moter has got some hard cash and a parcel of
shares which he will gradually unload on a con-
fiding public, the directors have got their dow-
ceurs and their fees, and the happy shareholders
have got their precious estate, which they
fondly imagine to be rather better than Lana-
dron or Vallambrosa, It is a charming little
game, but it must not be played too slowly by
the promoter, whose motto should be ‘the more,
the merrier’’ as his object is to ‘‘make hay
while the sun shines.”

RUBBER CO. CROPS.

Dec. 5th.

DeaR Srr,—As you are well aware, on the
morning of the 2nd of each month, the London
financial papers begin publishing the cabled
reports of rubber crop harvested by Straits Com-
panies during the previous month and by the
4th or 5th all the returns have appeared.

When one endeavours to praise Rupee Com-
panies at home, the chief reason given by would-
be investors for not taking shares in these is (after
mentioning the slight inconvenience of changing
Sterling into Rupees) the difficulty in getting
information about the doings of these Companies.

‘« Why”—did a man tell me—‘‘should I go in
for these concerns when the antiquated policy of
keeping as long as possible all information for
the Directors, the Agents and their favoured
friends is still tolerated by local investors.”

Then it *

The Seremban Co.—now a Sterling one--is
about the only Company to send you its monthly
crop; but why on earth should not large pro-
ducing Companes like Jebong, Beverlac, Grand
Central and all the Teas~and Teas-cum-Rubber
Companies send you monthly a short statement
of their results?

No long sentences. Simply. . . . . Co.
November, so many lbs. Total to date,

To same datelastyear. . .. .

Tam sure you would willingly publish just these
two lines from the leading Companies and this
information would in turn be taken from you by
the London Financial papers for the great satis-
faction of home investors,

The quarterly crop statements, with the prices
obtained, could continue to be issued to share-
holders four times a year,

I mean to attend all the coming meetings of
Companies I have shares in and will propose that
such a course be followed; but shall I get any
support ?—Yours sincerely,

L. B. W.

PERCENTAGE OF SGRAP TO FINE
PLANTATION RUBBER.

We call attention to the further letter of
“OO, W. H.” below, and would like to hear
from some of our leading rubber planters,
what their average percentage of scrap rubber
is to their total crop, and by what rules or
methods they reduce or limit it,

Tt
Colombo, Dec. 12th.

Dear S1r,—My letters to you on the subject
of ‘‘ Percentage of Scrap” do not appear to have
excited the interest I hoped; at any rate the
only reply they have so far provoked fell short
of the precise information I desired. Yet it
seems to me that the subject is not without
interest, nor one that need remain clouded in
mystery! I have heard it stated that on some
estates Superintendents are not allowed to show
more than a certain percentage of scrap col-
lected as such; in others, that scrap is not con-
sidered worth the trouble of collection because
of the cost when it does not exceed a somewhat
similar percentage. One would suppose that there
must be good and sufficient reasons for such var-
iety of practice; and yet the underlying common
principle, if there is any, is hard to recognise.

What is clear is, that as the price of fine
rubber recedes, there will be lessdemand for the
inferior qualities except at a price which will
become less and less proportionately to the cost
of collection. On the other hand greater efforts
will doubtless be made to lessen wastage or
deterioration of good latex at the source by
more efficient methods of collection.

In those days it will be known to a nicety
what percentage of latex may be expected from
the collecting cups, and what may have to
be brought in by manual labour.

Am I premature—or only too inquisitive—in
asking those, who are able, to supply such infor-
mation at the present time ?—Yours faithfully,

0. W, H,

84 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

P.S.—When fine rubber is down to 2s/6d per lb.
will it pay to collect scrap?—and if the scrap
amounts to 40 per cent of the estate crop, what
then ?

Il.
Dec. 11th,

Deak Sir,—In further reply to your corre-
spondent, ‘‘ C, W, H.”, who certainly appears to
be ‘‘a beggar for argument,” Ill remind him
‘*Quot homines, tot sententiae.” Superinten-
dents do not all think, or act, alike; a manis
right because he thinks he is. I donot know
much about ‘t underlying common principles ”—
only sound common practice. Isn’t it obvious?
—the more No, 1 rubber and the less scrap,
the better, since the former fetches the better
price. I was visiting a neighbouring place last
week where instead of any drip-tin they use a
water bottle and pour water into the tapping
cuts, with excellent results. Figures are not
kept, but the percentage of scrap there is, I
should think, about 2 per cent. With the use

of the drip-tin, it is practically nothing—there,

is so Jittle scrap to collect, it does not pay to
regularly collect it. If a cooly finds a little
inthe cut, he just pulls it off, and brings it to
the factory with him.—Yours,

RUBBER-GROWING IN QUEENSLAND.

Much interest has been manifested by bota-
nical experts inthe Commonwealth of Australia
in the 300 Isoandra gutta-percha trees grown
at the Melbourne Botanical Gardens from seed
procured in Java by Dr. Crivel. This parti-
cular species, which is unknown in Australia,
produces a gutta-percha which is unequalled
for several classes of work, particularly in con-
nection with electrical fittings. The tree takes
20 years to come to maturity, but is seed-
bearing bofove that time. Mr. Howard Newport,
of the Queensland State nursery at Kamerunga,
has inspected the seedlings, and found them
healthy and flourishing plants. The 300 avail-
able plants will be divided equally between nur-
series in the Northern Territory, in Queens-
land, andin Papua. It is Mr. Newport’s inten-
tion to recommend the Queensland Government
to retain the trees in the Kamerunga nursery
as a base stock for the future supply of seeds to
planters, as the importation of the stock is dif-
ficult by reason of the short vitality of the seeds.
He considers the establishment of the nucleus
stock will ultimately assist in creating a valu-
able industry in Queensland.—Financier, Nov.25.

RUBBER PLANTERS IN DELI
-—-Sumatra—are setting their faces against the
use of tin cups for collecting the tapped latex
from the trees. It seems that, in the open air,
these cups are attacked by rust which stains the
coagulated latex in them and spoils its market
value. Several planters are using aluminium
cups instead to catch the latex. This metal is
not lable to rust and has the additional advan-
tage of being cheap.—Straits Times, Nov, 11,

INDIA’S TEA COUNTRY,

(The Field, Nov. 20.)

I think the first impression made on me when
I came here now nearly twenty years ago, was
the denseness of the jungle growth as seen from
the river steamer. The hills along the banks of
the Brahmaputra seemed like great heaps of all
kinds of trees cut and piled up in stacks, rather
than a natural growth, as from a very short dis-
tance no ground at allis visible. If inclined to
sport, the new chum’s

SPECULATION RUNS ON WHAT SORTS OF GAME

are hidden beneath all that wonderfully dense
greenery, how it is to be got at, and what
his luck atthe shikar he has heard so much
about will be. If itis the cold weather, when
the river is low, he will probably take shots from
the deck at the crocodiles, which are visible in
their hundreds lying basking on the mud banks.
These are entirely fish-eaters; for the mugger, or
carnivorous and man-eating sort, is not found
in Assam rivers. One can swim in perfect safety
everywhere, no matter how numerous the ‘‘crocs”
may be. A very general idea is that their scales
are almost impenetrable. This is quite wrong,
so far as this species is concerned, atall events,
for an ordinary gun will send a bullet right
through them.

WHAT A PERFECT CLIMATE THE COOL SEASON IS

in Assam from November to April! There is prac-
tically no rain, and the temperature is seldom
more than 75° even at midday, and is down
to 45° at night. The cold weather visitor of the
** Padgett, M.P.,” type wonders what hardships
there can be to grumble at with such a climate ;
but he never stays till the rains set in, and rain
it does then, very consistently, when the register
is 90° and higher andthe atmosphere so satur-
ated that it is that of a forcing house; then, even
with no exertion, our clothes are soaked with
perspiration during the whole twenty-four
hours for five months on end, and there is
a ceaseless hum of mosquitoes,

WHAT A FRIGHTFUL PLAGUE INSECTS ARE

in the tropics! They are worse than the heat
itself. The mosquito is, of course, the worst, and
is, as most people now know, most dangerous,
especially the anopheles species. There are
many species of mosquito, but this, I believe,
is the only dangerous one. The so-called ‘‘harm-
less” ones are, in all conscience, unbearable
enough pests, it being impossible to get any
sleep without the net during the rains. Even a
more painful experience is that poisonous little
sandfly, no bigger than a pin’s head, but an
‘incarnate bite,” far more irritating than Mr.
Skeeter. He comes in silence: isnot perceived
until his work is done and he departed. Skeeter,
on the other hand, is a sportsman to the extent
that he sings on his way to and fro, which is a
mercy, though a small one. Very luckily the
sandfly is not ubiquitous, like the mosquito,
being peculiar to certain soils, for a net in order
to keep him out would have to be so closely
woven as to be impossible to sleep under. Ticks
in the jungle are very bad too; one ‘‘jat” is so
small as to be almost invisible. I have had these
on wy legs above my stockings so thick as to

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Socrety.—Jan,, 1910, 85

look like garters, and have had to shave them
off with a razor, The most loathsome, though,
is one quite flat and the size of a threepenny bit.
It is found on big game, and is of a dirty grey
colour, and cat te through linen, and when it
does so, it feels like the prick of a red-hot blunt
needle. There are also many other kinds, and
one I have taken off a tiger which was as big as
a thrush’s egg. Dog ticks seem never to attack
one, though they are brought home by the score.
I have noticed in skinning big game that some
sorts of tick seem unable to relinquish their
grip of their dead host, but remain attached to
the skin until they rot off. It is difficult to re-
move a tick when he fastens on one, as_ the
head keeps a very determined grip, and parts
company with its body sooner than leave go,
and, there remaining, sets up a very nasty and
lingering sore.

UP TO THE MIDDLE OF MAY WE PLANTERS
WERE UNHAPPY

—that is to say, nine out of every ten Huropeans
in the province ; for except the few officials and
railway men, all whites here are concerned with
tea in some way or other. Thé early rains had
been extraordinarily late and scanty so far; the
drought had lasted since last October, every-
thing in consequence was very backward, and
estate managers were wondering how their esti-
mated crops were to be obtained.

Even a shortage of the usual crop means
very great loss, as the English capital invested
in tea is over fifteen millions, and a short crop
does not mean a proportionately reduced ex-
penditure on the estates, as the cultivation has
to be kept up at the same standard of excellence,
the need for this in a bad season being greater
indeed than ina normal one, and we cannot dis-
charge any of our labour force, shortage of lab-
our being in normal times a great crux with us.
AEN HOw in July, we are having a very trying
year, The

RAINFALL HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY SHORT,

and everyone is doing badly and making less tea
than usual, Iam already 11 tons behind, and
still going back, and, as there is no retrench-
ment possible in management, we have to find
full work for our coolies, whether it be remune-
rative or not. The shortage of labour is be-
coming more acute year by year.

EVERY COOLIE HAS TO BE IMPORTED FROM
OTHER PARTS OF INDIA

at the expense of the garden, and may amount
to £10 per adult. The average garden is about
600 acres—say, a square mile—and there should
be at least one-and-a-half cooly per acre for
decently efficient cultivation. Matters have not
been improved by the recent repeal of a part
of the Special Labour Law, which allowed of
a coolie being put under contract to serve for
a certain period, with penalties for non-per-
formance, drunkenness, and absconding. Per
contra, the employer was and is bound to pro-
vide wages, food at fixed prices and good quality,
proper housing, and especially a good and
pure water supply, with medical attendance and
maintenance when sick, and the coolies start
work quite free of debt of any kind to their
importer—the garden, AH estates are regularly

inspected by the district officials, and due per
formance of their part of the now unilateral
contract is rigidly enforced. Since the above
repeal, we have hardly any hold on the coolies
except by a cumbrous civil suit, which is only
possible if a cash advance has been made and
the coolie refuses to work at all. Considering
that every coolie has been and still has to be
imported by us~the native Assamese being
quite useless—it seems rather hard that we
should have no security that they will remain
long enough on the estate to prove remuner-
ative. We cannot in any way recover the cost
of their importation from them. They start
free from that.

THEN THE GOVERNMENT STARTS UP, BIDDING
FOR OUR COOLIES,

much having been talked about State coloni-
sation of Crown lands, but nothing effected,
except in the way of inducing the men whose
passages we have paid for, to take up Gov-
ernment waste lands, and the result is that
enormous areas of such land have been taken
up by ex-tea garden coolies, amounting now
to 120,000 acres and more, these men being
appreciated by the authorities as the best
ryots in the province, and from them the
Government draws a large and increasing re-
venue. There are still huge tracts of richly
fertile lands hungering for tillage, and more
capable of giving certain returns than the major
portion of Indiaitself. Firstand last we have
imported more than a million people from India,
nearly all of whom have ultimately decided to
finally settle inthe province, and this we still
continue todo at the rate of many thousands
annually.

THE NATIVE OF ASSAM IS USELESS ;

practically none will work save as clerks or on
some such billet ; they have a most inordinate
idea of their own superiority over the rest of
the races of mankind, Heaven knows for what
reason, for they are lazy, dishonest, and in no
capacity reliable, The Bengali, on the other
hand, though in moral character no better and
perhaps, because of his mental superiority, re-
quiring more intelligent supervision, will and
does work, It is customary to laugh at Babu
English, and their stilted style and use of half-
comprehended Johnsonian phrase is productive
of most ludicrous results, of which I could
of course, produce many perhaps better ex
amples than the following : “Sir, I beg to crave
a small hole in the secret side of your benevol-
ence wherein I may creep and thenve derive sus-
tenance for self and starving family,” &c. But
per contra, apart from our officials, not one in a
hundred Europeans knows how to address a re-
spectable native without unwittingly insulting
him by the use of terms grossly inappropriate,
We are

JUST COMPLETING A LITTLE WAR
FRONTIER,

The Daflas, a Himalayan tribe of ancient ‘‘head-
hunters” who inthe past have been in the
habit of raiding the Assam plains much to their
own advantage, came down ona Miri village in

the Darrang District a short time since, ac- |
quiring some fresh heads, and carrying off a few

ON THE

86 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

individuals into slavery. A party of our native
troops sent up into their hills may burn some of
the more accessible villages, but that will beall
the result, for itis impossible to catch these
cragsmen in their own fastnesses, as they never
show fight, so most likely no one will have
been hurt. The most severe punishment will be
inflicted on these Daflas by withdrawing their
license to trade in the valley for a term of
years. They are very jealous of allowing stran-
gers to enter their territory, anyone so doing
being promptly enslaved and seldom heard of
again. For that reason no British subject
is permitted by us to cross the boundary line.
Quite recently three or four Thibetans arrived
at our Bunjur outpost in North Assam, they
being the remains of quite a large party of their
traders who had been captured by these Daflas
many years ago. It is supposed that many
unfortunates among our absconding tea garden
coolies have ‘‘ bettered themselves ” by wand-
ering over the border, whence they can never
hope to return, and are not heard of again.
Luckily our peopie have been successful in pre-
venting the gun trade with these hill tribes ;
otherwise we should be confronted with a Far
Eastern Afghanistan, for they are hardy races,
but as yet are armed with but afew fortuitous
guns of sorts, bows, and arrows, spears, and dhas
being their most formidable armament, since
so far they possess no rifles. Speaking of

FIREARMS,

our indiscriminate allowance of these to the
natives of. our settled States has resulted in
the upset of nature’s balance. The native shi-
kari (or often village loafer), armed with a rifle
or gun, hardly interferes at all with the tiger
or leopard, but in many parts has nearly cleared
off the land, all the more—to him—profitable
deer and pig and wild bovine animals, which
are the natural aliment of the felide. The
consequence is that these now support them-
selves almost entirely upon the natives’ flocks
and herds, and—more frequently perhaps than of
yore—upon the native herself. I think they are
quite as numerous as they were twenty years
ago; at least, they fall quite as often to one’s
rifle as ever they did. The tithe they take of
domestic cattle is enormous, however, so it
comes to be.one’s duty to so far as possible to

olice the district, if one has a steady hand.
Both tiger and leopard are epicures, and kill
nothing but the best, to the great grief of the
poor ryot, who often lomgs for the return of deer
and pig to shield his herds. So much for free
trade in guns, untempered by a proper license
system.

One reads a deal about the

GREAT CAT’S FAVOURITE KNOCK-OUL BLOW,

WHEREBY HE SLAYS THE BISON

(here standing 6ft to 6ft 3in at shoulder), buffalo
and ox with one skull-smashing blow. At an ex-
tremely low estimate I have examined over 300
kills, and in not one have [ seen a sign of the
paw being used except to catch and hold the
prey ; even scratches on a kill are rare and small
as a rule. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
the throat seemed to have been seized from
below and the neck dislocated by a sharp twist
by the paw. Neither beast seems, as far as I

know, to spring upon its prey, but by preference
after getting as near as possible, makes a final
short rush along the ground, seldom chasing for
any distance if foiled, but depending on a sur-
prise. The vitality of both animals may well be
a source of perennial surprise. But a very short
time since I

HIT A TIGRESS WITH A 577 EXPANDING BULLET,

striking behind the shoulder, and raking
slightly back. The heart andlungsI found blown
to bits, yet she made a rush towards the smoke,
turned back, and went fully fifty yards through
adense mass of reeds, finally hiding herself so
well with her last breath (if she had such then
at all) as to be invisible, from a few feet away.
This may seem incredible save to old shikaris.

One reads magazine yarns of fellows shooting
“many” tigers on foot and alone. They always
aim, and hit, between the eyes! Seeing what
the attitude of atiger is when both eyes are
visible and the trend of the forehead. &c., I
know that no experienced man would choose
such a shot. [ have been fairly succeessful in
my quest for Mrand Mrs Stripes, but itis my
firm opinion that no man would on foot try this
shot. on ‘‘many” tigers and live to relate his suc-
cesses. A day or two ago | went after a herd of
thirty bison, as we call them (of course, quite
different from buffalo, as you know), and gota
head the owner of which stood 6ft 3in.

ASSAM.

TEA IN CHINESE TURKESTAN.

From the report on the Indo-Chinese Turkes-
tan trade via Ladakh for the year ending on
the 3lst March, 1909, by Sir Francis Young-
husband, K.Cc.1.E., who has just gone home on
leave, we extract as follows:—... It will be a
great day for our traders when Indian tea is
allowed to enter Russian Turkestan, because it
will completely oust the tea now drunk in that
tea-drinking country. The tea which is drunk
there at present suffers deterioration by the sea
voyage to Batoum, ...

Imports From InpIA '0 CHINESE TURKESTAN.

Tea was not imported in such large quantities
as last year. The market was good and the
rates fair. There will be a great future for
Indian tea if it could be taken into Western
Turkestan via Kashgar. It is to be hoped that
the prohibition will be taken off before long.
The demand for Indian tea increases yearly,
and it is difficult to understand why traders do
not import more. Probably the transport ques-
tion has a great deal to do with if,

Four qualities are imported :—

1 Palampur green, 6} Tengas per Ching,

2 Pata from Palampur. 5 Tengas per Ching.

3 Pamila from Dehra Dun. 6 Tengas per Ching,

4 tore Bond & Co.’s Orange Pekoe. 5} Tengas per

Nos. land 3 are most in demand, The tea-
drinkers of this country state that tea deterior-
ates by a sea voyage, and therefore they prefer
the Indian tea to that which comes through
Western Turkestan after a sea voyage as far as
Batoum. Our traders import a small quantity
of ‘‘ Ak-chai,” Chinese tea. It has not much sale
except amongst the Chinese who pay as much
as 16 Tengas per ching for it,

and Magazine uf the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jan., 1910. 87°

A. 8. B, SHUTTLEWORTH, Captain, Offe. His
Britannic Majesty’s Consul at Kashgar.
Twa IN LADAKH 1908-9.

Luasa Brick Tgea.—A large increase R65,472
between 1907-08 and 1908-09 is shown under
this head which, as I have said, I put down to
the inefficiency of the registration post at Nima
Mit and consequently consignments getting
entered twice over in the books at Leh. Two
new registration posts with a proper staff have
recently been sanctioned for the Tibet frontier,
and the returns for trade with Tibet should in
future be more reliable.

Tea [npran.—The figures are given below:—

(1) Exported from British India to Ladakh—

Mds, Value
1907-08 2,374 61,705
1908-09 1,110 33,246
Decrease 1,264 28,459

(2) Exported from Ladakh to Central Asia—
Mds, Value
1907-08 a8 1,277 34,952
1908-09° Ar, 546 16,382
Decrease 731 18,670

Ourna Tra, via [NpraA.—One hundred and ten
maunds were exported to Chinese Turkestan
against 85 maunds during the previous year.
—Indian Trade Journal, Nov. 25.

TEA CULTURE IN VARIOUS CLIMES.
CHINESE AND OTHER METHODS.

A most interesting and well-illustrated article
on tea culture is to be found in the pages of the
November issue of ‘The Magazine of Com-
merce” ; and, although the figures are not in
every case correct, it well repays perusal, con-
taining, as it does, informative descriptions of
the culture and manufacture of the leaf in the
various countries in which it is grown. Brick
tea, for instance, which is extensively used in
Tibet and some parts of Russia, is prepared in a
very rough and ready manner, being formed of
cheap and coarse teas which, with small twigs,
are compressed into blocks. Very little care is
exercised in the plucking process, the twigs
being literally reaped from the plant. There is
no witbering or regular fermentation process.
The twigs and leaves are at once heated in thin
iron pans for a few minutes, and then tied into
bundles and sacks, and taken to the factories or
‘“‘hongs,” where the material is piled in heaps
and allowed to ferment. After being dried in
the sun the tea is sorted into grades, when it is
steamed and finally pressed into a shallow
brick-shaped mould by mears of a heavy ram-
mer. In three orfour days the bricks have
become quite hard, and, after beiig stamped
with the maker’s name or device, are wrapped
in paper and made into strong packages for
transport. Large quantities, some 20,000 tons
per annum, are made at Hankow for the Russian
market, which is also supplied with ‘‘tablet
tea” from the same town. Another country, in
which the manufacture of tea does not proceed
on what we may term orthodox lines, is Japan,
where shade-grown tea, that is, tea grown under
horizontal mats, is cultivated to a large extent.
None of this, however, finds its way abroad, for
it is so highly valued by the Japanese that it is
grown exclusively for home consumption. A
similar method is practised in South Carolina

and Java, the bushes being under a covering of
jute hessian from 10 a.m, to 4 p.m. The purest of
all tea, that least touched by the human hand
in manufacture, is the virgin tea of China, It
is prepared exclusively from the very youngest
leaves of the shrub, and is used principally at
Qhineso marriages, So delicate are the leaves
that even after prolonged boiling but little
tannin is evident. The leaves are tied together
with silk thread in tiny bundles. When the
tea is to be brewed, a bundle is held by means
of a small ivory or silver skewer, in a large
clear crystal cup of very thin glass, and boiling
water poured in. The leaves slowly unfold, and,
changing from a dingy greyish-black colour,
quickly revert to nearly the same refreshing
greenness which they possessed when plucked.
The infusion, as seen through the glass, is of
a pale amber colour, resembling that of the
finest qualities of cognac. It is drunk directly
from the leaves, the aroma and odour being
obtained to perfection. The difference in the
manufacture of Chinese green and black tea
is, it appears, extremely small, the same pro-
cess being adopted in both cases, until the
rolling has been completed. The leaves in-
tended to procuze black tea, however, are sub-
jected, after rolling, to a much more extended
drying process in the open air than the green
leaves, and thus undergo a process of ferment-
ation which does not obtain in the manufacture
of the latter. Rolling, it is to be noted, is
done by hand, the leaves being worked and
kneaded like ordinary bakers’ dough. It is also,
when finally placed in boxes or baskets, pressed
down by men treading it with their feet, which,
says the article, are covered with clean cloth
or straw shoes. We wonder if this is always
the case. The story of the rise of the tea in-
dustry in Ceylon is succinctly but well written
up, and the enormous strides made in India
are described. Natal is mentioned as the most
important tea-producing colony of the British
Empire after Ceylon and India, notwithstan-
ding the fact that the acreage has not yet reached
5,000. This will have to be increased at least
threefold in order to satisfy the local demand
and capture the South African market. The
most productive gardens are at an elevation of

1,000 feet, the land at this altitude being
generally of an undulating character, well
watered, and the climate sufficiently humid

to encourage leaf production. As the tea is
of good quality, the industry is of considerable
value, despite the small acreage, and should do
not a little to further advance the prosperity of
the “ Garden of South Africa.”

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
IN ASSAM.

An interesting agricultural development re-
ported from the Lushai Hills in Assam is the
expansion of valley cultivation in that region.
It is stated that the erstwhile swamp, filling
the valley of the Tuipui river, has now been
drained and brought under successful rice
cultivation. The pioneer of the movement is
said to be an ex-Sepoy, who undertook to
teach the Lushais how to grow wet rice, and
succeeded admirably.—Madras Times, Oct. 31.

88 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF
SPONGES.

U.S. A. COMMISSLONER’S SUCCESS.
Private Co. ORGANISED: MrerHop EXPLAINED.

Washington, Oct.22, 1909.—The United States
Commissioner of Fisheries in his coming annual
report will make the interesting announce-
ment that the work of the bureau in testing the
practicability of the artificial cultivation of
sponges has reached a point justifying com-
mercial exploitation of the bureau’s methods on
a large scale. The commissioner will say :—
“Such progress has been made in experimental sponge
culture at certain points on the coast of Florida that the
bureau is now in position to recommend the growing of
sponges from cuttings as commercial enterprise, and will
shortly make public the methods and outcome of the experi-
ments that have extended over a series of years. The
outcome of the past season’s operations has been the
production of marketable sponges, and of an average
weight of one-and-a-quarter ounces, in twenty-nine months,
It is understood that a private compiny has already been
organised to carry on sponge culture on a commercial
basis, following the methods made known by the bureau;
and it is believed that very important economic results
must accrue to prospective sponge planters, while at the
same time the stability of the sponge crop is assured.”

The work of the Bureau of Fisheries in the
artificial cultivation of sponges has been
conducted by Dr. H. F. Moore. These are
the only tests ever made in the history of
the industry either here or abroad that pro-
mised to be of commercial importance, and
were undertaken in January, 1901, at Sugar
Loaf Key, and at other places in Biscayne
Bay, Fla, Growing from cuttings was adopted
because of its simplicity and the certainty
with which the cuttings will attach and re-
generate when placed under suitable conditions.
After numerous experiments it was finally es-
tablished that pieces about 14 by 2 by 24 inches
were most suitable. These cuttings were placed
on wires formed by various materials, each
piece being slit by a sharp knife, and fastened
astride the wire by a bit of aluminium wire.
In about six weeks after submergence in the
sea the cuttings have been found to heal, an
outer skin formed over the entire cutting and
a slow but steady growth begun. Various kinds
of wire have been used and abandoned for
various reasons. The greatest measure of suc-
cess in the growing of sponges suspended in
the water has followed the use of a galvanised
iron ribbon three-eighths-of-an-inch wide and
one-sixteenth inch thick encased in a tight fitting
jacket one-thirty-second of an inch thick. The
ribbon obviates the difficulty encountered in
the use of a round wire when the sponges reach
five inches in diameter, when they are loos-
ened by the action of the waves and begin to
rotate, thus wearing large holes which damage
them commercially and retard their growth.

In many localities, however, the growing of
sponges on wires suspended in the water has
been found less practicable than to mount the
cuttings on flat discs or triangles made of cement.
These cement forms can be made at an expense
of less than two cents each, including labour
and material. The cuttings were attached by
means of a wire. On some grounds, where
strong currents were encountered, resulting in
some shifting of sand and silt, which threatened
to bury the disc and cutting it, it was found
desirable to mount the cutting on a spindle

made of a short length of the lead covered iron
ribbon, The use of discs and triangles, all things
considered, would appear to promise better
success on a commercial scale than the method
of suspending the cuttings on ribbon wires, but
much depends on the character of the bottom,
the prevailing currents and other considerations.

Under artificial culture the shapes of sponges
may be modified more or less to suit the special
requirements of the arts. Sponges grown on
wires or spindles assume a spheroidical shape
with a uniform texture of surface and devoid of
any semblance ofa ‘‘root” such as is found in
all natural sponges excepting rollers. This form
is very attractive and durable.

Cuttings grown on discs tend to assume a
flatter shape, and the surface attached to the
cement is plane, and in that respect resembles
the root of natural sponges, but instead of being
‘‘raw”? and exposing the canals, it is covered
with a close soft felt of great strength and dura-
bility, and forms the strongest, instead of the
weakest, part of the sponge.

In certain arts and trades sponges with flat
surfaces are required, and to obtain these it is
customary to cut the “forms” into pieces. The
raw surfaces exposed in this way lack the dura-
bility of the natural surfaces and to obtain the
latter style at the same time retaining the seve-
ral flat faces and sharp angles of the “cuts” a
modified form of disc is employed. Inthese
there are two partitions raised to a height of
four inches crossing one another at right angles
on the upper surface of the disc. This leaves at
the centre of the disc four angular compart-
ments, and in each of these a cutting is planted,
which being limited on three sides by the disc
and partitions, grows into aform having three
plane surfaces at right angles to one another
and one convex surface. The latter is similar
in texture to the outside of an ordinary sponge,
but the plane faces form contact with the disc
and partitions and develop a smooth, soft and
very durable felt-like surface. These sponges
cost more to grow than those of ordinary shape,
but experiments recently inaugurated will pro-
bably make the additional cost of production
trifling. The superior durability of sponges
grown in this manner will make it possible to
market them at aprice considerably above that
brought by the natural product.—New York Oil
Reporter, Oct. 25.

EXPERIMENT STATION IN SUMATRA.

To Devise Means to Cope with the Diseases
which Attack Rubber Trees.

Rubber planters in Deli have agreed to estab-
lish an experiment station there. The prelimi-
nary outlay is set at 30,000 guilders, spread
over three years. It is intended to engage a
botanist learned in biology who, after gaining
experience in Ceylon, the Straits Settlements,
and Java, will at once set to work to devise
means to cope with the diseases which attack
tubber trees. Contributions to meet the outlay
are expected from every estate according to
the area. The number of estates is about 80
spread over about 30,000 acres. Twenty-two
planters have fallen in with the idea and a
Committee has been appointed to settle the
details. —Stratis Times, Dec. 3.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jan., 1910,

A FRENCH VIEW OF RUBBER:

BY A FRANOCO-AFRICAN AUTHORITY,

‘* PLANTATION RUBBER MUST DOMINATE
THE POSITION.”

(Specially translated for the Financier.)

{In a recent interview with the representative of a Paris
contemporary Mr Engeringh, who is the administrator
Delegate of the Sultanats du Haut-Oubanghi (French
Congo) gave expression to some very interesting opinions
as to the present position of the rubber industry and
the future of plantation rubber. Mr. Engeringh, we need
scarcely add, from the position he holds is exceptionally
well placed to offer an opinion on the subject. He is
connected with several rubber plantations, but prior
to acquiring these interests he was for a long time
head of some of the pricipal Congo Companies. With
his experience, then, of both “ wild ” and cultivated
rubber his views onthe outlook should prove of interest
to our readers.—Ed., F.]

‘* What strikes me mostin the present posi-
tion of rubber,” said Mr. Engeringh, in reply
to the obvious question of his interviewer, 1s
that, in addition to the increase in the con-
sumption of the commodity reflected in the high
prices now ruling, there 1s a quasi-certainty
of a slow but very decided movement on the
part of the main rubber cultivation to migrate,
South America has been up to the present,
and still is, the great rubber producer. The
share of the Congo is not insignificant, but
it is negligible, amounting to 5,000 to 6,000
tons a year, compared with, roughly, 40,000
tons from South America. Therefore, it is
to South America that we must turn our
attention if we would study the production
of forest rubber and the gathering thereof.
Well, it appears to me that this harvest of the
forest is not likely to increase. Without seeking
to bring out technical reasons (which are,
however, of themselves very weighty), [ will
confine myself to naming this one fact, which
appears to me to be the most tangible proof.

STATIONARY SouTH AMERICAN OUTPUT.

In_ spite of the great rise that the prices
of rubber oxperienced for two years—which
should have been a great stimulant to the
producers, as it assured them of large profits—
statistics demonstrate conclusively that the
production in the regions named has remained
stationary. Let us take the four past months—
July 1st to October 31st, 1909—that is to say, the
time when rubber reached its highest price.
The production in that period in the Govern-
ment of Para reached the level of 8,560 tons.
During the corresponding period of 1907, when
the price was 3s. less per pound, the production
was 8,480 tons—that is to say, practically the
same as this year. It is obvious, then, that if
more is not produced at this time, it is be.
cause it cannot be done, The temptation is
strong enough. The Government of Para, on
the other hand, is getting alarmed at the ex-
travagant production, which, it is feared, will
reduce the subsequent producing capacity of
the country. 1t is endeavouring to stop the
excessive tapping of the lianes [sic. This term
is usually applied to rubber creepers and not to
the Hevea trees of Para.—A, M. & J. F.]_ and so
to protect the future,

12

89

‘* From the fact that this production does not
appear to grow, but rather to maintain itself
with considerable difticulty—and there is, be-
sides, the question of labour, which is always
rare and difficult to obtain in South America,
and is in many parts a very disquieting problem
—it is clear that the consumption, which con-
tinues to grow, must turn elsewhere for satis-
faction. On the other hand, it is natural that
the progress of consumption is much less than
it would be because of the high prices quoted,
which prevent the .employment of rubber in
many industries, In my opinion it would be
a great advantage if the price of rubber fell
to about 15f. per kilogramme (5s. 5d. per Ib.)
At this price the profits of the producers, par-
ticularly in the plantations, would be enormous,
aud the market would be unlimited. When the
price of rubber is more approachable, the con-
sumption will receive such an impetus that we
may be able to count on, I believe, an annual
increase of 10 per cent, Even if we only esti-
mate the advance at 5 per cent per annum, we
would have an increase of 50 per cent in 10 years,
which is. not exaggerated. Everybody knows
that the uses to which rubber is put are in-
creasing in number constantly.” Here Mr.
Engeringh quotes a number of applications of
rubber, actual and prospective, and proceeds:
‘*T am convinced that the consumption of rub-
ber will make enormous progress, and what is
not obtained from the exploitation of the forest
reserves of South America will be provided by
the rubber plantations. There is where its
future lies, and thus I amable to tell you that
its centre is going to change its geographical
position.”

“SYNTHETIC” RUBBER.

‘* Have we anything to fear from the compe-
tition of ‘ synthetic’ rubber?” asked the in-
terviewer.

‘‘No; I do not believe in it at all,” said Mr.
Engeringh, ‘‘and I am notalone in my opi-
nion. This is also the opinion of M. van
Romburg, Professor of Organic Chemistry
in the University of Utrecht, formerly Di-
rector of the Botanical Gardens of Batavia.
All efforts in this direction by chemists have
been hitherto fruitless, Materials will probably
be found that will answer the description of
impermeableness, and may compete feebly
with rubber, but their influence will be insig-
nificant. As to finding a product that will
possess the same qualities as rubber, with its
essential characteristic elasticity, that appears
to be but a Utopian idea.”

MiIpDLE East PLANTATIONS,

‘*Plantations will increase,” continued Mr.
Engeringh, in reply to a further query, “ but
numbers of them will be disappointing.” Pro-
ceeding to outline the conditions required for
their success, he found that the Middle East
presents ideal conditions for rubber cultivation,
and—an important point—there is plenty of
labour there. The populations in many parts
are already agricultural and industrious, and
quite adapted to plantation work. Further-
more, labour there is cheap. He then recounts
the progress of the, plantations up to the pre-
sent (which part of his narrative we need not

90 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

reproduce) and observes that the cost of pro-
duction is naturally very varied. Butthe price
of rubber is so high compared with production
costs that the disparity explains the large
dividends already paid by some Middle East
companies almost as soon as they started to
market the product.

The interviewer made inquiries as to Mr.
Engeringh’s opinion of the standard of value.

‘* Will Para,” he asked, ‘‘always be the stan-
dard for plantation rubber ?”

‘“‘On the contrary,” said Mr. Engeringh,
“there is generally a margin in price in favour
of plantation rubber, as it is purer. In any
case, the better grades are never sold cheaper
than Para.”

‘Tn such case,” continued the interviewer,
“‘the plantation investment appears to be so
inviting that more will be started, so there
might easily be a danger of over-production ?”

7

“Up till now there is nothing to fear,” re-
plied Mr. Engeringh. ‘‘Stocks do not grow,
and, as a matter of fact, the Middle Kast plan-
tations are at present supplying a very small
quantity compared with the world’s total. But,
allowing for a rapid increase, this will only pro-
vide for the growing consumption, and it will
no doubt be easily absorbed.”

Our authority does not believe that the forest
production will remain at its present level, but
that, on the contrary, it will decrease, which
tendency it is clearly showing, with the excep-
tion of certain regions—for example, the Congo,
where both the French and Belgian Govern-
ments have made wise provisions in the con-
cessions as to the re-planting of the rubber areas
as they are usedup, This will no doubt ensure
the maintenance of the level of production in
Africa. But it is not so in South America,
where the tendency to fall off in the production
is very significant.

Tue Future or THE MippLeE East.

“ But again, as to the indefinite increase of
the plantations in the Middle Kast, that,” said
Mr. Engeringh, ‘‘ is impossible. They require
special clearly defined conditions for their suc-
cess, and these conditions will only be found in
a limited number of areas. The best lands are
already taken. The existing plantations that
have reached, or very nearly reached, the pro-
duction stage may be called privileged. They
have not any serious competition to fear, and,
in spite of the efforts made to increase their
yield, they will do no morethan meet the de-
mand that is growing so wonderfully. I do not
believe there is any cause to anticipate an accu-
mulation of stocks. I believe present prices
will be maintained, and, if the present growth
in the demand, estimated at the moderate rate
of 50 per cent in 10 years, continues, the planta-
tions which have yielded 2,500 tons last year
will have to give us 35,000 tons in ten years.
Those who like to juggle with figures will no
doubt be able to show that in 10 years their
yield will be 70,000 tons. But allow me, asa
man understanding the business, to doubt it.
Remember what [ told you--that rubber re-
quires special conditions ; besides, we must take

into account with the rubber plantations the
usual mistakes that o¢cur on the average with
industrial enterprises. The liability of humanity
to err must be taken into account. In fact, we
must reconstituts methodically the accumula-
tion that Nature has taken many years to per-
fect in the immense forests that are now being
exploited. That will take time. . . . One thing
is certain ; the future of the rubber plantations
is assured for a long time, and the centre of
production is being gradually shifted towards
them.’”’—Financier, Dec. 13.

RUBBER PRODUCTION IN ANGOLA.

The following information is from the report
by H.M. Consul at Loanda (Mr. H G Mackie) on
the trade of Angola in 1908, which will shortly
be issued :—

Witp RUBBER.

Careful investigations have been conducted
by a Government botanist in the regions lying
between the rivers Cutato and Cutchi and the
Cubango and Cului on the plateau of Ben-
guella, Among the numerous latex-yielding
plants collected, the most promising rubber
plant is said to be a shrub (carpodinus gracilis)
growing in shady places ona soil with no
rocks or stones, but having a deep _ layer ot
sand free from stagnant water. This shrub
furnishes a rubber of good quality, which is ex-
tracted by the natives by beating the rhizomas
(horizontal truuks) between two pieces of wood
—one having a flat surface and the other shaped
like a mallet, The bark isthus separated from
the wood and reduced to fragments held together
by the rubber tissues, the globules of caout-
chouc coagulating as soon as they come in
contact with the air, and thus none of the
latex is lost. As soon as the bark that con-
tains the rubber is peeled off, the native con-
tinues the beating operation until the whole
is reduced to a spongy elastic mass, known
in the trade as a ‘* manta” or sheet. The
“‘manta” at this stage consists of the rubber
threads binding the broken bark that has been
reduced to dust. It is now worked in cold
water and again beaten. Repeating this wor-
king and beating process, the native is able to
prepare a physically almost pure rubber—by
means, however, of great labour, For this last
reason it does not always pay him to clean the
rubber too much, After this working and
beating process the spongy mass turns into a
flaccid rubber sheet of less than half-an-inch
in thickness and sometimes as much as 4 feet |
square. This rubber sheet is now steeped in
boiling water for some five minutes, when it
becomes quite plastic, and inthis state is shaped
by hand into its characteristic sausage-like
form of about 10 inches in length, Although
the water is pressed out as much as possible
during the modelling operation, the rubber
still contains 30 per cent of moisture, which
must, of course, be evaporated if the rubber is
to be preserved from damage. The drying of the
rubber has to be attended to by the buyer.
The native frequently collects big loads of stems
and rhizomas in the cold and dry season far away
from his village. These loads are brought in and

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jan., 1910, 91

stored for weeks before the rubber is extracted.
If there is much dry material to work, it is im-
mersed overnight to render the bark more malle-
’ able and less adhesive to the wood.

The rubber in question is classified as second
class rubber in Angola, as it is usually badly
cleaned, 7.¢., full of particles of bark. A first-
class product could be obtained from this plant
in Angola if the natives would take the trouble
to cleanse the rubber more than they do.

One-fifth of the ground traversed by the Gov-
ernment botanist between the Cubango and the
Quembo, an affluent of the Cuando, is covered by
this plant, from 16 deg. south latitude to the
Congo Basin; it thrives better, however, in some
localities than in others.

THE Root RUBBER

industry, entailing a great amount of manual
labour, is essentially a black man’s industry,
but the methods of extracting and preparing
the rubber leave much to be desired. The
employment of machinery would, no doubt,
help to solve the problem, but the lack of means
of communication is at present the chief ob-
stacle to the attainment of a higher standard.
Moreover, the country is not yet occupied, and
the natives are much too uncivilised at present
to admit of much improvement. Rubber is
gathered over a vast expavse of country by the
natives, whocarry 1t on their heads to the up-
country stores, where they barter it for other
goods, These stores are situated in the populous
centres and follow up the trade, the merchants
moving from one district to another as circum-
stances may require. In 1903 a European bought
26,500 lb. of rubber in the populous valley of
the Cuango, an affluent of the Kuito; soon after-
wards three Portuguese factories started busi-
ness on that river. The produce is likewise
brought in by Boer wagons, the Portuguese
traders using these conveyances for penetrating
the unoccupied regions for hundreds of miles,

In a previous report (see pp. 243-4 of the
Board of Trade Journal of 30th January, 1908),
reference was made to an asclepiaceae rubber,
of which samples were sent from Angola to
the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the
Board of Trade, with a view to inducing
manufacturers in the United Kingdom to
quote for machines and implements for ex-
tracting the product. A British rubber com-
pany has recently embarked upon this enter-
prise, and the machines are now on their
way out to Africa. The rubber grows on the
Burro-burro plain of the mainland of Bengu-
ella, which the railway is about to cross. The
percentage of rubber is very low, being only
some 24 per cent, but with the mechanical pro-
cess about to be applied better and more rapid
results will doubtless be obtained. The British
firm is also sending out rubber cleaning plant,
for erection on the coast, that should extract
about 45 per cent of dirt and bark from the
native rubber, which has up to now been paying
freight and export duty.

CuLrivATED RuBBEr.

In the forest belt of the Loanda district
endeavours are being made, on the initiative
of the Government, to cultivate Para, Panama
and Lagos silk rubber trees, and in 1907 and

1908 seeds and plants were impdrted | for bur-
poses of distribution. An experimental station,

under the direction of a betanist. from’ Kow ,
Gardens, has been established at‘ N’Dalla Tendo} °

a station on the Loanda-Malange Railway, for
the purpose of rearing and distributing such
economical plants as are likely to thrive and
become useful for the general development of
agriculture in Angola, Various other agricul-
tural experimental stations have been set upin
various parts of the colony, ard a laboratory has
been established at Loandain which researches
can be made.

With regard to cultivated rubber, it may
generally be said that, while there are indica-
tions pointing to a handsome return in the
future, the industry is still in an experimental
stage of development. Mainly owing to the
small yields of the present system of tapping
the manihot glaziovii, only poor results have
been attained by planterson a small scale, who
have not been able each to produce more than
a few pounds of rubber for shipment to markets
where many tons could be easily disposed of,
The better-yielding species—such as the Para,
Central American and Lagos silk rubbers—have
still to attain a sufficient age to permit of their
being tapped.—Board of Trade Journal, Dec. 16.

RUBBER AT THE BRUSSELS
EXHIBITION.

It has been decided to open the Brussels Inter-
national Exhibitionin April, 1910,and to continue
until November of that year. We recently had
the pleasure of paying a visit to the Belgian capi-
tal in order to see exactly what was being done,

The old museum at Brussels which hitherto
has been used for general exhibits from the
Congo will be cleared and used expressly for

EXHIBITS BY PLANTERS, KUBBER COMPANIES

and others. The room is divided into separate
compartmentsand each of these will be reserved
for separate countries, viz.. Borneo, South
India, Ceylon, Malaya, Java, Sumatra, etc. The
middle of the room will be filled with an exhi-
bition of educational value, having at one end
collections of various rubber seeds, trees of
various species and of different ages; tapping
the rubber trees will come next; then washing
and curing, and finally the manufactured articles
in daily use will be shown.

EVERY STAGE FROM THE SEED

of the rubber plant to the finished tyre
will be shown in the middle of the room. Each
section around the whole of the museum will, as
indicated above, be used for exhibits of rubber
from separate countries. Here the various
companies throughout the world will be repre-
sented, and a very good collection should be on
view. One compartment will, according to
present intentions, be devoted to a display of
the scientific implements and apparatus used in
testing various rubber goods and another to
literature dealing with the plantation and manu-
facturing industries,

This feature—a section reserved entirely for
planting exhibits—will in itself be quite unique,
—India Rubber Journal, Dec. 13,

a.

92 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

KUBBER IN JAMAIGA: IS IT A
srveees*'* FAILURE ?

The usual. ‘monthly meeting of the Board of
Mariagément of the Jamaica Agricultural Society
was held at the office of the Society, No. 11,
North Parade, Kingston, on Thursday, 21st
Uctober, 1909, at 11-40 a.m. Present :—H. E.
Sir Sydney Olivier, in the chair, His Grace
the Archbishop, Bishop Collins, Hons. L J
Bertram, Geo. McGrath, the Director of Agricul-
ture, Messrs D Campbell, K Craig, A W Douet,
ACL Martin and the Secretary, Jno. Barclay.

Mr Craic—said he had given notice to the
Secretary to place on the agenda that he would
bring up the question of the

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE ON
COTTON AND RUBBER

in Jamaica, as published in the Gazette. He
did not say, as he did not know, that Mr
Cousins might not be perfectly right in making
the statements he did, but he happened to
know that large sums of money had been
invested here in rubber planting. It was
only within the last four or five years that
there had been rubber-planting to any extent
done here, and three of these years were
years of drought. Mr Cousins might be quite
right in giving off these ex cathedra statements,
but he would ask him to give them some data,

The Secretary also submitted two further
letters he had received on the subject :—

Mr AB Ventresse wrote of date: On pages 261 and 262 of
the Agricultural Journal for July, I read: We can supply
cotton seed, etc. The Society is prepared to supply seed
and pay cost of cultivation, etc. We have districts to which
cotton would be avaluable asset if it were grown. This
year a few cultivations of cotton in Jamaica have done
well. In thesupplement tothe Jamaica Gazette, Septem-
ber 2nd, p. 272: I would add cotton to the Indea Expur-
gatorius of economic cropsfor Jamaica. . , . Cotton culti-
vation is one of the most speculative and uncertain agri-
cultural enterprises ever attempted in Jamaica, This by
the Director of Agriculture.

Will the Board be good enough to reconcile these state-
ments. If not, why not? And what is the economic effect
onthe Island? Andin the opinion of the Board, should
cotton be condemned in this manner? And is itto the
general interests of the country that such statements should
be issued with the authority of the Director of Agriculture ?

On page 271 Supplement to Jamaica Guzette, September
2nd, the Director of Agriculture says: Iam_ unable to re-
commend the cultivation of any rubber-producing tree yet
tested in Jamaica. Is it not to be inferred from this that
all the rubber planted will be a failure? If not, why is it
written? On page 292same issue: Planters have been ill-
advised to spend money thereon. Who advised this planting?
Same page: Castilloa isapt to dieif tapped at all severely.
Is there good evidence of this, and ifso, why is it not pub-
lished, and isitfrom Jamaica experience? Same page:
Rubber asa shade for cocoa has proved most pernicious ?
Does this apply to Tobago, and in what way is it pernicious?

Is this wholesale condemnation of rubber a good policy
for the Director of Agriculture to pursue at present? And
what is the effect on the value of properties?

Sir Edward Cornwall, Chairman of the Jamaica Estates
Company, says :—Arrangements will at once be made for
the supply of rubber plants... . We have instructed Mr
Farquharson to proceed with the planting forthwith.

Whose duty is it totell these outside investors that they
don’t know what they are doing? Surely they should be
protected against themselves ! Will the Society advise?

I address this to the Board because I think the Society
should make some move in the matter.

Mr RE Gillespie of Clyremont, Falmouth, wrote of date
19th October, 1909, saying he had determined to give up
cotton growing for two reasons—(1) that no one in his
district would take up the industry, though to be success-
fulit needed a certain amount of co-operation and(2) he
was disgusted with the report of the Director of Agriculture

oncotton, as published in the Gleaner of September 3rd.
It might be correct for other parts of Jamaica, but he
believed from experience that cotton was a most useful,
safe and profitable crop in his district. However, the
above-mentioned report will effectually damn all hope of
anybody trying it, so IT must drop it also. I shall give off
my September crop in a few days and shall then be ready
to hand over the gin.

THe DirectoR—in reply—said Hevea plants
had been regularly issued to the public from
his Department for over 25 years, but there
were no large trees to be found anywhere,
although Castilloa trees were growing freely
from similar means of distribution. The
largest Para rubber tree in Jamaica was at
Castleton Gardens and is now 30 years old.
It should yield at least 10 lb. of rubber
per annum, if Hevea was a normal tree
for growth in this island. Castleton has the
closest approximation to a Brazilian rubber
climate of any district in the island. This tree
yields latex with great difficulty and refuses to
give an appreciable yield of rubber. The man-
ager of some very large Para plantations in the
East, inspected growing Para rubber trees in
various parishes of Jamaica in March last. He
told him (Mr Cousins) that our six-year-old
trees were only equal in size to 16 months’
trees on his plantations. He also stated that
lack of rain for 10 days is a serious set-back to
Hevea as grown on modern lines for rubber
production. His conclusion was given to him;
‘+ Jamaica is quite unsuitable for Para rubber.”
A Belgium syndicate went in largely for Para
rubber plantations near Port-au-Prince

1N HAYTI,

some eight years ago, The manager was per-
sonally known to him, and ona recent visit to
Jamaica, he informed him that this rubber tree
failed to produce a normal bark and Jatex in
Hayti, and the Para rubber had been given up
for cocoa, which was doing well. The greatest
interest in rubber-production in the West
Indies, had been evinced

IN TRINIDAD,

The climatic conditions in Trinidad were
more favourable for Para rubber than those
of Jamaica. The managing partner of one of
the largest properties in Trinidad, was good
enough to tell him of their experience of
Hevea and Castilloa when this gentleman visited
Jamaica last Spring. He stated that he was
quite satisfied that the Hevea they had planted,
on quite a large scale, could not be a commercial
success and he regretted the money expended
on this exterprise. He also informed him of
the serious injury to his cocoa trees by planting
Castilloa rubber as shade. The climate of
Jamaica had too low a mean temperature and
too great fluctuations in humidity and rainfall
to reproduce the conditions in which Hevea
brasiliensis grows naturally in the Valley of the
Amazon and those in the Hast, where cultivated °
Para cubber is at this moment coining money
forthe enterprising planters who had created
this industry. The mere growth of a rubber
tree and its ability to yield latex capable of
giving rubber in a commercially profitable
quantity, are two different things; and there was
every reason to believe that while we could grow
Para rubber trees here of poor and stunted
dimensions, that it was not possible in Jamaica

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jan., 1910, 93

to grow Hevea brasiliensis so as to yield good
latex freely. That these were the consider-
ations that led him asa matter of duty to the
public, to record the opinion which has been
called in question. With regard to Castilloa
elastica, the chief points he made were as to its
being a serious source of vermin (scale insects)
and of its ‘‘sucking” cocoa when planted as
shade for that crop.

Mr D CampBELL said he had visited Costa Rica
and found Castilloa Rubber trees there that had
been tapped and tapped for years with rough
treatment until they were all scars and yet they
did not die. He learned from there that there
were several varieties and he thought we had
been supplied from the gardens with the wrong
variety. He had a goodly number of Castilloa
rubber trees and they had grown splendidly and
never suffered from white scale. He would now
like the Department to tap the trees system-
atically and settle the question whether they
would yield rubber in payable quantities or not.

The Director or AGRICULTURE—said he had
been lookirg into the matter and found that the
Castilloa plants that had been supplied here
came from Kew, and were of the best variety.
There was no doubt at all that they had the right
sort. With regard to the tapping of the trees,
the Department could send Mr Cradwick to tap
them.—Journal of the Jamaica Agricutlurat
Society, November, 1909.

RUBBER GROWING IN INDO-CHINA.

Monsieur Albert Littaye, Vice-President of
the Société Agricole de Suzannah, was in
Colombo a few days ago on his way back to
France, Regarding the progress made in para
rubber cultivation in Indo-China, M. Littaye
said (to the ‘Times of Ceylon”) that there
were, at present, only three rubber plantations
in Indo-China, the above being the chief one.
Some seven or eight years ago a H'rench Govern-
ment official, a Commissioner of Police, experi-
mented, on his own account, with para rubber,
from seed which he procured from Singapore.
He kept the matter very much to himself, as he
was nervous of exposing himself to ridicule in
the event of failure ofthe product to do well.
At present he has some very fine seven-year-old
rubber trees on his plantation ; this year had
an output of three tons, which he had sold at 14
francs or 11s 6d a kilo (2 1-5 Ib). For 1910 he had
sold forward the crop of four tons at 20 fancs
(16s) a kilo! On Suzannah estate operations
were started a little over four years ago, a con-
cession being obtained from the French Govern-
ment of 2,500 hectares (one hectare=2'47 acres).
They proceeded to plant a portion of it with
rubber, using

RICE AS A CATCH CROP,

The original concessionaires would have had
the land free of charge, had they been able to
fulfill the conditions of opening up laid down by
the French Government, but as they were not
able to do this they had to pay for the freehold
at the rate of 25 centimes per hectare—some £25
sterling. The present Company had paid the
original concessionaires 70,000 dollars. (£7,000

sterling), and formed a Company with a capital
of 300,000 dollars. They have since issued
300,000 dollars’ worth of 10 per cent debentures
—over-subscribed—redeemable in ten yee rs or by
exchange for shares in the Company. The money
had all been raised in Indo-China, striking testi-
mony to the enterprise of the French colonists.
The Company has 700 trees three years and ten
months old; some have circumference 40 centi-
metres (100 centimetres=39 inches), Of rubber
trees 2 years and ten monthsold they had 25,000
trees; of one year and ten months old, 50,000
trees; the remainder on 250 hectares being of
this year’s planting. Altogether they had 500
hectares planted in rubber, and their intention
was to plant up until they had 200,000 trees
well-grown. The planting is done in quincunz
—four trees forming a square with the fifth in
the centre--the distance apart being five metres.
They consider that the land is very suitable for
rubber cultivation, and are thoroughly satisfied
with the present growth obtained. The Suzan-
nab Company land has been specially selected
for its suitability, and is situated some 64 kilo-
metres (one kilometre= % of a mile) from Saigon,
the estate being situated right on the railway
line from Saigon, the Railway station Dangiay
being on the estate, M. Littaye says he and his
fellow Directors find Rice growing very helpful,
as it enables the plantation to be kept free from
weeds and provides food for the labour force,
Silk cultivation is also pursued. At present
they have a force of 300 coolies on the estate,
These are Annamites and, being an agricultural
people, they take very kindly to the work on the
estate. The country, of course, is very sparsely
populated, due to the endless wars before the
French occupation; but no difficulty is anti-
cipated in obtaining an adequate supply of labour.
HIGH WAGES,

Tho rate of wages paid to the present
force is a good deal higher than is paid
in the Middle East--40 dollar cents or one
franc per diem, plus rice. M. Littaye thinks,
however, that labour will increase as time goes
on, and be obtainable at cheaper rates than
those prevailing, The estate is situated about
100 metres above sealevel, and has several
small streams running through it. In the
matter of rainfall, the country has a wet season
of eight months and a dry season of four
months. The President of the Company, is
M, Thiollier. M. Littaye and M. Guarriguene
being vice-Presidents. The Superintendent is
a Frenchman named M. Girard, who had no
previous experience of Rubber planting, but
who may visit the Malay States early next year,
and take back with him expert tappers to ins-
truc the Annamite coolies,

RUBBER IN EAST JAVA.

Supplanting Coffee.

The Java Bode calls attention to the fact
that, in Hast Java, coffee estates are being
steadily bought up on British account for
rubber cultivation. For instance, the Glunsing
estate in the province of Pasaruan, (about 540
acres in extent) which, for many years had
been worked at a loss, has passed into British
hands for that purpose,

94 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

RUBBER NEWS FROM BRAZIL.

The ‘‘ Brazilian Review ” has some very per-
tinent remarks about the wild rubber industry
in its issue of the 16th November. It is not
easy, apparently, for foreigners to learn the
ropes, and English companies formed tocollect
rubber in Brazil almost invariably end in failure.
They pay too much for their property to begin
with, and the men they send out, generally
without any experience of the very peculiar
conditions ruling in the Amazon, are robbed
and victimised on every hand. Even if they
collect alittle rubber, it is, according to your
contemporary, at enormous cost, and they are
lucky if half of it is not stolen before it gets to
market. As regards future competition be-
tween plantation rubber and wild Para, the
‘Brazilian Review” has no doubt asto which will
succumb. “50 per cent. of the rubber shipped
on the Amazon is,” it says, ‘‘of inferior kinds
which obtain only 60 per cent. of the price of
fine hard Para.’ [tis this inferior rubber that
will suffer and go to the wall when the Hast
produces 30,000 or 50,000 tons per annum, all of
as high quality as Para fine. The halcyon days
of wild rubber are numbered.” As for planting
in Brazil, the same paper says that no foreign
capital is likely to be invested on a iarge scale so
long as export duties of 20 per cent. such as
now rule onthe Amazon are maintained, where-
asin British Colonies, where labour is much
more abundant and cheaper, there are no export
duties whatever. [The writer forgets the Straits,
though the export dnty there is very small.—
A.M. &J.¥F.] Under such circumstances, com-
petition by Brazil will soon be impossible
for every kind of rubber except the finest grades.

It must also be remembered that though
there are undoubtedly very valuable tracts of
rubber-producing land to be found in the var-
ious tropical South American States, the great
drawback to them is their inaccessibility and
the want of sufiicient and reliable labour for
their successful exploitation. The land laws of
the South American States are exceedingly com-
plex, and the difficulty of obtaining indefeasible
titles for land in those States, particularly as
regards forest or rubber land, is often almost
unsurmountable.

No less than 2,863 tons of rubber, worth
£1,380,000, were shipped from Brazilian ports
in the last twenty-one days cf October, and this
no doubt accounts to some extent for the recent
fall in price. Heavy supplies were also expected
during November and December.—G£oRGos in
Madras Mail, Jan. 5.

GOVERNMENT AID TO RUBBER
PLANTERS IN BRAZIL.

We have received a communication from a
friend in Brazil from which it appears that
the Brazilian Federal Government is about to
make a move in favour of

SYSTEMATIC PLANTING
of rubber. It is proposed to offer those who
will undertake to plant a million trees or so,
free land and total exemption from duties on
exports of rubber fora long term of years, with
possible participation by Government in profits.

As the only territory where the Federal Gov-
ernment is supreme is the Acre (the rest of the
country being under the immediate control of
the State Governments) the experiment will be
made there. The soil and climate of the
ACRE TERRITORY

are reputed to be the best possible for
rubber, and the former improves very much
under cultivation. Cacao is also indigenous and
grows well, This departure will, according
to our correspondent, come off early in 1910
after the Budget is voted ; the business will be
thrown open to tender and the best terms ac-
cepted. Little surprise will, we think, be felt
at this new development ; it must be borne in
mind that trees planted next year will not come
into bearing until after 600,000 acres are pro-
ducing in the Hast. Labour will also severely
handicap planting enterprises in Acre.—India
Rubber Journal, Dec. 13.

AGRICULTURE IN NYASALAND.

Mr. 8S. Simpson, formerly Senior Lecturer
on Agriculture at the Government Agricultural
College, Egypt, read a paper on ‘Lhe Agri-
cultural Development of Nyasaland ” before the
Colonial section, Society of Arts, John Street.
Adelphi, yesterday. Sir H, Jounsron presided.

Mr Simeson—said that real progress had been
made in Nyasaland, especially in the last three
years. Natives were becoming accustomed to
work for longer periods than formerly and

LABOUR WAS BOTH PLENTIFUL AND WILLING,
though not very efficient. The questions of trans-
port had been a great barrier to progress, but
now it was possible to get the main crops from
Blantyre to London or Liverpool for 3d. a pound
by sending them to Port Herald by the Shire
Highlands Railway. There was too much trans-
shipment before the ocean steamer was reached,
and the transport problem could never be really
solved until there was railway communication
with the sea coast at Beira. Coffee was an
easy crop to manage, and in the right soil it gave
a steady return in spite of low prices,

COTION
growing was now a firmly established industry.
the area devoted to cotton cultivation would
gradually increase. The latest reports stated
that the crops were excellent, and the quality
was such that it was quoted at 2d. to 24d. above
middling American; in fact, the quality ap-
peared to be better than was produced by Am-
erican Upland seed anywhere else in the world.

TOBACCO
had become an established product of the
country, and now the Imperial Tobacco Com.
pany had decided to come into the country
and had opened a buying factory there. From
a’ value in tobacco exported in 1900 of £113,
they had grown to an export amounting to
£14,252 in 1909. The planting of exotic rubber-
producing trees was making progress through-
out the Protectorate, and the acreage under
cultivation was rapidly increasing. Live stock
generally had not received the attention which
it deserved. The country could also produce
a useful and valuable class of timber.

The CHAIRMAN—in moving a vote of thanks,
said that for cotton growing Nyasaland was un-
doubtedly well suited,—London Times, Dec. 1,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Jans 1910, 95

TEA IN NATAL.

The cultivation of both sugar and tea is
steadily progressing in Natal. The attractions
are great, for a large market is near at hand.
There are now upwards of 5,000 acresin the
Colony under tea, for the growth of which the
climate of Natal is said to be admirably suited.
‘The average return is said to be 600 |b. of dried
leaf per acre, which corresponds to_the yield of
Ceylon. It is not so freely used in South Africa
as is the Colonial sugar, because the dealers
can make a larger profit on the imported tea.
Most of the Natal tea crop is sent to Lon-
don, where it is used for blending purposes.
—Grocers’ Journal, Dec. 18.

PLANTING IN ANGOLA.

The following information is from the report
by H.M. Consul at Loanda (Mr H G Mackie) on
the trade of Angola in 1908, which will shortly
be issued :—

Kapok,

Kapok grows in abundance at [colo e Bengo,
Golungo Alto, Cazengo, along the banks of the
River Lucalla and in many other places in the
district of Loanda. The natives, who are ignorant
of its market value, do not collect it, but en-
deavours have been made from time to time
to obtain small quantities for shipment to
Europe. A trial consignment was accordingly
made to a firm in the United Kingdom last
year, bnt it did not turn ont to be satisfactory
because the product could not be cleaned and
prepared in a suitable form for the market owing
to there being vo machines in Angola for re-
moving the kapok cotton seeds from the fibre.
Cleaning by hand entails too much labour to
compensate the native for his trouble; but if
labour-saving machines were used, the industry
might admit of development.

PROPOSED GOVERNMENT FIBReE-HXTRACTING
STATION.

It appears to be the intention of the Govern-
ment to erect a station at Lunuango, on the
Congo River, for fibre-extracting by machinery,
for which the home Government has voted £400.
It is proposed to extract the fibres of the
Sansemeria cylindrica (bowstring hemp), which
grows in a wild state and covers extensive areas
close to the coast. The average length of the
leaf of the Sanseweria cylindrica is stated to
be about 64 feet. Samples of the fibre have been
sent to Hamburg and the prices offered were
equal to those of sisal hemp.

EXPERIMENTS WITH CARAVONICA CoTron.

In view of the dearth of labour in Angola
the local planters have been endeavouring to
grow perennial varieties of cotton. With this
object in view the Governor-General recently
invited the originator of a cotton tree, known
under the name of Caravonica, [that is,
Dr. Thomatis.—A.M.& J.F.] to visit Angola after
inspecting the cotton fields of German South-
West Africa. It is claimed that this species
of cotton, while being superior to the American

and Egyptian varieties, does not require reso-
wing for 20 years. The originator of the species
has pronounced Angola to be well adapted for
cotton growing, and several local firms have
entered into contracts with him. It has been
agreed that, in return for the gratuitous supply
of seeds of the Caravonica cotton to the extent
of a little over a pound for every acre planted,
all the cotton produced in Angola for a period
of 10 years shall be shipped to Bremen, where
it will be sold at the market price of the day,
and the amount credited to the shipper after
deduction of a commission of 10 per cent. Should
the trials now being made prove as satis-
factory as is expected, Caravonica cotton will
quickly supersede all the other varieties grown
in Angola.—Board of Trade Journat, Dec. 16.

THE MANURING OF CACAO.

The following is taken from the seventh of a
series of articles bv } H Hart, F.u.s., on Cacao,
which are appearing in the West India Com-
mittee Circular, Reference to these articles has
been made already on pages 260 and 292 of the
present volume of the W.I. Agricultural News:—

The application of manure is a subject upon
which chemists and vegetable physiologists
differ in many respects. The chomist is apt to
insist upon the manure being buried beneath
the soil, or, he says, much of its value will be
lost owing to the dispersion of its volatile pro-
perties by moving air; but the cultivator may
easily ascertain the best method of applying
manures of all kinds, if he studies the life
history and character of the plant, and the
nature and morphology of its organs of assimi-
lation ; and moreover, the frequent showers of
the tropics prevent any great waste of the vola-
tile constituents, unless they come so heavy as
to wash them away.

The destruction of roots which the operation
of burying manure occasions, would, in most
instances, completely nullify the action of the
manure applied, as the broken roots would not
have the power, or the same amount of surface
for absorbing food, as when uninjured; and
the manure applied, through its coming into
direct contact with injured tissue, would tend
to destroy the roots by its caustic character,
rather than to be absorbed by them. That
beneficial results follow the application of
manure when buried beneath the surface, is,
of course, patent to the novice, but in the case
of surface-feeding plants, it is only after the
roots have recovered from the injuries done by
the digging, that they areable to take up any
manure which has been applied when these
organs are again in acondition to perform their
proper functions. Even granting that no special
harm is done to the trees, there is inevitable
delay in economy of crowth,the hazard of losing
a flowering season and consequent loss of crop.

_ With deep-rooting plants the burial of manure
is the most economical method of application,
as there can be no loss of volatile constituents,

If we think over for a while the course which

Nature has pursued for ages in supplying plants
with their food, weshall find that the method

96 "The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

adopted is purely surface manuring, and this
method, with not afew modificatious, is gene-
rally being adopted in what are called Orchard
Cultures. Eventhe ground the plant grows on,
has beenalmost entirely formed, by additions to
its surface, by detritus from surrounding lands
by deposits made by flood waters, or by decay
induced by the flow of water over its surface,
carrying with it solvents which are able to dis-
integrate the materials of which it is composed.
For tree cultivation, surface-manuring is the
ouly method in which the manure can be fully
utilised ; and we can easily take steps to guard
against evaporation or dispersion of volatile
principles, by covering the manure with mate-
rial which will act as an absorbent and thus
retain the constituents likely to escape.

In practice, the covering of the ground with
fresh or decaying vegetable materiai is known
as ‘mulching’, and it has been proved that for
cacao the practice is of the createst value.

Dr. Francis Watt, c.m.c., Imperial Commis-
sioner of Agriculture for the West Indies, in
reporting on experiments in Dominica, has tho
following, with reference to 5 experiment plots
ofcacao: ‘The most interesting plot is the one
mulched with grass and. leaves, sweepings of the
lawn at the Botanic Station. Inthefirst period,
this plot, though giving a greater yield than the
no-manure plot, fell far behind the plot recei-
ving dried blood, or the plot receiving complete
manure, viz., dried blood, phosphate and potash
(2 A) and that receiving dried blood with phos-
phate and potash (4 KE). The yield was practi-
cally identical with that from the plot receiving
dried blood alone (3 B). In the third year, this
plot far surpassed all the others, giving yields
66 per cent greater than that obtained from the
no-manure plot.’

In the Botanical Department, Trinidad, for
many past years, mulching has been taught as
a valuable method for orchard culture of cacao
and other products, and in Vol. V, Botanical
Bulletin, Trinidad, 1902-3, the following bene-
ficial eftects are recorded, viz., that mulching :—

(1) Keeps down weeds.

(2) Prevents evaporation, and keeps ground
moist.

(3) Furnishes suitablo manure in gradual
supplies,

(4) Attracts earth worms to the surface, and
causes them to cut numerous burrows, which
aérate and cultivate the soil; in fact the worms
actually manure it by carrying down into the
tunnels the decomposed organic matter.

By the use of ‘ mulching,’ it is certain that
cacao can be grown successfully on lands that
could not produce it otherwise ; and on some of
the large estates the practice is being adopted,
especially on those fields which suffer during
the dry season.

The cacao tree, although it likesa deep, rich
soil, is also a surface-feeding plant, and the
ground round the trees cannot be dug or forked
with impunity, for, although the tree will stand
considerable hardship, it is nevertheless mate-
rially injured when the roots are mutilated,
There are conditions, however, such as when
the surface soil has been thoroughly baked by

drought, when it would be beneficial to lightly
prick it up with a fork, taking care not to
break the roots (vertical forking). A slight
forking is, however, permissible at times,
previous to applying farmyard manure upon
the surface, having due regard, of course, to
what has been said in the foregoing remarks
on the injury caused by the injudicious use of
fork and spade. Manure applied to the surface
should be covered, if possible, with a thin layer
of earth ; but if applied in the form of compost,
this is not so necessary an operation, as the
volatile constituents of the manure are then in
a great measure held fast.

In applying chemical manures of a caustic
character, it is always well to mix them witha
suitable proportion of absorbent earth, and to
cover again with a coating of the same material.
The primary object in applying manure is to
maintain a due proportion of plant food when
land has become exhausted of its natural con-
stituents, or to supply something in which the
land is deficient. It is of course patent that,
with the continued production of annual crops,
a large quantity of material is removed from the
soil; and this must be replaced, whether by
Nature or artificially, or the crop will fall short.
Farmyard manure takes a foremost position
for this purpose among all others, and long-
continued practice shows that, when properly
applied, it is of the greatest value to the land,
not only for its manurial properties, but also for
its mechanical action upon the soil; and more-
over, itcan never be as dangerous to use as
chemical manures, which are admitted to be
decidedly hazardous when applied by unskilled
labour.—W. Indian Agricultural News, Oct, 30.

ViSIT OF A SARAWAK PLANTER
TO CEYLON.

Mr E Hose, a planter in the service of the
Borneo Company Ltd., Sarawak, has spent a
fortnight in Ceylon and leaves by the German
steamer for the East. Mr Hose has spent
17. years in Sarawak and is manager of the
rubber and gambier estates of the Company
at Poak and of its extensive Sungei Tengah
rubber estates, Mr Hose has some 3000 acres of
rubber, on which tapping will commence early
in 1910; in Ceylon he took the opportunity
of acquainting himself with the up-to-date
methods employed in the extraction and pre-
paration of latex in Ceylon. Among the es-
tates visited for this purpose were Culloden, and
Kondesale, while Mr Hose also had an enjoy-
able visit to Kirkoswald tea estate. Mr Hose
met Mr Bamber in Sarawak two years ago and
renewed acquaintance with him at Peradeniya
the other day where he was shown much to
interest and educate him. In conversation with
a representative of the Observer today Mr Hose
remarked that as far as he could ascertain it at
home, the feeling in rubber circles was that the
price of rubber would decline considerably to-
wards the end of the year; but later on would
rise toa figure higher than it had yet attained.
It was generally thought these ‘“‘fictitious” pri-
ces would continue, more or less two years more,
—Ceylon Observer, Dec. 18.

sida thes ia fe ins

TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

AND

MAGAZINE OF THE

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Vou. XXXIV,

Science and Industry.

It may appear to some that an apology
is needed for the reproduction in
an agricultural journal of Professor
Sedgwick’s eloquent address on ‘‘ The
Relation of Science to Human Life,”
which will be found ona later page of
the present issue. It is true that almost
the only direct reference which the
speaker makes to agricultural or horti-
cultural pursuits occurs in the course of
a quotation from ‘‘A Winter’s Tale”;
and the reader whose profession is agri-
culture must theretore not expect to find
anything bearing practically upon his
own pursuits. We do nevertheless most
strongly recommend this address to the
attention of agricultural readers not
only on account of its great general in-
terest, but also because it points a moral
which cannot be too thoroughly taken to
heart by those who have to deal with the
methods of applied science, that is to

- say, with any kind of industry,

Science, says Professor Sedgwick,
simply means knowledge, and to speak
of scientific knowledge, as opposed to
ordinary knowledge, isto use a redun-
dant phrase, always supposing that we
are using the word knowledge in its
strict sense. To speak ot exact science
or exact knowledge implies a similar
misapprehension, Science or knowledge,

COLOMBO, FEBRUARY 157u, 1910,

No. 2.

which is not exact and accurate so far as
it goes, is not worthy of being called
knowledge or science.

A distinction is nevertheless almost
invariably drawn between scientific and
non-scientific knowledge, between scien-
tific and non-scientific men. When the
case is closely examined, the distinguish-
ing features of the man of science are
found to be that he applies himself in the
first place to a particular branch of
knowledge, and that he makes it his
special business to extend the boundaries
of knowledge within that particular
branch,

Amongst the scientific men themselves
two main classses are to be found,namely,
those who apply themselves to technical
science and to pure science respectively.
The former are particularly engaged in
adding to knowledge which is obviously
useful; these are the inventors and
pioneers in agriculture and other useful
technical processes. The students of
pure science, on the other hand, seek
knowledge for its own sake: the desire
to find out something new is with them
an all-engrossing motive.

Now, itis acurious circumstance, and
one which it was Prof. Sedwick’s main
object to impress upon his hearers, that
almost all great advances in industry
have been based upon discoveries in pure
science—upon discoveries made by men

98

who paid no regard to the practical
utility of their work and were careless
of the technical application of their
inventions.

Modern agriculture has laid almost all
the pure sciences under contribution.
The study of pure botany for its own
sake has led ultimately in many cases
to the discovery and introduction of new
varieties of useful plants; and the
development of miscroscopic botany
has led to the scientific treatment of
plant diseases. The contribution of the
zoologist is closely comparable with
that of the hotanist, and the student of
evolution and heredity has arrived at
knowledge which can be applied to the
development of new and useful varieties
of animals and plants.

The applications of chemistry and
geology to the study and improvement
of soils are no less obvious, although the
properties of soils are being discovered
to depend more and more upon the
existence of minute forms of living
things. Numerous other instances might
be cited to illustrate the importance
of the pure sciences as applied tc
agriculture,

The developments in other arts and
industries which are based upon purely
scientific discoveries react again upon
agriculture. Thus the future of agri-
culture in the tropics is closely bound up
with the study ot tropical diseases—a
study in which notable progress has
recently been made, whilst Piofessor
Sedgwick’s concluding remarks give us
every reason for hoping that still more
remarkable discoveries may be expected
in the future. Weknow already that
with proper precautions the danger of
malaria can be averted to a very con-
siderable extent, and the bearing of this
fact alone upon the development of
tropical countries can scarcely be over-
estimated.

Agricultural engineering is another
subject which has made great strides,
and the work of the engineer, no less
than that of the dcctor, depends ulti-
mately upon the labours of purely
scientific discoveries.

Wherever the student of pure science
leads the way there is generally no lack
of technical experts nowadays to seize
upon the new discoveries and apply
them to industrial ends. For the latter
form of occupation is so much more
lucrative than the former that the ranks
of applied science are continually being
reeruited from those of pure science at
the dictates of mere necessity. Although
the love of discovery for its own sake is
a powerful motive, the trend of modern

Wage; 2 eo aa

[FEBRUARY,

social forces must be expected to cause

its appearance ina steadily diminishing -

number of those classes, the members of
which can afford to follow their own
inclinations; and there is thus a danger
that the spirit of purely scientific dis-
covery may seriously decline before the
time arrives when public opinion shall
be awakened to follow the lines so ably
recommended by Prof. Sedgwick.

R. H. L.

Review.

AGRICULTURAL FERTILISERS.

By A. D, HALL,
(From Nature, Vol. 81,
October 21, 1909.)

Mr. Hall has again succeeded in pro-
ducing a work which will appeal with
equal force to the practical and to the
scientific agriculturist, and will do much
to overcome that innate prejudice of the
ordinary practical farmer against science
by showing him the enormous influence
science has had in determining a rational
system of manuring, and in giving
him the knowledge of a variety of
substances of use to him in his business
of food production, as well as in securing
for him a safeguard against adulteration
by unscrupulous traders. In the history
and evolution of the practice of keeping
up the crop-producing power of the soil
Mr, Hall examines critically the various
theories of manuring adduced from time
to time, and the experiments upon which
they are based, and the study of merely
this part of the work will be of supreme
importance to the practical man and to
the student in showing how experiments
may be misconstrued and conclusions of
the most erroneous description drawn.

No, 2086,

The recommendations as to the manur-
ing of farm crops are tempered with
sound advice, and the impossibility of
prescribing more than a_ generally
suitable method of manuring without a
careful study of soil and climatic condi-
tions extending over some years is well
demonstrated. Mr. Hall gives some
timely warnings as to deductions from
field experiments, of which there has
been such a plethora in recent years,
with their unscientific methods both of
carrying out and of deduction. The
importance of taking into account the
experimental error, which is estimated
at 10 %, and of neglecting results within
these limits should be taken to heart by
all who carry on these so-called ‘* experi-
ments.” ‘

FEBRUARY, 1910,]

The chapter on farmyard manure is
eminently practical and useful, and
recent work on such subjects as root
excretions, effect of fertilisers on tilth,
and on residual values of manures,
brings the book well up to date. It is
sought to distinguish between manures
and fertilisers, the former designating
more or less complete plant foods, the
latter those materials which supply one
element in the plant food, nitrogen,
potash, or phosphoric acid. The per-
version of the meaning of the word
manure from its original significance,
hand work, is no less curious than the
use of the word tillage to mean artificial
manures, which use still persists in the
eastern midlands, The part of the work
relating to lime is worthy of serious
attention from all agriculturists, as it is
probable that the lack of carbonate of
lime ina soil is more often than any
other cause an explanation of the com-
parative infertility or absence of satis-
factory results from manuring. A
chapter on the valuation and purchase
of fertilisers puts this important method
of calculation simply and accurately,

anda concise statement of the Ferti-
lisers and Feeding Stuffs Act will be
useful to all users of manures.

Mr. Hall’s remarks on the soil-inocula-
tion question supplement aud strengthen
the advice he gave in his work on the
soil, and the experiments on the new
nitrogenous fertilisers, cyanamide and
nitrate of lime, show the values of these
fertilisers in terms of their competitors,
nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia.
The Rothamsted experiments are, of
course, freely drawn upon to provide
data, and in the hands of the present
director of that station these results are
being endowed with fresh life and
excellently practical applications. The
tables of results are concise and well
arranged, so that the reader is not faced
with an immense array of figures and
tables, and bewildered without being
enlightened. Tosum up, this is a sound
and scientific book which should be in
the hands of every practical agricul-
turist as well as in those of the student,
the teacher, and the manufacturer.

M. J. R. D,

GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS.

WHAT HELPS TO KEEP RUBBER
DEAR. ~

(From the India Rubber World, Vol.
XLI., No. 2, November 1, 1909.)

No doubt it would seem reasonable to
many minds, if not absolutely certain,
that a heavy advance in rubber prices
could not fail within a short period to
lead to a corresponding increase in the
output of rubber. This is the general
commercial rule, and consumers otf
rubber seem generally disposed to apply
it to rubber production. In view of
‘present price conditions, however, it
may be worth while to consider how the
bringing of rubber to market differs
from dealing in most other commodities.
In the first place, however well syste-
matized the production of rubber may
be in portions of the Amazon valley,
this condition does not extend to the
whole region, and whatever improve-
ment may be attempted, progress is
necessarily slow, if for no other reason
than the scarcity of population suitable
fer gathering rubber. ees)

'A large percentage of the rubber
gatherers in Brazil to-day remain on the
ground temporarily, so that each season
afresh immigration is necessary, very

much as if the city of San Francisco
should plan to lay new pavements six
months in every year, and for each new
piece of work should send to Italy for
labourers, with the idea that most of
them would return home after the work
was finished. The rubber which is
coming into Para to-day is being got out
by seringuetros who were employed as
long ago, perhaps, as January last, and
most of the rubber to come out during
the present cutting season will be the
result of similar engagements. The tact
that rubber is selling at New York for
$1 a pound more than when rubber
gatherers were last employed to go up-
river naturally, therefore, will have
little effect in the way of increasing
this season’s output. The high price
level can hardly have a widespread
effect upon the employment of rubber
gatherers before next January, and the
crop resulting from engagements made
then will not all reach market before
the summer of 1911.

_But other conditions are to be con-
sidered than the labour supply. There
is a scarcity of local capital. It is neces-
sary for the seringal owner, particularly
if far from the primary markets, to be
equipped with supplies for his working
force in advance for the whole season,

Gums, Resins,

And not only this, it is necessary to
make advances in respect of immigrants
from Ceara, for instance, for their
families and for transportation and the
like, probably not less than 1 conto
[= $62°50] for each labourer secured. It
will be seen, then, that the seringal
owner, in order to increase his present
scale of operations, must have consider-
able capital in order to plan and lay out
money practically a year ahead for the
purpose. He must apply to the avia-
dores for accommodation, and as will
readily be seen these firms are not al-
ways able to make larger than accustom-
ed advances.

There are many seringals in the lower
Amazon districts which for many years
have yielded practically a fixed amount
of rubber, without regard tothe state
of the markets. Owing tothe habit of
many persons in interest in these of
living in Europe and drawing on the
home houses for funds all the time,
there is not always a reserve of capital
at home with which to take advantage
of new conditions in the market with a
view to increased operations if such
might prove desirable. It is even less
easy to secure means whereby to extend
rubber gathering rapidly in more re-
mote districts, Of course, ultimately
high priced rubber will lend a stimulant
to increased collection, just as the
world’s giowing demand for rubber,
without regard to prices, has led to a
larger output in nearly every year since
the industry had a beginning. But the
rate of growth has been too slow to lead
to any hope that the increase in prices
within the past twelve months will re-
sult in such larger production as to
reduce prices before very many months
to come,

There is to be considered, moreover,
the development of new financial con-
ditions on the Amazon, now coming to
a head, whereby, with the aid of local
banks, rubber may be stored instead of
being thrown on the market immedi-
ately upon its arrival at Para, as was
so long the case. If this new condi-
tion should have any effect whatever
upon prices it will not be to make the
price to consumers less. This is so plain
as to require no argument.

It seems worth while to refer here
to an interview which the India Rubber
World had seventeen years ago with
the Para merchant Vianna, who gained
a reputation for putting rubber prices
on a higher basis than had before been
known, and doing so more than once,
though each timea “slump” followed
so quickly as to create a general opinion

aa ee me SS
se

100

5

that attempting to ‘‘corner” rubber

is bad business. Mr. Vianna said in
1892 :— .

“[ have handled the rubber business
in Para for years, and although it is
generally and absolutely known both
in the United States and in Europe that
through my constant efforts in this
market since 1879 the Para rubber crops
have been sold to a much better ad-
vantage for the receivers and producers,
still this is utterly ignored by said re-
ceivers, most of them believing thatI
have had nothing to do with the keep-
ing and advancing of prices in the
long period, although I have devoted
all my attention and ability to such
business all this time.” :

This, of course, was Senhor Vianna’s
compliment to himseif, and we have
no record of how his contemporaries
at the time regarded it. But he said
further that with few exceptions the
rubber producers in those days and
the original handlers of rubber as a
rule knew nothing about how the rubber
business was done abroad, and implied
that _his lack of local support prevented
his doing more in the way vf keeping
up rubber prices. As he said :—

‘* What they know about this business
is the difference, when there is one,
between the prices offered by two
different buyers, and they are smart
enough to take the higher price of the
two. This embraces all their knowledge
about such an important business.”

As has been pointed out in these
pages, the business of rubber produc-
tion on the Amazon recently has shown
a tendency toward consolidation in the
hands of persons with capital and with
a broader knowledge of rubber condi-
tions in general than in the past, so
that, with the assistance of the banks
as referred to, it is possible that con-
centration and co-operation may be
brought about to an extent which
would not have been possible in the
days of Vianna’s former activity in the
trade. But the rubber business, back
of the primary markets, remains strange-
ly complex, and he would be a bold
man who would claim to comprehend all
its conditions. It would seem, however,
that the conditions here outlined as

having a tendency to keep up rubber »

prices are worthy of study.

There is no new question of ethics in-
volved here. The world needs rubber,
and rubber must be forthcoming, the
same as ivory and innumerable other
commercial commodities, the obtaining
of which in the past has f
human slavery. The modern cotton in-

[FasruAry, 1910,

ae

involved —

:
ra =

:

7 4

ee

ee aul

’
‘ ve }
PaO a tae tind ers @F on

T-

FuBRUARY, 1910.) |

dustry depended for years upon human
slavery in the Southern United States,
but it does not to-day, and cotton is
now being grown in many parts of
Africa—the home of the former American
slaves—-by willing and well-paid natives.
Ultimately, of course, the same will be
true of rubber, though the progress to-
ward the new conditions may be slow.

The hope of the civilization of the
nativerubber-producing regions, whether
in Africa or in equally remote portions
of South America, is in the develop-
ment of such scientific treatment of
rubber production as is now in progress
in Ceylon, for example, and which the
owners of capital ultimately will insist
upon being carried out whatever rubber
trees worth taking care of may be found.

We congratulate Mr. Labouchere, of
London, upon his exposé of the con-
ditions of rubber production in the re-
gion beyond Iquitos. In the first place,
it will open the way to the correction of
undoubted abuses in a specific region.
Secondly, it will aid in simplifying the
so-called Congo question, in showing
that the conditions of rubber production
in Central Africa are not, necessarily,
due to maladministration in any quarter,
but rather to the conditions under
which business between civilized and
uncivilized races must be done before
a mutual understanding is arrived at
as to what constitutes right or wrong.
Finally—and this point has been stated
before in this article—the disclosure of
conditions in Peru will help consumers
of rubber as a class to understand why
rubber constantly becomes more costly
rather than cheaper, as is the case of
commodities produced under more de-
sirable conditions,

THE CULTIVATION AND PRODUC-
TION OF RUBBER IN THE GERMAN
COLONIKS.

By Dr. PAvuL PREUESS.
(From the Jndia Rubber Journal,
Quarter Century Number, 1909.)

The German Rubber-yielding Colonies
of Cameroon, Togo, German East Africa
and German New Guinea can look
back to-day upon twenty-five years
under German government. In the
near future, Samoa, which has belonged
for ten years to Germany, will join
the above-mentioned countries as a
rubber-producing colony, as within the
last few years rubber plantations have
been developing there. Unlike the
other German Colonies, Samoa has no

101

Saps and Fxudations,

native rubber plants. The climbing

lant—Parameriu—and Ficus species
ave been known in New Guinea for
some few years. The rubber obtained
therefrom, which is of good quality,
has only reached Germany in samples
of a few kilogrammes. Other rubber
sent to the market from New Guinea
is entirely from the plantations of the
New Guinea Company. Cameroon, Togo
and Kast Africa have, however, for some
years supplied considerable quantities
of wild rubber, which in the two first-
mentioned places is chiefly obtained
from Funtumia elastica, and toa small
extent trom species of Landolphia. In
Hast Africa, on the other hand, vines
are the chief source. Cameroon ex-
ported in‘1907 3,284,184 lbs. of wild rub-
ber to the value of £374,865; Togo,
360,347 lbs. to the value of £53,632, and
Hast Africa (including 92,400 lbs. of
enltivated rubber), 531,243 lbs. to the
value of £78,945, With the export of
6,520 lbs. from New Guinea, Germany
received from her Colonies in 1907
4,182,094 lbs. having a value of £508,400.
Germany’s consumption in raw rubber
in the year 1907 amounted to 15,808 tons,
and the quantity imported to 16,568
tons. It will be seen, therefore, that
in 1907 Germany covered 1-14th of her
requirements in rubber from her own
colonies, and up to the present this
proportion has not greatly changed.

Only a round 45 tons of the quantity
mentioned came from the plantations
in Hast Africa and New Guinea. This
amount has risen in 1908 to about 87
tons, and should, with the addition of
Cameroon rubber, reach 160 tons.
Against this there is no doubt that the
export of wild rubber will considerably
decrease in the next few years. The
question is, whether the plantations
will be able to cover, not only the
gradual deficiency in wild rubber, but
also the continually increasing require-
ments,

Rubber cultivation in the German
Colonies, compared with the age of the
Colonies, is still very young, Some
twelve years ago the first experiments
were made there with the laying-out of
plantations; there were then no 1ubber
plantations of any importance yielding
a profit in the whole world. Neither
in the British nor Dutch Indies nor in
Central America had the experimental
stage been passed. At that time hardly
anyone had anidea of the tremendous
impetus the next ten years would
bring to rubber cultivation.

At first all kinds of rubber plants
were introduced into the German
Colonies. In 1889, Hevea brasiliensis,

Gums, Resins,

Manihot Glaziovii, Ficus elastica, besides
various vines were brought into Came-
roon and some years later to New
Guinea, with the addition of Castilloa.
Further, in 1889, Funtumia elastica was
discovered in Cameroon and cultivated
there. Castilloa elastica arrived in 1899,
and in 1901 better varieties of Ficus
elastica than had previously reached
Cameroon. The first Castilloa planta-
tions were soon found to be useless in
West Africa on account of destructive-
ness of aspecies of cookchafer, Jnesida
leprosa, foundthere. Again experience
has shown that the cultivation of
Manihot Glaziovii does not pay in_the
wet climates of Cameroon and New
Guinea, but gives better promise in the
drier district of Kast Africa. The value
of Hevea brasiliensis for cultivation first
became evident in 1898 and 1899 when
the correct method of tapping was
discovered and tested in Peradeniya,
Penang and Singapore.

Then the English in Ceylon, Straits
Settlements and the Federated Malay
States threw themselves with charac-
teristic energy into this new cultivation,
in which they were assisted by having a
good supply of the necessary seed from
many old Hevea trees already bearing
fruit in the botanical gardens and
individual plantations; the Germans
could only proceed slowly, as the few
specimens of Hevea in New Guinea and
Cameroon only supplied seed sparingly.
On the other hand Ficus elastica and
Castilloa elastica in New Guinea, Funtu-
mia elastica in Cameroon, and Manihot
Glaziovii in Kast Africa increased freely.

The present state of rubber cultivation
in the German Colonies may be illus-
trated by the following table of the
planted areas :—

: : Sas
wu PEON ES bl tes be : So wo
a ¢ 8¢ 3 SS SH BB 8
Sr noi no S& £2 SE 8 Hy
® ng ce Syl oot eee shies eae t=
a) ='S rac} Gs] sv SoS RD
os, |Omy Sik tOl 212) ein: qaio 8S
=| = 3 we et as oe aes
Be hl s- 5 533 Sie. 48
@ eo oo ym E 25 ag 3
2 § rs

acrs, ACrs. ACIS. ACFS. ACTS. ACTS. acYs. aCcrs.

Cameroon 190 Ve, SIL eee 1b, 120 Zar Te, bj000
Togo ore Laat. Bcc 1274 +1603 289
German Hast

Africa oy oe Od AGO BV p 20ND ie 20,1 Oe
German New

Guinea 1,045 92,847 1,207 ... 173 oe 2% 5,209
Samoa 1,418 Teste Wass 59 5 25i = 400 15607
East Caro-

lines ose TOR recs a3 26 6 30) 42

This gives a total of 37,575 acres planted
with rubber trees. Now taking the
production of the individual species
at the following averages:—l acre of
Hevea= 270 lbs., 1 acre of Ficus= 80 lbs.,
lacre of Castilloa= 1801bs.,1 acre of
Funtumia= 180 lbs., 1 acre of Manihot=

102

110 lbs., then the total yearly production
of the planted area, when the whole is in
bearing, will amount to close on 5,000,000
lbs. or about 2,230 tons, which is about
the seventh part of Germany’s total con-
sumption in 1907. At present, however,
only a very small part of the land under
cultivation has reached bearing age.

HEVEA IN KAISER WILHELM’S LAND.

The New Guinea Company possesses
the oldest plantation in Kaiser Wilhelm’s
Land and the Bismark Archipelago.
There the regular production of rubber
commenced in 1906-7, in which year the
yield amounted to 2,880 lbs. ; in 1907-8 to
6,820 lbs., and in 1908-9 to over 6 tons of
rubber. The greater part of this was
obtained from Castilloa elastica and
Ficus elastica, and only a small propor-
tion from Hevea brasiliensis. All three
sorts of rubber were considered to be
first-class quality on the Hamburg
market, and realised high prices. Hevea
supplies the most valuable product,
then Ficus elastica follows, and finally
Castilloa elastica. When Hevea rubber
was sold at 5s. 6d. per lb., Ficus realised
4s. 3d. per lbs., and Castilloa 4s. 1d. per Ib.
There is not the slightest doubt, there-
fore, that where conditions of soil and
climate are favourable for Hevea, this is
by far the most advantageous species of
cultivation. In cheapness and facility
of cultivation, in yielding capacity and
the quality of the product, Hevea sur-
passes all other species. Already the
difference is quite perceptible. It will,
however, be still more apparent when
the market is flooded with first-class
Hevea rubber from the British Colonies
and the prices begin to fall. As is
known by experience, dezreases in price
are felt by the lower qualities to a far
greater extent than by the higher
qualities, and when offers are plentiful,
the former are very easily left alto-
gether unsaleable. Wherever it is pos-
sible, therefore, Hevea should be planted,
since only the best product can sustain
prolonged competition, Most German
rubbers planters are probably aware of
this, and whilst, until recently, they
experienced a lack of Ficus Funtumia
and even Castilloa seeds, they have zow
turned their attention very strongly to
Hevea. The oldest stock of this species
in Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land can now
supply abundant quantities of seed for
the protected territory of New Guinea,
and young plants in the form of
“stumps” are transported to Samoa and
Cameroon from Ceylou. The question
of seed supply can therefore be regarded
as having been gradually solved.

The cacao plantations in the Bismark
Archipelago have almost exclusively

[FEBRUARY, 1910.

a _ FEBRUARY, 1910,]

been laid out without proper shade
trees, and as mixed plantations of Hevea
with cacao. Also the Liberia coffee
plantations have been interplanted with
Hevea and Castilloa. In a similar way
Hevea is being planted together with
Cola vera and Fourcroya gigantea in
Cameroon. :

Hast Africa and Togo do not come
into consideration for the cultivation
of Hevea.

The distancesin planting are 164 ft. x
164 ft., 265 ft. x 83ft., and 33 ft. x 40 ft.
The tapping of Hevea is done as in
Ceylon. The rubber is only produced in
sheets, and, of course, the quantities
produced are still very small.

CASTILLOA ELASTICA.

The Castilloa plantations supply
larger quantities of cultivated rubber
at the present, because it has been found
necessary to taptrees to death as well
asto thin them out where they have
been too closely planted. From lack of
labour and in order to reduce the
eost of clearing and of upkeep, the
trees were planted too thickly, often
at distances of 6, 8 and 10 feet apart.
The object was to find out in what
degree close planting would afford a
substitute for shade. The experiments
have shown that a distance of 6 or 8 ft,
between the pJants is too close, as thin-
ning out of the trees must be commenced
before they are sufficiently mature to be
tapped. Further, trees, three to five
years old, yield rubber very rich in
resin. By planting at a distance of
10 ft., with not too luxurious growth, the
trees can generally attain an age of six
years before it is necessary to thin them
out. The rubber is then much better.
This method of planting may be recom-
mended, or it can be advantageously
substituted one of 8 ft. x 114 ft.

Acertain amount of shade, afforded
by planting suitable trees, appears to be
necessory for Castilloa, if the trees are
not to become poor and impoverished.

The cultivation of Castilloa is, as a
rule, attended with more difficulties
than that of other rubber trees, in spite
of its early vigorous growth.

In New Guinea tapping is done with
asingle blade having a semi-circle edge.
The tapping system employed is either
the half—more rarely the complete—
herring-bone incision with about five
side branches on each side. The main
channel is kept shallow, but the side
braoches are cut with a sharp knife right
to the wood. Cuts which lay the wood
bare flow far quicker than those in
which this is not the case. With regard

108 Saps and Beudations.

to this, care has to be taken that certain

-parts of the bark which run parellel

with the axis of the trunk remain quite
uninjured.

The latex is first collected in cups
and mixed with a considerable amount
of water, stirred, filtered, and poured
into casks. After the cream has risen
to the surface, the water is run off, and
after eighteen to twenty hours, with
renewed stirring, replaced with fresh
water. This process is then repeated
once more, On completion of the two
treatments the rubber then floats as a
thick cake on the liquid. The caogu-
lated mass isremoved, cut into pieces
and passed once through the rollers.
By this the rubber is largely freed from
moisture and acquires a high degree of
firmness and elasticity. The sheets thus
obtained are soaked for a short time,
then superificially dried at a moderate
degree of heat in the drying-house,
pressed into cube-shaped blocks of
about 4cwt,, and are then ready for
transport. Castillow rubber stands
shipment better in the moist state than
when quite dry. Long exposure to a
high pressure in the press when form-
ing the rubbe: into balls does not have
a good effect upon the quality. The
pressing should be done quickly and
strongly. Alsoin washing the scraps by
means of washing rollers, the quality
will be so much the worse the oftener
one scrap has to pass through the
rollers,

Any uncoagulated latex left in the
casks after the removal of the rubber
layer isskimmed off, and by pouring
it into almost boiling water the rubber
it contains is made to separate. The
preparation of Castilloa rubber is some-
what wearisome when compared with
Hevea, as the washing of the latex may
require two days.

In Samoa Castilloa alba is cultivated
entirely in place of Castilloa elastica.
Tapping, however, has not yet com-
menced. The C, alba has _ several
enemies, in Samoa a spongy fungus, Hy-
menochoete noxia, grows on the main
root, and in New Guinea it is attacked
by cockchafers and boring beetles,

Ficus ELASstica.

The cultivation of Ficus elastica in
Cameroon, Togo and the Carolines has
not yet passed the first stages. In New
Guinea, however, it has become relative-
ly extensive, as it offers no difficulties,
the tree grows well and the rubber is of
very good quality. At first tho plants
are distanced 18 ft. x 18ft. Thisis ulti-
mately increased to 36 ft, x 36 ft. Tap-

Guis, Resins,

ping to death and thinning out begin
at the age of six years. In order to
obtain as large a surface for tapping as
possible, aerial roots are propagated on
the remaining trees. In tapping, a
number of oblique parallel cuts are
made on the trunk and main branches,
Ihe same tapping instrument is used as
with Castilloa. The cuts which act as
channels are likewise cut with a sharp
knife, The latex is collected in cups
with some water, filtered, and the rubber
‘separated by boiling. As the flow of
latex in six-year-old trees, where closely
planted, is only small, the whole of the
rubber is allowed to solidify in the
wounds and is then obtained as scrap.
Ficus scrapis very much better than
Castilloa scrap. It is of a reddish colour,
very solid, elastic and dry. It realised
only 1$d. per lb. less than Ficus sheets
in block form. In consequence of this,
mostof the Ficus rubber has been pre-
pared as scrap, and for this purpose the
incisions are preferably made in a
horizontal direction.

The yield of six-year-old closely-planted
trees amounts by thinning-out to about
2oz. per tree. Trees of the same age
standing singly produce some three to
four times this quantity. Approximately
the same proportions occur as with
Castilloa, for instance, isolated six-year-
old trees gave over 4 0z., whilst closely
planting specimens gave only 1 oz. per
tree.

FUNTUMIA ELASTICA,

This species has been cultivated ex-
perimentally in all German Colonies, but
only in Cameroon to any great extent;
about 5,000 acres have been planted there
with this species. It is generally planted
very close, but probably here alsoan
initial distance of less than 10 ft, between
the plants offers no special advantages.

From the tapping of wild Funtunia
trees, it is known that this species yields
latex more readily than others, and
that itis almost as sensitive to drastic
tapping as Castilloa. Tapping of the
cultivated tree has occurred experiment-
ally in Cameroon; these trees, however,
do not stand closely planted, but singly
or in rows, and the results must be
judged accordingly. Itcan be assumed
that from 3 to 34 oz. are to be expected
from six-year-old trees planted at good
distances from each other, and 1 to 2 oz.
from closely planted trees.

The method of tapping practised in the
last experiments with funtumia differed
from all other methods, in that verticle
incisions the whole length of the trunk
were made. As to its advantage over
the herring-bone system, further obser-

104s ss ; .

vation and a more extended series of
are first

comparative tapping trials
necessary. ;

The rubber is procured by boiling the
latex after diluting it with water; treat-
ment with hydrofluoric acids yields a
better product. Although Puntumia

rubber is at present inferior in quality —

to that of Hevea and Ficus, and at most
is equal to that of Castilloa, still it ae
be confidently anticipated that wit

more suitable preparation it will yield a

good serviceable product.

MANIHOT GLAZIOVII.

It will be more difficult to find a
process in Kast Africa by which the
medium quality rubber from this species
can be converted into a suitable quality,
corresponding to the demand of manu-
facturers. By the tapping method
generally in use in Kast Africa, the
rnbber is exclusively obtained as scrap,
as the latex flows too scantily from the
incisions in the bark for it to be collected
in cups. The tapping process there-
fore consists of making punctures in
the bark with knives, in a definite
manner, after it has been coated with
a coagulating medium, The exuding
latex coagulates immediately and the
resulting rubber is obtained as scrap.
This scrap is inferior in quality to
Castilloa and Funtumia rubber. In
British Central Africa good results are
obtained by tapping Manihot according
to the method customarily employed
for Hevea, which depends upon good
response, together with the use of the
herring-bone incision and by moistening
the incision with ammoniacal water ;
for instance, in a tapping period of
over nine months, 15 oz. of pure rubber
per tree were obtained. Likewise in
Togo, by means of the herring-bone
system, trees, not yet six years old,
produced in five days, on the average,
12 oz. of rubber as latex, and barely
five year old trees averaged 2} oz.
There are single old trees which yield
up to124 lbs. of rubber a year, whilst
on the average only about 275 lbs. can
be reckoned from an acre of 400 trees.
As the Manihot becomes ready for tap-
ping much earlier than all other kinds
of rubber trees, its cultivation offers
many advantages.

Amongst other rubber-yielding plants
which are cultivated experimentally here
and there in the German Colcnies may
be mentioned the Manihot dichotoma,
Manihot piahuyiensis, Ficus Rigo, Ficus
Schlechteri,’ Horesteronia floribunda,
various Landolphia species, Masca-
renhasia elastica, and so forth. How-
ever, all these species have very little
inteiest for cultivation on a large scale.

ee ee ee ae ee ee ee

pos ae i. bi

i

FRBRUARY, 1910,]

THE SUPPLY FROM GERMAN COLONIES.
In conclusion, there remains the

question as to whether Germany will
ever bein a position to supply her own
demands in rubber from her own Colo-
nies. In answering this question, three
factors must be taken into consider-
ation: (1) Soil, (2) Climate, (3) Labour.
Regarding soil, the Colonies of Came-
roon and New Guinea alone possess
several hundred thousand acres of land
suited for the cultivation of the most
valuable rubber trees. . The climate
there isalso very favourable. Taking
the annual requirements of Germany
inrubber at 16,000 tons, this quantity
can be produced from an area of 150,000
to 170,000 acres exclusively planted with
Hevea, and from 200,000 to 250,000 acres
under, cultivation with the various
species already planted, but with Hevea
predominating. HEvenif the demand for
the raw material should considerably
increase, the answer to this would be an
affirmative as regards soil and climate ;
whether, however, with the accompany-
ing development in the cultivation of
eacao, cotton, coconut and oil palms,
ete., the necessary labour will be procur-
able for such an extension in cultivation,

_the question cannot be answered.

PALO AMARILLO.

From the Kew Bulletin, of Miscellaneous
Information, No. 9, 1909.)

Palo Amarillo (Huphorbia fulva,
Stapf; syn. &, elastica, Altamirana and
Rose, not of Jumelle).—Some parti-
culars regarding this plant as a new
source of rubber appeared in the Kew
Bulletin, No. 7, 1907, p. 294. The follow-
ing supplemencary information upon the
subjectis gathered from an illustrated
article on “The Rubber Plants of
Mexico” by Dr, H. H. Rusby in
*Torreya,” Vol. 9, No. 9, September, 1909.

105

Saps and Heudations.

From this paper it appears that the
“ Palo Amarillo” will not grow upon the
alluvial plains of Mexico but only on the
rocky hill-sides where the drainage is
good. The bark is deseribed as being
thick and succulent, at first smooth and
of a light yellowish-green colour. That
of the trunk and large branches soon
excoriates in large, very thin, papery,
translucent sheets of an orarfge-yellow
or orange-red colour, which impart to
the tree a shaggy appearance, and a
colour that has given the trunk its
vernacular name ‘palo amarillo” or
yellow trunk.

The flowers appear in January or
thereabout, before the appearance of the
new leaves, and the fruits mature in
June and July.

As soon as the bark is wounded, a
milky juice exudes which is very irri-
tant and capable of producing violent
inflammation of the eyes if it enters
them, as it is quite liable to do in
spattering, when the tree is cut.

The great value of this tree as a
rubber producer lies in its abundance
over large areas and the proximity of
the trees to one another facilitating
collection of the milk, as well as the
ease with which it can be propagated
and the rapidity of its growth.

All that is necessary for propagation is
to thrust the newly-cut branches into
the soil, where they practically all grow.
From them the tree reaches its full size
in from 5 to 7 years. These consider-
ationsappear to incline Dr. Rusby to
the opinion thatif all other sources of
rubber were to fail, this one could
probably supply the world’s entire
requirements.

The properties of the “‘ palo amarillo”
rubber are peculiar. Taken by itself it
is of only medium quality, but mixed in
suitable proportion with other varieties,
especially with para rubber it markedly
improves them.

J. H. M.

FIBRES.

THE INTERNATIONAL COTTON
FEDERATION.

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 12, December 1, 1909.)
The wonderful solidarity established

within the past few years among the

cotton spinners and manufacturers of

Europe has been strikingly illustrated by

the almost universal restriction of pro-

duction during the crisis with which the
14

industry is faced. In all the countries
affiliated to the International Cotton
Federation short time working has been
in force for some time past, and an
intimation was recently received by that
organisation from the United States to
the effect that the leaders of the industry
there desired to co-operate in the general
movement. Subsequent reports by tele-
graph show that restriction of output is
being resorted toin the American mills
on an extensive scale, and an amelior-

Mibres.

ation in the condition of the industry is
therefore looked for. A statement issued
by the International Federation in re-
ference to the supply of raw material
indicates that the cotton crops of the
world for the present season are expected
to suffice for the requirements of the
trade even should the American crop
prove to be only a moderate one. The
Committeé of the Federation, however,
point out that if full time were resumed
the result, in view of the enormous
enhancement in the price of raw cotton
would be injurious to the interests both
of the industry and of the consumer.
“The burden on the consuming public,”
they add, ‘‘may be judged from the-fact
that if the present American crop were
disposed of at the present high level of
prices, the increased value in comparison
with the range of prices in force six
months ago would amount approximately
to £50,000,000 sterling, part of which
would be borne by the European cotton
industry and by the consumers of its
productions, and the balance by the
American cotton manufacturing industry
and the consumers of its productions.”
These figures are certainly startling,
illustrating, as they do, the far-reaching
effect of a pronounced rise in raw
material. The primary object of course
of the International Association is to
protect the interests of the trade it
represents, and it certainly has attained
an influence which is unparalleled in
industrial history. Although it was
established as recently as 1904, with its
headquarters in Manchester, no fewer
than twenty-two cotton-using countries
are co-operating in its work, while its
committee includes a representative of
each important manufacturing country
in Europe and alsoa representative of
Japan. Mr. C. W. Macara, the leader of
the Lancashire industry, who is Chair-
man of the Committee, in explaining
recently the genesis of the short-time
movement, declared that it was rendered
essential by wild speculation in the raw
material, which had completely upset
confidence, and caused a reduction of
demand from the great markets of the
world at a time when over-production of
manufactures and general trade depres-
sion were rife. But the energies of the
Federation are not confined to this one
aspect of the cotton problem. At its
sixth International Congress held in
Milan during the present year, the
subjects considered ranged over a wide
field, including the expansion of existing
cotton growing areas and the opening

up of new ones, the more scientific

cultivation of the raw material, the
International standardisation of grades
of cotton, and many other subjects of

106

cs

practical importance.
dealing with the operations of specul-
ators and of ensuring an adequate supply
of raw material has for many years
given rise to anxious thought. Among
the schemes brought before the Congress
was one which proposed the formation
of a limited company comprising the
entire cotton industry of the world,
whose function would be to purchase a
huge quantity of raw material to be
maintained as a reserve until prices
reached a fixed limit, when it would be
sold to spinners, This project was the
subject of an interestlng discussion in

_which some delegates opposed it as im-

practicable, while others maintained
that the working of short time has
proved the most effective method of
fighting a ‘‘corner.” The subject, how-
ever, is to be kept under considefation,
though at the moment the weight of
opinion appears to be against its
adoption. It is beyond dispute that
over-production in Lancashire has been
largely brought about by excessive
building of mills during periods of pros-
sperity, but how this is to be checked is
a problem difficult of solution. The
striking fact of the moment, however,
is the remarkable position which the
International Federation has attained,

notwithstanding the obstacles that
inevitably stand in the way of
co-operation among countries which

keenly compete with each other in

neutral markets,

BRITISH COTTON-GROWING.

PROGRESS IN WEST AFRICA,
(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol.
XV., No. 185, October 14, 1909.)

The sixty-seventh meeting of the
Council of the British Cotton-growing
Association was held at the offices of
the Association on September 7th, the
President, Sir Alfred L. Jones, in the
chair.

A considerable quantity of cotton is
now coming forward from British East
Africa and Uganda, and the outlook con-
tinues very favourable. In Nyasaland

also the industry is making consider-

able progress, both amongst European
planters and also the native population,

and the quality of the cotton is gradu-

ally improving.
WEsT AFRICA.

The purchases of cotton in Lagos for _
the month of August are 3828 bales, as —

compared with 137 bales for August last

year and 545 bales for the corresponding

>
¥

[Fesrvary, 1910.

The question of —

eh
- -

ee

‘Fusrvary, 1910.) _

month of 1907. Since the beginning of
the year the purchases of cotton in
Lagos amount to 11,489 bales, against
5,214 for the first eight months of last
year and 7,824 bales for 19(7. The pro-
ress made was considered very satis-
actory, and there is every probability
that the estimate of 12,000 bales for the
ear will be exceeded. Proposals have
een submitted by the Government for
the inspection of all cotton, The Associ-
ation have approved of these sugges-
tions, provided that the measures to be
taken are not too drastic, as itis con-
sidered that this Government inspection
will tend to improve the quality of the
cotton, more especially as the natives
are already accustomed to similar res-

'- trictions in connection with other pro-

ducts, where good results have accrued
from such inspection.

The President congratulated the Asso-
ciation on the great success which had
already been attained in West Africa.
He stated that there was no better evi-
dence of the necessity for the existence
of the Association than the present
condition of the cotton market, and
expressed the opinion that the Ameri-
cans would continue to use more and
more of their own cotton each year, and
unless Lancashire looked out for fresh
sources of production she would very
shortly find herself without any ade-
quate supply of the raw material. Sir
Alfred Jones also drew attention to the
improved methods of baling introduced
by the Association, and pointed out
that the cotton brought from West
Africa in Messrs. Elder, Dempster &
Co.’s steamers measures 80 cubic feet to
the ton, whereas that from New Orleans
measures 113 cubic feet per ton. Many
Americans have visited the docks at
Liverpool, and have been much impress-
ed by the neat and compact manner in
which the Association’s cotton is baled
as compared with American cotton.

WeEsT INDIES.

The season which is now closing has
been a fairly successful one in most of
the Islands. Most of the cotton pro-
duced has been of excellent quality, and
has always found a ready market, It
has been proposed that another depu-
tation of Lancashire spinners should
visit the West Indies early next year.

It was reported that the Hon, Francis
Watts, C.M.G., who has succeeded Sir
Daniel Morris as Imperial Commissioner
of Agriculture for the West Indies, had
promised to visit Manchester on the 14th
instant, and it has-been arranged to
hold an official meeting in the afternoon
and to give a dinner to Dr. Watts in the
evening,

107 Fibres.

AN APPEAL FOR FUNDS.

«The total capital subseribed to date
amounts to £261,458, and as additional
capital is urgently required to carry on
the work, it was considered that the
time was now opportune to appeal to
php engeehire cotton trade for further
unds.

PAPER-MAKING IN INDIA.

(From the Madras Mail, October 25,
1909.)

In the course of a review of Mr. H.
W. Emerson’s Monograph on the papier-
maché and paper-making industries of
the Punjab which we published some
weeks ago, we pointed out that as wood-
pulp in foreign countries become more
and more difficult to obtain, and conse-
quently dearer in price, many think a
good time will come for Indian paper-
makers, This opinion appears to be
held also in influential quarters in
India, foritis stated that official aid is
to be given with a view to placing the
paper-making industry on a firm basis,
and that the Imperial Forest Research
Institute is about to take steps to demon-
strate the practicability of wood-pulp
for India. A contemporary writing in
this connection, recently, stated that
‘*it has been known for many years that
the necessary materials in the shape of
fibres, grass and bamboo are procur-
able in abundance practically all over
this country, and the cost of labour is
far below that prevailing in any coun-
try now competing for the paper trade
of India.” Itis, however, a great mis-
take to think that all that is required to
establish a paper-making industry in a
given spot is an abundance of fibrous
material and cheap labour. The paper
fibre and pulp expert tells us that the
finest natural supply of raw material
in the world may be valueless unless it
is associated with the manufacturing
factors necessary to financial success,
which really require even more careful
surveying and testing than the raw
material itself,

What the capitalist wants to know
is where he can manufacture success-
fully, the conditions under which he
will have to work, conditions of the
quantity of raw material available,
native chemicals, labour, freight, power,
fuel, water, natural facilities and
advantages of sites, etc. He says,
reasonabiy enough, that he is willing
to risk his capital provided he can
obtain this information beforehand, but
that, it is the business of the various
Governments concerned, the big land

Fibres. 108

owners and others who have got bamboo
to sell, and who desire to see new
industries established in their terri-
tories, to take some steps to advertise
what they have got to offer. What is
wanted are accurate surveys by compe-
tent experts to determine, not whether
bamboos, ete., will make paper, but
the whole and complete pulp-making
possibilities and facilities of the terri-
tories and districts where bamboo is
already known to exist in abundance.

The object-lessons of complete exhaus-
tion of the spruce and pine forests in
America and serious depletion elsewhere
are no longer being ignored by the
Governments who still possess large
reserves. Canada in particular has em-
barked on a policy of severe restric-
tion aimed at conserving her resources
for future timber, rather than present
paper supply. Thus, to exhaustion in
one direction is being added restriction
in others, and the net effect is, to quote
the World’s Paper Trade Review, the
leading organ of the trade, that ‘‘ wood-
pulp has reached its limits of expansion,
and to maintain the present growth
of paper consumption an additional
source of material must be found.”
Fortunately the world is so rich in
paper-making material that absolute
famine is unthinkable, although there
may be considerable scarcity while the
slow process of transferring the industry
from its present locations to a new and
largely different set otf conditions is
being accomplished. In India alone
more material is said to be wasted
annually in forest fibres than would
supply the world several times over.
Mr. W. Raitt, who has devoted several
years to the study of the exceptional
facilities for pulp manufacture afforded
by India and Southern Asia generally,
and has been contributing a series of
interesting articles on this subject to
the Tropical Agriculturist, reports that
in Himalayan spruce, bamboo and
certain fibrous annual grasses there is
sufficient raw material available in
India to produce hundreds of millions

of tons of paper annually, and since the

bamboo and grasses are self-reproduc-
tive, there is no danger of their exhaus-
tion, as in thecase of spruce. But he,
too, repeats the warning, given expres-
sion to above, as to raw material being
by no means everything, and as to the
need of the capitalist haviog a careful
survey of the manufacturing factors
necessary to financial success made
betore deciding to incur any larger out-
ay.

Since it appears certain that a consi-
derable amount of the capital now
employed in pulp production must be
gradually diverted from Europe and
America by lack of supplies, it would

seem desirable that those countries. — ~

possessing natural facilities for such
manufacture should make a bid for the
trade which will thus be going a-beg-
ging, which trade will naturally drift
to the localities which can make the
best display of their resources. It is
pretty well-known at present that in
South America, Africa and Southern
Asia there are unlimited supplies of
raw material capable of making paper,
but scarcely anything is known as to
whether the conditions, under which it
exists, are such as will render feasible
the making of both paper and money.
It would seem, therefore, that if India
Wishes to make a bid for this trade, the
authorities should lose no time in
embarking upon a thorough survey and
exploration of her resources in this
direction. This, as stated above, is
primarily a matter for Governments to
undertake, but much could be done
also by local authorities and land-

owners who possess reserves of material,

finding out and making known what
they are worth. In this connection
India should take a hint from the United
States, where the Government, as. soon
as they realised that their domestic
resources were approaching an end,
instituted an enquiry and investigation
regarding those of the Philippine Is-
lands, and this is now being conducted,

On An Oe ee oe a

<<
eS

-_

Frsrvuary, 1910.) _

109

DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS,

THE FERMENTATION OF CIGaAR-
LEAF TOBACCO,

By J. C. BRUNNICH.

(From the Queensland Agricultural
Journal, Vol. XXIII,, Pt. V1., Dee., 1909.)

The fermentation or sweating of cigar-
leaf tobacco is of the greatest import-
ance to produce an aromatic leaf, free
from harsh, bitter or other objection-
able taste. A large amount of work
of investigating this process has been
carried out in the United States of
America, and the results ot the experi-
mental work with Florida and Connecti-
cut cigar-leaf are given.in Report No.
60—‘‘ Temperature Changes in Ferment-
ing Piles of Cigar-leaf Tobacco,” by
Milton Whitney and Thos. H. Mears.

In the course of these experiments
Dr. Loew made an examination of the

different leaves, which led to a dis-

covery of the greatest practical im-
portance. Dr. Loew proved that the
curing and fermenting of tobacco is not
due to the action of certain bacteria
as stated by many authorities, but is
caused mainly by the oxidising action
of soluble ferments or enzymes, called
oxidase and peroxidase. Jie showed
that the formation of these important
organic compounds can he increased by
certain treatment of the leaves, as by
slow drying of the leaves in barns or
sheds, and, again, can be completely
prevented from developing when the
leaves are suddenly dried by a dry
warm wind. if

For the most favourable development
of the oxidases a suitable amount of
moisture in the leaves is -an absolute
necessity, but an excess of moisture
again will be detrimental. The presence
of the enzymes, oxidase, and peroxidase
is absolutely necessary to produce the
proper fermentation of the tobacco
leaves, which takes place with a con-
siderable rise of temperature. The
Florida leaf shows a particular vigorous
fermentation, with great heating, where-
as the Connecticut leaves fermented
slowly without much increase of tem-
perature, and, therefore, the fermenta-
tion failed to destroy by oxidation
many of the undesirable substances con-
tained in the tobacco.

Mr. R. S, Nevill, the Tobacco Expert
of our Department, noticed a similar

trouble in some of the cigar-leat to-
bacco grown at Bowen, and he submit-
ted two samples of cigar-leaf from the
same crop to be tested in accordance
with Dr. Loew’s method for the presence
of oxidase aud peroxidase. One of the
samples—unfermented leaf—had hung in
the sheds for months, subject to weather
changes, the other sample—fermented
leaf—was stripped and packed in boxes
early in the season.

The fermentation was unsatisfactory
by reason of the very low rise of tem-
perature (106 degrees) obtained, and Mr.

evill attributes this to insufficient
amounts of oxidase and peroxidase pre-
sent. Our tests distinctly proved the
convplete absence of both oxidase and
peroxidase in the unfermented leaf, and
the presence of peroxidase and absence
of oxidase in the sweated sample.

Mr. Nevill explains the entire absence
of the oxidising enzymes in the unfer-
mented leaf to its having been so long
exposed to the weather changes, and
I believe this to be correct, parti-
cularly if the tobacco was dried very
suddenly by warm winds. That some
of the enzymes develop in the sweated
leaf shows the advantage of preventing
such exposure by bulking the tobacco
as soon as dried sufficiently. The ac-
curate judging of the amount of mois-
ture is, as already explained, of utmost
importance, and we will never be able
to produce a high-class cigar-leaf if
strictest attention is not paid to all
details of stripping, drying, and bulk-
ing, as all the operations have an in-
flvence of theamount of oxidases formed
in the leaves, and without the presence
of oxidases a proper fermentation is an
impossibility. Based on this investiga-
tion, Mr. Nevill makes the following
suggestions :—Drying-sheds should be
made of grass or wood, to be closed or
kept open as desired, so that the to-
baceo could be dried slowly under uni-
form conditions, and be protected from
extremes of heat and wind, so that
the oxidising enzymes may be developed
and preserved for the subsequent stages
of fermentation.

It would be of particular interest if
next season more samples of tobacco,
treated under various conditions and

. in different classes of sheds, were sub-

mitted to us, in order to be tested
similarly for the absence or presence
of oxidising enzymes.

tS IM Ee ae a ae

en

Drugs and Medicinal Plants, 110

MEMORANDUM ON THE PRODUC.
TION, DISTRIBUTION, SALE AND
PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
OF COCAINE.

By WyYNDHAM R,. DUNSTAN.
(Enclosure to Despatch No. 602 of 26th
November.)

Imperial Institute,
South Kensington, London, S.W.

The Commercial supply of coca leaves,
the drug from which the alkaloid cocaine
is obtained, is almost entirely derived
from Peru and Java. The leavesare also
cultivated in Bolivia, Brazil and other
parts of South America, but only very
small quantities are exported from these
countries.

There is alsoa small amount of coca
cultivation in Ceylon, butno statistics of
export are available. It is estimated,
however,that the total export of the
leaves from Ceylon in 1909 willbe from
15,000 to 20.000 lb., so that the total is
smallin comparison with the exports
from Peru and Java.

Experimental cultivation of coca leaves
has also been undertaken in India, the
United States, the Federated Malay
States and elsewhere, but at present
there appears to be no production on a
commercial scale in these countries.

From Peru both coca leaves and
cocaine are exported. The cocaine pro-
duced is crude and impure, and is mostly
exported to Germany, where it is refined.
The Peruvian coca leaves are said to be
sent mostly to Germany and the United
States. From Java, cocaleaves only are
exported at present, thoughit has been
proposed to open a factory there for
the manufacture of cocaine. The coca
leaves exported from Java contain little
or no cocaine, but they arerich in other
alkaloids from which cocaine can he
made by a comparatively simple process.
All the Java coca leaves are at present
said to be worked upin Holland for the
manufacture of cocaine.

The statistics of export of coca leaves
and cocaine from Peru and Java, so far
as they are obtainable, are givenin the
following table :—

Java. Peru.
Coca leaves. Coca leaves,
Ibs,
1904 57,032 About 1000 metric
1905 151,057 tons of coca leaves
are stated to be
1906 274,259 exported annually
from Peru at the
1907... 538,765 ee present time,
1908 .. 1,026,022

SR Scie Mata he

FL a aT

-[FuBRUARY

Cocaine kilos.

1904 ee _—- 7,027 (5,156 kilos. ito Germany)
1905: +. 6,778 (6,418. . eee 2
1906 5,914 (5,184 ,, 3 )
1907 6,057

The imports of coca leaves from Peru
to the United States and to Hamburg in
recent years are givenin the following

ables :—

Imports of Coca Leaves to United States. .

uantity. Value.
2 lb. e Dollars.
1904-5 — 342,518
1905-6 2,650,141 488,545
1906-7 1,515,616 212,424
1907-8 633,121 76,109

Imports of Medicated Leaves to Hamburg
from Peru."

1905 618,600 kilos.
1906 587,400,
1907 304,800 —,,

Imports of coca leaves and cocaine are
not shown separately in the Trade
Returns for most countries, including
the United Kingdom, so that it is impos-
sible to arrrive in this way atan approxi-
mate figure for the producing of
cocaine. Ifthe exports of coca leaves
from Peru may be takenas about 1,000
metric PonE Deu annum, and the exports
of cocaine from the same country as
about 6,000 kilos, then taking the Java
output of coca leaves at the figure for
1908, viz., about 1,000,000 lb., the maxi-
mum possible production of cocaine per
annum would be from 18,000 to 20,000
kilograms (89,000 to 44,000 lb.) but this is
little more thana guess at the actual
production, since a large proportion of
the coca leaves which appear in com-
merce is no doubt used in the prepar-
ation of such products as ‘‘coca wino,”
‘liquid extract of coca leaves,” etc.. and
isnot employed for the production of
cocaine.

16th November, 1909,

COCA CULTIVATION IN PERU.

(From the Chemist and Druggist, Vol.
LXXV., No. 1, November 27, 1909.)

In a recent number of ‘‘ Der Tropenp-
flanzer” (1909, No. 8, p. 3886) Herr
Sperber states that, owing to the in-
creasing use of cocaine, there has been
in recent years a very large demand
for Peruvian coca-leaves, so much so,

that the natural forests of coca-bushes ~

*Probably mainly coca leaves: the figure
iven for 1906 is quoted in the Hamburg Trade
eturns as for coca leaves, ee

--Feervary, 1910.1

in the provinees of Huanuco, Otuco,

and Urubamba are beginning to show
signs of exhaustion. This difficulty is
increased by the primitive and unecon-
omical methods of collecting the leaves
indulged in by the coca-gatherers. Under
these circumstances the formation of
plantations of coca-bushes is now being
undertaken in the country, and a brief
account of the method cf cultivation
is given. It is recommended that the
land selected for cultivation should have
its existing crop cut, and. débris from
this piled in heaps and burned. This
has the advantage of déstroying insect
pests. The plants are best raised in
nurseries, and for this purpose a seed-
bed on good rich soil should be selected,
dug toe a depth of about 12 in., and
the seeds sown therein at distances of
18 feet from each other. The seed should
not be deeply buried in the earth, but
should be merely lightly covered with
a layer of fine soil. Coca-seed does not
keep well, and should not be collected
for sowirg-purposes more than eight
before it is required for use. Fresh
seed germinates in about fifteen days,
and as soon as the embryos appear
every care should be taken to keep the
seed-bed free from weeds. When the
seedlings are 8 to12 in. high they may
be transplanted to their final position,

111 Drugs and Medicinal Plants.

and this is usually possible from four
to five months after sowing. - It is ad-
visable to shade the seed-beds, and
also the transplanted seedlings, from
bright sunshine, and to cover them on
eold nights. In the plantation each
plant should be allowed a pace of about
40 sq. in. With care plants may also be
raised from seed in plantations, and

in this ease the soil should be well

worked over and the seeds put in at
a depth of about fifteen times their
length, and again lightly covered. Three
or four seeds should be placed in each
hole, and when the _ seedlings have
reached a height of 4 to 8 in. the
strongest should be selected in each case
and others pulled up. Seeds are ob-
tainable in Peru at the beginning of
the rainy season, t.e., November and
December—and planting must therefore
take place about this period. The plant-
ations need little care except weeding,
and the collection of Jeaves may begin
when the plants are two years old, and
may be continued for from ten to twenty
years provided the plants are properly
treated and are grown on good soil in
suitable situations. A catch-crop of
maize or tapioca may be taken between
the coca-plants in the first two years,
so as to get a return from the plant-
ation and to afford the necessary shade.

EDIBLE PRODUCTS.

SINGLE PLANTING OF PADDY.

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 10, October 1, 1909.)

The Director of Agriculture, Madras,
sends us the following :—For some time
the Agriculfural Department has been
advising ryots to adopt the system of
planting paddy with single seedlings.
In the Kistna Delta this is and has
always been the ordinary practice, and
few better paddy crops are to be seen
in the Presidency. Single seedling plant-
ing has also gained a footing both in
Tinnevelly and in the Taijore Delta,
and in both these districts some thou-
sands of acres are now planted in this
way.

Ten varieties of paddy, which are
eultivated in the South of the Presi-
dency in the Samba and Pisanum season,
were last season grown by planting with
single seedlings. With the exception
of the Jeeraka Samba (a very fine paddy
which makes up for its low yield by
the excellence of its grain) all have
yielded, better than the local Samba

grown by ryots, in the ordinary way,

but with similar manuring yielding, on
an average for nine varieties, half as
much again as was obtained by ryots
in the locality. This, however, is not
the end of single seedling planting. It
is found that seed saved from a singly
planted crop is much superior to seed
saved from a crop planted in bunches
of several seedlings. ‘The reason for
this is not far to look. When a single
plant of paddy is planted, it is given
all the space, soil and manure which
usually go to 15 to 20 seedlings when
planted in bunches; it can easily be un-
derstood that such a plant is more
robust and therefore can fill the grain
which it forms much better than any
of the 15 to 20 plants which have
a struggle for existence one against
another. Not only is this the case, but
the seedlings raised from seed vubtained
from such a plant tend to reproduce
the peculiarities of its parent, and if
such a parent plant tillers well, the
next generation tends to develop an
increased power of tillering and conse-
quently to give a greater yield. This
has to some extent already been proved
at the Palur Agricultural Station. In

Edible Products. 112

1907-08, ‘“‘Garudansamba” planted on 16
different plots gave an average yield
per acre of 1,952 lbs. ; in 1908-09 the same
plots planted and manured in the same
way gave an average yield of 2,264 lbs.
Only in this latter case seed had been
specially selected from those plots which
had been planted with single seedlings.
Hence the increase per acre of 312 lbs.
can only be put down to the improved
seed as all other conditions were prac-
tically identical.

Very few experiments have been made
with any of the ‘‘Kar” varieties of
paddy except on the West Coast, where
the varieties of paddy, which were
tested at first, showed hardly any
powers of tillering. These have now
been tested three years, and the last two
years the seed has been specially set
apart from crops which had been trans-
planted with single seedlings. In the
first year each plant had only one or
occasionally two shoots. In the second
year mapy of the plants had three shoots.
In the third vear nearly all the plants
had three shoots and some as many as
five. Thus at present crops planted
with three or four of such seedlings in
a bunch give better yields than singly
planted crops, but as the tillering power
develops gradually the singly planted
crops, though even now much superior
to the ordinary locally planted crops,
are overtaking in yield those planted
with 8 to 4 seedlings.

To plant paddy with single seedlings
it is necessary not to sow too much seed
in the seed-bed. To plant one acre, a
seed-bed of seven cents, sown with seven
Madras measures of paddy, isample. If
possible ‘‘Punnidinathu” should be
adopted in preference to ‘‘Sithiranthu.”
The seed-bed should also be mangred
with well-rooted cattle manure and
ashes so as to give the seedlings a good
start. The seedlings should not be too
old when transplanted, seven days for
every month of the crop may be allowed ;
thus for a five-month crop the seedlings
should be not more than 35 days old.

Some difficulty may at first be ex-
perienced in getting the transplanting
coolies to transplant singie seedlings.
Vherefore, until they get into the way
of it, close supervision is necessary. [f,
however, the seed-beds are grown as
above described, the seedlings are them-
selves sturdy and are easily separated
one from the other and not so much
difficulty will be felt. As regards the
distance apart at which seedlings should
be transplanted the ryot should use his
own judgment. Onland which produces
over 75( Madras measures per acre }ths
of a span, and on land which produces

‘ —*

[FEBRUARY, 1910.

.
ie

500 Madras measures or less half span

will probably be the best distances. Oc-
easiynally on very rich land which may
normally yield 1,500 Madras measures of
paddy even as much as two span distance
between the seedlings may give better
results, while on very poor land the cost
of single planting may be prohibitive.
Further than this the Department is
unable to advise us ; so much depends on
the variety of paddy, the quality of the
seedlings, and whether the seed has
been selected from singly planted crops
or not.

THE INDIAN THA INDUSTRY.

THEIR POSSIBILITIES.
(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 9, September 1, 1909.)

Through the kindness of a friend, a
copy of the journal of the Lusker-
pore Valley Society of Planters has been
procured for perusal as advised by
** Arboriculturist.” The journal is for
1906. Whether this is the latest issue
the writer is unable to say, but he is in-
formed that there was no issue last
year. The general get-up of the journal
is good, and the society appears to have
been thoroughly well conducted. Why
such a desirable and useful institution
should have been allowed to lapse, it is
difficult to imagine. In its constitution
its objects are clearly stated: ‘‘to form
in the district a regularly constituted
body of planters and others interested
in tea culture, who may take cognisance
of, discuss and take steps in regard to,
any professional matters which possess
general scientific interest, apart from
the objects of the Indiamw Tea Associ-
ation and its branches, and also by dis-
cussion, reading of papers and other
means to further the dissemination of
professional knowledge.” AlJl this is
very laudable indeed, and it may be
remarked in passing that the society
will not have much difficulty in dis-
cussing matters of either scientific or
practical interest, apart from the objects
of the branches of the Indian Tea

Association, the sole object of whose.

existence appears to be to call a meeting
once a year and elect a committee
which is never asked or expected to do
anything.

The rules of the society number ten,
the tenth being :—‘‘ There shall be no
drinking during the meetings.” This
last 1ule has been the cause of no end of
jokes amongst the wags of the other
valleys, who have compared it to the
printed notice hung over the piano in

.
Ng SP Ae athena o nes

Se ee. See ee

kta

Frervary, 1910,

=F

the American cowboy’s dancing saloon—

~ 6 Don’t shoot at the pianist, he is doing

his best.” Even a young assistant of the
Luskerpore Valley is said to have de-
clared that indulgences ought to be
granted on special occasions, and that
this rule should not be held as arbitrary
when a particularly dull and prosy
essay was to be read by a boss manager.
Under the heading of ‘‘Minutes of
meetings and discussions, papers and
communications” we find interesting
reading in the shape of various prac-
tical papers by members of the Associ-
ation—‘*‘ Unpruned Tea”; ‘‘ The Annual
Accounts of a Tea Estate”; ‘‘ Manuring
as a remedy for the deterioration of
tea”; “Sorting and grading teas for the
London market”; ‘‘ Erection of Iron-
framed buildings on Tea Hstates,” etc.,
etc. All these subjects are undoubtedly
interesting to the planter, and whena
number of planters join together and
form a social club where they can meet
periodically and discuss topics of common
interest it will be found that a number
of questions can be referred with
advantage to expert authorities and the
answers communicated in this way to a
larger unmber than is now the case. I[t
would keep planters in touch with each
other and the scientific department of
the Indian Tea Association to the mutual
advantage of all.

According to ‘‘ Arboriculturist” there
would appear to be a want of knowledge
generally amongst planters regarding
arboriculture. pee penieule ute isa very
big subject, so big in fact that there
is no one human brain capable of

thoroughly grasping it in all its details

and ramifications. It is evena greater
and wider subject than agriculture itself.
But, withal, the contention is that the
tea-planter is athorough arboriculturist
ip his own special line. He is aspecialist
and knows all there is to know at _ pre-
sent regarding the special ‘‘arbor”
which he grows and in which he is vitally
interested. He has been taught and
preached at for years by experts regard-
ing the way he ought to treat his tea
plant. Moreover, his Association is in
possession of an experimental garden in
charge of expert scientists. He pro-
bably will learn more as time goes on,
and in twenty years hence, through the
accumulation of knowledge and expe-
rience, he willknow morethan he does
now. but that in no way detracts from
the tact of his being an arboriculturist
at present, and a specialist at that. The
writer is still under the impression that
the tea planter, taking him generally,
knows more about arboriculture than
he knows about the first principies of
agriculture. For instance, there was

15

3 LRdible Products.

only one paper read in 1906 to the
Luskerpore Tea Planters’ Society which
touched upon agriculture, and that
was ‘**Manuring as a remedy for the
deterioration of Tea.” ‘‘ Arboriculturist”
said in his letter that if we consulted
any of the back journals of the Lusker-
pore Tea Planters’ Society we would see
that the members had far passed the
primary stages of agriculture.

If we may take extracts from this
paper, which, a3; has been pointed out
above, is the only one available, the
conclusion must be arrived at that
if the members of the lLuskerpore
Tea Planters’ Society have passed the
primary stages of agriculture, they must
have passed over them. For instance, it
is stated in the article referred to that
“the nitrogen required for the plant is
so small that this element is supplied
more or less by the atmosphere and the
rains”! Again, ‘‘ Nitrogen is more a
stimulant than a plant food”! Now
nitrogen is the most important element
of plant food and is the one most
deficient in India. Asstated in the article
10 maunds of tea remove 36 lbs, of
nitrogen. But from all that is known
we get no more than 5 lbs. annually per
acre from the atmosphere and rain, and,
according to long continued experiments
earefully carried out, we lose this
amount, at the very least, in drainage
waters. The amount of combined nitro-
gen we receive from the air is derived
from many sources. Lightning causes a
little of the free nitrogen to combine,
forming oxides of nitrogen. Fermenting
organic substances give off ammonia
which goes into the air. When fuel is
burned, a small portion of the combined
nitrogen is given off as ammoniain the
smoke. Particles of organic matter are
carried by the wird and some of these
contain nitrogen. But, from all these
sources combined, we _ receive at an
average no more than 5 lbs, annually per
acce. We might go on right through the
paper in question and still further pull
it to pieces, but we think enough has
been shown to prove that the members
of the Luskerpore Tea Planters’ Society
would do well to add some elementary
books on agricultural chemistry and
first principles of agriculture to their
library. When a whole association of
planters sit quietly and absorb such a
statement as the above without a single
dissentient voice, it is ample evidence
that the audience is as ignorant of the
subject as the author of the paper him-
self, and the only conclusion that we can
come to is that, although they may
have passed the primary stage they can-
not have been well grounded in them, or
they would not be floundering so lamen-

Edible Products.

tably in the secondaries, But that is
no reason why the Luskerpore Tea
Planters’ Society should be down-
_ hearted. The members can always con-
sole themselves with the fact that they
are equally as far advanced as their
neighbours.

** Arboriculturist” has said that one of
the main objects of the society was to
assist the young assistants in learning
the outs and ins of things, or something
to that effect. The longer paper read
by one of the members on “‘ Annual Tea
Garden Accounts” will no doubt prove
of special interest to them when they
get money to speculate in tea garden
shares. But we cannot help thinking
that an equally lucid paper. on the
ordinary daily and monthly garden
accounts of a tea garden would prove of
more interest and immediate use to the
assistants. Itis notorious that a great
many assistants could not tell you how
the outturn on the garden on which they
are employed compared with the dates
of former years. There are assistants
who know no more as to the rates or
their working of the garden than the
cooly who swings the kodali. Of course,
this is not the case with large firms, but
is too often the case in private gardens.
It is difficult to see where the manager
benefits by keeping his assistants com-
pletely in the dark regarding the garden
accounts. The European assistant
ought to be the manager’s understudy
in everything in connection with the

management of the garden, whether it is .

in the office or on the telah. The writer
has known of an assistant at the end of
a three years’ agreement who never had
asmuch as seen a garden account or
pucea cash-book all the time he had been
on the garden, and, in fact, knew
nothing more than an intelligent sirdar
would be expected to know. Of course,
there must always be private and con-
fidential ._ correspondence between the
manager and the agents or proprietors.
We do not allude to such, but to the
books and accounts relating to garden
works and expenditure thereon. As a
tea garden proprietor, one would be in-
clined to look upon amanager with grave
suspicion who kept his European assist-
ants completely in the dark when, at the
same time, his babus must be thoroughly
in his confidence. It is the custom of
some companies to insist upon the assist-
ants becoming thoroughly acquainted
with garden book-keeping immediately
they arrive on the garden. Some assis-
tants have itas part of their duty to
check the accounts, and occasionally, if
an assistant is found backward, he is
made to copy and recopy them off until
he is thoroughly proficient. Again, in

114

ee a

some instances, the assistant is made
equally responsible for their accuracy
by his being made to sign them as well
as the manager. It stands to reason
that the more aman knows regarding
his work the more interest he will take
therein. Taking it all round, itis better
for the assistant, better for the gardeu,
as it is better for the managers, being in
some cases the means of protecting him
against himself, and, in a still greater
number of cases, protecting him against
his babus. There is no intention to
belittle the importance of arboriculture
ina wider sense than that of the tea
garden, But at the risk of again ~
offending, we would advise such study
to be strictly ecological. There could be
nothing more useful than a thorough
knowlege of the different jats of timber
in the neighbourhood of one’s garden,
and we think most planters are fairly
well acquainted with such. Asa body,
we are very far behind in a scientific
knowledge of our natural surroundings,
but, when everything is taken into con-
sideration, there are a great many
excuses for us. It is well known that we
have been described as a population of
greasy mechanics, wind jammers, P. G.s
and Pooh Bahs. A well-known planter
has declared that this list might be
added to by including Tinkers, Tailors,
Bell-hangers and, to his very certain
knowledge, there were a great many
sweeps amongst us. The writer confesses
to have been puzzled at the term ‘‘ Pooh
Bah.” On inquiry, he has been informed
thatit meansa man who has not had
brains for anything else, and has been
hustled out here to tea to get him out of
the way. He, of course, seldom makes
much of a tea planter, but he might do
fairly well as a volunteer officer. Those
who were too stupid even for this might
get shoved into one or other of the
Legislative Councils where, if they could
do no good, they are not allowed todo
any harm. They are like little boys, to
be seen, not heard. hen they are
wanted to speak they are told to say,
Aye, and upon some occasions they are
erdered tosay,No. After a few years of
this they are figuratively patted on the
head by being given a C.I, EH. and retire
with the firm conviction that they have
been absolutely essential in building up
the structure of the greatest Empire the
world has ever seen.

ON THE FERMENTATION OF CACAO.

By FICKENDY.

(Amtsblatt f. d. Schutzgebeit Kamerun
Jahrg., 1908, No. 17, Abstract in Central-
blatt fur Bakteriologic etc, December,
1909. Translated.) 5

ho a
[FEBRUARY, 1910,

:

b)

¢ .
‘ er,
a

>

Ad
ae, Ly

Frervuary, 1910.|

In the preparation of Cacao the author
distinguishes between two distinct pro-
cesses, on the one hand the fermentation
of the pulp—the sweet slimy substance in
which the. beans lie embedded in the
fruit—and on the other the changes
which go on in the bean itself, and
really have nothing to do with ferment-
ation or are only indirectly related to
this process.

The purpose of fermentation is mainly
to kill the beans without destroying the
enzyme, The proof of this is that the
most important changes which appear
after fermentation, in the form of the
brown colouration of the nibs and the
reduction of the bitter taste, are also
produced without fermentation if the
beans are killed under conditions which
do not destroy the action of the enzyme,
eg, by alcohol, by freezing or by
grinding the beans to a pulp.

The production of a brown colour and
the reduction of the bitter principle in
Cacao are genuinely related processes.
The bitter taste depends upon the
presence of tannins, and the brown
colour has its origin in the oxidation of
these tannins. It is easy to prove that
an Oxydase plays a part in the ferment-
ation of Cacao, If the Cacao beans are
heated in water to 75° C. and then
ground the appearance of the brown
colour and the loss of bitterness alike
fail, whereas after heating for an hour
to 70° C. the change of colour still takes
place. The brown colour can still be
produced in beans heated to 75° C. ifa
small quantity of watery extract of
fresh Cacao beans is added. For com-
parison one may treat another portion
of beans with a similar extract which
has been previously heated to 80-100° and
the change of colour fails toappear. A
similar brown colour is produced in a
pure solution of tannins by unheated
Cacao-bean-extract, the discolouration
commencing at the surface.

_ On the basis of these observations the
following recommendations are made
with regard to the practical treatment
of Cacao.

(l.) In drying the temperature should
not be allowed to rise above 60-70’.

(2.) ; When fermentation is completed
the Cacao beans should be passed
through @ 5-10 per cent. solution of
potash before drying. In this way a
removal of acid from the Cacao is
brought about which then encourages a
further action of the enzyme and conse-

uently a sweetening of the product.

acao prepared in this way is also
markedly more soluble and capable of
suspension.

Edible Products
PRICKLY PEAR: A PEST OR A

115

By A. J. EWART, D.SC., PH.D., F.L:S.,

Government Botanist and Professor of
Botany in the Melbourne University:
(From the Journal of the Department
of Agriculture of Victoria, Vol. VIL.,
Part 9, September, 1909.)

As a variety of statements are cur-
rent in regard to the value of prickly
pear, some of which are highly mis-
leading, it may, perhaps, be as well to
give a short condensed account of the
facts definitely known in regard to this

plant, and to its nearest allies.

Firstly, to dispose of one popular
myth, namely, that Luther Burbank
was the first to develop a spineless form
of cactus. The term “prickly pear”
includes various species of Opuntia,
some of which have been spineless or
nearly so for ages, while even the most
thorny forms occasionally develop
nearly spineless shoots, which when
separately propagated may retain the
same peculiarity. In a condition of
nature, however, these thornless sports
either revert to the thorny condition
or tend to be eaten out by stock,
the thorniest individuals surviving.
Under suitable conditions, however,
or when protected in some other way,
thornless forms may survive, and a few
species in certain genera of Cacti, never
appear to have developed thorns.
Both at the Sydney and Melbourne
Botanical Gardens, thornless varieties
of the common Opuntia have long been
known, so that at the presentday it
is impossible for any single person to
claim the sole credit of developing a
spineless Cactus (Opuntia).

A much more important misstatement
is prevalent as to the value of the
Cactus as fodder, some having even
gone so far as to advise farmers to culti-
vate this noxious pest, to provide fodder
for stock. Spiny Cacti can only be used
as fodder after special treatment to
destroy the spines and spinules or to
render them soft and harmless. It has
been stated that farmers, in the dry
southern districts of the United States,
burn off the spines with the aid of a
torch and so render the plant available
as fodder for stock, This may be of
some use in times of drought, where
farmers have not provided themselves
with stored fodder, but except where
abundant supplies of cheap labour are
available, it would be a very expensive
way of permanently feeding stock.
Cacti are exceedingly watery, very poor

’

Adible Products.

in nitrogenous (proteid) food, and by
themselves would need to be eaten in
almost impossible quantities to main-
tain stock ingood condition. The best
comment upon the suppcsed high value
placed on prickly cactus in the United
States, is afforded by the following
extractfrom the Farmers’ Bulletin, No.
72, of the U.S.A. Department of Agri-
eulture:—

“Hundreds of square miles ot the
richest grazing country in Southern
Texas, U.S.A., have been overrun with
prickly pear, and the growth is each year
becoming more impenetrable. In many
of the southern countries it has been esti-
mated that this cactus has already de-
creased the carrying capacity of the
- ranches one-fourth to one-third. The

prickly pear is indeed a curse to the
stock country. Some years ago, before
cotton-seed hulls and meal were avail-
able as a fattening food, the pear was
quite largely used after the spines had
been disposed of, by roasting or boiling.
Now, the cheaper and better cotton-
seed hulls, which do not require a like
amount of labour in their preparation,
have almost entirely displaced it as a
forage. The fruits are produced in great
abundance, and when ripe are eaten
with evident relish by birds, hogs, and
cattle, and the seeds are thereby being
very rapidly disseminated over whatever
country is stillfree from it. Not only
does the pear increase from the seed,
but if a joint of the stem is broken
off and falls on the ground, it takes
root and produces a new plant.

“Asaresult of this rapid increase of
prickly pear, the grass is being eaten
to the roots wherever stock can get at
it between the clumps of cactus. Paths
are worn and the ground is trampled
and packed, and the only grasses that
are allowed to ripen seed, are those
growing within these thorny citadels of
eactus plants. Cattle on the range will
not eat prickly pear unless driven to
it by hunger or thirst. It.is a better
substitute for water than for food, but
with this statement of fact the best
has been said concerning the forage pos-
sibilities of this plant. It is a fact that
it is spreading every year over a wider
extent of range country. and that its
presence in any considerable quantity
is, on the whole, detrimental to the
best interests of stockmen.”

In New South Wales, the plant has
sometimes been used as a supplementary
fodder after prolonged boilingor treating
with superheated steam, so as to soften
the spines. Here, again, it must be re-
membered that the bulk of the plant
in regard to its food value is consider-

2

-able, and that the cost of treatment

is proportionately great. here no
other green feed is available it may pay
to use a portion of the growth cover-
ing the land, in this way, but it will
not pay to cultivate it for this purpose.

In South Africa, the select committee
appointed by the Legislative Council of
Cape Colony, reported in 1890, that the
prickly pear had spread to an alarming
extent, especially on good land, depreci-
ating the value of the land in certain
districts by as much as 50 per cent.

As the result of many tests, spraying
with arsenite of soda (1 lb. to 5 gallons —
of water) to destroy the plant has been
recommended, but to make the spraying
fully effective, the plants should be pre-
viously punctured on all sides with a
fork, so that the poison obtains free
entry.

During my recent visit to Sydney,

Mr. Maiden arranged for a demonstra-

tion of a new method of destroying
prickly pear which its inventor was
supposed to have used successfully in
Queensland, but which was merely based
on the above principle of puncturing
the stem to admit poison. EHven assum-
ing that the treatment as shown was
fully effective, its cost worked out to
over £4,000 per square mile, “or £7 an
acre, whieh is more than most of the
land affected by prickly pear is worth,
when cleared. The use of a heavy roller
has been recommended, but grubbing
out, piling, spraying the heaps, and
burning when dry is the only method

of permanently clearing. Even then the

land is_ readily re-infected by
carried by birds, ete.

The spiny cactus was originally intro-
duced by Governor Philip in 1789, ap- —
parently for the purpose of startin
cochineal industry in New South Wales,
but had not long been cultivated, before
it ran wild, and became the terrible
pest it now is in Queensland and in
New South Wales north of the Hawkes-
bury River.

The fruits of the prickly pear are used
as food for man in Sicily, North Africa, ~
and some parts of the United States,
the prickles being removed by rubbing
with a cloth. They contain up to 14 per
cent. of sugar, but barely more than $
per cent. of nitrogenous food, so that

seed

they are comparable as. regards food

value, with sugary fruits like apples or
pears, have a less food value than a
potato, but rather more than a carrot
or fodder beet. According to Wolff, 3_
pounds of prickly pear fruits are equal —
to lpound of good dry hay.

the

2 This ap- _
plies only to the fruits of the prickly a

fodder for cattle.

= =

‘Frsruary, 1910,]

pear ; those of the spineless forms. which
also grow in North Africa (Tunis, etc.)
and probably contain less sugar, do
not appear to be used by the natives
as food. Further, the collection of the
fruits is exceedingly unpleasant work,
and the cost of collecting them in quan-
tity as food for stock would be quite
considerable. The same objection would
apply to their suggested use for distil-
lation purposes, while the vegtative parts
are too bulky in regard to the small
amount of fermentable carbo-hydrate
they contain, to make it profitable to
use them for this or any similar purpose.

SPINELESS CACTI.

According to reliable information,
some of the spineless cactisold by Bur-
bank have been privately imported
into Victoria with the intention of en-
couraging farmers to plant them as
It is not likely that
any forms of cactus will thrive to such
an extent as to become pests in the
colder and wetter regions of Victoria,
but this might be the case in the drier
and warmer North-Western districts.
It must be remembered that there is
always a possibility of the spineless
forms reverting, when wild, to the spiny
condition. Apart from this, the fodder
value, even of the spineless forms of
cactus, is not very great. They are
more stores of water than of food. In
addition, they contain a certain amount
of tough fibre, which has been known
to cause impaction in stock grazing
upon them, and which is only softened
by prolonged boiling. The usual effect

-of such watery food is. however, to

eause scouring, and this, coupled with
the tendeney of the plants to become
acid during the night-time, prevents
stock from fattening when fed exclu-
sively upon them. Pigs will chew spine-
less cacti and reject the fibre, and stock
in general take it rather as a source
of water than of food, although cows
will swallow it like other food. As far
as the evidence goes, therefore, it is
not possible at present to recommend
the cultivation of the spineless forms
of cacti, and in fact, the farmer who
encourages the development on his land
of any form of cactus at present defi-
nitely known to science will be ill
advised.

The common prickly cactus is pro:
claimed for the whole State. If Bur-
bank’s spineless cacti are varieties of
this species (Opuntia monacantha) they
are also proclaimed, and it would be
illegal to oped or propagate them in
Victoria. There does not, at present,
appear to be any reason for relaxing

117 Edible Products,

the proclamation in regard to the spine-

less varieties and, until more is known

Boone them, it would not be safe to
Oo so.

INDIAN CORN AS A SUGAR
PRODUCER.

(From the Louisiana Planter and
Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XLII., No. 8,
February, 1909.)

The present movement in the direction
of cogservation of the natural resources
of the country and the appointment of
a national commission to actin concert
with the executive department of the
Government, state and national, has
raised unusual interest, so says our
old friend Prof. F. L. Stewart of Murrys-
ville, Pa., who for many years has been
engaged more or less in his propaganda
urging the utilisation of Indian corn as
a sugar-producing plant. In this in-
terest he has recently issued an open
letter to all concerned, showing that
here in America we are wasteful of our
natural advantages, and further, that we
are wasteful of some of the acquired
advantages which are the result of the
natural fertility of our soils and of
our climate for the production of certain
plants. Prof. Stewart adverts to the
fact that although Indian corn has been
cultivated nearly all over the world
since its discovery by Columbus in this
country over four hundred years ago,
the plant has not yet been nearly
utilised in any proper measure. It has
been found by analysis and by actual ex-
periment in stock feeding that the
stalks of Indian corn can be shredded
into a hay-like mass which is digestible
by animals as hay is, and is worth
pound for pound as much as good
average hay. Even corn cobs, when
carefully ground are found to be diges-
tible by animals to a very considerable
extent, and hence valuable as a food
stuff, and more particularly in combi-
nation with the rest of the corn plant.
Prof. Stewart, however, desires to
call the attention of the American
people to the fact that the corn plant
is a plastic one and can be so cultivated
as to have a value very similar to that of
sugar cane. This can be done by the
removal of the immature ear of corn
from the stalk at the proper time. The —
direst result of this is an indefinite
prolongation of the life of the plant and
gradually by constant accumulation of
sugar until it reaches a point where it
equals the average in sugar cane and
the sugar beet. Coincident with this in
the secondary result and equally in-
teresting and important is the fact that

Edible Products. 118

there is very little of the hard, silicious
coating when so cultivated as compared
with the hard coat of corn cultivated in
the ordinary way. Because of this the
whole substance of the corn stalk is
resolvable into pulp and cellulose, which
is said to be of the finest quality for
paper and for all the higher uses in the
arts, for which cotton cellulose is now
employed. The residue of field and fac-
tory products may be utilized to great
advantage for the production of pulp,
likewise for denatured alcohol and
cattle foods. ae

It is stated that the stalk of maize
when so cultivated will contain 88
per cent. of juice, of average sugar
or sucrose content of 138 per cent., yield-
ing 180 to 200 pounds of sucrose to the
short ton. From the plant there will
also be an average yield of 200 pounds
of refined pulp, or cellulose. The green
ears including the husks and foot stalks
of the ear contain about 20 per cent. of
their weight in fermentable matter,
readily convertible into about half its

4

[FEBRUARY, 1910.

weight of about 95 per cent. alcohol,
leaving a residue of about 15 per cent, of
pulp and about half that amount of
richly albuminous foodstuff.

Prof. Stewart has been experimentin
along these lines for many years, an
claims now that the work has passed
beyond the experimental stage, that it
is of national importance and should be
looked for as one of our natural re-
sources that are now commanding in so
great a degree the attention of the
American people. The production of a
valuable staple crop such as sugar, of a
vast amount of paper stock, which is now
lost entirely to the commerce of the
world is worthy of consideration and
attention, and he believes that the move-
ment now being iraugurated by the
national Government will result anyway
greatly to the advantage of the Ameri-
can people, and all the more so if this
one particular subject be taken into
consideration and its merits be investi-
gated.

TIMBERS.

WOOD-PRESERVING PROCESSES IN
GERMANY AND FRANCE.

(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol.
XIV., No. 181, September 16, 1909.)

Various methods of applying preser-
vatives to railroad ties and telegraph
poles, says the Journal of the Royal
Society of Arts, have been in practical
use in Kurope for more than twenty
years. It would be difficult to find in
any advanced Huropean State asingle
railway, telegraph, or telephone line the
ties and poles of which have not been
impregnated with an antiseptic composi-
tion. Figures are published relating to
twenty German telegraphic lines, the
impregnated poles of which were set
at various intervals from 1877 to 1898.
OF£ those setin 1877 about 385 per cent,
were still sound and in use after twenty-
six years’ service, and of those set from
1891 to 1893 there are records of five
lines upon which all the poles are still
standing. ‘The American Consul-General
at Hamburg says that the Bavarian
postal service, after thirty years’ experi-
ence, certifies that the known average
life of impregnated polesin Bavaria is
seventeen years and a half, and the
German Imperial Adminstration calcu-
lated, in 1903, that the known average
life of such poles was about sixteen
years. In the meantime the work of im-

pregnation is being more perfectly
perfcermed, so that future statistics will
show better results. In France, the
Eastern Railway Company announced,
in 1889, that in the twenty-four years
preceding 67 percent. of its untreated
oak ties had been replaced, while only
16 per cent. of such as had been treated
with creosote had beenremoved. Beech
ties properly impregnated, according to
the chief engineer of that railway, have
an average life of thirty-five years.
More recent conclusions reached in the
same system were to the effect that 80
per cent. of creosoted beech ties were
good after twenty-seven years of
service, while only 54 per cent. of oak
ties treated in exactly the same manner
were good after twenty-tour years of
service. The results of impregnation
appear so conclusive and undisputed
that it would be futile, says the Consul,
to present turther details on the sub-
jects. In recent years the most useful
preservative agents in use have been
chloride of zine, creosote, and bichlo-
ride of mercury, applied by imbibition,

or by impregnation by injection forced .

by the pressure of the air. This second
method of treatment generally consists
in placing the wood in closed metallic
recipients from which the air is pumped,
and the liquid then introduced under
high pressure. Until compratively

ah

“wa

ne ee med

Feprvary, 1910,]

recently, it was very common to

- treat wood by injection under pressure

of chloride of zine, diluted with water.
While this antiseptic is efficacious, it
loses its qualities and becomes hygros-
copic. To overcome these disadvan-
tages, creosote was added to the mix-
ture, and under the title of ‘‘mixed
impregnation” this system has been
adopted for the treatment of white wood
ties which are too cheap to warrant the
use of creosote alone. Hard wood ties,
on the other hand, are impregnated
with creosote alone; the general effect
of which is to close the pores, coagulate
the sap, and kill the micro-organisms
in the wood. The use of creosote alone
is quite unusual in the treatment of
telegraph and telephone poles, because
of theodour, tendency to melt and run
under the sun, and objection raised by
the menemployed to deal with them.
Itis common therefore to use bichlo-
ride of mercury (the French Govern-

119

Timbers,

ment use sulphate of copper), the
efficacy. of which has been known
since the middle ages, when it was
used to arrestdecay and the action of
insects. At .the Himmelsbach plant,
near Freiburg, this is used in 66 per
cent. solution. The wood is plunged
into timber or cement receptacles, and
there remains from ten to fifteen days.
In this plant, moreover, treated poles
are given a special coating of some un-
known antisepetic, which extends about
two feet above, and two feet below the
point. where the pole enters the soil.
This application protects the part
where the variations in humidity com-
monly attack the pole. In the Him-
melsbach establishment, there are tanks
for impregnating forty ties at a time,
under pressure; these tanks_ being
about sixty-five feet long, and over
six feet in daimeter, Their baths for
treating telegraph poles are ninety-
eight feet: in length,

PLANT SANITATION.

ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES.

By HK, ERNEST GREEN,
Government Hntomologist.

The following notes are extracted from
my Journal for the last three months
(October 15 to January 15), and may
serve asa record of the insect pests of
that period.

Another occurrence of ‘root gall-worm,’
on tea seedlings has been reported from
the Lindula district (where it was asso-
ciated with a similar infestation of
Albizzia seedlings). Though this Nema-
tode is fatal to young plants, it does
not appear to affect older and well-
established tea bushes, in which the
root system has attained a depth beyond
the reach of this pest. In the nursery
in question, a certain number of the
plants had made good growth and had
developed sound tapioots. The question
arose as to whether it would be safe to
put out these healthier plants, or
whether it would be advisable to destroy
the whole nursery. Considering the
apparent immunity of older bushes, and
the fact that these healthier plants had
already formed deep roots, I think that
the latter might be safely utilized.

‘Green Bug’ (Lecanium viride) appears
to be establishing itself upon tea on
several estates in the Haputale district.
Until quite recently, this once notorious
pest of the coffee plant had shown no

special partiality for tea; but this new
departure will require attention. It can
never obtain sucha hold upon the tea
bush as it did on the coffee, because it
can be more readily checked at the
periodic prunings. The destruction of
prunings by fire, on all fields affected by
this pest, should be enforced. The
pruned bushes should then be sprayed
with Kerosene HKmulsion or with a soap
solution. Ifthe bug should reappear at
atime when the bushes are not ready
for pruning, the spraying should be
repeated, but with soap solution alone,

Two further outbreaks of the Noctuid
caterpillar (Caradrina reclusa) have
occurred upon tea, in the Pussellawa
and Kandy districts respectively. This
pest is of rare occurrence and lasts—
apparently—for a single generation only.
It is doubtless held in check by natural
enemies.

The usual and ever-recurrent tea pests
have been reported from time to time.
The ‘Red-Slug’ caterpillar (Heterusia
cingala) has been received from several
districts in the Central Province. ‘Red
Borer’ (Zeuzera coffece) appears to he
independent of times and seasons. ‘Tea-
Tortrix’ (Capua coffearia) has attracted
attention in the Dikoyaand Pussellawa
districts. ‘Shot-hole Borer’ has’ been
recorded, for the first time, from the
Maturata district.

Helopeltis has been seriously injuring
the Cacao on the Experiment Station,

<~ on —. Sen ee Re ET ee Fee - ie ian Se SS eA ete

Plant Sanitation. 120

Not content with puncturing the pods,
it has been killing back the young shoots,
with the result that the affected plants
have made no new growth and present
a very miserable appearance. In the
case of young plants (supplies), great
improvement has resulted from shading
them with palm fronds. It has been
decided tospray the older trees with
‘Imperial Bar’ Soap Solution, which has
been recently used with success against
this pest on tea gardens in Assam. The
plots of Nicaragua Cacao are the
principal sutferers from Helopeltis, and
many trees have succumbed to the com-
bined attacks of this pest and of ‘Brown
Borer’ (Arbela quadrinotata).

A study has been made of the insects
that normally breed in Cacao pods.
Some living but more or less diseased
pods were collected from the trees and
placed in a close-fitting cage (to prevent
contamination from extraneous sources).
A surprising number and variety of
insects has emerged from them, all of
which must have originated in the pods
while still on the living tree. Iltis not
to be supposed that they are all actively
injurious to the fruit. Many of the
Diptera (which have appeared in enor-
mous numbers) are probably attracted by
decay originated by one of the several

od fungi. Minute Mycetophyliid flies
fave been bred out in thousands and
have continued to reprodnce themselves
in the decaying pods for many weeks.
Their larvee are worm-like, but exhibit a
distinct head. A small black species of
Chlorodid fly appeared in considerable
quantities. I have not been able to
determine the larve of this species; but
it belongs toa family of which the larvee
may be actively injurious (such as the
leat and stem miners) or may breed in
decaying vegetable matter. Several
Tachinid flies that made their. appear-
ance may be looked upon as friends, for
their larvee live parasitically in other
living insects. The collection of pods
has produced two different kinds of
beetles :—a Longicorn (Pterolophia annu-
lata), the larvee- of which tunnel in the
living pods and incidentally afford a
passage for other forms of decay ; and
a small Anthribiid (Araeocerus sp.), the
members of which family habitually
breed in seeds and other dry vegetable
products. But the most unexpected
occurrence has been the appearance of a
small ‘Clearwing’ moth (Sesia jflavicau-
data) which has hitherto been considered
by collectors as quite a rarity. The
emergence of a considerable number of
these moths from a comparatively small
number of pods—picked haphazard from
the trees, proves that this species must

[FRERUARY, 1910.

breed habitually—as a borer—in cacao
truits,

Other insects associated with cacao
that have been noted within this period
are :—Caterpillars of Hupterote geminata
and Belippa laleana, and two species of
Weevils (Hpisomus lacerta and Myllo-
cerus sp.), feeding upon the young
foliage.

The ‘‘Gardeners’ Chronicle” of Dee.
25, 1909, has a short note on Prof. New-
stead’s recent visit to the West Indies,
in which it is stated that ‘“‘ Mr. Newstead
found on plants of Hevea brasiliensis
a night-feeding slug which no one
had previously detected, although the
damage it occasioned was considerable.”
A girdle of cotton wool around the stem
is recommended as a simple yet effectual
remedy. It would be interesting to
know if this West Indian slug is the
same species (Mariaella dussumierit)
that has caused similar troublein Ceylon,
(see T.A., Nov. 09, p. 48d). The cotton
wool barrier may be effective during dry
weather (when the slugs are not active,
with us), but would be quite useless
during the monsoon rains.

The following extract from the “ Al-
bum do Estado do Para,” quoted in the
‘‘ India Rubber Journal” of October 10,
1909, looks as if the Brazilians are grow-
ing alarmed at the rapid extension of
rubber cultivation in the East, and are
trying to comfort themselves by exag-
gerating the severity of the pests against
which we have to contend. The ‘Al-
bum” remarks that:—‘‘The highest
price obtained by Ceylon india-rubber
does not compensate for the heavy losses
which that Island suffers from the decay
of its trees through the all-devouring
‘Capin’ (white-ant) and the defective
nature of the soil.” As regards loss
through the ravages of termites, this
statement isabsolutely untrue. I do not
believe that a single rubber tree in

Ceylon has been killed by white-ants. —

It is true that the stumps of dead or
dying trees are sometimes found to have
been attacked by these insects; but, in
every case that has been submitted to
examination, it has been demonstrated
that the tree had -been previously
attacked by a fungus disease. These
diseases, of course, lead to a certain loss,
but the deaths from this cause amount
to but avery small percentage on the
number of healthy trees. I do not think
that our ‘‘defective soil” requires any
elaborate defence.
so rich as that of the virgin forests of

Brazil ; but it has proved itself capable —

of raising rubber trees yielding from 200

Itis admittedly not —

-EBRUARY, 1910.]

to 1,000 pounds of dry rubber per acre,
which is good enough for most rubber

~ planters.

I have recently found examples of the

-. *Shot-hole Borer’ (Xyleborus fornicatus)

in cankered branches of Hevea rubber.
The pest was prevalent in the surround-
ing tea and had found a suitable nidus
in the diseased rubber branchesin which
there was no latex. This occurrence
need cause no alarm. A healthy rubber
tree is amply protected from boring
Insects. In this particular case, it was
interesting to observe that several of
the beetles, having ventured upon
operations too close to the healthy area,
had been entrapped in the consequent
flow of latex,

Another extremely interesting occur-
rence was the discovery of numerous
minute Staphylinid beetles in the
galleries of the borer. These beetles are
known to be carnivorous and predatory:
The presumption is that they were prey-
ing upon the defenceless grubs of the
borer. ‘This discovery was considered of
such importance that a special visit was
made to the estateto ascertain whether
the friendly Staphylinids were fre-
quenting the galleries of the borer in
the neighbouring tea. But in this hope
I was disappointed. Still, the fact of
their association with the borer even in
the limited area of a diseased rubber
branch is encouraging. Having dis-
covered the edible properties of the
larve in one situation, they may pos-
sibly extend their range.

The leaves and young stems of Hevea
rubber are very frequently infested by
‘Black Bug’ (Lecanium nigrum). The
older trees do not appear to suffer from
the pest—to any great extent; but when
the insect occurs thickly on small plants,
it checks their growth. Such plants
should be washed with MacDougall’s
Solution. The older scales may first be
crushed by hand.

‘Brown Borer’ (Arbela quadrinotata)
has been observed on Para rubber, in
the Ruanwella district. In thisinstance,
it bad evidently strayed from the
Albizzia trees growing amongst the
rubber. The borer makes its entrance
at the angle of a branch or in the fork
between two stems. When observed,
the hole should be plugged with tow
soaked in coaltar. Ido not think that
there is much likelihood of serious
trouble from this pest.

I have received, from the Passara
district, a brauch of Hevea trom which
were suspended numerous cases of the
*Bag-worm’ (Psyche vitrea). This insect
occurs commonly upon the tea, and itis

121

Plant Sanitationg

probable that these individuals had
ascended the rubber tree solely for the
purpose of pupation. There were no
signs of defoliation of the rubber.

‘Kikxia’ (Funtumia elastica) trees,
on the Experiment Station, have been
completely defoliated by caterpillars of
the Pyralid moth (Caprinia conchylalis).
This pest constantly‘occurs in the months
of December and January, and has re-
sisted all attempts at treatment. At
the commencement of the present attack,
the trees were thoroughly sprayed with
Lead Arsenate, but without any bene-
ficial result. The caterpillar appears
to be restricted to a very limited range
of food-plants and is consequently un-
likely to become a general pest. The
only plant--other than Funtwmia—upon
which I have seen it feeding is Port-
landia grandiflora (a shrub imported
from Jamaica), It must, however, have
some native food-plant, as the insect
occurs only in the Indian region. It
refuses to feed (even under pressure of
starvation) upon the leaves of either
Hevea or tea.

The caterpillars of Lymantria Ampla
and Psyche albipes have been found
feeding upon the foliage of Manihot
dichotoma. The females of both these
moths are wingless and lay their eggs
in a mass in one spot. The resulting
larvse would naturally spread them-
selves over the plant upon which the
eggs had been ‘deposited, and might
occasion serious defoliation. The ad-
vantage of destroying the original
caterpillars is obvious.

I have received, through Messrs. Freu-
denberg & Co.,specimens of a scale-insect
that is reported to be destructive to
Coconut Palms in the South Sea Islands.
I at first believed it to be a new and un-
described species, but I now find that
it has quite recently been described by
Dr. Lindinger, of Hamburg, under the
name of Furcaspis oceanica. It covers
the surface of the palm fronds witha
mass of small circular reddish-brown
scales. Though the first report desig-
nates the pest as a menaze to coconut
cultivation in the Caroline Islands, Dr.
Lindinger writes me that—in his opinion
—the part played by the insect has
been exaggerated, and that the injury
to the young palms is more truly at-
tributable to excessive drought.

A corner of the rice field, on the
Experiment Station, has been badly at-
tacked by caterpillars of a Pyralid
moth (Marasmia bilinealis). I do not
know of any previous record of this
insect as a rice pest. The attack is
confined to three or four plots at one
end of the field. These particular plots

Plant Sanitation. 122

were treated with green manure, before
sowing, and had produced a very rank
dark green growth in marked contrast
to the golden green of the rice plants
in the remainder of the field. The
caterpillar is of a leaf-green colour,
and of the normal form of such leaf-
rolling larve. Its modus operandi is
to turn up the edges of the leaves and
stitch them together with bands of
white silk, at intervals of about half
an inch, along the greater part of their
length, forming a long tubular retreat
within which it feeds upon the tissues
of the upper surface, leaving only the
lower cuticle intact. This lower cuticle
dies and bleaches to a dead white. It
finally transforms itself into a small
reddish pupa, in a covering of white
silk, within the folded leaf. The moth
is extremely abundant in grass ravines
and probably feeds upon various grasses.
It seems possible that the cuticle of
the rice plant is normally too hard for
its purpose, but that the rank growth
induced by fertilizers has altered the
texture of the foliage.

In the Tropical Agriculturist of
November, 1909, I reported a case in
which ‘Shot-hole Borer’ had _ been
discovered in cankered branches of
Albizzia moluccana. I have now to
record a case in which otherwise
healthy branches of the same tree have
been riddled by the borer. I have
hitherto found that Albizzias—in good
health—have been able to resist infection.
But I can find no signs of disease in
the branches now sent tome. The bark
is of a healthy green colour and is
full of sap, showing that the trees
must have been in vigorous growth,
yet they are riddled from end to end.
The galleries of the insect contain lar-
veo and pupz in all stages of de-
velopment. On the estate in question,
the tea is infested with ‘shot-hole’ and
the prunings are being systematically
burnt. The Albizzias are growing
amongst the tea and are being lopped
to supply a green manure. It is in
these lopped branches that the borer
has been discovered. The Superinten-
dent writes :—‘‘ All the expense incurred
in burning prunings and manuring
again before its time bids fair to be
of no avail, I fancy, after my pruning
and burning, the few surviving borers
must have taken refuge in the Albizzias
and, being apparently prolific, are well
on their way to infect this field again
seriously. I am burning the stripped
Albizzia branches now, instead of laying
them in the rows.” This is a serious
matter and—if of common occurrence—
will render Albizzia moluccana an un-

suitable tree for such cultivation, at
pean rate, in ‘shot-hole’ infested dis-
ricts.

The same tree is subject to attack
by a boring caterpillar (Arbela quadri-
notata), A report from an estate in the
Ruanwella district states that. these
eaterpillars (the ‘Brown Borer’) were
attacking Albizzia trees in hundreds, and
were found in the very heart of the
trees, many of which had died out.
This is an unusual sequence of events.
The borer feeds upon the outer bark only
of the tree, and usually makes a tunnel—
down some knot-hole—merely as a re-
treat. Itis possible that the death of
the trees may have been due to some
other cause.

Two pests affectirg Albizzia seedlings
have been reported. A nursery in the
Ratnapura district has been extensively
defoliated by caterpillars of the Noctuid
moth (Polydesma inangulata). The
second case is of more importance. It
was observed that the young plants
bung back unaccountably, Exami-
nation of the roots showed that they
were badly infested by the Root Gall-
worm (Heterodera radicicola). This
necessitated the complete destruction of
the nursery.

‘Dadap’ (£Lrythrina lithosperma) trees
are subject to the attacks of a small
boring caterpillar(Terastia meticulosalis)
that tunnels in the ends of the green
shoots. The pest may seriously check
the growth of young plants and—-in
such cases—the affected shoots should
be cut off and destroyed. But in older
plants the injury is of little importance.
The borer confines its work to the sappy
ends of the branches, and the tunnels do
not penetrate very far. Where Dadaps
are grown for manurial purposes, the
presence of the insect may even be ad-
vantageous as—by stopping back the
ends of the branches—it induces them to
bush out along the sides.

Eucalyptus trees, at Bandarawella,
have been attacked by a minute Chry-
somelid beetle--one of the hopping
species (Flea-beetles), The insects feed
upon the undersurface of the young
leaves and cause considerable disfigure-
ment of the foliage.

A correspondent of the ‘‘Times of
Ceylon” wrote, under date November
18th, to warn planters against encourag-

ing Passiflora foctida on estates, and asks —

‘if estate managers are aware that
snakes feed on the fruits of the passi-
flora.” He is consequently afraid that
the cultivation of this plant ‘‘ would in-
crease the number of poisonous snakes,’

[FRBRUARY, 1910,

ee

_ FEBRUARY; 1910.)

I have never heard of a_frugivorous
snake. It must be ofa species quite new
to science. All known snakes are carni-
vorous. Possibly an explanation of the
statement may be found in the fact that
rats are fond of passion fruit, and that
many snakes have a partiality for rats,

Ornamental Ribbon-grass, in Colombo,
has been attacked by a species of ‘army-
worm’ (Leucania exempta). If this pest
should give serious trouble, it may be
checked by laying down poisoned baits,
or by the use of Vaporite.

The caterpillar of Lenodora vittata
has been found feeding upon the
foliage of sugar-cane in the Peradeniya
Gardens.

An attempt has been made to prepare
Kerosene Emulsion by the new formula,
in which the oil is emulsified with
Bordeaux Mixture instead of with
soap. This is the formula evolved at
the Woburn Experimental Fruit Farm.
The mixture was not successful, owing
to the poor quality of the local Kero-
sene. Inthe Woburn experiments, Solar
Distillate was employed.

MISCELLANEA: CHIEFLY
PATHOLOGICAL,

By T. PETCH, B.A., B-SC.

As has been announced in the local
ress that Tea seed imported into Ceylon
rom India must now undergo a process

of disinfection unless it is certified to be
the product of a district which is not
infected with ‘Blister Blight.” This
disease has been known to cccur in
Northern India for many years, but
since 1906 it has become increasingly
serious, and, according to private advices,
it is extending its range. Despite asser-
tions to the contrary, it has never been
recorded for Ceylon; and it is im-
probable that a disease whichis dis-
tinguished ‘‘by the completeness of the
destruction which it causes during the
short time which it lasts” would have
escaped the notice of tea planters.
Under these circumstances it was con-
sidered advisable to take steps to pre-
vent its introduction into the country.
This is more especially necessary at the
present time, since large quantities of
seed are now being imported for exten-
sions in tea planting. The disease in its
most characteristic form causes raised
white circular blisters on the wnder
surface of the leaf; cor.esponding with
the white blister on the under surface,
there is a bright green circular pit on
the upper surface, Sometimes these

128 : Plant Sanitation.

conditions are reversed. The white
surface, when seen through a lense, has a
floury or mealy appearance, due to the
spores whick are formed on it. It has
been stated that the fungus (Hxobasidium
wexuns) which causes the disease has
been found also onthe garden Croton
(Codiaeum variegatum) and on the “ Na”
tree (Mesua ferrea), but from mycological
ecnsiderations this is improbable. As
with the similar reports of the occurrence
of Grey Blight on jungle trees in Ceylon,
these statements are based only on a
superficial resemblance of the leaf spots
and not on an examination of the fungi
which cause them, The disease is spread
by the spores, which are blown off the
blisters by the wind; it is highly prob-
able, therefore, that the tea seeds from
an infected estate would have some
spores adhering to them. We do not
know, however, how long the spores
retain their power of germination, and,
of course, no experiments in this direc-
tion are possible in Ceylon. The dis-
infection of seeds in order to prevent
the introduction of fungus diseases is
not a new idea, though it has never been
previously attempted in Ceylon; in the
West Indies, cotton seed is always dis-
infected with this object. As is well
known, many countries have gone
further than this, and have prohibited
the importation of any seeds or plants
from Ceylon, while others have confined
their prohibition to particular products,
in order to prevent the introduction of
Hemileia, Thielaviopsis, etc.

The destruction of Ceylon coffee by
Hemileia vastatrix led to its total
abandonment in the Island. Other
countries, profiting no doubt by Ceylon
experience, have beenable, by adopting
different methods of cultivation, to
retain this. product in spite of the
attacks of leaf disease. In some of these
countries the search for species which
are immune or resistant to Hemileia has
been consistently pursued for many
years, without any striking success,
Java at one time thought that the
desired species has been found in Coffea
robusta, but further experience has not
justified that idea. Dr. KF. C, von Faber,
writing in the Tropenflanzer, states
‘‘Coffea robusta has been especially
cultivated in Java, and does not appear
to be very resistant to Hemileia. This
plant is comparatively weak, and there-
fore suffers more than Liberian coffee
when it is attacked. At Buitenzorg,
this species is regularly attacked by
Hemileia. The great expectations which
were based on Robusta coffee do not
appear to have been altogether realised,’

-in recent years it has

Plant Sanitation, .

Other species are now being boomed,
the chief of these being Coffea congoensis,
but trials on a large scale for an extended
period have yet to be undertaken.
Coffea robusta is now being planted as a
catch crop in rubber; it may yield a
paying crop under such circumstances,
butitisas well to remember that itis
not exceptionally resistant to Hemileia,

From Costa Rica samples have been
received of a coffee disease which does
not appear to have been noticed in the
Ceylon coffee days. The disease affects
the beans only. The bushes on which
the diseased beans are found are quite
healthy, and the “cherry” does not
show any indications which would lead
one to suspect that the beans were un-
sound. But the beans are found to’ be
blackened and disorganised, and such
black beans have altogether lost their
natural aroma. The cause of the disease
does not appear to have been ascertained.
One observer states that the mycelium
ofa fungus occurs in the blackened
beans, but thisis not regarded as defi-
nitely established, and the effect is
thought to be due rather to physio-
logical causes. The disease seems to
have been known for a long time, but
become more
prevalent and in some eases has des-
troyed eighty per cent of the crop. I
have not been able to find any record of
it in Ceylon, but a coffee planter from
Southern India informed me that it
sometimes occurs there on the second
crop.

During August, 1909,an extensive fall
of leaf occurred on several of the older
Hevea plantations in Ceylon. In the
majority of cases the leaves were shed
from thé terminal shoots all over the
crown of the tree, but a few trees be-
came quite leafless, On oneestate where
the trees were exposed to the South-west
wind, the leaf fall was greatest on
the South-west side of the trees, In
some respects this phenomenon resembles
‘‘dieback,” but it differs from the latter
disease in that bare shoots occur all over
the crown and not only at the apex.
The death of green shoots all over a tree
may bea sign of overtapping or of root
disease, but in the cases referred to the
shoots were not dead, as a rule, and
neither of these causes could be held
responsible for the leaf fall. The leaf
fall was normal, in so far that the leaves
were cut off justas they are when the
trees ‘‘ winte1,” and no fungi could be
found on the leaves or on branches from
which the leaves were seen to fall, In a
few cases, the terminal shoots died, but

124

this was exceptional.
sent in for examination consisted usually
of dead branches bearing growths of
saprophytic fungi which proved that
they had been dead for some time; and
it was found on examivation of the trees
that these branches were obtainable
from the interior of the crown of
affected trees. But dead branches occur
quite normally in such a position; they
are killed by the shade, or because they
are weakened by being deprived of their
food by stronger branches, and they
have no connection with’ the leaf fall.
A few dead trees were shown me, but in
every case death was due to root disease,
and the fungus (fomes semitostus, ete.)
was quite evident at the collar. Root
disease was looked for in all cases but
was only found on two or three trees; it
is quite certain that the general leaf
fall could not be attributed to this cause,
and moreover the subsequent recovery
of the trees negatives the idea.

A similar leaf fall occurred in 1903;
and a comparison of the weather condi-
tions in 1903 and 1909, together with the
absence of any fungi on the fallen leaves
or bare twigs and the subsequent re-
covery of the trees, leads to the con-
clusion that this is purely a climatic
effect due to the prolonged rains of the
South-west Monsoon. Trees grown on
comparatively dry soils will lose their
leaves and become “stagheaded” if the
soil is waterlogged for any considerable
time, because their roots are deprived of
oxygen, and this appears to be the
explanation of the present phenomenon.
It was not confined to Hevea. On one
estate, defoliation occurred in the case
of jak trees as well as Hevea, and three
cases of leaf fall in tea were reported.

Itis of course a well-known fact that
Hevea has been planted with marked
success On swampy land. One such
plantation, which was flooded every
other week during the last South-west
Monsoon rains, was visited, and it was
found that no noticeable fall of leaf had
occurred. This, however, is not at vari-
ance with the reason given above. for
the trees in such situations develop an
enormous number of feeding roots at
the surface, so much so that one is at
times walking overa spongy carpet of
white rootlets ; their roots can therefore
obtain air even when the soil is water-
logged. This plantation, by the way, is
the one about which the erroneous
statement was made at the Rubber
Exhibition of 1908, that the trees were
planted in swampy land and soon died.

Further details of this leaf fall, and
records of the rainfalls for the last six
years, have been included in a circular

The specimens —

pita

Feervary, 1910;

- on “‘ Dieback of Hevea” which is now in
the press. The affected trees put out
new leaves 1
though in some cases their recovery was

125

when the rains ceased, |

Plant Sanitation.

slower than was anticipated. Defoli-
ation must to some extent check the
growth of the tree, but beyond that
there is no permanent injury.

LIVE STOCK.

IMPROVEMENT OF
CATTLE.

By JUNGLEE,

(From the Indian Agriculturist. Vol.
XXXIV., No. 11, November, 1909.)

There seems to be an awakening
amongst the people of India as to the
state of their cattle, and more attention
is being paid to breeding. The people
have, hitherto, especially in North-Has-
tern India, seemed too indifferent to take
trouble over their cattle, Over abund-
ance of fodder allows them to keep
large herds of degenerate animals, which
require little orno attention. These ani-
mals givealittle milk, and just draw their
ploughs. This suffices for the owners’
wants,so why bother? These old ideas,
however, are slowly giving place to new,
especially close to mofussil towns and
where cultivation has covered the land,
and large areas of grazing land are
not available. The cultivating class
have been forced to realise the value of
good cattle. The Government with
their Agricultural Department have
helped to foster the spirit, and are doing
a great deal to improve the cattle by
importing animals from England, Aus-
tralia, and also from the North-West,
and the Punjab, into Bengal. These
imported cattle no doubt help a great
deal to improve the stock near the
Government Depéts. But these animals
are not suited to be distributed among
distant villages, where large herds are
grazed. What the Government want to
get at are the villages right outside the
highly cultivated parts where there are
Jarge areas of grazing with enormous
herds being bred. Itis from these dis-
tant tracts that the milk and plough
cattle are drawn for the more thickly
populated parts. In these cattle dis-
tricts the highly bred-stall-fed beast
would soon die of starvation and want
of attention, besides imported cattle
are more liable to local diseases, from
which the local cattle are. practically
free. India, though generally poor in
domesticated cattle, is the richest in the
world in their wild congeners, having
the buffalo and bison (Gaveous Garus
and Frontalis), the Tsaing (Bos Soon-
dacios) of Burma, besides sheep and goats
jn the highervanges of the Himalayas,

INDIAN

There are domesticated animals also
that have gone wild; these are very
much hardier and larger than the local
domesticated animals. Such wild cattle
are found at Nellore in Madras, and
Baker mentions some on the Islands of
the Megna and Brahmaputra.

The buffalo is indigenous to India,
being found wild in the districts of
Purnea, Malda, Dinajpur, parts of
Assam, in the Nerbudda Valley, and
Burma. The natives utilise the wild
herds and breed their domesticated
animals with the wild ones, the result
being a magnificent, powerful animal,-
almost half as large again as the ordi-
nary village buffalo. This is very notice-
able in the Purnea district, where most
of the buffaloes are either directly des-
cended from the wild, or are half-bred.
Along the Kosi and low lands by the
Ganges near Manihar Ghat, there are
large herds of these known as Arni—
big grey animals 15 to 16 hands high
with long powerful horns. Across the
Ganges on the Sahebganj side the
buffaloes are quite a contrast to those
of the Arni, being the ordinary buffalo
only 12 to 13 hands high andin no way
as powerful. These Arni buffaloes are
very much sought after for heavy work
in sugar mills, etc. There is always a
cry that India possesses no draught ani-
mals capable of drawing our English
ploughs, These Arni buffaloes could
equal an English horse, and though not
as quick could easily drag an English
plough. On wet marshy ground, such
as is common in the Bengal paddy
fields, they would indeed be superior
to the horse. The same use is made by
the people of Assam of the wild herds,
and the animal produced is very power-
ful, though not as tall as the Purnea
one,—thicker set with shorter and
thicker horns, and black in colour. Of
course, these are only available where
there are wild herds, it being rather a
dangerous game sometimes to get the

- tame cows away from the wild buffalo.

A wild bull in defence of his herd cares
neither for man nor beast and is a very
dangerous customer to tackle. And at
times the natives lose their cows for
months, but they generally come back
to their own herd. For improving the
breed, there is, besides, these wild ani-
mals, the Bikaneer curled horned buffalo,

Live Stock.

This seems more allied to the African
species, and freely inter-breeds with
the straight-horned Indian variety. As
the buffalo is indigenous, the use of the
wild buffalo for breeding should be taken
up in a systematic way by the Govern-
ment, and not left to the casual meeting
of the wild and tame herds. Every
effort should be made to preserve. the
latter which are becoming yearly
smaller, and wilder, being driven into
wilder parts, and Nepal. The destruc-
tion of these animals by villagers,
during heavy floods, while the cows are
in calf, or with very small calves, is
a disgrace to any civilised nation!
If measures are not taken to make
sanctuaries for these splendid cattle,
we will soon find, like the Americans
with their bison that the animals will
be practically extinct. Breeding depéts
should be placed in all localities where
wild buffalo herds now exist. Hvery
effort should be made to, not only breed
and domesticate the wild ones, but se-
lected domesticated cow buffaloes should
be brought from other districts to breed
with the wild ones. To improve stock
and prevent inter-breeding, the first
young cows could be exchanged with
those of another district’s dep6t, and
the young half-bred bulls, fiom one
district depd6t could be sent to another
district’s villages to improve the domesti-
cated herds, while the young half-bred
cows could be bred back in still another
depot, making three-quarter bred animals
and so on till they become practically
pure wild stock domesticated. There
should be sanctuaries for about 10 miles
round each depdt for the wild buffalo,
and no one should be allowed to shoot
or molest these animals.

The bison (Gaveous Frontalis and
Mithan), is already partially domesti-
cated by the wild tribes of Assam, and
is used largely for milk and flesh, though
so far it has not been utilised to culti-
vate the land. This is another magni-
ficent wild animal over 16 hands high,
and even more powerful and thickset
than the buffalo, which could be used
in the same way as the buffalo for
improving domestic stock and breeding.

We next come to the Gaveous Gaurus
Bison, this is the king of all the Bos,
the largest and the most symmetrically

126

[Fuervary, 1010.

built bull in the world. Itissaidthat

the animal cannot be domesticated. If
that be so, still the Government could
easily wire in quietly large areas of
forest and drive in herds and by de-
grees get them familiar with man, and
use them for breeding. This animal is
considered very shy, and pines away
from the forest, so its domestication
would be very much more difficult than
auy of the previous animals mentioned.
But, no doubt, if persistent efforts were
made to domesticate the bison it could
be done, although it might take a few
generations. The result would be worth
the trouble. India would then have
cattle 17 to 18 hands high, an enormous
meat-producing animal, and one that
would be worth his keep in a dairy.
In Burma, there is the Tsaing Bos
Soondacious, this is a similar animal to
the bison. In many parts of Northern
Burma the cattle look as if they origi-
nated from this stock. No doubt, this
beast could be used to improve the
domestic cattle there.

The yak (Bos Grumnniens) is domesti-
cated and is used for carrying stores,
and for milk. This animal would only
affect the higher elevations and would
not be suitable to the plains of India.

Turning to sheep and goats, these,
especially the sheep, are only to be found
in the higher elevation, and if used to
benefit the sheep generally in India
could only be done by crossing with
the low land ewes and sending the
ewes back to the plains. With goats
the same applies to most of the varieties,
except the Nilgherry wild goat which
inhabits elevations 4,000 to 6,000 feet.
There is no doubt that India and its
boundaries contain the finest sheep in
the world. It would bea great shame
if these splendid animals were extermi-
nated. It behoves the Government care-
fully to look into the question of the
domestic cattle and their wild congeners,
and make efforts to preserve them, as
these auimals are not only rare, but
are an asset that can be utilised at
any time for the benefit of the agri-
cultural classes. At some future time
Indian wild cattle domesticated may
be exported to renew the blood for
inter-bred and effete cattle elsewhere,

: FRERUARY, 1910.)

127

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE.

CULTIVATION AND FERTILITY.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol.
VIIL, No. 184, May 15, 1969.)

Thorough and judicious cultivation is
essential for a soil to give its best results
asa crop-producing medium. Providing
a soil is well-drained, the more deeply
itis cultivated, the more extensive is
the area through which the plants can
forage in search of food, and thus it is
that improvement in tillage methods
which result in deepening the soil and
promoting nitrification, tend to have
the same effect as applications of
manure.

The advantages of a deep soil, as corm-
pared with a shallow soil, are obvious,
‘and—expressed concisely—these may be
said to consist in the fact that when
land is ploughed to a depth of no more
than 38 inches, the plants growing
thereon have 3 inches of food, while
when the land is ploughed 6 inches deep
the land has access to 6 inches of food,
and soon. The lower portions of the
soil are not so rich in available plant
food as the upper portions, but this
may be remedied to a large extent by
suitable cultivation, which results in
admitting air, moisture, and heat, the
necessary conditions under which ferti-
lity is developed.

It need hardly be pointed out, how-
ever, that any deliberate attempt to
lower the line of division between the
soil and subsoil by deeper ploughing
should be carried out gradually and
with caution, and the most judicious
plan is to extend the operation over
several years, 12.e., to plough just a
little deeper each season than was done
in the previous year. Many instances are
on record in which the fertility of land
remarkable for its crop-producing capa-
city has suffered enormously as the

result of lowering the depth of plough-.

ing 2or 3 inches below the normal level
in one season. This is because the sur-
face soil containing the organisms which
are responsible for the breaking down
of plant food has been buried, and
a heavy, raw, infertile subsoil brought
to the top.

Another important point in connexion
with the capacity of the soil to return
large crops isits ability to retain mois-
ture. This power is greatest when the
land contains a good proprosion of
humus, is well tilled, thoroughly
pulverised, the subsoil firm, and the

oil keptin the form of a loose mulch

t the surface,

As the result of all these conditions,
absorption of rain water takes place
readily, and this is retained instead of
rapidly drawing away. Waterin a
cultivated soil is held in the form of thin
surface films enclosing each separate
particle. It is obvious, therefore,
that the more thoroughly the land is
pulverised by cultivation, the greater
will be the number of soil particles, and
the greater the capacity of the land to
retain moisture. The presence of
humus increases this storage capacity
and reduces evaporation. It has been
estimated by agricultural physicists
that a ton of humus will store over
seven times as much moisture as a
ton of sand, and further, that sand
loses its water by evaporation from
three to four times as rapidly as the
humus. Clay soils store only about one-
fourth as much moisture as humus, and
lose it by evaporation about twice as
rapidly.

THE STERILISATION OF SOIL.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle, Vol.
XLVI, October 23, 1909.)

Ever since it began to be realised that
the soil is the home of a great number of
minute organisms—bacteria and fungi—
as well as of larger organisms like
infusoria and eelworms, there have not
been wanting experiments in which at-
tempts were made to grow plants in soil
which had been deprived of these living
agencies. The results, however, that
have been reported have been contra-
dictory and difficult of explanation, and
when also of late years certain gardeners
began to use sterilised soil on a practical
scale there has been a similar conflict of
evidence as to the value of the treat-
ment. The gardener has tried soil
sterilisation, nearly always by heat, for
various reasons;in the first place, he
hoped to get rid of the seeds of weeds
and the spores of the mosses and _ liver-
worts which encrust the surface of seed-
pans whenever germination is long
delayed ; again, he hoped to kill off the
spores of certain fungoid diseases which
harbour in the soil, and the eelworms
and similar organisms which often do so
much harm to cultures under glass.
Any process of sterilisation by heat,
involving the heating of the soil, either
wet or dry, to the temperature of boil-
ing water, must be expensive, but
whether it may prove to be commer-
cially profitable or not, itis only very
recently that we have learnt what sort

=

Scientific Agriculture. 128

of changes go on in the soil during the
process and have arrived at some under-
standing of the reasons for contradictory
results mentioned above.

The experimental investigation of the
subject began with the discovery, in
which several men shared, that soil
which has been heated to the temper-
ature of boiling water will grow larger
crops than the same soil which has not
been treated. In this country Russell
and Darbishire carried out a long series
of such experiments, and showed that
the heated soil will produce double the
yield of the untreated soil, and that the
beneficial effect persists as far as four
crops after the original heating. All the
plants they tried were benefited, except
the leguminous species, and all kinds of
soils behaved in the same way. More-
over; notonly did the gross weight of
the crop increase, but on analysis it
proved to be richer in such essentials of
plant-food materials as nitrogen and
phosphoric acid, so that the crop grown
onthe soil after heating actually con-
tained about four times as much nitrogen
as that grown upon the soil which had
not been heated. Various explanations
of the action were put forward, mostly
depending upon changes which were
supposed to have been set upin the
bacterial flora of the soil ; but Pickering,
as the result of his experiments, sug-
gested that in the main the action was
due to the splitting up of the organic
matter (humus) of the soil by heating.
He showed that the germination of seeds
is retarded in soil that has been heated,
and that the retardation is greater the
higher the temperature to which the
heating is pushed ; he also showed that
the soil after heating actually contained
more nitrogen compounds in a soluble
state. Hence he concluded that the
heating had split off from the humus
soluble nitrogen compounds which are
injurious to germination, but which
later will serveas food for the growing
plant. Pickering’s results are undoubt-
edly correct, in that ammonia and
other soluble nitrogen compounds are
split off from the humus by the heating ;
but some work which has just been
published by Russell and Hutchinson, of
the Rothamsted Laboratory, shows that
this is only part of the story, the in-
crease in fertility of the heated soil
being chiefly dueto a rearrangement of
the living organisms inhabiting the soil.
In the first place, it can be shown that
heating to the temperature of boiling
water for ten hours or so does not ster-

ilisethe soil ; certain groups of organisms -

are killed off entirely, but others which
exist in the fornia of spores resist the

heat, and as soon as the soil cools down ©

again begin to develop and multiply
with great rapidity. For example, the
bacteria bringing about nitrification are
wiped out entirely. but most of the
other groups retain some represent-
atives, especially that class which take
the complex organic matter of the soil
and break it down into ammonia and
kindred compounds. In one of the
Rothamsted arable soils used in the
experiments the normal number of
bacteria in the soil before treatment
was about 5,000,000 per gramme ; immedi-
ately after heating the number had
fallen to60 per gramme, but then fol-
lowed a very rapid rise; in a fortnight
the original 5,000,000 had been reached,
and a month or five weeks afterwards
the number had risen to 26.000,000 per
gramme. Step by step with this in-
crease in the number of bacteria in the
soil came a similar increase in the rate
of production ammonia, 7.e., of a soluble
nitrogen compound on which the plant
could feed. It was thus demcnstrated
that, in the soil that had been heated,
the increased crop is due to the greater
amount of ammonia which becomes
available for the plant, and that this
increase in the ammonia is brought
about by the larger number of bacteria,
chiefly splitters-off of ammonia, which
get afooting in the soil. Various ex-
periments, which need not here be
detailed, also demonstrated that the
increase in numbers of the bacteria is
not due to any stimulus derived from
the heating, but to the removal of some
factor which is at work in ordinary soil
keeping down the numbers of bacteria.
This new and unknown factor turns out
to be the presence in ordinary soil
of large non-bacterial organisms like
amcebse and infusoria, which habitu-
ally feed upon the bacteria, and thus,
by keeping their numbers down, estab-
lish a certain numerical equilibrium
between themselves and the bacteria.
These higher organisms are wholly des-
troyed by the heating or other steril-
isation methods, whereas the bacteria
are only partially exterminated and
afterwards develop to a much greater
extent than before, because they have
the field to themselves. With this in-
crease in the number of bacteria goes
an increased production of soluble plant
food from the insoluble reserves in the
soil and a corresponding increase in
crop. With certain differences these
results are repeated when other methods
of sterilising the soil are adopted; if, for
example, the soil ina dry state is ex-
posed for some hours to the vapour of
chloroform, carbon bisulphide, toluene
or other volatile antiseptic, there is 4

[FEBRUARY, 1910,

Ee ee ae ae a ne pene ene

_ Fesrvary, 1910,] 129

similar rearrangement of the organisms
of the soil and a similar increase in its
fertility, though not so great a degree,

Weare nowin a position to-sum up
the changes which take place in soil
when itis subjected to one of these so-
called ‘sterilisation’ processes :—

(1.) Seeds of weeds, mosses, liverworts,
&ec., are killed. Fungi and their spores
are also destroyed. It is found, how-
ever, at Rothamsted that the soil is
very susceptible to reinfection when it
is afterwards exposed in pots. Occasion-
ally it becomes covered with moulds,
and the usual green alge rapidly cover
the surface with a mat.

(2.) The texture of heavy
distinctly improved.

(3.) The heating gives rise to sub-
stances, of which ammonia is probably
the chief, harmful to germination, This
harmful effect will be less marked if
the soil is stored for a time after the

soils is

- heating.

(4.) All organisms of an. order higher
than bacteria are killed off; the soil,
for example, is rendered clean of eel-
worms, at the same time certain
organisms which normally limit the

number of bacteria in the soil are des- -

troyed.

(5.) Thus provided with a clear field,
the ammonia-producing bacteria increase
rapidly, and there is a correspondingly
greater production of plant tood from
the soil and manure, followed by an
increase of crop. Certain groups of
bacteria are killed off, e.g., those which
convert ammonia into nitrates; hence
plants which only take in their nitrogen
as nitrates do not show increased growth
on the sterilised soil; only those plants
(actually the majority) which can utilise
indifferently ammonia or nitrates are
benefited. Even in their case it is pos-
sible to see that they are feeding upon
ammonia and not upon the nitrates
they obtain from normal soil, e.g., the
cereals are shorter in the straw than
would be expected from the richness
in nitrogen. Nor is it always possible
to reinocnlate the soil with the nitrifi-
cation organisms, heat-sterlisation seem-
ing to produce some substance which
inhibits the nitrification bacteria.

Space does not permit of a discussion
of the results of greenhouse practice
with sterilised soils in the light of these
conclusions, but they will be found to
illuminate much that has been obscure
and contradictory in the reports, At
any rate, it is clear that it is impossible
to lay down the law beforehand as to
whether ‘‘sterilisation” of soil will or

will not be beneficial in a particular

V7

Scientific Agriculture.

case. Experiment alone can show which
of the numerous factors will be involv-
ed, Similarly, though a number. of
applications to practice suggest them-
selves, it would be unwise to discuss
them until more experimental work is
forthcoming.

THE EFFECT OF GRASS ON TREES.

By SPENCER PICKERING.

(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle, Vol.
XLVI., No. 1199, December, 1909.)

The effect of grass on trees is pro-
bably intimately connected with that
fundamental question in agriculture to
which no comprehensive answer has
yet been obtained, namely, the fertility
of the soil. The casual observer may
dismiss the subject by stating that it
is simply due to the grass robbing the
tree of its nourishment or its moisture,
but such a statement can only be based
On ignorance of the facts, and of all
the work which has been done in the
matter. The subject has been under in-
vestigation at the Woburn Experimen-
tal Fruit Farm for the last 16 years;
one report (the third) dealing with it
was published in 1903, and it ishoped
Cee another willbe issued before very
ong.

Although no final solution of the
problem has yet been obtained, consider-
able progress has been made in the
matter, and various possible explan-
ations have been definitely negatived.
Foremost amongst these is the theory
that the action is due to the grass
absorbing all the food and water from
the soil. The original experiments are,
perhaps, the most striking, though not
the most precise, on this point. A large
number of apple trees were planted in
rows, 11 feet apart, in 1904; the ground
in one row was kept tilled, and that
in the other row laid down to grass;
the grass, when cut, is left to rot on
the ground, and the same amount of
manure is given to both rows of trees.
Those in the tilled soils are now such
large trees that half of them have had to
be removed, their spread being some
15 to 18 feet; those in grass did not
grow at all for several years, and only
began _ to make growth when their roots
extended beyond the grassed area; they
are still miserable specimens of trees,
about one-sixth the size of the others,
and the crops borne by them have only
been about one-tenth of that of their
neighbuurs. Yet the grassed soil is
actually richer than the tilled soil. In
the fifteen years it has had removed from

Scientific Agriculture.

- it only one crop of grass (that actually
growing at any given moment), and the
small amount of material required for
the stunted growth of the trees; where-
as, from the tilled soil there has been
removed material for an annual crop
of fruit, and also for the vigorous
growth of the trees. Analysis also
shows that the grassed soil is the richer
of the two, and it also shows that, in
this particular case, there is practically
no difference between the water con-
tents of the grassed and open plots.

Of the many other experiments on
these points, the most conclusive are,
perhaps, those made with Apple trees
grown in pots. In some of these the
grass roots were separated from the
tree roots by very fine wire gauze,
through which the former could not
penetrate; the pots were weighed and
watered every two days, so as to keep
the water contents the same, and such
water and food as was added was ig-
troduced from below, so that the tree
should have the first pull at it. Yet
the trees still suffered badly from the
grass, although the soil was actually
moister and richer than in the case of
similar trees without grass. Correspon1-
ing experiments have been made with
trees planted in theopen. Though in-
crease of moisture up to a certain point
and increase of food in certain cases
may benefit the trees, the benefit is
much too small to do more than very
slightly diminish the deleterious effect
of the grass.

The behaviour of a tree in grass is
clearly a case of starvation in a land
of plenty, and this cannot be explained
by supposing (untenably as such a sup-
position is for other reasons) that the
grass roots took up whatever nourish-
ing solution there is in the soil, leaving
none for the tree roots. The pot ex-
periments, just quoted, effectively nega-
tive this. Nor can we explain the
matter by supposing that the tree was
only temporarily affected by the grass,
but, being in a weak state after trans-
planting, this check resulted in its

ecoming permanently stunted; for a
precisely similar, and even more marked
effect has been proved to be produced
by grassing over trees which have been
established, in one case for four years,
and in another case fcr twelve years; the
effect, indeed, was so great that in the
first instance, many of the trees have
been kilJed, and, in the second instance,
a similar result appears imminent.

Other explanations which suggested
themselves have been investigated, and
found equally unacceptable ; these were
differences in soil temperature, differen-

130 [FRBRUARY, 1910,

ces in aeration or proportion of carbon
dioxide, and differences in the physical
condition of the soil. The only other
explanation which appears to be possible
is that the growth of the grass results
in the formation of some substance
which is poisonous to the tree. This
may be an active poison—a toxin—or
the poisonous action may result from
an alteration in the proportion of
various substances present in the soil.
An active poison may be produced in
various ways, such as by the decompo-
sition of the debris of the grass, actual
excretion from the grass roots, or as
a product of the bacteria present in
the soil. As to the origin of the toxin,
no definite evidence has yet been ob-
tained, but it has been found that
toxins may be formed in soils by heat,
and other means, produciag effects
which are analogous in many respects
with those produced by grass on trees.
Thus, on heating soil, substances are
produced which are toxic towards the
germination of seeds, and these have
been found to be toxic towards plant
growth also. That established plants
grow better on heated thanin unheated
soil, is due to the fact that heating
causes a considerable increase in the
soluble nitrogen present in the soil, and
also in the composition of the bacterial
flora of the soil. Moreover, the toxin
formed as the result of heating the soil
soon becomes oxidised and destroyed,
allowing the favourable conditions to
assert themselves: If, however, the toxin
is present in sufficient quantity, itis not
all destroyed before the plant grows,
and its deleterious effect becomes appar-
ent. Itis noticeable that this affect
varies greatly in difficult cases, and is
very much less in the case of grasses
than in that of the other plants which
have been examined. Earth from grass-
ed ground behavesin the same way as
earth which has been slightly heated and
which contaius only a limited amount
of toxic matter, for trees planted in
it (the grass being removed) do better
than in soil taken from tilled ground,
such toxic matter as there was present
in it having evidently become destroyed
before the tree started into growth;
whether its presence originally in soil
can be established in its effect on germin-
ating seeds, still remains to be seen.

If the formation of a toxic substance is
the explanation of the grass effect, we
might naturally expect great variations
in this effect in different soils; and this
is certainly the case.
effect is, perhaps, greater than in any
other instance which has come under
the writer’s observation, but cases of
very nearly the same intensity have

At Ridgmont the™

ee ae

\

4th A's a.

Frsrvary, 1910.)

been found in various parts of the
kingdom, whilst only one instance has
been noticed where the grass apparently
had no_ effect. This variation in
intensity with the nature of the soil is,
probably, the chief reason why the

- action is not more widely recognised ;

but two other causes contribute to an
under-estimation of the grass effect, the
one that itis very rare fora plantation
to be partly grassed in such a way as
to give satisfactory evidence as to the
bad effect cf this grassing; the other,
that the grassing is generally effected
gradually, extending througout several
seasons, and in that case, it has been

131

Scientific Agriculture.

found the effects are far less marked
than they otherwise are, the trees,
apparently, becoming gradually adapted
to the altered conditions.

No definite connection has yet been
found between the nature of the soil and
the intensity of the action, but it does
not appear to be governed by the rich-
ness of the soil. The case, alluded to
above, in which the action has been nil,
cannot be explained by any greater
depth of soil into which the tree roots
penetrate, thus getting away from the
grass roots, for many of the trees have
been lifted, and all have been found to
have their roots near surface.

1 MISCELLANEOUS.

LITERATURE OF ECONOMIC
BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE.

By J. C. WILLIs.
Green manuring :—

Leaf manuring in S. Canara. Couch-
man. Agri. Journal India 1908,
“T, A.” Nov. 1908, p. 461.

Green manuring. Ind. Agric. July
1908, p. 221. ‘‘T.A.” Jan. 1909, p. 61.

Superphosphate and Basic Slag.
Agri. News, VII, 173, Dec. 1908.
Grevillea :—-
La gomme de Grevillea robusta.
Journ, d’ Agr. trop. 31. 8, 1908, p.
225. Abs, ‘°T.A.” Nov, 1908, p. 412.
Groundnuts :—

_ De cultuur der Aardnoten. Ind.
Mere. 24. 12. 1898, p. 811.

Groundnuts as a profitable (?) in-
vestment, ‘‘T.A.” June, 06, p. 373.

Peanuts orgroundnuts. ‘‘T.A.” Apr.

1906, p. 216,

Manipulation des Arachides aux
Etats-unis. Journ. d’ Agr, trop. 6,
1906, p. 358,

The ene “TA,” Feb, 1907,
p. °

Ground or pea-nut. Kew Bull. 1901,
p. 175.

Groundnut cultivation in Burma.
“T,A.” Sept. 1907, p. 197.

L’iarachide en Afrique occidentale
francaise. Bull. Jard. Col. 1907,
p. 186.

Groundnuts in Burma,
Mar. 1908, p. 82.

Cultivation of groundnutsin Malabar,
do. p, 8,

Ind. Agric,

Notes on cultivation of groundnuts.
Q. J. L’pool I, C. R. Jan. 1908, p, 30.
“TA,” July 1908, p. 14.

The cultivation of groundnuts. Bull.
Madras Dept. Agr. III. 58. 1908.
SS AT Jan. 1909, p. 22.

La culture de l’Arachide Aux Etats-
Unis, Bull. Jard. Col. Nov. 1908,
p. 422.

Uber Erdnus-Ausfuhr in Togo, Tro-
penpianzer 13. No. 2. Feb, 1909,
p. 81.

The Origin and Domestication ot the
Peanvt or Groundnut (Arachis

Hypogea) in the United States.
Trop. Life. Feb. 1908. ‘‘T.A.” June
1909, p. 515.

Disease of groundnuts in Dominica,
Agr. News, No. 194, p. 315, Oct. 1909.

Culture et composition de la Pis-
tache ordinaire et de la Pistache

Malgache. Mauritius Bull. No.
21, 1909.
Disease of ground nuts. Agr, News,

VIII. 196, Oct. 1909, p. 374.

Guava :—

Guava jelly. Agr. News, 27. 6. 1908,
p. 196. ‘*T.A.” Oct. 1908, p. 338,

Guizotia :—
Niger-seed oil, ‘‘T.A,”
p. 760,

Dee. 1905,

Gums :—

The collection of gum in the Soudan.
Trop. Life, Aug. 1907, p. 117.

La gomme de Grevillea robusta.
Journ, d’Agr. trop. 31. 8. 1908,
p. 225,

Uses, properties, and production of
gums, Imp, Inst. Bull. 6. 1908, p. 29,

Miscellaneous. ‘ 132

L’ Exploitation du Copalier en Guinée.
L’ Agric. pratique des pays chauds.
Jan. 1909, p. 47.

Guttapercha :—
Guttapercha trees of the Malay
Peninsula. Kew. Bull. 1907, p. 109.

Imports of raw gutta into the United
ingdom. Ind. Journ. 15. 7, 1907,
p. 88. :

Notes on Karité gutta. Spence Q. J.
L’pool I. C, R., Jan. 08, p. 6).

De melksapvaten bij Caoutchouc en
Getahpercha leverenden Planten.
Verslag Salatiga 1907, p. 43.

Essai d’extraction de Gutta par
Saignéé sur Palaquium cultivees &
Tamatave, Journ. d’Agric. Tro-
picale, May 1909. p. 154.

Gutta-percha planting in Java, Ind,
Rubber Wrid. Mar. 1909. ‘*T.A.”
Aug. p. 106.

Helicteres :—
Helicteres fibre.
p. 17,

Hemp :—
Charas or Indian hemp. Hooper,
Ind. Agric. Oct. 1908, p. 302.
New Zealand Hemp Industry.
Queens, Ag. J]. Dec. 1908, p. 318.

“TA.” July 1907,

Indigo :—

Der Indig. Tropenfi. 1907, p. 621.

Indigo—a retrospect. Ind. Agric.
Mar. 1908, p. 73.

Research work in Indigo, carried out
at Balasingh Serai, Blozam and
Leake. Calcutta 1905.

A contribution to the Indigo question.
Nature 80. 7. 1908, p. 206.

L’ Indigo ala Station de cultuur
experimentales de Quang-Ngai Bull
Economique d’Indo—China, May
1909, p. 201.

Ipecacuanha :—
Ipecacuanha. Str. Bull. 6. 1908, p.
134, “T.A.” Sept. 1908, p: 224.
Note on Ipecacuanha cultivation.
Str. Bull, Aug. 09. p, 368. “T.A.”
Oct. p. 806.

Irrigation :—

Well Irrigation. Ind. Agr. Nov. 1904,
p. 845.

Notes on methods of irrigation in
Arizona. Park in ‘“T.A.” Sept.
1906, p. 271.

Furrow Irrigation.
Jl. Ind. July 1908.
1908, p. 459.

Howard. Agr.
“T.A.” Nov.

Lining of ditches and reservoirs to
prevent seepage losses. Haw. For-
ester, July 1908, p. 172. 7

Irrigation Methods. A. S. Kenyon.
Phil. Agr. Rev. I. 10. Oct. 1908.

A current pump forirrigation. Agr.
Gaz. N.S. W. XX. I. Jan. 09, p. 53.

Jute :— :
- Jute vs. rice. Ind. Agric. 1. 10.07,
p. 295.
Crops in rotation with Jute. do.
Apr. 1908, p. 112,

Notice surle jute, Bull. Jard. Col.
June 1908, p. 516.

Burkill and Finlow. The races of
Jute, Agr. Ledger, 6, 1907, V. P.
Series, 105.

do. On three varieties of Corchorus
capsularis which are eaten. Proc.
Ass. Soc. Bengal, 3. 1907, p. 683.

Jute and jute substitutes from West
Africa. Imp. Inst. Bull. 6. 1908,
p. 126

Jute growing in Assam. Ind. Agric.
Nov. 1908, pp. 828, 329. ras

Experiments in Jute Cultivation in
Bengal. Imp. Inst. Bull. 6. 1908,
p. 292.

do. Ind. Agric. Dec. 1908, p. 382.

Note sur le Jute de Chine. L’ Agr.
Pratique des pays chauds. Jan,
1909, p. 77. ~

Jute cultivation in Burma. Ind.
Agric. Apr. 1. 1909, p. 126.

Heart damage of baled jute. Agr
Journ. India, July 1909, p. 276.

Jute in 1908. Iud. Agric, Jan. 1909.
“T.A. Dec. p. 491.

PLOUGHS: THEIR SETTING AND
SPECIAL FEATURKS.

By W. J. MALDEN.
(From the Agricultural Gazette of New
South Wales, Vol. XX., Pt. 8,
August, 1909.)

The machines now used on the farm
include some with many very intricate
parts, and they perform their work
satisfactorily, although some are not
more than a generation old. ‘This is
satisfactory. But then there is the
simple plough, old almcst as sin, yet
one does not always see good ploughing;
or the plough set so that it can do the
best work.
engineers can contrive to make machines
to do intricate work with ease to the
operator, who has little more to do than
press a lever, and the machine does the

It seems as though our —

[FEERUARY, 1910- r : ge:

7

We
aay 2

ee are
Sas net eke

dis

Cra dF

Freprvary, 1910.) —

' might suppose.

{a

rest; but when a plough is turned out
the operator has to apply his skill to
make it go well. The maker, however,

rovides reasonable means of adjusting.

he fact is, a plough requires more skill
to set properly than the uninitiated
The setting that will
suit one soil will not necessarily suit
another. Who is there that has plough-
ed on land which is very variable who
has not had the experience that at one
end of the field there is a tendency for
the big wheel to run away from the
land side, while at the other it will cut
too hard on the land side, or, again,
where it will pull in much deeper in one

place than another, although the service

is equally hard? When this occurs it is
most difficult to set the plough just
right to suit all conditions. Where the
land is normal from end to end and the
soil in fair ploughing condition, a well-
made plough, well set, should go from
end to end without being touched by
hand. Thatis the best test that can be
applied. Too often one sees the plough-
man fail to make the mind triumph over
matter, for, instead of adjusting the
plough properly, he may be seen with
one foot (sometimes two), out of the
furrow, struggling to keep the plough
in place, leaning the greater part of his
weight on the handles, and so increasing
the under-friction that the draught is
excessively increased, and horses can
only get along in snatches, suggesting
that first the horses have a pull at the
plough, and then the plough has a pull
at the horses, both man and horses
being thoroughly done up at shutting
out time,
THE SCIENCE OF GRIP.

There is nothing which adds so much
to draught as the weight which the
holder puts on to the handles. A man
may holda plough firmly and yet add
but little tothe draught, anda well-set
plough requires this rather than pres-
sure. A plough thata skilled ploughman
cannot set to run easily on fair land
should be broken up, as it is a_very
expensive implement to keep. But if
one looks over a plough that is difficult

183

Miscellaneous,

to hold, it is odds in favour of the fact
that there is one or another of the nuts
that regulates some adjustment that
has never been moved since it came from
the work, as can be proved by the fact
that the paint has not been disturbed,
while perhaps it is so long since others
were moved that they are rusted in.

A plough should be easily adjusted,
and this is not convenient unless all nuts
and screws are kept well greased. Itis
as much or even more than some will do
to keep the hubs of the wheels greased,
and as the ploughboy whistles o’er the
lea so do the wheels. If the wheels are
not kept greased they soon wear loose,
and then not only will the furrow be
uneven in width, but as they roll one
way or the other so will the plough
follow the direction just as a bicycle does,
and the man will have to hold against
this tendency to run out of the straight;
the lolling of the wheel also alters the
depth of the ploughing, for it is not
the same height when lolling as upright.
The necessity for thin washers or cotters
to use as soon as there is play should
not be overlooked, Nothing better
teaches a young ploughman the purpose
of the parts than being made to take
a plough to pieces, and to take out
every bolt, and then put it together
again. It is not time wasted in the long
run, though because a plough looks so
simple few are called upon to do it,
For the best effect to be obtained he
should be told the purport of each part,

PaRT ADJUSTMENT,

The main parts which are emplcyed
to adjust an ordinary mould-board
plough are the wheels, the T-head, the
sliding head, the draught chain, the
share, the coulter, skin coulter, breast
stay, and the handles. Beyond these,
however, are the less recognized points
where, through some temporary or con-
structional deficiency, some little in-
genuity is required to make the plough
run easily, The wheels mainly control
the width and depth of the furrow, yet
on swing ploughs these are absent, thus
showing they are not indispensable,

THE Common Proven,

A, Beam; B, Handle or slits; C, Handle Stay or brace; D, T-hoad;
Draught Chain ; G, Breast or mould-board; H, aly Sat
L, Land-wheel;

Coulter; Q, Coulter-clip; R, Skin Coulter,

as
ss
ane, Ti ir

M, Land-wheel Standard; N, Purrow-wheel;

H, Sliding Head; F,
reast-stay; I, Mould-board Rest; K, Share;
O, Furrow-wheel Standard; P,

Miscellaneous,

where ploughs are, however, most com-
monly used, and on the whole advisedly
so; but there is no doubt that there
would be better ploughmen if everyone
had to learn to hold a plough without
wheels, for then he would have to give
attention to points which he regards
but little when using a plough mainly
held in position by the wheels; just as
a boy who learns to ride a horse bare-
backed over a hurdle acquires a seat
that will always make him sit closer
and be safer balanced than one who
has always depended upon stirrups.
The holding of the plough itself is very
much a matter of balancing, and a
beginner wants to get the knack of it,
both for his own sake and tor the
sake of the horses, for he then does
with very little effort what another does
less well by much greater exertion.
Where the evenness of the surface
permits it, the plough runs more steadily
when the little wheel is set wide, but
when ploughing on land with a decided
and varying incline the greater width
between the wheels accentuates the
effect on the furrow, for when the little
wheel is on the lower side the ploughing
is so much deeper than the level, while
when it is on the upper side it is so
much shallower. It is in cases suchas
these that the gallows plough, with
the wheels on the fore-carriage allowing

the beam free action to turn to either ‘

side, and so keep the body of the plough
perpendicular, or under the independ-
ent balancing of the holder, is really
a valuable’ implement.

WHEELS Must RuN PLUMB TRUE.

Where the wheels are depended upon
to regulate the depth of the ploughing
it is very important that they, and
the standards and axle supporting them,
are kept plumb true. If any part is
bent it should be put right by the
blacksmith, and any temporary derange-
ment be set right by packing with a
wedge to correct it. To set off the
coulter also should be arranged to assist
the running. Where there is a tendency
for the plough to run away from its
work, it should be set a trifle wide to
pull it back; but if it runs in, then
it should be sent narrower. The coulter
can greatly aid when the plough runs
away from its work through the land
side of the point becoming rounded
and having a tendency to follow the
inclination of the curve so formed. ‘The
coulter is ordinarily best set fairly well
forward, but on stony grounds itis de-
sirable to set it so that a stone does not
pitch between it andthe share. By set-
ting acoulter point fairly forward, by its
inclination it runs freely into the softer

134

ground below, and the cut is made up
the edge, and the hard surface yields
more easily so than when it is attacked
more vertically. Sharp knives make
easy work, blunt knives hard work ;
therefore the coulter, which isa knife
blade should be kept sharp. Some-
times one sees them little more than
a round bar with three or four inches
flattened and thick to do the cuttings—
which is not economical. The nice
adjustment of the coulter is very essen-
tial to the easy running of the plough.

THE SKIM COULTER. |

The skim coulter should be set to
throw dung, stubble, or weeds into
the furrow, and should always’ he
provided witha sharp share, because,
from its position, if it does not cut in
easily, but rides on the surface, it
makes the plough run very unevenly
and jumpily. Considering how well
the ordinary skim coulter turns its
little furrow itis strange that it was
not sooner adopted for bigger work,
as it is made practically on the same
linesas the modern digging plough.
The share which cuts the under part of
the furrow as the coulter cuts the side
(the other two sides not requiring cut-
ting), requires to be fit well in the
socket and should be in proper align-
ment. Where there is structural fault
which prevents the share being in
proper line the plough will be difficult
to hold, and if through wear there is
looseness the share must be corrected
by the use of thin leather wedges.
When a new share is puton after one
that has worn short, the ploughing will
be considerably deeper because the
share is set with a downward pitch, and
ifthe line is carried forward it would
be seen that it would run below the
bottom of the big wheel, therefore every
half-inch worn back from the point
appreciably reduces the depth of the
furrow ; as most shares have rather
greater inclination at the point this is
accentuated. On some soils the drawing
in, by pulling the wheels tighter down,
will make the furrow deeper than the
line of inclination indicates espécially
where, as is often the case, the old share
has not only been shortened, but the
point has worn slightly upwards and
tended to lift the plough.

Many years ago there was introduced
an ingenious attachment to readily
counteract the effect of a new_ share
by making the neck into which the
share socketed adjustable, This was
called a lever neck, and was placed be-
tween the breast and the body,

[FEBRUARY, joio. .

Feprvary, 1910,]

NICER POINTS OF SETTING.

The nicer setting of the plough is
effected from the head or forepart of
the beam, where there are two movable
parts—one witha vertical movement,
aud the other witha lateral. That with
the lateral is known as the head, or T-
head, and that with the vertical as the
hake or sliding head. In the steering of
the plough it has to be remembered
that it is mainly done by _ balancing,
using the bottom of the body as a
pivot. If one wants to make it run
more shallow one weighs on the handles,
and up comes the head. I[f one wants
it to run tothe right one shoves the
handles to the left, and it pivots
round, and soon. ‘The sliding head is
made with a series of notches, which
allow the draught chain to be adjusted
ag desired. When the ground is hard
there is a tendency for the share to run
upwards, and though the holder can
resist to some extent by pressing the
head down by holding against the
tendency, he can be greatly relieved by
allowing the horses to help him. This
he does by altering the height of the
draught point. Remembering there is
a pivot on which the plough balances,
it is Obvious that the higher the point
of attachment the more will the fore-
end of the plough be dipped, while the
lower the more will it be lifted out. The
sliding head, therefore, affords easy
correction to other faults which tend
against a furrow of evendepth. The
draught chain, however, can be made to
assist, for if short the horses will lift
the head, but if long they will pull it
down. Ordinarily a short chain suffices,
but on hard ground a longer chain
gives great relief to the holder, and
the plough runs steadier ; also, on very
hard ground, whenthe horses are pull-
ing with jerks and rolling, a longer
chains makes the plough go more
steadily, as more play is allowed than
when every motion of the horses is im-
parted directly to the plough.

The T-head isa continuation of the
beam, and is quadrant-shape, with pin-
holes at near intervals, and is used to
assist in controlling lateral swerving of
the plough. The pivot action has again
to be regarded, and when it is desired to
pull the big wheel away from the un-
ploughed ground the sliding head is
pushed to the left, and if it is required
to bite the unploughed land it is pushed
to the right, being held in place by
means of a pin thrust through holes
corresponding in the T-head and the
sliding head. The alteration of the
position of the sliding head to the rigid
beam is necessary also, because the line

185

Miscellaneous.

of draught is widely different when
horses draw in single line, when two are
abreast, or when three are abreast, as
each one necessitates the draught being
more or less on one side or the other of
the line of the beam, accordingly as the
centre of the main whipple-tree is to the
line of the beam so must the sliding head
be fixed, and remembering the plough
pivots it has to be set widey in opposition
to the way it is desired to turn the head
of the plough.

THe RUN OF THE PLOUGH.

Thesetting of the breast or mould
board also influences the run of the
plough, as the wider itis opened—that
is, shoved out by the breast stay—so
will it turn the share point on to the
work. -With all these means of adjust-
ing, it looks as though the setting of a
plough ought to be a very simple matter,
but the struggling efforts of many
ploughmen give contradiction to this,
In fact, to get all these points in har-
mony takes a considerable period to
learn; moreover, they are subject to
alteration every time different work is
done, and beyond all this is the know-
ledge which directs the best type of
work to be done for the purpose ahead.

When the plough is properly set, and,
of course, still more so, when ill-set,
there is much to do to make it run so
as to give less strain to the horse and
man. By-the-by, one ought to have
mentioned that a furrow set deeper on
the wing side of the share is always
heavier in draught than one set with a
level sole or slightly deeper on the little
wheel, because the share cuts clean
across when it is flat, but when the wing
is lower than the preceding turrow the
new furrow has to be torn out. On
heavy land especially the line of fracture
may continue downwards for a consider-
able distance, and instead of a 9-inch
furrow it may break out 18 or 14 inches,
bringing up very objectionable sub-
soil. This constitutes coarse ploughing.
Coarse ploughing is not dependent upon
the depth and width of the furrow, but
to this breaking out of the subsoil.

When one says the ploughis balanced
with the centre as a pivot this must not
be taken to mean that there is merely
one spot which acts as pivot; it is spread
over quitea big portion of the body and
breast, as occasion demands, and expe-
rience alone teaches where to apply
from time to time.

TURNING NoT Hasy.
The turning of a plough is by no
means an easy matter to a novice; in
fact, we recall from the memory of long

Miscellaneous. _ 136

gone days the fact that several friends,
assertive in other matters but innocent
of ploughing, beyond the universal
ability to criticise everything in farm-
ing, found that there was nothing which
would more quickly and unexpectedly
land them in aditch. Weused to choose
a rather wet headland on heavy land to
accomplish this, and if they only stuck
long enough to the handles the ditch
inevitably received them, and they were
usually far less assertive on agricultural
matters subsequently. Turning is prac-
tically a matter of balancing, and one
requiring some experience, to enable the
plough to set in square without wrig-
gling or stopping. The plough should
always be balanced round; that is,
jerked out and thrown on the breast
side; then there is no ploughing or
cutting up of the headland, with its
inevitable mauling on wet land. In
some light land districts it is common
to see the plough allowed to run round
on the little wheel, and there it does not
so much matter; it is no easier to the
holder and, except on these light soils,
very prejudicial to the headland. Ifa
plough is balanced round it is easy_to
throw the head into proper line, and if
it falls short to turn it on to the wheel
opposite to the direction it is desired to
take, and let the horses pull it in.

THE RELATION OF SCIENCE TO
HUMAN LIFE.

(From Nature, Vol. 82. No. 2095,
December, 1909).

In casting about for a suitable introduc-
tion for my address this afternoon, I
came across some words written bya
great Englishman which with your per-
mission I will read to you.

‘“‘Remember the wise; for they have
laboured, and you are entering into their
labours. Every lesson which you learnt
in school, all knowledge which raises
above the savage and the profligate—
whois but a savage dressed in civilised
garments—has been made possible to
you by the wise. Every doctrine of
theology, every maxim of morals, every
rule of grammar, every process of mathe-
matics, every law of physical science,
every fact of history or of geography,
which you are taught, is a voice from
beyond the tomb, Hither the knowledge
itself, or other knowledge which led to
it, is an heirloom to you from men whose
bodies are now mouldering in the dust,
but whose spirits live for ever, and whose
works follow them, going on, generation

- ; +2

[FEBRUARY, 1910.

after generation, upon the path which ©

they trod while they were upon earth,
the path of usefulness, as lights to the
steps of youth and ignorance.

‘They are the salt of the earth, which
keeps the world of man from decaying
back into barbarism. They are the
children of light. They are the aristo-
cracy of God, into which not many
noble, not many rich, not many mighty,
are called. Most of them were poor;
many all but unknown in their own
time; many died and saw no fruit of their
labours; some were persecuted, some
were slain, as heretics, innovators and
corruptors of youth. Of some the very
names are forgotten. But though their
names be dead, their works live, and
grow and spread over everfresh gener-
ations of youth, showing them fresh
steps towards that temple of wisdom
which is the knowledge of things as they
are; the knowledge of those eternal laws
by which God governs the heavens and
the earth, things temporal and eternal,
physical and spiritual, seen and unseen,
from the rise and fall of mighty uations
to the growth and death of moss on
yonder moors.”

So spake Charles Kingsley, and his
words I make use of as an introduction
which strikes the key-note of what I
have to say to you to-day, ©

The subject whichI have chosen for

my address—the relation of pure science,
and especially of biological science, to
human lite, and infexentially the relation
which ought to exist between pure and
applied science in a college of science, is
naturally of great interest to us in the
Imperial College, which is a college of
science and technology, and the purposes
of which are, in the words of the
charter, ‘“‘ to give the highest specialised
introduction and to provide the fullest
equipment for the most advanced train-
ing and research in various branches of
science, especially in relation to in-
dustry.” Particularly dolI desire to set
forth as clearly as I can the justification
for including in a college which deals not
only with science, but with science in
relation to industry, those branches of
science which deal with organisms.

As industry forms the principal occupa-
tion of human life, and as the phenomena
of organisms constitute the science of
life, it may seem absurd ta set out
solemnly to justify the inclusion of the
biological sciences in a college which
deals with science especially in its
relation to human life.

heard

Nevertheless, |
having regard to the fact that I have —
some doubt expressed. as to —
whether the cult of the biological sciences

FuErv ary, 1910,

roperly falls within the scope of the
Rianeriat College. if may not be out of
place to bear the matter in mind on this,
the second, occasion of the prize-giving
of our new college.

What is the meaning of the word
science 2? Asin the case of so many words,
its meaning has become confused by
its partial application, ze, by its appli-
eation toa part only of its contents, and
this has often led toa misapprehension of
the relation of science and of the scien-
tific man to lite. Science simply means
knowledge, and to speak of scientific
knowledge, as opposed to ordinary
knowledge, is to use a redundant phrase,
always supposing that we are using the
word knowledge in its strict sense.
Huxley defined science as organised com-
monsense, by which, I take it, he meant
knowledge of thingsas they are—know-
ledge the reality of whichcan at any

time be checked by observation and

experiment ; for commonsense, if it is
anything, is the faculty by which we are
made aware of reality. Science is some-
times spoken of as exact knowledge, but
I am bound to say that I do not like the
phrase exact knowledge; it seéms to
imply an insult to the word knowledge.
Its use reminds me ofa friend of mine
who, when he was offered one morning
at breakfast a fresh egg, mildly asked,
‘In preference to what other kind of
egg?” It recalls those regrettable
phrases one so often hears, I honestly
believe, or I honestly think ; one wonders
how the people who make use of them
usually believe and think.

It must, I think, be admitted that
science simply means knowledge, and
that there is nothing peculiar about the
knowledge of scientific men by which it
differs from other knowledge.

Scientific men are not a class apart
and distinct from ordinary mottals.
We are all scientific men in our various
degrees. If this is so, how comes it that
the distinction is so often made between
scientific men and _ non-scientific men,
between scientific knowledge and non-
scientific knowledge? The truth appears
to lie here; though it is true that all men
possess knowledge, i.e., science, yet
there are some men who make it their
main business to concern themselves
with some kind of kuowledge, and espe-
cially with its increase, and to these men
the term scientific has been technically
applied. Now the distinctive feature of
these men, in virtue of which the term
scientific is applied to them, is that they
not only possess knowledge, but that
they make it their business to add to
knowledge, and it is this part of their

18

od

7 Miscellaneous.

business, if any, which justifies their
being placed in a class apart from other
possessors of knowledge.

The men who make it their main
business to add to knowledge may be
divided into two classes, according to
the motive which spurs them on. (1)
There are those whose immediate object
is to ameliorate the conditions of human
life and to add to its pleasures; their
motive is utility, and their immediate
goalis within sight. Such are the great
host of inventors, the pioneers in agri-
culture, in hygiene, preventive medicine,
in social reform, and in sound legislation
which leads to social reform, and many
other subjects. (2) There are those who
pursue knowledge for its own sake with-
out reference to its practical application.
They are urged on by the desire to
know, by what has been called a divine
curiosity. These men are the real
pioneers of knowledge. It is their work
which prepares the way for the practical
man who watches and follows them.
Without their apparently useless investi-
gations, progress beyond the limits of
the immediately useful would be impos-
sible. We should have had no applied
electricity, no spectrum analysis, no
asceptic surgery, no preventive medicine,
no anesthetics, no navigation of the
pathless ocean. Sometimes the results
of the seeker after knowledge for its
own sake are so unique and astounding
that the whole of mankind stands spell-
bound before them, and renders them
the same homage that the child does the
tale of wonderful adventure; such is the
case with the work on radiumand radio-
activity, which is at present fixing the

. attention of the whole civilised world.

Sometimes the work is of a humbler
kind, dealing apparently with trivial
objects, and appealing in no way to the
imagination or sense of the wonderful ;
such was the work which led to and
formed the basis of that great generali-
sation which has transformed man’s out-
look of nature—the theory of organic
evolution; such was the work which
produced aseptic surgery and the great
doctrines of immunity and phagocytosis
which have had such tremendous results
in diminishing human pain. The temper
of such men is a curious one ; no material
reward can be theirs, and, as arule, but
little fame. Yet mankind owes them
a debt which can never be repaid. It
is to these men that the word scien-
tific has been specially applied, and
with this justification—they have no
other profession save that of pursuing
knowledge for its own sake, or, if they
have a profession, it is that of the
teacher, which, indeed, they can hardly

Miscellaneous. 188

avoid. Ought such men, working with
such objects, to find a place in the
Imperial College ?

It isa curiousthing, butit has only
comparatively recently been realised,
that a sound and exact knowledge of
phenomena was necessary for man.
The realisation of this fact, in the
modern world at any rate, occurred
at the end of the Middle Ages. It was
one of the intellectual products of
the Renaissance, and in this country
Francis Bacon was its first exponent.
In his “ Advancement of Learning” he
explained the methods by which the
increase of knowledge was possible, and
advocated the promotion of knowledge
to a new and influential position in
the organisation of human society. In
Italy the same idea was taught by the
great philosopher Giordano Bruno, who
held that the whole -uaiverse was a
vast mechanism of which man, and the
earth on which man dwells, was a
portion, and that the working of this
mechanism, though not the full compre-
hension of it, was open to the investi-
gation of man. For. promulgating
this impious view both he and his book
were burnt at Romein 1600. You will
find the same idea cropping up conti-
nually in the written records of that
time; Corpernicus gave it practical re-
cognition when he demonstrated the
real relation of the sun, and it was
thoroughly grasped by our own Shakes-
peare, who gave it expression in the
dialogue between Perdita and Polixines
in the Winter's Tale :—

Perdita—
The fairest flowers of the season
Are our carnations and streaked gillyyors,
Which some call Nature’s bastard : of that
kind
Our rustic garden’s barren ; and I care not
To get slips of them.
Polixines—
Wherefore, gentle maiden, do you neglect
them P
Perdita—
For [ have heard it said
There is an art which, in their piedness,
shares
With great creating nature.
Polixines—
. z 2 Say there be;
Yet nature is made better by no mean,
ee makes that mean: so, o’er that
ar
Which you say adds to nature, is an art
That nature makes. You see, sweet maid,
we marry
A gentle scion to the wildest stock and
make conceive a bark of baser kind
By bud of nobler race: this is an art
Which does mend nature,--change it ra-
ther; but
The art itself is nature,

It is not difficult for us, though it may
be difficult to our descendants, to under-
stand how hard it was for man to at-
tune himself to the new, this mighty
conception, and the intellectual history
of the last three hundred years is a
recone of the struggles to make it pre-
vail.

Trained through long ages to believe
that the heavens were the abode of
the gods, who constantly interfered in
the daily affars of life and in the small-
est operation of nature, it seemed to
men impious to maintain that the earth
was in the heavens, and to peer into
the mysteries which surrounded them,
and the endeavour to do so has been
stoutly resisted; but the conflict, in so
far as it has been a conflict with pre-
judice, is now over. It vanished in the
triumph of the modern views on the
origin of man which will be for ever
associated with the names of Lamarck,
Spencer, and Darwin.

The triumph of these views does not
mean that they are correct, or that we
know anything more about the great
mystery of life than we did before. He
would be a bold and a prejudiced man
who made that assertion. What it
means is this, that man is grown up,
that he has cast off the intellectual
tutelage under which he has hitherto
existed, that he has attained complete
intellectual freedom, and that all things
in heaven and earth are legitimate sub-
jects of investigation. But it means
even more than this; it means that the
conviction is rapidly growing upon him
that the only way in which he can hope
to improve his condition is by ander-
standing the laws, physical as well as
spiritual, under which he exists, and
this he is determined to try to do by the
only method open to him—that of
minute and arduous research.

And is it, I ask, an unworthy ambition

for man to set before himself to under- ©

stand those eternal laws upon which
his happiness, his prosperity, his very
existence depend? Is heto be blamed
and anathematised for endeavouring to
fulfil the divine injunction, Fear God
and keep His Commandments, for that
is the whole duty of man? Before he
can keep them, surely he must first
ascertain what they are!

We hear a great deal nowadays about
the humanities and the humane studies
—-the study of ‘‘ancient elegance and
historic wisdom ”—and I should be the
last to minimise in any degree the value
and intense interest which is attached
to the study of the writings and
utterances of the mighty dead. They

will always retain undimmed their —

(FEBRUARY, 1910.

Pay ew ieime << 2

By

FmBRuARY, 1910.)

- attraction and inspiration for man, and

man will always think with gratitude
and affection of their authors; but it
is possible to overdo a thing, and this
talk of the humanities and humane
studies has been overdone. After all,
a live dog is better than a dead lion—
but in this case we are dealing with a
living lion.

It is ridiculous to say nowadays that
the study of humanities consists solely
of the study of the writings and philo-
sophy of the ancients; to take that
view is to take the view of the school-
men ; the death-blow to which was given
by Bacon and Bruno.

We have got beyond that; we clai
that the true study of the humanities
is a far wider thing—it is the study of
the stupendous mechanism of the uni-
verse of which man forms a part, and
the understanding of which is necessary
for his happiness. That is the true
humanity of which the other forms only
a small portion. The time is coming
when the principal preoccupation of
man shall be the gradual disclosure of
this mechanism and his principal delight
the contemplation of its beauty. For
remember what Plato himself said: the
whole of nature, so far as it really
exists, isa revelation of God.

In spite of the work and writings of
such men as Bacon and Bruno in the
end of the sixteenth century, the pro-
gress of science was at first but slow
and the workers few. We have, of
course, the immortal achievements of
Newton and Harvey, and the foundation
of the Royal Society, and the tremend-
ous outburst of scholarship as typified
in this country by Bentley and his co-
workers; but the eighteenth century
was, on the whole, characterised by
intellectual quiescence both in scientific
output and in literary creation. The
quiescence was apparent rather than
real. To borrow a metaphor from the
garden, though there was little growth
above ground, active root formation
was going on. Linnzeus (1707-1778) was
at work in Sweden creating the frame-
work which rendered future work in
botany and zoology possible; Buffon in
France was cautiously feeling his way
towards a theory of organic evolution ;
Henry Cavendish (1781-1810), Joseph
Priestly (1733-1804), and Antoine La-
voisier (1743-94), were laying the found-
ation of modern chemistry; Albrecht
von Haller (1707-77), Kaspar Friederick
Wolff (1733-94), and John Hunter (1728-93),
those of anatomy and physiology. The
spade-work of these men, together
with the improvement of the micros-
cope, was necessary for the great out-

189 Miscellaneouss

burst of scientific investigation which
characterised the ninteenth century.
Ushered in by the work of Cuvier
(1769-1882), Lamarck (1744-1829), St. Hilaire
(1772-1844), in biology, Thomas Young
(1778-1829), Laplace (1749-1827), Volta
(1745-1827), Carnot (1758-1823), in physics,
it was adorned in its middle and latter
period by the names of Davy, Faraday,
Dalton, Arago, Rochard, Owen, Darwin,
Lyell, John Muller, Agassiz, Helmholtz,
Stokes, Kelvin, and Pasteur.

The advance of knowledge is yearly
becoming more rapid; if its steps were
slow and hesitating in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, and if it
quickened to a rapid walk in the nine-
teenth, we now ‘hear the sound of a
trot, which at the end of the century
will be a gallop, and as the centuries
sueceed one another its pace will become
even faster. Where will it Jead us,
and what will be the upshot for man?

But it is no part of my purpose to-day
to give you an historical summary of
scientific progress. The point I wish to
illustrate is the vast increase in the
scientific army and in the results achiev-
ed by them.

My thesis is that pure research into
the sequence of natural phenomena is
in itself of the greatest importance to
the progress and welfare of humanity,
and that a great statesman can have
no higher aim than to solve the problem
of how it may best be fostered. To
what extent can such a thesis be justi-
fied by experience ?

I might begin by examining the ori-
gin and progress of our knowledge of
what is called current electricity, to
which modern life, from a material point
of view, owes so much, In illustration
of what we owe to workers in _ electrical
science I need only mertion land tele-
graphy, ocean telegraphy, wireless tele-
graphy, telephones, electric light, elec-
tric traction, and our knowledge of
radio-activity. The history of this

science forms, perhaps, the best example

of the importance to man of pure, appa-
rently useless, scientific research, for at
every stage of it, from Galvani’s original
observation through the discoveries of
the Swede Oersted and ofthe French-
man Ampere to those of our own Fara-
day and to the theoretical adumbrations
of Clerk Maxwell and to the researches
of Crookes on the passage of electricity
through vacuum tubés, we meet with
the investigation of phenomena which
were apparently perfectly useless, and
which to most practical men must at the
time they were made have appeared _ as
little more than scientific toys provided

Miscellaneous; 140.

by nature for the harmless amusement
of the queer people who meet in the
rooms of the Royal Society and such
like places where unpractical oddities
resort. And yet I ask you to reflect
upon the astounding results which have
arisen from Galvani’s observations made
to discover the cause of the twitching of
the frog’s legs, and to Faraday’s dis-
covery of induction, and to indulge your
imaginations in an endeavour to predict
what may issue for man from Crookes’s
investigations of the glow without heat
of the vacuum tubes,

But I have neither the knowledge nor
the time to dwell upon the physical side
of the science. As in private duty
bound, I must devote the short time at

my disposal to examples culled from the
biologieal sciences.

(To be continued.)

THE EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG
FARMER.

By AuLEmx. Horm,

General Manager, Government Experi-
mental Farm, Potchefstroom.
(From the Transvaal Agricultural Jour-
nal, Vol. VILI., No. 29, October, 1909.)

_. This question is one of the greatest
interest and moment at the present
time, when the agricultural industry of
the whole of this sub-continent is now
entering upon a newera, Much inform-
ation and advice have already been
given in the pages of this Journal, in
the Director of Agriculture’s reports,
and in the Press, in regard to the value
of agricultural education and the steps
He ue taken to make it an accomplished

act.

This short article is not intended to
cover such a field, but rather to discuss
the actual conditions which arise in
considering how a youth’s education
should be directed, if he intends to be-
come a farmer, and to give the lines
along which such an education should
proceed, The importance of giving
every facility to our future farmers for
obtaining an insight into, and a
thorough grasp of, the diverse problems
and methods of agriculture can hardly
be exaggerated ; the more so because
success or failure to an ever-increasing
extent depends upon the farmer’s ability
to compete with his brothers engaged
in similar pursuits in different parts of
the world, all disposing of their products
in acommon ‘clearance house.”

A word, also, in regard to territorial
conditions, In all new countries, and

al A Bi Ie oa ie nN et
[FEBRUARY,

here South African conditions apply,
there is the greater necessity for the
systematic training of the young farmer
because the problems are ever new and
there is little accumulated experience—
the natural inheritance of the son from
the father —such as one finds in countries
older agriculturally. Here, again, a
greater proportion of the future farmers
will be drawn froma class almost wholly
unconnected with farming pursuits, ex-
cepting in so far as they have become
owners of properties hitherto almost
entirely undeveloped. Such young men
do not, therefore, start with that know-
ledge of country, animal, and plant life
which a ‘son of the soil” almost un-
consciously imbibes during his boyhood.
The training of such youths, to be suc-
cessful farmers, requires much patience
and must be well directed, otherwise
the effort will result in many failures.

It may here be observed that this
question is being considered chiefly from
the standpoint of the youth who is to
become a tarmer of no small means, and
whose parent or guardian is in a position
to provide for the education and train-
ing referred to hereunder. According
as our agricultural educational system
becomes more established provision will
probably be made through scholarships
and bursaries for the education of a
limited number of ‘‘ bright ” youths who
are, for pecuniary reasons, otherwise
unable to receive such a training. For
the remainder—and unfortunately, those
constitute a large proportion of our
future farmers—arrangements will re-

quire to be made for imparting to them |

through special courses of instruction
a knowledge of such subjects as are
taught in other countries in ‘‘ winter
schools” and other short intermittent
courses.

This is not the place to discuss in
detail the elementary education of the
boy ; suffice it to say that it canbe too
thorough. The important points to be
kept in view in the education of the
future farmer is a sound knowledge of
the languages of everyday use, in order
that he may be able to properly express
his thoughts and convey his: requests
in writing, and further in order that he
may be able to grasp the views of
those from whom he may have much
to learn, Of no less importance is
arithmetic (including mensuration), and
with it the ability to mentally calculate
rapidly and correctly. It must be
remembered that nosmall part of his
affairs will be connected with holding

his own against astute business men,

For that reason, these remarks should

not be lightly set aside. Language and — >

1910 =
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“Fenrvary, 1910.)

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arithmetic should then be the bulwarks
of his elementary education. Obviously
it will, and should, go further. The
** modern” side, 7,é., the ‘* science” course,
as opposed to a classical curriculum,
will be found to be most serviceabe for
a boy whose future career is to be that
of afarmer. Acrucial stage in the lad’s
career is now arrived at. In the case of
a son of a farmer the programme is
simplified, but in the case of the town-
bred youth the procedure requires more
careful consideration. No hard and fast
rules can be laid down as applicable to
the several cases; much will depend

upon the _ particular circumstances,
family, and private considerations, the
length of character of the lad, and so
forth.

The requirements may be stated as
follows, in the order in which under
ordinary circumstances they should be
dealt with :—

After school.—

(1) Farm life ;
(2) Commercial training ;
3) Course at an agricultural school

r college;
(4) Further experience of farming.
(1) Farm Life.

In the case of a farmer’s son (1) and (4)
can be omitted, unless it is arranged that
the son takes upa style of farming not
represented on his father’s holding, in
which case some prectignl experience
should be acquired after leaving the
agricultural school or college. In the
other case, a “town-bred” lad who
desires to become a farmer should, im-
mediately after leaving school, spend six
to twelve months actively employed ona
goodfarm. This ‘period of grace” and
experience will probably assist the lad
in definitely determining whether he
really cares for a farmer’s pursuit. In
some cases it will be found that a change

of front has taken place, and that the .

lad finds that farming does not provide
the life of ease which he may have
anticipated. Such individuals are better
eliminated from the field at the outset
before time and money are spent on
a fruitless education. Through such
experience, though short, he will be in
a position to make better use of the
morning spent at an agricultural college
atalater date, Furthermore, his mind
will have begun to discern and to
appreciate the things which concern the
country life,

(2) Commercial Training.

The fact that farmers as a class are
not good “business” men cannot _be
disguised. The chief reason for this

141

Miscellan

deficiency may be found in the fact that
in but few cases have ‘‘ would-be”
farmers the opportunity of becoming
acquainted with business methods. The
matter can in a fair way be solved
by placing the lad for about a year
in a bank or suitable commercial house.
Such a training will cause him to_be-
come conversant with commercial phra-
seology, correspondence, and procedure,
and will teach him to be exact and
methodical. The commercial experience
can be under taken at the end ot the
full course of training. By placing it
at the beginning a change of opinion
onthe part of the lad is safeguarded
against.

(3) The Agricultural School or College.

Relatively, a training at such an in-
stitution is the most important in the
career indicated, A properly equipped
and staffed establishment of this des-
cription provides an education which
cannot be secured by any other means.
lt may be argued that many highly
successful farmers all over the world, and
particularly in the older countries, have
never received such a training. This
is quite true, but that is not sufficient
reason why it should be denied to the
farmer of the future._ These same suc-
cessful men would probably be the first
to admit that it would be greatly to
their advantage if they had obtained
such atraining. Year by year farming
is becoming more complicated and
specialised, and under rapidly changing
conditions systems have to be altered
from time to time, probably several
times during the life of an individual
farmer, in order to cope with changes
brought about by external conditions.
The man who starts equipped with a
wide and general knowledge of agri-
culture in its broadest sense is the one
who will be able, when circumstances
demand it, to fall into line and adapt
ae methods to suit the altered condi-
ions.

An agricultural college education is
the best means to accomplish this pur-
pose. Such a training,e.g., in agriculture,
stock-breeding and management, chemis-
try, biology, veterinary science, book-
keeping and surveying, and farm en-
gineering, building construction, car-
pentry, blacksmithy, dairying, poultry-
keeping, and horticulture, is in itself
a good general education. It quickens
the intellegence, broadens the mind,
and equips the farmer in such a way
that he thoroughly understands the
‘““why” and ‘“ wherefore” of his calling ;
and when occasion arises he is in the
position to make practical use of the
discoveries of science, and the results

Miscellaneous.

of experimentalists, to his pecuniary
advantage. No one is in a better posi-
tion to reap the greatest reward from a
course at an agricultural school than
the ‘‘son of the soil.” It cannot be
too strongly urged that farmers should
not regard their ‘‘ farmer son’s” edu-
cation as complete without acourse at
such an institition. The education of
_alawyer, of an engineer, of a physician,
has really only earnestly begun when
he has graduated; why, indeed, should
the brother who has determined to
“follow the plough” be deprived of
even the graduation course of an edu-
cation which in a similar way qualifies
him for his calling.

A full course such as has been describ-
ed usually covers a period of two to
four years. It may here be observed
that an institution attempting to teach
such subjects to the best advantage
should have attached to it a good farm,
thoroughly representative in its charac-
ter, and manage along sound up-to-date
and practical lines. Above all, an agri-
cultural atmosphere should permeate
the establishment, from the teachers
down to the students.

It will not be out of place to givea
warning to those responsible for the
control of such institutions. Not in-
frequently does it happen that they are
made use of by young men who have
no earnest purpose, and who are simply
‘“‘marking time,” by parents and guar-
dians who find such an institution a
convenient and inexpensive abode to
place their charges for a period until
“something turns up,” and by those
who are physically unfit and are recom-
mended toa country life to recuperate.
Such young men will defeat the purpose
of the institution, will lower its credit,
and will simply represent so much
waste effort.

(4.) Further Haperience.

The young farmer’s career has now
reached a stage when he is in a position
to put into practice that which he has
been taught, but certain experience has
yet to be obtained. He is now equipped
with a general knowledge of all branches
of agriculture. Probably by this time
the lad will show a preference for a
particular style of farming, e.g., stock-
farming (of one or more kinds), tillage,
fruit-growing, and so forth. As a
general rule he would be well advised, be-
forestarting on his own account to spend
two years with one or two good farmers,
farming under the system which he
intends to pursue. On such farms an
opportunity will be afforded of gaining a
knowledge of the value of buying and

-

selling of ordinary stock, marketing con-
ditions in general, and the management
of labour, Anagricultural college farm

cannot,as a rule, offer such facilities. .

The foregoing remarks, as already men-
tioned, apply in particular to the train-
ing of the ‘‘ town-bred” lad. The son of
a farmer can, as arule, obtain the neces-
sary experience on his father’s farm, and
by visits to the farms of his relations. It
will thus be seen that the curriculum
of an agricultural education will, for
the farmer’s son, cover a period of
three or four years, and for others at
least six or seven years. A little con-
sideration will show that it will be
completed quite soon enough for
respOnsibilities to be placed on young
shoulders.

Au idea, chiefly among those who have
no experience of farming, commonly
prevails, that one does not require to
be possessed of much ability in any
direction to succeed in farming.
Fortunately, the hard lessons of ‘‘ pay-
ing for experience” is fast changing this
opinion. Many ofthe failures one sees
on every hand are due to his miscon-
ception. A successful farmer requires
to bea ‘‘man of parts.” He must have
an extensive and intimate knowledge of
animal and plant life, and a specialised
knowledge of breed of stock, or tillage,
or both, as the case may be. He must
further be a good “‘business man,” a judge
of character, have the ability to manage
and organise labour, and be possessed
of the power of application. He must
also have acquired such an intimate
experience and skill in all the varied
operations of a farm, in order that,
though he may not be called upon to per-
form them in after life, he may be able
to instruct his employees how to carry
them out, and to know at a glance
when they are properly done and with
sufficient expedition. Such an experi-
ence can only be gained by the student
taking an active part in the several
Operations of the farm on which he is
trained. It cannot be acquired by bhe-
coming merely a ‘looker on, ‘‘as so
many unfortunately imgaine. It is
hoped that theseremarks will persuade
parents not to advise any dull or
indolent sons to become farmers.

It should be the ambition of the young

men who have had the opportunity and
have taken advantage of the course of
training herein described, to become the
“leaders” in their own particular dis-
trict or colony. One leads, others
follow. Thus progress, ever silent, but
none the less sure, makes headway.

These thouphis have been placed on
record in the hope that they may serve

Ee
tae
a, ~

142 ae [FmBRUARY, 1910

FEBRUARY, 1910.)

as a guide to the education and training
of the future farmers of South Africa.
By such means this land, so rich in
natural resources, will be assisted in
achieving and maintaining in ite proper
place among the agricultural and
pastoral countries of the world.

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL
DEPARTMENT.

(From the Report on the Work of the Im-
perial Institute, 1908, No. 601, July, 1009.)
The facilities offered by this Depart-
ment, which were fully described in the
Report for 1906-7, have been largely
utilised during 1908 for the conduct of
investigations and the supply of infor-
mation respecting the problems of tro-
pical agricultureand the utilisation of
raw materials, mineral and vegetable.

The number of investigations and en-
quiries requested by the Colonies and
India in 1908 was 375; the number of re-
ports completed was 393; and at the
close of the year 141 investigations were
in progress. The subjects which were
investigated and on which reports were
completed are referred toin the follow-
ing sections under the headings of the

various groups of commercial products ~

to which they related. The countries
represented were:—Cyprus, — Malta,
Egypt, Sudan, Somaliland, Uganda,
British Hast Africa, Zanzibar, Nyasa-
land, Rhodesia, Natal, Transvaal, Cape
Colony, Gambia, Sierra Leone,Gold Coast,
Southern Nigeria, Northern Nigeria, St.
Helena, Mauritius, Seychelles, India,
Ceylon, Straits Settlements, Federated
Malay States, Johore, Fiji, Australia,
Falkland Islands, West Indies, British

Guiana, British Honduras, Bermuda,
Newfoundland, Canada, Portuguese
East Africa, Madagascar, Norway,

Turkey, Greece, Brazil, Mexico, China,
Japan, French Dahomey, and Liberia.

Brief allusion may be made here to
some of the more important work of
this Department during the year.

A very large number of samples of
cotton, representing, as a rule, either
native cotton or cotton experimentally
grown in British Possessions, have been
examined and reported on, and several
important questions relating to the cul-
tivation and growth of cotton have been
dealt with. In connection with the ad-
vances which have been made in the
tropical Colonies in the successful growth
of cotton, itis becoming more and more
apparent that in many cases the best
results are being obtained by the im-
provement of native cottons, or cotton

145

Miscellaneous.

already established in the country,
rather than in the attempts to Seiave
lish exotic plants. The probability that
this would prove to be the case was
emphasised in several publications which
have been issued by the Imperial Insti-
tute (see especially Professor Dunstan’s
Report on Cotton Cultivation in the
British Empire and in Hegypt (1904);
Hand Book to the Cotton Exhibition,
Imperial Institute (1905) ; British Cotton
Cultivation (1908). It is very desirable
that systematic work on this subject,
including _ hybridisation experiments,
should be steadily continued in con-
nection with the Agricultural Depart-
ments which have now been established
by Government in nearly all the tropical
Colonies and Protectorates.

The maintenance of a reference col-
lection at the Imperial Institute of
standard cottons and of cotton pro-
duced in every British Possession haye
proved of much practical value. It has
been largely consulted by those con-
eerned with cotton cultivation and with
the cotton industry in this country.

At the instance of the Colonial Office,
the Director visited the cotton districts
of Asia Minor in 1907, and his report
on the growth of cotton in that country
and its possibilities was published as a
Parliamentary Paper (Cd. 4824, 1908).

Much attention has also been given
to fibres other than cotton, and a very
large number of samples have been ex-
amined and reported on. Cultivation
experiments have been conducted in
several Colonies in communication‘ with
the Institute, with a view to the pro-
duction of fibres suitable for cordage
and_ as substitutes for jute, especially
in West and Kast Africa. In this sub-
ject the Imperial Institute has had the
advantage of the co-operation of the
principal users of these materials in this
country.

Allusion may be made to the experi-
ments now in progress in Sierra Leone
and in other parts of West Africa with
a view to the growth of species of Hi-
biscus and other fibres of value as sub-
stitutes for jute, and to the attempt
which is being made to establish an in-
dustry for the growth of New Zealand
hemp in St. Helena. In consequence of
the continuous demand for information
both in this country and in the Colonies
respecting the work of the Imperial
Institute on commercial fibres, the
principal reports which have been
made since the issueof the volume of
‘*Technical Reports” in 1903 are now
being collected and prepared for publi-
cation,

Miscetlaneous,

Attention may also be drawn toan
interesting investigation which was
commenced during the year with a view
to determining the commercial possi-
bilities of the “wild silk” produced by
species of Anaphe in West and Hast
Africa. In this connection the Institute
had the advantage of the great know-
ledge of the late Sir Thomas Wardle, by

whose death the Institute has lost a-

valuable referee on all matters connected
with silk.

Another subject of much importance
to several Colonies is the production of
tobacco, and this has received con-
siderable attention during the year with
the help of the principal tobacco manu-
facturers in this country. The examin-
ation at the Imperial Institute of native,
and experimentally grown tobacco
having indicated the probability of the
success of tobacco cultivation in several
districts of West and Hast Africa, the
Government approved the recommend-
ation of the Director that a tobacco
expert should be appointed in order to
conduct systematic experiments and
afford advice in tobacco cultivation and
curingin Uganda and East Africa. In
both these countries, and especially in
the former the prospects of a tobacco
industry are very favourable. Mention
may also be made of the success which
has attended the growth of tobacco of
American and of Turkish typein Rho-
desia, and tothe satisfactory indication
which have been obtained as to_ the pos-
sibility of successful tobacco cultivation

in Northern and Southern Nigeria and -

in Siérra Leone.

The. improvement of the native
methods ot obtaining and preparing
“wild” rubber in West Africa has
been specially studied, and the question
as tothe steps which should be taken
to secure the adoption of improved
methods is under consideration.
better methods were adopted the com-
mercial value of West African rubber
would be more than doubled.

One of the principal and most remu-
nerative industries in the coastal
‘regions of West Africa is the produc-
tion of palm oil, which has long heen
conducted by the natives, who still
employ primitive and wasteful methods.
In view of the great demand in Hurope
for this product, and the probability
that important uses can be found for
itif prepared in a _ better manner, an
investigation has been commenced at
the Imperial Institute in cvu-operation
with the Agricultural Departments of
the Colonies concerned with a view
to the improvement of this industry.

The quantity and quality of the oil

[FRBRUARY,

furnished by the fruits and kernels of
the serveral varieties of oil palm which
occur in West Africa will be determined,
and steps will be taken to devise, if
possible, a suitable method for the
bethee preparation of the oil from the
ruits.

In consequence of representations
made to the Imperial Iustitute by
manufacturing firms in this country and
abroad as to the increasing demand
for vegetable oils and fats suitable for
the manufncture of butter substitutes,
a large number of new and little kuown
oil seeds have been investigated and
afterwards submitted to technical
trials by manufacturers. An investiga-
tion is being conducted for the Govern-
ment of India in connection with the |
utilisation of Indian cotton seed oil for
similar purposes, A special article sum-
marising the commercial possibilities
of a number of new and little-known
oil seeds has been printed in the ‘‘ Bul-
letin of the Imperial Institute,” Vol VL.,
(1908), No. 4, pp. 358-380.

The Inspector of Agriculture for
British West Africa (Mr. G. C. Dudgeon)
has rendered valuable service to the
Institute in collecting special inform-
ation and materials for investigation,
and also in directing local enquiries and
experimental work in the several West
African Colonies. The value of the -
work of this officer will be greatly a
enhanced when the Agricultural Depart- 3
ments now in process of organisation
are in operation, since these depart-
ments will provide the means for syste-
matic and continuous experimental work
in agriculture which is necessary for the
successful development of these Colonies.

The economic resources of the Sey-
chelles have continued to receive con-
siderable attention, especially in connec-
tion with the vanilla industry, the
production of essential oils, and the
utilisation of canning materials. A sum- 3
mary of the more important investi-
gations conducted for the Seychelles
has been printed in the ‘ Bulletin of the
Imperial Institute,” Vol. VI (1908), No. 2,
pp. 107-126.

In the subject of minerals much im-
portant work has been accomplished
during the year, especially through the
examination and commercial valuation
of the minerals collected during the
mineral surveys which are being con-
ducted in several Colonies in co-oper-
ation with the Imperial Institute. In —
addition to the investigations for the
surveys in Ceylon, Northern Nigeria, ro
Southern Nigeria, and Nyasaland, which
have been in progress for some years, —

ee

modern methods

: “FEBRUARY, 1910. | re

~ and have been the means of indicating

the commercial possibilities of a number
of minerals, preliminary surveys were
in progress during the year in Uganda
and in British Hast Africa, and these
have already afforded evidence that
these countries contain deposits which
deserve full investigation. The results
which have followed from the operations
of these surveys clearly demonstrate
the advantage of such work being con-
ducted by Government on these lines,
by which systematic search for minerals
is made in the Colonies, and material
collected for research work at the
Imperial Institute in the communication
With technical experts and manufac-
turers. In Ceylon, wherestriking results
of commercial importance have already
been secured, it is clear that much still
remains to be done in following up indi-
cations obtained of the existence of
valuable minerals, and in the technical
development of certain deposits by
which have hitherto
not been adopted.

In Southern Nigeria attention has been
chiefly directed to the occurrence of
lignite and its possibilities as a fuel.
The mineral surveyors have made a
thorough exploration of the deposits
and the value of the material and the
best modes of utilising it are being very
fully investigated at the Imperial
Institute. In view of the observations
which have been made so far, it seems
not improbable that the lignite deposits
of Southern Nigeria may prove a valu-
able asset not merely for the Colony,

‘but as a source of fuel for the whole of

West Africa. A series of clays from
Southern Nigeria has also been fully

‘examined to ascertain their value tor

the local manufacture of pottery by the
natives. Z

In Northern Nigeria the mineral
surveyors have, in addition to other
work, located and explored new or
little-known deposits of tinstone, which
proved on examination at the Imperial
Institute to be of excellent quality.
There can now be little doubt that tin
mining will become in the future one of
the principal industries of this country.

In Nyasaland the location of deposits
of excellent coal and also of graphite are
among the more important results of
the work of the mineral survey. One
of the deposits of graphite is now being
opened cut by a firm of manufacturers
with the advice of the Imperial Institute,

A detailed examination and a series of
technical trials have been made of a
large series of clays specially collected

19

145

Miscellaneous.

in India with a view to ascertaining
their value for the local manufacture of
pottery:

A most interesting series of specimens
of tin ores were received for examination
from the Federated Malay States, in
which the tinstone was deposited in
limestone ; the latter proved sufficiently
phosphatic to be of value as an arti-
ficial manure.

Reports on the results of the mineral
surveys in Northern Nigeria and in
Nyasaland have been issued as Parlia-
mentary Papers during the year.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF A VISIT:

TO CEYLON, SINGAPORE, AND FEDERATED
MALAY STATES IN RELATION
TO THE FRUIT TRADE.

By Mr. A. H. BENSON.

(Krom the Annual Report of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture and Stock, Bris-
bane, Queensland.)

Having received instructions to break
my return journey to Brisbane and
proceed to Singapore to enquire into
the pineapple canning industry, I left
England on 16th October, and _ pro-
ceeded to Colombo, where I arrived
on 9th November and remained to
12th November, when I continued my
journey to Singapore, which was reached
on 18th November. The primary object
of my visit was to obtain full particulars
respecting the pineapple canning in-
dustry ; and to obtain this information
I visited all the canneries that were
working at the time of my visit, as. well
as allthe most important of the pine-
apple plantations in the Island of
Singapore.

The result of my enquiries have been
submitted to youin two reports, one
dealing with the matter from a general
standpoint, and the other more of a
private nature, in that it dealt with
matters of interest only to the trade.
A copy of this latter report has been
sent to all who are engaged in this
industry, and the information I was
able to give has been appreciated,

Although the main object of my visit
was to find out all I could about the
pineapple industry, | missed no oppor-
tunity of acquiring information respect-
ing the growing of tropical crops, and it
is with such of these crops as may he
suitable for growing in the more tropical
parts of the State that I purpose dealing
in this report,

Miscellaneous.

In the first place the climate of Singa-
pore is a remarkably equable one, the
temperature durirg the time of my visit
ranging from 80 degrees to 84 degrees
F. day and night. Rain falls at frequent
intervals, usually in the afternoon,
and the atmosphere is saturated with
moisture, The consequence is that,
although the soil is by no means rich,
vegetation of all kinds is extremely
vigorous, and many tropical products
are grown to perfection. The Island of
Singapore has a population of some
280,000, the bulk of whom live very
largely on fruits, vegetables, and fish.
There are several fine markets that are
kept remarkably clean, where all kinds
of fruits (both fresh and preserved),
vegetables (fresh and dried), fish (fresh
and dried), butcher’s meat, poultry, &c.,
are sold. Of fruits there are many
unknown or only little known, to this
State, as well as many with which we
are acquainted. Of the former, the
commonest in its season is the Durian
(Durio zibethinus), a fruit that is greatly
appreciated by the natives and some
Europeans, but has the great drawback
of possessing the most disgusting odour ;
an odour that must be overcome before
one can appreciate the excellence of the
fruit. The fruit weighs from 5 to7 lb.,
has a hard skin and is covered with long,
hard, sharp prickles, The flesh is of the
eonsistency of sour cream, and, when
one can overcome the smell, is palatable,
though it is not a fruit that I hanker
after. It will grow in Ceylonup to an
elevation of 1,500 ft. above sea-level, and
it is,therefore, probable that it could be
grown successfully on the Daintree,
Bailey’s Creek, or Bloomfield districts.

THe JAcK Fruit (Artocarpus inte-
grifolia) is grown extensively, and_ is
consumed in large quantities by the
coloured population. Itis usually sold
in an unripe condition, and is used for
cooking rather than for eating raw.
There are two types of the fruit, known
locally as Nangka and Chumpada. The
former is similar to the Jack Fruit
grown here, but the latter is shaped
more like a vegetable marrow, and is
considered the better variety.

THE MANGOSTEEN (Garcinia Mangos-
tana) is athome here, and is one of the
commonest fruit trees. Its fruit is very
highly flavoured and very refreshing,
but unfortunately the area in which it
can be successfully grown is very limited,
and attempts to introduce it into Queens-
land have not been successful.

THE SAPODILLA PLUM (Achras Sapota),
the Sheko or Chikus of the Malay, is a
fruit that should do well with us. It
is a fine flavoured fruit, when fully ripe,

146

somewhat resembling a good pear. It

is a curious looking fruit, in fact it is
more like a potato than a fruit.

THE RAMBUTAN (Nephelium lappa-
ceum) and the Pulasan are two fruits of
the Litchi family that should thrive on
the coast to the north of Cairns. The
Rambutan bears clusters of bright red
round fruit, covered with soft spines,
and the edible portion isthe white aril
surrounding the seed, There is cer-
tainly not much that can beeaten, but
the flavour of what there is is extremely
good.

KuGenia Spp.—The fruits of several
species of Kugenia, including the Wax
Jamba, the pear-shaped Jamba or Malay
apple, the Rose apple and Brazilian
cherry arecommon. The term Jamba
is applied by the natives to both
Eugenias and Psidiums (Quaras). In
addition to this there are a number of
fruits that are well known to most
Queenslanders, such as the coconut,
betel nut, flaucostia, vi apple, bananas
of many kinds, pineapples of several
kinds, bael fruit, papaws of several
types, pomilos, wampu, arerchoa, anona,
tamarind, alligator pear, monstera-
granadilla, &c.

The coconut is largely used both in
its ripe and unripe state, coconut oil,
é&e.,andis grown in enormous quanti-
ties. The nuts vary very much in size,
and there are several types of trees. I
have already submitted a report on
coconut-growing, as lam of the opinion
thata large area of north-eastern tro-
pical seaboard is well adapted for the
growthof this plam.

Of bananas there are many species
(some 70), some of which are used ripe
as fruit, but many are used solely for
cooking. We have as good eating sorts
here asinthe East, as their best fruits
are of the sugar and lady’s finger types.

Of pineapples, practically only one
variety, a smooth-leaf, is grown. Itis
a distinct variety to the smooth-leaf
Cayenne grown here, and is decidedly
inferior toitin flavour. Itisa very solid
pine, and cases well, but when canned is
lacking in flavour. In my report on
pineapple canning I have already gone
carefully into the question of varieties
and the methods of culture employed, so
there is no need for me to repeat what I
have already written.

Papaws are good,
known as ‘‘Madagascar” in Ceylon
being the best. This is practically the
same fruitas the ‘‘Couley” papaw otf
Queensland,

[FEBRUARY, 1910. on

the long type, —

dollars

Faervuary, 1910,]

Of the miscellaneous fruit there is
nothing special to report, as they are
practically the same as those grown
here,

As previously stated, fruit and veget-
ables form a large part of the staple
food of all classes, and, this being so, I
am of the opinion that thereis a good
market for these fruits, which we can
grow, but which cannot be grown in
equatorial countries. When at Singa-
pore I noted lurge numbers of oranges,
mandarins and persimmons on _ the
market. These were not local produc-
tions, but were imported from China,
There is a good demand for citrus fruit,
as shown by the fact that during the
last quarter of 1907 and the first quarter
of 1908, no less than 241,509 dollars worth
of fruit was imported from China, the
bulk of which was citrus. During the
second and third quarters of 1908, the
off-season for citrus fruits in China, but
the season for our fruits, only 37,044
worth ot fruit was imported
from China. From these figures it will
be seen that there is a large market for
our oranges and mandarins in Singapore
from April to September. There is no
cold season, and citrus fruits meet with
a ready sale at all times,

Iam also ofthe opinion that we can
obtain a good market for good apples,
and prime fieshed peaches and plums
from the Stanthorpe district. We
should have no difficulty in landing our
fruit in good condition, provided that
extra care is taken in packing, and that
suitable cases are used, as cold storage
is available on the steamers that trade
direct from Brisbane to Singapore.

In addition to fruits, there is a good
market for first-class vegetables of
European varieties. There areary quan-
tities of vegetables grown locally by
the Chinese, but they are unable to
produce a good onion, cabbage, or potato,
and these vegetables would meet with
a good sale at any time.

There are many kinds ot locally-grown
vegetables, some of which should be
grown here to a much larger extent
than they are, viz., the different kinds
of Brinjals or egg fruits, the Jady’s
finger, or landacoy, a species of Okra,
both of which are excellent both in
curries and as vegetables.

EconoMic PRopucts.

Rubber is the one product talked
about throughout the Malay Peninsula,
and it is estimated that on Ist January,
1907, some 10,000,000 trees had been
pene and since then the number has

een considerably increased, and it is

147 Miscellaneous.

thought that an area of not less than
100,000 acres will shortly be under crop.

The variety planted is almost ex-
clusively Para, the seeds of all the fruit
plantings being obtained from the old
trees growing at the Singapore Botanic
Gardens. The oldest trees were obtained
from Kew in 1879, and the largest tree
is now ft. in diameter, 4 ft. from the
ground. The bulk of the plantation
was, however, set out in 1884, and these
trees yield an average of 6 lb. of rubber
per tree.

They were planted very irregularly,
some trees being not more than 4 ft.
apart, whilst others are 12 ft. or more
apart. There is still a difference of opi-
nion as to the right distance apart at
which to plant, but from 15 to 16 ft.
seems to be the most general.

Rubber is by no means a cheap crop
to grow, as it is estimated that by
the time a plantation comes into bear-
ing, the cost of the land, preparation,
planting, and maintenance amounts to
about £20 to £25 per acre, so that con-
siderable capital is required to go in for
a large area, The land must be kept
clean round the young trees, for the
first few years, and where lalang (blady
grass) is present, this isa serious item
in the cost of establishing a plantation.
The trees are tapped at from 5 to 6
years of age, the herring-bone system
being commonly employed.

In addition to Para several other rub-
ber-producing trees are grown to a
small extent, including Rambong (Ficus
elastica) ; Funtumia elastica, much like
Para, but a slower growth; Manihot
glaziovit, said to be hard to tap; Castilloa
elastica, subject to injury by borers,
and avery irregular grower; but the
one variety grown in quantity is Para.

TapPioca.—Manihot utilitissima, Cas-
sava, is grown in large quantities in
the Federated Malay States. Itis found
to exhaust the soil very quickly, seldom
more than two crops being taken off
the same land. It thrives best in a free
soil, On nv account must it be grown
between young rubber trees.

CITRONELLA.—Thanks to the courtesy
of Mr. D.R. Conan, of the Persever-
ance Estate, Singapore, I was able to
make an inspection of a Citronella
plantation and factory for extracting
the oil.

Citronella is obtained from a strong:
growing grass, a species of Andropogon.
The method employed for its culture is
as follows:—The land, a damp sandy
loam, with water 2 to 8 ft. from the
surface, is first well worked to get inte
a fine tilth, and to get rid of weeds and

Miscellaneots.

blady grass. Itis then planted, the
method of planting being to set three
small plants (obtained by breaking up
an old stool) about 8in. apart in trian-
gle form, such hills or clumps of
young plants being about 2 ft. 6 in.
apart each way. The cultivation subse-
quent to planting is all done with a
hoe, and is simply to keep down weeds,
At six months of age the crop is harvest-
ed, subsequent cuttings being made at
intervals of four months. The grass is
cut by hand with a hook, and when
cut is gathered into a bunch and placed
on the top of a stool to wilt for three
or four days, when it is carted to the
factory and the oil extracted from it
by distillation. After the extraction of
the oil, the grass is readily eaten by
stock. But they will not touch it in the
green state. The grass is a shallow
rooter, and as it grows forms quite a
stool on the surface of the ground.
When manuring is necessary, the
manure—cow or horse—is placed on the
top of the centre of the stool in a
similar manner to what is known as
contre manuring of pineapples in Queens-
and.

The crop is not a difficult one to grow,
and is one that is worth trying in the
North, as there is a good demand for
the oil.

In addition to Citronella, there wasa
little lemon grass, Andropogon Schoenan-
thus. This is grown and treated in a
similar manner, but is distilled separ-
ately, as the oils are quite distinct and
of ditterent values.

An important industry in Malayia,
Sumatra, and Java is the manufacture
of Kutch, a tanning material obtained
from the bark of a species of mangrove
locally known as Tingal tree (Ceriops
candolleana). It is an excellent tanning
material, and is probably identical with
the Kutch of Java and Sumatra.

Whilst in the Malay ‘Peninsula I ob-
tained considerable information and
assistance from several gentlemen, in-
cluding Mr. Alex. Gunn, Seeretary of the
Chaniber of Commerce, Singapore; Mr.
T. W. Main, of the Botanic Gardens,
Singapore; Mr. Fox, of the Botanic
Gardens, Penang, and several other
public officials. I left Penang on the 5th
December, and returned to Colombo,
where I a1rived on 10th December, and
proceeded to Kandy. Whilst at Kandy
I paid two visits to the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Peradeniya, and was shown
round the gardens and experiment plots
by Mr. R. H. Lock, the Assistant Direc-
tor. The gardens and experiment
station embrace some 700 acres, so that
there is ample scope for carrying out

148

experiment work on a commercial scale.

he gardens are very fine, and contain
a good assortment of economie and
ornamental plants and trees, including
a great collection of tropical fruits.
The part, however, that interested me
most was the experiment work, which
included cultural and manurial experi-
ments with various crops, testing of
new varieties of economic plants, treat-
ment of plant diseases, &e.

Cocoa is grown extensively, and some
very interesting experiments were in
progress at the time of my visit. These
experiments consisted, in the first place,
of manuring with various commercial
fertilisers, as the soil, which is a poor
sandy loam, is found by analysis to be
deficient in humus and all essential plant
foods. The results of the experiments
up tothe date of my visit were some-
what contusing, and nd definite results
had been obtained. The yield varied
from 3,000 to 10,000 pods per acre in the
different plots, but this is not considered
good, as it takes 2,000 pods to produce
one ewt. of dry beans, and a good crop
should give at least half a ton to the acre.
A really good crop should average 100
pods to the tree, and with 225 trees to
the acre this gives 22,500 pods, but this
result can only be obtained by careful
cultivation and the right shading.

The shading of cocoa trees is a very
important matter, as if the shading is
too dense the trees are attacked by
fungus, and if it is too sparse the pods
are seriously injured by a sucking bug.

The trees are usually planted 15 ft. by
15 ft., and are shaded by Dadap trees
(ELrythrina indica), which are pruned
when necessary; and the prunings
allowed to lie on the ground and rot for
manure, as the Dadap is a nitrogen
gatherer, and acts in a similar manner
to the leguminous plants that we grow
for green manuring.

Proper pruning and shading have
produced more beneficial results than
manuring, and forking the ground has
proved detrimental, purely _ surface
working having the best effect. In
future experiments the ground will be
thoroughly prepared prior to planting,
and itis probable that manuring under
these conditions will have a marked
effect. From what I saw of cocoa culti-
vation here and in the Kandy district

generally, [ am of opinion that cocoa can ©

be grown successfully in the Daintree,
Bailey’s Creek, and Bloomfield districts.
Care will have to be taken to obtain the

best kind of cocoa, as there are several —_
varieties that vary considerably in the

growth of the tree, productiveness, and

[FEBRUARY, 1910.

*

. a

FeBrvary, 1910.) _

quality, and if its cultivation is to bea
suczess here we will have to grow the
variety that suits our local conditions
best. Hem

Rubber is also being largely experi-
mented with, and the following varieties
are being tested : —

Para.—So far this is proving most
satisfactory, and many millions of trees
of this variety are being planted through-
out the island.

Funtumia elastica: West African
rubber, is not doing too well, the plants
being liable to the attack of a leaf-eating
insect which completely defoliates them,
and in some eases kills the tree outright.

Castilloa is doing well as far as growth
is concerned, but is found hard to tap.

A new species of rubber, known as
Manicobar (Manihot dichotoma), a native
of Brazil, is showing considerable pro-
mise. Itis said to stand dry weather
better than Para, and on the poor land
on which it was growing it was making
good progress. The oldest plants at the
nursery were only eighteen months old,
but were already 10 ft. high, and had set
a small crop of seed. A young plantation
of this variety has been set out 12 ft. by
12 ft. and 12 ft. by 6 ft. This is a variety
of rubber that should be tested in this
State, as if it proves to be able to stand
dry weather better than Para, it will be
a more suitable variety to grow.

TRA, one of the staple industries of
Ceylon, receives considerable attention,
and many experiments are being con-
ducted in manuring and pruning, The
most satistactory manure is to green
manure with a species of Crotalaria.
Lemon grass, citronella grass (two
species), cocaine, croton oil, tobaceo, and
many other tropical plants are being
tested and experimented with on com-
mercial lines; in brief, the work that is
being carried out at Peradeniya is some
of the most important and interesting
that Isaw; and the results obtained by
the experiments that are carried out
there will be of considerable value to us.

Most of the fruits that are grown in
the Federated Malay States are grown
in Oeylon; bananas, coconuts, and
‘papaws being very plentiful. Rice is
the staple food crop of the natives, and
is grown from the flat swampy country
near the coast to hillsides at a consider:
able elevation. The hillside cultivation
is simply marvellous, as the whole face
of the hill is terraced, the terraces, often
only atew feetin width, following the
contour lives of the hill, The whole is

149

Miscellaneous.

irrigated, the water entering at the top

and passing from terrace to terrace till

the whole hillside is flooded, a feat in
irrigation engineering that it would be
hard to beatin any part of the world.
I thought I had seen a little irrigation
in California and other parts, but I have
to admit that the Sinhalese coolie
cultivators opened my eyes by the
manner in which they irrigated a steep
hillside from top to bottom.

Ceylon produces a few citrus fruits,
but they are of inferior quality, and I
think it possible that a small market for
really first-class fruit could be obtained.
However, we arein a bad position with
regard to Ceylon, as to get there our
fruit has to go all round the Southern
coasts of Australia, whereas we can ship
practically direct to Singapore, so that
l consider that the latter is the best
market for us to go for.

Lleft Ceylon on 2lst December and
reached Brisbane on 14th January of
this year.

GREEN DRESSINGS AND THEIR
APPLICATION,

Il. THe EFFcCT ON THE SOIL.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIL,
No, 190, p. 241, August, 1909.)

In cases where the plants which are
intended to provide green dressings are
to be turned into the soil ou which they
are raised, as is the common practice,
the first effect which has tu be considered
is that arising from the circumstance
that they have been grown on that soil.

Under favourable conditions, the burial
of plants of any kind will add humus to
the soil, thus improving the tilth, with
the well-known additional benefit, in
the ease of legumes, of the increase of its
nitrogenous content. There are in-
stances, however, where the special
circumstances surrounding the raising
of the crop prevent the acquisition of
these benefits. In a light, open soil
having a small water-holding capacity
and liable to suffer from drought, the
lowering of the water-content may act
so disastrously on the succeeding crop as
to make itimpossible for it to attaina
condition in which it may benefit by the
presence of the additional plant food
which has been provided for it. ‘hen,
too, repeated raising and ploughing-in
of green manures on the same soil,
ag the sole attempt to keep it in
condition, will lead to the temporary

)

Miscellaneous. ; 150

exhaustion of its mineral constituents,
as will be explained later, Thus must
the general history of a soil be con-
sidered first, when the question of
the application of green dvessings is
under debate and, in the event of a
favourable conclusion being arrived at,
what follows here is then, and only
then, a matter that can have relation to
that particular soil.

Turning, now, to the effects of the
buried plants on the soil, the subject
may be viewed conveniently from the
aspect of the uses of such plants when
they are applied in this way. These
uses may be grouped under two heads:
that of the prevention of the loss of
plant-food already present, and that of
the provision of additional plant food.

In the first connexion, it may be
remarked that the very important effect
of green dressings in preventing the loss
of useful soil constituents is very often
given much less recognition than it
deserves. It is well-known that nitrates,
owing to their solubility, are very likely
to be lostin drainage water, and that
the prevention of such loss is a matter
of supreme importance to agriculturists.
Green manures are especially efficacious
in this direction, for they take up those
bodies and form stable combinations
with them, which are subsequently
rendered available by bacteria in the
ordinary way. A similar action takes
place in regard to other food-consti-
tuents, such as phosphoric acid, potash
and lime; not, however, because, like
nitrates, they are liable to be lost in the
wash-water, but because the green dress-
ing unites with them in such a way as to
rehder them more directly available.
These maintenance effects follow the
use of any kind of green dressing, but
they are augmented, in the case of legu-
minous plants, by the fact that the
presence of the latter helps to lessen the
number of those organisms which cause
soils to lose nitrogen,

The second use of the practice which is
under consideration, that of the pro-
vision of plant food in addition to what
is already existent in the soil, is one
which, so faras has been satisfactorily
demonstrated up to the present, solely
connected to the ability of leguminous
crops toadd nitrogen to the soil. Itis
not the purpose of this article to deal
with this aspect of the subject ; if further
information is required, attention is
directed to the recent one on Soil
Inoculation, Agricultural News, Vol.
VIIL, No. 184, of May 15, 1909, to which
reference has already been made. It

[FEBRUARY,

draw attention, at this stage, to the
influence of former leguminous crops on
the later ones. The fact that a soil has
already had the benefit ef nodule nitri-
fication hastens succeeding efforts in
this direction, for the reason that such a
soil already contains an amount of
nitrcgen sufficient to stimulate plant-
growth, and because the fact that
nodule bacteria have already been raised
in it hastens the infection of the later
legumes with those useful organisms.

The kind of soil to which green dress-
ings are applied must, naturally, be an
important factor in regard to the results
ou such application. The action in light,
open soils must be very different from
the one which will take place in those
which are heavy. Their effectiveness
is generally far greater in the former
ease than in the latter. The lack of
plant food in sandy soils, their openness,
their small capacity for holding water,
and their lack of humus all contribute
to the great change for the good which
often follows the application of plant-
material. There is certainly the fear
that, in well-watered soils of this
kind, acidity may result from the
practice; but this tendency may be
controlled by judicious action in the
matter and by the use of lime asa
corrective. It is quite another matter
in the case of heavy soils. These do not
require applications of green dressings
as oftenas they are demanded by the
lighter ones. They hold water well, the
activity of the bacteria which cause
decay is smaller, they retain nitrates
to a much greater degree, and, under
good conditions of drainage are much
less likely to suffer a loss of nitrogen
from the action of bacteria. None the
less, such applications are eminently
desirable from time to time; because
they have the effect of quickly freeing
otherwise slowly accessible stores of
potash and phosphoric acid, and because
of their improvements of the condition
of the soil.

Sufficient has already been said to
indicate that care must be exercised in
the use ot green dressings. Damage to
the soil will obviously cause harm to
the plants which such dressings were
intended ultimately to benefit. By
what criteria shall we chiefly judge in
particular instances, whether benefit or
harm willaccrue? The answer is, as
has been stated differently already:
By those in which the first consideration
is given to the conditions regulating the
bacterial life, both in the buried plants
and in the soil.

Sh +, oe
1910,

will not be out of place, however, to-

pin yak

‘without the application of

YS Sew TAMA 6a igesm “lrg Se SAD) 8 aI Na a, eed nh Sia Ge
Ay Sg set a)

FEBRUARY, 1910.) ~

POTASH—A MANURE FOR
ORCHARDS, VINEYARDS, AND
GARDENS.

By ALBERT H. BENSON, M.R.A.C.
(From the Queensland Agricultural
Journal, Vol. XXIII., Pt. 3,
September, 1909.)

The value of potash as a manure for
orchards, vineyards and gardens is only
now beginning to be recognised by our
Queensland growers. It has been used
in small quantities, generally in the
form of a mixed fertiliser, for some
years; butitis only recently that itis
being used systematically.

The reason for this I will deal with
latex on, as, in the first place, I wish to
show the important part that potash
plays in the growing of fruits and vege-
tables. If one makes a careful study of
the analyses of the ash of the principal
commercial fruits and vegetables, one
eannot fail to be impressed with the
important fact, that potash forms a
very large percentage of the ash; in
fact, so much so, that it may be said to
be the dominant ingredient of the ash.
Potash is usually present in the largest
proportions in the ash of fruits, roots,
and pulses, but it is present also in
large quantities in the ash of wood,

leaves, and roots of fruit trees and vines, .

and in the roots and foliage of vegetables.

In the case of the ash of fruits, the
average potash contents for all commer-

cial fruits amount to nearly 50 per cent.

of the total weight of the ash. Some
fruits, notably stone fruits, run con-
siderably higher, in some cases’ the
potash amounting to 70 per cent. of the
total ash.

This being the case, it seems at first
sight an extraordinary fact, that so far
we have used sucha small quantity of
potash as a manure; especially when
we take into consideration the fact, that
many of our soils are by no means rich
in this essential plant food, particularly
so in a readily available torm.

How is it then, one may ask, that we
have been able to grow such good crops
of fruits and vegetables for years past
potash
manure; and why is it now necessary
to apply such manures in order to keep
up the yield of fruitor vegetables? The
auswer to those questions is, that the
bulk of the land on which we are grow-
ing fruit -is virgin land, and that this
land has, up till the present, shown little
signs of deficiency in available potash.
In other words the available potash in
new land, particularly when there has

ot i, Miscellaneous.

$b.

been a heavy growth of torest or serub
timber burnt off, has been sufficient to
produce good returns, in some cases for
several years, and it is only now that
this available supply is becoming ex-
hausted by the heavy crops of fruits
or vegetables that have been taken off
the land that we are beginning to find
out the value of potash as a manure.

There is one very noticeable feature in
manuring with potash, and that is, it
is only when the supply of available
potash in the soil is exhausted or
seriously depleted that we see the bene-
ficial effect of manuring with potash.
This accounts for those cases when it
has been found that the application of
potash has had apparently no effect,
as where there is a sufficiency of avail-
able potashin the soil for the proper
development of the crop, the addition
of an extra supply of potash has had
no effect. In these cases the grower
has been disappointed, and has even
gone so far as to say that potash is
no good as a manure. The fault has
not been with the manure, but that
the soil was already sufficiently rich
in this plant food. The question now
arises, how is the grower to tell when
his land requires potash? This can
only be answered by an analysis of the
soil, or, better still, by a little experi-
menting on the part of the grower. A
few pounds of sulphate of potash applied
toarow of English or sweet potatoes,
or to a patch of tomatoes, will soon show
the grower if his land wants potash, as,
if in want of this plant food, the results
of the manure will be very evident.

The total amount of potash contained
ina soil, as shown by analysis, is often
very misleading, as it is only that
portion which is soluble or readily avail-
able that can be utilised by the plant.
The bulk of the potash in the soil isin
an insoluble form that only becomes
slowly available. This is clearly shown
in the case of the soils in the Stanthorpe
district. Here the bulk of the soils are
formed by the disintegration of the
granite rocks for countless years. The
granite is rich in felspar that contains
from 7 to 8 per cent. of potash, yet
once the available potash in the soil
is depleted, the addition of a potash
manure to the soil has a very marked
effect in the production of potatoes,
tomatoes, carrots, pulses, and of all
fruits.

Another instance of the necessity of
having a sufficiency of available potash
in the soil, is clearly shown by the
analyses of some banana soils from the
Liverpool Creek district, North Queens-
land. Twosoils were selected, one on

Miscellaneous. ~ 152

which bananas had been grown for
some six years and then abandoned, and
the other virgin soil about to be planted
in bananas. The two soils were for all
practical purposes identical, and a
complete analysis showed very little
difference between them in the total
amount of potash; but a second analysis,
to determine the available potash, show-
ed that the virgin soil contained five
times as much as the land on which
bananas had been grown and given up.

Asa further instance of the necessity
of having a sufficient quantity of avail-
able potash in the soil I can quote the
experience of a large pineapple-grower
on the North Coast Line. The soil on
which the pines are growing is deep
sandy loam, that was originally covered
with a growth of timber which was
burnt off on the land.

For the first five years the pines made
a good growth, and gave good returns
without any manure. They then began
to go back, and were manured with
meatworks manure (phosphoric acid and
nitrogen), and the results were still
satisfactory for some time. Finally,
they again showed signs of going back
even though they received a greatly in-
ereased dressing of meatworks manure.
The pines had depleted the supply of
available potash, and, consequently,
owing tothe want of potash, the meat-
works manure failed to act. This was
clearly proved by the addition of potash
to the land as the pines responded at
once, and produced a heavy crop of
excellent fruit. Previous applications
of potash to this land had, apparently,
no result; and it was only when the
available potash was depleted that the

addition of potash as a manure had

such a marked effect.

When land -is deficient in available
otash as shown either by analysis or
Ee the simple tests that I have recom-
mended, the addition of potash as a
manure for all kinds of fruits and vege-
tables will have a very marked effect,
and is one of the best investments
the growercan make, Iam often cou-
fronted by the grower saying, that
potash is such an expensive manure, it
costs £14 or £16 aton; true, yet a ton
of high-grade sulphate of potash con-
tains about 50 per cent. of pure potash,
or, in other words, 100 1b. of sulphate of
potash contains 50 lb. of pure potash,
and, at the higher rate of £16 per ton,
this works out at only 34d. per Ihb.,
which is about. the same price per lb.
as one has to pay for phosphoric acid,
and only about one-third of the price
per lb. one has to pay for nitrogen,

Fin

Sulphate of potash is a concentrated
manure, and is the cheapest form in
which to buy potash, especially when
the question of railway or steamer
freight and cartage is to be considered.

CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN BENGAL,

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 9, September 1, 1909.)
In an admirable article published by

the Bengalee, the evil effects of absentee

landlordism upon village economy were
forcibly demonstrated. To this indict-

ment of those zemindars who live in a

grand style in Calcutta and leave their

tenants to lead a miserable existence

in villages haunted by malaria and

cholera no serious reply has been at-
tempted. It has indeed been argued by
a correspondent who is himself, it would
appear, a zemindar, that the landlords
have no more obligations towards their
tenants than any educated man has
towards the uneducated. Whether this
cynical repudiation of responsibility
represents the general view among
absentee zemindars we have no means
of knowing, but it is certain that those
who cherish the notion that their sole
duty is to levy rents from their tenants
and spend the money where they please
and as they please, are harbouring
medizeval ideas which will lead to a
rude awakening beforelong, The day
will come when they will be asked to
justify their existence which, so far as
Wwe can see, serves no useful purpose.
There is, however, another class of
absentee landlords who without deny-
ing that they have certain obligations
towards the ryots on whose earnings
they live, plead that their own health
should form their first consideration,
and that they can look after the in-
terests of their tenants more efficiently
at a safe distance from insanitary
villages. ‘‘It is hopeless,” says the
Hindoo Patriot, ‘to except any ener-
getic actionfroma zemindar who is a
prey to malaria or any otber malady,
because, under the circumstances, he
cannot bring himself to give attention
to anything else but his own interest,
But when he enjoys good health he
feels for those who are not similarly
blessed.” A sympathetic feeling is au
excellent thing, so far as it goes. But
sympathy at a distance is not what is
wanted. The decay of village life cai:-
not be arrested by the compassion’ of
a zemindar class residing in Calcutta.
If the villages are to be made more
healthy, to be r
water, and to be delivered from malaria,

[FEBRUARY, 1910,

a7

rovided with pure

Ey aes

ein}

- Fesrvary, 1910.)

; the people must be shown what ought

to be done, and inspired to do it,, by
educated men who live among them and
who exercise the influence inseparable
from the wealth and status of a
zemindar. Not only the vital economy
of the villages but their prosperity
depends upon the presence in their
midst of enlightened men who realise
that it is their duty to render public
service to the people,notin Calcutta, but
where the people live and toil. Of this
fact we are reminded by the Resolution
of the Government of Bengal on Co-oper-
ative Credit Societies, which appears
below. '[These societies form, as every
one who has given any attention to
the subject knows, the most perfect
organisation ever devised for deliver-
ing the peasantry from crushing debt
and enabling them to win their way
towards financial freedom and the new
courage and hope which independence
brings. Such societies have been estab-
lised in Bengal and have achieved excel-
lent results. Thenumber of Societies,
urban and rural, has risen to 395 with
14,640 members, showing an increase of45
societies and over 2,540 members during
the year. The capital invested in
them now amounts to Rs. 3,65,086. The
most interesting and important feature
of the movement, however, is the growth
ot the rural societies of which there are
359. But owing to this gratifying expan-
sion, ‘‘the development of co-operative
eredit in the Mofussil,” says the Resolu-
tion,‘‘ has reached a critical stage.” The
success of the societies depends on
careful supervision, but the number of
societies being whatitis, the Registrar
and his assisstant are unable to visit
each society more than once or twice a
year. Yet the need for more societies
is, asall must perceive, urgent. A few
hundred sccieties cannot possibly do
more than touch the fringe of the
indebtedness of rural Bengal. The
circumstances are such as should make
an irresistible appeal, especially to the
zemindars, the natural leaders of the
rural community. ‘‘The real work of
forming societies and educating the
members, says the Resoluticn, ‘‘ must
devolve on local voluntary helpers, and
the Lieutenant-Governor agrees with
the Registrar in the opinion that, unless
and until it is adopted in earnest by tke
people themselves, the movement will

e confined within the very definite
limits of a kindly but ineffective official
experiment.” This pronouncement is a
grave reflection upon the amount of
genuine public spirit in Bengal and
especially among its zemindars. Ger-
many could produce its Raiffeisen who
redeemed a poverty-stricken peasantry

20

153 Miscellaneeous.

from debt, but in Bengal a movement
which has been given the advantage of
a start by the Government is crippled in
its progress by the lack of men who are
prepared to give a little time and
trouble for the salvation of the ryot,
In the light of the explanation given
by the Hindoo Patriot, the main reason
for this failure is thata large number
of the zemindars regard it as a sacred
duty to stay in Calcutta and nurse
their own health. The peasant is left
to cholera, malaria, and debt.

GOVERNMENT RESOLUTION ON LAST
YEAR’S REPORT.

The following Government Resolution
on the annual report on Co-operative
Credit Societies in Bengal during 1908-09
is published as a supplement to the
Calcutta Gazette :—-

The report deals with the working of
Co-operative Credit Societies for a period
of nine months only, because in place
of a year ending on the 30th June it
has been decided to adopt the ordinary
financial year ending on the 81st March.
Throughout the year Mr. Buchan
held the post of Registrar and Babu
Jamini Mohan Mitra that of Personal
Assistant, The report was written by
the former officer before his departure
on leave in April last; and the latter
officer has prepared and reviewed the
returns.

2. Since the passing of Act X of 1904
progress in Bengal has been along very
simple and aniform lines. No attempt
has been made to experiment with
different forms of rural societies, and
attention has been concentrated on the
Raiffeisen type only. The earliest socie-
ties were disconnected units, formed
sporadically where opportunity offered.
Subsequent additions were in many
cases due to the exertions of individual
organisers of the older societies, whose
personaljty served as a connecting link
between them. This yeara further step
has been taken, and such groups of
societies have been combined in self-
administered unions. The policy has
been followed of developing compact
areas in each district and extending
from these as centres, with the object
of avoiding the waste of power which
would follow from the dissipation of
attention over single scattered societies,

3. The societies in Bengal are of two
types. In the first the liability is limited,
and for the most part the societies are
urban; in the second the liability is
unlimited and they are rural; and it is
this second class which demands the
particular attention of the Registrar,

Miscellaneous, 154

4. During the past year the number
of societies in the Province has risen
from 350 to 895 or by 18 percent. The
membership has increased from 12,094
to 14,640 equivalent to 21 per cent., while
the capital has risen from Res. 2,25,4387
to Rs. 3,65,086 or by 62 per cent. All the
town societies have made considerable
strides during the year. There has been
no large increase in their number ; but
the co-operative spirit in them has de-
veloped greatly. Confidence is now
thoroughly established, and they are
financed almost entirely by share capital
and the deposits of their members. It
is anticipated that this form of co-
operation will spread without much
further assistance from the Registrar
amongst the mercantile firms in Calcutta
and the Government offices throughout

the Province. A new form of society
’ of an interesting type has been formed
under the patronage of Sir Daniel
Hamilton with the object of reclaiming
waste lands in the Sundarbans. The
joint capital will be employed in clear-
ing the jungle and raising embankments,
and the society will make advances to
its members to enable them to culti-
vate the land and to settle tenants
thereon. The progress of this society
will be watched with much interest.

5. The development of co-operative
credit in the mofussil has reached a
critical stage. There are now 3859 rural
societies, being an increase of 33 during
the year, and the Registrar and his
Personal Assistant are no longer able
to do more than visit each society once
or perhaps twice in a year. It is on
efficient control that the success of the
existing societies hinges, and their future
prospects depend upon the ability of
the Registrar to evolve a satisfactory
system of control.

6. The real work of forming societies
and educating the members must de-
volve on local voluntary helpers, and
the Lieutenant-Governor agrees with
the Registrar in the opinion that un-
less and until it is adopted in earnest
by the people themselves the movement
will be confined within the very defi-
nite limits of a kindly but ineffective
official experiment. During the -past
year the press has given a small measure
of increased attention to co-operation,
and there are signs that some who have
it in their power to assist are begin-
ning to realise the possibilities for good
which the movement possesses; but on
the whole evidence of popular interest
has been disappointing. The second
condition of any substantial success is
the creation of some higher form of
organization. During the year the

[FEBRUARY, 1910, ~

Registrar has given his attention to
this problem on the lines laid down
at the last Conference of Registrars,
when it was decided to aim at feder-
ation into unions on a joint stock basis.
In such unions societies are to be the
only shareholders, and the unions will 2
be restricted to dealings with their
shareholders only. Two such uniors
were formed during the year, one at
Raruli in Khulna and the other at
Khelar in Midnapore. In the opinion

of the Registrar the progress made so

far is encouraging; and the experience
gained tends to prove that the combi-
nation of societies into unions is not

only theoretically sound, but is also
quite practicable in existing cirecum-
stances in Bengal. The Midnapore union

has already become financially independ-

ent of the help of the Registrar, and

can now secure funds locally without

any difficulty.

7. The sources from which the work-

ing capital of the societies is obtained are
analysed in paragraph 8 of the review of
the statistics. Only 4per cent. of the
capital has been advanced by Govern-
ment and the Court.of Wards, 21 per cent.
has been advanced by large zemindars
to societies among their raiyats (the
larger part by the Maharaja Bahadur
of Darbhanga); while 48 per cent. has
been invested by the outside public.
The amount of capital invested by the
members and the local public is still very :
small, amounting to only 138 per cent.
The Registrar should do all he can to
encourage members to deposit, and his
opinion is approved by Government that
it would be well to widen the basis of
membership so as to take insome of the
more well-to-do villagers, provided that
this can be done without pressure from
outside. While the success of a society |
cannot be judged entirely from the
amount of money deposited by its
members, the fact that they have a
stake in it greatly increases its stability
and its attraction for local capital.

8. The analysis of the purposes to
which loans taken from societies have
been applied is of interest. Repayment
of debts accounts for 37 percent., culti-
vation and the purchase of cattle for 36
per cent., and marriage expenses for only
1'4per cent. It would appear, therefore,
that it is a sound principle to leave to
the discretion of the panchayat the pur-
pose for which loans can be given. The
important distinction is not between
productive and unproductive expendi-
ture, but between expenditure which
is necessary and that which is not; and
the panchayat is the best judge of wha
is necessary, a

_ Fersruary, 1910,]

9. The experiment was continued of
trying to employ the large grain golas of
the Sonthal Pargaras as central agencies
for villaage rain societies, and appears
to have met with a moderate amount of
success, The Registrar is probably
correct in holding that village grain
banks will be successful only if kept on
asmall seale, and that as their utility is
limited, they willtend assoon as they are
successful to develop into cash societies.

10. The Lieutenant-Governor desires
to acknowledge the energy and tact
displayed by Mr. W, H. Buchan, the
Registrar, and his personal Assistant,
Babu Jamini Mohan Mitra, in the per-
formance of their duties, and to ac-
knowledge the work of the officials re-
ferred to by Mr. Buchan in his report.
To the honorary organisers in particular
his special thanks are due, both for what
they have accocomplished, and still more
for the example they have set to others
in a work of which the ultimate success
is dependent on the self-sacrifice and
enthusiasm of private individuals.

SOME COMMERCIAL CROPS OF
INDIA,

(From the Tidinn rade Journal, Vol.
XIV., No. 179, September 2, 1909.)

The Proceedings of the Conference of
the Board of Agriculture in India, which
assembled at Nagpurin February last,
have now been published and will he
read with interest by those concerned
with the agricultural products of this
country. The cultivation of cotton is
now receiving extended attention in
practically all countries capable of pro-
ducing that fibre; and, as might be
expected, cotton occupied a prominent
place in the programme of the Board,
the idea being to make special investi-
gations into the distribution- of Indian
cotton in the field throughout the
country, more especially for the purpose
of ascertaining exactly where the most
valuable forms of each variety are
grown, and to discover the _ possible
natural forces which favour these; and,
secondly, to substitute the superior
varieties already discovered in place of
the inferior varieties now grown in
some tracts. This enquiry is now in
full swing in almost all the Provinces
and Presidencies of India, and is also
engaging attention in some of the Native
States. In the United Provinces, for
example, we find that special steps are
being taken to select for cultivation
cottons that are noted for length and
strength of fibre; the distribution of
acclimatised American seed and the

155 Miscellaneous.

organisation of a market for the produce.
In the Punjab a collection ot the cotton
grown there, as well as in the North-
West Frontier Province, has been made
and a botanical survey of this will be
completed. Plant to plant selection and
hybridising are to be continued, while
some new Egyptian varieties are under
observation. In the Bombay Presidency
it has now been shown that Egyptian
cotton can be grown with success in
Sind ata good profit, and this fact is
now to be demonstrated on a larger
scale on the Jamrao Canal in order
to induce the people to cultivate it
properly. Upland American cotton is
also to be tried in Upper Sind. The
cultivation of Broach cotton is now an
established success in the Southern
Maharatta country, and Cambodia cotton
promises well at Dharwar. Throughout
the Bombay Presidency the improve-
ment of cotton by plant to plant selec-
tion is being continued and efforts are
being made to obtain a fixed type of
cotton of superior quality. In Madras
the cultivation of desirable cotton is
being pushed to the front, and the seed
of good varieties is being distributed on
a large scale. Cambodia cotton has
already found favour there, but the
experiments now in hand are calculated
to decide the best varieties for culti-
vation in the various districts of that
Presidency. Cotton cultivation is also
receiving a large deal of attention in
the Central Provinces and Berar, where,
amongst other scientific tests, the rota-
tion of crops with cotton as the principal
crop is determined. In Burma, too, the
experiments recently undertaken with
Egyptian cotton show promise of success,
In Bengal, cotton is under experiment
at Chaibassa where manurial and selec-
tion experiments on the buri variety are
in progress. In short, the progress
being made throughout the country
seems to imply that the time will soon
come when suitable varieties of cotton
will be found for most of the cotton-
producing districts in both India and
Burma, and that this country’s annual
contribution to the world’s cotton stocks
should grow appreciably larger in the
almost immediate future.

A matter of great importance to
India, as we have frequently tried
to show, is the cultivation of a good
quality of sugarcane on a very much
larger scale than has hitherto been
practised; and we notice that this
subject is given a liberal measure of
attention by the Board. In the United
Provinces important local varieties of
cane are being tested with a view to
determine some of the factors that in-
fluence the composition of the Juice ;

Miscellaneous. 156 (FEBRUARY, 1910.

and the demonstration of Mr. Hadi’s
methods on sugar manufacture are being
continued, uot only in the United
Provinces but also in the Punjab, where,
we notice, it is proposed to start an
enquiry as to the possibility of the in-
troduction of more efficient cane crush-
ing mills. In the Bombay Presidency
the cultivation of sugarcane is being
considered from almost every point of
view and satisfactory progress is being
made. In the Madras Presidency,
Mauritius sugarcane, introduced by the
Government Botanist, has almost ousted
the local canes in the Godavari delta,
and attention is now being mainly
devoted to the testing of new varieties

as well as to the introduction of the -

Mauritius variety of cane into other
promising districts. In Bengal, the
Central, Provinces and Eastern Bengal
and Assam the importance of the culti-
vation of good sugarcane is being borne
prominently in mind. It would, there-
fore, seem that this important question
has now been taken in hand in real
earnest; and, although the day may be
distant when India will be able to
produce sufficient sugar to meet her own
wants, much less become an exporting
country, the steps now being taken by
the various Directors-General of Agri-
culture to popularise sugarcane crops
amongst the agriculturists are fairly
certain to produce excellent results.

We do not propose to follow the Board
through the large programme that
engaged their attention. It will suffice
to say that almost every crop grown in
India came up in review before them.
But the appendix dealing with the
extension of the cultivation of fibre
plants in India seems to deserve special
mention. Here we are told that jute
has replaced rice to a certain extent and,
at first sight, this might be supposed to
account in some measure for the ruling
high price of that staple product. But
the writers of the appendix hasten to
add that the displacement of rice is more
than compensated by the increase in the
buying capacity of the country on the
return of the more profitable jute crop.
This fibre is now being cultivated more
or less extensively in Assam, Behar,
Madras, the Central Provinces and
Burma. As to Burma, itis believed that
the development of jute cultivation ona
commercial scale will depend on the
erection of a jute mill in Rangoon or
otber convenient centre; but the cost
ot labour in Burma, as compared with
India, may, it is thought, form a serious
commercial disadvantage.

Attention is drawn to the fact that
Bombay hemp (Hibiscus cannabinus)

would probably prove a _ profitable crop
in many parts of India, where the
climate is moist but not sufficiently so
for jute. This fibre requires much Jess
moisture than jute, and in this fact lies
the importance of the plant, It is
already cultivated in reveral provinces,
but there would appear to be ample
room for expansion at paying rates.

Another useful fibre is sunn hemp
(Crotalaria juncea). This fibre does not
compete with jute, as does that of
Hibiscus cannabinus, but in market
value itis superior to both. Itis best
grown in districts of moderate rainfall
and, therefore, does not compete with
rice. This crop is grown extensively in
most parts of India and alsoin Burma,
but not so much for its fibre as for its
value as a green manure. In the Central
Provinces the cultivation of this crop is
said to be so profitable that it has been
largely substituted for wheat, and the
area sown with it has nearly doubled
within the past few years. The culti-
vators say that the cropisa hardy one
and that it improves the condition of
the land. What is required to largely
increase the cultivation of this crop in
India is a cheap machine for extracting
the fibre, as in many places retting is too
costly.

The coconut fibre industry is practi-
cally confined to the southern portions
of Bombay and Madras, where the eulti-
vation of this palm is popular as it
supplies food as well as fibre. In Bengal
there are no large plantations. In parts
of Eastern Bengal and Assam the
coconut palm grows to perfection, and
the Board consider that there seems to
be no reason why this industry might
not be introduced with profit into that
Province.

There are, say the Board, possibilities
of a useful industry in plantain fibre.
Plantains grow practically all over India,
and, besides, there are 124,000 acres under
plantains in Burma alone, but nothing is
done with the fibre although it can be
extracted with a simple hand machine.

The appendix deals in detail with the
other commercial fibres met with in
India, but the prospects of those with
which we have already dealt seem to be
best worth immediate consideration.

THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF A
SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE.

(From the Tropical Life, Vol. Vc Noma
October, 1909.)

Malaria is the most important of the
tropical diseases, both directly, as it
causes serious loss of labour, and in-

“Frprvary, 1910.)

directly it predisposes to many of other
diseases, especially some of those carried
by water.

Water-borne diseases occur all over
the world, and those so carried in
temperate climates, such as typhoid
fever, are also spread in the same way
in the tropics, and, in addition, there
are dysentery and, in some)parts, cholera.

In all these cases the germs causing
the disease are passed by the patients
with their motions on to soil. In a
damp soil some of them will multiply,
others will remain quiescent. On a dry
soil they may live for some time, and
even be carried with dust by the wind.
Sooner or later they may be carried to
water, and when swallowed by suscepti-
ble individuals, particularly those with
impaired digestion as so often occurs
after malaria, the germs will rapidly
multiply and give rise to an attack of
the disease. Water-borne diseases such
as cholera, typhoid and dysentery are
therefore carried from man to man in
drinking water.

This is not all, if it were, in order to

“prevent the spread of these diseases,

it would be sufficient to destroy or
disinfect the motions of all people suffer-
ing from these diseases. Unfortunately
many persons will continue for weeks,
months, or even years, to pass the
germs in their motions, though they

have completely recovered and show

no‘symptoms at all, These persons
have acquired immunity, and _ the
parasites which they harbour are harm-
less to them, but wherever they go
they deposit the germs, and if these
germs getinto water they will set upthe
disease in persons who drink that water.
Such persons are known as typhoid,
cholera, or dysentery ‘‘carriers,” and
in many cases have been shown to be
the active agents in the transmission
of these diseases.

Where possible the destruction of all
motions is to be recommended, and
burning in incinerators is the best
method. Burial at adepth of some 18in.
is also satisfactory, but then there is
the possibility of the drainage from the
burial place entering the water supply.

The water supplies in general use on
estates are large open ponds or tanks or
superficial wells, in either of these cases
the ground around such tanks or wells
must be kept clear, and no buildings,
native lires or latrines should be allowed
within an area of 80 times the depth of
the wellfrom it. It must not be in a
hollow, and no stream, drain, or other
channel likely to be fouled with refuse
from houses or any public place of resort

“157 Mw Rscellaneous.

should be allowed to run near it, as
urine as. well as the motions may contain
the germs,

Deep wells, those which pass right
through at least one impervious stratum
of the soil are much safer.

All wells should have a raised parapet
round them, and the ground should
be cemented round so as to form a
platform sloping from the well to a cir-
cular channel which collects water
which is spilled or used in ablutions. If
these precautions are not taken such
water will run back into the well or
tank, and contaminate it.

This is a special danger in places where
the guinea-worm occurs. This worm
when mature discharges its embryos if
water is poured over the skin where
the guinea-wo1m is protruded. These
embryos, therefore, are found in the
ablution water. It had been known for
many years that these embryos only
lived for afew days in water, but that
if they entered a minute fresh-water
crustacean—the cyclops—they lived for

‘a long time and developed, but it was

doubtful how they again entered man,
Whether it was by bathing in water
containing these infected cyclops or by
drinking it; whether, in fact, the worm
entered by the skin or by the mouth
was the point in dispute. In West
Africa, where in certain times of the
year a Jarge proportion of the labour is
disabled from this cause, the matter
was so serious that the London School
of Tropical Medicine decided to send
their helminthologist, Dr. R. T. Leiper,
at a cost to them of several hundred
pounds, to investigate. Dr. Leiper con-
clusively proved by experiments on
monkeys that the guinea-worm entered
their warm blooded host through the
drinking water.

The correct form of prevention, there-
fore, is now quite clear, and the know-
ledge thus acquired was worth in saving
of labour far more than the cost. If we
succeed in preventing water used for
ablution from being mixed with the
drinking water, then infection with the
guinea-worm is animpossibility. Separ-
ate bathing places are much to be

_desired, but even then a few people will

drink the water, but those only will be
infected.

If, onthe other hand, the wells are
properly protected and water used tor
ablution is not allowed to flow back
into the wells, then the cyclops in the
water will not be infected, and the
people using these wells will be safe.

Boiling of the water before use will
prevent most dangers, but from the

Miscellaneous. 158

economic point of view it is the health
of the labour force that has to be con-
sidered, and to boil all the water for
their use is impracticable,

For Europeans it is different. They
can ensure that water is first filtered
and then boiled, but they must not rely
on the filter, and must boil the water
after not before. filtration.

PRESERVING BOOKS IN THE
TROPICS.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIIL.,
No. 197, November 138, 1909.)

Mr. H. Maxwell-Lefroy, M.A,, F.E.S.;
#.Z.8., Entomologist to the Government
of India (sometime Entomologist to this
Department), gives, in TJThe Hastern
Printers’ Yearbook, several precautions
against the destruction of books and
papers by insects in the tropics, As
some of these are comparatively new,
the following extracts are taken from
his article :—

The most destructive insect to books is
the book beetle (Sitodrepa panicea).
Thisis a small brown beetle, which is only
one stage of this insect’s life, the greater
part of the destruction being caused by
the small white grub, which is one of the
earlier stages. The grub eats tunnels in
the books, feeding upon the paper or
binding, eating straight ahead through
the pages, but always keeping inside;
naturally it can feed undisturbed only
ina book which is notin use, and it
is in books that are left neglected on
the shelf that this insect is found. The
grub is white, with the head brown,
and the body is clothed with short,
brown hairs. It hatches from eggs laid
by the beetle, and after some weeks of
active life, transforms into the dormant
chrysalis, from which, after a little
time, comes the beetle. It is the beetle
that starts the mischief, by eating into
the book and laying eggs there, the
grubs then continuing it. The insect
is probably an introduced one, having
been brought most likely in books or
merchandise from Europe; it is common
practically all over the world, and feeds
not only in books, paper, cardboard,
and similar materials, but in dry wood,
in the cane that furnitureis made of,
and in dried foodstuffs.

Where books or papers are constantly
in use, or being moved, the insect is
not generally found; when itis found,
there is only one radical cure, which is
to go over all the books or stocks of
papers and search out the insects; in
bad cases of attack, where this is not

[Fmrvary, 1910.

possible, it is necessary to clear out

all infested articles, clean the room.

thoroughly, and putting the articles in
a tight box or cupboard, put sufficient
carbon bisulphide or benzine in to
thoroughly impregnate everything with
the fumes, and kill the insects. Atleast
one pint of the fluid used must be put
into every 200 cubic teet of space, and
it is necessary to keep the infested
articles exposed for twenty-four hours,
and to take precautions that no light is
brousnt near while the fumes can be
smelt.

The above procedure is necessary only
with. very bad cases; as a rule, it is
sufficient to deal with each attacked
book separately. Preservation is of

course better than cure, and the general -

precautions suggested below are the
best for this insect, as for others.

Another injurious insect is the com™
mon cockroach; the commonest cock"
roach in Indian houses is Periplaneta
australasic, the big brown cockroach;
but there are several other household
species. These have a fondness for the
colouring matter of cloth bindings,
especiallyof certain reds and other tints;
they feed at night and nibble off the sur-
face otf the binding, greatly disfiguring
the books. The preparation given below
is a certain preventive of damage;
where cockroaches are, however, very
plentiful, a liberal application of borax,
or the provision of plenty of a mixture
of borax (one part) and syrup (two
parts), smeared thickly on pieces of card
or tin and put under furniture and in
dark corners, isa great check on their
numbers. Borax isa specific poison to
cockroaches and should be used freely.

We know of only one other class of
insect injurious to paper and books;
these are the curious shiny insects
known as‘ silver fish’ which are so com-
mon in cupboards and in dark, dusty
places. They cannot injure books or
papers except by destroying the glaze,
which they nibble, spoiling the surface
of the better classes of glazed papers;
they are also fond of starch and eat the
starch used in binding books or papers
where they can reach it. Against these
insects, the following general pre-
cautions are desirable :—

(1) Add a little bluestone (sulphate of

copper) to all starch paste; about half ~

an ounce to a pound of paste is suffi-
cient. It makes the starch distasteful
to silver fish and to beetles. :

(2) If possible, keep books and papers
in clean cases, with plenty of flake
naphthalene or naphthalene balls. We

use flake naphthalene liberally with all

a a

FEBRUARY; 1910.]

valuable papers and drawings, and itis
always put in book shelves and cup-
boards.

(8) Where paper cannot be stored in
eases, it should be in good, tight pack-
ages, to which insects cannot get access.

(4) If possible, take down every book
on a shelf atleast once in three months,
dust and wipe it, open it, and if there
are no beetles, replace it,

(5) All books should be painted yearly
with one of the solutions given below;
it is best to do this before the rainy
season begins. Hvery part that can be
reached when the book is tightly closed
should be painted, the back especially,
as well as the inside of the covers.

A. Spirits of wine (methylated

SPIRE) 2°"... oe. 1 quart.
Carboliz acid... a 1 ounce.
Corrosive sublimate.. 1 ounce.

The mixture is very poisonous and

» should be applied with a long-handled
-brush. It is the best, asit also checks

mould; but if used, the room in which
the books are, must be thoroughly aired
once daily in hot weather as the sub-
limate is volatile and poisons the air.
(See also Agricultural News, Vols. I,
p. 140; II, p. 42; VI, p. 346.)

B, Kerosene, best white... 1 pint.

Naphthalene... ae 2 ounces.
Rub on lightly with a cloth,
or brush.

C. Spirits 1 quart,
Camphor 1 ounce.
Burnt alum ... as % ounce.
Corrosive sublimate... 1 ounce.

This mixture is used in the Pusa
Library. It is as poisonous as A.

SOME NOTES ON CALCIUM
CYANAMIDE.

(From the arauliural News, Vol. VIII.,
No. 179, March 6, 1909.)

The method of manufacturing calcium
pe snamidey new nitrogenous manure,
the nitrogen of which is derived directly
from the air, was described in the Agri-
cultural News of December 12 last (page
398). In this connexion it is interesting
to note some experimental work lately
carried out by two French investigators
with this manure, and reported on
in the Annales del’Institut Nationale
Agronomique.

Before calcium cyanamide can be
utilized by plants, it is first transformed
into ammonia, and then into nitrate of
soda. These changes, under favourable
circumstances, are fairly rapidly effected

159 Miscellaneous.

by means of soil bacteria. Nitrification
is especialiy rapid when the manure is
applied only in small quantities at once.
Very large quantities of the cyanamide
applied at one time, appear to paralyse
the activities of the nitrifying bacteria;
with the result that transformation into
nitrate of soda is considerably delayed.
Experiments carried out by the French
investigators mentioned, showed that the
retarding action was due to the influence
of the cyanamide itself rather than to
the caustic lime which accompanies it,
and further, that although the manure
should always be used with prudence,
yet soils rich in organic matter can
advantageously take up more of the
manure than soils deficient in this con-
stituent. The toxic effect which the
manure undoubtedly exercises on the
living organisms of the soil when used
in large amount is reduced to a negligible
qusntity when employed in moderate
oses.

Nitrogen does not appear to be readily
lost from cyanamide on storage. When
kept in sacks, and stored ina dry place,
there was scarcely any loss. When the
cyanamide was mixed with kainit, there
was no loss even after forty-two days.
With superphosphate. it was otherwise,
and a loss of 5 per cent. was discovered.
It would: therefore seem necessary to
avoid making a mixture with this
manure.

The paper in question contains de-
tails of a large number of manurial
experiments carried out with various
crops, such as wheat, oats, maize, pasture
grass, vines, ete. From the results of
these trials, the conclusion is drawn
that calcium cyanamide is similar in
effect to an equivalent amount of sul-
phate of ammonia. A normal quantity
of the manure to apply per acre would
be about 2001lb. This may be given
either before, or at the time of sowing.

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
PROGREsS REPORT XLVIII.

MEMBERSHIP BRANCH SOCIETIES, &C.

Since the meeting of December 18 last,
the following members joined the
Society :—H. M. Woolley, H. A. Brett,
S.C. Biddell, Geo. Schrader (as a Life
Member), W. A. De la Hoyde, P.
Karunaratne, H. B. Rambukwelle, Dr.
Kobbekaduwa Tikiri Banda, and A. C.
Abeyewardene. These additions bring
up the total membership to 908.

A list is being prepared of members
who are greatly in arrear with their

Miscellaneous.

subseriptions, with a view to submitting
it to the Finance Committee.

The Wellaboda Pattu (Galle) Branch
held a meeting in December, when Mr.
H. A. Burden, C.C.S., presided. The in-
troduction of improved ploughs and the
holding of a Show were discussed, and a
Working Committee was appointed to
make arrangements forthe latter. It
was decided to ask the Parent Society
for the services of an Agricultural In-
structor to supervise transplanting in
paddy cultivation at the next sowing
eason.

- The Sub-Committee on Tobacco Ex-
periments met twice in January, once at
Peradeniya on the1l3th, and again in
Colombo on the 26th. Mr. Cowan, the
Superintendent of the Experiment, has
been visiting Maha Illuppalama and
starting nurseries.

The Assistant Government Agent of
Kalutara has decided to hold three
Market Shows in his district during May
next—at Kalutara, Bandaragama, and
Bellana. Shows will also be held at
Nuwara Eliya in March, Teldeniya and
Ambalangoda in June, and Harispattu
in September.

OFFICIAL TOURS.

The Acting Organizing Vice-President
visited the Hambantota District and
inspected the paddy lands at Tissamaha-
rama cultivated with lightiron ploughs.
He also visited Maha Illuppalama in
connection with the tobacco experiment,

The Secretary, after his return from
India, where (accompanied by Messrs.
Chelliah and Wickremaratne, Agri-
cultural Instructors) he visited the
Koilpati Agricultural Station and the
Sivagiri Home Farm, as
Bangalore, carried out inspections in
Pasdum korale and Henaratgoda District.

Messrs. Wickremaratne and Molezoda
have been engaged in the North-Western
Province demonstrating the working of
light iron ploughs at the request of the
Government Agent of the Province. The
following centres were selected for the
demonstrations :—Makandura, Kuliya-
pitiya, Hettipola, Wariyapola, Kurune-
gala, and Potuhera.

Mr. Wickremaratne was occupied
earlier in the month in the Chilaw
District, supervising the work at Raja-
kadaluwa garden, where an experiment
is being conducted in the rotation of
chena crops: The implements brought
over from the Koilpati Agricultural
Station have been worked there, and
the value of a new German apparatus
for destroying white ants (sent for trial
by Messrs. Freudenberg & Co.) tested.

well as_

Mr. Molegoda was engaged in Asgiri —

Pallesiyapattu korale of Matale South,
Yatawatta, and Harispattu districts,
and also inspected school gardens com-
peting for the prize offered by the
Chairman of the Harispattu Branch.

Mr. Chelliah confined himself to work
in the North.

Mr. Breckenridge, who was stationed
in Batticaloa, has been transferred to
Maha Illuppalama, where he will act as
conductor under Mr. Cowan, the Superin-
tendent of the Tobacco Experiment.

Mr. L. A. D. Silva has not yet recovered
from the effects of the severe attack ot
malaria contracted while at Tissa, and

is being given temporary work in

the office. He will shortly undertake
ploughing and transplanting work in
paddy cultivation in the Province of
Sabaragamuwa.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND
APPLIANCES.

A description of the implements
brought over by the Secretary from the
Koilpati Agricultural Station will be
found in the Memorandum on his Indian
trip, reprinted in the “Tropical Agri-
culturist and Magazine of the Ceylon
Agricultural Society” for January, and
need not be repeated here. Atter a
trialin the Chilaw District they will
go to the North, where Agricultural
Instructor Chelliah will demonstrate
their use. Applications for the use of
these should be made to the Secretary,
who will also entertain orders tor supply-
ing copies of any of the implements.
Two ploughs are also coming from the
Sivagiri Home Farm—one known as the
Sivagiri plough, manufactured by the
Manager of that farm. Trials of both
will be undertaken and reported on
shortly. Messrs. Walker, Sons & Co.
have imported a “ Picollo” Rice-shelling
Machine through Messrs. Ahmed Ali
& Co., of Ludhiana, and are awaiting the
arrival of the sifter, or separator, before
undertaking a trial of the machine. The
separator is essential for ensuring proper
husking or hulling, for it is necessary
that the grains to be hulled should be as
nearly as possible all of the same size,
and to this end sifting must precede
hulling.

The German apparatus for destroying
white ants (already referred to) consists
of a telephone arrangemeii for localizing
the white antsand then asphyxiating
them by means of sulphur vapour.

In forwarding the two ploughs pre-

viously mentioned the Superintendent of —

the Sivagiri Farm writes :—‘‘ According
tothe instructions of the Agricultural
Expert, one of the ploughs sent isa

»

FEBRUARY, 1910] 161

Meston~ plough improved at Sivagiri,
Mr. Lonsdale thinks the improved
Meston is more rigid and steady. They
both cost the same, 1.e., Rs. 6,”

Corton.

The half ton of Sea Island cotton seed
received from the British Cotton Growing
Association was all sold, and a late
applicztion for sowing 120 acres could
not have been met.

Mr. Arno Schmidt, representing the
interests of the British Cotton Growing
Association, was herein the middle of
January, and Jooked into the question
of resuming ginning operations in
Colombo. It is probable that the ginnery
in Darley Lane will soon be again
working,

A correspondent reports that a crop of
eotton raised in the Province of Uva,
consisting of 9,000 lb. seed cotton, gave
only 2,500 lb. of lint, the rest being seed
and waste. The cotton has been well
reported on, but is, of course, of too
small a quantity to command a ready
sale. The writer states that he has
* any amount” of seed, for which he will
be glad to get a sale.

PLANTS, SEED, &C.

A hundredweight of seed ginger has
been received from the Agricultural
Department of Madras, and is available
to members at 85 cents per lb. The
following note on _ preserving the
Rhizomes will be of interest to growers :—

‘A pit big enough to hold the quantity
to be preserved is dug in the ground
very near the wall of the house, not in a
perpendicular way, but slanting towards
the wail. The pit should not be exposed
tothe sun and rain. After the pit is
dug the quantity of gingeris put into it,
not at one time. Put one-fourth of the
quantity at first, and then sprinkle some
loose mud onit. Only avery thin layer
of mud should be put. Then put another
one-fourth and put mud as before, and
repeat the process till the whole is thus
putinto the pit. This is, they say, for
preventing the excess of heat. Then
cover the pit with planks of wood and
thoroughly cover it with mud. The pit
should so closely be covered as not to
allow ants and other insects to enter
into the pit. The pit may be dug very
near the bottom of a high levelled place,
but itis becter to have it very near the
house, in which case the roof will prevent
it from being exposed to the rain and
excessive heat. he seed is to be pre-
served very soon after harvest, which
means that it should not be allowed to
get dry.”

21

Miscellaneous,

A consignment of seeds has just come
to hand from the Sivagiri Home Farm,
consisting of one bag (50 Madras
measures) of budshabeg seed paddy, one
bag of Tephrosia purpurea seed, one bag
Kuderavali (Panicum frumentaceum),
and an interesting collection of paddy
samples, with a note on the time of
sowing, harvesting, yield, &c.

A permanent collection of the agri-
cultural products of the Eastern Tropics
has been gradually worked up during
the last year or two, and already a very
interesting lot of local specimens sent
by Agricultural Instructors has been
secured. With the samples now being
obtained from India, the Society will
soon have the necessary materials for an
Agricultural Museum, of which there is
now the nucleus at the Government
Stock Garden. A selection of these
exhibits will be a feature of future
Agricultural Shows.

The Director of Agriculture, Bengal,
has forwarded a fairly large collection
of cereals, oil seeds, dyes, tans, spices,
drugs, and fibres of that Province.
A useful catalogue accompanies the
collection.

SERICULTURE.

Another communication has come to
hand froma foreign firm interested in
Eri silk. They write: ‘‘ We duly received
at the time your small shipment of Hri
cocoons, but the quality was not so good
as the first sample we received from
you, and we were obliged to select the
200 1b. in two parts to work separately
the white and brown cocoons. The
brown cocoons are not worth so much as
the white ones. Weare spinning now
two qualities separately, but we could
not give you any results till now, for it
takes a long time to make these trials.
When we have yarn, we will have to
make trials in dyeing and see what we
can do with it. But we will not wait
any longer, and will settle with you the
200 lb. received, We will pay for them
fr. 3 per kilo, that is, kilos 90 at fr.

3=frs. 270=25'25=£10'14, which amount:

will be paid to you through the Colombo
Branch of the Hong Kong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation. We make a large
difference in the value of the white and
brown cocoons, and the two qualities
might be kept separately. We cannot
tell to-day if for the future we can pay
fr. 3 per kilo for the two qualities as our
trials are not finished yet, and we do
not know the results we shall have with
the yarn. We shall inform you as soon
as possible of the definitive results.”
The Indian Imperial Kntomologist
writes :—‘‘ A trialona large scale isin

eT ee ly ha Re TE

Miscellaneous. 162

progress at present at Bombay. Over
1,000 lb. of cocoons have been supplied,
and the mills definitely offer Re. 1 per lb.
and are paying that. There has beena
very considerable development during
the last few months, and the cultivation
is being tried in hundreds of villages.
With a large market for hand-woven
cloth and a large market for cocoons,
the industry in India may become
established, but much depends on
whether the mills go on using the
cocoons. With the market so near at
hand it would pay Ceylon producers to
sell to Bombay. I may mention that a
machine has been made and patented,
which cleans the cocoons, that is, which
removes all the dirt from inside the
cocoons. It is a practical thing, and I
have assisted in its preparation and
designing. It is being sold in two forms,
a factory machine doing 3(C to 60 cocoons
per minute, with power or hand working,
anda small hand machine doing tena
minute. The clean cocoons are, of
course, ‘(100 per cent. silk,” and will
fetch a higher price. Samples are being
worked in Bombay. If you have any
growers in Ceylon you’ should inform
me, as this and similar developments in
India may be important, and I would
keep you informed, say, once a month.”

small pattern cleaning machine
priced at Rs. 20 has been indented for.
With average cocoons two boys will be
able to treat about 2 Ib. per day.

ANALYSES AND REPORTS.

The following note on kekuna resin by
Mr, Frederick Lewis is of interest :—‘‘The
tree (Canarium zeylanicum) is moder-
ately common in the west zone up to
about 1,500 feet especially in land where
underlying slab rock oceurs. Though
of considerable size, the wood is of no
value, as it rots rapidly. It is used for
making tea boxes, but there is danger
of the tea being tainted by the smell of
the resin. The latter is used as for
fumigation, and is said to be “rough
on cobras,” but I cannot corroborate
this. It burns freely with a pleasant
odour and is probably one of the in-
gredients of the incense burnt in temples
and mosques. The seeds are very hard
and contain a fine favoured kernel,
which is much relished.”

The Government Agricultural Chemist
He furnished the analysis given be-
ow :—

Per Cent.
“Woody fibre ee Aa 15'5
Moisture sae ces 14:0
Ash a ay A0
Acid number 0'8
Hster number ... 122-0
Saponification volume 122°8
Iodine number ... 109°6

eg Oe re ash oe eae Pee a es
eS Pe patie US usc 6 ,

: "e ‘ as e. $2
[FeBRUARY, 1910. -

When exuded, light maroon colour.
Completely soluble in alcohol, from
which solution it dries to a clear yellow
mass.”

A-sample of Hrythroxylon coca leaves
from Ceylon forwarded to the Imperial
Institute formed the subject of the
following report made by the Director
of that Institution to the Ceylon Govern-
ment :—

“The coca leaves, which are the sub-
ject of this report, were forwarded for
examination to the Imperial Institute
by the Secretary of the Ceylon Agri-
cultural Society with letter No. 975 dated.
April 22. It was stated that the leaves
were grown in the Kandy District..

“The sample consisted of 34 oz. of
leaves from 14 to 2 inches in length, and
dull olive green in colour. They were
very dry and brittle, but the sample
was remarkably free from broken leaves.

“The leaves were examined chemically
and found to contain a satisfactorily
high proportion, 1'2 per cent. of total
alkaloid soluble in light petroleum, The
quantity of material was, however, not
sufficient to permit of the identification
of the alkaloids or the isolation of
cocaine.

“The sample was valued by brokers
at 9d. per lb. in London (November, 1909),
but they pointed out that coca leaves
are at present realizing more than the
average price. :

** As the leaves differed somewhat from
the Bolivian and Peruvian leaves of
commerce, and showed certain resem-
blances to Java coca leaves, they were
submitted to a botanical expert, who
reported that their identity was doubt-
ful, but in his opinion they resembled
Java leaves more than any Other eom-
mercial variety. There thus appears a
possibility that doubt may arise as to
the botanical origin of some consign-
ments of coca leaves from Ceylon. The
principal difference between the South
American and Java leaves is that while
the former contain cocaine as the princi-
pal alkaloidal_ constituent, the Java
leaves contain little or no cocaine, but
only certain related alkaloids, which
after extraction are readily convertible
into cocaine. The South American
leaves can therefore be used for the
manufacture of medicinal prepartions
of coca, whereas the Java leaves are only
suitable for the manufacture of eocaine.

“Tn these circumstances, the Secre-
tary of the Ceylon Agricultural Society
was asked to state the origin of the
present sample of leaves, and he replied

that they were derived from plants of ©

Bolivian coca introduced into the Kandy

Feervary, 1910.) ae

District in 1898. It would therefore be
desirable to ascertain definitely the
- proportion of cocaine present in these
Ceylon coca leaves, and the nature of
the other alkaloids they contain. For
the purpose of this investigation about
14 lb. of leaves should be forwarded to
the Imperial Institute.” The quantity
required has been forwarded.

Mr. E. T. Hoole, Assistant Govern-
ment Veterinary Surgeon, has kindly

reported 2n a Tamil veterinary publica-.

tion entitled ‘‘ Handbook of Hindu Medi-
cines for Horses and Cattle,” forwarded
to the Society by the author. He says:
“T find that it affords useful inform-
ation, and will be-of special service to
those who are out of reach of immedi-
ate veterinary aid. The drugs recom-
mended are mostly those that could be
easily obtained from the bazzar or field.”

The following is a report made on
samples of Batticaloa soils, which were
furnished at the request of the Govern-
ment Agricultural Chemist :—

“T have the honour to report on the
samples of soil from Batticaloa Dis-
trict, received together with your letter
No. 2,727. ,

** Bow No. 1 from Sengalladi Estate
and Box No. 2 from Kiran Estate are
coarse quartzy soils, and consist of
almost pure quartz sand. No.2 is in a
coarser state of division than No.1. The
distribution of plant food is typical of
such soils, but the lime and magnesia
are higher than in similar soils of the
Chilaw and Kalutara Districts. The
potash and phosphoric acid are present
in very poor quantity, but not less than
is usually found in coconut soils. The
acidity is only faint in Kiran, but in the
other soils it is acid. A dressing of
burnt lime or basie slag or both would
prove beneficial to such soils,

** Bow No. 3, Vandarumulla Estate, is
similar in composition to the previous
soils, but has not such a good supply of
potash and phosphoric acid, and crops
would be improved by the addition of
these. The lime is less in this soil than
the two previous ones,

‘Box No. 4, Sunkunkerni Estate, is
similar in general composition and
character to the other soils, but is noted
for the deficiency of potash and phos-
phoric acid, and it these were replenished
and accompanied by a liberal appli-
cation of cattle manure, the trees would
no doubt in time respond to the treat-
ment with inereased crops.

‘Box No. 5, Karavakoo fields, where
pinmari or kalvellamai is cultivated, is
clay mixed with quartzy sand. The
state of division is even so that the

~

168

Miscellaneous,

coarse sand tends to keep it open. This
soil is of an entirely different character
to the others tested, having larger
supplies of mineral plant food than are
usually found in Ceylon soils. The

*magnesia is very high, and there are

good supplies of lime and potash, and
the phosphoric acid, although in less
proportion, is still tc be considered a
high percentage, The humus matter
and nitrogen are present in fair quan-
tity. This soil would give a good many
more crops than one per annum.

** Box No. 6, Akkaraipattu fields, where
munmari or cultivation by rain is carried
on, is also of the same class of soil as
Sunkunkerni, and is similar in compo-
sition to the others,

_“‘In ali the first lot of soils large quan-

tities of freshly burnt ashes, which are
rich in potash, unexposed to _ the
atmospheres, should be applied along
with finely ground bones, which are
rich in phosphoric acid, and large
supplies of cattle manure, which will
supply the humus and the nitrogen.
All these soils require replenishing in
these constituents, and would no doubt
improve the crop.”

(The actual figures of analyses are not
reproduced.)

MISCELLANEOUS.

The fancy curtain, referred to in last
Progress Report, has been presented to
the Society by Mr. James Perera of
Molligoda, who is anxious to work upa
local industry in the manufacture of
such articles as curtains, boxes, &ce.,
from the kekilla (Gleichenia) fern, which
is sO common everywhere, and is at
present put to no use. The article could
be inspected in the Society’s office, The
following is a description of how itis
made :—‘‘ Hard kekilla reeds with the
pith extracted are exposed for three or
four days to the wind and then cut into
the required lengths. The pieces are
strung together and then enamelled and
left to dry. When they are sufficiently
dry the thread is removed and the
pieces are re-strung as per sample cur-
tain. After the curtain is made, any
required design can be painted on_it.
Betore painting the strings should be
drawn down to a uniform tightness and
fastened, Another way of producing a
design would be by painting pieces of
reed differently and stringing them so as
to bring out the required pattern,”

ERRATUM.

Mr, J. I’. Jowitt writes :—‘‘ Lapologize
for asking a further correction. Pen-
nisetum cenchroides, Rich., takes prece-
dence of Conchrus mutabilis, Wight ex

Miscellaneous. * 164

Hook, as the botanical name of Con-
gayam grass, and so appears in ‘Flora,
British India.’ I misread Mr. Lock’s
note to me on the subject, and was only
able to correct my error too late for
insertion ir the January ‘Tropical Agri-
culturist. I am_ greatly handicapped
by having no books of reference of my

own.”
C. DRIEBERG,

Secretary.
Colombo, February 7, 1910.

WEEDS.
[Paper read before the Board of Agri-
culture by R. H. Lock, Acting Director,
ino Botanic Gardens, on Febuary 7th,

A weed is generally definedas a plant
out of place. Most frequently weeds
are also useless plants, but useful and
even cultivated plants may also become
pests when they persistin making their
appearance in places where they are not
wanted,

The objections to weeds amongst culti-
vated crops are so obvious that it is
scarcely necessary to allude to them.
The greater number of these objections
may be summed up in the single word
‘‘competition.” The weeds compete
with the cultivated plants for space, air,
and light, as wellas for the water and
soluble constituents of the soil. The
removal of this competition is one of
the primary and most fundamental
operations of agriculture. The loss
of crops caused by allowing weeds to
grow freely may easily amount to 50
per cent, or more, and the presence of
weeds in the soil enormously increases
the labour which has to be expended
in tillage and cleaning operations.

Other more or less minor disadvantages
are peculiar to special kinds of weeds.
Climbing weeds may overrun a crop
and bear it to the ground, or they may
choke the individual plants by the
tightness of their coils. The seeds of
certain weeds may contaminate the
crop of grain or other valuable seed,
and cause a marked deterioration in
its market price. Other weeds are
poisonous to stock, whilst others, again,
may habour insect pests and parasitic
fungi, which sooner or later find their
way to the cultivated crops.

Many of the worst weeds of any given
district will be found to have been intro-
duced into it from some other district or
country. Thus, many of the corn-field
weeds of England have been introduced
at different times from Eastern Europe,

*

In spite of the many excellent means of

distribution which Nature provides for
the dissemination of seeds and other
reproductive parts of plants, it is usually
found that the majority of the least
desirable weeds of any country have
been introduced through human agency,
either accidentally mixed with the seeds
of useful economic plants or other com-

mercial produce, or in many cases deli- |

berately, owing to some beauty of the
plant having been recognized, but not
its harmful tendeucy to spread where it
was not wanted.

Natural means of dispersal suffice,
however, to transport the seeds of
innumerable weeds over considerable
distances. Whenever forest land is
cleared the weeds of the surrounding
country soon begin to appear upon i
and, if unchecked, may take complete
possession of the cleared soil until it
becomes impossible to grow any crop
without an enormous expenditure on
weeding. The principal non-human
agencies for the dispersal of seeds are
two: the wind and wandering animals.
A great number of beautiful contri-
vances are to be found in Nature adapt-
ing seeds to travel by one or other of
these means of conveyance, and for a
description of these I must refer my
hearers to the work of Darwin and other
writers. The practical conclusion is that
no more land should be cleared at one
time than can be taken into immediate
cultivation. The cost of weeding begun
as soon as the ‘‘burn-off” is completed
isan insignificant item compared with
the cost of eradicating weeds when they
are once firmly established. For the
seeds which come from a distance are
few and scattered, and of many which
set out upon their journey few travel
over long distances. The majority of
even the strongest winged seeds fall to
the ground close to their starting point.
Cleared jungle land is practically free of
the seeds of weeds, and the compara-
tively few casual arrivals can easily be
destroyed before their own seeds ripen.
But once the first colonists are permitted
to set seeds themselves, their progeny
springs up in constantly increasing
numbers until the whole available space
is occupied.

The first principle in destroying weeds
is therefore to attack them before they
have had time to ripenseed. If theseeds
which fall ata given timeall germinated
at once, it would be easy to extermin-
ate any weed which is solely seed-pro-

pagated ina comparatively short space —

of time. Unfortunately the seeds do not
all germinate at once; many lie
dormant for varying periods, so that

[FeBruARy, 1910,

4
‘tq

FEBRUARY, —

germination takes place at irregular
intervals, producing a succession of
weeds, which must be _ repeatedly
destroyed before the time of flowering,
if the weeding is to be permanently
successful. The process of examin-
ation can be accelerated to a certain
extent by tillage, which leads to the
immediate germination ofa large pro-
portion of seeds, and must be followed
as before by repeated weeding.

Weeds which have other methods of
reproduction besides that of seeding are
even more difficult to deal with. Many
weeds of the worst class are perennial.
The well-known Lalang, or illuk grass
(Imperata arundinacea), for example,
has strong underground root stocks,
which extend far and wide in the soil.
Small pieces broken from the creeping
rhizomes by ploughs or other implements
are often spread abroad in the land, and
may grow into individuals as strong as
the original plants from which they were
derived. The attempt to dig out the
illuk, unless carried out with the most
extreme thoroughness, may therefore
merely lead to an increase of the
nuisance,

Continual mowing down and removal
of the green parts of a plant of this
kind will tend to weaken it materially,
although illuk itself is very resistant to
such treatment. Nevertheless, repeated
pulling up of the shoots.as fast as they
appear must necessarily result in the
exhaustion of the stored food, and
effectually prevents the manufacture of
more, since itis in the leaves that the

_ production of food takes place.

Land infected with illuk, which is
not required for immediate cropping,
can most easily be dealt with by growing
some other plant which is able success-
fully to compete withit. Sucha plant
isthe common climbing weed Micania
scandens, which, however, ceases to be a
weed in this connection whilst it is being
employed for a useful purpose. Several
other climbing plants can be used ina
similar manner, their only necessary
qualification being that they should
themselves be easy to exterminate when
the battle with the illuk has ended in
their favour. In some cases at least
these creeping plants are able to destroy
the illuk grass by climbing over it and
weighing itdown to the ground with
amass of heavy green foilage, which
cuts off the illuk from air and light and
leads tothe final extermination of the
more virulent weed, The creepers
themselves are afterwards comparative-
ly readily amenable to the ordinary
operations of |weeding.

165

Miscellaneous.

Another weed which is found parti-
cularly difficult to exterminate is the
Oxalis, which infests some up-country
tea estates. Apparently this weed does
not at present affect the yields of the
tea bushes very greatly, but there can
be no doubt that it removes, temporarily
at least, a large proportion of the
manure intended for the tea. The
Oxalis is propagated by vast numbers of
minute bulbils, which, on account of
their earthy colour and minute size, are
quite impossible to extract completely
by the most careful hand weeding. The
policy of smothering by a vigorous creep-
ing plant is not applicable on a tea
estate, as the tea would be smothered as
well as the weeds, and would probably
fare worse than the Oxalis, which is
itself a shade-loving plant. The only
method I have heard of which is found
to be at all effective is to dig out the
plant, root and all, with the earth
intact, and burn plant and earth to-
gether. But this isa method which can
obviously only be applied when the
weed is confined to a small area.

I do not know whether the experiment
has been made of attempting to choke
out the Oxalis by growing some such
plant as Crotalaria amongst the tea.
Since the mulch of Crotalaria leaves and
stems obtained in this way by cutting
before the time of flowering is known to
be of the utmost benefit to the tea,
there could be no harm in making the
attempt, although it is impossible to say
whether the Oxalis would be exter-
minated or only benefited like the tea
by the additional supply of nitrogen.

In setting one weed to kill another
in this way considerable discretion is
required in order that the remedy may
not turn out to be worse than the
disease. Thus, the suggestion was made
some .time ago to introduce Tithonia
diversijolia—the common yellow sun-
flower of our roadsides and _ railway
embankments—into some parts of South-
ern India. The suggestion wasmade by
a forest officer, who had heardfrom a
high authority that this plant was a most
effective agent for exterminating lan-
tana. Now, this happens to be perfectly
true; but I have never heard of any
agent which will in its turn effectively
exterminate the sunflower when it is
once established. And I would here
point out that the climber Micania
scandens, alluded to a little time ago, is
itself a troublesome weed in many
instances, and should never be intro-
duced except for the express purpose of

4

destroying a worse weed such as_ illuk.
Indeed, there is no royal road to
the eradication of weeds, We are

<9 4 mt ge rl Es LO Ra, ets pe > * t+."

: so EN Be) Peel es A ee ee a eee
Miscellaneous. : 166 : [Fepruary, 191¢
constantly being asked to recommend Afterall, prevention is better than

some less laborious process than hand
weeding, which will prove equally
effective, but it is very seldom that such
a recommendation can be made. The
method of spraying with some poison,
such as sodium arsenite, seems to be
effective with some kinds of weed, but
it leaves others almost untouched, and
it must be repeated over and over again
as more seeds germinate or as fresh
shoots arise from the buried portions of
the plants. The great objection to all
such methods is that the poison from
the spray isvery liable to fall alike upon
the cultivated plant and upon the weed,
and the successful manipulation implies
an amount of skill, which, combined
with the original cost of the necessary
apparatus, makes it very doubtful
whether the method can compete
successfully with the ordinary mechan-
ical operations.

On level ground a great deal can be
done with the ordinary machinery of
cultivation—ploughs and harrows_ of
various kinds—and this fact is at last
beginning to be recognized in several
parts of Ceylon. We have found on the
Goveinment Hxperiment Stations that
by the use of modern machinery an
amount of labour can be saved, which
very soon pays for the first cost of the
necessary apparatus. A good plough
which turns the soil completely over so
as to bury the weeds at a depth of a
few inches causes the immediate destruc-
tion of innumerable plants. A large
proportion of the weeds so buried are
completely stifled and are unable to
maketheir way again to the surface.

On soil which has been already
loosened by ploughing we find the
disc harrow an invaluable implement,
although its use is more limited than
that of the plough, inasmuch as it can
only be used when the soil is compara-
tively dry. The disc harrow, therefore,
cannot be used in moist paddy fields,
whereas the plough works’ best in
comparatively moist soil. This imple-
ment churns up the whole surface of the
ground to adepth of two or three inches,
and asit works very rapidly, covering
threeor four acresina day, it can be
sent over the ground again and again,
destroying each crop of weeds as fast
asitarises. We have also other imple-
ments adapted for working between the
rows of standing cotton and other crops,
and although some of these may appear
complicated at first sight, there can be
no doubt that they have a very marked
effect in the direction of saving labour

weeding. :

cure. Let me quote the words of Dr.
A. J. Ewart, writing upon the subject
of the weeds of Victoria :—‘‘ It is not too
much to say that no new plant should
be introduced to ‘this State, and not
even in a private garden, if there is any
chance of its spreading, unless an official
report upon its capacities for good and
evil has been obtained, and unless the
reportis a favourable one. Although
the annual loss due to weeds is difficult
to estimate, owing to its generalized
and diffuse character, there can be no
doubt that if suitable regulations had
been in force fifty years ago, the country
would now be saved an annual loss of
several hundred thousand pounds.”
Australia is well known to bea country
particularly susceptible to the rapid
spread of introduced weeds, and legis-
lation now exists directed against more
than 100 varieties of these pests, as com-
pared with a single ‘‘ proclaimed plant”
in Ceylon—the water hyacinth. Never-
theless, our own list of undesirable
aliens is not a short one, and a com-
paratively small amount of misdirected
energy would suffice to lengthen it
materially. I need only mention as
examples :—

Lantana aculeata, introduced as an
ornamental plant soon after 1824; the
Tithonia diversifolia, or wild sunflower,
which was only introduced as a garden
plant as recently as 1851, and probably,
I am afraid, spread from Peradeniya;
Mimosa pudica, the sensitive plant, also
introduced from America; and the
Oxalis already alluded to, which is
originally a native of the United States.
Happily the inhabitants of Ceylon are
becoming cautious of casual acquaint-
ances from the outside world of plants,

oe

“

and I have not heard of the recent intro- ~

duction of any serious pest in spite of
our freedom from special legislation.

There has recently been some discus-
sion in the local press us regards the
uses of weeds. As have already
pointed out, it would simplify matters
a good deal if the term ‘‘ weed” were
confined to plants when and where they
areuseless, or at least where the dis-
advantages of their presence outweigh
the advantages; and if the rule were
made to apply some other term to plants
which are grown or allowed to grow for
a specific purpose.

Plants which are weeds under certain
circumstances, may under other circum-
stances have the following recognised
uses :— f

1. The use as nitrogenous plants grown ~

for the purpose of enriching
this most important element.

~

the soil in

- Faprvary, 1910)

2. As cover plants grown to shade the
soil and to enrich it with added humus,
but not necessarily with nitrogen.

8. Plants” grown on steep slopes in
order to check wash.

4. Shade plants and wind breaks.

5. Sand binding plants, which prevent
the spread of shifting sands,

6. Climbing plants grown for the pur-
pose of smothering particular weeds.
_ <Any one of these six headings might

easily form the topic of a separate paper
much longer than the one which I have
now had the honour of reading -to you.
But I wishit to be clearly understood
thatin speaking of weeds I have intended
to exclude all plants which are used
for any of these perfectly legitimate
purposes.

PLANT BREEDING.
(From the Hawatian Forester and Agri-
culturist, Vol. VI., No. 7, July, 1909.)

It is not improbable that the depart:
ment of agricultural science which wil
most benefit the human race in_ future
years is that of plant breeding. Hitherto
but little has been achieved by the
scientific plant breeder, that is, little in
comparison with the boundless store of
varieties of plants suited to fulfil peculiar
economic conditions which, it is pre-
dicted, will be evolved by the operations
of principles which are now becoming to
be understood and successfully applied.
It is true that our cultivated varieties of
fruits, flowers and grains have been
produced from elementary ancestors of
little resemblance to their luxuriant
descendants, but the process of evolution
has been achieved only after great
duration of time and often under
methods whose true scientific principles
were little understood. At first primitive
man gathered from their native habitat
the few uninviting roots and seeds with
which he appeased hishunger. The first
step towards. improvement of such food
plants took place when in order to save
the labour of gathering, he planted them
near his home and aided their develop-
mént by working the soil and discovered
the beneficial use of fertilizer. Then
commenced a long and slow period of
advancement. By selection of the more
promising plants as parents for the new
crop, the hard woody qualities of the
primitive ancestors of our veget-
ables developed into the soft and succu-
lent varieties of our garden crops. The
hard and acrid berries of the vine and
tree mellowed into the generous and
luscious grape, apple and peach.

Allthis, however, necessitated many
centuries of laborious work, and many
of the advances taken were no doubt
unconscious, At length in China and

167 Miscellaneous.

ancient Rome the breeding of plants
came to be looked upon as a regular pro-
fession, and to these countries and to the
members of the monastic houses of the
middle ages are to be attributed many of
the most direct advances in plant pro-
duction. It is only now, however, that
the principles lying atthe basis of the
improvement of plant stocks are begin-
ning to be applied, and that scientific
agriculturists are consciously breeding
plants tor specific purposes. Given
time, and that a not too distant date,
the modern plant breeder will produce
types. of plants to resist particular
fungus and insect pests; he will evolve
varieties of economic plants to flourish
in climatic conditions now considered
impossible for their existence; he will
multiply their production three-fold;
and finally by combination he will
produce new breeds of plants of entirely
new type.

At is tobe considered that hitherto
the development of our present economic
plants has been confined almost exclu-
sively to the flora of temperate zones.
When the principles of scientific breed-
ing have applied forsome generations
to our luxuriant tropical species, the
great future for this new department
of science can be partly appreciated.
For this purpose Honolulu is parti-
cularly well situated and is fortunate in
the presence here of scientists who are
not only versed in the new methods of
development, but hasalready made head-
way in their operation. Among the
work already in progress may be men-
tioned the preduction of anew rice and
anew cotton specially adapted to our
peculiar needs, and the development of
a variety of the papaia possessing suffi-
ciently toughened skin to withstand the
long transit to the mainland market.

Correspondence.

PASPALUM DILATATUM IN THE
NORTH.

Nallur House,
Jaffna, 22nd January, 1910.

DEAR SirR,—I am growing the grass
called Paspalum dilatatum on a piece
of land 2 lachams (4 of an acre) in
extent adjoining my house. It is in
a fair condition, though the watering
was notregular. But this grass does
not grow as high as the Guinea grass.

In my opinion it will grow well if
sufficient attention is paid to regular
watering in dry places like Jaffna. The
leaves or rather the blades are not so
rough as those of the Guinea grass.

Yours faithfully,
M. ASAIPILLAI,

168

MARKET RATES FOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS.
(From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current, London, 19th January, 1910.)

— 7.

ALOES, Socotrine cwt.
Zanzibar & Hepatic. ,,
ARROWHOOT (Natal) Jb.
BEES’ WAX, ewt.

Zanzibar Yellow ,,
Bombay bleached ,,

is unbleached ,,
Madagascar .
CAMPHOR, Japan
China es
CARDAMOMS, Tuticorin

”

Tellicherry

Mangalore ,,

Ceylon.— Mysore 45
Malabar...

Seeds, E.I, & Ceylon ,,
Ceylon Long Wild ,,
CASTOR OIL, Calcutta,,
CHILLIES, Zanzibar cwt.
SINCHONA BARK.—Ib.

QUOTATIONS

QUALITY, QUOTATIONS. QUALITY.

Bacaevan pa aee INDIARUBBER.(Contd.

Cominion to good an aos A 703 Borneo ; Comman tegen Is 8da 28 10d

Fairsto fine eda 7d Java Good to finered _ ../28 6da 8s 9d
Penang eae puiita 18 a redj2s a3 ae

Slichtly dr to fair ../e Mozambique fair to fine red ball _ ,,./4s 9d a 53

ee Geacd Ou BLL, i is ine rae Sausage, fair to good ../4s4d a 4s 10d

Dark to good genuine ../e51(sa £6 7s6d) Nyassaland Fair to fine ball .;1,|888d a 4s 4d

Dark to gcod palish |$610s a £6158 Madagascar Fr to fine pinky & white/3s 2d a 3s 9d

Retined

Fair average quality
Gocd to fine bold
Middling lean

Good to fine bold
Brownish =
Med brown to fair bold
Smull fair to fine plump
Fair to good
Fair to good
Shelly to good

Js 61d a ls 73d
136s

2s a 2s bd

1s 9d a 1s 10d

-/28. a 2s 8d

ls 6d als 9d
is 10d a 2s 8d
is4da 2s 11d
is 4da 1s 6d
1s 7dals&d

-[6d a 1s9d

34d a 33d
35s a 4s

Ceylon

CINNAMON,Ceylon lett
per lb, 2uds
ards
4ths
Chips, &c¢..
CLOVES, Penang Ib
Amboyna at

Ceylon
Zanzibar

Stems

COFFEE :
Z Ceylon Plantation cwt.
Native
Liberian fs
COCOA, Ceylon Plant. ,,

Native Estate “A

Java and Cele es as

COLOMBO KOOT as
CROTON SEEDS, sift. cwt.

CUBEBS 5 ? CaN
\GhR, Bengal, 3
on Calicut, cut A,,

Cochin Rough ,,

Japan »
-@UM AMMONIACUM ,,
ANIMI, Zanzibar

Madagascar

APABIC E.Y. & Aden
Turkey sorts
Ghatti
Kurracbee
Madras

ASSAFQTIDA

KINO

MYRRH, Aden sorts cwt
Somali

OLIBAN UM, drop

pickings
siftings
{INDIA RUEBLK

”

”
a»

Ib.

Ceylon, Straits,
Malay Straits, ete.

Assam
Rangoon

Good 2nds tro

Dull to tine bright aes

Crown, Renewed
Org. Stem

Red Org. Stem
Renewed
Root

Good to fine quill
yD LE]

vy

Fair to fine bold

»

-|Dull to fine bright pkd.

Dull to fine

—~— 9 ” e
Fair and fine bright

-|Pair

Medium to Bold

Good ordinary

Fair to bold

Special Marks

Red to good

Ordinary to red

Small to good red

Middling to good

Dull to fair

Ord. stalky to good

Fair

Swall-to fine bold

Small and medium

Common to fine bold

Small and D’s

Unsplit

Sm. blocky to fair clean

Pale and amber, str. srts.

SH ‘3 little red

Bean and Pea size ditto

cir to good red sorts

Med. & bold glassy sorts

Fair to good palish
» , red Pee

Ordinary to good pale

Sorts to fine pale.
Reddish to good pale ...
Dark to fine pale
Clean fr. to gd. almonds
con. stony to gocd block
Fair to tine bright

Middling to good

yy ”
Good to fine white
Middling to fair
Low to good pale
Slightly foul to fine

Fine Para bis. & sheets

” Ceara ” ”

Crepe ordinary to fine. .

Line block
Scrap fair to fine
Plantation

Fair Il to ord. red No. 1

..\Gs 6d a 6s 9d

38d a 7d
2d a 6d
13d a 44d
3d a bid
lgda 4d
l0dals 4a
9d a Is 2a
734d a 114d
63d a 94a
22d a 34d
ld 5sa Is 6d
8ida od
83da 9d
48d a 5d
13d

65d a 100s
nominal

48s a 55s

60s a 70s

638s a 59s

37s 6s a 52s 6d
30s a 85s
15sal7s 6d
47s 6d a 50s
80s a 90s,
35s nom,

60s a 853

52s a 60s

423 @ 44s

403

398

25s a 60s

£16 a £18 5s
£13 a £15
758 a £14 2s 6d
£9a £13 1(s
£6 58a £8 108

«£4 a £8 15s

£4a £7 10s
25s a 32s 6d nom.
3s a47s 6d

120s a 42s 6d nom

20s a 380s

”

-|15s a 25s

£9 103 a £10 5s
158 a £8

6d a 9d

60s a 70s

55s a 60s

40s a 60s

25s a 35s °
6s 6d a17s 6d
13s a 15s

is 103d

is 6d

78 1¢d a 7s 113d
33 Td

4s6aa5s

4sa4s 6d
38s a 3s6éd

|

New Guinea
INDIGO, EI. Bengal

MACE, Bombay & Penang
per Ib.
Java
Bombay
MYRABOLANES, — cwt
Bombay iG
Bengal ”
NUTMEGS—

Bombay & Penang of

NUTS, ARECA ewt.
NUX VOMICA, Cochin

per cwt. Bengal

Madras

OIL OF ANISEED ,,
CASSIA

LEMONGRASS
NUTMEG
CINNAMON
CITRON ELLE 1
ORCHELLA WEED—cwt
Ceylon 5
Madagascar of
PEPPER-— (Black) Ib.
Alleppee & Tellicherry
Ceylon
Singapore ee
Acheen & W. C. Penan,
(White) Singapore ,,
Siam yp
nang ‘

Pe
PLUMBAGO, lump cwt.

.

SAGO, Pearl, large a
medium
small eee

ewt
Ib.

SEEDLAC
SENNA, Tinnevelly

SHELLS, M. o’ PEARL—

Egyptian cwt. Smalltobold ..
Bombay m9 ” .* 183 a.127s 6d
Mergui a ary ” eee .-|£310s a £9 5s
Manilla ,, |Fair to good --|£610s a £10 15s
Banda », sorts .. +. |258 42308 nom:
TAMARINDS, Calcutta... Mid.to fine bI’k not stony/11s a 12s
per cwt. Madras |Stony and inferior --/48 a 58
TORLOISESH ELL— 5
Zanzibar, & Bombay lb. Small to bold »-jlls €da3is
Fickings «178 a~178
TURMERIC, Bengal cwt.|Fair 2 ‘ . |17s 68
Sadras ,, |Finger fair to tne bold|17s a 18s
Do. __,, |Bulbs [bright}14s a 153
Cochin —,, |Finger ~ .. 15s
Bulbs i .. {13g €d -
VANILLOES— Ib.
Mauritius ,. Ists|Gd crystallized 3} a84 in|12s a 12s
Madagascar ,,, } 2nds|Foxy & reddish 34a ,,|1lsa 18s 2
Seychelles... 3rds|Lean and inferior » lisa lls 6d
VERMILLION >. Fine, pure, bright .. 88 8d cat
WAX, Jayan, squares (Good white hard w., Ads i

Majunga & blk coated ../2s 6d a 2s 10d
Niggers, low to good ../ls 6d a 2s 6d
Ordinary to fine ball ../332da4s2dnom
Shipping mid to gd violet|2s 10d a 8s 8d
Consuming mid. to gd,/2s 6d a 2s 10d
Ordinary. to middling |2s 2d a 235d
Oudes Middélingto fine |2s6d a 2/8 nom.

Mid. to good Kurpah [2s 2d a 2s 6d
Low to ordinary ls 6d a 2s
Mid.to fine Madras j|ls5da2s 4d
Pale reddish to fine jlsllda 2s 4d
Ordinary to fair Is 8d als 10d
rn », good pale |ls 7d a 2s
Wild 4d a 5d
UG and Coconada 5S a 686d
Jubblepore 4s9d a 53 103d
|Bhimlies 4s 9d a 6s 3d
Rhajpore, &c. 4s6da5s 3d
Calcutta 5sa5s 6d
64’s to 57’s 1s 3d a 1s 6d
110’s to 65’s 43d als 2d
160’s to 115’s 4d a 43d
Ordinary to fair fresh |15s 217s 6d
Ordinary to good 9s a lls 6d
” " He ae éd
” ”
Fair merchantable 48 6d =
According to analysis /3s 6d a 3s 10d
Good flavour & colour |2d a 24d
Diugy to white 134 a lid
Ordinary to fair sweet |23da1s
Bright & good flavour [1s
Mid. to fine not woody...|83 a 103
Fair + (83
Fair » Bad
,, to fine bold heavy ..|3#d a 43d
“ Aan ves aaen| Stal
Dull to fine « =o BSA aA 33d
Fair to fine es --\7da 8d
‘air a oo » |7d
Fair 4 6jd

Fair to fine bright bold
Middling to good small
Dull to fine bright
Ordinary to fine bright

Dull to fine .. - 16s 6da 18s
i 7 15s a 16s
Py: 14s a 15s
_|Ordinary to gd. soluble |503 a 65s)

Good to fine bold green|4id a7d
Fair greenish 34d a 44d
Commonspeckyand small|13d a 234

28s a 127/6nom. -

4

=

THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE

Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the 6. A. 8.

CompiLtep By A. M. & J. FERGUSON.

No. 2,]

FEBRUARY, 1910.

[Vor. VI.

MOISTURE IN COPRA.

I.
Moisture gives rise to deterioration in many

commodities produced in India, and we have
repeatedly drawn attention to the importance
of improved methods of drying, The deterio-
ration results from the fact that various chemical
and bacterial changes take place in the presence
of moisture. These induce either direct con-
sumption or conversion of valuable constituents,
or injury through the development of heat, or
such defects as an undesirable colour, smell or
taste. It may probably be said that the com-
monest agents in such accidents are moulds
and bacteria, though it was seen from Mr
Lefroy’s interesting paper (published in our*)
issue of the 18th November that the destruction
of wheat by weevil is dependent on moisture and
may be controlled by its elimination. One of the
commodities most sensitive to action by micro-
organisms is copra. This is due to the presence
in it of constituents on which moulds and bac-
teria feed ; but moisture must also be present in
a certain measure before these forms of life can
germinate. When these conditions exist and
organisms appear, the copra deteriorates both
through the destruction of the oil proteids and
carbo-hydrates and through the establishment
of bad colour, taste and smell. The copra
industry is one associated in India mainly with
the coast line and the banks of great waterways.
In these regions the air is commonly moist,
so that drying is relatively slow. During the
rainy season drying is impracticable in the open
and the trade is entirely arrested. At other
seasons when storms, showers or heavy dews
are experienced, it is retarded and the product
is apt to be deficient both in quality and in
content of oil, sugars and albumen.

The Philippine Journal of Science for February
15th, 1906, contained a useful paper on the
Keeping Qualities and the Causes of Rancidity in

* Indian Trade‘Journal.—A, M. & J. F,
22

Coconut Oil, The experiments described inclu-
ded a number with copra; and theauthor said :—

“The most important fact brought out by this work is
that by far the greatest deterioration which an oil under-
goes takes place in the copra itself. After an oil has
been expressed from the dried meat, its change on
standing is very slight compared with that which is
found in the same time while itis in copra. No great
amount of rancidity was developed in any case until signs
of mould or bacterial growth were visible on the surface of
the copra. From this it would seem very probable that
the splitting up of fat and the accompanying rancidity
produced in copra are in a large measure due to the action
of micro-organisms which have an excellent culture medium
inthe sugar, albuminoids and water which exist together
with the oil in coconut meat.”

The author proceeds to quote other autho-
rities who have shown that cotton-seed meal
containing a sufficient amount of water is at-
tacked by moulds and bacteria and that the oil
therein is, on long standing, almost completely
destroyed. He then details the sets of experi-
ments made with copra (a) when inoculated
with a solution from an old mouldy sample and
(6) when left exposed to attack by such micro-
organisms as might be present in the atmos-
phere. It was seen that the two sets of speci-
mens behaved very much alike. The period of
experiment was only fourteen days and the
actual loss of oil was, therefore, in no case great
but, asthe author says, ‘‘it waa sufficiently
marked to show that it also chiefly took place
in those tubes which contained a growth of
mould ; the loss of substances other than oil, on
the contrary, was considerably less where the
mould was most vigorous,” ‘The large loss
in substances other than oil (sugars, albumi-
noids, etc.,) was confined to those tubes in which
bacteria predominated—that is, those contain-
ing more than 16°67 per cent of moisture—indi-
cating that bacteria obtain their carbon and
hydrogen chiefly from the sugars, albuminoids
and cellulose which are present in copra, while
moulds directly attack the oil.”

‘“The most important point to be considered
from a practical point of view is,” according to
the author, ‘that copra containing as little as
9 per cent of moisture is still attacked by moulds

cocces

170

with the consequent production of free acid
and colouring matter as well as loss in weight
of oil. Unfortunately the copra produced in
the Philippine Islands ordinarily contains from
9 to 12 per cent of water, a condition which is
the most favourable for mould growth and for
the deterioration of the oil. The remedy for
this is obvious. A more complete drying to re-
duce the water content to 5 per cent or less will
produce a copra which is unattacked by orga-
nisms. Such a product, kept dry, will remain
fresh and sweetfor along time. In a previous
part of this paper I have shown that copra, once
sufficiently dried, may be kept during the dry
season in Manila without any change what-
soever ; but recent experiments prove this
not to be the case during the rainy one, even
with anhydrous copra.” These experiments,
as described by the author, showed that
copra entirely free of water could in one
month of the rainy season acquire sufficient
moisture to develop moulds after the con-
taining vessel had been closed, while an-
other sample which remained exposed to the
atmosphere for two months changed less.
As regards India it does not appear that
any complete analysis has been made for
the. purpose of determining the percentage
of woisture in purely Indian copra, but
it is believed to be about 6 per cent. But
to return to the Philippines. We quote also
the conclusion on this point arrived at by the
same investigator after further experiments
which were recorded in the same Journal
for 1908 :—

““The results given above, when applied to the ques-
tion of the diminution in value of commercial copra,
would render it certain that such copra, if mouldy, has
suffered a loss in total oil, of course not in all probabi-
lity as great as I noticed in some cases (19°9 per cent),
for my copras were placed under the most favourable
conditions for the maximum of mould action; but, never-
theless, this change must amount to a sufficient quan-
tity to be considered in the purchase of copra which
has suffered from the action of moulds.

“Such material undoubtedly cannot give as good a
yield of oil as others which have been carefully dried
and preserved. However, another factor must also be
considered. Poorly dried and preserved copras, if a
sufficient quantity of water (above 15 per cent) is _pre-
sent, suffer from bacterial and not from mould action ;
in which event no diminution of oil would be observed,
but, nevertheless, bacteria so disintegrate and change
the copra that a slimy, soft mass, difficult to work so
as to procure pure oil reasonably free from acid, results.
A bad odour also frequently accompanies such copras.”

It is thus evident that thorough drying is
of crucial importance in the production of
copra. The author of the paper from which
we have quoted conducted a series of experi-
ments in several methods of drying, and we
propose to review his results in our next issue.
—Indian Trade Journal, Dec. 23.

II.

Since the quick and through drying of copra
has been shown in the last issue of the Indian
Trade Journal to be of such vital importance in
order to insure the production of a pure oil, the
results of an investigation made in the Philip-
pines of various methods of copra drying may
prove of interest. The simplest mode of drying
copra is to expose the nuts, cut in halves, to the
action of the sun during about five days. This
method, although slow, produces a very fair

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

quality of copra. However, a sudden rainstorm
ora succession of cloudy days is sufficient to
start mould and bacterial growth, with the con-
sequent deterioration of the copra. Considerable
loss, due to the attacks of insects and animals,
is also suffered during the long period of drying,
and the finished product very seldom contains
less than 9 per cent of moisture.

A much quicker method is the one carried out
by laying the half nuts, face downward, ona
bamboo grating placed over a slow fire of coco-
nut husks, After being dried in this manner
over night, the nuts are removed from their shells
and are then again placed over the fire, where
they are allowed to remain for from four to five
hours longer. This process, although it is cheap
and comparatively rapid, has the disadvantage
of yielding a dark-coloured product which has a
smoke-like taste and odour, and it also tends to
form a hard, burnt coating over the surface of
the nut while the inside is left ina compara-
tively moist state. Commercial copra, prepared
in this way, contains from 9 to 13 per cent of
moisture,

The hot-air method of desiccation has
been used successfully for a long time in the
preparation of coftee, cocoa, ane fruits, etc.,
and is at present in quite extensive use for

THE MAKING OF COPRA IN CEYLON,

where it is said to give a very pure,
coloured product. The type of apparatus used
in that island essentially consists of a large
chamber filled with wire trays upon which the
coconuts are placed and over which a current of
hot air, driven by a fan, is passed. In Trinidad,
there is now in operation a rotary hot-air drier
which, it is stated, is better than any other
apparatus now in use,

For the purpose of testing the efficiency of
the stationary form of hot-air drier, a double-
walled, rectangular galvanized-iron box, having
an internal capacity of about 0°2 cubic metre
was constructed. Three galvanized-iron trays,
perforated at one end, were set in this box in
such a manner that the stream of hot air, enter-
ing through a 20-centimetre pipe at the bottom,
was compelled to pass over each in turn before
escaping atthe top of the apparatus. A con-
stant current of air was obtained by means of
a small electric fan which was connected with a
section of 15-centimetre pipe, so arranged that
it could be heated by a small kerosene stove to
any desired temperature. The apparatus had
a maximum capacity of 24 nuts split in halves, or
12 nuts when shredded. In the first experiment
four nuts were split in halves and placed on the
bottom tray. The temperature of entering air
was 56°C, and of escaping air 51°C, The time
of drying was 20 hours. The copra dried at this
comparatively low temperature was very white
and of the best quality. A sample of oil ex-
pressed from it contained 0°08 per cent free acid,

In the second experiment the meat from
twelve nuts was shredded by hand and treated
for one day in the same manner as in the pre-
ceding experiment; it was then allowed to stand
at room temperature over night and completely
dried on the following day. The substance in
the bottom tray naturally desiccated much more

light-

me

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Feb., 1910.

rapidly than in the other two; therefore, as soon
as one tray was completely dry, it was removed
and replaced by the one just above it. The tem-
perature of the entering air was 56°C, and of
the escaping air 50°C. The actual time of dry-
ing was: Top tray, 143 hours; middle tray, 123
hours; and bottom tray, 93 hours. The less
completely dried copra in the two upper trays
became slightly ‘‘soured” while standing over
night. This caused a slight increase in free acid
as follows:—Top tray, 0°32, middle tray, 0°15
and bottom tray, 0°13 per cent of free fatty acid.

In the third experiment the meat from four
nuts was shredded and placed in the bottom
tray, being stirred every half-hour, The tem-
perature of entering air was 93°C. and of esca-
ping air 74°C. The time of drying, 3} hours.
The copra thus produced was thoroughly dry,
very white, and pleasant to the taste. The oil
expressed from it contained only 0°06 per cent
free fatty acid.

A fourth experiment was undertaken in an
endeavour to ascertain the approximate time
required completely to dry the fresh meat, in-
troducing it at the top of the apparatus and
shifting it gradually toward the bottom. Four
trays, each containing the freshly grated meat
of four coconuts, were prepared, and three of
these were placed in the drier simultaneously,
tray No. 1 being at the bottom. After the latter
had become sufficiently dry, it was removed
from the apparatus and tray No. 2 moved down
to take its place ; this was next replaced by No,
3, and finally in the same manner by the moist
sample No. 4. The temperature of the entering
air was 95°C. and of the escaping air 70°C. The
actual time of drying was: No. 1. 44 hours; No. 2,
54 hours; No. 3, 6% hours; and No. 4, 4 hours,

In another experiment with a rotary drier a
section of galvanized-iron pipe, 20 centimetres
in diameter by 6 metres long, was set up on
wheels and connected with a small eiectric
motor so that it could be made to revolve at any
desired speed. The same current of hot air which
was previously used for the stationary drier was
connected with this apparatus. Four strips of
angle iron, extending throughout the length of
the pipe, served to

KEEP THE MOIST COPRA IN CONSTANT

DURING THE TIME OF DRYING.
It was found the grated meat from four nuts
could by careful manipulation be dried in about
2 hours so as not to contain more than 6 per cent
of moisture. The only objection to this method
consists in the difficulty of regulating the speed
with which the ground meat passes from one
end of the apparatus to the other. When per-
fected, this method should prove the ideal one
for drying coconut meat for o1l-making purposes.

In several vacuum drying experiments the
apparatus used wasa small, barrel-shaped iron
chamber, about 34 centimetres in diameter and
in length, insulated with asbestos and heated
by three hollow steam plates upon which
the substance to be dried was placed. The
pump connected with this drier gave a vacuum
of about 660 millimetres (absolute pres-
sure of 100 millimetres.) In the first experi-
ment four coconuts (the maximum capacity
of the apparatus) were split in halves, after

MOTION

171

removing the outer husk, and kept in the
drier for three hours. The meat had then
contracted sufficiently to allow of its being
removed from the shell. During this time
the temperature had gradually risen from 30°
to 80°. The meat was then subjected to a
further drying during four hours, at the end
of which time, though not perfectly anhy-
drous, it was fully as dry as the ordinary
commercial article. The actual time of drying
was 7 hours; maximum temperature, 80° C. ;
vacuum, 635 willimetres ; steam pressure,
about 0°7 kilo per square centimetre (10 pounds).
Other vacuum experiments showed that under
the best conditions obtainable (temperature 85°
and vacuum 635 to 660 millimetres,) the mini-
mum time required for vacuum drying was five-
and-a-half hours. It should be borne in mind,
however, that the quality of the

COPRA PRODUCED BY THE HOT-AIR BOX DRIER
IS VERY MUCH SUPERIOR

to that yielded by any other method, since it is
perfectly white and dry, retaining the pleasant
odour and taste of fresh toconut meat. For oil-
making purposes the rotary apparatus, because
it lends itself to a continuous process and re-
quires considerably less time, recommends itself
especially, although its product does not pre-
sent quite so pleasing an appearance. Hither
of these two methods, on account of their cheap-
ness and simplicity, should be preferred to
vacuum drying.

Still another method of drying that has been
suggested is ‘‘Centrifugating.” This is to
EXTRACT THE MEAT FROM COCONUTS BY MEANS

OF A ROTARY BURR

and to run this product directly into a powerful
centrifugal, from which the greater part of the
water would be thrownoff at once, A compara-
tively short, supplementary drying by means of
hot air would then suffice to prepare copra for
expressing theoil. Another point in favour of
this method is that copra resulting therefrom,
having lost most of its sugar and albuminoids—
together with its water—in the process of centri-
fugation, would be able to withstand a higher
temperature while drying (with a resulting eco-
nomy of time) without showing the same ten-
dency to turn brown. Once dry, it could be
stored with Jess danger of deterioration through
mould action than material prepared by ordi-
nary methods. The objection may be raised that
during the centrifugation, a considerable amount
of oil—together with the water—would be thrown
off from the fresh meat, and that this would
either entirely be lost or would necessitate
much labour for its recovery. This, to a cer-
tain extent, is true, as the water in coconut
meat exists in the form of a cream-like em-
ulsion with oil, sugar, and albuminoids, A
sample of this ‘‘ coconut cream,” prepared
by expressing the fresh meat in a hand-press,
was, on analysis, found to have a specific gra-
vity of 1°012 at 30°C. and to consist of :—

Per cent,
Water is sis 56°3
Total solids. . ee as 43°7
Ash te ie By 1°2
Fat ee ah as 33"4
Proteid (N + 6:25) .. ae 41
Total sugar as invert sugar 50

172

The above results show that it approximates
in nutritive properties the composition of a rich,
natural cream ; it is very pleasant and sweet
to the taste, possesses an agreeable odour, and,
when sterilised and properly sealed, will remain
indefinitely ina fresh condition. Such a product
could be used as a substitute for all of the
purposes to which the so-called ‘‘ evaporated
creams,” now on the market, are put; and it
might prove to be one of the most valuable by-
products of the coconut-oil industry.

The experiments enumerated above are both
interesting and instructive, but itis to be re-
gretted that they did not include at least one
with air-dried, either by refrigeration or by con-
tact with a hygroscopic substance in an anhy-
drous state, seeing that this affords all the
advantages of drying at low temperatures while
eliminating those associated with the rarifi-
cation characteristic of vacuum drying.—IJndian
Trade Journal, Dec. 30.

COCONUT BLEEDING DISEASE.

Tue TREATMENT: CkYLON GOVERNMENT
Myconocist’s ADVICE.

In the present instance the decay of the stem
tissue is the direct effect of the attack of Thie-
laviopsis, a3 is proved by the inoculation ex-
periments and the success of the treatment
recommerded.... The

DISEASED PARTS OF THE COCONUT STEM MUST BE
COMPLETELY CUT OUT.

There is no difficulty in determining how much
must be cut out, since the decayed tissue con-
trasts strongly with the healthy parts; but many
people have expressed astonishment at the
amount which is revealed when once the stem
is cut open. Frequently a small black external
patch is the only indication of an internal col-
umn of diseased tissue 6 feet long. If any dis-
eased tissue is left behind, the disease will not
be stopped; therefore it is usually advisable,
in the case of long strands or cylinders of decay
in the heart of the tree, to cut out about an inch
or two of the sound tissue when the end of the
strand has apparently been reached, in order to
make quite certain that it does not continve as
a narrow thread and then widen out again above.
This is not so necessary on old trees where the
_ disease is confined to the cortex. It is probable
that in many native gardens the excision has
not been thorough. The estate owner is accus-
tomed to cut out ‘‘red beetle,” and _ there-
fore adopted this treatment for the bleeding
disease without much hesitation; but the native
is so decidedly averse to cutting his coconut
palms that the work may have been scamped in
many cases. It redounds greatly to the credit
of the inspectors that they have been able to
persuade the villagers to overcome their preju-
dice in this matter.

THE BEST INSTRUMENTS

are an ordinary l-inch chisel and a mallet. The
extent to which the treatment had been adopted
may be gauged from the fact that in Febrvary,
1908, it was impossible to buy either at one of
the leading shops in Colombo. In some cases
the cost of a chisel was said to be beyond the

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

means of the villagers, and these were therefore
lent to them. Several patent axes and gouges
were put on the market, but none of them sur-
passed the ordinary chisel in efficiency; usually
these cut out more than was necessary, and left
the cut surfaces so rough that water lodged all
over them, With a chisel the cut can be trim-
med off, and the lower edge of the wound cut
slanting upwards, so that the rain water drains
away. The

EXCISED DECAYED TISSUE MUST BE COLLECTED AND

BURNI AT ONCE.

Otherwise the fungus develops freely on it. This
advice was unfortunately omitted from the Sin-
halese translation of the first circular issued. In
ordinary estate practice a piece of sacking is
placed at the foot of the tree, and the chips fall
on this. This method saves trouble in collec-
ting, and secures that no pieces are left hidden
among the grass.
ONE CAUTION

is necesssary when cutting out diseased
tissue. On all coconut stems over twenty
years old numerous circular red spots about
5mm. diameter are seen when the outer tis-
sues arecut off. These occur upto a height
of 10 feet or more. They are not signs of
disease, but merely incipient roots, and, need-
less to say, they should not be cut out. If
holesin the coconut palm, especially in young
trees, are left unprotected, they soon

ATTRACT ‘‘RED BEETLE”;

this insect rapidly destroys the tree. More-
over, the soft inner tissues of the stem soon
decay when exposed to the action of sun and
rain. It is, therefore, necessary to protect the
tissues with as permanent a covering as possible
and for this purpose coal tar is undoubtedly
the best. Tar is universally used in other coun-
tries on pruning cuts and other stem wounds,
but its use in Ceylon has been discredited,
chiefly through misapprehension. In the early
days of ‘‘cacao canker” many people simply
painted tar over the diseased spots without
previously excising the infected tissue. It was
pointed out to them by the then Mycologist that
this practice did not remove the fungus, which
flourished unchecked beneath the coating of
tar ; and in order to secure the abandonment
of such a futile method, and at the same time
to enable planters to ascertain, whether the
cooly had cut away all the diseased tissue, the
use of tar was denounced rather forcibly. Asa
consequence, the idea has arisen that tar ought
not to be used in any case; whereas itis really
a most valuable means of protecting wounded
surfaces, and only requires to be applied intelli-
gently. In this respect the present treatment
of the coconut stem stands on exactly the

SAME FOOTING AS THE TREATMENT OF THE
CACAO SYSTEM.

There is no doubt that in some cases tar will
hide bad work, but the abuse of the method is
no justification for its wholesale condemnation.
However, although tar may be dispensed with in
treatment of cacao, it cannot in treatment of
the coconut, owing to the difference in structure
of the two stems. The former is able to heal
wounds by the formation of new wood and bark

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Feb., 1910.

over them; the latter has no power whatever
of healing wounds, and they must therefore
be protected to prevent weathering or fresh
infection, The wounds should be tarred im-—
mediately after cutting, if the attacks of
“red beetle” areto be avoided. To facilitate
this they should first of all be scorched or dried
with a torch of rags dipped in oil, This pro-
cess secures a better adhesion of the tar and at
the same time burns off any fragments of the
diseased tissue which may have been left. It is
not necessary to char the tissues; the main ob-
ject is to dry the surface. A rag wrapped for a
length of about two inches round the end of a
stick suffices for this, and gives a small manage-
able flame. The villager usually wants to use
a dry coconut leaf; but this gives a large flame,
which burns the surrounding healthy stem and
sets up bleeding which may be mistaken for the
stem disease, Kerosine is more manageable
than coconut oil and is cheaper. The use of
painters’ lamps was recommended for drying
the wounds in the case of large estates, but
this has not, to my knowledge, been adopted.
The tar is applied hot; this secures a pene-
tration to a depth of about 5 mm. in young
tissues. If the cutting has been insufficient,
the tree begins to bleed afresh, the liquid emer-
ging at the side of the old wound or through
thetar. In such cases the work must be done
again. In many instances small brittle globules
of resin appear on the tarred surface ; these have
no connection with the disease, and should not
be mistaken for renewed bleeding. When young
trees are treated, the tarred surface frequently
splits asthe tissues dry and contract ; and it is
then necessary to tar them a second time, pre-
ferably using cold tar. It would bea

WISE PRECAUTION TO TAR ALL WOUNDS TWICE

with an interval of about three weeks between
the applications ; cold tar would adhere quite
well to the dry surface on the second occasion,
and would form a thicker covering than hot tar,

Up tothe present this treatment has given
good results, Some young trees, which were
cut, but not tarred, have collapsed in a few
weeks through the attacks of red beetle; but
the danger of this seems to be small in old
trees. In many cases the trees have had to
be treated twice, but this is inevitable with
cooly labour; on one estate which has 3,327
trees diseased, 352 have had to be treated a
second time. Attacks of ‘‘ red beetle’’ are, on
the whole, rare, considering the number of
trees which have been treated ; tar appears
to keep off this insect. In one instance the
four-spotted coconut weevil bored through the
tarand honeycombed the underlying tissues,
even though these were saturated with tar
vils, but the excision of all the affected tissue,
together with the beetle larve, prevented
the destruction of the tree. One planter com-
plained that the wounds were attacked by wood.
peckers, but it is most probable that beetles
had obtained an entry previously. In order

TO PREVENT INFECTION OF YOUNG TREES,
spraying with Bordeaux mixture was recom-
mended. This was done on many estates, but
I have not been able to obtain details of the cost
ofthe operation, Sprayors wore used in one

178

instance, but in most cases it was found cheaper
to apply the mixture with a brush. Experiments
have shown thatthe spores of Thielaviopsis do
not germinate in a solution which contains more
than 0°06 per cent, of copper sulphate; spraying
with Bordeaux mixture will, therefore, prevent
infection, though the solution is not strong
enough to kill the spores. It was pointed out in
the local pressthat bazaar samplesof copper sul-
phate contained about 75 per cent of iron sul-
phate; Bordeaux mixture made with this is
black instead of bluish white, and is practically
worthless. In most cases the amount excised in
the eradication of the disease is so small that it
can have no effect on the future growth of the
tree. Where long wounds have been made in
young trees, the supply of water and food
materials from the rootsis interrupted, though
not to the extent it would be indicotyledonous
trees, because the wound follows the direction
of the vascular bundles, and though oblique,
hardly destroys more bundles than enter the
base of the diseased tissue. But since the
coconut is adaptec for existence on a small
supply of water and its vascular bundles are
very numerous, it may be doubted whether
this effect will be perceptible, because the extra
work thrown on the remaining bundles will
be small when divided among so many. It
has been prophesied that the stem will be-
come gradually thinner above the wound, but
I can see no reason why this should occur
under modern estate cultivation.

THE GREAT DANGER

is that the stem should be so weakened
by cutting that it breaks with the wind.
This is hardly likely to occur if the wound is
near the base, but an estimation of its proba-
bility in other cases requires an investigation
into the tensions of a coconut stem on bending
—a very interesting problem, but one which
cannot be entered into here. There is scarcely
any bending with the wind ina coconut stem
about twenty years old; after this the amount
increases with the height, the lower quarter or
third usually remaining immovable. ‘he theory
that the palm stem does not curve in a gale but
bends from the base from a position to a position
is quite erroneous in the case of the coconut; the
latter bends in a uniform curve, and the crown
sways like the bob of an inverted pendulum, the
motion of the stem being imperceptible in the
lower quarter or third according to the height
of the tree. The elongation of the stem with
age alters the bending moment at any point,
and therefore a wound which is not a source
of weakness at first may become such as the
tree grows older, quite independently of any
further decay at that point. Personally I have
only seen trees broken by the wind when the
stem was over 60 feet high, and the disease
occurred within the upper 10 feet; the number
of coconut palms uprooted by gales appears to
be far greater than the number broken.

Holes made when cutting out ‘“‘red beetle”
are often filled with lime; this serves at least to
prevent further beetle attacks. It has been sug-
gested thatthe holes made in carrying outthe
present treatment should similarly be filled
with cement or earth, but there does not ap-
pear to be any advantage in this practice, Iy

174

all the cases which I have seen the cement
has dried into a compact mass quite free
from the wood. Im such a condition it can-
not add anything to the strength of the tree;
and the rain water which lodges behind the
cement soon induces decay. It is better to
slope the lower edge of the hole so that rain
water will not lodge, and to leave the hole open.
Though the prescribed treatment has been
adopted, there have been many suggestions that
it ought to be possible to discover some more
conservative treatment, t.¢., some method which
does not involve excision of the diseased tissue.
Needless to say, no hope of such a treatment
has ever been held out. The idea which under-
lies these suggestions in every case is that it
should be possible to water the roots of the
tree with some solution which will eradicate
the fungus without injuring the tree. Such
an idea has not escaped the imagination of
mycologists ; but in spite of many years of ex-
periment, the internal application of fungicides
has not met with the slightest success, whether
they have been applied as liquids to the roots or
as liquids or solids in holes in the stem. In the
present case
ANY SUBSTANCE WHICH WOULD KILL THE FUNGUS
WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY KILL THE TREE IF
APPLIED TO THE ROOTS,
or would locally kill it if inserted in healthy
tissues. Moreover, even if it killed the fungus
without damaging the healthy tissue, there
would be left a mass of decayed tissue within
the stem, to act as a nidus for other fungi when
the fungicide had disappeared. It is impos-
sible to convert the diseased tissue into sound
tissue again, though such a claim has been
recently made in Ceylon. Further, if the fungi-
cide is inserted into the decayed portion of the
stem, it can do very little harm to the fungus,
for the bundles which convey liquids up the
stem are here interrupted, so that it can only
penetrate the wet rotting mass by diffusion ;
and that process is so slow that the fungicide
would never overtake the advancing fungus,
Further suggestions which have been made for
treatment of the bleeding disease will be consi-
dered later.-Peradeniya Circular, Vol. IV, No. 22.

The long expected Peradeniya Gardens circu-
lar of Mr. T. Petch, the Government Mycologist,
on the subject. of the Coconut Bleeding Disease,
from which the foregoing is extracted—will
be read with considerable interest by a large num-
ber of coconut planters. The completeness of its
contents will be seen from the following list :—

Historical and general; the structure of the co-
conut stem; the effect of the disease; influence
on the crop; the distribution of the disease ; the
size of the coconut stem; the cause of the dis-
ease; the fungus; the growth of the fungus on
coconut tissue; general biology of the fungus;
effect of various chemicals on the growth of the
fungus; treatment; methods of infection; the
manufacture of coir; other causes of bleeding;
suggested causes of the disease; suggested re-
medies ; the fungusin other countries ; resistance
to disease ; miscellanea; the use of salt, :

The circular, which makes a record for this
publication, numbers no less than 110 pages,
and contains several valuable illustrations, the

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

first poles of a coconut tree which has had
bleeding disease on it for more than two years.
The second shows the black external patch on
the stem, and has a cross section showing de-
cayed strands. The third gives a_ plantation
on which the old scars of the bleeding disease
are distinctly visible on the trees. The fourth
represents a striking specimen of an old scar
of the bleeding disease with a fresh patch
started near the top. The first two sections
of the circular donot call for much reference
or comment; but the third, on the effect of the
disease, is one which will be looked to first
and must be studied in detail. Mr. Petch finds
it difficult to decide how much of the tapering
in the case of poorer trees is due to the effect
of age and how much to the wounds conse-
quent on dealing with the disease. In the fourth
section he finds there is no reason to think
that the crop is reduced where the trees have
been lightly affected, and the controlling factor
in the fluctuations of crops still remains the
weather. The section on distribution of the
disease will interest proprietors and it will
surprise many to learn that the total number
of diseased trees reported is no less than
208,184, all of which have been treated, with
few exceptions, but even this number is doubt-
less below the mark. The sixth section on the
size of the coconut stem is one partly of aca-
demic interest, but the information in it will be
useful to any planting up fresh acreages—the
advice in planting being to set the nuts close
to each ther and in a slanting position, trees
from these nuts, apparently, not having a
swollen base, which is so much waste material.
The section on the cause of the disease points
to a fungus, known to cause a similar disease
in sugar cane, being responsible. It is en-
titled ‘“‘Thielaviopsis ethaceticus.” Section eight
gives a very scientific account of the fungus
and section nine explains the reason why tho
fungus grows freely only on the coconut stem,
namely, because (ignoring the inflorescence)
that is the only tissue containing appreciable

uantities of sugar as such. The biology of
the fungus is gone into at length and the preli-
minary results of experiments still in progress
with various chemicals on the fungus growth
are presented. It seems to be proved that an
immersion of spores of 15 minutes in one per
cent of carbolic acid kills them. The most valu-
able section is that which deals with treatment
of the disease; this we have quoted above. The
methods of infection also require careful study
even if special coolies cannot be assigned, as
advised, to inspection duty only, and for marking
diseased trees. No danger, it appears, is to be
feared from the manufacture of coir from dis-
eased trees. Other causes of bleeding than the
fungus are detailed, while still further causes are
suggested though not actually proved, The sec-
tion dealing with suggested remedies disposes of
several which have been accepted hitherto, ex-
plaining why they must be discounted and
abandoned. The last sections, which are men-
tioned above, are perhaps less important but
should also be examined to round off one’s know-
ledge of the coconut tree. The one on the use of
salt summarises the information available from
various sources up to date,—T, PETCH, B.A., B.SC.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Feb., 1910,

TEA AND RUBBER: IN JAVA
AND BRAZIL.

NIRMALA (JAVA) PLANTATIONS.

The statutory general meeting of the above
was held on Monday at the offices of the London
Chamber of Commerce, Oxford-court, H.C.

Mr Water Hitirers—(chairman and manag-
ing director) presiding said : (after preliminary
remarks]. The

FIRST CONSIGNMENT OF THE COMPANY’S TEAS

has been sold, and I am glad to say they have
fetched very satisfactory prices—better than we
expected. Quite independent of the market, we
hear that the teas have really found favour with
the buyers. The work of opening up both for
tea and for rubber is being pushed forward,
and a fair area will be opened up and plant-
ed this year. The representative of the secre-
taries (Messrs Rowley, Davies & Co.) has since
the formation of the company paid various visits
to the estate, and in every report he has made he
states how very much impressed he has been
with the possibilities of this estate, and that it
has really a magnificent future, as he puts it. I
should also inform you, as I know it will be of
interest, that it came to our knowledge thata
very few days after the property was purchased
by this company— but before the sale was known
in Java—an offer of considerably more money
was made for the property than we have paid
for it. In fact, the difference was stated to us,
but [ do not think it would be fair to those con-
cerned if the amount were mentioned publicly.
This, I think, as far as we are concerned, closes
‘what I have to say with regard to the estate it-
self ; but there is also another matter I should
like to touch upon, as it certainly is also of im-
portance to the shareholders, and thatis the

EXTRAORDINARY DEMAND FOR LAND 8UITABLE FOR
TEA CULTIVATION

which has sprung up during the last few months
in the ieland of Java,and, as a consequence, the
value of the land has gone upvery materially
indeed. One hears from many quarters attempts
at estimates of what the output of tea from the
island of Java will be in such and such a time,
and various forecasts are given as to the revo-
lution which theIsland of Java may produce
in the tea world. [ think that a great many
of the forecasts are entirely fantastic. The
extraordinary crop that is expected by some
from Java can, in my opinion, never be ob-
tained, because the

AREA OF LAND AVAILABLE AND SULLABLE FOR
' PLANTING TEA IS VERY LIMITED

indeed, and, considering what the output is
now, those figures which are often forecasted
Lam confident cannot be reached. There is,
however, another aspect of this question which
is of more interest, in my opinion, and that is
the great improvement in the quality of Java
tea which has taken place in the last few years.
This matter is receiving more and more at-
tention in the island by the planters, and, as
every one who is concerned in any way with tea
selling or tea buying knows, the

175

[MPROVRMENT IN THE QUALIRY OF JAVA TEA
in the last few years is most marked, and is pro-
gressing, you might say, from season to, season.
Considering that this improvement is obtained
at avery small increase in cost, if any at all, I
think that this tendency speaks very well for the
future success of any tea undertaking in Java.

JEQUIE RUBBER SYNDICATE.

The ordinary general meeting of the above was
held on Friday, at the offices, 30, Mincing-lane.

Mr L T Boustrzap—chairman—presiding said
his task would have been a much easier one if
he had had an opportunity during the past year
of visiting the estates... .

Both as recarded the plantations and the
rubber forests the
ESTATES WERE WITHOUT DOUBT THE FINEST IN

THE PROVINCE,

Their area was upwards of 80,000 acres, and
they had about 540 acres planted with rubber
trees ranging from three to five years old, and
a further 60 acres or so cleared, which would
be planted up in the wet season. Mr Frank
estimated that the

PLANTATIONS CONTAIN SOME 325,000 TREES,
which was a very considerable asset. With
regard to the rubber forests, the results of
clearing some 236 acres had been of a most
satisfactory nature. They averaged about

300 TREES TO THE ACRE,

and Mr Frank wrote that he had several
thousand acres of forest equally rich in rubber
trees. Comparing these figures with those of
the best of African forests the number of trees
was very great, for there, he believed, they could
not boast of more than 25 trees to the acre,
He was bound to recognise the fact that the
funtumia elastica was amore valuable rubber
than the Jequié, but the latter, as the brokers’
reports showed, if shipped in regular quantities
and in the form of the samples which had been
sent over, would fetch a very good price indeed,
In fact, they hoped, with the additional machi-
nery which had been sent out, to obtain an

AVERAGE NOT FAR SHORT OF THAT OF EASTERN

PLANTATIONS,

Shareholders might be surprised at such a
small area having been cleared during the past
year, but it must be remembered that the syn-
dicate started with a very small capital—only
£5,000 being available for working capital. Since
the date of the balance-sheet the working
capital had been increased to £12,000 ; with the

OLEARING OF THE FOREST COSTING WELL UNDER
£1 PER AORE,

they ought in the coming year, and the year
after, to beable to make very considerable exten-
sions. .They had only indicated an extension
next year of 1,000 acres ; but he saw no reason
why, when the tapping season was over, they
should not clear the undergrowth from at least
2,000 acres and possibly more, as ample labour
was procurable, They had asked Mr. Frank to
make a census showing number and girth of
rubber trees, and this would be of great value
in framing future estimates of crop. Mr. Frank
estimated that he had a

176

FURTHER 3,000 AGRES IN THE ABOBORAS VALLEY
equal to what he had already cleared. Based
upon what had already been done, 50 Ib. an acre
appeared to be a very conservative estimate
of yield trom the cleared forest to start with,
and, of course, there would be annually an in-
creasing number reaching maturity, so that
the yield should increase correspondingly, quite
apart from the increase derived from planting
up. Their policy should be to extend the
clearing of the undergrowth as rapidly as pos-
sible until they had from 3,000 to 5,000 acres
of cleared forest. Planting could be done at
the rate of about 500 acres a year, or according
to the season. On the basis of an acre pro-
ducing only 50 1b of rubber, and supposing it
sold at a profit of only 1s 6d per pound,

EVERY ACRE OF FOREST SO CLEARED SHOULD IN ITS
FIRST YEAR, GIVE THEM A PROFIT OF £3 15s,
this being on the small capital outlay of £1 to
clear it. (Applause.) They had based their
estimates of yield on the trees giving not more
than 4 1b. to commence with, which was what
Mr. Scaldaferri said they averaged in the wild
state, though many would give a much_ higher
yield than this. The yield varied considerably
in the Manihot variety, just as it did in the
Hevea variety. Mr. Frank told them ofa tree
from which he extracted as much as 20 lb. or
22 lb, and it was from this that he took the seed
for these plantations. They had had several
orders for seed; and if it did all that was ex-
pected of it this syndicate would do very well.
Up tothe present it might fairly be said that
Mr. Frank had proved the accuracy of his esti-
mates of cost. With regard to the cost per
pound of the rubber, he stated when he was
home last year that he could land it in Bahia
at 1s per pound from the plantations, allowing
an extra 4d per pound from the cleared forests;
but to provide against all contingencies the

directors preferred to

BASE THEIR ESTIMATES ON ITS COSTING ls. 6D.

PER POUND F.0.B.
A good deal had been said to him (the chairman)
at different times about the inadvisability of
cleaning tbeir rubber locally, and that it would
be much better to send it home in its rough
state and let the manufacturer do his own
cleaning ; but the results had certainly shown
that it was quite possible to clean the Jequié
rubber on the spot, ship it home, and get an
excellent price for it. They certainly did not
propose to send home any dirty stuff such as it
was customary to send from Bahia generally.
(Hear, hear.) With regard tothe cost of the
plantations, Mr. Frank went carefully into
the estimates with him a year ago, and the
results he arrived at were that, allowing for
all contingencies, he could plant and bring an
acre of rubber into bearing for a little over
£7. Another question of interest was that of
COTTON GROWING.

Bahia used to export considerable quantities of
cotton. Mr Frank wrote that if they would
put up a mill on the estate, as soon as it became
known the natives would start planting cotton
on their own account for 50 miles round, and
bring all their cotton to him. Mr Stevenson was
of opinion that this would prove quite a profit-

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

able business, Mr Railton, who had had ex -
perience of cotton growing, would go into the
matter on his arrival. The directors had been
approached on the subject of disposing of a
portion of the Company’s estate. Negotiations
were proceeding, and he had reason to believe
that the matter was likely to go through at an
early date, to the great advantage of this syn-
dicate. If the arrangements which had been
suggested were carried through, the syndicate
would be provided with additional working
capital for the development of the forest,
and it would also give them a large interest
in another Company developing their own
estates. (Applause.) As it would be their
idea to take the greater part of the purchase
pricy in shares, they would be interested in
giving the new compauy the best part of the
forest, without entrenching upon the Aboboras
valley, which they themselves were developing.
Summed up, the position was that with the
increased working capital now available they
were pushing ahead in clearing the forest as
rapidly as possible, and that would be their
policy for the future. Meanwhile tapping of
both the plantation and the forest areas as
cleared would be the principal work in hand
from November to April.

RUBBER EXPLOITATION IN BRITISH
EAST AFRICA. .

An application for a concession to tap rubber
from the wild landolphia rubber vine over a
forest of 25,000 acres, writes Mr H W Buck
land in the January Hmpire Review, was de-
clined solely on the report of the Forest Offi-
cer, that my friends and myself might make an
income of £30,000 a year from the concession—a
totally erroneous conclusion; but, even if cor-
rect, as the Government was to receive a 10 per
cent. royalty plus a rental without expending a
penny of capital, what objection could there be ?
I should perhaps say in connection with this
application that the Government agricultural
expert strongly recommended the granting of
the concession on the ground that the forest was
being destroyed by the excessive tapping of the
vines by natives, who pay no royalty or rental
whatever.

THE EXAMINATION OF NYASALAND
TOBACCOS

of the ‘‘barn-cured” pipe class—received at
the Imperial Institute lately--indicates that
they are of particularly promising quality and
that a considerable measure of success has been
achieved in the solution of the difficult problem
of producing, in a new country, so far as to-
bacco production is concerned, types of tobacco
similar to those indemand in Europe. The ap-
pearance of the tobacco, which is avery im-
portant matter, is regarded as satisfactory by
the firms consulted. The characteristic aroma
and flavour produced when these tobaccos are
burned, which are slightly different from those of
similar American tobaccos, will probably prove
the chief difficulty in the way of finding an
extended market for them in Europe.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—leb., 1910, 17

PROFESSOR FITTING ON THE
TAPPING OF “‘HEVEA”’ RUBBER.

ExPERIMEN’S IN JAvA Boranic GARDENS,

We are glad to publish below a good sum-
mary of a lecture delivered by Professor Fit-
ting of Strasburg on the tapping of Hevea
Rubber—the result of experiments at Buitenzorg
Botanic Gardens, Java, The fact that incisions
should not be rotapped till the bark cwlls and
wood are refilled with ‘reserve material” may
not be new to many rubber planters ; but the
scientific way the conclusion is arrived at, and
all the connected deductions, are well worth
studying—especially his caution against the
pricker and the view that the herring-bone
method (double better than single) isthe best.

Some 18 months ago a German Professor from
Strasburg, Professor Fitting, made some inter-
esting studies at Buitenzorg on the tapping of
Hevea rubber trees, and an interesting lecture
was recently delivered before the Malangsche
Agricultural Society by Dr. Th, Wurth on tho
results obtained, a summary of which appears
inthe Cultuurgids. According to Prof. Hitting

EVERY TAPPING METHOD IS MORE OR
LESS INJURIOUS

tothe plant, for by incisions inthe bark the
transport of the teeding material of the tree is
broken. Both theroots andthe foliage play a
large volein the sustenance of the tree. The
former takes up water, and at the same time the
salt therein is dissolved ; the crown of the tree
turns the carbon, whichis obtained from the
carbonic acid gas of the air, into sugar. Out
of the salt and sugar the plant forms building
material, which for its life and growth 1s of the
greatest importance. It has beenshown that the
water with its salt mounts through the wooden
vart of the stem; the building material formed
in the crown of the tree, which must be trans-
ported to ali parts of the plant, including the
root, descends through the bark, Further, it is

IN THE WOODEN PART OF THE STEM AND THE BARK
THAT THE RESERVE QUANTITIES OF BUILDING
MATERIAL ARE STORED.

Whenever the conduct of the sap is broken by
any damages to the tree, thenthe growth of the
stem and root is carried on by means of the re-
serve store until the damage is made good, The
Professor demonstrates this conclusively by
experiments. If a circular incision reaching to
the wood is made, the tree, of course, at once
endeavours to close this by the formation of
tissues ; if it succeeds, the sap is carried to the
bottom in anormal way and the tree prospers
again ; ifit fails, the roct does not receive its
proper share of building material, it pines and
cannot fulfil its functions, and finally the tree
sickens and dies. In the tapping of a rubber
tree such serious wounds are, of course, not
made; but the same principle brings about
similar results and in the case of an oblique
incision, as, for example, by the fish bone
method—the transport of the sap is at once
interrupted, The plants sets about restoring the
sap transport by forming new tissues. For this
the reserve stocks deposited in the bark and
23

a |

wood are first used. Professor Fitting showed
that in the entire neighbourhood of the wound
in both bark and wood, the sap had vanished.
He, therefore, comes to the conclusion that

AN INCISION MUST NOT BE RE-TAPPED
after the first tapping period
UNTIL THE CELLS OF BARK AND WOOD AR" AGAIN
FILLED WITH RESERVE MATERIAL.

The professor did not stay long enough to find
out bow long this takes, but he supposes that
more than a year, perhaps even two years, is
needed before the now bark can be tapped for
the second time.

Thus all tapping methods must be con-
demned whereby too large a portion of the stem
surface is tapped at the same time, for thereby
too much sap-transport is broken, and there is a
risk that the root will not be provided with suf-
ficient building material. For this reason the

SPIRAL METHOD, FOR EXAMPLE, SHOULD BE
* ABANDONED.

Professor Fitting advises that a cutting only
a quarter of the stem circumference broad shall
be first tapped. The tapping of this incision
lasts five to six months (first tapping period).
Thereafter the tree is allowed to rest for six
months. Then begins the second tapping period
and at the opposite side of the stem, again fol-
lowed by aresting time of six months. The third
and fourth tapping follow on the same lines, If
it appears in the case of old trees that the latex
dows not decrease in either quantity or quality,
then it is better, instead of making the incisions
wider, to shorten the term of rest between the
various tapping periods, so that after three or
even two years ithe planter comes back to the
incision first tapped. We see here that Pro-
fessor Fitting emphasizes the necessity for a
sufficient surface of untapped incisions. The
Professor also utters a warning regarding the
suitability of the pricker, for the new bark
formed after prick-wounds contains many stone-
cells and few milk-sap vessels. Beside this,
the wound tissues swell out, producing an un-
even suriace, whichis adisadvantage in tapping.
Professor Fitting thus comes to the following

CONCLUSIONS :—

(1) Tapping metheds which largely or wholly
break the horizontal moving of the sap-stream
from the crown to the base of the tree are to
be condemned, viz., the spiral method, the V-
shaped incisions without collateral spaces bet-
ween, the double fishbone method over the whole
stem surface, and the two half-fishbones—-in so
far as they extend over the whole circumference,

(2) A sufficiont number of untapped, no& too
small (straight) incisions, must be allowed to
stand untilthe tapped incisions are again ina
state to transport building material (for this,
perhaps one to two years are necessary).

(3) Methods with long cuttings are to be
deprecated, as the building materiai moves only
very slowly in an oblique direction.

_(4) Of the various tapping methods the her-
ring-bone seems to be the best (with four periods).

(5) The double herring-boue is to be preferred
to the single,

(6) Caution must be exercised as to the suita-
bility of the pricker,--L, & C, Hxpress, Ded, 24,

CEAKRA RUBBER TAPPING
DIFFICULTIES IN SOUTH COORG.

13th Jan.—Tapping of large old Ceara trees
that are to be found in the district. as also those
of later plantings which have reached the mini-
mum tappable girth, has been in progress since
November last 1m most cases. In one 1t wascom-
menced somewhat earlier. Various methods of
tappingand knives are being experimented with,
with a view to arriving at what is best suited to
the trees. The yields of rubber have been very
encouraging, but some of the older trees have
fallen victims to the bamboo weevil in spite of
every effort to prevent injury to the cambium.

Now that the Ceara rubber is reaching the
tappable stage, some arrangements will have to
be made for securing larger supplies of intel-
ligent labour. Mr Anstead, the Scientific Plan-
ting Officer, during his recent visit here has re-
vived the interest in leguminous weeds which
he aroused by his lecture at the last meeting of
the U.P.A.8.I. There are a good many shrubs
of the order about, but what is required is a
weed, and we are all on the look-out for one.
—Madras Times,

RUBBER AND TAPIOCA.
(To the Editor, ‘* Straits Times.’’)

Sir,—l have read with interest your article
on the Sedenak Rubber Estates flotation: you
are quite right in doubting the value of the
contract with Sit Keng Saick: the company
will lose byit. It is stated that by the time
two crops of tapioca are out of the ground the
rubber trees should be 3 to 35 years old : quite
so, but what will the growth of the trees he
like ? I leave it to anyone to answer this ques-
tion, who has seen rubber and tapioca growing to-
gether on an estate under Chinese management,
How long after the rubber is planted, is the
tapiocato be put in? Atleast 6 months should
be allowed; otherwise the rubber will be
choked by the tapioca, I notice that the cost
of production is put down at $5°85 per picul of
tapioca: if this is correct, 1 can assure the
shareholders there will be no 10 per cent. pro-
fit for them : the cost of production should be
nearer $3. I know of an estate in Malacca,
where a contract was given out on similar terms
as to weeding, etc., but the lessee had to pay 25
per cent. of the gross proceeds of the tapioca
sales to the company : even-then it was found
after six months that he was ‘‘scamping” his
work, neglecting weeding, etc., and the contract
had tohe cancelled. Those parts of contracts
look very well on paper: bat never work out
well in practice. Further, during the time the
tapioca crop is in the ground : it is impossible
to keep a proper look-out on the rubber trees,
and check certain diseases, which affect the
Para rubber tree, especially in heavily tim-
bered land, such as I understand this to be. £10
to £12 an acre for felling, burning and clearing
seems a bit “thick”: the proper rate should
be £2 at the outside. Who is to get the pro-
ceeds from sale of the tapioca refuse ? This
should be worth a good deal, considering the
situation of the estate.—I am, Yours, etc.,

Malacca, Jan, 5, SAwNny.
—Straits Times, Jan, 10,

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

INDIA RUBBER MARKET REPORT
FOR 1909.

(Gow, Witson & Stanton, Limited.)

SALES.—The quantity of Plantation Rubber,
which passed through the auctions during the .
year usder review, aggregated 50,602 packages
(2,684 tons), as compared with 24,647 packages
(1,295% tons) for the year 1908. The rate of in-
crease since 1906 is shown in the table given
below ; and the course of the market during the
last four yearsis given in a chart [Not repro-
duced.—Ep. C.0.]

The average price for all grades of Plantation
Rubber forthe year has exceeded that of 1908
by 2s 5 5-Sd per Ib.

Table showing total quantity and average price
of Plantation Rubber offered at auction in Lon-
don during the last four years :—

Quantity in tons,

Packages Ceylou. Malaya. Total.

offered.
1st Jan to 31st Dec, 1906 6,462 98} 2504 848}
0 1407 —-15,880 1925 62.4 814
Do 1918 24,647 290 1,004 1,295}
Do 1:09 £0,602 432 2,262 2,684
Packages Average
sold, price.
8 d.
1st Jan to 31st Dee, 1906 4,130 5 6id
Do 1907 7,388 4 95-8
Do 1908 16,018 4 1}
Do 1909 40,817 6 7 3-8

MARKET CONDITIONS.—At the beginning
of theyear the conditions which ruled during the
earlier part of 1908 had been reversed: whereas
the stocks and visible supply of all descriptions
had then been on an unwieldy scale and prices
abnormally depressed, from the end of 1908 a
steady curtailment of supplies was taking place
in all markets with a corresponding advance in
values. The demand for the raw article, which
was active at the beginning of the present year,
became steadily stronger, until during Septem-
ber and October the highest prices ever recorded
were reached, in the case of Hard Fine Para
9s 2d having been paid and 9s 83d for Fine
Plantation Smoked Sheet. The arrival at the
South American ports of shipment of larger sup-
plies during November re-acted on the price
and caused a set-back to the extent of approxi-
mately 2s per lb. from the highest point. During
the latter part of December the market has been
moreactive with a strong recovery of prices. The
very marked indications of increase in the con-
sumption of rubber in face of adverse conditions
have been a noticeable feature of the period
under review. This tendency is likely to be
maintained, especially in view of the remarkable
expansion which is taking place in the Motor
Industries all over the world.

PLANTATION RUBBER—has engaged a
large and increasing measure of attention
amongst manufacturers, and it may already be
said to have assumed an important position in
the world’s markets, although tke quantity
produced is still perhaps

ONLY 6 PER CENT OF THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION.

Consumers now generally realise that a con-
siderable quantity will be available in the

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricullural Society.—Feb., 1910,

near future,

owing to the great stimulus
which has been

imparted to the Industry
by its substantial profit-earning capacity.
The popularity of Plantation Rubber with
buyers has been well manifested by the large
number of contracts which have been entered
into for delivery up to the end of 1910 (and in
some cases tothe end of 1911) at prices ran-
ging upto about 8s per lb. The general quality
of the Rubber produced has fully maintained
its previous reputation, the care given to its
preparation by planters, especially as regards
cleanness, has been appreciated.

Buyers are giving more attention than ever to
the characteristics of strength and toughness,
and theseare by far the most important pro-
perties that the grower must strive to secure,
The popularity of Highlands and Vallambrosa
Smoked Sheet, on account of its strength and
evenness in quality, has resulted in the highest
prices being generally now paid for these kinds.
This has drawn considerable attention to the

ADVANTAGE OF ADOPTING TH® PROCESS OF CARE-
FULLY SMOKING

the Rubber, and a large number of planters
are now engaged in experimenting in this
direction. The commonest form of Planta-
tion Rubber now on the market is Crepe, which
has been so largely adopted on account of eco-
nomy in handling and the good results obtained.
Sheed still comes forward in fairly large quanti-
ties, Biscuits being almost entirely limited to
small shipments from Ceylon. The demand for
very pale coloured pure Rubber, which was such
a feature la-tyear, has been eclipsed by the
recent compotition for smoked Sheet, which has
so far only been coming forward in small quan-
tities. Buyers however are still ready to pay
full prices for Light-coloured Rubber, whether
in the form of Crepe, Sheet or Biscuits, when
of even quality,

PRODUCTION. Puanration Rusper.—The
quantity exported this year, trom the various
countries of production shews an increase of
roughly 100 per cent on the figures for the pre-
vious 12 months, the increase in the case of
Malaya being much more in proportion to that of
Ceylon.

Para.—The season 1908/1909 produced about
1,500 tons more than the previous one, the crop
being the largest yet recorded, while the first
six months of the present crop mark an increase
of about 835 tons over thesame period last year.

Exports oF PLANTATION RUBBER FROM
MaLaYyA AND CEYLON SINCE 1905.

f
va Q
wo ° . °
60 to
as 3 a 5 =
® BS z i E
i a D D }°
Qn v7) Ay io) eI
Tons Tong Tons. Tons. Tons
1905 = 83 47 75 205
19045 — 327 58 146 F381
19:17 _— 649 236 248 1,183
1908 — D19F 719} 371} 2,010}
a1909 1,339 1,103 986 697 4,025

athe December figures (and part of those for November)
are estimated,

179

Recerets at Para Durine tHE Last Tren

SEASONS,

Tons.
1899-00 26,693
190°-O1L 27,640
1901-02 29,997
1902-03 29,590
1903-04 80,580
1904-05 33,110
1903-06 24,710
1906-07 87,810
1907 OS 36,680
1908-09 58,150

RECEIPTS FROM JULY To DECEMBER FOR
THE Last Five YEARS.

1905, 14,690 tons ; 1906, 14,680 tons; 1907, 14,240 tons;
1908, 15,765 tons; @1909, 16,600 tons.
aUp to 29th December.
_ GOW, WILSON & STANTON, Ltp., 13 and 23, Rood
Lane, E.C., 31st December, 1909.

AMAZON VERSUS PLANTATION
RUBBER.

In the Journal d’ Agriculture Tropicale (Sep-
tember, 1009) M. G. Lamy Torillhon discusses
the causes of the difference in value between
hard cure Para of the Amazons and plantation
Rubber. He says that a manufacturer of fine
para, if offered hard cure, knows right away
that the product is fine, older collected, and
drier than Island Para, which is wetter and
valued a little lower. With plantation rubber
it 1s necessary for him to see and even analyse
the samples before fixing the price. The Brazil
rubber contains 15 to 20 per cent. of foreign
matter and water, while plantation rubber is
quite pure and only gives $ to 1 percent. of
moisture, yet the price of the former is higher.
He gives an explanation of the difference be-
tween the texture of the two rubbers in the fol-
lowing way ; Pure raw caoutchouc is considered
as composed of globules agglutinated by a phy-
sical or chemical method when they were in
suspension in the latex. [tis by a kind of coales-
cence that they are joined together, they then
present themselves under two conditions of mat-
ter very distinct and complementary. One of
these states corresponds to a fibrous, elastic,
nervous matter, the other may be compared to
a plastic matter always ready to unite with the
former. The molecular arrangement is so well
done that one might compare it to threads of
chain joined by a weft, if the comparison of
the rubber to a tissue is not too hazardous. It
ig just in ‘' fine Para ” that one finds the high-
est degree of perfection in this combination of
the two substances.

He attributes this greater strength and nerve
possessed by the Amazon rubber to the practice
of smoking. Unfortunately, says he, smoking
does not exist or is at least very little employed
in the Federated Malay States. We have only
seen some attempts which should bo followed up,
for we are persuaded that rubber prepared by
smoking should produce a notable increase in
value, high evough to induce the collector to
persevere on these lines. It appears to us in-
dispensable that the collectors of plantation rub-
ber should make smoking general. They would
by this means give to their rubber a quality
which manufacturers would welcome,

130

He points out the important factor of the age
of the trees, a fifty-year old tree giving more
elastic and nervous arubber than a ten-year old
one, but this with respect to the difference be-
tween plantation and Amazon rubber, as he
says, time will cure.

As toform, he prefers block, condemning crepe
onthe ground of its lability to collect dust
and damp, and to favour oxydation and tacki-
ness. Biscuits are better, but even they expose
too much surface to the air.

The question of smoking rubber is decidedly
coming more to the front now-a-days. In the
very early days of rubber cultivation, smoking
was not uncommon. The first lots of Biscuits
sent from the Botanic Gardens to manufacturers
were regularly smoked, but this form was rather
darker in colour than unsmoked rubber. Am-
ber biscuits took the fancy of the home market.
They were very attractive in appearance and so
transparent that the buyers could see that they
were pure and free from dirt. Then came a re-
action, and darker colouring was not considered
a defect. In fact, lately smoked rubbers have
fetched the highest price in the market. The
smoking hitherto however, has only been on the
outside of made-up biscuits and sheet, its ad-
vantage being the more rapid drying and the
prevention of external mouldiness especially in
wet weather. However, for a year, experiments
in smoking the latex itself have been in progress
in the Botanic Gardens, and we hope very
shortly to lay the results of these before our
readers. A number of blocks of rubber thus pre-
pared have been submitted to some of the best
manufacturing firms in Kurope, and their reports
will be published when they are completed. We
may say, however, that the rubber thus pro-
duced is very different in firmness and nerve
from the ordinary plantation rubbers, and more
resembles the best hard cure rubber from the
Amazon.—Ep.—Straits Agricultural Bulletin,
for December.

A WONDERFUL MEXICAN RUB

BER.

‘Pato AMARILLO”
(Huphorbia fulva, Stapf ; syn. H. elastica, Alta-
mirana and Rose, not of Jumelle).—Some parti-
culars regarding this plant as a new source
of rubber appeared in the Acw Bulletin, No. 7,
1907, p. 294. The following supplementary
information upon the subject is gathered from
an illustrated article on ‘' The Rubber Plants
of Mexico” by Dr, H H Rusby in ‘‘ Torreya”
Vol. 9, No. 9, September 1909. From this
paper it appears that the ‘* Palo Aruarillo’
will not grow upon the alluvial plains of
Mexico but only on the rocky hill-sides where
the drainage is good. The bark is described
as being thick and succulent at first, smooth,
and of a light yellowish-green colour. That
of the trunk and large branches soon exco-
riates in large, very thin, papery, translucent
sheets of an orange-yellow or orange-red, colour,
which impart to the tree a shaggy appea-—
rance, and a colour that has given the trunk
its vernacular name ‘ palo amarillo” or yellow
trunk. The flowers appear in January or
thereabout, before the appearance of the new

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

leaves, and the fruits mature in June and July.
As soon as the bark is wounded, a milky
juice exudes, which is very irritant and cap-
able of producing violont inflammation of the
eyes if it enters them, as it is quite liable to
do in spatterivg, when the tree is cut. The
great value of this tree as a rubber producer
lies in its abundance over Jarge areas and the
proximity of the trees to one another facili-
tating collection of the miik, as well as the
easo with which it can be propagated and the
rapidity of its growth. All that is necessary
for propagation is to thrust the newly-cut
branches into the soil, where they practically
all grow. From them the tree reaches its full
size in from 5 to 7 years. These considerations
appear to incline Dr. Rusby to the opinion that
IF ALL OTHER SOURCES OF RUBBER WERE TO
FAIL, THIS ONE COULD PROBABLY SUPPLY
THE WORLD'S ENTIRE REQUIREMENTS.

The properties ot the “ palo amarillo ” rubber
are peculiar. Taken by itself it is of only
medium quality, but mixed in suitable pro-
portion with other varieties, especially with para
rubber it markedly improves them.—J. M. H.
—Kew Bulletin, No. 9, 1909.

RUBBER PLANTING AXD EXPLOI-
TATION IN BAHIA, BRAZIL.

Mr. L. T. Boustead, thé ex-Ceylon planter,
has had varied fortune as a Company director
--holding this position on the Attapadi Tea
and Rubber, avd Batu Tiga (Selangor), [m-
perial Hthiopian, Kepitigalla and Shelford
Rubber Companies. The Abyssinian concern,
over which he was able to obtain a. fair
hearing in the London Times, was the most dis-

appointing. in one of his latest connections,
however, the Jequie Rubber Syndicate, of
which the annual report appears in our

daily and 7.4., he appears to have veritably
‘struck oil!” We have noticed the boom in
these shares on the Stock Exchange; the reason
is now evident, if all the statements made are
destined to be fulfilled. Mr. Boustead says
they depend almost entirely on the statements
of Mr. Frank, their manager with many years’
experience .of the country, and it was only on
the general soundness of the concern, of its
agents, &c., that Mr. Bosanquet consented to
become chairman, The company owns 80,000
acres, 540 of them being plantation (planted from
from seed of trees giving 22 lb, rubber in one year
and containing 325,000 trees, 3 to 5 years old.)
The forests average 300 trees to the acre in 236
acres cleared—against 25 per acre in best Af-
rican forests. ‘The clearing of these cost under
£1 per acre ; and, reckoning only 50 lb. rubber
per acre, at a profit of ls 6d per lb., they would
have £3-15s return on £1 outlay As cost of
production is estimated at 1s 6d per Ib., this
raeans the gross price is estimated at only 3s
per lb.—while with additional machinery sent
an average not far short of Hastern plantation
was hoped ror. Allowing for all contingencies
it was reckoned by the manager that he could
plant and bring the land into bearing at £7
an acre! What have Hastern planters to say
to that?

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—-Feb., 1910.

RUBBER EXPLOITATION EN BRAZIL.

Following on substantiai interim distributions,
aud a few weeks beture the magnificent dividend
declarations about to be marie by the older rub-
ber- producing Companies of the Middle-Kast, we
do not envy Brazilian Company ( hairmen their
task of making the best, as Mr Ashmore Russan
had to do the other day, of a balance sheet,
which shows an even poorer result than a year
ago, with no dividend, and only a prospect ’of
floating a fresh subsidiary Company. This
Company, it seems, is one of those which will
do their part in allaying any fears that Brazil,
whatever its increase in output, can possibly
compete with Plantation Rubber in cheapness of
production and net profits. We read of 8d. per
lb. profit estimated, while 2s. to 3s, in the next
year or two is not by any meas an exaggerated
estimate for profits on rubber from this side,
Further efforts are to be made, it will be seen,
to get the Brazilian Government to reduce the
export duty, but the more popular official policy
seems to be to grant a bonus on the proper
planting of so many hundred thousand rubber
trees, and, as Mr Russan says, all this means
the expenditure of capital with a long wait for
returns; while most Brazilian Companies are for
the purpose of working concessions of rubber
forests of a considerable age. While the South
American Governments are, therefore, wise in
their generation—as was that of the Congo till a
_ few years ago, the attractions of Brazilian Com-
panies with the home-investiny public must re-
main at a discount, in competition with Ceylon,
the Malay States and Dutch Indies,

RUBBER INDUSTRY IN BRAZIL,
[FRoM tHE 88-PAGE SourH AMERICAN
SUPPLEMENT. |
(London Times Rio Correspondent.)

Brazil occupies a commanding position in the
world’s markets by a product of the country
—caoutchouc, or rubber. The wonderful pro-
gress in Brazilian rubber can best be gauged
from the number of tons exported at intervals
of ten years from 1827 to 1907. These are as
follows :—1827, 31; 1837, 290; 1847, 625; 1857,
1,809; 1867, 5,827; 1877, 9,215; 1887, 13,390;
1897, 21,256 ; and 1907, 36,490.

Only six foreign nations import Brazilian
rubber direct, Below are given the quantities
and values for 1908 in metrical tons and sterling :

Lia Tons, £
United States 18,040 5,679,235
Great Britain 15,535 4,659,287
France 2,341 724,428
Germany 1,659 505,063
Uruguay ate 618 Q12,215
Belgium oe 13 8,409

38,206 11,784,637

The figures for the first half-year of 1909 show
a great improvement both in quantity and price
—21,848 tons were exported, yielding £8,802,793.

While the supply of [wild.—Ed., C.0.] rubber
from other countries appears to be on the
decline, that of Brazil is constantly increasing.
Very extensive regions are still untouched, and
quite recently forests of manicoba and manga-
beira have been discovered. The plantation and
culture of rubber plants has become vory pros-
perous in many places,

181

The most important varieties of South Ameri-
ean rubber are called by Brazilians “ Seringa,”
or. fine Para, ‘Tapuru,” ‘*Caucho,” ** Menga-
beira,” and “ Manicoba,” and are vach lerived
from a totally different source, »f which sevoral
qualities are generally prepared for market.

There are many otber milk-yielding plants in
Brazil, the most noteworthy being the gigantic
Massaranduba tree, found ic seven States of the
Republic. The produce of coagulation of the
latex is of great value in the rubber trade, and
the timber is exeellent for shipbuilding. The
milk is very abundant, and possesses well de-
fined medicinal qualites. Thi- substance appears
to be little known as yet, as only 139 kilogram-
mes were exported last yearto France. In 1907
Great Britain took 175 kilos., but for 1906 and
1905 there was no shipment recorded. The
omission is remarkable, because in 1903 and
1904 as much as 4,315 kilos, and 2,062 kilos,
respectively, were shipped to the principal con-
suming markets.—London Times, Dec, 28.

RUBBER PESTS IN KUDAT, BORNEO.

Of the 450 rubber stumps planted only 112
have as yet sprouted ; some from the very root
itself and some from the stumps. I found the
white ant was playing havoe with the stumps,
so instituted a crusade against them, with the
result that we succeeded in finding 14 nests and
destroying 14 queens; since then the rubber
has been free of this pest, but 1 notice that there
isa kind of boetle (bubok), which attacks the
trees and bores into the stump even when green.
T shall be glad to learn what action ought to be
taken to combat this pest. The seeds sent from
Tenom have been planted out but are not doing
well, although perhaps it is rather early to make
this remark.—W H Hastings, Resident, Kudat.

Tenom.—All the stations down on the list for
being supplied with Para rubber seeds from the
fixporimental Gardens have received their first
allottment. 200 stumps obtained from Sapong
have been planted here and 100 supplied to each
Kaningau and Tambunan. The deer are causing
great havoc amongst the trees planted on the
hill near the Residency. I am afraid it is use-
less planting unless one has a wire netting fence
and some barbed wire.— E H Barravt, Resident.
—B6.N.B. Herald, Dec. 16.

A NEW CEYLON GREEN MANURE.

FOR TEA AND RUBBER,

The Superintendent of Telbedde, Badulla,
Ceylon, advertises for sale Boju Medelloa seed,
The name will probably be strange to most plan-
ters. It isa new seed to Ceylon. Mr Bamber
saw it growing at Telbedde and wasgreatly taken
with it. He strongly recommended it as @ green
manure for tea or rubber, especially the latter,
and i8 now experimenting with it at Peradeniya,
It willbea valuable addition to the available
green manures of Ceylon, A prominent planting
proprietor, who returned recently after an ab-
sence of some years froin the island, asked what
the most notable change was he noted in tho
Upcountry planting districts,declared it was the
large extent to which green manuring had been
adopted ; and he added he had never seen the
tea looking better. Boja Medetloa seems « very
suitable plant for the purpose,

182

IMPORTANT DISCOVERY IN SOIL
FERTILISATION.

BY ROTHAMSTED SCIENTISTS.

It is doubtless pretty generally known among
planters and the better educated of our other
agriculturists here that the fertilising properties
of soil consist largely in the amount of nitrogen
made available. It may not be so well-known
that the discovery of the fact that the formation
of nitrates in the soil wasmade by two for-
eigners, Messrs Schloesing and Muntz. At any
rate, if their names are not remembered, it
was their discovery that first led men to look
at the soil as the workshop of vast numbers
of living organisms which prepare food for
vegetable life, Even farmyard natural manure
wauld be of no value—or do distinct injury—to
crops, ifit were not first broken up by soil
bacteria into simpler compounds, finally rea-
ching food that a plant can consume. The
effectiveness of this action depends on the re-
lative activities, subject to cortrol by culti-
vation, of the various soil organisms, Another
great discovery was in 1886 by Messrs Hellrigel
and Wilfarth, who showed that certain bacilli,
associated with nodules on the roots of legum-
inous plants, could fix nitrogen. Since then
other bacteria have been found serving the same
purpose without having to be associated with
the leguminous plant. Gradually the knowledge
of changes undergone by organic matter rea-
ching the soil has been rendered more perfect,
but without auy new point of view emerging.

By the extra mail which reached Colombo on
the 25th November, however, we received infor-
mation of a fresh step made and a new factor that
has to be taken into account. Nearly twenty-
five years ago, it appears, an Alsatian wine-
grower injected carbon bisulphide into his
soil to destroy phylloxera, and was surprised
to find that not only was the pest removed but
the productivity of the soil increased. Little
attention was attracted by this discovery, al-
though recorded ; it was left as inexplicable,
The experiments, however, being repeated
within the last year, it was proved beyond the
shadow of a doubt that increased productivity
is secured by heating or treatment with volatile
anti septics. A soil heated to water-boiling
point for two hours will double the crop that
it would bear without such treatment; and
additional benefit is secured for four successive
crops. Treatment with carbon _bisulphide,
ehloroform and toluene for two days, on the
antiseptic being evaporated, increased the
yield 20 to 40 per cent. in nearly all cases of
soils and plants tried. The principle of these
discoveries was illuminated by the work of Doe-
tors Russell and Hutchinson of Rothamsted
Laboratory who discovered the distinguishing
feature of treated soils, namely, that they pro-
duced ammonia much faster from the nitro-
genous reserves of the soil. Plants feed on
ammonia and when they obtain the extra nitro-
gen, they can then get the requisite mineral
food from the soil. On the bacteriological side
the scientists verified-that the heating wipes
out the nitrification bacteria which form
nitrates from ammonia; but most other species

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

survive in greatly reduced numbers, including
spore-producing organisms. The heating re-
duces the four to six million bacteria per
gramme of soil to afew hundreds: treatment
with antiseptics to between one and two mil-
lions. When the soil is remoistened, the sur-
viving bacteria multiply at a rate never seen in
untreated soil—up to 30 to 40 millions per
gramme in ten days or a fortnight. These bac-
teria are makersof ammonia out of the nitro-
genous organic matter, so their fertilisation
value is evident. The Doctors named thus found
that soil must contain a factor limiting the
uumber of bacteria to allow the bacteria free
play and that this factor must be put out of
action, ‘ihe factor was discovered to be orga-
nisms of the protozoa class, amoeba, etc.,
which liveon, and are a thousand times larger
than, the ordinary bacteria. In the natural soil
an equilibrium is preserved ; but heating kills
them off entirely, and antiseptic treatment kills
almost all. The productivity of soil, therefore,
depends on the number of bacteria allowed to
have free play, unhampered by larger organisms.
Incidentally it isof interest to know that the
scientist, Metchnikoft, from whose cure ex-
Ceylon residents have recently derived somuch
benefit at home, holds that the white cor-
puscles of blood, much like amceba, keep us
healthy by devouring intrusive Lacteria, But
the relation between the two powers in tbe
human body has to be reversed in the case of
the soil—for the maximum vitality and prolific
value to be secured. When the discovgry re-
ferred to becomes fully utilised in practice, it is
impossible to estimate the vast increase in crops
that will be obtained thereby. The thanks of
agriculturists are due to Mr. J. F. Mason, M.P.,
whose generosity brought about the Bacterio-
logical Laboratory at Rothamsted, and to the
Goldsmiths’ Co. for a recent endowment which
brought Dr. Russell there to work. Meanwhile
all planters who are keen on their profession
and in the study of soil productivity should
obtain from Messrs. A. M. & J. Ferguson,
Colombo, the book by Mr. A. D. Hall, F.r.s.,
Director of the Rothamsted Station, on Ferti
lisers and Manures,

ECONOMIC PRODUCTS FROM FIJI.

A number of mineral and vegetable products
have been received recently at the Imperial In-
stitute from Fiji for examination and valuation.
Several products now reported on arethe out-
come of experiments. Some of these materials
were exhibited at the Franco-British Exhibition
last year; eamples of all of them are now shown
in the Fiji Court of the Imperial Institute.

Cocoa.

Cocoas grown on two different estates were
received :—

A. ‘'Cocoa from Lami.” The beans were
rather variable in size. and some were shriv-
elled ; the husks were of dull brick-red colour
due to ‘‘ claying.”

B. ‘‘Cocoa from Levuka.” The beans were
variable in size, and many were Shrivelled. The
husks were pale to reddish-brown in colour,
and were not “ clayed.”

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Veb., 1910, 183

Commercian Vatoation.—The cocoas were cassava starch in Manchester and Liverpool at
submitted to commercial experts for valuation £14 to £15 per ton, and they were of opinion that
with the following results :-~ this Fiji product would at present fetch about °

Sample A. One firm reported that this cocoa that price asa manufacturing starch if placed on
hada dark “break” anda poor flavour; they the market in quantity.
valued it at about 54s to 55s per cwt, in London GROUND-NUTS.
(May, 1909).—A firm of manufacturers considered ha
that this sample had been spoilt in preparation, The sample consisted of large ground-nuts,
being apparently too highly fermented They some of which contained two kernels and others
described it as having a very dark break anda only one. Those containing two varied in length

A d valued it at 52 rewt. (May, from 12to 18 inch, and those with one from 0°8
7909), a BBone Haun to l‘linch. The kerne!s were from 0°6 to 1:0 inch

in length, and formed 75 per cent. of the total
weight of the nuts, On extraction with solvents
49°1 per cent, of oil was cbtained from the ker—
nels, This represents a good average yield of oil,
and compares well with that given by the ground-
nuts of commerce. Thesample was too small for
satisfactory valuation, but itis probable that the

Sample B. This cocoa was described as hav-
ing a rather dull red, thin skin and a good
palish break. It was valued at from 70s to 72s
per cwt. in London (May 19V9).—These valua-
tions indicate that sample A isa Cistinctly in-
ferior cocoa, and would realise low prices on
the market, whereas sample B is of very goud LE ornels would fetch about the normal price for
quality, and would fetch almost the same price qacorticated ground-nuts of good quality, viz.
as superior Trinidad, Caracas, or high-class Gialto £15 per toni London
Ceylon cocoa. P ;

Cassava STARCH. Castor-O1 SEED.

The material received consisted of clean white Three varieties of these seeds were received:
starch, free from visible impurity and without I, “Fiji castor-oil beans, Mexican variety.” These were
noticeable odour or taste. An analysis gave Small, dar--brown and mottled, ; ;
the following results :—Starch 84°8 per cent 2, ‘Fiji castor-oil beans, Mexican variety.” These were

: Ae

A large white seeds, mottled with dark brown,
Moisture 14°9 per cent., Ash 0°2 percent, The ae : a
Pp i 9 ~~ 3. “Fiji castor-oil beans, Hawaiian variety. ‘* These were

product is, therefore, of high purity, medium-sized dark brown mottled seeds, similar to No.1,
but larger.

The percentage of oil in each variety was de-
termined with the following results :—Yield
of oil No. 1 47°4 per cent., No. 2 49°6 per cent.,
No. 3 48°5 per cont. These percentages agree
with the average fioures recorded for castor-cil
seed, which usually contains from 46 to 53 per
cent. of oil. The slightly greater yield from the
larger seeds (Nos. 2 and 3) is no doubt due to
the fact that in these cases the proportion of

Launpry PurposEs.—The experts consulted kernel to husk is greater, Castor-oil seed as re-
on this point state that they have already tried presented by these samples would probably
cassava starch on several occasions for laundry realise from £9 to £9 10s. per ton in London,
work, and found that it did not compare well

CoMMERCIAL VaLuation.—Cassava starch is
not yet well known in this country, and the
present specimen, was therefore submitted to
experts in various branches of industry in which
raw starch is used, in order to determine its
utility and value as a substitute for the better-
known starchesin common use. The following in-
formation has been obtained regarding the suit-
ability of the starch for various manufactures :—

with the rice starch now in general use. A test Fipres.
made with the present sample from Fiji con- Ramtz.—The sampies consisted of four bun-
firmed their opinion. dles of scraped ramie ribbons, which were la-

QiucosE MANUFACTURE.—Cassava starch is belled respectively, “ Boehmeria nivea, grade I,”
quite suitable tor this purpose, butin thiscoun- “Boehmeria nivea, grade I,” ‘ Boehmeria tena-
try it would have to compete with low-grade ¢éssama, grade 1,” and ‘+ Bochmeria tenacissima,
sago and tapioca flours and with maize, The grade II.” There were also two bundles of de-
former contain 60 to 70 percent. of starch, and gummed fibre labelled ‘‘Ramie fibre, B nivea”
realised £5 to £6 per ton, so that clean cassava and “Ramie fibre, tenacissima,” Hach sample
starch is not likely to be worth more than £8 Weighed about 2 ounces. The specimens were
per ton for the manufacture of glucose. IH this all clean and well prepared, but those marked

Fiji cassava starch could be placed on the mar- ‘“‘Grade II” were somewhat inferior in these
ket at this price, a firm of glucose manufac- respects to those marked ‘‘Grade I.” Compared
turers offered to take a trial consignment of 50 With ramie fibre from Fiji previously examined
to 100 tons. at the Imperial Institute the present samples

wore longer, varying generally from 4 feet to 5
feet, and the ribbons were much broader, being
half-an-inch or more in breadth, whereas pre-
vious samples consisted of very narrow ribbons.
Although somewhat different in appearance

we : . from both hand-scraped China grass and ramie
sago. The Fiji starch being of good colour and ,, Yibbons from Fiji previously examined, the pre-

yielding a viscous paste with water, would pro- } : ?
bably be useful for dressing or finishing fabrics, ; , sont samples were nevertheless of good quality,
> ‘ Lin would probably approximate in value to

Sizina Yarn.—As the result of comparative
tests with cassava and potato starches as sizes
for cotton yarns, it was stated that the former
would not be a good substitute for potato
starch, but it could probably be used in place of

GENERAL PurposEs.—A firm of brokers stated {%,hand-scraped China grass, which was quoted in
London at £21 to £27 per ton in December, 1908,

that there was at one time a good demand for

184 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculltwrist

ALOE Fisre.—The sample weighed 7 ounces
and consisted of light buff-coloured fibre, of ex-
cellent lustre, pertectly cleaned and prepared,
and of very good length (about eight feet), It
was guite similar to Mauritius hempfrom Fiji
previously examined at the Imperial Institute,
but was longer and a little coarser. The latter
characteristic was probably due to the greater
age of the leaves from which the fibre was pre-
pared, The fibre was valued at about £31 per
ton, as compared with good average Mauritius
homp at £22 10s. per ton.—Bulletin of the Im-
pereal Instrtute, No. 3 of 1909.

COCOA IN THE GOLD COAST.

The rapidity with which the cultivation of
cocoa has extended is most gratifying, and also
indicative of its suitability for this Colony. The
natives havo taken kindly to the industry; plan-
tations are being extended, and we may safely
anticipate an increasing export for some years
tocome, A glance at the table of exports (ap-
‘pendix I.) shows the marvellous rapidity with
which the industry has developed. If we go
back to 1895, we find the amount of cocoa ex-
ported was only 28,906 lb. valued at £471. Theo
introduction of cocoa to the Gold Coast only
dates back to about 1882 and after 26 years’ culti-
vation the export of the product has attained a
total of 28,545,910 Ib. in 1908. In studying these
figures one must not forget that this has been
entirely produced by native farmers, and I con-
sidler that the results so far attained are highly
creditable to the enterprise and industry of the
indigenous population. The quality of the pro-
duct, in comparison with that of most other
cocoa-producing countries, is generally speaking
poor. There are several causes contributing
to this: (a) It is an industry new to the
natives, and consequently they have not yet
been educated in the proper methods of
cultivation and preparation: (6) The variety
of tree grown (lorastero, amelonads variety)
is generally recognised to bear a second grade
quality cf beans even when grown under the
most favourable conditions: (c) The natives are
entirely dependent on the sun for drying the
beans, and in a country like this where the at-
mosphere is very humid, mould forms on the
beans very readily in dull weather: (d) All quali-
ties (with the exception of the very worst) have
hitherto been brought at a uniform prico.

The Agricultural Department is naturally
concerned with the improvement of the quality
of cocoa. Travelling Instructors have aiready
done a lot of good work, lecturing and giving
practical demonstrations on the plantations; but,
owing to the shortage of competent officers,
by no means all that could be wished has been
effected. The variety grown, although recog-

nised ae yielding only a second grade quality of |

cocoa, is hardy and very fruitful and theretore,
in my opinion, well suited for native cultivation.
A few plants of three other varieties have been
introduced by the Agricultural Department, but
the results so far obtained have not been such
as would recommend their more extensive culti-
vation to the exclusion of that at present grown,

I hope, however, to put down experimental
areas of the more important varieties at each of
the Agricultural stations so that this point may
be settled.

That cocoa can be made to yield wellin the
Colony is amply illustrated by the fact that on
the Aburi Botanic Gardens from a small area of
1°40 acres and trom 259 trees planted at 15 x 15
feet, ayleld of 18,200 pods equivalent to 15 cwts,
of cured cocoa was procured between the 23rd
October and 31st December of this year.

The quality of the soil cn which these trees
are growing is distinctly below the average of
the Colony ; but the trees have been well pruned
and attended to, and this may be taken to repre-
senta maximum yield. I[t is doubtful if such re-
sults will often be exceeded in any cocoa growing
country. Further, [am informed that a consider-
able crop was taken in the earlier part of this year
of which no record was kept ; and the trees are
now giving promise of an early crop in 1909.

The fermentation and drying of the beans
is at present receiving much attention, but
amongst a primitive people and with a new
cultivation, progress is naturally slow ; some,
however, show an intelligent interest in bettering
the quality and it is hoped that a consider-
able improvement wi!l be effected within the
the next few years. The factthat the merchants
paid a uniform rate, irrespective of quality, did
much to militate against such improvement.
Parcels of better quality were no doubt some-
what scarce, and the difficulties experienced in
forming uniform grades of higher quality pro-
bably prompted the merchants to buy on a uni-
form principle; but as cultivation extends quality
improves, and transport facilities are extended
I have no doubt the merchants will adopt the
more satisfactory method of payment for quality.
This would no doubt tend towards improvement
more quickly than anything else, provided, of
course, that the producer reaps some benefit ; for
in many cases middlemen, or brokers come he-
tween the merchants and the native farmers.
The greatest deterrent, in my opinion, however,
is transport, and I feel sure that if this in-
dustry is to prosper greater facilities must be
provided, Roads and railways are no doubt
costly, but now that the success of so important
and extensive an industry is assured, it seems
almost certain that they could be made to pay,
and would set free much labour now engaged in
carrying head loads, which could be employed
in the further development and improvement of
the industry.—Official Report on 1908 by WS
Tuviorn, Director of Agriculture.

‘““MEMGSA PUDICA’’ IN COORG.

It has been found necessary by the Coorg
Administration to draw the attention of all
land-owners and officials to the very rapid
epread taking place in parts ef the Province of
‘*a creeping, thorny weed believed to be Mimosa
pudica,” said to have been imported into the
Province from Malabar. Measures for its ex-
termination are recommended, otherwise it
is feared that grazing grounds and other lands
may be ruined by the further spread of the
weed.--¥, Mail, Oct. 20,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Feb., 1910, 185

THE INDIA RUBBER MARKET, 1909.

S. FIGGIS & CO.’S ANNUAL REVIEW.

PLANTATION RUBBER GROWN IN CEYLON
AND British MALAYA.

(federated States, Perak, Malacca, Johore,
Straits), Sumatra, Java, India, &c. :—

1909. 1908. 1907. 1906. 1905.

tons tons tons tons tons

Uxported from Ceylon (& India) 600 350 230 160 70

Malaya, d&e, 3000 1450 780 350 /5

Tons. 8600 18601010 510 145

Weestimate about 600,000 acres are now under’

Rubber cultivation in the Kast (partly mixed
with other products), and 120,000 acres in
Mexico, West Indies and Nicaragua, Sc.

The improvement in quality we noticed in our
last annual review, has continued, and we con-
gratulate planters on the large proportion of
clean Crépe of nice colour, and the very small
quantity of “tacky”? rubber. This shews how
profitable it has been for planters to

WASH AND CLEAN THE RUBBER THOROUGHLY,

and to prepare as large a proportion as possible
of good colour—also not to send many qualities or
very small tots. Block has not been in favour:
unless clean resilient hard quality can be sent,
it may be better to ship as Crépe or sheet.

Pack 1T IN Goop Dry ConDITION

(excess of resin much objected to) into strong
cases of 2 cwt, to 3 cwt. each. No paper, fuller’s
earth, &c., to be used. The cases should be
planed smooth inside to avoid small pieces of
wood adhering to the Rubber.

Keep different quatilies and colours separate ;
where practicable keep immature separate; send
separately dirty barky pieces, and wash out
all the bark in Crépe, Block and Sheet. All fine
qualities should be loose Crépe, Sheetor Biscuit
—not run to a mass,

Last January good sheet realised 5s. 14d to 5s,
3d, pale Crépe 5s. 44d. By May 5s. 9d to 5s. 10d,
June 6s.7d, July 8s, 2d to 8s. 34d, August (irre-
gular) 7s. 10d to 7s. 3d, and upin September-
October to 9s. 13d, and smoked 9s. 8hd_ early
November, the highest of the year. With larger
supplies of Para in December prices declined
2s., to 68. 114d to 7s. 14d Sheet and Crépe, but
since recovered: sheet to 7s. 3d to 7s. 5d fine
Crépe 78 64d, smoked Sheet 8s 01d to 8s 02d ;
these are the closing prices. Good supplies
landing for auctions 4th January.

Now that the pen tities are increasing so
rapidly, it is most desirable for the future ready
sale of Plantation Rubbers, for estates to ‘“‘stan-
dardise”’ the qualities they produce, and where
practicable to ship say three qualities from an
estate, No. 1 pale, No. 2 light brown and grey,
No. 3 dark and brown. Pickings and very com-
mon and scrap to be sent in one bulk for sale
on arrival ; “standardised ” qualities can be sold
for forward deliveries, the same .as Para has
been sold for many years. Plantation must be
largely sold “ forward ” in future years,

The unolooked for extravagant and unprece-
dented high prices obtained from July to Octo-

24

ber were due to the great extension of ‘‘motors,”’
cars, cabs, &c., particularly in America, where
enormous contracts for ‘‘ tyres” created an in-
creased consumption of Kubber. At present
this goes on, but the speculative deals, which
left so many ‘‘ Bears ” to be covered (at a loss),
are reduced.

Planters should be amply satisfied with any-
thing near the present rates, whichare 2s 5d
per Ib. above last January. The highest price
1909 was paid in November, 9s Sid for fine
smoked sheet.

SMOKED RUBBER

appears to have greater resiliency anc to be
more suitable for many purposes than un-
smoked. ‘‘ Smoking ” prevents the *t proteins ”’
in rubber from decomposition, and generally
prevents ‘‘tackiness,” All fine rubber from
Para is smoked. During the excitement well-
smoked sheet realised 6d perlb. above good
unsmoked. Of course such a great difference
will not be obtainable when the proportion of
smoked is larger,

We hear of complaints of injury to the trees
by Formes and white ants—these must be care-
fully watched by experts on the estates.

The Brazil supply has increased, both from
the Amazonas and Manigoba, Mangabeira, &c.

The production of reclaimed and common
substitutes for rubber has increased, but there
is‘no ‘* Synthetic.”

We have had some fine lots of Rambong in
nice condition, principally from Sumatra, and
it realised high prices. Castilloa was indifferent
quality.

THe Wortp’s Suppty 1n 1909
was about 69,000 tons against 65,006 tons in 1908,
and 69,000 tons in 1907. Consumption we esti-
mate was about 68,000 tons.

Of Rubber planted we estimate in the East

nearly 600,000 acres—
1909 1908 1907

CEYLON .. 187,000 acres 180,000 150,000
MALAYA, MALACCA, &e. -» 240,000 do 185,000 100,000
(containing about 21 million

trees, not’ three million

tapped in 1909)
BORNEO

- 10,000 do 10,000 9,000
DutcH {o L
EAST INDIES | Java J
{ eueon | ae. 120,000 do 90,000 70,009
Inpta and BURMAH 31,090 do 30,000
GERMAN COLONIES, NEW)
GUINEA, SAMOA, W, & C.; 38,000 do

AFRICA, &c, J

Mexico, Nicaragua and Honpuras have plan-
tations, but are not yielding much, and mostly
Castilloa :—probably by now 120,000 acres
planted ; also Gotompia, Ecuapor, Bontvra
and Peru.

IvDrA is extending slowly. Some in Burmau
and Mereur: the Parmiprpinus (small as yet),
Samoa, Hawa, in New Gornea and other
Islands, QUEENSLAND and SEYCHELLES. The
West Coast of Arrica has plantations ;
some inthe Conco region and German West
Arrica, also in BririsH East Arrica, Uaanpa,
and the Wesr Inpigs probably 5,000 acres.

Brazit and Bottvra exported in 1909 42,000
tons, 40,000 tons in 1908, 41,500 ,tons in 1907,
Manicopa increased largely,j; also GuAYULB

186

from Mexico, largely used in America and Con-
tinent. Probably 3,500 tons.

From Brazit, AMAZONAS, BoLIviAN PERUVIAN
AND (WiLD) Mepium RuBBER.

The great variations in value recorded in our
last Annual! (1908) are “not in it,” compared to
the extraordinary rise to 9s 2d (curiously a ce-
verse of figures, 239d, was the lowest price in
1908) for fine Hard onthe 30th September aad
the many rapid ups and downs in prices. Many
transactions at the highest were simply ‘Bears’
driven into a corner and compelled to buy,
and sales at the same moment at 1s or 1s 6d per
lb. less were made for forward deliveries. It is
impossible to recapitulate the vagaries of price
and we may not soon again see such violent
fluctuations. Compared with last January to-
day’s prices shew an advance on Fine of 2s 5d,
Negerohead 9d to L0d, on Ball’ Caucho only 6d.
Soft fine has shewna far greater difference in
value to Hardthan ever before. Last January
we had sales of Fine Hard at 5s 2d and forward
at 5s O}d, Soft at 4s 104d, Negrohead, scrappy at
38 84d, Cameta 2s 8d, Island 2s 6d, Ball 3s 64d.
A fair trade continued at about these values with
an upward tendency and in June 6s 3d was paid
for Hard, 4s 1d for Ball. We had a rapid rise in
July—-at the close 8s 34d for Hard but 6d less in
August, and forward sales were then made at 6s
to 6s 6d, and Ball up to4s 6d. September and
October were months of great activity and ex-
citement, mainly by America buying largely and
Bears being caught. Hard was sold at the
highest price for 1909, at 9s 2d, Ball up to 5s 1d.
We had a quick fall in November with larger
receipts, but some recovery towards end of De-
cember with smaller receipts and close steady.
Fine Hard 7s. 7d, forward 1d to 14d less, Soft
7s. 04d, Negrohead Scrappy 4s. 74d, Cameta 3s.
4d, Island 3s. 1d, Caucho Ball 4s. 14d. The im-
ports of medium Rubbers have not been exces-
sive, their value did not increase seriously.

Trade has been good in England and France,
middling in Germany and Russia, but unprece-
dentedly large in America.

The world’s supply of about 69,000 tons has
been mostly consumed. In 1908 we had 65,000
tons, and 1907, 69,000 tons, 1906, 65,000 tons.

“Slab” Rubber was scarce and sold well,
“Ball” plentiful (and of good quality) and very
ready sale. ‘‘Tails” improved and sold better.
West Coast African increased,

W.C.A.—15,500 tons against 14,000 tons in
1908, 17,000 tons in 1907, and 17,200 tons in 1906.

VISIBLE SUPPLY, lst JANUARY, 1910.

1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 1905
tons. tons. tons. tons. tons, tons.
Of Para and Peruvian 3,278 3,188 3,722 %,162 2,874 2,666
Including America 1,250 1,305 1,210 1,160 1,600 1,830

1909 Brazil and Bolivia
(from the Amazonas)
Ineluding Peruvian and
Caucho via Iquitos
and Manaos 8,250 7,460 7,160 6,250 6,100
We had very little Slab, but increased supplies
of Ball of nice quality. Putumayo Tails im-
proved in quality, consequently sold more readily.
This year’s crop was very good quality. All
fine should be cut and carefully selected before ship-
ment. Caucho Ball increased and was of useful

39,050 38,160 37,520 34,520 34,420

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

quality. Bolivia increased. Mollendo mode-
rate. Venezuela via Orinoco more. Ceara and
Manigoba great increase. Pernambuco and
Assare small supply. Mattogrosso crop was
fair but quality not very good, Mangabeira,
from Santos and Bahia, less supply.

CENTRAL AMEnRIcA.—-Supply moderate. Mex-
ico increased supply. Colombia small lots,
and part poor undesirable quality. Ecuador
was fair quality, also Nicaragua, We had a
few lots of Plantation from these countries, and
estimate 120,000 acres planted there,

1909. 1908. 1907. 1906. 1905,

WEST COAST AFRICAN tons. tons. tons. tons. tons,

(total about) 15,5U0 14,L00 17,C00 17,200 17,500
including Benguela

and Mossamedes 1,920 1,690 1,700 1,450 1,650

Loanda 950 700 900 700 800
Congo & French Congo 6,300 5,900 6,000 5,900 5,550
Qualities have somewhat improved, and prices
were better for Niger, Gold Coast, Accraand La-
gos. Good qualities from the Cameroons, Sierra
Leone, Gaboon and Conakry sold at high prices.

The French Congo & Soudan, mostly from
Séuégal via Bordeaux, sold well.

About 1,850 tous, against 1,050 tons 1908, 1,200
tons 1907, 1,300 tons 1906, 1,250 tons 1905.

Liverpool imports W & C African 2.900 tons,
against 2,580 tons 1908, 3,740 tons 1907, 4770
tons 1906.

Antwerp imports, mostly Congo, 5,300 tons,
against 4,900 tons 1908, 5,000 tons 1907.

East Coast Arrican.—Zanzibar, &c, more;
prices show and advance for the year of about
9d per Ib.; quality has been fair. Nyassaland
very little. mombassa and Lamu fair. Uganda
larger ; some nice clean Plantation. Abyssinian
in larger supply and quality fair.

Madagascar—Still small supply ; prices close
showing arise of 9d to 1s. Niggers—Some lots
nice clean sold well. Rangoon small, Assam
smalland high. Penang greatly increased and
sold readily. Supply of Java was small, but
planting is going on freely, and we may expect
increased supplies. Borneo more and sold well.
Tonkin and French Cochin China fair but sold
well. New Guinea sent us none. Pontianak
has been abundant and fairly high.

Batata in fair supply, and higher; Sheet 28
3d up to 2s 8d, Block 1s 75d up to 2s 24d, closing
at 23 8dand 282d. Gurra PErcuHa of slow sale
till the close of the year, when demand in-
creased.—-S. Fracis & Co., India Rubber and
Colonial Brokers,

Inpra RuBBER SraristIcs FoR 1909,

Total Imports, &c., of all sorts were: ~

ENGLAND.
Imports. Deliveries. Stock 31st Dec.
1909 24563 24225 1848 tone
1908 21611 23369 1510 ,,
1907 22964 21317 3268 ,,
1906 21269 21162 1669 ,
1905 21700 21410 1562 ,,
Lonpon.
Imports. Deliveries, Stock 31st Dec,
1909 5433 5207 604 tons
1908 2983 3608 378 ,,
1907 3509 3149 1003 ,,
1906 2604 2444 691 ,,
1903 2126

2003 531 |,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agrieultural Society.—Feb., 1910. 187

Tmports.
-3 -6
PEWS

s

a s ay &
1909 10179 4630
1908 11006 4310
1907 9828 8882
1906 8728 3435
1905 10156 3328

Deliveries. Stocks, 31, D

eo rs
HS nO
aa Qs
ee 3
1 66 4588
11654 4461
9282 3408
8924 3471
9760 3336

Prices, 3let December.

ra
eee

iS «oo 2
Ss
Bs, Mow
388 390
275 348
923 499
37 25
573 61

Hard Negrohead Negrchead Caucho
Fine Para. Scrappy. Island, Kall.
1909 4/7 4/7 3/1 4] 4
1908 5/14 3/94 2/6 3/7
1907 3/5 2/10 2/04 3/9
1906 5/24 4/02 3/ 4/3
1905 = 5/5 4] 3/34 3/104
i9uy, 1908. 1907.

Imports of Rubber besides (Brazil )

Para and Peruvian to England

Deliveries (Brazil) Paraand Pernvian
9571 254 8627

to England

Stock 31st December (Brazil) Para
and Peruvian to England

9754 6295 9254

1070 88/ 1846

Imports of Rubber besides (Brazil)
Para and Peruvian to England
Deliveries (Brazil) Para and Peruvian

to England

Stock 3Ist December (Brazil) Para and
Peruvian to Eng!and
>

cage
os *
en Ea
1909. £3 $8
2) a oS
SS a2
HO td
Imports 3607 9-46
Deliveries 3396 = 41
Stock 3lst Dec. 860 9
Imports 1908 1668 87
do 1907 1132 199
Bg 6
as a
sels B
Loi)
1909. ag Ss
i460 lB
Ey, =f
Imports 444 226
Deliveries 433 237
Stoek 31s, Dec. 56 3
Imports 1908 341 212
do 1907 473 150

1906, 1905

9106 8216

8767 8314

1267 928
Bs OF
3
; ne
Po ge ey ee
S Ai ngisy is
cere: bel
474 135 345 48
470 1389 881 54
53 30 59 8
161 67 279 88
334 304 298 428
-g e

3 oO

228 sd S
See. 8s) 2
Hoes a =
amy bs} °
a 3 < by P=

7278 2997 139

1260 3048 147

151 341 Nil

603-2633 149

1556 4109 127

Para Monrury Sratistics, 1909,
(Including Peruvian and Bolivian.)
Shipments (January to December,)

1909, Receipts at Para.

Para,
January 4300 1190
February 3800 1240
March 2910 1230
April 2360 1400
May 1480” 860
June 1100 470
July 1060 340
August 1610 260
September 1780 240
October 2950 320
November 4250 390
December 8200 310
30800 8250
(Shipping (1908 30700 7460
30360 7160

against
in

weight) {ie

1906 28270 6250
1905 28320 6100

Shipments Shipments
Peruvian. to Europe, to America,

2830
2070
2480
2340
1540

960

700
1110
1080
1560
1790
1350

2210
2470
1970
1910
1160

920

720

220
1200
2090
1670
2940

19810 tns 19480 tne
20630 tus 17530 tns

20940
18440
18520

16460
16270
15260

England (Landing Weights.)

/

Stock end of
1909. Imports. Deliveries. month,
January 1108 1033 698
February 1149 1426 721
March 1627 1310 1088
April 1621 1449 1210
May 1697 1708 1199
June 1102 1189 1112
July 869 801 1180
August 896 843 1233
September 1014 1218 1029
Oct: ber 892 1233 688
Novemher 1425 1156 957
December 1109 1288 778

—_—— ——— = ——>

14809 tons 14654 tons net

(Shipping ( 1908 15316 tons 16115 tons
weight) | 1907 13710 12690
against 41906 12263 12395
in 1905 13484 13096
De- Stock
Imports. liveries. 3lst Dec.
American 1909 ... 19580 19815 150

Para & Peruvian)1908 .. 18310 18195 385
Crop Sratistics from 1st July to 30th June each year.
1908/9. 1907/8. 1906/7, 1905/6. 1904/5
Para Receipts:
Para & Ma-
naos 30010 29180 31180 28340 27390
Pe:uvian and
Caucho 8080 7470 6820 6150 5650
Para Shipment to Europe:
‘ara & Ma-
naos 13570 16010 14170 16850 12160
Pernvian 5630 5730 5130 4779 4050
Para Shipments to America:
Para and Ma-
naos 16560 12990 17040 12925 15220
Peruvian 2490 1680 1690 1370 1595

Crop Sraristics.
Juue to 31st Docember,
1909. 1908. 1907,
Para Receipts ee 16710* 15750+ 14240
» Shipments Europe .. 7590£ 6980 8190
America ... 8840§ 8410 5550

Hougland Landings net mee 6205 5328 5741
ae Deliveries net ee 6539 7160 5858
America Landings net wes 8240 9220 5470

As Deliveries net Ree 8880 9345 5770
Contivental Imports net... 1080 1210 1805
Deliveries net ... 1020 14140 1765

1906, 1905

Para Receipts se 14720 14690
», Shipments Europe a 6630 8324
Amerioa ae 7820 5845

Eng'and Landings net ice 4664 6037
35 Deliveries net ne 5487 6149
America Landings net ac 7870 5380
» Deliveries net i, 8230 5880
Continental Imports bet aie 1520 1930
Deliveries ret... 2010 2000

8, #icers & Co., Rubber Brokers, London, 3rd Janu-
ary, 1910.
JAVA LABOUR FOR COCHIN-CHINA
RUBBER ESTATES.

Recruiting of Javanese labourers for planting
work in Cochin-China has begun in Java, per-
mission to that end having just been secured
from Government. The first batch will be 125
strong and will be engaged for labour on a rub-
ber estate at Phu-quoc.—Straits Times, Dec. 7,

* 1909—Para 14850 and Caucho 1860,
+ 1908—Para 14060 avd Caucho 1690.
{ Para 6280 and Caucho 1810,

& Para 8300 and Caucho 540

188
THE RUBBER MARKET DURING 1909.

(Wilson, Smithett & Co.’s Report.)

London, Jan. 5.—The year under review has
been remarkable for the very high prices pre-
vailing, during the last six months, the value of
Para rising from 5s, 14d. in January to 6s. 4d.
at the beginning of July, and from that point to
9s. 2d. in September, with but few reactions,
thus exceeding by along way all previous re-
cords, which had hitherto stood at 5s. 94d. per
Ib. The later autumn months saw a consider-
able decline for spot and near delivery, it being

impossible to maintain the famine prices, due

to the urgent trade demand ata time when
supplies were at the lowest level of the year,
and when, owing tothe unusually low state of
the Amazon, receipts at Para were small and
greatly delayed in the interior; the forward
positions, however, to a great extent held the
rise, as while spot was at the highest point,
February-March, 1910, delivery, was sold at 7s.
9d. per lb., whereas at the close of the year the
comparative values were 7s. 7$d. and 7s. 5zd.
per lb. The receipts in Para during the first
half of the year were slightly below those of a
year ago, but the latter half has proved a period
of eae receipts, doubtless to some extent due
to enhanced values, and the efforts made to
participate in the profits.

EASTERN PLANTATION

has, as anticipated, rapidly increased in quan-
tity, but we cannot yet give the final returns
forthe year. The extraordinary movements
in the price of Para noted above have been
fully reflected in this market, both upwards
and downwards, but it has been difficult. to
maintain the premium hitherto paid ; this fact,
however, is more than counterbalanced by the
greater freedom of sale thereby induced ; by the
extremely satisfactory way in which the fort-
nightly offerings have been taken by consumers.
At the opening auctions good to fine biscuits and
sheet sold at 5s 1d to 5s 8d, with palish to fine
pale crepecommanding similar prices, and values
appreciated, with but few checks, until 24th Sep-
tember, when the prices recorded were 8s llid
to 9s 13d for good biscuits and sheet, 9s 7d for
smoked sheet, and 8s 8}d to 9s 1#d for good to
fine crepe, After some slight reaction, on 4th
November good biscuits and sheet realised 9s
04d to 9s 35d, good to fine smoked sheet 9s 4d to
9s 8id, and good to fine crepe 8s 114d to 9s 34d
per lb, The record price of 93 85d per lb. was
thus established. From this time until 14th De-
cember values tended downwards, and on the
latter date good biscuits and sheet sold at 63
114d to 7s 1d, good to fine smoked sheot at 7s 3d
to 7s 74d, and good crepe at 6s 114d to 7s 14d per
Ib.; the closing auctions, however, showed some
recovery to 7s 2d to 7s 43d, 7s 10d to 8s 03, and
7s 5d to 7s 64d per lb. respectively.

The high standard of quality established by
growers from the beginning has been well main-
tained, but the extreme prices have occasionally
induced some rather premature tapping, resul-
ting ina small proportion of weak and immature

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

sheet been placed on the market. Trade interest
in Plantation kinds is expanding most satisfac-
torily, and theincreased supplies have been fully
absorbed. A year ago we expressed a doubt
whether paleness in colour would continue to
attract a premium, and excepting in Crepe this
has been borne out with but few exceptions,
Biscuits, excepting on the smaller producing
estates, have been mainly supplanted by Sheets,
unless the first quality latex is turned into
Crepe. A considerable improvement has been
made in the manufacture of the lower grades,
which have commanded relatively high prices
throughout the year. Block continues to arrive
regularly from one important estate, but other
supplies arevery limited and this form of prepa-
ration is not recommended for general adoption.

RAMBONG,

owing to its gradual! eradication on many Plan-
tations in Malaya, has latterly been in smaller
supply, but some desirable consignments of
useful character have been received from the
Dutch Possessions.

SMOKED SHEET

Guring the latter part of the year has, as noted
above, commanded a substantial premium, some
manufacturers preferring it to unsmoked, It is,
however, doubtful what difference, if any, will
be seen in the value when supplies become lar-
ger, but the process appears to harden the
rubber and at the same time tends to avoid
mouldiness and tackiness.

PACKING.

This question has received more attention
during the latter part of the year, and we would
again point out the necessity of having an abso-
lutely smooth interior to the cases ; otherwise
splinters of wood are liable to become driven in
tothe Rubber, and manufacturers experience
great difficulty in extracting the pieces. No
paper or other lining should be introduced.

_ STATISTICS.
1909 «©1908 §=61907 = :1908)=—-:1905
tons tons tons tons tons
Para Receipts, Jan.-June...22890 22425 23435 19800 19720
Do do July-Dec,...16650 15765 142380 14680 14690
Total 30040 38190 87665 34480 34410

Comparative value of Para
31st December woo UTE BLE 3/5 «5/28 = b/5
Stock of all growths in
London 1600. 373 = 1017 739 590
Do Plantation do .. 353 147 157 66 is
Total Imports, London,

twelve months... 5892 3021 38674 2784 2269

Total Deliveriss do .. 5158 3674 38238 2570 2140
Plantation Imports do 3550 1642 1125 439 _
Do Deliveries do 3342 1667 1016 396 =

Ceylon shipments, Ist Jan,
toisth Dec. 567 843 224 136 (62
Singapore shipments, 1st

Jan. to 3(th Nov... 994 829 566 277 -

Penang shipments, 1st Jan,

to 15th Nov. ., 862 575 206 37 =

Port Swettenham’ 1st Jan. :
to slst Oct... 954 ~ SS = =

Total (British Possessions
and Protectorates).. 3377 1747 996 450 _
Stock all growths Liver-
pool 31st Dec,.,. 1244 1132 2265 960
Do Para do. do .,, 38 275 921 3870 86878

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Feb., 1910.

MESSRS LEWIS AND PEAT’S REPORT.
World’s Production 75,000 Tons against
70,000 Tons in 1908.

Plantation 4,600 ; against 2,200 Tons in 1908

London, Ist Jan.—The year 1909 has been a
phenomenal one for Rabber and at times the
variations in values extraordinary. Prices for
Fine Para have fluctuated from 5s 24d at the
lowest to 9s 34d at the highest, or roughly spea-
king 4s per lb avariation hitherto unknown in
the article. Tho previous record highest price
was 5s 9d per lb in 1905. The average price for
five years, including 1909, works out at 5s 4d_ per
1b and for the last ten years at 4s 6d per lb. Plan-
tation Para has fluctuated in price from 5s 13d in
January to 9s 83d in November, and closes at 7s
6d for Biscuits and Sheets against 7s 63d for Fine
Para on the spot and 7s 5d for forward delivery,

The Brazilian Crop, commencing last July, will
doubtless prove a large one, although supplies
have up to now been somewhat hindered by the
low waters of the Upper Amazon, but this only
means that they will arrive later than was ex-
pected, and it is probable the heavy weight of
the Crop will be felt in January-March. The
Americans have up till now taken the bulk of
the supplies received in Manaos and Para, so
that only just sufficient supply has reached Hu-
rope for Huropean Trade requirements, and yet
prices have dropped from 9s 34d in: October to
7s 6d in December, as soon as the squeeze was
over. All interested in either Fine Para or
Plantation Rubber, when considering the likely
course of prices during 1910, should bear in
mind that 1910 commences with a range of
prices 2s 4d per lb. above the prices ruling in
January, 1909 and whilst it is true the demand
for the past six or eight months has been extra-
ordinary and very little affected by the enor-
mous and abnormal prices consumers have had
to pay, it is not reasonable to expect such rates
will be maintained when the heavy supplies come
to hand as come they must. Possibly early in the
year there will be a decline of 6d or 9d per |b follo-
wed by a recovery, as consumers fill their vequire
ments; but wedo not look for a low range of prices
for some time to come. We should rather ven-
ture a prediction of a 7d basis with variations of
3d per |b or possibly 6d either side of 7d for the
next six months, both for Para and Plantation.
Such a position and basis must be considered a
most satisfactory one for Planters and Producers,
and equally so to those who have taken an
interest in Rubber Companies as an investment.

We do not hesitate to call attention to the
benefits being derived, and to be derived, in
London and in the Rubber World generally
from the enterprise, capacity and intelligence of
Planters in the East, which has brought about
this great, lucrative and important industry, to
their own advantage and that of everyone con-
nected with it. An enormous amount of capi-
tal has been invested in Rubber Companies,
but it must be borne in mind that such an
industry requires, and is entitled to, a huge
capital, and we are of opinion that the out-
look is a bright one for Rubber Producers and
Investors from the simple fact that the de-
mand is a growing one, and that Consumers
and Manufacturers are finding by experience
that in buying Plantation-Grown Rubber they

189

are receiving in their factories an article of
high morit and purity to be relied upon and
free from the irregularity and uncertainty of
native-prepared and wild rubbers. The result
is certain. The demand for cultivated rubber
must and will increase, and we do not believe,
with all the new enterprises entered into, that
it has been overdone, although we do not for one
moment expect the present enormous profits are
going to last, although for some time to come
we are persuaded that there is no industry with
such prospects as present themselves in con-
nection with the plantation rubber industry.
Ports :

During the past year features of plantation
rubber may be summarised as follows :—

General improvement and regularity of quality
and colour of crépe, which facilitates business
and the execution of manufacturers’ orders.

The special demand and top price paid for
Smoked Sheet, the smoking process having
apparently increased or preserved the strength
of the rubber, and saved it from deterioration
by heat or microbe action, &c., exampled by
* Highlands and Lowlands” and ‘'Vallambrosa.”

The extraordinary demand and relative in-
crease in prices paid for elean brown crépe and
good crépe scrap.

The maintained excellence and evenness of the
Premier ‘‘ Lanadron ” Block.

The lead for colour and quality by the ‘** War-
riapolla ” Biscuits, and for prime thick crépe
by ‘ Rosshaugh ” blankets,

We have mentioned some of the leading crack
marks as examples of successful preparations,
but there are many other marks fast approa-
ching an equal standard of excellence, and there
is no doubt in a very short time, as in the case of
Fine Para, regular contracts will be possible, made
simply upon a guarantee of a given mark that has
established its reputation for quality and regula-
rity, whether it be block, crépe,sheet or biscuits.

In fact a good many contracts have already
been entered into for crops and outputs, and
with a continuation of the careful preparation
which has made such strides during the past
year, the torward and delivery business should
present few ifany difficulties.

Worms
have been coming much darker in colour and,
unless very pale, have been difficult to sell, we
do not recommend this form of preparation.
CASTILLOA,

The quality of parcels sent during the past year
has improved, but the colour has been very dark.
A new machine is now in course of construction
and we have valued some excellent strong sheet
almost white, prepared by 1t; we have every con-
fidence of a great future for this class of rubber
when new methods are discovered and perfected,

Ficus Eastica,
prepared in crépe form has always met a ready
demand and we do not get nearly enough to
supply even the smaller buyers.

Tae Mapira Forgst RuBBER
(Funtumia) has met with extraordinary success,
which goes to show that other rubber beside
Hevea, properly prepared and sent home in
good condition, will meet with a quick and
ready sale, and bring excellent prices.—Lewis
& Prar, Rubber and Rubber Share Brokers,

190

OUR PALM PRODUCTS FOR 13909.

The year being closed at the Customs we
can now follow up our last review to end of
the year. The year has undoubtedly been a
very unusual one for all our coconut products.

Taking Oil, which seems to rule all the rest ;
first, we find a total export of 599,795 cwt. as
coimpared with the figures for 1908, viz., 670,121
cwt., our very best in the history of this commo-
dity, the soap-makers’ principal ingredient, while
it is daily coming more and more into promi-
nence on the Continent and in America (U.S.)
on account of the success of manufacture of
butter or ‘palmin’ as it iscalled. The falling-off
this year is not so great when we remember the
excessive number of nuts it took during the
second and third quarters to produce a candy of
copra, some 1,300 to 1,400. Until, therefore, the
soap-manuiacturers find a cheap substitute, we
do not think oil is likely to tall beyond ordinary
trade fluctuations. To give our readers an idea
of Java’s importance as compared with Ceylon :
Java sent to the U.K. in Ist quarter of 1908
23,778 tons copra against Ceylon same period
3,219 tons copra. 1907 was the shortest copra
year in the decade, Ceylon shipping only 1,861
tons against other countries 33,948 tons, that is
for the Ist quarter to U.K. Take away Javaand
Singapore, and where would the soap man be?

The export of Copra for the year, however, is
higher than last year, the figures being 748,739
cwt. in 1908 against 784,522 cwt. this year,
or more than double of 1907, very little going
to the U.K. Russia and Germany took the
most, while none went to America,their supply
coming doubtless from the Pacific. Were it
not for the very inferior quality of the kernel,
our export and local mill consumption would
have been very much higher. Java sent
U.K. 13,464 tons in 1907, and in 1908, 23,778
tons. Towards the middle or end of last quarter
there was great activity in copra drying, and
exorbitant prices were paid for uuts for drying,
these going as high as R76 per 1,000, buyers
being in hopes then of copra reaching R100 per
candy. This is now R82 or only R5‘50 per candy
less than the record price of 1906—1907, when it
reached nearly R87:50 and when nuts touched
R75 per 1,000. Truly owners of estates are to be
congratulated on being able to command such
splendid prices for their nuts. At an auction in
Negombo, about 30th December, over 100,000
nuts, not first-rate even, averaged R72 per 1,000
husking and carting extra.

Desiccated Coconut—verging on ovoerpro-
duction at end of 1908 with the 4,000,000 lb. in-
crease over the record export of 1907—shows a
falling-off of over 1,754,(3210., that is taking our
tabulated figures for 1908 or 27,602,624 lb. against
this year’s total of 25,848,592 |b. export. This
year, now under review, started very badly with
but a poor demand and when prices were very
low, caused no doubt by the big holdings in
Europeand America, During last quarter, too,

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

business was very dull—the trade no doubt
having large supplies. In this the mills also
felt the pinch of a very poor outturn, it taking
from April to September nearly 34 nuts to
produce 1 lb. of desiccated nut. When this pro-
duct is in demand, prices seem to follow oil and
copra fairly well, but when holdings abroad are
heavy vothing—not even wild rumours of any
short nut crops, or short shipments—will raise
its price, which, bad as the local market
is, is generally from §$ cent to }cent ahead of
C.1.¥. offers from Europe, so that local sales
are on the increase when the seller gets paid
at once, We happen to know of a desiccating
mill where it took nearly 8 per cent more nuts .
to produce a case of 130!b. in 1909 than in 1908.
This will give an idea of the inferiority of our
nuts during the year under review.

In Nuts in Shell—we have a heavy falling-off,
our export table showing 18,405,186 nuts against
21,023,853 in 1908, by far our greatest shipment
of the year, the largest number going to U.K.,
Egypt and Germany. The demand for nuts for
shipping is generally very steady, and it only
falls off when oil and copra go up and the
demand for nuts for drying increases. Nuts
have to be specially husked for shipping with
sufficient husk left on to preserve che eyes.

There is -a falling-off in Poonac as com-
pared with 1908, the figures being 254,547 cwt.
against 303,713 cwt. in 1908. As we pointed
out before, the Copra crushing at home enables
people to secure their cattle food poonac
cheaper than they can procure it here and what
we ship from Ceylon is the result of local
milling and native chekoos after providing for
local demand.

We have very little change to report in Coir
beyond that yarn and tibre are both consider-
ably short of 1908. Many mills recently shut
down have not resumed work, and those that are
working now are going very slow. Thereisa
decided improvement in demand and price.
Encouraged by the success of a few mills well
situated for husk, several new mills were put up,
but some have, to this day, not started work.

Reviewing the whole Coconut enterprise, it is
most satisfactory to note that, while the blee-
ding disease is still with us, it is very amenable
to Mr. Petch’s treatment, and the most exper-
ienced planters have little fear of it. Nor do
we see much chance of the demon ‘ Overpro-
duction ” ever overtaking this enterprise. The
present high price of oil, many predict, has
come to stay. One thing is, we think, bound
to take place, and thatis, a better system of
manuring and tilling of the gardens, the poorest
villager being quite alive to the fact that their
crops can be increased by from 50 to 100 per
cent and even then there is lots of room for such
anincrease in production. What they do re-
guire is cheaper money, many of the gardens
being heavily involved to the Natucotta Chetties
with their crushing rates of interest. Many of
the well-to-do proprietors are manuring more
than they ever did.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Feb., 1910,

SOME RUBBER CROPS OF 1909.

ConsoLIDATED Estates Co., Lrp.—Tea made
Ist July to 3lst Dec. 1909, 965,000 Ib. Rubber
made lst July to 3lst Dec. 1909, 39,000 lb.—
ArsotHnot LaraamM & Co., General Managers,

Mc Meexin & Co.’s QUARTERLY REPORT.

1909, 1908,
Ist Jan, to 31st Dec. lb. Av. 0 Ib. Av. of
Harves- sales Harves-_ sales
ted. todate. ted. to date
3 c s ad
Batu Caves Rubber 43,527 7 15-8 16,585 4 1}
Seafield Bubber 43,490 7 4 Nil Nil
Pelmadulla Rubber Ga
(Geragama only) 1,338 7 0} 9448 3° 81
cents cents;
‘Tea (from Factory) 474,806 ee 499,919 sea
3 ¢ 3 ¢
Mahawale Rubber 1,827 6 10} 470 3 7%
cents eents
Do Tea 633,333 35°38a 525,045 31640

a Up to Colombo advices dated 10th December,
10 and 11, Lime Street, London, KC, January 3rd, 1910.
FEDERATED (SELANGOR).—10,521 Ib. making a
total of 71,638 Ib. for the nine months, against
41,480 Ib. in 1908.

Norts Hoummock.—For the six months ended
December 31st, 18,883 ib. against 2,868 lb. for
the corresponding period of 1908.

PaTALING.—21,950 lb. in 1908, 12,174 lb. wet ;
total for twelve months, 151,994 lb. against
80,922 lb. in 1908 ; increase, 71,072 lb.

P.P.K. (CEYLON).—5,772 lb. dry ; last year,
3,332 lb. dry ; increase, 2,440 1b. dry ; total for
year, 45,474 lb. dry; total for last year, 29,200
lb. dry ; increase, 16,274 lb. dry.

SetaBa.—October Ist (date the company took
over) to December 31st, 8,959 lb.

SELANGOR.—38,525 lb; total for the year,
323,919 lb. compared with 187,992lb. Para and
1,987 ib. Rambong in 1908.

Sunexr Kapar.—-December, 18,500 lb ; total
for the year, 114,600 lb.—Financier, Jan. 6.
ANGLOo-M atay.—53,489 1b; corresponding month
1908, 34,865 lb; total twelve months 1909,
516,232 lb; total twelve months 1908, 350,688
lb; increase on year, 165,544 lb,

Boxir RaJsau.— 32.373 |b ; total for the nine
months of 1909, 194,525 lb, against 136,128 lb
to end December, 1908.

CicELY.—8,928lb, against 4,213!b in Decem-
ber, 1908. Total crop from April 1st to Decem-
ber 3ist, 1909, 60,235 lb, compared with 33,026
lb. for same period of 1908; increase, 27,209 Ib.

ConSOLIDATED Matay.—¥9,418 lb; total for
the year 1909, 215,893 lb, compared with 111,585
ib. for 1908.

GoLpDEN Hops. —5,462 1b ; corresponding month
of 1908, 1,630 1b. ‘Lotal for year 1909, 51,400 lb;
total for year 1908, 15,660 lb; increase, 35,740 lb,

HicHLanDs aNnp Low.Lanps.—46,078lb; De-
cember, 1908, 23,000lb. Total for 1909, 341,986Ib;
1908, 222,287lb. [Subject to adjustment after
manufacture is completed. |

Lonpon Asraric.—10,076 lb; corresponding
month of 1908, 4,376lb; total for twelve months,
76,202 lb; total for year 1908, 34,549 lb; increase,
41,653 lb,

191

PERAK,—1909, 10,150lb, against 10,4601b in
December, 1908. Total crop from April to De-
comber 31st, 1909, 86,565 1b, compared with
46,9941lb for samo period of 1908; increase,
39,571 lb.

Sumatra Para,—6,830 1b; corresponding
month of 1908, 5,940 lb; total for six months of
1909, 53,880 1b ; total for corresponding period of
1908, 33,720 lb ; increase, 20,160 lb, Average net
price realised for the company’s rubber during
December, 78. 2°27d. per lb. The estimate of crop
for the current season is increased to 110.000 lb.
—Financier, Jan. 1.

Suncer Cnon.—For the year ended 31st
December, 1909, 10,200 lb, for 1908 2,258 lb. Of
the 1909 crop, 5,200 lb. have been sold in Lon-
don atan average price of about 7s. 73d per Ib.
gross,—-T, A. WinLraMs, Secretary, 4th Jan.

SEAFIELD.—Decomber, 1909, 7,081 1b.; total fo
year 1909, 43,490 lb.

Batu Caves.—6,585 lb. against December,
1908, 2,276 lb.; total for the year 1909, 43,527 Mey;
against 1908 16,585 Ib.

KeEpona (Malay).—To the end of November
the crop of rubber collected was 21,066 lb. wet
weight, against an estimate of 14,000 lb. dry
weight for the whole year,

Maracca,—29,000 lb., same month of 1908.
8,500 lb. total for 1999, 240,000 Ib., against 46,890
lb. for 1908.

SuNGEI Sauak.—Crop secured to Dec. 31 to
5, 81 lb.

Lince1.—December, approximately 59,000 Ib.,
total for the year 527,000 lb., against 284,873 Ib.
in 1908.

Lasu (¥'.M.S.) Russer.—December, approxi-
mately 13,960 !b., total for the year 86,500 lb.,
against 24,127 lb. in 1908,

St. Grorce Ruepeser Estares,—For
year 23,109 Ib. against estimate of 16,000 Ib.

BaNDARAPOLA CEYLON CompaNny.—For the
year 804,300 lb. tea, 569 ewts. cocoa, 4,300 Ib.
rubber, as against 737,633 lb. tea and 489 ewts,
cocoa for the previous season:

SEREMBAN—December 21,007 lb., in 1908.
11,832 lb. The total for 12 months was 228, 626 Ib.
and 134,848 lb, in 1908, A survoy of the Seremban
Estate has just been completed, and acable has
been received stating that the exact.area of the
oldest rubber, planted in 1898, is 348 acres. The
quantity of dry rubber produced from this acre-
age in the year 1909 just closed was about
205,000 Ib., or at the rate of ;

590 LB. PER ACRE,

Of the above there will fall to be dealt with by
the London company, when the accounts for six
months to December 31, 1909, are made up, the
following quantity, viz: Production of dry
rubber for six months to December 31, 1909,
124,036 lb., which compares with dry rubber for
six months to December 31, 1908, 64,006 Ib.,
showing an increase for six months of 60,030 lb.
Of the above quantity the bulk has been sold
under forward sales, averaging about R469 per
lb,, or, say,a net sterling price of about 6s. perlb.

SHELFORD,—December, 3,600 lb, ; p :
28,963 lb. 72 sit

the

192

GuLENDoN,—Three months to December 31:
Rubber, 9,400 lb.; increase, 3,180 lb.; tea
40,262 lb. ; decrease, 330 1b,

GotconpA Matay.—Dry rubber season 1909
to end of month of December, 95,443 Ib. ; in-
crease 60,341 1b. Month of December, 15,028 Ib. ;
increase, 9,576 |b.

GENERAL CEYLon.—For 1909, 38,370\b. rub-
ber, against an estimate of 28,500 lb. and a crop
secured last year of 26,283lb. The tea crop for
the year is 3,051,000 Ib., against 3,050,266 Ib.
last year.

CryLoN TEA PLantations.—The total amount
oftea produced in the company’s factories for
the year 1909 was 5,515,000 lb., compared with
5,073,000 in 1908, and of rubber 54,000 Ib., against
25,700 lb.—H. & C. Mait, Jan. 7.

RUBBER IN THE F.M.S.

AnD PEAt-SolIt.

We recently received from Pontianak two
samples of a peaty soil in which rubber had
been planted. The planter reported that the
trees at 24 years averaged 5°59 inches in circum-
ference at 3 feet from the ground, whichis de-
cidedly small, but the trees were healthy though
under-sized, and a good many seedlings had
died. The soil sent consisted exclusively of
decayed wood and leaves ; not a particle of sand
or stone was visible. I asked Mr. Dent, the
Government Analyst, to examine the samples
with a view of finding out what amount of
mineral matter there was in this class of soil,
which resembled exactly that obtained from
Johore, and described in previous accounts of
the peat-soils, Of the two samples A, was taken
from the top of the ground to about 8 inches
depth, and B. about three feet down. The owner
of the land states that the soil seems to be
similar to this for 15 to 20 feet depth, and that
the whole soil on exposure has sunk a good deal.
In appearance, the two samples were much the
same except that the top soil was wetter, and the
fragments of wood less decomposed, as might be
expected. Mr Dent gave the following report :—

AsH: FROM Dry

MOIsTURE AsH SAMPLE.
A 76°60 perct. °33 perct. 1:43 per ct.
B 56'90 do ‘94 do 218 do

This ash apparently consisted of the potash, a
trace of iron, etc., derived from the decayed
wood. There was, in fact, absolutely no mineral
matter derived from the soil at allin the earth.
To compare this with the soil richest in humus,
decayed leaves and sticks in the Botanic Gar-
dens, Singapore, where Pararubberis grown
successfully, it may be pointed out that this soil
contains upwards of 60 per cent of mineral
matter, while other soils on which Para rubber
grows well had up to 70 per cent and more of
mineral matter. The increase of ash in the lower
sample is doubtless due to the greater loss of
organic matter in the course of decomposition,
giving a higher proportionate return.

The amount of water retained in theso soils is
rather striking.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

In the soils analysed from the Botanic Gar-
dens (Bulletin V1I 581) free water amounted to
7°400 per cent, in the wettest to 2°000 per cent in
the driest. Theso soils were sent for analysis to
Ceylon and one may allow perhaps a little loss
from evaporation on the way. The Borneo soils,
however, were kept some days after their arrival
here from Borneo, and perhaps were propor-
tionally wetter, still the difforencein the amount
of water retained in the lowest, which is the
driest, amounted to 56°90. Warington writes:
“Of all soils peat has the greatest capacity for
retaining water, its porosity supplying an
enormous internal surface, the effect of which is
heightened by the affinity for water of its colloid
constituents.” Of course the peat he is refer-
ring to is not what we call peat in this country,
it is rather more compact, the stems of the mos-
ses, the heather roots, etc., being finer than the
wocd fragments ofthe so-called peat soils here,
but, generally speaking, the result appears to
be the same, and as decomposition has gone on
toa considerable extent as it had in sample B,
and the vegetable remains were quite broken up
and powdery, there would be little difference
between the two. The excess of water in the
soil, if the water was saturated with humid acid
would not be advantageous to the growth of
Para rubber, as explained in previous papers. —
Ep.—Strails Agricultural Bulletin, January.

CEARA RUBBER IN COORG.

I saw a good deal of Ceara Rubber,and was fa-
vourably impressed with its appearance. It must
be remembered that this, like other crops, will
respond to good soil, and good cultivation. Pre-
liminary experiments made in a rough way with-
out any special apparatus are yielding samples
of rubber which are valued at top prices, so that
the industry seems to bea promising one. The
trees grow readily: if not so rapidly as in some
other districts, stillrapidly enough for practical
purposes, It is possible that some trouble may
be experienced with the tapping, but it should
be possible to overcome this by the adoption of
asystem of vertical tapping, and the use of
dripping tins containing Ammonia to induce a
longer flow of latex. In a plantation of Ceara
trees alarge number of varieties will be found,
and yield of rubber and latex will vary much
from tree to tree. New clearings should be
planted up from cuttings taken from a_ tree
which has been found by experiment to give a
good yield, since seed will not come true. I saw
no season to suppose that this industry will
prove anything but satisfactory in the district.
—RupoteH D Anstrad, Planting Expert. 7-1-
1910.—Planters’ Chronicte, Jan. 22.

LABUAN RUBBER LAND.

Labuan, Nov. 25.—Planters and others interes-
ted in rubber should certainly see Brunei before
going elsewhere where land is clear and labour
scarce. The terms offered by the Brunei Govern-
ment to bora fide applicants are most advan-
tageous, an excelJent land is to be found. The
Labu (Brunoi) Co. have made a good start,a large
area has been cleared and some 30 acres have
already been planted, All this has been done
with local labour.—-Straits Times,

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VLVINOVW VIGIOIYWIT9S

TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

MAGAZINE OF THE

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

—

Vou. XXXIV,

COLOMBO, MARCH 15rta, 1910,

No. 3.

A JOURNEY AROUND THE
WORLD. I.

We returned February 17th from a
year’s holiday, spent in journeying
around the world, and a few impressions
ccllected during that time may be of
interest.

We spent the first five weeks in Venice,
Padua, and Verona, where there was
little of agricultural interest to be noted,
beyond the enhanced price of all produce
in Venice, owing to the fact that it
has to be brought in from considerable
distances,

Proceeding to Lake Garda, we found
the reverse the case: prices were ex-
tremely low, owing apparently to the
fact that the railway does not yet touch
the upper parts of the lake, though it
reaches the two extremities. Food was
remarkably cheap in Gardone.

From here right along through the
Alps, the noteworthy feature was the
enormous use made of water power.
The whole country was intersected by
electric tramways, and electric light was
common in the smallest village. People
who have only seen the electric car in
Colombe, or ina level English town, do
not realise the capabilities of such cars.
We travelled from Innsbruck up to the
Stubai-Thal along a road as steep as
that from Nanuoya to Nuwara Eliya, at
a speed as great as that of the up-

country trains, and for an absurdly low
fare. In Seattle or in San Francisco
electric cars may be seen climbing
streets as steep and as long as the
upper hill between Nuwara Eliya and
Hakgala. The car is placed on ‘‘ Second
speed” to do it.

Proceeding northwards through Tyrol,
the great agricultural feature of interest
is the co-operative wine-growers’ asso-
ciations, by aid of which the peasant is
able to keep his feet against the big
capitalist. For many years we have
preached this doctrine in Ceylon, but it
is slow to produce effect,

Staying for some time in Innsbruck,
which was preparing for the centenary
of Andreas Hofer, our host, who is the
great chamois hunter of that part of the
Alps, took me on an expedition up
among the snows, in the course of which
we came upon a herd of eight chamois,
On this expedition, at one of the huts, I
was given some ‘“‘ tea” in compliment to
my nationality. Abouta tablespoonful
of Ceylon tea was put into an infuser,
and waved aboutina large basinful of
warm (not boiling) water fora minute
or two. The faintly coloured liquid was
then ready !

Passing through Bavaria, and southern
Germany generally, we noticed large
State forests, an institution which is
badly needed in England and other
countries, The United States have been

194

forced in self-preservation to establish
large reserves, and Canada is being
driven in the same direction. Timber
increases continually in price, and the
making of wood pulp is reducing the
available supply more rapidly than
anything else, When we stayed upon
Puget Sound in 1902, it was necessary to
burn all timber felled to get rid of it—it
did not pay to haulit to the water.
Now the same timber is very valuable.

In Germany we mainly stayed in
towns, where though I had discussions
with agriculturists and others, there was
little of agricultural interest to be seen,
I visited Hanover, and was shown by
Dr. Prinzhorn all over the works of the
Continental Rubber Co., and learnt from
him a good deal that will prove of
value in dealing with rubber. A point
he insisted upon, and which may as well
be brought in here, was that rubber
should be packed in smooth boxes. I
saw several of the rough boxes opened,
with well-known names on the outside,
and chips of wood, sawdust, and other
debris were adhering so firmly to the
rubber that it could only be removed by
the washing machines.

A very noticeable feature in all the
German towns, which has not yet
appeared in England, was the Automat
Restaurants. Entering, the room was
bare but for tables and chairs, and had
no servants init. All round the walls
were large belljars, about a yard across,
with afloor of white porcelain divided
into triangles, upon each of which was
placed a little dish of something cold,
beginning with Sardines and ending
with cakes at the other end of the room.
Putting 10 pf. (one penny) in the slot at
the side of the machine, the floor of it
revolves till one of the triangles comes
opposite to the opening, when it dips
down, and the dish slides out. You
take this away and eat it, and return
for something else. Further on are
drinks. All kinds of beer can be got.
You put a whisky-anud-soda tumbler

[MaRcH 1910.

under a tap, drop in your penny, and
the beer runs out. Tea, coffee, cocoa,
&c., are all also supplied, and several
liqueurs, e.g., creme de menthe, in penny
glasses. For about 5d.-7d, one can get a
good meal at these places; the weak
pointis that one gets too much carbo-
hydrates (bread &c.) in proportion to .
the proteid (meat &c.).

A noticeable feature about Germany
as a wholeis the “disciplined” nature of
the people. Each man attends to his
own business, and does that thoroughly,
with the result of great national
efficiency. Onedoes not see in Germany
the ‘“‘loafer” class that is only too pro-
minent in London and other English
towns; one may leave the station and
walk through the town witha suit case
without being pestered by men and lads
wanting to carry it. The same is the
case in America or Canada, but not in
England or Ceylon,

~ On the German trains the conductor
books one’s seat. He takes your name,
enters it, and turns round a label above
your place, with a number upon it, and
no one else is allowed to have that parti-
cular seat. A system somewhat like
this is slowly coming in in England, but
in America and Canada of course one
may book seats days or weeks in advance,
as at a theatre.

Every railroad official in Germany
carries a pccket time-table, and can tell
you the times of trains to and from any
point. This is a system worthy of

copying.

While on the subject of railroads, the
Japanese system may be noticed. At
every station there is a large board
put up, with notices (in English and
Japanese) of all the interesting places
near the stations and the distance. Thus
one might at Henaratyoda station
put up:

Botanic Gardens
Asgiriya temple
and so on.

1 mile
1 mile

ty
atte

oe

Marcu, 1910.]

195

GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS,

RUBBER AND ITS SUBSTITUTES.

(From the Chemist and Druggist, Vol.
(LXXVI., No. 1562, January I, 1910.)
The circular which was issued recently

by the Synthetic Rubber Co., announc-

ing the proposed voluntary winding-
up, on the grounds that further ex-
penditure was not justified, has given
great satisfaction to dealers and brokers
in rubber, although it may be said that
in Mincing Lane the synthetic bogey
never caused much apprehension, even
though Professor Dunstan, at the British
Association meeting in 1906, confidently
predicted the synthetic production of
rubber betore the Association met again
at York. At present there is still no
likelihood of the prophecy coming true,
but the commercial production is by no
means an impossibility. It is interest-
ing from this point of view to givea
résumé of the many attempts, especi-
ally during the last decade, to make
artificial rubber or prepare satisfactory
substitutes for it. The only known
actual synthesis of _caoutchouc is
that accomplished by Bouchardet and

Tilden by polymerising isoprene (CH):

(CH2). (CH2): (CH), which is itself one of

the distillation-products of caoutchouc.

Wallach and Tilden (1892) also showed

that isoprene obtained from turpentine

behaves similarly to that obtained in
the destructive distilation of rubber.

Kondakow. in 1902, prepared a substance

closely resembling caoutchouc, by the

action of light for a year on _di-iso-
propenyl or methyl] isoprene. A British
patent granted in 1907 proposes to con-

vert acetylene and ethylene into di-

vinyl under the influence of a dull red

heat, which latter product yields metyl
di-vinyl or isoprene on treatment with
methyl chloride. The isoprene is then
to be condensed torubber. Other pro-
cesses have been patented on the assump-
tion that coal tar contains polymers of
isoprene or compounds convertible into
suchsubstances. Thus Seguinand Boussy

de Sales patented in France during 1903

a@ process according to which tar (con-

taining isomers of caoutchouc) is seeded

with caoutchouc particles or

with other appropriate ferment at 60° C.

in an atmosphere of vitrogen, Later

a method was patented of preparing the

ferment.” To obtain this the ‘thick

deposit” from acaoutchoue solution in

benzine, kept at a temperature of 50° C.

and exposed to daylight in a closed

bottle, is re-dissolved and then precipi-
tated again by alcohol. The precipitate

treated -

is scattered over the surface of a mixture
of coal tar and boric acid which is
maintained at 50° C. in an atmosphere
of oxygen. A brownish-grey powder is
stated to be formed on the walls, and
this is the “ferment” in an active
form. Prior to the last process, Jasset
(1902) stated in his specification that
coal tar (4 parts) and boric acid (1 part),
heated until the burning vapours were
coloured green and then kept at 60° C.
in a current of oxygen, yielded a brown
highly elastic body to suitable solvents
after drying on a water-bath. Phos-
phorie or iodic acid may replace borie
acid. An American patent, by Dupont
and Franklin (1903), gives a variation
of the above, since the tar and boric
acid are dissolved in alcohol, heated until
vapours burning with green flame are
evolved, then oxygen is passed through
the mixture. Blum and Carpenter
(French patent, 1909) propose to obtain
a glutinous mass consisting of a hydro-
carbon of the formula (C5Hs)s by sub-
jecting vegetable substances, such as
peat, to fermentation at about 60° C.,
and simultaneously or subsequently to
a reducing process. The enzyme is
stated to be present in imperfectly
formed caoutchouc, or an “enzyme
which will produce alcohols ofa series
higher than the oJefine series” may be
used, The reducing agent is a_ nitro-
genous compound, preferably the red
substance resembling seed in red Upper
Congo rubber, with the addition of
mineral salts. In 1908 the same two
patentees specified a process to preduce
‘*synthetic Para rubber” by treating
with a nitrogenous derivative of irone,
the mucilaginous mass containing a
large percentage cf isoprene” pro-
duced from.fermented peat, etc. The
irone was stated in a subsequent patent
to be obtained from roots of species of
Iris. The irone is converted by chlorine
into a hydrochloride, then by addition
of a suitable substance, -preferably an
amide, into a nitrogenous compound.
Protein-coagulating enzymesare known
to occur in the latex of rubber-producing
plants, but exactly in what form
caoutchouce pre-exists is not known; but
to produce artificial rubber from tar by
a vclatile enzyme capable of growth
does not accord with known facts,

Rubber substitutes have met with
greater success since at present consider-
able difficulty is experienced in obtain-
ing rubber goods free from substitutes,
Their use as a cheapener is responsible
for many of the defects to which rubber

ye

Gums, Resins,

articles-are liable. The non-resistance
of rubber substitutes to the action of
potassium hydrate is the method used
for the detection and estimation of
substitutes. Among the multifarious
substances proposed to be employed for
diluting rubber the oxidation-products
of drying-oils are the basis of the main
modern class. Dry oxidation of a
suitable fixed oil, usually linseed oil, is
effected with manganese dioxide, etce.,
or in the wet process nitric acid is used,
the object being to form elastic sub-
stances similar to linoxyn. Stiffeners
such as resin, pitch, tar, acacia, traga-
canth, and albuminoids such as gelatin
or casein, may be added, as also “ filling ”
materials including chalk, magnesia,
silica, kaolin, zinc oxide, cork, sawdust,
chopped feathers, and waste leather.
The product is vulcanised in the usual
manner, frequently with the addition
of waste or regenerated rubber, and is
then used for lower-grade goods, The
elastic product yielded- by heating
nitrated casto1 oil to 130° C. for ten hours
is the subject of a patent by the Velvril
Co. Passing ozone through a mixture of
‘eastor oil containing colophony and
sulphur isa variation of the oxidation
process patented in America, the pro-
duct being finally heated with sulphur
ehloride. Ditmar (1906), in his specifi-
cation for a process for the removal of
unvulcanised oil by means of solvents,
states that the defects in substitutes are
due mainly toits presence. Gelatin or
glue, with or without admixture of
glycerin, rendered insoluble by treat-
ment with formaldehyde or chromic
acid, gives another form of rubber
substitute. The viscous masses. ob-
tained by heating carbohydrates such as
sugar and starch, are the subjects of
patents, as also elastic plastic masses
stated to result from the action of
acetylene and oxygen on a mixture of
copper and nickel, the metals acting as
catalyst. Rouxville (1906) filed a speci-
fication in France for producing caou-
tchoue, ete., from terpenes (turpentine),
but did not complete the patent in
England. The conclusion arrived at is
that cheaper rubber of improved quality
is more likely to be derived from in-
ereased production by recent rubber-
plantations than by artificial production,

GUTTA-PERCHA CULTIVATION,
(From the India Rubber Journal, Vol.
XXXVIII, No. 12, December, 1909.)
From a number of communications
which have been received at this office,
it would appear that the possibilities of
cultivating gutta-percha is receiving a

196

(Marcu, 19

certain amount of attention in different
quarters. The ideais not, of course, a
new one; it occurred to Teysmann, of
the Botanic Gardens, Java, in 1856, and
was acted on by him in the same year,
with the result that the Netherlands
Indies Government have now a con-
siderable area under this product.

In the ‘‘ Sourabaya Handelsblad ” some
little time ago appeared an article on
the subject in which attention was
called to an alleged deficiency of seed-
bearers in the Straits and F. M.S. Mr.
H.N. Ridley, of the Botanic Gardens,
Singapore, replied in a letter. which was
at the same time an assurance that
sufficient seeds were available in case of
a demand springing up, and a denial
that gutta-percha cultivation was com-
mercially attractive.

In Singapore there are a large number
of cultivated plants, and the trees may
be found growing wild in parts of the
Island, while in Penang there are many
fine fruiting trees. Large areas in the
F. M. S. have been found rich in this
plant, and these, by a system of
clearing the unnecessary vegetation
and planting the blanks with seed-
lings, have been converted into
extensive cultivations. Gutta percha
does not, however, possess the impor-
tance as a commercial product which it
did in the past, and in Mr. Ridley’s
opinion itis not likely to regain the
position itthen held. Thus, though its
cultivation is by no means neglected in
British Malaya, it has not been con-
sidered worth while to cultivate it so
elaborately as at Tjepetir.

Dr. A. H. Berkout, who has contributed
to the India Rubber Journal (April 6,
1908) an interesting article on the culti-
vation of gutta-percha in Java, agrees
with Mr. Ridley as regards the inadvis-
ability of private planters taking up the
cultivation, atleast until the problem of
the preparation of leaf gutta has been
solved. Palaqium gutta has been found
the most satisfactory tree to plant, but
the yield is low compared with that
obtainable from Para rubber, ete., and
the waiting period long. Onthe Govern-
mant plantations it is calculated that
the ultimate cost will amount to £25 per
acre. Calculating a yield of 50 lb. per
acre in alternate years—that obtained
from some 23 year old trees near
Buitenzorg—it will be seen that large
profits cannot be looked for. Tapping
in alternate years is necessary owing to
the slow wound response.

A correspondent of the ‘‘Straits Times’
takes a more optimistic view. In the
first instance, he thinks, the statistical
position of gutta-percha compares very

Manca, 1910.]

favourably with that of rubber, for
whereas the output of rubber at the
present rate of planting is bound to
increase enormously year by year, the
collection of really first-class gutta-
percha, so called gutta mera, has not
only not been progressing but has
steadily declined during the last decade
owing to the habit of the natives of
destroying the trees for obtaining the
gutta. That annihilation has been
going on at such an alarming rate that
the felling of trees is now prohibited in
several countries. Moreover, it must be
borne in mind that the best kinds of
gutta trees only grow in a com-
paratively very narrow area, comprising
parts of Bornev, Sumatra, Java and the
Malay Peninsula, and that whatever old
trees in larger numbers are left, occur
only in places difficult of access. It
should, he thinks, be further considered
that submarine telegraph cables, in the
construction of which for insulating
purposes gutta-percha is principally
used, will continue to be required for a
good many years to come on account of
the greater reliability and safety in
working compared with the wireless
systems, and that in addition to new
cables to be laid, old ones have to be
replaced. An idea of the quantity of
gutta-percha required for this purpose
is obtained if it is remembered that, as
calculated by a living authority on gutta-
percha, no less than 29,000,000 trees have
been destroyed to provide gutta-percha
necessary for the cables already laid all
over the world. Supposing, asks the
writer, only half these cables were to be
relaid without taking into account new
ones to be constructed, where are the
trees from which the requisite genuine
gutta-percha is to be obtained ?

The idea of cultivating gutta trees, he
continues, has so far not-been carried out
except to an insignificant extent, princi-
pally because the trees cannot be profit-
ably tapped before 18-15 years, during
which the capital invested would give
no return. Moreover, the gutta obtain-
ed from leaves and twigs has hitherto
had to be extracted by a chemical
process which affected the properties of
the gutta in such a manner as to make
it practically unfit for cable require-
ments. This drawback has now been
remedied, and there is every reason to

197

Saps and Exudations.

believe that, at no distant date, leaf
gutta will bein every way as good as
tapped gutta. It will then be possible to
get regular and handsome returns from
gutta leaves, from trees four years old
and upwards, which returns will be
augmented by the profit from tapped
gutta as soon as the trees attain an
age of 13 years. However, even with-
out relying on the leaf-product, invest-
ment in a gutta plantation pays well,
considering that 15 year old trees,
yielding best quality, fetch $10 to $20 per
tree if retailed to the Malays for felling.
The upkeep of an estate costs very little
after the trees are a few years old; in
fact, the trees seem to prefer surround-
ing jungle,

The writer when visiting the East last
year made a special point of investi-
gating the possibilities of this culti-
vation and of examining the trees then
growing at Buitenzorg. At the best the
growth was miserably poor. He then
wrote :—

‘‘T saw the trees which were planted
on the 8th February, 1884; many of them
were only about twenty-four inches in
girth, though the giant of the block
measured 53 feet in circumference at a
yard from the ground. The trees have
been tapped on the single oblique and
herring-bone systems, and also on
the halt circle horizontal plan. Every
effort has been made to procure good
yields from these old trees. The cuts
have healed very badly, and the yield
only averaged 89 grams per tree per
annum. With gutta-percha out of
fashion, a wait of fifteen to twenty
years, and a yield of about one-fifth of
a pound per annum, Ido not see any
reason why the Dutch Government
should be envied. Even if the price of
the raw product should show a big rise,
it is doubtful whether the cultivation
of palaqium will ever be as remuner-
ative as Hevea brasiliensis. The Govern-
ment Plantation is, according to inform-
ation locally obtained, about 1,500 acres
in extent; a block of the same size and
age of Hevea would have placed the
island of Javain quite a different posi-
tion to-day.”

That was in May, last year, and we
still see no reason for altering the
meaning of the notes then penned.

198

[Marcn, 1910

- OILS AND FATS.

THE SOY BEAN.
(From the Journal of the Board of Agri-
culture, Vol. Se o. 9, December,

The soy bean, which has recently
come into prominence in this conntry as
a feeding stuff, is a native of south-
eastern Asia and has long been cultivat-
ed in China and Japan. It has also
been introduced into India but is not
very extensively grown.

Production in Northern China.—The
beans which have been exported to the
United Kingdom during the past year
have come from Mancuhria through
the ports of Dalny, Vladivostoe and
Newchwang. There isno very precise
information as to the area under culti-
vation within reach of the railways, but
there is no doubt that the bean is largely
grown and, given sufficient inducement,
a considerable increase in the supply
is likely to take place.

The total production of beans in
Southern Manchuria, which is served by
the ports of Dalny and Newchwang, is
stated to have been 580,000 tons in 1907,
and 830,000 tons in 1908, while in North-
ern Manchuria the Vice-Consul reports
that the crop in 1908 probably amounted
to 900,000 tons, and the prospects for the
crop in 1909 indicate a yield larger pos-
sibly by 20 per cent. The beans from
Northern Manchuria come _ through
Viadivostoe. The spot prices in London
on November 25th were reported to be
about £710s. a ton for soy beans, and
£6 2s. 6d. for soy bean cake. The Conti-
nental demand is large.

Composition of Soy Beans.—Yellow,
green and black beans are grown in
China, and there are varieties of these
as well as brown soy beans. According
toa number of analyses they usually
contain about 35 to 40 per cent. of
albuminoids and 10 per cent. or less of
oil, but the composition varies according
to their origin. The following are
some recent analyses :—

No.1. No. 2. No. 3, No.4. No. 5. No. 6. No. 7

Bo 88 Mees Pesce se aen

me 2a Se te Fn On a

se Of Ba Sa 2S ae 22
Moisture... 10°23 — 1117) 9°91 +1062 — 10°52
Ash os 4320 — 4°36 531 451 — 4°62
Oley see 1062 16768 16:54 18-11 796
Albuminoids 37°54 39°75 40°46 41°17 37°07 35°42 36°05
Carbohydrates 27°27 22°30 21°45 22-81. 24°46 24°68 26:16
Woody fibre.. 5°02 — 680 4°26 5:23 — 5'5Q

The analysis of sample No. 1 was made
by Mr. S. H. Collins, M.se., lecturer in
Agricultural Chemistry, Armstrong Col-
lege, while samples 2 to 7 were analysed

by Mr. EH, S. Edie, M.A., B.Se., Liverpool
University. The
Chinese beans, but No. 7 was grown in
West Africa.

On arrival in this country the oil is
extracted from the beans by pressure,
and the residue forms the soy bean cake
or meal used for feeding cattle. The
proportion of oi] left in the cake varies,
and its value for fattening purposes
will, of course, vary according to its
composition in this and other respects.
Much of the cake sold is guaranteed to
contain 6 per cent. of oil and 4C per
cent. of albuminoids; decorticated cot-
ton cake usually contains 7 to 10 per
~cent. of oil and 45 per cent. of albumin-
oids, while the undecorticated cake
contains 5to6 per cent. of oil and 24
per cent. of albuminoids.

Bean cake is also exported from Man-
churia, andas handpresses are common-
ly used there, the proportion of oil
remaining in the cake is higher. Analy-
ses Nos. 1-8 in the following table are
given by Mr. Acting Vice-Counsul Gor-
don in a report to the Foreign Office
(Annual Series, No. 4872), as represent-
ing results obtained from Manchuria
bean cake, while the remainder represent
soy bean cake made in this country:
Analysis No. 4, is by Mr. S. H. Collins;
No. 5 by Professor Kinch of the Royal
Agricultural College, Cirencester, and
No. 6 by Mr. James Hendrick.

No.1. No.2. No.3. No.4. NO. 5. No.6.

pr. ct. pr.ct. pr. ct. pr. ct, pr. ct. pr. et.

Water.. .. . 17°38 16°90 19°19 13°31 13°0 113

Oily substances .. 9°76 970 918 600 770 31
Albuminous sub-

stances... .. .- 40°98 41°67 45°00 44°37 42°35 44m=9
Carbohydrates .. 20°73 20°64 15°62 25:04 387% 237
Fibre, vegetable .. 6°65 6°64 623 3°90 50 6:2
PAS epic eters eel Ome bE 4. Bi eae 50 68

Some of the cake and cake-meal which

is being sold has had the oil extracted

from it by means of a solvent, instead

“of by pressure. In such cases only 14 to
23 per cent. of oil remains.

Feeding Experiments with Soy Bean

Cake.—Up to the present very few ex-—

periments on systematic lines have been
made with this cake, though it has been
extensively used for feeding purposes
by farmers.

One experiment, reported by Professor
Gilchrist, of Armstrong. College, was
carried out at the Cumberland and
Westmorland Farm School, and was
intended to test the comparative feed-
ing value of soy bean cake and decorti-
cated cotton cake. Three cows and
three heifers, after their;first calf, were

selected in February, 1909. They were

first six were all

ee. MARCH, 1910.) é

all at an early stage of their lactation
period, and as the milk naturally de-
clined in quantity as the trial progress-
ed, it was decided to feed soy bean
cake during the first and last three
weeks and decorticated cotton cake
during the middle six weeks. Hach cow
received daily 40 lb. swedes or 42 Ib.
mangolds, 14 lb. hay, 7lb. oat straw, 4 lb,
‘erushed oats, and 4 lb. soy bean cake
or 4lb. decorticated cotton cake.

As regards milk production, there was
a slight advantage in favour of the soy
bean cake, but it was so small that the
two cakes were considered to be equal
in this respect. Both foods also gave
similar results as regards the fat content
ot the milk. The cows gained rather
more in weight while they were receiv-
ing the soy bean cake than they did
on the decorticated cotton cake.

An experiment on similar lines was
conducted at the Royal Agricultural
College, Cirencester. Six cows were
seclected from the College herd, and
divided into two lots of three each,
care being taken that the age, period
of lactation, and quantities of milk per
day were as nearly equal as possible.
The cows were turned out to grass on
April 5th, and the experiment lasted
from April 12th to May 9th. The daily
rations were 35 lb. pulped mangolds,
6—8 lb. chaff, 2 ib. ground oats, 1 Ib.
bran, and a small allowance of hay.
Lot 1 received, in addition, 4 lb. soy
bean cake, and lot 2, 4 lb. decorticated
cotton cake; the bean cake contained
6 per cent. of oil and 40 per cent, of
albuminoids and cost £6 10s per ton,
while the cotton cake contained 8 per
cent. of oil and 34 per cent. of albumin-
oids, and cost £710s. per ton.

The yield of milk appeared to be
little affected by the kind of cake used.
The percentage of butter-fat in the
ease of the bean cake remained almost
constant, a slight increase, if anything
being noticed; with the decorticated
cotton cake the percentage of butter-fat
had a tendency to fali,

The butter produced by the bean cake
was of a soft, oily nature and quickly
churned, but it yielded well. It was,
however, of a decidedly paler colour and
somewhat inferior flavour as compared
with that from cotton cake, The but-
ter produced by the decorticated cotton
cake was hard, and took a longer time
tochurn. The yield, however, was not
so good as from the bean cake. No
difference in laxative effect or otherwise
was observed in the two cakes.

Another experiment on asmaill scale
was carried out at the Harper Adams
Agricultural College, with two rather

199

7]

Oils and Fats,

delicate heifers, to test the question of
the possibility of this cake having any
deteximental effect on animals. Increas-
ing quantities up to 7lb. a day were
given to one animal without any ill-
effects and the cake was eaten with
relish. The other heifer was fed on a
patent cake, and then asudden change
made to soy bean cake, and in this case
also no difference was observed.

An experiment carried out in Ger-
many, at the Agricultural Institute at
Bonn, is reported in the Deutche Land-
wirtschaftliche Presse (22nd and 26th
May, 1900) in which soy bean cake was
compared with linseed cake for feeding
cows. The experiment was of a very
exhaustive character, but only included
three cows, which were fed for a fort-
night at « time on linseed cake, soy
bean cake, and again on linseed cake.
The results showed little difference as
the result of the feeding, and the con-
clusion arrived at was that soy bean
cake was a quite satisfactory food for
cows.

Use of Soy Bean Cake for Feeding.--The
foregoing experiments and the aualyses
which have been made, show that this
cake may be regarded asa useful feeding
stuff when given to stock in suitable
quantities and in combination with
other foods. It is, however, rich in -
albuminoids, andif not fed judiciously
may give rise to digestive troubles. As
the analyses given above show, it
approaches decorticated cotton cake in
composition, and should be fed in the
same way as that cake with roots, hay
and straw.

Several cases have been reported to
the Board in which stock ted on soy
beans or cake have become ill and died,
and investigation into these cases is
now in progress. At present there is
no evidence to show that cake from
pure soy beans (Glycine hispida), or the
beans themselves, if fed to animals in
suitable quantities, would cause un-
desirable results. It is possible that
the accidents reported have been due
to an admixture with the soy beans of
some other feeding material possessing
poisonous properties,

Soy beans have been cultivated for a
number of years in the United States
and are regarded as a useful fodder
erop. The plant is grown, not only for
the beans, but also for hay, while it is,
perhaps, more commonly used for green
forage. Some information as to their
cultivation was given in this Journal,
May, 1909, p. 128, and further information
on this point will be found in Farmers’
Bulletin, No. 372, of the United States
Department of Agriculture,

200

FIBRES.

SELECTION OF COTTON VARIETIES
FOR UNIFORMITY.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol.
VIII., No. 198, November 27, 1909.)

It is a well-known fact that the intro-
duction of a good variety of cotton into
a locality often leads to the exhibition
ofa large amount of diversity among
the plants. and that, in addition, they
may appear to possess very different
characteristics from those presented by
them in their old surroundings, This
effect has been shown, in Bulletin No.
159 of the Bureau of Plant Industry of
the United States Department of Agri-
culture, to be different from other types
of variation, suchas the ordinary fluc-
tuating differences, changes due to
accommodation, direct effects of environ-
ment, and diversity due to hybridi-
zation, and is there ‘termed a ‘ new-place
effect.’ The remedy suggested is selec-
tion for ‘local adjustment,’ that is
selection for uniformity by rejecting all
lines of descent in which changes from
the best type oceur; itis a natural con-
comitant of selection for improvement,
and it seems that any properly organized
scheme for this would automatically
inelnde it; thus its consideration only
forms another argument for the con-
tinuous practice of selection. As many
of the conclusions reached in the above-
mentioned bulletin are applicable to
West Indian conditions, they are given
here :—

The growing of a variety of cotton in
a new locality is likely to bring about a
_ distinct reduction in the yield, as well as
in the quality, of the fibre. This
deterioration has been found to be
connected with an increase of diversity
among the individual plants. Even
when a carefully selected, uniform stock
is used for the experiment, a much
greater amount of diversity may appear
in a new place than when the same
stock is grown under the accustomed
conditions of the previons locality,
where the variety was improved by
selection,

The diversity that reappears in the
first season, when a variety of cotton is
grown ina new place, can be greatly
reduced in later seasons by selecting
seeds from the plants whose character-
istics have been least disturbed by the
transfer to the new place—those that
are the most fertile and have the best
lint. This process of selection to restore
the uniformity of a variety in a new
place is called local adjustment,

Sel adjustment is
distinct in objects and methods from
breeding for improvement or for origin-

Selection for local

ating new varieties. The object of
local adjustment is to preserve varieties
already existing and to guard them
against recurrence of diversity. Prac-
tical advantages can be secured by
simple selection for local adjustment
without the separate testing of indi-
vidual lines of descent, as is required in
breeding for improvement ofa variety,
or when new breeds are to be developed.

The phenomena of local adjustment
are of general scientific interest as illus-
trating ove of the influences of external
conditions upon the expression of charac-
ters in organisms. The recurrence of
diversity in a previously uniform variety
serves with other facts to show that
ancestral diversities continue to be
inherited, even when their expression is
avoided by efficient selection. That
changes of conditions can iuducea return
to diversity shows that the environment
is able to influence the expression of
characters, and that its influence is
not limited to characters that vary
directly and regularly with changes of
environment.

Apart from the effects of conditions
which limit or inhibit the growth of the
plants, two kinds of changes are found
to follow transfer to new places: (1)
Changes of accommodation to different
conditions, and (2) diversification, or loss
of uniformity. Changes of “accommo-
dation do not directly increase diversity,
for they are shared by all the in-
dividuals, but changes of accommodation
are often accompanied by changes of
other characters which render the indi-
pada plants much more unlike than

efore.

Itis not necessary to believe that the
diverse characteristics that appear in
the new place come into the plants from
the external environment, or that they
represent direct effects of the environ-
ment upon the plants. It is more
reasonable to suppose that new con-
ditions induce diversity in an indirect
manner by disturbing the process of
heredity, and thus allowing ancestral
characters that had been transmitted in
latent form to return to expression, or
characters previously expressed to
become latent. Recurrence of diversity
may be quite independent of hybridiza-
tion, although some of the results are
very similar.

The phenomenon of local adjustment
only strengthens the many other

a a

Mancu, 1910.)

evidences that the uniformity of a
variety of cultivated plants can be
maintained only by persistent and
vigilant selection. The decrease in the
agricultural value of a variety that
results from a return to diversity
isas real and important as the agri-
cultural improvement that is made when
diversity is reduced by selection.

The facts of local adjustment go far
to explain the apparently capricious
behaviour of cotton varieties in com-
parative tests, the same varieties often
standing in entirely different relations
to one another in different seasons. It
becomes evident that the adaptation of
a variety to a new place cannot be fairly
tested ina-_single season. Not untila
new stock has passed through the process
of local adjustment and returned toa
normal degree of uniformity can the
extent of its adaptation to the new place
be definitely ascertained.

The facts of local adjustment indicate
that our superior varieties may be found
adapted to much wider regions than
they now occupy. Varieties of real
value should have their range extended
through local adjustment, instead of
being discarded because they fail to
show their superiority in the first season.
The wider extension of a few superior
types of cotton would make it possible
to abandon many local varieties, and
would constitute an important step in
the progress of the cotton iudustry.
Greater unifoimity in the crop over
large areas would increase its commercial
value, and simplify commercial] problems
of grading and marketing,

MADRAS SISAL AND OTHER
FIBRES.

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 7, July, 1909.)

That there are _ possibilities in the
cultivation in India of the aloe, or
agave as it is known to botanists, for the
fibre it yields, is being more widely
recognised day by day, Last week our
Planting Correspondent noticed the
increased attention which the ‘‘ Muir”
Companies are paying to the plant, and
by this Mail we have received a copy
of the last Bulletin of the Imperial
Institute, which contains an account of
the examination and valuation of three
samples of aloe fibre sent Home by the
Director of Agriculture, Madras. One
of these, taken from the Agave rigida,
or Sisal fibre as it is known to the trade,
is described as of excellent quality, ot
good lustre, varying in colour from
nearly white to pale buff, of very good
strength and 3ft, long, It was valued

201

Fibres.

by experts at from £36 to £38 per ton,
with Mexican “Sisal” selling at £34 per
ton, and it is stated that its value would
have been enhanced if the colour had
been more even and nearly white. A
sample of fibre from the Agave ameri-
cana, or- railway aloe, was extracted
from leaves of the age of six years and
was of uneven quality. One bundle
consisted principally of nearly white,
lustrous fibre, which was fairly well
cleaned, whereas the rest of the fibre
was somewhat gummy, of poor lustre,
and hada quantity of greenish pulp
adhering to it- The strength was un-
even, but mostly good, and the length
varied from 2 to 3 feet, whereas a rope-
making fibre should be at least 8 feet
in length. The greenish colour and the
gummy and pulpy nature of the bulk
of the sampJe were said to be due to
insufficient washing. This tibre was
inferior to the sample of Agave rigida,
and was valued at £27 to £28 per ton,
with Mexican ‘‘ Sisal” at £34 per ton.
The sample of furcroca fibre, which
was also extracted from leaves of the
age of six years, consisted of tairly well-
cleaned fibre, varying from buff to
nearly white, of fair lustre, but a
little gummy and stiff. It was of un-
even strength, and from 2 to 3 feet long.
This sample, according to the Report,
would have been more valuable if it
had been more even in colour and less
gummy and of amore suitable length
for rope-making purpose. It was valued
by the experts at from £26 to £27 per
ton.

The cultivation of ‘‘ Sisal” fibre is said
to be going ahead enormously in Ger-
man Kast Africa and, as is well known,
it has converted certain islands in the
West Indies, such as the Bahamas, and
certain districts of Mexico, which were
before practically wide wastes, into
valuable profit-yielding estates. There
are many who believe that the ‘ Sisal”
aloe is capable of achieving equally re-
markable results in India. Some years
ago Dr. Mann, at that time Scientific
Officer to the Indian Tea Association,
and Mr. Hunter published a most
interesting pamphlet on the _ subject,
and mere recently Dr. Mann has des-
eribed his later experience with the
product in the columns of the Agri-
cultural Journal of India. The profits
likely tc be obtained depend, of course,
on the price of the fibre, which has
fluctuated a good deal in the past, but
the cost of production should not vary
very much. Dr. Mann estimated that
the cost of growing ‘“‘ Sisal” fibre on an
estate of an economical size in Assam
would amount to from £14 to £15 per
ton including freight and other charges

Fubres.

to London, and that an acre should
yield two tons. If these figures are
correct, and there is no reason to doubt
them, the profit when prices range at
anything over £380 a ton for ‘‘Sisal”
fibre should be very considerable.
Mention is also made of a sample of
Manila hemp (Musa textilis,) grown in
the Government Experimental Garden,
Kullar, on the Nilgiris, at an elevation
of 1,800 ft.. and forwarded by the Agri-
Horticultural Society, Madras. It con-
sisted of a well-prepared fibre of pale buff
colour and fair lustre, and was not so
harsh as ordinary Manila hemp, but
rather resembled plantain or banana
fibre in general character. It was re-
orted to be inferior to ordinary Manila
Hatin and to be more like plantain
fibre. The fibre, being rather soft, was
regarded as well adapted for the manu-
facture of binder twine, and was valued
at about £23 to £24 per ton. A more
interesting investigation was that of a
sample of kapok—the seed-floss of Frio-
dendron anfractuosum, acommon tree
in Madras—which was collected by the
Tahsildar of Virddhachalam, in South
Arcot. The kapok is described as clean,
of an even, light brown colour, very
lustrous, resilient, soft and silky. The
brokers to whom it was submitted for
valuation considered it to be much
superior to ordinary Indiaa or Ceylon
varieties, and, in fact, fully equal to
good Java kapok. Such material, they
stated, would be readily bought by
manutacturers, but an exact valuation
was difficult to give, they said, as
the same description of floss had not
been sold on the London market for
about two years. They were of opinion,
however, that it would be saleable at
about 44d. per lb. in the condition of the
sample, which contained a quantity of
seeds and occasional fragments of the
capsules, If free from these impurities
they thought that the kapok would
probably tetch 6d. per lb. It is interest-
ing to note that samples of this material,
owing to its superior quality, have been
placed on exhibition in the Indian col-
lections of the Imperial Institute.

INDIAN PAPER INDUSTRY.
(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol.
., No. 189, November 11, 1909.)

Many 1easons have been assigned from
time to time to account for the practi-
cal failure of the paper industry in
this country. One of the latest is con-
tained in a Monograph on Paper Making
in the Bombay Presidency by Mr. R. T.
F, Kirk, I. C. S., who says :—

‘For various reasons paper mills in
this country, and especially in the Bom-

headway against the competition of
foreign goods imported from England,
America, Austria and Germany. In the
first place, materials of good and equal
quality or of any one particular quality
are not easily obtained. Here, the paper-
maker is forced to be a rag-dealer, with
his Own collecting agents in the prin-
cipal towns. In Europe, rag-collecting
is a separate industry, and the rags
are carefully sorted by skilled labour
before they are delivered to the mill,
Numerous different qualities and kinds
are fixed by trade custom, and a supply
of any one of them is instantly avail-
ableto order. In India, on the other
hand, the ragsure sorted at the mills,
and are found to contain a greater
quantity of old, dirty, worn and useless
material, The Deccan Paper Mills eal-
culate that out of 100 tons of ‘ dirty-
white” rags received from their agents 40
tons are sorted out as useless, leaving 60
tons as available. Of this, 124 per
cent. is lost in dusting and chopping,
leaving 52 tons. Of this, 40 per cent.
is lost in bleaching and boiling, leaving
62 tons. Thatis, out of 60 tons of rags
only 382 are available after treatment,
showing an approximate loss of 50 per
cent. From the table given on page 19 of
Sindall’s Paper Technology, the high-
est percentage of loss on rags during
the treatment is 36, which isthe figure
for unbleached linen. In India the
rags are commonly of cotton, and
Sindall gives a percentage loss of about
20 for cottons. The loss as calculated
by the Deccan Mills is at least twice as
great.

The supply of rags is entirely uncer-
tain, and thereis often a corresponding
uncertainty in the quality of the paper,
due to the use of substitutes, or to
uneven porportions inthe mixture of
materials. In order to supplement the
rags the mill uses a kind of grass
known as sabai or babai grass in Ben-
gal, where it grows in abundance,

The company laments that coal is not
obtained soeasily in Poona as in Ben-
gal. From 2 to 23 tons of coal are
required per ton of finished paper. The
prices quoted are Rs. 4-8 per tonin Ben-
gal, with Rs, 11 freight to Poona. If
obtained from Singareni in the Nizam’s
territory, the cheapest is Rs. 8 per
ton, with Rs. 8 as freight.

Paper-making is not a flourishing
industry in the Bombay Presidency.
Hither no person with sufficient capital

or ability or.enterprise has yet come for-

ward to compete with foreign makers
on their own lines, or the difficulties

of situation and supply are too serious — a

to overcome,”

bay Presidency, find it difficult to make _

eT ee ae ee

Manes

Hm, 1b ee

203

DRUGS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS,

NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL
CAMPHOR.

AN ImporTaNT LECTURE.
(From the Indian Forester, Vol, XXXV.,
_ No. 12, December, 1909.)

At the Congress of Applied Chemistry
on 20th May, 1909, Prof. Haller, whose
lecture on the Chemistry of Camphor
preceded the above, said that the
extended use of camphor dated from
the time when celluloid, of which it
formed a constituent part, became the
Object of intensive and increasing manu-
facture. The important part it played
in theindustry of this plastic material,
and the special qualities which it lent
to the introcellulose with which it was
incorporated, rendered it valuable for
other purposes. It was used for the
manufacture of pegamoid, a new sub-
stitute for leather, and entered into the
composition of certain smokeless pow-
ders either as such or in the form of
borneol. They were aware that cam-
phor was prepared by distillation with
steam from the wood of the camphor
laurel, a fine tree which grew in Japan,
in Kormosa, were it still formed im-
mense virgin forests more and more
difficult of access, in various Japanese
Islands, and also in several districts of
Central China. Since 1899 Japan had
secured the monopoly of the camphor
crop throughout its territory and in
Formosa. According to statistics pub-
lished in a Japanese journal and re-
produced by the Chemist and Druggist,
the amount of camphor exported from
Japan increased from 280.892 kilos,
valued at 200,452f., in 1868, to 1,834,594
kilos, valued at 180,691,831f., in 1907;
and during the same time the price
increased from 69f, to 708f, per 100 kilos.
In spite of an increasing production in
China it appeared from the statistical
evidence that the aggregate output of
camphor was not increasing, and that
they must rather expect to see it
gradually diminish. And, since tbe de-
mand on the contrary went on increas-
ing, it was easy to understand the high
prices reached, which had driven the
camphor industry to make up the defi-
ciency in the production of the natural
substance.

It was about 19(5 that the first at-
tempts to supplement the supply by
artificial camphor came into view. All
the processes of manufacture started
with pinene, a carbon compound found
in the essential oil of turpentine. The

26

latter was obtained by steam distillation
from the resin yielded by various coni-
fers growing in the forests of the tem-
perate zone, The principal countries of
origin were, in order of importance,
the United States, France, Russia, the
Central European States, Germany and
Austria. In recent years Spain had
also contributed to the world’s markets.
The French essence produced from the
sea pine was considered to hold the
first place in respect of quality; that
of the United States, from pitch-pine,
was less valued; and those of Russia
and Germany, obtained chiefly from the
Pinus silvestris, were of inferior quality.
The question of industrial camphor
depended as much on the price of a
good essence as on the methods employed,
The efforts expended on the problem
had resulted in no new fact or original
discovery. The numerous methods em-
ployed were only improvements or
variants of reactions previously known.
They might be divided into two large
groups according to whether the essence
was first converted into hydrochlorate
of pinene, or was submitted direct to
the action of organic acids. The high
prices of camphor, to which they owed
the evolution of the new industry, had
only been temporary, for reasons which
it was extremely difficult to discover,
Only those establishments which in the
fortunate period of high prices found
themselves iu possession of an economical
and thoroughly efficient process, and
were in a position to organise a prompt
supply in response to the demand of
the moment had been able to take ad-
vantage of the remunerative prices and
recover the cost of installation. He
should add that the camphor which
they produced apart from its optical
inactivity, possessed in all respects the
same properties as natural camphor
when it was sufficiently refined. Com-
parisons had been made between the
camphor industry and the alizarine.
and indigotine industries, and some
enthusiastic spirits had not been
afraid to celebrate this new triumph
of industrial science. With regard to
the two substances mentioned, science
and industry had incontestably got the
better of nature. The cultivation of
madder had completely disappeared
from the departments ot the Midi in
France, and artificial indigo was on the
way to ruin the immense and numerous
plantations of India, Java and Guate-’
mala. Would the same thing happen
with camphor? It would be rash to
say so, for various reasons which he

Drugs and Medicinal Plants. 204

enumerated. The conditions were very
different both with regard to the sup-
ply of the natural product, the culti-
vation of which had been freshly stimu-
lated, and with regard to the funda-
mental substance used in producing
artificial camphor, namely, the essence
of turpentine, the supply of which was
limited and the price fluctuating. For
these and other reasons the future of
the camphor industry was uncertain,

INDIAN TOBACCO TRADE.

By THE AMERICAN CONSUL AT BOMBAY.

That excellent tobacco can be grown
in India’ is not denied by those who
have given close attention to this parti-
cular subject, says the Indian Trade
Journal. There is scarcely a_ village
throughout the length and breadth of
the country that has not its tobacco
patch for local-consumption or export.

~But the reason why really good Indian
tobacco leaf is not more in evidence on a
commercial scale probably is that there
are few crops which demand more care,
skill and sound judgment on the part of
the producer, if marketable leaf of good
quality is the objectin view. Itis to be
feared, however, that the average culti-
vator is not enamoured of troublesome
crops, even though they may ultimately
prove to be paying ones. He likes some-
thing easy, and he is hardly to be
blamed for that. But tobacco is not
only a difficult crop to grow; it is alsoa
risky one, unless every possible pre-
caution istaken. EHlaborate experiments
have proved that the tobacco plant is
very sensitive to the surroundings under
which it is forced to grow. Its physical
character, as well as its composition, are
greatly influenced by soil, climate,
manures and the care or neglect which
it receives at the hands of the grower.

But tobacco is claiming a good deal
more attention in India just now than
was the case only a short time ago. The
internal demand for itis enormous and
tends to keep pace with the increase in
population, as practically all the people
smoke from a very early age. To meet
this demand there are over a million
acres under tobacco in British India and
Native States, which produce an annual
crop of an estimated value of £5,000,000.
But, unfortunately, Indian tobacco is
chiefly grown from inferior plants and is
cured in avery primitive style. Gener-
ally speaking, itis very crude tobacco,
which; however, seems to be good
enough for the manufacture of the

frie

native cigarette or birt, which is sold at
the surprisingly low price of ten annas,
or less, per thousand ; and for export to
Burma to be mixed with other tobacco
and made into what are known as
Burma cheroots—a rank sort of cigar
which, nevertheless, finds a ready
market even among Europeans who
have acquired the necessary taste. But
the bulk of the Indian tobacco crop is
not nearly up to the standard required
for export to Huropean countries, in
most of which, however, a keen demand
exists for first-class leaf; nor is it ade-
quate to meet all requirements, for our
imports of tobacco in various forms in
the official year 1908-09 amounted in
value to Rs. 79:41 lakhs. These imports
largely represent cigarettes which are
used by the fairly well-to-do classes, but
for the manufacture of which suitable
tobacco is not available in sufficient
quantities. A start has been made in
Bengal to meet this cigarette want by
manufacturing this article on a large
scale by modern machinery, the com-
pany, which isa European one, guard-
ing itself toa large extent by growing
its own tobacco. Now thata commence-
ment on a large scale has been made,
this industry is fairly certain to expand,
particularly so asit is believed to be a
reasonably profitable one; and all that
is required to give it an immediate
impetus is the cultivation of a better
class of tobacco plant, associated with
the introduction of up-to-date methods
of curing. ’

As to the first of these requisites, the
experiment now being carried out at
Pusa with various varieties of tobacco
plants should indicate the best kind for
exploitation in this country ; and, as to
the second, what would seem to be re-
quired is a sort of central curing factory
in certain tobacco tracts, such factories
to be controlled by experts who know
their business thoroughly and who have
had long experience in such factories in

-America—the home of the tobacco plant

and the country in which the growth
and manufacture of tobacco have been
brought to the highest pitch. For the
climate of India is decidedly hostile to
first-class tobacco curing, and is prob-
ably the greatest stumbling-block to
the onward march of the Indian tobacco
trade. In most countries where tobacco
is largely grown the climate seems to be
exactly tempered to the requirements
necessary for good curing. That is to
say, there is a warm, humid atmosphere
giving the correct amount of heat and
moisture by night and day, and the
result is that the tobacco is cured in the
best possible manner under what are

ie ae Be
[Marci, 1910,

Marcu, 1910.)

actually natural conditions. According
to Mr. Bernard Coventry, who has given
this matter careful consideration, the
natural conditions in India are, asarule,
positively hostile to good _ curing,
for the climate is too dry and the
fermentative changes required do not
take place. Hence the necessity we
have suggested for properly equipped
curing factories in which artificial
means could be effectively introduced
to obtain the necessary conditions
of combined heat and moisture, and
hence also the necessity for well-trained
experts. These factories could, of course,
form part of the ordinary tobacco manu-
factory, or could exist as separate units,
purchasing the raw material from the
surrounding growers and disposing of
the finished article as might be most
advantageous. In other words, they
would be purely and simply tobacco
ecurers-in a country where an undoubted
demand exists for properly cured
tobacco,

If something on the lines suggested
were done, there can be little doubt that
the day would be hastened when India
will, asshe seems destined todo even-

tually, take her proper place and march

with the great tobacco-producing coun-
tries of the world.

We are led to these remarks by a
perusal of an instructive pamphlet
recently issued by the United States
Department of Agiiculture, entitled
Principles and Practical Methods of
Curing Tobacco—Bulletin No. 148. In
this work are contained the impressions
and experience of Mr. W. W. Garner,
Government Physiologist, in connection
with official tobacco investigations, who
discusses this, to India, at all events,
very important question from practi-
cally every point of view, and introduces
illustrations where necessary to keep
his meaning clear. A copy of the
Bulletin may beseen at this office, or
may be obtained through any bookseller
from the Government Printing Office,
Washington, United States, at a total
cost of a few annas.

The American Consul at Bombay in a
report on tobacco trade in India says :—
The British-American Tobacco Company
practically controls the import trade of
this commodity in India. The few local
independent manufacturers find it very
difficult to keep their businesses going
with such strong opposition. There is a
large import of cigarettes solely under
its control, It has a factory at Monghyr,
in Bengal, and has purchased land upon
which it grows its own tobacco. ‘The
manufacture of tobacco isa promising

‘

5 Drugs and Medicinal Plants.

industry in India. The natives smoke
from early youth, and the tendency is
toward the abandonment of the clumsy
“hukka” in favour of eigars and
cigarettes. According to official statistics
he area under tobacco cultivation in
ndia is about 1,700 square miles, more
than half of which isin Bengal. The bulk
of the leaf is exported to foreign coun-
tries in a crudely cured condition or is
sent to Burma to be mixed with locally-
grown tobacco and made into cigars,
The imports of tobacco into India,
however, exceed the exports, due mainly
to the large import of cheap cigarettes.
The prevalence of cigarette smoking is
very noticeable in Bombay and other
largetowns. The cigarettes are sold at
a price which brings them within the
reach of all and creates a demand, for in
the case of articles of popular consump-
tion cheapness is in India the first con-
sideration. However, in spite of these
large importations, the Indian cigarette
locally known as “ biri” more than holds
its own, except perhaps in the seaport
towns where no inland freight has been
paid upon the imported article. The
cheapness of the ‘‘biri” is amazing, a
thousand of them being sold for 20 cents
and even less, notwithstanding the
tobacco for their manufacture is some-
times brought from Madras and Assam,
but the wages paid are only a little over
half a cent for rolling 100 cigarettes.
The Indian cigar industry is an expand-
ing one and Indian manufactures are
now exported to all parts of the world,
but the quality of both the Indian cigar
and Burma cheroot is very variable, due
to the uneven quality of the tobacco.
The Government has made repeated
efforts to improve the culture, but owing
to the conservatism of cultivators no
success has been attained. The method
of curing is also crude. The process is
not under control and it is frequently
carried too far with the result that the
aromatic properties are dissipated, and
an objectionable pungent mass is left.
For wrappers the Indian cigar manu-
facturers use imported leaf, which may
either be Sumatra or Java, and for
fillers native-grown tobaccos are used,

JAVA CINCHONA.
(From the Chemist and Druggist,
Vol. LXXVI,, No. 563, January 8, 1910.)

In our issue of December 25 (p. 965)
we gave an account of the proceedings
at a recent meeting of the Preanger
Cinchona Board, at which it was decided
to issue a circular to cinchona-planters
in Java, calling attention to the present
position of the proposed Cinchona Syndi-

e

Drugs and Medicinal Plants.

cate and the inimical attitude of the
Bandong Quinine Factory thereto,
According to the current number of the
“Java Bode,” this circular has now been
issued. It reviews the recent history of
the cinchona-market, pointing out that,
owing to over-production, the price of
bark has fallen steadily for many years.
This fall in price was continuous until
the opening of the Bandong factory,
which at first worked in opposition to
Kuropean and American quinine-makers,
and bought bark from planters at a
fixed and remunerative price. In recent
years, however, the Directors of the
factory have found that, owing to the
low price of bark and the great popu-
larity of their quinine tablets in the
Kast, they are in a position to make
huge profits, and they have disregard-
ed the interest of planters more and
more, and this attitude has finally
culminated in their refusal to join the
proposed syndicate, which has for its
main object the maintenance of a
minimum price of six cents per unit for
bark. The Bord proposes that, if this
attitude is persisted in by the Bandong
factory, planters should refuse to sell
bark to it, and that, if necessary,
they should start a new factory of
their own in Java. It now appears that
since this circular was issued to planters,
Heer van Leersum, the Director of the
Government Cinchona Plantations in
Java, has received a letter from the
factory directors. The contents of this
letter he has refused to make public, on
the ground that it is an official docu-
ment: but it is believed that the letter
indicates that the directors are more
favourably disposed towards the pro-
posed syndicate than has been gener-
ally supposed. The possibility of raising
the price of bark by joint action is not
the only problem agitating planters in
Java. We referred briefly in our issues
of October 16 (p. 625) and November 13
(p. 571) to the lack of uniformity in re-

206

sults obtained by well-known bape =

analysts, and this matter is discussed by
Heer van Riemsdijk in a letter published
in ‘De Indische Mercuur” of December
21 last. In the course of this he gives
data showing how important this
question is from a planter’s point of
view. Recently he consigned a parcel
of 10,100 kilos of bark to the Bandong
factory. Samples of this bark were
analysed by van Ketel, who returned 8°54
per cent. qainine. A control analysis
by Moens and van der Sleen showed 9°84
per cent. quinine. The factory analysis
gave only 8°09 per cent. of alkaloid,
while van Leersum, who was called in to
arbitrate, found 81 per cent. In a
second similar parcel van Ketel found
9:50 per cent., Moens and van der Sleen
returned 9°81 per cent., while the factory
and van Leersum reported 8:71 per cent.
Heer van Riemsdijk produces each year
about 360,000 kilos of bark, and he eal-
culates that if van Ketel’s figures are
correct, he loses about 18,000 florins annu-
ally, while if Moens and van der Sleen’s
results are taken, his loss is about 39,600
florins. Commenting on van Gorkom’s
statement that no analyses of cinchona
are published in the Londoa market,
Heer van Riemsdijk states that British
quinine-makers buy bark on their own
analyses, but these appear to be satis-
factory to brokers and planters, since
no complaints appear to be made. Van
Gorkom, referring to this letter in the
same journal, says he is in agreement
with Heer van Riemsdijk on the main
question of the need for a standard
method of analysis, but doubts if this
will be arrived at by the method of
offering a prize, which is the plan adopt-
ed by the Preanger Cinchona Bond on
Heer van Reimsdijk’s suggestions; and
adds that it would be interesting to
hear what the private analysts to whom
Heer van Riemsdijk sent samples of his
barks have to say on the general
question of methods of analysis,

EDIBLE PRODUCTS.

CACAO CULTURE IN GERMAN
SAMOA.

RoBERT LOUIS STEVENSON’S INTEREST IN
THE INDUSTRY.

(From the Tropical Life, Vol. V., No. 12,
December, 1909.)

Previous to the hoisting of the Ger-
man flag in Western Samoa some small
areas of cacao had been set out, but the
commercial production of the bean had

not so far been worthy of record. Dur-
ing the last year of his life, Stevenson
was greatly interested in this culture,
and occasionally for exercise, or pos-
sibly for mere change, he would join
his native boys and weed away until his
weak frame told him he had gone far
enough. As was expected at the time,
his ideas of cacao culture were radically
wrong, and the considerable area which
he had set out came to no good end,
very few of the plants surviving to
this day. This experience came also to

/ =", 28

[Marcu, 1910.

to accomplish results

others who sought, against all!precedent,
nowhere else
attainable. ~

It has now transpired that though
Samoa unquestionably produces cacao
of the very highest value, and that it
oceasionally yields crops almost un-
believable in profusion, it still takes
quite as long in that country to bring

a plantation into the paying stage as-

it does elsewhere; and all of the old
calculations that cacao would pay
expenses inthe fourth year and yield
an- enormous profit in the fifth year
and thereafter are hopelessly wrong in
practice. Instances of success have
been known, but general practice proves
that a plantation which is paying its
expenses in the fifth year, and which
netts from its crop from $100 to $125 per
acre thereafter, is a good average plant-
ation,

Usually, besides the length of time

necessary for these results, it has cost
the proprietor about $200 per acre to

earry his plantation along to the paying |

stage. This money has gone out in
the shape of wages to employés, food
for them, houses, horses, wagons, and
tools. Cacao properties, when in bear-
ing, are difficult to buy, as owners,
being sureof a fine revenue running
for many years and with light expense,
are unwilling to part with them. Prob-
ably $500 or $600 per acre would be
a fair price for such properties, but
so far no plantations in good working
order have been disposed of; for al-
though sellers are scarce enough, buyers
do not appear in force either.

When a land selection has been made,
the planter usually contracts with either
Rotumah natives, Samoans, or Nieueans,
to fell the bush and lop the branches
of the fallen trees. The timber is
allowed to remain prostrate for about
six weeks, when the planter lines up
his Chinese or other labour, and with
light axes and heavy knives they cut
off the branches and pile them about
the stumps and heavy stems for burn-
ing. The usual practice is to cut and
pile all day, and after 5 p.m. several
labourers with torches set fire to the
many piles which have been made, and
these burn throughout the night much
better than they would do during the
heat of the day. Besides, when the
labourers set to work on the following
morning the smoke has disappeared and
the field is clear for working. When
the whole field has thus been burnt
over once, the labourers are lined up
again in the original positions, and the
half-burned faggots are collected and
placed about the stumps of those trees

Marcu, 1910.) _ ge 907

Edible Products.

which exhibit signs of sending out
shoots. Some varieties are very persist-
ent, and a third and often a fourth
burning is needed to kill them. Though
the land thus roughly cleared is covered
with the stems of forest giants, and
great stumps stand up in all directions,
the planter looks upon his clearing
work as being nearly over. He now
lays off the tract for his cacao, staking
off the plant positions 12 ft. x 12 ft.
or 15ft. x 15ft., as he decides upon,
and holes are dug about 15 in. in dia-
meter and 2 ft. deep, the extracted
earth being placed on one side to sweeten
for a time. Meanwhile, the whole field
has grown green with millions of
mummy apples and other spontaneous
growths of vine or weed. Within a
month after the last burning the pro-
perty has to be weeded, part of the
thick-growing mummy apples being al-
lowed to survive to act as shade for
the young cacao. Plants about 8 in.
high are now brought from the nur-
series and set out, and it is often that
the shades of coconut branches or other
materials are needed to protect them
from the fierce rays of the sun, which
are hottest during the intervals of
the rainy season.

Within four months the mummy
apples have grown to the height of 6 ft.
or7 ft,,and they act asa good temporary
shade, helping also to keep down weeds,
which of all things cause the greatest
amount of labour. A permanent shade,
known as the dadap, is generally planted
and spaced about 70 ft. apart. - These
trees grow much faster than the cacao,
and serve to protect it from both sun
and wind, he first pruning takes
place in the second year, and harmful
suckers must be kept down at all times.
The young plants are hardy, and in three
years are generally 5 ft, or 6 ft. high,
often producing fruit and always pro-
ducing blossoms. They are not at this
time subject to any serious. diseases,
though occasionally one will die from
attacks of fungus or white ants.

In the fifth year the plant endeavours
to bear a heavy crop, and under usual
seasonable conditions it succeeds in so
doing; but the trees have not really
reached their maturity until they are
seven or eight years old, when their
stems areabout 10 in. in diameter, and
the trees from 15 ft. to20 ft. high. At
this time they shade the ground
beneath them to such an extent that
neither weeds nor grass will grow. No
further attention is required beyond
keeping down the suckers which occa-
sionally appear, and harvesting the
crop,

Bible Products:

Cacao in Samoa has no determinable
season, and it is in fruit most of the
year round, and owners of plantations
often produce beans during every
menth. Crops up to 1,800 lb. of cured
cacao beans are sometimes gathered from
good acres during the year, but the
average yield seems to be about 750 lb.,
worth locally at this time (May, 1908)
about 17 cents per lb., or, say, $125 per
acre. Of this fully $100 are profit. .

Cacao in Samoa has a number ot
enemies which have to be fought, but
experience seems to minimize those dis-
advantages which at one time were
thought to be highly destructive. In
fact it was feared that canker might
destroy the industry. But a proper
treatment has been found, ani canker
has quite disappeared from plantations
once badly infected. This fungus sel-
dom attacks trees which are less than
five yearsold, and formerly it was usu-
ally fatal. With the present cure it
may be eliminated at once; a second or
third application is always successful
if the parasite is-discovered in time
and the weather is not too wet: other-
wise the canker is difficult to attack
successfully. White ants entering the
plant from the roots never manifest
their presence until the trees are practi-
eally killed; fortunately their attacks
are comparatively rare, not more than
a quarter of 1 per cent. ('25) of the
planted trees ever being infected. At
one time rats and mice were exceed-
ingly destructive, as they eatinto the
ripening pods in order to get the succu-
lent fibrous connections between the
seeds, and thus spill the seeds on the
ground.* Time has shown that where
plantations are kept in_ good order,
and supplied withcats and fox terriers,
and poison used occasionally, the rat
plague seems to have been all but elimi-
nated, and the cacac industry is in a
-very healthy state.

Last year’s production only amounted
to 116 tons, but as many new acres
are now in bearing it is expected that
during 1908 fully 250 tons will be ex-
ported, while in 1909 and 1910 very large
sections will come into full bearing, so
that the output, it is hoped, will run
up to within the neighbourhood of 1,000
tons.

* In Jamaica, our old friend Mr. Cradwick
has discovered, whilst spraying cocoa trees
against fungoid troubles with Bordeaux mix-
ture, that rats would not go on these trees.
How long the effect of such a spraying —
which, if it thus serves several purposes,
would be invaluable—will serve against rats
has still to be found.

208

The planting of cacao continues un-
abated, and many rubber planters are
setting out cacao trees between the rows
of rubber, hoping to geta double crop
in this way.

Good cacao lands are obtainable at
prices ranging from $3 to $50 or more
per acre, the price being chiefly regu-
lated by the position of the area offered
for sale. Generally the quality of the
land is pretty well the same.

Chinese coolies brought into Sanioa and
working under governmental supervi-
sion perform most of the work. They
cost the planter on an average about
$10 per month, which includes cost of
introduction, keep, medicines, hospital,
and return after three years. Asa good
many Chinese elect to remain in Samoa
after their term of service is over, it
is evident they are well satisfied with
existing conditions.

School facilities are fair for the lower
grades, no attempt as yet being made
to pass students beyond the common
grammar school education. . Taxes are
moderate, and the general treatment
of foreigners by the official classes is
unexceptional.

THE INDIAN TEA INDUSTRY.

OPENING OUT A TEA GARDEN.
(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIII., No. 12, December 1, 1908).

Comparatively few new gardens are
being opened out now, but here and
there one is occasionally met with,—out
gardens are being added on to existing
centres, and there are few old gardens
which have not their annual few acres
in the shape of odd corners, etc. The
man who undertakes to open out a new
Tea Garden is incurring a much greater
responsibility than he is usually aware
of. Of course, there are men who have
had a great deal of experience in opening
out, and to such this article may be: of
little, if any, use, as they will most
likely know all about it. But as fewer
gardens are being opened out now than
formerly, there are correspondingly
fewer men experienced in the work.
We may leave out the jungle cutting
and clearing, as the best methods of
going about this work will depend
greatly upon the kindof jungle and the
kind of labour. No two gardens will be
exactly alike in these respects, and
arrangements must be made to suit
circumstances. So we may leave cut-
ting, burning and clearing by simply
remarking that cheeseparing at the

oat

[MARCH, 10,

aay

~ Nearo#, 1910.] s Shai

expense of thoroughness is the reverse
of being economical. The choice of land
may be left out as well, as, in ninety-
nine cases in a hundred, the man who
opens out will have no choice in the
matter. With altered ideas as to plant-
ing generally, we now plant closer than
we usually did twenty or thirty years
ago, and 4’ x 4’ diagonal planting is more
the rule than anything wider. The
planter of anew garden ought to bear
in mind that he is planting for posterity ;
not so much on his own account, as on
account of at least three generations
coming after him.

It costs no more to the planter to have
his work pleasing to the eye by having
his lines running straight in every
direction as it will having them running
anyhow and all ways. The roads ought
to be systematically laid out according
to a preconceived plan so that the mains
converge on whatever centre has been
determined upon. Some land is natur-
ally adapted for being accurately laid
outsoasto have all or nearly all the
sections of the same size, but it is
always possible to make the best of the
worst lay of land, and unfortunately it
is not always done.

PITTING AND PLANTING.

Having got our land staked out, we
now come to the most important of all
opening out Operations: pitting and
planting. In trying to account for
degenerated tea gardens, at a time when
they ought to be flourishing in the
heyday of youth, our experts have never
given much thought to how they may
have been originally planted. There
are many gardens—a great many more
than are suspected--which owe their
falling off in the strength and vigour of
the bushes to careless pitting and plant-
ing at their very inception. Hven at
the present day with all our progressive-
ness, there are more gardens being
permanently handicapped through bad
planting-than there are otherwise. A
pit for planting in should be nothing
under two feet deep and ought to be
filled to the brim with the surface soil
of its own 16” area space. The surface
soil will be safer there and where the

young plant can have the full benefit
of it.

When the young plant is brought
from the nursery the greatest care
should be exercised never to expose any
part of the young tender tap root to the
sun. If possible the plant should be
lifted with a ball of earth adhering to
the roots sufficiently large to entirely
enclose the tap root to its utmost tender
tip, The young plant should be care-
fully planted in the centre of the hole,

Edible Producis:

and if the point of the tap root is pro-
jecting beyond the ball of earth, the
greatest care should be taken that it is
planted straight down. If a plant has
its tap root twisted to the side when it
is planted it will never go down
but will grow as it is, remaining at
right angles to the perpendicular,
Simple and all as this slight-looking
mishap to the young plant’s tap root
would appear to be, itis a permanent
injury from which there is no recovery.
It never appears to be able to right
itself and never makes afresh tap root.
The plant remains a_ surface rooter
and annually suffers from drought
every cold weather which causes it to
“coppice.” It has every appearance of
being a bush growing upon a poor soil
and responds to top dressing and manur-

_ing, but itis unable to hunt for itself for

either moisture or food. The tea plant
is essentially deep rooted and every-
thing possible ought to be done to
encourage this from.the very start.
It has never been determined how deep
the tea root will penetrate. It is quite
commonly found as much as 7’ and 8’
deep atthe sides of road cuttings. It
might almost be asserted that a tea root
will goasdeep after food as youcan
possibly makea drain deep enough to
carry away the water and allowing the
fertilising constituents of the air to
penetrate, In certain districts a fairly
severe dry spell was experienced during
the last spring. A planter was showing
another planting friend over his new
extensions and asking his opinion of
them, as they appeared to be hanging
in the wind and making little progress
and a very great many of them had died
outright during the dry spell. The
visitor who had seen the same before,
promptly putit down to bad planting,
and to prove it pulled upafew dead
bushes and showed the twisted tap

. root and all other roots within 6” or7”

of the surface where they simply had
had the life roasted out of them. The
plantation was three years of age and
had never been pruned as the plants
had always been growing weakly. Itis
lamentable but true that gardens are >
still planted very badly. The pits are
made far tooshallow. The young plants
are carried from the nursery piled on
top of each other with broken and
exposed roots. They are then dumped
down into the shallow pits with hard
impenetrable bottoms, the soil which
was taken from the pitis hastily dragged
in again, afew tramps of the feet and
there you are; the woman has a swing-
ing number for a nerrick to get through
and, as she would ask you herself,
“Kia kurega’’?

Edible Products.

_ NECESSITY OF FIRST-CLASS SUPERVISION.

When starting a squad of coolies on to
plant, only asmall number ought to be
put on the first day, gradually increas-
ing them as they thoroughly get their
hands into doing the work well. In this
work there can be no question of leaving
it to the superintendence of a native,
No matter how trustworthy a Babu may
be, or how long and faithtully a Sirdar
may have served your interests, the work
must have constant Kuropean superin-
tendence, and first class European
superintendence at that. . . Aman
in charge of a garden may make bad
blunders in plucking, pruning, cultiva-
tion, or any other work, but the damage
done can be remedied in more or less
time, according to the nature and length
of time of mismanagement. But one
season’s bad work when planting out can
never be made good.

How To PLANT THE TAP Roor.

Returning for a space to the tap root.
Every effort ought to be made to plant
it straight down and it always ought to
be borne in mind that itis better to cut
atap root than to plant it bent ina
horizontal position. When the tap root
is cut, the stump will send away two or
three main roots more or less inclining
downwards and sidewise, and, if the
planting pit has been made big enough
and filled with loose surface soil, these
roots will incline further downwards
and reach atfair depth and no material
harm may ensue; always bearing in
mind that, in the light teelah soils of
Sylhet, the deep penetrating tap root is
much preterable. But if the pit is made
shallow these secondary roots, having
the spreading inclination to start with,
will take the way of least resistance and
establish a spreading habit in the looser
surface soil and most likely be cut short
at the first deep hoe. Such a plant is
forced to become a surface rooter, suffer-
ing every cold weather from drought.
It has little power of reaping the advant-
ages of deep draining, and before it has
lived one quarter of its lifetime it has
become an eyesore and is called a worn-
out, deteriorated tea bush, occupying
the ground but giving a small amount of
leaf, and that of the very poorest
quality.

COMPOSITION OF INDIAN RICE.

(From the Indian Trade Journal,
Vol. XV., No. 186, October 21, 1909.)
A useful enquiry recently carried out

by Mr. Hooper, of the Indian Museum,

relates to the composition of Indian rice, -

which, as the staple food of the people,
is one of the most important and exten-

210

sively grown crops in this country, the
area allotted to it exceeding seventy
million acres. The subjectis not exactly
anew one, but Mr. Hooper appears to
have collected all the available data in
order to present a complete case. From
these it appears that Mr, Balland as
long ago as 1895 made an enquiry into
the composition of the different kinds
of rice imported into France. He found
that decorticatéd rices from the princi-
pal localities, Carolina, India, Java,
Japan, Piedmont and Saigon, showed a
percentage composition varying between
the extremes quoted below :—

Pro- Amy-
Water. teids. Fat. loids, Fibre, Ash.
Maximum 16:00 8:82 ‘75 81°35 °42 ‘58
Minimum 10:20 5:50 ‘15 7560 ‘18 °42

So far as crude rices are concerned, he
ascertained that they contain a higher
proportion of nitrogenous and fatty sub-
stances and ash, the limits being as
follows ‘—

Pro- Amy-
Water. teids, Fat. loids, Fibre. Ash,
Maximum 18'30 9°05 2°50 75°60 2°38 2°20
Minimum 11:20 6:18 1°85 73:85 ‘93 1'20

He also found that there was no con-
nection between the size of the grain and
the proportion of nitrogencus matter;
and he demonstrated from his analyses
that rice has more value as a food than
is commonly supposed. The Uochin-
China rice, for instance, although the
grains are small, contain as much nitro-

genous matter and phosphatic ash as

some wheats and rather more fat.

In this connection the following ana-
lyses may be found of interest :—

Pro- Amy-

Water. teids, Fat. loids. Fibre, Ash.
: 13:10 7:10 -30 75°60 19 -40
Carolina... {15-20 8-82 45 78°52 28 -60
Indi 11°70 614 ‘15 78°60 ‘21 ‘34
nore 14:00 7:01 °45 80°27 -31 °44
J 12°30 5°50 ‘25 77 64 ‘21 -21
ge 15°30 6°98 -50 80°49 :36 “46
j 12:20 6°67 ‘35 77°80 ‘24 48
ava 50 14°80 6°86 55 a = s

3:0 7°21 °85 75°77 *20 °
Piedmont { 16-0 770 +45 782k 23 °44
he 10:2 698 ‘30 76:96 ‘20 ‘28.
Saigon... 445-0 8:38 -70 81:35 742 -56

Balland concluded his paper by prais-
ing rice as an article of tood. He insist-
ed that it has been used from time

immemorial as a basis of nourishment ~

in the East; that it transports easily,
and keeps well as shown by analyses
after twelve years, and is, therefore, an

advantageous food material in times 0; ae

peace and war.

- % .
a aia
Nog

n
Nd

See Oe ae Oe ay BF

-- Marca, 1910.) cree 211

With regard to the composition of
purely Indian rices, Professor A. H.
Church, in his Food Grains of India,
states that analyses had been made of a
large number of samples of cleaned rice,
and these gave figures which were
wonderfully accordant, considering the
great differences in the appearance of
the specimens and the very diverse con-
ditions under which they were grown.
He found that the nitrogenous consti-
tuents or albuminoids oscillate within
narrow limits—probably nine samples
out of ten, he thought, would be found
to contain not less than seven per cent.
and not more then eight. The compo-

_ sition of Indian rice is given as under :—

Water a a 12'8
Albuminoids ... ae 73
Fat ie é 6
Starch a des 78:3
Fibre Bao Aide “4.
Ash ay, as 6

/

Dr. J. W. Leather gives the averages
of four sorts of fine rice and four
sorts of coarse rice as follows :—

Carbo-

Water, eshwal: Fat. pydrates. Fibre. Ash,
Fine. 12°25 6°45 OO Sioa anol lepa
Coarse 12:10 691 1:03 77°99 °45 1:57

In these analyses the albuminoids
are said to be somewhat low owing to
the “albuminoid nitrogen,” equivalent
to 90 per cent. of the total nitrogen,
being calculated into albuminoids, using
the factor 6°25.

Mr. Hooper reminds us that the pro-
teins or albuminoids of rice have re-
cently been studied by O. Rosenheim
and S. Kajuira. These chemists find 7
per cent. of total protein present in
rice, of which 0'14 is a globulin, 0:04 an
albumin, and the remainder a protein
which, like the glutenin of wheat, is
soluble in dilute alkali.

It was pointed out in the Indian
Trade Journal long ago that the polish-
ing of rice meant a diminution in its
nutritive value. Experiments conducted
in the United States in 1904 proved
conclusively that while raw rice afforded
9°88 per cent. of proteids, the brans or
rice meals gave from 9°26 to 13:41 per
cent. of proteids and from 9 to 14°3 per
cent. of fat. The rice dust contained
from 8°5 to 11 per cent. of proteids and
from 5'2 to 6:9 per cent. of fat, while
the polished rice, ready for sale, con-
tained only 6°56 per cent. of proteids.
The idea of polishing rice is, of course,
simply to please the eye, and the prac-
tice is largely followed in most EKuro-

27

Hadible Products.

pean markets and is likely to continue
as long as the demand persists. Rice
sustains a further reduction of its food
value by boiling, which process removes
more than half the fat, over 8 per cent.
of the albuminoids, less than 8 per cent.
of the carbohydrates, and 17°6 per cent.
of the ash. There would seem, there-
fore, to be good ground for the idea
that is fairly current in the Hast that
Darehed rice contains the most nutri-
ment.

The results of the analyses of one
hundred and fifty-nine samples of Indian
rice are tabulated below for easy re-
ference :—

alee Water, re Fat. ies Fibre, Ash.
drates.
Bengal... 114 11°10 7:51 °40 79°82 °44 °73
Bengal... ...12 12°37 7:09 °40 78°86 °48 °80
Eastern Ben-
gal& Assam 1611°19 7°67 53 79:21 -58 ‘82
Burma... , LO 11°54 7°54 °98 78°59 °58 °77
Cuttack 11 10°92 6°58 ‘31 80°81 ‘35 1°08
Central Pro-
vinces. sree dn O05 n6268 28k 68 62. Up aat.2 Eg?
United Pro-
vinces. , 10 10°03 7°44 2°83 77°14 1:00 1°56
Nepal ae . Ld 11°28 7:50 °85 79138 ‘82.92
Punjab » 14 12°89 6:98 ‘36 78°63 °89 ‘75
Bombay ..16 12°61 7:69 2°65 74°63 °89 1°53
Bombay 14 13°15 727 2°56 74:90 °74 1°38
Madras ell 8°94 7°10 ‘74 81°54 °43 1°25
Madras... .,.11 11°69 6°81 1:03 79°00 °49 -98

Mr. Hooper explains that the average
percentage of protein in these rices is
7°25, with the highest in Eastern Ben-
gal and Assam and Bombay and the
lowest in Cuttack and the Central Pro-
vinces. But the most interesting con-
clusions, he says, are drawn from the
individual analyses where the percent-
age varies from 9°81 in a sample from
Broach to 5'44 in a sample from Cuttack.
It has been found that in some cases
the local reputation and market value
of rice coincides with its high nitrogen
content. This is noticed in the case of
certain rices of Eastern Bengal and
Assam, Cuttack, Nepal, and Bombay.
In other cases there is no connection
between the high market value and
the nitrogen contents, as instanced in -
the dadkhani rice of Bengal. The ex:
amination has resulted in giving a
prominent place to certain rices which
deserve attention at the hands of culti-
vators as containing over 8 per cent,
of albuminoids.

Finally, it has been demonstrated
that the richness of the grain appears
to be due not so much to the races of
the plant or the appearance of the grain
as to the cultivation. The secret of an
abundant crop of excellent rice lies in

Edible Products.

the liberal use of suitable fertilisers,
but this aspect of the question never
seems to strike many cultivators, while
others are probably too poor to give
effect to it. It isa matter that should
right itself in time as the demand for
still better rice increases.

THE QUESTION OF A BANANA
INDUSTRY.

‘ By Ff, A. STOCKDALE.

(From the Journal of the Board of Agri-
culture of British Guiana, Vol. III1.,
No. 2, October, 1909.)

During the past three months, the
question of the possibility of establish-
ing a banana industry in this colony
has been engaging attention in many
quarters. Correspondence has_ heen
carried on through the medium of the
local press, and several public meetings
have been held in different villages,
particularly along the East Coast.

This is not the first time such a ques-
tion has been raised. In 1888, the possi-
bilities of establishing a banana industry
were considered, and in May of that
year a resolution was agreed to in the
Combined Court recommending a sub-
sidy tothe Bay State Fruit Company,
to be paid over a period of five years, to
establish a line of ships for the transport
of bananas from this colony to American
markets. Nothing, however, came of
this suggested enterprise, and in March,
1889, a petition was passed in favour of
another American company. A com-
mission was appointed to carefully con-
sider the matter, and it was recom-
mended in a preliminary report that
there should be placed upon the Esti-
mates for 1889-90, $10,000 to defray the
preliminary expense of encouraging the
cultivation of bananas suitable for
export, and thatas soon as the Govern-
ment should be satisfied that the Fruit
and Banana Industry could be encour-
aged a subsidy for five years of $25,000
should be granted for transportation.

A sum of $10,000 was accordingly -

placed upon the estimates but was not
expended, as those in the United States
of America supposed to be interested
in the movement took no further steps
to start the industry on business-like
lines, other than by supplying to the
colony 10,000 suckers of the Jamaican
variety of banana. Part of these were
planted in the Experimental Fields at
the Botanic Gardens, and an area of
somewhat over two acres was kept under
cultivation with them for three or four
years. By order of the late Quintin

212

[MARCH

the suckers on the fields of La Penitence,
to the south of the Experimental Fields,
on which they grew in a sickly manner
for a few years and eventually died out,

In the final Report of the Commission
in 1895, it was stated—

(1) That at that time there were no
regular cultivations of bananas, and
there were but few bananas grown on
plantain farms in an irregular way ;

(2) That an average price of less than
25 cents per bunch would not pay the
growers, and

(8) That no supply of bananas for an
export trade then existed.

The Commission further expressed the
belief that the fruit could be profitably
cultivated to meet an export trade of
10,000 bunches a fortnight if suitable
arrangements could be made.

In 1902, Professor Spawn came to the
colony in connection with banana and
coffee. Great interest was created in his
suggestions, but nothing came of them.

In 1907, the Government made an effort
to ascertain whether an export trade in
bananas could be established on the
lines of the arrangement made between
the Government of Dutch Guiana and
the United Fruit Company. All the
attorneys and managers of sugar plant-
ations and village councils were circu-
larized, but of the forty-six replies
received only seven were favourable,

and therefore it was not considered ~

possible to make suitable arrangements
without an assurance that a large enough
area would be cultivated to guarantee
a sufficient number of bunches of bananas
being produced for export. — :

The present movement has originated

with the people, who being advised of |

the advances that are being madein
Surinam with the banana industry, and
of the fact that the line of steamers also
calls at this colony, are of the opinion
that arrangements could possibly be
made with this line, or some other, to
take bananas from this colony if they
were produced in sufficient quantity. It
is, therefore, thought that it might be
of advantage to give a brief review of
the present business in bananas, to
indicate what points would have to be
specially considered in connection with
the establishment of a banana industry
in this colony, and to give hints in regard

to cultural and other matters that would >

be of value to the growers.

THE WORLD’S TRADE IN BANANAS.
I have not complete figures available
for the whole of the banana-producing
countries, but a consideration of those

Zi
+ le
pa, Noe
t Hy > mf a

Hogg several acres were planted with —

a a a eT A a

- MARCH, 1910,) oe j 218

that are here enumerated will indicate,
in brief, the extent of the world’s trade
in bananas :— ,

Jamaica.—During the past three years,
an average of 16,500,000 bunches have
been exported, distributed as follows :—
15,000,000 bunches to the United States,
and 1,500,000 bunches to England.

Costa Rica.—In 1908, some 10,000,000
bunches were exported, but it was
estimated that fully 2,000,000 bunches
were lost through winds and storms.
Some 7,000,000 bunches were exported to
the United States, and 3,000,000 bunches
to European markets, in which a decided
effort is being made to introduce Costa
Rica bananas.

Honduras.—In 1908, 4,300,000 bunches
were exported as compared with over
5,000,000 bunches in 1906 and 1907.
Further exploitation is being pushed
forward.

Columbia.—Some — 2,250,000 bunches
were exported in 1908, and it is estimated
that within five years not less than
5,000,000 bunches will be exported
annually. There has been remarkable
ee of late in this country. The

rst shipment of bananas was made in
1891, and tor the first 13 years the exports
never reached 500,000 bunches in any one
year. In 1904, 780,000 bunches were
shipped, and since then the exports have
rapidly increased.

Nicaragua.—in 1908, 1,250,000 bunches
avere exported. Large areas have re-
cently been granted for the growing of
bananas and the exports should rapidly
increase.

Other Countries.—Guatemala, 700,000
bunches in 1908, San Domingo, 450,000
bunches; Cuba, about 500,000 bunches;
British Honduras, 400,000 bunches; and
smaller quantities from Panama and
Surinam, while the export from the
Canary Islands of the dwarf banana was
nearly 2,500,000 crates holding roughly
3,000,000 bunches of bananas.

The total trade to America in 1908 was
about 382,250,000 bunches, and the trade
to English and European markets was
about 4,000,000 bunches of the Gros
Michel or Jamaican variety and 3,000,000
bunches of the dwarf or Chinese kind.

POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED.

The first question to be asked is
whether the soil is suitable and what
area would be available within easy
reach of the port of shipment. There
are many circumstances that affect this
issue. The cultivation of bananas is
now carried on in a large number of
countries, the prices are gradually fall-
ing, and only the best quality of fruit

Edible Products.

is now readily acceptable on the markets.
In Surinam, 86 hours is given to cut and
deliver fruit, and therefore it is essential
for an export trade that the land on
which bananas are cultivated be within
near distance of the port of shipment.
For an export trade of say 20,000 bunches
of bananas a week, it would be necessary
to have at least 5,000 acres under culti-
vation. In fact, the United Fruit Com-
pany in their Surinam contract stipu-—
lated that over 7,000 acres should be
planted within three years of signing
the contract, to ensure a minimum
quantity of 20,000 bunches per week.
Poor land or worn-out cane land will not
produce first-class fruit, and therefore
it is necessary at the beginning that the
land should be of good quality. A large
amount of our coast-lands would not be
suitable for the successful cultivation
of bananas, but it is probable, if means
of transport to the seaboard were
readily available, that much of the back
lands would suit admirably. A good
deal. of the land on the lower parts
of the rivers should also grow good
crops of bananas, but cultivation could
not be practised too far away from
the port of shipment or otherwise the
fruit could not be cut and delivered
in the specified time.

The next question to be given careful
consideration is the available labour
supply. In Surinam, it has been found
that it is necessary to have three
labourers for every five acres of banana
cultivation, but there are times when
a larger number are required. It would
most probably be found, that 5,000: acres
under bananas would afford sufficient
continuous employment for 3,000 people.

Co-operation is essential for a success-
ful banana industry. It would he
necessary that all the bananas be
delivered at the port of shipment within
the twelve hours immediately before ~
the ships are scheduled to sail, and the
previous twenty-four hours would be
given for cutting, packing, and trans-
porting ‘to the port. A very efficient
organization is required to accomplish
all this work within such a limited space
of time, and unless everything works
smoothly, a considerable loss of fruit
will result. In fact, the banana industry
is now run on such modern business
methods that it would be necessary for
a considerable area of bananas to be
planted in the same district under a
single Association, in order that manage-
ment expenses may be reduced, and in
order that transport and shipment
could be economically carried out. It
is no longer possible for the small man
to cultivate a few acres and to market

Edible Products. eo 214 é

his fruit, unless it is through some cen-
tral association, and furthermore steam-
ship companies cannot be induced to

put on a line of steamers unless a-

sufficiently large number of bunches is
guaranteed, and sufficiently good secu-
rity is forthcoming. The banana indus-
try of Jamaica is now chiefly in the
hands of large growers, while the
cultivations in Central America are
under the control of large companies
that have many thousands of acres
under single managements.

InSurinam, the nucleus of the indus-
try is held by the Government itself.
There are now about 5,000 acres under
banana cultivation in that country, and
practically none are cultivated by ‘small
growers.’ The greater part of these
bananas are at present grown upon
lands that were abandoned from sugar-
cane cultivation some 50 or 60 years
ago, and upon lands that have in recent
years been abandoned from cacao culti-
vation by reason of the witch-broom
disease.

Finally, means for transport must be
obtained, It depends of course as to
what market it is intended to ship to and
as to what variety would be the most
suitable to'grow. The American market
will only take the Gros Michel or
Jamaican banana, while the English
market favours the dwarf or Chinese
variety.

The Jamaica and Surinam trade, as
also the greater part of the Central
American, is in the hands of the United
Fruit Company. They may be said to
control the whole of the market in Gros
Michel or Jamaican bananas. It must,
therefore, be assumed that this company
would haveto be approached if a suc-
cessful trade were hoped to be built up
with America.

The United Fruit Company has a
most efficient organization in all the
banana-producing countries with which
it is connected, and is, at present, rather
inclined to favour extension of oper-
ations in the fields in which it is
thoroughly established than to look for
new fields to work up, unless exception-
ally favourable terms are offered. Any
business man, on carefully examining the
Surinam contract must note that the
Company requires particularly favour-
able conditions. The whole of the
organization was left to the Surinam
Government, who had to guarantee that
a certain area would be planted within
a certain period, and that the shipments
would reach a certain size. It is more
than probable that similar conditions
would be required in the case of any

similar contract for bananas from this

Colony, and it would therefore be neces-

sary for a considerable area to be
guaranteed to be planted in bananas
before such a contract could be entered
upon. For the American market it
would seem that only the United Fruit
Company could be approached, as otker
companies could not compete with such
a monopoly as the United Fruit Com-
pany holds.

Could bananas be shipped satisfac-
torily to Hngland? They are being
shipped in large quantities from Jamaica
and Costa Rica, but the dwarf or Chinese
variety from the Canaries still com-
mands universal favour. An examin-
ation of the few details of the Barbados
experiment would indicate that the
Chinese variety of bananas can he
shipped satisfactorily in cold storage,
if packed in cotton wool in crates. A
direct steamship service capable of ac-
complishing the journey in 10 or 12 days,
would be necessary, and the rates of
freight would have to be sufficiently low
to afford a reasonable margin of profit
to the growers. The rates of freight
from the Canaries during 1907 ranged
from 1s. to 1s. 3d. per crate, but this was
considered high and caused a certain
amount of dissatisfaction among the
growers.

In conclusion, the methods of culti-
vation in vogue in this colony would be
entirely unsuited for the successful culti-
vation of bananas for an export trade,
and a careful consideration of the
Jamaica methods, a brief account of
which is appended herewith, and of the
leaflet-_lately issued by the Board of
Agriculture is strongly recommended.
The opinion formed by the Department
of Science and Agriculture is that, sup-
posing asufficiently large area were put
in banana cultivation under the control
of a strong organization to form a
nucleus for the industry, the smaller
growers could, with careful attention
to cultivation, etc., be encouraged to
plant bananas and would make a fair
profic. Without such a nucleus, how-
ever, the smaller growers could not
themselves establish a _ successful -in-
dustry.

Tur BARBADOS EXPERIMENT.

In May, 1902, the Superintendent of the
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company at
Barbados, invited the Imperial Com-
missioner of Agriculture to test a new
banana catrier by which it was proposed
to carry bananas from the West Indies
to England. It was found that the
dwarf or Chinese bananas could satis-
factorily be carried in the ordinary hold

(Manon, 1910,

Oe a oe oa eee ee

we.

Marca, 1910.]

during the cold season, but that in the
hot season the shipments arrived in an

- Over-ripe condition. Hall’s system of

cold storage was therefore installed in
some of the ships of this line, and larger
shipments of bananas were made. In
1902, 18 bunches of bananas were shipped;
in 1908, 6,691 bunches; in 1904, 15,326
bunches; in 1905, 28,008 bunches were
shipped up to October 5th, In July of
1905, however, shipments of bananas
from Trinidad occupied a considerable
portion of the cold storage holds, and
the Barbados bananas had to be put in
other parts of the vessel, with the result
that the 10,489 bunches shipped from
October 5th, 1905 to March 38lst, 1906
netted in Hngland only about 2d. per
bunch. This meant a loss to the planters
of nearly one shilling per bunch in
freight and other expenses alone, and
consequently growers discontinued to

ship.

The Barbados bananas when they
arrived in England in good condition
commanded aready sale and netted to
the planters from 2s. 3d. to 2s. 6d. per
bunch, and as the cost of crates, packing,
ete., amounted to about 1s.\3d. per bunch,
the’ net profits on good shipments
worked out at about one shilling to ls.
3d. per bunch. Without assured space
in cold-storage holds it was found impos-
sible to ship the dwarf or Chinese variety
successfully.

JAMAICA METHODS OF CULTIVATION.

The method of eultivating bananas in
Jamaica differs considerably from that

practised in this colony, and it is thought

that a brief description of the former
practice may not be without interest :—

If forest land is brought under banana
cultivation some planters simply cut and
burn, leaving the stumps to decay.
Others, however, prefer to stump the
land as soon as possible, in order that
the suckers may be put in regularly and
so that ploughing may be carried out
much earlier than if the stumps were
not removed. Virgin land is not
ploughed, however, for the first crop.
Old cane land or pasture is thoroughly
ploughed to at least nine inches deep.
This ploughing is generally done in
January. The land is then carefully
harrowed. It is allowed to lie fallow
until the beginning of March, when it
is cross ploughed and harrowed. The
fields are then lined ready for planting,
which is usually.done in the end ot
March or the beginning of April. Hill
lands cannot be ploughed. They are,
therefore, forked before being lined for
planting. an

,

215 Edible Products.

Great-care is taken with the crane
and irrigation systems, as it is absolutely
essential for a successful banana culti-
vation to have good drainage, and the
irrigation system must be laid out so
that the smaller water channels may be
easily changed as occasion arises,

PLANTING.

Planting is generally donein Jamaica ~
from January to April in order to catch
the high prices of the American market.
Where irrigation is not possible March
and April are recognised as the planting
months, so that the suckers may be
ready to benefit by the rains that com-
mence in May.

The usual distance for planting on the
south side of the island is 14 feet x 14
feet, while 15 feet x 15 feet is generally
recognised as being most suitable on the
southern side. The distance in the hills
is usually 12 feet x 12 feet. Hxperi-
ments have been tried with planting
15 feet x 10 feet or 15 feet x 8 feet, with
varied results, while 8 feet x 8 feet and
10 feet x 10 feet are not uncommon in
some of the very hot flat lands, in order
to shade the ground as soon as possible
after planting. The general concensus
of opinion throughout the island favours
the wider planting, as the bunches are
of better size and quality. The holes.
are usually. dug from 2 feet to3 feet
square and vary in depth from 1 foot to
23 feet. The deeper holes are generally
advocated where labour is plentiful.

SEED-SUCKERS.

The suckers which would be selected
for planting are not the same as those
that would be chosen in this colony,
and the method of treatment is totally
different. Suckers for planting purpo-
ses are suckers that have not been cut
back, or in other words “‘sword-suckers,”
—as indicated by their first leaves being
very narrow—which have been allowed
to grow to about eight or ten feet in
height and which have large bulbs at
their base. No small suckers, such as
we choose in this colony, are taken.
In preparing their suckers for planting,
the Jamaicans cut down those selected
to within about six inches of the ground
and then dig out the bulbs. All the
old roots are then trimmed off and the
bulb is planted so that the eyes are
at least three or four inches below the
level of the ground. From this bulb,
three or four suckers will spring up.
The strongest one is selected, and all
the others are pruned off until June
when one or to suckers are left, and
then again all others are pruned off
until October when there is again left
either one or two, aud finally another

Edible Products. 216

is left the following February. It is
calculated that the first suckers should
fruit in the following March, the June
suckers in May, the October ones in
February or March twelve months, and
the February one in May or June twelve
months. This system for timing is the
outcome of long experience and could
- not be adopted in this colony without
modification, on account of differences
in climatic and rainfall conditions.

IRRIGATION AND AFTER-CULTIVATION,

When the suckers are first planted
the smaller water-channels are put close
to the suckers, so that they may get
the benefit of all the water, but after
they have become well established it
isithe usual practice to run the water
channels in the centre of the rows, for
the bananas benefit more thereby, and
the stools do not produce such a large
number of suckers as if the water were
actually around the stools.

When the suckers have become estab-
lished, shallow ploughing is generally
carried on until November once every
eight or ten weeks, one ploughing with
the rows and the next across the rows.
Each ploughiug is followed by a light
harrowing to break down the soil and
to keep the land clear of weeds. After
November, ploughing is generally stop-
ped until after the main crop for the
American market has been picked. Dur-
ing this period, as also during such
rainy weather that the plough cannot
be used, the weeds are kept down with
a cutlass or hoe.

In those parts of the island where
ploughing is not generally practised,
or on those lands where ploughing is
impossible, constant forkings are given
during the earlier growth of the suckers,
while during the fruiting period all
weeds are kept down with the cutlass.
Very particular attention is given to
cultivation in order that the maximum
quantity of large bunches may be
obtained. It is useless to expect good
results unless good tillage is given fre-
quently; for it has been found that
bananas cannot be made to yield satis-
factory profits if cultivation is carried
out ‘‘on the cheap.”

In some districts, artificial manures
are applied-to bananas, but the most
satisfactory results have been obtained
from pen manure and other humus-torm-
ing substances. All the old banana
stems, trash, etc., are cut up and

ploughed in with beneficial results. —

Their application improves the general
texture of the soil and makes it drain
more readily. »

|
J
schon
bas are"

REMOVAL OF LEAVES AND SUCKERS. 3 ”
As the leaves decay, they hang down ~

around the stem. It is the usual prac-
tice to allow a few of these to remain
as they protect the stem from the sun,
but if they become numerous some of
them are removed, or otherwise they
tend to cause the stem to shoot up
rapidly and to become weak and slender,
incapable of bearing a_ full bunch of
fruits. In no case are hanging leaves

allowed to trail upon the ground. Such _

leaves are pruned away.

All suckers that are not intended to
yield fruit are carefully removed. They
are usually pruned away from their
parent bulbs when they are quite young,
for if they are allowed to grow large
they drain food-materials from the main
stems, and small bunches result. In
all cases every effort is made to cut
the suckers away from the parent bulbs
or otherwise they rapidly spring again.

PICKING THE FRUIT,

The picking of the fruit is done by
the hundred stems. Hach plant is partly
cut through some five or six feet from
the ground, so that the top of the
plant, with the bunch, slowly falls over.
The bunch is caught so that it does
not get bruised and is then severed
and handed to women, who carry it
to a certain place in the plantation.
Flere a book-keeper enters it up as being
a bunch ot a certain size, or discards
it as being unsuited for export.

The bunches are then wrapped in
trash, and handed into a cart, where
they are carefully packed for trans-
port either to the sea-board for ship-
ment to Kingston in punts or to
one of the numerous sheds along the
railway line for receipt by the banana
trains that run to the wharf and unload
direct into the steamships that carry
fruit to either the American or the
English markets.

In picking the bunches in the field it~
was formerly the usual custom for men
to work singly, but now greater care is

being taken on some of the estates.

They work in pairs, the one to cut the
bunch down and the other to catch it
and hand it to the women who carry
the bananas to be noted by the book-
keepers.

CUTTING DOWN OLD STEMS.

After the bunch is cut off, the head of
the plant is completely severed from the
stem some distance above where it was
partly cut through at the time of picking.

The top part of the stem and theleaves _

that have been cut off are then chopped —

up and spread over the land ready tobe _

— oe

~

- MARCH,

PE esteem eee ODN pee Tt

os Be ba ee
tts

3

1910. |

. Ploughed in, while the lower part of the

stem is left standing to decay. It is
generally held that a fair task for a man
is to cut and chop about 100 stems per
diem.

REPLANTING.

In a banana plantation some planting
is doneevery year. It depends largely
upon the nature of the soil, and upon
the locality as to how long bananas may
be ratooned. In some districts replant-
ing is done every three years, while in
others six years is not considered too
long forratooning. A field to be thrown
out is planted in vigorous-growing
leguminous climbers such as the velvet
bean, ete. These plantsclimb over the
banana plants and soon kill them out.
They are then all cut down, cut into
pieces, and ploughed in. After atime,
the field is replanted, the new -rows
alternating, if possible, with the places
where the old ones were, . There isa
growing tendency throughout the whole
island to reduce the period of ratooning
and to replant every two or three years,
as itis found that by so doing the crops
may be better timed for the American
market, as after first ratoons the plants
fruit somewhat irregularly.

YIELDS.

The general yield for the whole island
is about 280 payable bunches per acre
per year, but on well cultivated lands
825 to 880 bunches are considered by
most planters as being a fair average.
Asa rule, it is held that about 65 per
cent. of plants should yield bunches, and
at least 85 per cent. of first ratoons.

Yields depend largely upon locality,
soil, irrigation, cultivation, etc., and
vary considerably throughout the island,
but itis generally recognised that the
best results can be obtained only by
intensive cultivation.

Cost oF CULTIVATION.

The cost of cultivation varies slightly
in the different districts, but it has been
found that the average cost of preparing
the land, after-cultivation, interest and
depreciation on capital, outlay tor
buildings, roads, etc., would amount in
an irrigated district from £12 to £15
per acre during the first year, and an
annual expenditure of from £10 to £12
afterwards. For non-irrigated lands the
cost would be from £9 to £12 during the

- first year and £8 to £10 afterwards,

These estimates assume that suckers are
readily available and do not have to be
bought.
JAMAICA PRICBS.
The prices given by the United Fruit
Company per 100 bunches to those who
contracted tosupply a certain number

he eC Pe A ee,
oes wd <2 en bi 5

7 Edible Products..

all the year
follows :—

January £6, Febiuary £710Cs., March
£10, April £12 10s., May £12 10s., June
£11 10s., July £7 10s., August £5 10s.,
September £6, October £6 5s., November
£6 5s., December £5 10s.

In 1906, the contract prices were :—

January £5, February £6 5s., March
£10, April £1210s., May £12 10s., June
£11, July £8, August £6, September,
October, November, December £5 per
100 bunches.

IT have no figures later than 1906, but
there has been a large increase in banana
production in Central America, and the
ruling prices are now somewhat less
than they were in that year.

round were in 1901, as

TALIPAT SUGAR.
(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXV., No. 1, Calcutta, Saturday,
January 1, 1910.)

The Talipat (Corypha umbraculifera,
Linn.) is among the stateliest of the
many stately palms of the Tropics.
Stalwart, stupenduous, majestic, grand,
-—it is typical of the gorgeous glory of
the East where feathery forms that
love the light shoot up into golden
skies, With a varying height of from
40 to 80, enhanced by an enormous
spadix that reaches up to another 10,
15, or even 20 feet, its rough annu-
larly-scarred stupendous stem attains
to a girth of from 6 to 10 feet. Un-
like its congener, the great Palmyra,
it does not hug the sands of the coast;
but, heading inland far beyond the
limits of the spontaneous growth of
that palm, it flourishes best on the clays
and loams of the secluded valleys and
plains of the interior. These soils it
loves far better than sand, these situ-
ations more than the garish light or
the salt sprayed wind of the bleak
sea-coast,

Like the greyish-green Fish-tailed Palm,
the Caryota, it is relatively scarce and
almost as short-lived. Throughout the
indigenous regions of their growth, both
Talipat_ and Caryota are usually self-
sown. The hard, horny-albumened seed
of the Talipat germinates, however,
with greater difficulty; and, being ex-
tremely delicate when young the seed-
ling seldom survives transplanting. It
has to be sown if it is to be grown.
For these reasons, chiefly, it is
that the palm is scarcely, if ever,
regularly grown; so that the sporadic
nature of its installation will, under
present conditions, endure for years,

Edible Products.

Single palms or, at best, clumps of a
few, sown by the haphazard sprouting
of seeds cast by the agency chiefly of
birds, occur at intervals usually far:
so that the local exploitation of the
species for sugar is generaliy more
tedious than that of the Caryota.
Nevertheless, it is now regularly tapped
in the plains of the sub-arid regions of
Burma wherever it occurs in suitable
numbers and is vigorous enough for a
profitable yield. The practice of tapping
the Talipat in Burma is invested with
an element of peculiar interest parti-
cularly when it comes to be known that
the palm, as a source of toddy or sugar,
is unknown in the more favoured
regions of its growth. In the cool fer-
tile valleys of the lower Western Ghats,
—in Canara, Malabar, Cochin, Travan-
core,—Wwhere the species may be said to
be complete at home, crowning the
already stupendous sylvan vegetation,
its enormous panicle of myriads of
flowers bursts through the tough integu-
ments of the spathe to but “waste its
sweetness in the desert air.” In Burma,
however, the Talipat is tapped for the
saccharine sap which is drawn from the
spadix. Varying with the factors of
the locality in which it grows, the Tali-
patis said toreach exploitability between
the thirtieth and fortieth year of its
age. On the completion of the period
of its vegetative growth, it sends up, at
the top of the stem, a single spadix of
enormous size. Unlike the develop-
ment of the generality of other palm-
spadices, that of the Talipat is remark-
ably slow. It is said to attain to a
height of six feet and a basal girth of
from two tothree feet in not less than
two months from the date of its emer-
gence. At the end of this period and
before the spathe bursts, the tapper
ascends the gigantic stem by means of
light ladders constructed of bamboo.
Frequently these ladders consist of
nothing more than single bamboos on
which portions of the arms are retained
to serve forrungsorsteps. The bamboos
are securely lashed to the stem, one
beyond another, up tothe top. At the
top and over the bases of the leaf stalks,
the tapper constructs a platform of
bamboo work immediately around the
base of the spadix. This done he
straightway proceeds to cut away the
whole of the spathe investing the
spadix. The latter is now bound round,
at intervals, with long strands of rattan
or other stout fibre, from its base toa
height reaching up to his head. The
intervals between the ties vary much
but are not usually greater than 6 or 8
inches. The ties are further tightened
by ramming, Jike wedges, short lengths

218

kindly, to that of the Talipat.

“ee

[Marcu, 1

C4 *
< a
Wet the

of round sticks between them and the
spadix. Careis taken, however, to see
that the skin of the smooth tender
spadix isnot broken or bruised. The
top of the spadix is then cut with a dah
(in the present case a very sharp, light,
thin bladed knife) the cut-surface being
shaped in the form of a V. This incision -
is practically the result of two-clean cuts
which, proceeding from right and left of
the upper periphery of the spadix con-
verge and meet to form the lower edge
of a more or less prismoid valley below.
Thereafter, asmall, shallow, semicircular
notch is cut cn the spadix about 6 inches
below the edged base of the channel.
Into this is inserted one end of a slip of
palm leaf to serve asa conduit for the
sap. The slipis tied to the spadix with
string. The binding cf the spadix with
strong ties of rattan serves to increase
the pressure inside it; and when, after
the binding and wedging its top is cut
off, the toddy or sap trickles into the pot.
About three hours after this first
operation, the tapper ascends to the
platform again. The first pot will be
full; so it is replaced by another and,
frequently much larger one. At the same
time, the cut-surface is carefully pared
by successively removing thin slices
from it. But for the parings the cut-sur-
face gets clogged and the free flaw of sap
is impeded and hindered. The insides of
the pots that are used in the tappings
are previously freely exposed to the
smoke of lighted palm leaves, straw and
rubbish of sorts. This smoking is said
to prevent fermentation iu the sap and
to clear it as it collects in the pot; other-
wise it would be acidand turbid. Again,
in the pots to hold toddy for Jaggery-
making, handfuls of the powdered bark
of the Té (Diospyros burmanica, Kurz;
Diospyros pyrrhocarpa, Miq; or Dio-
spyros montana, Roxb.; or of the Ta:
naung (Acacia leucophlcea) are sprinkled
before they are slung on the spadix.
In spite of these most interesting pre-
cautions, the toddy obtained in the first
ten days or fortnight is scarcely drink-
able owing to its rank raw vegetable
flavour. But it soon becomes both sweet
and palatable, whenit may safely be
drunk to any extent. Its internal ex-
hibition is, in fact, seldom attended with
inebriation thereby seemingly forming
an exception to the familiar inexorable
law of all toddies. By no meansis it a
drunkaru’s drink ; but, for all the liquids,
juices or sap one can drink in the plains
on a burning hot day, commend me,
ln sweet-
ness it is, at the best of times, inferior
to the toddies at present obtained from

‘the rest of the Indian Palms that are

tapped; but, as might be expected,

Marca, 1910.)

regarding yield, it is superior to even
the great Caryota; for the average
capacity of the pots that are used for
drawing the toddy from the Talipat
palm is usually about 20 quarts: and,

when itis remembered that the flow of -

the sapisso rapid and copious as to
necessiate the renewal (changing) of the
pots at least six times in the 24 hours,
2.e., thrice in the day and three times at
night, it will be conceded that the palm
compensates the incessant labour called
foath in its tapping. To this must be
added the remarkable fact that after
the whole of the spadix has been sliced
away in the incessant tapping during
a period of four months (November
to February), the operation is in
most cases eontinued into the tap-
ping of the delicate ‘‘ cabbage ” and is fre-
quently cut through in three months;
so that a total period of seven months
elapses before the tapping gives over
completely. The yield, however, is not
constant throughout even the first
period of the greatest flow. Thetapping
of most of the palms begins early in
November, and the highest yield is at-
tended in January; thereafter, it slowly

219

- Kdible Products.

but steadily declines until the middle of
the “cabbage” is reached, when it gives
clear symptoms of distinct diminution.
Calculating the yield at the average
rate of 20 gallons per day (24hours) for
aperiod of five months, the enormous
figure of 20 by 5 by 30 or 3,000 gallons
is indicated. The major portion of the
toddy of the Talipatis usedin the manu-
Yacture of jaggery or gur. For this
purpose three pots, each of them nearly
full of the loddy, are placed on long
ovens near the foot of the tree. The fires
are then lighted and the toddy is boiled
until it turns syrupy and thick, The
contents of two of the pots are now
poured into the other, and init they are
boiled for a few minutes longer. The
potis then removed from the fire and, on
cooling, the jaggery is rolled by hand
and made into balls. lt takes an hour_
to boil the sap. The yield of jaggery
varies much; but, on an average, one
pot (20 quarts) of toddy boils into one
viss (35 lbs.) of gaggery. The jaggery is
sweet and resembles that of the Pal-
myrah, but it is frequently somewhat
darker in colour. It sells locally at
from 3 to 4 annas per viss.

TIMBERS.

WOOD FINISHING.

By Wiuuis T. POopks.-
(From the Hawaiian Forester and Agri-
culturist, Vol. aS 11, November,

For some years I have been consider-
ably interested in wood finishing, parti-
cularly that part which involves stain-
ing, filing and polishing. It is a great
field of work, ever attractive and pleas-
ing to investigate. New matter and
different results are constantly present-
ing themselves. Though wood finishing
is one of the very oldest arts, and one
that requires much knowledge of
materials, as a craft we find little
literature regarding it.

Good instruction in iron work aud
wood work can be procured easily in
almost any of our industrialand manual
training schools, but, as a rule, very few
lessons are given in the finishing pro-
cesses that go to make an attractive
piece of wood work, whether it be a
piece of furniture or the interior of a
dwelling. As a people, we depend al-
most entirely upon untrained workmen
for our information. Good polishers
very seldom know much about muterials

28

and their sources. They have little in-
formation to give away, and the secret of
their success, when found out, is about
the same old receipt made good by hard
rubbing.

In discussing briefly the subject of
wood finishing, I will no doubt dwell
upon particulars:of which you are more
or less familiar, but I trust the interest
will be worth the short while taken.

No two species of trees produce wood
of exactly the same structure. There
is a great variation in woods of the
same species, in fact a distinct study in
each separate piece.

Kxamine almost any piece of wood,
and in a general way we find it composed
of small cells of various kinds, usually
long and tubular, running lengthwise,
and adhering to each other more or
less strongly. These cells have had
special uses in the life of the tree, some
were for conducting crude sap from the
roots to the crown, others acting as
storehouses for digested plant food, and
still others have long acted merely for
strengthening the tree and holding it
together. Investigation shows that
some of the cells have thick walls and
small openings, others, thin walls and
large openings. Most specimens of

Timbers. 220

wood have these different kinds of
cells arranged or grouped together in
such a way as to form the annular
rings which are so distinct on the cross
section of most lumber and give the
beautiful watered grain to longitudinal
sections.

When the growth of the tree begins
inthe spring orat the beginning of the
- wet season in most tropical countries,
there isa great demand for water in
the crown where the multitudes of new
leaves and twigs are forming, hence a
new layer of large loose thin-walled
cells is rapidly built; when the demand
for crude sapis not so great, and
when thereis plenty of digested tood
to supply building material, the cells
formed are narrow and thick walled,
thus the latter gcowth of each season is
heavier, stronger and darker in colour
than the earlier growth. As long as
the tree isin good condition, distinct
rings are left, one for each year, which
the foresters and lumbermen make use
of in determining the age of the trees of
the forest. Hire or insects or any-
thing of the kind damaging one side
of the tree will often be the cause of
incomplete annular rings. Seasons of
drought leave narrow and indistinct
rings that prove correct records of
those dry years throughout the exist-
ence of the trees. These accurate re-
cords were very valuable to the parties
who determined the great age of the
grand Sequoias of California,

Other markings, pecular and interest-
ing, and that have much todo with the
finishing of some species of wood, are
the dappels of thin’ plates of cells
belonging to the Meddulary rays.
These lines of cells run from the pith in
the centre to the bark as longitudinal
layers. Their function is to strengthen
and bind the annual layers. Though
they are present in most tree stems,
they seldom appear more than faint
lines radiating from the centre of cross
sections. In oak they are very con-
spicuous and add great value to it. ‘Io
get oak boards well marked with these
medullary rays, the logs are cut into
quarters, each quarter being ripped up
into boards with their cutting plane
oblique to the quartering cuts (or as
near as possible along the lines of rays).
This brings the surfaces of the boards
nearer to the radiating medullary rays
of the log, thus giving many of the
dapples on each surface. This quarter
cutting greatly increases the cost of the
lumber because of the waste, but at the
same time increases its strength and
enhances its beauty. Trees of the forest
that yield the most handsome lumber

with a beautiful and well marked finish
are those which have plenty of room
for growth, which are exposed to winds
that cause them to bend and toss, and
which have ample light and space tor
development.

The composition of wood is of im
portance to the wood finisher. It is
briefly but well explained in ‘‘A Primer
of Forestry,” Bulletin No. 24 of the
Division of Forestry, U. S. Department
of Agriculture.

‘© Wood is made up chiefly of carbon,
oxygen and hydrogen. When perfectly
dry, about half its weight is carbon and
half oxygen and hydrogen, in almost
the same proportion as in water. It
contains also about one part in one
hundred by weight of earthy consti-
tuents. The nitrogen and water taken
up by the roots were originally in the
air before they reached the ground , it is
true, therefore, that when wood is burn-
ed, those parts of it which come from
the air go back into it in the form of
gas, while those which come from the
soil remain behind in the form of ashes,’

The cell structure of most woods, as
left by the smoothing tools of the work-

man, is so open that it is difficult to get ,

a finished surface without using con-
siderable expensive polish or varnish,
which would have to be applied in thin
coats with considerable time for each
to become hard. This difficulty is -over-
come by the use of a filler; the name
implies its object. A cheap, durable
mixture is rubbed into the openings of
the wood forming a body, or foundation
upon which the finish is to be placed.
Very hard, close grained woods, as olive,
lignum vitzs and some _ species of
eucalyptus do not need the filler.

Wood filler for many kinds of woods
may be purchased ready for use. Cheap
varnish is sometimes used asa filler, and
shellac cut with aleohol makes one of
the best for work where the pores are
not too large. Large cracks may be
filled with a composition consisting of
rosin and beeswax. Two applications of
filler, if well applied, are usually satis-
factory for any kind of finish. (The
second coat should not be put on until
about 36 or 48 hours alter the first.)
Too much of a single coat is apt to
shrink away into the wood. qual
parts of Japan drier and boiled linseed
oil, thoroughly mixed, with a body of
corn starch to form a thick putty-like
paste, thinned down to the desired
liquid with turpentine, makes a filler
that is suitable for most woods. Instead
of corn starch, some earthy material as
plaster of paris, whiting or pumice stone

wasn}

[MancH, 1910.

nn ge ing ll EA, SR aa ii a ee i ole
73 ; i va 4

MARcH, 1910.]

is sometimes used, but the oil reliable
corn starch has proven satisfactory.

Just afew words as to those materials

that form the filler. Japan or Japan
drier is a brownish liquid having some-
what the nature of varnish, called a
drier on account of its property in
paints, ete., is made by cooking gum
shellac with linseed oil; the mixture is
cooked down toavery thick fluid and
then thinned with turpentine. Shellac
is the shell torm of lac, a resinous gum
produced on several kinds of trees by a
species of scale insect in the East Indies.

Boiled linseed oil, as most of us know,
is a product of the flax seed obtained by
placing the crushed seeds under great
pressure, and the extracted oil then
boiled with litharge» (sugar of lead)
which leaves a liquid varying from light
umber to dark yellow in colour, with the
property of drying quickly when spread
in a thin layer. The turpentine, of
course, is the liquid obtained from the
rosin of several species of pine trees,

Fillers are usually applied with a
brush, sponge or piece of cloth. A few
minutes after the application the work
should be rubbed vigorously with
another cloth, a piece of canvas, first
erosswise and then lengthwise. It
is not uncommon to add a little chrome
yellow, yellow ochre, venetian red or
burnt umber or some other colour to the
filler, which often improves the appear-
ance of the wood. In finishing carriages,
pianos and small articles, it is not
uncommon for the workman to use
polish, rubbing into the fresb application
finely powdered pumice-stone, just a
little at a time. The object of this is
two-fold, for leveling down and givinigz
an even undersurface and to work a
durable mineral material into the pores

The staining of woods may be con-
sidered for several purposes.

First, to preserve the wood ; second,
to station common woods to _ imitate
superior classes, as the staining of
commn oak to give it the appearance of
antique oak or as golden oak; third,
staining to add uniformity or colour
throughout a piece of work. Wood of
the finest quality, no matter how care-
fully selected, will be given some staining
medium when it passes through the
French polisher’s hands, which he claims
is done to bring out the beauty of
the grain.

Staining has become very popular for
house furnishings of late years on
account of its cheapness and the fact
that it does not destroy the natural
beauty of the wood. It is less expensive

221

-about Honolulu.

=

Timbers.

to keep woodwork fresh and clean,
when stained, than it would be to apply
successive coats of paint and varnish.

Stain may be applied as an opaque
coating on roofs and the exterior walls
of houses, and again it may be applied
asa thin wash, giving colour to some
depth, but leaving visible the character
of the wood.

Some years ago, wood finishers used a
great many vegetable dyes for colouring
wood, and when a dry pigment was
applied water was usually the vehicle
used to carry it into the wood, but
turpentine, alcohol or an oil has been
found to be better, as it does not raise
the grain of the wood. If the liquid
used as avehicle to carry the colour
pigment into the work is a good wood
preserative, the stain will have double
value, t.e., to give colour and preserve,
Boiled oil is highly recommended as
such a liquid. A very good stain is
composed of two parts of turpentine, one
part of boiled linseed oil and a little
Japan drier, these added to the colour
pigment that is selected, venetian red,
burnt sienna, vandyke brown or crome
green orsome other colour. In sucha
stain the oil gums the pigment, the tur-
pentine keeps it thin until deposited in
the proper place and then evaporates,
and the drier helps to set the mixture,

I am told that many stains sold ready
for use contain carbolinium, kerosene
and various other oils that act as wood
preservatives ; denatured alcohol is also
much used of late. Most of these are
cheap and reliable. One gallon of liquid
stain will cover about a hundred square
feet, and after buying a few small sample
bottles and finding a suitable one, you
can usually rely upon getting a further
supply to match. Itis a good plan, and
often saves much disappointment, if,
before staining, a few small pieces of
wood are experimented with till the
required result is obtained.

** Aniline” dyes may be usefully em-
ployed on wood for seif-colours only—
as distinct from various imitations of
woods. Their introduction afew years
ago, I am told, produced a disastrous
effect on the old vegetable dye market,
nevertheless many of the vegetable
stains are exceedingly useful.

Logwood stain, made from boiling
the chips of the logwood tree (Haema-
toxylon) is still a much used vegetable
stain. This product is imported from
Central America and the West Indies,
We havea few specimens of these trees
It does well in most
warm regions of the earth,

Timbers. 922

Other dye-woods worthy of mention
are red sanders, orchella weed, safflower
and nut-galls.

Many colouring materials are to be
obtained from common plants. The
well-known blueberry, when boiled down
with a little alum and a solution of
copperas [sulphate of copper], will deve-
lop an excellent blue colour; treated in
the same manner with a solution of nut-
galls, it produces adark brown tint;
with alum verdigris and sal-ammoniac,
various shades of purple and red can be
obtained from it. A good green stain is
obtained from broom corn,

Stain is usually applied with a brush,
sponge or cloth, and on surfaced work,
where the grain of the wood is to show,
the excess is wiped off with a clothin
a few minutes after the application.

After a piece of wood has been stained,
it can be given one or more coats of
white shellac, smoothed with fine sand-
paper and varnished. Varnish is a
viscid liquid, consisting of a solution of
resinous matter in oil or a _ volatile
liquid laid on work to give it a smooth
hard surface with a gloss.

Manufacturers claim that varnish
should be used just asit issold. While
it is true that it is a mistake to add
anything to the finer grade of varnish,
the poorer qualities are often too thick
to work freely without diluting. Ifit
is necessary, add turpentine until the
varnish spreads freely with a brush.
After varnishing, let it stand for at
least 24 hours, by which time the coat
will be hard. A coat of varnish over
one that is not hard will often result
in sweating which will necessitate scrap-
ing the work and recommencing the
job from the beginning. A good many
have shellac for the first coat to fill the
pores.

To apply varnish properly requires a
good deal of practice, and it is impos-
sible to lay down rules that shall govern
the process. The inexperienced almost
invariably applies too much varnish and
the result is it cracks.
coats are given, rub each down with
fine sandpaper after it dries so as to
give a smooth well filled surface for
the next.

Spirit varnishes consist of alcohol and
a vegetable gum as gum sandarach, gum
copal, gum mastic, or a combination of
mixed gums.

Alcohol and gum shellac also make a
good spirit varnish, More quickly dry-
ing varnishes are said to be made of
the gum cut with ether.

2

Where several-

- purpose.

_ Linseed oil is the principal oil used
in the manufacture of Oil varnish, This
varnish has a tendency to settle in a
more even layer after spreading, al-
though it takes longer to dry.

A wax polish proves quite satisfactory
on many kinds of wood. The ingredi-
ents are beeswax and turpentine with
more or less rosin added to harden the
surface, but many do not add the rosin
at all. A good way to prepare the wax
is to melt the beeswax, and before it has
time tocool, add the turpentine. Cau-
tion is necessary as both the wax and
the turpentine are very volatile. As in
the stain, the turpentine is merely the
vehicle which enables the wax to he
easily applied. In a thin condition, it
may be laid on evenly over the work
with a stiff brush or rag. After the
wax has been spread the polish is ob-
tained by friction, and the more it is
rubbed, the brighter it will be. This
final rubbing should be done with a
hard, dry piece of canvas.

For most good work, French polish is
to be preferred to all other finishes, as
finer results can be obtained by it. It
differs from varnish in that the resinous
material is applied with a rubber (a hard

ad of cloth) instead of witha brush. To

ecome a gcod polisher, skill and practice
are necessary as well as knowledge of
material.

Polish requires that the pores of the
wood be properly filled in order to get
the smooth surface, fillers are used much
the same as for varnish. After the
fillers have thcroughly hardened, the
laying on of the polish, which is called
‘*bodying in” is begun. The way in
which this is done greatly affects the
appearance and durability of the gloss.
When the body is too thin the gloss soon
fades on account of the material sinking
into the wood, and when the body is too
thick it gives the finish the appearance
of varnish.

The rubber is made of long strips of
eloth rolled tightly and bound with a
string or rubber band ; this is put into a
double thickness of cloth, linen prefer-
able, the ends of which are gathered up
and tied. This form of a rubber is not

‘very useful for mouldings, but a similar

wad can be made more pointed for the
Old rubbers, if well taken
care of, are better than new ones, They
should be kept in au air-tight receptacle.

The process of applying the polish is — : B

somewhat as_ follows:—The wad is
moistened with the polish and then
covered with a cloth which is brought
over the end smoothly, then rubbed

briskly across the grain to let the Be.

as

SEOs act oa Naam a ta ak
Ty co Sa =e feeb ae 5 *
ee i 5 anes “4 ¥

- Marc, 1910.) _

surface fill, after which the work is gone
over with a series of circular move-
ments, applying a moderate pressure,
increasing a little as the rubber dries.
In order that the rubber may pass
smoothly over the work, a drop of raw
linseed oil is occasionally added to
the face of the rubber. As the rubber

dries, more polish is added as in the

first instance. <A little polish will go
a long way,and at no time should
there be anything like a flow from the
rubber. The first bodying im should be
continued until the wood will absorb no
more, after which the rubber mark will
still show but gradually disappear in
the finish. The final operation in French
polishing by which the gloss is put on
to the body previously applied is known
as spiriting off and it removes all
kinds of marks. This process partakes

228

Timbers.

very much of the nature of bodying in.
It consists in washing the bodied sur-
face with alcohol. The surface is gra-
dually reduced to a fine gloss with all
blemishes removed.

To make a good polish, take about
six ounces of shellac and add one pint
of wood aleohol; great exactness in pro-
portions isnot necessary. Shellac dis-~
solves gradually and the process is
hastened by shaking, but heat is not
necessary. White polish is made with
bleached shellac, common polish with
orange shellac. Manufacturers of polish
assert that in addition to _ shellac,
certain gums improve the quantity of
the polish when properly used, but
shellac is the principal ingredient in
nearly all polishes, Gum benzoin and
aleohol make a very good polish, but
it is not generally used.

PLANT SANITATION.

NOTES ON CURRENT LITERATURE:
Economic ENTOMOLOGY.

By E. ERNEST GREEN,
Government Entomologist,

BauLou, H. A.—‘‘ The flower-Bud Mag-
got of Cotton, Contarinia gossypii,
Felt.).” Reprinted from the ‘West Indian
Bulletin,’ Vol. X., No.1, pp. 1-28, 1909.

Describes the larva of a Cecidomyiid
Fly (one of the ‘Gall-Gnats’) that has
caused serious loss to the Cotton growe1s
of Antigua. The insect breeds in the
flower-buds of the cotton plant, causing
them to fall off or so injuring them that
they fail to develop. No suitable re-
medies have so far been discovered.
Damp weather appears to be favourable
tothe maggot, while dry weather and

hot sunshine reduce the severity of the
attack.

i BattLou, H. A.—‘* The Scarabee of the
Sweet Potato.” Reprinted from the
‘ West Indian Bulletin,’ Vol. X., No. 2,
pp. 180-96, 1909,

The so-called ‘Scarabee’ is a weevil
(Cryptorhynchus batate). The insect
breeds in the tubers of the sweet potato.
“For several years past this pest has
been very troublesome in potato fields
in Barbados, and the loss to the
-planters and small cultivators has been

very large.” Both laboratory and field

experiments failed to give any success-
ful method of treatment. The insects
appear to be ‘‘very resistant to the
effects of Vaporite.” Rotation of crops
is recommended,

_sider the

Swezey, Otto H.—‘'The Hawaiian
Cane Bud Moth (Hreunetis flavistriata).”
Div, of Eutom, Bulletin No, 6, 1909.

The insect belongs to the family
Tineide. It is said to be invariably
present in the cane fields of the Ha-
waiian Islands. It is normally not
particularly injurious, but, when very
numerous and when attacking soft
varieties of cane, it may cause some
trouble. Remedial treatment is not
considered necessary.

GowDEy, C.. C.—‘‘Cacao Fruit Fly,
(Ceratitis punctata, Wied.).” The mag-
gots of the fly feed upon the pulp sur-
rounding the seeds cf the cacao fruit,
preventiaog the normal development of

the seeds. The use of poisoned baits is
recommended.
NEWELL, Wilmon.—‘‘Measures Sug-

gested against the Argentine Antasa
Household Pest.” Reprinted from the
‘Journal of Economie Entomology,’ Vol.
IT., No. 5, 1909.

This ant Iridomyrmex humilis, Meyr.)
has become a great nuisance as a house-
hold pest in the United States. A useful
repellant is noticed, viz., tape that has
been soaked in a saturated aqueous
solution of Corrosive Sublimate, and
subsequently dried. If such poisoned
tape is tacked or tied round the legs of
tables, the ants will not cross the
barrier. Syrup mixed with arsenic is
a _ useful bait. When a certain number
of the insects have fallen victims to
the poison, the colony appears to con-
neighbourhood unhealthy
and to yacate the premises. In winter,

.

[MARCH, 1910, ure

Plant Sanitation. . 904

they may be trapped by placing boxes
of fermenting vegetable matter in the
garden. The insects flock to the warm
retreat and may be periodically des-
troyed.

CHITTENDEN, F. A.—‘‘ Control of the

Mediterranean Flour Moth by Hydro-
eyanic-Acid Gas Fumigation,” 1909.

Describes extensive (and apparently
successful) operations in freeing flour
mills from this troublesome pest.

FULLAWAY, David T.—‘‘Inseets of
Cotton in Hawaii,” 1909.

Gives particulars of all the principal
enemies of the Cotton plant in the
Hawaiiam Islands, with directions for
remedial treatment. Many of the species
here described occur also in Ceylon.

Hunter, W. D.—‘‘ Hibernation of the
Mexican Cotton Boll Weevil.” U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 87
(Bureau of Entomology), 1909.

Describes the conditions favourable to
the hibernation of the insect, and re-
commends ‘‘ the destruction of stalks in
the fall, as long as possible before the
normal hibernation time.”

Wess, J. L.—‘‘Some Insects Injurious
to Forests. The Southern Pine Sawyer.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau
Ee unvornology: Bulletin No. 58, Partiv,
1909.

The insect in question is Monohammus
titillator, one ot the Longicorn beetles,
It attacks felled or injured pine trees,
ruining the timber. ‘‘ Approximately 25
per cent. of the lumber in each log
infested by the ‘sawyer’is seriously
damaged.” The larve at first live in
and feed upon the soft inner bark.
During this stage, damage to timber
may be prevented by stripping off the
bark, Immersing the logs in water kills
the insects after they have entered the
wood. _

Pratt, H. C.—‘‘ Notes on Termes
Gestroi and other species of Termites
found on Rubber Estatesin the Federated
Malay States,” 1909. Department of
Agriculture, F. M. S., Bulletin 1, 1909.

A general description of the commoner
Termites of the KF. M. S8., with special
observations on Termes gestrar. The
key to the determination of the species,
on page 4, is rather too vague to be of
much assistance to anyone outside the
country concerned, but may possibly
suffice for purposes of differentiation, for
persons whoare in a position to examine
the living insects on the spot.

Pratt, H, C.—‘‘ Observations on
Termes Gestroi as affecting the Para
Rubber Tree, and Methods to be em-

ployed. against its Ravages.” Depart-
Babee Agriculture, F,M. S,, Bulletin

Gives useful directions for eradicating
the insects_ when present, and for safe-
guarding the trees in unattacked areas.

SANDERS, J, G.—‘‘Catalogue of Re-
cently Described Coccide—Il.” U. S.
Department of Agriculture, Bureau of
Entomology, Tech. Ser., No. 16, Part III.

Mr. Sanders has taken up the useful
task of supplementing the invaluable
‘Catalogue of the Coccidae of the
World” published by Mrs. Fernald in
19038. A very large number of new
species has been discovered and des-
cribed since that date. Mr. Sanders
brought out his first supplementary
catalogue in 1906, The author ‘‘ believes
the list (now published) to be quite com-
plete to March, 1909, and asks the assist-
ance of co-workers in adding references
which may have been overlooked.”

SANDERS, J. G.—‘‘The EHuonymus
Scale (Chionaspis euonymi, Comst.)”.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau
of Entomology, Circular No. 114, 1909. _

“The most serious enemy of the
various species and varieties of Huony-
mus in the eastern United States.” The
circular specifies the various host plants
and the distribution of the insect. <A
well-illustrated description of the species
follows, and is supplemented by full
directions of remedial treatment.

Hopgrins, A. D.—‘“‘ Insect Depredations
in North American Forests.” U. S.
Department of Agriculture, Bureau of
Ho OEY, Bulletin No. 58, -Part

The present bulletin serves as a sum-
mary of facts and results given in the

several previous circulars by the same

author on the same subject.

Swkzpy, O. H.—‘‘ Army Wornis and
Cut Worms on Sugar Cane in the
Hawaiian Islands.” Div. of Entomology,
Bulletin No. 7, 1909.

Describes, with excellent illustrations,

‘eight species of Army and Cut worms out

of the thirty-five species known in the
Hawaiian Islands. Some very interest-
ing tacts are brought out in the section
dealing with natural enemies. The
author finds that one kind of Tachinid
fly, instead of the usual method of lay-
ing its eggs in or on the body of the
caterpillar, deposits them upon the
leaves of the food plant. These eggs
are then eaten by the caterpillar, and

develop inte maggots in its intestinal —

canal.

ot

ec NN ile
ort

MARCH, 1910,]

ee Tee ye ee ee oy

MISCELLANEA: CHIEFLY PATHO-
LOGICAL. ;

By Ty -PETCH;’B.A., B.SC.

The fact that our common root
diseases in new clearings usually spread
from jungle stumps is now generally
admitted, and the possible danger at-
tending the tropical method of opening
estate is beginning to be recognised.
But any alteration in this method is
rendered impossible, first by the cost of
removing stumps, and secondly by the
need of planting as soonas possible in
order to shorten the compratively long
period which must elapse before the
estate becomesremunerative. Further,
in temperate climates, where machinery
is employed, the land must be complete-
ly cleared before it can be worked, but
in Ceylon, at least, under present condi-
tions, where level land is not available,
this necessity cannot exist.

It has been recently proposed that, in
order to avoid the danger of root
disease, ‘estates should be planted, when
first opened, not with the product which
it is intended to cultivate permanently,
but with some other plant which can be
grown for three or four years with a
reasonable prospect of profit and then
eut out. In this way, the jungle stumps
would be given.time to decay, and any
root diseases which might arise would
attack only the temporary crop. These
diseases could then be dealt with as
drastically as wished, without any
hesitation on the ground of permanent
loss. The land would then be clear of
disease and be planted up permanently.

- Though this method would certainly
diminish the risk of root disease, it is
rather too much to assume that all root
fungi would be got rid of. Some of
them can live independently in the soil,
while others require no more than dead
leaves, or a few chips, to enable them
to begin their growth. Apart from this,
however, the method will scarcely re-
commend itself to the rubber planter
of the present day who wishes to see
some return for his money as soon as
possible, and he will without doubt
continue to take the risk of root disease
rather than add four or six years to
his enforced waiting period. And it
must be admitted that the comparative-
ly small losses from root disease in
Ceylon justify his attitude.

But the proposal immediately suggests
the question, how long does it take jungle
stumps to decay; and to this question
no answer car be given, though it would
be thought that sufficient data would
surely be available in a country where

VPs Kay. Plant Sanitation.

so much jungle has been felled and
cleared. No one, however, has been suffi-
ciently interested to take notes, and
therefore information on the subject is
necessarily vague. The question itself
is of course somewhat vague, since the
time of decay must depend on the kind
of stump, the elevation of the district,
and to a great extent on the weather,
And if the stumps are attacked by
white ants, their duration is consider-
ably briefer than would be the ease
under other conditions. Yet granting
all that, it should be possible to fix
approximately the time which a planter
would have to wait if he adopted the
scheme outlined above.

Probably few people outside the small
band of fungus collectors have any idea
of the length of time for which stumps
persist. Certainly few others have any
incentive to make observations on the
subject. A dead stump is a garden of
fungi, and hence a mycologist, if he
takes any interest in the subject outside
his laboratory, devotes special atten-
tion to them. When he collects in a
limited area he comes to know the ex-
act location of each stump, knows what
fungi grow regularly on each, and in
many cases hands on his knowledge to
the next generation. In temperate
climates, at least, he would be very
much surprised if on making his usual
rounds he found that some of his pet
stumps had disappeared otherwise than
by the hand of man.

It would appear that, given the maxi-
mum amount of assistance by white
ants, the stumps of soft-wood trees,
may decay fairly completely in about
four years in a wet low country dis-
trict. On a rubber clearing in the
Kelani Valley most of the stumps had
been attacked by white ants and were
in an advanced state of decay in the
fourth year.

In the Matale district, the stump of
a 10-year-old Hevea tree was barely
recognisable at the end of four years;
this tree had however been killed by
root disease, and consequently the main
root would be partly decayed before
the tree died; as it was subsequently
attacked by white ants, the conditions
were extremely favourable for rapid
decay in this case. Hevea must be
classed with the soft-wood trees, and
it is probable that at least six years ©
would be required for the decay of
such a stump, if originally sound, in
that district. The stumps of two trees
which were felled at Peradeniya in 1903
have provided successive crops of fungi
for the last seven years; they have
been attacked by white ants to some

Plant Sanitation.

extent, but the greater part of each
still remains, and the wood which is
left is quite hard; one of these is a
sapu, and the other probably Filictum
decipiens.

The stump of a jak tree which was
felled at Peradeniya, in 1900, was dug
up in 1907; the wood was quite sound
except on the exterior, and though it
had been attacked by termites, they
had not been-able to make much pro-
gress, An extreme instance was noted
in a case of root disease recently in-
vestigated; the field was covered with
old stumps of ‘‘Na” (Mesua ferrea),
and the disease was apparently associ-
ated with these stumps which were
said to be fourteen years old. Theex-
terior sap wood had decayed but the
heart wood was quite sound, and the
task of cutting off a side root five
inches thick occupied two coolies for
more than an hour. Apparently these
stumps, though subject to a rainfall of
about 200 inches per year, at an ele-
vation of 1,500 feet, are likely to per-
sist for at least another fourteen years.

I have not been able to collect further
data. Stumps are of course available,
but the date of felling and the kind of
tree are usually not definitely known,
But the evidence points to the conclu-
sion that on the average, under favour-
able conditions, ‘‘soft wood” stumps
may he expected to decay in from four
to six years, while “hard-wood” stumps
may persist for twenty years or more.
Unfortunately most of our jungle trees
are hard-wood trees, and two of our
Hevea root fungi, Fomes semitostus and
Spherostilbe repens, usually originate
from a hard-wood stump, viz, Jak.

One of the advantages which have
been urged in favour of open planting of
Hevea was conspicuously demonstrated
during a recent attempt to infect some
Peradeniya trees with ‘‘Canker.” That
fungus spores blow everywhere has been
brought forward in support of the
erroneous theory that as far as diseases
are concerned there can be no difference
between wide and close planting. But,
through ignorance of general mycology,
this objection loses sight of the fact that
it is not so much a question of whether
fungus spores will arrive at any given
spot as whether they will find condi-
tions favourable for germination when
they get there. The trees in question
form a group of thirteen planted on
the river-bank, in a double or triple row,
eight or nine feet apart ; they have been
referred to as affording evidence of the
good growth which may occur when
Hevea is planted at that distance, but

226

Ey ee a ae

ret ase

[MaRcn,

the reference is obviously misleading, _
hemmed in —

since only two of them are
by their neighbours. An attempt was
made to infect these trees, on recently-
tapped surfaces, with bacteria and with
Nectria spores during the last monsoon;
it was found that the stems remained
quite dry during the rains, owing to
the protection afforded by their
leafy crowns, andin order to imitate
the usual estate conditions, special
arrangements had to be provided to
keep the inoculated stems damp. The
difference between these trees and the
ordinary estate trees whose stems are
constantly wet during the rains was
most marked, and was probably sufficient
to account for the failure of the ino-
culations,

It has been suggested that if Hevea is
periodically defoliated by heavy rains in
the south-west monsoon, as stated in
the Tropical Agriculturist for February
last, the ‘‘ wintering” period may ulti-
mately be changed from the dry season
to the wet season. Observations on this
point would be welcome, but at present
itappears that the ‘‘ wintering” of such
trees takes place at the norma! period,
so that the trees are defoliated twice in
the course of the year. The effect of
this is a diminution of the store of
reserve food in thetree. The new leaves
are constructed from the _ reserve
material of the tree, and if the tree is
defoliated twice, there is a double drain
on its stock. Professor Fitting has
shown that when the tapping wounds
are being healed, the tree draws on its
stock of reserve food ; from this it may
be deduced that the amount of food
which is being manufactured by the
leaves of the tree at any time is insuffi-
cient to provide for the formation of the
recewed bark. Itis conceivable, there-
fore, that the extra defoliation might
affect the bark renewal, but as the
amount of reserve food ina Hevea stem
is usually large; this interence is
probably too small to be of practical
importance.

It should not be forgotten that when
a five-year-old Hevea tree is first tapped,
it has the accumulated reserve of five
years on which it can draw for bark
renewal. During the foar years’ tap-
ping (on a four-year system) this is being
continually drained, and if the renewed
surface is immediately retapped in. the
fifth year, the amount of reserve food
then in thestem may be too small to
admit of rapid renewal. Professor
Fitting’s opinion may be _ quoted.
‘Whether or not it is feasible with

ic ,
li i el i

“aoe

Marc, 1910.)

regard to the future life of the ~

tree, to commence the fifth tapping
period a year after the initiation
of the fourth, should in my opinion
be made to depend on an investi-
gation of the food distribution in the
Stem. It would be necessary to sacrifice
two or three trees for this purpose, and
to getanexpert botanist (probably at
some experimental station) to make an
investigation of the distribution of
starch in the wood and bark on the
tapping area, Ifthe reservoirs in the
wood and bark have been refilled,
there can be no objection to the continu-
ation of tapping, provided that the
latex exuding during the fresh tapping

227 Plant Sanita hon.

period satisfies in quality and quantity
ali fair demands. If, however, the quan-
tity of reserve material in the stem
proves to be as yet too small, it will
be for the expert to decide how long
the tree must be “rested” after the
fourth tapping period. These exami
nations ought to be repeated “at least-
every four years, at the end of each
fourth tapping period.” It follows that
the recent dictum, ‘‘a rubber tree
which is not being tapped is not a whit
better than one which is being judi-
ciously tapped,” is not in accordance
witheven our present knowledge, for the
judicious tapping involves a drain upon
the reserve food in the stem,

MISCELLANEOUS USEFUL PRODUCTS.

A USEFUL LEGUMINOUS PLANT.
(From the Agricultural News, Vol.
VIII., No. 200, December, 1909.)

In L’Agronomie Tropicale for Septem-
ber, 1909, there is an account of a
leguminous plant, Tephrosia purpurea,
which deals with its suitability for the
purpose of keeping down weeds in
rubber and coffee cultivation.

For some time the investigations of
physiologists and agriculturists have
ealled attention to the disadvantages
of weeding (in rubber and similar culti-
vations), but changes of methods in
this direction have not been adopted by
many planters; few experiments have
been undertaken in connection with it
in the truly practical sense.

_ Interest has, however, been awakened,
and experiments with leguminous and
other plants have been made to a
certain extent everywhere. There have
been attempts in many regions, to intro-
duce a plant which, while capable of
keeping down others which are harm-
ful, enriches the soil and does not do any
harm to such trees asrubber. According
to a planter in the Federated Malay
States, Tephrosia purpurea fulfils this
purpose admirably. This Tephrosia
grows slowly at first, but toward the
end of four months it attains the dimen-
sions of a small bush; it then commences
to show superiority over other plants.
When fully grown it is 9 to 11 feet
high. In plantations it forms hedges
across which no other plant can pass,
and the necessary weeding near the
plants costs little. The hedges are suffi-
ciently distant to allow the air to circu-
late between the trees, and the soil is
always well shaded and kept in good

29

physical condition. As forthe protected
trees, these appear to make as good
growth as they do on soil that is com-
pletely and regularly free from weeds.

By growing the plants of Tephrosia
in hedges, a better circulation around
the rootsis assured, and the inspection
of the protected plants is facilitated ;
other methods of cultivation have their
advantages, however, as for example,
that in which each rubber tree is sur-
rounded by Tephrosia.

The plants attain a certain height,
and should be cut once or twice a year ;
but this development gives them an
advantage in combatting lalang and
other tall weeds, and as they do not
climb, they may be planted without in-
convenience near rubber and coffee trees.
In addition, Tephrosia purpurea is a
plant which enriches the soil, has few
natural enemies, is very hardy and
propagates itself when it is once estab-
lished.

The account goes on toshow how a
great saving in the expense of weeding
follows the adoption of this plant in
rubber cultivations. It may be remarked
that several species of Tephrosia are com-
mon in the West Indies ;among these are
‘““soat rue” (7. cinerea) and ‘‘ Surinam
poison” (7. toxicaria). Of these, the
former is a loosely spreading undershrub,
which tends to run along the ground;
stem 1 to 13 feet long, leaflets 4 inch to
linch long; flowers about } inch long,
red, appearing in February to June;
pods spreading, with 5 to 10 seeds; found
in Open spaces, thickets aud on the
seashore. T. toxicaria is an upright,
larger plant, with an erect stem about
4to5feet high, leaflets 14 to 2 inches
long; flowers 2/3 inch long and over,
blue ; pods about 2 inches long,

Miscellaneous Useful Products.

OBSERVATIONS ON WILD LEGU-
MINOUS PLANTS.

(From the A gvicultural News, Vol. VIII.,
No. 199, December, 1909.)

Some interesting facts are brought
forward in Circular No. 31 of the Bureau
of Plant Industry of the United States
Department of Agriculture, with regard
to the way in which virgin soils have
gained their high nitrogen content.
The following is abstracted from the
circular to which reference is made :—

Many hypotheses have been formed to
account for the large stores of nitrogen
in virgin soils, but none of these have
been entirely satisfactory. It seems
to be a well established fact that small
quantities of ammonia are_ collected
from the air, by rain and added to the
soil; also, that more or less nitric acid
is formed by electrical discharges and
added tothesupply. Some investigators
have attributed the fixation of nitrogen
entirely to the latter cause. Recently
a number of efforts have been made to
show that nonsymbiotic, or independent,
bacteria are the chief agents in fixing
this element. While it seems certain
that some nitrogen is added to the soil
by each of these methods, it appears
to the writer that there is not sufficient
evidence to warrant a conclusion that
any one of them has been the most im-
portant factor in this work. They do
not furnish a satisfactory explanation
of the presence of such large quantities
of nitrogen in the soil.

Several experimenters have suggested
that wild legumes may have played
some part in this work; they have not
generally been considered as important
factors. The studies reported in this
circular indicate that this subject de-
serves more thorough investigation than
it has yet received, and that native
legumes have been of much more im-
portance in this rdle than has been
thought.

Several years ago the writer raised
the question as to whether the native
legumes of the prairies were sufficiently
numerous to have fixed the amount of
nitrogen present. A search for published
data on the subject was made, but none
were found. Accordingly, in the spring
of 1908 a series of investigations was
begun, a preliminary report of which
is here given.

The writer had long been familiar
with the. flora of this region, but was
not at all prepared for such results as
were found. The average numbers of
wild leguminous plants per square yard,
that were found, were: ordinary ground

228

vo

pee)

[Marog, 1910,

a

17, high plains 36, and_ sandhills 8°4, ~

After the grasses (including sedges) and
possibly the composites, legumes form
a larger part of our flora than does
any other group of plants. If these
figures are representative, or anywhere
near it, it is evident that our farm lands
from ‘time immemorial have been grow-
ing a full stand of legumes. Seventeen
plants to the square yard are enough
to fill all the soil with their roots. Most
of these plants, such as Amorpha,
Kuhnistera and Psoralea, have enormous
root systems (and these genera represent
the large majority of the prairielegumes).
A single plant is often sufficient to fill
the soil with its roots for a radius of
several feet, as any farmer who has
ploughed up Amorphais ready to testify.
The smallest root systems are probably
those of Vicia and Lotus, and yet
seventeen of these to the square yard
would seem to be sufficient to gather
a large supply of nitrogen.

Many examinations were made to
ascertain the prevalence of nodules upon
different species. Large numbers of
tubercles were found on every species
examined, and on nearly every indi-
vidual except mature Kuhnistera. No-
dules are especially plentiful on Psoralea,
Astragalus, Acuan, Meibomia, and Lotus.
On Lotus the nodules are often almost
massed together on the tap-root. Some
difficulty was experienced at first in
finding tubercles on Kuhnistera, but
they are always in evidence on seedlings.
On the old plants there is a doubt
whether typical nodules are produced,
or whether the bacteria are in the small,
thickened roots which occur in extraor-
dinary numbers, almost in fascicles,
especially on roots of the previous year’s
growth, During the coming season an
effort will be made to determine this
point. The efficiency of these legumes
as nitrogen gatherers does not seem
open to question, however, if the uni-
versal inoculation of the seedling plants
is considered.

It does not seem that most of these
legumes choose the poorer soils, for,
in fact, many of them grow much better
on rich soil; but when the soil becomes
rich in nitrogen and humus, other plants
which do not thrive on poor soil are
able to crowd out the legumes. There
is good reason to believe that lands
that are now richest formerly supported
the densest leguminous growths, except,
perhaps, where the plant food has been
washed down from higher levels.

Western farmers have been slow to
learn their lessons from Nature. Nature
on her farm has kept up the production

Marcg#, 1910.]}

of grasses and other nitrogen robbers
by the constant growth of legumes.
If this fact had been recognized sooner,
perhaps there would not have been such
reckless exploitation of the rich soils
of the Mississippi basin. For forty
years farmers have lost sight of this,
and have taken off grain crops (all
grasses) continuously, and doubted if

e

IMPROVEMENT OF CATTLE.

By Ro Cap Woop,

Deputy Director of Agriculture,

Northern Division.
(From the Madras Agricultural
. Calender, 1910.)

This article is about cattle, and will
show the ryot how he may improve his
cattle by making up his mind to keep
fewer of them, so that those he has may
be better looked after and consequently
stronger and more useful. Anyone who
travels through the country by road
will see, especially in the mornings and
evenings, great herds of cattle going out
to graze or coming back to the village.
These herds consist of cows, heifers, old
bullocks and young bulls of all sizes and
qualities, who pick up a precarious living
in the fields and on the public grazing
lands belonging to the village. Except
in the rainy season, there is never suffi-
cient fodder for all, with the result that
these animals are generally very thin
and in poor condition. Why then are
they kept? There areseveral reasons.
Firstly, they supply cowdung. This sub-
stance is unfortunately used for many
purposes besides that of manure. It
is made into bratties, dried and used
for fuel, smeared on walls, floors and
baskets and _ ina variety of other ways.
Inu many villages, too, the wealth and
general position of the ryut is gauged by
the number of cattle he keeps, so that
not to be the possessor of a number of
cattle, however bad their quality, is
looked upon as a disgrace, and itis
difficult to make people see what a false
idea this is. The value of the hides and
horns of these animals must also be
considered, though in this respect they
are probably less valuable than the goat,
especially as the animals are often
branded, a process which reduces the
value of the hides. The milk given by
the cows is extremely small in quantity,
and is generally given to the calf, though
in some cases the cows are milked before
they go out to graze, and often when

229

Miscellaneous Oseful Products.

this practice would ever exhaust their
soils, because they were still productive
after the removal of twenty, thirty,
or forty crops. But now the effect is
evident; farmers must learn from the
prairies round them one of the first
principles of permanent agriculture,
and introduce leguminous crops into
the farm rotation.

LIVE STOCK.

grazing is good the ryot sends his
superior cattle, those he keeps for breed-
ing and for supplying his household with
milk, out along with the inferior animals.
Lastly, the animals when grown up,
often become the working and ploughing
cattle, especially in villages where the
grazing is comparatively good, though
in many cases they are too small to be
used in this way. We have seen then
that there are advantages attached to
this system, aud before condemning it,
we must consider whether the disadvan-
tages outweigh them. The main and
obvious fault that is at once evident is
that the food supply is insufficient, and
that more animals are being kept than
there is food for. So greatis the demand
for food and so closely is all the available
grass eaten down, that in times of
scarcity even the working cattle are
starved or insufficiently fed. This is
disadvantageous in two ways. First,
every animal at some time in its life is
improperly nourished, and if once an
animal suffers severely from starvation,
especially when young, itcan never grow
into a sound healthy strong bullock or a
good milking cow. The secret of breed-
ing good cattle is to keep their growth
steadily progressing, without a check at
any time, Furthermore, this very close
grazing reduces the fertility of the land
in many ways, by (a) lessening the
quantity of organic matter which ought
to be ploughed into the flelds, (b) keeping
the natural vegetation down, and there-
by lessening the amount of material
which could be used as firewood and
thus permit more of the cowdung to be
used as manure, and (c) keeping the land
bare and thus subject to wash in times
of heavy rainfall.

A second great defect in this system is
that careful breeding, that is the making
of suitable cattle in order to produce
good offspring, is prevented. ‘Lhe village
grazing grounds are public, and every
one has a right to send his cattle
there. The custom of not castrat-
ing bulls—in some districts not at all,
in others not until after maturity—

Live Stock.

results in cows being covered by unsuit-
able and immature bulls, and thus tends
to reduce the general standard of the
village cattle. ,

The third great riskin this system is
that disease is very easily spread and
very difficult to check when once it gets
into a village. A man brings a cow from
another village, which may already be
suffering from rinderpest or some other
disease, but which does not yet show it,
and this cow on being turned out in the
public grazing lands may infect many
of the village cattle and cause a tre-
mendous loss to the village before the
disease is stamped out. It will be seen
that the disadvantages very consider-
ably outweigh the advantages, and that
the system is not a gcod one. How may
it be stopped? Reduce the number of
cattle and improve their quality. The
ryot must have bulloeks to cultivate his
fields, and if fewer animals are kept,
then they must be able to do better
work. They need not necessarily be
larger or fatter animals, but must be
well formed, with good chests, straight
and strong legs and well shaped feet.
Such will never be obtained if all the
cattle are permitted to graze together,
.and the young male stock are left uncas-
trated. Under the present arrange-
ments, the level of the common herds is
so low that no one cares how the animals
are bred. Thisisa great mistake. If a
Brahminy bull is kept, he should be
picked with the utmost care, and on no
account should a badly made animal be
used for the purpose. Having decided
on him, all the rest of the male stock in
the village should be tied up under
control or castrated b2fore they are
one year old. It is supposed that if this
operation is deferred until they are
three or four years old, the animals will
be stronger, but there is no truth in this.
The operation of mulling or crushing the
testicles is often improperly performed ;
it is better to remove them entirely. If
the numbers of his cattle are to be
reduced, the owner must see to it that
all his cows are very useful and able to
breed good working cattle, which will
plough his lands, or work his mhote as
efficiently as the cattle he sometimes has
to purchase at great cost from other
districts. These cows should not be kept
too tat, and should be allowed some
excercise every day, if possible.

To conclude, it will generally be ad-
mitted that the best cattle in Southern
India come from Ongole, and yet this
district has no peculiar advantages in
the size or the quality of its public
grazing lands, It isthe custom, how-
ever, for each ryot to keep his own

cattle tied up or grazing in his own
fields, while if they need grass, it is cut
and brought to them. The breeding
bulls are carefully picked, and the cows
are never allowed out in large herds
along with inferior bulls. The calves
are fed well when young. ;

If these customs are introduced into
other parts of the country, there is little
dows that improvement would rapidly

ollow. x

RINDERPEST OL CATTLE PLAGUE,

By F. R. BRANDT,
Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer. ~

(From the Agricultural Journal of
British Hast Africa, Vol. II., Pt. 3,
October, 1909.)

Definition—A special and highly
contagious fever, characterized by sud-
den invasion, rapid advance, rise of
temperature, constitutional disorder,
congestion of all mucous surfaces es-
pecially of the digestive tract, and an
early aud high mortality. Animals of the
bovine species are most highly suscep-
tible ; antelopes, sheep, goats and swine
are to a lesser extent.

History.—In the first century it was
introduced into Western Asia by the
Mongols, and since then has had a per-
manent home in China, India, and the
Steppes of Russia. In 3876 A.D. the
Western movement of the Huns carried
the plague from the Black and Caspian
Seas to western Europe. Since that
date the disease has followed in | the
wake of every EKuropean war in which
Eastern natives were involved, or which
necessitated the use of cattle from
Eastern Europe. In this way it spread
over the whole of Hurope, reaching
England in 1714, when the stamping out
method was adopted with success. The
war of the Austrian succession 1740
brought about a spread of Cattle Plague

which caused a loss of more than 8,000,000°

head of cattle in Europe. In the latter
half of the eighteenth century another
outbreak overran the whole of Kurope
except Norway, Sweden and Spain and
carried off 20,000,000 head of cattle. The
wars of Napoleon again brought about
serious losses from Rinderpest. Since
1840, it is to the extension of Commerce,
rapid transport, development of manu-
factures and consequent increased de-
mand for beef, rather than to war,
that outbreaks of Rinderpest have oc-
cured,

In 1865 it was brought to England by
a cargo of cattle from the Baltic, It

speedily spread all over England but

(Manon, 1910,

BD Pind

eT

“Marcu, 1910.)

was eventually stamped out. In this
outbreak England lost about 233,000
head of cattle. Further outbreaks oc-
cured in England in 1872 and_ 1877,
which were speedily suppressed by
slaughter of diseased and incontact
cattle, and by rigorous disinfection.

In 1841 and 1865 Rinderpest was intro-
duced into Egypt where it appears to
to have died out until 1889, when it was
introduced into Africa. —

Capt. Lugard describes it as ‘‘ Seeming
to have started on the East Coast,
opposite Aden, and to have spread in-
land, It began in the spring of 1889
but did not reach Ukamba and Masai-
land before the summer of 1890. It then
spread through both these countries,
Kavirondo, Uganda, Ankole and Unyoro,
and by September, 1891, had reached the
centre of Africa. From here it spread
South to Nyasaland causing enormous
losses among cattle and game. Nearly
all the buffalo and eland are gone. The
giraffe has suffered and many of the
small antelopes. The pigs seem to have
nearly all died.”

In March, 1896, Rinderpest reached
Bulawayo, and by the end of 1897 had
spread over nearly the whole of South
Africa. The stamping out method by
slaughter was tried for some time, but
was abandoned in favour of bile or
serum inoculation.

Animals Susceptible.—Although bo-
vine animals are by far the most suscep-
tible, infection extends to all ruminants,
camels and swine. The horse, dog, rab-
bit, bird and man are immune.

Cause.—The micro-organism which
produces Rinderpest is one of the invisi-
ble viruses, as it is so small that it
cannot be demonstrated by the micros-
cope. The virus of Rinderpest is among
the larger of the invisible viruses, since
it will only pass through a Berken-
field filter which has an exceptionally
thin wall. The ordinary Berkenfield and
the closer textured Cumberland filter
are of too close a texture to allow of
the passage of the virus.

Susceptibility has a large influence
on the cause of an outbreak of Rinder-
pest. Cattle are highly susceptible ; yet
in the Steppes of Russia, where the
disease has for centuries had a perma-
nent home, the native cattle mostly
recover from an attack of the plague,
while newly introduced cattle nearly
invariably die. In a country where
Rinderpest has been introduced, and no
attempt been made to combat it, the
susceptibility of the survivors of the
outbreak and their progeny gradually
deereases, until in course of time it

231

- with a diseased animal.

Live Stock.

becomes very slight ; but to acquire this
degree of insusceptibility Rinderpest
must have been constantly present in
the country. Sheep and goats are
slightly susceptible. Immunity follows
a first attack.

Modes of Infection.—Infection occurs
in various ways. All the secretions and
excretions of a diseased animal are in-
fective, and Rinderpest is contracted
not only by the direct contact of a
healthy with a diseased, but by healthy
cattle feeding in infected grass or being
put in infected bomas.

The virus is carried in manure, hay,
cattle trucks, meat, skins, and in fact
by anything which has been in contact
Wild game are
instrumental in the rapid spread in un-
settled countries.

Complete dessication destroys the in-
fection; exposure of Rinderpest hides
to strong antiseptics such as carbolic
acid, Chloride of lime, Perchloride of
mercury and sunlight for seven days
renders them harmless. In manure,
litter, stalls, mangers, etc., in a still and
sunless atmosphere the virus retains its
vitality for as long as three months.

Incubation.—In an animal infected
with virulent Rinderpest blood the first
rise of temperature appears about the
third or fourth day. In animals which
contract the disease by natural means
the period of incubation is generally
slightly longer. It largely depends on
the strength and quantity of the virus
and the susceptibility of the animal.

Symptoms.—The first symptom is a
sudden rise of temperature which gener-
ally reaches a height of 104° to 108° on the
third or fourth day.

At this stage there are no visible signs
of sickness, but by the fifth day there is
adry staring coat, dullness, slight loss
of appetite, tremors and twitching of
the muscles behind the shoulders. Fol-
lowing these symptoms are drooping of
the ears, dryness of the muzzle, a general
redness of the mucous lining of the
mouth, vagina, rectum and eyes. There
isa discharge from the eyes which at
first is slight and watery, becoming
thicker and more profuse as the disease
advances. The bowels are constipated
at first and the faces are covered with
slimy mucous, There is slight dribbling
of saliva from the mouth and discharge
from the nostrils.

As the disease advances these symp-
toms become more severe, appetite is
lessened and rumination ceases, the
animal stands with head and ears droop-
ing, the coat is rough and staring, the

Live Stock.

discharges from the eyes, nose and
mouth become thicker and profuse, and
the skin of the muzzle cracks.

At this stage grinding of the teeth is
a constant symptom, and if the mouth
is examined the mucous membrane is of
a salmon pink colour, and in many cases
white epithelial concretions are present
on the inner sides of the lips, dental pad
and gums. These concretions are of
the consistency of cream cheese and
have a bran-like appearance. They vary
much in abundance, in some cases
being very scanty, in others they cover
the whole of the mucous membrane
of the mouth. - In some cases these
bran-like concretions are absent, but
small ulcers are present on the lips
and dental pad. The mouth has invari-
ably a peculiar fetid odour. Emaciation
advances rapidly, the belly is tender
and pain is manifested if it be pressed ;
the bowels which at first were slightly
constipated become relaxed, and diar-
rhoa sets in about the second day after
visible symptoms of sickness appeared.
The feces are at first greenish and
later on become increasingly liquid,
fetid and of a_ dirty brown colour.
Straining is constant, and at a late stage
the fluid fseces are very dark, usually
contain blood and are discharged in-
voluntarily, the anus becoming per-
manently relaxed; and tail and hind
quarters are covered with the feces
which cause excoriation of the skin.
The breathing is accelerated, with a
clicking sound during expiration. There
is always great thirst, the animal will
remain close to water and _ drink
frequently. Emaciation and loss of
strength are rapid, and weakness is very
marked, the animal staggering when
walking. Ata later stage the animal
remains lying down and is too weak to
rise. Death occurs either with con-
vulsions or in a semi-comatose condition.
The odour of an animal suffering from
Rinderpest is characteristic.

In a virulent outbreak of Rinderpest
death occurs from the sixth to the
ninth day, but in countries where
Rinderpest has a permanent home, or in
which disease is dying out, the majority
suffer a mild attack and recover, only
those animals which are most suscep-
tible contracting it. The probable cause
of this is that the virus in passing
through so many animals has become
somewhat weakened.

In eases of this kind a common
symptom is a skin affection which
appears during the course of the disease.
An eruption appearson the skin which
dries, forming a sort of crust, and at

202

Fa is

~ AML tee

> eae
co.
J -.

(MaRcH, 1910,

~

various parts of the body—chiefly the
face, neck, udder, thighs and arms—
warty-looking growths appear.

Post-Mortem Appearances.—On exam-
ining the carcase of an animal which has
recently died of Rinderpest the first
thing noticeable is the peculiar foetid
odour, the body is much emaciated, the
muzzle is cracked and covered with a
dirty discharge from the nostrils, the
eyes are sunken and the discharge from
them adheres to the face scalding, the
skin is scurfy, and the eruption and
concretions may be present. The anus
is soiled with dark-coloured liquid fzce
which cover the tail and thighs causing
erosion of the skin. A slimy mucous
deposit covers the lining of the mouth,
which is congested, swollen and detached
in places leaving erosions of various
depths ; these are most common on the
tongue, inside lipsand dental pad. The
barn-like concretions may be present, or
the epithelial lining of the mouth may
hang in shreds leaving low ulcerated
looking patches. The membrane lining
the nostrils is swollen and congested,
covered with mucous, and abrasions and
uleers are present about the nasal
openings.

The posterior part of the mouth

(Pharynx and Larynx) are invariably
highly congested, covered with slimy
mucous, and ulcers of various sizes are
present. On opening the carease the
lungs may be normal, though emphy-
sema is frequently present.
- It is in the abdominal cavity that
characteristic lesions are manifested.
The Peritoneum is congested and may
be covered with small red spots; it
usually contains some yellowish fluid.
The first, second and third stomachs
show but little change, though there
may be some slight congestion and
thickening of the mucous membrane,

The fourth stomach (abomasum) is
invariably the seat of extensive lesions.
The mucous membrane is much inflamed,
especially that half of it out of which
the intestines lead (Pyloric portion).
The colour varies trom blood red to
portwine colour, the folds are much
thickened, and ulcers are frequent in
the Pyloric Portion. (These ulcers occur
in other diseases also.) These ulcers are
in different stages, some of them just
commencing as small red spots, others
of longer standing appear as dark eroded
sores.

The small intestines are congested and
inflamed. These lesions vary; in the
majority of cases the entire lining of
the bowel is covered with small red
spots and a large amount of greyish

“Mis ae es +

al

ED I ee ee A it 3 pe
A es 7

Marca, 1910.]

mucous deposit is present, sometimes
to such an extent as to form casts of
parts of the gut. This greyish mucuous
deposit consists of mucous exudate and
shreds of epithelium which is found
detached over large patches leaving the
surface red.

The large intestines are generally
affected to a lesser extent; it is rare
to find the entire surface in astate of
inflammation. Patches of iuflammation
are the rule except in the last portion of
the bowel (Rectum). This is often in-
tensely inflamed with dark blood-stained
longitudinal streaks. The epithelium
is thickened and covered with the same
muco-purulent exudate as is present in
the small intestines.

The Liver may appear healthy in
some eases but, as a rule, is congested
and yellowish in colour. The lining of
the gall bladder sometimes shows small
patches of inflammation. The bile itself
varies in quantity. In colour it may
be light green, light brown, dark brown,
or reddish brown. Its consistence may
be very thin or thick and cury-looking.
The spleen is usually normal. The Kid-
neysarecongested. The urinary bladder,
uterus and vagina are congested and
thickened and a variable amount of
mucous exudate is present.

Many of the above mentioned lesions
may .be absent, bat in the post mortem
examination of an animal suspected of
having died of Rinderpest, the seats

233

Live Stock.

of constant lesions are the mouth,
fourth stomach (abomasum) and in-
testines.

Treatment of Rinderpest.—Medical
treatment is of little use and it is prob-
able that in cases in which recovery
has been attributed to drugs, the true
reason is that the animal was either
natuarlly somewhat resistant or the
virus somewhat weakened. Even ina
severe outbreak some recoveries occur
naturally. In the case of valuable
animals being attacked, and treatment
decided on, good housing and hygienic
conditions, a limited amount of drink-
ing water and administration of gruel
are more important than dosing with
drugs, Intravenous injection of serum
has a curative action in the early stage
of the disease.

Diagnosis of Rinderpest.—Some of the
symptoms of Rinderpest are found in
other diseases, but all the symptoms
described in conjunction with the rapid
and fatal course, and the existence or
introduction of cattle plague in the
vicinity facilitate diagnosis.

The diagnostic symptoms are—sudden
rise of temperature, bran-like concre-
tions or ulcers in the mouth, reddened
conjunctiva and discharge from eyes
and nose, abdominal tenderness, foetid
diarrhoea, frequently containing blood,
clicking sound during expiration, pecu-
liar foetid odour, rapid progress of the
disease and generally fatal issue.

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE,

THE DIRECT ABSORPTION OF
AMMONIUM SALTS BY PLANTS.

(From the Gardeners! Chronicle, Vol,
XLVI., No. 1194, November, 1909.)

A question of considerable scientific
and also practical importance is discuss-
ed by Messrs. Hutchinson and Miller,
of the Rothamsted Experiment Station,
in a paper which appears in the current
number of the Journal of Agricullural
Science. The question to which Messrs.
Hutchinson and Miller contribute a
decisive answer, and which has been
debated inconclusively during the last
twenty years, is—are green plants able
to take up nitrogen from the soil in the
form cf ammonium salts?

It is unquestioned that ammonium
salts—sulphate of ammonia, for example
—serve to supply plants with nitrogen.
But, since nitrifying bacteria are present
and active in most soils, and since these

organisms change ammonium salts into
nitrates, only direct experiment can
determine whether the ammonium salts
supplied to the soil are first changed
by the agency of these organisms to
nitrates, or whether salts of ammonium
may be absorbed assuch by the roots
of plants.

General considerations, as well as
previcus experiments, arein favour of
the view thatammonium salts may be
absorbed directly. Thus, it is well

‘known that the soil under forests is

deficient in nitrates, and hence it is
assumed that the trees derive their sup-
plies of nitrogen from ammonium com-
pounds formed during the decay of
humus.

The experimental grass plots of Ro-
thamsted, manured for many years
with ammonium salts, point to a simi-
lar conclusion ; for the soil of these plots
has become distinctly acid, and the nitri-

Scientific Agriculture. 234 -

fying organisms in consequence much
reduced in numbers. Hence it would
appear that the nitrogen which the
grass is obtaining is that of the ammo-
nium salts of the manure. Inasmuch,
however, as the experimental evidence
supplied by previous workers is not

conclusive, Messrs, Hutchinson and
Miller have carried out a series of
experiments, admirably planned and

conducted, to settle the matter once
for all. :

The experiments, to be conclusive,
must be carried out in soil or sand in
which nitrification is precluded, and it
is pot the least interesting part of their
work that the authors named have suc-
ceeded in growing various plants, such
as Wheat and Peas, in media from
which bacteria of all kinds were ex-
cluded. The seeds were first sterilised
by means of mercuric chloride, they
were germinated on sterilised agar, and,
when sufficiently advanced, the seed-
lings were transferred to sterilised cul-
ture vessels containing soil, sand, or
water, to which either ammonium sul-
phate or nitrate of soda, or both, was
added.

The results prove that in the cases
of Wheat and Peas, plants grow just
as well when supplied with ammonium
salts, under conditions which preclude
all possibility of the nitrification of
these salts to nitrates, as they do when
provided with nitrogen in the form of
nitrates,

Incidentally, Messrs. Hutchinson and
Miller make an ingenious suggestion to
account for the striking fact that legu-
minous crops are so much richer than
others in organie nitrogen. They
observe that plants supplied with nitro-
gen in the form of ammonium salts tend
to be richer in nitrogen than those
which receive nitrates. They suggest,
very plausibly, that this is due to the
ammonium salts being converted readily
into organic compounds, such as aspara-
gine, which substances will not interfere
with further absorption of ammonium
salts from the soil. When, on the other
hand, nitrates are supplied, they tend
to accumulate as such in the tissues of
the plant, andacondition of equilibrium
between soil and plant-tissues with res-
pect to nitrates being established, fur-
ther absorption of nitrates is hindered.

Applying these considerations to legu-
minous plants, they point out that the
nitrogen supplied to the plant by the
activity of the nodule-organism is prob-
ably in the form of an ammonium
compound; that, as a matter of fact,
asparagine occurs in considerable quan-
tity in the tissues of the root neighbour-
ing on the nodules; and, therefore,

there is nothing to hinder the absorp- __
tion by the plant of as much combined
nitrogen as the nodule or organism is

able to provide.

Lastly, turning to the practical side
of the question, it appears to be fairly
well established that not all crops are
alike in their preference for a _ parti-
cular form of nitrogen, Potatoes thrive
somewhat better when supplied with
ammonium salts. Maize and Paddy Rice
prefer ammonium salts during their
early stage of growth, but later do
better with nitrates. Mangolds and
Buckwheat give a better yield when
supplicd with nitrates than when pro-
vided with sulphate of ammonium,
Mustard, Oats, and Barley are _ indif-
ferent, growing equally well with ni-
trates or ammonium salts.

Speaking generally, the best results
are obtained when nitrogen is supplied
in both forms.
to be emphaised, for, as has been shown
by Mr. Hall, the continued and exclu-
sive use of one or other of the two chief
nitiogen-containing artificial manures,
nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia,
sets up unsatisfactory soil conditions.

We welcome the work of Messrs.
Hutchinson and Miller, both because of
its intrinsic value and because it is a
manifestation of the energetic manner
in which soil and other researches are
being conducted at Rothamsted under
the abie direction of Mr. Hall. We
should like to see the investigation ex-
tended to embrace the chief garden and
field crops, and would suggest that
some of the horticuJtural colleges should
carry out the work on the lines so ex-
cellently laid down in the paper which
we have been considering.

It should be the function of a station
such as Rothamsted to deal, as it does,
with the broad principles of the sciences
of agriculture and horticulture. It

should be the function of the smaller in-

stitutions to develop in detailed manner
the discoveries made at the national
station, so that they may yield the
maximum of service to those engaged
in the practice of agriculture and of
horticulture.

THE TREATMENT OF ACID SOILS
FOR RUBBER AND OTHER
CULTIVATIONS.

By J. B. CARRUTHERS.

(From the Agricultural Bulletin of the
Straits and F.M.S., ViIL., No. 1.)

A series of experiments have been

begun by the

The last point deserves

Department of Agri- —
culture on some low lying flat land

he
as _

me

_ MARCH, 1910,)

which has abnormally acid soil, render-
‘ing it unfavourable for the rapid growth
of root growth of rubber or other culti-
vated plants.

The presence of a too large proportion
of acid in peaty soils is due to the exist-
ence of a large proportion of humic
acid which is a brown or black substance
produced by decaying vegetable matter.
This decomposition is greatly facilitated
by heat, air, and moisture, and by
the presence of putrefying nitrogenous
matter. The conditions in many clear-
ings in Malaya are, therefore, specially
suited to the formation of an excess of
humie acid which existsin many places,
to such an extent, that the roots of
young rubber are not able to grow, and
the plants grow without vigour and in
some cases succumb.

Such soils are physically and in other
respects most suitable for healthy and
vapid growth of rubber, and when the
amount of acid has been reduced, they
often produce exceptionally fine rubber,

The question of the neutralisation of
such soils in the shortest time is of great
importance. The only method used at
present is to allow the sun free access to
the soil, and by this means and plentiful
drainage to gradually eliminate a pro-
portion of the acid.

This is, however, a lengthy and not
always successful method, and a much
quicker plan is to add such proportion
of basic substance, such as lime, as is
needed to neutralize the acid in the soil.

_ Avery large supply of natural. phos-
phate is being extracted from Christmas

23

~

5 Scientifie Agriculture.
Island, and can be delivered compara-
tively cheaply at S.S. and F.M.S. ports.

This raw phosphate not converted into
the superphosphate will be tried on acid
soils. The advantage in using this
manure is that the raw phosphate, i.e.,
phosphatic rocks exactly as they are
obtained in nature is cheaper than the
manufactured superphosphate, and the
acid in the soil of the superacid lands
will convert the phosphate into super-
phosphate, and by so doing the soil will
more rapidly lose its acid and become
neutralized, and the available plant food
in the soil greatly increased.

The costs of such an application of
raw phosphate will be determined by
experimenting with different quantities
per acre to discover the smallest amount
necessary to render the soil favourable
to root growth of rubber.

In certain cases the lack of vigour in
the growth of young rubber on acid soils
has been attributed to dampness of soil,
fungi or other diseases of the roots, and
it will be well if in cases where there is
reason to suspect that the chemical
condition of the soil is the cause of the
lack of progress of rubber plants, a
portion of the field be treated to reduce
the acidity.

On some of the super acid soils a
litmus paper pressed against a handful
of the damp soil gives in a short space of
time, some few minutes, a marked acid
reaction, t.e., is changed toa pink colour.
This may be used asa rough test of
the relative amount of acidity in the soil.

MISCELLANEOUS:

LITERATURE OF ECONOMIC
BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE,

By J. C. WILLIS.

Kapok :—

Contribution 4 Vhistoire botanique
des Kapokiers. See Bot. Centr.
150, p. 450.

Le Kapok aux Philippines. Journ,
d’ Agr. trop. June 1908, p. 187.

Kapok en Kapok-onderzoek. Ind.
Mere. 21, 7, 1908, p. 533.

Some photographs of the silk cotton
tree, and remarks on early records
in America. Jam. Bull. 1907, p. 63.

Der Baumwollenbaum, Kapok. Der
Pflanzer, IV. IL. 1908, pp. 289, 305.

30

Le Kapok au Gamboge. L’Agric.
pratique des pays chauds, Feb. 1909,

p- 166,

Kokoona :—

Bark of Kokoona zeylanica.
Nov. 1905, p. 697.

Kola :--

Kola in West Africa.
7. 1907, p. 338.

Le Kolatier en Guinée.
Col. 1907, p. 400.

Kola Cultivation at the Gold Coast.
Trop. Life, June 1907, p. 84.

Conservation et sterilisation des noix
de Kola fraiches. Trav, Lab, Mat,
Med. V. 1908,

66 YY

W. Ind. Bull.

Bull. Jard.

Miscellaneous. 3 236

Sur la composition chimique des noix
de Kola. do.

Sur la composition chimique et
laction phycodynamique de la noix
de Kola. do.

Bernegau. Studien uber die Kola-

nuss, Tropenpfl. 12, 1908, p. 117.

Note sur le Kolatier au Gabon. Bull:
Jard. Col. June 1908, p. 521.

Studies on the Kola nut (abstr. by J.
C. Willis) ‘‘T.A.” May 1908, p. 450.

Bernegau, Zur Kolafrage. Tropenfi.
12, 1908, p. 464.

Zur Kola-Kulturin Kamerun.
penpfi. 5, 1909, p. 280.

Note sur la Cola L’Agr. pract. des
pay chauds, April 1909, p. 341.

Die Konservierung frischer Kola-
niisse. Tropenfl. Aug, 1909, p. 391.

Tro-

Lac :—

A note on the lac insect. Stebbing.
Ind. Forest Records I. }, 08.

The shellac industry. Ind. Agric. 1,
6, 1908, p. 180.

On the gum lac insect of Madagascar.
Hewstead. J. L’pool, J. C. R.
Jan, 1908, p. 3.

Lac products in India.
1908, p. 218,

Shellac. Watt. Chem. & Drug., Nov.
1907, p. 775.

Lac and Indigo.
1908, p. 371,

“T.A.” Sept.

Ind. Agric. Dec.

Lac in the Eastern Dun. “T,A.”
March 1909, p. 216,

Revolution in the lac industry. Ind.
Tr. Journ, April 1909. “T,A.” June

1909, p. 513.

The cultivation of shellac as an agri-
cultural product. Agri. Journal of
India, July 1909, p. 258.

Lagetta :—
Lacebark tree of Jamaica. Agr.
News, 8 8, 1908, p. 255. ‘‘T.A.” Dee.
1908, p. 517.
Lantana :—

Le Lantana et sa destruction. Bull,
Jard. Col. July 1907, p. 70.

Is lantana a curse or a blessing. Ind.
Forester, Aug. 1907, p, 369.

The Lantana shrub. ‘ T.A.” Supp.
Dec. 1907, p. 188.

A svegested use for Lantana. do,
p. 1388. _--

Lawsonia :—

Oil of Lawsonia alba. Hooper. Journ.
As. Soc. Bengal IV. ’08, p. 35.

-

(Marcu, 1910

Lemongrass Oil :—

Lemongrass oil.
p. 67 .

Lemongrass. ‘*T,A.” Nov. 1905, p. 671.

A new adulterant of Jemongrass oil.
“TA.” Dec. 1905, p. 762.

See Schimmel’s Reports.

Du dosage de citral dans J’essence le
lemongrass. Bull. Ee. Indoch. 1907,
Dwisa.0t) s

Cymbopogon citratus.— Stapf. Hook-
er’s Ieones, tab, 2826.

De citralbepaling in Lemoengrasolie.
Korte Ber. 50, 1908. :

Lemongrass oil. Ind. Agrie. Jan.
1908, p. 15. “*T.A.” May 1908, p. 421.

Lemongrass and citronella in the
Seychelles. ‘‘T.A.” Dee, 1907, p. 410.

Notes on Cochin Lemon Grass Oil.
W. I. Bull. 1X. 3, p. 265. :

A note on Cochin Lemon Grass Oil.

do. p. 278
Logwood :— :
Bastard logwocod. Agii. News, 29, 6,
1907, p. 203.
Lophira :—
Niam fat. Chem. & Drug. 7, 12, 1907,
p. 873.

Seeds of Lophira alata from Sierra
Leone. Bull. Imp. Inst. VI. 1908,
p. 243.

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON
FEBRUARY 7TH, 1910,

Minutes of the 50th Meeting of the

Board of Agriculture, held atthe Council
Chamber on Monday, the 7th February,
1910, at 12 noon. ute

The Hon, Mr. H. L. Crawford, c.M.G.,
Controller of Revenue, presided,

There were also present :—The Hon.
Messrs. S.C. Obeyesekere and A. Kanaga-
sabai, Dr. H. M. Fernando, Messrs. R. H.
Lock, James Peiris, F. L. Daniel, W. A.
de Silva, Tudor Rajapakse Mudaliyar
and C. Drieberg (Secretary).

Minutes of the meeting held on Decem-

‘ber 18th, 1909, were read and confirmed,

Progress Report No. 48 was adopted.
Statements of Expenditure for Decem-
ber, 1909, and January, 1910, were tabled.
Mr. Lock briefly referred to the pro-
gress made in regard to the tobacco

experiment at Maha-iluppalama.

The Hon. Mr. Kanagasabai submitted

the Report of the Committee on Model
and Experimental Gardens and formally a

“TA.” Feb, 1907,

ce Marcu, 1910,,

moved its adoption. The Hon, Mr.
Obeyesekere seconded the motion, which
was carried. With the omission of the
name of the Hon. Mr. Bernard Senior,
the same Committee was appointed a
permanent Advisory Committee on
Model and Experimental Gardens, viz.,
Mr. R.H. Lock (Chairman), Hon. Mr.
Kanagasabai, Dr. H. M. Fernando, Sir
Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, Messrs.
W. A. de Silva, W. D. Gibbon and C.
Drieberg (Secretary). ,

Mr. Lock read a paper on ‘ Weeds,’
and in the discussion which followed
the Chairman, the Hon. Mr. Obeye-
sekera, Dr. H. M. Fernando, and Mr, W,
A. de Silva took part.

C. DRIEBERG,
Secretary, C.A.S.

A MANUAL ON DRAINING.

(Contributed.)

“Tf you have good soil on your estate,
try and keep it,” was the advice of an
“old hand” toa young planter, asking
his opinion onthe subject of draining.
In a country where such heavy rains are
the rule, this is no easy matter, but
everyone can take such steps on his
place as to reduce washing away of the
soil to the minimum.

It may be said this advice comes some-
what latein the day, that draining a
Tea estate that has originally been badly
drained, would be ‘‘locking the stable
door after the steed is stolen,” the best
reply to thisis another adage, equally
appropriate, “ better late than never.”

There are manuals on pruning and
mapuring, helpful and valuable, but, as
far as I know, none on draining, and yet
the retention of the soil is of even greater
importance, and should come before the
improvement of the soil.

If late in the day for Tea, a manual
may possibly be found of some assistance
tothe younger hands now engaged in
opening for Rubber, and in these days
when high cultivation and manuring is
so extensively carried on, it is of the
greatest importance that the land should
be well drained, otherwise much of the
expensive manure must get washed
away in the heavy plumps of rain which
are so frequent, and which often cause
such terrible damage, damage that is
irreparable. The fine results from some
favoured districts in Ceylon, are, [I
should think, to a great extent attribut-
able to the lower and better distributed
rainfall, the land being on that account

237 Miscellaneous.

less subject to wash than in other less
favoured districts which suffer from
excess,

I remember seeing a clearing being
opened above a cart-road, (the district
need not be mentioned,) which was an
object lesson of the necessity for prompt
attention to draining. It had been
planted before draining, but unfortun-
ately for the Proprietor, one of these
torrential thunder-plumps came down,
and simply washed the land bare. The
side-drain on the cart-road was choked,
and the road itself inches deep in soil,
the very cream of the land. I wonderit
the Proprietor realised what he lost on
that occasion, a loss he could never
replace. A few drainsto intercept the
rush of water down the slope would have
paves tons and tons of valuable surface

oil.

In the Coffee days it was considered
sufficient to have drains about 50 feet
apart, but in course of time, when the
land got bared of the roots and stumps
of jungle trees which held the soil to-
gether, this distance was too great, and
most estates, when they were planted
upin Tea, were inter-drained, making
the drains 25 feet apart, which is about
right.

The first thing after burning off a
clearing is the tracing and cutting of the
roads and drains. For the former a
gradient of 1ft. in 20 ft.is best, that
is, in ordinary land, a steeper trace often
causes gutting of the drain. If, however, —
the land be steep, the roads should be
traced at a greater gradient in order to
get over the ground. A road at an easy
gradient on steep land means a lot of
walking and little ground covered.

As to the way of tracing the roads, the
starting point should, of course, be the
terminus of an existing road, and, as far
as possible, roads should be equidistant,
but this depends on the nature of the
land. You can hardly have too many
roads, and they should always _ be kept
in good order. To geteasily and quickly
from ~ field to field is of the utmost
importance, and has more to do with
the cost of plucking than many imagine.
Bad and insufficient roads mean time
lost in taking up lines for plucking.
When it is considered that there are at
least thirty rounds of plucking in the
year, and the large pluckiug force is
taken into account, the time lost in the
course of the year through deficient
communications must be considerable.
There should always be a road, orat
least a path, along the boundary of a
field where coolies take up their lines
for plucking. Sometimes a path cut,
costing a few rupees, will be the means

Miscellaneous.

of saving much time. As an instance of
what is meant, a certain estate, which
may be said to be typical of many others,
had a steep and rocky field with aravine
running down through it; this ravine
was toosteep and rocky to be crossed
except some distance down. When the
pluckers had finished plucking the Tea
on one side of the ravine, they had to go
down to the crossing and up the other
side, over which they contrived, as
coolies usually do, to waste much time.
A little path cut through the jungle
above the ravine enabled the pluckers to
nip” through ina few minutes, from
one part of the field to the other. In
the same way little paths and short cuts
here and there cost very little to make
and often effect much saving of time and
therefore labour.

It is also of the greatest importance to
keep roads and paths in first-rate order,
not only does it save time to the
Superintendent and coolies in getting
about, but itis actually cheaper in the
long-run to keep roads in good order
than in a neglected state. In heavy
rains the damage is reduced to the
minimum if the roads are in good order,
otherwise a road is often converted intoa
watercourse, thedrain gets choked, and
the water runs down into the Tea and
all over the place, washing away soil
and manure.

Repairs to roads is not a heavy item
in an estate expenditure, a saving of
Rs. 100 in one year might quite well
mean the necessity for spending Rs. 300
the following year, and yet it often
appears asif men grudged expenditure
on roads.

The road should be made or repaired
in such a way that the water will run
off it quickly into the side drain, and
into the Tea. The middle of the road
should be the highest part, that is, there
should be what is called a good camber.
Roads done in this way last longer
without need for repairs. Coarse river
sand is a splendid covering for roads,
it does not wash off like earth or fine
sand, earth should never be used for
repairing roads if sand can be got
handy, So much for roads.

In draining a clearing, if it is desired
to open as cheaply as possible, or to get
through quickly, I should think drains
50 ft. apart would be good enough to
begin with, the intermediate drains could
be put in afterwards. Where the trees
are so far apart as Rubber is, there
should be no difficulty in tracing and
cutting the drains clear of the Rubber
trees.

238

~ the roots.

But before tracing and cutting the
drains, a very necessary thing is to open
out all the natural drains, heaping logs
and stones on the sides, and leaving a
good wide channel for the rush of water
from heavy rains. Thisis a work that
is often neglected, but it is of the
greatest importance, for not only does
it save the soil at the sides of these
natural drains or ravines from being
washed away by floods, but the logs and
stones, acting like terracing, catch any
soil being washed down the slope.
These natural drains should be made
wide but not too deep, they deepen
themselves. They should be made the
most of, they are what nature provides
for draining theland. When they are not
attended to they get choked up with
stones and debris, and when heavy rains
fall, the flood waters wash all over the
Tea, carrying away soil, and exposing
This work is of special im-
portance with estates situated, as many
are, under high hills covered with
jungle, the drainage from which has to
find its way through the estates, and
in heavy rains often plays havoc with
the roads and drains. have seen
damage done in an hour that took weeks
to repair, and of course where soil is
washed away the loss is irreparable.

When the natural or leading drains
have been opened out thoroughly, begin
tracing from the bottom of the slope
it is proposed to drain, and the best way
is to go to the brow of the slope, tracing
the drains from the brow down on
each side to the natural drain. When
the land is very broken, it is difficult
always to run drains parallel, the most
important thing to bear in mind is to
run the drains in such a way that they
will cross, as nearly as possible, at right
angles to the flow of water down the
slope, Tracing drains is work that is
rather trying to the temper, especially
if the unfortunate cooly who holds the
sight stick has only a hazy notion of
what is wanted from him, and when,
after a long and painstaking trace, one
comes bang up against an obstacle in the
shape of a boulder or tree stump, one is
apt to explode, To avoid an obstacle
the better plan is to go to it, and begin
tracing from it in such a way that your
drain will pass above or below it.
Drains should, if possible, be made to
run inthe same direction as the roads,
so that they do not cross, or empty into
the road.

Asarule it isa mistake to cut leading
draius. they should be avoided if possi-
ble. The rush of water eats into the
land and makes chasms, the sides of
which often fall in wtih the Tea bushes,

Marcu, 1910.] 280

The natural drains have usually a bed
of stones, a wise provision of vature,
which prevents their being worn too deep
by the rush of water. Sometimes,
though not often, a leading drain can-
not be avoided where two sides of a
slope converge into a depression, where
there is no natural drain.

It is very satisfactory to the Planter
to go out in the heavy rain and watch
his system of drains working well and
preventing the wash that would other-
wise take place in his land.

What about fields that are so full of
rocks and boulders that it is quite im-
possible to trace drains in them? There
are lots of such land in Ceylon, and it is
often the best. I had to deal with much
land of this nature; my first thoughts
were it is much too rocky to be drained,
I had better let it alone, the rocks and
boulders will keep the soil together; and
so they do, but you will find soil being
washed away in places, and you ought to
try and save it, if possible, it is worth
saving. I found the best way to drain
these rocky places is to find the natural
drain, that is, the course of the flow of
water down the slope, cut a drain up it,
or remove the stones that can be re-
moved, then put in a short drain here

-and there at right angles, just where

you can get one, ignoring trace, so long
as it carries the water into the natural
drain. Your drains then form a herring-
bone pattern. Such draining may be
incomplete, but it is the best you can do,
and is far better than having no drains
at all. Of course there may be so many
rocks and boulders about that any
draining at all is impossible, in such
land drains are not necessary, but where
you have the rain running over the sur-
face of the land, stopit if you can and
save your soil.

Draining serves three good purposes,
it carries away the excessive moisture,
it prevents soil being carried away, the
earth taken out of it forms a valuable
top-dressing, it is mostly sub-soil, but it
improves with exposure to the air. Itis
noticeable that wherever there has been
a cutting foraroad or drain, and the
earth has been thrown down among the
Tea, how much the Tea improves by the
application of a surface dressing, even of
sub-soil. You can hardly have too many

‘drains on your estate.

In addition to the regular draining of
an estate, some extra draining is nearly
always necessary, in patches of sour soil
where the tea seems backward. If these
patches are examined in wet weather,
they will probably be found water-
logged, the excess of moisture makes the

Miscellaneous.

soil sour. Good deep drains should be
cut right through the middle of them,
and, if necessary, others at right angles.
It always pays to drain and plant
swamps, the accumulation of deposit
from the wash from the slopes above
grows fine Tea. Itis a mistake to have
a swampy ravine breaking the lines of
the Tea, as it hinders pluckers and gives
them an excuse for dawdling, an art in
which the cooly excels, in crossing the
swamp to continue their lines. In a
swampy place where there is slab rock
and no depth of soil, carry the scil and
top-dress the nearest Tea withit, there
should be no unused uncultivated soil on
a good estate. People are apt to say of
such a work, it costs a lot and does not
pay, they forget the returns are peren-
nial, though you may not get your
money back in one year you probably
will in ten, plus improved bushes.

CLEANING OUT DRAINS.

In cleaning out drains the _ usual
method is to throw the soil below the
drain, the result is there isan accumu-
lation of soil below the drain, and the -
Tea immediately above the drain is
denuded of soil, and for that reason is
usually poor Tea. In such places it is
better to put the soil taken out of drains
and silt-pits above the drains, terracing
with stone to prevent it being washed
down again. The hillocky appearance
in the Tea (that is, where you see the
bushes standing on mounds above the
level of the ground), isan indication of
bad wash. The best remedy for this,
after sufficient draining, is terracing,
and fiJling up the spaces between the
terracing with soil from the drains. I
have seen ‘‘shuck” unprofitable Tea
transformed into good Tea by this
method, patches which were a blot on
the estate made to look as well as the
other Tea.

SILT-PITS IN DRAINS.

Many years agol realised the heavy
and serious loss to estates through wash
from these heavy plumps of N. E. rains
which fall inso short a space of time,
that the ground cannot absorb the fall,
and the water runs over the surface of
the soil, carrying away valuable humus
into the nearest ravine, down which it
is taken into the river and lost to the
estate. Good draining of course to some
extent prevents this, but to still further
minimize the loss of soil, I adopted a
system of silt or catch pits in the drains.
These pits were cut 20 feet apart and are
about 15 inches deep by 15 inches wide
and 4 feet long. They not only catch
the soil which would otherwise be
washed away and lost, but they keep

Miscellaneous 240

the drains from being choked by leaves .

and sticks. These pits should be pe-
riodically cleaned out, and the soil ap-
plied as a top-dressing tothe Tea near
them. Where stones are handy terrac-
ing should be done to prevent the loose
soil from being washed away again.
Various objections have been raised to
these pits. One critic says, ‘‘What is
the good of making them, they get full
of soil at once?” Does that not show
the necessity for them? Another critic
says, ‘‘The stuff they accumulate is
mostly sand of no manurial value.”
Sand is of value to the good mechanical
condition of the soil, and if you lose
the sand you lose a necessary consti-
tuent. Sand is of special value in wet
districts, and where there is much clay
in the soil. The vigorous way in which
Tea grows in ravines where there is
an accumulation of silt washed down
from the hill sides, is proof of what
this despised sandy salt is capable of.
Try vegetables, grass, flowers, or any-
thing you like in it, you will find they
grow luxuriantly. The silt-pits have
stood the test of time, and that is the
best test. The only-real drawback they
have is that they are rather apt to
breed mosquitoes, but mosquitoes have
their seasons, and seem to come and

go in spite of anything one can do to.

get rid of them. They always find lots
of places in which to breed, and I have
not noticed that estates where there
are silt-pits in the drains are any worse
in that respect than other estates.

I have given the reader some methods
by the adoption of which he can com-
bat the loss to the estate by wash.
On a well cultivated estate, where pro-
per precautions are taken against the
loss of soil, the humus must slowly but
steadily accumulate, and therefore the
fertility of the soil and value of the
estate must increase. On the other hand,
where no particular attention is paid
to this important. matter (i.e., the loss
of soil through wash), the humus dis-
appears, the fertility of the soil dimin-
ishes, and it is found that the land
requires more and more manure to enable
it to keep up its crops.

The following humorous lines appeared
in a local paper during a time of very
heavy rains and floods :—

“T stood on the bridge at daylight when the
clock was striking the hour,

‘And watched my Bamber’s mixture agoing
to Baur.”’

Most planters would enter into the
feelings of the author,

THd& RELATION OF SCIENCE TO ae

HUMAN LIFE.

(Continued.)

The great Frenchman Pasteur, in
making a thorough examination of the

process by which alcohol was cbtained.

from sugar, discovered the part played
by the organism known as yeast, and
established the idea of organised ferment
bodies. He extended his observation to
other micro-organisms, and, in conjunc-
tion with his co-workers, among whom
must be included those who were looking
into the question of the spontaneous
generation of living matter, detinitely
gave us the idea that putrefaction was
caused by micro-organisms acting upon
organic matter, that these micro-
organisms are capable of resisting
drought, and when dried float freely in
the air and are distributed everywhere.
When they fall upon a suitable material
their vital activity is resumed, and they
increase with incredible rapidity and
set up putrefaction. It was reserved
for our distinguished countryman Lister,
then a surgeon in Kdinburgh, to re-
cognise the importance of these dis-
coveries for surgery. Knowing of the
researches of Pasteur and his fellow-
workers, he conceived the idea that
suppuration was due to putrefaction in
the organic matter of the wounds caused
by micro-organisms. Acting on this, he
introduced his method of antiseptic
surgery, by which his name has been
rendered immortal. I think we may say
that no single application of the results
of pure research has done more to
preserve human life and to diminish
human suffering than this linking up by
Lister of the putrefaction of suppuration
with the work of his predecessors on the
effects of the actions of micro-organisms
upon organic matter. It is well to
notice, in passing, that this discovery of
Lord Lister’sis a good illustration of the
difficulty which the human mind has of
conceiving even the simplest new idea.
To us, now, how simple seems the step
which Lister made; yet there were
thousands of surgeons in the world who
failed to make it, though they were
continually dealing with suppurating

wounds and wondering why they sup- —

purated, and when it was made it was
stoutly discredited by many quite able
men.

I must now torn to another subject
which is closely connected with the pre-
ceding, and well illustrates my thesis
that pure scientific research, without
reference to practical utility, is of the
highest importance to mankind.

Marcu, 1910.)

It will doubtless have occurred to
many of you toask the question, How
is it, if the air contains floating in it the
dried spores of multitudineus micro-
organisms which only need a suitable
medium for their development and in-
crease, how is it that they do not obtain
a lodgement in the healthy animal body,
which one would think offers all the
conditions necessary to their growth?
It can easily be shown that the air we
breathe, the water we drink, the food
we eat, everything that we _ touch,
swarms with these microscopic creatures;
that they enter our lungs, that they
germinate in our skin, that they occur
in countless numbers in our alimentary
eanals, in short, that they are found
everywhere on our body surfaces. How
is it that. they do not increase and turn
our organs into a seething mass of
putrefying corruption? One would
expect that even if the skin and the
membrane bounding the internal organs
to which they obtain entrance incurred
the slightest lesion, even a pin-prick,
that they would have been able to enter.
We know that after death they at once
obtain complete dominion, and we there-
fore infer that in life there must be some
body

protective mechanism in the

capable of dealing with them.

The discovery that there is such a
mechanism was made in the early
eighties by the distinguished Russian
zoologist, Klias Metschnikoff, though
the need of its existence was not re-
cognised by biologists in general until
later. The result of this was that
his remarkable discoveries were at
first pooh-poohed and discredited by
many, but ultimately they gained ac-
ceptance, and their turther development
in his own hand and that of others has
wrought a revolution in the art of pre-
ventive medicine.

The mechanism consists of the small
amoeboid cells found in the _ blood;
lymph, and body fluids generally. and
called leucocytes, or white blood cor-
puscles. Though long known to exist,
very little has been ascertained as to
their function until Metschnikoff, work-
ing at such remote subjects as the
embyrology of sponges, the structure
and digestion of polyps, the blood of
water-fleas, realised that these small
amoeba-like cells, which exist in all
organisms, actually swallow, digest, and
so destroy small foreign bodies which
have invaded the organisms. He called
them the phagocytes, and all his subse-
quent work has been directed to the
elucidation of their mode of action.

Itis to Metschnikoff’s work, prompt-
ed solely by the scientific spirit, that

P41

‘Miscellaneous.

we owe our knowledge of phagocytosis
and the great theory of immunity which
has proceeded from it. It is impossible

_ at the present moment to estimate fully

the value to man of Metschnikoff’s dis-
coveries. Suffice it to say that they
have already led to import practical
poles and have revolutionised treat-
ment.

I must now turn for a moment to
another subject of the greatest im-
portance to mankind, and one which
has been brought into notice by the
researches, perfectly useless so far as
our material welfare is concerned, which
were undertaken with the view of

_ elucidating the great question of organic

evolution. I refer to the study of
genetics, which deals with the question
mainly of the transmission of the pro-
perties of the organism; but it deals
with even a larger subject thanthat. It
looks into and tries to determine the
laws which govern the origin of the
characters of individuals, whether plants
or animals, whether those characters
have been acquired by inheritance or
in some other way. The subject is 9f
the utmost interest and practical im-
portance to man from three points of
view. It has a bearing on philosophy of
a most important and far-reaching kind -
through the theory of organic evolution.
That theory largely depends for its
proof upon the science of genetics.
Secondly, it has a most important
bearing upon practical questions affect-
ing breeders of animals and raisers of
plants, and also upon man himself in con-
nection with practical legislation. This
brings me to the chird point, in which
this subject specially appeals to us, and
that is what I may call its bearing upon
ethics, This is, of course, closely con-
nected with the last. E

We are contstantly confronted with
questions in which we have to think, not
only of the advantage and happiness of
those alive at the present moment, but
also of those not yet born who will suc-

_ceed uson the earth. The decision of

these questions is one of the most im-
portant aud burning subjects which can
be put before us. They often crop up in
legislation, and yet we are quite un-
able to answer them because of the very
little knowledge we possess of the laws
which govern the transmission of charac-
ters from generation to generation.

The interests of future generations
often appear to be in conflict with the
immediate pleasure and happiness of
the living, and we are confronted with
the question whether we ought to give
way to our own humane and benevolent
feelings, or whether we ought to set

Miscellaneous.

our teeth and deal ruthlessly with a
number of people who must appeal to
our pity, lest by saving them from
elimination we should bring about an
increase in the number ot people who
are unable to hold their own, and so
weaken the nation and increase for the
next generation the difficulties which we
set out to cure. Ido not pronounce any
judgment on these questions; I merely
wish to emphasise the immense, the
transcendent importance from the hu-
man point of view, of the investigations
which the study of the question of evola-
tion has caused biologists to carry out
into that most difficult of all subjects,
heredity, and of obtaining clear ideas
upon the subject. These, I admit, are
elementary examples, and _ probably
familiar to most of you—and they might
be largely added to form other branches
of zoology, such as entomology, marine
fauna, and physiology—of the great
practical achievements which have
followed from the recognition of the
fact possibly appreciated in some ancient
civilisations, but in modern ttmes first
understood by Bacon and his compeers,
that natural phenomena are in them-
selves, and without reference to imme-
diate utility, proper subjects of man’s
inquiry, and that all progress must be
based on their thorough and accurate
investigation.

The genesis of a new idea is so diffi-
cult, and the amount of work necessary
for its complete elucidation and develop-
ment so vast and detailed, that many
eminent men, taking only a short period
of time and not realising the minute
steps by which the advance of knowledge
takes place, have been led to doubt the
value of scientific investigation in the
higher realms of pure knowledge, even
to the extent of speaking of the bank-
ruptcy of science, Others, again, per-
ceiving the apparent aimlessness of
many investigations and undervaluing
the motive which urges them on, have
come to look with a certain contempt
upon the man of pure science and his
slow and plodding progress. What is
the good of all this work at unimport-
ant details? What do you get out of
it, and what pleasure do you find in
it? they ask, and when they are told
that the humble worker usually gets
nothing out of its work except the
pleasure of doing it, and that his mo-
tive is nothing more elevated than the
satisfaction of his curiosity; there does
appear to be, it must be admitted, some
justification for the contemptuous in-
difference with which the poor re-
searcher is regarded by a considerable
section of the population, as is shown
by the almost entire absence of sup-

242:

[Maron, 1910, —
port of pure scientific research on the —
part of the Government. With the ex-
ception of an annual grant of £4,000
a year given to the Royal Society, I
think I am correct in stating that the
Government affords hardly any support
to science save to such as is concerned
with teaching or with some practical
problem; and when one remembers the
composition of Governments and the
manner in which, and the reasons for
which, they are chosen, one cannot un-
resei vedly blame them for this attitude.
The best method of fostering research is
a difficult problem, and I can well un-
derstand that a modern democratic
Government, depending as it does upon
popular support with its attendant
popular mandates, should Shrink from
dealing with it. To do so would bring
them no popularity and no votes, and
too often they are not really aware of
its immense importance to human pro-
zress, and when they are they have
great difficulties to face.

For it is impossible to organise research
onacommercial basis. ‘ All attempts,”
says Prof. Nichols, of Cornel, ‘‘at a
machine-made science are doomed to
failure. No autocratic organisation is
favourable to the development of the
Scientific Spirit. No institution after
the commercial models of to-day is likely
to. be generously fertile. You can con-
tract for a bridge according to specifica-
tions. No one, however, can draw up
specifications for a scientific discovery.
No one can contract to deliver it on a
specific day for a specified price, and no
employee can be hired to produce it for
wages received.”

This it is impossible to get the public
to understand even when it has under-
gone the process. which we call educa-
tion. You may establish paid posts for
scientific research, but you cannot be sure
that you will get research, for science
is like the wind that bloweth where it
listeth, and that is what our educated
public do not like. They want some-
thing for their cash, and they will not
wait.

Even those who are aware of the
immense value of pure research forget
the fact that the aptitude for scientific
investigation isas rare as the gift of
poetry, to which in many respects it is
allied, for both are creative gifts, rare
and precious. They forget that it is
impossible to ascertain without trial
whether a man possesses it or not, and
that this trial can only be made when
he has passed his student days and looks
to support himself by his own exertions.
To provide for this support money Is
needed, and studentships must be estab- —

: Manos, 1910,]

lished in considerable numbers, from the
holders of which those who show that
they possess the gift of research can be
selected and promoted to higher posts in
which their gift can find full oppor-
tunity ; but we want more than this,
we want compensation for those whom
we have encouraged to make the trial
and who have failed to show that they
possess the gift, and an outlet by which
they can emerge and find work in prac-

tical life.

This has been and isa difficulty in all
schools of science, for many are called
but few are chosen, The situation is
this : it is desirable that a large body of
able young men should be encouraged
to take up scientific research, but as
experience has shown that onJy a small
proportion of them will possess the
qualities by which success in research
can be attained, and as it is undesirable
to encumber the progress and the liter-
ature of science by a host of workers
who have no real capacity for research,
it results that a time will arrive when a
great proportion of those whom we have
encouraged to give some of the best
years of their life to this unremuner-
ative work should be invited to find
other occupations. What is to be done?
We cannot throw them into the street.
Some compensation must be _ given.
There are two ways in which this can be
done. One is the system of prize fellow-
ships, which has for long been in vogue
at the old universities, and which it has

- of late been the custom of those who

have not really studied the matter to
decry. Nevertheless, itis a good system,
for it provides an income by which those

who have given some of the best years |
of their life to this trial of their capacity -

can support themselves while they
qualify for taking part in a practical
profession.

A prize fellowship system, or some-
thing like it, isa necessary accompani-
ment of a university which induces a
large number of young men to follow
for atime the intellectual life; it acts
both as an inducement and a compensa-
tion, and it would bea mistake and an
injustice, in my opinion, to abolish it;
but there is another way in which the
difficulty can be met, and that is the
way which has been adopted by the wise
and far-seeing founders of the Imperial
College, namely, by:the combination ot
a school of science with a school of
technology. If vou have incorporated
in your school of science a school of
applied science, and if you at the same
time take care that none but able men
are allowed to enter the research grade,
and if you establish, as you must do if

31

248 Miscellaneous.

you honestly work your school, a con-
nection with the great industrial interest
of the country, you have all that is
necessary for the disposal of those men
who, for whatever reason, find them-
selves unable to follow a life of pure
science. Asis well known, the faculty
for pure, apparently useless, research
in science is often possessed by men
without any aptitude for practical appli-
cation of science: or desire of practical
success and the wealth which practical
success brings; while, on the contrary,
raany minds of the highest order cannot
work at all withoutthe stimulus of the
thought of the practical outcome of
their labour.

In our College there is room both for
those with the highest gifts for pure
scientific research and for those with
the inventive faculty so important in
the arts, or with the knowledge and
ability for controlling and organising
great industrial enterprises ; and, what
is more, the combination of the two
types of mind in the same school cannot
but be of the greatest advantage to both,
not only on account of the atmosphere
which will be created, so favourable to
iatellectual effort, but also because good
must result from the contact in oneschool
of minds whose ultimate aim is to probe
the mysteries of nature and to acquire
control over her forces.

As Prof. Nichols has well said in point-
ing out the dependence of technology on
science :—‘ The History of Technology
shows that the essential condition under
which useful applications are likely to
originate is Scientific productiveness.
A country that has many investigators
will have many inventors also... Where
science is, there will its by-product tech-
nology be also. Communities having
the most thorough fundamental know-
ledge of pure science will show the
greatest output of really practical inven-
tions. Peoples who get their knowledge
at second hand must be content to follow.
Where sound scientific conceptions are
the common property of a nation, the
wasteful efforts of the half-informed will
be least prevalent.” These are sound
conclusions, and experience has shown
that if the terms are interchanged the
same remarks may be made with equal
truth of the good influence which results
to a school of science from its association
with a school of technology.

Before concluding, it may be well to
say a word as to the origin of the great
imperial institution in the interests of
which we are met here to-day. It may
justly be described as the natural and
necessary outcome of the scheme for

Miscellaneous.

scientific instruction which was origi-
nated by that great Prince whose
memorial stands near the end of Exhibi-
tion Road, and to whom science and art
in England owe so much.

He dreamed a dream which his un-
timely death alone prevented him from
realising. Had he lived, who can set a
bound to what he would have achieved
for science and education in England?
It is a most happy circumstance that
the final stages of the realisation of that
dream should have been entered upon
in the reign, and have received the
sympathy, patronage, and active sup-
port of his great son, our most gracious
King, who is working in so many direc-
tions for the welfare and happiness of
our race.

There is one further point I must
touch upon. In the few remarks which
I have had the honour to make to
you, I have endeavoured, however im-
perfectly, to embody in words certain
thoughts which bear upon a great sub-
ject. I thank you for the patience with
which you have heard me. Whether I
have produced the effect I desire I know
not, but I know this, that even if I had
the tongues of men and angels, no words
of mine could have been so apt, so expies-
sive as the magnificent deed of Mr. Otto
Beit recorded in to-day’s newspapers.
It is impossible for me to pass this over
in silence, so closely is it connected with
the subject of my address. There are
two ways of manifesting thought, by
word and by action. Mr. Beit has
chosen the latter and far more effective
way. Wecan only express our respect-
ful admiration and gratitude for his
generosity, and our thankfulness that
aman should exist among us with the
power, the insight, and the true human-
ity to do such a splendid deed.

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE
COMMITTER OF AGRICUTURAL
HXPERIMENTS :

HELD AT THE EXPERIMENT STATION,
PERADENIYA, ON 18TH JANUARY, 1910.

The following members were present :—
Mr. R. H. Lock (Chairman), the Entomo-
lozgist, the Mycologist, the Agricultural
Chemist, The Hon. Mr. Edgar Turner,
Messrs. Jowitt, Anderson, Vander-
straaten, andthe Secretary, J. A. Holmes,

Mr. Bamber read the Progress Report
of the Experiment Station since the pre-
vious meeting, and the following resolu-
tions were passed?:—

244 -

1. That a Circular on Tea be published :
at the earliest possible date. -

2. That a separate file be kept for each
plot, and that the outlay on and returns
of each plot be recorded in its file.

38 That Mr. Jowitt’s monthly report
form be adopted with such modifications
as Mr. Bamber and the Secretary shall
deem necessary.

4, That the scheme for the manuring
of coconuts drawn up by Messrs. Bamber
and Vanderstraaten shall be circulated
among the members of the Committee
for suggestions.

5. That No.13 plot at present under
cacao be cut out and the land used for
experiments on fruit.

PROGRESS REPORT ON HXPERIMENT STA-
TION SINCE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD
ON 11TH NOVEMBER, 1909.

Read at the Meeting of the Committee
of Agricultural Experiments held on
January 18th, 1910.

Varieties of coconuts have been ob-
tained from Mr. L. W. A. de Soysa and
have been put to germinate.

The three nuts from the Penang Show
have all germinated. The old coconut
plots have been cleared again and experi-
ments will now be commenced,

The copra manufactured from 1,000
nuts mentioned in a previous report was
pressed in the chekku mill and a good
clear oil obtained,

367:5 lbs. dry copra gave 175 lbs. of oil
and 108% lbs. Poonae.

Maninots.—Ceara and Dichotoma tap-
ping experiments have been continued
and the yields from individual trees re-
corded. The yield from the M. dicho-
toma (2 years old) is poor. Thinning
out the branches to prevent wind damage
may have had some effect on this point.
Many of the h. dichotoma trees have
been broken down by the wind, espe-
cially in the 12’ x 12’ plot 13 months old.

Those planted 6’ x 6’ now 12 months
old have not suffered from the wind, the
top growth being more upright, thus re-
ducing the leverage and the area
exposed. 4 ‘

The stumps planted 8’ x 8’ have been
supplied and are coming on well,

Seed from the 10 months old trees
germinated more rapidly and well than
from the 2-year old trees.

The Heptaphylla seeds have not ger-
minated.

[{Marca, 1910.

Marca, 1910.)

The worst yielding trees on the Ceara
plot it is proposed to cut out at once,
and seed and cuttings to be taken from
the best trees only for propagation and
the formation of one or more new plots
of this product.

Thebest results appear to be from a
modified spiral tapping and pricking, the
healing of the bark being good and rapid.

CASTILLOA.—Tapping has been con.
tinued on various lines, and the yield of
individual trees recorded. Full spiral
apparently give the best results.

TEA,—AIl plots have now been brought
into bearing again and the total yields
for the year ascertained and reduced to
the standard of 2,722 bushes per acre.
The results, given in a separate table, are
very satisfuctory and point to the great
advantage of green manuring especially
with dadaps at this elevation.

The dadaps and albizzias on plots 149
and 150 have been cut and mulched.
Plots 151-154 have been supplied with
Para, which is now established.

The poor steep slopes of these latter
plots have been forked down alternate
lines and mulched with waste lemon
grass.

Cacao.—The yields for the year from
all the manured plots have been obtained
and a new census of trees taken to reduce
them to a basis of 300 trees per acre,

A bad attack of Helopeltis occurred
generally throughout the estate, espe-
cially where shade was least. Caracas
and Nicaragua trees were most affected,
and one Puerto de Cabello tree was
killed entirely.

_ Experimental shading of the Nicara-

gua trees has been tried, and there is a
marked improvement, but the unshaded
trees are also better,

Dadap stumps have been planted in
the unshaded portion.

Five ACRES FORESTERO.—The young
cacao has suffered to some extent from
wind and leaf-eating insects, which have
been difficult to find. The plants in the
Indigofera plot were more or less defoli-
ated after the crop was cut and mulched.

Spraying with Imperial Bar Soap,
which was recommended by Mr. Green
will be tried, the soap having been
ordered.

CoconuTs—These are coming on well
in the 10-acre plot, though afew have
died or been destroyed. Seed is being
germinated for supplying these.

PARA—PLANTED APRIL, 1906, ONE YEAR
OLD Stumps.—All the trees (except in
the cacao plots) have been measured, and

245

Miscellaneous.

plot 78,-all over 17” to 18’ are being
tabped from the Ist January at the
ase :—

Row 1 with the basal \//
» 2with the cut from the left only .

right BS

5)
Z|
The yields so far are poor.
Plot 87 was deeply forked all over as
suggested at the last meeting.

The plots have been supplied with
large stumps. few large trees were
blown down and were removed or te-
erected and supported.

FuntumMiA.—The trees are beginning
to recover from the caterpillar attack,
but the smaller branches were killed
back for several inches.

Pappy.—The growth of the paddy is
excellent, especially after the green
manure, and where the artificial mixture
was applied it is 5’ high when com-
mencing to form the grain. A small
area was attacked by insects and speci-
mens were sent to Mr. Green for identi-
fication.

OiL GRASSES.— Distillations were done
at intervals, the Lemon grass from the
coconut plots is now being distilled.

The still is answering well and givesa
pale coloured pure oii. It holds about
400 lbs. of fresh grass and the oil is all off
in about 8-4 hours, working at a steam
pressure not exceeding 10 lbs. per square
inchi

Plots of Java and Ceylon Maha-pengiri
and Cymbopogon flexuosus have been
planted out,

CatcH Croprs.—TIwo more plots of
sunflower have been planted. The
gingelly crop (white and black) was
practically a failure, most of the plants
being diseased, and the seed failed to
mature.

Fruit Ptots.—The four varieties of
plantains are established, and the few
vacancies will be supplied as soon as
plants can be obtained.

It is suggested that plots 69 to77 old
cacao beyond the Para rubber may be
cut out for further fruit plots, alist of
which is given separately.

GREEN MANURES.—Several plots have
been cutand weighed, and new plots
established. Crotalaria incana is suffer- -
ing from a fungus attack, identified by
Mr. Petch as‘‘ Wilt disease” caused by
Neocosnospora vasinfecta. Lime and
other fungicides are ineffectual, and
leguminous crops willnot be grown in
this plot again for some time,

9 3 ” 99 99 39 9

Miscellaneous.

Crotalaria juncea, Cassia mimusoides

and Tephrosia plots have been made.

NURSERIES.—The various coffee varie-
ties including C. robusta and Liberian
have germinated.

WasuH Ptiots.—The loss of soil from
April, 1909, to December, 1909, has been
ascertained and calculated to the loss
per acre. An average analysis of 15
samples of this type of soil on the Experi-
ment Station was takeu for calculating
ae amount of plant food in the washed
soil.

The results are very instructive and
show the excessive denudation that is
going on with free soils of this type. A
separate statement is appended.

The roads and drains are being put in
order as rapidly as labour permits.

VisiTors.— There have been 241 visitors
to the Station since the Visitors’ Book
was started in June, 1909, and the general
interest in the work of the Station is
steadily increasing. i

Several gentlemen from Southern
India, Assam, Java and the F.M.S. have
paid visits,and most were specially inter-
ested in the green manuring experi-
ments, as this form of cultivation is being
found successful in all branches of tropi-
cal agriculture.

An application has been received for
permission to send one or more coolies
here for a week to study tapping before
commencing work on rubber now coming
into bearing. This wasagreed toasin a
previous case.

StaFF.—On the Ist instant Mr. Holmes
assumed charge of the Experiment
Station, and Mr. Wilson Smith, who has
been studying for some months on the
Station, commenced his duties as Assist-
ant Chemist.

PROSPECTUS OF THE AGRICUL.-
TURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
AND COLLEGE, PUSA.

(The Prospectus is subject to such alter.
ations as may from time to time be
ordered.)

—

PREFATORY,

The Agricultural Research Institute
and College, Pusa, owes its inception
to the generosity of Mr. Henry Phipps
who in 1903 placed at the disposal of
Lord Curzon, then Viceroy and Governor-
General of India, a donation of £20,000
(which he afterwards raised to £30,000)
with the request thatit might be de-
voted to some object of public utility

246

_ [Marcg, 1910,

~

in India, preferably in the direction of —
scientific research. Part of this dona-
tion was devoted to the construction

of a Pasteur Institute at Coonoor in

Southern India, and it was decided
that the balance should be utilized in
erecting a laboratory of agricultural
research which, it was hoped, would
form a centre of economic science in
connection with that occupation on
which the people of India mainly de-
pend. This connection was subsequently
enlarged, and the Government of India
have now constructed a college and
research institute to which a farm of
some 1,8C0 acres is attached for purposes
of experimental cultivation and demon-
stration.

In 1903, when the research station was
sanctioned, it was intended to combine
it with a college which should give a
general agricultural education, and
should serve as a model for the few
agricultural colleges and schools of very
unequal merit which then existed in
India. Recently, however, this concep-
tion of the functions of the Pusa College
has undergone a material change. It
is now recognised that the first and
most essential condition of any per-
manent improvement in the agricultural
method of this country is the widest
possible diffusion of an_ organised
knowledge of scientific and practical
agriculture, and at the same time it is
desired to make the country as far as
possible self-supporting in the matter
of development of agricultural training
and research. A comprehensive scheme
for the promotion of agricultural edu-
cation throughout India has accordingly
been drawn up, as the result of which
it is hoped that every important pro-
vince will soon be provided with a
fully equipped college where students
will for three years receive practical
and scientific education in agriculture.
The position which the Pusa College is
intended to occupy ir relation to this
general scheme is that of a higher
teaching institution. Its main object is
to enable students who have passed
with distinction through a course of a
provincial college, by means of a post-
graduate course in one of the specialised
branches of agricultural science, to
qualify for the higher branches of agri-
cultural work.

II. THE Pusa ESTATE.

The estate consists of 1,300 acres, of
which 400 are arable, 400 are pasture;
nearly all the field crops of the plains
can be grown there. The farm buildings
are up-to-date, and herds of breeding
and milch cattle are majntained. There

Maron, 1910,

are complete arrangements for the manu-
facture of indigo and the curing. of
tobacco. Poultry breeding is being
carried on; there is a large and well-
laid-out orchard and botanical garden.
Every facility for the practical teach-
ing of agriculture and agricultural sub-
jects has been provided. The students
laboratories are extensive, well lighted
and equipped; there is a library for
the use of students, The students
hostel is complete, and there is ample
accommodation for 70 students. Waini,
on the Bengal and North-Western Rail-
way, is the nearest railway station.
It is six miles from the college by a
good road. There is a telegraph and
post: office within the estate.

III. CONSTITUTION -AND STUDIES.

1. ConTROL.—The College is under the
general supervision of the Inspector-
General of Agriculture in India, and is
under the direct control of the Director
of the Research Institute and Principal
of the College.

2. Starr,—The superior staff of the
College consists of : —

The Principal.

The dmeper sal Agricultural Chem-
4s ‘J

The Imperial Mycologist.

The Imperial Entomologist.

The Imperial Economic Botanist.

The Imperial A griculturist.

The Imperial Agricultural Bac-
teriologist..

hs

8 NBASS

gist.

8. CoURSE.—The ordinary College
course extends over two year's, and the
students will be trained in one or other
of ‘the following sections of agricultural
science, no students being trained in
wore than one section at a time :—

Agricultural Chemistry.
Economic Botany,
Economic Entomology.”
Mycology.

Agricultural Bacteriology.t
Agriculture.

4, SyYLLABUS.—In the absence of ex-
porience of the class of students likely to

e received, it is impossible to lay down
a permanent syllabus of the training
in each subject. The syllabus that fol-
lows is tentative and is subject to the
condition that time will not be wasted

DN VS

*The Entomological course is for one year
only.

+As the appointment of Imperial Agricul-
tural Bacteriologist is now vacant, instruction
cannot be provided at present in Agricultural
Bacteriology,

The Second Imperial Entomolo- —

247 Miscellaneous.

in taking students over ground that is
already familiar to them.

I. AGRICULTURAI. CHEMISTRY.
(Two years’ course.)

(i) A course of lectures and Jaboratory
practice of the same type as laid down
in the Standard Curriculum for Provin-
cial Colleges.

(ii) A course or courses of lectures in
advanced chemistry which shall follow
such lines as have an important bearing
on agricultural science. Each student
will then take up a particular line of
investigation suggested tc him by the
lecturer. At the end of the course each
student will write an essay embodying
the whole of his work, and the results
positive or negative he can deduce there-
from. .

II. BOTANY,
([wo years’ course.)
(First year.)

(i) Physiology of Plants.—The course
will be mainly practical, and will be
based on Darwin and Acton’s Physiology
of Plants (Cambridge University Press).

The work will illustrate the effect of

various conditions on plant development,
and will include :—

(a) Respiration,
(b) Assimilation,
(ec) Nutrition.

(d) Transpiration.
(e) Growth.

(f) Movements. |

(ii) The Improvement of Plants.—The
lectures will deal firstly with the princi-
ples underlying the modern develop-
ment of plant-breeding, such as Mendel’s
Law and Mutation, and secondly with
the particular methods adapted to
Indian conditions, and this part of the .
conte will be supplemented by field
work.

The subjects treated will be :—

(a) Evolution, Variation and Mutation.
(b) Selection,

(c) Hybridization.

(iii) The Principles of Indian Fruat
Growing.—The course will include—

(a) The general management of
a modern fruit garden.

(b) Special processes, such as Propaga-
tion, Pruning and Root-pruning, Wea-
thering.

(c) Disposal of the produce.

In the case of students who show
special aptitude for work in Economic
Botany, and who are likely to become
qualified to undertake original work, the
course will be extended to two years.

Miscellaneous.

(Second Year.)

In general this second year’s work will
deal with the practical application of
the principles of plant improvement, and
a general knowledge will be given to
students of the planting, cultivation
and improvement of plants which are of
special economic importance in their
respective provinces.

Ill. ENTOMOLOGY.
(One Year’s Course.)

(i) Collecting, pinning, setting.
(ii) Classification. How to use text-

books.
Classification. How to use the
collection.
Gii) Anatomy of cockroach or other
foim.
Comparative anatomy as shown
by dissection, mouth parts, etc.
Terms used in classifying.
(iv) Classification and terms used in

each order.

(v) Actual identification and revision
of the collection.

(vi) Biology and life histories—general,
special and details.
(vii) An account of each family in
order.
(viii) Pests:—first general, then special
by order, then special by crops.
(ix) Complete list of the injurious in-

sects in India.

(x) Preparation of leaflets and lecture
course for the province, with ex-
hibition collection of insects of
that province.

(xi) Useful insects (lac, silk, apicul-
ture).

(xii) Beneficial insects and birds.

(xiii) Preventive and remedial mea-

sures.
IV. MYCOLOGY.

(Two Years’ Course.)

1. A Revisionary Course in Plant
Anatomy and Physiotogy.—Time—two
to three months.

Anatomy, Histology of the cell and
tissues. Anatomy of the root, stem,
and leaf.

Physiology of nutrition.

2. General Mycolog y.—Time—six
months.

Definition and characters of the fungi.

Structure of the Thallus: —

(a) Vegetative portion,

{ I mycelium,
rhizomorpha, sclerotia.

248

(b) Reproductive portion; sporophores;
spores ; germination.

Life habits of fungi.

Dissemination,

Polymorphism.

Food of fungi, saprophytes, parasites.

Symbiosis.

Heteroecism.

Specialisation of parasitism.

Classification. The study of the six
main groups of fungi with examination
of types,

8. Pathological Mycology.—Time—15
months.

Causation of disease by fungi.
fection.

Effects of parastic fungi cn plants.

Diagnosis of disease: symptoms of
fungus attack.

Prevention and treatment of fungus
diseases of plants.

Predisposition of plants to disease:
immunity.

Factors of disease. Epidemics.

A general study in field and labor-
atory of the principal fungus diseases
of crops in India.

A more detailed study with experi-
ments of a selected fungus disease.

If possible, the student should accom-
pany a trained assistant in a field en-
quiry for the purpose of giving him
practice in independent observation and
collecting information.

V.— BACTERIOLOGY.”

A short course in _ bacteriological
methods, preparation and sterilization
of media and the cultivation of bacteria.

Students who have passed through
this training satisfactorily will take
part in the research work of the labor-
atory under supervision.

VI.— AGRICULTURE. .

Special instruction will be given in

the management of field and garden

crops and orchards, and in the use of

agricultural machinery, tools and im-

plements and in cattle, sheep and poultry
breediug.

As a temporary measure to assist the
provinces which are not in a position
to train their own men as superinten-
dents of farms or for other positions
requiring a practical agricultural educa-
tion, a course in general agriculture
will be given.

In-

* Asthe appointment of Imperial Agricul-
tural Bacteriologist is now vacant, instruction
cannot be provided at present in Agricultural
Bacteriology.

Maron, 1910.) 249

5 TrRMs.—The terms for students are
as follows :—

Autumn Term.—From Ist June to
15th November.

Vacation—From 16th November tO
5th January.

Spring Term—From 6th January to
31st March.

Vacation—From 1st April to 3lst
May.

6. CERTIFICATHS.--For the present it
has been decided not to hold periodical
and final examinations, but certificates,
signed by the head ot the section and
countersigned by the Principal, will be

_ presented ‘to students who have passed

through the College course with credit.
IV. ADMISSION RULES.

1. Accommodation.—The total num-

ber of students that can ordinarily be

admitted in each of the following sec-
tions every year is as follows :—

Agriculture ... ane mies 8
Agricultural Chemistry ... 8
Mycology é ve ad 8
Entomology ... ae 8
Botany ... Bs at we iz 8
Agricultural Bacteriology 4

44

The number of studentships to be
allotted each year to the respective
provinces as well as the number of
nominations, if any, to be made by the
Principal, will be decided by the Prin-
cipal before the Ist April, after consul-
tation with the provincial authorities
as to their requirements, and communi-
cated to the Local Governments and
Administrations concerned.

2. Students.- There will
classes of students :—

(i) Students nominated by a local
Government or an administration.

(ii) Students deputed by a Native
State, on the nomination of the In-
spector-General of Agriculture in India.

(iii) Private Students.

8. Students nominated by a local
Government or Administration should
ordinarily be men who have passed with
credit through a provincial agricultural
college, or are graduates of an Indian
University or possess a degree or
diploma of appreximately the same
standard granted by any other educa-
tional institution.

4, Students deputed by a Native State
may be admitted on the application of
the State concerned, provided that
accommodation is available. Applica-
tions should be addressed, in the first

be three

~ the 15th March.

Miscellaneous,

instance, to the Inspector-General of
Agriculture in India, Nagpur, Central
Provinces, and should reach him before
The nomination of
such students is made by the Inspector-
General of Agriculture in India, and his
nomination should reach the Principal
before the Ist April, as provided in Rule
1 above.

5. Students of class (ii) above will be
required to pass a satisfactory test to be
applied by the chief of the section
concerned at Pusa.

* 6. (i) Private Students.—Private stu-

dents may be admitted by the Principal
provided that accommodation is avail-
able. Candidates for admission should
be not less than 19 years of age, and
should submit their applications to the
Principal before the Ist April in each
year. Ordinarily only candidates will
be admitted who have the same qualifi-
cations as are prescribed for students
nominated by a Local Government or
Administration in Rule 3 above, and
such candidates may also be required to
pass the test mentioned in Rule 5 above.

(ii) A private student must attach to
his application (a) a certificate of age,
(b) health certificate signed by a Civil
Surgeon testifying to the candidate’s
physical fitness for such outdoor work
as is required to bein the Agricultural
Department, (c) a certificate of good
moral character from the Principal of
the Agricultural College from which he
graduated or from any one else of
influential position. The certificates (b)
and (c) must bear a date within six
months of the date of application for
admission into the College.

(iii) The principal may relax any of
the conditions imposed under rule (ii),
should he consider it desirable.

(iv) The names of those private stu-
dents who succeed in obtaining the
College certificates will be entered by
the Principal in a registe1 to be kept for
the purpose, and will be communicated
to the Directors of Agriculture in the
various provinces so that these private
students may be offered employment if
their services are required. The names
will also be published in the Gazette of
India and in provincial Government
Gazettes.

7. It willbe at the discretion of the
Principal, with the advice of the scien-
tific officer in charge of the section, to
declare at any time the unfitness of a
student for training and to require his
removal from the College.

8. The expenses of a student at the
College will, it is estimated, not exceed

Miscellaneous. 250

Rs. 25 per mensem. But the following
sums will approximately be required for
the purchase of books :—

Rs.
Agricultural Chemistry... jeeral 5
Eeonomie Botany Gt Sg A
Entomology ae vege nee
Mycology ack Awe
Agricultural Bacteriology ... tt lo
Agriculture Bbc eee

9. Local Governments will be left to
make students; whom they depute to the
College, allowances and grants as they
think fit. Inthe case of students already.
in Government service the allowance
should not exceed the pay of their grade.
and in thecase of other students they
should not exceed Rs. 50 a month.

10. Caution money and _ initial de-
posits will not be required from students
nominated by Local Governments, except
in the case of students required to
undergo training at the College at their
own expense, who must deposit with
the Principal asum of Rs. 50 to meet
the initial cost of books and in addition
Rs. 50 as caution money.

V. DISCIPLINARY RULES.

1. The Director and Principal is
charged with the general contro! of the
students, the housing and domestic
arrangements, and the maintenance of
discipline, and he will from time to time
issue such rulesand regulations as may
be necessary to secure these objects.
All the correspondence relating to the
training of students should be addressed
to the Director and Principal, Agri-
cultural Research Institute and College,
Pusa, Bengal.

2. (i) Quarters.—The Principal will
allot to students on arrival such quarters
as may be available. The College
quarters are tenable during the whole
period of the student’s course. For the
present no rent will be charged for the
quarters, but the Government of India
reserve the right of withdrawing the
‘ concessions from all or any class of
students entering the College hereafter.

(ii) Students must make their own
arrangements for meals. Separate din-
ing rooms will be provided for different
castes and religions, and meals will not
be allowed in quarters without the
consent of the Principal.

(iii) Every student will be responsible
for articles placed in his charge. In case
of loss or damage arising from careless-
ness he may be called upon to pay.

(iv) Students will not be allowed to
keep dogs. Horses and cattle cannot be
kept without the permission of the
Principal.

(v) No student may leave the estate

premises without the permission of the
Director and Principal. No student may
be absent from his quarters after 10 p,m.
without the permission of the Director
and Principal.

8. Library.—The use of the Library
will be allowed subject to the Library
rules.

4. Books and Instruments.—The list
of books required by students of each
section will be published by the Principal
from time to time. Apparatus and other
laboratory requirements will be pro-
vided free, but students using them will
be responsible for their safe custody and
return,

5. Leave.—During the course of in-
struction no student may leave Pusa
without the order of the Principal.
Subsidiary rules regaiding leave will be
made by the Principal from time to time.

6. Holidays.—Such of the usual gazet-
ted holidays as are allowed will be
notified from time to time.

7. Punishments.—Students are liable
to the following punishments which may
be imposed by the Principal :—

Entry in conduct register.
Stoppage of leave or fine.

_ Removal or dimissal from the College.—
An extract of the order of this kind
passed by the Principal shall be for-
warded to the Local Government or
Native State concerned for information.

AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS
IN JAVA.

(From the Philuppine Agricultural
Review, Vol. I., No. 10, October, 1909.)

During the months of April and May,
1907, 1 visited Java for the purpose of
studying agricultural conditions in that
country. These investigations covered
a period of thirty-two days, in the
course of which a number of the leading
plantations in different parts of the
island were visited. The following paper
is a brief report of the conditions
found on three plantations :—

COFFEE AND CACAO.

Pare is the distributing centre for a
group of coffee and cacao estates which
extend along the sloping sides of the
recently extinct Kluet Voleano, In the
palmy days of coffee culture in Java,
before the price dropped from P56
to P 34 per picul, these plantations
were prosperous, but the sudden fall
in prices reduced the profits to sacha
degree that the owners were willing ta
sell very cheap. “is

4
F

“Marcu, 1910.)

One of the plantation managers in this
district realising that by proper culti-
vation the coffee business would still
yield a profit, purchased twenty of these
defunct coffee estates, and secured an
able manager for each one. I visited
one of these estates and saw coffee
culture from the planting of the seed
to the sewing up of the sacks for export.
I was told that this plantation was
purchased for P 18,000, and that the
profits for the first two years equalled
the original cost. The estate is now
valued at P 160,000. It is apparent that
the manager realises that good plant-
ation management costs money, but
that in the end such management is
the cheapest.

He insists that the soil under and
between the coffee trees shall not be
cultivated, but the weeds are pulled
every ten days, and the trees are also
trimmed at this time. This pulling of
weeds makes it possible to remove them
with the least. possible disturbance of
the soil. The weeds and leaves are left
beneath the trees. The reason for this
method is to imitate as near as possible
the conditions found in the natural
forests. The object is to keep the trees
hardy and free from disease, and to
maintain these conditions the too ready
growth is prevented by keeping the soil
under the trees packed, On this plant-
ation every operation is thoroughly
systematised and every cent put out
for labour is for value received. The
plantation is divided into _ several
sections, each one of whichis managed
by a Dutch assistant.

Coffee is gathered in Java during the
months of January, February, March,
April and May. The same tree is
repicked every ten days. Coffee pickers
earn comparatively large wages, some
as high as 30cents per day. The same
day thatthe berries are picked they
must be hulled, as otherwise a lower
grade of coffee is secured. The berries
are passed through the pulping machine,
which remove the outer soft skin. The
hulled berries are then carried by a
flame to the fermenting tank. After
a day or so they are removed to the
drier where they are dried either by
the sun or a wood fire. A machine
then removes the parchment seed coat,
after which the kernels pass through
a cylinder which grades the eoffee
according to size. The round berries
are worth the most:and are carefully
picked out by hand just before the
coffee is packed. These berries are said
to contain more pith, which is the part
of the bean producing the most desir-
able flavour. The coffee is sacked in the
same way as rice.

32

251 Miscellaneous,

The plantation I visited contained
scattering trees of Liberian coffee.
-These trees are allowed to grow 18 feet
high. The berries are reached by means
of a ladder and are picked every week
during the year. No more Liberian
trees are being planted.

Coffee is planted in raised seed beds
that are well shaded. The seeds are
planted 6 inches apart, and it requires
about 40 days for them to germinate.

Considerable damage is done on the
coffee plantations by a squirrel-like ani-
mal which eats the coffee berries.

The dadap tree is used to shade the
coffee. he trunk of this tree is also
used as a support for pepper vines.

When a coffee tree dies it is replaced
by another coffee tree, but when a small
section of coffee trees die that section is
replanted with white cacao. The white
cacao trees withstand disease better
than the red. Cacao trees are inspected
every five days. The pods are ripe when
they turn a little yellow. I was told
that red ants eat the bark, which is
then attacked by a fungus growth which
sometimes kills the trees. When one
tree is removed its place is not refilled
until after one year.

Before planting cacao, a hole 1 meter
each way is dug and left open for two
months; the hole is then filled and after
the rains have packed the soil well, a
young plant is inserted. To prevent
wild deer from browsing the young
trees, each tree is inclosed in bamboo
structure. The cacao seeds are first
germinated and are then planted in a
narrow, loosely woven basket.

The seeds which are prepared for
market are allowed to ferment ina box
or basket covered with an old coffee
sack. The seeds of both the coffee and
cacao become quite warm during the
fermenting process. After two or three
days the seeds are washed in water and
are then dried, sacked, and shipped.

CASSAVA.

At Nagadilaoewer I visited a cassava
plantation owned and operated by an
Armenian. Formerly the volcanicsandy
soil found here produced coffee, but
owing to the dropin prices previously
referred to, the coffee estates were
abandoned. The owner of this plant-
ation purchased several of these defunct
coffee estates for a small sum. He
pulled out all the coffee trees and
planted cassava, though at the present
time the price of the finished product is
not as high as it was formerly.

Miscellaneous

Volcanic sandy soil seems best suited
for cassava, and with such soil, planting
and harvesting can be carried on at all
seasons of the year.

On this plantation a stick can easily
be pushed 8 feet in the soil. At one
place where aman was digging a hole,
I noticed that the sub-soil at a depth
below 4 feet contained considerable
gravel. The soil was being ploughed 12
inches deep with light English steel
ploughs. Native wooden ploughs with
wooden beams and steel points were
also being used.

Cassava is planted in rows 4 feet by
34 feet apart, and is cultivated the same
as cornin the United States. The soil
contains so much sand that it is very
easy to cultivate, and can be tilled
during both the dry and rainy seasons.

A red spider and root larvee seem to be
the greatest enemies. To stop planting
in the infected regions is the only suc-
cessful remedy known for this trouble.
Para rubber is being introduced and
planted in the cassava fields. This, how-
ever, is only an experiment.

Cassava is propagated by cuttings
from the stem, each of which is about
8 inches long. It takes fourteen months
to produce a crop. A new variety of
cassava is now being experimented upon
which is expected to mature in about
nine months, or five months earlier than
the original variety.

The roots are pulled and loaded upon
large bull carts, weighed near the fields,
and hauled to the mills where they are
woighed again. On the plantation visit-
ed itis intended to putin 20 miles of
track in the near future, which will be
used both for transportation of the
roots to the mill, and of the pulp waste
from the mill to the fields, where it will
be used as a fertiliser.

In the manufacture of cassava starch
the outer skin is first cut off with a
bolo. The washed root is then ground
fine and run through a sifting machine
where the starch is separated from
the cellular matter. The milky fluid
is conducted through a long trough,
from which it is distributed to the
settling boxes. In these boxes the
starch settles and the water is run
off, after which the starch is taken out
and dried either in the sun or by wood
fires. When thoroughly dried it is
reground ina roller mill toa fine flour.
It is then sacked and shipped.

The cellulose, containing possibly 5 per
cent. of starch, is ground fine and used
as one ingredient in a new horse feed.

252

(Marcu, 191

A cassava mill must always havea

good supply of water, and cheap fire-
wood is also necessary, for on damp days
the starch must be dried by’ wood fires.

SUGAR AND TOBACCO.

The sugar estate I visited at Tymol is
said to be the largest and most modern
one in Java.

The only land owned by this sugar
company is the building site for the mill

and that cecupied by the houses of the

Dutch employees. The other land b2-
longs to the Javanese. Hach man who
belongs to the community owns one or
more rice fields) When a company
desires to start a sugar plantation ina
certain locality it must first get per-
mission from the Dutch Government.
Permission must then be secured from
the native chief or headman of the
immediate district, and finally the land
is rented from the individual Javanese.
I inquired what was done if the
individual landowner refused to rent
his land, and was told that a deep
ditch was dug around his paddy so
that he could get no water for irrigation.
Itis probable that this labourer and his
family would alsu be refused employ-
meut on the sugar estate. These con-
ditions are, however, very rare, as all
desire the rent money and an oppor-
tunity to work on the estate.

Only one-third of the total area of
land in any given community can be
planted to sugar at one time, the remain-
ing two-thirds being planted in rice,
peanuts, soy beans, sweet potatoes, or
corn. In many fields the rice is har-
vested, the land irrigated to make it
soft, and the peanut seeds are dropped
into a hole made by a blunt stick, with-
out reploughing the soil. The sugar
planter prefers a rice crop to precede
sugar, as the soil is then free from weeds.

Sugar cane is grown for seed ona small
plantation located in the highlands.
This arrangement is very necessary to
prevent the stock from deteriorating.
Seed from this highland plantation is
taken to the lowland estate and planted
8 feet apart in rows ina nursery bed,
where it grows from January until May,
when planting begins. The young plants
arethen pulled. The lower ends of the
stems arecut with a slanting stroke and
search made fora certain disease, the
presence of which is sown by many red
specks located especially at the joints.
If several joints are affected the stock is
discarded, but if one joint is slightly
affected itis used. This disease causes
considerable reduction in the percentage
of sugar in the cane.

C2

.

Marcu, 1910)

- soil, the buds being at the side.

rs bad i'n” Aas ee

In the seed bed cane is planted 3 feet
apart, but in the field 5 feet apart. The
soil is well trenched by hand labour.
Long ditches, both for drainage and
irrigation, extend in parallel rows from
the higher to the lower side of the fields:
These ditches are about 25 feet apart
and 3 feet deep. During the rainy
season the drainage ditches are cleaned
after every rain. Rows of sugar cane
extend from one drainage ditch to
another. Trenches are dug in which
the cane is planted, These trenches are
about 2 feet deep and 23 feet wide. The
trenches are left open for a month or
more, so that the soil is thoroughly
erated, and the weeds areall carefully
pulled. A small amount of peanut meal
is first scattered in the bottom of the
trench and is covered with about a 6-inch
layer of loose soil. The sugar cane is
planted end to end, and pressed in the
A little
soil is then thrown on top of the
cane and sprinkled with water from the
trench ditches. An extra joint of
cane is planted at the end of each row to
replace any that fails to grow. As the
shoots appear the trench is carefully
filled until itis higher than the ground
between the rows. The stem is thus
started more than one foot below the
surface of the soil. As the shoots
multiply the soil is crowded between
them. If there is no rain for a day all of
these short rows are hand sprinkled, At
the time of harvest the soil is dug and
each stem is pulled, no cane being left in
the field. Harvesting is done by gangs
of labourers. each gang being paid accord-
ing to the amount of work done.

The cane is carried by hand a short
distance and placed on cars. Portable
tracks are placed wherever harvesting
is being done. Two carabaos hitched
together with a yoke pull the loaded
cars to the mill. Thecane is hauled to
the mill the same day that itis cut, and
it is ground the following night and next
day. The harvesting season lasts for
about seven months, beginning in May,
and during this time the work at the
sugar millis carried on night and day,
the men working in eight-hour shifts,

The cane containsa maximum amount
of sugar ata certain age and should be
harvested at that time. In order that
the cane may be maturing as the
harvesting progresses, planting con-
tinues throughcut the harvesting season.
Some varieties of cane mature in twelve
months, othersin fifteen months.

All labour on the plantation, except
in the sugarmills, is paid for by the
piece. The prices are so arranged that
men cannot earn much over 25 cents and

253 Miscellaneous.

women over 12 cents per day. The head
boss ofeach gang receives money daily
to pay his men. The men know how
much money should be paid for doing a
certain: piece of work, and how much
their portion should be. The labourers
are paid each evening; this pay system
seems to be very satisfactory.

Since only one-third of the lands
adjoining are planted with sugar, two-
thirds of the total are left for the
Javanese. The plantations rent for the
period of twenty-three months, which is
just sufficient time to plant and harvest
a sugar crop. At other times the
Javanese plant such crops as best fit the
land for a future crop, On the planta-
tion I visited 24,000 acres are planted
annually. A refining machine has
recently been added to the equipment of
this plantation, and a fair grade of
granulated sugar is now _ produced.
During nine months of 1906 Java ex-
ported 1,500,000,000 pounds of sugar, and
during the same period the exports of
sugar from the Philippine Islands were
about 150,000,000 pounds.

At Klatten I visited a large sugar and
tobacco estate. The manager of this
estate is an expert chemist, having
studied two years at Columbia Univer-
sity, New York. This estate includes
200,000 acres of land and 60,000 Javanese
live on it. On certain fields tobacco was
planted, followed by crops of rice.
Tobacco and -sugar cane were never
grown on the same field. A large pump-
ing station was just beimg installed to
supply water for irrigation during the
rainy season,

Peanut meal and sodium nitrate are
used as fertilisers for the sugar crop.

At the time of my visit, which was
about May 2, the sugar was not ready
for harvest, and it was too early for
planting tobacco.

The people were all gathering rice,
after which the soil was broken for
tobacco.

Ten Javanese boys are being instructed
in the chemistry of sugar. After the
ten months’ course the more apt ones
are to be given employment as sugar
testers in the mills.

There are several sugar mills in the
estate, the largest one producing 100
tons daily. It requires 386 hours to
obtain granulated sugar from the cane.

I asked the manager what he consider-
ed the most difficult problem. He replied
that the growing of the cane was the
only great question, Mills can be
erected in a few months, and there is no
difficulty in securing plenty of sugar
makers,

Miscellaneous.

RICE,

The system of rice culture in Java
is about the same as that of the Philip-
pine Islands. Mr: Pitt, who has charge
of the Government Economic Garden
at Buitenzorg, told me that the native
method of culture was the best system
when pursued according to the custom
of the better class of natives. The appli-
cation of manure has not been found
practicable, as the increased yield did
not justify the outlay. After one rice
crop is harvested another is immediately
planted. The fields are never allowed
to remain idle, but are always kept
in cultivation. This is in part due tothe
congested population, but undoubtedly
greater yields are obtained than would
be the case if the fields were allowed
to return to jungle.

The rice is picked one head at a time,
and later is sorted so that the stems
of the same length are together.

About two-thirds of the soilin Java
is tilled by hand labour. The instru-
ment principally used is a long, broad-
bladed hoe witha blunt handle. Tools
are made and owned by the natives.
The sod on the dikes is all removed
and worked into the soil for fertiliser.

KAPOK, 2

From the car windows I observed a
large kapok plantation and was told
that the kapok trees were formerly
planted along the irrigation ditches
throughout Java, but this custom was
stopped, as the native chiefs in each
section secured all the kapok.

CINCHONA.

The government cinchona plantation
is located in the same volcanic basin
as the Malabar tea estate. It extends
along the sides of the basin for several
miles and includes elevations from 3,000
to 5,000 feet. Trees at an elevation of
5,000 feet are healthier than those below
or above this point. At this elevation
I saw trees forty years old that were
possibly 8 inches in diameter and 30 feet
tall, Seeds for these trees came from
South America, and from these trees
seeds were secured in turn for the other
cinchona plantations in Java. The
sandy, volcanic soil contains plenty of
humus and receives 3,000 millimeters of
rainfall annually. Seeds from the older
trees are used for propagation. They
are planted in raised seed beds 4 by 20
feet in size. Each bed is protected from
the sun, rain, and wild animals by the
construction of a grass, or bamboo
shack. In the daytime one side is opened
to receive light and air. The young
plants are liable to damp off if given

254

‘rich soils

: (Marca, 19) .

too much water. After six months the Sh

seedlings are transplanted to long nur-
sery beds which are not protected. Here
they remain until they are planted
in the field. Plants for new and
are propagated from seed,
the plants intended for old and poorer
soils are grafted. This is done while
the trees are in the long nursery beds.

The grafting is done by the natives
and _ the results are excellent. Both the
seed beds and the nursery beds are
provided with new soil every twu years.
The soft, mellow soil containing mach
more humus is preferable. The plant-
ation I visited is terraced to prevent
the washing of the soil,

The trees are transplanted from the
nursery beds during the rainy season
and are set out 3 by 4 feet apart.
Each terrace is about 4 feet wide and
slants in a little. A rectangular hole
18 inches deep by 18 inches long and
6 inches wide is dug near each tree.
This hole serves as a pocket to hold
rain water, it also allows the air to
enter the soil and serves as a receptacle
in which weeds and grass are deposited.
The soil on this terrace is kept thoroughly
cultivated; both men and women do
this work and are paid according to the
amount of land cleared. At each clear-
ing the old holes are tilled and new holes
are dug.

Harvesting begins in two years and is
kept up definitely, replanting being
done where the old trees are removed.
Trees are not usually allowed to grow
for a longer period than five years.
Harvesting is done during the dry
season.

Harvesting by years.—First year, one
lower branch as large as one’s thumb
is removed; second year, the second
branch is removed; third year, every
other tree is removed; fourth year,
other trees are removed, replanting be-
gins; fifth year, the largest trees are
removed, replanting continues, |

Very old aud poor soils are fertilised
with castor-bean cake which is placed
in the bottom of the holes around the
trees,

When the plants are young a rather
small eating insect attacks the lower
side of the leaves, causing them to
eur] and wrinkle. The most successful
method of combating this insect is to
keep the plant growing so rapidly that
several small leaves are formed for every
leaf destroyed. After two years the
plants are so thrifty that damage from
this insect need not be _ considered.
Another pest is a grub which eats the
roots of the young plants. These grubs

thie

‘ Marca, 1910.)

ERY Seen een Te
‘ ‘ ~~, Al toe a ae oe ~

may be dug out and destroyed. A
fungous growth sometimes attacks the
stems and roots of the plants. The
leaves turn red ard eventually fall off.
The plants are dug up and burned, the
hole being left open, and after a year
another tree is set in.

The bark is removed from the stems
and roots as large as one’s thumb not
later than one or two days after harvest-
ing. It is then carried to the drying
house, where it is exposed either to the
direct keat of the sun or toa wood fire,
for which the wood from the cinchona
tree is used as fuel. After being dried
the barkis pounded to a powder and
putin sacks weighing 200 pounds each.

A small chemical factory at Bandoeng
extracts the quinine from the crude

-bark. This factory is the only one in

Java and uses about one-tenth of the
cinchona bark grown there, the remain-
ing 5,120,000 kilograms of crude bark
being exported to Holland.

The manager of the plantation has
recommended to the Government that
a factory be established on the plant-
ation, The necessity for this is evident
when it is considered that for every 100
pounds of bark transported to the
factory at Bandoeng more than 90
pounds is waste.

Land for cinchona is cleared in the

‘same way as for abaca and the brush

buened. The superintendent has dis-
covered, however, that better results
are obtained where the land is not
burned over, and recommends that the
brush be burned in piles. This leaves a
large unburned area containing a great
deal of vegetable matter. The logs re-
main on the newly-cleared plantation
and are not burned, but are left on the
land to decay and add humus to the soil,

The percentage Of quinine in the bark
varies from 2 to 15. By selection and
hybridising the percentage has heen
considerably increased. The export of
bark from this plantation was in 1897,
300,000 kilograms containing 4 to 5 ps5r
cent. of quinine, and in 1907, 1,000,000
kilograms containing 6 to7 per cent. ot
quinine. Itis expected that the trees
recently planted will yield from 12 to 15
per cent, of quinive,

The cinchona tree has few enemies.
It is easily grown provided suitable soil
conditions, elevations, and rainfall are
present. It can be harvested at any
time, and adelay in harvesting does not
result in an injury to the product. It
can be grown economically on either
a large or small estate,

255 Miscellaneous.

Two thousand natives are employed
on this estate, the men receiving about
20 cents and the women about 12 cents
as a daily wage. The native villages,
three in number, are models of cleanli-
ness and neatness. The manager is a
thorough believer in the value of a
check plot experiment system.

DoMESTIC ANIMALS.

A large number of ducks are raised in
Java. The ponies, cattle, carabaos,
sheep, and goats look about the same
as those in the Philippine Islands, but
are more plentiful. In Central Java the
cattle and carabaos are worth, res-
pectively, P16 and P40 each. I travelled
twenty days before I saw a pig. This
is evidently due to the fact that the
natives are all Mohammedans and do
not eat pork,

THE PROGRESS OF INDIAN
AGRICULTURE.

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXV., No. 1, Caleutta, Saturday,
January 1, 1910.)

Some amount of impatience is at times
expressed because of the apparent tardi-
ness of the various agricultural depart-
ments in producing practical results.
The impetuous critic is apt to expect
that, somuch expenditure having been
devoted to the improvement of agri-
culture in this country, great and strik-
ing achievements should immediately
follow. Indian cotton should be so much
improved in quality that it should
become the first favourite at Liverpool
and Manchester. The cultivation of the
Indian sugar-cane and the manufacture
of sugar should be brought to such a
pitch of perfection as to render the
competition of Java futile. Indigo
should be placed in a position to oust its
synthetic rival. Flax should become a
profitable Indian crop, and Indian cigars
should be smoked in preference to
Havanas. Above all, the Indian ryot
should advance at one stride to the
status of a scientific cultivator. This is
the kind of progress which would appear
to be required to satisfy many of
those who look upon the establishment
of Agricultural Departments in this
country asa disappointing experiment.
Wedo not doubt that the majority of
these results will be attained in due
time. It is impossible to read the
extremely interesting Report which the
Inspector-General of Agriculture has pre-
pared upon the Progress of Agriculture
in India in 1907-09 without taking

Miscellaneous,

sanguine view of the prospects of this
country asa producer of the materials
of manufacture. Butit is equally certain
that the development of its resources
will be a slow process, and that it is
unreasonable to expect immediate results
from Departments which are as yet in
their infancy. In the first place, the
officers of these Departments must them-
selves go through a more or less lengthy
process of study before they can under-
take to teach those who are pursuing
agriculture according to the methods
which embody the experience and tradi-
tions of centuries. The possibilities: of
improvement can only be realised by
those who have familiarised themselves
with existing conditions. This may
seem a truism, but in reality it is a truth
which was discovered as the result of
costly and humiliating failures. Further,
when improvements suggest themselves
their practical value must be tested by
a series of experiments. A case in point
is that of the hybridisation of cotton.
Experiments, says Mr. Mollison, “have
brought to light some new ideas which,
however, requires confirmation. The
crosses at the Surat farm have been
found to be undergoing considerable
variation. Although their lnts have a
relative advantage in quality over the
ordinary Surat cotton, the ginning per-
centage is steadily falling (the percent-
age as fallen from 386°9_ to 30°
during the lastfive years),” Here isan
instance of an apparently successful im-
provement. The lints of the Surat
hybrids have been valued at from 5 to
10 per cent. above fine Broach. Yet, if
the hybrids had been officially recom-
mended for adoption without adequate
trial, it is easy to see that the effect
would have been to discredit scientific
agriculture in the minds of the culti-
vators concerned for some time to come,
Nor is this the only example of the
necessity of patient observation which
the cotton-growing industry supplies.
There was good reason to expect that
Egyptian cotton would flourish in Sind,
but, says Mr. Mollison, “it is disappoint-
ing to have to record a set-back in
the expectations previously formed,” and
the conclusion now arrived at is that
‘‘unless cultivation is improved and
sufficient flow irrigation is obtained as
early as March-April there is no likeli-
hood of Egyptian cotton being estab-
lished asa general field crop in Sind.”
No one could have foreseen this failure,
which has been due mainly to the disin-
clination of the ryots to carry out the
rules necessary for success. Even for
assured negative results time is required.
It was only after years of observation
that the Imperial Department of Agri-

256

culture were able to state that, in spite
of the enthusiastic claims put torward
on behalf of tree cottons, their place as a
field crop is ‘very limited.” But,
though progress is necessarily slow,
benefits to agriculture are already
accruing from the great variety of
scientific research. The causes of destruc-
tive blights have been discovered, and in
some instances an effectual remedy has
been provided. Thus, the campaign
against the palm disease ‘‘ has been
particularly successful and is still being
prosecuted earnestly by means of special
staff sanctioned by the Madras Govern-
ment.” Mr. Mollison adds:—“I must
note the fact that the results of this
enquiry by Dr. Butler are so valuable
to India that they are equivalent to
saving the cost of his section to India
for many years to come.” We should be
disposed to say thas Mr. Lefroy’s book
on “Indian Insect Pests” is almost
enough in itself to justify the existence
of his section, for, when the information
which this work contains is brought
home to the ryot, it will effect the saving
of many lakhs of rupees. The creative
departments have been as fruitful as
those engaged in saving the crops from
injury or destruction. It may fairly be
said that there is scarcely a district in
which the possibility of growing a new
crop bas not been examined or tested by
experiment. The list of promising
ventures would run to a great length,
ranging as they do from cattle-breeding
to poultry-farming and bee-keeping, and
from the remarkable efforts to resus-
citate the indigo industry to the im-
provement of the sugar cane aud of
tobacco.

DRESSINGS AND THEIR
APPLICATION.

GREEN

THE EFFECT ON THE BURIED PLANTS.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol.
VIII., No. 189, July 4, 1909.)
The practice of the application of
green dressings to soils is one which has
existed from the earliest times; in fact,
the first records of any rules which have
been made for the regulation of agricul-
tural operations show unmistakably
that the value of burying green plants
in the soil for the benefit of future crops |
was fully recognised many centuries -
ago. That this conclusion, reached em-
pirically though it was, is not at fault,
has been proved again and again by the
most rigid methods of modern scientific
investigation. Thus a feeling of secu-
rity in the following of the practice has

resulted and, in many cases, where no
account has been taken of local condi-
tions, actual serious harm has accrued
from it. Like all other agricultural
operations, that of the application of
green dressings is one which is governed
by complex, rather than simple, con-
siderations,

It is evident that the results of such
a method of manuring, as far as subse-
quent crops are concerned, depend on
two factors: (1) the effect on the buried
plants, (2) the effect on the soil. Asa
matter of convenience, the subject will
be dealt. with in relation to these two
factOrs. It is not within the scope of
an article like the present one to give
illustrative examples, so that reference
is made to the chapter on Green Manur-
ing in Professor J. G. Lipman’s* Bacteria
in Relation to Country Life, pp. 237-63,
where a very complete account of the
practice may be found.

That the plants used in green dress-
ings must undergo great changes before
‘they can ‘be of any use to the crops
which they are intended to benefit is
a matter of common knowledge. These
changes take place through the action
of bacteria, and, owing to adverse con-
ditions, they may be delayed, or even
affected in such .a way as to render the
action of the manure positively harmful.
This is the case in light. as well asin
heavy, soils. In the first instance, the
fact that such soils are liable to quick
drying may, in the event of this taking
place, so interfere with the normal bac-
terial action as to cause the buried
material, when the soil becomes wet
again, to lose its most valuable consti-
tuent—nitrogen—instead of undergoing
those changes which would render that
element more available. In the second
case, an excessive rainfall, or insufficient
drainage, will induce a formation of
acid substances which will act as a
preservative against that decay upon
which the material absolutely depends
for its effectiveness.

For reasons which are closely con-
nected with what has just been stated,
green dressings should never be buried
deeply. The depth of cover may be
greater in light soils than in those which
are heavy. The same considerations
govern the procedure when it is a
question of applying the dressing when
fresh, or after it hasbeen dried. A soil
with a large water-holding capacity is
more likely to induce beneficial changes
in the dried, than in the green material,
while, on the other hand, a light, well-
drained, sandy soil will show the oppo-

~ * The Macmillan Company, New York, 1908,

¢

257

Miscellaneous.

site tendency. Nevertheless, withsome .

erops and under the best conditions,
fresh green dressings and dry green
dressings show an equal efficiency as
providers of nitrogen.

Setting aside other considerations, as
far as the crop which is intended to
provide the green dressing is concerned,
the best time to apply the latter is when
it just reaches maturity ; that is to say,
at fruting time, when about half of the
leaves have turned yellow, for at this
period the plant has reached the limit
of production for thatseason. An addi-
tional reason for not allowing the
manuring crop to stand too long is that
the water-content of the soil may be
reduced to such an extent as to decrease
the number of beneficial bacteria to a
degree which will inhibit its proper
action when it is eventually ploughed in.

Such aconsideration, however, namely
that of the age which the manurial
dressing should reach before it is applied
to the land, is governed by another im-
portant factor. In soils in the tropics,
where bacterial action takes place very
quickly, there isa danger that the food
which has been rendered available to
plants and which, consequently, has be-
come all the more soluble, may be
largely washed out of the soil before the
crop which is intended to benefit by it
has reached the stage when it is capable
of taking itin. Thus it is unmistakably
indicated that, under the climatic condi-
tions of the West Indies, land which
has been treated with green dressings
must be put to use soon after their appli-
cation, in order that loss due to waste-
age may be avoided as far as possible.

Dependence is often placed merely
upon one or two kinds of plants for the
provision of green dressings. This
should not be so, especially where there
are facilities for raising, and experiment-
ing with, a number of different sorts.
The diseases and pests to which various
plants are liable have very distinct
limitations in respect to each kind of
plant, andit is reasonable to conclude
that several different kinds of plants,
raised on a given area,
give a much better yield than one or
two varieties. In the matter of legu-
minous plants, the consideration is
further advanced. A reference to the
article on ‘ Soil Inoculation’ in the Agri-
cultural News, Vol. VIII, No. 184, of
May 15, 1909, will make it plain that
different leguminous plants require
different varieties of bacteria for the
purpose of nitrogen-fixation, and that,
therefore, the raising of as many kinds
of those plants as is possible in a given

are likely to

Miscellaneous.

area of soil will result in the largest
employment of the bacteria which are
present for that purpose.

It requires little cousideration to reach
the conclusion that, as buried plants are
dependent upon the action of certain
bacteria for the production of useful
plant food from them, any means of
increasing the number of those bacteria
in the soil will make the efficiency of
such buried plants all the greater. This
theoretical consideration receives practi-
eal support from experiments which
plainly show that the admixture of
pen manure with the dressings before
ploughing in, even in proportions too
small for the manure to haveany action,
of itself, in increasing the yield, has
hastened and directed the decay of the
green crop in suck a way as to cause the
maximum benefit to be derived by the
one which succeeded it,

The action of bacteria, then, is the
chief determining factor in the changes,
eventually beneficial or otherwise, which
are undergone by greendressings. That
this action is of paramount importance
in the matter under review will be
rendered all the more evident in the
next article which, as has been stated,
-will deal with the effect of the buried
plants on the soil.

PROGRESS OF GREEN MANURING
FOR WET LANDS.

By H. C. Sampson,
Deputy Director of Agriculture,
Southern Division.
(From the Madras Agricultural Calen-
dar, March, 1910,)

A short note was written on this subject
in the 1908 Calendar, and the matter was
again referred toin the 1909 Calendar.
It is so important, however, that another
article on the same subject will not come
amiss.

At first sight the fact-that a crop is
grown on the wet land and ploughed
in, may, to any one who has not tried
it, seem a waste of time and money,
because nothing except a seed sown is
put into the land. In reality this is
not so, all the green manure crops
referred to below belong to the family
of plants which have the power of col-
lecting nitrogen trom the air, thesame
family in factas Kolingi, Avari, Pongam,
all of which are selected by ryots
especially valuable for gresn manure.
Farmers have found out by experience
that such leaves as these are the best
for wet lands, but investigation has
shown the reason, namely, that these

258

plants contain more nitrogen than
others, and that such plants and only
plants of this family are able to make
use of the nitrogen which is in the air.
Nitrogen is the most valuable ingredient
of all manures, and if nitrogen was not
present in, for instance, a poonac, the
latter if applied to a crop would not

give it that healthy dark green appear-

ance which always follows an appli-
cation of poonac on a well-drained soil.
Hence, though the farmer, when he

soWs @ green manure crop does not put-

any manure into the ground, such plants
as are described below can collect nitro-
gen from the air.
except the ash of the plant, all the
vegetable matter, which, when ploughed
in, rots and improves the texture of
the soil, is also obtained by the plant
from the air. Hence, growing green
manure crops is most profitable, espe-
cially if village ashes are also applied
at the time of puddling.

Sunnhemp, indigo, wild indigo, cow-
gram, groundnuts and daincha (Sesbania
aculeata) are all plants which can be
grown under certain conditions for
green manuring,

Sunnhemp.—This is perhaps grown
more largely than any other green
manure crop. Every year large areas
are grown in the Kistna and Godavari
Deltas. The seed is sown just before the
paddy is harvested and the crop is cut
when 4-5 feet high. Itis cut at about a
foot from the ground and the stubble
is allowed to remain and grow again.
The tops are dried and make excellent
fodder. The sunnhemp, however, on
account of its extraordinarily rapid
growth can be utilised in many places
and under other conditions. In six
weeks the crop will attain a height of
3 to4 feet if the ground is moist, Thus,
on wet land, where water is always
available, or on wet lands where theseed
beds are not prepared until water is
available, or again on wet lands under
tanks where the latter have been filled
by early rains and the season for trans-
planting has not arrived, under all these
conditions sunnhemp can be grown. On
the Tanjore delta excellent crops can be
raised after the receipt of water in the
channels in time to plough in before the
seedlings are ready. Again, the heavy
summer rains which Jast year fell in
many districts filled many tanks which

-did not expect their supply till June-
‘July. Onthe Coimbatore Agricultural

Station advantage was taken of this
water to grow an excellent crop of sunn-
hemp, which was ready to be ploughed
in by the time the seedlings were ready
to transplant. On the West Coast also

°

This is not all, for,’

\

Maron, 1910.) 0
this canbe grown with the April-May
rains, and will be ready to ploughin by

the time transplanting commences.
When grown on only a small scale,

' people who try this for the first time are

apt tobe disappointed as the crop is
very liable to be eaten by caterpillars,
but on a large scale of 3-4 acres
the attack is much less. This remark
applies to nearly all green manure
crops. Some trial fields are often the
the only green crop in the neighbourhood
and therefore are very liable to be
attacked by insects, but when once the
practice becomes widespread, so do the
insects and the attack is not so severe.

Indigo.—This isa very useful crop to
grow for green manure. It is very
droughteresistant and at the same time
will grow on heavy land even when it is
wet, but it will not thrive on land at all
saline. Itis now largely grown on the
Cauvery delta. The seed of this crop
can be sown at the time of the harvest
of the samba crop. If there is sufficient
moisture in the soil for germination, the
land can be ploughed and sown as soon
as possible after harvest. If it is too
dry or too sticky, the seed can be sown
a week or two before the paddy harvest,
provided the water has been drained off.
In the Perambalur taluk there is an
excellent practice on tank lands of
sowing indigo with cumbu and irrigating
from wells. The cumbu when ready for
harvest is cut and the indigo is allowed
to grow and gives an excellent crop.
This is ploughed in at the time of trans-
planting the samba crop.

Wild Indigo.—This was dealt with
fully in last year’s Calendar in the note
on improvements in the cultivation of
paddy on the Sivagiri home farm.

Cowgram.—This promises to be a very

. useful green manure crop on the West

Coast. It grows quickly and is not so
liable to insect attacks assunnhemp. It
can be sown with«the April-May rains,
and will have grown sufficiently to
plough in by the time transplanting
commences in June-July.

Groundnuts.—This also promises to be
a very useful green manure crop on the
West Coast on single crop lands which
are harvested in October. The land can
be ploughed after the paddy harvest
and the seed sown behind the plough.
The crop should give sufficient nuts to
pay for the cultivation expenses while
the tops can beploughed in. This has
been tried most successfully at the
Taliparamba Agricultural Station, and
under similar conditions in the neigh-
bourhood, but it has yet to be proved
whether it will do equally well on the

38

259 Miscellaneous.

lighter and more exposed lands near
the coast which do not get the nightly
dews which are experienced in the
valleys.

Daincha.—This plant will prove very
useful on land which is liable to flooding
or are badly drained or slightly saline.
It grows to a height of 6-8 feet and will
continue to grow for several months. It
can, however, be ploughed in within four
months if necessary. This should prove
very useful in the Cauvery delta on
such lands which are too wet to trans-
plant with the first crop,

THE ROTHAMSTED EXPERIMENT
STATION.

(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle, XLVIL.,
1, 201, January, 1910.)

The important part played by the
Rothamsted Experiment Station, in the
development of scientific agriculture is
recognised throughout the world. Since
its foundation by Messrs. Lawes &
Gilbert in 1848, ithas beeniu the fore-
most rank of agricultural research insti-
tutions. From the days when it played
a leading part in solving the mystery of
the source of nitrogen to plants, till the
present time, it has continued to make
contributions to knowledge which have
advanced science and assisted practice:
At no time during its long and distin-
guished career has the station been more
active than itis now in the investiga-
tions of the problems, particularly those
appertaining to the soil, which concern
the agriculturist and horticulturist.

This being so, it might be supposed
that, whatever was the case with
younger and less proved situations, the
endowment of Rothamsted would be
adequate for its requirements. Far
trom this being the case, it isa fact that
the income available for the work of the
station is less than that enjoyed by any-
one of the fifty-two separate experiment
stations attached tothe several states
of the American Commonwealth.

Thus, although no State Experimental
Station exists in this country, our only
institution, which, by its work, has
won for itself world-like recognition, is
allowed todepend for its resources on
private munificence, on the support® of
one of the great City companies and on
casual subscriptions. We are not aware
that Rothamsted receives any support
whatever from the State, but in amy
case, it must be admitted that for the
work of Rothamsted to be curtailed for
lack of funds is a reproach to the whole
community.

Miscellaneous. 260

Despite the fact that the society for
extending the Rothamsted experiments
were founded in 1904, and notwithstand-
ing the activity of this society, the
collected donations which it has received
amount only to £500 and annual sub-
scription to about £150.

lt is impossible to believe that this is a.

measure of the recdgnition by the public
of the services which the station is
rendering. Rather it must be taken as
one of the most striking of many indica-
tions that insufficient consideration is
given to the pressing need for the in-
vestigation of problems which concern
the national life and well-being. The
State leaves such matters too much to
private munificence, and the demands
are so varied and heavy that our insti-
tutions are apt to suffer.

If Rothamsted were in any other
country of the civilised world, it would
receive an adequate measure of State
assistance. The fact that it is not under
State control should be no bar to its
receiving such aid.

We claim to be a nation of practical
men and not of pedants, and yet by
heedlessness we fail to invest a few
hundreds a year in an enterprise which,
even now, handicapped asitis by lack
of means, is equal to any experiment
station in the world. We hope that
before long Rothamsted may receive a
substantial grant from the Treasury,
and we would urge on the Board of
Agriculture the importance of its taking
the initiative in securing sucha grant,

To state the objects for which funds
are required is to demonstrate the
urgency of theneed. They include: an
increase of land for experimental pur-
poses, a permanent endowment for the
bacteriological laboratory, equipment of
the botanical and pathological depart-
ments, and also the investigation of
animal nutrition.

The present staff has proved its capa-
city to elucidate in brilliant fashion the
problems of the soil in relation to the
growth of crops. It iscertain that, with
more adequate support, it would contri-
bute ina notable degree to the solution
of outstanding problems in other depart-
ments of agriculture-and horticulture.

INDUSTRIAL ALCOHOL AND ITS
POSSIBILITY AS A SOURCE OF
POWER IN THE PHILIPPINES.

(From the Philippine Agricultural
Review, Vol. Il., No. 11, November, 1909).

Aleohol ean be used as a motor fuel
for all purposes for which gasoline is at
present employed. Exhaustive tests

made by the United States Government.

have demonstrated that any gasoline
or kerosene engine of ordinary type can
with proper manipulation operate with
alcohol without material change in its
construction. The engine will give
slightly more power (about 10 per cent.)
when alcohol is used, but this increase is
at the expense of greater consumption
of fuel. Experiments of United States
Geological Survey have shown that
when denatured alcohol is employed the
lowest fuel consumption is obtained with
the highest practical degree of compres-
sion (116 to 18:7 kilograms per square
centimeter), but since the vaporization
temperature of alcohol is higher than
that of gasoline a modified combustion
chamber and’ carburetor is to be pre-
ferred, Some gasoline engines are not
sufficiently heavy to stand the desired
explosion pressure when alcohol is used,
and therefore a machine especially de-
signed for alcohol is preferable to one
planned to operate with gasoline or
kerosene.

The United States Geological Survey
made a series of over 2,000 individual
tests, comparing gasoline of about 0:699
specific gravity (73° Baumé) and com-
mercial fully denatured alcohol. Tests
which corresponded in the method of
manipulation showed that alcohol was
more efficient than gasoline, and they
also proved that equal volumes of
gasoline and alcohol produced the same
power. This result is not usually
achieved in practice. Ordinary com-
mercial gasoline engines of stationary
or marine type will consume from 1°5 to
2 times as much alcohol as gasoline when
operated under the same conditions.

Alcohol is especially suited to air-
cooled automobile engines, as the ex-
haust is not so hot as when gasoline or
kerosene is used, while on the other hand
the temperature of the cylinder may be
hotter without danger of backfiring,
The storage and use of alcohol in engines
is much less dangerous than that of
gasoline or petrol, and the engines oper-
ating on the former run more quietly and
produce a less offensive odour. No more
skill is required to operate an alcohol
engine than one arranged for gasoline
or kerosene,

The relative heat values of gasoline,
alcohol, and coal are shown by the fol-
lowing approximate numbers :—

Calories,
Gascline Aa ie xo 11,100
Alcohol (100 per cent.) ... ai 7,183
Pennsylvania anthracite “Ae 7,500

The calorific value of alcohol is of
course lower by impurities, so that
commercial (90 per cent.) alcohol has a

:
3
:
:

Maron, 1910.)

calorific value of about 60 per cent. of
that of gasoline, or a comparative heat
value of over 70 per cent, by volume.
Alcohol of 85 per cent. is the common
grade of industrial alcohol used in
Europe. The United States Geological
Survey found difficulties in starting and
regulating when the experiments em-
ployed 80 per cent. alcohol and the fuel
consumption increased more rapidly
than the percentage of alcohol decreased.

The effect upon. motors, lamps, ete.,
of using denatured alcohol has been dis-
cussed, and deterioration has usually
been attributed to the denaturant. It
may be possible that all of the evils
coming from the latter may be remedied
in the future, Luke and Woodward
found that the interior of an alcohol
engine had no tendency to become sooty,
as is the case with gasoline and kerosene,
and there was no undue corrosion of
the interior due to the use of alcohol.

The raw materials from which indus-
trial alcohol comes consist of those sub-
stances which contain starch, sugar, and
other fermentable bodies, named in the
order of their importance, capable of
easily being converted into a terment-
able sugar. The cereals, rice, wheat,
oats, rye, maize, and barley, the potato,
cassava or manioc, and some other roots
contain large percentages of starch.
From all of these as well as from sugar
cane and sugar cane molasses, sorghum,
and fruit juices which contain large per-
centages of sugars, alcohol is made.
The artichoke which contains neither
starch nor sugar but a number of other
fermentable carbohydrates, of which
inulin and levulin are the principal con-
stituents, has been highly recommended
and rather extensively used in Germany
for the manufacture of alcohol. At the
present time alcohol is made ona large
commercial scale from corn, rye, pota-
toes, sugar beets, sugar cane, and sugar
cane molasses. Rice has the largest per-
centage of starch among the cereals, but
it is not the cheapest source of alcohol.
Indian corn, which hitherto has formed
the chief raw material for fermentation
and distillation, contains approximately
70 per cent. of fermentable bodies, and
under the best. conditions a kilo of corn
will usually yield about 340 grams of
alcohol (420 cubic centimeters of 95 per
cent. alcohol by volume at 15° C.). If the
average price of corn be placed at3
centavos per kilo and the cost of manu-
facture, storage, profit, etc., be taken as
an equal amount, industrial alcohol (95
per cent.) from this source, untaxed,
wee sell wholesale for about 14 centavos
a liter,

261 Miscellaneous.

P Annual
Ayptail consump-
Country: steraie tion (mil-
liter in lion
centavos. liters).
Germany oa 16 140
Cuba 7 21 ee
France i 23 40
England Bee a 15
United States ... 32 13

Besides rice, Indian corn, sugar cane,
the available sources from which alcohol
can be manufactured in this Archipelago
are the sap of many palms and the
cassava. At present nearly all of the
alcohol produced comes from the bled
sap of the nipa and other palms. Alcohol
from the nipa has a disagreeable odour
which is somewhat difficult to remove,
but for industrial purposes this would be
no consequence. A description of this
palm (Nipa fruticans, Wurmb.) may be
found in many places. It is a species
widely distributed all the way from
India to Malaya, in northern Australia
and Polynesia. A very detailed study
of the culture and bleeding of this palm
has been published by Ayala & Co.

The nipa grows in low, salt-water
tidal swamps and the plant is com-
pletely developed in about four years
after planting the seed, The palms fruit
about every two years, at no particular
season. When the tree is ready to bleed
the fruiting stem is cut as close to the
young fruit as possible and the emerging
liquid (uba) caught in ajoint of bamboo.
Every day a thin slice is cut from the
stem before all the tuba can be drawn,

The production of tuba froma mature
tree usually increases during the first
fifty to sixty days after tapping and
decreases during twenty-five to thirty
days more. If tubais drawn for a longer
period the tree will die. The tuba from
mature stems is white, has an aromatic
odour, and is sweet. That from palms
having less mature fruit is bluish and
less sweet and, therefore, has_ less
fermentive value. The average yield
per tree fluctuates from one-half to3
liters per day, with a total of from 80 to
40 liters (sp. gr. 1:07 to 108 at 15°). The
juice contains approximatelv 12 per cent.
of fermentable material which is largely
sacchrose. Thirty-two to 34 liters of
tuba will usually produce one liter
of pure alcohol. In the Provinces
of Bulacan and Pampanga, where the
the price of the molasses residues from
sugar cane is low, the latter is mixed
with the tuba before fermentation, and
is said to give alarger yield of alcohol
than would the two if fermented separ-
ately.

Alcohol is removed from the fermented
tuba by distillation, The method used

Mascelianeous.

in the provinces produces a distillate
containing about 50 per cent. of alcohol.
By redistilling a sufficient number of
times 95 per cent. alcohol might be pro-
duced, but the process would be very
expensive ; therefore, the crude alcohol
is shipped to the large distilleries in
Manila, where it can be refined more
economically. In the latter, the process
is continuous ; the vapours pass through
several stills and are ccoled just suffi-
ciently to condense them in each one
until the proper purity is reached. It
will, therefore, be seen that after an
alcohol once passes the crude 50 per cent.
stage a purity of 95 per cent. can be
produced with very littJe more expense
per proof liter than one of lower grade.
The economy of the purer form is
obvious.

The manufacture of alcohol from tuba
is rather expensive, and it is doubtful if
the process could be greatly cheapened.
Denatured alcohol (95 per cent.) from
this source is sold wholesale at P2-40,
Philippine currency (%1'20, United States
currency) per 15 liters, while the above
estimated price for the product from
corn would be P2'30 per 15 liters, If a
market for alcohol as a fuel were opened
it could undoubtedly be produced from
tuba for P2 per 15 liters, but with the
present spasmodie usage it cannot be
sold at that figure.

Cassava is sold in the United States
over a large area of the South Atlantic
and Gulf States, and numerous analyses
made by the division of cheiistry,
United States Department of Agricul-
ture have shown that the roots contain
about 80 per cent, of starch. With the
exception of cereals it contains the
largest amount of fermentable matter.

‘*“Anaverage crop of cassava in the
United States may be placed at 5 tons of
roots per acre on the ordinary Jands of
Florida, with proper preparation and
cultivation a yield of from 4 to 7 or
perhaps 8 tons per acre may be reason-
ably expected.” At present there are no
reliable figures on the amount that can
be produced on a given area of land in
the Philippines, R. F. Bacon thinks
that it is perfectly safe to figure on a
production of 224 metric tons per hectare
(10 tons per acre), ‘* With this yield,”
he says, ‘‘there is only one other sub-
stance which seems able tocompete with
itasa source of alcohol, namely, the
molasses residue from the crystallization
of cane sugar.” I. B. Copeland esti-
mates that when starch made from
cassava sells at its present local price
(15 centavos per kilo), aleohol from the
same source would be worth about 174
centavos per liter or P2'60 per 15 liters.

profitable to produce starch than alcohol =

purchased by the city of Manila. In all
cases the machine was operated on a
level road and at a standard speed. A
erude alcohol such as is shipped to
Manila by provincial distillers was used.
The motor was first heated to a slight
extent by being run for about ten
minutes with gasoline; it ran for
twelve minutes on the alcohol and then
stopped. An examination showed that
the explosion of the alcohol did not
furnish enough heat to evaporate all of
the water present, and that a quantity
had collected in the combustion chamber.
When 90 and 94'5 per cent aleohol were
employed the motor ran smcothly, with
a consumption of 1‘8 and 1'6 times, res--
pectively, the quantity of gasoline used
for thesame time. Dukeand Woodward
say that a small engine required 1°8
times as much alcohol (probably 85 per
cent.) as gasoline per horsepower per
hour. é

The utilization of alcohol asa fuel is
an established fact. The economy is the
only open question. Gasoline (78°) is
now sold in Manila at P2°88 per 15 liters
(about 16 centavos per liter). On the
basis of an engine consuming 1'5 times
as much 95 per cent. alcohol as gasoline,
the former wouid need to be sold at P1°60
pei 15 liters in order to compete with
the latter. In localities where alcohol
can be produced cheaply, and which are
remote from gasoline supply, aleohol
may immediately compete with gasoline
as a power fuel, otherwise it is not prob-
able that it will be as economical a fuel
as gasoline in these islands for some time
to come, and [ do not anticipate an
immediate change in our motor fuel.

TILLED AND UNTILLED SOIL.

By J. J. WILLIS, Harpendenden.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle, No. 1195,
Vol. XLVI., Nov. 1909.) —

The operation of tillage has, for its
primary object, the stirring and loosen-
ing of the soil. When soil-particles are
massed loosely, as in a tilled field
or garden, spaces exist between them, ~
and these spaces permit of free
movement of air, If the particles are

:

: packed together. tightly,
land where the. soil ‘ec

MARCH, 191

aoe aa seh eS
as in pasture
annot be loos-
ened, there is comparatively little
space between the particles, and con-
sequently the amount of air in the soil
is but small. All grass land, as com-
pared with that under tillage, is in-
sufficiently serated, and in most cases
the older the sod the less well ventilated
it is; for, as time passes, the soil-
particles become more closely packed,
The ideal soil may be compared to a
sponge, not only because of its capacity
for holding nutritive solutions, but
because of its permeability to air. There
can be no question that the high pro-
ductiveness of well-cultivated soils is
due largely to the greater amount of air
available for the roots.

The presence of air ensures’ both
oxygen and carbonic acid in the soil.
Oxygen is essential to the growth and
well-being of the roots of plants, uo less
than to the serial parts. Carbonic acid
plays an important, though indirect,
part in ensuring soil fertility by bringing
inorganic materials into solution and
thus augmenting the supply of mineral
food-substances.

Beneficial micro-organisms are found
in greater numbers and are better dis-
tributed in a cultivated soil than in
compact and uncultivated soils, These
lower forms of life, like the higher
forms, are profoundly affected, both as
to their individual well-being and as to
their multiplication, by such conditions
as food, air, moisture, and temperature,
all of which factors are better regulated
by cultivation.

One of the objects of tillage is to
eonvert the soil into a suitable living
place for micro-organisms through the
increased humus, good drainage, ventil-
ation. and higher temperature. It is not
unreasonable, therefore, to assume that
the greater number and better condition
of the micro-organisms in a tilled orchard
contributes to the well-being of the
fruit trees.

There is evidence to show that all
plants, to a greater or less degree, so
change the soil in which they grow as to
make it wholly or partially unfit for a
succeeding crop of the same _ kind.
Different crops growing in the same soil
may injure each other, or the one the
other. ‘Two theories are advanced to
explain these antagonisms of plants.
One is that plants excrete toxins; the
other is that the injurious effect is the
result of bacterial activity,

Mr. Spencer Pickering, of the Woburn
Experimental Fruit Farm, in account-
ing for the injurious effect of grass upon
young Apple trees, attributes the harm
done neither to competition between

268

Miscellaneous,

grass and tree for moisture and food
nor toa difference in temperature. He
holds that it is due, not toa lack of air
and oxygen, nor to excessive amounts of
carbonic acld, but to some “ actively

“malignant” effect on the trees, some

action on them akin to direct poisoning.
More recently, Mr. Pickering leaves the
question open as to whether the harmful
action is the effect of a poison (toxin)
excreted by the roots of the grass, or
whether it is the result of some change
in the activity or composition of the
micro-flora brought about by the grass
sod. Beside these specific experiments
with Apple trees and grass there have
been recently several investigations
with other plants to show that vegetable
organisms have iuterdependences other
than those with their physical enviton-
ment. Kor example, investigations with
Peach trees grownin pots with several
other plants show that the Peach does
not thrive if its roots are in close
proximity to those of certain other
plants.

The well-being of nearly all plants
which minister to the needs of man is
improved by tillage. Fruit trees not
only respond to high cultivation in the
nursery row, but they need good treat-
ment after transplantation to the
orchard,

In experiments to determine what are
the comparative effects of tillage and
grass sod on the Apple tree, it is found
that tillage is generally better than sod,
but it should not be expected, however,
that sod will be deleterious in the same
degree under all conditions.

It is reasonable to suppose, for in-
stance, that in a deep soil, where the
Apple tree roots can escape from the
grass roots, or in one containing a great
amount of soil moisture, the harmful
effects of the grass will not be so marked
as in cases of an opposite nature.
Investigations do not show that the
Apples cannot be grown in sod. There
are many orchards which prove the
contrary. It issuggested, however, that
Apples thrive in sod, not because of the
sod, butin spite of it. The proof that
there are many thrifty orchards in grass
sod is not proof that these orchards
would not do better under tillage,

The statement is often made that trees
will become adapted to grass. There is
nothing ia the experiments conducted in
this country or in the Colonies to indi-
cate that such isthecase. Trees planted
in sod begin to show ill-effects even in
the first year in which orchards are laid
down to grass, and each succeeding year
but adds to the injury. Trees can
hardly be expected to become adapted
to thirst, starvation. asphyxiation and
poisonous excretions.

MARKET RATES FOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS.
(From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current, London, 16th February, 1910.)

~ (QUOTATIONS.

QUALITY. QUOTATIONS. QUALITY.
sg Bue cin He: eee tierce Say a (aan INDIARUBBER.(Contd.) pe
ALOES, Socotrine cwt.|/Fair to fine ++ /80s a@ 858 apes 4
Zanzibar & Epa a Comiton £0 good +-(40s a 705 pee Goon Sate el F ee ite one
rete Nee en: ft ae =; |fdlanid Penang Low white to prime red He 6d beni
Zanzibar Yellow _,, {Slightly drossy to fair .../e6 12s 6d.a £6 15s Mozambique tae to fineiteu spe l5s a 68 9d
Bombay bleached _,, |Fair to good a £7108 a £7 12s 6d Niassa ta a. Pe ball 800d .. 438d a 5s 8d
3 unbleached ,, {Dark to good genuine ../95 10s a £6 7s 6d Mean 4 Er togine pine © aha 4gsa 4s 8d
Madagascar Dark to good palish |£610s a £6 15s Madagascar Ga g necoated 3s 6d a 4d
oantfEOE pen ats fact Nae ica ad ae
shina 55 vee s . 3 9 s
‘ ‘ : i 5 2c New Guinea Ordinary to fine ball ..
es aa eames middling fant is 9d te 10d |INDIGO, EI. Bengal Shipping mid to gd violet 3s 10d nase
etpaicry (Getta beet ae asia Coumuming id 6d a ba
i : -.|ls 6d als § “dali aes
Mangalore ,, |Med brown to fair boldlis 1¢d a 2s 8d Prides td ae Ane 2s 6d a 2/8 nom.
Ceylou.— Mysore _,, /Small fair to fine plump /1s 4da 2s 11d las me Be eitiae pa, 2s 2d a 2s 6d
Malabar «. He ie hood . {ls 8da 1s 4d Mid. to fine Moicas Be oH a 2s é
4 o ” . .
Seetepyion. Long Wild ”, {Shelly to xood UG gE! MACE, Bombay & Penang|Pale reddish to fme 1s ida 284
CABTOR OIL, Caleutta,, |Good2nds ++ [34d a 34d ; per Ib. Ordingyy teas pale 2884 ais 10d
CHILLIES, gansinee Be Dull to fine bright =/4Us a 45s Beabar wild 8 3 pads ae
SINCHONA Sg MY »wt}/UG and Coconada
Ceylon Crown, Renewed 38d a 7d uy ees Eee ‘Wl Jubblepore bs saupe ds
Org. Stem [2d a 6d ** |Bhimlies 58 3d a 6s 6d
Red Org. Stem /13d a 43d 2 ‘Rhajpore, &c. 45 9d a 58 6d
Renewed 3d a 53d Bengal », |Caleutta 5s6d 268
Bory 1gd a 4d NUTMEGS— Ib. |64’s to 57's Is als éd
CINNAMON,Ceylon Iste|Good to fine quill l0dais 4d Bombay & Penang ,, |110’s to 65’s 43d als
per Ib) - “2nd ) a Od a 1s 2d 160's to 115’s fda aia
roe » ” “da ligd NUTS, ARECA ewt./Ordinary to faiy fresh 15s a 17s 6d
OS le Lyte i 63d a 93d NUX VOMICA, Cochin |Ordinary to gocd 9s a 11s 6d
i Chips, &¢..|Fair to fine bold 28d a 34d per cwt. Bengal nD ; és a-@s €d
CLOVES, Penang Ib.|ull to tine bright pkd.J1d 5sa 1s 6d Madras e 4 68 3d a 8s
Amboyna -|Dull to fine 9d a 10d OIL OF ANISEED _,, |Fair merchantable 4s 6d
Ceylon | era Lier 9d a 10d CASSIA », [According to analysis [3s 6d a 3s 10d
Zanzibar Fair and fine bright 53d a 58d LEMONGRASS ;, Good flavour & colour |2id a 3d
Stems ++|Fair ed NUTMEG ,, |Dingy to white 13d a 13d
COFFEE u : ; CINNAMON ,. |Ordinary to fair sweet /21d a 1s
Ceylon Plantation cwt) medium to bold 65d a 100s CITRON ELLE ,, [Bright & good flavour [1s
Native ee AY nominal ORCHELLA WEED—ewt
Liberian » |Fair to bold 3s a 5s Ceylon Mi A |e
COCOA, Ceylon Plant. ., |Special Marks 60s a 758 igeedawens zs Mid to fine not woody ae atDs
Red to good 58s a 59s PEPPER - (Black oel8
Native Estate »» [Ordinary to red 39s a 538 iNilenoe ( & T “). , Ib. Fai aed
Java and Celebes ,, |Small to good red 30s a 85s C oe eulenerry ein file holdiheaweae KS
COLOMBO ROOT » |Middling to good 208 a 223—.6d Sieh », Lo fine bold heavy .. hen
CROTONBEEDS Sy: ewt. Bu to eee. é a éd a. BOs Roe ay Ae nian pee =e on ao ead
5 5 » {Ord. sta 0 good Us a 120s viae eUreaces a f B el he)
Ce Bengal, rough,, |Fair y 8 40s nom, (White) Singapore - aly to fine ae fir aa a 33d
Calicut, Cut A,, |Smalito fine bold 658 a 85s ele ” ves ss ae Be) at a 8d
j a a Small and medium 55s a 60s Penang ” ee se se eee ta
We ; 3a 50s 3 5 ts i ae oe ue
aa emul pane pel ioe oa es RHUBAKB, Shenzi 2 Ordinary to good . [ls 8d a 2s 8d
Japan ” Unsplit : 42s : Canton __..|Ordinaryto good ..|Ud as 2d
@UM AMMONIACUM ,, |sm. blocky to fair clean|35s a 73s 6d High Dried. . Rupe He ne Biter . re is 1d
ANIMI, Zanzibar |Pale and amber, str. sits.|£16 a £18 5s to MES woh poe spa Gid
4 4 littie red|£13 a £15 BAGO Mhearl yard . : oa aets
Bean and Pea size ditto|75sa £14 2s 6d anal ” DL 163 ere
fn < 9 y
; Med ny Fond lsat ts £6 rare ‘tos SEEDLAC ewt,|Ordinary to gq. soluble |45s a 60s
Madagascar 5 Fair. to oa palish £4 a £8 15s SENNA, Tinnevelly ib.|Good to fine bold green/43d a 7d
: e red “£4. £7 Os Fair greenish 34d a 43d

ARABIC E. I. & Aden
Turkey sorts
Ghatti
Kurrachee
Madras
ASSAFQOSTIDA

KINO

MYRRH, Aden sorts cwt.
Somali

OLIBAN UM, drop

pickings
siftings
INDIA RUBBER

”
”

Ceylon, Straits,
Malay Straits, ete.

Assam
Rangoon

Sorts to fine pale
Reddish to good pale ..
Dark to fine pale

con. stony to go: d block
Fair to fine bright
Middling to good

Good to tine white
Middling to fair
Low to good pale

» \Slightly foul to fine

” Ordinary "to good pale}25s a 32s 6d nom.

30s a47s 6a

, 208 a 42s 6d nom

208 a 30s

a

.. | 15S a 25s
+ |Clean fr. to gd. almonds|£9 a 10s 10s

15s a £8
6d a gd
60s a 708
558 a GOs
45s a 608
40s a 40s
10s a 258 ©
13s a 15s

Fine Para bis. & sheets|9s 3d

5 Ceara .
Crepe ordinary to
Fine Block
Scrap fair to fine
Plantation

fine. .

8s Od

9s a 9s 4d
9s 6d

7s 3da7s 8d
586a a 6s

Fair I1to ord. red No. 1/48 a és 5d

se ”

38sa38 6d

SHELLS, M. 0’ PEARL—
Egyptian cwt.
Bombay
Mergui
Manilla

”
”
”

Banda 0
TAMARINDS, Calcutta..
per cwt. Madras
TORLOISESHELL—
Zanzibar, & Bombay lb.

TURMERIC, Bengal ewt.
Madras

Do, 60
Cochin ,,
VANILLOES— Tb,
Mauritius ists
Madagascar 2nds
Seycheiles rds
VERMILLION ..

WAX, Japan, squares
.

Commonspeckyand small|l4d a 24d
Small to bold

28s a 127/6nom.
18s a 127s 6d
.. |£> 10s a £9 5s
--|£610s a £10 15s
+ /258 a308 nom
ny|lls a 12s6d
../48@ 5s

” ” ee
Fair to good
Sorts ve
Mid. to fine blI’k not sto
Stony and inferior

Small to bold
Pickings 1s a 17s
Fair 77s 68
Finger fair to dne bold}19s a 21s

.. {ls €da 31g

Bulbs [bright|14s a 15s

Finger . |1%s “f
Bulbs , |18s €d

Gd crystallized 34 a8} in|12s a 18s

Foxy & reddish #4.a ,, |Lls a 14s

Lean and inferior .. |llsa lis 6d.
Fine, pure, bright 3s 3d

Good white hard «|438

THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE

Tropical Agricu

turist and Magazine of the 6. A. 8.

Compitep by A. M. & J. FERGUSON.

No. 3.]

MARCH, 1910.

[Von VI.

RUBBER PLANTS IN SINGAPORE
BOTANICAL GARDENS.

ANALYTICAL Nortks.

HeEveEA Brasitiensis.— The latex was obtained
from one 32-year-old tree, tapped at 6-30 a.m,
No water was added to the latex, and the for-
malin added was carefully measured, so that
the amount of pure latex is known. In the
figures given below, this formalin has been cor-
rected for so that they refer to pure Jatex.

The total yield from this tree at one tapping
was 27 fluid ounces of latex. It was thick, white,
and of very agreeable odour.

The coagulum obtained by use of acetic acid
was analysed and the amounts of several of. the
other constituents determined. The dry rubber
has the following composition :

Rubber

98.14 per cent,
Resin

1.86 per cent,
Albumens were not determined (as they should
be for strictly accurate results). Theiramount
is small compared to the total, and the usual
acetone extraction gives figures that are near
enough to the truth for all ordinary purposes,

The analysis of the latex is :—

Rubber 35.55 per cent
36,29 per cent { Resin 0.67 per cent
Ash 0.07 per cent
Serum olids 2.63 per cent eran matter 2.30 per cent
As

0,33 per cent
Water Water 61,08 per cent

Coagulum

61°08 per cent

The solids soluble in water, (tannins, colouring
matters, pentoses, gums, sugars of the inosite
group, etc.,)form a brown sweet smelling mass
of extremely hygroscopic nature: The strength
and appearance of the rubber were very fine.
The percentage of 36 per cent. coagulable matter
in the latex is very high for Para and is in ac-
cordance with the rule that the percentage of
rubber in a latex increases as the tree gets older.

WILLUGHBEIA FIRMA.

The specimen was a vine about twelve years
old, in the Botanical Gardens, growing in the
jungle part of the same, Greatest diameter of

34

stems about 24 inches. The latex was found to
flow most readily from transverse cuts, but
coagulated so easily that collection as latex was
difficult. Some of the latex was collected as
such and added to the clots picked out of the
cuts. The rubber was dried in the air and
analyzed. The results are:—Rubber, 86°82 per
cent. ; Resin, 13'18 per cent.

It was a very fine torgh rubber, turning very
dark-coloured ina short time. Except for the
high resin content it is a first-class rubber.

CurLocarpus ENERVIS.

This latex was obtained from a creeper in
the Botanical Gardens. It consisted of a mass
of twisted stems around a large cinnamon tree,
the largest circumference of any one stem being
about five inches. The latex ran quite freely,
without coagulating, from transverse cuts on
the thickest stems, The reaction was neutral to
litmus. Coagulating agents did not act readily,
and the whole was evaporated. It then wasa
white brittle mass, very soft whenhot. The latex
contained 42 per cent solid matter. Analysis
Dry Rubber 25°60 per cent; Resin 74°40 per cent.

The extracted rubber was a light-coloured mass
of little strength or elasticity,although not tacky.
It seemed to be rubber, but if really such, is
very poor. The resin is a pretty white substance,
crystallizing well from organic solvents.

LANDoLpHiaA H&upgtorti. (AFRICA.)

The specimen. examined was a bush in the
Botanical Gardens, growing in an inferior clay
soil. Only a few feet in height with a diameter
of about two inches on some of the branches
the basal stem being larger. The latex ran
very slowly from transverse cuts and coagulated
rapidly. The rubber was obtained by picking
the clots from the cuts, and was handsome and
strong. The analysis of the dry rubber is :—
Rubber, 89°50 per cent. ; Resin, 10°50 per cent.

The dry rubber is of a clear light brown
colour, not tacky, and very strong and elastic.
Compared to Willughbeia rubber, it has a better.

266

colour, and the resin content is less. It is,
therefore, a better rubber, as far as can be
judged without vulcanisation tests.

TABERNAEMONTANA DicHoToMmA. (INDIA.)

The specimens examined in the Botanical
Gardens were trees about fifteen feet high, of a
girth near the base of about eighteen inches,
and were growing in a very exposed place in
poor soil. Two of these trees were tapped on
successive mornings. The latex ran slowly. It
coagulated in a few hours in the bottle in spite
of added formalin. On rubbing between the
fingersand thumb it leaves them sticky as a good
rubber latex should not do. The solid mass was
extracted. The figures on the dry weight are :—
Gutta, 25°95 per cent.; Resin, 74°05 per cent.

The latex contained 40'25 per cert of solid
material. The extracted gutta seems to be of
very good quality, very tough and of a light
yellowish colour. [tis very hard when cold and
softens readily on warming. The resin appears
not to contain cinnamic acid esters, although
further work would be necessary to decide this
point. It would seem as if the extracted gutta
might be a very useful substance.

LeEvconotis HuGENIIFOLIUS,

The specimen examined was a low bush in
the Botanical Gardens, a mixture of Leuconotis,
Willughbeia and Urceola, Great care had to be
taken to trace each stem toits proper leaf. The
thickest stems procurable were tapped trans-
versely; a small amount of thin latex was ob-
tained. Acetic acid coagulates this latex readily
but on analysisit was found to contain norubber.
The main constituent, comprising 26°19 per cent
of the whole latex, is a sticky resin soluble in
acetone.

ARTOCARPUS INTEGRIFOLIA.

The specimens examined were common Jack

trees, The latex ran very well from herring-bone |

tappings, It was thin and very sticky, neutral in
reaction to litmus. Attempts to coagulate it
were unsuccessful, but it was found the aggluti-
nated solid matter could be separated from the
serum by filtration on paper. A small percen-
tage only was found to be insoluble in acetone,
and this was found to be a white powder, neither
rubber nor gutta percha. Analysis of the latex

gave;
per cent. per cent
Coagulum + 26°79 Solid insoluble in
Serum solids Gums ; acetone .., 2°37
pectins, albumens, (Resin soluble Be wee 24°42
ete. 8°85 bo .. 8°85
Water . 64°36 64°36
100. 100.

The resinis a beautiful clear yellow, semi-solid
mass, and extremely sticky. This and a powder
of unknown nature are the chief components
of this latex, it containing no rubber whatever.

Astonia ‘* Puxat.,”’

The specimen examined was a large Alstonia
angustiloba tree in the Botanical Gardens. The
tree was tapped by the herring-bone system,
and the latex ran well at first, but speedily
thickened in the cuts as does Dyera latex. It was
kept going as well as possible by scraping it
down the cuts, and a total of 2 fluid ounces was
obtained. Addition of a measured amount of

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

ammonia caused the latex to become much more
fluid and turn a bright yellow in colour. It was
filtered through a very fine mesh silk gauze to
remove dirt, and acidified with acetic acid. It
does not coagulate as easily as true Jelotong
latex with any ordinary coagulating agent.

Analysis of the dry coagulum is: Rubber
22°28 per cent. and Resin 77°72 per cent.

Analysis of the pure latex gave :

Rubber 7.83 per cent
Coagulum 35°74 per cent. Resin 2778 »
Ash 013 oy
Organic
Serum Solids 4°43 ar | matter 3°78 i
Ash 0°65 mh
Water 59°83 y Water 59°83 %
100, 100.

The latex thus strongly resembles that of
the allied Dyera tree. The coagulum, which is
rather stiff and brittle when the first exces-
sive amount of water has been removed, con-
tains exactly the same proportions of rubber
and resin as in the Dyera Jelotong. The serum
solids and the resin are very similar, they
may possibly be identical. The resins have all
the appearance of belonging to the amyrin
group of resin alcohols as do the true Jelotong
resins, Some of the chief differences between
the two latices are :

(a) The inferiority of the Alstonia rubber. The
extracted rubber, although it seems to be caout-
chouc, is muck inferior in strength and colour
to Jelotong rubber.

(6) Inferiority of Alstonia latex as regards ease
of coagulation.

(c) Tendency to turn bright yellow of the
Alstonia latex. [f Jelotong rubber is adulterated
with pieces of ‘‘pulai” it often is possible to
detect the same by the yellow colour. On the
other hand if a small guantity of the ‘ pulai”
latex is added to the Dyera latex it would be
quite impossible to detect it as the dry material
of both latices has exactly the same percentages
of rubber and resin.

‘*PurUB” JELOTONG.

A specimen of Jelotong coagulated by means
of ‘‘Purub” was examined. This was a large
hard ball, yellow outside and slightly so on the
inside. [t was very hard and brittle and looked
very unpromising. The age was said to be about
three months, It probably contained some
“* Pulai.”

An extraction showed that the rubber had
entirely degenerated to avery sticky gum. In
confirmation, a second extraction of a large
quantity was made with the same result. The
product is, therefore, absolutely worthless.

MANIHOT GLAZIOVIIe

The specimen examined was taken from a
large tree in the Botarical Gardens, Singapore.
The bark was quite unlike that of most rubber
plants, having a very thin outer bark. This
came away from the tree very readily when the
knife was used anda large surface of the same
was stripped back. On this exposed place, a
herring-bone tap was made, retapped again on
the following day, and again two days later.
‘The latex tubes are very near the outer surface »

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricullural Society.—March, 1910,

of the inner bark, and these few successive tap-
pings did not increase the flow of latex to any
appreciable extent. Unlike Hevea brasiliensis,
the latex coagulated quickly in the cut, so that
the flow ceased almost immediately ; in fact, it
was quite impossible to collect it in cups for
this reason. ‘he rubber collected was obtained
by stripping it from the cuts. It had a very
disagreeable herb-like odour.

Analysis gave the following figures calculated
to dry weight: Rubber 90°44 por cent., Resin
6°83 per cent. and Ash 2°73 per cent.

The rubber is fine and tough, tougher than
Plantation Para, and very light straw yellow in
colour. The ash could, of course, be reduced to
a negligible amount by washing.

CHONEOMORPHA MACROPHYLLA.

The specimen examined was taken from a
large vine in the Botanical Gardens, Singapore.
The stems were about 3} inches in diameter, and
the base much thicker. It wastapped by a sort
of herring-bone system, rather diagonally, and
the latex seemed to be quite abundant. It
coagulated in the cuts very readily, with about
the same ease as Willughbeia firma. As part had
coagulated, it seemed impossible to keep the
latex in a liquid condition for the time neces-
sary, and it was all coagulated by rubbing up
with the fingers. The rubber was tough and
almost odourless. The analysis, calculated to
dry weight, is: Rubber 88°63 per cent, Resin
9°19 per cent. and Ash 2:18 per cent.

I should say it isa better rubber than either
Willughbeia firma or Landolphia heudelotii, al-
though the raw rubber is not as tough as either
of these two. It has siightly less resin, and a real
comparison would require vulcanization tests,

R. B. E.
—Straits Agricultural Bulletin, for February.

LEGTURE ON RUBBER SANITATION.

MR. GALLAGHER AT JOHORE,

Yesterday at the invitation of the Johore
Planters’ Association, Mr Gallagher, Director of
Agriculture, F.M.S., gave an interesting lecture
to a large gathering of members and othors at
the Johore Hotel. His Highness the Sultan of
Johore, himself a rubber planter, Mr D G Camp-.
bell, Adviser to the Government of Johore,
Messrs. Gawlor, Main, Coghlan, Derry, Westen-
holz, Anderson, Pertile, Ur, Wilson, and many
others were present.

Mr W N GAwter—iutroduced Mr Gallagher,
and welcomed the visitors, regretting that the
Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Associ-
ation were unavoidably prevented from attending.

Mr GaLLaGHER—said that to reach the subject
of his lecturé, plant sanitation and diseases of
the Para rubber tree, it was necessary to refer
to the structure of the rubber tree, and the
functions the parts were designed to fulfil. By
aid of diagrams he pointed out that the tree was
composed, as it were, of layers, coiled round. In
the centre was the heart-wood, which for prac-
tical purposes was dead,though it still served to

267

impart a certain rigidity to the tree. It might be
attacked, by white ants for instance, and the tree ,
would go on living, unless it were blown down,
Next to that was the sap-wood, the living wood,
which carried up from the roots the nourish-
ment from the soil into the leaves, each of which
was a little factory, convertiug the salts in the
soil into nourishment for the plant. The sap-
wood was the highway for the nourishment of
the tree, which only became useful when it had
been in the leaves, suitable to build up the
structure of the tree, for the growth of its many
parts, for flowers, fruit and for every portion of
the tree. The sap-wood had therefore an excee-
dingly important part to play. The cambium
was the next thin layer, not more than a hun-
dredth-of-an-inch thick, and most easily obser-
vable when the bark was stripped off, part of it
adhering to the strip and part to the trunk.
Outside the cambium is the latex layer, and
outside that again the bark, which was also very
thin. The cambium and the bark were the parts
the rubber planter was most interested in, as on
either side of the latex and he might say that
latex was only a secondary function of the tree,
although the latex-layer had the very important
part to play of carrying back from the leaves
the converted nourishment. The latex layer
was the outer highway of the tree. The roots
absorbed the food mass below the surface of the
soil, But the actual part engaged in that was
only about a tenth-of-an-inch Jong, and as the
soil for that part was exhausted, the root struc-
ture had to be pushed forward into new ground,
Since each part of the tree had its function,
it was important for the planter to see that
no part was injured, or if they wanted a pro-
duct from avy part of it, that it was not irre-
trievably injured. For instance, tapping all
round must be wrong, because it cut off one of
the highways of the tree, the roots got starved,
and the tree inevitably died.

Generally speaking, the less of the latex cut
away,the better; the cutting should not take
away more than half of the tree. If over-tapped,
the bark did not renew; nor did the roots get
building material for extension. The half is
better taken in quarters, opposite, because the
latex travels with difficulty sideways. This
brought round the tapping once in four years,

Pests on Funaus,

An insect eating a leaf interferes with the
functions ofthe tree. It does not die at once,
butis slowly starved. A root or stem fungus
(the fungusis aliving organism, the seed or
some part of it must be present) by growing to
the interference of the tree which is its host,
The cells are pierced and perhaps their con-
tents absorbed, or choked. The latex layer is
then destroyed and unable to fulfil its functions
of supplying food. The same happens if the
latex Jayer 18 physically destroyed. The water
required for the leaves is kept away through
the destroyed vascular system. They then
wither, and the tree dies away. The root
fungus, fomes, presents one important pro-
blem to bo solved. Fomes is a_ grave
and expensive disease, which has to be
dealt with it, but the expense should be
looked upon as an insurance, The treatment

268

by changkolling must be governed by com-
mon sense. Fomes is found first on «@ log,
generally, and is transferred to the tree when
the roots reach it, once there it grows and
eventually the tree dies. It is then necessary
to isolate the attacked tree, from fellow trees
and from prostrate logs—not to save the tree
attacked but to save the others. There was
much to be learned about the origin and nature
of the pest, but there was no doubt that it
attackedthe Pararubber tree. Theearth 6 in.
deep is opened up: if the tree is attacked
by fungus, the roots are black; if healthy, white
and yielding latex. In guarding against the
spread therefore, the area affected must be de-
termined, and then every bit of timber on it
burned off. The area is changkolled toeighteen
‘inches, all the timber taken out, and put aside
for burning and every bit must be taken out
and burned. It is very difficult to kill a fungus
and spraying or applications generally could
only prevent spreading, Above all things it was
absoulutely necessary to be thorough.

Another fungus attacks the stems and branches
of rubber trees, showing long streaks of latex
down it. It runson a branch, or the main stem
and is rather easily identified, even without a
microscope. This black fungus can be cut out of
stems, or branches cut off and burned—it seems
easily checked. Incutting branches or a stem,
the saw should be used after hacking down,
and a good slope cut; after which tar should
be applied, to prevent other fungus entering.
Branches should be cut off close to the stem,
when aclean heal results. There isa limit to
the amount of tarringa tree will stand, it may
survive a narrow strip but not very much.
White-washing will keep away deer and ratsand
will not injure the trees. All remedies have to
be applied with knowledge, and his Department
were quite willing to supply information and
give assistance in any way they could.

Discussion.

In answer to questions, Mr. Gallagher said
that ‘‘ die-pack ” might be due to several causes.
When the fungus he had spoken of attacked
trees, this appearance followed. The treatment
was to cut off the affected part, three feet below
the lowest point to which the disease had
reached, and burnt it. It might result from
interference with the water supply. Peaty soils
were sometimes too acid and careful planters on
observing any sign of it tested the water with
litmus, and if it proved acid, applied lime. He
did not know that fomes was ever more than
two feet deep, though he knew of no reason
why it should not go deeper. It was ex-
ceedingly necessary to be on the look-out for
it and to isolate and burn affected plants. In
other than peaty soils, charcoaling could be
tried. Pink fungus was the stem and branch
fungus he had mentioned. He believed it existed
in kampongs, and on Java trees. It had not
been reported from the Peninsula. Fomes
might spread by spores, but he had no informa-
tion asto that. The colours were very fugitive,
and he could not show them any specimens,
but if they suspected it, the sample might be
sent to the Department, properly labelled, and
they would then report on it.—S. #7. Press, Feb. 7.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

THE ‘‘STRENGTH”’ OF OLD AND
YOUNG RUBBER.

We have seen it asserted in Ceylon that
the theory—the older the rubber, the greatly
superior it is in strength—rests merely on the
rough and ready practical tests of buyers and
manufacturers. Mr. Henry P. Stevens, M.A.,
F,1.C. in his article in the Quarter-Century num-
ber of the India Rubber Journal points out the
following—among factors other than superior
strength (which he does not admit to be inevi-
table) which tend to assist Fine Para in public
popularity as against Plantation :—

(a) Fine hard is the specified quality in a
number of War Office, Sdmiralty, and other
contracts, and must therefore be used for many
goods quite apart from the question of merit.

(6) Fine hard is to be had in very large
quantities in fairly uniform quality, so that it
can be depended on to produce uniform results,
while plantation rubber is put on the market
in almost every imaginable variety of shape,
form and quality. Hven when an estate is ship-
ping a product of uniform quality, the quantity
in most cases is relatively small. Ifa manu-
facturer could depend on getting the greater
part of every consignment of the same rubber
from a given plantation, the amount would not
be more than he would require to keep him
going on one or two special lines.

(c) Plantation rubber has not yet stood the
test of time.

It is stated that local experience and scientific
opinion is opposed to the view that old and young
trees give rubber of equal strength. But here
again we have a valuable opinion on the other
side, from the other article by the prominent
home chemist above quoted, who has consider-
able experience of rubber testing as follows:—

The quality of plantation rubber is, of course,
largely dependent on the method employed in
its preparation. I may here call attention to
a@ recent paper read before the Society of Che-
mical Industry by Mr. Beadle and myself on
3rd May last. The results of tests detailed in
that paper on rubber vulecanised with heat in
the usual manner showed that the samples of
Ceylon plantation rubber examined were slightly
—yet distinctly—inferior in physical qualities to
the sample of hard cure Para. Another series of
tests on manufacturers’ samples of cold cured
goods made from hard cure and the best plan-
tation, were in favour of the plantation samples,
Another important point was brought out in
this work, namely that a difference in the age
of the trees, say from five to twenty years old
appeared to have little or no effect on the phy-
sical qualities of the vulcanised rubbers.

I was glad to notice that Mr. Parkin in this
Journal (2nd November, 1908) had come to the
same conclusion on purely botanical grounds,
and wrote that he should be rather surprised
to find any marked difference in the quality
of the rubber drawn from ten-year-old trees,
as compared with twenty-year-old ones as in
both cases the latex is formed from secondary
growth and is not comparable with that
derived from laticiferous vessels of primary
growth in the twigs and leaves,

und Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—March, 1910.

RUBBER GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION.—
(CEYLON SECTION).

FUND FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF
A CHEMIST

In Ceyvton: To Conpuct ExPBRIMENTS WITH
REGaRD TO THE CURING OF RUBBER.

The following circular notice has been issued
to rabber-growers : —

Dear Sir(s),—We are desired by this Associa-
tion toadvice Ceylon Rubber Producing Com-
panies and other proprietors of rubber estates
in Ceylon that the Ceylon Committee of the
Rubber Growers’ Association (anda sub-Com-
mittee thereof) have, at a series of meetings,
had under consideration the question of estab-
lishing 4 research station in Ceylon, and em-
ploying a chemist to conduct experiments with
regard to the curing of rubber for the benefit of
those contributing to the expense,

A group of members of the Malaya Section of
the Association (who are interested in rubber
production in the Federated Malay States) have
arranged a similar scheme, aud the experience
gained during the course of their enquiries has
shown that it is necessary for the work of the
research chemist to be technically directed.
The Malaya Committee have already entered
into an agreement with Messrs Clayton Beadle
& Stevens (a firm whose partners are well-known
as being experienced in the chemistry of rubber,
both raw and manufactured) to direct the work
of the chemist who has already been despatched
to the F.M.S. to conduct experiments there.

Following on the experience thus gained,
the Ceylon Committee have provisionally ar-
ranged with Messrs Clayton Beadle and Stevens
to direct the work of a chemist who will go
out to Ceylon (on behalf of the members sub-
scribing to the expense) and carry out experi-
ments on the subject of the curing and manu-
facture of plantation rubber. Thefirm will them-
selves conduct experiments in London in con-
‘junction with the research work in Ceylon. In all
matters, other than scientific direction, the che-
mist will be controlled by a Committee in Ceylon
appointed by those subscribing to the scheme,

It has been decided to ask Ceylon rubber es-
tate proprietors to subscribe to the expenses
which, it is estimated, will amount to £1,000 per
annum for three years. (The arrangement for the
F.M.S8. is on a somewhat higher scale). Sugges-
tions for a definite scale of contribution will be
considered by a meeting of estate proprietors in
Ceylon which will be convened by Mr Joseph
Fraser, but it is considered that ne contribution
from any one estate should exceed the sum of
£50 per annum, and that guarantees should be
limited to that amount.

We are desired to state that the Ceylon Com-
mittee would appreciate an expression of opi-
nion from you, on the scheme as outlined, and
an indication that you will favourably consider
the question of contributing towards the expense
when the proposal is matured.— Yours faithfully,

A Beruune, President.
C Taytor, Secretary.

1, Oxford Court, Cannon Street, London E,C.
Vecember 28rd, 1909,

269
RUBBER IN MALABAR.

Little has been heard so far of rubber culti-
vation in Malabar, as compared with the in-
dustry in the neighbouring States of Travan-
core and Cochin, and yet it is making steady
progress, more especially in the south of the
district. Two large Companies were formed
last year, one in London and the other in
Holland, to acquire land near Nilambur and
Quilandy, respectively, and plant Para rubber
thereon, and both are now clearing considerable
acreages with this object in view. Still more re-
cently the Kerala Rubber Co. has been floated in
London to take over some 2,100 acres, of which
over 1,200 acres were planted in 1907 and 1908
atthe foot of the Koondahs on the eastern
slopes of the Nilambur Valley. In addition to
the above, large Syndicates are at work near
Munderi and Quilandy, extensive clearings
being tho order of the day in both concerns,

SOME VERY INTERESTING TAPPING OPERATIONS

have been conducted during the last four
months by Mr EK t Fowkeon the Para trees
planted between 1883 and 1885 by Mr. T J
Ferguson, of Calicut, at Poonur, near Tamara-
chery, which property has since been acquired
by the above-mentioned Dutch Company.
There are 135 of the trees altogether, spread
over about one acre, and several of them have
attained a girth of 7ft. and over at 3ft. above
the ground. Capping was commenced in Septem-
ber last, and so far these trees have yielded
1 lb. of dry rubber per tree each month, a man
collecting enough latex to make fourteen biscuits
(about 341b.) a day. The produce has been
sent to Amsterdam for report, and the opinion

of the Dutch brokers should be very interesting.

I also learn that Mr Fowke expects his
big trees to continue to yield at the rate of 1 lb. .
per tree per mensem, making a total yield of 12
'b. per tree in the year. In any case, the results
aleady obtained are remarkable and testify to
the correctness of the high opinion formed by
Mr RL Proudlock, lately Curator of the
Government Gardens and Parks on the Nilgiris,
as to the suitability of South Malabar and
the Nilambur Valley to the cultivation by
Para rubber.

Tur Bome IN AGRICULTURE.

While on the subject of planting in Malabar
I must mention a new method of circumventing
wild pig, as described to me a few days ago
by one who had tried it. The depredations of
pig are a great trouble to Malabar agriculturists,
and the Government offer a reward for their
destruction. This induced an enterprising ryot
a short time ago to devise ascheme which is
said to have decimated the herds of pig in the
Ernad and Walluvanad Taluqs. He prepared
a bomb, after the manner of Indian fireworks,
and cunningly concealed it in a piece of meat
such as all wild pigs love, An ill-fated boar
devoured the bait; the bomb exploded and off
went * piggy’s” head. And now bombing pig
is said to be all the fashion among the rustic
youth of South Malabar !

i GEORGOs,
—M, Matt, Jan. 29,

270
RUBBER iN BORNEO.

First Tappinc oN Breaurort -EstTAteE.

On January 4, says the B. N. B. Heratd, the
first tapping of cultivated rubber on the west
coast, took place on the B. Borneo Para Rubber
Co.’s Beautort Estate. According to a promise
of long-standing Mrs Horton, wife of the late
District Officer, Beaufort, tapped the first tree,
wishing success to the estate and the manager
Mr J RWatson whose guests she and Mr
Horton were. Thetapping took place early inthe
morning and about 60 trees were operated on.
Messrs. Horton and Mulygan took photographs
of this historic s¢ene. The Judicial _Commis-
sioner, Mr R Bryett Turner, Messrs. J Hatton
Hall, H G@ Hill. C Ashton Pryke and PC Brack-
enbury, Acting D.O., were also present. After
the tapping had been done the party repaired
to Mr Watson’s house and drank success to him
and his estate. This tapping is preliminary only,
and it will be a month or two before regular tap-
ping starts when, it is hoped that His Excellency
the Governor of B.N. Borneo will inaugurate
the tapping on a business scale.

RUBBER IN SUMATRA,

A friend, formerly of Singapore, who has been
for nearly a couple of years on a rubber estate
in Sumatra, appears to be charmed with the pro-
spects of rubber planting there, He writes :—

‘* Rubber here is booming and from the estate
results they are getting or should in time, for its
acreage, knock out a great number of F.M.8.
estates. The soil up here, 600 feet above the sea
is grand; black, rich volcanic stuff. I hope to
start tapping here from 4,000 to 5,000 trees ina
month or two, and S—— (the same Company)
about 8,000 to 10,000 trees this year. Coffee
will give a 5 per cent. dividend on 1909, and 1910
will be rather better without counting in the
rubber at all. So we have a good future.”—S.F,
Press, Jan. 29.

PARA RUBBER IN FRENGH
INDO-CHINA.

We take the following notes cn the cultivation
of Pararubber in the experimental station of
of Ong Yem from the ‘‘ Bulletin de la Chambre
qd’ Agriculture,” October, 1909, p. 455. The trees
were planted in 1898, and thus are nearly eleven
years Old, The average diameter of ten trees
18 given as 843 mm. in 1908 and ‘895mm. in 1909.
The biggest tree measured 1:26 metre in 1908
(3ft. 3-71 in. about) and 1-35 next year. This
may be considered a good growth. These trees
were tapped everyday for a year and gave 14
kilos 497, or 1 kilo 449 each, (2lb. 302. 4 drs.
about). the rubber was not quite dry when
weighed and allowing for a further loss of 20 per
cent, this gives 1 kilo, 160, per tree of ten years
old ayear. One must not generalise too much
on this, as only a small number of trees were
tapped. Vernet’s method of tapping every two
days in a special or half spiral gave distinctly
inferior results, but comparison 1s difficult be-
cause of the different sizes of the trees experi-

The Swpplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

mented with. The plot at Ong Yem are sand
and poor in fertilising elements, and the growt
in sucha soil is very satisfactory. The trees
produced very vigorous shoots in the dry sea-
son ina soil where water is met, with only ata
depth of 10 to 12 metres at the end cf April.
The plantations in Cochin-China are increasing,
the larger ones are established on the red sands.
The other planters, with smaller areas, prefer
the sandy lands near Saigon, —Séraits Agricultu-
ral Bulletin for January.

THE ANTWERP RUBBER TRADE.

According to an Antwerp report on the rub-
ber trade, the
REDUCED IMPORTS OF CONGO RUBBER
into that port last year (772,813 kilos; against
1,119,026 kilos in 1908), is due chiefly to the

ALTERATIONS MADE IN THE LABOUR TAX,

This has been removed from certain classes of
natives, who have, therefore, no longer any ne-
cessity to collect rubber with which to pay. It
is further stated that considerable alterations
will be made by the Belgian Government with
regard to the rubber trade. The trade will be
worked by private interests, the change being
made gradually, but to be completed within
three years from July 1, 1910. Considerable

CHANGES ARE ALSO TO BE INTRODUCED IN THE
SYSTEM OF PLANTING,

as the present arrangement, whereby rubber
collectors are supposed to plant a certain
number of trees each year, has not worked
satisfactorily. A tax of from 20c to 4Uc per
kilo, according to the nature of the rubber,
is to be paid on ali exported, and this tax is
to be applied solely to the planting of new trees
which will become Government property. About
5,000 acres of new land wil! come under culti-
vation each year, and itis anticipated that this
will presently prove a very good source of re-
venue. Reference is made to the progress made
with rubber cultivation in the Far Kast, land
under cultivation in the Malay States and -the
Straits being estimated at 240.000 acres, in
Ceylon at 180,0U0 acres, and in Java, Sumatra,
and Borneo at 50,000 acres, a total of 470,000
acres.—H. & C. Mail, Jan. 21.

1909 TEA AND RUBBER CROPS.

Yavivantora, CEYLON TEA Co.

The Managing Agents in Ceylon cable that
the Crops secured were as follows :—Tra—1909
1,588,393 lb., Against in 1908, 1 555,055 lb. Rus-
BER—1909, 14,000 lb. (Approximately), Against
1908, 7,521 lb.—T. A. Wettiams, Secretary,
8th Jan.

PANAWATTE TEA AND RuBBER ESsTATEs.

PAaNAWATTE AND YocamMA EstrAtrs.—Tea—
1909, 718,374 1b. Against in 1908, 695,094 Ib.
Rubber—1909 (approximately) 13,300 lb. Against

‘In 1908, 1,102 lb.

Perry Estaty.—TZ'ea—1909, 212,480 1b. Against
in 1908, 24067U lb. Coconuts—1909, 805,000
nuts. Against in 1908, 875,159 nuts, Rubber—
1909 (approximately) 19,900lb. Againstin 1908,
10,355 lb. —T. A. WittiaMs, Secretary, 8th Jan.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—March, 1910, °

RUBBER OUTPUTS IN THE F.M.S.

Somes QUESTIONS AS To YIELD or TRUES
ANSWERED,
(To the Editor, Straits Times.)

Sir,—Much has been written at various times
with regard to the output of rubber trees, but
prospectuses vary so much in their forecasts
that, after perusing afew and comparing some
of them, one feels bound to give up the attempt
to arrive at any definite and reliable figures
from such sources. Would the statistics at your
command permit of your publishing what quan-
tity per tree or per acre may be expected asa
fair average yield from a Kuropean-managed
estate ? Not from one which shows exception-
ally good growth, nor on the other hand, from a
backward estate, but a fair average figure for
rubber of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 years of age
respectively, which intending investors might
use for the purpose of calculating the prospec-
tive output during the next three or four years of
the estates now nearing orjust started tapping.

If you don’t care to publish such a statement,
perhaps you would be so kind as to furnish me
with the information, for my own use, by letter.
1 feel sure, however, that many would appreci-
ate its publication.

I enclose my card and remain, yours, etc.,
VERIDICAL,

Singapore, Jan. 30, 1910.
[The question asked by our correspondent is
of great interest and importance, and, as he
says, it is most difficult to get definite inform-
ation. We have no objection, however, to giving
the calculation made for our purposes as writers
on rubber subjects, It is as follows :—

Age of Yield per Yield per
trees. single acre of
tree. 120 trees.
Years, Ib. lb.
4 ve F ri 90
5 I Hoe 120
6 2 wn 240
A 3 hs 360
8 4h 4460
9 Fi 6 : ae 720
10 ea if 840

The estimate is for estates on good average
soil, under competent European management,
where all that is possible is done to work for
safe immediate, and assured future results,
Some will say that more shouid be put down for
the ages 4, 5, 6 and 7, and less for older trees,
We do not think so, More may be got from the
young trees, but it is at the risk of injuring
them unless the conditions are quite abnormally
favourable, After the seventh year, trees which
have been tapped moderately and with care
should be strong, and capable of responding to
calls for a larger yield.

We fix the number of trees at 120 per acre
because we are convinced that where the number
is larger, the yield per tree will be proportio-
nately less,

271

One of the dangers to young plantations is
that the trees may be excessively tapped while
rubber prices are high on the principle of
“making hay while the sun shines.”

A good many estates, especially those laid out
by Chinese owners, are too closely planted, and
our correspondent and others must not overlook
this. Generally, yield per acre on the 120 tree
basis is a safer guide than yield per tree.

On most well-managed estates, collection,
curing, etc., can be done ata cost of Is per Ib.
But there are incidental expenses, losses, etc.,
to be met, and a probability of labour becoming
more expensive. The cautious investor, there-
fore, should take 1/3 as a fair average cost figure
before counting profits on output,—Kd., S. 7.)

PLANTATION vs. FINE PARA RUBBER.

A Reporr From Sovurag Inpta.

From the following report of the findings of
the Scientific Department of the Depar-
tment of Agriculture it will be seen that
the conclusion that: is of the most impor-
tance to those interested in the industry is
the fact that a series of tests on rubber from 4%,
5, 9, 10, 17, and 27 year old trees show very little
difference in the strength of the rubber from the
trees of various ages, but the fact remains that
the potential strength of plantation rubber of
any age is inferior to that of fine Para, and it
seems Clear that the necessary improvement in
the cultivated product can be obtained only
through improved method of treatment :—

Report oN PLANTATION RuBBER (HEVEA
BRASILIENSIS. )

First.—Thoe rubber from young treesis not
materially different from those of much greater
age,and leads us to the conclusion that the age
of the tree from which rubber is extracted is not
so important as is generally supposed.

Second.—The potential strength of the plan-
tation product is inferior to that of fine Para,

Third.—-Stretch satisfactory for all practical
purposes.

Fourth.—The plantation product has slightly
Jess resin than fine Para.

Fifth.—The plantation rubber has slightly
less mineral matter than fine Para.

Sixth.—The well-known fact that plantation
rubber has from 15 to 18 per cent less moisture
than fine Para.—Planters’ Chronicle, Jan. 22.

BRAZILIAN RUBBER EXPORTS.
Unitep States Takers Morr and Europe Less
FROM PaRA.

According to statistics of the shipments of
rubber from Para furnished by Consul-General,
H Pickerell, the United States takes more rub-
ber from Para than Europe. The following
comparative statement for the past three fiscal
years ended 30th is interesting (a kilo=2°2 Ib.):

United States. Europe.
1907 18,276,098 19,390,679
1908 14,658,280 21,764,526
1909 19,062,633, 19,172,238

272 The Supplement to the

‘‘Qontrary to the anticipations of produ-
cers,” says Mr. Pickerell, ‘‘the rubber pro-
duction of last year has been considerably
greater than that of the previous equal period,
and was almost reached the amount pro-
duced in 1907, the year of greatest production.
Notwithstanding this unexpected large yield
prices have shown an enormous tendency to
rise, and it would seem from present reports
that the end has not yet been reached ; 1°63
dollars per |b. f.o.b. New York is high when
one considers and just a little more than one
year ago the same article was selling in the same
market for 63 cents. It is too soon to tender
any opinion upon the coming season's crop, but
I feel sure that every effort will be made to take
advantage of the present high price, According
to later Brazilian trade figures the rubber ship-
ments from Brazil! continue toincrease although
move in value than in quantity.

AN INTERNATIONAL RUBBER
TESTING COMMITTEE.

comprising a number of independent nations,
sections united under a common President has
been formed, with the following objects in
view :—

1. Collection of extra data regarding the
various official and unofficial chemical and phy-
sical tests applied to raw rubber and manu-
factured rubber articles at the present time.

9, Consideration of the tests referred to from
the point of view of efficiency and expediency.

3. To make recommendations regarding the
desirability of maintaining, modifying or aboli-
shing existing methods, of testing, and to suggest
if necessary, new methods, and to work these
out ona practical basis.

4. Toactas an advisory body in cases of
doubt or dispute concerning methods of testing.

5, Similarly, if desired, to act as a Board of
reference or arbitration.—IJndia-Rubber Jowr-
nal, Dec. 27.

STRANGE GROWTH OF A PARA
RUBBER TREE CUTTING.

Mr. Bean sends the following curious note
on the behaviour of a Para tree :—‘‘ Highteen
months ago on our estate (Puak, Borneo) a 33
year old tree was blown down and the trunk
having been cut in two pieces by the Javanese
was used as corner posts for a rough fence.
One of these posts had been rammed in the
ground upside down and after a month began
to grow. In three months there were two
shoots eighteen inches long which flowered
heavily. No fruit resulted, but that was hardly
surprising; however, the cutting is still gro-
wing but very slowly.” It is not of course an
uncommon occurrence for a piece of living
wood of almost any tree especially soft wood
trees to put out branches or shoots for some
time after the cutting is made, using up in so
doing all the food which happens to be stored

Tropical Agriculturis

at the time in the bit. After which unless by
that time the stick has been able to emit roots
and feed itself normally, shoots and stick dies.
It is, however, unusual for it to grow wrong
way up, orto produce flowers, I have seen,
however, a low fence of crossed sticks made of
cuttings of branches of Ceara rubber, Manihot
glaziovit flowering and fruiting quite heavily. —
Ep.—Straits Agricultural Bulletin for Feb.

A SUGAR-GANE EXPERIMENT.

In NortH MALapar: R400 Per Acer ProrFit.

Tho Manager of the Talliparamba Government
Farm, North Malabar, recently experimented
with sugarcane on a 25 cent. plot of single crop
wet land, and the experiment having been re-
ported to have yielded a net profit that would
work out at R400 anacre, Mr R B Wood, I CS,
President of the District Agricultural Advisory
Council, called for a detailed report, in view to
placing the same before the agricultural public.
Planting was started early in February, the
germinated ‘‘sets’ being planted in parallel
treaches 13 ft. wide and one foot deep and 2 ft.
apart. Inall, 1,000 lb. of fish manure and 1,000
lb. of ashes were applied, on three or fotr diffe-
rent dates. Asthe canes grew, the trenches
were gradually filled ir, until by June the
ground level was reached. After that earth was
still piled on, creating channels that served to
drain off the water. On being planted, the
canes were watered first daily, then weekly, till
the monsoon setin. The chief pest was white
ants, and they were kept off by fish manure and
ashes. As the canes grewup, they had to be
propped up and all rotting leaves were removed.
The crop amounted to 5,C00 good canes, 10 to 15
ft. long, and the total cost of cultivation was R50.
Some of the crop was sold to ryots for seed at R3
per 100, some were sold for eating at one anna
and 1$ annas each and 1,200 were milled for
jaggery, each yielding on an average half a
pound of jaggery. The present price of imported
jaggery is 1 anna 8 pies per pound, and at
this rate the price of 5,000 canes would work
out to K120. This would give a net profit of
R210, but the cost of making the jaggery will
have to be deducted. Mr. Wood expresses the
opinon that sugarcane in this district would
pay best if grown for the manufacture of jageery
for local consumption. At present, sugarcane is
not regularly raised in this District, although
it is systematically cultivated on a consider-
able scale in the adjoining District of South
Canara. In Malabar, it is grown on asmall
scale here and there, chiefly by Native Christians,
but the methods of cultivation are primitive
and the produce is inferior. Most of the sugar-
cane sold in the District is imported from Coim-
batore and other parts. A Calicut landowner
started a small plantation in the town a few
years ago, but does not appear to have met
with any great degree of success. However,
the excell: nt results which have attended the
Talliparamba experiment may give an impetus
to the cu'tivation of this crop, for which the
general conditions seem to be very favourable
in many parts of the Malabar District.—M.
Mail, Feb. 7.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—March, 1910.

THE COLOMBO TEA TRADERS’
ASSOCIATION.

AVERAGES FOR 1909.

Colombo, Feb. 16th,

Summary of Ceylon Tea sold at Public Auc-
tion in Colombo for the 12 months ended 31st
December, 1909, with the average prices realised :

Estate. lb. av.
Monkswood 216,911 58
Glassaugh 220,237 56
Preston 99,584 56
St. Johns 194,915 55
Tullybody 211,782 54
Tommagong 162,659 54
The Scrubs 111,722 54
*Ellawatte 58,080 54
Wanarajah 383,677 53

Westward Ho 136,693 53
Court Lodge 215,347 52
Gonapatiya 179,878 52
Aera Elbedde 91,025 52

“Kenmare 47,975 52
Richmond 5,986 52
High Forest 735,504 51
Agra Ouvah 321,869 51
Maha Uva — 306,987 51
Middleton 298,057 51
North Cove 122,879 51
Loinorn 118,495 51

Blinkbonnie 99,580 51
East Fassifern 64,311 51
Glasgow 442,090 50
Denmark Hill 258,22950

Mocha 247,009 50
Marigold 120,532 50
Naseby 116,968 50
Tientsin 111,845 50
Palmerston 110 694 50
Pedro 334,396 49
Ardlaw and
Wishford 190,791 49
_Ireby 125,060 49
Upper Ohiya 23,993 49
Ingestre 254,267 48
High Fields 252,121 48
Fairlawn 215,566 48
Hornsey 191,132 48
Theresia 161,800 48
Ormidale 157,686 48
Logie 155,598 48

Detenagalla 133,563 48
Templehurst 132,208 48

Killarney 129,002 48
Fetteresso 88,597 48
Galloola Divi-

sion 76,365 48
Stafford 63,111 48
Attampettia 215,954 47
Bramley 209,307 47
Coreen 148.925 47
Waldemar 144,394 47

Lucky Land 126,260 47
Stamford Hill 116,922 47

Donachie 108,284 47
Mahanilu 107,657 47
Mount
Everest 105,302 47
Dambagas-
talawa 104,937 47
35

Estate. Ib. av.
Ladbroke 74,275 47
Callander 72,986 47
Strathspey 66,326 47
*Dovedale 9,499 47
*Kumaradola 1,485 47
St. Clair 449,560 46
Gampaha 344,859 46
Glentilt 290,906 46
Inverness 288,497 46
Tinioya 213,005 46
Queensland 140,057 46
Gonakellie 127,734 46
Kincora 115,697 46
Evalgolla 105,822 46
Warleigh 101,707 46
Nonpareil 90,464 46
Faithlie 85,349 46
Cleveland 82,441 46
Dunnottar 82,076 46
St, Vigeans 81,801 46
Devonford 76,400 46
Kinross 69,994 46
Moseend 29,285 46
Glenorchy 18,475 46
Bunyan and

Ovoca 272,487 45
Moray 231,202 45
Lamiliere 297,144 45
Harrow 190,443 45
Deacu!la 175, 526,45
Adisham 167,086 45
Gangawatte 160,604 45.
Harrington 160,036 45
Newburgh 152,833 45
Winwood 144,885 45
Erlsmere 129,192 45
Amherst 115,456 45
Rookatenne 110,608 45
St. Evelyn 97,186 45
Rickarton 83,763 45
Bittacy 77,887 45
Seenagolle 63,681 45
Holbrook 22,990 45
Melton 18,477 45
Florence 412,230 44
Uvakellie 256,289 44
Invery 236,774 44
Dunkeld 196,821 44
New Valley 188,145 44
Muirburn 156,444 44
Munukettia (132,612 44
Glenanore 126,387 44
Mahagalla 109,347 44
Robgill 108,320 44
Glen Taffe 99,555 44
Annandale = 99,027 44
Maymolly 83,884 44
Poolbank 69,174 44
Ravenscraig 63,655 44
*Cranley 57,360 44

Blairlomond 52,905 44

Estate. lb. av.
Simla 52,704 44
Maha Eliya 33,915 44
Chrystler’s

Farm 29,559 44
Somerset 14,447 44
Luccombe 12,922 44
Caledcnia 4,410 44

Bandar Eliya 694,279 43
Marlborough 472,945 43

Roeberry 397,122 43
Tymawr 273,867 43
Brownlow 253,037 43

Battalgalla 234,113 43
Templestowe 192,985 43

Bopitiya 189,532 43
Camnethan 167,376 43
* Mount Ver-

non 167,215 43
Galapita-

kande 166,150 43

Monte Christo145,095 43
Kelaniya and

Braemar 139,067 43
HKlemane 138,297 43
Donnybrook 134,145 43
Gingranoya 124,837 43
Bickley 114,936 43
Minna 112,280 43
Westmorland 107,454 43
Nyanza 107,352 43

Mousakellie 100,146 43
Beauvais 93,943 43
Hatton 92,237 43
Little Valley 82,505 43

Grange Gar-

dens 82,260 43
Eton 69,583 43
Queenwood 68,713 43
Wellington 64,945 43
Craig more 52,670 43
Ben Nevis 37,679 43
Carfax 25,706 43
*Summer Hill 22,890 43
Batgodde 19,799 43
Ardlaw 6,838 43
*Ragalla 6,715 43
*Bon Accord 5,780 43
Puthukadu 5,841 43
*Scarborough 3,902 43
*Bathford 1,780 43

Verelapatna 363,626 42
Tonacombe 344,146 42
Great Valley 286,770 42
Oonoogaloya 263,675 42

Ottery 247,404 42
Shawlands 234,109 42
Kirklees 202,612 42
Avon 185,509 42
Nahavilla 181,235 42
Queenstown 181,217 42
Clarendon 145,167 42
Dunbar 138,762 42
Manstield 135,842 42
Cabin Ella 134,484 42

Rahatungoda 131,087 42

Bowlana 129,711 42
Yelverton 112,591 42
Columbia 99,776 42
Wattagollie 79,761 42
St. James 75,608 42

_* Denotes Incomplete Invoices,

273

Estate, lb. av,
Whyddon 70,010 42
* Avondale 69,839 42
Cecilton 69,667 42
Mincing Lane 59,478 42
Meath 58,537 42
*Forest Creek 57,478 42
Sudbury 44,196 42
Appachy

Totum 35,831 42
*Troup 29,085 42
*North Pun-

daluoya 22,390 42
Midlothian 18,373 42
*Meeria Cotta 15,833 42
Ritnageria 10,195 42
* Rosita 6,966 42

Sylvakandy 566,525 41
Rookwood 367,136 41
Battawatte 80,991 41
Castlereagh 211,954 41
Koslande 184,600 41
Nadoo Totem 136,013 41

Oakwell 134,101 41
Glengariff 126,347 41
Galleheria 124,235 41
Old Mede-

gama 116,387 41
Dickapitiya 116,231 41
Manicka-

watte 110,986 41
Panmure 110,435 41

Hangranoya 105,495 41

Madulkellie 103,879 41
Coventry 102,370 41
Rilpolla 98,577 41
Oodooweera 97,627 41
Agratenne 88,520 41
Errollwood 88,470 41
Cobo 47,229 41
Lyegrove 45,849 41
Anningkande 40,860 41
Doonhinda 38,325 41
Genekeriya 23,770 41
Theydon Bois 23,685 41
*Waverley 19,111 41
St. Mary 17,080. 41
Wattumulla 14,095 41
Namunukula 13,781 41
Udapalate 13,154 41
*Wallaha 10,254 41
*Tona 8,352 41
* Forres 6,703 41
Elmshurst 4,852 41
*Emelina 3,216 41
*Hindagalla 2,047 41
Ambragalla 555,357 40
Dammeria 315,447 40
Orion 296,587 40
Swinton

Division 267,306 40
Poonagalla 227,166 40
Oonanagalla 218,911 40
Myraganga 196,771 40
Talgaswella 191,210 40
HGM 181,150 40
Halloowella 180,925 40
Macaldeniya 163,206 40
Cotta 150,170 40
Baddegama 146,672 40
Opalgalla 139,623 40

274

Estate, Ibs. Av.
Kolapatna 135,333 49
Unugalla 117,132 40
Meeriatenne 113,244 40
Walton 105,105 40
Hardenhuish 103,213 40
Weygalla 93,913 40
East Land 80,683 40
Osborne 73,167 40
Halugalla 72,031 40
Ampitigodde 71,839 40
Rambodde 70,764 40
Bowhill 61,428 40
St. Clive 58,789 40
*Birnam 56,605 40
Letchmey 51,440 40
‘Glenfern 49,785 40
Temple Land 47,727 40
“Glenugie 38,693 40
*Donside 37,063 40
Gwernet 34,015 40
Hyndford 14,805 40
*West Holy-

rood 12,756 40

*S pring Valley 11,120 40

*Mandara

Newera 7,056 40
Nallathanne 3,549 40
Marie Land 366,275 39
Deviturai 342,778 39
Choisy 337,228 39
Panilkande 313,977 39
Mossville 274,310 39
Tempo 253,896 39
Hantane 221,197 39
Tismoda 215,020 39
Hanagalla 210,949 39
Penhros 200,273 39
Morahela 184,467 39
*Bullugolla 180,935 39
Natuwakelle 174,225 39
Waragalande 143,892 39
Coldstream

Gp. 131,687 39
Hatherleigh 127,726 39
Leangapella 124,425 39
Gallinda 102,423 39
Keenagaha :

Elia 95,273 39
Bollagalla 89,680 39
Ohiya 88,030 39
Pattipolla 86,793 39
Carville 82,742 39
Mahatenne = 81,255 39
Meddegodde 77,309 39
Raxawa 72,594 39
Girindi Ella 71,805 39
Dalukoya 70,339 39
Dangan 61,395 39
Mowbray 56,875 39
Findlater 56,432 39
Polgahakande 49,559 39
Haga 48,910 39
Wattumulla 44,777 39
Old Haloya 44,383 39
*Ury 32,505 39

Tangakelle 30,108 39

*Bogawan-

talawa 26,738 39
Galenne 26,058 39
Lochnagar 23,426 39

Estate. lb. av
Ambagasdowe 20,625 39
*Delmar 18,700 39
*Newmarket 18,589 39
"Fordyce 17,350 39
Dimbuldanda 14,924 39
*Aldie 14,635 39
Rothes 14,316 39
Upper Haloya 14,245 39
*Agrakande 12,739 39
*Udaveria 11,734 39
*V oxford 11,050 39
*Gorthie 9,500 39
Vogan 525,870 38

Yahalatenne 401,208 38
Neuch&tel 352,670 38
Nakiadeniya 318,816 38
Neboda 316,876 38
Pailegodde 301,295 38
Harangalla 269,391 38
Warakamure 259,820 38
Geragama 241,461 38
Pansalatenne 226,978 38
Waitalawa 219,244 38

Agra Oya 179,666 38
Kandaloya . 168,120 38
Laxapana-

galla 166,115 38
Owilikande 163,071 38
Delta 161,278 38
Mousa Eliya 154,385 38
Kellie 140,485 38
Tunisgalla 134,557 38
St. Heliers 126,906 38
Walpita 122,110 38
Deemaya 116,993 38
Matale 116,544 38
Erin 104,882 38
Igalkande —104,099 38
Kehlgama 94,407 38
Ingiriya 93,690 38
Glen Esk 89,690 38 -
Ballywatte 77,595 38
Demodera-

watte 76,265 38
Wella 75,596 38
Nellicollay-

watte 70,029 38
Shannon 67,012 38
Theberton 59,817 38
Stubton 59,736 38
Ormondale 56,087 38
Craigingilt 52,305 38

* New Peacock45,880 38

* Pingarawa 42,440 38
Kempitiya 41,107 38
Adawatte 40,285 38
Walaboda 34,210 38
Wyamita 26,090 38
Dalhousie 23,150 38
Harrisland 20,256 38
Pembroke 19,648 38
* Gonomatava 15,717 38
* Lynsted 15,504 38
Footprint
Group 12.280 38 .

Mahaganga 8,230 38
*Pita Ratmalie 7,164 38
*Lugaloya 6,005 38
*Ulatenne 2,612 38

Muendeniya 369,774 37

Estate, lb, av,
Knavesmire 331,616 37
Tembiligalla 285,271 37

Clyde 257,862 37
Torwood 182,620 37
Gona 182,144 37
Glendon 180,915 37
Perth 180,335 37
Dumbugoda 169,575 37
Nahalma 169,385 37
K. P.W. — 166,583 37
Deniyaya 163,751 37
Cooroondco-

watte 159,885 37
Wallawa 154,470 37
Higham 146,298 37
Glencorse 143,305 37
Galata 141,617 37
Ingrogalla 128,240 37
Yellangowry 126,911 37

Kitulgalla 126,426 37

King’s

Grange 122,916 37
Nugagalla 118,530 37
Medenham 115,198 37
Ferndale 113,594 37
Farnham 108,295 37
Hathmatte 106,999 37

Andiatenne 106,403 37
Tavalamtennel106,118 37
Longville 104,732 37
Lonach 104,537 37
Sapumalkande 87,451 37
Kobbekaduwa 84,998 37

Munangalla 84,960 37
Nugahena 82,802 37
Labugama 74,867 37
Hlchico 73,189 37
Beauséjour = 73,120 37
Ninfield 70,271 37
Parambe 68,094 37
Karagaha-

tenne 63,990 37
Nassena 62,253 37
*Nikakotua 59,350 37
Glenalmond 53,784 37
Aludeniya 51,507 37
St. Aubins 46,106 37
*Abergeldie 43,450 37
Gadadessa 43,364 37
Carney 42,055 37
Tamaravelley 38,955 37
Richmond

Hill 37,513 37
Moorland 37,087 37
Mousaella 34,507 37
*Kehelwatte 33,921 37
*Kandahena 31,538 37
Wiharagama 29,345 37
Anniewatte 28,810 37
*Berragalla 24,220 37
* Ardenlee 21,986 37
*Lindoola 19,819 37
St. Ives 13,056 37
*Maha Oya 8,260 37
Morantenne 7,703 37
Nikawella 5,090 37
*Derryclare 1,600 37
Avisawella 230,688 36
Erracht 216,338 36
Maldeniya 198,690 36

* Denotes Incomplete Invoices.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

Estate. bP av.
Ruanwella 195,432 36
Clunes 194,085 36
Pindenioya 190,371 36
Puspone 179,849 36
Citrus 166,629 36
Beverley 163,145 36
Stonyhurst 145,468 36
Silva Lard 143,602 36
Porapass 136,149 36
Jack Tree

Hill 118,798 36
*Culloden 82,070 36

Andangodde 81,526 36
Atherton 79,939 36
lrex 79,807 36
Monrovia 79,245 36
Rosemont 68,753 36
Kehelwatta

and Bodawa 65,869 36
Kurulugalla 65,812 36
Oonankande_ 61,707 36
Murray-

thwaite 59,115 36
Aranayaka 58,960 36
Parusella 58,420 36
Talawitiya 57,635 36
Doone Vale 55,283 36
Dambagalla 48,980 36
Katugastota 46,764 36
Dullawe 42,530 36
Looloowatte 41,715 36
Paniyakande 40,950 36
Ashbourne 37,438 36
Moragalla 37,220 36
St. Martins 36,200 36
Markville 31,652 36
*Kintyre 30,771 36
Charlie Hill 30,265 36
Kannatota 30,217 36
*Ellamulle 28.296 36
Mahalla 27,645 36
Heatherton 27,497 36
*Sanquhar 26,609 36
Headington 26,360 36
*Hl Teb 23,905 36
Low mont 22,313 36
Maryland 20,964 36
Moragalla

Group 19.451 36
K RCD 17,466 36
Danawkande 16,196 36
* Dotala 15,635 36
Ukheena 15,205 36
Pilamatalawa 13,283 36
Maligatenne 10,440 36
Balgownie 10,095 36
*Yuilletield 9,508 36
*Kelburne 9,175 36
Bambragalla 8,341 36
Woodside 4,572 36
*Badulla

Factory 4,410 36
Mahawale 463,875 35
Ganapalla 319,239 35
Shrubs Hill 253.861 35
Kiriporuwa 210,590 35
Millewa 198,405 35

Yahalakelle 174,560 35
Good Hope 168,793 35
Mount Temple164, 20635

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—March, 1910,

Estate Ib. av.
New Anga-

mana 156,651 35
Laurawatte 153,236 35
Elfindale 136,980 35

Embilia Oya 130,113 35

Kituldeniya 129,398 35
Hegalla 124,960 35
Oxford 114,663 35
Goolshane

Ally 112,732 35
Wallahan-

duwa 107,220 35
Bridstowe 106,622 35
Allingford 102,388 35
Ferriby 95,521 35
Morton 77,719 35
Nirwana 74,308 35
*Suduganga 69,523 35
Kalugama __ .68,641 35
Ankande 66,310 35
Olympus 64,816 35
Windworthy 60,417 35
Yatadola 56,711, 35
Ratganga 58,720 35
Dodantella = 52,054 35
Lantern Hill 49,007 35
Wavendon 40,597 35
*Lorne 40,231 35
Hill Side ‘39, 634 35
Moredukande 34,691 35
Ilukwatte 28,910 35
*Mariawatte 28,444 35
*Chapelton 27,894 35
Hapugaha-

lande 26,980 35
Horagalla 23,965 35
*Edward Hill 23,411 35
Nallapitiya 22,729 35
Barrington 22,240 35
*Darrawella 19,620 35
Labuduwa 19,520 35
Tellisford 18,146 35
Kttapolla 16,884 35
*Telbedde 14,646 35
Awliscombe 14,575 35
*Laxapana 10,395 35
Berry Hill 9,987 35
*Lindupatna 9,500 35
*Bellwood 8,462 35
Mahawelle 8,210 35
Amupitiya 7,896 35
Buttukande 5,987 35
*Galkande-

watte 5,950 35
*Glen Alpin 5,225 35
*Belton 1,848 35
* Histon 281,015 34
Bila 235,882 34
Semi Dale = 184,466 34
Palmgarden 143,645 34
Narangoda 127,667 34
Salawe 114,430 34
Bellongalla 113,711 34
Alpha 94,611 34
K.A4.M.C. 91,914 34
Fred’s Ruhe 73,190 34
Ambalawa 69,476 34
*Ederapolla 63,836 34
Vicartons 54,575 34
Torrington 51,548 34

Estate Ib. Av.
*Strathdon 48,674 34
Purana 46,834 34
*Knuckles

Group 44,220 34
*Augusta 40,457 34
Uddapolla 30,969 34
Hyde 24,955 34
Kuruwita 23,528 34
Andagalla 20,528 34
Talduwa 14,733 34
Maskeloya 13,337 34
* Alton 9,014 34
*Blair Avon 7,830.34
*Napier 7,338 34
*St. Leys 6,843 34
Hanaskande 5,424 34
Kelani . =. 257,264 33
Sidmouth 210,290 33
Sirikandura 110,481 33
Eadella 86,167 33
Mousakande 82,635 33
Oakfield 77,464 33
Lyndhurst 66,837 33
Taprobana 66,529 33
Bowella 53,647 35

Dickmukalana 53,570 33
Kotagalaoya 53,084 33

Velleruna 48,667 33
*Kalupane 47,850 33
Mentrore 46,575 33
Halbarawa 39,987 33
Kalupahana 39,424 33
Dover 37,341 33
Hatdowa 33,805 33
Storefield 27,180 33
*Watawella 24,216 33
Pasalai 23,166 33
Pondappe 19,965 33
Kudaganga =18,784 33
Patulpane 18,182 33
Blarney 18,015 33
Tokatiamulle 17,127 33
Gabbela 14,795 33
Gyantse Val-

ley 12,539 33
Atherland 10,437 33
Huluganga =:10,265 33
Horagaskelle 7,329 33
Kahatagalla 6,467 33
*Delpotonoya 5,655 33
Ullundupitiya 4,489 33
*Thotulagalla 4,436 33
Mahanilla 4,214 33
Meepillawa 4,187 33
* Avoca 3,886 33
Peak Shadow 2,062 33
Siriniwasa 131,069 32
Damblagolla 59,157 32
*Nillomally 50,715 32
Ellawalla 50,410 32
Wewewatte 49,434 32
“Trafalgar 48,385 32
*Algooltenne 44,647 32
Burnley 37,330 32
*Patchakadu 35,759 32
Bloompark 26,051 32
St. Charles 24,861 32
Kinrara 15,765 32
*Edward Hill 14,399 32

Mahagoda —13,571 32

Estate. lb, av,
California 13,426 32
Vendoola 12,937 32
*Marakona 8,690 32
*Kelvin 6,855 32
*Hunasgeria 6,340 32
Gamrie 5,954 32
Peakside 5,189 32
Dekande 4,687 32
*Radella 3,890 32
*Norton 2,669 32
Wewelkande 2,594 32
Ashdale 2,005 32

Teligalakande 1,371 32

Balantota 193,556 31
Silverton 66,201 31
*Hopewell 55,210 31
Sindamally 52,067 31
Depedene 50,770 31
Bogawanga 47,467 31
*Loolecondera 41,372 31
Noorani 36,180 31
Wattagalla 31,844 31
Horamulle 29,125 31
Narangalla 26,100 31
Orwell 25,971 31
Candawatte 20,236 31
Sherwood 18,917 31
*Kalduria 17,765 31
Bencon 16,666 31
Trewardena 15,476 31
Atuvawatte 14,085 31
Orangefield 11,853 31
Panville-

kande 11,846 31
*“Gonavy 9,937 31
Katooloya 9,079 31
Sudangedera 8,917 31
Uragalla 8,506 31
*Rutland 5,290 31
Acrawatte 5,109 31
*Welkandala 3,030 31
*Ledgerwatte 2,778 31
Poilakande 313,545 30
Welikande 132,945 30
*Balado 89,639 30
*New Rasa-

galla 50,145 30
Agars Land 42,603 30

Lebanon

Group 32,214 30
*Hatale 28,050 30
Selvawatte 23,460 30
Berulgodella 18,812 30
Kanuketiya 17,652 30
Sadamulla 17,076 30
* Norfolk 14,080 30
Horagoda 12,423 30
Lower Kan-

auke 10,509 30
Rosebank 10,445 30
*Galaha 7,530 30
“Pendle 6,600 30
Alutkelle 4,055 30

*Wahagapitiya 3,640 30

*Ukuwella 3,285 30
Makuluwa 2,768 30
Romania 65,045 29
Oaklands 60,820 29

Gatagahawala 58,652 29
*Meddakande 58,650 29

* Denotes Incomplete Invoices,

275,

Estate, lb, av.
Carlina 43,180 29
*Alver 38,925 29
*Mipitia-

kande 37,360 29
Madala 31,446 29
Yatiyana 28,703 29
*Rugby 28,699 29
Karawakettia 26,703 29
*Dangkande 16,574 29
Hoolangaha 15,175 29
Kulandhu 13,155 29
Wepalla 5,561 29
Godakalewatte 5,110 29
*Digalla 4,454 29
St. Lazarus 3,601 29
Unugaswella 3,400 29
Dickpitakande 3,025 29
* Havilland 2,560 29
*Alma 1,690 29
*Galatura 56,281 28
*Dehiowita 41,173 28
*Ategalla 32,198 28
*Gonnamadie 28,831 28
*Glassel 27,734 28
Primston 24,125 28
Katukurundu-

goda 19,686 28
*Relugas 14,151 28
Ossington 14,144 28
*St. Andrews 12,540 28

Mousa Waite 9,342 28
*Lyndale 8,434 28
Charley Mour 7,201 28
Kalpelly 6,840 28
Atholuwa 4,475 28
Zion Hill 3,835 28
Easton 3,004 28
*Hapugas-

tenne 92,219 27
*Sunnycroft 55,408 27
Florida 50,256 27
*Kabaragalla 28,185 27
*Maddagedera 17,276 27
*Kadienlena 16,120 27
*Pantiya 5,565 27
*Koskellie 2,128 27
*Abbotsford 1,784 27
Hapugasmulle 1,370 27
*Chesterford 60,065 26
*Ingoya 21,944 26
*Springwood 17,698 26
*Sinnapittia 15,242 26
*Poengalla —‘:11,831 26
*Allakolla 11,195 26
Patiagama 8,086 26
*Woodend 3,400 26
Sadoo 3,247 26
*Galgawatte 2,980 26
*Halgolle 38,302 25
*Penylan 22,100 25
*Taraweera 19,440 25
North Vale 14,429 25

* Hoolankande 13,085 25
*Lauderdale 12,555 25

*Mudamana 11,445 25
*Warwick 11,137 25
*Arslena 10,258 25
*Gangwarily 8,130 25
*Sorana 1,809 25
Ellatenne 744 25

276

Estate. Ib. Av. EstateE Ib. Av.
Moragahanga 36,178 24 *Edmonton 9,280 21
*Hill End 13,233 24 *Mellagolla 4,470 21
Fairfield 12,826 24 Lenabatuwa 4,009 21
* Asgerlya 11,150 24 *Southwark 2,170 21
Samsing 10,785 24 *Glenalla 1,275 21
*Ramsgill 7,730 24 *Dunedin 12,033 20
*Alplakande 7,589 24 *Deeside 658 20
*Okoowatte 6,99024 *Galoya 916 19
*Halwatura 14,76223 *Meeriabedde 1,600 18
*St. Helens 9,732 23 *Nona Totam 3,732 17
*Iscadu 9,336 23 * Weyweltalawa 3,116 16
“Craighead 7,379 23 *New Pera-
*Troy 7,114 23 deniya 4,638 14
*Bukanda 4,265 23 * Villa 264 14
*Amunatenne 1,93923 *Manangoda 3,894 13
*Westhall 5,550 22 *Wootton 656 13
*Rangbodde 3,825 22 *Blackwater 561 13
*Talawakelle 1,803 24 *Holmsdale 1,540 12
*Tebuwana 320 22 *Moolgama 285 11

INDIAN TEA.

Hallashana 17,948 53 *Peeren-
Vagavurrai 90,04946 godde 106,876 32
Kanniamalay 547,671 45 *Vembenaad 35,632 32
Madupatty 336,989 45 Kolam 31,179 32
Devicolam 231.045 45 *Stagbrook 21,054 32
Thia Shola 23,65645 *Ashley 6,770 32
Sothupari 335,630 44 “Prospect 60,635 31
Chittavurrai 146,948 44 Invercauld 40,726 30
Rob Roy 4,722 42 *Arrapetta 9,470 30
Glen Morgan 50,697 41 *Poothacoolie 585 30

Mount Gordon 8,026 41 *Cherambody27, 788 29

*Nullatanni 127,810 40 *Pootoomulla 23,126 29
*Periavurrai 109,625 40 *Erramaculla 5,200 29
*Yellapatty 33,866 40 *Elstone 1,560 28
Lockhart 168,678 39 *Stanmore 15,117 26
Terrace 8,220 39 *Isfield 5,021 26
Surianalle 465,624 38 *Ranee Coil 8,517 25
*Kalaar 36,146 38 *Pambanar 3,440 25
*Sevenmally 116,408 37 *Wentworth 14,579 24
*Letchmi 62,844 37 *Koliekanam 8,127 24
*Munaar 124,203 36 *Bonaccord 5,040 23
*Chokanad 7,062 36 *Braemore 2,430 09
Poonmudie 10,305 33
GREEN TEA.

Balanaga —«:110,041 43. Vincit 56,162 37
Piccadilly 38,131 40 Avington 68,884 33
Greenfields 35,084 40 Udabage 177,770 31
St. Leonard’s *Kirriwana 53,390 27

on Sea 11,971 40 *Ambalamana 1,560 21
Cocoawatte 63,65039 *“Dewalakande 29,730 17
Ooloowatte 58,918 39 *Rayigam 34,280 16
Meeragollie 55,530 39 *Madampe 8,792 15

Mapitigama 63,971 37

INDIAN TEA ASSOCIATION.

(Extracts from the Reports of the General Com-
mittee for 1909.)

Screntiric DeparrmMent.—Two lines of che-
mical investigation were speciaar, taken up
by the department during the year, the first
of these being an
ENQUIRY INTO THE PART PLAYED BY EXTERNAL

CONDITIONS
such as temperature, rainfall, soil moisture, ma-
nures, &c, indetermining quality in leaf,as mea-
sured by the amount of dry matter, total soluble
matter, tannin, essential oil,&c.,in the fresh leaf, :

* Denotes Incomplete Invoices,

The Supplement to-the Tropical Agriculturist

As separate manufacture of the leaf from each
experimental plot is not, under present conditions
at Heeleaka, practicable this line of experi-
ment forms the closest approximation that can
meantime be made towards determining the com-
parative qualities of the leaf from the different
plots. The second of the investigations re-
ferred to was in condition of experiments made
by Dr. Mann in connection with the manufac-
ture of tea ; and in thisconnection the Associa-
tion are indebted to Mr B B.S Pritchard, of the
Tyroon Tea Company, who kindly gave facili-
ties for the conduct of the experiments in his
factory. It was considered desirable to confine
the experiments to a particular branch of mapnu-
facture and attention was therefore viven toa
study of the influence of the process of firing on
the amount of essential oil in the leaf, assuming
that essential to be the chief factor, in the pro-
duction of flavour. It is proposed to publish ina
single pamphlet the results of these two enquiries.

In the Entomological Department much at-
tention has, as in former years, been devoted to
the consideration of a remedy for

MOSQUITO BLIGHT.

Experiments in this connection were continued
in the neighbourhood of the entomological sta-
tion at Kanny Koori, Mr Antram’s scheme of
spraying being carried out under his supervision
on a number of gardens in that district. Atthe
time of writing it is impossible tosum up results
of the experiments, but the Committee hope
that when available these will be found to prove
the value of the soap solution recommended. .
Mr Antram has compiled a report containing
full information as to the results of the season's
experiments and this will be issued in due
course. Other matters that have been studied
in this department have been the Darjeeling
Thrips Blight, the Mantis Insect (in regard to
which a leaflet with illustrations was issued for
general information) the Looper Caterpillar, &c.

PLANTING IN PAPUA.

Nores From Mr. WALLACE WESTLAND.

We are permitted to quote the following
from a letter of Mr. Wallace Westland, to
a friend in Ceylon, received by latest mail, of
date 15th October :—

SisaL Hemp.—Woe are planting sisal hemp
largely, and in a year or so we will have
about 300 acres fully planted. Some of our
plants are now ready for cutting—planted May,
1908. So that growth is better here than it is
in other parts one hears of,

RusBBER—is growing strong--vide photos in
the Austratasian of August Sth, but weeds grow
amazingly, much quicker than anything you
see in Ceylon.

Cacao—has proved an almost complete pest.
We have had anumber of experiments; nota
plantis growing to show something for our money.

Mr. WickHAM—is now here near us—about 350
miles away, 1 hear he is to open in a new wa
—cut lines through the forest, in which he will
plant his trees 33 ft. by 33 1t. As it is an abso—
Jutely unknown method to me and most other
rubber planters, 1 am curious to see the result,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— March, 1910,

THE GERMAN METHOD OF MANUFAC-
TURING CACAO BUTTER.

By Rosert P, Skinner, UNITED Staves
ConsuL-GENERAL AT Hampura.

An inquirer who contemplates the establish-
ment ofa cacao butter manufacturing plant in
Michigan wrongly inferred from a report for-
warded from Hamburg on March 19th, 1909, that
there was no cacao manufacturing industry in
the United States. As a matter of fact, this
industry has increased in importance in America
by leaps and bounds during the last ten years,
and in the report referred to it was merely
stated as economically extraordinary that large
quantities of imported cacao butter should still

nd a market in the United States. In 1880
there were seven firms manufacturing cacao
products in the United States, and this number
had increased to twenty-four in 1900. I have
now before me a private list of 109 firms manu-
facturing chocolate, and, without doubt, a num-
ber of them are also producing cacao butter.
The importations of cacao into the United States
in 1902 were 56,744,545 pounds, and they in-
creased regularly year by year, the total reaching
97,419,700 in 1908. Remarkable as is this in-
crease, it must be remembered that the expor-
tations of raw cacao from the producing markets
amount to 260,000,000 pounds per annum and
that America is still regarded as a fertile field
for European manufacturers to cultivate. It
seems fairly certain that the annual consump-
tion of cacao products in the United States will
continue to increase, as a tendency in this direc-
tion is noted throughout the world.

From being objects of occasional consumption
cacao beverages are now competing actively with
tea and coffee, and whereas the latter are merely
infusions, without nutritive value, cacao con-
tains nitrogenous and oleaginous elements, all
of which form a part of the beverage and give it

AN IMPORTANT FOOD VALUE,

All of our insular possessions are cacao gro-
wing countries, and the product, characteristi-
cally American, is obtaining, as is its due, amore
and more important, place in national dietetics.
Although chocolate and ‘‘cocoa” as table beve-
rages, and chocolate bon-bons of thousands of
descriptions are popular in the United States,
the consumption of the dry cake cacao as food
is almost unknown. In Europe, on the other
hand, and particularly in France, the consump-
tion of cake cacao as an ordinary and palatable
food is quite common. Probably nine-tenths of
the school children of France leave their homes
in the morning with a slice of bread and a bit of
chocolate, which they eat together at lunch
time with entirely satisfactory results.

The three cacao products known to commerce
are : cacao butter, cacao powder and cake choco-
late, the manufacture of chocolate requiring
skill and knowledge in special degree. The
butter is merely the oil or grease of the kernel,
usually extracted by pressure and leaving a re-
sidue still containing a certain amount abeene.
table fat, which, being ground, as will be ex-
plained later, is used in making the beverage
commonly known as cecoa, When chocolate is

277

intended to be produced, the carefully cleaned
kernels are crushed into a mass, flavoured and
manipulated according to many methods and
then, after an addition of pure cacao butter has
been made to the natural content of the mass,
it is pressed into small cakes and thus sold,

The cacao bean is composed in weight of 88
per cent of kernel and husk and 12 per cent of
shell, The shells and husks are treated chemi-
cally in Holland for, the production of a low-
grade butter, the reduction being effected by
means of ether or benzine. The kernel, which
contains from 50 to 55 per cent of oil, was for-
merly treated, when the extraction of butter
was contemplated, by boiling, roasting. and
crushing in ten times its weight in water; the
oil then rising to the surface was decanted
and the residue pressed mechanically for the
elimination of such butter as it still contained.
This method has been abandoned and the
kernels, freed from their envelopes, are now
ground to a mass, brought to a temperature
of from 60 to 70 degrees Centigrade, placed
in coarse linen sacks and finally pressed
in steam-heated machines. After this first ap-
plication of pressure

THE CACAO CAKE

contains from 20 to 35 per cent of fat; it is then
ground and repressed until not more than 15 per
cent of the fatty matter remains. The oil, or
grease, which has been extracted is called cacao
butter and is used chiefly by chocolate manu-
facturers, as heretofore explained, in smaller
quantities, in the soap, perfumery and pharma-
ceutical industries in which, owing to its neutral
qualities, it is especially valuable.

Fresh cacao butter is yellowish white, but if
exposed to light becomes entirely white, and
possesses a mild odour of the cacao and a
sweet agreeable taste. . Both taste and
odour are eliminated by boiling the fat
with absolute alcohol, and in this condition it
keeps a long time without becoming rancid.
It is firm in consistency and melts at from 32
to 35 degrees Centigrade according to quality.
Its density varies from 0,890 to 0,900 at 15 de-
grees Centigrade. It is very soluble in ether,
acetic ether, chloroform and essence of tur-
pentine. It is sometimes falsified with a mix-
ture of stearine, parafiin and beef tat. If it
is mixed with fatty oils it melts at a temper-
ature of less than 25 degrees, and if 1t is mixed
with paraflin and beef fat it melts at a tem-
perature in excess of 35 degrees. If pure, the
point of fusion should not be less than 25 de
grees nor more than 30 degrees centrigrade.

The butter having now been withdrawn from
the mass there remains

AN OILY CAKE, WHICH JS GROUND INTO FINE POW-
DER AND COMMANDS A VERY WIDE SALE.
The powder is usually prepared according
to the Dutch method by the addition of a
solution of chemically pure potash. Less fre-
quently soda is used instead, or perhaps a
solution of carbonate of ammonium. In
ordinary practice the raw beans with their shell
might be expected to yield from 40 to 45 per
cent of their weight in butter and 30 per cent

of cacao powder,

278

A great many ma hines are on the market for
the manufacture of cacao products, and every
manufacturer has some more or less personal
process, as the industry is still ina state of de-

velopment.
A German plant, with machinerv of the latest
description and a capacity of 2,200 pounds

daily of dry cacao powder, would require the
following investment :—
1 A cleaning and winnowing machine for
breaking the beans and eliminating dol, dol.
the skin 1 H,P. 857.00
Belting 4.76

Receiving pan 11.90 373.66
2 Roasting machines, two in number, with

drums each of a capacity of 880 Ib,,

2 HP. 404.60 404,60
8 Crushing and cleaning machine, 2 H.P. 583.10

Beltin 14.28

Receiving pan 14.90

Connecting gearing 47.60 666°88
4 Separating machine for removing germs

with three movable sieves and two iron

pans, output about 165 Ib. per hour,

3 H.P. 134.47 134.47
5 Four triple roller mills, 5

H.P., each dol. 785.40 3,141.60 a)

Agitating apparatus pulleys 7.14 3,148.74
6 Three bydrostatic presses for extracting

the butter, each dol. 833 2,499'°00 = 2,499.19
7 Accumulator with automatic pumping

apparatus for the three presses—

Accumulator i 261.80 Mt

Pumping apparatus 124.95 386.75

Automatic pulverizer for the cacao cake,
consisting of one crushing machine, one
Pulverizer and one sifting machine,
about 6 H.P.; price of the complete

machine 3,487.50 1,487.50

The total equipment wlll require about twenty
horse-power, and will cost, erected and ready
for operation, from dol, 8,806 to dol. 9,520.— New
Vork Oil Reporicr, Dec. 27.

TOBAGCO IN RHODESIA.

It is somewhat surprising that of the Jarge
uantities of tobacco consumed annually in
treat Britain that more is not imported from

British possessions (a few years ago it was only
0-8 per cent. per annum.) It is of paramount
importance to the prosperity of agriculture in a
colony situated far inland as Rhodesia is that
an export trade should be developed in some
form or other, and tobacco is esseutially suited
as being a produce that will stand the cost of
freight well. It has been shown that the climate,
the land, and the labour supply are all satis-
factory, and well-directed energy alone is
needed in addition to make the propcsition a
certainty. A general tendency towards pro-
ducing a uniform quality of pipe and cigarette
leaf is now much in evidence on the farms, so
that time for the maturing of the leaf in the
warehouses and the organising of a regular mar-
ket isall that is required to establish this new
industry in one of the youngest of our colonies.
During the last six years an _ inereasing
araount of attention has been devoted to tobacco
growing and the experimental stages can now
safely be said to be to a great extent passed, so

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

far as the country south of the Zambesi River is
concerned, A serious effort has been made by
the Rhodesian farmers to produce a superior
type of tobacco to that which is generally known
as South African, or Boer tobacco, Seed has
been imported by the Government and by pri-
vate enterprise from all the renowned tobacco-
growing districts in the various tobacco coun-
tries of the world, and careful seed selection
is now practised by the farmers. Experts have
been procured from America to giveadvice and
generally assist the farmers who grew Virginian
tobaccos, while expert growers and ‘curers of
the Turkish leaf have been procured from Bul-
garia, and are let out to farmers at stated salaries
by the Government. Great care is necessary in

THE SELECTION OF THE SOILS,

which vary to a very great extent in Rho-
desia, Results have shown that on many
farms the best tobacco lands are on areas con-
sidered not good enough for maize (the staple
crop of the country) and other cereals. The
rich vegetable. loams found in the valleys and
flats are generally used for these, but the land
for tobacco is found in well-drained sandy
lands, generally situated higher in the granite
or diorite formations. As is the case with all
crops yet grown in Rhodesia, it is very seldom
that any artificial manure is used, the difticulty,
indeed, being to finda soil that is not too rich.
Many of the farmers (most of whom come direct
from Great Britain) have had no previous ex-
perience in the growing of this crop, and con-
sequently make a great many mistakes in the
first years. Plantations are sometimes started
in rich lands, and crops of tobacco are pro-
cluced with leaves as thick as cabbage leaves,
and almost as dark a green, which when
manufactured are so strong as to be quite
unsmokable. The ideal leaf should be light in
colour and texture, and can only be produced on
light soils. Fields fifty acres in extent can now
be seen on some of the progressive farms of the
finest Virginian leaf—a beautiful sight when,
just at the ripening stage, it is of a bright
golden green.

September and October are the months when

THE SEED BEDS

are started so as to have plants ready for the
land at the time of the arrival of the rains in
December. Planting is done by hand, and the
native labourers are at their best at work of this
kind, the only difficulty being in keeping the
rows straight, which is done either by employing
lines or by making shallow furrows with a culti-
vator beforehand. With a crowd of niggers
properly in hand it is surprising how quickly
the field is planted. By far the best way to
get them to work well is by precept. The man
with an even temper, and who works hard’
himself, will seldom have any difficulty’ in ob-
taining a good return for his money from these
people. One white man can easily supervise
a hundred natives,

After a field is planted, if good weather is
experienced—that is, if the rains are continued
sufficiently to keep the land moist till the young
plants obtain root hold—there will generally be
very few gaps in the rows to fillup from the
seed beds, During the next few months

and Magazine uf the Ceylon Agricultural Society. —March, 1910,

WEEDING IS PRACTISED CONTINUALLY,

and when the plants reack a certain height they
are topped, and in March picking and curing
Commences, which means an exceedingly busy
time for all concerned. Y

In the early days of the industry failures in
curing often resulted, which was due to lack of
experience and proper convenience, but now
well-built brick barns are a feature of many
homesteads. In these curing on scientific lines is
carried out, anda more saleable article produced,

Virginian is the chief tobacco grown, though
many of the farmers have produced fine samples
of ‘Turkish leaf, which has been reported upon
favourably by many experts in the trade. The
chief obstacles to success up to the present time
have been the youth of the country, the inex-
perience of many growers and curers, lack of
uniformity in the leaf that has boen placed on
the market, and the consequent uncertainty of
the supply meeting the demand. But, although
there has certainly been a distinct check in pro-
gress felt during the last two years, there cau,
however, be no doubt as to the future. Tobacco
grows wild wherever it gains root. A small-
leaved variety has been cultivated by the natives
for many years, and since the advent of the white
man crops of the best quality have been pro-
duced repeatedly by many farmers in various
parts of the country. The

GOVEKNMENT DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ARE FOSTERING SHE INDUSTRY

in all ways in their power, both in producing
and marketing the crops. At the present time
most of the farmers make their tobacco pay, and
some are, in fact, doing so well out of the local
market that they are leaving other crops alone.
But a tobacco must be produced which will have
a distinctive character of its own, and will be
widely known and appreciated as ‘‘ Rhodesian.”
Turkish tobacco grown for any length of time
in Rhodesia changes somewhat in character and
acquires special qualities, And so it is with all
tobaccos ; the climate and the soils have their
local influence, and produce a local quality in
the aroma and flavour. C. E. F. Aen.
—The Field, January 1.

BRAZIL-NUTS.

The Brazil-nuts (Bertholletia excelsa) was in-
troduced into the Singapore Botanic Gardens in
the year 1881, September 20th, from the Royal
Gardens, Kew. Only two plants. were sent, and
both are still in the Botanic Gardens, Singa-
pore. They must tirst have been kept in the
Upper Gardens, as the Economic Gardens were
not then established, but when Mr. Cantley ob-
tained what was then known as the military re-
serve in 1884, the plants were transferred there
with many other plants of economic interest,
including the Para rubber trees. The trees
grew steadily on aclay bank near what is now
the clerks’ quarters, and flowered about 1901
for the first time. The first fruits were pro-
duced in 1902, and since then the trees have
provided a quantity of fruit steadily each year.
THE CROP THIS YEAR HAS BEEN MUCH LARGER
than in any previous year, and there were over a
hundred of the large woody capsules on the big-
gest tree, The biggest tree measures 65 feet tall,

279

with a head of foliage 30 feet through ; the girth
at 3 feet from the ground is 5 feet 55 inches. The
smaller tree measures 63 feet, with a breadth of
foliage of 27 feet. and a girth of 2 feet 7 inches
at 3 feet from. the ground.

The leaves are oblong and wavy smooth, rather
firm in texture, dull dark green, paler on the
back, about 12-16 inches long and 4 inches wide.
The flower spikes stand erect on the top of the
branches and are 2 feet long, a quarter of an
inch thick, green and bearing many flowers
which open one by one. They are sessile and
creamy white, yellower on the back and of a
very curious structure, the stamens being col-
lected into a curious dense mass in the form of
a bearded lip. The fruit takes upwards of a year
to ripen, and by no means do all on the spike
ripen. Indeed, this would be impossible as the

WEIGHT OF THE FRUIT FALL WOULD BREAK THE
INFLORESCENCE

even if it did not break the bough bearing
the spikes. The biggest of the trees pro-
duced this year a hundred and eight fruits ;
the smaller one, which grows only within a few
feet of the other, bore only a few fruits. The
fruits are round and woody and brown in colour,
about 6 inches through, They weigh about 2 lbs.
7 oz. and each contains from 12 to 15 nuts,
which weighs altogether 95 oz., each nut when
peeled weighing half an ounce. The nuts are
beautifully packed in the capsule and quite fill
it. When it is ripe the fruit falls to the pround
while in this differing from the allied Sapucaia
nut (Lecythis oleracea) also in the Botanic Gar-
dens, in which the top forms a lid which be-
comes detached and lets the seeds fall out, On
account of this the Brazil-nut is cheaper in
the markets than the Sapucaia nut, as the
natives find it quicker to pick up the whole
fruit of the Brazil-nut than the scattered seeds
of the Sapucaia. The seeds from the trees in
the Botanic Gardens have as yet

FAILED TO GERMINATE,

possibly our fruit falls before it is quite ripe,
but they have been highly appreciated by
those who have eaten them. The kernel is .
crisp and firm, and has not the oily taste of the
Brazil nut of commerce. The Brazil-nut tree
is not cultivated anywhere for profit. The
fruits are collected by the natives in the
forests of the Amazons, where it grows in
abundance, together forming groves, accord-
ing to Bates (‘‘ Naturalist on the Amazons.”)

‘He says it is ono of the biggest trees in the

Amazons forests, and as the forest trees there
often attain the height of 150 to 200. feet,
it is probable that the Brazil-nut grows to at
least 200 feet. The trees of Lecythis, which I
saw in the forests of Pernambuco, were truly
gigantic, both in size and in circumference, and
it is said that Bertholletia is as big. The
Brazil-nut is not atree which would bring a large
protit to a planter, even of fruit trees, as its
growth is slow and the fruiting not very heavy,
considering the cheapness of the nuts brought
from the Brazilian forests, but it is a hand-
some tree, and when it does fruit it does go
quite heavily enough to supply the needs of
the planter and many others.—H. N. Ripixny.
—Straits Agricultural Bulletin, for December,

280
DEMONSTRATION IN SUGAR-MAKING.

Bangalore, Feb. 8.—With a view to ins-
tructing the Indian manufacturers of sugar
in this Province, Dr Coleman, the Myco-
logist and Entomologist of the Govern-
ment and acting Agricultural Chemist, ar-
ranged to give a demonstration on the subject
of sugar-making at the Government-Agricul-
tural Farm at Hebbal. The demonstration
commenced yesterday morning and there was a
large gathering of those interested in the deve-
lopment of the sugar-making industry to wit-
ness the experiments.

The common practice prevailing at present
isto express the juice from the sugar-cane in
one of the old-fashioned mills by which, in the
first place, there is a considerable waste of the
material. Care is not taken to see that the
juice is properly limed to neutralise the acid in
the juice and then the process of boiling the
juice, and converting it into jaggery is very
antiquated. The method usually adopted is
to boil down the juice in an iron pan of circular
shape something like an inverted cone, By the
use of such a pan the heat from the furnace is
not evenly distributed to the contents of the
pan and the methods by which the boiling
liquid is ‘‘scummed” is most unsatisfactory, the
result being that besides the waste in the pro-
cess of manufacture, the quality of the jaggery
turned out is very unsatisfactory and cannot
compete with the imported sugars.

A brief description of the methods which
it is proposed to teach sugar manufacturers
to improve the quality and outturn of their
sugar will probably be of interest. In the first
place it is Dr. Coleman’s idea that the people
should be shown that what is necessary is that
sugar-cane should be more largely grown in
close proximity to the centre of manufacture, so
that the sugar-cane may be treated in the mills
within a very few hours of it being cut. Thisis
to save the large waste that follows from driage
and by fermentation setting in in the canes.
The idea is that cane should _ be planted every
52 days and reaped at like intervals, so that
there may be a regular supply of sugar-cane
throughout the year. This is what has been
doneat the Farm and a constant supply of
material is available. Having secured a steady
and adequate supply of sugar-cane, reaping takes
place at regular intervals and the canes are
brought to the mills, which are chiefly known as
the ‘‘Rickie” class, a machine working with
horizontal rollers. A maximum of juice having
been obtained from the canes, the following
procedure is gone through :—The juice is first
“limed,” that is to say that sufficient lime is
added to thoroughly neutralise the acid in the
liquid, which is judged by the change of colour
on introducing litmus paper. Bone charcoal
filtration and treatment with sulphur is not
resorted to. The next process is the boiling.
To ensure that this isdone properly and in a
manner that will secure the best results, a new
kind of apparatus is employed. This consists
of three iron pans of cylindical shape which are
connected each with the other by a pipe. Two
of these are heated by a furnace and the third
by means of the smoke that is. made to pass

The Supplement to the Tropieal Agriculturist

from the two furnaces by means of flues under
it, the heat caused thereby being sufficient
to boil but not scorch the juice. The cane
juice is first introduced into the first pan
where it is boiled till it reaches a certain con-
sistency, the scum as it rises on the surface
being removed and passed into a bucket where
it is filtered and the clear liquid returned
to the pan, The first boiling being over, the
juice is run into the second pan, again boiled to
a certain consistency and again ‘‘scummed ”
when it finally reaches the third pan after which
it is poured into vessels and allowed to erysta-
lise as jaggery. The next process is the treat-
ment of the jaggery in a centrifugal machine,
driven by bullock power, and by this process is
produced a very clean and marketable sugar as
near as possible free from the smell or taste of
molasses as a process short of refining can make
it. If this method of making sugar on economi-
cal lines is taken up by the native grower there
is every hope for the success of the industry in
Mysore. Some years ago the Mysore Govern-
ment had some idea of building a large sugar
factory in a suitable centre, but the matter did
not assume a definite shape and I understand
that it is doubtful whether such a plan would
now be considered within the range of the pre-
sent Government’s intentions.—M. Mail.

COPRA IN THE GOLD COAST.

The production of copra is an industry well
suited to the taste of natives, yet it is one that
does not appear to succeed on the Gold Coast.
All along the Coast there is only a very small
area devoted to coconut cultivation and that
principally in the extreme east of the Eastern
Province. Attempts have been made to develop
this industry, but they do not appear to have
met with much success. In 1902 the Govern-
ment tried to establish a Coconut Plantation of
about 300 acres in the vicinity of Accra, but this
attempt has met with utter failure—only a few
palms now remain and none of them look
healthy. Although the atmosphere of the Coast,
generally speaking, is humid, the rainfall is not
excessive, and Accra is probably the driest part
of the Coast, so the ill succes of the experi-
ment may be partly accounted tor by excessive
drought, although beetle pests were also very
destructive. In those countries where coconuts
are extensively grown and the produce ex-
ported, they also form an important part of
native diet, whereas on the Gold Coast the
natives do not appear to indulge in them beyond
quenching their thirst with the water contained
in the green coconut. The fact, too, that a
coconut tree takes so long in coming into bea-
ring, even though it was proved to be a suc-
cessful crop on the coast, militates against the
rapid development of plantations among so in-
dependent and conservative a people. There is
obviously money in the cultivation after it has
become properly established, and asthere would
appear to be a considerable area alongside the
rivers and certain parts of the sea coast suitable
for this crop, F propose to make an attempt to
establish a small plantation on the Agricultural
Station at Assuantsi in the Central Province
next year.—Official Report for 1908, by WS
TupuHOPE, Director of Agriculture,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—March, 1910,

ECONOMIC PRODUCTS IN THE
SEYCHELLES.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.

A copy of the annual report ofthe Curator of
the Botanio Station and Crown lands in the
Seychelles, for 1908, has been supplied to the

Imperial Institute by the Colonial Office, and

from it the following summary of the progress
of agricultural and other work in these Islards
has boen prepared.

Coconut InpusrrRy.

The total exports of coconut products, in-
cluding nut, copra, coconut oil and soap, have
grown steadily since 1905, but whereas the
premier position in that year was taken by coco-
nut oil, this product was replaced by copra
as the principal export in 1907, and _ this
was still maintained in 1998, though in this
year the export of oil showed a considerable
increase over that of the previous year, The
reason for this is, that the production of copra
is more remunerative than the manufacture of
coconut oil. If this rearrangement of exports is
carried too far, the Curator points out that the
local soap industry may be in some danger of
not obtaining a sufficient supply of coconut oil;
but he is of opinion that the local demand for
‘*poonac”’ (the residue left after expressing the
oil from copra) as a feeding stuff for cattle and
poultry, coupled with the utilisation of dam-
aged ‘‘copra’”’ for the manufacture of oil, will
prove sufficient safeguards against local soap-
makers being deprived of this raw material.
Coconut palms suffer in the Seychelles, as
elsewhere, from the attacks of insect pests and
from fungoid diseases, and the difficulty in effec-
tively coping with these is increased by the fact
that many of the palms have been badly culti-
vated, owing to greater attention having been
given to vanilla until recently. The two groups
of pests occur in association, so that it 1s not
always easy to decide which causes the initial
damage. The chief insects affecting the palms
are three species of beetle—Melitomma insulare,
Calandra stigmaticollis and the Rhinoceros beetle
(Oryctes sp.). The two former are boring insects
and cause an outflow of sweet sap from the
tissues they attack, and this then forms a bree-
ding-ground for fungi of various kinds. It
appears therefore to be of greatest importance
to destroy the boring beetles, and the estate
owners seem to be fully alive to the necessity of
this. The ‘‘ stem-bleeding disease,” to tne oc-
currence of which in Ceylon reference has been
made already, is also found in Seychelles,
where, as in Ceylon, itappears to have been in
existence, almost disregarded, for many years.

VANILLA.

The crop of this spice in 1908 amounted to
only 24°75 tons as against 66°5 tons in the pre-
vious year. The decline is due to the weakening
of the plants after the heavy yield of the pre-
vious year. The best of the Seychelles vanilla
is stated to be sold in France, where the market
for the finer kinds is said to be better than in
the United Kingdom, There is no improvement
in the price of vanilla to be recorded, the com-
petition with artificial vanillin being more severe

36

281

than ever. Attempts are, however, being made
to lower the cost of cultivation of vanilla, and
with that end in view experiments in manuring,
etc., have been in progress since 1905. These
have shown that the application of ground lime-
stone (coral) leads to production of more pods,
no less than 26 per vine being obtained from
each of two series of vines so treated in 1908.
The use of nitrate of soda as a manure is advan-
tageous, and tends to keep the plants producing
pods over a longer period. Larger crops were
obtained from plants grown in @ mixture of fern
roots and soil than with those planted in ordinary
oil, this improvement being due apparently to
the richness of the fern roots in lime. Shaded
plants appear to do better than those freely ex-
posed to the sun. Comparative analyses of the
ash from two vines, one growth without manure
and the other with the application of a ‘* com-
plete manure” (coral, sodium nitrate, guano
and kainite), indicated that the most important
manurial constituents for vanilla are lime, soda
and phosphates ; potash and magnesia being
lessimportant. The effect of each of these com-
ponents is now being studied separately.

VOLATILE OILs.

This industry is also making progress ; a new
still of 1,000 litres capacity was started in West
Mahé, and two more of like size will be erected
this year. The climate of Seychelles appears to
be well suited to the cultivation of plants yield-
ing leaves used for distillation ; thus the clove
tree only fruits in the Islands once in three or
four years, but produces an abundance of leaves
which may be used for the distillation of clove-
leaf oil. Similarly lemon grass in Seychelles
gives twice as much oil asin Réunion, and the
‘‘ ylang-ylang ” tree flowers within a year after
planting as against three years required in less
humid climates.

It has been found more profitable to export
cinnamon bark as such, than to distil oil from
it in the Seychelles, but this may not be the case
when the wild plants now used as a source of
bark become exhausted and recourse must be
had to cultivation, Reference has been made
already to the “light” character of the cinna-
mon-bark oil so far produced in the Seychelles
which accounts for the low price this article
brings on the market. Experiments have been
made locally to discover the cause of this, but no
definite conclusions have been arrived at. At
present most of the Seychelles cinnamon bark
harvested, is taken from the stems of large wild
trees and, fetches low prices of 1d to 13d or 2d
per lb. Attempts have been made to produce
‘‘guills” of bark, after the plan adopted in
Ceylon, and these have been sold in London at
4d to 64 per lb. This and other branches of
the spice and volatile oil industry, the Curator
thinks, might be encouraged as domestic in-
dustries for women and children, Cinnamon-
leaf oil from the Seychelles, examined at the
Imperial Institute, proved to be of fair quality
and worth about 2d per ounce ; but this price
appears to be unremunerativé to the distillers.
Clove-leaf oil, on the other hand, of which a
yield of 1 per cent. is obtained in practice, is
likely to .pay better. Seychelles clove-leaf oil,
examined at the Imperial Institute, proved

282

to be of very good quality and worth 4s 4d, to
4s 6d. per lb. The clovetree grows well in the
red ‘‘laterite ” soil of the Seychelles, and it
is recommended that it should be planted more
extensively, 3 or 4 feet apart, in hedges for regu-
lar clipping of the mature leaves with shears.

Vetiver grass is recommended for cultivation
on a large scale, and experiments are being
made in the distillation of oil from the roots.
Other plants at present under trial for the pro-
duction of volatile oils are basil (Ocimum basilt
cum), cardamoms, Vievtrifolia, Bigarado orange,
ylang-ylang and camphor, and sumples of oils
from some of these have been received at the Im-
perial Institute for examination (this Bulletin,
toc. cit.) and have given promising results.

RUBBER.

The report alludes to the examination at the
Imperial Institute during the year, of three
rubbers prepared from Para trees, under five
years old. These gavethe following percentage
results calculated on the dry rubbers :—*

No. 1 No. 2. No. 3.
Caoutchouc .- 93°9 94°1 93°6
Resin eat 12'6 2°3 31
Protein na eee 2°3 egal
Insoluble matter 1°2 13 0-2
Ash a, OL 0°3 0:1

Of these No.1 was from trees of about 17
inches girth, grown.at Praslin in marshy ground
near the sea; No.2, from trees 16 inches in

irth, grown in “lateritic”’ soil on hillsides at
200 to 400 feet elevation, near Victoria ; and
No. 3, from trees of 14 inches girth, growing in
the same type of soil at 1,000 feet elevation,
near Cascade.

Tapping experiments have given more pro-
mising results than in former years: thus a
group of 19 Para rubber trees from 4 to 6 years
old, and measuring on the average 15 inches in
circumference gave the following results in the
course of 17 consecutive days’ tapping :—

Ist day 113 ces.” 7th day 293 ces. 13th day 340 ccs,

Qgnd ,, 153 ;, Sth ,, 287 ,, 14th ,, 842 ,,
Sra’, 161 3, 9th |, 273 °.,, oth ,, 338 ',,
4th ,, 221 ,, 10th. .,, 307 3; 7 6th: 3, eslig,
6th ,, 216 ,. Tith ,, 290 ,, 7th «,;; 429) 3,4
6th ,, 226. 5, PAM sy Bille ss
* Equal to nearly 6 ces. per tree, + Equal to 16 ces.
per tree. t{ Equal to about 22 ccs. per tree.

After 46 days’ tapping the best trees, Nos. 2
and 14 (of 19 inches girth) were still producing
37 and 36 ccs. of latex respectively per diem,
whilst the smallest trees, Nos. 7, 8 and 19 (of 13
inches girth), were only giving 2 ccs. each. The
conclusion is drawn that trees ought not to be
tapped till they are 15 inches in girth at 3 feet
from the ground. Itis pointed out that in the
course of 60 days’ tapping, trees 19 inches in
circumference gave 1 lb. of clean rubber, whilst
the same quantity was only obtained from trees

low 15 inches girth in 150 days. It is also men.

ned thatin using the double spiral system of
apping not more than 2 inches width of bark

% These rubbers as received at the Imperial Institute con-
tained an excessive amount of moisture, and though other-
wise of satisfactory composition were defective in physical
properties, This defect was due no doubt in part to their
being collected from young trees, and in part to the large
amounts of moisture they contained,

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

per annum should be removed, and that conse-
quently itis advisable not to tap trees much under
18 in. girth by this method. Trees of this size
are, however, large enough to allow 60 days’ tap-
ping each year for 4 years before the whole bark
Is removed. This is sufficient time to permit of
bark being renewed for subsequent tapping. A
large number of measurements of Para rubber
trees grown in various districts are also re-
corded, Allusion is made to the examination of
Seychelles ‘‘Vahea” rubber at the Imperial Ins-
titute, of which details have been published al-
ready (this Bulletin, 1909, 7. 262). This rubber
vine is being propagated in several parts of the
Islands, but a large number of the young plants
have been destroyed by ‘‘ scale insects,” though
it thrives, in spite of these attacks, at high ele-
vations, and when grown in friable soil alongside
rivers. These insects also attack Para rubber
trees, but in that case contine their attention
to the leaves, whereas they attack the leaves
and young shoots and even the stems of Landol-
phia, Castilloa, and Funtumia species.

SUBSIDIARY INDUSTRIES,

THE MANUFACTURE OF BANANA FLOUR

is in abeyance, owing to excessive freight char-
ges and high cost of suitable packing materials,

THE PREPARATION OF COCONUT COIR—

is being tried, and Sisal planting has been
started on two estates.

A special chapter on the ‘‘ Destruction of In-
sect Pests” is included in the report. This deals
more particularly with a variety of

BLACK ANT

(Lechnomyrmex Albipes) which has increased
markedly in recent years. It lives in simbiosis
with two scale insects (Mytilaspis and Lecanium),
which together with ‘‘ snowblight ” (Icerya Sey-
cheltarum) do great damages especially to lime
trees. It is not thought that insects parasitic
on these insect pests will be sufficient to eradi-
cate them, and consequextly in addition to en-
couraging ‘‘parasitism ”’ of this kind, spraying
with soda-rosin solution is recommended, To as-
sist in this work the

GOVERNMENT HAS IMPORTED SPRAYING
APPARATUS,

and labourers have been taught to use these,
and the services of thesetrained men are being
placed at the disposal of planters to teach their
estate labourers the spraying of trees. Atten-
tion is also directed to the necessity of cutting
away all dead or dying tissue, and burning this
so that 1t may not become a centre of further
infection.

The report concludes with a chapter on ‘‘De-
forestation,” in which it is pointed out that
owing to the hilly formation of the islands
comprising the Seychelles group, a serious loss
is suffered every year through ervsion and the
washing away of the surface soil. This loss
could be partly obviated by there-aftorestation
of the summits of the hills in those islands~in
which they have become deforested, and by
better methods of cultivating the slopes. The
latter are at-present largely utilised for the

und Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—March, 1910,

CULTIVATION OF MANIOC

(cassava). In digging out the roots, for which
this crop is grown, the soil is loosened and
broken up, and so brought into a state in which
it is easily washed away by heavy rain. It is at
present impossible to restrict the growing of
manioc, since this is one of the principal tood
crops of the population. The Curator is, how-
ever, of opinion that these slopes might be
afforested with Albizzia moluccana trees, in the
shade of which coffee, cocoa, beans and other
“edible” crops could be grown.—Bulletin of
the Imperial Institute, Vol. VII, No. 4 of 1909.

RUBBER IN THE STRAITS.

A CHAT WITH MR. W. N. TISDALL.

Mr W N Tisdall, who has just completed a four
weeks’ visit to the Straits, has returned with a
very high opinion of rubber in that quarter.
Speaking to a representative of the Ceylon
Observer, he said that he had been as V.A. to
Blackwater, where the rubber was growing very
well, and to Lapan Utan. He had also seen Bukit
Rajah, Damansara, Vallambrosa, Pendamaran,
Highlands & Lowlands (including Ayer Kuning’s
3,000 acres, a very fine concern), Seatield, one of
the finest of the young estates, on which the
growth of rubber was excellent, Batu Caves,
another very fine property, and a number of
small Chinamen’s places near Kajang.

TAPPING.

One thing he particularly noticed was that on
nearly all the estates the old farrier’s knife or
the gouge was being used. They did not seem
to go in for the guarded knife, such as that used
in Ceylon, and in one instance only did he see a
patent knife. Excellent work, however, was being
done and the tapping was very good indeed,

AN IMPROVEMENT.

Rubber had improved a good deal since he
was there two years ago and the growth of
rubber, after the third year, wasa good deal
better than in Ceylon, principally because the
climatic conditions were better, there being, for
one thing, a more even constant rainfall. The
trees had a more even growth and the yield per
tree was in excess of that of Ceylon. The yield
on the bukit or hill land promised to be better
than that on the flat land, where the yield was
greatly affected by the rainfall, the flow of latex
stopping considerably when there was any ten-
dency to drought,

THE CHEMIST,

The chemist, who had been brought out from
England by the Rubber Growers’ Association,
had just arrived, and was going to live at Bukit
Rajah and work from there. He (Mr. Tisdall)
thought it was an idea which should be followed
by Ceylon as anything which was likely to ad-
vance knowledge of the product was an excel-
lent thing.

MANUFACTURE,

The rubber factories there on the older places
did not come up to Ceylonin the way of build-
ings, which were mostly old converted coffee
stores, with additions. The new estates were

283

building good factories, but they were going in
a great deal for natural drying, and not provi-
ding any Siroccos or drying machines, Natur-
ally dried rubber was supposed to be of better
quality, batit took ten days or a fortnight todo.

: Lazovur,

Labour conditions seemed to be very satis-
factory, and there was certainly not the same
bother with advances. Most places seemed to
have a sufficiency of labour although afew of the
outlying places were short. Chinamen had taken
very kindly to tapping and were doing very good
work, They wereconsiderably more expensive
than Tamils but they did more work. A cooly
to two acres was usually sufficient.

DISEASE,
There was nothing in the way of disease to
cause any alarm, and the utmost care was being
taken to prevent any danger in this respect.

WEEDS.

Most of the places were quite clean weeded.
Passion flower was being used very largely for
keeping down the growth of weeds, and for
killing the lalang. It was, however, used only
for the latter purpose, where there was a scar-
city of labour as it was recognised that the best
thing to do was to dig out the lalang, the oper-
ation although rather costly paying in the end.

OrHER INTERESTING VISITS.

He paid a very interesting visit to Kedah, one
of the native states onthe west coast, between
Province Wellesley and Siam, and another to
Kelantan on the east coast. He heard very good
accounts of it asa rubker country, the soil being
very fine, and the conditions good.

DEVELOPMENT.

The principal people opening lard were the
Duff Development Co., of Singapore, who in-
tended to open several thousand acres,

A Lack or SUPERINTENDENTS.

There was likely to be a scarcity of Super-
intendents as a good many men, having made
their ‘‘pile,” would be leaving the country very
shortly. He knew of at least a dozen quite
excellent billets which were unfilled.

Oup FRIENDs.
Hesaw anumber of old Ceylon men there, inclu.
ding Messrs. R W Hartison, C Henly, W H Trot.
ter, W RG Hickey and BCN Knight of Jebong,

FoRWARD SALES,
Heknew of the crops of several estates which had
been sold forward ata very good figure for 1912.

Future Movements,
He was going to Periyar at the end of the
week and after about seven days there he would
return and take up some more visiting,

RUBBER IN B.N. BORNEO.

The Protector, Mr W H Penney, visited Si
Bode Rubber Kstate, the property of the North
Borneo Trading Co., on the llth inst. He re-
ports that planting operations are being actively
carried on and thatit is expected 500 acres will
be fully planted up by the early part of next
year; about half this area is already planted
and the growth is very satisfactory—B, North
Borneo Herald, Dec, 16,

284
A NEW SOURCE OF RUBBER.

According to information recently received from
Valpraiso a possible new source oi rubber is

ATTRACTING ATTENTION IN NorRTHERN CHILE,

which, if scarcely likely to greatly increase the
supply under present conditions, merits further
investigation and experiment. Along the arid
coast-line, extending from the Tropic of Capri-
corn to about the latitude uf Coquimbo, the
annual rainfall is small and very variable in
amount, although, in spite of statements often
made to the contrary, the region is by no
means a rainless ore. Whilst on the whole
characterised by desert conditions, the seaward
flanks of the coastal mountains are well covered
with cacti and hardy shrubs, particularly at
considerable elevations, where the ‘‘ garua,” a
damp mist, hangs persistently during the winter
months. In the spring time, after exceptional
rains, the forbidding aspect of the sun-scorched
hills is completely transformed for a few weeks
by the sudden springing up of a wealth of flow-
ering plants of great beauty. Typical of the dis-
trict and by no means uncommon, though rather
restricted in its range, is the Huphorbia lactifiua,
a shrub locally known as the ‘‘lechero,” or
“milkman,” aterm evidently derived from the
milky fluid which exudes plentifully from any
incision in the stem or from broken twigs, which
continues to drip for some time after the in.
jury. Onexposure to the air the substance soon
oxidises into a plastic and elastic solid, which
is said to yield, under appropriate treatment,

RUBBER OF EXCELLENT QUALITY.

The shrub seldom attains great size, not often
exceeding 10ft. to 15ft. in height, and does not
cover much ground. When rain has supplied
a little moisture to the parched soil, the stem
and branches secrete the milky sap so freely
that they become remarkably distended and
turgid, sometimes even bursting. The plant
does not flourish well near the sea level, and
the present writer has not met with it at a grea-
ter elevation than a few thousand feet. The
wounded bark appears to heal up rapidly, and it
is said that the plant is not injured by process
of “‘bleeding,” by which the sap is collected. The
milky exudation has long been made use of
locally on account of its remarkable adhesive
properties asa kind of natural glue, for which
it forms an admirable substitute, and in past
times the Indians of the desert coast fixed their
stone arrow and lance heads to their shafts, and,
it is said, poisoned their weapons with this sub-
stance, The juice is credited with possessing
very poisonous properties, but appears to have
been used medicinally by the Indians, some
tradition of its mode of employment still ling-
ering among the native Chilians.

The idea of utilising the products of the plant
commercially has been advanced before but not
very seriously, for at first sight, even supposing

ITS RUBBER PRODUCING QUALITY
to be confirmed, its comparative scarcity, ‘re-
stricted range, and small yield, together with
the difficult nature of the country, would appear
sufficient obstacles to prohibit its profitable ex-
ploitation, The difficulty of visiting the plants

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

inorder to collect the sap is, however, not so
serlous as it appears, since at the present time
a certain class of the inhabitants go far afield in
order to collect fuel in the shape of dead cactus
branches and the lke. Of more importance is
the question of possibly

IMPROVING THE SHRUB UNDER CULTURE,

and the best method of increasing the number
of the plants. The struggle for existence in the
desert is very keen, water being the chief matter
of difficulty. As artificial irrigation is quite out
of the question, it may, perhaps, be found that
the elimination of a few of the euphorbia’s plant
competitors would, without other attention,
promote the growth of the shrub in greater
numbers. Plenty of space is available for ex-
periment, at any rate.
O. H. Evans.

—Field, Feb. 5.

RUBBER IN VENEZUELA.

[We are indebted to a well-known Ceylon
planter for the following interesting notes from
his brother in Venezuela, which will interest a
good many rubber-growers and others here :—]

Cuidad Bolivar, Venezuela, Dec. 28, 1909.—
I have to thank you for yours of the 50th
August, also for the parcel of

TAPPING KNIVES

which I duly received two mails ago. Though
much interested in them and the rubber busi-
ness general y, I am afraid there is absolutely
no business to be done in them out here, even
although the principal export of the country .
is balata and rubber. The reason is that the
wretched natives who bring the stuff in from
the forests, for it is all virgin, have to bring
the greatest quantity possible to satisfy, which
it never does, the rapacity of the people (mostly
Venezuelans and Corsicans, both equal beasts !)
in whose clutches they are. Consequently they
DO NOT TAP AT ALL, BUT SIMPLY CHOP THE
TREES DOWN

and bleed them dry. Of course it is very
short-sighted of them, as they have to keep on
going farther afield the whole time for it. But
such are the conditions which obtain in this
country that it will never be otherwise until
we get a decent, constitutional and equitable
Government, which, I am afraid, will be a good
while yet. We are

PLANTING A LOT OF RUBBER

on this estate ; we have some 26,000 trees now
about two years old and are planting every
season, but it will be some six or seven years
before we start tapping them,

A CLIMATE OF PERPETUAL SPRING.

Iam now pretty well settled down here and
like the place very weil. It is very healthy, the
trade-wind blowing up the Valley the whole
time. Fever is practically unknown amongst
the whites. The prevailing climate is perpetual
spring. This is also

A GREAT CATTLE RANCHING COUNTRY,

and alluvial gold is to be found in payable
quantities almost anywhere in this district, The

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricullural Society.—March, 1910,

people themselves are a lazy, useless lot and
look like a lot of brigands. They are armed
up to the teeth with revolvers, knives and
swords, which they use freely on the slightest
provocation. What I call ‘‘ murders” are con-
tinually happening, but no notice is taken of
the affairs. One good thing is they leave all
foreigners alone, unless they interfere with
them and their politics. Politics are at the
bottom of nearly all the rows and troubles,
Everybody is a ‘‘General” in this country, Our
letters are brought to us bya General, also
the bread and milk. We have several Generals
working as miners and labourers. The army
consists of 30,000 Generals and 10,000 others,
only one of whom is a private, all the rest being
at least corporals; but they are mostly captains
and colonels. The women are nonentities. Such
is roughly an idea of this place and people. The
country itself is very pretty and is well watered.

DAMAGE TO RUBBER STUMPS.

FRom tHE Mote Cricket.
(To the Editor, ‘‘Malay Mait.’’)

Drak Sir,—Upon an estate on the alluvial in
which [ am interested, I find that as soon as my
stumps begin to shoot, the shoots are very soon
nipped clean off and removed. I have been told
that the mcle cricket is responsible, and have
tried liming, tarring, and even bird-liming the
stumps inthe hopes of driving off or catching
some of my enemies. I[ have had a watch kept
at nights, and‘in fact have done everything in
my power to check the pest, but totally without
avail so far. I have heard it said that the only
thing to be done is to pull up the bitten stumps
and supply with young tree stumps 8ft. high.
But unfortunately this latter suggestion does
not come within the range of practical politics,
I have now a gang on digging, with what success
I cannot at present say, but if it is the mole
cricket, 1 hope that the demoralising influence
of disturbance may effect some good results. In
the meantime I shall be most grateful for any
assistance and advice, and would also be pre-
pared to pay a handsome fee, if required, for a
satisfactory remedy for the most serious insect
attack which I have known in the course of a
very long experience.—I am, etc.,

‘MOLE CRICKET.”
—Malay Mail, Feb. 12.

GRASS ON RUBBER ESTATES.

Planters will have read with much interest
the letters quoted by Mr R D Anstead referring to
‘The Harmful Effect of Grass in Cultivations”
and his remarks thereon which were published
in a recent issue of the ‘‘Planters Chronicle.”” He
says :—‘‘I have on several occasions when dis-
cussing the use of weeds in cultivations of tea,
coffee, etc., had occasion to point out that grass
of all kinds is directly harmful and should be
eliminated as far as possible, on account of its
power of oxcreting a poisonous substance into

285

the soil.” This is a very startling pronouncement
and itis based, apparently, on investigations
carried out during the last 15 years at the Wo-
burn Kxperimental Farm and described by Mr
Spencer Pickering in a letter to the ‘‘Gardeners’
Chronicle,” which Mr Ansteadreproduces. Lhe
latter, however, goes further than Mr Pickering,
and it would be interesting to know on what
grounds he is able to make so sweeping a pro-
nouncement, viz. that ‘‘ grass of all kinds ” . has
the ‘‘ power of excreting a poisonous substance
into the soil.” The idea of plants having toxic
effect on soil is not anew one, but unless I am
much mistaken, it was one that most scientists
entirely disagreed with until quite recently ;
and Mr Pickering, it will be seen, only goes so
far as to say, with exemplary caution, that
‘although no final solution of the problem has
yet been obtained, considerable progress : has
been made in the matter and various possible
explanations have been definitely negatived.”

No tea or coffee planter will deny that grass
does harm to his trees, especially in the hot
weather. On the other hand,the rubber planter
willargue that he is constantly being told by
the scientist that it is better to leavehis ground
covered with a jungle growth than expose it to
thesun’sray. Now Mr Anstead points out that
land left untilled is taken possession of by grass
and that grass spells ruin. The counsel of per-
fection for the rubber planter is, no doubt, to
dig out weeds and grow leguminous plants bet-
ween his trees, and many are doing this regard-
less of cost. What, however, would Mr Ans-
tead have the rubber planter do whose means
are limited—give his estate an annual dig, clean
weed, or what? Or must we consider the re-
placement of jungle weeds by leguminous plants
a sine gua non to successful rubber cultivation ?

GEORGOS,
—M, Mail, Feb. 23.

CASTOR OIL BEAN IN THE SOUDAN.

EXPERIMENTS IN PRopuction,

The monthly report of the Soudan Central
Kconomic Board for October says experiments
were carried on at Kassala during the season
1908 9 with the cultivation of the castor oil plant,
Java and Indian seed being used. The seed was
sown early in September and the harvest took
place about the middle of January. The beans
were sent to Hull and there sold at about 111 per
ton. The cost of cultivation and the yield per
geddat were as follows :—

Cost of cultiva- Yield per

tion per feddan, feddan.
Java seed 4°479 7 K. 1,840 rotls
Indian seed 3°725 1 Ki. 1,729 *.,

The results of an examination, at Khartoum
of samples of the beans produced, were :—

Java, Indian,
Percentage of oil 61°48 48°68
Weight of 100 seeds 42.6 grams 25°2 grams

The samples were both stated to be of good
quality, that grown from Java seed especially so,
: ae equalll, 0s 6jd; Rotl. equal ‘99 Ib ; Feddan equal

. acres,

—Board of Trade Journal, Dec, 2.

286
THEOBROMA AND GASTOR OILS.

At the second evening meeting of the Phar-
maceutical Society of Great Britain held at 17
Bloomsbury Square, London, W.C., on December
14 (the President Mr, J F Harrington in the
chair) Mr, C E Sage, F.1.c., #.c.s., read his
paper on the
FIXED VEGETABLE OILS OF THE PHARMACOPGIA.

Mr. Sage’s lecture lasted about an hour and
a half, and was illustrated by a large number
of lantern-slides dealing principally with the
machinery employed in oil-pressing. In the
course of it he spoke of

THEOBROMA OIL,

The lecturer gave a very full account of the
preparation of cacao. The beans undergo fer-
mentation before being roasted, the latter being
the most important part of the manufacturing
process. After being cleaned by machinery the
nibs are ground, and the pasty mass, containing
50 to 57 per cent of oil, is put into a press.
The oil which exudes is coloured and is sub-
mitted to filtration in a hot room, when the
white product familiar to pharmacists is ob-
tained. The oil used in this country is pressed
in England, which, said the lecturer, is a guar-
antee of its quality. He would like to see the
rubric ‘‘ expressed in Great Britain” restored.

CASTOR OIL.

There are numerous varieties of Aicinus com-
munis, the seeds of which yield castor oil.
The size of the plant varies according to the
country in which itis grown; in India and
the United States it attains a considerable size.
The oil was very largely used as lamp oil in
India before the introduction of mineral oils,
but now that the local demand has lessened
a good deal of the seed is exported. Hull, the
centre of the castor-oil trade, produces from
300 to 350 tons of oil every week. After describ-
ing the older processes as practised in India,
Mr Sage gave details of how the oil is pressed
in this country. The first step in cleaning the
seed is to pass them over a magnetic separator
to collect iron nails and similar extraneous
metallic matter. The testa is next removed by
slight crushing and the seeds pulped. The pulp
is then dealt with in a variety of ways, the
‘‘clodding” press being chiefly employed in
Hull. The first pressings give the pharmaceu.
tical castor oil if good sound seed has been
used. An alternative process is to form the
meal into cakes for packing into another kind
of press. The oil as pressed is refined. This
consists of heating it with fuller’s earth and
filtering by means of a filter-press. The press
cakes are afterwards steamed and re-pressed, the
product being a lubricating oil. Extraction by
benzol is also practised, The lecturer gave the
following data regarding castor oil :

Iodine Free Saponitication
Castor Oil. No. Acid, Number.
Pharmaceutical an 83°5 0°94 178°7
First ere 84°6 1°08 1759
Second 33 86°0 3°8 172°0

The lecturer concluded with a reference to soya-
bean oil, which is at present ‘‘occupying the
attention of the trade Press,” Inthe

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

Discussion,

Mr EM Houmes—said: Enormous quantities of
castor oil are employed for lubricating purposes
owing to its peculiar viscosity and its cheapness.
The Indian trade is largely in the hands of one
man. Castor oil free from taste and purgative
principle is used in China as salad oil. Although
soya-bean oil has only been made within the last
three years, the beans have been in the museum
for the last twenty or thirty years. The oil is
employed in the manufacture of margarine.

Mr E T Brewis—after referring to the inter-
esting nature of the paper, said soya-bean oil
has been pressed for many years, but has not up
to now found many outlets in this country.

Professor H G GkEENnisH—said the lecture
would be much appreciated by students on
account of its practical character. Is it neces-
sary, he asked, to spend so much time in prepa-
ring the seeds before pressing ? He once sawa
working process, in which the castor seeds were
pressed whole, and understood that other seeds
were treated in the same way. Inregard to the
formation of oil in the seeds, the oil forms in
globules in the protoplasm ; but although the
problem is not yet solved, the evidence goes to
show that it is not produced from the mannite.

Mr Sace—in reply to Professor Greenish—-said
that he knows of one mill producing 25,000 tons
of castor oil a year where the seed undergoes
no preparation before pressing. The cakes are
extracted with benzol, and after removal of the
poisonous principle are used for cattle-feeding.
In regard to the physiological processss that
lead to the formation of oil in plants, his im-
pression was that bacteriological aétion played
as active a part as enzymes.—Chemist and Drug-
gist.

‘‘DIE-BACK”’ OF HEVEA BRAZIL-
'ENSIS: FATAL GASES.

THE LATEST PERADENIYA CIRCULAR.

The latest Botanic Gardens circular, recently
to hand, consists of a treatise by Mr. T. Petch,
the Government Mycologist, on ‘* Die-Back of
Hevea Brasiliensis.” The subject is exhaustively
dealt with, and the writer’s observations and
suggestions will be found of great value to all
rubber planters. A serious aspect of the disease
is that, whereas, a few years ago, it was essen-
tially one which attacked trees from one to two
years old only, it was last year found on several
estates on trees from nine to 14 years old, in
some cases kiliing them with astonishing rapid-
ity. The disease kills back the tree from the
top; although its earlier stages generally at-
tract attention in the case of young trees, they
are seldom noticed on old trees. The fungus
which begins the disease attacks the leadin
green shoot ; the place attacked becomes dar
brown, and this discolouration gradually ex-
tends over the whole shoot, while the leaves
fall oif as the fungus reaches them, If the dead
shoot is then cut off, the tree sends up a new
leader from the uppermost remaining bud, and
the disease is thus got rid of with very little
damage to the plant, If it is neglected, the

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—March, 1910

-“ die-back * frequently continues down the stem
until it reaches the root and the tree is killed
outright. Jt is not, therefore, a very serious
disease in the case of young trees, provided
that they are not left to take care of themselves.
After dealing with the fungi which originate
the disease and with the latter’s symptoms,
Mr. Petch states that the tops of trees at-
tacked by ‘‘die-back,” having been cut off
below the dead part, must be burnt; and
he goes on to point out thatif the diseased
stems are left lying about the planta-
tion they will hatch out myriads of Botryo-
diplodia spores, all ready to attack other
trees when they get an opportunity. Botryo-
diplodia elasticae is an extremely widespread
fungus, and it would be quite impossible to
eradicate it, but there is no need to encourage
it by neglecting to remove the dead stems. It
grows excellently on all dead stems of Hevea,
no matter what the cause of death, and any
one can obtain specimens of the fungus by
cutting down a healthy tree and leaving the
stem on his verandah for a fortnight. It
is fortunate that the fungus is not a direct
parasite of Hevea, but can only attack it
through wounds or dead branches. The dis-
eased part should be cut off with a slightly
sloping cut. It should not be too oblique,
or the upper thin edge willdie. If the dead
portion is large, it should be cut down in
pieces, so as not to injure the lower branches.
The cooly will no doubt prefer to use a catty,
but if so the stem should be finally trimmed
off with a saw to geta smooth surface. The
removal of dead branches, which may afford an
entrance for Botryodiplodia and other fungi,
will have to become part of the general routiue
of a rubber plantation, and some coolies should
be taught how to do this properly. The removal
of a large branch requires three cuts with a saw.
The first is made, about a foot away from the
trunk, onthe under surface of the branch and
about half-way through it; the second is made
from the upper surface three inches further
from the trunk, and continued until the branch
breaks off. The double cut prevents any damage
to the main stem. Finally, the stub must be
sawn off as close to the stem as possible; it must
be cut off flush with the stem, not perpendicular
to the branch. This may give a bigger wound,
but it will heal completely, whereas the bark
will never grow over a triangular stub. The cut
surface must be tarred to prevent the entrance
of fungi. The heartwood of any tree is prac-
tically dead, and, if exposed, can be readily
attacked by many fungi which could never
obtain a footing on the tree under other circum-
stances, The progress of such fungi is slow,
but the tree ultimately becomes hollowed out
or weakened tosuch an extent that it is broken
by wind. Coal tar should be used for covering
the cuts. It is much more permanent than
Stockholm tar and more effective against fungi.
Of course, the cooly should not be allowed
to uso so much that it runs over the healthy
bark, and to avoid this it is better to use it
cold. Hot tar is best, but there is more danger
of injury. The cut surface should be as dry
as possible, but it should not be left exposed
for more than a day before being tarred.

287

These two points may conflict in practice,
and it is a matter for compromise. To avoid
the disease caused by the fungus attacking
stumps the holes where the stumps die
should be lined, and supplied with basket
plants. Mr Petch follows the above with an
interesting account of the distribution of the
fungus and the conclusions he draws are that
dead branches should be regularly removed
and burnt, in both cacao and hevea plantations,
that itis unwise to allow albizzias planted in
tea or rubber to grow into large trees and then
to cut them down, that, when albizzias three
inches in diameter are pruned at a height of
three or four feet, the cut surface of the stem
should bo tarred to prevent them dying back,
and that to iuterplant cacao and rubber is un-
sound, ‘seeing that they are attacked by the
same fruit, stem, and root diseases. The cir-
cular is concluded by a reference to climatic
leaf fall in hevea which in some _ respects
resembles ‘‘die-back.”

CAMPHOR ON THE GOLD COAST.

A R&cENT PERADENIYA VIsiToR’s REPORT,

An introduced crop that gives exceptional
promise is camphor (Cinnamon camphora), plots
of which have been established at three of the
agricultural stations. It shows very satisfactory
growth, as will be see from the notes on the
stations, and is far better than trees of similar
age in Ceylon, where, to a limited extent, it is
now being cultivated and the camphor extracted
by distillation and sublimation from the leaves
and twigs. This is a form of cultivation that
might profitably be taken up in this Colony
by some of the more intelligent planters. Japan
has hitherto practically held a monopoly in this
product, the trees yielding it being indigenous
to the forests of Formosa, aud it is only within
the last fewyears, owing apparently to an in-
sufficiency of supply and consequent increase in
price, that its production has received scien-
tific investigation. Camphor is an important
element in certain manufactures, notably
celluloid, and in the manufacture of explosives,
and unless synthetic camphor can be manu-
factured at a price below that at which the
natural product can be produced, it is reason-
able to suppose that this may prove profitable
to cultivate. Cinnamon also grows well and
could be produced on a commercial scale should
it be remunerative enough to do so ; but at the
present prices I could hardly recomend it.—
Official Report on 1908, by S. Tupnoprs,
Director of Agriculture.

TOBACCO GROWING IN U.S.A.

A report on experiments in tobacco growing
which have been carried on at the Agricultural
Experiment Station of the University of Wiscon-
sii States that the use of manures free from
chlorine was found not to exert any detrimental
effect on the burning quasity of the leaf.—Wes¢
Indian Agricultural News, Dec, 11.

288

INDIGO AND SUNN HEMP AS
GREEN MANURE.

(To the Editor, ‘Madras Mail.”)

Sir,—I beg to approach you with the confi-
dence that the agricultural population of the
Cauvery Delta may be benefited by the publi-
cation of the following news in your columns.
The. Agricultural Department has stocked
Sathier wild indigo (Kvavaalay or Kolonji) Nan-
dyal indigo (Avery) and Bezwada Sunn hemp at
Ammapet, Nidamangalam, Koradacheri and
Nannilam, §8.1.R., and sell them at cost price.
These are to be used as green manure. ‘The
first two may be seen alone, or together, with
field gram, and cattle do not graze them.
Sunn hemp serves the triple purpose of fodder,
fibre and manure, for the first two uses of
which it can be advantageously sown now. If
green manure, the fitting season for wet land
is just after the new freshes have come 1n,
when they are sown on ploughed land and
used as green manure within four to six
weeks, when the ficld may be required for the
transplantation of Samba. The seeds can be
had on application to Mr. C Narayana lyer,
Agricultural Inspector on special duty, Camp
Nannilam.

V. V. SUNDARAMIER.

—M, Mail, Jan. 11.

TUBERCULOUS ALIMENTARY PLANTS

(Review.)

We have received from Messrs. O. Doin and
Sous, Paris, a neat and compact little book of
some 400 pages, written in French by Professeur
Henri Jumelle, of Marseilles, and entitled ‘Les
Plantes 1 Tubercules Alimentaires des Climats
Tempérés et des Pays Chauds,” (Tuberculous
Alimentary Plants of both Temperate and Tro-
pical Climates), which, as far as we can gather,
is a valuable addition to botanical, agricultural
and industrial literature. In it all plants, the
tubercles of which are used for food or for the
preparation of starch, are reviewed from the
three points of view mentioned above, For each
plant the author has given a description of the
type and its varieties, reproduced analyses of the
tubercles, mentioned their principal properties,
and indicated the processes of cultivation and
harvesting, the whole forming a most excellent
résumé, embellished by the results of the
author’s own observations and study, of the
numerous and important researches which have
recently been made in tropical countries with
reference to the manioc and its varieties, yams,
the sweet potato, and other plants, as well as of
what is already known with regard to tuber-
culous plants in temperate climes. The first
chapter explains what a tubercle is, the mode of
formation and its anatomical construction, de-
scribes the different varieties, and treats of the
localisation of their reserves, such as starch from
the potato, and saccharine from the beetroot.
This chapter is of interest principally to bota-
nists. The others are written from the triple
point of view mentioned in the first sentence,

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

giving exhaustive information regarding the
potato, the manioc, yams, the sweet potato,

' arrowroot plants, the colens, the tuberculous

monocotyledons, and apetalous, dipetalous, and
gamopetalous plants. The particular value of

‘the book is that, although a large part of the

information contained therein can be obtained
separately in larger and more expensive books,
it forms a handy treatise containing the prin-
cipal facts of interest in connection with the
subject, dealing with all plants appurtenant
thereto irrespective of the climate in which they
thrive. The letterpress is illustrated and elu-
cidated by a number of sketches of plants and
machinery, and chemical and other tables.

TRIPOL? ESPARTO GRASS.

For more than fifty years Great Britain has
been a large importer of esparto grass for use
as paper stock. This fibre, called variously ‘‘es-
parto grass,” “Spanish grass,” ‘‘halfa,” and
“alfa,” is found in Southern Spain, Algeria,
Tunis, and Tripoli. The pulp-making process
does not differ greatly from those of other paper
stocks ; the esparto grass 1s boiled with caustic
soda, washed, and bleached with a chlorine
solution, [t has been imported into the United
States on trial, but seems not to have been able
to compete with wood pulp. According to the
American Consul at Tripoli, esparto grows wild
in Barbary, and is brought in on camels to Tri-
poli and one or two of the smaller towns on the
coast. The shipments from the district average
from 35,000 to 40,000 tons per annum, and oc-
casionally exceed the latter figure. The supply
is affected by the state of other crops. In a good
year the barley fields attract many esparto
gatherers; in avery bad year it is difficult to
find camels to bring the grass to the coast. The
slack season is from October to February, an
improvement then begins which lasts until the
barley harvest time: During one day in April,
1909, as many as 1,80) camels loaded with es-
parto came into the market at Tripoli. The
grass issold by public auction, and then deli-
vered to the ‘‘funduks,” or warehouses, of the
exporters. Thenit is sorted and baled by bydra-
ulic pressure. The bales weigh about 600
pounds. The trade is in the hands of three
large firms, who have esparto presses in Tripoli,
and in one or two of the smaller towns along the
coast. The shipment is mostly by chartered
steamers, and the entire output goes to England.
—Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Dec. 31.

COFFEE IN THE PHILIPPINES.

From the trade and commerce report of the
Philippine Islands we learn. that the coffee-
planting, once a thriving industry in the islands,
has been steadily on the down-grade for the past
twenty years owing to the coffee blight, and that
imports of coftee have in this period been steadily
increasing, British India being, until recently,
the chief source of supply. Java, however, has
commenced to compete, and in 1908 the imports
of Java coffee wers almost equal in value to the
British Indian product,—M Mail, Feb. 8.

a apr
<% z Ela

Photo ; H. EF, Macmillan
CALABASH NUTMEG.

Calabash Nutmeg, also called Jamaica Nutmeg (Monodora Myristica, N. O, Anonaceze),—
A moderate-sized handsome tree, with large oval, shiny leaves and sweet-scented flowers.
It is a native of West Tropical Africa and has been established since 1897 at Peradeniya,

where it flourishes, but hes not yet produced fruit. In its native country the aromatic seeds,
which are enclosed in a large globular fruit, are used as a spice for flavouring purposes, being
considered to resemble in character the nutmeg proper, The tree is suited to the moist low-
country up to about 2,000 ft., and thrives best in deep loamy soil.—H. F, M.

~PROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

AND

E MAGAZINE OF THE

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Von, XXXIV,

COLOMBO, APRIL 15ru, 1910, No. 4

A JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD.
Tk:

By J. C, WILLIs.

While in England for a little over
three months, we were mainly occupied
in visiting relatives; and attended the
Darwin Centenary at Cambridge, where
we represented Peradeniya, We sailed
for New York on September 25, and
went straight to Boston, where we
represented Cambridge (England) at the
inauguration of President A. L. Lowell
as President of Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass, After these great
functions were over, we gave a course
of lectures upon Agriculture in the
Tropics to an audience of about 60,
including several ladies. The general
line taken was an amplification of the
latter half of our book on this subject,
especially insisting upon the cardinal
necessity of arranging questions of land,
capital, transport, etc., before real agri-
cultural progress can begin.

Considerable interest is taken in such
subjects in America, which struck us
as a country ready to admit that she
did not know very much about tropical
colonisation, and anxious to learn all
that could be learnt, with a view to
doing the best possible for the Philip-
pines, ete., where she’ admitted that
many mistakes must be in process of
making, Even in the women’s colleges

instruction in economic botany, &ce.,
Was in progress, and we gave a lecture
at Bryn Mawr College, by request, toa
class of nearly one hundred students, on
the Economic Geography of tropical Asia,
pointing out how the agricultural indus-
tries were determined by the geogra-
phical distribution of the plants, the
climate, transport, and labour facilities,

In Philadelphia we read a paper on
the Botany of Ceylon to a large audience
at the American Society of Natural
History, the oldest scientific society in
America, and had a good discussion
afterwards. We spent some time in the
great Commercial Museum inthis city,
which is in many ways the finest of
its kind in the world; and some features
of which, notably the public lectures,
and the aid given to schools by lending
them small collections with books of
information, diagrams, etc., are well
worthy of imitation locally.

In New York the most striking change
since last we were there is in the height
of the buildings, two of which now
reach 640 and 720 feet. Being built of
steel and concrete these buildings are
quiet, clean, and safe, and the system
of construction might very well come in
in Colombo, where the light is as good
as in New York, In London, on the
other hand, it would be perfectly dark
in a street with such lofty buildings.

or a} ( Aaah cl :
¢ } ip ars ae ee ete

290

The newer buildings are very handsome,
and it must be admitted that a-new
school of architecture is developing.
The Botanic Gardens in New York are
still in process of being laid out, but are
rapidly coming into good condition,
and will soon be among the finest on
the globe. \

In Washington we spent most of our
time in the Department of Agriculture
which is now partly housed in magni-
ficent quarters upon the Mall. We

ave a lecture upon scientific progress
in tropical agriculture to the assembled
department, especially dwelling upon
school gardens, in which great interest
is taken in America. We saw mangoes
being grafted upon a large scale in the
green-houses, and the manyosteen being
freely grafted (for sale) upon the Cochin
goraka(Garcinia Xanthochymus), besides
many other interesting things. We
also interviewed Mr. Austin, chief of
the Department of Commerce, and
considered with him the influence of
transport facilities and other things
upon agriculture.

Arrangements were made for exchange
of a number of fruit and -other plants
between Ceylon and America. Among
other interesting work lately done. by
the department there is the production
of a frost-resisting orange, which will
open up a good deal of country hitherto
useless for the purpose, to this culti-
vation. The success of the date and fig
in California is now assured, and one
rarely sees in the States any but local
fruit of these kinds.

From Washington we went without
stop to New Orleans, where one isina
damp, subtropical climate. Here in the
Gardens one might see many of the
familiar Ceylon flowers growing, such as
Cannas, Bougainvilleas, Poinsettias, ete.
The French market in the Creole town
was interesting, and much resembled
the Kandy market. In _ the country
round were large fields of rice, sugar,

5 a a.
io oe

| ‘[ApRmn, 1910.

and other tropical crops. Rice is a great at
success in the Southern States. and the

cultivation is continually extending; it
is produced more cheaply than it is here,
by virtue of white labour and good
machinery.

Passing through the desert of Arizona
and New Mexico, where there are little
irrigated patches, we came to Southern
California, and spent some time there.
This we regard as the ideal climate for a
tropical resident to retire to. In the
warmest weather it is as warm as
Nawalapitiya, in the coldest rather
colder than Nuwara Eliya. The country
itself is like Italy, with lovely blue sea,
and snow mountains behind, to which
one can always retreat by the cog-wheel
railways if one wishes for cold. The
show of flowers of every kind, tropical
as well as temperate, is the finest we
have seen in the world, and the good
suburban streets of Los Angeles, Pasa-
dena. or Santa Barbara are a revelation.

Wewent on to San Francisco, and
spent a week there, and then to Stanford
University, a few miles south. We
then took the beautiful journey through
the mountains to Portland and Seattle,
and settled down with relatives in Puget
Sound for some weeks. This country is
rapidly filling up, and will evidently one
day be one of the great centres of popu-
lation of the world. Seattle now has
over 375,000 people, Tacoma _ 150,000,
Vancouver 100,000. It would lead too
far outside the scope of an agricultural
journal to discuss this district. We
went into several agricultural questions
there, however.

Crossing by the Canadian Pacific boat
from Vancouver, we had a little timein
Japan, but it was under snow, and little
of agricultural interest could be seen
other than the little fields of tea between
Tokyo and Kyoto. On the voyage to
Colombo we _ were prevented from
visiting the Malay States by the break-
down of the railway by floods.

e Pe epi, 1910.) 7
: GUMS: RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS.

J ¢ “

THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF
PARA RUBBER CULTIVATION.

By JOHN PARKIN, M.A., F.L.S.

(From Science Progress, No. 15,
January, 1910.)

Caoutchouc,* the elastic gum prepared
by the Indians of Tropical America from
the milky juice (latex) of certain trees,
became known in EHurope during the

seventeenth century as a curiosity. It —

remained so in England till the year
1770, when Priestly recommended its
fitness for erasing lead-pencil marks,
heuce the origin of the name ‘“ India-
rubber,” now often shortened to ‘ rub-
ber.” .

This substance first assumed commer-
cial importance about the year 1823
through the method of waterproofing
patented by Macintosh. Its uses be-
came greatly extended later by the dis-
covery of vulecanisation, a process in-
vented by Goodyear in America in 1839,
and independently by Hanzock in EHng-
land about the same period. These
pioneers showed that when caoutchouc
is intimately mixed with sulphur and
subjected to a temperature of about
150°C., its elasticity is not only increased
but remains practically uniform through
a wide range of temperature; further,
its durability is greatly prolonged. Raw
caoutchoue, on the other hand, softens
with au increase and hardens with a
decrease of temperature. Without the
discovery of vulcanisation india-rubber
would have remained of quite minor
importance; very little unvulcanised
rubber is now used in manufacture. The
demand for raw rubber from this time
onwards steadily rose. New uses for it
were continually being found, and finally
the incoming ot the rubber tyre, espe-
cially the pneumatic variety, has caused
an ever-growing demand.

The great basin of the Amazon has
always supplied the largest quantity, as
well as the finest quality, of this now
indispensable raw material. This caout-
chouc, known in ecommerce as ‘ Para,”
after the Amazon port of that name,
has been the recognised standard for
fully half a century. It is obtained
from the euphorbiaceous tree, Hevea
brasiliensis, otherwise -known as the

* The word ‘‘caoutchouc” is a corruption of
the native name for this substance.

291

Para-rubber tree. Though this is the
most important rubber tree, yet several
other laticiferous plants furnish comiuer-
cial ecaoutehouc- notably among these
may be mentioned: Manihot Glaziovit
(Ceara rubber) of Eastern Brazil ; Castil-
loa elastica, of Mexico and Central
America; Funtumia elastica (Lagos rub-
ber), and species of Landolphia of
tropical Africa; Ficus elastica (Ram-
bong) of Assam and Malaya, the familiar
‘‘rubber plant” of our greenhouses. At
the present time Brazil furnishes about
60 per cent. and Africa 30 per cent. of
the world’s supply.

The consumption of India rubber has
augumented so rapidly within the last
few years, owing largely to the great
increase in rubber-tyred vehicles of all
kinds, that the supplies are becoming
quite unequal to the demand. Hitherto
the world’s crop of rubber has come
solely from wild sources. In all prob-
ability if the cultivation of caoutchouc-
yielding trees had been delayed much
longer, arubber famine would be immi-
nent. Asitis, there will be a shortage
in supplies for a few years to come.
Prices for the raw material will rule
high, and rubber goods will tend to
become dearer or of lower quality
through admixtures. The extended use
of caoutchouc will be prevented, and
its much-needed employment for floor-
ing and pavement, where wear and
tear is great or silence desired, will
have to be postponed. The manufac-
turers are now paying an unprecedented
and quite unforeseen price for this raw
material. Fine hard Para is at present
quoted in the London market at about
7s.' 0, perlb.* A year ago it was only
5s.;in fact it is now nearly double the
average figures for the twenty-five
years preceding 1909. In July, 1909, the
price rose sensationally from 6s. to 8s.
per lb. It was generally expected that
i¢ would drop considerably in the
autumn with the incoming of the
Amazon supplies. These, however,
turned out to be smaller than anti- —
cipated, and instead of a fall, a rise of
another shilling per lb. took place.t At
present there seems to be a probability of
a7s. basis instead of a 5s. one being
maintained for some time. The sooner

* London price 7s, Ghd,, December 24, 1909.

+ The record figure, 9s, 24d. was reached in early
h overnber, 1909,

Gums, Resins,

Let us glance at the possible future
supplies of wild rubber. Tropical Africa
in recent years has supplied a consider-
able quantity of low-grade rubber,
largely owing tothe drastic measures
ruling in the Congo State. The supplies
from this source appear to be on the
decline. The ruthless destruction of the
Landolphia vines will prevent these
plants from furnishing much rubber for
some years to come. ‘‘ Red” rubber ere
long will be a horror of the past. and the
incoming of the plantation variety
will hasten its extinction. The exploit-
ing of fresh areas of Funtumia, and
possibly of Landolphia, may make up

temporarily to some extent, but the.

amount of African wild rubber is not
likely to increase but rather to diminish,

The only source of real importance is
the Amazon region. Statements have
been made to the effect that the supply
there is well-nigh inexhaustible. Doubt-
less untapped areas exist, and, further
the Hevea tree quickly regenerates
itself naturally from seed. Yet unde.
existing circumstances the output from
the Amazons does not seem capable of
much expansion. The Brazilian Govern-
ment, however, appears at last to be
arousing itself, now that it sees a
formidable rival in the plantation rubber
of the Hast. A Congress is shortly to
be held at Manaos, the great rubber
port of the Upper Amazon, to debate
such questions as the extent of rubber
lands in unexploited Brazilian territory,
and whether cultivation offers the best
means of maintaining the preponder-
ance of Amazon rubber in the markets.
But Ceylon and Malaya have several
years’ start in the way of cultivation.
Caoutchouc can there be turned out at
the cost of only ls. to 1s. 6d. per ib,,
whereas itis calculated that a pound of
wild Para rubber costs 2s. 6d. to collect,
a sum more likely to increase than
decrease when less accessible regions are
approached, The lot of the native
rubber-colleetor is not an enviable one.
Unless he can exchange his hard-gotten
commodity to some considerable advant-
ageto himself, he is not likely tobe
induced to exploit less inviting districts.
Further, the supply of labour itself for
the industry is by no means large.
Still there is little doubt that Brazil
could considerably increase its pro-
duction by opening up its remoter
rubber lands, by granting increased
facilities to the collectors, and by
reducing: the tax on this export, which
is one of the main productions of
the country atthe present time. This
policy would undoubtedly pay with
price of rubber at anything like the
present figure. But as faras one can

202

foresee, the more distant future of Brazi
as a great rubber-producer must lie —

largely in its adoption of cultivation.

At present plantation rubber forms a.
mere fraction of the world’s cg ce
perhaps 5 per cent. Sinee 1905, when
about 290 tons, of it were exported from
the Hast, the output has doubled year
by vear. If this continues the yield in
four years’ time will be equal to
the total annual output of wild rubber
at the present time, viz., 70,000 tons.
Such a quick rate of increase may not
be maintained. Half a million acres,
however, will be in bearingin 1914, and,
even allowing only a crop of 100 lb. per
acre, a low estimate, this would mean an
output of 22,000 tons—a considerable
part of the world’s present supply.
In ten years’ time the amount of
plantation rubber, on a conservative
basis, can hardly be less than 100,000
tons per annum. At this period prob-
ably supply may begin to overtake de-
mand, with an inevitable drop in prices.
Rubber might then descend to 3s. per
lb., a price, judging from present
conditions, quite remunerative to the
planters, but not to the collectors of the
wild product. Thus it seems that the
world’s supply sooner or later will be
derived from plantation sources. The
possibility of a synthetic commercial
caoutchoue appears as far off as ever,
and no adequate substitute seems forth-
coming, Rubber, then, like the majority
of economic plant-products, will in all
probability in the near future be ob-
tained largely, if not solely, from culti-
vated sources, The study, therefore, of
the cultivation of rubber trees is of
great importance. The methods in use
at present for extracting the latex and
preparing the rubber therefrom, though
tairly satisfactory, cannot be regarded
as final. Everything connected with
this novel form of cultivation is stillin
the experimental stage, requiring not
only the close attention of the practical
agriculturist, but also the services of the
botanist, chemist, and physicist, and
especially of that much-needed but
rare expert, the biochemist,

It.is the purpose of this article to de-
scribe briefly the methods employed on
the estates, and to dwell somewhat on
the problems connected with them,
hoping thereby to arouse a general
scientific interest in the subject. Before
doing so, a short account of the history
of rubber cultivation may not be out
of place.

HISTORICAL.

Although the modern industry of rub-
ber-planting may be considered to date

back only some ten or eleven years, yet

. Apri, 1910.)

to trace this new cultivation from its
iuception we must revert to the year
1876. The seeds destined to become the
source of most of the Para-rubber trees
now growing in the Hast were in that
year collected in Brazil, brought to
Hugland, and sown at Kew. The young
piants raised from these seeds were
transhipped to Ceylon. This introduc:
tion of Hevea brasiliensis to the eastern
tvopies was due chiefly to the energy
and foresight of twomen, both happily
with us at the present day, Sir Joseph
Hooker, then Director of Kew, and Mr.
Wickham, at that time engaged in plant-
ing pursuits in tropical South America.
Drawings of the foliage and fruit of the
tree made by Wickham -were seen by
Hooker, and the latter did not rest until
he had pursuaded the Indian Office to
grant Wickham a commission tor the
collection and conveyance of the seed to
Hugland. How this was successfully
accomplished has recently been retold
by Mr. Wickham himself.* The story
forms the romance of tropical agricul-
ture. Owing to the short vitality pos-
sessed by this oily seed,t no time had to
be lost in conveying the quantity col-
lected across the ocean. Some seventy
thousand seeds reached Kew Gardens,
and from them quickly sprang a good
array of seedlings. Ceylon was chosen
for their reception, and two thousand
young plants reached this favoured isle
in 1876. They were mainly planted in a
special plot of ground at Henaratgoda
in the low country. Soona small forest
of young Heveas grew up. This grove is
now historic, for from it the first planters
to take up rubber cultivation obtain-
ed their seed; in addition these trees
afforded the means for carrying out the
early work in tapping and the prepar-

ation of rubber, upon the results of -

which the estates have largely based the
methods now in use. The total cost of
the introduction ot the Para rubber tree
to the East amounted to £1,500, a trifling
sum considering the wealth it is now
producing and is likely to produce in the
near future.

About the same period Cross was
instrumeutal in bringing to the Hast
two other important caoutchouc-yield-
ing trees of the New World—viz.,
Manihot Glaziovii (Ceara rubber) and
Castilloa elastica (Central American
rubber),

* H, A. Wickham, Para Indian Rubber (1908).
London, 1908, pp. 45-59 (See review in Seience
Progress, 1909, 3,705-6).

+ By careful packing in powdered charcoal
the tality of” the eae can bo somewhat
prolovg#éd.

298

Saps and Euudations.

After the collapse of the coffee industry
in Ceylon, the planters for ashort time
in the early eighties turned their atten-
tion to the Ceara rubber tree. However,
its cultivation never attained great
dimensions, and was soon extinguished
by the rush into tea planting: The
general consensus of epinion was that
Ceara rubber paid to collect, but not to
grow.

Castilloa has never been largely
planted in Ceylon or elsewhere in the
Kast. It does not grow in the same
vigour as Hevea, ner has it taken so
kindly to its new home. It is fortunate
that Ceylon planters adopted Hevea
rather than Castilloa, as all recent
returns have shown the former to be far
and away the better yielding tree, even
though at one period results seemed in
favour of thelatter. Castilloa, however,
has been largely planted in Mexico—in
fact, its cultivation commenced there a
year or two in advance of that of Hevea
in the Hast. Little, however, is heard
at present of plantation Castilloa rubber
onthe London market, Thisis partly
due to the fact that the trees do not
come into bearing assoon as those of
Hevea and yield less when they do; and
partly because the United States mainly
receive what rubber is produced by the
Mexican plantations.

In 1888 the late Dr. Trimen, then
Director of the Ceylon Botanic Gardens,
commenced tapping experiments on the
Hevea trees at Henaratgoda, grown from
the Kew seedlings. He strongly advo-
cated rubber planting, and was sup-
ported by Mr. John Ferguson, editor of
the Ceylon Observer, who influenced
planters, especially in the Malay States,
by the publication of a manual on the
subject. Dr. Willis, who succeeded
Trimen as Director in 1896, took up the
subject of india-rubber energetically
and enthusiastically. In a circular*
published in January, 1898, he advocated
the cultivation of the Para-rubber tree
as deserving the attention of the Ceylon
planters. He induced the Government
to sanction the appointment of a scien-
tific assistant. With this helpa year’s
work devoted to rubber tapping and
preparation placed Hevea in a still more
favourable position as a _ yielder of
eaoutehoue. The discovery of the so-
called ‘‘ wound-response” and the ela-
boration of a ready means of preparing
clean rubber from the Jatex afforded the
planters a basis for future procedure.
The rush into rubber began then, and
has continued ever since with increasing

*J. C. Willis, Circ. Roy, Bot, Gardens, Ceyion
No, 4, Series T, (1898).

Gums, Resins,

force. The tree has exceeded the most
sanguine expectations regarding its pro-
ducing capacity and vigour of growth.
A few fortunate planters who laid down
areas with this tree before this period
have been the first to reap their reward.

About 750 acres had been planted with
Hevea in Ceylon previous to the year
1899. Now at least 180,000 acres are
under rubber in the island, either pure
or planted amongst tea and cacao.
Ceylon, though the pioneer, has had to
give place to the Malay States in respect
to area and yield. Planters soon saw
an excellent opening for Para-rubber
cultivation there. The soil and climate
have been found especially suitable for
the rapid growth of this tree, and the
success already achieved is phenomenal.
The premier company, Selangor, tormed
in 1899, paid a dividend of 75 per cent.
for 1908 and is calculated to have earned
one of 250 per cent. tor the year just
closed. Such extraordinary profits are
of course partly due to the high market
price of raw rubber at the present time,
but partly also to increased output, No
estate, as yet, has reached its full pro-
ducing capacity.

Over 300,000 acres are now under Para-
rubber in the Malay States. Its culti-
vation has also extended to Java,
Sumatra, Borneo, ete. At least 600,000
acres must now be planted with Hevea
in the Middle East.

Attention in certain quarters has been
redirected to Ceara rubber (Manihot
Glaziovii).* As this small tree will grow
on dry ground where Hevea would not
flourish, and as it produces good caout-
choue at an early age, it may perhaps
become of some importance as a source
of cultivated rubber, It is being plant-
ed largely in German East Africa,
Nyassaland, and the Zanzibar Protecto-
rate.

Rambong rubber (Ficus elastica) has
received from the Dutch in Java con-
siderable cultural attention in the past,
and where growing now on any estate
the trees are a valuable asset, as the
rubber when well prepared conimands
a price only a little lower than fine Para.
It is, however, likely to be replaced
pradually by Hevea. Its banyan nature
is a drawback to easy tapping, and in
other respects it is inferior to Hevea.

The only other arborescent form of
possible value for cultivation seems to

“Three other species of Manihot (Mf, Dicho-
toma, M. heptaphytle and M, piauhyensis) are
now attracting attention as rubber plants. It
is too early yet to decide as to whether auy of
them may be superior to M. Gliziovii for
cultivation,

204

be Funtumia elastica of tropical Africa.
Attempts to grow it, however, have not
met with much success, and Hevea is
being introduced into West Africa in
its stead.

The Landolphias are unlikely to_be-
come a cultivated source of India rubber
as they are climbers (lianes) of slow
growth,

Experience all points to Hevea brasi-
liensis as the best tree for culti-
vation. Manihot may take its place in
drier tropical regions. Castilloa, Ficus,
and possibly Funtumia might be useful
as subsidiary sources, and be grown as
trees in protective belts on estates.

GENERAL CULTIVATION.

It is not within the scope. of this
article, nor is it within the writer’s pro-
vince, to deal in a complete manner with
the general cultivation of the Para-rub-
ber tree. However, as thisis a crop of
a special and novel kind, a few remarks
respecting its peculiarities and the pro-
blems it offers for solution may not be
without interest.

Close v. Wide Planting.—Hevea is a
forest tree, and its cultivation might
therefore be deemed a branch of forestry
and so conform to the rules of sylvicul-
ture; but timber production is not the
aim, hence close planting with the ob-
ject of producing long straight poles is
not necessarily the best means of grow-
ing this tree.

As the latex (rubber milk) is obtained
fiom the bark of the trunk, the main
purpose to be striven after is the pro-
duction of as large an area of bark as
possible ina given time. Further, siace
the greatest yield of latex is from the
basal part of the trunk, thus making
tapping above six feet, as a rule, inadvis-
able, it would seem expedient to grow-
the tree so as to throw the main in-
crease of girth into the basal six to ten
feet of bole. In sylviculture the great
length of unbranched stem is secured
at the expense of its thickness. As soon
as the maximum height has been reach-
ed, thinning is commenced, in order to
give room for a greater development of
leaf-canopy to hasten the increase in
girth. In rubber cultivation, however,
thickness rather than height of trunk
is desired from the beginning, so the
trees must be planted much wider apart
than appertains in ordinary forestry, in
order to afford room for an early and
ample production of foliage.

The first areas laid down with Para
rubber were planted with trees ten feet

apart, roughly 400 to the acre, It be-
came evidentin a few years that the —

-

rs

growth in thickness would be greatly
retarded if the trees were allowed to
continue so crowded, consequently thin-
ning has had to be practised. Wider
planting is now more generally under-
taken, and a distance apart of twenty
feet (100 trees per acre) is commonly
followed. Even at this interval the
shoots of adjoining trees will often be-
gin to interlace in five or six years’ time,
about the period when tapping can be
commenced. Judicious thinning might
be started now by removing the least
Peale trees after thoroughly tapping
em.

The correct planting distance to be
pursued is still an open question. Time
will doubtless show whether room for
the ultimate possible extension should
be provided at the outset, or whether
a closer distance should be adopted
while the trees are young, to be follow-
ed by thinning later. In the latter case
probably more rubber may be obtained
per acre during the first couple of years
of tapping, but this may be at the
expense of future yields. The present
view appears to be rather that within
reasonable limits a closely planted acre
of rubber is worth no more than, if
as much as, a widely planted one.

Straight v. Forked Trunks.—Since
tapping is usually confined to the basal
six feet of trunk, and since trees which
tork early have generally a greater
basal girth than those of the same age
which remain straight, attention has
been turned to the desirability of

artificially inducing trees to fork early,:

in order to hasten their increase in
girth. This can be accomplished with
the least injury and trouble by what
is known as “thumb-nail” pruning.
The terminal bud is pinched out when
the young tree has reached a height
of about ten feet; forking then takes
place, and further pruning can be prac-
tised if necessary to reduce the numbet
of main branches. Wickham strongly
recommends this practice and considers
the ideal tree-form for Hevea to be three
main primary limbs, and to each of
these three secondary branches—nine in
all. Wright* also favours it, though
pointing out that it is unwise to practice
it on trees growing in a light soil and
exposed situation, for they would in time
be liable to be blown oyer by strong

winds, owing to the weight of leaf

canopy produced; they would, in fact,
be more top-heavy than unforked trees.

* H. Wright, Hevex brasiliensis or Para rubber,
3rd edition, 1908, 48-51,

295 Saps and Exudations.

Peteh,t+ Mycologist to the Ceylon
Government, fears that such treatment
will favour the entrance of the fungus
Corticiun. javanicum, a somewhat
dreaded bark disease. Ryckmann states
that in Java and Sumatra this fungus
attacks chiefly the forked trees, either
natural or induced. The cleft affords —
a lodging-place for spores. A split in
the wood is liable to occur here through
wind or other causes, thus allowing
the entrance of the fungus-hyphe, and
so the commencement of disease.

Catch Crops.—Asa newly-planted area
of Para-rubber will give no return for
at least five or six years, and as between
the widely planted trees there is much
unoccupied ground, some profit may be
immediately secured by growing what
are called catch crops. Though their
cultivation may lead to the payment
of small dividends before the rubber
comes into bearing, their value is to
some extent doubtful, as these inter-
planted crops frequently retard the
growth of the rubber trees. Cassava
(Manihot utilissima) has been largely
used, but it is hardly a desirable plant
to employ, as botanically it is too nearly
related to Hevea. A disease or insect
enemy which attacks the one will most
likely spread to the other. The subject
of catch crops and their undesirability
is dealt with fully in Wright’s book.}
There is much to be said for and against
their cultivation.

Protective Belts,—A large uninter-
rupted area occupied by a single species
of plant offers a most suitable field for
the spread of a fungus or an insect
foe. There is nothing to check a disease
commencing atone point from spreading
rapidly over the whole _ plantation,
Consequently a system of blocks, separ-
ated from one another by screens
composed of other trees, is reeommended
for rubber estates. A disease or pest
observed in one block might then be
overcome before it had time to pene-
trate to a neighbouring area.

These protective belts may be formed
by the retention of strips of the virgin
forest, or they may be planted specially.
If the latter course be adopted, trees of
economic importance should, if possible,
be chosen, care being taken not to select
any nearly related to that composing
the main cultivation. For example,
Castilloa or Ficus might be used in
connection with Hevea, thus affording

_t Petch, C%reular and Agricultural Journal,
Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, 1909, No. 21,
Vol. iv., p. 193.

£ H. Wright, Hevea brasil‘ensis or Para rubber,

3rd edition, 1908, 51-6, (The Standard work on
rubber cultivation.)

Gums, Resins,

extra quantities of caoutchouc; or trees
useful for supplying timber for the
estate might be planted, Manihot would
not be advisable, as it not only belongs

tothe same family, the Euphorbiacee,

but also to the same tribe. Fungi and
insects often confine themselves to nearly
related groups of species.

Seed-Selection.—Another matter wor-
thy of brief mention is seed-selection.
Too little attention has hitherto been
paid to this. Estates, as arule, have
been planted with seeds from Hevea
trees irrespective of their rubber-produc-
ing qualities. Selection might have been
commenced ten years agoto the great
advantage of those now about to engage
in Para-rubber planting, itis not too
late to begin, since even if the laying
down of new areas in rubber should soon
cease, old estates will doubtless require
some renewing in course of time.

Suggestions* thrown out about the
advisability of selection nine years ago
were not heeded. In the _ interval
nothing systematic in this direction has
apparently been done. Now several are
beginning to see the importance of
turning attention to seed-selection.
Sandemannft has recently advocated the
practice strongly and writes: ‘‘The
matter was not perhaps so very pressing
at the present moment, but would prove
to be of very great importance if the
price of rubber fell considerably, and
especially so if that of labour rose
coincidently.”

Apparently there is a strain of Hevea
now growing in the Hast which is a poor
latex yielder but a great seed bearer. If
care be not taken, estates may be planted
with this variety, only to cause grave
disappointment in a few years’ time,
when the trees reach the bearing age.

- Now that plant-breeding has almost
become an exact science, largely through
the application of the principles of

Mendelism, comparatively quick results -

might be obtained even with a tropical
tree. Inten to fifteen years’ time seeds
of avaluable strain migbt be forth-
coming with which estates could replace
worn-out trees or plant additional
ground. The writer has referred in
greater detail to this matter ina recent
article. :

(To be continued.)

« J. H. Hart, India Rubber World, October,
1900, p, 6; J. Parkin, cdem, January, 1901, p. 105.

+ Sandemann, India Rubber Journal, 1909,
vol, xxxvili, p. 345.

296 2 ; = b Lt 4

alternate

CEARA RUBBER IN

MYSORE. ae A

(From the Planters’ Chronicle, Vol. V.,
No. 7, March, 191€.) :

(Altitude of Plantation—about 3,300
feet.

Average Rainfall—90 to 100 inches;
chiefly from June to October ; occasional
showers in April and May, but fre-
quently no rain from October Ist until
Apri following).

Example I.—Ten of the best grown
trees ina 5-acre clearing, 33 years old
and averaging a girth of 18 inches, three
feet from the ground, were tapped on
days during October and
December, 1909, and February, 1910, i.e.,
440 tappings. The aggregate yield of
latex was 6,872'25 c.c. (1,795 drachms)
which resulted in 43 lbs. dry rubber.

This is equivalent to 90 lbs. dry rubber
per acre of 200 trees for six months, or
180 lbs. per annum, tapping on alternate
days and alternate months.

Note.—Of the above one tree proved a
poor milker, giving slightly less than
half the quantity of latex of the
other nine.

Example II.—Five trees ina five year
old clearing, averaging a girth ot 17
inches, tapped as above, yielded 7,188°75
c.c. (2,025 drachms) latex, which gave
5 lbs. dry rubber. Equivalent to 200 lbs.
dry rubber for the six months, or 400
lbs. per annum per acre.

Hxanple II1I.—Five trees, seven years
old, girth 26 inches. Tapped as above

TAPPING

yielded an aggregate of 12,709°00 ec.c.

(3,580 drachms) giving 9 lbs. of dry
rubber. Equivalent to 720 lbs. of dry
rubber per acre per annum.

Hueample IV.—Two trees, ten years
old, with girths of 32 inches, gave respec-
tively 900 and 855 drachms of latex,
tapped as above, which gave 2} lbs. and
2+ lbs. dry rubber. Equivalent to 875
lbs. dry rubber per acre per annum.

Example V.—One fifteen years old
tree, having a girth of 43 inches, tapped
as above yielded 1,575 drachms latex,
giving 41lbs, dry rubber. Equivalent to
1,600 lbs. dry rubber per acre per annum.

The trees appear to have suffered no
harm whitever; I intend to tap them
again in April, while bare of leaf, and
againin June and August, during the
S. W. monsoon, and shall be eurious to
see how the yields compare with those
already obtained.

With the cheap and skilful labour in
Mysore, it should be possible to place
Ceara rubber on the market at consider-

/— APRit, 1910.)

oui

aS

ae less Fran can be ‘lone from the

Straits or Ceylon; however, even taking
the cost of cultivation, tapping, etc., at
one shilling and rubber at four shillings
per lb. Example IJ. points to a nett
profit of over £50 an acre at five years
old. (£100 with rubber at its present

rice.) I hope some of your readers in
Joorg, where I believe Ceara has been
extensively planted of late, will forward
some of their results; in any case 1 am
perfectly satisfied in my own mind that
Ceara, if taken up seriously, can and
will do for Mysore what Para has done
for the Straits Settlements.

CAOUTCHOUC AND ITS COLLEC-
TION IN THE UPPER AMAZON
REGION.

(By O. SPERBER, Tropenp/fi., Febru-
ary, 1910. Abstracted by J. C. WILLIS.)

——————— .

These districts, which belong to Peru,
turn out to be richer in rubber than was
anticipated.

At present the collectors only tap the
following species :—

Feet high, Diameter.

Hevea guayanensis, ... 50-65 .., 2'6’-3'6"
Fe Eccoiliensis eeeaD-Oaees 2'6'-3'6"
a4 andimensis... 5C-65 ... 3/0’-36"
33 lutea eee 55-65 oee 2’ -2:6"
Castilloa elastica 950-65. 20-26%

There are, however, several other
Euphorbiaceze that will yield rubber,
and which will doubtless be tapped
sooner or later.

As the worker has to travel even for
months by boat, the stretches between
the rivers have as yet been but little
exploited.

The workers seek new districts in July,
August and September, when the rub-
ber trees bear the differently coloured
young leaves.

Tapping begins in October and lasts
till December. During the next three
months the rain makes the trees un-
approachable, and they are again tapped
in April, May and June. The average
yield of a tree is 5 kg. (11 lbs.) of first-
class: rubber.

Official statistics of export give

lb. value Mk.
1904 vé 4,814,035 13,250,264
1905 ‘e 5,484,371 ... 18,370,465
1906 vee 5,581,171 ... 14,668,350
1407 eas 6,661,435 ... 19,091,459

38

a pee ist Ae Fee *

297 Saps and Heudations,

CLEAN WEEDING V. TEPHROSIA.

(From the Agricultural Bulletin, Straits
and F.M.S., Vol. VIII., No. 4, April,
1908, p. 181.)

For along time scientists have called
attention to the disadvantage of weed-
ing and have advised the introduction
of new methods; but their ideas have
not been well received, and so far little
has been done on practical lines.

Interest has however been awakened,
experiments with leguminous and other
plants are common, and I hope tobe
able toshow that one plant may be
used with both economical and other
advantages.

In this article it is not proposed to go
into the theoretical side of the matter.
What at present appeals most to people
is the cash ‘expenditure for keeping
weeds down—or out, the cheapest way
being naturally the most popular one,
and weeding will here only be dealt with
from this point of view.

Of course with virgin jungle properly
dealt with from the start, the weeding
bill should never look high, and old
established estates will perhaps naturally
adhere to their old method.

Most plantations have however in one
corner or another a block of old aban-
doned paddy-fields or Malay kampongs,
and in such places a cheap method of
getting rid of weeds is much wanted.

I, at any rate to get, have had the bad
luck of getting a few acres of such land
indifferently burnt, and all the planters
who have seen it have invariably
advised me to changkol the whole place
ata cost of anything between $20 and
$60 an acre.

For various reasons this work was not
done, but I believe most- planters will
from experience be able to state, if the
above price is correct.

For some time experiments have had
been carried on with a view to introduce
a plant, which would be able to keep
weeds out, and at the same time itself
benefit or at least do no harm to the
rubber trees, and for this purpose I have
found Tephrosia purpurea admirably
adapted,

_ As this plant, seed of which was kindly

presented me by Dr. Treub of Buiten-
zorg, is new to the F, M.S., some infor-
mation of how it was established may
be of interest.

The first plot was only 20’ by 40° and
was planted up with one or two seeds in
every square foot. The place was then
clean of weeds but had not been chang-

Gums, Resins.

kolled,and some lalang had only been
eut down, while the roots were un-
touched.

In the second plot conditions were
. different.

In belukar land, to save expense, a
path or rentis 6 feet wide had been cut
along each row of trees, and when at
this work the coolies had generally
scraped aside a little earth by which
gradually two ridges had been formed
one on each side of the row of trees. In
these ridges every few feet a couple of
seeds were put in, and after 5-7 weeks all
failures were supplied. Otherwise no
special care was taken, only of course
the coolies were told not to pull these
plants up when weeding, and care should
be taken to choose a rainy season for
this work.

The Tephrosia will grow slowly at
first, and at four months old it has only
grown intoasmall bushy plant, but it
then commences to assert itself amongst
the surrounding weeds. When full
grown it is about 5-6 feet high, and each
plant spreads to the same extent.

My oldest plot was sown in June, and
has not been weeded since the end of
August, 1907, viz., during 19 months.

One cieeper has grown up init, but in
other ways it looks ail right, and the
lalang, which formerly was on this spot,
has now disappeared.

My second plot was planted May last
partly in lalang. The Tephrosia now
form two solid hedges through which
nothing penetrates, and the weeding is
here done at a very small cost.

The hedges are sufficiently apart to
allow the air to circulate along the trees,
and the ground is always soft and nice.
So far the time has been too short to
show any advantage in growth of trees,
but they certainly look as good as any
in my clean weeded area.

To make the Tephrosia grow in hedges
has the advantage of a better air-circu-
lation around the roots, and it also makes
it easier to get about when inspecting
the plantation ; but other methods have
also advantages. Totake an example,
where trees are circled, it would be very
easy. to put ina few seeds around each

ree,

The Tephrosia grows rather high, and
ought on this account to be cut down
once or twice a year, but in other
respects this height gives the plant a
great advantage, when fighting lalang
and other high weeds. As it isnot a
creeper it may safely be planted to-
gether with rubber stumps, coffee, etc.,
without fear of their being interfered

298

with; and as itisa good fertiliser, has
few natural enemies, is very hardy and
propagates itself when once established,
it must be considered an ideal plant for
its purpose.

Under the conditions mentioned the
planting of Tephrosia represents a great
and direct saving. Having however
reached so far, it might be rather in-
teresting to see, if the step could not be

taken in full, and the same plant be in-’

troduced with advantage also in clean
estates.

The question is what clean weeding
costs, and how much money could be
saved by planting Tephrosia.

The general opinion is that 30 cents an
acre a month is a low price for weeding.
This is often not sufficient, and also it is
only the pay of the coolies and does not
include anything for management and
other consequent expenses, so that really
the expenses are much higher, and a
fair idea of what it costs would he
obtained by charging all expenses for
upkeep of an estate to weeding, as of
coutse little other work remains to be

one.

If an estate when first planted up
could be left to itself until the trees
came into bearing, then the saving ought
to be at least $1°50 an acre a month, and
in many cases much more, or say as a
low figure $2000 per annum; and it ncw
remains to be seen what it costs to
establish Tephrosia, and if by this pro-
ceeding the above money could be saved.

The first item is easy to settle, I have
found $4:00 an acre ample and to spare.

The second point is also easy; experi-
ence from abandoned estates and other
places show that, if not hampered by
lalang or grass, trees will growas well
or better under natural conditions that
is in weeds, asin clean land.

When now comparing the merits of
the two methods we get :—

TEPHROSIA.
Cost of establishing Tephrosia ... 4:00
Weeding expenses for 5 years
peracre ... dad --» $100:00
TEPHROSIA. .
Cost of establishing Tephrosia... $4'00
Keeping drains clean ae 1:00
Land Rent... aes 1:00
Cat down Tephrosia twice 2°00
Various. nea 1°00
Supervision 1:00
Total cost lst Year ... .. $10-00

NG is Fi
_ (Apri, 1910, —

~ a different version,

2nd and following years. :
As above less $4'00 for establish-

ing Tephrosia ss ... $6°00

$3400

$66°00

fF. ZERNICHOW,
Jendarata Estate,
Teluk Anson.

Total expenses for 5 years

Total saving Bee

BRAZILIAN RUBBER INDUSTRY.

(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol.
XV., No. 196, December 30, 1909.)

A correspondent writes as follows to ™

the Times Financial and Commercial
Supplement of December 10th:—In view
of the high price of rubber and the
activity shown in the floating planta-
tion companies, it is surprising that so
little is known concerning the principal
rubber field of the world, namely, the
Amazon Valley. This ignorance, I think,
was clearly illustrated by the comments
made in various papers on the report
of Mr. Cheetham, Secretary to the
British Legation at Rio de Janeiro.
When I first went into the Para rubber
industry I found it impossible to accept
any information respecting the exact
facts of working, and other matters,
from any one because every one gave
Accordingly I set
to work to investigate the matter
for myself, and found that there was
one essential to be provided; that was
not labour, as may be supposed, but
working capital.

OWNERSHIP OF LAND.

It may be useful to deal first with
the question of title or ownership, this
being a point raised by many. Thestate-
ment that one does not know positively
how much land one owns is incorrect.
According to Brazilian law as scon as
a person has an estate he must know
the area to the square metre—the land
is measured in metres, and not in acres.
Before a purchase is legalized the land
must be surveyed (demarcated, it is
called) by an authorized surveyor, the
plans, ete,, deposited with the Govern-
ment, and the necessary fees paid. Then,
and not till then, is a grant of land
made. No purchase of property should,
of course,
has been held and the grant forthcoming,
so that with care no one can go very
far wrong. In the event of the transfer
of a rubber or other estate from an
individual to a company it would be
necessary for the company to deposit in

be made until the survey -

299 Saps and Exudations.

one of the local banks 10 per cent. in
cash of the total registered capital
before the transfer could be legalized,
and the company placed in a position
to carry on the business in its own
name. The deposit, of course, could be
withdrawn as.soon as the transfer was
completed.

SYSTEM OF WORKING.

_ With regard to the system of work-
ing, it will be seen from the following
remarks how important is the question
of an adequate supply of working capital.
For instance, a man gathering from 150
to 200 tons of rubber a year, and em-
ploying from 500 to 600 workers, whom
he would have to supply with food,
etc,, would have. his own boats for the
conveyance of rubber down the river
to Para or Manaos, and for carrying
back food and other merchandise. If
the property were on ariver navigable
during several months of the year he
could buy merchandise on better terms.
The cost price of goods, duty paid,
at Para or Manaos required for 500
men during the year would amount
to £20,000 to £25,C00. The grower would
be charged by the importer or mer-
chant from £28,000 to £386,000, for nearly
every grower is more or less in the
hands of the merchant, and when the
goods were delivered to the chiefs or
headmen on the estates the cost would
have increased by from 15 to 30 per
cent. the time the goods were
distributed by the chiefs or headmen
among the labourers another 20 to
30 per cent. would have been added to
the cost. From these facts it will be
seen why Brazilian rubber is so costly
to gather. But there is nothing to
prevent any company or individual
possessing the necessary capital from
avoiding many of the charges which
help to swell the cost of production.

The native gatherer from Ceara and
Peru earns from £70 to more than £100
per anoum, and his annual output is
about 800 lb. of rubber on the estates
on the lower rivers, and 1,200 lb. on
the upper, and especially the Acre River.

INCREASE IN PRODUCING TREES,

With regard to the number of rubber
trees maturing yearly there is nothing
like the number that there should be.
Little care is ever taken to assist the
growth of the young trees, and most
of them are allowed to smother each
other in the jungle. In view of the
fact that only the districts bordering
on the five rivers in the State of Ama-
zons produce rubber trees, and that
the Island of Marago, State of Para.
accounts for half of the entire produc:

Gums, Resins,

tion, especially of the first grade, and
also that the trees are very scattered
further back from the rivers, I fail
to see where the new territory exists
that remains to be opened up. Unless
the price of rubber continues at about
the present high figure, the Brazilian
output cannot increase greatly until
the industry is properly handled. .

NEED FOR ORGANIZED EXPLOITATION.:

Business ability allied with sufficient
working capital are the primary needs
for the successful exploitation of the
rubber resources of Brazil. Given these
conditions, a good profit. with return
of capital might be secured long before
the majority of the Eastern plantations
reach the producing stage. Moreover,
large areas bordering on the navigable
rivers contain tens of thousands of
young plants waiting to be transplanted
into open spaces, and these would ensure
a future supply at little cost, as it
would mean the opening up of the
narrow zig-zag estradas or roads, so that
each labourer could gather double the
amount he does at present. By grow-
ing most of the food required and by
keeping live stock, which do well in that

300

iy
ee |

~ [APRin, 19

010,

?

part of the country, the cost of main-
taining a labourer would not amount
to more than £20 or £30 a year, and
he would be placed in a far better posi-
tion than at present. Comparing the
area of land which a company could
secure with the small estates of the
East, which are capitalized at many
pounds an acre, a property in Brazil
would, I think, require a very much
smaller sum. I consider, as a result of
practical experience, that much of the
Amazon land is as fertile as land in
Australia now worth from £6 to £9
an acre.

With regard to the export duty, I
admit it is very high. On the other
hand, I agree with Mr. Cheetham that
it requires little labour or ability to
gather rubber, and with the price over
5s. a lb. the duty should not kill the
industry. If the property is properly
worked, any man can gather half a ton
of rubber a year, and his maintenance
would not average more than sixpence
a lb. on that output. With the excep-
tion of the duty there are no other
charges, such as ground-rent, so that
there are no formidable obstacles of
that kind.

OILS AND FATS.

CEYLON CITRONELLA OIL.

(From the Chemist and Druggist, Vol.
LXXVI., No. 1570, February 10.)

The exports of citronella oil from
Ceylon during 1909 showed an increase
of 236,119 lb., being 1,512,084 lb., against
1,276,965 Ib. in 1908. The leading
destinations were: United Kingdom,
- 780,049 lb. ; the United States, 446,874 lb. ;

Germany 172,302.1b.; Australia, 45,411 lb. ;

and France, 42,201 1b. The increase last

year is probably a record, and is attri-
- buted to new producing districts opened
up in the South of Ceylon. It should be
pointed outin connection with the above
statistics that, although this country
still figures as the principal consumer of
citronella oil, important quantities
credited to England are destined for

shipment to Germany and the U.S. A.

via London. The largely increased

exports would seem to suggest that,
although adulteration is rampant, the
oil does not lose any of its popularity.

As the adulteration question has become

so acute, itis now stated that both con-

sumers and importers are seriously con-

sidering the advisability of altering the
terms of sale, and selling only pure
citronella oil guaranteed to containa
definite amount of geraniol and citro-
nellal. It is well known that the
Ceylon oil in drums is always adul-
terated down to pass Schimmel’s test,
but it is stated that during the
past month or so some Ceylon ship-
ments have proved of a very in-
ferior chaxacter, and have failed to
pass Schimmel’s test, the consequence
being that buyers have refused to accept
delivery of such tenders, and in other
instances heavy allowances have been
made. These allowances have, of course,
called a protest from Ceylon shippers,
while on this side a movement is on foot
with a view to place the citronella-oil
business on an entirely new basis as
regards quality, 2.e.,in future pure oil
will. only be accepted against rival
contracts. Whether the movement will
be successful, it is difficult to say,
inasmuch as the shipper is entirely in
the hands of the native distiller or
dealer. -

es

— ApRIL, 1910.)

* iS

THE SOY BEAN TRADE.

(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol.
XV., No. 191, November 25, 1909.)

In his Report on the Trade and Navi-
gation of the Port of Dairen (Dalny) for
1908, Mr. Acting Vice-Consul H. L. S.
Gordon gives the following particulars
regarding the Soy bean trade, which is
attracting attention in India just
now :—Soya beans have been shipped to
Europe from Hankow for some years
past, and attempts have been made to
open up a trade trom Newchwang, but
these do not appear to have been suc-
cessful. It is said that the reason for
this is that beans brought down by
river absorb moisture while on the
water, so that in passing through the
heat of the Indian Ocean they are apt
to ferment. Beans shipped from Dairen,
on the other hand, are brought down
by railway and are quite dry at the
time of export, while great care is
taken in repacking them and loading on
board ship. Towards the end of 1908
was commenced a trade in beans with
the United Kingdom and Europe, which
promises to have a great effect on this
part of China, and, in view of the great
possibilities of this trade, the following,
taken from a report which appeared
in the local newspapers some little time
ago, may prove of interest :—

‘The dry season of 1907 caused the
bean crop for that year to be only half
of the average. In 1908 there was a
good harvest, and the high prices ruling
during 1907 encouraged farmers to in-
crease the acreage under beans. Thus,
while the total produccion of beans in
South Manchuria was 586,000 tons in
1907, in 1908 it came to 880,000 tons.
Adding to this 166,000 tons brought down
from the northern districts, the total
amounts to over 1,000,000 tons, an in-
crease in round figures of 410,000 tons,
or at the rate of 70 per cent. Will this
increase go on every year ?

“First of all, though there has been
an increase in planting, there is a limit
to its extension. Millet and kaoliang
are the most important products to the
natives, as they are the ordinary food
of both human beings and _ cattle,
while the stalks are used both for fuel
and as building material. It has been
calculated that of the total area under
cultivation, nearly 60 per cent. is under
kaoliang,and from 10 to 20 per cent: under
other cereals, leaving 20 to 80 per cent.
for beans. It is very rare that one finds
as much as 40 per cent. of the land
planted with beans. Besides, farmers
in Manchuria adopt the alternating sys-
tem, and do not plant the same crop on

801 Oils and Fats,

the same land every year. If kaoliang
is planted one year, millet will be plant-
ed the next, and will be followed the
ensuing year by beans, though of course,
this order is not strictly adhered to.

* Secondly, except for a small portion
along the Sungari, there is no land
available for new cultivation within
easy reach of the railway south of
Changehun and Nung-an. In the Muk-
den district especially every available
inch is cultivated, so that to speak of an
inerease in cultivation along the line
of the South Manchuria Railway is a
mistake.

“Tn Mongolia, though some distance
from the railway, there are some
tracts which are being and will be
opened up- The estimated area for
fresh cultivation in Mongolia is over
500,000 acres in the Hsinan-chin dis-
trict, 1,650,000 acres in the four dis-
tricts of Yo-nan-fu, Tsi-nan, Kai-ton and
Ankuan, and over 330,000 acres in Takia,
altogether some 2,500,000 acres. It is a
question whether the products of these
districts will be brought into South
Manchuria or not. Though this is quite
possible, it cannot be stated definitely
that these districts come within the
sphere of the South Manchuria Railway.

‘*At present there is a tendency for
the products of North Manchuria to be
brought down to -South Manchuria.
For instance, 150,000 tons of the beans
brought to the south this year came
from the districts of Suan-chen-fu,
Petuna and Takia. This was due to the
better arrangements for transactions in
beans that exist in the south, and to
the fact that the principal customers
are Japan and South China. Freight
rates also contributed, but itis doubtful
whether this situation will continue for
long. At present there isa new demand
for beans in Europe, but it is said that
the amount being exported from Vladi-
vostok is greaterin quantity than that
from Dairen. The present European
demand is still fairly small, but when
Vladivostok ceases to be a free port,
and the line from Vladivostok to Odessa
is ina more flourishing condition, many
cargoes will be sent by that route,
and this will be still more the case
when the Chinese Hastern Railway’
lowers itsfreight rates. Taking all these
circumstances into consideration, in
future, beans from North Manchuria will
be sent to Harbin, and those from the
Suan-chen-fu district will be sent by
the Chivese Eastern Railway for ex-
port to Kurope:

‘Krom the above description can be
gathered the reasons for the increase in
1908, and a general idea of the future

Oiis and Fats, 302

prospects of beans. Now let us take
into consideration the average annual
production of beans in South Manchuria,
and in the districts which may be con-
sidered as being within the influence
of the South Manchuria Railway.

“The total area of cultivated land
in South Manchuria may be taken as
10,000,000 acres. This estimate has been
obtained from many reliable sources
and checked from the amount of pro-
duction, so that it may be taken as
being as near as possible to the ecor-
rect figure; at the same time, further
minute investigation is required. Of
the total area, some three-tenths have
been planted with beans which would
produce altogether in an average year
1,200,000 tons. But of the afore-men-
tioned 10,000,000 acres, only about
5,835,000 acres are near at hand to the
South Manchuria Railwy, and of this,
roughly, 1,750,000 acres are under bean
cultivation, producing annually some
700,000 tons. Of the remaining 4,145,000
acres under cultivation about 1,250,000
acres are planted with beans, producing
annually about 500,000 tons. This pro-
duct is from districts some distance
from the line and from those west of
the Liao River, which are included in
the total of 10,000,000 acres given above.
After the necessities of the various
districts have been satisfied, the surplus
is available for the export of beans
and bean cake.

‘‘New lands available for cultivation,
as previously stated, amount in area to
2,500,000 acres, and taking that part of it
which would be planted with beans at
758,000 acres, the production would be
300,000 tons. Beans brought to the south
are those grown in the Suanchen-fu and
Petuna district. The cultivated area in
these districts is over 1,150,000 acres, and
the production from three-tenths of this
would be 183,000 tons. Beans from
Takia, which is one of the pewly-opened
up districts, are sent to Changchun, and
it may be reasonable to suppose that
they will continue to be sent to that
place. But, should the exports to
Europe increase, it is possible that they
may be sent to Harbin for the reasons
mentioned before. It simply depends
‘on the market price and freight rates.

The land in Yo-nan-fu and the three
neighbouring districts has not yet been
brought under cultivation, If it were,
part of it, about 500,000 acres, will be
in connection with Changchun, and the
beans will be sent there. As regards
the remaining part of these districts it
is not yet certain whether beans, if
grown, Will be sent to Changchun or

Phe
_ telat

[APRIL,

Newchwang, vid Fakumen. It~ will
depend on the varying financial and
commercial conditions which may arise
in future, and it is difficult to say before-
hand how much will go to Newechwang
and how much to Changchun.

“From the Petuna and Suan-chen-fu
districts some 130,000 tons may he ex-
pected, but it is doubtful whether the
total produce is sent down to South
Manchuria.

“To summarise: besides the beans
destined for Newchwang, there can be
accumulated along the railway 600,000
tons from South Manchuria, 300,000 tons
from the newly cultivated districts and
130,000 tons from the Petuna and Suan-
chen-fu districts, a total of 1,030,000-tons.
These figures, however, are estimated
by allowing rather a large area for the
planting of beans and good harvests in
ordinary years. Of the total amount
some will be consumed in the places
where they are produced, and some sent
to other districts, so that the quantity
of beans sent over the railway will be
less than the above estimate. The
figures are given merely to present an
iudication as near as_ possible of the
total production of beans in the railway
districts and the neighbouring lands.

“Finally, beans which used to go to

Newchwang, apart from those produced
within the Newchwang: district itself,
are gradually being sent to Dairen in-
stead. This tendency will grow in
future, but its increase is limited, as
the beans produced in the Newchwang
district proper will never be sent to
Dairen.

**Tt will be as well not to believe that
the Dairen bean trade will go on in-
creasing without any limit, simply be-
cause affairs are in a flourishing state
at present. If the demand for beans
increases the production will increase in
the north rather than in the south, and
more especially in the newly cultivated
lands of the Amur district, from Marken
to the north bank of the Sungari, which
has an area of about 6,665,000 acres, of
which one-quarter is cultivated.”

The foregoing has been quoted fully,
as it givesa very fair idea not only of
the possibilities of Manchuria as a pro-
ducer of beans, but of the share in the
trade that is likely to be taken by the
three ports of Newchwang, Dairen and
Viadivostok. The figures admittedly
are not precisely accurate, and, from
what information has come to hand since
the article was written towards the end
of 1908, they may be considered as unde
rather than over the mark.

1910,

sg Hi

sale

ee Pe
~

~Aprit, 1910,] - 308
FIBRES,

CULTIVATION OF TREE COTTONS,

The plantations usually, even in

(From the Aavaeuibiral: Journal of India,
Vol. IV., Part III.)

Tree cotton is a perennial variety
which may occupy the ground for some
years,

The method of cultivation should,
therefore, approximate more closely to
that of fruit orchards than to that ot
ordinary field crops.

The seedlings should, therefore, be
grown from seed sown in threes or fours
in well-prepared soil in centres 6 feet
more or less apart, or on a well-prepared
nursery on a well-drained site. The seed
should be sown in this nursery in March
at distances of 8 inches, and the plants
should be watered. In June-July (begin-
ning of the monsoon) strong young
plants will be ready to transplant into
their permanent homes. They should
be planted out at distances of from 5’ x 5’
to7’ x 7’ apart according to variety in
holes dug to a depth of about 14 to 2 feet.
Care must be taken not to injure the
tap-root of the plants in moving them
from the nursery. An _ alternative
method which is not costly and which
avoids risks in transplanting, is to sow
the seed in baskets made of bamboo
about 8’ high and 4” broad, placed close
together with the places between the
baskets filled up with earth. The whole
space thus occupied can be watered
either by hand or by flow irrigation.
The seedlings should be sheltered from
hot winds.

When the time for planting has
arrived, each seedling can easily be
removed from the basket without dis-
turbing the rootsto any extent, and to
less extent than if grown in earthen
pots. Well-rotted cowdung manure
should be freely mixed with the soil of
the hole in which each plant is perma-
nently planted. The usual showers in
India throughout July, August and
September should give the plants a good
start. An alternative system for trial
would be to sow the seed in basket or
in nursery in July and plant out in
September.

In land which is liable to be flooded
during heavy rains, it is recommended
that the seedlings should be planted out
on small raised hillocks or on ridges.

“This very general advice about tree
cotton cultivation is given with diffi-
dence because, except under very favour-
able conditions, the cultivation of tree
cottons on demonstration areas has not
been successful in India.

return for expensive cultivation, only
give a very small outturn during the
first two years, and. a very uncertain
crop afterwards. It is possible to grow
profitably a catch crop (by preference a
leguminous crop) between the rows in
the first season.

It is advisable that twelve months
after sowing, and just before the rains,
the trees should be cut down to the
lower branches, and pruning should be
done each year just before the beginning
of the monsoon, so that new branches
will bear in the following cold weather.
This pruning willcheck the trees from
bearing all the year round, whichis an
inconvenience, as during the rainy
season the cotton bolls are damaged,
and besides, the trees should have an
annual rest.

After the trees have become estab-
lished, they require only occasional
manuring if the soil is fertile, but the
plantations must be kept free of grass
weeds and undergrowth.

One chief care is to fight insect pests,
to which tree cotton is very susceptible.
The pests, when once established, are
difficult to get rid of because the trees
are perennial.—(KDITOR),

COTTON SEED.

WEIGHT AS A FACTOR IN SELECTION.
(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol.
XV,, No. 191, November 25, 1909.)

Although it has long been known that
the heaviness of the seed used for sowing
is closely connected with the vigour of
the resulting plants and with the yield
and quality of the crops, yet the point
does not appear to have received so
much attention from agriculturists as it
undoubtedly deserves. It has been
shown by numerous investigators, both
in Kurope and America, that, under
similar conditions, larger crops of the
cereals are produced from heavy seed
than from lighter seed of the same
variety, and the fact has been established
that in most, if not all, cases, the time,
labour and expenditure involved in the
selection of heavy seed for planting are
amply repaid by the enhanced value of
the crops.

The superiority of heavy seed is, of
course, due to the larger quantity of
reserva material which it contains, and
which is available for the nourishment
of the plant, thereby enabling it to

Fibres.

develop more rapidly, and endowing it
with more vigour and disease-resisting

ower.

The following are some of the chief
advantages gained by the use of heavy
seed. The seeds usually germinate more
quickly and produce hardier and more
vigcrous plants than the lighter seeds,
and the crops produced are larger and
more uniform, These facts were strik-
ingly brought out by experimeuts which
were carried out ina greenhouse some
years ago by Messrs. Gilbert H. Hicks
and Join C. Dabney, and described iu
the Yearbook of the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, 1896, page 305. The
seeds then tested were those of garden
peas, beans, hairy vetch, rye, barley,
wheat and oats. In each case two
specimens were carefully selected, one of
heavy, the other of light, seed, the in-
dividual seeds of each specimen having
approximately the same weight. The
seeds were sownin pure sand, and the
plants from each specimen were given
equal quantities ofa culture solution
containing all the necessary elements of
plant food. They were kept under
exactly the same conditions, and at the
conclusion of each experiment typical
plants from each set were carefully
removed, and weighed and measured. In
every instance the seedlings from the
heavier seed were of greater weight, the
difference being closely proportional] to
the difference between the weights of
the seeds. Seedlings from the heavier
seeds exhibited greater vigour, were
taller, borea larger number of leaves,
and had thicker stemsand better deve-
loped roots. The plants made better
growth in every way and produced
larger and earlier crop than those from
the lighter seeds.

Similar results have been cbtained
with tobacco seed. Comparative tests,
which were made by Mr. A. D. Shamel
(Yearbook of the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, 1904, page 440),
showed that the large, heavy seed
always yielded the best developed and
most vigorous plants, whilst the light
seed furnished small, weak, and irregular
plants. A sample of Cuban seed was
separated into three grades—light,
medium, and heavy. The heavy seed
germinated almost perfectly, whereas
less than 5 per cent. of the light seed
germinated. The plants from the heavy
seed grew more rapidly than those from
the light seed, and were ready for
transplanting seven to nine days earlier
than the latter. The plants from the
heavier seed were also hardier and more
uniform.

The separation of the heavier and
larger seedsis most commonly effected

- by means of sieves of suitable mesh, A
partial separation can also be made by
throwing the seedinto water or a solu-
tion of salt, allowing the heavy seeds to
settle, and skimming off and rejecting
the lighter seeds. This plan is not
altogether satisfactory owing to the
adhesion of air bubbles to some of the
heavy seeds, thereby rendering them
buoyant. The seeds must be im-
mediately dried after removal from the
liquid. Another method, and one which
was successfully employed in the separ-
ation of the tobacco seed used for the
experiments mentioned above, depends
on the use of a current of air. A foot-
bellows is connected by means of rubber
tubing to the lower end of a vertical
glass tube. The strength of the air-
current is regulated by means of a valve,
which is so adjusted that, on blowing
air through a quantity of seed contained
in the glass tube, only the dirt, chaff
and light seed are ejected.

The study of the advantages accruing
from the use of heavy seed has now been
extended to cotton, and an account of
the results of work in this direction has
been given recently by Dr. Herbert J.
Webber and Mr. E. B. Boykin ( Farmers’
Bulletin, No. 285, United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, 1907).

The methods of separating the heavy
seed which have just been mentioned
are not applicabie to American Upland
cottons owing to the dense fuzz or down
on the surface of the seeds which causes
them to cling together. An ingenious
and satisfactory method has now been

devised, however, and has been used
with very successful results in the
experiments wader consideration. In

order to prevent the seeds from adhering
together, the fuzz must be pasted down
in some way. [nthe preliminary experi-
ments it was found that this could be
effected by rolling the seeds with water
and some powdered substance, such as
ashes, acid phosphate, or fine dry earth.
Later, however, it was found more satis-
factory to use prste made by mixing
evenly 43 to 5 oz. of flour with a pint of
water, then adding a quart of water
and boiling until the liquid thickened.
The paste is applied in the following
manner. One bushel of cotton seed is
placed in the rolling apparatus, which
consists of a hexagonal wooden box with
an axle running through it, the latter
being su;ported at the two ends, and fur-
nished at one end with a crank for rota-
ting the box. The paste is poured ove:
the seed in the box, which is then closed
and rotated for from 7 to 10 minutes.
The seed is afterwards removed from
the rolling apparatus and spread out to
dry. The seeds do not stick together

Cry “i pW git Mee eetty ts. ae:

Aes

Aprin; 1910.) ~

as would be expected, but remain quite
distinct, each one being coated witha
pellicle, which cements the fuzz closely
to the surface and thus allows the seeds
to separate freely from one another.
This method of treating the seed is not
only useful for enabling a separation
to be made of the heavy from the light
sced, but also facilitates sowing, as a
uniform number of seeds can be readily
dropped at regular distances, and thus
obviates the necessity for thinning out
the young plants.

For separating the heavy seed, a
special form of air-blast fannirg mill
is recommended. The seeds prepared in
the manner described are fed from a
hopper on toa vibrating screen, which
eatches large wads of cotton or foreign
substances and discharges them, but
allows the cotton seed to pass through
its meshes to another vibrating screen,
with fine meshes. From this latter
screen the seeds are delivered into a
short flue, where they meet a current
of air driven by, a fan from below,
which forces the light seeds out through
the top of the flue, but allows the
heavy ones to drop into a box below.
The separation, thus effected, does not
altogether correspond with the actual
weight or size of the seed, but depends
to some extent on its specific gravity,
but this is probably an advantage, as
the seeds of high specific gravity are
obviously more desirable than large
seeds, which have imperfectly developed
or withered kernels.

Some experiments have been made
with cotton seeds which were separated
into heavy, medium, light, and very
light grades. A much larger proportion
of the heavy seeds germinated than of
the light seeds, but the latter germi-
nated more quickly. The plants from
the light seed appeared weak and un-
healthy, whilst those from the heavy
seed were strong and vigorous.

A trial was made on about two acres
of land in South Carolina in which
heavy seeds and unseparated seeds of
the same variety were planted in alter-
nate rows. The heavy seed yielded a
crop of 1,0474 lbs., and the unseparated
seed a crop of 9444 lbs. In another trial
one acre was planted with heavy seed
and another with unseparated seed; a
yield of 1,1643 lbs. was obtained from the
former, and 1,075$ Ibs. from the latter.
Both these tests were carried out under
ordinary field conditions, and showed
that the crop is increased by about 10
per cent. by the use of heavy seed.

The evidence so far obtained has
shown that this simple method of
separating the heavy seed for sowing
is not only likely to increase directly

39

5 Fibres

the profits of the cotton farmer, but
will probably also be found to check
deterioration and effect a general im-
provement in the varieties grown.

METHOD OF ESTIMATING THE
YIELD OF COTTON IN THE FIELD.

(from the Queensland Agricultural
Journal, Vol. XXII., Pt. 5, May, 1909.)

To estimate the yield of cotton from
the plants in the field, the following
directions, says Mr. J. C. Crawford,
Special Agent, U.S. Bureau of Entomo-
logy, will be found useful :—

Determine the average number of
sound bolls per plant by counting the
number of such bolls on some five ad-
jacent plants in at least three separate
places in the field, and dividing the total
pumber of bolls counted in this manner
by the total number of plants examined.
Where the fieldis very large or contains
different soils, more than three places
should be selected for counting. In the
first column of the following table find
the distance between the plants in the
field, the crop of which is tobe esti-
mated. Then refer to the number on
the same line in the following column,
headed by the size of bolls to which the
variety planted belongs, Dividing the
average number of bolls per plant in the
field by the number found in this manner
in the table will give the fraction of a
bale per acre that will be produced.

Haxample.—lIf, in the case of a small-
boll variety like the King, the average
number of bolls per plant is found to be
10, and the plants are putin at a distance
of 2 ft. in rows, 4 ft. apart, the amount
of the prospective yield per acre will be
10 divided by 25:4 or 0°39 of a bale. In
using this table, due allowance must be
made for a poor stand :—

NUMBER OF CoTTON BoLLS PER PLANT
oF VARIOUS CLASSES REQUIRED AT
CERTAIN DISTANCES TO PRODUCE A

BALE PER ACRE WHEN COTTON
GIVES 33} PBR CENT. OF LINT,
Distance be- Number of Large Bolls, Medium. Small

tween Plants Plants per BC to 63 sized Bolls, Bolls, 85
teat ire eee 70 to 80” to 100

perlb. per lb,
1 x 3. 14,520 5°9 77 9°5
1 x 4 10,890 79 10'3 12'7
1x5 8,712 9°8 12°9 159
1 x 6 7,260 11'8 15°4 19*1
14x 3 9,680 89 116 14:0
13x 4 7.260 11°38 15°4 19°1
lgx 5 5,808 14'8 19°3 23'8
14x 6 4,840 178 232 28°6
2 X22" 105890 79 10°3 12:7
2X 7,260 11°8 15°4 19-1
2x4 5,445 158 20°6 29°4
2x5 4,856 19:7 25°38 BBL'8
2x6 38,680 23:2 30°9 38'4
3x3 . 4,840 17° 23°2 =. 28°6

fibres.
SANSEVIERIA.

(From the Agricultural News, Volk

VIIL, No. 186, June 12, 1909.)

Many species of Sansevieria are known,
of which the chief may be regarded
as Sansevieria guineensis, the kind
common in Barbados and other West
Indian islands, and S. longiflora.

S. guineensis is native to Western and
Central Africa, where some efforts have
lately been made to start an industry in
its cultivation, andin the preparation
of its fibre,

Although the fibres of certain species
of Sansevieria undoubtedly possess very
considerable utility, and are _ fitted
for certain economic uses, yet it does
not appear that at present any appre-
ciable quantity of this fibre is placed
on the market. A grower bringing
forward this product would probably
find difficulty at first in persuading
dealers to purchase, and the Sansevieria
would have to displace other fibres.

The best fibres are, of course, obtained
from the longest leaves, and in order
to encourage a profuse growth of large
Sansevieria leaves, it is necessary to
provide a certain amount of shade. It
will be observed that plants growing
in the open yield short, small leaves,
as compared with those that are pro-
vided with congenial shade. On the
Zambesi in Africa, it grows abundantly,
but always does best when ‘keeping
to the shade of woods,’ and in moist
situations, Hence it would appear that
in an island like Barbados, ill supplied
with trees and bush, the conditions are
not favourable to the production of
leaves of the best quality.

Owing to the fact that the produce
of these plants does not occur largely
in commerce, there exist little reliable
data as to returns that may be expected.
The first cuttings of leaves would not
be obtained, however, until at the
expiry of some three years from planting,
In Jamaica, according to an estimate
made by Sir Daniel Morris, so much as
14 tons of dry fibre per acre per annum
might be expected under favourable
eonditions, after the period when cutting
has begun. Since the leaves yield only
about 38 per cent. of fibre, this would
represent a crop of 50 tons of leaves
per acre per year to be dealt with.

When once established, the Sansevieria
plants are permanent.

Sansevieria fibres are soft, silky,
elastic and strong, and possibly, when
better known, they may come to occupy
a more prominent place in the market,

806

SL
[APRIL, 1910.

In his lectures on ‘Fibres and Fibre
Plants,’ however, Sir D. Morris gives
it as his opinion that ‘in competition
with Manila and Sisal hemps, the fibre
of Sansevieria has possibly little future
before it.’ The fibre from S. guineensis
somewhat resembles the valuable Manila
hemp (from Musa textilis), and is used
for cordage purposes.

The most varied figures have been
quoted by dealers, and at the Imperial
Institute, London, as representing the
value of different samples of fibre
from Sansevieria guineensis. These have
ranged from £29 to as much as £60 per
ton. Most of the valuations that have
been made, however, have been of a
nominal character. A good deal depends
upon the length and uniformity of the
staple, and the care with which the
fibre has been prepared and cleaned.
A good length of staple is about 3 feet
9 inches long.

The sample of fibre for which the
valuation of £60 per ton was quoted,
was received at the Imperial Institute
about a year ago from the Gold Coast,
West Africa. This was described as
‘consisting of soft, clean, white, well-
prepared fibre, which was fine, of good
lustre, of fairly even diameter, and of
good strength. The product was about
3 feet 9 inches long, and was of excellent
quality, suitable for use with the finest
Manila hemp.’

COTTON CULTIVATION IN
TINNEVELLY.

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 7, July 1, 1909.)

Mr. H. C. Sampson, Deputy Director
of Agriculture, Madras, contributes a
very informing paper to the current
number of that very excellent periodical,
the Agricultural Journal of India, on
the introduction of drill sowing and
inter-cultivation on the black cotton
soils of Tinnevelly- In 1907-08, the
Government of Madras gavean allotment
of Rs. 5,000 for the improvement of
cotton cultivation, and it was decided
thata part of this sum should be utilised
in introducing the practice of drill culti-
vation for cotton into the Tinnevelly
District. To some extent the way had
been prepared. This method of culti-
vation had been introduced on to the
Koilpatty Agricultural Station, and in
the 1906-07 seasons, after the station had
been enlarged, there were 51°35 acres of
cotton all sown with the drill. The
crops which were much superior to those
outside the farm began to attract atten-

Apri, 1910.]

tion in the neighbourhood. In March,
1907, when the cotton-picking was at its
height, Mr. Couchman, Director of Agri-
eulture, and Mr. Wood, Deputy Director
of Agriculture, who then had charge of
this division wheninspecting this station,
assembled the neighbouring ryots. The
methods of cultivation were explained
to them, the farm crops were compared
with those outside, and the implements
were shown at work and even handled
by the ryots. Several of them there and
then promised to try this method of
cultivation if assistance were given them.
The very roughness in the workmanship
of the implements pleased them, as such
work could easily be turned out by their
own carpenters and blacksmiths. But
there were many obstacles to be over-
come before such a revolutionary change
in the methods of cultivation could be
brought about. Instead of sowing cotton
broadcast, covering with the plough and
doing the after-cultivation with hand-
hoes, it was sought to introduce the

ractice of sowing in rows with the

amboo seed-drill covering the seed
with the blade cultivator and doing the
after-cultivation with the small blade
bullock-hoes. All these implements,
though common in the Northern Districts
and in other parts of India, are unknown
in the south of Madras. When it was
decided to take steps to introduce this
system of cultivation, there were only

‘two coolies in the District who knew

how to work these implements, and these
were only local men who had been
trained on the Koilpatty Agricultural
Station, and who only knew that parti-
cular class of soil. Therefore, it was
decided to bring down men who had
been used, all their lives, to these imple-
ments from the Bellary District. Ac-
cordingly, some 26 sets of implements
were made during the hot-weather
months, ready to be lent out to ryots,
and six Bellary men were sent down at
the beginning of September (six weeks
before the sowing season). In the first
year, about 200 acres were sown on
ryots’ fields with the drill. In the year
1908-09, a similar allotment was made
for cotton improvement, and it was
decided to continue this work as well as
to introduce seed farms for growing pure
Karangani cotton of the strain selected
on the Koilpatty Agricultural Station.
This gave an opportunity of spreading
this system of cultivation further afield
than Koilpatty, but was a much more
difficult matter to arrange, as in many
parts of the District, the Department
was unknown, and the Agricultural
Station at Koilpatty had not been heard
of. In order to cope with this work
as well as the extension, probably on

307 Fibres,

the success of the previous year’s oper-
ations, several new hands had to be train-
ed, This meant a very careful selection.
Apart from the seed farms and demon-
stration plots, there has been a rapid
extension of drill sowing in the villages
around Koilpatty, where some 500 acres
have been sown. One village alone
accounted for more than 230 acres, while
two more each had over 70 acres. In
a few cases outlying ryots have also
sown, having either seen the farm crops
last year or the crops of ryots who
had sown with the drill the previous
season. Including the seed farms there
is an area of about 1,000 acres this year
sown with the drill. The mere tact of
sowing is, however, by no means every-
thing. Each “ ryot” who has sown has to
be seen constantly. He has to be induced
tothin, and shown, when and how, touse
the bullock-hoe. As the thinning and,
very often, the hoeing clash with other
farm-work, the “‘ ryots” are often unwill-
ing at the time tc do so. This means con-
siderable patience and tact indealing with
them. Thinning especially goes against
the grain, for the ‘‘ryot” says, ‘‘Itis
like taking the life of my children to
pull these plants which have grown,”
but still this must be done if this system
of cultivation is not to degenerate into
that of the Bellary District where the
seed-rate is more than double that used
in Tinnevelly and no thinning is done,
Many of the wives and children of the
Koilpatty cooly staff who are employed
for casual labour on the Agricultural
Station, were sent out with one of the
Assistant Managers to show ‘“ryots”
how to thin their crops. Small boys
are probably the best, as their youth
favours them in their training, and
they can do the work with that un-
conscious confidence which always ap-
peals toa ‘‘ryot.” With all the success
already obtained in this introduction
it is by no means certain yet whether
this method of cultivation, if now left
to itself, would last. The questions
which next present themselves are:
(1) when should the Department with-
draw its help, and (2) how to leave
the work on a substantial basis. This
is, of course, looking into the future,
but it seems necessary that the Depart-
ment should give some concession, if
the ‘‘ryots” do the same. The proposal
next season is that the Department
should lend one set of implements to
the village for every one that the village
is prepared to make, provided that (0
acres are sown with the two sets, and
if the villagers themselves guarantee
to sow 200 acres with the drill, the
service of a trained coolie will be lent
to them for the season,

Fibres.

WEST INDIAN COTTON.
(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIII.,
No. 197, November 13, 1909.)

Messrs. Wolstenholme and Holland, of
Liverpool, write as follows, under date
October 25, with reference to the sales of
West Indian Sea Island cotton :—

Since our last report, no business is
reported in West Indian Sea Island
cotton, owing to the absence of stock.

Amerian Sea Island cotton of all des-
criptions continues to harden gradually.
For ‘ Fine’ Island they are asking 164d.
and ‘Fully Fine’ 174d., but no business is
passing at these rates, buyers’ ideas being
rather lower. The best Floridas are
worth 183d. to 14d.

The report of Messrs. Henry W. Frost
& Co., on Sea Island cotton in the

Southern States, for the week din
October 23, is.as follows :-— een

The market has been quiet throughout
the week, without any sales being
reported. There was some demand at
the prices at which the opening sales
were made, viz., Fine 28¢c., Fully Fine
80c., and Extra Fine 82c., which if factors
had consented to accept would have
resulted in fairly large sales; but factors
advanced their prices 2c., which buyers
refused to pay. Should the market
remain quiet, with no demand at the
advance asked, with the accumulation
of stock, factors may in time have to
recede from their advanced views.

EDIBLE PRODUCTS,

MANURIAL EXPERIMENTS WITH
CACAO IN GRENADA.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. VIII.,
No, 197, November 13, 1909.)
Interesting details of experiments in
connexion with the manuring of cacao
that have been conducted by Mr. W. M.
Malins-Smith at Diamond estate, St.
Mark’s, Grenada, have been received
from him. The results are given here
for the benefit of readers of the Ag7i-
cultural News. While this is done,
the Department does not hold itself
responsible for the statements which are
made with respect to any proprietary

chemical manure,

The manurial treatment (according to
the table supplied by Mr. Malins-Smith)
on the different sections was as follows :—

Section 1: 1907,--Basic slag, 8 ewt.
(April) ; sulphate of potash, 2cwt. (May) ;
sulphate of ammonia, 2 cwt. (September),

Section 2: 1907,—Swift’s tropical man-
ure, 10 cwt. (June).

Section 3: 1907.—Sheep manure, 2} tons
(April).

Section 4: 1907.—Wood ashes, 4 hogs-
heads (April); sulphate of ammonia, 2
ewt. (September).

Section 5: control; no manure.

Section 6: 1907.—Lime, 1} hogsheads
(April). 1908.—Pen manure, 20 tons (May).

Section 7: 1907.—Lime,
(Apri}); sulphate of ammonia, 13 ewt.
(September), 1908.—Basic slag, 4 ewt.
(May).

Section 8; 1907.—T.S.G. cacao manure,
10 cwt. (June),

1? hogsheads”

These experiments in manuring were
begun in 1907 for the purpose of testing
the relative value of several complete
manures and combinations of fertilizers
on large areas of excellent bearing cacao
which had not been manured or forked
for several years, and which at the time
was giving a yield of 5bags of 180 lb.
each per acre,

In March-April, 1007, the plots were
carefully forked and all dead leaves,
weedings, ete. were buried. The manure
was then applied broadeast on the
surface, evenly distributed throughout
the plots, The trees were then carefully,
but lightly, pruned, the prunings being
left on the ground to serve asa mulch
over the manure. In June, the plots
were weeded and all dead leaves and
prunings were carefully buried near the
surface of the soil. From June to
September all suckers were removed
from the trees and the drains in the
field cleaned out. In 1908, the manurial
treatment was not repeated, and the
only manure applied that year was that
used in completing the combinations in
sections 6and 7. Cultural work done in
1908 comprised the burying or ‘bedding’
of all weedings, dead leaves and prunings
in the month of June; light pruning;
removing suckers; cleaning drains;
weeding, etc. These plots were estab-
lished on a basis of equality in cost of
manures and area. Hach plot was eare-
fully measured to one acre; they are all
adjacent to one another. A sum of £5
was spent in manures on sections 1, 2, 3,
and 8.

The wood ashes applied to section 4,
being a by-product of the estate, cost
nothing. The same may be said of the

4

.
Sx

~ Aprin, 1910.]

pen manure applied to section 6, except

that it cost £2 for application. The cost
of applying manure to the other sections
was only 2s. to 2s. 6d. per acre. In
section 7, only £3 15s. was spent on
manures. The same amount was spent
on every section for cultural work, 1.e.,
£8 10s. for the period from April, 1907, to
August, 1909. The figures given in the
table of results are for the period of two
years’ crop—September, 1907, to August,
1909, inclusive,

It will be observed that the yield of
the control section increased by 1} bags
in the first year over the previous
average yield of the field. This, pre-
sumably, was due to the forking and
bedding. With the exception of Nos. 1
and 7, all the sections dropped one bag in
the second year.

The experiments tend to prove the
great advantage which accrues from
manuring even good, bearing cacao, and
that an average yield per acre of 5 bags
of 180 1b. each, which most planters agree
is excellent, can be easily increased by
50 per cent., leaving a big increage in
profits to the planter. They also prove
the superiority of T. S. G. cacao manure,
and show that itis the most profitable
complete manure that can be used
for cacao.

RESULTS. :
os 28 Vieldin bags. ft. 5 Bee
LSE SG) eae pam ox
IS 228 22 Ist 2nd potgy ESS c= aes
@ OF oe year, year. co z 32

Gas. 8G Si £8. dy
toe Oo Or coe Oe. alk — 4-6 68
eas, 7% OF I4h 0+ 3 +7 00
320 07,, SS sae} + 33 +9 13 4
Arle Ve 5 7s 64 14 pees Ob le
5— 0 ,, 64 5 %J1y — —
64-5 ,, 8t 74 155 + 44 +1284
| sos 0245, 52 52 114 4 § —38 18
S= dre OR 5, Sets) Miley + 53 + 17134

A RUSSIAN METHOD OF CORN
CULTIVATION.

(From the Tournnl of the Board of
Agriculture, Vol. XVI., No. 9,
December, 1909.)

A method of giowing corn has recently
been advocated in Russia which, al-
though it is not likely to be suitable in
cultivating large areasin this country,
might prove useful in growing corn for
seed or other special purposes. It has
also been suggested that it might be
adopted by small holders, as it would
enable them to grow a heavier and
better crop on a small area,

Edible Products.

The method, which, broadly speaking,
depends on the careful cultivation of
each individual plant, is not new, as it
has often been prcposed in the past in
this country, and constitutes the ordin-
ary practice in China at the present
day. The large amount of labour
required makes it inapplicable for ordin-
ary corn growing except in countries
where labour is very cheap and very
plentiful.

The author of the system (M. Demts-
chinsky) states that farming in Russia is
giving more and more unsatisfactory
results, and in consequence famines,
formerly of rare occurrence, have be-
come less common, The number of live-
stock in the country is not enough to
provide sufficient manure, while the
introduction of a rotation of crops
apparently presents great difficulties, so
that itis necessary to find some other
means of increasing the low average
yield of corn. :

For this purpose he suggests the
practice of earthing-up, or alternatively
that of deep-setting or transplanting,
the object in any case being to develop
root-action and increase the tillering
power, so that a greater return -is
obtained.

Ia the case of earthing-up, the land
would be prepared iu the usual way, and
the sowing done by ahand or horse drill,
a little artificial manure being applied,
if possible, at the same time. The drill
should be arranged so as to sow three
rows 3-44 inches apart, leaving a dis-
tance of 103-14 inches between each third
row to give room for working. The
greater distance is necessary when a
horse hoe is to be employed.

About a month after sowing, when
the young plant has appeared and
begins to send out shoots, the first
earthing-up should be done. This stage
is a critical one in the field of the plant,
and by heaping up the earth round it
the plant is protected from drought,
frost, and other unfavourable infiuences,
the tillering shoots multiply and the
roots develop to a very greater extent
than they otherwise would.

The -process of earthing-up may all
carried out with a machine like a smbe
hand koe or cultivator, the tines of
which are arranged soas to throw the
earth between the rows over the plants
on each side, while the outside tines
cover the outside of the rows. A simple
instrument suitable for working three

Edible Products.

rows at a time may be made something
like a large rake by fixing four suitable
blades at the proper distances on a bean
or head which is fitted with a handle
and can be pulled steadily along the
rows. This presses up the earth round
the plants, and also serves to eradicate
weeds. A week or ten days afterwards,
if the plants can be seen to have grown,
the process can be repeated. A final
earthing-up is recommended some
months later in the case of winter crops.

A number of experiments have been
conducted in Russia, and the results
obtained in two cases are given in
M. Demtschinsky’s pamphlet.

One experiment with oats was carried
outin the province of Kursk ona plot
163 square yardsin extent. The sowing
was done by a hand-drill on the 5th
April, the first earthing-up on the 7th
and 8th of May, and the second about
June 10th.

The plants were covered toa depth of
13 inches at each operation, and on 20th
July the ground was hoed for weeds,
In the middle of May the oats were
about 12 inches high, flowers appeared
at the beginning of June, and as early
as the end of the month the ears began
to appear. The crop was reaped by the
end of July; a yield of 1903 lb. was
obtained from 168 square yards.

This, as M. Demtschinsky points out,
is equivalent to 145 bushels per acre
(39 lb. to the bushel), but no accurate
conclusions can be drawn from so small
an area.

An experiment on a large scale in the
province of Kursk is also mentioned.
Here barley was grown and a crop of 45
bushels per acre (50 lb. to the bushel) was
obtained by earthing-up, as against 333
bushels by ordinary cultivation. - The
expenditure is stated to have been
practically the same in both cases.

The second method which is advocated
is that of transplanting and deep-setting,
The seed can be sown either broadcast
or in rows at a distance of 1? inches
apartintherow. The latter method is
the better, as the plants are more even
in size,

The transplanting is done in the same
way as with young cabbages. It is
recommended that the earth should be
shaken trom the roots, and the plants
placed-upright in a shallow box, the
bottom of which is covered with basic
slag. When the box is full it can be
taken to the field and the planting done

310

3 m
- sie 4
~ s

[ApRin, 1910.

in rows, allowing 7 inches between the
rows and 7 inches between each plant.
The plants should be put in deeply,
about three-quarters of an inch lower
than before, so as to cover the base of
the leaves. If the weather be dry the
plants may be watered with weak liquid
manure.

Another method of deep-setting with- —
out transplanting may be adopted if
the seed is sown in rows at even dis-
tances apart. The work is done with
two dibbles, one of which is hollowed at
the end like a scoop. When the plants
are of suitable size, the dibble with the
scoop-like end is inserted under the roots
of the plants so as to raise it slightly,
while at the same time an ordinary
dibble is inserted on the other side of
the plant to the required depth. The
result is that the plant sinks lower in
the soil and the loose earth can be heap- >
ed up round it.

A number of trials have been made in
Germany for the purpose of testing the
method, One of the most exhaustive,
which was carried out at the Agricul-
tural Institute at Bromberg, is reported
in the Mitteilungen der Deutschen Land-
Gesellschaft (9th October, 1909). Dupli-
cate plots were arranged with both rye
and barley. The rye plots were ar-
ranged as follows:—(a) drilled in rows
6 inches apart in the ordinary way ; (b)
planted in rows 10cm. (nearly 4 inches)
between the rows and 20 em. (nearly 8
inches) between the plants; (c) drilled in
sets of three rows 10 cm. apart with a
distance ot 30 cm, (nearly 12 inches)
between each three rows; (d) drilled as
in the case of (c), but the plants after-
wards thinned to 8 inches apart as in (0).

In the case of the rye, the sowing of
(a), (c) and (d) took place on 22nd Septem-
ber, and for (6) on the 8rd September, the
plants being transplanted on the 24th.
The latter suffered from drought and
did not recover till the beginning of
October. On the 14th October the (d)
plots were thinned, and on the 17th both
(c) and (d) were earthed-up. The
winter was severe and only about
forty per cent. of the transplanted seed
(b) survived, whereas (c) and (ad) suffered
but little. The development of the
roots and shoots on (b) was, however,
much better than any of the other plots,
and when the crop was reaped the num-
ber of stalks per plant on (b) averaged —
10, as against 4 on (a), 7 on (c), and 8 on
(d.) The number of full years per plant
and the number of grains in the ear were
also greater than on the other plots,

ousil

ApRit, 1910.]

The average results are given in the
following table :—

Rye. Barley.
-i>s EL Gs Fs
Bass re gae8 Ps
Saes £2 S422 BS
n m
a, Ordinary Culti-
vation 496 84:6 56:3 27:6
b. Transplanted SPT eee 1 6 6:6~ 10:

7

c, Karthed-up 524 84:2 70°5 35°5
d. Thinned out and

earthed-up 35°2 25:8 56°4 28°35

It will be seen that the transplanted
rye gaye the smallest yield, which was
attributable to the widest planting in
the first instance, and was further
reduced by the thinning-out caused by
the unfavourable winter. The same
reason accounts for the poor yield on
(d). The yield, however, of the earthed-
up plants on plots (c) differs very little
from plot (a) and could not be regarded
as remunerative.

In the case of barley, the arrange-
ment of the plots was the same, but
the distance between the plots and rows
was somewhat different. In plot (a)
the rows were 12°5 cm. (nearly 5 inches)
apart; in plot (b) the transplanting was
done in four rows 7 em. (2? inches)
apart; with an_ interval of 30 cm.
(nearly 12 inches) between each set of
rows, the plants being 10 cm. (nearly
4 inches) apart; in plot (ce) five rows
were drilled about 8 inches apart with
an interval ot 12 inches between each
set of five rows; on plot (d) the rows
were drilled in the same way, and the
plants were thinned out to 4 inches
apart. :

Sowing was done on 8th April, trans-
planting on the 4th May, thinning-out and
earthing-up on the llth May. The trans-
planted seedlings suffered very much
from unusual drought in May, and only
a small proportion survived. The crop
on plants (c) and (d) grew somew hat
more slowly than that on plot (a), but
a thoroughly good stand was secured.
The tillering was greatest on plot (d),
where the plants were thinned-ont and
earthed-up, an average of 12 stalks per
plant with 10 full ears being obtained,
while plot (c), which was earthed-up,
gave 10 stalks per plant with 9 full ears.

The results as regards yield are in-
cluded in the table above. As has been
stated, plot (b) was a failure, and Herr
Kruger in reporting on the experiments
observes that in his opinion the trans-
plantation of spring-sown cereals would
only be successful in exceptional cases
in Germany, where the weather in
May and June is usually dry.

ge Sinan Ca ey kg a io ©
Oe Ne, i

311 Edible Products.

Owing to the distance of the plants
apart on plot (d) the yield, though
excellent individually, was only equal
for the whole area to that obtained
on plot (a) by ordinary cultivation. On
plot (ce), however, where the rows were
earthed-up, a high yield was obtained,
which exceeded the yield on plot (a)
by 14 bushels of grainand nearly 8 cwt.
of straw, a return which would amply
justify the extra labour involved.

THE MANGO.*

By H. H. Cousins,

(From the Philippine Agricultural

Review, Vol. I1., December 12, 1909.)

Some two years ago, the late Capt.
L. D. Baker, the founder of the inane
trade in Jamaica, came to Hope Gardens
and stated his opinion that the depart-
ment would be wise to devote a large
part of its energies for some years to
come to furthering an export in mangoes.

“You grow the mangoes,” said Capt.
Baker, ‘‘and I will build the ships to
carry them.” :

Further attention. to the possibilities
of the mango as an article of export
from Jamaica has resulted from the
remarkable returns recently obtained
by Mr. Aston W. Gardner of Kingston
in shipping high-class mangoes to
London, Some years ago Mr. Gardner
obtained through the kindness of Sir
Henry Blake, the Governor at the time,
some newly-received plants of grafted
mangoes from India. One of these has
now grown into a fine tree and produces
large crops of a very choice mango that
is not in the collection of mangoes grown
by the department. During the past
season Mr, Gardner shipped these fruits
to England and received £70 for the
produce ot this one tree. The prices
varied from Ils. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per fruit.
During the past season we have sent
from Hope to various expert horticul-
turists in America samples of all the
ordinary varieties of mangoes grown in
Jamaica.

The common mangoes, kidney man-
goes, and black mangoes carried badly
and were not appreciated, while ‘‘ No.
11” was considered a superior fruit.
The best results both in keeping and in
edible properties were invariably ob-
tained with the ‘‘ Bombay” mangot in-

*From ‘The Porto Rico Horticultural News,”
July, 1909. i

+Retail prices in New York on the new Bom.
bay Governeur mango, weighing froin a pound
to a pound and a quarter, range from $1 to $1°50
each, Ordinary Bombay mangoes are quoted
at 50 cents each.

Hasble: Products: | 312

troduced into Jamaica by Governor Sir
John Peter Grant, and known in other
West Indian colonies as ‘‘ Peter’s.” This
mango is free from fibre, has a small
stone and possesses a delightful subacid
flavour with a mellow luscious quality
that surpasses all other mangoes grown
in Jamaica. I am inclined to the opi-
nion, therefore, that Sir Peter’s Bom-
bay mango is the most promising
variety to grow for export. It is a
hardy tree of prolific bearing and fre-
quently fruits quite freely out of season
when mangoes should be in great de-

mand in America. Remarkable success
has frequently been achieved in shipping
this fruit to America and England, and
its keeping qualities are exceptional.

Varieties of Mangoes.—An exhaustible
account of the history of the mango in
Jamaica and a deseription of all the
varieties then growing in the island by
Mr. W. Harris, F.L.S., was published
in the Bulletin for 1901, pages 161 to 178.
Practically every mango tree in Jamaica
is a seedling, and although certain
varieties appear to come fairly true
from seed, there is undoubtedly a con-
stant variation and no two ‘‘ No. 11” or
“yam” mangoes are strictly alike.

It is very regrettable that the fine col-
lection of Indian mangoes introduced
by Sir John Peter Grant in 1869 was set
out at Castleton Gardens. In this situ-
ation the moisture of the air is so great
that the mango gets into an unhealthy
state, and it is rarely possible for the
flowers to be fertilised. Some of the
varieties have not fruited yet, although
forty years of age, and it must be
admitted that the department*has been
very lacking in enterprise, until quite
recently, in extending the best varieties
of Indian mango in Jamaica.

In 1904, the idea of budding mangoes
was suggested by the publication of
some successful experiments in Queeps-
land. Mr. T. J. Harris, of the HExperi-
ment Station, operated on these lines and
was the first person to bud mangoes
successfully in Jamaica. The original
tree was a fairly large yam mango
of a good age. The buds consist of
‘*Bombay” and ‘‘ Alphonso” varieties,
and the rapid growth has enabled the
new buds to restore the old tree to quite
respectable dimensions at the end of the
fourth year from budding. Fruit was
borne for the first time when the buds
were three years of age This experi-
ment is one that demonstrates the great
possibilities for budding mangoes in
Jamaica, and itis hoped that during the
next ten years many thousands of ti ees,
at present bearing inferior fruit, may

be converted into budded trees furnished — =

with the choicest varieties of dessert
fruit,

To test the practical aspects of the
matter, itis now in contemplation to
bud one thousand large seedling trees
growing on the old slave quarters of the
Hope estates, as part of the operations
of the new farm school and thus secure a
good trial of the possibilities of growing
high-class Indian mangoes on ordinary
wild trees. A stock of 105 grafted plants
of the choicest varieties of Indian
mangoes was obtained from the Caleutta
Botanic Gardens and despatched by the
immigrant ship Ganges in September
last. The plants arrived in capital order

and the department will now be able to”

propagate these esteemed varieties and
have them tested -in Jamaica, The
following varieties have thus been added
to our collection of mangoes: Alphonso,
Bombay, Fuzli, Singapur, Madras,
Langra, Kisenbhog, Kemsagua, and
Malda.

As at present advised, the ‘‘ Peter’s
Bombay” should be selected as the most
promising variety for cultivation for
the export trade.

The variety “Alphonso” or ‘* Afooz”
is highly esteemed in India. The late
Colonel Griffith of Hodges, St. Elizabeth,
imported at great cost, two trees of the
Alphonso mango. It is possible, how-
ever, that.‘‘ Alphonso” may prove too
shy a bearer for profitable exportation
in Jamaica, and its cultivation cannot at
present be recommended. We have a
large number of mangoes from all parts
of the world under observation at Hope.
So far, none have indicated any approach
to ** Peter’s Bombay” as a commercial
fruit. The majority are decidedly in-
ferior varieties.

Hints on Culture.—The mango, when
grown naturally from seed sends down a
deep tap root and it is characteristic of
young seedling mangoes that they root
very deeply in the earliest stage of their
growth, Hxperiments have shown that
a good seed from a strong growing
variety (planted at stake), will give far
quicker results in establishing a tree
than a seedling set out from a_ pot.
Indeed, in a dry district, the establish-
ment of amango transferred {rom a pot
to the soil is always a matter of consider-
able uncertainty. Itis desirable, there-
fore, when setting out an orchard, to
plant seeds of the yam or other strong-
growing variety of mango. When these
are 1} to 2 years old they should be stout
little trees of just the right size tor:
budding.

A distance of thirty to forty feet
should be allowed between the trees
when developed. For quick returns
from budded trees it is reeommended to
plant 15 feet by 15 feet or 20 feet by 20
feet and to cut out every alternate tree
when the growth requires it.

With the mango, the young buds are
not of use for budding. The buds from
wood 1} to 2 years old showing leaf scars
on the bare bark, should be selected.
It is useless to attempt budding unless
the bark lifts freely. When the trees
are flushing, the bark can be lifted
easily and there is no difficulty in re-
moving the buds with the slips of excised
bark. Buds canbe inserted either by
cutting out a corresponding piece on the
bark of the branch to be treated, or the
bud can be slipped undera T-shaped
incision in the ordinary way. Raffia
fibre is a good medium for tying in
the buds.

In budding old trees, do not cut down
the whole tree at once. The main
branches should be cut off about a foot
from the stem, taking care not to split
the arm, smoothing the edge of the
bark and protecting the cut surface
with tar. When the new growth isl
to 14 inches in diameter it is fit to take
a bud. When the buds have started
to grow the rest of the bunches can be
cut down and similarly treated.

It is important to observe that an
old tree cut off short below the main
branches will probably die, and that
care is required in lopping old trees
not to remove the whole of the foliage
at one operation, When the new shoots
have grown, the old stumps of the
original branches should be carefully
eut close back with a slope toward
the trunk of the tree.

It is very important in pruning a
mango tree to cut close to the main
branch or stem so that the wound can
heal rapidly. The bark should be bevel-
led witha sharp knife and the cut end
treated with tar. Careless lopping of
old trees will result in attacks of insects
and tungi upon the exposed tissue, and
the death of the trees will be greatly
hastened.

As it is now proposed for the depart-
ment to test budded mangoes on an
area of over 800 acres of land, we should
in a few years have definite results upon
which the commercial basis of the high-
class mango as an article of export
from Jamaica can be determined. Iam
convinced that those planters who take
up the work of improving the mango
by budding in those districts of the
island where it fruits well and freely,
will 1eap a rich reward in the future.

40

-ApRit, 1910.] | 3

13° Edible Products.

The choice Kast Indian mango is not
only a most grateful fruit to the palate
of any normal person, but it also pos-
sesses a fascination for those who have
acquired a taste for the fruit that
bespeaks an ever-growing demand when
this, the most luscious fruit of the
tropics, is made accessible to the peoples
of America and Kurope.

PRODUCTION OF RICE IN THE
UNITED STATES.
Figures given for the last few years

(Tropenpflanzer, February, 1910, page
106) show :—

1901 388,000,000 lb.

1903 560,000,000 ,,

1904. 586,000,000 ,,

1906 496,000,000 ,,

1907 520,000,000 ,,

1908 608,000,000 ,,

of this, 52°83 % was from Louisiana,
41:8 % from Texas.

THE TEA INDUSTRY.

SomE MODERN DEVELOPMENTS, II,
(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 3, March, 1909.)

The tea bush differs from most other
agricultural plants in that itis grown,
with the exception of small plots for
seed purposes, entirely for its leaves;
and when it is remembered that the
function ef all vegetable growth is to
produce seed, it will at once be seen that
the tea bush has a duty to perform that
is really against the laws of nature,
And not only has the crop produced by
the tea bush no analogy in the history
of economic agriculture, but the process
of harvesting it isin itself very nearly
unique, and the gardener whose life has
been spent amidst flower beds and
orchards would fird himself absolutely
non-plussed if he were asked to gather
the crop of the tea bush. The pruning
of the tea bush would present no very
great difficulties to his mind, for itis
carried out on much the same lines as
that for fruit growing, but the identity
of agricultural procedure outside culti-

vation begins and ends there.

PLUCKING.

While the harvesting of the crop would
appear to bea very simple prucess, and
one in no way liable to error on the
part of the producer, this is not the
case. Plucking of tea asa fact is really
a matter for very much more consider-
ation than the collecting of most annual
crops. In the first place the harvesting
of the tea crop is not, as is the case with

Edible Products.

cereals, and even with tropical plants
similar to tea, such-as coffee and cocoa,
a single individual harvesting at one
period of the year, but it is continued
week by week through many months of
the season. Again, it is not merely a
question of taking the crop from the
earth such as it isand being content
with it, butitis one of choosing how
much to take and how much to leaye.

It is every planter’s endeavour to
reap from his bushes the greatest amount
of good leaf possible, and to enable this
to be done it has been found that better
results in certain districts are made by
sacrificing a certain amount of crop at
the beginning of the year. It is an easy
matter to pluck off the tea shoots as they
appear in the bushes, but if this is done
freely at the inception of - the season the
bush does not flush in the same way as
if it was allowed to grow freely for the
first month or so. This is one of the
greatest points at which the Scientific
Department has laboured since its estab-
lishment, and it is agreed that the saving
of the bush at the beginning of the
season is one of the greatest preventa-
tives of deterioration, while it is at the
same time a factor of first importance in
regard to the immediate crop. Not only
does care in long and luxuriant growth
at the beginning of the season ensure
thick straight wood for subsequent
pruning, but it enables the bush to
establish its mass of young growing root-
lets, and it maintains a freer communi-
cation between the stems and the roots.

Plucking itself isas a rulea question
of labour, and with a short labour force
itis very much easier to pluck a bush
hard than it is to allow free growth and
to check it as desired. But here the
question of close plucking intervenes,
and itis now pretty well accepted by
planters of intelligence that the secret
of quality in tea, outside the question of
manufacture, is in catching the leaf
when it is young,as the shoots then
contain greater percentages of the
intrinsic essentials which go to make
quality. Close plucking, however, as it
was followed in the most north-easterly
districts of Assam, and which tends to
‘give the finest quality tea, has had to
be given up because it was found that
the system was too severe on the bushes.
This system, which it is understood was
called the Sadya Road System, consisted
in plucking every shoot, no matter how
much grown, as soon as it appeared, and
it is easy to perceive that such a system
was bound to tax the bush to its utmost.
On the other hand, there is no reason
why similar leaf to that obtained by the
Sadya Road system should not he got by

314

leaving the shoots to grow to a certain

extent, and this is the standard to which
planters are approaching now. Leaf
only contains its different virtues during
acertain period of life, and, that once
reached, no good can be gained by
leaving leaf on the bush once growing
conditions are established, ¢

The handling of leaf after it has been
plucked is also a question which has
exercised the minds of planters, and it
is customary now to pay an amount of
attention to the delivery of leaf in the
factory in first-class condition that not
somany years ago would have been
considered absurd. It wasatone time
a question of crop; it is now quality first
and crop if it is to be got.

PESTS AND BLIGHTS.

But if the Scientific Department has
conferred upon the industry great
benefit in the question of pruning and
plucking, it has perhaps more than all
justified its existence in work which it
has carried on with regard to the treat-
ment and mitigation of insect pests and
blights. In this part of the work the
Department has had a special field of
enquiry to investigate which it has been
able to do with the exactness and com-
pleteness which are the attributes of
Science. There is no doubt that in the
case of the Tea Industry blights have
threatened to be one of the most serious
checks to its successful development, and
we have in the history of coffee growing
in Ceylon an example of what insect
blight can doin actually exterminating
a large and infiuential agricultural
industry. The Indian Tea Industry has
been cruelly attacked by more than one
blight, but up to the present time it has
fortunately showed no signs of succumb-
ing to any of the many perils to which
it has been liable in its short existence.

It is recognised, of course, with all
plants which are rescued from their
jungle existence, which are brought into
cultivation and closely associated with
the other, that the dangers from indi-
vidual blight and pests are intensified.
Not only has the Tea bush been re-
covered from its natural surroundings
in the jungle, but it has been forced to
change its habits, and to a very great
extent to outrage the system arranged
for it by nature, so that this very change
of habit tends to make the plant more
liable to all diseases to which it is fre-
disnosed. Also the very fact that the
plant is moreintensively cultivated and
more carefully treated renders. it the
more liable to disease, in the same way
that any living thing which is cultivated
for a special purpose becomes more
delicate constitutionally. is

ad

. —his

_ Aprin, 1910.) 3 315

®

To turn, however, to what has been
done in the direction of guarding the

plant against its natural enemies in the

shape of insects and fungi, the planter
has been put in possession of the history
of each individual blight or pest as it
arrived upon the scene of action. It can
be easily understood that to combat a
blight whose habits are known is a very
different matter from fighting in the
dark a somewhat insidious enemy whose
antecedents cannot be traced, and whose
methods of working are obscure and
untraceable. The day was when the
planter had to be satisfied in his mind
that, when he was visited by a plague
of caterpillars, the caterpillars were
actually there on the bushes, and all he
could do was to pick them off to the
best of his ability and pray that he
might not be visited by a recurrence of
the evil. If the plague returned he
looked upon it as a_ visitation of
Providence, and while dimly aware that
the same might be of the beneficent
nature usually associated with that
abstruse, indefinable, but kindly power,
he once more did his best to defeat its
benevolent purpose for the sake of his
more practical and material benefactors
shareholders—perhaps thinking
that he was risking his own chance of
Heaven in doing so. The publication of
the ponderous volume on pests and
blights by Sir George Watt and Dr.
Mann, teeming with a mass of know-
ledge and information on these points,
however, altered the planters’ views
altogether, and when caterpillar and
other insect pests or fungus blights
appear on his tea bushes to-day, he
identities the species by this book, and
coolly proceeds to destroy the root of the
evil by collecting and burning the larvee
of the insects or the mycelium of the
fungus by the means advocated, thus
taking precautions to prevent a further
attack.
SIRDARI.

RICE CULTIVATION IN BURMA.
(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.

XXXIV., No. 2, February 1, 1909.)

Mr. A. McKerrall, M.A., B.sc., the
Deputy Director of Agriculture, Burma,
has a very interesting contribution on
rice cultivation in Lower Burma inthe
Agricultural Journal of India. Rice,
as everyone knows, has long been the
Province’s chief staple of commerce and
the most important item in its agri-
culture. Admirably adapted both as
regards soil and climate for the pro-
duction of this cereal, Burma is to-day
the chief rice-growing country in the

Edible Products,

Hast, if not in the whole world. The
export cf rice for the year 1907-1908 may
be put down at about 24 million tons of
cleaned cargo rice. The price of paddy
went up as high as P. 168 per 100 baskets,
and the new season’s crop, this year,
opened at P.125 and P.127. But the
Kuropean millers combining, have man-
aged to cause prices to fall to P. 100.
However, as the seasou advances the
price is bound to go higher. Last year,
the great demand for the famine dis-
tricts naturally caused an abnormal in-
crease in prices; but this year conditions
are more favourable in India, and there
is, therefore, no reason why such high
prices should be maintained.

Every year, almost, sees an increase of
about 8 to 9 per cent. of land brought
under paddy cultivation in Burma,
Within the Deltaic areas, where the
bulk of the rice crop is grown, the rain-
fall is plentiful, ranging from 97 inches
in the Pegu district, including Rangoon
and its neighbourhood, to 1838 inches at
Bassein, 198 inches at Akyab, and 214,211
and 219 inches in the Amherst, Tavoy
and Thaton districts, respectively. The
rainfall lasts from April to November,
or for a period of six and half to seven
months. The soil is geologically termed
recent alluvium, consisting of a stiff clay
overlying a still stiffer clay subsoil,
which in the hot weather i

ASSUMES A HARDNESS PRECLUDING
CULTIVATION

of any kind at that season of the year.
The remarkable feature of the soil is its
ability to be cultivated year after year
without manureand without seemingly
exhausting its fertility. The only factors
which keep it from becoming sterile is
apparently the six months’ rest and the
decomposition of the long dry stubble
and roots with the setting in of the rains,
their manuring properties being worked
into the soil by the plough. Without a
scientific rotation of crops, such as is
understood in EKurope, to prevent the
exhaustion of the land, Mr. McKerrall
thinks it highly probable that these
deltaic paddy lands, cropped year after
year, without manure of any kind, are
slowly but gradually undergoing exhaus-
tion—an assumption favoured by the
Burman cultivator’s preference for new
land situated low enough to secure an
efficient water supply, or land adjacent
to villages, which is accessible to manurial
matter washed down from houses and

“cattle sheds during the first showers of

the monsoon. In fact, the Deputy Direc-
tor of Agriculture considers there is
good reason to suppose that future
investigations on experimental farms
will prove that the delta paddy soils

Edible Products.

will be quite as responsive to manu-
rial treacment as soils in general are.

CULTIVATION BEGINS BY PLOUGHING

usually about the last week in May,
the implement used being of a very
primitive type and more of a harrow
than a plough: The first field culti-
vatelis the nursery. This is carefully
selected and generally the one in which
an early abundant supply of water is
obtainable. After the bunds have been
carefully repaired and the soil is found
to be sufficiently softened, itis ploughed
by the htun, a Burmese harrow, con-
sisting of a log of wood in which are
inserted a varying number of teeth—
generally about six—the ground being
gone over six to eight times until it
is of the consistency of fine mud, and
on this the seed paddy is broadcasted
at the rate of about one to one anda
half baskets or more per acre. Should
the soil be too stiff for the harrow to
break up, the hte, or Burmese plough,
is used. This consists of a wooden sole
with an iron share and with a handle
and a pole for attachment to the yoke
of the bullocks; but in the deltaic lands
it is only used when the soil is found
too stiff. These implements cultivate
only to a depth of 3°or 4 inches, it
being argued by the natives that the
soil is so shallow that deep working
implements produce harmful effects.
Manure, when used, is only applied to
the nursery, and consists of either cow-
dung or paddy husk in small quantities,
about a month before cultivation com-
mences, and is subsequently ploughed.

WHILE THE YOUNG PLANTS ARE GROWING

in the nursery, attention is turned to
their fields, by which time the mon-
soons have fairly set in, producing a
rank growth of grass and weeds. To
get down the latter, the seftwa, an
implement drawn by two bullocks, and
consisting of a pole of hard tough wood,
about 2% inches in diameter, is used.
To this pole are fixed a series of very
sharp steel blades which revolve when
the machine is dragged by the bullocks
and cut down the grass. The grass
being got rid of by the settun, the htun
or harrow is then employed to get the
ground into suitable condition for the
transplants. These are taken out of.the
nursery about a month after sowing
when they are about a foot and a
half high.

Transplanting is generally done by
women who, taking little clumps of three
or four plants, thrust them into the
ground at distances of about 6 or 8
inches apart, ~Recent experiments in
Bengal, it is said, seem to prove that

316

[ApRin, 1910.

one plant per hole gives as good results
as tour or five, and it is therefore
worth ascertaining whether similar re-
sults could be obtained in Burma. As
a general rule,a paddy nursery, in Lower
Burma, is reckoned to plant out from
eight to ten times its area. If one plant
per hole gives as good results as three
or four, it naturally follows that a con-
siderable saving of seed might be effect-
ed. From the time the paddy is trans-
planted, up to about a fortnight or three
weeks before it is reaped, the fields are
submerged in water. But this water
must be got rid of when the grain is
ripening, otherwise the proper degree of
hardness of grain cannot be obtained,
and where this object is not attained
by evaporation the surplus water is run
off into marginal ditches.

Harvesting begins about November,
and goes on toas lateas January. Be-
fore this commences, and when the crops
are ready for reaping men go through
the fields and ‘‘fell” the standing crop
flat to the ground with bamboo poles.
As all cutting is done by means of the
sickle, this felling in one direction faci-
litates the work of reaping.

The grain is threshed out, in the.-
primitive way, by bullocks and by hand,
threshing machines and winnowers
being unknown. The usefulness of such
machines is quite unknown to and un-
realised by the Burman cultivator.

There ave said to be about 120 varieties
of paddy in Burma. The greatest de-
mand at present, by the large rice
mills, is for those known as Ngatsein
and Ngachauk, the former especially
being considered best for export pur-
poses, as a harder grain and better able
to stand a voyage without deterioration,

Mr. McKerrali puts down the cost of
cultivation, including rent at Rs.6 per
acre, at Rs. 2] per acre, the average
yield per acre being taken at 40 baskets.
This would bring the cost of production
per 100 baskets to Rs, 52°8. Sold at Re. 1
per basket by the cultivator the net
profit per acre is Rs. 19. Taking the
holdings or farms at an average of about
20 acres this would give a _ yearly
profit to the cultivator

of Rs. 328

Deducting from this interest

on loans from Chetty, say

20 per cent, for 8 months 2 55) SOO

leaving as net profit ve na ERSHZO2

or barely Rs, 22 a month for the support
of the cultivator and his family.

It can thus be realised how the culti-
vator fared when, for two years, in 1894

ApRin, 1910,

and 1895, the rice combination fixed the

price of paddy at Rs. 70 to Rs. 75 per
100 baskets.

The indebtedness of the Burma culti-
vator, especially in Lower Burma, is, as
Mr. MecKerrall admits, a striking feature
in the economy of the country owing,
for the most part, to his being a strong
upholder of pwes and pagodas and of
the maxim carpe diem. Naturein Lower
Burma being always bountiful, and the
crops rarely failing, the cultivator does

_ not believe in putting anything by, since

the aphorism, about a reserve for a
rainy day, is meaningless to him. Mr,
McKerrall sums up his description of the
whole cultivation of Lower Burma as
careful and good, according to the lights
of the people, its weak points being
want ot care in conserving and applying
manure, also the absence of good
methods of cleaning, grading and select-
ing seed to improve the type. An Agri-
cultural College has been established,
anditis hoped that these defects will
gradually disappear by the college stu-
dents and experts spreading a know-
ledge of improved methods.

KORHAN RICH TRADH.
(From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol.
XII., No. 158, April 8, 1909.)

We reproduce below from the January
number of the United States Monthly
Consular Reports the greater part of
an excellent report upon rice produc-
tion in Korea. It will interest persons
coucerned in the Indian trade to notice
certain differences of practice and to
observe that in the Korean methods of
measurement, etec., there isa similarity
to those encountered in parts of India.
The facts about the proportions of
cleaned rice to bulk rice treated and
about the marked discrepancies between
the prices of rice at various points not
greatly distant from each other are
worthy of attention. The report is by
Consul-General Thomas Sammons, of
Seoul, who illustrates the importance
and value of the industry both to Korea
and to Japan :—

American rice-cleaning machinery is
being extensively introduced in Korea
and invariably gives the best possible
satisfaction. The machines are so con-
structed that broken or worn out parts
can be replaced without difficulty. In
construction these machines are simple
and the natives readily learn to operate
them, The English type of rice-cleaning
machinery is not utilized, although a
number of Japanese machines are being
sold in the Korean market.

317 . Edible Products.

An idea of the extent of the rice in-
dustry of Korea may be had from esti-
mates of the annual yield, as_ based
partially on the ‘total production in
Japan. Japan’s yield is placed at ap-
proximately 14,800,000,000 pounds and,
on a basis of 1 koku of 320 pounds, or
5 bushels to each person, this aggregate
would supply more than _ 46,000,000
people. Assuming that Korea has ap-
proximately 10,000,000 population, its
annual rice crop would amount to
3,200,000,000 pounds, 6; per cent. having
been exported in 1907. This rough
estimate is based on 1 koku to each
person, while as a matter of fact
many adults may consume more than
5 bushels of rice in a year in Korea.
However, it is also true that in northern
Korea many natives exist largely or
wholly on millet. It is probable, there-
fore, that the Korean rice crop does not
average 1 koku to each person, although
it is claimed Koreans consume more rice
per capita than either the Japanese or
Chinese.

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.

Of the total rice yield of Korea a con-
siderable quantity is exported to Japan.
A small quantity of Korean rice is also
exported to China, largely for Japanese
consumption .in Manchuria. During
periods of impaired rice yields Korea
has imported large quantities of the
cereal; under normal, conditions small
quantities are imported. In 1907, how-
ever, immense quantities of the surplus
of the 1906 crops were sold to Japan at
unusually high prices. Ona total of
199,631,066 pounds of Korean rice export-
ed in 1907, principally to Japan, a
custom-house valuation of $3,728,110 was
placed, the appraised valuation being
approximately $2°50 per picul of 183
pounds. These figures indicate a more
extensive rice-export business than the
prevailing conditions in Korea warrant.

Very little of the rice that is cleaned
with American machinery in Korea is
exported. A small amount goes to
Dalney (Tairen) and Manchuria, and is
there sold, as in Korea, mostly to Japan-
ese residents. The rice that is cleaned
with foreign machines is called ‘* white ”
rice, to distinguish it from the ordinary
native cleaned or ‘‘ brown” rice.

In order to indicate the extent of
shrinkage of Korean vice during the
cleaning process, it may be said that
out of 100 bushels of bulk or uahusked
rice, locally termed “‘ paddy” rice, 40 to
50 bushels of ‘‘ brown” rice may be
saved. In further cleaning this
“brown” rice the brown cuticle or husk
is removed and it thus becomes ‘‘ white.”

Edible Products.

It may thereafter be polished at an
additional expense, but without this
additional polishing process it is ready
for the Japanese consumers at from $8
to $9 per koku of five bushels or 320
pounds, as quoted during January, 1908,
Out of the 100 bushels referred to up-
wards of 40 bushels of ‘‘ white” rice of
au excellent quality are obtained. The
bushel measure is not used, however,
but in measuring unhusked rice the
native who can deftly pile on the
greatest heaping measure is the man
sought after by the purchaser.

Inasmuch as very little ‘‘ white” rice
is exported the bulk of the exports con-
sists of ‘“‘ brown” rice which is to be
further cleaned in Japan, and eventually
some of the choice Korean rice when
highly polished finds its way to the
London market. The best Korean rice
is noted for its superior qualities and
commands exceptionally high prices.

Korean rice culture is carried on al-
most wholly by hand, and it is not
probable that hand methods used in the
cultivation of rice in Korea will ever
make way for the American seeder, self-
binding harvester, or steam thrasher.
‘The Korean farms are all small and the
present native product is higher in
yield to the acreage than isthe American

rice. The cheap labour of Korea also.

permits of methods which the labour
conditions in America would render
prohibitive. :

Cost OF CLEANING RiIcE—PRICEs,
CLEANED AND UNCLEANED.

The present prices for cleaning rice in
Korea vary since the machine mills
charge different prices, according to the
quality and in regard to the disposition
of the bran, broken rice, ete., but it may
be said that from 20 to 25 cents gold
per koku of 5 bushels is charged at Seoul
for cleaning rice sufficiently for the
native Korean market. Additional
cleaning and polishing nearly double the
cost, :

During the various processes of clean-
ing bulk rice shrinks from 20 to 50 per
eent. The natives use blocks of wood,
in which grooves have been cut, and
by a grinding process the outer husk
is torn from the rice. If the native
wishes to continue the cleaning pro-
cess a mortar and pestle are used. It
is estimated that 50 per cent. of
the Korean ‘‘ white” rice is cleaned in
this way. Korean farmers and their
families consider their labour of
little or no valuein cleaning their rice
crop during the three months when the
country is frozen up.

818

varies every day according to the
demand for the many different grades
but usually ranges between 90 cents and
$1 gold per bushel. Best machine-cleaned
rice retails in Korea (January, 1908), at
about $1:80 gold per bushel, while that
cleaned for Korean use sells at about
$1°35 gold per bushel. Korean “ white”
rice suitable for sale in Japan sells at
from $1-60 to $1'80 gold per bushel; but
to this must be added transportation
charges and a Japanese import duty of
5 per cent. Rice can be delivered in
Manchuria, suitable for that market, at
from $1°65 to $1:80 gold per bushel.

Rick Crop ContTrRots KorgaA’s TRADE.

Although the Korean crop for 1907
was a good one, the peculiar internal
conditions affecting the peninsula have
delayed the delivery of rice from the
farms, and in consequence the entire
Korean commerce has been somewhat
disturbed. Thus, in January, 1908, a bag
of rice valued at $2:25 at a seaport town
was selling for 10 per cent. of that price
in the interior. Probably in a very few
sections of the Occident is the econo-
mical condition of affairs so affected by
the supply and demand of a foodstuff as
in Korea by the annual rice crop.

INFLUENCE OF PRICES IN JAPAN.

The Korean farmer usually turns over
half of the crop to the landlord, and in
consequence of the non-delivery of a
portion of last year’s rice the landed
class in the peninsula has been affected
as well as the poorer people. The land-
lord pays the taxes in sections where
land is in little demand, but in the pro-
vinces where the population creates a
greater demand for land, the tenant
usually pays the taxes. The unhusked
rice in either case is usually divided
evenly between the landlord and tenant,
each party paying for the further clean-
ing and transportation.

VALUE OF ANNUAL PRODUCTION.

Although the rice crop exerts a power-
ful influence over the business of Korea,
complete statistical data are not avail-
able as to acreage, yield, or yearly pro-
duction, and therefore the follewing
approximate statistics are of both a
novel and interesting nature. The recent
census of Korea, taken under Japanese
police supervision, places the population
of the country at 9,781,670. With these
figures as a basis, they being considered
accurate for all practical purposes, it is
possible to ascertain the approximate
yearly rice production of the peninsula,
Inquiries made among Japanese author-
ities have resulted in

[APRID, 1910.

’
The price of uncleaned rice in Korea

ata as to the —

ee

Cee ee
eg

a i ee ~ APRIL, 1910.)

average consumption of rice per man,
woman, and child, and these figures
applied to the Korean population place
the approximate rice production of
Korea for home consumption at con-
siderably more than 38,200,000,C00 pounds,
or, roundly, 50,000,000 bushels. To be
added to this in estimating the yield are
the 100,000,000 pounds, approximately, of
native rice annually exported for the
last six years, thus bringing the total
production up to 3,300,000,000 pounds.
Although these figures are approximate
they give a fair idea of the probable rice
production of Korea. The American
rice crop amounted to.377,971,917 pounds
in 1905, valued at $12,955,748.

METHODS OF MEASUREMENT.

It is, however, much more difficult to
ascertain the rice productive area of
Korea. Different measures of capacity

obtain in the majority of the provinces,

and the Korean farmers measure their
fields by so many days’ “ ploughing,” or
the area covered by a man, an ox, and a
wooden plough during one day’s work.
Naturally a day’s ‘“‘ ploughing” differs in
extent from one end of the Empire to the
other, Not only are the farms measured
by the ‘‘one day’s ploughing” system,
but the Koreans also have heretofore
sold and transferred land on the basis of
the average amount of ground sown by
a certain measure. Thus, ‘‘one mal
(measure) land” is that which can be
sown with one such measure of rice seed
and ‘‘two mal land” is twice as much.
Thus it will be seen that rice has not
only usually headed the Korean export
list, but also established the custom for
real estate transactions. Elsewhere in
the Far East the influence of rice is
greater, if anything, than in Korea, for
speculation on the rice exchanges, when
the Government does not stop it, con-
stantly changes the price of the staple
and affects the entire population, In
the olden days the Japanese officials
were paid in rice in many instances.

In Korea approximate calculations
place the production of an acre of good
rice ground under favourable conditions
at about 1,700 pounds of the cereal.
From these figures it is possible to con-
servatively place the approximate rice
productive area of Korea at 2,941°17
square miles, or a little over 34 per cent.
of the total area.

ACREAGE YIELD IN Korba, JAPAN,
AND AMERICA,

In view of the fact that the Japanese
department of commerce and labour
places the average rice yield in Japan
during the past ten years at 14,148,514,378
pounds and. the average imports and

319

Edible Products.

exports fora like period at 723,274,903
and 182,882,207 pounds, respectively, the
following approximate figures convey an
idea of Korea’s yield as compared with
the area in square miles under culti-
vation in that country and Japan and
the United States :—

Area, square. Per cent, Yield in
miles, of territory. Pounds. |
Japan 11,098°64 7516 14,787,°97,732
Korea eee 2,941°17 36 %,2C0,000,000
United States ... 1,699°48 *056 377,971,917

The figures for Japan include the yield
in Formosa for 1906. Those for the
United States are for 1995 and do not
include Alaska or insular possessions.
The approximate average yield per acre
is estimated as follows: Japan, 1,915°5
pounds, Korea, 1,700 pounds, America
(on small tracts), 1,892°2 pounds. In
Korea and Japan rice farms are small,
Some areas in America, rented to
Orientals, produce 2,157'9 pounds per
acre, but large farms produce less than
half that amount.

KoREAN RICE DISPLACED IN JAPAN.

Although for two years before the
Russo-Japanese War Japan began toa
collect an immense quantity of foreign
rice, the Korean market did not supply
any large quantity of these stores. For
1903 and 1904 Japan’s imports of rice
from British India nearly trebled, not-
withstanding that the productive area

_ was increasing in Japan at rapid strides.

This large import from the south no
doubt affected the comparative standing
of Korean-Japanese rice trade on paper,
but not in reality. In 1906, however,
rice began to ascend to its former place
at the head of the Korean export list,
and consequently nearly doubled over
the returns of former years, This can
be accounted for by high prices of 1906
in Japan and the withdrawal of the
military forces from the peninsula, also
by the large quantities of rice held in
reserve in Korea at the close of 1905.

The approximate value of Korean
export rice in 1907 averaged $2'50 for one
picul of 133 pounds.

AMERICAN AND KOREAN RICE—
FARMING METHODS.

It may be estimated, on the basis of
‘* one-man plough ” or ‘‘ one day’s plough-
ing,” that the Korean farmers sow about
45 pounds ot seed rice to the acre of good
land. The South-western American
farmer, according to the census of 1900,
sows about 80 pounds to the acre and
secures, on an average, 825 pounds of
rice from this area, while the Korean
farmer obtains about 1,700 or more
pounds from a like field.

oe

Edible Products. 320 [ APRIL, 1910, \ ES

The Koreans grow the standard food
rice, the glutinous or ‘‘cake” variety,
and the ‘‘ Providence” or upland rice.
The dry-grown rice is, naturally, of poor
quality and little of it is used. The
Korean follows the Chinese and Japanese
methods of rice culture on about 90 per
cent. of the farms of the Peninsula. The
American covered and open methods
are rarely used in the Orient, but instead
the wet-grown rice is sown very thickly
in a limited number of paddy fields,
or in certain ‘‘ cheeks” (sections of the
paddy field always used tor the purpose,
between ‘‘ cheek ” walls) called nurseries,
and when the plants are about 6 inches
high, or about at the American “point
flow,” and before the head shoots and
the grain appears the shoots are plucked
up and transplanted. This process of
transplanting takes place during June,
and the paddies (tields), usually lifeless,
are then seen full of busy men and
women knee-deep in the water.

SKILL OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE.

The Japanese and Chinese are probably
the most skilful rice growers in the
world, the former having made a study
of the process for many years. The
Japanese have, by the skilful use of
fertilizers, increased the productive
power of their land. The Koreans use
wood ash and manure as fertilizers, at
times kneading itinto the soil of the
paddy fields with their hands. The
field (‘‘ cheek” or ‘‘page” of the paddy
field, as. designated in the vernacular
expression) in which the seed rice is
grown resembles, shortly after the
tender shoots appear, a patch of
Kentucky blue grass. This is thinned
out and the shoots transplanted over
the entire paddy field. The American
open and covered methods are at times
employed in planting mountain rice.
The Japanese method of pianting has
been tried in America but with doubtful
success.

The Japanese sow their tice on the
88th day from the beginning of spring
and transplant itin Nyubai, the period
fixed for the early summer rains. The
220th day from the beginning of spring
is looked upon as a day of special import-
ance to the crops, which are at this
time certain to be injured if thereisa
storm, for the rice is in full bloom. A
similar method obtains in Korea, it
being the local custom to plant the rice
at certain periods of the native calendar
and transplant it at others, the times
varying in the different provinces of the
peninsula.

KoREAN METHOD OF CULTIVATION.

The Korean lowland farmer plants his
rice in small paddies, after transplanting,

separated by low ‘‘ cheek banks.” He
regulates his water carefully at certain
times, as does the American rice grower,
and weeds at stated periods. The water
flow is regulated by intake and spillway
flumes or small ditches. Dry rice is also
grown, the American open method
being usedin planting. The harvest is
cut in October by hand and stacked to
dry. The grain is then beaten fiom the
stalk by hand and sacked, and the
tenant then divides with the landlord.
The rice is next hulled by being run
between wooden tcothed rollers operated
by hand. The methods of polishing
the grain vary. An ingenious water
hammer, operated by a bucket on one
end of a largerhammer handle that fills
with water from the stream and raises
the hammer, which falls on the rice
when the water runs out through the
spillway of the bucket and thus relieves
the weight, is sometimes used. It is
also polished by a long handled hammer
operated by foot power. The women
usualky polish the rice, or the farmers
do it at odd times when they have
nothing else to do, so the exact cost of
hand-cleaning is not known,

VARIETIES OF KOREAN RICE.

There are several varieties of rice
grown in Korea, namely, the glutinous,
non-glutinous, and the red or ‘“‘beer” ~
rice, native beer being made from the
latter. As with other Orientals the
Korean prefers his native rice to that of
foreign growth. There are three main
brands of native rice, namely, the ordin-
ary paddy-field rice, the so-called upland
rice, and the mountain rice. The paddy-
field rice is also known specifically as
the ‘‘tap-tok” rice and is used almost
exclusively to make the ordinary boiled
rice or ‘“‘pap.” The so-called upland
rice is the ‘‘ chung-gok” or field rice, and
is drier than the paddy-field rice, being
used extensively for brewing beer and
for making rice flour. The mountain
rice is known as ‘“fire-field rice,” no
doubt because it is grown exclusively on
the mountain slopes facing the sun and
generally in the southern districts of
the country, for the Korean word “wha”
or ‘‘ fire” is the element corresponding
with south, so instead of being ‘ south-
field rice” it is ‘“fire-field rice” on
account of the location or the sunny
situation. This rice is much smaller
and harder than the other kinds, and is
used largely to supply the garrisons,
since it withstands the weather better
than the other grades and may be stored
for years without deterioration.

The enemies of the Korean rice crop
are drought, flood, worms, and locusts

‘a

‘Aprit, 1910.]

The most skilful Korean rice tarmers
live in the southern districts, which are
called by the natives ‘The Golden
Valley of a Boundless Sea of Waving
Grain.” It is believed rice was intro-
duced into Korea from China, together
with other cereals, in 1122 B.C.

A NEW CANE-CUTTING MACHINE.
(From the Queensland Agricultural
Journal, Vol. XXI., Part 6, Dec., 1908.)

For several years inventors have been
at work with the object of producing
a machine which will not only cut, but
also top, the sugar-cane. None have
hitherto been successful. Whatever
machine has been, or may be invented
for the purpose, it is certain that none
will ever work satisfactorily on rough
stony land, where, in many cases; the
finest cane is grown. Once more an
inventor has entered the field, and every
one, whether cane-grower; mill-owner,
or general farmer, will heartily wish
him success. Mr. W. J. Howcroft, of
South Brisbane; is the inventor of a
machine which, he claims, will prove
that he has overcome all the difficulties
which previous inventors have been
unable to cope with. As soon as the
necessary motors arrive from America,
a public demonstration will be given,
probably at Bunderberg, The inven-
tion, which at present is financed by a
locai syndicate, has been patented in
all sugar-growing countries, as well as
in Great Britain. Mr. Howeroft sup-
plies the following information concern-
ing his invention :—

Like an ordinary harvester, the
machine runs outside the cane; and
the motor power sets in action a series
of blades, which are aptly termed
“feelers” or “fingers” which, when
pot in use, can be raised to a height
of 18 in. above the ground. When work-
ing, these ‘‘ fingers” are lowered, and

oj a

321 | Hdible Products,

seize the cane in the same manner as
would be done by a man when cutting.
Beneath them are cutting knives, rotat-
ing on a lever at high speed—some
400 revolutions per minute. These are
so arranged that they can cut the cane
an inch or more below the surface of
the ground, a most important point,
as all sugar-growers know. As soon as
the canes are cut, they pass on a movy-
able platform to a man who watches
till the canes reach the point at which
they would be topped by the human
cane-cutter. Then the topping knives;
which revolve at the same speed as the
cutters, top each cane at the right point,
after which they are delivered on the
ground by means of a trough. The
tops themselves are passed out separ-
ately. The machine is worked by means
of two small oil motors.

Should this machine fulfilits inventor’s
expectations, the cost of cane-cutting
will be so reduced—amounting, it is
claimed, to a saving of five-sixths of
the present cost—that cane-growers will
reap an enormous benefit. The machine
is expected to cut 150 tons of cane a day
which would mean that a 380-ton crop
on 50 acres would be harvested in ten
days. This rapid work, if it be accom-
plished, will be of incalculable benefit
to growers and mill-owners where cane
has been heavily trosted, as occurred
this year. Thousands of tons of cane
could have been saved which became
either a partial or total loss, owing
to the impossibility of getting the
frosted cane off in time, seeing that,
at the most, smart cane-cutters can
only cut about 8 tons a day, even
when working—as many cutters do—
as long as 10 or 12 hours a day. In
1907, 94,384 acres of cane were crushed
out of a total area planted of 126,810
acres, The weight of cane crushed was
1,665,028 tons. Should this machine fulfil
the expectations of the inventor, its
value to the sugar industry cannot be
over-estimated.

TIMBERS.

TREE FELLING,

By J, C. WILLIs. 7
While lately spending a few weeks on

Puget Sound (Washington State, U.S.

A.) with my brother, I went into the
question of tree felling, which is there
brought to greater perfection than any-
where else.

As an instance of the speed with

_which a tree is felled, an Oregon Red

41

Fir, which I measured to be 175 feet high,
and 42 inches in diameter at the point
where it was cut, was felled by my
brother and a neighbour (Mr. Viereck),
neither of whom are professional loggers,
in 31 minutes, The wood of the red fir
is harder than say that of the Katu-
imbul (Bombax) or most of our quick-
growing leguminous trees.

Not only so, but the tree is felled in a
direction which is determined before a

Timbers.

cutis made, so that it can be brought
down with the least possible damage to
itself or other trees, &c. Mv brother
stuck a stake in the ground 50 feet from
the tree, and bet me 10 dollars that the
tree would strike it, and it did. They
tell a story on the coast of a newly-
arrived tenderfoot from England who
started to fell a tree by hacking at it all
round, as is often seen here in Ceylon.
He was asked in what direction it was
going to fall, and replied ‘‘ Dc you think
I’m a blooming prophet ?”

The method employed is simple. First,
with the cross-cut saw a cut is made as

322

rs

(APRIL,

1910.
marked A on the sketch. Then with
axes the wedge B is

cut out, and finally

the cut C is made

with the saw. The

C B wedge is cut out with

: a>! a flat upper side, so

A. that it looks like the

lid of a half opened

box, and the tree then

falls exactly upon A.

The axe used is of course not the axe
known here as American, but the double
bitted axe, with a blade on either side
of the head, which has completely
superseded all others.

PLANT SANITATION.

ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTKS.

By KH. ERNEST GREEN,
Government Entomologist.

‘‘GREEN Buc” on TRA.

Attention was drawn, in the February
number of this Journal, to the pre-
valence of ‘Green Bug ’ (Lecanium
viride) on tea in certain districts. I
have since had an opportunity of visit-
ing one of the estates upon which the
pest was present. The infested bushes
could be detected from a considerable
distance by reason of the black fungus
that always follows the bug, forming
a thick deposit upon the leaves. A
similar fungus is associated with the
presence of ‘Brown Bug’ (Lecanium
hemisphericum), and another bug (Pul-
vinaria psidii) which—in its earlier
stages—may readily be mistaken. for
‘Green Bug.’ All of these scale-insects
occurred in the_same fields. A closer
examination of the bushes showed that
the insects were present in very large
numbers; but the effect. upon the ap-
parent health of the trees was remark-
ably small, considering the virulence of
the attack which had (I was informed)
been prevalent for over six months,
There was no marked fall of leaf. The
older leaves were quite blackened by
the consequent growth of fungus, but
the bushes were otherwise vigorous and
were still flushing. Moreover, the yield
of tea from the infected fields had been
well up to theaverage. On this estate
the bug-infested bushes were white-
washed immediately after pruning, and
the prunings were burnt. This treat-
ment effectually checked the pest for
at least a year. Though the bug usually

reappeared after that time, its effects -

were not felt—to any great extent —
during the period remaining before the
next pruning. Under these circum-
stances, I do not consider that any treat-
ment is necessary, except at the time of
pruning.

As mentioned in my early report
upon ‘Green Bug’ (in 1886), lime-water
or white-wash is very effective in kill-
ing every individual that it actually
touches. Dry lime is quite useless. It
is the caustic action of the wet lime
that is needed. White-wash is usually
employed, but clear lime- water (if freshly
prepared) is equally effective and easier
of application. The cost of whitewash-
ing an acre of tea, ina really thorough
manner, by means of a brush, is con-
siderable. Lime-water can be applied
as a spray. If white-wash is used, the
most economical method of applying
it would be by means of a pneumatic
distributor, such as is employed for
painting large buildings.

Soapy insecticides may be employed
in place of whitewash. In fact such
preparations are recognized as of
special importance in the treatment of
scale-bugs of all kinds. ‘‘The Planters’
Chronicle,” of February 5th, gives parti-
culars of a wash that has been found
useful against ‘Green Bug’ on coffee
in India. It is recommended by Mr.
A. G. Nicholson, of Coonoor. The mix-
ture consists of 1 lb. bar soap and 1 lb.
refined saltpetre, to a kerosene tinful
(4 gallons) of water. Mr. Nicholson uses
a brand of soap known as ‘Gossage’s
Mottled Blue Bar,’ costing Rs. 15:50
per case. The refined saltpetre costs
Rs. 190 per ton. Itis stated that the
‘“‘mixture works out at about 4 to 5
annas per kerosene tinful, according
to the cost of carriage to the spot.”

“Aprit, 1910.]

‘Mr. Nicholson apparently applies the
mixture with a brush, which must be
somewhat costly. I would suggest sub-
stituting* ‘Imperial Bar” soap for the
‘Mottled Blue.’ Mr. Antram (Entomo-
logist to the Indian Planters’ Associa-
tion) reports that this brand is not
only the cheapest iv the market, but
that it forms a mixture quite free
from sediment, so thatit can be sprayed
through a cyclone nozzle without any
difficulty.
THe ‘PULVINARIA’ Bua,

This species (Pulvinaria psidii, Mas-
kell) has been known to occur on tea
for many years. But it usually confines
its attacks to individual or small groups
of bushes. It is allied to the ‘Green
Bug,’ but may be distinguished—in its
later stages—by the presence of a con-
spicuous white ovisac, when it resem-
bles more nearly one of the ‘mealy
bugs.’ In its earlier stages it resembles
almost exactly the ‘green bug,’ the
only noticeable difference being that
the latter has acurved series of blackish
spots on its back. Both species affect
the bushes in a similar manner, and
the same remedies are applicable in
each case.

A*MBEALY Bua’ or Tephrosia candida.

I have observed specimens of this
plant—now cultivated asa green manure
—infested by a mealy-bug (Phenacoccus
aceryoides). This bug has but recently
attracted attention in Ceylon, though
] have received it from India, on several
occasions. It is one of the largest of
its kind and appears to be remark-
ably prolific. If unchecked, it might
develop into a serious pest. The speci-
mens submitted to me were being preyed
upon by the carnivorous larve of a
small butterfly (Spalgis epius); but it
would not be wise to trust entirely to
natural enemies which are uncertain in
their action. The pestis a conspicuous
one and cannot well be over-looked. The
insects congregate upon the stems of the
plant, covering them thickly with hemis-
pherical masses of white mealy secretion
which conceal innumerable eggs. Affect-
ed plants should be cut out and burnt.

THE ‘Pappy Fiy’ (Leptocorisa acuta).

Mr. Drieberg sends mea report from
one of his Agricultural Instructors,giving

' particulars of experiments with a sweep-
ing net against Paddy flies (as suggested
by Mr. Lefroy). The treatment appears

* Since writing the above I have been inform-
ed that “in some instances ‘Gossages’ Blue
bar’ is cheaper, because of the heavy cost of
transporting ‘Imperial’ from Calcutta to, say,
the Nilgiris,”

323

Plant Sanitation:

to have been effective, as—after the use
of the bag—no more insects could he
seen in the field.

Mention is made of two varieties of
paddy (‘Burma Drought-resisting’ and
‘Kiushu’) that were very severely
attacked, and of one variety (‘Thillai-
nayakam’) that appeared to resist the
pest. Such observations are of great
importance and should be carefully
collected. It may be possible to breed
a strain that will combine the resistant
properties of ‘Thillainayakam’ with the
more valuable qualities of some other
varieties.

It has been suggested that the im-
munity of ‘Thillainayakam’ paddy is due
tothe fact that ‘‘this variety has the
peculiar tendency of flowering during
the midday (at which time the flies take
shelter at the bcttom of the stalks) and
of closing up by 2-30 or 3 p.m., before. the
flies come up.”” This explanation requires
eorroboration, firstly, as to the state-
ment that the flies take shelterat midday;
and, secondly, as to whether this open-
ing and closing process is continued each
day during the ripening of the crop.
Damage tothe grain does not usually
occur at the time of flowering, but
later, when the grain has begun to form
and while itis still soft and milky,

A BLooD-SUCKING Bua.

A correspondert has sent me _ speci-
mens of an evil-looking bug which had
been gorging itself at his expense. It is
quite distinct from the notorious ‘ B-
flat’ (or bed-bug—Cimex lectularius),
though it has acquired the same objec-
tionable tastes and habits. The exam-
ples first received were small and im-
mature, but their bodies were fully
distended with blood. My correspond-
ent reports that he was disturbed at
night by the bites of these creatures and
found several of them crawling about the
bed. The consequent irritation was
severe. Subsequently the adult insect
(probably the parent of the troublesome
brood} was discovered in the same

situation, It proves to bea Reduviid bug.

(Conorhinus rubrofasciatus), an insect
of quite formidable size, measuring over
an inch in length.

Bugs of this family normally prey
upon other insects; but several species
of Conorhinus have gained an evil
reputation as systemtie blood suckers,
C. sanguisugus is a troublesome domestic
pest in parts of the Unitsd States.
Darwin, in his ‘ Voyage of the Beagle,’
describes a species of Conor/hinus that
attacks travellers when camping out on
the Pampas of South America. As far
as I know, the present record is the first

Plant Sanitation,

of the kind from Ceylon. The insects
frequent outhouses, hiding amongst the
rafters during the daytime and sallying
out to feed at night. d

THE CoLoMBo LAKE FLy.

Ihave at last received the scientific
name of the notorious ‘Lake Fly.’ It
can now be definitely labelled as Chirono-
mus ceylanicus. Ifear, however, that
this knowledge will not appreciably
mitigate the inconvenience occasioned
by the pest.

WILT DISEASE OF PEPPER.

(Summarised by T. PETcH.)

The wilt disease of pepper first began
to attract attention in Southern India
about ten years ago. During the next
four or five years it caused considerable
loss both on European and: native plant-
ations, and consequently was the subject
of investigation, first by Barber and
aiterwards by Butler. According to
butler’s repo:t, ‘over four thousand
acres of pepper cultivation are in the
hands of Europeans in South Wynaad,
and perhaps five times as many are
grown by natives. A far greater
amount is grown onthe coast districts
of Malabar, butitis impossible to esti-
mate how much this may be.” By 1904
some estates had already lost the
greater part of their plants, and others
were affected more or less severely.
About the same time, a disease with the
same symptoms was discovered in Java
where it was investigated by Zimmer-
mann and Breda de Haan.

This disease was discovered in Ceylon
in 1906, and was recorded in the Report
of the Mycologist for that year. Since
then, specimens have been received from
time to time, but no widespread damage
has been recorded. Pepper in Ceylon,
although a paying crop in some districts,
is only asubsidiary one, and there are
no extensive areas under pepper culti-
vation only. Itis usually grown among
cacao or tea, and under these circum-
stances it is probable that the spread of
the disease is restricted. There are
small blocks of pepper alone on some
estates, and these suffer more from the
disease than the vines scattered through
cacao.

The symptoms are described by Butler
as follows:—‘ In a healthy full-grown
vine the trunk of the standard is entirely
hidden in a mass of foliage. This arises
from a number of climbing stems which
closely embrace the standard and secure
themselves to it by numerous tufts of
gerial lateral roots. When such a vine

becomes diseased, the first symptom
noticed is an appearance which was
described to me as a ‘staring’ look
about the vine. This is due to a loss of
rigidity in the leaves and leaf stalks,
resulting in their drooping. Whith the
collapse of the leaves the dense cover-
ing of foliage becomes diminished, and
the stalks of the vine and patches of
the trunk of the standard come into
view. The next noticeable thing is that
a portion of the climbing stems fall
away from the standard, asa result of
the death of the clinging roots and
consequent relaxation of their grip,
Soon the leaves begin to turn yellow,
and numbers of them are shed. Later
all the vine withers, and the standard
remains lightly festooned with dead
relaxed stalks bearing a few dried
leaves. While the upper part of the
vine makes no attempt at recovery, the
lower part often retain sufficient vital-
ity to form new leaves, or even to
throw out fresh shoots. But these in
turn succumb, and I have not come
across any case of recovery once the
leaf-dropping has commenced.”

The cause of the disease has not yet
been fully determined. In Java, it was
attributed to the common eel worm,
Heterodera radicicola, which was not
however thought to kill the vines direct-
ly, but to weaken the root system and
cause galls through which other organ-
isms could enter the plant. This eel-
worm is quite common, and it is not
surprising that it should occur in the
mounds which are built up round the
base of the vinein Southern India. But
it is not invariably found associated
with dead and dying vines, and there-
fore it cannot be regarded as the cause
of the disease in all cases, if in any. If
the disease were caused by eel worms,
the injection of carbon disulphide into
the soil would probably be an effective
remedy.

When the vine is dead, the minute red
fructifications of a Nectvia may some-
times be found on the bark, Butler
found Nectria in large numberson dead |
vines in the Wynaad, but as no descrip-
tion has been published, it is doubtful
whether the Indian form is identical
with that found in Ceylon. A mycelium,
presumably that of the Nectria referred
to, is found in the vessels of dying vines.
Butler regards this Nectria as the cause
of the disease, death resulting from the
obstruction of the water supply by the _
mycelium in the vessels and the gum- ~
formation which its presence induces,

An experimental pepper farm has been
opened in Malabar for the study of
different varieties of pepper and for the

\PRIL, 1910.] :;

ee investigation of this disease. It is hoped

to obtain resistant varieties, but as the
plant is a slow growing perennial,
results cannot be expected for a long
time.

Investigations have recently been
begun by Messrs. Macrae and Anstead,
and in a preliminary paper in the
‘* Planters’ Chronicle,” the latter recom-
mends the adoption of following mea-
sures, pending the results of experiments
which are now being instituted.

‘*In the first place pepper cultivations
should be well drained so as to keep the
bases of the vines free from stagnant
water. A system of drains, 18 inches
deep, will probably be found beneficial.

‘* Asa preventative, every vine, heal-
thy or diseased, should be sprayed at
least once a year with Bordeaux mixture.
The bottom three or four feet of the
stem should be well drenched with the
mixture. This will require about a
quart of the mixture for each vine, and
it may be applied with a watering can,
though it will be found more economical
and rapid to spray it on with a Deming
Success Knapsack sprayer fitted witha
Bordeaux mixture nozzle.

‘*As soon as ever a vine begins to
show signs of the disease, the area
covered by the roots should be given
an application of slacked lime, at the
rate of about 4 lbs. per vine, broadcasted
on the surface, anda trench should be
dug round it toa depth of about 2 feet,
the soil taken from the trench being
thrown inside to cover.the lime.

‘*Care should be taken about forking
round the vines; if done at all'it must
be done very lightly so as not to wound
the roots and form points of entry for
fungus spores. Cattle manure should be
applied as a mulch, and covered down
with leaves, ete. At the Taliparamba
farm leaf-mould is found to be a good
fertiliser for pepper. At all times the
vines should be kept heavily mulched,
and if this is done no forking will be
necessary beyond perhaps breaking up
the area just beyond the root spread

-every year, ?t.e., forking a circle round

the vine outside the range of the roots.

‘‘More care .oight be taken, I think,
with advantage to keep the fields clean.
I have already alluded to the im-
portance of destroying dead vines; all
diseased plants should be cleaned up and
burnt, On one occasion part of a dead
vine covered withfungus fructifications
was picked up by the roadside, it having
evidently been used to tie up a bundle of
wood. This serves to show how careful
one should be to keep the totes clean,
and Hew. easy it is to spread the disease
about,”

325 — Plant Sanitation,

Mr. Macrae states: “I have been assured
that after a diseased stern and the upper
parts of the roots to a depth of about
one foot have been removed, new
cuttings may be planted immediately,
and that the percentage of these
cuttings that strike is not less than that
in places which had not previously sup-
ported diseased vines. was. shown
such that were five years old and still
look healthy. But the reverse is the
case in some other instances.”

It would seem preferable to leave the
ground vacant, after forking in lime, for
about a year,

CANKER OF CACAO.

By A. H. DE JONGE.

[Recueil des Travaux botaniques Neer-
landais., Vol. VI, 1909.]

This disease had been observed in
Surinam for years. In 1891 it was noticed
at Dordrecht and since then on several
other estates, but up to the present it
has only been sporadic, In the summer
of 1907, however, the canker became epi-
demic on some estates in the Saramacca
district. In consequence, an investiga-
tion into the disease was undertaken,
the results of which are recorded here.

Cankered trees are first recognized
by the occurrence of moist patches on
the bark, caused by a liquid oozing
out, sometimes in considerable quan-
tities. Where it has dried on the bark,
this assumes a rusty colour. These
places are nearly always found on the
trunk and thicker branches ; sometimes
the younger branches of a tree also
show them. When the bark is cut off
superficially, it appears to have assumed
a claret colour; this claret patch is
surrounded by a narrow black border
which marks it off sharply from the
surrounding healthy tissue which is of
a yellowish red colour. These patches
occur in large numbers on the tree; they
may extend over a large area or even
encompass the stem or branch. Often
two patches unite into a single one,
or one first appears under the surface
and joins itself on to another, in the
latter case the infection must have
spread from within to the outside.
Even in badly affected trees; spots
which may penetrate to the wood are
not always a deep claret colour, but
often light red. When these light-
coloured patches are exposed to the
air after cutting, they become dark
red. Where the wood is also Affected,
it sometimes assumes a red, but generally
a blackish brown colour, which may
penetrate into the wood for some cen-
timetres, The dark discolouration of

Plant Sanitation.

the wood is sometimes continued in
Seas stripes far under the healthy
ark,

How long the canker takes to kill a
tree I cannot say with certainty. It
is probable that no more than a few
months is required, for in July many
trees were found dead, which partly at
least had most likely only been affected
in the rainy season, but .further obser-
vation on this point is necessary.

Diseased trees may also be recog:
nized _ by their foliage becoming thinner,
robably when they have been diseased
or a long time and are slowly decay-
ing, while dead trees which still bear
their leaves probably suffered a severe
attack at once and were soon killed.

All these symptoms quite correspond
with those of the disease known in
Ceylon and elsewhere as “canker,” so
that it is doubtless the same disease
we have to deal with here.

In Ceylon, the canker became wide-
spread in 1896, but had been occurring
there for some years before. Not until
1898 was it more carefully studied by
Carruthers, who in some reports re-
corded the results of his investigations;
these were written during his investi-
gations and so bear a_ preliminary
character; a more detailed account
has, however, never appeared, so that
several points, especially in respect to
the cause of the disease, have not been
fully elucidated.

According to Carruthers it is not only
the stem and branches of the cacao trees
which are attacked. but the fruits as
well. In the diseased tissues he found
the mycelium of a fungus, and on the
bark the perithecia of a Nectria, which
he regarded as the cause of the disease

In the West Indies the canker was
first noticed by Hart in Trinidad. Some
material of diseased trees was forwarded
to Massee, -who detected a Nectria on it.
In 1901 Howard. found the disease to
be rather common in Grenada and
Dominica. A Nectria aud a Calonectria
were recorded from the affected trees,
According to Stockdale the canker
in the West Indies is now met with
in Trinidad, Grenada, Dominica, St.-
Lucia and St. Vincent. In Java itis
also known. On one estate Zehntner
found the fructification of the canker-
fungus (probably Nectria).

Finally in 1907 von Faber noticed the
disease in the Cameroons, where, up till
now, ithas not caused much damage.
Theie, also, a Nectria has been found
on the diseased bark.

326

(APRIL, 1910.

On microscopical examination every
red spot of the diseased bark appears to
be surrounded by a corkeambium,
several rows of cells thick. The colour
is the result of a red coloured mass in ~
the cells. The discolouration does not
always spread. Often a new healthy
tissue forms under the diseased area, in
which case the red bark is loosened from
its surroundings, dries up, becomes dull
brown and may easily be removed.
Howard noticed this in Grenada, but
only in rare cases and when the wood
had not yet been affected. Carruthers
often saw the moist claret-coloured tissue
dry up, after which it had quite the
appearance of dead wood. In his second
report he says that after having been
superficially shaved and exposed to the
air, the diseased tissue dries up and ‘‘in
some cases scales out and drops away,
while the remainder ofthe bark being
relieved from its enemy, forms a healthy
callus round the injury, and in course of
time completely covers over the shaved
part.” Though the facts mentioned are
the same as those observed here in
Surinam, this description of Carru-
thers is not quite correct, for the callus
is formed first, and by its agency the
diseased patch is loosened.

In the discoloured parts of bark and
wood I found the mycelium of a fungus.
It sometimes is very scarce, at other
times it is found without the least
difficulty. It may be especially abund-
antin the youngest part of the wood-
Most investigators have also found the
mycelium outside of the discoloured
patches ; I have not been able to find it
there myself. When present in any
quantity Carruthers saw the mycelium
running in the wood as thin black
strands. Like v. Faber, I am unable to
confirm this statement.

In order tomakea closer study of the
fungus it had to be grown artificially.
With a sterile knife small pieces were
cut from the wood at the borders of the
diseased and the healthy tissues. These
were transferred to a culture-medium in
a sterilized dish. In a few days the
mycelium came forth from these pieces
as a pure culture. In this way the
parasite could always be easily obtained.
Soon a conidial fructification developed ;
on a septate mycelium appear branched
conidiophores, from which oval uni-
cellular conidia are cut off.

I consider the fungus as belonging to
the genus Spicaria. Very characteristic
of this Spicaria is its property of impart-
ing ared colour to some culture-media.

In the course of my investigations I ©
found another fructification in a two-.

Apri, 1910,]

months old culture on_ cacao-bark,
namely, pustules of Fusarium conidia.

Hanging drop-cultures of these Fusa-

rium conidia were started, so that the

development could be watched under
the microscope. In water no conidia
were produced, but asaccharose-solution
of 4 % appeared to besuitable. In it the
Fusarium conidia always gave rise to a
mycelium which produced conidiophores
of Spicaria.

The converse question now arose,
namely, whether Spicaria could produce
Fusarium. To study this, I made hang-
ing drop cultures of Spicaria-conidia.
These nearly always developed a myce-
lium which produced the Spicana-
fructification, but in rare cases the
mycelium formed a conidiophore with
Fusarium conidia.

In several ways I tried to obtaina
higher fructification; I made cultures
in large flasks and dishes on sterilized
bark, wood, bread, or liquids; I let
some grow very old, put others into the
light or kept them in the dark, but with-
out any success. In old cultures on
cacao-bark I sometimes did find small
hollow bodies, from which, when pressed,
numerous oil drops escaped. As several
species of Nectria possess two kinds of
eonidia, microconidia and a Fusarium, |
do not think it unlikely, that in this case,
too, the higher fructification will prove
to be Nectria, of which the little globules
perhaps form the first development.

I have named the species Spicaria
colorans.

I have not succeeded in producing
canker in'cacao trees by inoculating them
with Spicaria. I introduced small pieces
of sterilized bark or wood, which had
been permeated by the fungus, into
small wounds, which had been cut in
the bark of the trees, or between bark
and wood, and kept these places moist;
I experimented in the same way with
conidia of Spicaria or of Fusarium. Nor
was infection induced by bringing
conidia of Spicaria or Kusarium on
uninjured bark. Experiments in which
pieces of diseased bark were introduced
into wounds of healthy trees likewise
failed. This failure accordingly does
not prove anything against Spicaria
being the canker parasite, but leads to
the conclusion, that the conditions which
rendered the trees susceptible to the
disease, or which are necessary for secur-
ing the infection, were not present.
Attempts to infect fruits likewise failed.

After this discussion upon the canker
parasite I think it advisable to deal with
some saprophytes, one of which at least

Vio ee eg ts a Nl aaa a if

327 Plant Sanitation.

very often occurs on canker trees. Itis
a Nectria which Lat first supposed to be
the cause of the disease, the more so as
in Ceylon and elsewhere a Nectria is

. regarded as such. Moreover, nearly

always the same form occurred, It was
therefore grown in pure cultures. The
bicellular spores were sown in hanging

drops; they germinated readily and

produced a mycelium with Fusarium-
conidia. A comparison of this Fusarium
with the one produced by Spicaria
makes it clear at once, that it isa form
differing from the above described
parasite.

1. The shape is different in several
respects :—
(a) Fusarium from Spicaria is more
curved than the one from Nectria.

(b) the ends of the former are rather
sharply pointed, those of the latter
always very obtuse;

(c) the former alone often bears a small
stalk which is sometimes bent at
the place where it was formerly
joined ;

(d) the contents of the former are much
more coarsely granulated than
those of the latter.

(€) moreover the dimensions of the
former are smaller ;

2. fusarium-conidia which originate
from Spicaria, always produce
Spicaria; Fusarium-conidia from
Nectria on the other hand never
yield anything else than Fusarium.

3. Their different character is also
shown by their mode of growth on
nutrient media. Ona slightly alka-
line medium, colonies developed from
Spicaria-Fusarium assume a_ red
colour, those from Nectria-Fusarium
do not. It is evident from the
differences enumerated that this
Nectria is not a ‘fructification of
Spicaria, the canker parasite.

Probably we have to do with Nectria
striatospora, Zimmermann, which was
found by Zimmermann oncacao trees at
Buitenzorg, and which he also considered
as probably harmless,

As has already been said, Nectria is
considered to be the cause of Canker in
all countries where the disease has been
observed.

On a number of diseased patches
Carruthers found pustules of small,
oval, unicellular conidia; after some
time larger, multiseptate, crescent-shap-
ed conidia appeared, and at last perithe-
cia of Nectrta. From this he concludes
that Nectria is the canker parasite, and
that both forms of conidia are stages
in its life-history. This conclusion, how-

Plan? Sanitation: - 398

ever, would only be warranted if he had
grown the fungus in pure cultures, and
there seen one form develop from
another. As far as can be determined
from his publications, he has not done
so.

It is true that Carruthers records a
series of infection experiments, where
in many cases he produced the disease
in stems as well as in pods by inocul-
ating them with one of the three kinds
of reproductive organs, But since these
inoculations were not made with pure
cultures, and since the experiments were
conducted on estates on which the
disease was prevalent, while no control
plants were kept (trees treated in ex-
actly the same way as the inoculated
ones, except that no fungus was intro-
duced), these results are not so convinc-
ing as to remove the doubt which yet
remains on many questions. We may
consider some of these questionable
points. It is possible that Carruthers
introduced into the wounds other coni-
dia besides those he meant to use, as he
himself refers to the difficulty of grow-

ing the fungus in pure cultures on.

account of bacteria and fungi.

OF the Nectria perithecia he says :—
“They are to be found only on dead
wood or dead patches of dying branches
and stems.”

Moreover, Petch says: ‘‘ The Nectria
on the stem agrees with Nectria stria-
tospora, Zimm. It is perhaps the com-
monest Ceylon Nectria, and has been
found on tea killed by Massar ia theicola,
tea with branch canker, felled Albizzia,
etc.”

Both these statements make it very
likely that this Nectria was not a para-
site, but a saprophyte.

Whereas Carruthers believed the form
found by him to be Nectria ditissima,
Tul., according to Petch the perithecia
on the bark bear a close resemblance to
Nectria striatospora, Zimm.; numerous
examples, collected by Thwaites in the
Herbarium, have been named by Berke-
ley either N. cinnabarina or N, san-
guinea.

The two forms observed by Howard
were named by Massce Nectria theo-
brome and Calonectria flavida. The des-
eription of Neetria theobrome has just
been published. Howard could infect
trees by introducing ascospores of both
forms into wounds. In the earlier stages
of the disease he observed white pustules
in the cracks of the diseased bark, con-

sisting of conidiophores bearing uni-—

cellular conidia and Fusariumlike, multi-
cellular conidia. Although he thought
it highly probable that both conidial

forms and the ascus form belonged
together, he regarded it as uncertain,
until he should have proved it by fur-

ther investigations which werein pro--
gress when his article was published..

Apparently he has not completed his.
research as Stockdale observed recently
that an exact knowledge of the life-
history of N. theobrome and Cal.
flavida was not yet complete and in-
vestigations would be continued,

The Nectria noted by Hart on canker
spots of cacao trees appeared also to be
Nectria Theobrome. Von Faber also
found a Nectria on bark from canker
trees in the Cameroons, To judge from
his figures and description, this form is
different from WN. Theobrome, and
certainly distinct from the one observed
as a saprophyte in Surinam. F. Faber
had no opportunity of making infection
experiments and could only study fixed
material, so that he could not cultivate
the fungus. Therefore, it is a mere sup-
position, that this Nectria is parasitic
on cacao,

From the foregoing itis evident that,
although several forms of Nectria have
been considered to be the higher fruceti-
fication of the eanker fungus, none has
been definitely proved to be so by experi-
ments to which no objection can be
taken. ;

We must put another important ques-
tion which has not yet been solved:
What is the cause of the pod-disease ?

With conidia, ascospores or pieces of
cankered bark, Carruthers could pro-
duce the disease in pods. It also spread
to the pod from a diseased spot in the
bark, and reverted from a pod to the
stem. By placing pieces of diseased
pods in the bark, canker could be pro-
duced in it.

Now in his two first reports Carru-
thers discusses his observations on dis-
eased pods.
in them was different from that in the

stem; in caltures made of them a Fero- ~

nospora developed (in a later report
the calls it Phytophtora), which also
was observed on pods in the field. He
therefore made this fungus responsible
for the disease. In his third report,

however, he came to quite a different

conclusion. On further examination he
had found the small canker conidia
between the large masses of Peronospora-
(Phytophtora-) Sporangia ; the first were
sometimes found alone but yet nearly
always speedily associated with Perenos-
pora; hence he-supposed that Peronos-

ora lived as a sapvrophyte on the tissues

ilicd by the canker, ;

“[APRIE, 1910,

The mycelium he found -

APRIL, 1910.]

In my opinion he is not entitled to
this conelusion for the following rea-
sons. The symptoms of the disease on
pods, as was also noted by v. Faber,
correspond closely to those caused by
Phytophtora; besides, according to Petch
the Nectria in cacao pods in Ceylon is
not the same as that on thestem. He
says: “If the stem and _ pod-diseases
are the same, they cannot be due to
Nectria.”

Nor is it proved by the observations
made in other countries, Howard does
not mention a Nectria on pods, except
the one tound by Hart in Trinidad and
described by Massee as Neclria Bainii,
and the pod disease on Ceylon which
after Carruthers’ reports may be caused
by Neclria or one of the Peronosporee,
or by both. Nearly all pods, forwarded
to Kew on that oceasion, appeared to
be attacked by Phytophtora.

Zehntner speaks of ‘‘the rare cases
where a canker patch appears at the
junction of a pod with the stem and
the canker fungus spreads along the
stalk to the pod itself.” In the Came-
roons v. Faber never observed an in-
fection of pods by Nectria. Here in
Surinam [ have never found a Nectria
as a cause of disease in pods, neither
have I seen the canker fungus (Spicaria-
Fusarium).as a parasite on pods.

From this survey it is evident that
Carruthers’ infection experiments and
the few observations of Zehntner are
the only foundations for the belief that
canker is a pod-disease; on the con-
trary, everything seems to show that
Carruthers was concerned with the
“black rot” (blackening. of pods), due
to Phytophtora, which is known_ to
attack pods in Ceylon, Java, the West
Indies, the Cameroons and Surinam,
and to cause a great deal of damage
in all these countries, except in Java.
Petch asserts that in cases where the
disease had spread from pod to stem,
in sterile chambers Phytophtora de-
veloped from pieces of bark, peduncle
and pod; if this statement should prove
to be correct, it would show that
Phytophtora can attack the stem as
well as the pods.

Barrett attributes to one and the same
fungus (Lasiodipludia) the ‘‘ brown rot”
of the pods and the canker (red rot)
of the stem (as appears from the des-
cription of the symptoms). This state-
ment can hardly be correct; it is true,
that Lasiodiplodia (most probably iden-
tical with Howard’s Diplodia and per-
haps with v. Hall’s Chetodiplodia) does
cause the ‘‘brown rot” otf the pods
and also astem-disease ; but this stem-
disease is the so-called ‘‘die-back,”

42

399 Plant Sanitation,

which is quite different from the
Ceylon canker, induced by Spicaria-
Fusarium. I mention this because this
mistake may give rise to confusion.
For the same reason Barrett’s use of
the term ‘“‘ canker in its broad sense to
include the destruction of woody tissues
by any parasitic fungus,” is not to be
recommended, now that the name can-
ker has already been given to a defi-
nite disease.

Carruthers not only tried to combat
the disease by treatment cf affected
trees, but also by removing the con-
ditions which assist in spreading it.
As he regarded dampness of the atmo.
sphere as the most dangerous factor on
account of the favourable conditions it
offers to the fungus, he urged before
all things the necessity of removing
superfluous shade and of draining the
soil, especially in low hollows. Besides
this, he advised the planters to burn
the dead trees and to bury or burn all
discoloured pods in order to destroy the
infection-material. As suckers were
scarcely ever affected, he recommended
not to cut them all in the usual way.

The direct treatment of the trees was
to consist in the excising of the dis-
coloured patches with a large margin of
the surrounding tissues as the fungus
mycelium had been found outside the
discolouration, or, if the spots were too
large, in superficially shaving them and
exposing the parts so treated to the dry-
ing effect of the sun. All excised parts
were to be burnt.

Meanwhile, Wright had made the ex-
periment of spraying the pods with a
mixture of sulphate of copper and lime.
As it is however highly probable (as
has already been pointed out), that
the disease of the pods is not canker,
but caused by Phytophtora, his favour-
able 1esults do not teach us anything
about the treatment of canker, how-
ever important they may be in other
directions.

In Java and the West Indies Carru-
thers’ advice is also tollowed. In the
West Indies the wounds are, in addition,
treated with tar, as Nectria is a wound
parasite and the spores should not be
given an opportunity of penetrating
into the tissues. Carruthers disagreed
with the application of tar, as it might
prevent the control of the excised spots.

In the West Indies the number of
carker cases has also diminished, al-
andes the disease has not been eradi-
cated.

In Surinam canker patches are
generally excised; after this the wound
is left uncovered for some days to

Planit Sanitation, ieee OOO

let it dry, and then tarred. A tree often
recovers after this, sometimes it does
not. <As has already been remarked,
trees also recovered in many instances
without any treatment at all.

Although it is certain that trees can
recover without excision of the diseased
tissues, we know as yet too little about
this to dare trust to it alone. Therefore,
the old treatment of carefully looking
for diseased spots and excising them,
and removing trees killed by the disease,
must for the present be recommended
as being the safest method.

[There is no doubt that the common
pod disease in Ceylonis caused by Phy-
tophthora, and that this disease is distinct
from the stem canker. But the cause of
the latter has not been definitely ascer-
tained. The results quoted by Wright
must be attributed to the removal of
shade, with some possible assistance
from weather conditions, since the estate
as a whole was not sprayed until 1905,
while his diagram relates to 1902-1904.—

T. PETcH.]

TERMES GESTROI.

By WALTER Towaoop.

(From the Agricultural Bulletin of the
Straits and Ff. M. S., Vol. VIII., No. 3,
March, 1909.)

In the whole of the past history of
tropical agriculture in tea, coffee, cocoa,
ecinchona and spices, there have been
four causes for disappointment and an
awakening from the golden dreams
with which various enterprizes were
originally commenced ; 1.¢é.

1. Substitutes.

2. Synthetic production at alow cost.

8, Over-production,

4. Pests and Blights.

The first three are beyond the control
of the individual, and if any reliance is
to be placed on expert opinion the rubber
planter in the Hast has nothing to fear
from them in his comparatively new
venture, but the fourth, 7.e., Pests and
Blights, come well within his scope, and
itis his duty to leave nothing to chance
and doeverything within his power to
assure the success of the enterprize.

So far we have one blight and one pest
which may be considered as serious, 7.é.,
Fomes semitostus aud Termes gestroi.

Fomes semitostus is a blight which, if
taken in hand at once and treated accord-
ing to the advice of the Government
Mycologist, Mr. W.J. Gallagher will, I
am sure, be easily overcome, as we have

successfully dealt with the same plnas

of blight in tea, coffee, ete. by drainage
and application of lime,

Termes Gestroi, however, is a very
serious pest, and it wasin recognition of
this fact, that, in my various endeavours
to exterminate it, I collected a large
number of queen termites; these [
showed to Messrs, Carruthers and Pratt,
who were much interested, as the queens
evidently belonged to two or more
species, and it was quite possible the
Queen Gestroi, which had hitherto never
been found, was amongst the collection.
This resulted in the investigation by
Mr. Pratt, and I have been fortunate in
being in possession of the valuable dis-
coveries made by him for a consider-
able time before they were published.
Previous to Mr. Pratt’s discoveries with

_regard to the habits of 7. Gestroi, I was

much afraid that the pest would prove
to be a heavy handicap to the Malay
Peninsula in its competition with other
rubber-producing countries in the future,
anda serious though unseen and there-
fore unrecognized loss, in the present.
Iam now quite satisfied, however, that
it can be altogether eradicated. In my
endeavours to exterminate the pest as
expeditiously and as cheaply as possible,

have arrived at some conclusions and
methods which may be of use tomy
brother planters.

The following notes refer to flat
alluvial land :—

TIMBERS CONTAINING TERMITARIA OF
TERMES GESTROI.

The determination of these is of the
utmost importance and rests largely
with planters themselves. In different
localities the trees affected may vary,
and if planters were to publish either in
the Agricultural Bulletin or in the local
papers the names of trees and their
localities in which. the termitaria of
T. Gestrot have been found, they will be
performing a great service to the rubber
industry iu Malaya. So far, in this
particular locality, 7,e, North Bank of
the Selangor River, I have found the
termitaria exclusively in Kumpas and
Meranti logs and roots, but chiefly in
Kumpas; this, I think, isdue to the fact
that about two-thirds of the planted
area consists of reclaimed land in which
Kumpas, owing toits great hardness and
durability, is practically the only timber
left to deal with.

Both Kumpas and Meranti appear to
grow in greater abundance in Jand at all
inclined to be peaty, and this no doubt is
the reason for the opinion of some
planters that peaty soils encourage T’
Gestrot, as mentioned in Mr. Pratt's note,

ee

VF

‘ance of 7’.

Aprit, 1910.) _

NATURE OF SOILS AS AFFECTING THE
ABUNDANCE OF T, GESTROI.

In view of the fact that the termitaria
are contained invariably if not exclu-
sively in timber, it may be concluded
that soils only indirectly affect theabund-
Gestroi, t.e-, certain soils are
favourable to the growth of trees
affected by 7. Gestrot. é

The scils may affect the extent of the
attack on rubber trees by being more
orless easy of penetration when the
termites go abroad in search of food.

METHODS OF EXTERMINATION.

On Old Rubber Trees.—It has to be deter-
mined whether 7’, Gestroi establish their
termitaria in the rubber trees themselves,
and on this point [have no data. If it
should prove to be the case, fortunate is
he who discovers an insecticide, or other
means, by which the Queen cells may be
reached, at a low cost and without
destroying the tree, and thereby obtain
the reward now being offered. On the
other hand, our success in exterminating
the pest depends upon the skill with
which the runs are traced up to their
base. If all timber is collected and
destroyed I feel convinced that if the
attack does not entirely cease it will be
very much diminished,

On Young Rubber EFstates.—I have

found it cheapest and best to makea.-

systematic search field by field and line
by line for all timber which is knowr to
be favoured by 7. Gestroi, cut them
open with an axe or cross-cut saw, and if
they contain the slightest trace of the
enemy destroy them by burning.

The danger of scorching the surround-
ing plants may be entirely done away
with, or at least greatly minimized by
burning in a trench, keeping the fire
covered with green stuff, and shielding
the surrounding trees with sheets of
corrugated iron,

These should not lean against the
rubber trees but be supported by sticks
a short distance from them ; even if two
or three rubber trees are destroyed by
fire in this way, the damage done is
more than compensated for, by the fact

that one 7’. Gestroi termitarium is cap- -

able of destroying a score or more of
trees to a distance of two or three
hundred feet,

Where there isa sale for timber or
charcoal, sound Meranti trees may be
sawn up with advantage and Kumpas
can be converted into first-class charcoal.

A close watch should always be kept
on jand that has been cleared of timber,
and if a tree is seen to be attacked, every
endeavour should be made to discover

331 Plant Sanitation,

the source of infection, which will in*
variably be found to be a buried root or
stump, from which the termites make
their way in search of food by means of
tunnels. These may be found at a depth
of |” to 8'below the surface of the
ground, In flat land I have never found
them below the subsoil water level,
which, of course, is regulated by the
efficiency of the drainage system.

These tunnels are, as a rule (as Mr,
Pratt says) sufficiently large to admit
the introduction of an ordinary micros-
cope slide, though sometimes smaller,
they are perfectly smooth and are lined
with a red substance, probably the
excreta of the termites which takes its
colour from the timber on which they
have been feeding. This colouring
greatly facilitates the following up of
the tunnels, but it is by no means an
easy matter until the coolies become
practised at it, and see for themselves
that they are doing real good and not
merely following out some mad scheme
of their masters. When the direction of
a tunnel is lost it is very difficult to
pick it up again. I have found the
surest means of not losing it, is to
use a piece of thin flexible wire or
strip of cane as a probe. Pass it into
the tunnel as far asit will go, remove
the top soil carefully with a chunkol,
then break open the run tothe end of
the probe. Pass the probe in again and
proceed as before until the termitarium
is reached, ‘To find the tunnel or to pick
it up again should it be lost, I have
found it a good plan to cut a trench
round the tree attacked or the spot
where the run was lost, This trench
should be to the depth of the water
level, say two feet, and should be
examined the next day when it will
often be found that the termites have
made their way across by means of a
mud easing, thus determining the direc-
tion of attack.

It is a tedious matter at the best to
follow up these tunnels, and it is on this
account that I have found it expedient
to examine all timber which I know to
be likely to contain termitaria before
resorting to this means, thereby saving
much time and expense.

At first I gave rewards for the Queens,
and have collected in this way upwards
of seventy undoubted specimens, but I
find that by this method the coolies
waste much of their time in breaking
up every smaller piece of the termitaria
in order to find the Queen cells.

When a log or root containing the
termitarium has been discovered and
destroyed, and the ground around it dug
up, it may safely be concluded that the

Plant Sanitation.

Queen has perished with the rest of the
individuals. Usually itis only necessary
to trace up the runs in the ease of a nest
occurring in a buried stump or root.

The first field I systematically cleared
of all timber five months ago has since
shown no signof the pest. This field
was planted. with Rambong about six
years ago, it was allowed to lapse into
bluker and was interplanted with para
in 1906, The only remaining timber was
Kumpas, of which there was a consider-
able quantity, The attack on both Para
and Rambong trees was particularly
virulent in this block but has now
entirely ceased.

As Mr. Pratt very truly says, owing to
the cryptic habits of termites, it is very
difticult to determine when a tree is
attacked until it falls down, but during
the wet seasons in October, November,

December, and January the termites
frequently make their appearance above
ground, and this fact, 1 think, should be
taken advantage of, by marking in some
way all the trees on which the termites
make their appearance, foreven if they
cannot be attended to at once, one would
at least know where to look for them in
the future.

Iam afraid that some planters are
lulled into a sense of security by the fact
that none of their young trees have been
attacked ; it would be well worth their
while to make a search for 7’. Gestrow in
the timber lying in clearings, and if
found, take steps to eradicate the pest,
for although trees may not be attacked
now, or perhaps for a year or two to
come, they will be attacked sooner or
later if 7. Gestrot is present.

I have not founda single tree attacked
so far in my forest clearings, but I know
that T. Gestroiis present. On the other
hand in reclaimed land, where owing to
thedecay of most of the timber, 7’. Gestrot
has wandered forth in search of fresh
fields and pasture new, and has made its
presence evident by attacking young
rubber trees.

On Future Clearings.—In these again
the importance of discovering the forest
trees most favoured by 7’. Gestroz is
evident. I cannot speak from practical
experience, but the obvious course to
pursue would be to cut down all trees
known to harbour 7. Gestroi, and allow
them to dry for as long a _ period as
possible, prior to the Felliag of the land.
Many of these trees would be then
destroyed in the burn, and those which
remained could be burnt out by piling
over them the surrounding timber.
This would of course enhance the cost of

399

clearing perhaps by $1C or even $20 per
acre, a small consideration in comparison
to the damage that may he effected by
T. Gestroi.

Further advantages of more thorough
clearing would be less likelihood of
vacancies caused by Fomes semitostus
and asavingin the cost of weeding, in
fact of every other work carried cn in

the clearing, together with easier and ~

consequently more efficient a super-
vision.

Cost OF ERADICATION BY DESTRUCTION
OF TIMBER CONTAINING TERMITARIA.

It is obviously impossible to give even
approximate figures with regard to cost ;
this depends entirely on the quantity of
timber to be removed. One ten acre
block may contain a dozen large Kumpas
and Meranti trees, and the adjoining
fifty acres may contain only half a
dozen. Thecost may vary trom $2 to
$20 per acre, and it will be necessary tu
estimate for each ten or twenty acre
block separately.

In opening new clearings it is false
economy to cut down expenditure on
clearing, and it will obviously be far
cheaper to eradicate 7. Gestrovin clear-
ings before they are planted, than after-

wards, to say nothing of the saving in ;

the cost of other works and the satis-
faction of knowing that the only two
pests which we have to fear have been
eradicated.

T. Gestrot is frequently found in
nibong palms, but owing to the facility
with which these can be split up and the
many uses they can be put to they do
not cause any serious trouble or expense.

Drains as affecting Termes Gestroi.—l
have not ina single instance found the
runs of termites crossing a subsoil drain,
excepting by means of a fallen log or
wooden bridge; it follows, therefore, that
the more frequent the drains, the more
circumscribed will be the attack of the
termites, provided that iron or concrete
bridges are used instead of wooden ones,
and that all timber lying across drains
be removed.

The mound termites, 7. Malayanus,
and 7. carbonarius seem to prefer the

edge of adrain for the construction of

their termitaria, but Gestroi apparently
considers the suitability of timber only
and not that of soil in choosing its home.

When nearing a drain the 7’. Gestrot
runs are usually found at a greater depth
than elsewhere ; this is no doubt due to
the facility with which the termites are
able to penetrate the soil which has
become freer owing to good drainage.

{Aprin, 1910.

mS

a

Fue

Apri, 1910.) 388

IMPORTANCE OF DISTINGUISHING THE
; VARIOUS TERMITES.

Mr. Pratt mentions that 7. pallidus
occupies the disused termitaria of
Malayanus and T. carbonarius. I
have since found that they also occupy
the termitaria of 7. Gestrot, and have
had several queens brought to me for
reward ; these were contained in timber
and surrounded by unmistakable _ in-
dividuals of 7. pallidus.

On one occasion the coolies were follow-
ing up 7. Gestrot under my personal
supervision when they came on a small
piece of timber, two feet below the
surface of the ground, it was about one
foot in length and four inches in diameter
and contained the Queen and myriads of
individuals of 7. pallidus as well as
many soldiers and workers of 7’. Gestroit.

Thave found 7. Gestroti in close asso-
ciation with 7. Malayanus and 7’. car-
bonarius as wellas 7’. pallidus, but there
is no difficulty in distinguishing one
from the other by their soldiers ; there
is alsoa wide difference in the general
appearance of the Queens though a great
similarity in the workers.

Mr. Pratt gives us the difference of
the various termites as far as possible
on page 3 of his notes, but I think
it would be of more practical value to
planters if specimen cases of the ter-
mites, showing the individuals separate-
ly, were exhibited in some convenient
and central spot.

INSECTICIDES FOR THE HRADICATION OF
TERMES GESTROI.

To anyone who has followed up a
T. Gestrot tunnel, ramifying as it does
sometimes for hundreds of feet, or has
seen the interior of a termitarium with
its myriads of individuals, the utter
futility of attempcing to eradicate the
pest by means of insecticides must be
apparent, but insecticides will be found
useful in killing the comparatively
few individuals which continue their
attack forsome time after their termi-

Plant Sanitation.

tarium is destroyed. I see that the
custom of applying lime to the tree
attacked still continues on some estates.
This is utterly useless as a preventative,
or even as a means of keeping the
termites in check; but it is useful as a
means of marking the trees attacked.

CROTALARIA AND GREEN MANURES AS
AFFECTING T. GESTROI.

Crotalaria is undoubtedly of great
advantage as a green manure, but it has
yet to be proved if it is a means of
cheapening the cost of weeding. There
are two objections to it which can how-
ever be overcome.

Firstly, the difficulty which is expe-
rienced in eradicating 7’. Gestroi and
Fomes semitostus, will be enormously
increased by the fact that all timber is
hidden by growth, rendering it necessary
to closely inspect each rubber tree and
to search about amongst the crotalaria
for timber containing T. Gestroi. This
can be overcome by first eradicating
the pest and then planting green
manure. Secondly, when the green
manure is eventually killed out by shade,
the rubber trees will experience a shock
from their customary supply of nitrogen
being cut off. This can be obviated by
interplanting with leguminous trees,
such as Albizzia moluccana. These trees,
together with others of the leguminoss,
have been grown with great benefit to
tea and coffee in Ceylon and elsewhere
for at least twenty-five years, such
growths as Crotalaria, Mimosa, ete,
being utterly unsuited to this class ot
cultivation,

In conclusion, there are no grounds for
the alarmist’s view of the 7. Gestroi pest
though it is imperative that it should be
taken in hand at once and dealt with
very thoroughly, and although the initial
cost may be heavy, it will be more than
justified by the subsequent saving in
expenditure, on keeping the pest in
check, to say nothing of the saving in
loss of trees.

HORTICULTURE.

THE ORANGE AND HOW ‘TO
GROW IT.

By P. Guo. SCHRADER.

A good orange is tu a great extenta
luxury in Ceylon, the reason being that
no systematic propagation, planting,
and cultivation is carried on. A villager
has a few seeding trees growing in his

compound. If they bear, the fruit is
carried round for sale, and it is nothing
uncommon to be asked to pay 10 or 12
cents for an orange—the usual price in
Colombo being from 4 to8cents, I do
not maintain that large orange groves
would pay, although if first-class oranges
can be grown they would always com-
mand a good price in the London mar-
ket, but still, there is room for a vast

Aorticuliure.

deal of improvement in the growing of
oranges in Ceylon; and I also think that
if better. varieties were propagated and
grown in a systematic manner, they
would return good interest on the out-
lay, even if sold at a reasonable price.
I have grown the Washington navel
orange, and the Sicilian lemon in Ceylon,
the plants being imported from Aus-
tralia, and it is pleasing to note that
they are bearing heavy crops.

PROPAGATION.

The seeds from thoroughly ripe
oranges should be taken and planted ina
bed, well prepared and enriched by ad-
ding and mixing with the soil some well
decomposed farm-yard manure. If the
land is of a clayey nature some sand
should be mixed with it to make it free.
The seeds should be planted an inch
deep and covered over with some loamy
soil, and a thin layer of fine manure
applied on top toact asmuleh,. Water-
ing should be done daily, by meaus of a
watering can, a light watering will suffice
at this period. Ouce the seeds begin to
burst they should be protected over-
head by a light covering; a few un-
weaved coconut leaves put on top of
a light frame work would answer the
purpose. The covering should be of
sufficient density to prevent the fierce
rays of the sun playing on the tender
plants, which should neve: be allowed to
become dry, as it must be remembered
that any young plantchecked in its grow-
ing period will never turn out a healthy
strong tree, Once the plants have
established themselves watering every
other day will be sufficient. If the
plants have grown well, they will at the
end of the first year be from 10 to 12
inches high. They must now be put out
in nursery form, that is one foot apart
in the rows by 3 feet the other way.
They had best remain in the nursery for
another year. Weeding should be care-
fully done, and the soil well worked so
as to allow the young roots free access
into the soil to collect all the plant food
they require. Watering now and again
will! be beneficial. The time when water-
ing is necessary can easily be ascertain-
ed by digging in the middle of the
rows which will at once show the state
the soil is in.

The usual ways of reproducing plants
of a known kind is by budding and
grafting, I myself preter budding to
gratting. I will at a future time go
fully into the question of budding, so, it
will suffice here to say that for budding
orange trees buds should be taken from
a tree which has borne good fruit.
Buds too near the base of the scion
must not be used as they generally do

_the young trees.
trenched to a depth of 18 inches, which

384 teri, 191

not make good vigorous trees, and some-
times they prove barren. ee

PREPARING THE Soil FOR PLANTING.

A_ great deal of attention should be
paid to preparing the land for receiving
The soil should be

is easily done by digging a foot wide
and 9 inches deep, and throwing the soil
away from the land. The remaining 9
inches of bettom soil is then dug up,
then another one foot wide by 9 inches
deep of surface soil is dug up and
thrown into the trench, and soon till
finished, when it will be found that
9x 12 inches of soil is necessary, to
which is carted the soil _ original]
thrown out. If good-ploughs are avail
able sub-soiling by their means is the
easiest and cheapest—one plough follows
the other, the second plough having its
mold board removed. If this work is
done a few months before planting so
much the better, as it allows a free
access of air into the soil which is
so necessary for nitrification. Before
planting the soil must be forked up
again and thoroughly fpulverised. The
‘Planet Junior” single cultivator is an
excellent tool for this purpose, it will
soon repay its value by the saving of
labour otherwise necessary for success-
ful cultivation.

SOIL.

The soil most suitable for the growing
of Citrus trees is one that is deep, rich
and mellow with a fine substratum, but
of a nature to allow water to percolate
easily. Gravel or coarse sand on the
surface is all right as long as the sub-soil
is good. Suitably good soils should al-
ways be chosen it fruit of a good quality
and big crops are to be expected. Low-
lying ill-drained land will not grow
trees of the Citrus family.

TRANSPLANTING,

Orange trees can easily be transplant-
ed if the following instructions are care-
fully carried out:—Dig up the young
plants, avoiding as much as_ possible
doing any damage to the roots, any
damaged roots must be trimmed by a
elean cut before planting. Do not let
the roots be exposed to the sun
or wind, and do not let them dry.
This precaution is most important other-
wise a large number of plants will be
lost. The plants must be planted at the
depth they were in the nursery, in a
hole large enough to receive the roots
without cramping them. The earth
must be pressed firmly all round, and
some water added to settle the soil. The
planting had better be done during the

BaD, 1910.22 7

rainy weather. It is advisable to cover
up the plants for some time; this is
easily done with baskets made from the
half of a green coconut leaf, the basket
being placed over three stakes driven in
round the young tree. The basket need
not come down to the ground. There
shoud be a few inches of space between
the basket and the ground, to allow the
free circulation of air. The covering is
necessary at first so as to give the trees a
chance to recover and establish them-
selves in the soil. Italso acts as a pro-

tection of the stock from the fierce rays »

of the sun, which is always detrimental
to citrus trees. -It is advisable to prune
back the young trees. It will give the
trees a better chance of recovering. In
fact, a young tree pruned will recover
sooner than one un-pruned. Manure
must not be applied too close to the

young trees. ie

DISTANCE APART.

Distance apart mostly depends on
the soil in which the trees are to be
planted and the kind of trees. Seedlings
can be planted 30 feet apart and budded
or grafted trees 25 feet apart. Trees
planted a good distance apart can al-
ways withstand the dry seasons more
so than those planted close. It is a
mistake to grow other produce in the
orange grove, except when the trees are
very young, Some vegetables or maize
might be grown at this period without
doing any material injury. They must
not, however, be grown too close to the
orange trees.

FERTILISERS.

For supplying what the soil is Jacking
and what the orange takes out of it,
one must be guided by the analysis of
both—-the soil and the ashes of the fruit.
It has been found by analysis that the
fruit ash chiefly contains phosphoric
acid, lime and potash. By a _ proper
combination of various elements used in
fertilisation one can undoubtedly large-
ly govern the quality and flavour of
the fruit. Free use of potash thickens
and toughens the rind, increasing the
value of the fruit for storing and trans-
porting long distances, but this is accom-
plished: at the expense of the sugar in
the fruit. To sweeten the fruit use
sulphate of ammonia in large quantities
and decrease the amount of potash. To
obtain fruit with thin rind use nitrogen
from inorganic sources in moderate
quantities with considerable potash and
lime.

Farmyard manure can also be used
with excellent results, only it is not
possible to regulate it and use it for the
special purposes indicated above. But

g

339

Horticulture.

it must not be forgotten that the
continued use of artificials alone tends
to exhaust the soil, and does not affect
any mechanical action in the soil; so
that itis always advisable to use both

manures at different:times.

A very good» manure for a_ fairly
strong soil is :—Nitrate of soda, 14 cwt.;
Concentrated superphosphate, 14 ewt.;
and Sulphate of potash, 1 ewt. 4 ewts.
would be a heavy dressing ; less could he
used with good results. Nitrate of soda
contains from 15 to 16 per cent. of nitro-
gen, concentrated superphosphate about
40 to 45 per cent. of phosphoric acid, and
sulphate of potash (high grade) contains
from 50 to 55 per cent. of pure potash.

PRUNING THE ORANGE.

Once the trees are planted out it is
advisable to let everything grow for the
first year, as we havealready just before
planting cut the trees back to enable
them to more quickly recover from the
shock they received in having their
roots cut, etc. In the second year take
off the bottom shoots as high up as from
12 to 15 inches from the ground, and
the third year form your tree by start-
ing the crown about 24 inches from the ~
ground, Thisis very important, for as a
rule we have in Ceylon trees starting
their crowns 5 to6 feet or more from the
ground, and in course of time balloons
will be required to pick the fruit from
such trees! Never allow your trees to
go up like coconut palms, start them
low, and make them spread out, don’t
forget that we have allowed 25 feet
between the rows. Orange trees planted
under other trees will never do much
good, they always have a tendency to
go up, and they hardly bear any fruit.

If a branch has a tendency togoup
cut it back during the rainy weather,
always making a clean cut. The best
tool for this purpose is the French
prubing shears with a spiral spring.
They are being sold by the Fort iron-
mongers at R. 2 each. In cutting a
braneh always cut it at an angle, hold-
ing the branch with your left hand and
slightly pressing the branch away from
the cut. Cutting the branch at an angle
prevents any water settling, and it makes
a quick recovery. If the branch is a
big one use a saw, and trim the bark
round the cut with a sharp knife.

When once we have a well-balanced
tree with branches evenly distributed
around it, and it has started bearing,
it is advisable to clean any rubbish, or
small branches in the centre of the tree
to enable a free circulation of air.
When the tree has attained any size
say in its fifth year, any laterals

Horticulture. 336 .

projecting from the side or top may
be cut off so as to keep the tree
evenly balanced and fairly compact.

CULTIVATION,

It must be understood that heavy
soils require a cultivation different to
that applied to light soils, and hillsides
have to be treated different to flat land.
Good cultivation is the secret of success.
What is meant by ‘intense culture”
is very little understood in Ceylon. I
shall therefore go into the subject.
Cultivation means the admission of air
into the soil so necessary for the deve-
lopment and working of the bacteria
in it. This bacteria changes the insolu-
ble plant food in the soil into soluble
food. This is t) say, it converts the
nitrogenous compounds in the soil] into
ammonia. Thisis the first process which
takes place in the soil in the case of
all natural nitrogenous manures, and
is caused entirely by the bacteria. This
process is called “‘ nitrification,” and the
bacteria which are instrumental in bring-
ing about this state of things are called
‘‘nitrifying bacteria.” These bacteria
must have air and warmth, and the
better these conditions are the quicker
the ammonia will be formed. The second
process is brought about by the air
which changes ammonia into nitric acid.
The nitric acid then combines with an
alkaline base, such as potash, soda or
lime and forms nitrates Jt is in this
form as nitrates and in no other, that
they can be dissolved by the soil mois-
ture and absorbed by the trees. It is
therefore obvious that this ajl-import-
ant nitrification requires the presence
of free oxygen (air), warmth and mois-
ture, and the only possible mode of
supplying this is by liberal and thorough
cultivation.

There is another’ possible change
which might take place in uneultivat-
ed soils and is harmful. It has been
stated that, ordinarily, the bacteria
which causes nitrification require air.
There are, however, bacteria which can
cause organic matter to ferment in the
absence of free oxygen. Oxygen is
necessary for fermentation, and in the
absence ot free oxygen these bacteria
obtain their supply by breaking up any
nitrates that may be present, using the
oxygen of the nitrate and allowing the
nitrogen of the nitrate to escape asa
gas. These bacteria are therefore very
injurious to the productiveness of soils,
since they destroy the valuable nitrates
and allow the nitrogen to escape. Their
effect is directly opposite to nitrifica-
tion, and hence it is called denitrifica-
tion, So it is again obvious that

- tubes.”

Laie

CULTIVATION IS VERY NECESSARY

to admit free oxygen into the soil to
bring the valuable plant food into a
form that will make it readily avai)-
able. Cultivation is also necessary to
prevent the denitrificating bacteria from
obtaining the oxygen from the nitrates
and. letting loose the valuable nitrogen
into the air. It is also necessary for
retaining the moisture that is in the
soil. Water is evaporated into the air
by means of fine hair-like tubes formed
in the soil and known as ‘capillary
These tubes are absolutely
necessary for bringing up moisture from

the subsoils, but if not checked, the

moisture will be lost, The only way
to check this loss is by cultivation.
The frequent breaking up of these tubes
means the minimising of evaporation.
Moisture in the soil is necessary for
two purposes. Available plant food can
only be taken up by the roots when
it is dissolved in the soil moisture, and
nitrification cannot take place without
moisture, so that insoluble plant food
cannot be made soluble without mois-
ture, and without cultivation moisture
is not considered in the soil.

* Again, uncultivated, hard, compressed
land does not allow the rain to soak
into it, but the water, running over the
surface of the land, carries the vegetable
matter, fine particles of soil, the fertil-
ity brought to the surface by the
capillary action of the soil, the fertil-
ising elements brought down to the
soil by the rainfall, and the best of
the manures and fertilisers that may
be applied to the soil into water courses,
never to return. Each washing of the
surface makes the soil more compact,
thus adding to the surface flow of the
water and tothe poorer conditions for
promoting the vigorous growth of plant
and tree. The injurious effect of such
conditions can be plainly seen in many
places, the trees being sickly, and bear-
ing small crops when they ought to be
vigorous, under favourable conditions
and in season bear abundance of fruit.

THE REMEDY FOR UNFAVOURABLE
CONDITIONS

of soil and waste of fertility is the
thorough cultivation of the soil, and
subsoil and under drainage. On clay
lands having a retentive subsoil, culti-
vation is the first step to be taken in
providing the right condition for success-
ful tree growing. If the subsoil is so
hard and tenacious as to be what is
known as a ‘‘hard pan” so much the
more does it need to be eultivated to
a depth sufficient to «ilow the roots of
the trees to penetrate for food and

[Api 1910,

Dots

=

- as it moves towards the surface.

_ AprRin, 1910.]

moisture. Itis for this purpose that I
recommend that the soil should be
trenched, or subsoiled, to a depth of
eighteen inches before planting. The
removal of the excess water through the
soil and subsoil to tke under drains
opens millions of little waterways which
the routs of the trees may penetrate for
food and moisture. By the removal of
the water which fills the spaces in the
soil, the air, so necessary in the prepar-
ation of plant-food, as pointed out,
enters the soil to doits work. The rain-
fall enters the well-drained soil at the
points where it falls, carrying the ferti-
lity washed out of the air and that
which has been brought to the surface
by the capillary action of the soil and
subsoil and the best of manures and
fertilisers which have been applied down
into the soil where they may be utilised
as food to the growing tree. The film
of moisture covering the particles of
soil is sufficient for plant growth and
has an upward capillary flow carrying
soluble plant food to the tiny rootlets
When
the rainfall comes there is a downward
flow of water performing a like mission.
Ina well cultivated soil we have free
access of water, heat and air so neces-
sary to plant growth; while all applied
fertility in the way of manures and
fertilisers is made available. Culti-
vation also prevents the growth of grass
and weeds which invariably robs the soil.

THe Best METHODS OF CULTIVATION.

The best method of cultivation is to
turn up the soil during the rainy season
once a year, and to keep the soil well
stirred to a depth of five or six inches
during the rest of the year. The roots of
the trees should be encouraged to go
lower than the five or six inches of culti-
vation, as it must be distinctly under-
stood that the roots of the Citrus family
must not be damaged in any way. Train-
ing the roots to keep down is very simple
if the trees are planted in deeply trench-
ed or subsoiled land as has been recom-
mended, andif cultivation in the form of
ploughing and subsequent stirring up of
the soil is carried on ‘year in and year out.
If this is thoroughly and systematically
done it will be found that the roots will
prefer the congenial well-drained, moist
soil below, which supplies it with abund-
ant assimilable plant-food, rather than
the dry surface soil. Also trees having
a foothold in sufficient underdrained
soil are not likely to beinjured by severe
droughts or long .continued rainfall.

PLOUGHS AND CULTIVATORS.

Where possible a suitable plough
should be used for turning up the soil

48

Bayi

Horticulture.

onee a year, and it is pleasing to note
that ploughs of a reasonable type have
at last been introduced into Ceylon,
thanks to Messrs. Walker, Sons & Co.
It is important to remember that
different soils and conditions require
different types of plough, so that one
must not condemn a plough he has pro-
cured because it does not suit his con-
ditions. I remember the case of a
splendidly constructed Ransomes, Sims
and Jeffries double furrow plough which
was found useless in turning up lands of
modern cultivation in Australia, while
no doubt it would have done excellent
work onan English farm which had been
subjected to centuries of cultivation.
The plough, although entirely built of
the best steel and iron got bent beyond
working order, the cause being that it
was far too light in construction for
the heavy, newly-tilled soils of Aus-
tralia. There are many points to be
considered in buying a plough—the
nature of the soil, the depth to which
one intends to plough, the draught
power available, etc., etc. Itis best for
the novice to get the best advice procur-
able before he buys his plough. It must
also be remembered that the _ best
plough and the best draught power will
not do the best ploughing if handled
by anincompetent ploughman, Hvery-
thing depends on the man behind the
plough. Ploughing looks simple enough
to the onlooker, and many have argued
with me that there is nothing init, and
that it is very simple. Let anybody
who holds such an opinion try plough-
ing foran hour orso be will find that
the harmless looking implement can
become an instrument of torture, and
play many pranks with him. It takes
months and years for a man to learn to
plough, so thatif a person wishes to turn
up his soil, cutting every inch of it to an
even depth, he must train the most
intelligent men he has and make them
stay with him by paying them better
wages as ploughmen. He will find that
he will not bea loser by it as he will
undoubtedly get better yields from his
land than from badly ploughed land.
Of course these remarks do not apply
only to orange cultivation but to all
cultivation.

AFTER THE PLOUGH HAS DONE ITS WORK,
preferably twice—that is to say, ploughed
and cross-ploughed—and the rainy season
is over, then should be introduced the
“Planet Junior Cultivator,” or any
other implement of the same stamp.
These machines can sow be procured
from Messrs. Walker, Sons & Co., and
Brown & Co. This implement is for the
purpose of breaking up the surface

Horticulture.

capillary tubes and minimising evapor-
ation, thoroughly mixing and distribut-
ing any manure and fertilisers that may
have been applied, and also for bringing
the soil into a thoroughly mechanical
state. It will also keepdown all weeds
if the ‘‘ duck teet” attachments are put
on. This machine has only to be worked
for a short time to be fully appreciated.
It is cheap and light of draught, and a
pair of ordinary bulls could work it
easily. It isnot meant for turning up
unploughed soil, but once the land
has been ploughed or turned up,
this ‘‘multum-in-parvo” will keep the
orangery thoroughly cultivated to any
depth necessary, and also keep down
the weeds at very little cost. lam not
theorising in these matters but speak
from personal experience: I grew oranges
and other fruit trees on

AN ORCHARD OF 20 ACRES IN AUSTRALIA

where the average rainfall was 14
inches, and we had to entirely depend
on irrigation, the water being pumped
from the river Murray at an enormous
cost. Some idea of the cost can be
gauged when itis known that it cost
£10,000 for firewood alone for one year
to irrigate the 25,000 acres of irrigable
land on the river, each land holder
having to pay £1 per acre for water per
year. Owing to the great cost, and the
water having to be distributed over this
vast area, each Jand holder only got his
supply at stated periods, amounting to
about three irrigations a year. This
limited supply of water we ~found
sufficient, because we carried out the
form of intense culture. The whole of
the Summer cultivation was done by
myself, by means of a single light
draught horse, and one single horse
“Planet Junior Cultivator.” The place
was kept ina thorough state of cultiva-
‘tion and without a single weed. I
imported one of these implements into
Ceylon about eight years agofor the
special purpose of working a citrus
grove that I planted on an estate I was
supervising, and I found that an
ordinary pair ot cart bulls could work it
easily, and it did excellent work. After
every shower of rain during the dry
months. when the land is dry enough
for cultivation, that is to say, not sticky
and will not form lumps, but break up
fine, it should be cultivated, as the rain
has undone what the cultivator has
been doing all the time, that is of break-
ing up the surface capillary tubes and
keeping them broken. The rain has
made the loose soil compact again, and
so reformed the capillary tubes which
must be breken up again and kept
broken, Itis not only after rain that

308

_ got it.

[APRM, 1910. ;

t ;
the cultivator must be put on, but
whenever the soil gets compact, Even

_ during the long dry months it will be

noticed that the soil forms a sort of
surface crust. It means that you are
losing a valuable lot of soil moisture
just at the time your trees require it
most. Some. might say that ali this
reads very fine on paper—that it is a lot
of scientific theory, and what might
have answered in Australia will not
answer here, and so on. But I would
ask the most sceptical to try a small
experiment for himself in his flower or ~
vegetable garden. Let him, if he is
planting out, trench his soil toa depth
of 18 inches beforehand and mix up the
usual quantity of manure with the soil.
When the plants have gone beyond the
nursery stage let him water the plants
once in four or five days, giving the soil a
good drenching, and when the soil is dry
enough for cultivation let him use a
pronged hoe, or even a mamotie, and
cultivate the soil-to a depth that would
not injure the roots, finishing off with a
garden rake. If he does thisin an un-
prejudiced and thorough manner, he will
find that he will have better flowers, or
better and more vegetables from his
garden, watering lightly—daily does
more harm than good. Cultivation in-
creases the yield,

VARIETIES.

The procuring ot the best varieties is
absolutely important as_ they always
command the best price. Producing and
cultivating a seedling orange tree is like
drawing from a lucky bag, as you never
know what you will get until you have
You never know, by planting
orange seeds, what you have, as the
plants may turn cut oranges, or limes
or any other member of the citrus
family. Even if you have an orange
tree you never know whether the fruit
will turn out good, bad or indifferent.
So, it is obvious that it is more than
advisable to plant wisked trees; budding
them yourself, or procuring them from
a reliable source. I planted Australian
budded Orange and Lemon trees in this
district with every success.

The best imported variety is the
Washington Navei which is practically
seedless, and the trees have hardly any
thorns. They do not grow up to any
great size, but growth is rapid and they
bear in quick time; producing one of the
finest, if not the finest, oranges in
the world. The fruit is large, solid and
heavy ; skin, sinooth and of fine texture,
very juicy and higehly fiavoured, and has
at the end a navel-like scar where the
flower had been,

OO ie ee ee, So oR ie eae
. wate = 5 =
1 b w

APRIL, 1910.)

The Maltese Blood is another choice
variety which derives its name from the
dark colour of the fruit which is streaked
and mottled with red. Thefruit is of
medium-size, oval, juicy, fine fiavoured,
thin skin, and fairly smooth, and has
but few seeds. The tree is thornless and
of dwarf habits, and can consequently be
planted closer together; it is a prolific
bearer.

The Mediterranean Sweet is a thorn-
less tree of dwarf habits and a prolific
bearer, inclined to. bear too heavily.
Fruit, medium to large, very solid, aud
with few seeds; pulp and skin of fine
texture. This is an excellent carrying
orange.

The Joppa is another fine orange. It
came originally from Joppa in Jerusalem.

The fruit is large, roundish-oval, firm, of .

deep orange red colour, nearly seedless,
thin skinned, sweet and juicy, ripens
early, and hangs well. Tree thornless,
upright and vigorous ; good bearer.

The Jappa is an_ excellent variety,
largely grown in Turkey and Egypt.
Fruit large, oval and somewhat nar-
rowed at the base, very sweet and juicy,
Skin smooth and highly coloured. Trees
of only medium growth and heavy
cropper.

MARKETING.

In picking oranges, care must be taken
not to injure them, as bruising, however
slightly, will cause early decay. The
fruit, for either keeping or tor the
market, should always be clipped with a
pair of clippers leaving a_ little of the
stem, it must not be pulled off the tree
as is the usual practise in Ceylon. The
fruit should always be allowed to get
fully ripe. If for keeping for any length

339.

of time or for export they should be |

picked in this stage, but never before, as
an orange picked while yet green never
makes a good sweet fruit, but for quick
sales they can be allowed to hang on the
tree after ripening. Oranges for storing
should never be picked in damp weather,
If there has been two or three days’ rain
the oranges should not be picked fora
week afterwards, as the rain tends to
soften and swell the rind, and in conse-
quence the fruit doesnot keep well.

STORING ORANGES.

Ihave kept oranges in Australia for
six months in slightly damp sand free
from vegetable matter, treating them
thus. After they were carefully picked

‘with alittle of the stem attached to

them, and at a proper degree of ripeness,
they were allowed to stand in large
boxes of little depth, in a cool airy room
for three to four days to ‘‘ sweet,” that
is to get rid ofsome of the moisture in

*

Horticulture.

the rind. They were then packed in
sand very slightly damp in large. boxes,
ordinary large packing cases being used,
taking care that the oranges did not
touch each other. After six months
they were found to be in excellent condi-
tion and sold at best prices in the
Melbourne market. I have known
oranges to keepa year by this simple
process: A friend of mine preparing to
pack his crop of oranges, in emptying
the sand from the boxes he had pre-
viously used, came across two or three
oranges that had been accidentally left
when the last crop of oranges were sent
to market. They were then one year in
the boxes and in perfect condition.

lt must be remembered that bruised
oranges, and those not of a proper
degree ot ripeness, or those pulled from
off the tree, will not keep.

—Ceylon Independent:

HORTICULTURAL COURSE.

(University of London, 8, HE. Agricul-
tural College, Wye, Kent.)

The course of instruction in Practical
and Theoretical Horticulture extends
over two years (six College terms), but
students attending this course are
strongly advised to spend at least three
of the vacations in the orchards of
the College or of an up-to-date grower,
so that they may be familiar with the
operations of a complete year. The
course of instruction is under the direc-
tion of a successful commercial fruit-
grower, who gives the practical in-
struction in the orchards and by means
of lectures.

At the end of the course, in July,
an examination is held and certificates
awarded to those students who satisfy
the examiners in the different subjects
of the course, and who have regularly
attended the lectures and _ practical
classes.

Students in the Horticultural course
can obtain instruction in Poultry and
Bee-keeping, and have access to all the
College equipment—library, reading-
room, museum, ete. They are under
the same rules and regulations with
regard to fees, residence, etc., as other
students attending the College, details
of which will be found in the College
prospectus.

The following is an out-line of the work
to be completed in the two years
course :—

Horiculture,

COMMERCIAL FE'RUIT GROWING COURSE.
@uiTH.)

First Year.—Preparation of and _ set-
ting out ground for planting. Best
time of year to plant. Method of plant-
ing. Proportion of acreage according
to capital and labour obtainable. Selec-
tion of suitable varieties for different
soils and situations. Proportion of varie-
ties in order to obtain a continual supply
of produce. Care of plantations. Wire-
ing to prevent damage by rabbits, hares,
etc. Staking and trying. Winter pruning
of apples, pears, plums, currants, goose-
berries, etc. Summer pruning. Selec-
tion of stocks. Grafting and budding.
Cultivation and manuring, Gathering.
grading, and packing.

Practical Work.—Planting, pruning,
grafting, budding and staking trees.
Gathering, grading and packing fruit.
Washing trees and bushes for insect and
fun goid: pests.

Second VYear.—Selection of a farm.
Suitable localities for fruit growing.
Situations—desirable and _ otherwise.
Capital required. Agreements, rent, etc.
Remodelling old plantations. Manage-
ment of orchards. Utilization of wall
space. Recognition of varieties. Pack-
ing and marketing. Piece-work and
management of men. Cost of planting.
Cost of upkeep. Returns.

Facilities are obtained to enable stu-
dents to visit other fruit farms where
fruit-growing operations on _ practical
commercial lines may be seen in progress.

Practical Work.—Planting, pruning,
grafting, budding, ete. Selection and
valuation of trees for planting. Naming
varieties. Gathering, grading and pack-
ing fruit.

VEGETABLE CULTURE.

General principles underlying the grow-
ing,storing,and marketing of vegetables.
Special requirements, cultivation, man-
uring, and general management of dif-
ferent vegetable crops. Forcing—veget-
ables under’ glass--French systems.
Market houses: their construction and
management. Propagation by seeds,
cuttings, layers, ete. Special crops:
watereress, mushrooms, mint, lavender.
Disposal and sale of vegetables; sys-
tems of marketing.

Practical Work.—Students will take
part in the cultivation of the market
garden and vegetable grounds and in
the work of the glasshouses, &ce.

CHEMISTRY.

First YVear.—Chemistry of the com-
moner elements and their chief com-

340

“temperature and moisture.

“i

pounds, Elementary physical chemistry,
A limited number of types of organic
compounds. s

The Plant.—Constituents of plants and
their distribution. The relation of the
plant to air, water, light, food material
in the soil. Chemical changes during
germination, growth and maturation.
Effects of soil, season and manuring.

Second Year.—The Soil. Origin, com-
position, chemical and physical proper-
ties of soils, Relation of soil to temper-
ature and water. Effect of tillage. Im-
provement of soils.

Manures.—Composition of dung, chan-

ges which it undergoes in the heap

and inthe soil. Green manuring. Origin,
composition and properties of the chief
artificial manures, their action and value
under different conditions of climate
and soil. Chemistry of sprays and
washes.

Practical work in the laboratory is
concurrent with the lectures, and special
attention is paid to experiments illus-
trating the chemical changes which take
place during germination and growth
of plants, and to the chemical and
physical properties of soils and manures.
Analysis of soils and manures is also
included in the course.

HORTICULTURAL BOTANY.

The Structure and Functions of a
Flowering Plant. The flower—seed -
seed testing—seedlings and germination
—root—stem—leaf.

The Plant in relation to Soil and
Food. Chemical composition—the soil—
the food of plants—artificial cultures—
manures,

Methods of reproduction. Vegetative
propagation—cuttings, layering, ete.
Pollination—fertilisation—hy bridisation.
Improvements of plants by selection
and cross fertilisation. Mendel’s Law
and its application.

Power of Recovery from _ Injuries.
The effect on the plant of bruising, cut-
ting, pruning, grafting, ete.

The Plant in relation to its Surround-
ings. Damage caused by extremes of
Methods
tried for protecting fruit trees against
late spring frosts.

Injury caused by Fungus Pests and
Lichens. Character of a fungus—differ-
ent types ot fungi.

Classification of plants. Characters of
the principal natural orders to which
fruit trees and vegetables belong. Re-
cognition of plants by vegetative
characters.

i, oa
€ . ne

‘[APRiL, 1910.

een Mee.) Rat

Apri, 1910.]

a

Habits of Growth of different types
of Weeds. Methods of extermination.

Practical Work.—Hach lecture will be
followed by practical work in the labor-
atory or out of doors.

Economic MycoLoey.

First Year.—The life-history of the
chief fungus pests of cultivated fruit
and vegetables. The use of preventive
measures, and the preparation and
application of fungicides. Spraying
machinery ; hand and power pumps.

Second Year.—Gereral classification of
parasitic fungi. Detection of fungus
pests inthe field, and their determin-
ation in the laboratory. The conditions
inducing predisposition of cultivated
plants to disease. Indirect methods of
control of plant diseases (treatment ot
seed or stock, special manuring and
eultivation). Plant-breeding in relation
to resistance to disease, The control
of fungus diseases by legislation. ‘! The
Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1907.”

For Honowrs.—Original investigation
of problems in plant pathology will be
required of each student during a third
year’s course.

ECONOMIC KNTOMOLOGY.

Insect pests of apple, currant, cherry,
damson, gooseberry, loganberry, peach,
plum, raspberry, strawberry, vine.
Fumigation, sprays and spraying. In-

341 Horiculture.

sect pests of onion, carrot, beet, tur
nips, celery, cabbage—wireworm, leather
jackets, surface larvae, centipedes and
millipedes, rose pests, carnation and
other fly maggots, hothouse seale insects.
Practical work of observing insect pests
and their damage, and of applying
preventive and remedial measures in
the orchards.

For Honours.—Original investigation
of problems connected with insects
attacking fruit and vegetable crops will
be required of each student during a
third year’s course,

Book-KEEPING.

Principles and methods of keeping
accounts by singleand double entry.
simple and concise method of keeping
fruit-growers’ and market gardeners’
accounts. Use of cash hook; ledger,
sales book and wages book. Preparation
of profit and loss accounts. Balance
sheet and capital account.

ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION.

The elements of political economy—
land, labour; capital, rates and taxes,
free trade, protection, money, the re-
lation of the State to the producer.
Legislation affecting fruit-growers.

WoopDWORK,

_ Instruction will be given in the shops
in practical carpentry, making frames,
lights, ete.

LIVE STOCK.

ANTI-RINDERPEST SERUM, ITS
PRODUCTION AND USE.

By Dr. C. G. THOMSON, D.V.M_,,

Veterinarian in Charge of Serum Labor-
atory, Alabang Stock Farm, Alabang,
; Rizal, P. I,

(Krom the Philippine Agricultural Re-
view, Vol. II., No, 12, December, 1909.)
Rinderpest has probably caused greater
losses to owners of cattle than any other
one disease. It has existed for centuries
in Asia, was introduced into EKurope
about two hundred years ago and later
into Africa. Millions of animals have
succumbed to its ravages in different
countries during the past two or three
centuries. It may be readily understood

' why individuals and governments have

madeevery effort in their search for
some instrument to use in the sup-
pression of so appalling a scourge. It
was rinderpest that first called forth

*

government aid in the support of veterin-
ary colleges and the institution of veterin-
ary police regulations. In the early
ages, all of the crude drugs and treat-
ments were applied to the disease, and
with the advance of the medical sciences
more progressive methods were made
available. But no success was attained
until after the discovery of the bacterial
origin of disease, with the subsequent
development of serum therapy and ifs
application to rinderpest. Science ex-
perimented with all of the thousands of
drugs and compounds of the pharmacist,
but ultimately ascertained that the
preventative for rinderpest could be
obtained from but one source, the body
of the susceptible animal, in the form of
blood-serum.

Anti-rinderpest serum is the fluid
portion of the blood of cattle which have
been immunized against rinderpest and
subsequently manipulated to a state of
high resistance to the disease. It is
adnfinistered by subcutaneous inocu-

Live Stock. - B4Q-

lation into cattle and carabaos, con-
ferring upon them a period of immunity
that may endure from one to four or
five months, during which time they
will not contract rinderpest even if
exposed. It is merely protective, not
curative in action, isof no value in any
disease but 1inderpest, and is harmless
to any animal.

The method by which animals prepare
substances which are active against
disease is a very interesting study, not
yet fully solved, and too complex a
probiem for more than superficial dis-
cussion here. A brief mention of the
general theory will suffice. Itis gener-
ally known that following an attack
and recovery from an infectious disease,
there ensues a period during which the
animal is not susceptible to another
attack of the same disease. The duration
of this immunity varies in the different
diseases. Following foot-and-mouth dis-
-ease the immunity is for but a few
months at best, while in rinderpest it is
permanent. This immunity is due to
the presence in the blood of certain sub-
stances called “ anti-toxins,” substances
which have been prepared by the body
forces by reason of the stimulation
afforded by the presence of the disease
germs. These anti-toxins destroy any
similar germs that may subsequently
enter the body.

The harmful action of various disease
germs is exerted through poisons which
they prepare and set free in the body.
That is, bacteria, gaining entrance into
an animal, do not create disease or cause
death mechanically, by reason of theic
mere physical presence, but by means of
poisons, toxins, which they produce.

This is true particularly of the more -

severe diseases of animals and men, such
as rinderpest, diphtheria, and tetanus,
Similarly, the body in its effort to over-
come and eliminate the disease prepares
its substances, anti-poisons or anti-
toxins, which are poisonous to the bac-
teria. The blood-serum and certain forms
of cells are credited with the production
of these anti-toxins. They are carried in
solution in the blood, and circulate into
all portions of the body, to encounter
and neutralize the toxins, and inhibit
the multiplication of the germs. Thus
the entrance of disease germs into the
body is followed by a struggle between
thetoxins of thegerms and the anti-toxins
prepared by the body. Asin any battle,
the issue depends upon the strength and
numbers of the combatants, If the
bacteria win, the animal dies; if the
body wins,it is because it has prepared
sufficiently powerful and numerous anti-

we ¢. 7 aS. 5S
= re 4 =

[APRIL
toxins, set them free in the blood,
and thus neutralized the toxins and
destroyed the germs. _

In rinderpest, the anti-toxins are re-
tained indefinitely, circulate in the body
fluid and perpetually guard against
another infection by rinderpest germs.
Not only will these anti-toxins protect
the immune animal from the disease,
but if his blood be drawn and the serum
inoculated into a susceptible animal, it
will also serve for the latter’s protection.
In other words, the anti-toxin is active
when withdrawn from recovered animals
and injected into others. Itis this fact
that permits of serum treatment.

An animal that has just recovered
from rinderpest and is therefore immune.
is not ready for serum production, as its
blood does not contain the requisite
number and strength of anti-toxin to
protect an animal which is inoculated
with a small dose of serum. Itis true
that ifa large amount of blood were
drawn, the serum separated and inocu-
lated into another animal, the protection
afforded would be ample, but this
course is not practicable. For economy
and convenience itis necessary to pro-
duce a powerful serum, so that a
small inoculation will furnish the
desired degree of protection. In order
to accomplish this strengthening of
the serum, itis necessary to administer
gradually increasing doses of the germs
of rinderpest, which, while harmless to
the now immune animal, cause him to
produce more powerful anti-toxins to
neutralize the injected virus, These in-
jections are givenin a regular series,
a regular dose being given each time,
until a stage is reached when the animal
is considered as fit for serum production
and is bled. :

In the preparation of anti-rinderpest
serum, practical application is made of
this theory. But few animals are
immune to rinderpest when admitted
into the serum head, so the first step
necessary is to pass them through the
disease. A mild form of rinderpest is
induced by the inoculation of a small
amount of virulent blood and a large
dose of serum. The serum is given to
inhibit the action of the disease, so that
the animal will recover after enduring a
light attack of rinderpest. The more
violent symptoms seldom develop in
animals so treated. If the serum were
not given, a mortality of about 90 per
cent. might be expected, but with its

use the percentage is reversed. Usually

the disease is in evidence within a
week after the injection of virulent
blood, and subsides after another ten

days. The animal has now experiendce

© APRIL, 1910,}

rinderpest and is immune for all time.
The blood serum contains the normal
anti-toxins of immune animals, which
must now bestimulated tomuch greater
activity.

The immune animal is maintained
under good care and careful feeding until
normal tone and good flesh is recovered,
and then injected with a larger dose of
virus, 10 cubic centimeters being given
at this time. Neither this nor any of
the succeeding injections is followed by
any visible reaction. About ten days
later, 100 cubic centimeters is injected,
and ten days later this is followed by
600 cubic centimeters. A week later,
the animal is bled the first time. Sub-
~ sequently, at certain intervals between
bleedings, injections of 1,000, 1,500, 2,000,
5,000, and 8,000 cubic centimeters are
given. Three bleedings are made in as
many weeks between each of the series
of injection of virus. Following the last
bleeding after the injection of 3,000 cubic
centimeters of virus, the work of im-
munizing the animal is completed and it
is sold at public auction, The process
of hyperimmunization could be carried
a few steps further, but it is abandoned
at this stage, the cost of the virus being
out of proportion to the advantage of
maintaining the same animal in the
herd,

In the production of any serum it is
necessary to use large amounts of the
virus of the disease against which the
serum is to operate. In some cases the
germ may be isolated and grown arti-
ficially, but this is not true of rinder-
pest. The only known method of ob-
taining rinderpest virus is from the
bodies of sick animals. A quantity of
virulent blood must be available about
twice a week. For this purpose small
male cattle are infected with rinderpest
and bled to death at the.stage when
the temperature is at maximum height,
when the blood contains the most power-
ful toxins, and more, blood may: be
obtained than at a later period when
the animals are emaciated by the as-
sault of the disease. Two hours before
death, 10 to 15 liters of weak saline
solution is introduced into the abdomi-
nal cavity at body temperature, and is
secured after death. Itis used for in-
jection in the same manner as the blood,
being of nearly equal virulence, and
producing similar reaction. By the use
of this abdominal fluid we double the
quantity of virus obtainable from each
animal, reducing by one-half the expen-
diture for animals for virus. This class
of animal is bled to death from the
carotid artery.

In bleeding for serum the animals are
confined on an operating table and the

348

Live Stock.

blood withdrawn from the jugular vein
by méans of hollow needles connected
by rubber tubes to special serum flasks,
from which the air has been exhausted
to tacilitate the passage of blood. Three
liters is usually taken from each animal
at one bleeding. No ill-effects attend
the operation, unless a slight dizziness,
that is occasionally observed, is worthy
of mention. The blood is received into
tall cylindrical flasks, kept at room
temperature for six hours and then
placed in cold storage for the balance
of twenty-four hours. During this time
the blood coagulates, a firm clot drawn
by means of side tubes with which the
flasks are provided, and is ready for
use aiter being passed through porous
filters for sterilization. For shipment
into the provinces the serum is put up
in bottles of 800 cubic centimeters,
enough for the inoculation of six ani-
mals. Every flask, bottle, tube, and
instrument used in connection with the
production of serum is subjected to
sterilization by steam heat, and every
possible precaution taken to prevent
contamination.

The important essentials for satisfac-
tory serum animals are size, youth,
docility, general soundness, and sus-
ceptibility to rinderpest, Chinese steers
are in many ways the best animals in
the Kast for serum purposes, but very
few of this type have been available
during the past year because of the
prevalence of infectious diseases at the
sources of supply, The serum herd is at
present made up largely of Indo-Chinese
ani.aals, which are larger but more dffi-
cult to handle and maintain in good
condition, The cattle are highly fed, as
otherwise the continual bleeding would
result in emaciation. They are stalled
in large open sheds, being allowed
several hours’ exercise in the pastures
each day, excepting one day immediate-
ly preceding and one day following
bleeding or inoculation. It might be
said that they enjoy their existence at
the laboratory, as it is certainly an easy
one. Each animal is retained for about
a year and then sold, bringing consider-
ably more than its purchase price, the
added value lying in its immunity to
rinderpest and good condition upon dis-
charge from the herd.

At present the serum herd is composed
of about three hundred head, all of
which are in actual use for serum pro-
duction, With this large herd the
weekly production has averaged 180
liters, or sufficient to inoculate over 3,000
cattle or carabaos with the usual dose
of 50 cubic centimeters.

Lave, Stock. 344

In the field work against rinderpest,
the serum is injected subcutaneously by
means of hypodermic syringes, each ani-
mal treated being given a dose of 50
cubic centimeters. There is but sligbt
pain attendant upon the injection, as
it is performed with small needles that
are merely thrust through a loose fold
of the skin. Excepting with very nervous
animals, it is unnecessary to confine the
cattle during the operation otherwise
than in rough stocks. The antitoxinis
active almost immediately after the
injection, as the serum is rapidly ab-
sorbed into the blood. The serum is
perfectly harmless, the inoculation being
followed by neither a local nor a syste-
matic reaction. There is no reason why
a moment’s time should be lost from
work, excepting the time necessary to
bring the animal to the place appointed
for the inoculations, the one or two
minutes necessary for the injection,
and its return to the field.

The degree of protection afforded
auimals by the inoculation of 50 cubic
centimeters of serum varies consider-
ably, because of differences in their
natural susceptibility, in the virulence
of each outbreak, in the strength of
the serum, and cther remote causes.
The usual result is -an immunity ex-
tending over a period of from one to
four or five months. During this time
the inoculated animals are as a rule
immune to infection despite possible
exposure. A small percentage of treated
animals are infected-in spite of the
inoculation, but in these the disease is
usually in light form and a majority
recover. These light attacks and re-
coveries are highly desirable from the
owners’ viewpoint, as they result in
permanent immunity of the affected
animals. They interfere with the work
of the Bureau, however, as an animal
suffering from a mild form of disease
may spread the contagion as rapidly
and widely as one which experiences
an acute form and eventually dies.

The Bureau of Agriculture has been
preparing and using anti-rinderpest
serum tor about> three years, during
which time almost uniformly good re-
sults have been obtained in handling
rinderpest by the serum method. For
a long time there was a disinclination
among owrers to assemble their animals
for inoculation, but more recently little
difficnlty has been experienced in effect-
ing the necessary treatments.

A few complaints have been registered
against the serum, as inoculations fail
at times to produce the desired immu-
nity. It must be borne in mind that
there is no serum or treatment for any

” Sees

disease that will be efficient for every

individual. Even with the most power-
ful serum it cannot be hoped that
every treated animal will escape in-
fection. Anti-1inderpest serum, properly
prepared and kept, will protect over
90 per cent. of treated animals, as
shown by the results obtained during
the past two years. In the fiscal year
of 1907, a total of 16,495 animals were
inoculated, with 269 reported deaths,
a mortality of 16 per cent. In 1908 a
total of 21,005 were treated, with a
mortality of 621, or 2°95 per cent. It
is impossible that all deaths following
inoculation were reported. ~

A majority of justified complaints ;

are attributable to the serum being
aged when used. It is of delicate organ-
ization, deteriorating rapidly unless kept
cool, and is particularly susceptible to
the action of thesun. As cool storage
is seldom available in passage of freight,
serum may be considered as losiag in
efficiency with each day following ship-
ment from Manila.

There is prevalent in some quarters
a mistaken impression that the serum
is a curative agent. As has been often
pointed out, its action is alrnost wholly
preventative, but slight benefit being
derived from inoculation of sick animals.
The serum, injected before disease has
fastened upon an animal, may combat
entering germs and prevent their pro-
voking the anatomical changes charac-
teristic of riuderpest, but after these
changes have occurred the serum is
practically worthless.

In the suppression of any infectious
disease, the object in view is ths des-
truction of the germs of thedisease. In
HKurope and America, where funds are
available for the purpose, this is aeccom-
plished by the slaughtering of all animals
that are sick ov exposed, and the disinfec-
tion of all infected premises, Indemnity
is paid for all animals destroyed, and the
careases are either burned, disinfected
chemically, or buried at a depth that
precludes the possibility of infection
rising from that source. This is of
course the best method of handling
infectious diseases, butis not possible
here at present because of the lack of
funds to indemnify owners of destroyed
animals, In the absence of means to
haudje rinderpest in this way, the
method now in practice is the best that
can be pursued.

The theory involved in the serum
method is the rendering immune of all
susceptible animals in infected districts,
the confining of the sick in corrals, the
limitation of the movement of suseep-
tible animals so far as possible, and the

J ca!
"[ApRit, 1910,

Poet ap ca ed
BO erie, 1910;)-

nO ee Pe ee

disinfection of infected premises. Asin
the other method, the effort is toward
the destruction of the virus, but less
directly, the idea being that all animals

- having been rendered immune for the

time being by seram inoculation, the
disease will be checked automatically
because of the want of susceptible
animals in which to propagate. Fur ther
spread of the infection is controlled by
the isolation of the sick, that they may
not come in contact with the healthy
animals. The object in_ establishing
quarantine lines to control the exit of
carabaos and cattle is to prevent the
earrying of the contagion by animals
which are in the initial stages of the
disease and therefore not readily recog-
nised as having it.

It is unnecessary to add that it has
never been possidle to accomplish per-
fectly the four essential principles, viz.,
(1) inoculation of all susceptible animals,
(2) isolation of the sick, (3) quarantine,
and (4) disinfection of infected areas.
It is difficult to gather every animal for
inoculation, even if the supply of serum
is ample, which has seldom been the case.
Owners of sick animals often conceal
them to prevent their isolation. Lawless
individuals too often evade the quaran-
tine lines, escaping with thei: animals
into clein districts and spreading the
diseases as they go. The infected areas
are often so large that complete dis-
infection is impracticable.

To a great extent the chief factors
that have interfered in the work have
been attended with the publiec’s lack of
knowledge of the general conditions
tending toward the spread of the
disease. This is of much less significance
now, as stock owners are taking a keener
interest in the problem, and express-
ing this interest by more satisfactory
co-operation.

Rinderpest, because of its short period
of incubation, ready identification,
limitation to ruminants, short life of the
virus inthe sun, and. availability of
serum therapy, is more readily suppress-
ed than some of the other infections
diseases, providing itis possible to in-
stitute idevl conditions in the work.
Failing in any of those conditions, it is
one of the most difficult to handle, be-
cause of the extreme rapidity with
which the contagion of rinderpest is
disseminated.

The rapid elimination of rinderpest as
agrave factorin the economy of the
Islands seems assured, now that the
entrance of the disease has been im-
peded by legislation, satisfactory quar-
antine facilities have been provided for

44 ~

2}
v

15 ; Live Stock.

cattle at each port of entry, a large corps
of veterinarians have been stationed in
the provinces, the serum laboratory
has been improved to*meet the increased
demand for serum, and the public
aroused to the necessity of intelligent
activity in their own defence,

Diseases which may be mistaken for
Rinderpest are :—

I. Malignant Catarrh of Cattle.—In
many respects this disease resembles
Rinderpest, but there is excessive swel-
ling of the eyes, there is no active con-
tagion and the disease does not run
through the herd.

Il, Thrush of the Mouth.—This occurs
only in very young stock, fever is absent
and abdominal derangement is slight.

Ill. Foot-and-Mouth Disease.—The le-
sions in the mouth appear more like
blisters, and when they break leave a
healthy-looking red pateh. Fever is
slight and diarrhoea is absent. Jn foot-
and-mouth disease the feet are nearly
always affected and the disease is
seldom fatal.

IV. Dysentery.—In this there are no
lesions in the mouth, the _ peculiar
Rinderpest odour is absent and it does
not spread.

V. Gastro-Enteritis.—This disease has
recently been brought to notice in
British East Africa, and in many cases
its resemblance to Rinderpest is remark-
able. In some animals which succumb
to the disease the lesions are identical
with those of Rinderpest. The chief
points of difference are (a) Full grown
animals trequently recover. (b) It is
the young stock which die, and in these
anzeemia is nearly always constant,
whereas in Rinderpest every mucous
surface isin a state of congestion. (c)
The Rinderpest odour is absent. (d)
Diarrhoea is not so severe asin Rinder-
pest, there is not the constant straining
with exposure of the rectum, (e) The
spread of the disease is slower than in
Rinderpest.

Mortality.x—On the introduction of
Rinderpest into a country in which it
has not previously existed the mortality
reaches 90 to 95 per cent. In countries
where Rinderpest is endemic, or at the
end of an outbreak which has lasted a
considerable time, and when the virus
has become attenuated the mortality is
not so great, the figures varying from
10 to 50 per cent.

Inoculation for Rinderpest.—In 1897
Koch advocated subeutaneous inocu-
lation of clean animals in the vicinity of
a Rinderpest area with bile taken from
an animal just dead of Rinderpest, or

Live Stock.

slaughtered in a late stage of the disease,
The best bile is that obtained from an
animal which is killgd on the tenth day
after artificial infection, or on the fourth
or fifth day after visible signs of disease
are noticed.

The results of bile inuculation have-

been very varied. Thereis no doubt that
it saved many thousands of cattle in the
outbreak of 1896 in South Africa, but the
difficulty is to know the exact properties
of the bile employed.

It is probable that the bile of an ani-
mal affected with Rinderpest contains
the active virus of Rinderpest, and also
some immunising substance is formed in
this bile. The proportions of the virus
and immunising substance vary, so that
in one bile the virus may so far predomi-
nate as to produce an active immunity
or even a fatal attack of Rinderpest
when injected into a susceptible animal.
In another bile the immunising sub-
stance may be in sufficient. quantity
to render negative the action of the
Rinderpest Virus and thus produce
merely a passive immunity lasting for
a@ varying and uncertain time. Itappears
that this virus which exists in Rinder-
pest bile is modified in biles of animals
which have been sick for more than six
days by this immunising substance. It
is certain that inoculation with fresh
Rinderpest bile has produced Rinder-
pest, but itis generally admitted that
if a bile is kept for twoor three days
it will not cause the disease. Although
in the early days of bile inoculation,
only biles of a dark green colour with
a white froth were used, it has since
been found that all clear biles may be
used except those which are blood
tinged, very thin, light yellow, cloudy
or with a putrid smell.

To ensure as far as possible that the
bile used for inocwating a herd should
have auniform effect, itis advisable to
mix those biles which are all right and
to use the mixed bile within 36 hours
of being drawn. Shoulda supply of ice
be procurable the bile may be kept for
four days. It is not advisable to keep
it longer as its immunising powers will
deteriorate. Immunity results from the
sixth to tenth day, the former being the
earliest date at which it appears and
the latter the latest. Immunity lasts
for periods varying from three weeks to
six months.

To inoculate one hundred head of
eattle the biles of about seven Rinder-
pest animalsare required,

To extract the Bile.—Lay the animal
on its left side. Cut through the skin
and flesh behind the last rib, lift up
the ribs and the gail bladder is seen, °

2406 : [Apr 1910:

Sie eo) = =
e ~

Ulensils required.—A knife or small
trocar and canula, wide mouthed stop-
pered bottles, or ordinary bottles and a
funnel. These should be well boiled
before using. The hands of the operator
should be cleaned and sterilised: The
gall-bladder is raised in the left hand
of the operator and asharp stab made
into it with the knife or trocar and
canula, taking care nct to cut one
of the small veins on the _ bladder.
An assistant is ready to catch the bile in
the funneland bottle asit flows out of
the bladder, The biles should be kept
separate for a few hours; those which
are alright should then be mixed _to-
gether, and unless kept on ice, should be
used on the second day after being taken.
Neither the person who extracts the bile
nor any one who has been in contact-
with the diseased animal should go near
the herd to beinoculated until they have
thoroughly disinfected clothes, boots,
hands, ete.

The best seat for inoculation is behind
the elbow or in the dewlap, and care
must be taken that the needle does not
enter the flesh, it should pass between
the skin and the flesh. The dose of bile
recommended is 10 ec.c. Some of the
mixed bile is poured into a clean cup,
which, when the bile is not being taken
out of it, should be covered with a piece
of linen which has been wrung outina
solution of Jeye’s fluid or other disinfec-
tant. The needle should be wiped after
each inoculation with a rag soaked in
Jeye’s fluid, as should the seat of inocu-
lation, the operator’s hand and syringe.

It is most important to see that every-
thing used is scrupulously clean and
disinfected after the inoculation of each
individual animal.

Drawbacks to Bile Inoculation.— (a)
Inoculation with pure bile does not
produce immunity for from six to ten
days, so that an animal may contract
Rinderpest naturally if exposed to infec-
tion before that time has elapsed.

(b) On account of the impossibility of
determining the exact strength of the
immunising properties of bile, the result
can never be certain.

(c) It is necessary to kill seven animals
to obtain bile with which to innoculate
one hundred head of cattle. (This bile
is much better when obtained from an
animal at a certain stage of disease, Viz.,
the tenth day after artificial infection,
than from an animal which has died of
Rinderpest. ]

(d) The bile cannot be kept more than
a few days, and therefore must he ab-
tained on the spot,

PT et ee a a - |

Apa, 1910.)

EN VER RO es RR ye ghey

Fin eee nit Be.

Glycerinated Bile.—Koch having shown
that Glycerine destroyed the virulence
of Rinderpest blood, HKdington, in order
to minimise the risk of introducing a
fresh outbreak of Rinderpest by the
inoculation of pure bile, adopted the
method of mixing one part of Rinder-
pest bile with two parts of Glycerine,
and leaving it to stand for eight days.

The injection of sucha mixture pro-
duces a passive immunity which by
repeated injections may.be maintained
until an outbreak has died ont.

An active immunity is frequently con-
ferred by the injection of a dose varying
from 15 to 35 c.c. (According to the size of
the animal) followed ten days later by
the injection of 0-1 c.e. of virulent blood.
Ten to fourteen days later a second dose
of 1 ce. of virulent blood isinjected, and
this in some cases produces a strong
active immunity.

In practice, however, in many herds
thus inoculated, no visible reaction
followed the first dose of 0-1 cc. of
virulent blood, while the second dose of
1c.ec. produces fatal attacks of Rinder-

pest. In other instances even the blood.

inoculation produced Rinderpest. These
results were due to the unknown
strength of the immunising properties
of the bile. —

To produce an active immunity by
this method, without great mortality,
the injection of a large dose of glycerin-
ated bile, followed by several blood
injections beginning with an infinites-
simal quantity and gradually increasing
the dose is necessary. This is impracti-
cable on a large scale.

Glycerinated bile will keep for a very
long time, and its use is advisable to
confer a passive immunity ona clean
herd exposed to possible infection, until
such infection has ceased.

Inoculation by Serum and Defibrinated
Blood.—In 1897 it was shown by Koch
that 100 c.c. of defibrinated blood, taken
from an animal which had recently
recovered from Rinderpest, and injected
into a susceptible animal, would pro-
tect such animal temporarily from in-
fection. Thisimmunity was only passive
and of short duration.

In order to produce an active immu-
nity, susceptible animals, after being
inoculated with 100 ec.ec. of salted defi-
brinated blood, were exposed to natural
infection of Rinderpest, by placing them
with a Rinderpest herd or smearing
their noses with discharges from Rinder-
pest animals. This in many cases pro-
duced a mild attack of the disease with
subsequent immunity; but since in
some cases the losses in a herd thus

347

Live Stock,

treated amounted to 24 per cent., the

method was discontinued in_ favour of

Pe goon: method of Turner and
olle.

Serum and defibrinated blood exert
the same influence, but 20 ec.c. of the
former are equal to 80 ¢.e. of the latter;
and while the blood must be used fresh,
serum to which 4 per cent. of carbolic
acid has been added will preserve its
immunising power for many months.

Drs, Danysz and Bordet recognised
the advantage of fortifying the re-
covered animals which were used for
the production of salted blood. They
say, ‘‘The production of the preventive
substances in the blood is the direct
result of a reaction of the organism
against the disease, hence, the more
serious the disease Has been, the more
the influence exercised on the body
of the animal, and, consequently, the
protective qualities of its bloéod will
be the stronger. Therefore, in order
to obtain a very powerfully active
curative blood, the recovered animal
received repeated injections of virulent
blood in increasing doses. The more
injections of virulent blood applied
under these conditions, the more active
will the blood of the animal become.”

The Serum simultaneous Method of
Turner and Kolle.—This method is the
inoculating a small dose of virulent
blood on one side of the animal at the
same time that the dose of serum which
has been found to produce the required
effect was injected on the other side.
By this means it was claimed that 90
per cent. of the animals had a more
or less severe attack of the disease with
a loss of about 1} per cent., while those
that did not react were still immune
for several months.

The serum is prepared by inoculating
salted animals with 100 c.c. of virulent
blood. This gradually causes a rise of
temperature. When this reaction is
over the dose is increased to 200, 500,
1,000, 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000, c.c. at one in-
jection, always waiting for the veac-
tion from the last inoculation to subside
before administering the succeeding one.

After receiving 1,000 cc. of virulent
blood, the animal is fit to bleed for
the production of serum. About 1,500
c.c. of blood from an animal of 300 lbs.
weight or 3,600 c.c, from an animal of
6CO lbs. weight are taken on three occa-
sions at intervals of about twelve days,
and these three bleedings are repeated
between each of the succeeding injec-
tions of virulent blood.

_ Before being used on a large scale it
is available to test the serum in order

Live Stock.

ascertain the exact dose necessary to
confer an active immunity when _in-
jected simultaneously with virulent
blood.

Serum as a Curative Agent.—Serum
possesses strong curative properties,
but must be employed in a very early
stage of the disease—at the first rise
of temperature—and in very large
doses. Its action is much quicker when
injected directly into the Jugular vein.

The inoculation of serum alone has
the advantage over the bile inoculation
in that it causes immediate full immu-
nity and is a curative agent in the
early part of the disease. It can be
prepared in any quantity and will keep
for many months.

In comparing the merits of the various
methods of inoculation, the conditions
of the country and of the outbreak
must be considered.

In a “country such as British Hast
Africa it is certain that natives will
not give up seven per cent. of their
cattle to provide bile with which to
inoculate their herds; in addition to
this, bile has other drawbacks which
have been mentioned before.

Whether for producing an active or
a passive immunity, the serum inocu-
lation stands alone. The objection to
producing an active immunity is that
one must use virulent blood and thus
introduce Rinderpest and possibily other
diseases also in a country in which in-
tectious cattle affections are common,
In acountry in which Rinderpest occurs,
and in which there is a probability of
its remaining a long time, it is advis-
able to confer anactiveimmunity. In
an isolated outbreak of short duration
a passive immunity is sufficient to pro-
tect cattle during the short time they
will be exposed to contagion.

Rinderpest in British East Africa.—
Since the outbreak which caused such
mortality in 1892 onwards, no outbreak
on a large seale has occurred South or
West of the Tana river. In 1907 Rinder-
pest was brought from Italian Somali-

348

(APRIL, ‘190.

land, crossed the Juba, and came by
Afmadu and Biskaya to the mainland
opposite Lamu island. This outbreak
was undoubtedly due to Somalis trad-
ing cattle. In some marvellous manner
it did not cross the Tana river, pos-
sibly there was no inducement for
natives to take cattle over, nor does it
appear to have exten ded very far West.

Knowledge regarding the existence of
Rinderpest, or in fact of any cattle
epidemic in Italian Somaliland or the
Boran country is very vague and de-
pends chiefly on Native rumours or on
information given by white traders.

It is possible that in these countries
Rinderpest is endemic and smoulders
on, carrying off a few cattle each year
about which we hear nothing, since it
is not until their cattle die in great
numbers that natives take any notice.
It must not be forgotten, however,
that, if by any chance a sick animal
were brought into the settled districts,
Rinderpest would cause enormous havoc.

It is manifest that to form a serum
station, one must first obtain Rinder-
pest blood or an animal with Rinder-
pest. Search was made in Tana land
in 1908, but no Ritderpest could be
found; the formation of the station had
therefore to be abandoned.

Regarding the site for sucha station,
an island off the Coast, whenee con-
tagion could not spread to the main-
land, would be the most suitable place ;
but before finally determining the exact
spol, it would be advisable to make
certain that Tsetse Fly does not exist
there. Once this is determined, some
salted cattle might be obtained from
the mainland near Lamu and kept
handy, to be ready for fortification
for serum production as soon as Rinder-.
pest blood could be obtained. Should
Rinderpest make its appearance from
Uganda or Abyssinia unless serum
eould be obtained from another country,
inoculation with bile would have to
be carried on, until a serum Station
could be started upcountry.

APIGULTURE.

UNITING BEES IN THE FALL.
‘Krom Gleanings in Bee Cultwre, Vol.
XXVII., No. 19, October, 1909.)

A correspondent writes: “‘I have
quite a few weak colonies of bees that I
wish to unite this fall. How should it
be done?”

Select two weak colonies as close to-
gether as possible, and bring them, say,
two or three feet toward each other
every time the bees have days of flight

until the hives stand side by side. Then
leave them until the bees have done one
good flight while the hives are close
together, and after this the colonies may
be united at any time when the temper-
ature is 55° F., or above. Sort out from
the two hives combs contairing the most
honey, or at least sufficient for winter
stores—an amount that should not be
less than 25 lbs. Set these combs in the
hive the best way to occupy in the
winter, alternating combs from each
hive so that the bees will not quarrel.

: APRIL, 1910.)

Having these combs of honey in the
hive, put the cover on and shake all the
bees from the remaining combs, shaking
a comb first from one hive then from the
other. The work is now done as soon as
the bees have run into the hive, and the
empty hive with the remainijg combs
is stored away. ;
Where there aremany weak colonies
to unite, orif, asin the case of a queen-
breeder, there are from 50 to 500 nuclei
to unite, the above plan involves a large
amount of work, especialiy if such weak
colonies are scattered some distance
apart. Years ago Hlisha Gallup told
how to make natural swarms artificially
by first smoking the bees and then alarm-
ing them by rapping on the hive witha
stick, thus causing them to fill them-
selves with honey. After they were
filled. with honey, the larger part of
them were drummed intoa box by the
means usually pursued in drumming out
bees. When asufficient number were in
the box it was carried to the new loca-
tion and left leaning up against some-
thing for acouple of hours. After this
the bees could be hived the same as
though they were from a natural swarm,
I tried this same plan for uniting,
except that I got all of the bees from
two hives into the box, and it worked
fairly well until I tried uniting queenless
bees from nuclei from which I had pre-
viously sold the queens. I found that I
could not make the queenless bees stay
in the box, as the mother-queen is needed
to keep them contented. To overcome
this difficulty I made a cage from the
upper story of a tiered-up-hive, putting
wire cloth on the top and bottom, the
bottom piece being nailed to a frame
that was fastened with hooks to the
hive sc that I could remove it when I
wished. A hole was bored through one
side of the hive, which side now became
the top of the cage. The hole was just
right to permit the small end of a funnel,
such as was used for putting up bees by

the pound for shipping over the country ,

on the plan so much in vogue fifteen or
twenty years ago. Over the hole was
arranged a large flat wooden button
which could be turned so as to open or
close the opening as desired.

With this cage I proceeded to a queen-
less nucleus and blew smoke in at the
entrance, after which I gave the side of
its hive several blows with my foot or
fist. Then I went to another hive and
did the same thing. After this I re-
turned to the first hive. and repeated the
performance, and the: again on the
second hive. By this time the roaring
of the bees inside indicated that they
were filling with honey—just what [
wished them to do. I therefore waited

349

Apiculture.

a minute or two for the bees to take all
the honey they would, and as soonas
they were filled I shook them into the
funnel so that they rolled down through
it into the cage below. Isoon had in the
cage all the beesof the nucleus except
the few that were in the corners of
the hive or those that took wing
before they struck the funnel. Then
closing the hole with the button I
went to the next nucleus, removed the
cover, ete., ready for shaking, and set
the cage down quickly so as to jar all
the bees in it to the bottom. I soon had
the bees of that nucleus in the cage also.

If I wished to get the bees from more
than two nuclei [ prepared three or four
in the manner described before I shook
any, so that no time would be lost in
waiting for the bees to fill with honey.
If four nuclei were smoked and rummed,
the first one would be filled with honey
by the time I got around to it again to
commence shaking. 1 often put as
many as six or eight small nuclei to-
gether to make one good colony for
winter but four is about the maximum
number that can be drummed and
shaken at one time; for if more are’
attempted the bees of the last two or
three commence to unload their honey
before they are shaken.

When I had all that I wished in the
eage, the funnel was taken out and
the hole closed, and I proceeded to get
the queen that I wished to introduce to
them. By bumping the cage on the
ground I again jarred the bees down
to the bottom, and then I immediately
opened the funnel-hole and allowed the
queen to run in. Then I rolled and
tumbled the bees about in the box until
all were thoroughly mixed up and de-
moralized so that all thoughts of fight-
ing or harming the queen had disappear-
ed. After this I put the cage in some
darkened room where the temperature
was about 60 degrees and left it until
near sunset, when I prepared a_ hive
with combs of sealed honey sufficient for
winter stores. By this time I brought
the box of bees from the cellar, took off
the movable wire-cloth side, dumped
out the bees, and hived them as I would
a natural swarm. If I did not have
enough combs of sealed honey for all,

gave empty combs and fed sugar
syrup, as | described lately in Gleanings.

very .essential part in the above
method of uniting is to have the bees
well filled with honey. If [am afraid
that a certain lot of bees in a cage are
not full of honey I jar them down and
put a quarter of a pound of honey or
syrup on them, and then by rolling
them about each one gets its share
until all are full.

350

we ne re eee Py a a ee
7

&

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE,

IMPROVEMENT OF CROPS BY
SEED SELECTION.

By R. C. Woop,
Deputy Director of Agriculture,
Northern Division.

(From the Madras Agricultural Calen-
dar, March, 1910.)

Every one who has observed crops
growing in the flelds, will have noticed
that the plants are not allalike. Thus
in a field of transplanted paddy, some
of the plants will show more side shoots
than others, even though all have the
same amount of space and water. Ina
field of gogu, some plants will have en-
tire leaves, while others will have divid-
ed leaves. In a field of jonna some
plants have close heads, while others
have loose heads. These differences are
easily seen, and are. well known, but
they are not considered of importance.
But plants vary just as much in the

qualities which we cannot see, as in-

their outward shapes, and ina field of
any crop just as in a crowd of men,
there are good and bad mixed up to-
gether. Now, according to the Telugu
proverb which says (vithoo okti vesthe
chettoo okati moluchuna) ‘If you sow
one kind of seed, will a plant of a
different kind spring up?” it follows
that, if we take only seed from the good
plants for sowing the crop next year,
there will be a great improvement.
How may this be effected ? Let us take
the case of cotton, as that isa crop in
which the process has been carried out
for some years at the Nandyal Agri-
cultural Station in the Kurnool district.

The local cotton crop as it grows in
the fields is generally a mixture of red
cotton (yerrapati) and white cotton
(tellapatti), The plants which produce
these differently coloured cottons are
very different in appearance, the yerra-

atti being tall and thin, with short
Peauches. while the tellapatti is a bushy
plant with long branches. It isa great
mistake to allow any mixture of cottons
to be grown in this way, because a
mixed lint is, for various reasons, very
difficuls to spin and weave by machin-
ery, so that the cotton dealers will
not give such a good price for it, as
for a cotton all of one sort. As the
yerrapatti is an inferior plant, it
must be got rid of at once, and ac-
cordingly all the plants of this sort
were pulled out of a corne: of a field,
so that, though the yield was less, the
seed cotton (kappas) picked from that

corner of the field was free from any

admixture, and was kept separate and
not ginned until sowing time. From
this seed next year was grown a field
entirely of tellapatti plants, so that
this simple process led at once to a
crop of increased value. But upon more
careful examination of the crop, it was
found that there were differences even
in these tellapatti plants. Some plants
produced more bolls than others, some
plants ripened earlier than others;
some plants spread out their lower
branches so that they trailed on the
ground and the lint got dirtied, while
others grew tall and shapely with
heavily laden branches and a _ pyra-
midal shape; others again became thin
and produced long upright stems bear-
ing very few bolls. From this it was
clear that further and more careful
selection would have to be made. Ac:
cordingly as the crop began to ripen,
plants were carefully marked in the field
of just the sort it was wished to ob-
tain. The plants were big, strong and
properly branched, were healthy, show-
ed no aphis or leaf spot, produced plenty
of large bolls which opened properly,
with white lint inside. To each of
these trees a small cloth bag was tied,
a number was given, and the lint picked
from each tree and that alone was put
into each bag. Thus at the end of the
season were obtained a number of bags
each containing the produce of asingle
plant. During the hot weather each
of these bags was very carefully ex-
amined in the following way. First,
the kappas from each bag were ginned,
and the seed and the lint separately
weighed. It was fourd as a result that
in some of the bags, 100 tolas weight of
kappas gave 33 tolas weight of lint, while

_ in others only 20 tolas of lint were obtain-

ed. Out of about 150 bags the fifty
showing the highest weight of lint were
kept. The lint of these was then ex-
amined for colour, for strength and for
evenness of staple. These are the three
qualities which are valuable for cotton,
which is to be spun by machinery, and,
as most of the cotton in this district
is bought by mill-owners, it is necessary
to grow only the sort which they want,
as they will then be prepared to give
a better price for it. The twelve that
seemed best were finally chosen and were
sown next season in single lines, one to
each bag, that is, to each of last year’s
plants. The best plants of these rows
were again chosen in the following year,

while the seed from the rest of the .

plants in the twelve rows is used for the

ee.
[AprRit, 1910,

dicks NS ne Sere UNS Rate ae 2 ae Ba, fae

Sy pes
Ree

ordinary farmecrop. Inthe third year,
the seed collected from the crop grown
on the farm will be distributed in the
district ; the rejected plant of the second
year’s selection will supply the seed for
the farm, and the twelve best plants will
again be the mother plants for next
year. This process will be carried out
every year, and will result in the stock
of farm seed being gradually improved.
The actual improvement that has result-
ed is most marked, though the process
has been only continued for a few years.
Bales of cotton fromtwo varieties of
tellapattti were sent to the Mills the vear
before last, and the report on them
stated that the samples were very good
with strong staple and spun well.
‘* Both samples are superior to the ordin-
ary cotton we are receiving from our
press, owing to their being of one

APRIL, 1910, | 3 3

1 é Scientific Agriculture.

’

variety of cotton.” Last year they said
that the lint was a great improvement
on the lint from the country cotton and
was more valuable than the lint grown
in the previous year.

In an exactly similar way the paddy
crop can be improved by picking the
seed only from the best heads to use
for sowing next year. In placesso far
apart as Tinnevelly, Malabar and Goda-
vari, an improvement has been seen at
once, by giving the plants when trans-
planted in the field more room, so that
they can develop their side shoots more
freely. By picking every yearseed from
the plants which have the most side
shoots this property is increased, so that
the crop may be transplanted singly, that
is, one seedling in each hole, with the
certainty of a great saving in seed and
the probability of a heavier crop.

MISCELLANEOUS.

THE POSITION OF THR
FARMER.

By Dr. J. C. Wi 1Is.

[Paper read before the Board of
Agriculture on the 6th April, 1910.]

In this paper I propose especially to
preach upon a variation of what I have
for many years made my text in dealing
with Ceylon agriculture.

The ordinary villager, who after all is
the backbone of native agriculture in
the country, is in general in debt to the
mcney lender, from whom he borrows
at 50% interest. It therefore follows
that if an improvement in agriculture
costs money to initiate—and in the vast
- majority of cases it does—there must
be a guaranteed profit of over 50% to
make it worth while to borrow the
money to initiate that improvement.

Now it is rarely that one can guarantee
any large profiton an improvement in
agriculture, and one may pretty safely
say that never can one guarantee 50 %.
It will therefore not pay to borrow
money to try it,

VILLAGE

Not only so, but to borrow more
money, the man must have more security
to deposit, and this is exactly what in
the majority of cases he has not got.

Non-thinking people may remark that
under these circumstances one should
introduce improvements that do not
cost anything. It scarcely needs point-
ing out that such improvements are
very rarely found. Take the case of

travsplanting rice: it looks at first as
if it cost nothing, but it does in reality
cost a lot in increased labour, and the
only way it might be brought in at
present, in many cases, would be to
reduce the cultivated area, which is
not desirable Any improvement that
really costs nothing would be adopted at
once without much serious difficulty,
once it was proved to the satisfaction
of the villager that it was an improve-
ment.

Now itis just at this point that much
amateur work for the improvement of
agriculture breaks down. Careful and
detailed previous experiment is required
to make sure that the proposed change
isan improvement. Then careful com-
parison must be made at the same time
with the old method, to get at an exact
and detailed statement of the relative
cost of the two methods, and enquiry
must be made as to whether the new
method will cause any increased liabi-
lity to disease, or any violent change in
long-established custom; and many
other things.

Having decided, after such work, that
the new method is an improvement, one
has then the hardest part of the work
to follow, to introduce it. This can only
be done, so far as the villager is concern-
ed, by actual demonstration on the
spot. It is for this reason, among
others, that the school gardens have
been so successful. To make a success
with other improvements, one must
demonstrate them on the spot, and here
is where village experimental gardens,
kept up by local societies, come in,

Miscellaneous.

Not only so, but the man who is in
actual charge of such work must himself
bea good agriculturist, and must win
the confidence of those with whom he
has to deal. This means among other
things that he must be thoroughly well
trained at the commencement at an
agricultural sehool. But, in addition,
he should go back every now and then
to the headquarters where experiments
are going on, and work, under direction,
at those experiments till he is thorough-
ly familiar with every detail, The in-
structor-superintendent of a village
garden should not simply read the pub-
lished accounts of experiments and then
try toinstruct people inthem. Heshould
himself work at them under the officer
who is responsible for them.

This question would oceupy several
papers to work out in detail, ard it will
suffice for the present if the general
principle is made clear. The man must
have the absolute confidence of the
people, or they will simply laugh at him,
and to do that he must have the most
intimate and familiar knowledge of
agricultural matters, and especially of
what he is going to demonstrate.

Now, so long as the villager remains in
the grasp of the money-lender, improve-
ments must be confined to those that
eost nothing, and as we have said, these
are very few and far between. And
while he thus remains at the lowest
possible level, he becomes in reality
lower in comparison to others. The
eapitalist and the more progressive pea-
sant are continually improving, while
he remains stationary. This would not
matter if he were entirely self-contain-
ed, living only on his own produce, or
that obtained by exvhange from the
village artificers, but he wants to buy,
and to buy he must sell, and if he re-
mains stationary, the price of his pro-
duce will fall as other people improve.

There is no need for the peasant to be
so helpless. He must combine in money
matters, on the lines we have often
indicated, which of course means that he
must at the start get help from richer
men or from Government. Richer men
are not anxious tolend their capital at
a low rate of interest; it pays them
better to lend to uncombined cultivators
at high interest than to the combined
cultivators at low interest. It thus al-
most inevitably falls to the Government
to aid in the first place. But, and this
is important—very important—the culti-
vators must show, in whatever ways
they can, e.g., by supporting the volun-
tary societies now working, that they
desire such help. ‘There are many
richer people in Ceylon, however, e.g.;

many Kuropeans, who would probably
be willing to aid in the establishment
of a proper village society with a decent
capital, The local societies hitherto
have had to work on 400 or 500 rupees,
which is a mere drop in the bucket.
Surely this society could raise funds
to start a really first-class society, or
raise such a society as that in Dumbara
to full efficiency, as a test of such work.
1 repeat, and shall continue to repeat,
that till the villager is set on his legs
financially, and taught to combine, he
must be the prey of the money-lender
and the capitalist, and must remain at
the foot of the ladder of agricultural

progress.*
J; CO. We;

LITERATURE OF ECONOMIC
BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE.

By Dr, J. C. WiILuis.
Maize :—-

The hand maize sheller.
J1., April 1908, p. 125,
Maize cultivation in Burma.

Agric., Oct. 1908, p. 801.

The cultivation and marketing of
maize, Bull. Imp. Inst. 6, 1908, p.
261. “T.A.” Dee. 1908, p. 550, Mar.
1909, p. 253.

Jerusalem Maize. Queensl. Ag. Journ.
Dee. 1908, p. 271.

Composition of Green Maize and of
the silage prodnced therefrom. Ag.
Gaz, of N.S. W., Dee. 1908, p. 1011.

Animportant tropical cereal. ‘*T.A.”’
Dee. 1908, p. 522.

Maize Breeding in the United States,
Agri. News, VII, 173, Dee. 1908,
p. 394. :

Décret fixant la quantité de mais
originaire Nouvelles-Hébrides & ad-
mentre en franchise en Nouvelle-
Calédonie. L’Agric. pratique des
pays chauds, Jan. 1909, p, 4.

Hssai ecomparatif de culture de-mais &
Thank-Ba. Ball. Eeonomique. Jan.-
Feb. 1909, p. 55.

Cultures comparatives de mais &
Yé.a dink, en 1908. do. p. 160.

Some facts concerning maize. Jl. of
Agri. Victoria, VII.5, May 1909,
p. 193.

* Some people seem to think that because in
many cases the villager only borrows his land
(for a considerable rent) and his seed paddy,
and because this is the “ custom,” that theve-
fore he is not seriously in debt, Heought not
to have to borrow seed, and he ought,-if pos-
sible, to own the land.

Ind. Agri.
Ind.

PRIL, cae Rig eee ee

Maize cultivation’ Aer. Jl.of Victoria.
do. p. 800,

Maize culture. Queens]. oie. Journ.
XXII. 5, May 1909, p. 220.

Corn Judging. do. p. 226.
Indian corn as a sugar producer,
Louis. Pl., 42, Feb. 1909, ** T. A.” Feb.
1910, p. 117.
Mango :—
The Mango. Woodrow.
Mangoes in Ceylon. Maemillan.

“TA.” Aug. 1908, p
Hxporting mangoes.
Jl., Nov. 1908, p. 219.
Ruston Mangoes. ‘*T.A.” Jan. 1909,
p. 55.
Packing and Shipping of fruit.
“TA.” Feb. 1909, p. 148. °
Culture commerciale du Manguier.

Queensl. Ag.

Journ. d’Agri. trop. June 1909,
p- 174.

a Ripe rotot Mangoes. “T.A.” Oct.
1909, p. 322.

The mango. H.H. Cousins, Phil. Agr.
Review, Ul, 1909, p. 681.
Mangroves :

Report on mangrove bark from
British Guiana. B. of Agri. Brit.
Gui. 1, 1908, p. 72.

Bark of the red and white mangrove.

Q. J. L’pool. I. C. R. Jan. 1908, p. 33.
On the white mangrove. do. p. 40.
Manila Hemp :—
Manila—en Sisal hemp of Java.
H. C. P. Geerligs in Ind. Mere. 10,
11, 1908, p. 814.
Mews Hemp. Trin. Bull., Oct. 1908,
p- 26.
Manila Hemp. Tropical Life. June

1909, p, 86, Contd. June p. 102.

Mate :— _
Die Yerballes in Sud-Amerika und

der Paraguaytee. Tropenpfi., Nov,
_ 1907, p- 776.

Medicago :—

Lucerne or Alfalfa cultivation.
Jl. India, Oct. 1909, p. 319

Melaleuca :—

Baker and Smith, The Australian
Melaleneas and their essential oils.
Proc. Roy. Soe. N.S. W., Dee. 4,
1907, Bot. Gcnes 108, p. 239.

Mimusops :-—

Der Samen von Mimusops
Tropenpfi., Jan. 1910, p. 29.

45

Ag.

djave.

$i¢. eae
352: os Miscellaneous.
Moringa :—
Huile de ben. Journ, d’Agr. trop.
July 1906, p. 208.
Mulberry :—
Mulberry plantation. Ind. Agric.,

Nov. 1908, p. 352
On the ponlicaion of Bisulphide

of Carbon in Mulberry culture,
Journ. Col. of Agr., Tokyo,, 1. 2, p.
185.

Myrobalans :—

Notes on Terminalia Chebula and
its fruit, the myrobalan of com-
merce. Ind. Forester, Aug. _ 1907,
p. 362.

Nipa :—
The Danni palm. Ind. Agr., Nov.
1907. “ T.A,” Feb. 1908, p. 138.
Nuts :— ,

Feeding value and flavour of Nuts.
oe 1908, “‘T.A.” May

Nutmeg :— |
Cultivation of the Nutmeg.
Sept. 1907, p. 46.
The fats of Indian Nutmegs. Agr.
Led. V.P. Series 102, 1907. ‘‘T.A.”
Sept. 1008, p. 217.
Nymphea :—
The seed of Nymphea Lotus. Agr,
Jl. Ind., Jan, 1908, ‘* T.A.” Sept. 1908,

p. 248
Oils :—
Composition of the oil seeds. of India.
Agr. News, June 1907, p

Oil of Bergamot. Chem, Bee Drug.
21. 9. 07, p. 457,

Le Karité, l’ argan, &c. Trav. du lab.
du mat. med, Paris, V. 198.

Sur Vhuile de marrons dInde. do.
Graines et huile de Chaulmoogra. do.
Edible oil from Safflower seed (Car-

SP Ans

thamus tinctorius). ‘‘T.A.” Jan.
1908, p. 41.

New Kssential Oils. Trop. Life, June
1907, p

Philippine terpenes and essential
oils. Phil. J. Sci. III. 49

Some vegetable fats native to Sara-
wak. Str. Bull., May 1908, p. 173.

Argemone mexicana.—Agr. Ledg. V.
P. Series 104, 1908,

Irvingia gabonensis. Q.
I. C. K, Jan. 1908, p. 20.

Carapa procera.— D.C. do.
Poga oleosa.— Pierre do.

J. L’pool,

p. 21.
p. 29,

Miscellaneous:

Kernels of Scypho cephalium Kombo,
arts. do p. 82.

Geranium oil. Imp. Inst. Bull. 6,

, 1908, p 295.

New oil seeds from S. Nigeria. Trin.
Bull., Oct. 1908, p. 48.

De cultuur der oliegrassen en de
bereiding van hunne aetherische
olien. Cultuurgids 10, I., p. 718.

Iets over olie-fabricates do. p. 751.

Cananga odorata. Bull. Economique.
Jan.-Feb. 1909, p. 62.

Extraction of oil from seeds. Queens).
Agr. J]. XXII. 5, p. 262, May 1909.
Die dlindustrie in India und Ceylon.

Tropenpfl. Sept. 1909, p. 407.

Oils and Seeds. Imp. Inst. Report
1908. **T.A.” Nov., p. 399.

Possibilities of Cotton seed oil. Ind.
Agric. Sept. 1909. ‘‘T.A.” Dee.
p. 488.

Preservation of mixtures of Sesa-
mum and groundnut oil. Ind.
Trade Jl., Sept. 1909. ‘*T.A.” Dee.
p. 489.

Le palmier a huile. Adam. Paris 1910..

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 6th
APRIL, 1910.

Minutes of the 5lst Meeting of the
Board of Agriculture, held at the Council
Chamber, on Wednesday the 6th April,
1910, at 12 noon.

The Hon’ble Sir Hugh Clifford, K.c.M.G.,
Colonial Secretary, presided. There were
also present :—The Hon’ble Messrs. H. L.
Crawford, C.M.G., and A. Kanagasabai,
Drs. J. C. Willis, H. M. Fernando,
Messrs. P. Arunachalam, W. A. de Silva,
G. W. Sturgess, C. J. C., Mee, Francis L.
Daniel, J. D. Vanderstraaten, and C.
Drieberg (Secretary).

The Minutes of the meeting held cn
7th February, 1910, were read and con-
firmed.

Progress Report: No. 49 was adopted.

Statements of Expenditure for Feb-
ruary and March were laid on the table,

The motion re resolution adopted by the
Bee Committee recommending the pur-
chase of a machine for making founda-
tion comb for Apis Indica bees was held
over owing to the absence of Mr. EK. E.
Green in India.

Reports on the Tobacco Experiment at
Maha-Iluppalama for February and
March, by the Superintendent, were
read by the Secretary.

354

er"
ee BF

st
gy

ae eT Ai
es
, «os

[APRIL, 1910
Dr. Willis read his paper entitled
“The Position of the Village Farmer.”

Mr. W. A. de Silva offered some remarks
on the paper.

The Secretary read ‘‘A Note on the
Basket and Mat-making Industry in
Ceylon.” After an inspection of mats
and materials dealt with in the Note,
the meeting terminated.

Mr. J. D. Vanderstraaten exhibited an
interesting specimen of Travancore
plantains of abnormal size raised by him
at Negombo.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF AGRKI-
CULTURAL EDUCATION:

(From Wature, Vol 81, No. 2084,
Thursday, October 7, 1909.)

A memorandum has just been issued
setting out the arrangements which
have been made between the Board of
Agriculture and the Board of Edu-
eation in regard to agricultural edu-
cation. It has been known for some
time that a certain amount of contro-
versy existed between the two depart-
ments on account of the anomaly arising
from the fact that the Board of Agri-
culture inspected and yzave grants to
the various agricultural colleges and
other institutions for higher agricul-
tural education, whereas agricultural in-
struction in. secondary and primary
schools, like all other forms of education,
was controlled by the Board of Edu-
cation. On the one hand it was felt that
agricultural education could not thus be
dissociated from the general system of
the country ; on the other hand, there
was the danger that so special, and in
many respects so weakly supported, a
subject would never receive the atten-
tion it deserved without the fostering
care of its own special department. The
situation became more critical as ic
appeared that the Board of Agriculture,
however anxious to retain its connec-
tion with the colleges, was unable to
obtain the funds either to make ade-
quate grants to existing institutions or
to promote the creation of fresh colleges
where they were needed. The two
Boards appear now to have arrived at
a@ compromise which still leaves the
higher educational institutions under
the charge of the Board of Agriculture,
but also secures an interchange of views
by the creation of an interdepartmental
committee. The Board of Agriculture
is to take charge of advanced schools of
agriculture serving, as a rule, more than
one local education authority’s area, and
taking students of an age of seventeen
and upwards; under its charge also will

—

~ APRIL, 1910,]

~

be such special institutions as deal only
with one branch of agricultural instruc-
tion, as dairying, forestry, &c. As
before, the Board of Education will be
in charge of the agricultural instruction
that is provided by the county councils
and other local educational authorities,
but itis not clear by which Board, or
in what way, pressure can be brought
to bear upon the backward counties
that are now doing nothing for organised
agricultural education. For example,
the East Sussex County Council uses
part of its ‘“whisky money” to main-
tain an agricultural college, which is
further assisted by grants from the
Board of Agriculture, the West Sussex
County Council next door puts the
whisky money to the relief of rats, and
does nothing for agricultural education.
The defect in the Board of Agriculture’s
administration bas been the fact that it
has been powerless in such cases; it
could neither compel nor bribe such
counties to do their duty, and what the
public interested in such matters is
anxious to know is how the new arrange-
ment will be worked to ensure a pro-
vision of higher agricultural education
for farmers in all parts of the country,
# national system that is not dependent
on the ecaprice or the poverty of any
county council.

The novel feature in the memoran-
dum besides the Inter-Departmental
Committee is a proposal tu create a
Rural Education Conterence, consisting
of representatives of the County Coun-
cils’ Association, the Agricultural Edu-
eation Association, and other agricul-
tural organisations, with certain officers
of the two Boards. Such a consultative
committee seems to smack of the Board
of Agriculture’s favourite attitude of
asking the farmers what it can do
for them, but perhaps the influence
of the Board of Education, which
takes a less humble view of its own
expert qualifications and powers to
give a lead, will supply the stiffening
and find a means of translating the
suggestions of the conference into
practice.

SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE.

By F. S. EAR.e.
(From Science, Vol. XXIX., No. 781,
January 1, 1909.)
' This work has many points of merit
to commend it to the schools of the
south, and will no doubt be widely used
as a text-book. It is divided into two
parts, the first dealing with general

5. al

355 Miscellaneous.

considerations, such as climate, soil, soil
management, soil improvement, the
growth of plants, insects and diseases,
and closes with a chapter on farm
policy and management. The second
part treats of the chief southern agri-
cultural ereps, including grasses and
forage crops, fibre crops, tobacco, coffee,
fruits, nut crops and forestry, and —
closes with a short chapter on domestic
animals,

In the chapter on management of
the soil, valuable suggestions are given
on the use of farm implements, a part
of agriculture so often neglected by
writers. A little farther on, soil im-
provement is well treated and the re-
lation of leguminous crops to same, with
recommendations of certain leguminous
crops for certain kinds of soil. The
student is shown the relation of the
plant to the soil, and the functions of
the different parts of flants. The
chapter on spraying and sprays, con-
taining formulas for different sprays,
is well arranged and almost indispen-
sable, inasmuch as crop enemies, such as
insects and fungi are so rapidly increas-
ing in the south where heat and mois-
ture are so conducive to their welfare.

In treating of individual crops in the
second part of the book, the method is
‘to be commended. First, the author
deals with the crop itself, and then as
far as consistent with the nature of the
plant, takes up a detailed study in each
individual crop, of soil and climate,
manuring, methods of planting and cul-
tivating, and harvesting. This unifor-
mity of method gives the pupil the
benefit of comparing one crop with
another on any of these points suggested.

Just what is meant by southern agri-
culture is not suggested by the author,
but from the numerous references to the
tropics and the tropical agriculture, it
would seem that they are included in
the title of the book. Possibly it would
have been better to have gone a little
further into the general and specific
methods of tropical agriculture, and
have given the book the title ‘‘South-
ern and Tropical Agriculture.”

There seems to be very little excuse
for devoting twenty-four pages to sugar-
cane and only sixteen to cotton, when
the author states that cotton is our
‘‘yreatest commercial crop,” also, only
twelve to corn, ‘‘the most important
crop.” <A little more space should have
been devoted to the best methods of
improving cotton and corn, if not any
less to sugar cane, especially after the
above statements. The space devoted
to an explanation of the poor methods
of cotton planting on page 175 and 175

Miscellaneous. S 356

could have been better used by giving
better methods and emphasizing the
necessity for level cultivation of cotton.
It is a better paying business, for in-
stance, to lay off new rows for your
cotton than to follow cotton after cotton,
as suggested in the text, notwithstand-
ing the fact that its danger is hinted
at on the same page.

There is no chapter devoted to the
dairy and live-stock industry, though
the importance of it is suggested in
three places in the book. Stock feed
can be raised very cheaplv in the south,
and the cost of keeping stock is reduced
- tothe minimum. No costly shelters are
required, and it is possible to arrange
your pastures so that your stock can
graze ten or eleven months in the year.
Besides, at present, we ship from the
south millions of dollars’ worth of
cotton-seed meal annually, to be used
for stock feed in other parts of the
world, instead of using it as we should,
first through live-stock to increase the
beef and butter production of the south;
and, secondly, in the form of barnyard
manure to tertilize the land with. It
is believed that the book would have
been worth more to the schools of the
south, if a good, lengthy chapter on
the live-stock industry had been in-
cluded.

In conclusion, it seems that the author
is more at home in his studies ot tro-
pical agriculture, and though he has
done excellent work, many: parts of the
book read as if the information given
were not first hand, For instance,
there is a freshness and an air of con-
fidence in those parts that treat of
diseases and remedies, and the botanical
features of special crops that are con-
spicuously lacking in the parts devoted
to manuring and cultivating.

PERADENIYA EXPERIMENT
STATION.

Minutes of a meeting of the Committee
of Agricultural Experiments held at the
Experiment Station, Peradeniya, on
10th March, 1910,

The following members were present :—
Dr. Willis, Chairman, the Entomologist,
the Mycologist, the Government Chemist,
the Hon’ble Mr. EK. Turner, the Hon’ble
the Government Agent, OC, P., the
Secretary, and Messrs. Rosling, Jowitt,
Lock and Vanderstraaten.

The Secretary read the Progress Report
since the previous meeting, and the
following resolutions were passed :—

1, That the question of obtaining a
better breed of cattle and pro-
viding more up-to-date accom-

modation for the same, with a’

view to making manure ou the
most approved methods, should
be set down for consideration
at the first meeting of 1911.

That the coconut land suggested be
cleared for fruit experiments. :

That 2,000 coconuts be set aside aud
used for oil and copra experi-
ments in lots of 500—500 being at
once used and the remainder being
used at intervals of one month.

; J. A. HOLMEs,
Secretary, C. A. H., and Superintendent,

Experiment Station, Peradeniya.
12th March, 1910.

nw

Se

PROGRESS REPORT ON EXPERIMENT
STATION SINCE MEETING ON 13TH
JANUARY, 1910.

TrA.—The usual cultivation has been
done and the Crotalaria in plot 148 has
been cut and mulched, that sown in 147

has had its stems bent to cause it to

grow low on the surface of the ground.

The Indigofera in plot 142 has also been
cut and mulched. =

The steep slopes on plots 154 and 155
have been tnanured and trenched as the
bushes are very poor.

The yield since Jast meeting has been
good, about 5,500 lbs. green tea having
been despatched to Peradeniya.

Cacao.—The dadaps on the five acres
of young cacao have been pruned in
various ways, two plots having had the
stems bent over, and two each having
been topped to form high and low shade
respectively. The young plants in the
plots sown with Indigofera and Crota-
laria have died back considerably since
these latter were cut,

Owing to the absence of drains these
plots have suffered considerably from
wash, but drains have been traced and
will be cut as soon as labour is available.

The paths dividing plots 1-10 and 107-111
have also been cleared.

Owing to density of shade and close
planting, the abandoned cacao plots are
in a very poor condition.

10,372 lbs. have been shipped to London.

Coconuts.—In one acre of coconuts the
trees have been forked round to a dis-
tance of 10 feet and mulched with green

jungle stuff, and cattle are being tied at -

night to the trees on another division,

*ApRIL, 1910.) _

Owing to the fact. that, in order to

cultivate by machinery, the ten acres of
young nuts have been left undrained,
many of the holes were completely filled
in by wash on February 19th, and in con-
sequence about seventy-seven supplies
are now required.

Two experiments in oil expression
have been tried, one from freshly-picked
nuts and the other from nuts which had
been stored for one month, with the
following results :—

Fresh nuts, Old nuts,
Nuts 5 ewts 5 ewt. 1 qr. 28
Copia 160 lbs, 18384 lbs.
Oil Bs To Bae ss 102} ,,
PoaonaGas + 55:25, 65;

RUBBER (PARA).—The majority of the
para trees are now getting their young
leaves, althougha few have still to lose

their old ones ; some of the trees are also .

seeding. .

Tapping has been stopped as the yields
did not justify its continuation, but will
be again resumed as soonas the trees
have attained their full foliage.

Monthly measurements have been
made of the girths, the variation from
one month to another in most cases
being inappreciable.

Some slight damage has been caused
to those trees, which were thumb-nail
pruned, by wind—one tree having been

~ broken oft about 7 feet from the ground

and afew others splitting, thus losing
branches,

Some 250 selected seed were obtained

from Kondesalle, and so far about 62
have germinated.

Plots 77-82 have been drained.

CEARA.—Ceara is now wintering and
tapping has been stopped. ~An order for
100,000 selected seed having been
received, those trees which promised to
give less than 1 lb. of dry rubber per
annum have all been cut out,

Seeds of good yielding varieties from
Mr. Gaddum, Gampola, and from Travan-
core have been planted out.

A good deal of interest is being shown
by planters in the perpendicular method
of tapping.

HEPTAPHYLLA.—Five hundred
have been planted in nurseries,

MANIHOT have again suffered from
wind, except in the 6 x 6 plotandin plot
25 where the branches were topped.

CASTILLOA are now wintering, plot
97 has been tapped witha full spiral cut,
the yields on the first tapping being
good, but subsequent tappings unsatis-
factory.

seeds

357 Miscellaneous.

Plots 125-129 have been drained.

FUNTUMIA AND PIAUHYENSIS.—These
plots have been drained.

Pappy.—The paddy which was some-
what layered by rain and pig has been
cut, the weights were: -

Transplanted,
Manured.

Sown Broadcast.
Unmanured. Manured. Unmanured.

Pad ly 254 bush. 13g bush, 15$ bush. 122% bush.
Straw 1,327 lb, 1,368 1b. 859 Ib. 1,056 Ib.
Oi, GRASSES.—The still has been

working trom time to time and a ship-
ment of two dozen bottles lemon grass oil
will shortly be made; the present price
of the oil is 8d. per oz.

214 lbs, Lena Batu Pengiri gave 382 ces.
of oil. A large plot of Maha Pengiri has
been planted out and a sufficient amount
of Cymbopogon martini has grown to
plant a 1-100th acre bed.

Cymbopogon confertifolius was cut
and weighed 202 1b. but was insufficiently
distilled.

Fruits.—Some Kew and
pines have been planted.

The Plantains have been supplied and
drained. ;

NURSERIES.—Para, heptaphylla, and
Ceara seeds have been sown, also
Dumbara tobacco and Sesbania aculeata,
and green manure from India.

GREEN MANURE.—Tephrosia candida
cut and mulched and weighed 382 lb,=
338,200 lb per acre; it is again sprouting
satisfactorily.

Tpomea cut weighed 56 lbs,

Crotalaria incana which had been
attacked by Necrosperma vasinfecta
was dug up and thrown away, a new
bed being planted in a different site, a
non-leguminous plant being put in its
original bed.

Mauritius

A bed of Leucena glauca, a legu-
minous shade tree largely used by coffee
plantersin Java, has been sown.

Mimosa pudica was cut and mulched,
and weighed 65 lb.

W ASH PLots.—Loss from April, 1909, to
March, 1910:—

Desmodium ; 695% = Albizzia 3,681}
Mixed Crotalaria 1,441 Crotalaria across

Dadap 5,8103 slope 1,395
Bare weeded 5, 8885 Deep forking 5,168
Crotalaria incana 2,6654 Ipomea 2,235

StumMps.—About forty large stumps
have been removed with the help of the
extractor.

VISITORS.—182 visitors, planters and
otherwise, have been conducted around
the Station.

Miscellaneous.
THE RELATION OF SCHOOL GAR-
DENS TO NATURE STUDY.

By Miss FANNIE A. STEBBINS,

Supervisor of Nature Study, Spring-
field, Macs.

(From the Transactions of Mass. Horti-
cultural Society for the year 1907, Pt. II.)

If we take as a statement of the
object of Nature Study thet it is to
cultivate in the child an intelligent in-
terest in the world about him, the
question of the relation of the school
garden to Nature Study is simplified.

We wish the child to form the habit
of observing, as correctly as may be,
series of facts, noting relations of cause
and effect and drawing conclusions from
the facts observed; then carrying the
work further by working out theories
which he may prove or disprove.

For the establishment of many facts
the school garden is the best possible
laboratory or worksbcp. The indivi-
dual plot supplies the added incentive
of the feeling of personal ownership
‘and responsibility ; and where it is
possible to have individual plots they
should be used. The child sees more
clearly his own relation to the plant’s
growth, or lack of it, and feels more
keenly the need of care and of know-
ledge to precede that care. Under
proper guidance and conduct of class
plots the pupils may be stimulated to
repeat the experiments at home, as is
frequently done, where conditions a
little different produce different results,
and comparisons of such results may
be made extremely valuable. So even
if land be limited much may he ac-
complished by observation plots.

One line of work that ought to be
carried out is the cultivation of many
of our most common commercial pro-
ducts which are considered in geography,
but which are only names to the major-
ity of the pupils. Some of the grains—
wheat, corn, rye, oats, buckwheat,
barley, etc.—can be easily grown.
Hemp and fiax together with some of
the less common products which the
U.S. Department of Agriculture is in-
troducing could well be observed.

In one of our schools flax grown
by the children was soaked, and by
the janitor, who had done the work
in Ireland, worked or treated until the
fibre was ready for spinning. A valu-
able lesson or series of lessons.

Another phase is the gathering and
growing of many of our formerly com:

appearing from the neighbourhood of
cities, and are seldom seen by the
children. Many valuable lessons can be
learned by watching the plant through
its year of life; how it breaks through
the soil; how parts are protected, each
part fitted for its duties; the blooming,
with interesting peculiarities, formation.
protection, and dissemination of seeds;
preparation for winter, ete. So the
child becomes acquainted with the plant
as he almost never does in its home
without.

The production of plants can best be
studied in the yard where the class can
be taken atany time ; sowing the seeds,
the best manner for individual kinds;
layering; budding; grafting; and with
the latter the study of where the sap
comes; rings of growth where new wood
comes; real meaning of a bud, whether
flower or branch bud; need of keeping
out fungi; ete.; incidentally how and
when to trima tree; to treat wounds,
ete. With the coming of the flowers,
the visits of insects, cross-pollination,
self-pollination or no pollination, hybrid-
ization, crossing squash and lemon, etc.,
ean be observed. As the cutworms or
other insects come, the suggestion of
studying their life histories becomes a
vital question that the best means may
be discovered of combating these enemies
in the most vulnerable stage of their
existence. Caterpillars which are in-
jurious may in their butterflyhood do
some good and sohelp balance accounts.
Ichneumon flies which parasite pests
may be recognized as helpers. And of
course our friend, the toad, should be
watched, both indoors where more
accurate observations can be made of
amount of food, etc., and outside where
one should be established in the garden
if possible and treated asafriend. The
garden may give opportunity to re-
cognize birds among our friends.

The study of soils receives new mean-
ing when the effect of different kinds
upon the growth of plants is observed.
In this connection the study of capillary
attraction receives reinforcement in ob-
serving the work of a mulch. This
broadens out into the study of the soil
of the forest, its influence in the reten-
tion of water, the desirability of forests
at the head waters of rivers, and the
need of reforesting cut areas.

And so one could go on multiplying
instance after instance where principles
observed in one connection receive their
application in another connection and
so make deeper and broader impression
on the child’s mind, He comes to see

APRIL, 1910.]

more and more of the inter-relation of

all things, our dependence upon the life
about us, and our need of studying the

laws underlying all, that we may bring

under control those forces which aid in
our better living,

Ina word, then,I would characterize
the school garden as a laboratory in

359 Miscellaneous,

which can be worked out many pro-
blems, under control, and in a compara-
tively short time, the answers to which
are necessary to an intelligent compre-
hension of the great world about us;
and the child’s desire to make plants
grow furnishes a keen incentive to such
experimentation.

Correspondence.

TAPPING OF LANDOLPHIA.

London, EH.C., 6th October, 1909.

DEAR Sir,—I am greatly interested in
a Landolphia Plantation, and I am ad-
vised, in view of labour difficulties, that
the best means of handling same is to
cut it three feet from the ground, re-
move the bark from the cut portion,
and by means of a Decorticating machine
obtain the rubber, which I am told is
better and cleaner than tapped rubber.

I am informed that the cut portion
will grow again, and that Hevea and
other trees can be grafted on to the
stumps. Is that so?

Arethereany plantations where Landol-
phia is being cut and is growing again,
or where other trees have been grafted
on to the stumps, or where the decorti-
eation of Landolphia has been a com-
mercial success ?

I shall be glad to have a copy of
your paper containing your reply, to-
gether with particulars of subscription,

Thanking you in anticipation,

Iam, yours faithfully,
for S. G.,
W. A. H.

(1. I have never heard of Landolyhia
being cut down as stated and the rubber
extracted with a decorticating machine,

2. Experiments in this direction have
so far been failures, except perhaps for
Guayule extraction and Gutta from
Gutta Percha leaves.

3. The stumps might grow again, but
the barked stems would certainly not.

4. The idea of grafting Hevea or
other rubber trees on to the stumps
is absurd.

5. There are no plantations of Landol-

‘phia, which is essentially a forest pro-

duct and requires large forest trees to
grow upon.—M. K. BAMBER, Govern-
ment Chemist.]

SESAMUM CULTIVATION,

Melbourne, 24th February, 1910.

DEAR Sir,—Having a Plantation in
Papua, and being anxious to experiment
with the growing of Sesame Seed, I am
writing to ask you if you can furnish
any information regarding this. I have
no idea how it is grown or harvested,
and can find no books dealing with the
question. Perhaps, if@you would kindly
publish this, some of your readers would
be able to supply the information.

I might state that I am a regular
subscriber to your Journal, and am
able to glean much valuable informa-
tion from it.

Yours, &e.,
PAPUAN PLANTER.

[Full information can be found in
Watt’s Dictionary of Kconomic Products
of India, and articles on Indian Se-
samum in ‘‘Indian Agriculturist” for
February, 1907, and on Sesamum in
Burmain same Journal for January, 1908.
In Ceylon it is generally a dry-season
crop, grown with the April rains in the
dry country, The ground is scratched
over and sown. There is no rain from
May to September and the crop is
reaped before the next rains come,—
Epitor 7.A.]

—- ———

ALOES, Socotrine cwt.
Zanzibar & Hepatic ,,
ARROWKOOT (Natal) Ib.
BEES’ WAX, cwt.

Zanzibar Yellow. ,,
Bombay bleached _,,
F unbleached ,,
Madagascar
OAMPHOR, gape
hina
CARDAMOMS. Tuticorin

9
”

Tellicherry

Mangalore ,,
Mysore
Malabar

Seeds, E. I, & Ceylon

Ceylon. ”

”

MARKET RATES FOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS.

(From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current, London, 16th March, 1910,) — ,
a a a .

QUALITY. QUOTATIONS, |
Fair to fine eo /SOS & 85S
Common to good «(440s a 703
Fair to fine --|7d a 8d

Slightly drossy to fair ...
Fair to good

Dark to good genuine ../£515s a £6 10s
Dark to good palish

Refined ls 58d als 7d

Fair average quality .../136s

Good to fine bold 2s a 2s fd
Middling lean 1s-9d a ls 10d

Good to fine bold -|28 a 283d

Brownish 1s 6d als 9d

Med brown to fair bold Is 10d.a 2s 8d

Small fair to fine plump Is4da 3s
Fair to good jis 2d a 1s 4d
Fair to good Is 7d a1s 8d

Ceylon Long Wild ,, |Shelly to good -\6d a Is7d
CABIUL OIL, Calcutta,, [Good 2nds” -» (3d a 3 1-16d
CHILLIES, Zanzibar ewt.|Dull to fine bright «40s a 45s
GINCHONA BARK.-— Ib.

Ceylon Crown, Renewed 38d a 7d

Org. Stem |2da 6d
Red Org. Stem |1jd a 43d
Renewed 3d a 54d
Root lida 4d
CINNAMON,Ceylon Istt\Good to fine quill 63d als 5d
per Ib, 2nd: i - 53d a 1s 4d
3rds 3 Be dda 1s
4ths 43d a thd
Chips, &¢..|Pair to fine bold 2hd a 8d
CLOVES, Penang ‘{Dull to tine bright pkd.|ld 59a 1s 6d
Amboyna —--|!Dull_to tine 9d a 10d
Ceylon a 9da 10d
Zanzibar Fair and fine’ bright |bid a 53a
Stems -|Fair 24d
OFFEE
: Ceylon Plantation cwt:| medium to bold 65d a 100s
SEAR Good,ordinary nominal
Liberia » |Fair bold 138 a 55s
COCOA, Geylon Plant. +, |Special Marks 628 a 69s
Red to good 54s a 60s 6d
Native Estate 1» |Ordinary to red 398 a 56s
Java and Celebes ,, |Small to good red 30s a 85s
COLUMBU KOOT Middling to good 308 a 35s
CROTON SEEDS, sift. cwt. Dull to fair 47s 6d a 50s
CUBEB: Ord. stalky to good 110s a 120s
GINGHE, piBengal: ZOUED Fair 40s nom,
Calicut, Cut Small to fine bold 658 a 8h
ae) » (Small and medium 558 a 60s
Cochin Rough ,, |Common to fine bold |458 a 50s
Small and D’s 428 ¢d a 45
ss |Unsplit 438
otM AMMONIACUM »» Sm. blocky to fair clean|35s a 73s 6d
ANIMI, Zanzibar |Pale and amber, str. sits./£16 & £18 63
x little redj/£18 a £15
Bean and Pea size ditto|76sa £14 28 6d
Feir to g.od red sorts |£9a £12 108

Madagascar ,,

aAvABIC KE.1, & Aden
Turkey sorts
Ghatti
Kurrachee
Madras

ASSAFCTIDA

KINO

MYRRH, Aden sorts cwt
Somali

OLIBANUM, cae

pickings
siftings
INDIA RUBBER Ib.

”
”
”

Ceylon, Straits,
Malay Straits, etc.

Assam

Rangoon

Med. & bold glassy sorts|£6a £
Fair to good palish £4 a £8 15s
red £4 a £7 10s

Ordinary’ to good pale 458 & 328 6d nom.

33 42478 6d
Sorts to fine pale ...|208 @ 423 6d nom
Reddish to good pale ... {208 a 808 aS
Dark to fine p: 158 a 25s

Clean fr. to pa palanenne £9 £10 10s *
cou). stony to good block|158 a £8

Fair to tine bright 6d aod
Middling to good 60S a 70s
#9 $9 558 a, 60s

Good to fine white 458 a 60s
Middling to fair 30s a 40s
Low to good pale 108 a 265 6d
Slightly foul to fine |18s a 1és
Fine Para bis. & sheets a0 7d

» Ceara ae 0g
Crepe ordinary to fine.. 10s 8d a 10s 9d
Fine Block . {108 104
Scrap fair to fine ‘|88 a 8s 9d

Plantation .|95 8a a 78
Fair I) to ord. red No. i a a 6s 4d

4 88 6d a 4s Od

£6128 6d a £6 lis
£710s a £7 12s 6d

£6 12s6d a £617/6

QUALITY, QUOTATIONS.
g
IN AE ELE Contd.) é : a
| orneo yommon to goo 5)
Java Good to fine red 38 a 5 eid
Penang Low white to prime red 25 9d a 358A
Mozambique Fair to fine red ball .. 6s 3d a 738
Sausage, fair to good ..!¢. id a 6s 10d
Nyassaland Fair to fine ball |5s 8d a 6s 4d £
Madagascar Fr to fine pinky & white 3s 9d a 4s 6d
Majunga blk coated .. 38 a3s 8d
Niggers, low to good ‘lis 6d a 4s -
| New Guinea Ordinary to fine ball .. 3s 2d a 43 2d nom
INDIGO, EI. Bengal Sipping mid to Bak violetio; 10d a 3s 8d
Consuming mid. Q.)55 6a a 2s 10d
Ordinary to midi DE |2s 2d a 2350
Oudes Middlingto fine _ 956d a 2/8 nom
Mid. to good Kurpah |p, oq a os6d
Low to ordinary 1s.6d 228
Mid. to fine Madras ‘Is Bd a Qs 4d
‘MACE, Bombay & Penang|Pale reddish to fine (j¢ lid a 2s 4d
| per Ib. Ordinary to fair 1s 8d a 1s 104
Java, “ good pale |i, 7 a 2s
Bombay wild dd a 43d ‘
|MYRABOLANES, ewt/UG and Coconada 58 a 58 6d
| Bombay ,, Zubblepore 5sa 63
| Bhimlies 5s 3d a 68 6d
| Rhajpore, &e. 4s 9d a 5s 6d
Bengal » |Caleutta 5s 6d a 6s
/NULMEGS— 64’s to 57’s 1s als 6d
\ Bombay & Penang ,, s, |110’s to 65’s 43d a 1s
160’s to 115’s id a 4}d
‘NUTS, ARECA ewt./Urdinary to fair fresh |j45 9 i655
\NUX ’VOMIGCA, Cochin |Ordinary to good 9s a lis 6d -
per cwt. Bengal i ” 6s €d a 7d
| Madras ” ” ‘
OIL OF ANISEED _,, |Fair merchantable fa gee Sa A
| CASSIA », |According to analysis |3, 6q 4 3s 10a
LEMONGRASS », [Good flavour & colour 28d a 3d
NUTMEG », |Diugy to white lid a Lid 4
_ CINNAMON y. |Ordinary to fair sweet {34 4 15
| CITRON ELLE Bright & good flavour |},
ORCHELLA WEED—ewt
Ceylon "49 |Mid. to fine not WoodyYeulgs 4 10s
Madagascar » |Fair 00/88

aiepuee & Tellicherry|Fair ols
Ceylon 2 ,, Lo fine bold heavy . a5 ae 4ad
Singapore see oes eelad
Acheen & W. C. Penang Dull to fine “ 134d 39d
(White) Singapore ,, |Fair to fine . --lead a Ba
Siam » {Fair ae oon 69d
Fenang »y [Fair on ve ow Gad
untok », |Hair . --\74d
RHUBARB. Shenzi 1.|Urdinarytogood —... 118 34. a 2s 8d
"Canton ..|Ordinary to good «llld a 1s 2d
: High Dried, ,|(;0od to fine flat +l1043 a Js
Dark to fair round «lod a 64d
SAGO, Pearl, large ..{Dull to fine .. + |2Us a 22s
| apedinig 3 lés a 17s 6d
| sma aoe
SEEDLAC ewt, Ordinary to gd. soluble He aes
SENNA, Tinneyvelly 1b./Good to fine bold green wa a7d
| |Fair greenish da 43d
Commonspeckyand small re ad
SHELLS, M. o’PEARL—
Egyptian cwt.|Smalltobold .. 278 a 135s
Bombay hs ” on 183 a 127/6nom.
Mergui | » we ++/£- 58 a£97s 6d
Manilla ,, |Fair to good +187 10s a £1015s
Banda Sorts 25S a308 nom —
TAMARINDS, Calcutta. |Mid.to fine bI’k not stony Lis a lzs6d
percwt. Madras (Stony and inferior -l45 a 5s
TORLOISESHELL—
Zanzibar, & Bombay lb. |Small to bold ++ [11s a 29s
Fickings - |8s a 288
TURM ERIC, Bengal cwt.)|Fair 17s 6d 2
Madras __,, |Finger fair to tne bola 283 a 24s 6d
Do. __,, |Bulbs Lorient Ms a 183
Cochin ?} Finger
Bulbs se, Te ed
TONES. Ib.
Mauritius Ists|Gd crystallized 33 a8#in|j9s a 19s ~
Madagascar .. 2nds|Foxy & reddish 34a ,,/llsa 14s p
Seychelles ‘tos Lean andinferior —..|Lisa 11s 6d
VERMILLION . \Fine, pure, bright 38 8d :

PEPPER — (Black) Ib.

WAX, Jajan, squares:

Good white hard

THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE

Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the 6. A. 8.

CoMPILED AND EpitEp By A. M. & J. FERGUSON,

No. 4,]

APRIL, 1910.

[Von. VI.

OBSCURE CAUSES OF UNPRODUG-
TIVENESS IN LAND.

The occurrence of bare or unthrifty patches
in cultivated land often proves as much a source
of vexation as a cause for speculation, and it is
seldom that any satisfactory explanation of them
can be given. This matter has received the at-
tention of the Chemical Branch of the New
South Wales Department of Agriculture and the
contribution by Mr. Lionel Cohen to the ‘‘Agri-
cultural Gazette” of that Colony is full of interest
and instruction. A fact that tends to make the
study of the question more confusing than
otherwise is that the soil of these patches is
generally found by the chemist to be as well
supplied with plant food asthe rest of the land,
lt is to be inferred, therefore, that the unpro-
ductiveness of the soilin the areas referred to
must be due to the presence of some deleterious
substance inimical to plant life. Such substances
as carbonate of soda, sulphate of soda and comes
mon salt are well known to render land, parti-
cularly in arid areas, unfertile; but these fami-
liar causes of barrenness can in most cases be
removed by judicious treatment, e,.g., drainage,
irrigation and cropping. Other substances
which have a similar action are the lower oxides
and the sulphides of iron, as well as an excess
of magnesia over lime. Still other factors of
infertility are the toxic compounds of organic
origin, which have of late received consider-
able attention both in America and England.
Mr. Cohen has in his experience come across
patches of soil with a large percentage of
manganese, while only the merest traces were
found in the rest of the land; and yet the
soil on the patches was richer in plant
food than the surrounding Jand, Mr. W.
P. Kelly, of the Hawaii Experiment Station,
records the failure of a soil to grow pine-

46

apples owing to an excess of manganese, though
sugarcane grew luxuriantly on the same soil,
{t would appear that certain plants are pecu-
liarly sensitive to the presence of certain sub-
stances in the soil : for instance, Barley to man-
ganese, while others, such as oats, sorghum and
maize, are not so sensitive. Here then are
further considerations for the agriculturist to
ponder over, and for the chemist to weigh, for
it would appear that not only must we know the
proportions of plant food in the soil, but also
ascertain to what extent undesirable compounds
(according to the idiosyncrasies of plants) are
present init, They also point to the necessity
for carefully selecting crops suitable to parti-
cular conditions of soil, The occurrence of un-
productive tracts have also been traced to too
large a percentage of calcium chloride and
potassium chloride. In this connection might
be quoted Dr. Aikman’s recommendation that
sulphate of potash is preferable to chloride of
potash as a manure, for the reason that the
chloride is liable to give rise to calcium chlo-
ride ‘‘a compound distinctly harmful to many
plants.” According to Kuhn when ammon-
ium chloride is applied to a soil the ten-
dency is for the ammonia to be assimilated
and the chloride to form hydro-chloric acid
to such an extent as to prove fatal to plants.
At the Woburn Experimental Farm (England)
the continued use of ammonium.salts (sulphate
and chloride) has brought about an acid condi-

tion resulting in complete sterility, which, how-
ever, could be neutralised by the application of
time, It may thus happen that manurine with

chemical manures may actually result in harm
if their action and reaction are not fully under-
stood. All this shows how complex is the scienco
of agriculture and how much light can be thrown
upon the subject by the labours of the working
scientist,

362

YIELD OF COCONUTS PER TREE.

“A good Coconut tree” says the Porto Rico
Forticultural News, ‘‘should yield an average of
one hundred nuts per year, and under favourable
conditions two hundred have been obtained.
Taking the whole island of Porto Rico, however,
a return of sixty-five nuts per tree is probably
about the average figure obtained, and no doubt
conditions are very similar in the British West
Indian islands.”

A Colombo correspondent informs us that
he had a tree plucked about two years ago
which gave 127 nuts at the one plucking, while
we read not long ago of a tree on Klanang
Estate in the F.M.S. which had 360 nuts upon
it. Not only was this latter tree literally loaded
with large nuts but a number of small ones were
to be seen on it in the earlier stages of develop-
ment. The tree was by no means a large one
and was only about eleven years old.

A good average yield per tree on an average
coconut plantation in Ceylon is 30 to 40 nuts.

THE CEYLON RUBBER INDUSTRY.

Mr. ALEX. FarIritn’s VIEWS.

Mr. Alex. Fairlie, head of the firm of Messrs.
Jas. Finlay & Co., Limited, and ex-Chairman of
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, who left forhome
last month, spent his last few days in Ceylon in
a visit to rubber estates in the Pelmadulla dis-
trict. Thiscompleted a series of motor car trips
Mr. Fairlie had taken recently, visiting estates in
which his firm are interested. His journeyings
took him through some of the best known rubber
centres in Ceylon—Kelani Valley, Kalutara,
Maddagedera and Sabaragamuwa Province—and
as a result of his observations Mr Fairlie Jeft
Ceylon more deeply convinced than ever of the
extreme soundness, agriculturally, of the rubber
industry and of its splendid progress in Ceylon,

Speaking of Pelmadulla district Mr Fairlie
told our representative that the development in
that district was most remarkable. Great ex-
panses of virgin forest had been cleared and
thousands of acres of rubber now flourished there
from 4} years downwards. The rubber grew splen-
didly, the best of it being very fine. He saw no
bad rubber nor heard of any form of disease.
Labour was quite ample for the requirements
of the district. Clean weeding was adopted on
all the estates and all the estates were clean.
‘“‘As a matter of fact,’ said Mr Fairlie, “I
consider the future of rubber in this fine
district absolutely assured and sound.”

Mr. Fairlie is inclined generally to take a very
bright view ofthe rubber industry agriculturally.

** What about labour in the future ?”

‘+I do not anticipate serious trouble. A half
cooly per acre will be sufficient to start tapping
with, but as the trees begin to yield increased
quantities of latex that number may have to
be increased. I believe the demand will be met.”

‘* And what is the cost of production to work
out at when large areas come into bearing ? ”

‘The cost of production is ultimately going
to be under 50 cents per lb., including every-
thing—that is, of course, when we get large
blocks of rubber in bearing.”

The Supplement to the Tropieal Agriculturist

COFFEE ROBUSTA AS A CATCH-CROP
IN PARA RUSBER AND COGONUTS.

Bulletin No. 7 issued by the Department of
Agriculture, Federated Malay States, is on
Coffee Robusta by W J Gallagher, m.a., Direc-
tor of Agriculture, F. M.S. The concluding
paragraph is as follows :—

Many of our soils, especially on hard-backed
steep hills, are not over fertile, and it is pro-
bable that it is the best in the long run to
bring rubber into bearing without catch-crops,
which all compete with the principal crop and
remove a certain amount of available plant food.
But many private owners, small syndicates, and
even companies cannot wait five years for a
return. A desirable catch-crop should be a
crop yielding a good profit ; it should not be too
severe on the soil; it should bear early ; it
should admit of weeding so as to leave the land
in wa clean condition when it is taken out.

Tapioca has been tried and is hardly a suc-
cess. In fact it is quite undesirable. Apart
from the possibility at present prices of its
yielding a very small profit, if any, it is so diffi-
cult to weed that alarge amount of lalang gets
in and the land is in a decidedly dirty condition
when the crop is removed. Camphor allows
the land to be kept clean, but the time to wait
for a crop is too long and then the profit is not
much. Coffee robusta offers by far the best
catch-crop. A small return will come in the
second year and a good one in the third and
following years.

Therefore for those who must put down a
catch-crop it is undoubtedly the best. The pro-
duction of robusta costs less per picul than
liberica. The total cost of production should
not exceed $12/- a picul, which returns a profit
of $6/- a picul on an average price of $18/- a
picul. Planted as acatch-crop in the way al-
ready recommended, 7, ¢., about 1,000 to the
acre, a return of 10 piculs of market coffee
ought to be obtained by the end of the fifth
year. This would yield a profit of $60/- or over
$130/- at present prices.

These figures are conservative, judging by the
example already given from Java. In the F.M.S8.
we have not sufficient data on which to base
close estimates ; but it is evident that if the
entire capital cost of the rubber cannot be re-
covered, at least from the end of the second year
itcan be more than upkept from the profits on
robusta.

It must be remembered that the cost of plant- —
ing the coffee has to be added to the cost of
bringing the rubber into bearing, but on the
other hand owing to the earlier shade the weed-
ing will cost less than in para alone.

When rubber has been interplanted 1n liberica
it is a common fault to let the coffee practically
die out. This should be guarded against when
the time comes to deal with robusta. Large
robusta of five years old will-compete seriously
with para. The robusta should be ruthlessly
cut out as soon as the branches of the rubber
trees meet and certainly in the beginning o
the sixth year. ,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—A pril, 1910.

ACCACIA DECURRENS.

Resutts WANTED.
Pykara Falls Estate, Naduvatam,
Nilgiris, Jan. 19th.
Sir,—You must be aware that a very 1mpor-
tavt departure has been made by Upcountry
tea Planters in Ceylon, at elevation over 3,000 ft.,
in planting Acacia decurrens throughout their
fields of tea as a green manure and, therefore,
I venture to suggest that you should kindly as-
certain what the results have been up to date,
and enlighten your general readers on this sub-
ject. Acacia decurrens has an enormous devel-
opment of roots, and how the interference of
these roots with the roots of the tea bushes is
prevented is a very important question to tea
planters. Will you kindly enquire into this
matter at an early date.— Yours faithfully,
A. PETER.

We invite atttention to the aboye interesting
enquiry sent us by a Nilgiris planter, as to
the results of the planting of Accacia decurrens,
in so far as it acts as green manure amongst
tea, The results are probably much easier to
indicate in general terms, from managers’ expe-
rience of improvement of the tea bushes and vari-
ously increased yields. But to state at all accu-
rately how much inat all concrete terms, the trees
have served as green manures, may be a matter
of some diffieulty, Will any particular planter
kindly send us an up-to-date account of their
results for the benefit of local as well as South
Indian readers ?

FERTILISERS ON RUBBER
PLANTATIONS.

Jan. 7.—The time has arrived in the sub-tropi-
cal Colonies to begin the advantageous use of
fertilisers for rubber plantations.

Mr. John Hughes wrote to me, the other
day, asking, —

Can you tell me how the Government rubber planta-
tions have turned out, namely :—

1. The younger plantation at Henaratgoda.

2, Culloden 60-acre field.

3. Apatipawnura Flood-level,
Ratnapura,

4, Kdangoda.

You may remember that I analysed samples of those

sent me in September, 1898, and the results were pub-
lished subsequently, after delay, by Dr. Willis.
I answered Mr. Hughes about the Government
clearings—sold not very long ago—apart, of
course, from the Heneratgoda Garden with
the older Para trees in the island, Culloden
“‘rubber” has done well for its fortunate
owners, and it is interesting to hear further
from Mr. Hughes :—

London, E.C., January 5th, 1910.-Thanks for your
rompt reply. The names mentioned were those on the
oxes as sent me. It is interesting to note that in my
remarks entered in analysis book as long since as Sept.
léth, 1898, the soil from Culloden 60-acre field is described
as being the hest of the four soils examined and con-
tained the most organic matter, the most Nitrogen and
the most water retained in the air-dried condition. Only
last Monday I was applied to from the Straits to recommend
what kind of manure should be applied on a rubber plan-
tation, so that apparently eyen there where the soil is
superior to that of Ceylon, it was thought desirable to
apply some kind of manurial dressing.

e may make sure that many enterprising
rubber proprietors, as well as Companies, will
begin to see what scientific analyses and culti-
vation can do for them,—Cor,

Forest Department,

363

PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE
IN INDIA.

The Report of the Director-General of Agri-
culture in India for 1907-1909 is a comprehen-
sive document consisting of 80 pages of printed
matter, and touching upon all the phases of
80 complex asubject. We learn that the Scien-
tific Staff of the Imperial Department of Agri-
culture has been limited by the Secretary of
State to 16 European Officers who, however,
are provided with a number of Indian As-
sistants. The Board of Agriculture as consti-
tuted in India is an official body consisting
of 38 members. It has been definitely settled
that Pusa should be chiefly a higher teaching
institution with post graduate studies for
those who have passed out of provincial
agricultural Colleges and for distinguished
science graduates of Indian Universities. The
Director-General speaks in high terms of Dr.
Butler, the Imperial Mycologist, congratulating
him in regard to the practical applications of
his work to the ordinary conditions of Indian
Agriculture, and remarking that his enquiry
into the disease in palm trees has been of such
value that it is equivalent to saving the cost
of his section to India for many years to come.

The Department has now a cottou expert in
Mr GA Gammie, F.L.8., under whose advice
much useful work is being carried on: (1) in
selection and distribution of seed, (2) intro-
duction of superior indigenous varieties and bet-
ter methods of cultivation, (3) Hybridisation
and (4) the trial of exotic varieties.

ToBacco,

Under the head of tobacco we read that the
experiments in the three Presidencies have
yielded some encouraging results particularly
those at Rampurs which are thought likely to
be of substantial benefit to the ryot. A trial
of improved methods of curing local tobacco
resulted in the best sample being valued in
Bombay at five annas a lb., while country-cured
tobacco was 1 to 14 annas. As regards manur-
ing it has been found that 600 |b. castor cake
with cattle manure at the rate of 10 tons per
acre gives a substantial profit. The effect of
manuring was considerably enhanced by deep
cultivation. Burmah is experimenting with
American varieties of tobacco, and in Madras
Messrs. Spencer & Oo. are attempting to pro-
duce a suitable wrapper leaf for their cigars.

Sunn Hemp.

All this is most interesting to us seeing that
both tobacco and cotton are receiving special
attention just at present, particularly the
former which is the subject of an extensive
and costly experiment. We read of crotalaria
juncea, or sunn hemp (Sinhalese ** Hana”)
that while the fibre does not compete with
jute its market value is higher. Sunn hemp
is a suitable rotation crop with paddy for
which it greatly improves the soil. At present
this crop 1s only seen in the Jaffna and Chilaw
districts and gives no promise of extension,
In India the value of the crop both from fibre
and green manuring has been fully recognised,
We read that ‘‘the area under sunn hemp hag

364

nearly doubled during the last 10 years in the
Central Provinces,” also that ‘‘the crop is a
well-recognised feature of the agriculture of
the United Provinces and the trade in fibre
is an organised one.” With reference to
the merits of green manures it was found
that sesbanra aculeata increased the yield
of leaf in tea, and that coganus indicus pro-
duced a large amount of organic matter
and improved the texture of the soil; the condi-
tion of the bushes and the growth of new wood.

Both these green manure plants are well known
locally.

The average out-turn of Cassava tubers on the
Manjri Farm was 16,248 lb,, and the percentage
of starch to the whole tubers varied from 16 to
25. The chemistry of the tubers has been
studied and reported on by the Imperial Agricul-
tural Chemist. There is much more of interest
in this report which we would commend to the
notice of those who are following the laudable
attempts being made to improve agricultural
methods in the East.

THE JEQUIE MANICOBA
RUBBER TREE.

[SprciaL ArticLE: By R. THomson.]

This new species of rubber is indigenous to
the State of Bahia, Brazil. It is a small tree,
attaining a height of some 25 feet, with stems
from 18 to 20 inches in circumference. It is
a closely-allied species of the Ceara rubber,
the native habitat of which is separated from
this Manigoba region by some five or six
degrees of latitude. Until a few years ago
this rubber was unknown to commerce. It
grows under peculiar conditions as a product
of the forest. In the region I traversed, there
are millions of trees, including saplings. ‘he
soil in which the Manigoba grows is peculiar (I
have samples of it in London). It is a porous
kind of clay, more porous than sticky, the
texture of which is eminently conducive to
the well-being of the tree during prolonged
periods of drought to which it is exposed.
Apart from the peculiar character of the soil,
its great depth powerfully contributes to
the conversion of the moisture which it freely
absorbs during the short rainy seasons. In
other words, the absorbent power of this great
body of earth, not only relieves the surface
of any excess of moisture, but retains the
moisture during severe droughts, so that the
soil is never water-logged, and never excessively
dry. This soil, therefore, occupied with the
aridity of the climate, is the secret of the exis-
tence and diffusion of this rubber tree.

A few years ago I was deputed by Messrs,
Elder, Dempster and Co., to investigate the
resources of the Pineapple region of Florida.
I mention this by way of pointing out the
disparity between that soil and the Mani-
goba soil. I quote from my _ published
report:—‘‘If the soils of Florida were
anything like the soils of Jamaica, it is
sats to say that Pineapples would not be
cultivated there at all. The soil in which they
are planted consists of from 96 to 98 per cent of

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

silica. The growers furnish all the food by ferti-
lizers, which bring forth luxuriant crops... On
examining a large Pine-apple field that had been
some months before uprooted in order to prepare
the land for re-planting, I saw many hundreds
of rejected suckers that had been cast away over
the land actually bearing fruit! In other words,
these suckers yielding fruit had no connection
with the soil, other than lying on the surface.
I was puzzled. But, on reflection, I arrived at
the conclusion, that this phenomenal productive-
ness was due to the great depth of the bed of
sand, probably 50 feet, which issued moisture
from its huge mass on the principle of capillary
attraction.”

The supreme importance of soil is further
exemplified by the following extract from the
India-rubber World :—

‘* After having travelled through all the de-
sirable. rubber regions in Central America and
Northern South America, I am satisfied that
suitable tropical forests which can be had now
at alow price—often for a few cents an acre—
present an opportunity for the profitable em-
ployment of capital such as has seldom been
offered in the world’s history, but the ser-
ious point is to secure the proper land. Those
who acquire it will have more than they expect,
and natural rubber lands are not to be had by
simply making a chance location. Though the
trees will grow almost anywhere, it is only the
most favoured spots that will yield those spon-
taneous returns that are so very profitable.
It is fair to state that if people go to taking up
tropical forests promiscuously, ten will be dis-
appointed to every one who secures a prize.”

In the remote district in which this tree
grows, the vegetation may be described as a
scrub forest. The Manicoba tree throughout
certain areas intermingles with the stunted
trees and forms a prominent part of the forest
at an elevation of 1,000 to 2,000 feet above
sea-level, In the forest there are comparatively
few species of trees that exceed a medium size.
The country is gently undulating, with low
intervening hills. The whole region presents
the aspects of a semi-desert, consequent on the
character of the soil, which is non-productive of
Juxuriant tropical vegetation.

Throughout this dreary tract of country, em-
bracing many thousands of square miles, miles
at a time are destitute of inhabitants. Running
streams of water, so impressive and emblematic
of fertile regions, are few and far between
throughout the district. At Cistances, usually
many miles asunder, the configuration of the
land admits of natural reservoirs which, aided
by simple devices, supply the wants of man and
beast. Thus, the water is collected at the bases
of hills and sloping lands where cavities are
formed. Wild animals, including insects, are
also rarely encountered. In this connection it
is worthy of note that cultivated Manigoba trees
appeared to be practically immune from insect
depredations. Ants sometimes overhaul the
young leafage, and a young tree is sometimes
snapped off at the top by a stray deer.

Another noteworthy feature of this scrub
forest may be indicated. The foliage is scant
and lacks profuse development in conformity

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—A pril, 1910,

with the stunted tree vegetation, but it is ac-
companied by innumerable growths of thorns
and spices that contest supremacy with the
foliage itself. I have travelled on horseback
through many thousands of miles of tropical
lands, but never through any part having a
tithe of these formidable weapons. The
sterility of the region is mainly accountable
for this evolution of thorns. Most of the
species become thorny, and the thorny species
are reproduced superabundantly.

Notwithstanding the severe droughts char-
acteristic of this region (probably the rainfall
dves not exceed 25 inches a year), droughts
lasting six months, and even nine months at
a time, many shrubby species of the natural
order Malvaceae were constantly found in prox-
imity to Manicoba trees. I am _ intimately
acquainted with many species belonging to this
order in the tropics, and I was surprised to
see numerous species flourish under such con-
ditions of aridity. There can pe no doubt that
this phenomenon is ascribable to the peculiar
structure of the soil. Many species of Cacti
are interspersed in the shrubby thickets,
these being more concentrated at points
where the soil is exceptionally aria. It
was curious to see several species of palms,
moisture loving plants, struggling for existence
in these ungenial thickets. Half-a-dozen species
of native Ficus fine umbrageous trees, flourish
adjacent to svitlements. (I thought that Ficus
elastica, R., among rubber, could be grown to
perfection here.) Ferns are non-existent,
though I saw after riding 360 miles, a few puny
plants in a dark ravine. J visited a coffee plan-
tation at about 3,000 feet altitude. This was
the only coffee plantation on an area of many
thousands of square miles. The coffee plants
yield very small iruit. At this height frequent
rains are experienced. And coming from the
inland towards the City of Bahia, rains are
more frequent, the soil is darker—an amelio-
rating factor. Tobacco of splendid quality is
exter sively cultivated here by thousands of
small settlers. In juxtaposition Cassava
(Manioc), the staple food prodtiict of Brazil,
a congener of Manigoba, maize aud other pro-
ducts, in patches, are commonly cultivated,
and crops are obtainable therefrom a few
months after the rainy season,

In a report of mine issued by the Agri-
cultural Society of Jamaica, about a year ago,
on the Virgin rubber of Columbia (it has
been reprinted in many countries), 1 empha-
sized the importance of rubber cultivation
in comparison with the sparse returns obtain-
able from wild trees. This is applicable to Para
rubber audall other important species of rubber,
including Manicoba. In a state of nature,
rubber trees struggle for existence amidst a
thousand other species of trees. In the near
future all rubber must be produced by culti-
vation like any great agricultural commodity.

During the past year various owners of Mani-
coba rubber land have been directing attention
to the culture of this tree. I visited several
plantatious ranging from afew acres to a hun-
dred acres. I was anxious to investigate the
cultural capabilities of the tree, The owners of

365

theso lands are ignorant of the lines on which
this culture should be initiated. They take
it for granted that sticking the Manigoba
seeds or cuttings into cleared ground is

all that is necessary without further atten-
tion. One important factor is in their
favour: I refer to tho

WONDERFUL TENACITY OF LIFE AND
RECUPERATIVE POWER PERVADING THIS PLANT.

The primitive procedure by which the inci-
pient seedlings aud cuttings are left to take
care of themselves with a view to establishing
plantations, is antagonistic to the development
of the trees, for. nothing is more important than
the proper treatment of young plants in the
establishment of great prospective plantations.
The result of the preliminary attempts in ques-
tion was an aggregation cf maltreated plants,
In this connection it may be noted that about
halt-a-dozon labourers only, men who know no-
thing about rubber cultivation, and nobody to in-
struct them, perform all the work appertaining
to the upkeep of such plantations, comprising
some 50,000 plants. Of course, they have but
few weeds to contend with, an important con-
sideration, as they are in general suppressed
by the peculiar soil and climatic conditions.
I therefore could not help coming to the con-
clusion, thatif these improvised plantations were
placed under my control, [should re-plant them
throughout, Anyhow itis important to be able
to add that I found two notable exceptions to
this crude style of planting, one of which having
a few thousand plants, and the other fifty
thousand, on both of which intelligent methods
of planting had been adopted. And these two
plantations, from a practical point of view,
were decidedly encouraging. The seeds
and huge cuttings or stumps were only
four months planted. The seedlings in this
time attained a height of from four to five
feet, and they were exceedingly healthy and
vigorous. The hugo cuttings are procured from
the forest, that is to say,

SAPLINGS IN THK FOREST ARE CUT DOWN

and stuck into the cleared ground to form
roots and permanent plants. These stumps
measure from six to eight feet in length,
both ends cut off, and io four months the
vigorous shoots that spring from the tops are
four and five feet inlength, thus a continuity of
growth from the sapling tothe established tree.
This plant is an

INVALUABLE ACQUISITION TO RUBBER
CULTIVATORS.

It can be cultivated at a minimum
consequent on its persistent
vigour as is exemplified in its native soil,
and consequent on its other merits to
which I have drawn attention. Further, it
may be stated that this tree is coms
parable with particular products cultivated in
the tropics and elsewhere, products that flourish
in a great measure by the restricted cultivation
given. That is to say, when we discover a
region pre-eminently adapted for a given culture,
there it yields not only the best perce of its
kind, but also far more economically,

cost
tenacity and

366

Again, the humble dimensions of the Mani-
coba tree, I am convinced, are a factor in its
favour from a cultural point of view, for it
attains to a size exactly suited for close plan-
ting. In the great Hevea (Para rubber) planta-
tions under cultivation in the Kast, close plan-
ting is systematically resorted to with the object
of forcing early crops which are available from
young trees of limited size, for numbers collec-
tively far mure than compensate for the pro-
duction of rubber per acre from full grown trees
widely planted. Asa matter of fact, big trees are
stated in the East to be an encumbrance.

The number of trees usually planted in the
East run from 100to 200 per acre, sometimes
more, The number of Manicgoba I advocate to
be planted is 1,200. 1 estimate that 1,200 trees
per acre (exclusive of certain returns in the
fourth year) will yield 600 lb. of rubber in the
fifth year; and at least the same quantity an-
nually thereafter for along period of years. In
many rich Manicobazones I computed thenum-
ber of wild trees at more than 100 per acre, some
25 per cent being tappable trees, most of the re-
mainder saplings, the forest growth of which is
sluggish as compared with cultivation. It may
be observed that a wild tree occasionally yields
one pound of rubber at a tapping, but the aver-
age is far less, One of the advantages, a subsi-
diary advantage, to accrue from cultivation is
that of systematic control of the cropping by a
special staff of workers, for the itinerant collec-
tors of wildrubber cannot always be counted on.

I detected in the Manicoba forests several
distinct varieties of this tree, and on enquiry I
found that one particular variety was recog-
nised as being richer in latex than others. The
varieties are distinguished by colour, size and
lobe formation of the foliage which latter are
remarkably vigorous in cultivated plants. The
uncultivated trees are sparsely furnished with
foliage. I have had considerable experience
with regard to the effects of soil on rubber
plants. Apart from the large plantation of
Virgen rubber which I established in Columbia,
I planted experimentally more than quarter of
acentury ago, both in Jamaica and in Columbia
many plants of Ceara, a nearly related species
of Manicoba. Furthermore, I introduced to
Jamaica many plants of Para rubber, Castilloa
and Virgen rubbers. Unfortunately, until re-
cently, no attention has been paid to their pro-
pagation in that colony.

The Hevea (Para rubber) is indigenous to
another part of Brazil. In addition to the
boundless tracts of country throughout which
it is dispersed, itiga large tree. It furnishes
in a wild state most of the rubber found in
commerce. But the natural resources of the
forest gradually dwindle, This is the tree for
cultural purposes that has claimed the attention
of tho capable planters of the Kast with far-
reaching consequences. The species flourishes
in conditions of soil and climate the converse
of those requisite for the humble Manicoba tree.
Hence, the latter species can never be culti-
vated side by sidewith its great Amazonian rival.

Supplementary to my foregoing account of
this species of rubber, [ think it is important to
cite from, and append hereunto, an interesting

The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist

article in the Kew Bulletin, No. 2 1908, on this
subject, which, inter alia, contains much infor-
mation supplied by Mr O’Sullivan Beare, H.B, ©
M.’s Consul at Bahia, to whom I had a letter of
introduction from the Governor of Jamaica :—

Inthe year 1906, Dr. Ule, a German botanist,
who visited Bahia, named the Jequié Manigoba
Manihot dichotama,

-** The Jequié Manigoba is undoubtedly a new
and distinct species of Manthot, and it must not
be confounded with the Manihot of Cearea
Manihot Glaziovii.

‘This discovery is a matter of much import-
ance, not only to this State but also for the rub-
ber tradein general, inasmuch as the rubber
obtainable from the Jequié Manigoba when
properly prepared, would seem to be equal in
quality to the best product of the Para region.

‘‘'Phe season for extracting the latex from the
Jequié Manicoba extends from August to
March. ‘I'he latex possesses the valuable pro-
perty of coagulating spontaneously when ex-
posed to the air, and it requires no acid or
artificial coagulant of any kind.

“A planter, established in the Jequié district,
recently prepared a considerable quantity of
rubber obtained from Manicoba trees growing
wild in that neighbourhood, and despatched it
to New York. The consignment was classified
in the New York market as being equal to the
best Para rubber, and it fetched one dollar
twenty cents (5s.) per lb.”

In addition to Manihot dichotama, two distinct
and nearly related rubber-yielding species of

Manicoba were found by Dr Ule, ‘‘the one
growing on the mountains of the right
bank of the Rio San Francisco, and the
other confined to the country at some

distance from the left bank, occurring especially
inthe adjoining State of Piauhy.” ... These
two species are described under the names of
M. heptaphylla and M. piauhyensis.
examination of this species of rubber;
Manihot dichotama, in its native habitat, set forth
in my preceding account shows that I am im-
pressed with the remarkable possibilities of this
rubber yielding,plant, thus having arrived at
the conclusion that, under cultivation, it is des-
tined to rank in productiveness, per acre second
to none. It therefore seems obvious that
some confusion has arisen in the publication
of a paragraph in the “Kew _ Bulletin,”
wherein this species as regards its rubber-
yielding capacities is undoubtedly mis-
represented. A comparison 1s made with this
and the two other allied species, namely, M,
hetaphytta and M. piauhyensis, In this compari-
sonit 1s stated that the yield of rubber per tree
under cultivation for the two latter actually ex-
ceeds the yield for M. dichotama tive-fold? Thus
‘‘the yield of rubber from a single tree of M. dicho-
tama in one year can be reckoned at from 100-200
grammes,” And, the annual yield of rubber for
single trees of M. piauhyensis is from 500-1,000
grammes,” Said paragraph is here subjoined:—
‘«PLanrations.—At present the plantations
of M. dichotama are rather young and only the
oldest are ready for tapping ; but from the two
other species, which have been known longer, a
satisfactory amount of rubber is now being
brought on to the market. In the plantations

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society,.— April, 1910,

which are laid out in a quite primitive manner,
the seeds are planted in rows 2 metres apart,
making 2,500 trees to the hectare (2'47 acres).
Other plants may be grown between the rows
during the first year. With regard to tapping,
M. prauhyensis is ready in the third year, and the
other two species may be tapped in their
fourth yearof growth. The yield of rubber from
a single tree of M, dicholama in ono year can be
reckoned at from 100-200 grammes with present
methods, and this is equivalent to 200-300 kilogs.
per hectare, Theannual yield of rubber for single
trees of M. piauhyensis and M. heptaphylix is from
500-1,000 grammes, which corresponds roughly,
to about one ton per hectare.’—IJndian Forester,
for January and February, Nos. 1 and 2,

BRAZIL-NUTS.

The Brazil-nut tree(Bertholletia excelsa) belongs
to the monkey-pot section of the myrtle family,
and is a native of Brazil, Guiana and Venezuela,
forming large forests on the banks of the Rio
Negro, Amazon and Orinoco. Travellers de-
scribe it as one of the biggest tropical trees,
both in height and circumference. The fruits,
which are produced on the upper branches, take
upwards of a year to ripen, in which state they
consist of a perfectly round hard shell about half
an inch thick, containing 15 to 25 closely-packed
three-sided, rough-shelled seeds (nuts), When
ripe the entire fruit falls from the tree. It differs
in this respect from the allied Sapucaya nut,
whose fruit splits while still on the tree, letting
the seeds fall to the ground. The leaves are broad
and smooth and about 1€in. long. The erect
flower spikes are about 2 ft. long, and bear many
cream-white flowers, which open one by one,

The tree is 80 slow of growth that while the
native supply continues abundant, it is not suit-
able for commercial planting, It has, however,
long been thought suitable for introduction into
our eastern colonies and Australia, and this is
nota matter of great difficulty. Fresh seeds may
be obtained in London in early summer, and
should be packed for re-export in coconut fibre.
On arrival the shells of the seeds should be very
carefully removed, and the kernels sown in nur-
sery beds, when they will quickly germinate,
Two trees, which were planted in Singapore in
1881, first fruited in 1902, and have since borne
nuts annually in increasing quantities. The
biggest tree is now 65 ft. high.

The manner of the germination of ihe seeds in
a wild state was long a matter of speculation.
It is accomplished as follows :—In each fruit
there is a small hole at the point where it was
attached to the stalk, Through this, after a
considerable time, the shoot of one of the germi-
nating seeds contrives to effect an exit. The
other seeds, unable to find an outlet to reach the
light, perish, but they are thought to be usoful
in serving to nourish the solitary plant which
grows, and ultimately bursts the shell confining
ibs roots, which then strike into the soil. Hx-
periments showed that even if the seeds are re-
moved irom the fruit case they take a long time
to germinate, but that when the kernels were
removed and sown the young plants appeared
through the soil after ten days.

—The Field, February 19, K,

367
PADDY EXPERIMENTS IN INDIA.

The following details of an experiment in
paddy cultivation at the Dumraon Agricultural
Station—given in the report on the Station
for 1908-9—should prove of interest to local
cultivators. The paddy grown was a variety
known as Bansphul, a medium-grained sort.

Acre plots were manured as follows :—(1) 50
maunds (80 lb. per maund) cow-dung ; (2) 100
maunds cow-dung ; (3) 34 maunds cow-dung and
3% maunds castor-cake ; (4) 3 maunds bonemeal
and 1 maund saltpetre; (5) sunn-hemp green
manure; and (6) Dhaincha green manure. One
plot (7) was left unmanured.

The seed-bed was sown on June Ist, and trans-
planting (two seeds to each hole) took place
in the 2nd and 3rd week of July, and the crop
was harvested in last week of November. The
following table gives the results :—

Out-turn Per Acre in Maunds.

Grain Straw.
(1) fee seh 32 60
(2)rpie te 26 47
(Syl rare 823
(4) _— a 273 564
(5) toa we 29 574
(Gy ere tele O65 48

yt) anc) each) “998 31

Another experiment dealt with varieties. This
experiment was begun in 1906, and the results
prove that for a fine medium and coarse-grained
vice, the varieties known as Srikola, Bansphul
and Maharajwa paddies are the best. These
yielded per acre, respectively, 224 maunds grain
and 514 straw, 16 maunds grain and 27} straw,
304 maunds grain and 56 straw. The selection
of a coarse, medium sand fine-grained variety
must depend entirely on the market and be de-
cided by the cultivator himself.

Still, another trial deait with the question of
draining the field during the last fortnight.
This is the usual practice and is known as nigar,
The continuance of water on the land is indi-
cated by the term no-nigar. The following were
the results :—

Out-turn in Maunds (80 Lb.)

Grain. Straw.
Niger... 5 188 36g
No-nigar oy 13 408

Hence the results were very much in favour of
nigar, In the no-nigar plots the plants were
sickly and were badly attacked by caterpillars,

The conclusions to be drawn are: (1) that
a mixture of 34 maunds cow-dung and 3% maunds
castor-cake is an economical application, while

reeu-manuring with sunn-hemp (Crotalaria

yuncea) and Dhaincha (Sestunia aculenta) is well

worth the attention of cultivators; (2) that
the practice of witholding water from the
field during the last fortnight of cultivation is
to be commended,

To show the value of conserving manure, a
trial was made in manuring paddy : (1) with 100
maunds cattle-dung and urine protected from
suo and rain ; and (2) with the same quantity of
ordinary expose mavure used by the ryot. The
results are very striking, for, while the yield in
the former case was 264 maunds grain and 47
straw, in the latter case it was 15g maunds grain
and 274 straw.

368
INTENSIVE RUBBER CULTIVATION.

Mr Norman Thomson, of 2, Princes-garth,
Forest Hill, a son of the late Mr Robert Thom-
son, head of the Jamaica Botanic Gardens, tells
of an interesting secret process for the intensive
cultivation of rubber :—

“ An acre of Para rubber costs some £30, in-
cluding interest on capital, &c. After a number
of years a yield of 300 lb. may be expected, but
a crop is unobtainable under five years, A few
years ago 100 Jb. per acre was considered an ex-
cellent yield, but experience seems to justify
the planters’ optimism in regard to a yield of
200 Ib. per acre. One of the pioneers of rubber
cultivation, my father revealed to me prior to his
death a project for rubber cultivation which, if
it meets with any success, is destined to affect
the question of rubber cultivation to a conside-
rable extent. I am now arranging to put into
execution, on an experimental scale, the system
in question, and while the cost per acre, inclu-
ding interest on capital, will not exceed £90, the
yield in three years will amount to as much as
1,000 lb. per acre.

“In other words, while the capital outlay per
acre willbe three times greater than is the
case with Para cultivation at the present time,
the yield will be more than three times as
much, and a saving of several years will be
gained before the stage of production approxi-
mates,”’

Mr Norman Thomson adds that the system
he has in view embodies conditions of scientific
cultivation adopted in the case of other tropical
cultures with conspicuous success, and that
only an intimate acquaintance with certain
tropical cultures has made it possible to con-
struct a theory in regard to rubber cultivation
which he holds, may conceivably revolutionise
the rubber industry.—L. & C. Express, Feb. 18.

** GEYLON.’’

“ ROBBER AND OTHER PRODUCTS ”

is the heading of an article in the London
Times Financial and Commercial Supplement of
Friday, February 11. We quote the following
extract :—

Prospects ror RuBBER,

The exports of rubber from both Malay and
Ceylon, as well as from Southera India, Suma-
tra, Java, Borneo, &c., must very soon now
increase rapidly. The minimum estimates of
shipments have usually been from 25,000 to
35,000 tons of raw rubber for the whole of
South-Eastern Asia by 1915; but this estimate
may be increased in view of the recent experi-
ence of the large yields of latex obtained from
Para trees as they grow older in both Ceylon
and the Malay States. One company’s planta-
tions show results that would point toa much
bigger total five or six years hence for all the
Eastern planted area then in bearing. For
instance, the yield from the 10 oldest Para
trees in a Ceylon plantation—trees quite over
20 years at least—has averaged 18 Jb. per tree

er annum during the past four years, and the

est tree gave 25lb., the poorest yielding 13lb.
last year. There is, however, no plantation or

The, Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

even 1,000 trees so old as these on a single

’ estate in Ceylon, for there were only 750 acres of

rubber planted by 1898, 2,500 acres by 1901, and
about 10,000 area about the middle of 1904. Now
the Ceylon Handbook and Divectory for 1909-10
gives a total of 184,000 acres of rubber for the
island and about 550,000 acres for all Asia,
but the Malay States are reckoned by some
local authorities to have at least 240,000
acres planted and many of the plantations
there are isuch older than any in Ceylon, as
shown by the fact that their total annual
exports are already more than four times that of
Ceylon, Theimmediate question of interest is
that of the probable exportation of raw rubber
for 1910, 1911 and 1912, respectively, from
Southern Asia under the impetus of the keen
demand and high prices now prevailing.

I VENTURE ON AN ESTIMATE,

chiefly based on Malayan and Ceylon experience
but allowing for what may come from India,
Java and other parts of the Hastern Archipelago,
including gatherings from indigenous rubber-
yielding trees, as follows:—For 1910, about
8,000 to 9,000 tons (worth over £5 51:0,000,; for
1911, a total of about 13,500 tons; aud tor 1912,
about 19,000 tons. It is quite certain that Has-
tern planters can face a considerable fall in
present prices with equanimity as they can put
their product at a low rate on the London
market. The only difficulty will be found in
properties bought dearly or over-capitalised.
Later on the real competition will be between
Hastern and Brazil and African rubbers, that
is when the total production overtakes the de-
mand though of this there is no present appear-
ance. Those who may be still going on planting
rubber should consider carefully how the situa-
tion may be by 1915-16, in respect of consump-
tion versus production, It is remarkable how
freely Ceylon-trained planters have gone to the
Malay States, India, Burma and all the Hast,
as far as New Guinea (where Para rubber is
doing well), and to the Solomon and South Sea
Islands as well as to Hast Africa and the West
Indies. [Various products and Area under Culti-
vation are then dealt with.—A. M.& J. F.]

RUBBER AND CLEAN WEEDING.

The following extract from a recent Circular
issued by the Director of Agriculture, Nyasa-
land, is reprinted from the Agricultural News :—-

‘‘Tt has been proved that the flow of latex from a rubber
tree is affected by endosmotic pressure, which practically
means the amount ot waterin the plant roots. It is the
practice to tap rubber inthe early mpg and evening,
and to discontinue during the heat of midday and early
afternoon. During the heat of the day much water is
evaporated by the leaves, and latex flows slowly, but in
the early morning and evening water wishes to enter by
the root quicker than it is evaporated, with the result
that there is an internal pressure which helps the flow of
latex; therefore iti- practical to assume that there is an
intimate connexion between the presence of water in the
surface soil surrounding the roots, and the flow of latex
from the rubber tree. For half the year in Nyasaland
there is no rain, and daily the sun is strong enough to
evaporate water from the plants and from the soil. The
question arises, where does this water come from?
The answer is, from the lower layers or _ subsoil,
by the rising to the surface in the form of water

vapour and water liquid (capillarity). In the surface soil

of a clean-weeded estate the water during the day is prin-
cipally in the form of water vapour, the water being vapo-

rized to a considerable depth by the direct, overhead rays

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—April, 1910.

of the tropical sun. In the surface soil of an estate growing
a green manure crop, there is a large proportion of the
water in the liquid form, as the covering of vegetation
reduces the temperature of the surface soil, and
prevents the direct penetration of the sun’s rays. There-
fore, when rubber is growing surronnded with vegetation,
its roots have actual access to liquid water through the
greater part of the day, If we examine the same soils
during the dry season after the green manure crop is dead,
we still find more moisture in the latter, as the dead
remains of the green manure crop absorb and retain water
more firmly than ordinary soil, but deliverit freely to the
rubber roots, although notas freely as to the atmosphere.”
During my recent tour in 8. Travancore, I
conducted an experiment upon one estate which
I visited which exactly bears out the above
statement, Two samples of soil were taken, one
from undera very poor covering of Passiflora,
and one from a patch which had been kept clean
weeded and exposed day by day to the baking
sun. Equal weights of these samples were dried
in an oven for five or six hours and then re-
weighed. The resu!t showed that the soil under
the Passiflora, though this was of pocr growth
ard gave a minimum of shade, contained 11 per
cent. more moisture than that on the clean
weeded area, which represents a large amount
of water. This experiment is a strong arguinent
in favour of keeping the ground covered with a
growing cover crop even during the dry season,
A three or four foot circle round each tree
should be clean weeded and kept covered by a
mulch, and the rest of the land should be
covered by a growing crop of Passiflora, or
better still of a leguminous weed like Cassia
mimosoides. The disadvantage of having the
whole soil covered with a dead mulch is the
great danger that is run of fire, especially when
the estate is surrounded, as it was in this
particular instance, by jungle in which fires are
constantly occurring. A system of clean weeding
which leaves the soil exposed during the dry sea-
son to the wind and sun, results in an enormous
loss of moisture, far more than is taken out of the
soil by a growing cover crop, and this loss, as the
above extract shows, it is important to check,

Apart from this, when the heavy rains of the
monsoon period come, the loss of surface soil
from wash is very large, and each year this
valuable surface tilth is carried away, and the
soil is constantly buying denuded and impover-
ished. A cover crop breaks the force of the
rain and prevents this wash. Paddy fields in
boundary with some clean weeded estates which
receive the wash from the latter, are giving in-
creased crops due to the fine surface soil from
the estates which is deposited upon them; a
fact which speaks for itself.

RUDOLPH D, ANSTEAD, Planting Expert,
—Planters’ Chronicle, S. India, March 19,

THE CINCHONA AND RUBBER
BOOMS COMPARED.

The question may reasonably be asked, says
the Chemist and Druggist March 12th, is culti-
vation to do for the rubber forests what it
has done for the South American cinchona
groves? With cinchona we have, after about
three decades of cultivation in the East, the
drug marketed in more reliable quality at a
price which is reckoned in pence, where thirty

47

369

years ago shillings were paid. Then the demand
for cinchona was in excess of the supply, just
as rubber is now, and, although the total
money in it was small compared with rubber,
the necessity for cinchona was as great, Cul-
tivation of rubber trees in the East and else-
where than South America is a modern factor
in rubber supply. At present most that the
world uses comes from natural forests, and it
is not a quarter of a century since there was
grave doubt about the possibility of cul-
tivating rubber yielding treesin the East. Thus,
writing, in the Chemist and Druggist of July
23rd, 1887, a Ceylon correspondent said :

‘‘It is rather remarkable that, considering
what a great success cinchona production has
been in Ceylon, greater trouble has not been
taken with the india rubber tree, The climate
suits the plant, and its juice seems to be as
free and a plentiful as in Para; but none of
the planters seem to be able to do anything
with it. Some years ago thousands of trees
were planted, and are still standing, but rub-
ber does not yet figure in the exports. 1am
told that the soil and climate are too good,
and the foliage gets so heavy as to break down
the tree long before the age at which it produces
good rubber. But surely if that is really the
evil it might be met by careful lopping and
proper supports.”

SYNTHETIC CAMPHOR.

—is not yet added to the successful achieve-
ments of modern chemistry, as a companion to
artificial dyes, synthetic perfumes, and a few
other products which have made millions for
discoverers and manufacturers, The failure of
the French Camphor Company has parallels in
other countries, and is directly attributed to
the Japanese Government reducing the price of
natural camphor below the price at which syn-
thetic camphor can be produced; but there is
another factor not generally recognised—namely,
that synthetic camphor, when used in ward-
robes, gives garments a musty odour, which is
due, I understand, to traces of impurities that
cannot be profitably eliminated. Chemists say
that the two kinds of camphor are identical
except as regards their optical properties, but
the musty residue of the synthetic stuff is
as clear a distinction.—Chemist and Druggist,
March 12.

TRINIDAD CACAO AND EXPORTS,

The adverse effect of black rot (Phytophthora
omnivora) on the yield of cacao is illustrated by
the following experiment, which is recorded
by Me J H Hart. In this,diseased and healthy
beans were fermented and cured in a similar
manner and atthe same time. It was found
that, while 432 beans from healthy pods weighed
1 lb, with diseased pods 565 beans were re-
quired to make up the same weight. This cor-
responds to a loss of about 25 per cent, with, of
course, a lower quality of product.—West Indiau
Agricultural News,Dec. 11.

370
THE ENEMY OF THRIFT IN CEYLON.

Co OPERATIVE BANKS REQUIRED To SUPPLANT
THE CHETTY.

A letter signed ‘‘ Outspoken” which appeared
in our daily ‘Ceylon Observer” of March 28th,
throws some light on the manner in which
the industrious cultivator in Ceylon is de-

rived of the full benefit of his arduous
abours; how he is compelled by circumstances
to borrow money to bring his crop to market
and how the puissant Chetty, being the only
source of supply available, battens on the vil-
lager’s helplessness by extorting exorbitant
rates of interest. What is true of the tobacco
industry in Jaffna is no doubt equally the case
in other native agricultural industries in other
parts of the country. The wide scope which
exists for the Agricultural Society, with the
assistance of Government, to do something to
remedy this by spreading the system of Agri-
cultural Credit Banks and popularising them
among the masses, becomes more apparent the
more closely the methods in vogue and the exac-
tions of the Chetty are studied. Not a few may
be inclined to question the wisdom of suppor-
ting or encouraging any system which makes it
easy for a man to conduct business with bor-
rowed money. This idea, however, is based
on misconception. Credit is the foundation
of modern business methods. It appears to
have been in existence in Ceylon among the cul-
tivators for generations; and what is desirable
is not that the cultivator should be asked to
give up borrowing, but that a source of borrow-
ing should be put within his reach which would
enable him to obtain advances of money for
useful purposes at a reasonable rate of interest
and permit him at the close of the harvest of
his crops to enjoy a more substantial share of
the profits than the exorbitant charges of
the Chetty now allow. An Agricultural Credit
Bank—which is a Co-operative Society—would

do this. Such « bank is no philanthropic in-
stitution. It is conducted on strictly business
principles. It is co-operative. Its keynote is

* self-help ” while in its operations it is local,
members living within a small area and being
well-known to one another. There are one or
two such banks or societies already started in
Ceylon and the experience of the promoters of
these would be most valuable in the formation
of any scheme for the extension of the system
in the island, Credit Banks do not distribute
dividends, and, the expenses of management
being very small, money can be lent at a low
rate of interest. This is the main object
for which such Banks are formed. Money is
only lent for purposes of production or economy
and a borrower must state the purpose for
which he requires it and must undertake to

apply it to that particular purpose. A
credit Bank can only lend to its own
members; and its success’ will largely

depend upon its admitting as members only
those jwhose industry and honesty are be-
yond question. To every properly equipped
bank there should be attached a department
for receiving on deposit the savings of its mem-
bers. This is an important point. Little or
nothing is done in Ceylon to foster the habit

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

of investment among the rural population—by
which we simply mean the habit of regularly
putting by asmall portion of the family income,
not ina hole in the wall, but in the hands of
some person or institution who can be trusted
to keep it safe and to pay interest for its use.
1n the cities and towns there are the Post Office
Savings Banks and in Colombo the Ceylon Sav-
ings Bank, The skilled workman who can
as a rule earn wages considerably in excess of
his needs bas no excuse for not saving a little.
Alas, however, for the absence of the invest-
ment habit, our workmen are too often prone
to indulge in holidays to the extent of their
“surplus - balances” and work only a sufficient
number of days to give them the money they
absolutely require for their immediate needs.
The cultivator or small landholder away in the
interior has very few resources; and when he
makes a little extra profit, if he does not put it
into the improvement of his land, he is inclined
to spend it thriftlessly and improvidently,
The village co-operative credit society, with its
elastic system of deposits and loans, would en-
able even the smallest cultivator to build up by
degrees a substantial reserve fund invested out-
side his holding, and therefore protected from
chances incidental to the agricultural industry.
One does not have to look far into the whole
question to realise that very little is being done
inthis country to encourage thriftamong the
masses. The gripof the money lender appears
to lie heavy on the shoulder of every workmen
in Colombo, and his trail is over the paddy
patch of the humblest cultivator. The exten-
sion of co-operative credit banks in the rural,
as well as in the urban districts would puta
stop to much of the heartless fleecing now car-
ried on by chetties, and would in time spread
those habits of thrift andindustry among the
masses which would do so much to add to their
own comfort and well-being and render them
more prosperous in their business and indepen-
dent in their private life.

NEW PROCESS FOR DRYING FRUIT.

The Acting British Consul-General at Chicago
reports that anew method of drying fruit and
vegetables, adopted at Wankesha, near Wis-
consin, has proved a decided success. The
plant is set up in a fruit and vegetable producing
district, and contracts are made with farmers
to plant a certain number ofacres. The fruit
and vegetables are takenas they are picked,
and are dried by a new process, the length of
time required for the operation varying from six
to thirty hours. A plant to put out from
250,000 to 350,000 pounds of dried fruit and
vegetables a year would cost about £5,000 to
erect, and rather more than this amount would
be required annually for working expenses,
The United States military authorities have
tested samples of all the fruit and vegetables
dried, and have reported on them. In the case
of spinach, soup, greens, carrots, rhubarb, &c.,
the cooked dry food cannot, it is said, be told
from the fresh ; in the case of others, such as
potatoes, the flavour is different, but palatable.
Parts of the process are patented, but the most
important particulars of the method are not
made public. ~-Society of Arts Journal, March 11,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—A pril, 1910,

CLEAN WEEDING FOR RUBBER.

An experienced practical planter, with a strong
bent towards botanical sciences, asked by us
the other day if he believed in permitting the
growth of weeds on rubber estates, replied em-
phatically : ‘‘ Theoretically it is all right: in
practice it is hopelessly wrong,” and he went
on to relate how he had allowed an area of
rubber so to be covered with weeds with most
disastrous results, The growth of the trees was
retarded ; and in the covering formed by the
weeds, all things that creep or fiy, injurious
to the rubber tree, found refuge—bardicoots
and porcupine being particularly destructive.
We think, whatever scientists may say, the
best practical planting experience in Ceylon
will be found to support clean weeding as
against unweeded estates. On the former the
growth of the rubber is unquestionably more
rapid, while the danger of damage from pests
is reduced to a minimum. Weeding is expensive
and this is a drawback to the system ; but weed-
ing is not going to be a permanent charge, for,
when the rubber grows up and covers the land
like a forest, the necessity for weeding on the
same. scale as is required on a young plan-
tation will disappear, In any case the planter
at present feels the money spent on weeding
brings‘ handsome return in very much quicker
growth and practical immunity from pests ; and
the returns from rubber will standit. There is,
of course, a great deal to be said in favour of the
growing of cover plants instead of clean weed-
ing, and on sloping !and especially, an im-
mense amount of top soil containing a large
proportion of humus can be saved by this
method. Able and experienced Ceylon planters,
however, have come to the conclusion that
growing such plants adds to the difficulty of
supervision on large areas of rubber, In short
the conclusion arrived at appears to be that
‘‘the game is not worth the candle,” and
that clean weeding, well done, is the’ cheap-
est and most profitable system in the long
run. One rarely comes across a Ceylon rub-
ber estate now, which is not clean weeded.
A glimpse at the other side of the shield is
given by Mr. H.N. Ridley, Director of the Bota-
nic Gardens, Straits Settlements, in the March
issue of the Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits
and F, M.S. in an article on the Tillage of Soil
in the course of which he deals with ‘*‘ Denuda-
tion.” The rainfall in the Malay Peninsula, he
says, is very heavy, and in exposed situations and
on slopes the loss of soil in a heavy shower is
very large. Where the rain runs over these
slopes, in a very few minutes it is seen to be
quite opaque from the soil washed off. With
this soil goes all exposed humus, decayed leaves
and sticks, .... When grass grows over the stiff
clay soilit prevents denudation toa very much
larger extent, and in a few years produces a layer
of humus which fact itself shows that denuda-
tion has been stopped; the roots also break up
the stiff clay soil for some depth, and render it
possible for other roots to penetrate.” Mr.
Ridley quotes the following observations made
in the Botanic Garden to support his theory :—

‘‘In examining, the rubber plantations in
the Botanic Garden a very strong contrast
is to he noticed where a path through the

oll

trees has been opened and kept free of grass.
Tho ground is covered with roots of Para
rubber trees, the tops ot which are an inch
and-a-half or more above the soil, Hxam-
ining the ground on the other side of the tree,
which is not weeded, I tind the correspon-
ding roots as much or more below ground, so
that the opened path (not opened many years.
and well shaded so that the rainfall is broken up
by the foliage above and does not fall so heavily
on the ground) has lost four or five inches of soil
since it was opened, In the case of another lot
of trees seen in Perak, where the ground was
bare, sloping and of stiff clay, roots as thick as
the wrist were completely exposed and dead, the
ends being gone. These roots must have been
originally some distance under ground. The roots
of the Para rubber lie usually very high, but this
doubtless depends toa large extent on the depth
of the water, in the soil, In the damper parts
of the Botanic Gardens the rootlets of the Para
rubber come quite to the surface wherever there
are any decayed leaves and even sometimes rise
up between scraps of detached bark on the trunk
of the tree itself, Dead wood, old stumps are
quickly invested and permeated by them. This,
J think, shows that Para rubber demands good
humus and is ready to utilise all it can find. The
fallen leaves are kept onthe groundin all estates
to decay, but a very large portion of the resulting
humus must be swept away by the heavy storms
of rain as there is nothing to prevent this in a
clean weeded estate especially on the slopes.”

Dealing with the question of ‘‘ the Action of
Sun Heat,” Mr. Ridley says :—

‘* The action of the heat of the sun in cleared
ground is another factor which has to be con-
sidered. Itis notat all uncommon to see the
ground beneath the rubber trees deeply cracked
after hot weather. As Para Rubber roots high,
and frequently the rootlets come very near the
surface, under such circumstances a consider-
able number of the small growing roots must
be broken across by the cracking of the soil, and
further the great heat on the exposed earth will
probably injure the rootslying near the surface
even if the soil is not cracked. Injuries caused
by excessive heat, however, should only affect
young trees, where the ground is insufticiently
shaded by the trees themselves. A grass cover-
ing of the soil prevents cracking and also the
excessive heating of the soil. More experi-
ments are required to decide how far sun heat
on the bare soil is injurious to the young roots.
It has been the custom in the Botanic Gardens
to clear the soil round the palms of herbaceous
plants, grass, and other weeds, leaving a circle
of bare soil round each plant. This was done
for convenience in manuring. On one occasion,
however, the ground round the palms was
turfed up to the stem with the result that they
made quite a surprising growth,now the greater
part of the roots of the palms were really under
the grass, and the only ones affected were those
close to the base of the trees. . The only conceiv-
able cause of improvement from turfing up the
circles is that these roots were protected from
sun heat, and consequent excessive drying.
Palms do not give much shade with their leaves,
aud the roots close to the stem are practically
exposed to the full sun all day.”

4

372
WEEDY ’. CLEAN RUBBER ESTATES.

Ciearine LAND To Avorp DENUDATION,
ERosion AND WASH.

In continuation of our foregoing remarks we
cannot help thinking that very grave errors have
been made in the past—in fact, ever since the
early days of planting coffee which was confined,
we believe, to between 1,000 and 6,000ft. An
old planter who is still with us and who
has, he says, given the matter an immense
amount of consideration, has now no _ hesi-
tation in denouncing: first, the very waste-
ful process of clearing our land by felling
and burning it off, which he says was done
simply to make a good clean surface and to
facilitate subsequent work. Taking the felling
first, he is convinced that the proper course
would have been, in order: to fell, pile and
burn the underwood—very small in the case of
heavy forest owing to the dense shade—; then
road and drain, line, hole and fill in—the felling
contractor coming behind and felling the big trees
lopping, piling and burning one by one—and so
get all ready for the rains. In the case of Rubber
he thinks the following should most certainly
be the process : first, cutting good big V-shaped
holes, taking out the top soi! for the first foot in
depth, placing it to one side and discarding the
bottom soil taken out, filling in the hole with
the fine vegetable mould just taken out, as also
that on the surface near the hole. This should
give the rubber plants the very best possible start.

The present-day style of lining cannot, he
thinks, be improved on; but he points out that
in planting rubber on anything like steep land
every peg ehould have two holes so placed that a
line drawn from hole to hole will be 10 ft. apart
and lying at right angles to the hill and (or)
wash. Itis best not to drain as usual, but cut
dead level silt-traps 14 ft. by 18 in. by 18 in.,
sufticiently far away from and above the 2 plants,
to allow for future root and stem growth. Of
course, the silt-traps will cost something extra;
but it isonly 14 feet of drain really for every
peg, or 1512 feet of drain per acre. There would
be no other draining. Surely rubber is worth
it? Thesoil from the trap should be placed at
the upper side of the two plants and below
this trap, and so with the trap furm a perman-
ent terrace or barrier against all future wash.
Surely, it is urged, our valuable rubber trees
are worth such treatment, which will make safe
and profitable the flanting of our steepest
forests. Should the planter prefer planting
20 by 20, or 15 by 15, then in either case
each plant should have its own silt-trap.
But, for all steep land, planting 10 by 15 or
10 by 20 is recommended, the 10 ft. being between
the rows, So as to admit of the one level silt-trap,
in every case, protecting two trees. Our friend
would, therefore, recommend on easy or flat
land lining 20 by 20; but on steep land, at every
peg placing two plants 10 ft. apart in a line
against the wash. This would give about 216
trees per acre ; that is, if the ground is not very
rocky. Beyond growing aclump of mana grass,
in the centre of each square, sufficient for
mulching the ground round the young plants,
there being eight plants to a square, he would
strongly recommend clean weeding from the first.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

The mulching should be done immediately be-
fore the dry season sets in, so as to develop and
preserve the feeding roots near the surface, The
mana plants should also be planted so as to
form an additional barrier against the wash, our
great enemy ; and no matter how the feature or
slope of the land changes, stick to the same
style of lining. Only in every case when land
is steep, stick in the two plants for each peg.
His idea is that ifanything is to be grown the
first few years it should be something with which
the young plants may be protected from the
sun during our long periods of drought, prac-
tically our tropical wintering season—the in-
tense heat doing the work of the cold season in
Europe. Had good old King Coffee been
planted in hedges, such as suggested, with the
silt-catching traps above each set, Ceylon would
probably never have seen the terrible leaf disease,
ard we might still be exporting our 1,000,000
ewt, per annum. The most common thing in
olden days, on looking at the soil being carried
down the hillin a heavy N.E. plump, was to hear
the planter exclaim : ‘‘See ! Offgoes our best top
soil—down the Mahaweliganga--to Trincomalee.”

RAMIE WOOL.

The last issue of Capital contains a communi-
cated article, which gives a description of
anew development in connection with ramie
that promises, if successful, to make the
fibre one of the most useful employed for
textile purposes. The trouble hitherto in
connection with this fibre has been that the
processes of decortication and degumming have
been so unsatisfactory that the fibre has lost
much of its value for industrial purposes. It
is now stated that a Mr.R G Orr, of London, has
invented processes and machinery by which the
ramie is made to produce something entirely
different from the material hitherto obtained
by mechanical or chemical processes. Mr. Orr
calls the product * processed ramie,’ and he
claims that it can be shipped by the producer
to the manufacturer, who, by passing it through
a carding machine, can manufacture a material
called ‘ramie wool’ which can be put to allthe
purposes to which ordinary wool can be put,
from the manufacture of ‘shoddy’ to ‘ woollen ’
goods that are said to compare most favourably
with the natural article. Mr, Orr estimates the
cost of treatment of a ton of Cried ramie at
R7-8, and that the treatment will extract more
fibre than any other, If this is the case, there
is a bright future tor ramie in the Hast where
the difficulties already referred to have stood in
the way of its planting being taken up more ex-
tensively by those interested in developing in-
dustrial resources.

TEA IN NATAL.

The Imperial Trade Correspondent at Durban
(Mr. ADC Agnew) reports that the area cov-
ered by tea plantations in Natal is stated to be
6,000 acres, two-thirds of which are in full bear-
ing. Last year’s crop was 500 tons larger than
that picked in the preceding season, but it was
insufficient to meet the demand. The coming crop
promises well.—Board of Trade Journal, March 10.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—A pril, 1910,

, BACTERIAL BLIGHT IN COTTON.

(Bacterium matvacearum.)
Nores sy J. Stewart J. McCatt,
Director of Agriculture, Nyasaland.

This bacterial disease of cotton is by far the
worst enemy of Egyptian cotton cultivators in
Nyasaland, and in the past season has reduced
the output of several estates by at least 60
per cent. The disease was first noticed by the
writer in April, 1909, infecting ratoon cotton
on the late Oceana Consolidated Co.’s Estate,
Kaombi, Chiromo, and judging from corres-
pondence on the subject the ultimate closing
up of the said company’s interest in Nyasaland
may be largely attributed to the ravages of this
disease. Later in the season the writer observed
it in several localities including Port Herald,
Chiromo, Maperera, M’pimbi and Liwonde.

Bacterium malvacearum is prevalent in the
south-eastern States of America, and was largely
responsible for the repeated failure of all at-
tempts to cultivate Egyptian cotton in this
section of the cotton belt.

Egyptian and Sea Island cottons are peculiarly
subject toit, but varieties of American Upland
cotton have developed such a high dezree of re-
sistance that one might presume Bacterium mal-
vacearum is an American disease: it is compara-
tively rare in Egypt.

Symptoms oF THE Diszasze.—The bacterial
disease is found on different parts of the plant
producing various symptoms and receiving var-
ious names, such as black arm, boll spot, black
rust, angular leaf spot, &c., depending on the
point of attack. The disease first appears on
the leaves where it produces the characteristic
angular leaf spot, first watery green and ulti-
mately reddish black in colour. The distribution
of the diseased angle spots on the leaves is irre-
gular, but most numerous along the veins and
more especially towards the base close to the
petiole by which it enters the branches. It
rapidly causes the leaves to shed and the bacteria
may also gain entrance to the branches through
the leaf scar, ultimately producing irregular dark
lesions on branches and giving rise to the name
black arm. Once the disease has entered the crop
it spreads with wonderful rapidity throughout
the field ; in ashort time the young branches
carrying the flowers and bolls wither and die,
the crop turning black and leafless as if attacked
by frost. In Nyasaland the bacteria seldom pro-
duce boll rot, but sometimes a plant mildy at-
tacked by angular leaf spot is also attacked by
anthracnose fungus, the latter gaining entrance
through the bacterial spots or lesions and
rapidly causing boll rot. Fortunately for Nyasa-
land the two diseases have practically no facul-
tative relationship as anthracnose on the Shire
river is rare im comparison with parts of the
American cotton belt. Itisafact worth recording
that boll rot caused by anthracnose is more fre-
quently met with in the highlands, and thus
bears out the experience of Amerivan investi-
gators who consider that the severity of attack is
largoly in relationship to the rainfall, always being
worst in districts with a heavy rainfall. Speci-
mens of diseased cotton from Nyasaland exam-
ined by Prof. Orton of the Bureau of Plant
Industry, Washington, U. 8. A., were found to

373

contain a Fusarium in connection with the bac-
terium, but those fungi are generally considered
saprophytic and therefore in no way responsible
for the disease, but simply living on the diseased
tissues of the plant.

Loca OpsERVATIONS.—At the commencement
of Egyptian cotton cultivation on the Shire river
it was the general practice to sow cotton at the
advent of the rains in November or December.

This cotton always looked well until March or
April when it went off suddenly in patches;
some gardens being complete failures after giving
promise of large crops. This going offwas gene-
rally attributed to cold or wet, and no doubt they
were predisposing causes asit was generally after
rain that the crop began to show symptoms of
disease. On making an extensivesurvey of the
entire Egyptian crop in the districts already re-
ferred to, the writer found the severity of the di-
sease to be subject to the following conditions:—

I. Situation of cotton garden; II. Time of
sowing; III. Variety of cotton grown,

I, SITUATION oF CoTTon GARDEN.—It was
noticed that cotton gardens at or below the
level of high river mark were most severely
attacked. Everyone who has cultivated cotton
knows that a cotton plant is very sensitive to
stagnant water, and can withstand drought far
better than excess of moisture. Many sections
of the land bordering the Shire river are un-
suitable for Egyptian cotton cultivation on ac-
count of adverse soil conditions such as un-
suitable texture, lack of aération, acidity, etc.,
and therefore the writer does not recommend
planting Egyptian cotton except in free alluvial
soils with good natural drainage. The severity
of attack is controlled toa great extent by the
health of the plant at the season when the bac-
teria is sporing ; this explains why weak cotton
growing in wet low lying hollows is first at-
tacked and why the disease always seems to
spread from such centres,

II.—Time or Piantine.—The natural time of
sowing in countries with distinct dry and wet
seasons is the commencement of the rains, but
this is not always practicable and Egyptian
cotton on the Shire river is acase in point,

At the commencement of cotton cultivation in
Nyasaland planters naturally sowed in Novem-
ber and December, but with discouraging results
asa large percentage of the cotton died off with
this disease. After experimenting it was found
that January and February sown cotton al-
though not producing such large plants, gave
a better return, as it was seldom severely
attacked by disease although growing in the
same gardens. The disease in both cases
always appeared in April and May indicating
those two months as the sporing season for
the bacteria on the Shire river, unfortunately
the very time when the plants may be checked
in growth as it is the beginning of the dry
season, When two crops of the same kind,
growing on the same soil present marked
difference of resistance to the same disease,
we can only attribute the greater degree of
resistance of the younger plants to their
more robust state at the time of attack.
It is undoubtedly the case that a plant which
has produced flowers and bolls profusely is
weaker in its vegetative parts than a plant

— BT4

which has still this energy to expend; this is an
important factor in the control of bacterial
disease as inoculation takes place by the leaf.
The leaves of the earlier sown cotton are much
less active in Apriland May than the leaves of
the younger plants sown in January and Feb-
ruary, hence they are unable to resist so success-
fully the attack of the disease.

Ill. Vanigty or Corron.—As already men-
tioned Egyptian and Sea Island cottons are
peculiarly subject to this disease and it might
be further noted that Brasilian and Caravonica
cotton is also attacked more severely than Up-
Jaud varieties. ‘The action of the disease on the
different varieties of Egyptian cotten varies :—
Jannovitch and Abassi once attacked seldom if
ever recover;on the other hand Mit-afifii will
turn equally black in April or May, but when it
receives an inch of rain will send out auxillary
branches and bear a small crop of cotton. The
flowers and bolls of this secondary growth
are small with the result that the fibre is short,
irregular and weak; it is also difficult to sell
being too poor in quality to be included as
Egyptian proper and of the wrong colour to mix
with American Upland. Nyasaland Upland
cotton and Hybrid American-Egyptian show
resistance in a marked degree; on one estate in
the past season practically all Egyptian cotton
was killed out by the disease, and standing sur-
rounded by dead and diseased cotton were two
patches of the above cottons practically without
disease and yielding a fair crop.

PREVENTION.—Once the crop is infected, little
can be done; but much can be done for follow-
ing crops by respecting the plant’s requirements
and tavouring healthy growth. The writer feels
thoroughly convinced that a large portion of
the lowlying land adjoining the river is quite
unsuitable for Egyptian cotton although suit-
able for Nyasaland upland, and recommends
prospective planters to carefully consider the
situation and texture of the soil before opening
up land for an Egyptian cotton plantation. All
cotton should be up-rooted and burnt imme-
diately after picking the crop as the old sticks
may carry the disease to the next season’s crop.
The practice of ratooning cotton should be
avoided and especially on River plantations.
Care should be taken to avoid introducing dis-
ease tonew plantations by using seed from a
plantation already infected. If such seed must
be used, it should be treated by soaking for I
hour ina solution of corrosive sublimate in the
proportion of 1 to 1,000 (zc. one pound to 100
gallons of water} or ina solution of 40 per cent
Formalin, 1 pint to 50 gallons of water.—Nyasa-
land Government Gazette, Feb. 28.

THE CEYLON HANDBOOK AND
DIRECTORY.

The publishers of this standard Directory
have had an unprecedented demand for the
1909-10 edition and are now left without a single
copy though orders continue to reach them almost
daily, The new edition is already in course of
preparation and will contain much new infor-
mation with the old features carefully revised
and brought up-to-date, particularly the Planting
Review and the list of Planting Companies. In
view of the early publication advertisers and
subscribers should send in their orders at once
to A. M. & J. Ferguson, Ceylon Observer and
Tropical Agriewturist Office, Colombo, Ceylon,

| The Supplement to the Tropical Agricultwrist

CEYLON COCONUT OIL IN AMERICA.

ANNUAL REPORT,

With the exception of the period between
March and May the market displayed unusual
strength throughout the year. This was not in
any way due to the demand for soap-making pur-
poses, a8 has been the case heretofore, but was
mainly the result of an extraordinarily heavy
demand for edible coconut oil from the marga-
tine manufacturers of both the United States
and the Continent. Coconut. oil quotations
during the last half-year closely followed those
of lard.—The year opened with the market
firm, which was due mostly to the fact that the
bears were covering rather than to any large
consuming demand, After these interests had
accomplished their purpose the market sagged
somewhat, and in February and March sales
passed at 64c., which was the lowest price re-
corded during the year. Soap manufacturers
had been quite active buyers during this period.
—Toward the beginning of summer, when the
great scarcity of beef and hog fats both at home
and abroad became evident, it was seen that
the demand for coconut oil for edible purposes
would be far in excess of that for soap making,
and prices began to stiffen, reaching 74c. in May,
74ce.1n June and 8c. in July. A temporary re-
action took place in August, however, and sales
passed on the spot at 74c., and in Oct. at 7c.
However, in November the demand for coco-
nut oil from the margarine manufacturers of the
continent became again very heavy and spot
prices responded accordingly, sales having
passed at a minimum quotation of 81 8c, rang-
ing up to 8$c, with stocks very light and ship-
ment positions quoting close to the spot quota-
tions. ln December the lowest quotation was 9c,
sales having passed as high as 9c. The ship-
ments of copra fromthe Far Hast for eleven
mouths show a falling off of 17,000 tons, which
had, in its way, a certain effect upon the market,
but thestrong and unusual demand for edible
oilis mainly held responsible for the strong posi-
tion of the market throughout the year. The
soap interests, realising that coconut oil selling
at £10 per ton more than itdid at the beginning
of the year wouldhardly be available in a large
way for their use, turned to other ingredients,
which also advanced in most instances to the
highest prices in recent years. The subjoined
table gives the high and _ low prices for each
month from January 1, 1905, to Dee, 31, 1999,
on Ceylon coconut oil, the figures being based
on the closing quotationof each successive
week :

1909. 1908. 1907, 1906. 1905.
15 BS H. L. Hoa, H. L. Le 45 al Vs
Janz 7. 6% 7 " 9% 9% 6 5-8 6% 62 65-8
Feb. 71-86 7 6% 9 93-8 62 6 6 6}
Mar. 65-S6; 7 6: 10 938 6% 68-8 63-8 64
April 6 7-863-8 6; 6% 97- 9 7 6}. 68-8 61-8
May 71-8658 7 61-8 97-8 9% 75 63 63 61-8
June 7; 71:8 6} 61-8 95-8 9 71-8 67-8 64 6}
July 8 7k 6; 61-8 9h 9 THAT. 6 st
Aug. 73] 7h (4) 618 9% 8% 7% 78-8 62 6
Sept. 73 7h 64,,61-8 8: 73 T% 7% + 6 8-8
Oct. 8 738-8 7 6% Bei 8 &} Sf 63-8 64
Nov. 8} 81-8 7 64 Si 7%) Oh. Bh) BE 6 8-8
Dec. 93 9 fg Te 63 9% 8h 64 64
Year 9} 63-8 7 6 93 6 OF 64 6% 61-8

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Socvety.—April, 1910. 375

SHIPMENTS OF CopRA FROM VARIOUS POINTS
FOR 1908 AND 1909.

1909, 1908.

From— tons. tons,

Manila, Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 102,509 86,000

Ceylon, Jan. 1 to Doe, 13 34,500 33,010

Straits, Jan.1to Dec. 31 73,300 80,00

Java and Dutch East Indies, Jan. 1 to

Dec, 31 113,800 146,000

South Sea figures estimated 48,500 tons.
ARRIVALS OF O1L SEEDS At MARSEILLES.

1909. 1908. 1907.

tons. tons. tons |

Copra 136,655 163,999 109,744

balm kernels 3,639 1,675 4,412

Mowrah, Illipe, ete. 8,856 11,146 12,781

Imports of PanM KERNELS INTO HAMBURG
AND HaARrBurG.

1909. 1908. 190 +

tons. tons. tons.

January-December. 285,616 193,468 118,019
Imports into Liverpool 17,306 20,226 23,450

—New York Oil Reporter, Feb. 21.

WESTERN AMERICAN COCONUT
OIL TRADE.

Chicago, Jan. 26.—Coconut oil has reached
a high point in the West, and has come by
some to be regarded as almost a luxury. Soap-
makers are forced to bid high for this oil in
competition with each other and supplies are
reported to be the smallest they have been in
recent years. The supply of copra was smaller
the past year than it had been the previous year,
shipments from the principal points whore it is
produced being less by about 27,000 tons in 1909
than they were in 1908. Exclusive of Tahiti
and the Samoan Islands the shipments were
324,855 tons, against 352,496 tons the previous
year, and the outgoing movement from both
Tahiti and Samoa was smaller. Reports are to
the effect that the crop will not be as heavy
this year asit was last year, though it is a
little early to make such predictions. There
is only a comparatively small supply that is
being taken by this country, mills on the
Pacific Coast taking it all. The principal
mill there reports that it has enough copra
to keep it going for some time to come, and
with the frequent arrival of cargoes, that there
probably will be sufficient for needs, but the
indications are that the demand for oil will so
increase that prices are likely to advance. Euro-
pean dealers say that the prospects for a lower
market for oil are not good, especially as coco-
nut butter cannot be considered now except in
connection with a consideration of the lard
market. If lard continues high, and there does
not seem to be any reason why it should break
sharply until after the opening of the packing
season next fall, when the country will be
in a position to figure on the size of the
spring crop of pigs, then coconut butter, asa
competitor, must go higher, for it is already
selling 44c. under lard prices in Europe, and
is being used very largely as a_ substitute,
The more coconut butter that is used the

reater will bethe demand for oil, and as the
inquiry for the oil for edible purposes is on the
inrcease all the time, it is difficult to figure how

this oil can remain at present prices unless other
facts suddenly drop or the supply of copra is in-
creased beyond all expectations. The price for
copra at San Francisco is about $4:95 for the
fair merchantable grade, while the sun dried
will sell within a range of $5 @ 5°15 per hundred-
weight. Present prices are the highest, with
one exception in the history of the trade and
the difference is only a fraction at that. Should
Tahiti and Samoa run short, itis likely that
the cost of copra laid down in San Francisco
wil! be higher than ever.

European coconut oil has almost complete
monopoly of the Chicago market, for the reason
that it costs less to get it here from Marseilles
than it doesfrom the Pacific coast. For this
reason California coconut oil is hardly quotable
here, but it has the advantage over the SHuro-
pean oil west of the Missouri River. Spot
Ceylon oil can be had down in Chicago at about
94c. per pound but it would cost 9%c. at the
Missouri River, while the California Ceylon
can be bought there at $8°55 a hundred. Cochin
oil is quoted here at 1Uc. a pound, and Califor-
nia Cochin atthe same priceat the Missouri
River. From these high prices there does not
appear to be any reliefin sight and as the soap-
makers are increasing their demand all the
time, as are the users of the oil for edible pur-
poses, it looks as though the trade will have to
find eventually a substitute for this oil, instead
of using it as a substitute for other fats and oils.
as has been the case heretofore._-New York
Oil Repo ter, Jan. 3l.

DISINFECTION OF TEA SEED.

Calcutta, March 31,—The accompanying letter
of March 22nd from Dr. Hope is issued for
general information.—D K Cunnison, Assistant
Secretary, Indian Tea Association.

Calcutta, March 22,—¥Formaline is largely used
for the purpose of disinfecting seeds. Com-
mercial formaline consists of 40 per cent solution
of formaldehyde, which is a powerful dis-
infectant. Tea seed can conveniently and safely
be treated with a 0-25 per cent solution of com-
mercial formalins. This can be prepared by
mixing commercial formaline with water, in
the proportions of 1 volume formaline to 400
of water. ‘Tea seeds should be placed in sucha
solution for two hours and afterwards taken
out and carefully dried by exposing to the air in
a clean cool place. During drying the seeds
should be turned over occasionally so as to ex-
pose them to the air on all sides.

RUBBER STATISTICS FROM HAWAII.

By D.C. Linpsay.,

There are in theislands five incorporated com-
panies whose principal business is the growing
of rubber. Statistics have been obtained from all
of these and also from two individual planters.

No statistics were received from either Kauai
or Oahu.

Six reports were received from Maniand one
from Hawaii,

The acreage controlled by these companies
and individuals is 5,599 acres,

376

The acreage planted atdate is 1,338 acres,

Acreage planted : Hevea, 242; Ceara, 1,092 ;
other varieties, 4 ; total, 1,338.

Total trees planted: Hevea, 79,940; Ceara,
349,400 ; other varieties, 800; total, 430,140.

Average of girth : Hevea, 2 years 6, 3 years 8;
Ceara,2 years 8, 3 years 14.

Four places practice clean cultivation. Two of
them consider it absolutely necessary. One
manager reports that it is entirely too expensive
and two have not tried it. The approximate cost
ofcultivation per acre runs from $14'00 to $24°00
per acre for the first year and lighter for fol-
lowing years. Inter-crops, such as corn, potatoes,
beans, oats, and green vegetables are planted on
parts of two plantations. While one manager
reports that pineapple has been tried, but with-
out success.

One manager reports that inter-crops are pro-
fitable only as the returns reduce the cost of
cultivation, but would not be profitable otherwise.

Only experimental tapping has been done and
the resultis yet undetermined. One manager
reports very good results.

_ From reports received there are 11,000 trees

that may possibly be tapped com mercially during
the year 1910. One plantation reports that
fertilizers are too expensive to use in quantities
enough to be beneficial. ‘Two have not used
them. Three places report the use of fertilizers
with excellent results and one with fair returns.

For the purpose of getting statistics for next
year that might be more. reliable and more de-
tailed, I would suggest that a committee of three
be appointed ; one on Oahu, one on Maui and
one on Hawaii, and each one attend tothe secur-
ing of data on the island on which he resides.
These results could then be tabulated as desired.
—Hawatian Foresler & Agriculturist, Dec., 1909.

RUBBER AND HEMP IN GUATEMALA.

Attention is being drawn in South American
quarters to the prospect offered to rubber-
planters in Guatemala. Certainly, in respect
of humidity, the Atlantic coast of this Re-
public seems to be well favoured, the average
annual rainfall there being 95 ins, as com-
pared, for example, to the 8U ins averaged
in Sumatra. The Dutch Colony is taken pur-
posely as a case in point, for some years ago
a Dutch rubber-grower imported some Manila
hemp-seed for inter-planting with rubber, with
apparently very good results ; and as the Manils
hemp is grown to a great extent in Guatemala it
is not unnaturally agreed that, with the good
soil, warm climate and high average rainfall,
the conditions for succesful rubber-growing
are all at hand inthe Republic. The Manila
hemp (Musa textilis) attains agrowth 18 months
after planting which is sufficient to form a
very good shade for the young rubber plants,
has very few roots and does not impoverish
the soil. Its leaves may be cut and allowed
to fertilise the land.—Financier and Bullionist,
March 17.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

EXPERIMENTS IN COTTON G
ING IN HONDURAS.

A.M. Consul at Truxillo (Mr A E Melhado)
has forwarded a copy of a report made by the
Manager of the Honduras National Railway
Company of an experiment in the growth of Sea
Island cotton made on the experimental farm
of the Company near Truxillo. The seed was
planted about the middle of August last, at an
elevation of about 50 feet above sea level, ona
hill-side sloping slightly to the west and well
drained. The cotton plants have grown up,
healthy and strong, to a height of 10-12 feet.
The first bolls matured and opened in Decem-
ber, but, that being in the course of the rainy
season, the rain stained the cotton and ren-
dered it unfit for use. Since the heavy raina
have lessened, the cotton produce has been of
very good quality, and, notwithstanding the loss
of the first bolls, the production bids fair, says
the manager, to be double that of any he has
seen in the United States. The manager is en-
tirely satisfied that cotton can be produced in
Honduras at about half the cost of production
in the United States, that the production per
acre in Honduras will be fully double that in
the United States, and that the former country
will be entirely free from the boll weevil. It is
stated that the cotton plant will grow into a
small tree and will continue to produce, so that
it will not be necessary to replant the ground
each year. There are in Honduras, between
the mountains tothe south and the sea to the
north, 100,000 acres of ground similar to that
upon which the experiment is being made, and
along the line of the Honduras National Rail-
way the land is well watered and there is a fine
climate. The land is at present covered with
timber.—Board of Trade Journal, March 17.

MAR. COCKERILL’S PATENT FOR THE
TREATMENT OF LATEX.

Mr Hermann C T Gardner in a communica-
tion to the Financier writes as follows on the
separation of latex :—

An interesting patent was taken out by T
Cockerill, of Colombo, in October last, for the
separation of rubber from latex by means of the
electric current. In this apparatus the latex is
made to fall from a trough on to a suitable
filter, through which it is passed, and delivered
in given quantities on to the surface of a pos-
itive electric pole constructed in trough form,
with raised edges, This positive electric pole,
or anode, is in the form of an endless travelling
belt, whose upper surface is suitably connected
with a dynamo. This belt is rotated very
slowly, and, whilst travelling, separates, by
means of the current, the caoutchouc from the
latex, becoming covered. with the rubber
which is removed from it by scrapers fixed at a
certain point and sent from them by rollers into
a tank of hot water, where itis washed and
scrubbed with revolving brushes. From the tank
it is transferred to heated rollers, and passed
through them, finally being sent to a cutting
machine ; the exhausted latex passes into a tank

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—A pril, 1910.

provided for it, to be, if necessary, re-treated.
This appears to be an ingenious piece of
apparatus which apparently reduces rubber
' production to a purely mechanical, or physical,
process, and, if 1t carries out satisfactorily all
that its inventor claims, should greatly accel-
rate the output.

The celebrated German chemist, Emil Fischer,
has discovered a true solvent for caoutchouc in
ethylene dichloride, a volatile non inflammable
liquid with a non-explosive vapour. The so-
called rubber solvents do not actually dissolve
caoutchouc, which is only swelled and diffused
through them, and ethylene dichloride differs
from them in that it actually dissolves rubber,
or causes it to assume the liquid form just as
much as water dissolves sugar, and the sugar
passes into the liquid state. This discovery,
in all probability, will have an important bear-
ing on the manufacturing industry.—London &
China Express, March 18.

OUR PALM PRODUCTS FOR THE
FIRST QUARTER OF 1910.

STEADY RISE ALL ROUND.

The first quarter of 1910 was a remarkable
one in that while nut crops were normal, all
products, save desiccated, kept on rising in
price steadily instead of falling the same as in
otker years,

Coconut O1n.—This is well over last year
the figure being 98,514 cwts against 84,621 ; it
is also well over the last four years for this
quarter. The price f.o.b. kept on rising until it
reached R580 per ton, almost up to the record
price (R585) of 1907. This export is remark-
able in the face of the great demand for copra.

The United States of America have completely
deserted us this year, and any Ceylon oil
they got must have been from the United
Kingdom. The only way we can account for
this is the probable heavy imports from
their own Colony, the Philippines, of either
oil or copra—able possibly to lay it down via
San Francisco cheaper than we could from here.
Besides, high prices may be driving them
back on the cheaper West African palm oil for
soap making.

Copra—both in export and as regards price
—hag exceeded all past records for the period.
The drying of this has been very brisk. Very
high prices were paid for best nuts, reaching in
some cases nearly R70. The outturn was good
it taking about 1,300 nutsto the candy on an
average. The export at the end of March
(April 4th) reached 134,302 cwts. against 119,873
cwts. to the same date in 1909.

DesiccatED.—This was very dull over the
quarter, prices ranging from 18? cts. per lb. to
Zicts. for ordinary assortment. Some mills
had to stop work a short time, while all the
rest were going very slow, some turning their
attention to copra drying, which seemed to
pay them better during February and March.

igh-priced sugar causes a falling off in manu-
facture of confectionery, etc., and demand for
desiccated nuts from the manufacturers is then
poor. Early in the season some millers refused
221 cts., feeling sure the produce was bound to

48

Bayi

rise—in sympathy with nuts, oil, and copra; but
it was the very reverse. The year began with
very heavy exports, thus making matters worse,
aud it looked as if heavy shipments had been
carried forward from December to January.
The swing is the other way now; and our
quarter ended (say, on April 4th) with a total
export of 4,741,751 lb. against 4,910,386 last
year. The outturn was normal, it taking 4
little under three nuts to the pound.

Poonac.—There is aslight increase in this for
the quarter; but, as long as the present heavy
shipments of copra go on, we cannot expect
to do very much more in the way of shipping
poonac,

Nuts in Sxett.—There is a falling-off in our
Coconut Export to date, but of late years there
has been little change in our total shipments,
our greatest year being 1908 with 21,188,692
nuts; while ten years ago, we were sending
away about 150,000,000 nuts.

Corr.—There is very little falling-off in this
as compared with last year. Prices have been
improving, but, the demand is not what it
was a decade ago. It looks as if some cheaper
material has been found by the trade.

To give our readers some idea of the impor-
tance of our great coconut industry, we find that
notwithstanding our having gone through one
of our worst droughts, there being little or no
rain in some nut districts for fully 18 months,
in 1908, our record year,

Oil and Poonac took ... 268,048,400 nuts

Copra do . 215,132,825 do
Desiccated nut do 82,230,690 do
Nuts in shell 21,188,692 do

*For Arrack and Toddy and Ksti-
local consumption . 230,000,000 mated

816,600,607 nuts

Making a total of

which, at the low average of 4 cts, each, gives
us a total value of R32,664,024°28 against
R40,000,000 estimated by Dr. Attygalle a few
days ago, a figure which will probably not be far
out for the 1910 outturn with its record prices.

GUANO FOR RUBBER TREES.

A planter from the Dutch Islands calling recen-
tly on Mr H NRidley, Director of Botanic Gar-
dens, 8.S., stated that he had remarkable in-
crease in growth of his Para rubber trees, after
using guano, imported from Europe. A small
quantity was put round each tree in a shallow
trench surrounding the tree and covered in with
soil, The cost was three cents a tree. This
inexpensive method of manuring might be very
useful in bringing on young plants.

* Had the enormous number of trees set apart
for this, and which practically yield no nuts,
been cultivated as nut-bearers, the estimated
total for that year would doubtless have reached
816,600,607 nuts. Surely the great industry
is worthy of greater representation in Coun-
cil than at present obtains, both European
and native. The roads—not worthy of the name
—are a disgrace to Government in our outlying
nut districts,

378

SINGLE SEEDLING PLANTING
OF PADDY.

‘The following notes on single-planting of
paddy and on the cultivation of Cambodia cotton
are by Mr H C Sampson, Deputy Director of
Agriculture, Southern Division, Madras, who can
arrange to supply the Cambodia cotton seed at
cost price to those who wish to try the crop :—

Pappy.

Every one who owns wet lands and trans-
plants his paddy crop is recommended to try
the system of planting with single seedlings
instead of planting a bunch of seedings together.
Planting with single seedlings is the ordinary
Reaction in the Kistna Delta and it would be

ifficult to find better crops anywhere in the
Presidency. Single planting has also been tried
aud adopted by many people in Tinnevelly,
Tanjore and other districts and now some
thousands of acres are planted in this way. All
Samba and Pishanam varieties will give better
yields if planted with single seedlings and there
are other advantages as well :—

1. Less seed is required for sowing.

2. Labour is saved in carrying seedlings from the seed

bed to the field and in pulling up and bundling the seed-
lings inthe seed bed,

3. Weeding is easier and water flows more easily in the
field. Thus such weeds as Oarai ‘Nel sakalati” and
* Veppam pasi” can be more easily kept in check.

4, As less seed is sown in the seed bed the seedlings are
stronger and can stand up better in the field when there is
too much water present after transplanting as there often is
when heavy rainfalls.

5. If there is a scarcity of water the crop is much better
able to withstand drought.

6. Single-planted cropsare much more healthy and are
not so liableto disease, ‘‘Surai” which causes such loss
in the Tanjore Delta as well as in other paddy growing dis-
tricts is seldom seen in singly planted crops.

7. The plants ripen their grain better, and more evenly
which means a heavier sample and not so much chaff.

Any one can adopt this practice without any
difficulty and the following advice is given.

(1) If the seed is good and has been well dried
and stored, 7 Madras measures can be sown in 7
cents of nursery. This will be ample to trans-
plant one acre. Many ryots in Tanjore state
that they only sow 3 Madras measures of Sir-
maui and Red Samba to transplant one acre,

(2) If possible the cultivator should procure
his seed from a crop which has been grown with
single seedlings the year before, This is not
essential for success, however, and after once
raising asingly planted crop the cultivator can
always save his own seed from it

(3) The dry method of raising a nursery gives
stronger seedlings than the wet nursery, 1.c.,
when the nursery has been ploughed in water.

(4) The seedlings should be transplanted be-
fore they become too old. They should not be
left in the seed bed for more than one week for
every month the crop has to grow, ie¢., a five
month variety should not remain in the seed bed
for more than 35 days or five weeks.

(5) Asregards the distance apart at which
single seedlings should be transplanted the culti-
vator should use his own judgment. The follow-
ing distances may, however, act asa guide. On
land which produces over 1,000 Madras measures
per acre, a span apart; on land which pro-
duces 750 Madras measures per acre, three-
quarters ofa Span; and on land which produces

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

500 Madras measures per acre or less, half a
span, will probably be the best distances. On
very rich land which nominally produces 1,500
Madras measures per acre even as much as two
spans apart between seedlings may give better
results while on very poor land, i.¢., land which
is always broadcasted though planting with
single seedlings may give better results the
seedlings will have to be so close that the cost
of transplanting will be more than the addi-
tional value of the crop,

When asingly-planted crop is first transplanted
it looks very thin, but this should not discourage
the cultivator who tries this for the first time
even though his neighbours predict that the crop
will be a failure. When there is only one seed—
ling present in the place of the 10 or 20 or even 30
which he usually transplants the newly planted
crop must look comparatively thin, but it very
soon fills out and presents a much better
appearance than the crops of his neighbours
planted in the ordinary way.

CULTIVATION OF CAMBODIA COTTON.

Cambodia cotton has now become a regular
garden crop in Tinnevelly, replacing tobacco,
ragi, chillies and other garden crops formerly
grown. The reason for this is evident to any one
who has grown the crop. Except for an occa-
sional irrigation (about once or twice a month in
the absence of rain according to whether the soil
is deep or shallow) the cultivation expenses are
the same as for an ordinary crop of cotton.

(2) On good well farmed and manured land
such as garden lands always are, the yield of
cotton is good 1,000 lb. to 1,250 lb. being given
usually as the yield per acre by ryots who grow
this cotton, though cases have been reported
where the yield has been over 2,000 lb, of kappas
per acre. The price paid by dealers for this
cotton is usually R5 per pothie of 250 lb. more
than the market rate. The reason for this higher
rate is that the kappas gives a high proportion
of lint, 1,5001b. of kappas will give 500 Ib, of lint,
whereas about 2,000 lb. of the ordinary country
cotton are required to give the same amount. of
lint. Moreover the mulls of Tinnevelly District
pay R5 per candy more for this cotton than for
the country cotton.

(3) The method of cultivation is very simple,
any well manured, well drained garden soil will
yield well. The land should be well ploughed
and at the ordinary season for sowing cotton,
seed of this variety can be sown broadcast and
covered with a light plough. Ten pounds of seed
are quite sufficient for one acre. After sowing, the
land should be laid out for irrigation. After the
cotton crop is up and the plants have got their
second leaves the field should be hand weeded
and the surface loosened. When the plants are
about a span high they should be thinned out to
about 2 feet apart. If the land has been very well
manured, they can be thinned out to 24—3 feet
apart. If not tinned, the plants will grow to-
gether, the branches will be thin and will not
be able to support the weight of the bolls, which
are very big. A second hoeing may be given
before the plants completely cover the ground,
after that they will give sufficient shade to

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—April, 1910}

keep the weeds in check. Irrigation should be
given if necessary only 2.¢., if the crop is seen to
need it. After the bolls have commenced to
burst irrigation should not be given until the
main picking is over, then the crop can again be
watered to cause a second flush of leaves, flowers
and. bolls. Picking is very easy as the bolls are
very large and open well and an experienced
picker can easily pick from 100 to 125 1b. of
clean kappas in a day.

This crop is specially recommended to ryots
whose wells have not asuflicient supply of water
to render grain crops certain.—M. Mail, April1l.

TACKINESS IN RUBBER.

A Bacteria THEORY.

Mr. Hermann C T Gardner, inan article con-
tributed to the Financier, states that the most
reasonable explanation of the cause of tackiness
as yet offered has been advanced by Bertrand,
amongst others. This assigns the causation as
due to decomposition of the peculiar albumi-
nous matter associated with the crude product.
The advocates of the decomposition theory
suppose certain bacteria produce a putrefactive
change in the protein, and that the products of

utrefaction bring about changes in tke neigh-
furitie caoutchouc particles, which are com-
municable, After stating the theories he says:—

A careful survey ofthe theories, together with
a consideration of the methods of production of
those rubbers most liable to tackiness, points to
a simple agent as the initial cause, to which
the various agents cited may severally act as
contributing causes, and hence may arise the
diversity of opinion of different observers.
This cause is nothing more than moisture,
Spence presupposes the retention by the parti-
cular rubbers he experimented with of ‘‘ab-
sorbed” sulphuric acid. This acid has a power-
ful. attraction for atmospheric moisture. This
fact, in conjunction with the liability to tacki-
ness of imperfectly dried or crudely-produced
rubber, and reversely in the case of properly
dried rubbers, is signiticant of the part played
by interstitial moisture. Those planters who
have adopted vacuum drying find their rubber
for all practical purposes immune to tackiness.
On the other hand, over-heated rubber rapidly
becomes tacky in air, This may be due to par-
tial cxidation ; it may also be due partly to the
absorption of moisture on subsequent cooling.
The practical outcome of theorising and experi-
mentation is of more acute interest to the pro-
ducer and to the manufacturer. An old proverb
not inaptly remarks, ‘‘ Prevention is better than
cure,” and prevention, so far as tackiness of
rubber is concerned, merely consists in the
production of a rubber as pure and as free from
water as possible; here I venture to suggest
the assistance of the analyst is indispensable to
the rubber buyer asa check, but more especially
to the producer, as an indication of the value
of the methods of production he employs.

The best means of production is adequately
expressed as consisting in correct coagulation,
correct pressing, correct drying, and’at the end
correct storing. A rubber, whose freedom from

379

tackiness can be assured, is that coagulated by
a reliable antiseptic process. Alcoholic creosote
is suitable to the laboratory only ; mercuric
chloride can be condemned on several counts ;
common salt is unsatisfactory, and acetic acid
is not a germicide, and, if not thoroughly re-
moved from the rubber, rather aids than hinders
tackiness, An ideally coagulated rubber should
contain no protein, resin, mechanical or other
impurity; and although these can be all removed
yet, as far as resin is concerned, its removal is
better suited to the laboratory than on the com-
mercial scale. As regards pressing, some tech-
nicians advocate strong pressure, others light. I
incline to the latter opinion, because over-com-
pression of the rubber hinders the proper drying
of the whole of the mass, unless it isin the form
of crepe or thin biscuit or sheet. Passing to
correct drying this may be taken as consisting’
essentially of gradual drying, because a show
contraction Rives a greater resiliency. Drying in‘
vacuo is undoubtedly a means of retarding any
tendency to tackiness,—L. & C. Express,March 11,

PRESERVING COPRA FROM MOULD.

In the October number of the Zropical Agricul-
turist particulars were given of experiments,
conducted by M Dybowski, Director of the: Paris
Colonial Gardens, in the preservation of copra :
from mould by means of sulphurous acid.
Samples treated in 1905, it was stated, still
showed no signs of deterioration, and as the:
result of further experiments last June with
coconuts from the Malay States it seemed to be
proved that under the sterilising influence of
the sulphurous gases the original condition of
copra was maintained. At the requestof a.
mercantile firm in Colombo we applied to M.
Dybowski for further particulars and were in-
formed that the process is based on the employ-
ment of the apparatus Marot, of which the
Company, known as ‘‘Le Coprah,” of Paris, is
the proprietor. The special treatment is based |
on the sterilisation of the pulp of the coconut
before dessication; and this ensures perfect
preservation and enables a copra, absolutely
white and without a trace of rancidity, to be.
placed upon the continental markets. This is
stated to givean added value estimated at five
or six francs a hundred kilogrammes. The
society does not sell its apparati, but is disposed
to give licenses, under certain conditions, to
Companies created for the purpose of exploiting
the said processes.

THE BANANA

has become very popular in paris, and is sold
freely in the streets. The increasing popula-
rity of the fruit is amply justified, says a
Paris contemporary, for Dr Max Makowsky in
‘‘ Naturopath ” gives the following analysis of
the fruit :—4°75 per cent of carburetted hydro-
gen, 19°50 per cent of alimentary salts, 1°75 per
cent of cellulose, and 74 per cent of water. The
doctor adds that all that is necessary for susten-
ance can be obtained from the banana and bread
and butter.—Jndian Trade Journal, April 7,

380 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist
WILSON, SMITHETT & CO.’S CEYLON TEA MEMORANDA FOR 1909.

Summary of Cryton Tra sold at Public Auction in London between January Ist and
December 31st, 1909, estimated quantity in lbs. and average prices realised :—
Average Price for the Year was 8.15d per Ib., against 7.80d in 1908 and 8d in 1907.

The initial letters following the estate names refer to the mean elevation, as follows :—

1 (low) sea level up to 1,000 ft. hm (high medium) 2,500 to 3,500 ft, hh (highest) above 5,000 ft.
m (medium) 1,090 to 2,500 ft. h (high) 3,500 to 5,000 ft.

Over 750,000 Ibs. 350,000 Ibs. to 500,000 Ibs.

1609s Av. §=1908 = Av. 1909 Av. 1808 Av.

Abt. price Abt. price : Abt. price Abt. price

lbs. per lb. Ibs. per lb. AT lbs. per lb. rata

br (A 1 K elliebedde 1 400,000 9 b d

Peer e t Vooviooo. pha-a! eurroue) eta’ Kinkoswale,. bh. 996,000, gee Meet eign
Mattakelly h 876,000 83d 668,000 8gd —- Laxapana h 368,000 8gd 335,500 7%d
Meddecombra Ledgerwatte h 427,500 83d 450,000 83d
(South) h 615,000 84d 730,500 8d Lavant 1 353,000 6%d — 329,000 6ad
Meddecombra Loolecondera h 396,500 8d 445,000 74d
(North) h 305,000 83d 249,000 8d Maddegedera 1 358,500 7kd 57,500 6d
Spring Valley h 1,121,000 9d — 1,138,000 83d Mavaels i ee ae ee aes
500,000 Ibs. to 750,000 ibs. Maendenin hm 484,000 7d 471,000 7d
Badulla h 552,500 8d 569,500 73d Nilambe hm 401,000 73d 310,500 74d

Campden Hill m 550,500 7gd 582,500 74d Needwood h 478,500 83d 457,000 84d
Cannavarella h 625,000 8gd 575,500 83d North Matale m 378,000 7d 148,000 74d

Craighead m 652,000 7d 504,500 73d Norwood h 417,500 83d 394,500 8d
Delmar h 507,500 98d 467,500 94d New Peradeni-

Drayton h 526,000 83d 493,500 83d ya hm 466,000 74d 411,500 63d
Dunsinane h 666,000 9d 617,500 94d Ouvahkellie h 362,000 93d 344,000 94d
Galaha m 749,500 7d 736,000 62d Panawatte 1 469,000 74d 356,000 64d
Great Western h 512,500 828d 476,000 82d Penrith 1 469,500 74d 472,000 7d
Gonakelle hm 560,500 84d 562,000 8d Pita Ratmalie h 368,500 9d 323,000 8d
Galatura 1 628,500 7id 286,000 62d Pussetenne m 438,500 74d 376,500 62d
Hemingford 1 533,000 7d 476,000 6d Ragalla h 493,500 92d 513,500 9d

Hauteville h 545,000 92d 573,000 94d Rangalla hm 470,000 73d 393,500 73d
Hapugastenne m 637,500 73d 251,000 72d Rangbodde h 491,500 84d 485,500 73d
IMP m 581,500 8d 523,000 74 Rothschild h 376,000 8d 387,500 73d
Kurugama 1 538,500 7id 536,500 7d Sandringham h 429,500 93d 338,000 92d
Le Vallon hm 534,500 84d 527,500 73d Sheen h 387,000 9d 347,500 83d
Mahadowa h 563,000 83d 497,000 7§d Swinton hm 365,000 73d 132,500 74d
Meeriabedde h 541,500 82d 496,500 8d Tangakelly 401,500 8%d 462,000 88

Poonagalla hm 635,500 83d 382,000 sid Tillicoultry 474,000 103d 461,500 10}a
St. Leonards h 528,000 97 658,500 94d Tyspane 370,000 73d 358,500 74d

h

h

b
Sunnycroft 1 619,000 73d 767,500 74a Udaradella hh 378,000 10gd 381,500 93d
Talawakelle h 546,500 92d 483,500 93d Ukuwella m 403,500 73d 403,500 63d
Ury m 536,000 84d 320,000 74d = Warriagalla om 388,500 73d 346,000 74d
Vellai-oya h 643,000 7d 538,000 73d Wattagodde h 415,500 8d 401,500 std
Waverley h 508,000 10d 395,000 10d. Woodend 1 410,000 7d 374,000 63d

Walpola 1 679,500 7d 551,500 63d 200,000 ibs. to 350,000 Ibs.

350,000 Ibs. to 500,000 Ibs. Abbotsford hh 215,000 83d 109,000 8d
Antony Malle h 368,000 73d 298,000 Tid Adam’s Peak h 231,500 84d 229,500 78
Abaunalla 1 373,000 74d 362,000 64d Attabagie m 240,000 73d 197,000 73d
Bogawantalawa h 373,000 93d 351,000 88d Allakola hm 209,000 74d 192,000 63d
Bearwell h 451,000 94d 473,500 83d Aldie h 222,000 92d 223,000 9d
Broadlands 1 363,000 Tid 287,500 62d Alnwick h 227,000 9d 199,500 88d

—

Castlemilk m 423,500 74d 365,000 7d Ambatenne 233,500 74d 224,500 62d

lydesdale h 376,000 9¢d 325,000 94d Ampitiakande h 226,000 72d 155,500 73d
Coccgalta hm 399,000 8hd 399,400 74d — Annfield h 243,000 9d 201,000 834
Chesterford 1 432,000 64d 493,500 62d Ardross 1 204,000 64d 137,000 6%
Degalessa 1 350,000 7id 261,500 62d Atherfield 1 201,000 7d 177,000 63d
Digalla 1 411,000 74d 378,000 7d Atgalla m 274,000 72 207,500 74d
Elston 1 413,000 7{d 421,000 71d Ambanpitiya 1 238,500 72d 209,500 78d
Ernan 1 360,500 7c 270,500 64d Beaumont m 330,500 7ad 307,000 Tid
Fordyce h 361,500 83d 366,500 73d ~~ Binoya hm 243,000 73d 190,500 73d

Gikiyanakanda | 374,500 73d 396,000 74d Blackstone h 308,500 Yd 342,500 64d —
Glee Alpin h_ 387.000 8d 392,500 sid Bogahawatte h 211,500 84d 185,000 78d

8
Gallamudina m 426,000 74d 404,500 74d Bogawana —s hs 202,500 94d 182,000 88d
Holyrood East h 397,000 ged 327,000 94d Brae hm 330,500 7d 344,500 6a
Hope h 398,500 8gd 371,000 8d Burnside

Halgolle 4 368,000 Td 298,500 7d Group m 301,500 7d 89,500 74d

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— April, 1910,

200,000 Ibs. to 350,000 Ibs.

Bridwell
Blackwater
Bambrakelly
Calsay
Campion
Cattaratenne
Chapelton
Craigie Lea
Cranley
Culloden
Cullen
Dartry
Debateama
Deeside
Delta
Dessford h
Deviturai
Duckwari
Doragalla
Darrawella
Ederapolla
Eildon Hall
Elbedde
Elkadua h
El Teb
Farm
Gallebodde
Glenugie
Glenlyon
Goorookoya
Gouravilla
Goonambil
Gordon
Gowerakelle
Galphele
Hanipha
Henfold
Hindagalla
Hoonoocotua
Holyrood West
Hunasgeria
Hopewell
Hayes
Indurana
Ingurugalla
Imboolpittia
Kabragalla
Kadien Lena
Kataboola
K.A.W.
Kehelwatte
Kelburne
Knuckles
Grou
Rotivaralla
Kuda Oya
Kahagalla
Kenmare
Labukelle
Lippakelle
Leangawella
Lebanon Group hm
Malvern h
Mahausa m
Maha Oya hin
Mariawatto h
Melfort hm

seb BS eeee8 ee sei es

Shee mprb S88 eo Us

eBeoesb

—
=)

hm
hm

5 =B Bd wh WHS

phe
Boose

1909
Abt.
Ibs.

200, 000
268,000
260,000
239,000
334,000
229, 500
266,000
333,000
263, 000
246,500
337,000
310,000
252,000
200, 000
209, 000
291,000
266, 000
229, 000
284,000
252,000
287,000
250,500
335,500
241,000
322,500
251,500
208,000
222,000
284,500
339,000
321,500
310,000
304,500
318,000
340,500
281,000
227,000
242,000
289,000
204,500
224,000
264,500
254,500
208,500
226,000
219,000
216,500
248,509
340,500
229, 000
282,500
248,000

271,500
327,000
259,000
240,000
220,500
340,000
257,500
242, 000
243,000
267,000
269,000
263, 000
322,500

211,000

Av.
price

per lb.

94d
78d
8kd
gid
ged
64d
94d
sid
10sd
64d
83d
7hd
78d
8id

1908 Av.
Abt. price
Ibs. per lb,

193,000
288,000

215,500
333,500
159,500
259,500
325,000
229, 000
65,500
280,500 7éd
322,000 740
243,500
182,000
199,000 Td
271,500
75,000 73d
249, 500
234,000 78d
225,500
305,500
81,000
304,500
305,000
279,500
237,000
211,500 84d
205,000 8%
314,000
345,500
277,500
242, 000
299,500 82
290,500
227,500 73d
46,500
214,000
267,000
282,500 74d
191,500
206,000
157,000
250,500
175,000
229,500 Tkd
239,500
152,000
301,500 73d
289,000 74d
96,500 63
130,500
300,000 7$d

297,500
347,000
215,000 72d
224,000 82d

298,500
284,000
206,500 78d
187,000 74d
239,500 7hd
259,000 TAd
294,500 7d

260,500 Tid
177,500 8d.

381

200,000 Ibs. to 350,000 Ibs.

Morar
Mount Vernon
Meddakande
Nilloomally
New Rasagalla hm
Nikakotua 1
Nayabedde h
Nayapane hm
New Peacock h
Nicholaoya hm
North Pundal-
oya
Pambagama
Parragalla h
Pen-y-lan
Pingarawe h
Portmore
Pundaloya
Parktield
Pine Hill
(Wueensberry
Rugby
Radella
Rappahannock
Raxawa
Rosita
Rutland
Sanquhar
Sarnia
St. Andrew’s
(Maskeliya) h
St. John del Rey h
Sinnapitia m
Sogama hm
Springwood m.
Stockholm h
Stonycliff h
Sorana 1
Sapumalkande 1
Strathisla m
Syston m
Tallagalla 1
Thornfield h
Tillyrie h
Telbedde hm
1
m
]
h
h
m
h

peSBBS

> ry
Beereb oobi aE:

Tamilagolla
Tamaravelly
Verulupitiya
Waldemar

Wangie Oya
Wewesse h
Wihiragalla
Windsor forest h

Westhall hm
Ythanside h
Yogama 1

1909 Av.
Abt. price
Ibs.
221,500 83d
222,500 10c
332,500 72d
202,500 73d
207,500 8d
262,500 72d
270,000 92d
205,500 8d
282,000 88d
238,500 7d

84d
74a
8id
73d
sid
104d
9d
Tad
8d

244,000
320,000
284,500
201,500
230,500
262,500
254,000
239,500
213,500
279,500 84d
256,000 78d
251,000 93d
200,500
266,500
342,500
298,500 73
215,000
300,500

238, 000
319,000
207,000 72d
299, 500
204,000 7d
210,000 74d
250,500
233,000 74d
224,500 63d
212,500 74d
273,000 74d
233,500 73d
329,000
245,000
282,500
312,500
214,500 73d
214,500
202,500
202,000
226,500
342,500
209,500
337,000 78d
272,000
319,500 74d

per lb.

1908 Av.
Abt. price
lbs. per lb,

194,500
135,500
147,000
189,500

84,000

21,000
265,500)
179,000
278, 000
296,00

59,000
417,000
270,000
225,500
170,500
271,500
264, 000
215,000 63d
193,500
318,000
228, 5U0
225,500
167,000.
235, 000
283,500
293,000
73,000 7d
283,000

219,500
348,000
185,000
240,000 73d
209,000
161,500 74d
228,500
296,000 63
251,000
218,000 63
169,500 73d
267,000
270,000,
245,500
266,500
329,000
226,500
172,000
210,000
216,000
330,000
210,000 68
367,000
221,000
283,500

100,000 Ibs. to 200,000 Ibs.

Agrakande h
Albion h
Allagalla m
Alton h
Amherst h
Ambawella h
Arslena hm
Asgeria m
Augusta hm

170,000 94d
151,500 98d
147,000 7id
141,500 sd
156,500 84d
110,500 94d
149,000 72d
141,000 78d

20,000 74d

123,000
108,500
123,000
107,500
263, 000
98,500
125,500 62d
120,500 7:
111,500 67d

382

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

100,000 Ibs. to 200,000 Ibs.

Avoca
Appachy Totam h
Barnagalla
Bellwood
Berragalla h
Brookside
Broughton h
Braemore h
Beddegama hm
Balado
Cairn-mon-earn hm
Caledonia h
Clontarf 1
Condegalle h
Coolbawn m
Cottaganga h
Craig
Clodagh
Dea Ella m
Deanstone h
Dehiowita
Deltotte h
Denegama
Densworth
Derryclare
Dimbula
Diyanilakelle
Doombagas-
talawa
Doteloya
Dromo aed
Eallawattie
Ellagalla
Eltofts
Emelina
Ellamulle
Edward Hill
Eaglesland
Eskdale
Fairtield
Fernlands
Forres
Ferham
Galkadua
Glenalla
Galkandewatte
Gammadua
Gangwarily
Gartmore
Glenloch
Goatfell
Gonamatava
Gorthie
Glendevon
Halwatura
Hapugahalande
Hatale
Holmwood
Havilland
Hoolankande
Hingurugama h
Handfor

BEBS>

a
rs

Kaipoogalla
Kaloogalla
Kallebokka

PESTER ER See B reese se eb ee sees

"178,500

1908 Av.
Abt. price
Ibs.
105,500 9d
145,000 93d
184,000 73d.
119,500 33d
143,000 84d
136,000 104d
186,000 Sid
194,000 83d
182,500 7d
186,500 74d
100,000 74d
135, 000 10d
102,000 734
194,500 S4d
100,500 74d
152,000 74d
173,500 9d
161,500 “74a
120,500 63d
147,500 74d
114,000 6Zd
190,500 73d
137,000 74d
145,500 7d
164,500 83d
191,000 9d
114,500 104d

sd
78d
Ged

143,500
183,000
135,500
130,000
158,500
139, 000
117,500
128,000 88d
115,000 73d
134,000 7Ad
117,000 9d
84d
148,500 83d
165,500 8d
157,000 98d
159,000 7d
105,000 63d
134,000 94d
157,500 62d
148,500 7d
186,000 83d
195,000 73d
106,500 103d
174,000 83d
162,500 83d
182,500 94d
178,000 7d
157,000 74d
166,000 74d
190,000,,.92d
145,000 7d
170,000 73d
170,500 7d
106,500 73d
195,500 74d
136,500 94d
123,500 92d
171,000 73d
138,500 Jad

per lb.

1908
Abt.
Ibs.
80,500
115,000
190, 000
116,500
178,000
136,500
185,000
177,500
152,500
136,000
95,500
127,000
94,500
178,500
101,500
156,500
163,000
103,500
44.500
75,500
121,000
184,500
132,000
146,500
140,000
128,000
111,500

174,500
200,500

91,500
126,500
159,500
141,500
107,000
153,500

39,500

151,000 °

189,500
168,500
151,500
289,500
157,500
150,000
155,500
122, VOO

47,500
140,500
136,500

36,000
145,000

148,000
168,000

160,000
222,500

84,500

225, 000
122,500
113,000
136,000

86,000

Ay.
price
per lb.

Kalupahani h
Kandanewera hm
Keenakelle 1
Kintyre

Kirrimittia m
Kowlahena h
Kottagalla h
Kew -hh
Katooloya h
Karandupona |
Kildrochet m
Lugaloya ie
Lauderdale hm
Lawrence h
Lindoola h
Luccombe hm
Lynford :
Macduff

Mahacoodagalla h
Meria Cotta h

Midlands hm
Mipitiakande ]
Moolgama m
Moralioya 1
Mount Pleasant hm
Mudumana ]
Meddetenne m
Mahagastotte h
Maha Eliya h
Moravkande m
New Forest h
Newton h
Oolapane m
Osborne h
Overton h
Peradenia h
Portree h
Poengalla m
Palangie h
Relugas hm
Riverside m
Rillamulle h
Ritnageria h
Rookatenne h
Roehampton hm
Sirisanda 1
Stinsford ]

St. Andrew’s
(Dimbula) h
Scarborough h
Silver Kandy a
Somerset
South WanaRajah t
Stellenberg
Sutton

ian

h
Sumtravalle h
Taurus h
Thotulagalla h
Troup h
Taldua 1
Ulatenne Ses
Udaveria h
Upper aleve hm
Unugalla hm
Venture

Welkandala 1
Wavena hm

1909
Abt.

Ibs.
165,500
151,500
199,500
152,000
198,500
161,500
104,000
164,000
199,000
189,500
142,000
176,500
122,500
188,000
173,500
126,000
142,500
147,500
144,500
153,500
156,000
155,000
114,0U0
130,500
120,500
134,000
154,500
194,000
132,500
124,000
164,500
142,000
119,000
106,500
151,000
183,500
131,000
154,500
160,000
154,500
147,500
119,000
107,500
142,500
118,000
148,500
130,000

106,500
107,000
110,000
189,000
132,000
155,500
135,500
151,000
123,000
156,500
140,000
149,500
104,000
173,500
158,000
114,500
179,500
197,000
190,500

price
per lb.

1908

100,000 Ibs. to 200,000 Ibs.
Av.

Av.

Abt. price
Ibs. per Ib.

164,500
223° 000
246,500
147,000
212,000
146,000

77,000
171,000
240,500
170,500
137,000
198,000
133,500
213,500
163,000
118,500
121,000
166,000
118,500
152,500
163,000
128,500
136,500
110,000
174,500

94,000
167,000

54,000
134,000
149,000
129,000

95,000
114,500
145,000
171,500
135,000
155,000
101,000
159,500
138,500
115,500
110,500

72,500
115,500
130,000
120,500

92,500
97,500
135,500
132,500
162,000
169,500
124,500
130,500
105.500
154,000
173,000
41,500
82,000
175,500
93,500
66,500
163,500
239,000
102,500

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—April, 1910,

Wallaha
Waltrim
Warwick
Wattakelly
West Haputale
Wereagalla
Wewelmadde
Wevekellie
Weyweltalawa
Wigton
Wootton
Yapame
Yoxford

=
sheet 8B Use sese

50,000 Ibs

Bathford
Batgodde
Battalgalla
Berat
Beaconsfield
Blackburn ,
Blair Athol
Blair Avon
Bon Accord
Belton
Carlabeck
C’Galla
Dangkande
Delpotonoya
Deyanella
Donside
Devon
Denmark
Dotala
Hladuwa
Fetteresso
Fruit Hill
Forest Hill
Galoola
Gunville
Galgawatte
Ganapalla
Glenorchy
Gonavy
Holbrook
Hunugalla
Hyndford
Harmony
Ivies

Indian Walk
Kelvin
Kalupane m
Lynsted
Lochnagar

Beoosy

i=
SsbB sesorer

E

isp > => faz
a -B Beer Beorb oes ob oB

=
5

BS

62,500

1903
Abt. price
lbs. perlb.

147,000
136,000. 93
187,000 9d
154,500
117,000
183,000
137,000 74d
163,500
148,000
187,000
177,000 8d
169,000 8d
147,000 9d

Av.

100,000 Ibs. to 200,000 Ibs.

1908 Av.
Abt. price
Ibs. per lb.
124,500
136,000 98
189,500

165,500 7d
1d

111,500
52,500 738d
114,500. 72
138,500 7d
143,000
158,500 74d
164,000
137,500 73
150,000

to 100,000 ths.

87,000 sid
89,500 8d
70,500 108d
98,000 82d
67,500
83,000 63
87,000 78
55,000 72
75,500 8
76,500 7
87,000 9
91,000 7
99,000 7
81,060 7
98,000 7
94,000 7
94,500 9d
58,000 7d
82,000 8d

84,000 82
78,000
78,500 62
79,000 8d
88.500 82
60,500 74d
64,500 Tid
78,500 83d
87,500
76,500
73,000
68,000
60,500
90,000
68,006
90,500
74,500
56,500
97,500

73d
sid
74d

89,000
95,000 72d
67,000
97,500
63,500 73d
94,000
94,000 73d
76,500 73d
70,000 72
93,500 82
$4,000 74d
90,500 7
72,500 7d
94,000
123,500
103,000
53,000
20,500
69,000
80,000 sd
89,000 74d
76,500 6%
35,500
83,500 7d
59,500
40,500
15,000
86,500
63,500
59,000 73
112,500
67,000
96,000 74d
101,500 7d
107,000

383

50,000 Iths. to 100,000 Ibs.

Monaragalla m

Maryland hm
Marakona m
Mandara Newerah

Midlothian h
Napier h

Narangalla h
Norton hm
Nutbourne h
Nahaveena hm

Pati Rajah m
Peacock Hill .

Rickarton hm
St. Helens m
St. Leys h
Strathdon hm
Shannon hm
Summerville h
St. Coombs h
Tebuwana h
Tientsin

Weymouth 1
West Fassifern h
Wattawella m
Wewebedde h
Yuillefield h

1909
Abt.
Ibs.

98,500
52,500
71,000
60,000
62,500
88,000
83,500 63d
97,000
99,000
50,000
94,000
70 000
91,000
91,500 6%
60, 000
74,500 72
55,500
90,000
93,500
55,500
69,000 10d
76,500 73d
66,500 103d
94,500 74d
97,500 73d
62,500 sid

Av.
price
per lb,

1908 Av.
Abt. price
Ibs. per Ib.

102,000
45,000 62
68,500
73,000

65,000
94,500
57,000
82,500
51,500
95,500 63a
64,500
82,000
90,500 7d
52,500
36,000 7d
97,500
66,500
88,500
60,000
66,000
84,500 7d
68,500 10a
95,500
101,500
59,500 $2

20,000 Ibs. to 50,000 Ibs.

Abergeldie hm

Amblamana m

Beverley
Coodoogalla =m
Choughleigh hm

Craigengilt m
Hlfindale h
Ferndale h
Glencairn h
Glanrhos ]
Gonagalla 3a
Heatherton hm
Invery h

Kumaradola m
Karagastalawa h
Loinorn h
Lonach hm
Mottingham h
Mousa Kande m

Pondappe hm
Rajawella 1
Ridgmount

Shamrock m
Warriapolla m
Weemalle ‘om

34,000
31,000
29,500
38,000
44,500
22,500
45,000 7d
31,500 62
32,000
39,500 7
34,500
32,000
33,000
23,000
36,000
25,000
32,000 7d
36,500
28,000
32,000 63
42,500 7d
20,500 7a
22,000 78a
43,500
31,500 7d

26,000 73d
41,000.,73d
62,500"
29,500
47,000

150,000
130,500 7d
86,500
185,500
99,500
26,000 64d
54,000
116,500
29,000 6%

—

59,500
35,000
37,500 6d
48,000
31,500

384 \e The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

Estimated relative YiruD and AVERAGE PRIcE realised for the different CkyLon Tea Dis-
tricts, compiled from the Public Auctions held in Lonpon between January Ist and DgcEMBER
31st, 1909 :— ,

Av. Price Av. Price Av. Price
Ibs. about | per lb. | Ibs. about | per lb. | lbs. about | per Ib.
1909. about. 1908. about. 1907. about
1909. 1908. 1907.
- Uda-Pussellawa... ..-| 3,272,000 | 9°35d 3,135,000 | 9.00d 2,820,000 | 895d
Dimbula ai ...| 20,623,000 | 9°23 18,128,000 | 8°90 18,588,000 | 8°76
Dikoya hs ..| 4,600,000 8°95 4,908, 000 8°50 6,017,000 8°45
Bogawantalawa ... ..-| 2,904,000 8°75 2,978,000 8°20 3,446,000 8:45
Nuwara Eliya and Maturata |, 1,997,000 8°50 2,198,000 7°70 2,133,000 8°30
Haputale and New Galway} 5,982,000 8°50 5,384,000 8:20 5,260,000 8°10
Peas ee ome ae a
laskellya eels das o, 95 2 5,0) 7: 3.07 05
Howaheta ae a 2210,000 | 8-25 2,163,000 | 7°80 2197,000 | 8-05
Pussellawa, Kotmale, Pun-
ee einis coop 10, 8674000) 71 8205” | “10; LORCORID 804 9,744,000 | 7°85
Ambegamuwa an ower
Dikoya & ...| 3,246,000 | 7°60 2,789,000 | 7°35 2,972,000 | 7°65
Doles>aeP and Neen i 3,961,000 7°45 3,582,000 Ee 3,195,000 7°55
- Knuckles, Kallebokka an
Rangala _.. | 4,870,000 | 7°55 4,247,000 | 7°35 4,044,000 | 7-60
Nilambe and Hantane 3,855,000 7°45 3,502, 000 710 3,976,000 7°40
Matale and Hunasgeria_....|,_—« 6,121, 000 7°30 4,636,000 7°05 5,647,000 7°30
Sabaragamuwa ... ...| 2,051,000 | 7°55 2,033.000 | 7°15 1,486,000 | 7-50
Kelani Valley and ene 11,568,000 715 10,854,000 6°85 9,210,000 7°30
Kadugannawa, Alagalla anc
Kaemegals. ee ...| 2,284,000 740 2,353, 000 710 2,397,000 745
Kalutara, Ambalangoda and
Udugama re vo]. 2,280; 000) | 7-20 1,896,000 | 6°80 2,031,000 | 7°20

Weekly Public Auctions of Ceylon Tea during 1909 with average price realised ;—

Av. price Av. price
Number of | Number of 1p
Week end- | Packages | Av. price eee pric bene Week end- | Packages | Av. Price| P®& Ib. for
ing. offered in | per Ib. x tis SAT ing. offered in | per Ib. eee
auction. | | 1908, auction. 1908.
Jan. 9th 37,700 8:20 8°35 July 3rd 41,115 7°75 7:40
16th 29,890 815 8°20 si ) al0th 30,000 7°70 7°35
” 98rd} 24,860 8-05 8:20 ” Vth | 28,070 530 «| lau
ff 30th 27,260 7°80 8°10 a 24th 32,800 7715 7°50
- Feb. 6th 19,877 8°10 8°05 Vn) (SINE 43,129 7°75 745
A 13th 23,337 8°25 8:00 Aug. 7th] no sales — es
‘ 20th 23,775 8°55 7°80 oe eae 40,644 7:85 7:30
ts 27th 19,980 8°70 765 bie (iD Nab 33,100 8:00 7-40)
“March 6th 29,960 8°45 760 » 28th 35,270 S15 765
A 13th 22,440 8°60 7°65 Sept. 4th 28,950 8°25 175
: 20th 18,800 8°45 7°65 A eh 22,600 8°40 785
is 27th 25,488 8°40 7°30 i -UUIStb 21,380 8°55 7-95
April 3rd 19,000 8°50 780 » 25th 25,327 8°60 8:00
10th 28,843 8°60 7:80 Oct. 2nd 19,000 8°60 7:85
i 17th | no sales os 7:95 Zi 9th 20,450 8°65 7°80
o 24th 33,437 8°40 at » 16th 16,166 8°40 7-30
May lat 23,360 8°45 7:90 » 23rd 20,000 8°40 8°13
sth 31,420 8°25 8°00 2 MagSOEH 16,830 8'40 8-00
é 15th 29,640 8°15 8°10 Nov. 6th 23,000 8140 8°30
ff 29nd 31,625 7:95 7°95 cast 14,550 8°25 8°20
fi 29th 28,560 790 7:90 » 20th 22,970 8°20 8°35
June 5th/ no sales — 775 » 27th 17,775 8°55 8°40
12th 46,400 770 _ Dec. 4th 21,670 8°50 8°40
z 19th 37,300 7°75 755 Je ianith 19,600 8°70 8°55
ie 26th 37,500 7°75 7°40 wth 26,900 8°50 8°55
” es 25th 21,000 8°40 no sales

NN

se)

Photo by H, F. Macmillan.

AMOMUM MELEGUETA.
GRAINS OF PARADISE,

Grains of Paradise. Guinea Grains, or Melegueta Pepper (Amomum Melegueta. N.O.Scitaminez).—A herbaceous
bushy perennial, 4 to 5 ft. high, native of West Tropical Africa, and belonging to the Ginger and Cardamom family, The
small dark aromatic seeds are imported from the Gold Coast into Europe, where they are used chiefly in cattle medicine, for
flavouring cordials, and for imparting an artificial strength to spirits, wine and beer. In Africa they are largely used by
the natives to season food, and are considered very wholesome. It is said that about 1,000 cwt. of this spice is imported

annually into England, and sold for 80s. to gos. percwt. The plant has been introduced at Peradeniya in 1867, and is
found to thrive here in ordinary soil and partial shade —H. F. M.

TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

AND

MAGAZINE OF THE

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Vou. XXXIV,

COLOMBO, MAY 15rtu, 1910,

No. 5..

PROGRESS IN CEYLON AGRI-
CULTURE.

‘So long as the agriculturist remains
at the primitive stage of agriculture
which we have described elsewhere as
“grow what you want, and consume
what you grow,” he is practically inde-
pendent of the general progress of the
world; he shuts himself out from it.
Were there no other people in the
country, it might just as well be non-
existent; and would not be missed if
carried away by a voleanic eruption. It
does not alter the general position that
some of the things the cultivator may
require, e.g., his clothes cr his furniture,
are made by the artisans employed by
the village and paid by a levy on the
crops of that village. So long as this
system goes ou, and the man does not
have to go outside the village to get
what he wants, so long is he practically
independent of the outside world,

Such a position of native agriculture
may be, and in the past often has been,
regarded as an ideal, and there is some-
thing to be said for it, for solong as it
holds, the agriculturist is independent
of fluctuations in the market value of
crops that he grows, and is independent
of other peoples’ improvement in the
production of those crops.

Butfor good or evil, the policy of the
various tropical Governments has al-
ways been against this ideal. Not only

have they made efforts to improve the
actual agriculture of the natives, but—
and this is of far greater importance—
they have made roads all over the
country, aun absolutely unnecessary
luxury if the simple ideal is to be fol-

lowed. And they have. provided edu-
cation, another entirely unnecessary
thing. In these and other ways, the

Governments have done much to break
up the old primitive simplicity. Let it
be noted that so long as agriculture in
the country works upon such lines, so
long there can be little exportable value,
and consequently there can be little to |
tax, so that the Government must. be
content with a small revenue and a
small establishment, On the other hand,
of course, there need be no expenditure
upon public works, railways, education
and other things. A country in such a
state is of no importance to the world
at large at the present time.

In actual fact there is in most Kastern
countries sufficient local capitalism to
interfere to some extent with the follow-
ing of this ideal, butit must be clearly
understood that till the de velopment of
transport facilities, and still more the
introduction of foreign,labour into those
countries where labour was not easily
procurable, it could not develope upon
any large scale. Until that stage was
reached, it could only reap its interest
ina tax on the crops of the villagers,
who paid say 50% of the crop for the

rent of the land. In this way, there-
fore, local capitalism practically corre-
sponded to lending as done to day by tha
money-lenders, seed-lenders, and others.

With the ‘‘ opening up” of the country
of Ceylon by roads, and by the intro-
duction of cheap labour from the over-
erowded districts of Madras, capitalist
agriculture, strictly so-called, became
possible. Local capitalists rarely took
any hand in the development which
went on, and the great coffee, cinchona,
tea, cacao, cardamom and rubber in-
dustries were successively opened by
European capitalists, until now a large
part of the island isin their hands, and
their industries provide a very large
part of the revenue which has enabled
the Government to do so much for the
island generally.

The ideal state for the colony would
doubtless be that all these industries
should bein native hands, so that the
revenue brought in by them should not
fo abroad, but should enrich the colony.

ut as things are, it is too late for this
to be the case, and the white planter
has come, and apparently to stay. All
then that can bedone is to encourage
the growth of a native capitalist industry
beside the European, and if this prove
sufficiently prosperous, the latter may
conceivably at some far distant period
be brought out by slow degrees.

But unless something is done to help
the ordinary village agriculturist, he
must in general remain where he is,
and the only native capitalists to arise
will be those who are now in possession
of some money, or who come into pos-
session of it in some other way than by
agriculture. Itis all but impossible tor
the villager to become possessed of any
serious amount of money under the pre-
sent system. Co-operation is urgently
called for, and after some years of
thorough trial, we may look to see a
fair number of villagers freed from
the necessity of borrowing, and may
even hope to see a few of them risein

time to the possession of considerable.

money of their own, and the develop-
ment of capitalist industry. The great
thing is to get the villager clear of debt,

Matters have so far progressed, with
the opening up of the country, that
the villager now wants to buy things
which cannot be produced within the
village, e.g., kerosene oil, or Manchester
goods. But to buy he must sell, and
is thus drawn into the world-wide
vortex of buying and selling. If he does
not improve, the quality of his produce
will become steadily poorer by com-

~~ on eee

; > 7
arison with that of other folk, and

e will get less for it. When once he

begins buying outside his village, the
villager must improve, or be left be-—

hind, and consequently deteriorate.

Now so long as he is uncombined, so
long is his security poor, and so long
must he pay high interest, so that, as
elsewhere explained, he cannot in general
adopt improvements, which will not
usually return enough to pay interest
on his loan.

But let him combine, and an entirely
different story may be told. He can
borrow money more cheaply, he can
buy manure, seed, or complex tools
more cheaply, he can sell more cheaply
and to greater profit, and in many
other ways he can get a better footing
on the Taner of progress.

If the villagers be combined in matters
of money, supply of seed, manure, &c.,
and sale of produce, each combination
becomes (in a short time at any rate)
practically a capitalist on its own ac-
count, and is no longer helpless before
other capitalists or combinations of
capital.

If once this fact could be realised in
Ceylon, and properly acted upon, we
should see the villager a great stage
forward upon the road of agricultural
progress. He would practically have
caught up with the leeway of recent
years.

There is, of course, another way in
which he can get money without heavy
interest, but this means going to work
on capitalist estates, and very often
he has not the time available without
working much harder than previously—
a thing he does not pine for—or neg-
lecting his own cultivations. Itis better
to help him to help himself in his own
agriculture, though also very desirable
that he should earn money by regular
paid labour.

The Java system, under which the
villager gives a certain daily proportion
of his time to regular estate work, is
very good.

In one way or another, the next step
for the Ceylon villager is to get as far
as possible out of debt, and then one
may look for some agricultural progress,
but till that happens, such progress is
all but hopeless except tv the capit-
alist, large or small. If the solution
adopted be that ot estate work, pro-
gress in agriculture proper will be small,

and local.
aa GP W: ,

4

~ May, 1910,]

387

GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS.

THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF
PARA RUBBER CULTIVATION.

By JOHN PARKIN, M.A., F.L.S,
(From Science Progress, No. 15,
January, 1910.)

(Continued from p. 296.)

Part II.
Tum EXTRACTION OF THE LATEX.

The procedure employed in the Hast
for the extraction of the latex from the
stems of cultivated Hevea trees was
elaborated independently, and not in-
fluenced by the native method still used
in the forests of the Amazon.

The late Dr. Trimen in 1888 commenced
tapping experiments at Heneratgoda in
Ceylon on the rubber trees which had
growin from the seedlings received from
Kew in 1876. Vertical rows of V-shaped
incisions were made inthe bark of the
trunk, from a height of six feet down-
wards, with a mallet and carpenter’s
chisel. The incisions were placed about
a foot apart vertically, and the rows at
a like distavce horizontally, The latex
oozing out of these cuts was made to
trickle down the surface of the bark ina
series of streams corresponding to the
number of vertical rows of incisions.
The whole of the milk was caught at the
base by a clay gutter moulded round
the trunk, and directed into one or more
coconut shells placed around the foot of
the tree. A second tapping was per-
formed in a similar manner, the new
incisions being inserted between the old
ones, and so for subsequent bleedings.
For details of this somewhat crude
method, now almost cbsolete, the reader
is referred to one of the circulars
published by the Ceylon Botanic Gardens
Department.”

Dr. Willis continued the tapping ex-
periments initiated by his predecessor,
employing the same method. His results
with respect to yield of rubber per single
tapping brought out the remarkable fact
that the second tapping gives a consider-
ably larger quantity of caoutchouc than
the first. Since his figures gave the
first indication of the now well-known
‘© wound-response,” it may be of interest
to quote his remarks and_ figures from
the circular} already referred to :—

* Willis, Circular, Royal Botanic Gardens,
Ceylon, 1898, No. 4, Series 1. 20,31

+ Willis, Circular, Royal Botanic Gardens,
Ceylon, 1898, No, 4, Series I. p, 32

‘‘The tappings may follow one another
at intervals of a week for about four to
eight weeks. The second tapping gives
a much larger yield than the first, and
the third and fourth tappings are
usually very productive. Ina series of
experiments made during 1897 on trees
of about two feet mean girth, the
average yield per tree of the successive
weekly tappings was as follows :—

OZ.
First week ane ae Be a
Second week ... ar .. «1°48
Third week ... sts eee OT
Fourth week ... ms ree ur oO
Fifth week a as on SEO
Sixth week “so ne ansiy-
Total ae ate OSes

Willis, realising that the methods he
was then using for the extraction and
preparation of the rubber were probably
capable of much improvement, set the
writer (who had just been appointed his
scientific assistant) to work on these
matters. The main outcome of this
investigation,* carried out in Ceylon
at both Peradeniya and Heneratgoda
in 1898-99, consisted in the demonstration
of ‘‘wound-response” and the intro-
duction of an easy means of preparing
rubber of high quality and purity from
the latex. The subject of preparation is
treated of in the next section of this
paper. Our attention must now be
turned to the phenomenon of wound —
response.

_ Wound-response.—On general grounds
it might be assumed that the trunk of a
rubber tree would have yielded most of
its store of latex after a single extensive
tapping, so that none, or very little,
would be forthcoming from a second
tapping within a few days. This is
practically what happens in the case of
Castilloa elastica.

On the other hand, taking into account
Willis’s results, which show about double
the weight of rubber from the second
tapping, it might be conjectured that
the injuries (incisions) stimulated in some
way the accumulation of latex, so that
a greater flow would issue from a similar
number of incisions made afew days
later. .This, in fact, is how Hevea
behaves.

Several simple experiments soon proved
this, One was conducted in this wise.
A piece of bark about an inch square
was removed from certain Hevea trunks,

* J, Parkin, Circular, Royal Botanic Gardens ,
Ceylon, 1899, Nos, 12, 15, 14, Series I,

Gums, Resins,

After the lapse of two days, incisions
were made near the wound and also on
parts of the trunk at the same level
tarthest away from, i.e., opposite, the
Injury. Kully double the quantity of
latex was obtained from the cuts near
the wound, as compared with that
yielded by those incisions made opposite.

_Attention was then directed to the
time-interval necessary in order to
render this response recognisable. After
twelve hours no difference was observed
between the volume of latex yielded by
the two classes of incisions, Sometimes
after twenty-four hours and generally
after two days, the effect of woundiug
on the yield, however, was marked.
Apparently the drier the soil the longer
the time required for the response to
appear. The experience of planters and
others since has shown that two days is,
as a rule, the best interval between
successive tappings, but some estates tap
every day with good returns.

The following table gives in concise
form the results of a somewhat elaborate
experiment conducted at Peradeniya
from March to June, 1899.* Four trees
were employed, and a horizontal row of
ten similar incisions made per tree per
tapping. Each fresh row of incisions
was made near those of the preceding
tapping, in order that the wound-
response might take effect. The in-
terval between tappings was usually
five days. A lessallowance would most
likely have made the experiment still
more striking.

Volume of latex Volume of

in cubic Latex in

centimeters, cubic cent.
ist tapping ... 61.0 8th tapping 253:0
Qn a9 ove 105'5 9th 9 246°5
ordwia., ,.. 220°0 10th “3 275°0
athe ci 2.5 2085 lith —,, 2550
5th A Peo prpmlet oe ss 262°0
6th ,, .. 290:0 13th me Ly 82850
WGby =. .. 2760 14th es A 4419-0)

This experiment brought out the effect
of wounding on the flow of latex ina
still more favourable light; and con-
sidering that at the fourteenth tapping,
when the experiment had to be brought
to a conclusion, the volume was the
largest collected, it would appear that
the limit tothe full advantage to be
gained from wound-response had not yet
been reached.

From a practical point of view this
experiment is defective in that no
estimations were made as to the percent-
age of caoutchouc in the latex from the
successive tappings. A large How might

* §. Arden, Report on Hevea brasilicnsis in the
Malay Peninsula, 1902 p. 10,

388

mean a thin milk, yielding little solid
rubber. Stanley Arden’s work in the
Malay States has supplied in some
measure the deficiency. His results,
published in 1902, have proved that the
weight of caoutchouc itself is increased
by the wound-response, and this incre-
ment is maintained or further augmented
for a number of tappings. The following
figures referred to one of his experl-
ments, in which ten trees were tapped
every day for a fortnight.

Wet rubber. Wet rubber,

in oz. in 0Z,
Ist tapping ... 64 8th tapping ... 312
Qnd ,, Sale 9th ,, ete
Srdeumee sen yp 10th ,, ».. 308
atheuey eer llth ,, ee
Sthuuees ... 268 2th , woe (298
6th, ves 263 ‘13th ,, .. B08
ithieemes .. 232 14th ,, we) BOE

Here, as in the Ceylon experiment, the
yield per tapping has been well main-
tained throughout; and at the fourteenth
and last tapping instead of any diminu-
tion in yield, there is aslight increase,
showing that the experiment could have
been continued longer with profitable
results.

The demonstration of wound-response,
therefore, placed Hevea in a much more
favourable position as a rubber pro-
ducer, stimulating its cultivation. Be-
fore the discovery of this peculiarity;
Hevea asa latex yielder in Ceylon did
not look at all exceptional—-iu fact, it
appeared less promising than Castilloa.
From similar incisions made iu untap-
ped trunks of these two trees much
more latex flows from Castilloa than
from Hevea—roughly five to six times as
much. Butif after the lapse of one or
two days fresh incisions are made in
the trees quite near the old ones, it will
be found that from the Castilloa no
latex, or very little, oozes out, while
from the Hevea about double the volume
given by the first wounds can be collect-
ed, and further, this tree will continue
giving this and even larger quantities
for some time to come. Consequently a
very much greater weight of rubber will
be obtained in a year from a tree
of Hevea than from one of Castilloa of
a similar size. The yields from estates
planted with these two trees bear this
out in a striking manner.

The planting of Castilloa in Mexico, as
already mentioned, commenced a year
or twoin advance of that of Hevea in
the Hast. Wound-response not being
then known, the former seemed the
more promising tree, as it yielded its
latex with greater ease. At the present
time, however, little is heard of Castilloa
plantation rubber, while that of Hevea

‘

-May, 1910.)

is making a sensation unparalleled in the
history of tropical agriculture. This is
wholly due to the advantage taken of
the wound-response, which appears
totally absent in Castilloa. The one
gives pounds of rubber per annum,
whilst the other gives ounces.

The latest accounts* of Castilloa in
Mexico are not over-encouraging, but
with rubber at anything like its present
price, the estates now coming into bear-
ing will doubtless prove remunerative. A
six-year-old Castilloa apparently gives
only 2 to 38 oz. of rubber in the year
without seriously injuring the tree,
whereas a Hevea of similar age will yield
about a pound. At ten years old the
proportion appears to be about 4 or 5 oz.
for Castilloa and 3 to 4 lb, for Hevea.
It seems that the more Castilloa has
been studied from the economic stand-
point, the less satisfactory it becomes,
while, on the contrary, Hevea has ever
continued to grow in favour.

This phenomenon of wound-response
in Hevea is not only of great practical
importance in rubber cultivation, but is
also of considerable botanical interest;
and requires more extended investiga-
tion. To what circumstances is the in-
creased flow of latex arising from injury
due? In Hevea the milk (laticiferous)
tubes reside chiefly in the innermost
third of the bark, 1.e.,in the youngest
and most functional part of the bast
(phloem.) New tubes are continually
being formed in the fresh phloem, pro-
duced by the actively dividing layer of
cells, the cambium ; these take the place
of the older exterior tubes, which be-
come compressed and eventually ob-
literated by the tree’s expansion. If

the laticiferous tubes in a definite area.

of bark were completely drained of their
contents, two possibilities might happen.
On the one hand this region might yield
little or no latex, until the cambium
formed new tubes—a process occupy-
ing some time; or, on the other
hand, latex from the adjoining areas
might flow in and refill the drained
tubes, so that on retapping in a day or
two an abundance of latex would exude.
The first possibility may represent the
behaviour of Castilloa, the second that
of Hevea. In the latter tree the time
would appear to be too short for any of
the increased flow to be accounted for
by the formation of new laticiferous
elements. Probably in this case an in-
jury causes an inrush of water into the

*India Rubber Journat, 1909, Vol. xxxvii,
p. 701. Anarticle on Castilloa cultivation in
the Quarter-century No, (p. 85) of this Journal
gives higher yields, viz,, about half those of
Hevea,

z 389

Saps and Hxudations.

surrounding intact tubes, and perhaps
also into the severed ones, which will
be now plugged by hardened latex.
This flow of liquid towards the injured
spot may be required for the reparation
of the wound.

The latex which oozes out from a
primary tapping of a Hevea tree is
thicker, containing less water and more
caoutchouc than that which flows from
subsequent tappings; and further, it
appears to give a poorer quality of
rubber, In practice it is a disadvantage
to have latex ofa treacly consistency
exuding, as much of itis apt to harden
on the tree before it 1eaches the re-
ceptacle, producing inferior scrap rubber.
In fact, the initial tapping is of little
value from a rubber-yielding point of
view; it only serves as the guide to
future work. Sometimes drip-tins are
fixed just above the tapping area. These
allow water to drop slowly upon the
incisions and so prevent the latex in its
course down the trunk from drying on
the tree. A little ammonia or formalin
added to the water makes this device
more effectual, as the coagulation of the
latex is prevented by these reagents,

The latex from the second tapping is
thus thinner and more copious, and it
continues so far for many subsequent
tappings. The percentage of ecaoutchoue
in the latex resulting from this multiple
tapping has, however, never been ade-
quately worked out. Presumably the
percentage (roughly 30 to 40) is fairly
uniformly maintained for quite a long
period (three to four months), but
eventually falls, and a thin watery latex
results, which does not pay to collect,
This indicates that the tree
a rest.

requires

W ound-response appears to be a peculi-
arity of Hevea alone, or to speak more
guardedly, it has not been shown to
occur, as yet, in any other rubber tree
to the extent that advantage may be
taken of it in practice. It may exist in
a much less marked degree, but this
remains to be demonstrated.

Considering that the laticiferous sys-
tem of Castilloa is of an _ essentially
different construction from that of
Hevea, -it is perhaps not altogether
remarkable that the two trees behave
differently when tapped. In the former
the laticiferous tubes are in mutual
connection from the beginning. Special
cells are differentiated in the embryo,
and these produce by growth in length
and ramification the whole laticiferous
system of the plant. This is knownas
the non-articulate system, ny

Gums, Resins,

In Hevea, on the other hand, the tubes
arise from rows of cells through the
breaking down of the intervening walls.
The perforations are not always com-
pletely formed, so this, the articulate
system, is relatively disconnected com-
pared with the other.

A wound in a tree containing the first
arrangement wili therefore most likely
drain a larger area of laticiferous tissues
than onein atree of the second type.
This doubtless accounts for the greater
flow of latex from an initial incision in
the trunk of Castilloa compared with
that from one in Hevea; but it is difficult
to explain the wound-response in the one
and not in the other. Perhaps Hevea has
4 much more extensive, though less com-
municative, system than Castilloa; or in
other words, a trunk of Hevea has a
much larger number of tubes, and so
holds a greater quantity of latex than
a corresponding one of Castilloa. At the
first tapping the latter gives up practi-
cally all its latex, on account of the
tubes freely communicating with one
another; whilst the former only yields
up a very small portion of its total
quantity of latex, through the com-
paratively disconnected nature of its
system. Thus from a single trial
Castilloa appears the better yielder. On
retapping in a few days’ time no more
latex exudes. The tubes apparently do
not refill with liquid, and so probably
collapse. In Hevea, however, a fresh
set of tubes will be served at the second
tapping, and if the new incision be made
near the old one, the ducts here will
probably be surcharged with latex
- owing to a great infiltration of fluid
caused by the previous wounding; thus
from such an incision an increased
quantity of latex will flow.

A detailed microscopic study of the
laticiferous systems of these two trees
might shed some light on the above
suppositions. Manihot, however, hasa
system similar to that of Hevea, and yet,
as far as it has been investigated, it
shows no wound-response. Johnson*
experimenting with this tree in Portu-
guese Hast Africa, has failed to get it to
respond to multiple tapping.

The Function of Latex.—A few words
on the question of the function of latex
are called for here. Itis still largely a
problem awaiting solution.

A nutritive function for the latici-
ferous tubes was at one time upheld.
They were supposed to act as conductors
of plastic material, especially of pro-
teins, and were considered in some cases
* W. H. Johnson, India Rubber Journal, 1908,
Vol, xxxy., p. 209.

partly to replace the sieve tubes. a

= a -
_berence to such a view has lost ground

in recent years.

Spence,” however, has recently revived
the nutritive view on somewhat start-
ling lines. His studies on the oxidisin
enzymes of latex has led him to regar
the caoutchouc as a food reserve, which
by means of these ferments may be
oxidised and broken down into simple
carbohydrates for the plant’s use,
Physiologists will require much evidence
betore accepting such a novel theory.

That the tubes conduct or store food
materials for the plant seems doubtful.
Primarily the latex may be regarded
rather as a waste product, and the tubes
containing it as genetically related to,
and a further development of, secretory
sacs. But the substitution of an exten-
sive system of communicating tubes in
place of isolated sacs apparently implies
the adoption of some new function in
addition to that of removing the waste
products of metabolism. A conducting
function is the one which suggests itself,
The tubes may form channels for the
conveyance and storage of water. Lati-
ciferous plants. at any rate the arbores-
cent ones, are distinctly numerous in
the tropics, where transpiration at times
is excessive, especially during the dry
season.

Again, the theory has been advanced
that the latex serves as a protection
against insects and fungi. In respect to
aninsect, a puncture or bite will result
in an outflow of latex, which may inter-
fere withits further operations or prove
distasteful toit. The penetration of a
fungus through a wound may be pre-
vented by the latex, which oozes out,
forming an impenetrable layer. This
supposed protective function for latex
must be investigated separately for each
species inits original surroundings. The
laticiferous system may have been
evolved to repel certain foes occurring
in the natural habitat of the plant, and
yet beineffectual against other enemies
which the species may meet in a new
environment.

The theory of water-storage and con-

duction is perhaps the most plausible.

The watery nature of the latex in the
trunk of Hevea has been noticed to be
affected by the state of the soil. When
dry, the latex is thicker and flows out
less readily, suggesting that the tree is
drawing upon the reserve of water
accumulated in the laticiferous tubes.
In the alluvial regions of the Malay
States the tree yields latex very abund-

=D, Spence, Bio-Chemical Journat, 1908, —

ili. 179-81.

‘May,

Be.

antly. Here there is surplus of

- moisture in the soil, and so the tubes are

always well distended with latex. There
is, in fact, no need to draw upon this
reserve.

The removal of latex from the Para-
rubber tree appears to have little or
no detrimental effect. A young tree
judiciously tapped continues to grow
almost as well as one which has not been
touched. Some observations made by
Macmillan and Petch* have shown,
however, that the seeds from tapped
trees are, on the whole, lighter in weight
than those from untapped ones. Any
prejudicial effect of the tapping is
probably due rather to the injury to and
removal of the surrounding tissues than
to the extraction of the latex itself.

Tapping Systems. -The demonstration
of wound-response quickly infiuenced
the method of tapping Hevea trees
followed in the Kast. To gain the full
benefit of this response, the new incision
must be made quite near the previous
one. Thus was suggested the feasibility
of re-opening the old wound, rather than
of making afresh incision. Experience
has shown that very satisfactory results
can beso obtained. A thin paring of
bark is removed from the lower edge of
the initial groove at each subsequent
tapping. By this means the bark down
to the cambium is gradually shaved
away. -Thus excision instead of incision
has come to control the tapping systems
now in vogue.

The original small V-shaped cut has
been completely abandoned. Attention
to wound-response showed that a single
slanting cut served just as well. Oblique
incisions form the basis of the methods
of tapping ir use.

At first the latex from each incision
was collected separately. This involves
more labour, and has been generally dis-
earded for basal collection,

The twochief systems of tapping now
practised on the estate are those known
as the Spiral and the Herring-bone. The
principle is the same in both. he
initial grooving (tapping) forms a guide
for all subsequent tappings performed
during the year.

Spiral System.—A spiral groove is
made inthe bark of the trunk froma
height of six feet to ‘the base. If the
incision is carried completely round the
stem, then the system is called the Full
Spiral; ifonly one part way round, the
Half Spiral. A bole of small girth will
only require one spiral. If of larger

* Maemillon and Petch, Circular, Royal Bo-
tamic Gardens, Ceylon, 1908, Vol, iv, No. 11,

WHO) = oo i:

on at Fyn BS 2S tt “Soe a 8 oe etd 8

Saps and Exudations,

circumference, then an extra spiral can
be added for each additional foot of
girth; thus a tree three feet round
would need three. At each tapping a thin
shaving of bark is removed from the
lower edge of the spiral cut. The
pressure of latex is thereby relieved and
a stream flows down the spiral into the
receptacle placed at the base.

The full spiral, of all methods of tap-
ping, yields the largest quantity of
rubber in a given time, butit is very
drastic, as the whole of the cortical
tissues froin the height of six feet down-
wards is removed, most likely too quickly
for the maintenance of the tree’s general
health, It is now considered the best
system to adopt for trees which are
subsequently to be removed as thinnings
or for other reasons. Rubber in quantity
is thus obtained with the minimum
amount of labour,

Herring-bone System.—A vertical
groove is made in the bark 2f the trunk

extending from the base toa height of five

orsix feet. Then long oblique incisions
about a foot apart are cut from it in an
upward slanting direction. If the in-
clined euts are made alternately on each
side of the vertical groove, the method
is known as the Full Herring-bone; if
only on one side, the Half Herring-
bone, thus:

Kull \ y Half
Herring- We Herring-
bone. bone.

Wy
|

The oblique incisions yield the latex,
and the vertical groove serves as a
channel of conduction to the basal recep-
tacle. At each subsequent tapping a
thin paring is taken off the lowe: edge
of each oblique cut; the vertical groove
is left untouched. Thus the extraction
of latex from the area of trunk covered
by the herring-bone can be continued,
tillthe whole of the bark intervening
between the original slanting incisions
as been excised.

The half herring-bone is now generally
preferred, as being less severe than the
full herring-bone. A quarter of the
girth of the trunk can be tapped on the
former system each year. By the time
(four years) the whole has been so

Gums, Resins, 4 392

treated, the renewed bark on the first
area will be sufficiently mature to allow
the multiple tapping to be recom-
menced.

Two important points shoald be
observed in modern tapping. The
wound should be re-opened by as thin a
paring as possible; and every care
should be taken not to injure the
cambium. The longer the bark can be
made to last, the greater, as a rule,
will be the yield of rubber. Shavings
of bark one-twentieth of an inch or
even less in thickness are now managed
in practice. A foot of bark can, there-
fore, be made to last for about 250
successive tappings.

A wound which passes through the
cambium into the wood heals badly. In
the excision method of tapping careless
manipulation results in an uneven bark
renewal, producing a surface difficult to
tap in a systematic manner. Conse-
quently to guard against cambial injury
and to ensure thin parings much inge-
nuity has been exercised in devising
suitable tapping instruments. At least
two dozen different knives have already
been invented for the purpose. Some of
these have met with favour and are
commonly used.*

Pricking.—Since economy in bark
excision is so important, the idea that
puncturing might be substituted to
some extent for paring was early mooted,
A tool, termed the pricker, was brought
out for the purpose. Good yields were
obtained by the combined use of the
parer and pricker. The bark was thus
made to last longer.

Recently a Ceylon planter + has intro-
duced a pricking system as a complete
substitute for the paring method. It
has not as yet met with much favour.

Pricking has been blamed for the
production of burrs and nodules in
the renewed bark. Petcht has stated
reasons for this view. If correct, itisa
serious drawback to the use of the
pricker. Though opinion generally
seems rather opposed to than in favour
of pricking, either in conjunction with
paring or alone, yet itis still a debatable
point. The paring method on the half

* For details the reader is referred to Wright’s
text-book, pp. 79-88 (Hevea brasiliensis 01 Para
Rubber, 3rd edition, 1908), and to the page of the
India Rubber Journat for the latest knives.

+ Northway’s Tapping System—see article in
India Rubber Journat 1909, Vol, xxxviii., p. 225.

t Petch, Circular. Royal Botanic Gardens,
Ceylon, 1909, Vol. iv,, No. 18,

herring-bone system is giving ex cellent
results on estates and is very systematic.

The question may be asked: Will
the tree stand this somewhat severe
treatment of removing gradually its
bark up to a height of six feet? So far,
no pronounced ill-effects have shown
themselves. The bark on the excised
area is renewed satisfactorily, and this’
secondary covering is as rich or even
richer in latex than the primary bark.
This is on a par with the cinchona tree,
which gives a greater yield of quinine
from its renewed bark.

It has not yet been settled as to the
time which should elapse before the
reformed bark should be tapped. Four
years has been considered a_ suitable
period, but this may be possibly longer
than is really required. Some results
seem to show that if the new bark is
tapped early, the rubber is of an inferior
quality, even though the latex may be
abundant.

Wickham* in his criticism of planta-
tion methods, views with disfavour this
system of removing the bark, and thinks
that, in the long run, the incision mode
of tapping, as employed on the wild
trees in the Amazon, will be found to be
preferable. His views seem generally

to run counter to the practices in the

East. At the same time, the opinions of
one who is so well acquainted with the
Brazilian rubber industry are not to be
lightly laid aside.

High Tapping.—lIt has already been
mentioned that, as a rule, it is not advis-
able to continue the tapping of a Hevea
trunk above six feet. In the first place,
the yield of latex is much less from the
upper parts of the stem ;and secondly,
high tapping requires the erection of
seaffolding, which adds greatly to the
expense,

Interesting experiments as to yield
have been carried out by the Ceylon
Botanic Gardens Departmentt on the
original Henaratgoda tree. These bring
out clearly the great rubber-producing
eapacity of the basal six feet of trunk
and the small yield afforded by the
higher parts.

The improbability of obtaining rubber
from the young stems, leaves, and unripe
fruits will be referred to in the ecouclud-
ing portion of this paper, which will
deal chiefly with the preparation of the
rubber from the latex.

* Wickham, toc. cit. p. 38.
+ Royal Botanic Gardeus, Ceylon, Adminis-
tration Report, 1906, p, 32,

May, 1910,

May, 1910.)

DANGERS, MISTAKES, AND
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CAOUT-
CHOUC PRODUCTION OF ASIA.

(By D. SANDMANN in Tropenpflanzer,
March, 1910.—Abstracted by
J.C. WILLIS.)

Commencing with a statement of the
rapid growth of the industry, Dr. Sand-
mann points out that tropical Asia will
be producing some 70,000 tons in 1918,
according to the figures of production
of the Malay States. This will greatly
cheapen rubber, which should come into
use in many new ways.

Trees measured in the Botanic Garden
of Para, in Brazil, showed the following
diameters at 3 feet from the ground :—

8 years old 141/83 cm. (53 inch)
10 Bees 6 ,,

1Oes i 26 (10+ ,, +)

15 eae 283 (iz. )

These dimensions were much exceeded
by trees of corresponding age in the
Malay States and in Java.

The yield in Brazil he calculates to be
about 14 to 34 kilos (8-8 lbs.) a year,
at the age of at least 15. This also is
beaten by the cultivated trees.

He then goes on to describe the
various enemies that attack rubber in
Asia; e.g., the root fungus, the white
ant, &c.

The labour difficulty is then dealt with,

Dr. Sandmann next goes on to consider
the raising of milk production, pointing
out that in the future it will not pay to
tap such trees as are now tapped. He
saw, for instance, trees of ten inches girth
being tapped, with a yield of 3} 0z. He
recommends selection of seed from heavy
bearers; the rubber tree being, as is well
known, very variable in this respect.

He compares the growth of seedlings
planted out with that of stumps, show-
ing that the former is decidedly better.
He describes the various theories held
about weeding, the abandonment of
thumbnail-pruning, and the various
knives in use for tapping,

He considers the question of how often
to tap, pointing out that so many
factors enter into it that each planter
must decide for himself.

(To be continued.)
50

i

Saps and Hxudations.

THE JEQUIE MANICOBA
RUBBER TREE.

By R. THOMSON.

(From the Indian Forester, January and
February, 1910, Vol. XXXVI., Nos. 1 & 2.)

This new species of rubber is indi-
genous to the State of Bahia, Brazil.
It is a small tree, attaining a height of
some 25 feet, with stems from 18 to
20 inches in circumference. It is a
closely-allied species of the Ceara-rubber,
the native habitat of which is separated
from this Manicoba region by some five
or six degrees of latitude. Until a few
years ago this rubber was unknown to
commerce. It grows under peculiar
conditions as a product of the forest.
In the region I traversed there are
millions of trees, including saplings.
The soil in which the Manicoba grows
is peculiar. (I have samples of it in
London). It is a porous kind of elay,
more porous than sticky, the texture
of which is eminently conducive to the
well-being of the tree during prolonged *
periods of drought to which it is ex-
posed. Apart from the peculiar character
of the soil, its great depth powerfully
contributes to the conservation of the
moisture which it freely absorbs during
the short rainy reasons. In other words,
the absorbent power of this great body
of earth, not only relieves the surface
of any excess of moisture, but retains ~
the moisture during severe droughts,
so that the soil is never water-logged,
and never excessively dry. This soil,
therefore, coupled with the aridity of
the climate, is the secret of the ex-
istence and diffusion of this rubber tree.

A few years ago I was deputed by
Messis. EHlder, Dempster & Uo. to
investigate the resources of the pine-
apple region of Florida. I mention this
by way of pointing out the disparity
between that soil and the Manicoba
soil, I quote from my published re-
port :—‘‘If the soils of Florida were
anything like the soils of Jamaica, it
is safe to say that Pine-apples would
not be cultivated there at all. The
soi] in which they are planted consists
of from 96 to 98 per cent. of silica.
The growers furnish all the food by
fertilisers, which bring forth luxuriant
crops . . . Onexamininga large pine-
apple field that had been some months
before uprooted in order to prepare the
land for replanting, [ saw many hun-
dreds of rejected suckers that had been
cast away over the land actually bear-
ingfruit! In other words, these suckers
yielding fruit had no connection with

‘the soil; other than lying on the surtace,

Gums, Resins, : 394

I was puzzled. But, on reflection, I
arrived at the conclusion that this
phenomenal productiveness was due to
the great depth of the bed of sand,
probably 50 feet, which issued moisture
from its huge mass on the principle of
capillary attraction,”

The supreme importance of soil is
further exemplified by the following
extract from the India-rubber World :—

“After having travelled through all
the desirable rubber regions in Central
America and Northern South America,
I am satisfied that suitable tropical
forests which can be had now ata low
price—often for a few cents an acre—
present an opportunity for the profit-
able employment of capital such as has
seldom been offered in the world’s
history, but the serious point is to secure
the proper land. Those who acquire it
will have more than they expect, but
natural rubber lands are not to be had
by simply making a chance location.
Though the tree will grow almost any-
where, it is only the most favoured
spots that will yield those spontaneous
returns that are so very profitable. It
is fair to state that if people go to
taking up tropical forests promiscuously,
ten will be disappointed to every one
who secures a prize.”

In the remote district in which this
tree grows, the vegetation may be des-
cribed as a scrub forest. The Manicoba
tree throughout certain areas intermin-
gles with the stunted trees and forms a
prominent part of the forest at an ele-
vation of 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea-
level. In the forest there are compara-
tively few species of trees that exceed
amedium size, The country is gently
undulating, with low intervening hills.
The whole region presents the aspects
of a semi-desert, consequent on the
character of the soil, which is nor-pro-
ductive of luxuriant tropical vegetation.

Throughout this dreary tract of
country, embracing many thousands of
square miles, miles at a time are desti-
tute of inhabitants. Running streams
of water, so impressive and emblematic
of fertile regions, are few and far be-
tween throughout the district. At dis-
tances, usually many miles asunder, the
configuration of the land admits of natu-
ral reservoirs which, aided by simple
devices. supply the wants of man and
beast. Thus, the water is collected at
the bases of hills and sloping lands where
cavities are formed. Wild animals, in-
cluding insects, are also rarely encoun-
tered. In this connection itis worthy of
note that cultivated Manicoba trees
appeared to be practically immune from

ee

insect depredations. Ants sometimes
overhaul the young leafage, and a young
tree is sometimes snapped off at the top
by a stray deer.

Another noteworthy feature of this
scrub forest may be indicated, The foli-
age is scant and lacks profuse develop-
ment in contormity with the stunted
tree vegetation, but it is accompanied
by innumerable growths of thorns and
spines that contest supremacy with the
foliage itself. I have travelled on horse-
back through many thousands of miles
of tropical lands, but never through any
part having a tithe of these formidable
weapons. The sterility of the region is
mainly accountable tor this evolution of
thorns. Most of the species become
thorny, and the thorny species are re-
produced superabundantly,

Notwithstanding the severe droughts
characteristic of this region (probably
the rainfall does not exceed 25 inches a
year), droughts lasting six months, and
even nine months at a time, many
shrubby species of the natural order
Malvacece were constantly found in
proximity to Manicoba trees. I am inti-
mately acquainted with many species
belonging to this order in the tropics,
and I was surprised to see numerous
species flourish under such conditions
of aridity. There can be no doubt that
this phenomenon is ascribable to the
peculiar structure of the soil. Many
species of Cacti are interspersed in the
scrubby thickets, these being more con-
centrated at points where the soil is ex-
ceptionally arid. It was curious to see
several species of palms, moisture-loving
plants, struggling for existence in these
ungenial thickets. Half-a-dozen species
of native Ficus, fine umbrageous trees,
flourish adjacent to settlements. (I
thought that Ficus elastica, Rambong
rubber, could be grown to perfection
here.) Ferns are non-existent, though I
saw after riding 360 miles, a few puny
plants in a dark ravine. I visited a
coffee plantation at about 3.000 feet
altitude. This was the only coffee plant-
ation on an area of many thousands of
square miles. The coffee plants yield
very small fruit. At this height fre-
quent rains are experienced. And
coming from the inland towards the
city of Bahia, rains are more frequent,
the soil is darker—an ameliorating fac-
tor. Tobacco of splendid quality is ex-
tensively cultivated here by thousands
of small settlers. In juxtaposition
Cassava (Manioc), the staple food pro-
duct of Brazil, a congener of Manicoba,
maize and other products, in patches, are
commonly cultivated, and crops are ob-

tainable therefrom a few months after

the rainy season.

a

K PRT Ce \

oI May, 1910.]

In a report of mine issued by the Agri-
cultural Society of Jamaica, about a year
ago, on the Virgen rubber of Columbia
(it has been reprinted in many countries),
I emphasized the importance of rubber
cultivation in comparison with the
sparse returns obtainable from wild
trees. This is applicable to Para rubber
and all other important species of rubber,
including Manicoba. In astate of nature,
rubber trees struggle for existence
amidst a thousand other species of trees.
Inthe near future all rubber must be
produced by cultivation like any other
great agricultural commodity.

During the past year various owners
of Manicoba rubber land have been
directing attention to the culture of this
tree. I visited several plantations ranging
from a few acres toa hundred acres. I
was anxious to investigate the cultural
capabilities of the tree. The owners of
these lands are ignorant of the lines on
which this culture shouid be initiated
They take itfor granted that sticking
the Manicoba seeds cr cuttings into
cleared ground isall thatis necessary
without further attention. One im-
portant factor is in their favour: I refer
to the wonderful tenacity of life and
recuperative power pervading this plant,
The primitive procedure by which the
incipient seedlings and cuttings are left
to take care of themselves with a view to
establishing plantations is antagonistic
to the development of the trees, for
nothing is more important than the
proper treatment of young plants in
the establishment of great prospective
plantations. The result of the prelimin-
ary attempts in question was an aggrega-
tion of maltreated plants. In this
connection it may be noted that about
half-a-dozen labourers only, men who
know nothing about cultivation and no-
body to instruct them, perfcrm all the
work appertaining to the upkeep of
such plantations, comprising some fifty
thousand plants. Of course, they have
but few weeds to contend with, an im-
portant consideration, as they are in
general suppressed by the peculiar soil
and climatic conditions. I therefore
could not help coming to the conclusion
that, if these impoverished plantations
were placed under my control, I should
re-plant them throughout. Anyhow it
is important to be able to add thatI
found two notable exceptions to this
crude style of planting, one of which
having a few thousand plants, and the
other fifty thousand, on both of which
intelligent methods of planting had been
adopted. And these two plantations,
from a_ practical point of view, were
decidedly encouraging, The seeds and

395 Saps and Exudations.

huge cuttings or stumps were only four
months planted. The seedlings in this
time attained a height of from four to
five feet, and they were exceedingly
healthy and vigorous. The huge cuttings
are procured from the forest, that is to
say, saplings in the forest are cut down
and stuck into the cleared ground to
form roots and permanent plants. These
stumps measure from six to eight feet
in length, both ends cut off, and in four
months the vigorous shoots that spring
from the tops are four and five feet in
length, thus a continuity of growth from
the sapling to the established tree.

This plant is an invaluable acquisition
to rubber cultivators. It can be culti-
vated ata minimum cost consequent on
its persistent tenacity and vigour as 1s
exemplified in its native soil, and con-
sequent on its other merits to which I
have drawn attention, Further, it may
be stated that this tree is comparable
with particular products cultivated in
the tropics and elsewhere, products that
flourish in a great measure by the
restricted cultivation given. That is to
say, when we discover a region pre-
eminently adapted for a given culture,
there it yields not only the best produce
of its kind, but also far more econo:
mically.

Again, the humble dimensions of the
Manicoba tree, I am convinced, is a
factor in its favour from a cultural point
of view, for it attains toa size exactly
suited for close planting. In the Hevea
(Para rubber) plantations under culti-
vation in the East, close planting
is systematically resorted to with the
object of forcing early crops which
are available from young trees of limited
size, for numbers collectively far more
than compensate for the production of
rubber per acre from full-grown trees
widely planted. As a matter of fact,
big trees are stated in the Hast to bean
encumbrance.

The number of trees usually planted
in the Kast run from 100 to 200 per acre,
sometimes more. The number of Mani-
coba I advocate to be planted is 1,200, I
estimate that 1,200 trees per acre (exclu-
sive of certain returns in the fourth year)
will yield 600 lbs. of rubber in the fifth
year; and at least the same quantity
annually thereafter for a long period of
years. In many rich Manicoba zones I
computed the number of wild trees at
more than 100 per acre, some 25 per cent.
being tappable trees, most of the
remainder saplings, the forest growth of
which is sluggish as compared with
cultivation. It may be observed thata
wild tree occasionally yields one pound
of rubber at a tapping, but the average

Guns, Resins .

is far less. One of the advantages, a
subsidiary advantage, to accrue from
cultivation is that of systematic control
of the cropping by a special staff of
workers, for the itinerant coilectors of
wild rubber cannot always be counted
upon,

I detected in the Manicoba forests
several distinct varieties of this tree,
and on enquiry I found that one parti-
cular variety was recognised as being
richer in latex than others. The
varieties are distinguished by colour,
size, and lobe formation of the foliage,
which latter are remarkably vigorous in
cultivated plants. The uncultivated
trees are sparsely furnished with foliage.
I have had considerable experience with
regard to the effects of soil on rubber
plants. Apart from the large planta-
tion of Virgen rubber which I established
in Columbia, I planted experimentally
more than quarter of a century ago,
both in Jamaica and in Columbia many
plants of Ceara, a nearly related species
ot Manicoba. Furthermore, I intro-
duced to Jamaica many plants of Para
rubber, Castilloa and Virgen rubbers.
Unfortunately, until recently, no atten-
tion has been paid to their propagation
in that colony.

The Hevea (Para rubber) is indigenous
to another part of Brazil. In addition
to the boundless tracts of country
throughout which it is dispersed, itisa
large tree. It furnishes ina wild state
most of the rubber found in commerce.
But the natural resources of the forest
gradually dwindle. This is the tree for
cultural purposes that has claimed the
attention of the capable planters of the
East with far-reaching consequences.
The species flourishes in conditions of
soil and climate the converse of those
requisite for the humble Manicoba tree.
Hence, the latter species can never be
cultivated side by side with its great
Amazonian rival.

Supplementary to my foregoing ac-
count of this species of rubber, I think
it is important to cite from, and append
hereunto, an interesting article in the
Kew Bulletin, No, 2, 1908, on this subject,
which, inter alia, contains much infor-
mation supplied by Mr. O’Sullivan Beare,
H. B. M’s Consul at Bahia, to whom I
had a letter of introduction from the
Governor of Jamaica.

Inthe year 1906, Dr. Ule, a German
Botanist, who visited Bahia, named the
Jequic Manicoba, Manihot dichotoma.

“The Jequié Manicoba is undoubtedly
anew and distinct species of Manihot,
and it must not be confounded with the
Manthot of Ceara, Manihot Glaziovit.

‘a single tree of

This discovery is a matter of much
importance, not only to this State, but
also for the rubber trade in general, in-
asmuch as the rubber obtainable from
the Jequié Manicoba when properly
prepared would seem to be equal in
quality to the best product of the Para
region.

‘The season for extracting the latex
from the Jequié Manicoba extends from
August to March. The latex possesses
the valuable property of coagulating
spontaneously when exposed to the air,
and it requires no acid or artificial
coagulant of any kind.”

‘A planter, established in the Jequié
district, recently prepared a consider-
able quantity of rubber obtained from
Manicoba trees growing wild in that
neighbourhood, and despatched it to
New York. The consignment was classi-
fied in the New York market as being
equal to the best Para rubber, and it
fouehod one dollar twenty cents (5s.)
per lb.

In addition to Manihot dichotoma,
two distinct and nearly related rubber-
yielding species were found by Dr. Ule,
“the one growing on the mountains of
the right bank of the Rio San Francisco,
and the other, confined to the country
at some distance from the left bank,
occurring especially in the adjoining
State of Piauhy.” . . These two
species are described under the name
M. heptaphylla and M. piauhyensis,

My examination of this species of
rubber, Manihot dichotona, in its native
habitat, set forth in my preceding ac-
count, shows that Iam impressed with
the remarkable possibilities of this rub-
ber-yielding plant, thus having arrived
at the conclusion that, under cultiva-
tion, it is destined to rank in productive-
ness, per acre, second tonone. It there-
fore seems obvious that some confusion -
has arisen in the publication of a para-
graph in the Kew Bulletin, wherein
this species as regards its rubber-yield-
ing capacities is undoubtedly misrepre-
sented. A comparison is made with
this and the two other allied species,
namely, M. heptaphylla and hh. piau-
hyensis. In this comparison it is stated
that the yield of rubber per tree under
cultivation for the two latter actually
exceeds the yield for M. dichotoma five-
fold? Thus, ‘‘the yield of rubber from
M4, dichotoma in one
year can be reckoned at from 100-200
grammes.” And, the annual yield of
rubber for single trees of MM. piau-
hyensis is from 500-1000 grammes.” Said
paragraph is here subjoined. :

ae t

** PLANTATIONS.—At present the planta-
tions of M. dichotoma are rather young
and only the oldest are ready for
tapping; but from the two other species,
which have been known longer, a satis-
factory amount of rubber is now being
brought on to the market. In the plan-
tations which are laid out in quite
primitive manner, the seeds are planted
10 rows two metres apart, making 2,500
trees to the hectare (2'47 acres), Other
plants may be grown between the rows
during the first year. With regard to
tapping, M. piauhyensis is ready in the
third year, and the other two species
may be tapped in their fourth year
of growth. The yield of rubber from
a single tree of M. dichotoma in one
year can be reckoned at from 100-300
grammes with present methods, and
this is equivalent to 200-300 kilogs. per
hectare. The annual yield of rubber
for single trees of M. piauhyensis and
M. heptaphylia is from 500-1000 grammes,
which corresponds roughly to about one
tonne per hectare.”

RUBBER STATISTICS OF HAWAII,

By D. C. LINDSAY.

(From the Hawatian Forester and
Agriculturist, Vol. VI., No. 12,
December, 1909.)

There are in the islands five in-
corporated companies whose principal
business is the growing of rubber,
Statistics have been obtained from all
of these wnd also from two individual
planters,

No statistics were received from Kauai
or Oahu.

Six reports were received from Maui
and one from Hawaii.

The acreage controlled by these com-
panies and individuals is 5,599 acres.

Theacreage planted at date is 1,338
acres.

Acreage planted : Hevea 242; Ceara
1,092; other varieties, 4; total 1,338.

Total trees planted: Hevea, 79,940;
Ceara, 349,400; other varieties 800; total
430,140,

Average of girth; Hevea, 2 years 6,
do years 8; Ceara, 2 years 8, 3 years 14.

four places practice clean cultivation,
Two of them consider it absolutely ne-
cessary. One manager ieports that it
is entirely too expensive and two have
not tried it. The approximate cost of
cultivation per acre runs from 14:00
to $2400 per acre for the first year
and lighter for following years,

397 Saps and Exudations.

Inter-crops, such as corn, potatoes,
beans, oats and green vegetables are
planted on parts of two plantations,-
while one manager reports that pine-
apple has been tried, but without success,

One manager reports that inter-crops
are profitable only as the returns re-
duce the cost of cultivation, but would
not be profitable otherwise.

Only experimental tapping has been
done and the result is yet undetermined.
One manager reports very good results,

From reports received there are 11,000
trees that may possibly be tapped com-
mercially during the year 1910. One
plantation reports that fertilisers are
too expensive to use in quantities enough
to be beneficial. Two have not used
them. Three places report the use of
fertilisers with excellent results and
one with fair returns.

For the purpose of getting statistics
for next year that might be more reli-
able and more detailed, I would sug-
gest that a committee of three be ap-
pointed; one on Oahu, one on Maui and
one on Hawaii, and each one attend
to the securing of data on the island
on which he resides, These could then
be tabulated as desired.

RUBBER CONVENTION.
(From the Hawatian Forester and Agri-
culturist, Vol. VI., No. 12, December,
1909.)

The third annual session of the
Hawaiian Rubber Growers’ Association
was held on Thursday, December 16th;
both morning and afternoon meetings
bringing forth a large attendance. The
following program was announced by
Mr. Fred. L. Waldron, President of the
Association :—

‘* Hevea or Ceara in Hawaii,” Mr. C,
J. Austin.

**Inter Crops,” Mr. L. KF. Turner.

‘The Rubber Situation in Hawaii,”
Mr. W. A, Anderson.

‘*Rubber and the small Farmer,” Dr.
EH. V. Wilcox.

‘*Rubber and Reforestation,” Mr, R.
S. Hosmer.

“Tapping,” Mr. F, T. P. Waterhouse.

** Marketing Rubber,” Mr. F. L. Wal-
dron.

‘* Rubber Hnemies,” Mr. EH. M. Ehrhorn.

There are in the islands five incorpor-
ated companies, whose principal busi-
ness is the growing of rubber, Statistics
were read from all these and also from

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Gums, Resins, 398 ritay, 11d. =
two individual planters. The whole’ and receive sufficient for to make a

Territory was represented with the ex-
ception of Oahu and Kauai. Six reports
were received from Maui and one from
Hawaii. The area controlled by rubber
companies and by individuals in the
islands is 5,599 acres. Of these there are
planted to date 1,338 acres, namely, 242
acres in Hevea, !,092 in Ceara and 4 acres
in other varieties. The total number of
rubber trees planted is 430,140, of which
79,940 are Hevea, 349,400 in Ceara and
800 of other varieties.

Four plantations practise clean culti-
vation, the managers of two of these
considering it absolutely necessary.
From reports received there are 11,000
rubber trees that may possibly be tap-

ed commercially during the year 1910.
Rrapeilisers are considered too expensive
to use in sufficient quantities at present
to be remunerative,

The first speaker, Mr. C. J. Austins
dwelt at length upon the relative merits
of Hevea and Ceara as an Hawaiian rub-
ber crop. Although Ceara is asomewhat
quicker producer than the former, the
speaker gave his preference in favour
of Hevea, which is pow doing exceeding-
ly well on the island plantations. The
average time, after planting, for tapping
Hawaiian trees was stated as not ex-
ceeding six years.

Mr. L. F. Turner read an interesting
paper upon inter rubber crops and
brought forward much invaluable in-
formation. Such catch crops as corn,
cucumbers and melons were recommend-
ed to be grown between the young trees,
as by this means expenses during the
initial stages of the piantation can be
greatly reduced. Care should be taken
to grow crops which do not make too
great demands upon the soil, A method
which has been tried with success is to
let out certain portions of the planta-
tions to Japanese cultivators, who
attend to the young rubber trees in re-
turn for the use of the intervening
spaces for growing other crops.

Dr. Wilcox, Director of the local
Federal Experiment Station, delivered
an instructive address upon the eculti-
vation of rubber, chiefly with reference
to the question whether a man with a
small area of cultivated land was likely
to be able to derive an income from
rubber trees, and also his opportunities
for disposal of the latex.

One of the first difficulties that meet
the man in connection with rubber is
where the best locations for rubber-tree
growing are to be found; that is, for
planting small areas. The first question
that arises is what crop he may grow

profit while waiting for his tree to
mature, Dr: Wilcox felt that a man
with a small holding of a few acres must
be close to a larger plantation which is
provided with all the machinery for
working up the latex,

There are many small locations which
a larger plantation does not care to use,
where a man could have from five
hundred to a thousand trees or perhaps
more. Thespeaker said it would be a
wild scheme to suggest to a man with
four or five acres that rubber. could be
made a source of income therefrom. If
a man with a small area developed other
products from which he could make a
living, then he saw opportunities to
enlarge. He believed, however, that the
operation of a small rubber plantation
not so situated with regard to a larger
one thatit could dispose of its latex,
would not meet with any great success.

Dr. Wilcox wasalso very certain that
when the growers began to tap the trees
on a large scale it would be necessary to
seta standard of grade. Itis obvious
that the market wants certain kinds of
rubber more than others. If the Rubber
Growers’ Association wants a rubber
standard in Hawaii it will be necessary
to adhere strictly to thatstandard. The
easiest way to destroy confidence in
the standard of rubber is to fail to
maintain it.

To make the rubber business a success
itis necessary to grow other crops as
well. Ofcourse, the difficulties confront-
ing the small farmer in Hawaii were
greater than those which confront a
mainland farmer, owing to the transpor-
tation cost, and other disadvantages.

Taking bananas as an instance, Dr.
Wilcox said there have been dozens of
shipments from Honolulu to the main-
land which have arrived in San Francisco
in good condition, but the receipts have
been so small that the freight could not
be paid. A man on Maui cannot ‘ there-
fore raise bananas and other like pro- ~
ducts and expect to market them in San
Francisco.

The pineapple situation is somewhat
similar, especially as to shipping fresh
fruit. ‘Tremendous loss is sometimes
sustained from rot, and the enormous
cost of shipping in cold storage, to
prevent that rot, is almost prohibitive.
He instanced shipments from one pine-
apple plantation which has practically
lost $4,500 on its crop, the receipts not
having even paid for the freights.

Under these conditions there are left
only a very few crops which can be
safely grown by the small grower with

the idea that there is to be a certain
market for the product. The speaker
had no hesitation in saying that rubber
can be grown that will give a reasonable
price, provided it is brought to the
market in a standard form,

He spoke of his recent visit to the main-
land, and the fact that in many instances
where he registered at a hotel, rubber
men came to him and asked if rubber
was being produced in Hawaii. They
wanted to know how much they could
get here. He believed that cotton could
be grown as a by-product with rubber,
but did not reeommend tobacco, as the
Jatter depleted thesoil too much and
weuld therefore have a bad effect on the
rubber trees.

Mr. F. T. P. Waterhouse now gave an
instructive address on the methods of
tapping rubber trees as practised in the
Straits Settlements, from which he has
recently returned. Mr. Waterhouse re-
ported that a great advance had been
madein this department of production,
since his visit to the rubber plantations
there a year ago. Whereas on the
former occasion many different methods
were in operation and various tools were
in use, now a general standard of fro-
cedure is observed. Thecoolies, who are
employed for tapping have become more
expert and better results are obtained.
Owing to the increasing demand for
rubber the trees are tapped at an earlier
age. Dise harrows are being used in
Java to cultivate between the rows of
trees, and much benefit is derived from
this operation,

Speaking of the pests of rubber trees,
fr. EK. M. Ehrhorn, Superintendent of
Entomology, cited the shot-hole fungus
and the blight which disfigures the
banyan trees. For these enemies he
recommended an application of Bordeaux
wash before the trees had attained too
great a height.

EKUPHORBIA LATEX FOR PRE-
VENTING CORROSION,

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. [X.,
No. 208, February 5, 1910.)

In Newman’s Metallic Structures an
account is given of the use of the milky
juice of the Kuphorbias (spurges) for
preventing corrosion, Itis stated that
it is only in comparatively recent

ears that the preserving qualities of

Juphorbia latex have been made use of
in engineering structures, and then only

309 Saps and Haxudations.

oceasionally. A description is further
given of the way in which this property
was discovered. It appears that, during
a surveying expedition in Natal, it was
noticed that, when Euphorbia plants
were cut by the clearing knives, the
juice formed a layer on them which
could only be removed with great
difficulty. Further experiments with
pieces of iron that had come into contact
with the juice showed that these did
not rust, and that when they were im-
mersed in sea water, at Durban, they
remained free from brancles and were
not affected by any form of marine
life. In Natal, laths coated with
Kuphorbia latex, together with those
which had not been so treated, were
thrust into nests of the white ant (Termes
bellicscus); after twenty-four hours,
the treated laths were found to be un-
affected, while those which had not
come into contact with the juice were
completely riddled by the insect. It is
further stated that timber coated with
EKuphorbia latex remained untouched by
the sea worm, Teredo navalis, and
mention is made of the employment of
the juice in making paint.

Since this, according to the Agri-
cultural Journal of the Cape of Good
Hope, as a result of enquiries on the
part of the Somerset East Chamber of
Commerce, it has been ascertained that
the above statements regarding the pre-
serving properties of the juice are

correct, and that, although owing to its

gummy nature itis no longer used in
paints, it is employed by makers of com-
positions for ships’ bottoms, and an
attempt is being made to create an
export trade In the article from Cape
Colony.

400
OILS.

CITRONELLA-OIL TESTS.

(From the Chemist and Druggist,
Vol. LXXVI., 1571, March, 1910.)

Reference was made in the Chemist
and Druggist last week, p. 340, to the
persistent adulteration of bulk citro-
nella oil, and the desirability for
altering the terms of sale in London.
It is a long standing complaint (we had
almost said “‘ joke”) that citronella oil is
faked to pass Schimmel’s test, and
repeated efforts to establish an honest
basis so as to secure supplies of pure
bulk oil have had little success. In the
first issue of Mr. John C. Umney’s “‘ Per-
fumery and Essential Oil Record,” rea-
sons for a ‘‘ London Standard” were
advanced. Mr. Umney wants the oil to
be: sp. gr. 0°900 to 0:915 opt. rot.
(100 mm.) 0° to—15°, ref. ind. about 1,4800
acetylisable constituents at least 60 per
cent., and solubility 1 vol. in 2 to 8 vols.
of 80 per cent. alcohol, the solution re-
maining clear on the addition of the
game solvent up to 10 vols. The first,

t=
(May, 19

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+

second, anc third of these factors are
also recommended by Parry and Bennet,
who agree generally with the others,
and they are well suited to distinguish
oils which are pure from those which
are adulterated with kerosene or resin
spirit. In the second number of the
* Record,” published this week, the
Editor’s suggestion
amongst others, Mr. Holman Kingdon,
bayer for Messrs. John Crosfield & Sons,
Ltd., who emphasises the desideratum
that ‘*Theonly real standard is purity,
and this possibly with determination of

geraniol content the only real basis for .

any judgment of value.” A leading Mine-
ing Lane broker also insists that the
oil should be sold on geraniol constituent
(geraniol and citronellal) stated as gera-
niol. The ‘“‘ Record” adds that the pro-
posed London standard has aroused
widespread interest, and the Editor is
confident thatin a short time difficulties
as to citronella oil will have vanished.
A useful service will have been done by
the ‘‘ Record” in securing agreement on
this matter thus early in its career.

EDIBLE PRODUCTS.

PRODUCTS OBTAINED FROM
CACAO,

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. IX.,
No. 203, February 5, 1910.)

The three cacao products known to
commerce are: cacao butter, cacao
powder, and cake chocalate, the manu-
facture of chocalate requiring skill and
knowledgein special degree. The butter
is merely the oil or grease of the kernel,
usually extracted by pressure and leav-
ing a residue still containing a certain
amount of vegetable fat,. which, being
ground as will be explained later, is used
in making the beverage commonly
known as cacao. When chocolate is

intended to be produced, the carefylly

cleaned kernels are crushed intoa mass,
fiavoured and manipulated according to
many methods, and then, after an addi-
tion of pure cacao butcer has been made
to the natural content of the mass, it .is
pressed into small cakes, and sold,

The cacao bean is composed, by weight,
of 88 per cent. of kernel and husk and
12 per cent of shell. The shells and husks
are treated chemically in Holland for the
production of a low-grade butter, the
reduction being effected by ether or

benzene. The kernel, which contains
5C to 55 per cent. of oil, was formerly
treated, when the extraction of butter
was contemplated, by boiling, roasting
and crushing in ten times its weight of
water ; the oil then rising to the surface
was decanted, and the residue pressed
mechanically for the elimination of such
butter as it still contained. This method
has been abandoned, and the kernels,
freed from their envelopes, are now
ground toa mass, brought toa temper-
ature of from 66° to 70° C., placed in
coarse linen sacks, and finally pressed in
steam-heated machines. After this first
application of pressure the cocoa cake
contains from 20 to 35 per cent of fat;
it is then ground and repressed until
not more than 15 per cent. of the fatty
matter remains, The oil or grease
which has been extracted is called
‘‘cacao butter” which is used chiefly by
cacao manufacturers, and, in smaller
quantities, in the soap, perfumery, and
pharmaceutical industries, in which,
owing to its neutral qualities, it is
especially valuable. :

Fresh cacao butter is yellowish white,
butif exposed to light it becomes entirely
white, »ud possesses a mild odour of the

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is supported by, ~

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Hist. iY
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es
_ May, 1910]

cacao and asweet and agreeable taste.
Both taste and odour are eliminated by
boiling the fat with absolute alcohol,
and in this condition it keeps a long time
without becoming rancid. It is firm
in consistency and melts at from 32° to
35°C.. according to quality. Its density
varies from 0°890 to 0:900 at 15°C. It is
very soluble in ether, acetic ether, chloro-
form and essence of turpentine. It is
sometimes adulterated with a mixture of
stearin, paraffin and beef fat. If it is
mixed with tatty oilsit meltsat a tem-
perature of less than 25°C., and ifitis
mixed with paraffin and beef fat it melts
ata temperature in excess of 35°C, If
pure, the point of fusion should not be
less than 25° nor more than 30°C.

The butter having now been with-
drawn from the mass there remains an
oily cake, which is ground toa fine pow-
der, and commandsa very widesale. The
powder is usually prepared, according
to the Dutch method, by the addition of
a solution of chemically pure potash.
Less frequently, soda is used instead, or
perhaps a solution of ammonium ecar-
bonate. In ordinary practice, the raw
beans with their shell might be expected
to yield from 40 to45 per cent. of their
weight in butter, and 80 per cent. of cacao
powder:

MATE OR PARANA—TBRA.

(HEINZE in Beth. zum Tropenpflanzer,
February, 1910,—Abstracted by
J. C. WILLIS.)

Maté (Ilex paraguayensis) occurs in
several varieties, and other species of
Ilex are sometimes used as substitutes.
Itisfound mainly in the highlands of
-the Parana basin, between 20° and 30°S,
latitude and at elevations from 1,500 feet
upwards.

The plants are grown from seed, and
planted out atsix months old. Cutting
is done only in the six colder months,
and the tree when cut back is allowed
three or four years’ rest. The branches
are hacked off aud passed once or twice
through the flames of a wood fire. The
large stems are then removed, and the
best maté is dried ona barbecue (speci-
ally constructed as described in the
paper) for not more than six hours,

After drying the maté is broken up by
a machine, and is then raw maté, which
is later pulverised and sifted.

Details and statistics of trade are then
given.

51

401

Fidible Products.

SOME COMPARATIVE CROP
VALUES.

(From the Louisiane Planter, Vol.
XLIV., No. 10, March 5, 1910.)

The cry now-a-days is for American
lands to produce the heaviest possible
food crops. It is worth while to note
the yield and value of three of our grain
crops in comparison with the returns of
bean and cane sugar.

The wheat fields of the United States
yield about 15 bushels to the acre, whicr
is considerably less than those _ of
England, France, and Germany after
centuries of rotative and scientific culti-
vation. After the original preparation
of theland with the plough and harrow
and the planting of its seed, wheat is
grown without further cultivation, One
man and a boy with four horses and
modern implements to prepare the land
can attend to about 150 acres of wheat
up to the harvest. It is cheaply
harvested, being reaped rapidly and
threshed by steam machinery. On the
farm it is worth about $1 per bushel,
$15 per acre, and $2,250 as a gross return
for the man and boy’s work, from which
the harvest expenses must be deducted.

Our corn crop is the greatest and most
valuable of our agricultural productions,
Last year it reached very nearly three
million bushels, and year before last two
and three-quarter millions, and was
valued each of the two years at $1,500,000.
The average yield of the corn states was
about 27 bushels tothe acre. One man
with a team is supposed totake care of
about 40 acres of it, giving it two or
three rounds of cultivation during its
growing season. Its harvesting costs
little, and is often done by droves of
hogs and herds of cattle turned into the
fields to fatten onit, It is worth on the
farm about 50 cts. a bushel, $18°50 per
acre and about $540 as the product of one
man’s work.

Our Southern rice returns an average
yield of about 30 bushels to the acre, as
did last year. The work necessary to
this crop is so variable according to
locality, that one man’s capacity in its
production up to the harvest could be
more guessed at than measured accur-
ately. It would be probably 40 acres on
the level drainable prairie lands, and
20 acres on the low ‘“‘riverlands” of
Louisiana, and the rice swamps of the
Carolina coast. Taking the average at
30 acres, that area must be ploughed,
harrowed and planted, irrigated until it
is ready for the harvest, and weeded
usually during the first part of its
growth. According to its location its
harvest is cheap or costly, grown where

Edible Products,

wheeled reapers can run it is very little
more expensive than wheat.. Taking a
ten-year average it has been worth about
75 cts. a bushel, or $22:50 an acre, or $675
as one man’scrop. -

Assuming the yield of sugar beets to
average about 12 tons for all the best
sugar States of our country, and that to
be worth $5 per ton prepared for ship-
ment in the field ; and we have $60 to the
farmer, and about the same amount to
the manufacturer as a gross return from
that crop, counting thesugar yield of
the beet as 250 lbs. of raw sugar per ton,
and its price 4 cts. a pound,

The corresponding fair average yields,
such as the crops already named, sugar-
cane in the Gulf States should give about
18 tons to the acre, counting the cane in
cultivation for the mill, and not that
grown for seed, nor the land _ necessarily
devoted to rotative crops. That on the
basis of present sugar prices should be
worth about $4 per ton, or $72 per acre,
ready for the factories and considering
its yield as the equivalent in total of
160 lbs. of raw sugar $2'40 more at the
factory, making the gross value of the
crop of an acre of sugar cane $115, being
near or about the same as that of
sugar beets.

With the ielative cost of cultivating
and harvesting these crops, this article
has nothing to do. [tis meant to show
the comparative value of certain pro-
ductions of the soil; that $115 or $120
gross return of an acre of beets or of cane
comes out of the ground, and furnishes
about seven or eight times as much
money for somebody’s benefit and for
many more people’s benefit as did the
return of an acre of wheat or corn.

The home beet and cane sugar crops
appear to yield the greatest amount of
nutritious food to the area in culti-
vation, manifold as much money to ths
acre as the greatest of the grain crops,
afford more remunerative work to the
farmer and long and profitable employ-
ment to many thousand labourers of the
temperate zone, who, without such
crops, would be compelled to idle for half
the year after the grain crops were
harvested,

RICE-GROWING IN THE UNITED
STATES.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. 1X.,
No. 208, February, 1910.)

The following information is obtained
from an article in the Rice Belt Journal,
in which is summarised the information
given in the final report of the Bureau

402

vo
-

of Statistics of the United States De-
partment of. Agriculture; issued on
December 20, 1909 :— apy.

In area, Louisiana leads with 375,000
acres, Texas follows with 291,000, and
Arkansas comes next with 28,000; South
Carolina has 18,000 acres, Georgia 4,200,
Florida and Mississippi, 1,000 each, and
north Carolina 425 acres. In this con-
nection it is worthy of note that the
greatest increase next year will be along
the Mississippi river and in Arkan-
sas, where considerable development is
taking place. The greatest increase will
be in eastern Louisiana, and there are
prospects of considerable increase in the
State of Mississippi, while Arkansas
may sately be expected, according to
the well-informed, to double its present
acreage. There will be an increase in
Landry Parish, Louisiana, but in the
parishes of Acadia, Calcasieu and Vermi-
lion, a material decrease is certain, al-
though 10,000 acres of new land will be
put in by the United Irrigation and
Rice Milling Company, which is extend-
ing its canals. The total acreage of rice
in the United States is placed at 720,000
—a reduction of 11,000 from the prelimin-
ary estimate, and an increase over that
of last year of 65,000.

In yield per acre, Arkansas leads with |
an average of 40 bushels; Alabama. fol-
lows with 35, and Texas comes next
with 84; Louisiana is two-tenths of a
bushel behind Texas, its production
being 33°8 bushels per acre; North Caro-
lina averages 30'2 and Mississippi 30
bushels, while South Carolina produces
only 25°6 bushels to the acre, on an aver-
age, and Florida follows with a still
lower average.

The average price per bushel of rough
rice on December 1 was 79°4c. The price
of South Carolina rice led at '19c., Arkane
sas rice followed at 90c., and Georgia
and North Carolina rice came next at
87 and 85c. respectively. Florida, Ala-
bama and Mississippi rice brought 80c.,
and the two great rice-producing states
of Louisiana and Texas followed in the
order named; Louisiana rice brought
7¥c., and Texas rice 78c. The total farm
value of the rice crop of 1909, on Decem-
ber 1, 1909, is placed at $19,341,000.

The Department’s figures as tc acre-
age and production in Louisiana and
Texas are largely based on _ reports
received from the farmers, mills and
warehouses, and are largely accepted as
being reliable. Figures on other points
are doubtless correct, although the
quoted k
higher than those actually paid.

rices for rice may be a trifle _

May, 1910.)

SUGAR CONSUMPTION IN THE
ORIENT.

(From the Toussine Planter, Vol.
XLIV., No. 10, March 5, 1910.)

In the world’s increase of sugar con-
sumption, according to authentic reports,
the vast population of the south-east
quarter or section of Asia (with its out-
lying Island Empire), is beginning to cut
an important figure. In that part of the
globe China, with an area about as large
as our United States exclusive of Alaska,
contains according to census figures and
general estimates, 400,000,000 people.
The adjacent countries of Corea and
Japan and the colonial territories of
European nations would probably add
100,000,000 to that enormous mass of
population. Hence there are half a bil-
ion people, or about one-third of the
population of all the earth gathered in
south-east and Hastern Asia.

Now here a little figuring might prove
interesting. Supposing that the annual
sugar consumption ot the United States
were 3,000,000 long tons (and it is a little
over that), and that we have 85,000,000
sugar-eaters. That gives us a consump-
tion of 80 lbs. per year. If those 500,000,000
Asiatics had as sweet a tooth as we, it
would take 40,000,000,000 lbs. or about
18,000,000 long tons of sugar (which is
poe than all the world makes) to feed

em.

Lying south and south-west of the land
of the Mongols and the Manchus is
British India, of nearly the same area
with a population of 300,000,000. Now
the Hindoos are and have been for cen-
turies far ahead of the Chinese in sugar
consumption. According to the most
reliable information procurable, much
‘of which has already been printed in the
Louisiana Planter as matter from its
Kast Indian correspondents, modern
British India, composed mostly of an-
cient Hindoostan, is easily the largest
sugar-producing country in the world.
It makes annually about 3,090,000 tons of
crude sugar, all of which is consumed
at home, together with a comparatively
small importation of refined sugars for
its English population and the well-to-
do among the natives. If the Hindoos
and foreigners of British India ate pro-
portionately as much sugar as the ruling
nation at home, they would need every
year 27,000,000,000 lbs. to feed them in-
stead of the 7,000,000,000 lbs. they eat.

The production and per capita sugar
consumption in Japan is not conve-
niently accessible to the writer of this
article. The model government of Nip-
pon has been recently wrestling with

403

Edible Products.

a national sugar trust built somewhat
on the American pen, but possibly
better, if such could be possible; and
its treasury department has been for
some time largely ‘‘at sea” in learn-
ing how much sugar has been received
in the home ports and consumed by the
people. Sugar-consumption is stated to
be increasing there very rapidly; and
in Formosa the cane sugar industry has
been and is being extended as fast as
possible through the great increase in
the acreage under cane cultivation and
the introduction of modern sugar mills
and machinery from fEHurope and
America.

Our Philippines colony makes about
200,000 tons or so of sugar, and what
its people do not eat at home they sell
to the Chinesejand their latest con-
querors.

Java, the Dutch possession, figures in
commerce as the second cane-sugar-
producing country in the world. In
one or two crops it has exceeded Cuba,
regarded as the first cane-sugar-pro-
ducer ; but in those instances abnormal
conditions were prevailing in the great
sugar isle of the Occident. The annual
Java sugar crop runs along about
1,200,000 tons, which up to very recent
years has been most largely sold to
England and America.

Ex-Congressman Hawley and other
high sugar authorities, state that now a
considerable proportion of the Java
sugar crop is turning towards China,
Mr. Hawley says that it is because the
400,000,000 Chinese are at last learn-
ning to take sugar with their tea. Here
in parenthesis it would be well perhaps
to note that the Russians who are the
second tea-drinking nation in the world,
have been slow to form the habit of
taking sugar in theirs—we mean éea, not
vodka. They make about and above a
million tons of beet sugar at home every
year ; and, either from popular disinclin-
ation or through some _ bureaucratic
hocus pocus that permits the Govern-
ment and the manufacturers to divide
a premium on export sugars, they do
not eat it all at home. Think of a
modern nation with a population double
that of our American United States that
cannot eat a pitiful little million tons
or so of home made sugar. But there,
perhaps as a matter of compulsion, the
mujiks, who form an immense majority
of the population, must exclude sugar
from their daily rations of rye bread
mixed with chopped hay.

Getting back to China we find that all
of its enormous population must depend
mostly on Java, with its annual crop of
1,200,000 tons, and the Philippines with

Hidible Productss

their maximum crop of 300,000 tons for
their sugar supply to sweeten an ocean
of tea and dry and preserve a world of
fruits. In her war with Japan, about
15 years since, China lost her only isle
of sugar, spices and camphor, Formosa,
and now has no territory adaptable to
cane-sugar-production. Her promoters
and financiers in default of cane-sugar
lands are proposing to start the beet
sugar industry on an extensive scale in
Manchuria and Mongolia. Manchuria is
at present so overcropped with political
issues that the beet sugar industry will
be unlikely to flourish there some years
to cone.

_ Thus China (if it ate sugar or craved
for it like the great American Republic
nearly its size), which might eat
18,000,000 tons of sugar a year; has less
than 2,000,000 tons of cheap sugar near
at hand, available now or prospectively
in the early future for all of its vast
population.

Probably not. before very long it will
take all of the Java crop and all of the
possible Philippines crop and eat up a
sizeable beet sugar crop made at home,
They are a conservative race, and from
once being 5,000 years ahead of the times,
appear to be half willing now to remain
5,000 years behind them. But within a

TIMBERS.

404

SES oe
(May, 1910.

living generation their conservatism has
capitulated to modern steam and modern
statesmanship, and even the Chinese
peasantry is beginning to learn that re-
fined sugar is at least as palatable and
fortifying to the stomach as the roasted
rats of the old legends.

There are propositions to follow in
other home-governed cities the example
of British ruled Hong Kong‘in the
building of refineries. When thatis done
and Chinese capital develops the pro-
posed beet sugar industry in some of the
most adaptable and populous provinces,
it is more than likely that a taste for
that sweet, which has become a leading
food-product of most other lands and
races of the world, will be stimulated
among the Chinese people, which must
lead to a marvellous increase of consump-
tion in that overcrowded land of the
Orient.

When the uncounted and uncountable
millions of the Chinese and Russian
Empires learn to appreciate the value of
sugar asa cheap and wholesome food,
the political economists and industrial
statisticians need never bother their
brains about the world’s possible or)
probably over-production of sugar for
many a long year to come.

FORESTS OF THE GOLD COAST.

(From the Kew Bulletin, No, 2, 1910.)

The recently issued Report on_ the
Forests of the Gold Coast by Mr. H. N
Thompson, Conservator of Forests,
Southern Nigeria, demand careful perusal
and attention since the general principles
laid down are applicable not to the Gold
Coast only but to tropical forests in
general.

The Report occupies 238 pages, and
is divided into three parts with an
appendix, list of vernacular names,
twenty-four plates and a comprehensive
index.

In the first part the various forest
areas of the Gold Coast are described in
detail, the value of their component
trees is discussed and suggestions are
made for their preservation or exploit-
ation. Mr. Thompson is careful to point
out the prime importance of the Forest
to the Gold Coast Colony, and brings
forward many illustrations of the
irreparable damage which is being done
by the reckless felling of trees, in connec-

tion principally with clearings for native
cultivation. Before making any detailed
comments on the first part, the second
and more general part of the Report
may be considered. This is in some
ways the most important portion and
certainly the part of most interest to
the general reader.

The importance of Forests is so well
stated that the paragraphs relating to
their effects on the physical and climatic
conditions of a country are taken verba-
tim from the report.

‘“1,- They mitigate extremes of tem-
perature and render the climate more
equable.

“2. They exert a marked effect in
regulating the water supply more espe-
cially by ensuring the sustained feeding
of springs and thus rendering the flow
of water in rivers more continuous, and
in tending to reduce the danger of
violent floods.

‘*3, They increase the relative humi-
dity of the air, and in consequence

lay, 1910,]

bf

reduce the amount of evaporation.

This
effect is strongly marked on hills in the
tropics.

“4, By the mechanical action of their
roots and stems the plants composing
forest vegetation assist in preventing
land-slip erosion of hill-sides, the silting
up of rivers, and arrest the progress of
shifting sands. ~

‘5, Dhey tend to increase the pre-
cipitation of moisture.

**6, They act as wind-breaks, and pro-
tect adjoining cultivatedareas against
the action of cold or dry wind.

“7, They act as barriers against the
spread of fungoid and insect attacks
from one cultivated centre to another,

*“* Almost all the effects are more pro-
nounced in the tropics, especially in
localities with well-marked wet and dry
seasons, than they are in the temperate
zone.”

The regulation of the water supply is
one of the most important and far reach-
ing effects of forests in such a country
as the Gold Coast. With the cutting
down of forests a gradual change in the
vegetation at once sets in, if such forest
be well within the region of ‘‘ Rain
Forest” no very serious consequences
may result, if, on the other hand, the
forest area lies on the borders of the
rain forest region the reckless cutting
down of the tree vegetation will so alter
the conditions that the character of the
country will quickly change from that
of rain forest to deciduous forest and
finally to that of the Savanah country.
The places once occupied by trees will
be invaded by grasses, and as soon as
they have established a footing the
forest is doomed; the region become
exposed to forest fires, the rainfall is
not retained by the ground and the head
waters of the springs, formerly receiv-
ing a constant supply of water from
the damp forest-covered hill-sides, now
obtain a torrential supply of water during
the rains but are waterless during the
dry season. The action of cutting down
forest under such conditions not only
may cause infinite harm in the actual
region but may also cause much injury
to areas far distant by interference with
the proper water supply. Mr. Thompson
points out that with the alteration in
conditions on the forest the majority of
the species of timber and other import-
ant trees confined to the moist ever-
green forests disappear, and all such
agricultural crops which depends on
moist conditions, as cocoa, rubber, &c.,
will also suffer and their cultivation may
ultimately become impossible,

405

‘Timbers,

It is clear,therefore, that the Forests of
the Gold Coast and of our other West
African: possessions need efficient control
and supervision.

Mr. Thompson deals very fully with
this side of the subject and points out
the lines which legislation might follow.
The chief danger menacing the Gold
Coast Forests is not their over-exploit-
ation for forest produce but their whole-
sale destruction for farming purposes.
It would appear, therefore, that any
measures adopted for the ‘“ reservation”
or ‘*‘ protection” of the forests should
also be accompanied by provision for the
instruction of the natives in methods of
more intensive agriculture.

Mr, Thompson makes a very interest-
ing and apt comparison between the
forests of the Gold Coast and those of
the Southern Shan States of Burma, and
it is possibls that the policy followed in
the Hast might prove suitable for the
conditions whizh obtain in West Africa.
OF the arrangements suggested, perhaps
the most important are those relating to
forest taxes, the sale of timber, and the
revenues derived therefrom.

In concluding this section on the
protection of the forest, it is conceded
that something might be done in the
way of persuading chiefs to look after
the forests, but it is only a method of
chance depending on the influence of a
few officials and is a slow process,
‘‘meanwhile the forests are being
rapidly destroyed.” It may confidently
be asserted that no real progress has or
ever will be made in Forest Conservancy
unless the Supreme Government reserves
to itself the right to direct and regulate
its application. It is only the Govern-
ment that can have the tenacity of
purpose to carry the forests through the
various vicissitudes and bring them into
an organised condition capable of ensur-
ing a sustained and increasing yield of
produce in the future.

In the first part of the Report detailed
information of the forests and of the
condition ot the country is given on
which the general account of the second
part is largely based.

The Aburi hill torests, situated on the
edge of the Accra plains afford a useful
but disastrous object lesson of the effect
of removing the forest. Cassava farms,
made by clearing the forest, when aban-
doned to lie fallow become occupied by
grasses, and as the grass is burned every
year the exposed soil is washed away
during the rainy season and denudation
of the hillsides begins.

The drying up of streams, which is
also associated with forest destruction,

Timbers,

has actually occurred fairly recently in
two instances near Aburi. In some cases
the natives in clearing the forest leave
some of the largest trees as standards,
and on such grounds a tangled mass
of vegetation springs up. Conspicuous
among trees in such secondary growth is
the “‘umbrella tree,” Mussanga Smithii,
which grows rapidly and has a dense
canopy of leaves, and though the value
of the forest asfar as produce is con-
cerned is lost, still the ground is not
exposed to the dessicating action of sun
and wind or to the force of the rain and
the physical effects of complete forest
destruction do notoccur. The umbrella
tree, however, has this disadvantage,
that owing to its dense shade the growth
of more valuable species is delayed.

At the commencement of chapter ii.,
useful information is given as to some
of the more important timber trees, such
as Piptadenia africana, Triplochiton
Johnsonti, Terminalia superba, and of
the shingle trees, the Khayas, Sarcoce-
phalus esculentus, and others. Of the
“Waw-waw” Triplochiton Johnsonii,
Mr. Thompson remarks: “It is quite
good enough in quality to replace the
imported pitch-pine and it is extremely
abundant; cur West African forests con-
tain sufficient supplies not only to meet
large demands for it in the home mar-
kets, but also in the local ones.”

Chlovophora excelsa, ‘‘Odoum,” fur
nishes the best all-rouud timber in Tropi-
cal West Africa, it is plentiful in
Ashanti; among other trees of first im-
portance are the West African cedars of
the genus Pseudocedrela.

The genus Khaya, the Gold Coast
mahogany, is represented by several
species; five are figures in the report.
It is unfortunate that the species known
as *‘ Dubini” by the Fantis has not yet
been properly determined owing to lack
of sufficient material, since it is stated
that the bulk of the Gold Coast maho-
gany is afforded by this species,

In addition to Piptadenia africana,
a common timber tree, there is another
species figured in the report under the
name of Piptadenia sp., a timber tree of
some importance and very prevalent in
Southern Ashanti.

Since the puplention of the report
this species has been identified with
Cylicodiscus gabunensis, Harms, a plant
which was, until lately, very impefectly
known. Cylicodiscus was originally des.
cribed from flowering specimens collect-
ed by Soyaux in Gaboon and by Staudt
in the Cameroons, whilst the fruits
served for the basis of another new
genus, Cyrtoxiphus, and it was not until
1906 that Harms recognised that the

406

(May, 1010.

latter represented the fruiting condition
of the former. The genus Cylicodiscus
differs from Piptadenia firstly in the
presence of a disc inserted between the
stamens and the base of the gynophore,
and secondly in the very long woody
pods. C. gabunensis was also discovered
in Southern Nigeria by Dr. Unwin and
Mr. Foster, and its area extends evident-
ly throughout the greater part of the
West African forest region, :

A good timber which also yields a
first-class fuel is the ‘‘ Kokoti,” to which
the name Pynertia ealensis is given in
the report. A note on this tree appear-
ed in the Kew Bulletin, 1909, pp. 309-312,
in which it is shewn that this tree, a*
member of the natural order Rhizo-
phoracec should be referred to Engler’s
genus Anopyxis and should bear the
name Anopyxis ealensis. :

Mr, Thompson points out the wealth
of the Ashanti forests, which contain
large quantities of Pseudocedrelas, Kha-
yas, Funtumias, and other valuable trees.
He is of the opinion that a special effort
should be made to protect these forests
and bring them under organised control.
It is perhaps fortunate that at present
the mass of this forest area is not easily
accessible.

Of these forests in general he remarks :
‘‘T think that in number and variety of
valuable trees these extensive forests of
Western Ashanti will be hard to match
anywhere in Africa. Moreover, the
undergrowth is not so dense as that
prevailing in evergreen forests to he
met with near the coast, and in conse-
quence the natural generation of the
more important species is far more satis-
tactory and the gaps in the various age
gradations less pronounced.

The Savanah forests of North-Western |

Ashanti appear to be in greater need of
forest conservancy in some ways than
the forests of the moist regions, since
they form the belt between the open
grass land and the country where there
is greater moisture. It is in this region
of mixed deciduous forests that fire
protection is an essential feature of
any conservancy programme. The
timber in this region is also valuable,
including such trees as Khaya sene-
galensis, the ‘‘dry zone” mahogany,
Afzelia africana, and the ‘‘dry zone”
cedar, Pseudocedrela Kotschyi, all suit-
able for the home market, As
mentioned before, the proper preser-
vation of such forest areas as these is
intimately bound up with far-reaching
questions of water supply.

In discussing the question of reserved
areas Mr. Thompson lays stress on the

necessity of reserving the forests cloth- —

ea ROMER ROO et es ee RS nat OH,

“May, 1910.)

ing the crests of the hills and the steep
slopes from the operations of the farmer
on the general grounds of preserving the
climatic conditions that are of most
value to the country.

When discussing the dry open country
of the Afram plains (Report, pp. 84-92)
some useful information is given as to
the various plants and trees of this
region from which it appears that the
list of useful plants is one of some
length and includes plants of consider-
able value.

A few remarks on the subject of game
and game laws are of interest and
deserve attention. Itis pointed out that
whilst Europeans are obliged to take out
licenses and are restricted as regards the
shooting of certain species, no steps
whatever have been taken to limit in
any way the incessant slaughter carried
on by thenatives. The European’s bag
is as nothing compared with the annual
bag of the native, and game preservation
at present is a failure. The hunting
class appears to be composed of those
who were formerly the fighters and now,
owing to peaceful times, having been
deprived ot this employment, have taken
to the chase of wild animals with
renewed energy.

In conclusion, it may be pointed out
that the problems confronting the Gold

407

Timbers,

Coast Colony with regard to its forests
are difficult and serious, since the preser-
vation of the evergreen forests, on which
the water supply so largely depends,
and of the deciduous forests forming a
belt against the Savanah Country, is at
stake, and with this is bound up the
general character of the agricultural
operations of the Colony. The most
pressing need in connection with forest
conservancy is the prevention of the
wholesale destruction of the forest for
farming purposes, in comparison with
which the accumulated effect of timber
exploitation is stated to be ‘‘a mere
bagatelle.”

GLIRICIDIA MACULATA,

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. [X.,
No. 208, February 5, 1910.)

An account of a new use for the
Nicaraguan shade tree (Gliricidia macu-
lata) is given in No. 61 of the Bulletin of
Agricultural Information, Trinidad. I[t
consists in cutting off such parts of the
branches as may have grown sufficiently
to extend below those of the cacao trees
which it protects, and using them as a
mulch. Such material should form a
valuable addition to the matter that is
available for mulching in cacao orchards

PLANT SANITATION.

THE DISEASES OF CACAO.
By T. PETcH.

[Die Krankheiten und Parasiten des
Kakaobaumes. F.C. VON FABER.
Arbeiten der Kaiserl. Biologischen
Anstalt.]

To anyone who studies the literature
relating to cacao diseases, .the most
striking feature of it is the paucity of
records of scientific investigation, though
the diseases have been known to exist
for at least a dozen years. Howard
showed the way with a full account of
Diplodia cacaoicola in 1900. After that,
there is a gap until 1908, when F. C. von
Faber published an account of the
“Witches Broom” disease in Sarinam,
together with some details relating to
cacao “canker.” This was followed, in
1909, by a very complete and excellently
illustrated paper on the ‘ Krulloten
ziekte” of Surinam by C. J. J. van Hall
and A. W. Drost, and a similar paper on
Diplodia cacaoicola by A. E, van Hall
and A. W. Drost from the same country.

Surinam has now taken the foremost
position in the investigation of cacao
diseases, and its reputation has been
recently enhanced by the publication of
a paper oncacao ‘‘ canker,” by A. EH. van
Hall, which fully maintains the high
standard set by the contributions pre-
viously referred to. This last named
paper has already been summarised for
the Tropical Agriculturist.

F. C. von Faber has now collected all
the available information relating to the
diseases and insect pests of cacao, up to
1909, and has published a_ beautifully
illustrated work, giving a full summary
of the records of previous authors ag well
as details of his own investigations. The
material has been carefully summarised,
and the only possible objection that can
be raised is that the author might in
some cases have been more critical,
From the point of completeness, it is un-
fortunate that several valuable con-
tributions should have appeared almost
simultaneously with its publication,

Plant Sanitation.

One peculiar feature of the diseases of
cacao was that, according to the publish-
ed accounts, what were apparently the
same diseases were caused by entirely
different fungi in different countries.
This is now being abundantly disproved,
and itis becoming more and more evident
that these apparent differences are
based only on errors, either of observa-
tion in the field, or of identificatien of
the fungi in the laboratory.

The common pod disease is now uni-
versally attributed to Phytophthora, a
species which has been named Phytoph-
thora Faberi. Von Faber agrees that
itis always worst in damp situations.
This is in agreement with the results
obtained on the Experiment Station,
Peradeniya, where a striking decrease
in the number of diseased pods foll»wed
the removal of the dense shade. The
following figures give the number of
trees per acre, cacao and others, and the
percen tree of diseased pods from 1902
to 1906 :—

Cacao. Others. Fungus pods.

1902 330 178 38°6
1903 252 77 8°8
1904 246 71 4°8
1905 328 440 25
1906 330 450 10:2

The ‘‘other” trees in 1902 were large
Albizzias, Jak, etc. The increase in the
eacao in 1905 is due to supplies, and in
the “others” to dadaps which were
planted in 1904; the additional trees
were therefore small in 1905. The whole
of the cacao pods were sprayed, during
August, in 1905 and 1906, but in spite of
this there is a marked increase in the
percentage of diseased pods in 19(6 when

the dadaps had grown taller. Seeing
that an equally marked reduction
followed the reduction of shade in

1902-08, though the trees were not
sprayed, is it incorrect to attribute the
increase of diseased pods in 1906 to the
fact that the estate had become a
jungle of dadaps? There was a heavy
rainfall during October, 1906, and
this increased the percentage of
diseased pods for that month, but on
the other hand, the total raintall for
the year is practically equal to that
of 1905, so that the remainder of the
year must have been drier. Yet the
percentage of diseased pods during 1906
is greater than that during 1905 for
every month but two. There can con-
sequently be no other conclusion than
that the increased percentage of dis-
eased pods was due to the increase of
shade and consequent increase in
humidity.

408

cee (May, 1910

Von E'aber recommends spraying with
Bordeaux mixture as a_ preventative
against pod disease, and quotes the
result of an experiment in the Cameroons
in which the unsprayed plot bore 56 per
cent. of diseased pods, while the sprayed
plot bore 22:24 per cent. This result is
not so favourable as those quoted above,
wherethe only treatment consisted of
the removal of shade and the periodic
collection of diseased pods. He advises
the addition of resin and starch to the
Bordeaux mixture, and states that it’
is not then washed off the tree by the
heavy rain; this advice is contrary
to the belief of otber experimenters,
viz., that no addition to Bordeaux
mixture increases its adhesiveness. He
very rightly insists that all diseased
pods should be periodically collected
and the shells destroyed. There is no
doubt that this is most important, even
more important than spraying. The dis-
infection of diseased shells by means
of Iron sulphate is quoted with ap-
proval.

The Witches Broom disease of the
Cameroons and the somewhat similar
‘“‘Krulloten” disease of Surinam are
fully described, but as these do not occur
in Ceylon, they need not be further
referred to here.

The “canker” disease of the Came-
roons is identical with that in Ceylon
and Surinam. It is to be expected,
therefore, that the stem disease of the
West Indies will prove to be the same,
though from the descriptions given it
appears different. Von Faber gives
descriptions of ten species of Nectria
which have been found on diseased
cacao, and even then he has missed
one, Calonectria flavida. He was not
able to carry out infection experiments
with the Nectria found in the Came-
roons, and, as in all other cases, it is
doubtful whether this is the cause of
the disease, No one has yet been able
to produce ‘‘canker” in a cacao tree
by artificial infection, by experiments
which are obviously open to most serious
objections. Von FE aber inclines to the
belief that there is a Nectria disease
of the pods as well as a Nectria disease
of the stem, but there is not much doubt
that the Nectrvas observed on the pods
are saprophytic, and it is doubtful.
whether they are more than this on
the stem.

The Ceylon method of excising the
diseased tissues is recommended, but
in addition von Faber advises that the
wounds should be covered with tar.
Carbolineum proved unsuitable for use
in cacao. Thinning out the crowns of
the trees is also advised. Von EFaber

_ May, 1910,]

refers to Wright’s advice re the use
of Bordeaux mixture against canker.
Wright’s advice, however, was based on
a misapprehension of the nature of the
diseases he was treating; he adhered
firmly to the belief that the pod and
stem diseases were identical, and there-
fore imagines that in spraying the pods
he was combating the stem disease,
As the two diseases are different, his
results with Bordeaux mixture are not
relevant to canker. However, the re-
sults quoted by von Faber, viz, a
diminution in the number of cankered
trees from 96 per cent. in 1902 to 4°3
per cent. in 1904 were obtained before
the estate was sprayed. They can only
be attributed, therefore, to removal of
shade and excision of diseased tissues,
Similarly, the results of the work against
pod disease from 1902 to 1904, illustrated
by Wright’s diagrams, are to be attri-
buted to the removal of shade and the
regular collection ot diseased pods, not
to spraying.

The section dealing with Diplodia
illustrates the confusion which has
arisen through the transmission of
disease specimens to Hurope. Nine pages
are devoted to the discussion of the
several species which have been found
on cacao. But recent researches have
shown that these are all the same
species, and that, in general. it is only
saprophytic! When twigs have been
killed by exposure to the sun, or by
Helopeltis, Diplodia may act asa wound
parasite, and, after growing on the
dead twig, may attack the still living
part of the branch and killit further
back, but only in thiscase is it known
to cause damage.

Tt is interesting to note that the
damage which is attributed to squirrels
in Ceylon is attributed to rats in other
countries. In the West Indies it has
been claimed that spraying the stem
with Bordeaux mixture keeps away rats,
but it is difficult to understand how
_ this could be effective if the branches
of adjacent cacao trees touched one
another as they usually do.

One is_ rather surprised to find in
the third chapter an account of a Pera-
deniya experiment which proves the
advantage of a wind-belt, It is pub-
lished on page 66 of Wright’s book.

The result is as follows, the numbers
being the number of fruits per acre.
Without With
wind-belt. wind-belt.
1903 1,275 2,463
1904 2,942 5,268
1905 4,023 6,430

The experiment was proposed in 1903,
and the wind-belts were to be planted in
52

409:

Plant Sanitations

October of that year. The tigures for
1903, therefore, merely give the original
condition of the plots. The average
number of fruits per acre for the whole
estate was, in 1,903, 2,822; in 1904, 3,796 ;
and in 1905, 7,117. The plot without a
wind-belt was therefore much below the
average, and it would have been better
if two more equal plots had been
chosen. It may be noted that the wind-
belt plot drops. below the average in
1905. From the report for 1903, it
appears that eight wind-belt experi-
ments were planned. The trees selected
for the different belts were Grevillea
robusta, Michelia champaca, Pterocarpus
echinatus, Hugenia jambos, arecanuts,
Filicium decipiens, Castilloa, and Ery-
thrina lithosperma. Hach was to be
planted in the form of a square, 40
yards by 40 yards, and all shade trees
and palms within 75 yards of a square
were to be removed. The 1904 report
gives no further information, except
that it is stated that the number of
Michelia on the estate is due to the
newly-planted wind-belts; and there is
nothing about them in the report for
1905. There are no records which would
inform us which of these wind-belts
provided the figures quoted, or where
they were situated. It is probably a
mere coincidence that 2,463 is the crop of
plot 83 in 1903, and 5,268is the crop of
the same plot in 1904, since its crop for
1905 is not 6,480, but 8,088. The control
plot selected in 1903 was No. 44 (5 acres);
it was to be cleared of everything except
cacao, and the 1903 report states that
‘already it has become a congested
centre of troublesome weeds.” Appa-
rently it was not subsequently kept as a
control plot, for in July, 1904, it bore, in
addition to the cacao, 98 coconut and
areca palms, and 74 other trees, and in
July, 1905, 85 coconuts and areca, 1,577
dadaps, and 40 other trees. Its crop
for the three years under discussion was
12,756, 18,480, and 36,471 pods.

The experimentis not included in a
list of experiments in progress furnished
to the Committee at the beginning of
1906, Apparently it was abandoned at
the end of 1905 and the trees removed ;
cousequently it is not possible to furnish
figures for other years, nor to say
where the plots were. But it is obvious
that trees planted in October, 1903, could
not have afforded an efficient wind-belt
for old cacao in either 1904 or 1905 ; hence
whatever may be the value of the figures
they do not represent the advantage of
a wind-belt.

It may further be noted that on the
plot with the wind-belt the increase in
1904 is 114 per cent., and in 1905, 22 per

Plant Sanitation. 410

cent.; but on the plot without a wind-
belt, the increase is 181 percent, in 1904
and 37 per cent. in 1905. Hence lhe im-
provement is greatest on the plot without
a wind-belt. Both plots are much below
the average of the whole estate for 1905,
viz., 7,117 pods, though of course the rest
of the estate had no wind-belts. Another
point which must be taken into con-
sideration is that the method of count-
ing the crop by the calendar year gives
as real information about the annual
improvement of a given plot. For the
crop year is from June to June, and the
heaviest yielding months are about the
change of the calendar year ; consequent-
ly one calendar year may have only two
main crop months, while the next calen-
dar year may have four. The latter
may then appear twice as good as the
former, although the actual crops are
really equal. Unfortunately it is not
possible to correct the figures of the
experiment quoted above, since the num-
bers of the plots are unknown,

THE MISTLETOE PEST IN THE
SOUTH-WEST.

(From the JU. S. Department of Agricul-
tural Bureau of Plant Industry,
Bulletin No. 166.)

SUMMARY.

(1.) Ingeneral,the American mistletoe,
like its European prototype, is more
chevished because of its biologic interest
and historic setting than feared for its
harmfulness to trees. In some districts,
however, notably in Central Texas, its
destructiveness as a tree parasite out-
weighs other considerations in its behalf,

(2.) The region in which mistletoe is
most destructive coincides with the
transition from a humid climate favour-
able for forest growth to adry climate
less favourable for trees, and where the
effects upon tree growth are such as
to furnish the parasite more favourable
light conditions than in the closer stands
and denser foliage of huniid climate
forests.

(3.) The harmfulness of mistletoe is
due in part to its mechanical injury
to trees (deformity of branches and
trunk, wounds followed by decay), but
more especially to its drain upon the
trees’ vitality by withdrawing water
and nutriment substances from them.
The sinkers which connect the parasite
with the water-transporting vessels of
the wood and the cortical roots which
ramify in the soft bark are the means
by which the parasite withdraws sub-
stances from its host.

May, 1910,

(4.) The first infection of a tree by
mistletoe takes place only through the

. agency of a germinating seed placed upon

the body or branch of a tree by birds
(mostly mocking birds, wax wings or
cedar birds, and robins), except in the
rare case where berries fall upon a
branch from a bunch of mistletoe in
an overtopping adjacent tree. Thesub-
sequent spread of infection upon a tree
may take place by the falling or wash-
ing of berries upon other parts of the
tree from the previously established
mistletoe shrubs, or by the spread of
cortical roots from which new mistletoe
shoots arise. Spreading by cortical roots
occurs more readily upon some species
of trees than others, and is especially
stimulated by the injury or removal of
the original shoot. ®

(5.) The mistletoe seed and seedling
exhibit unusual powers of resistance to
drying out, and are thereby enabled
to survive in considerable numbers the
critical period from the time the berry
is placed upon a branch until the para-
site plant becomes established. This
period may extend beyond the first
growing season, :

(6.) A tree may become infected at
any point where living tissue is exposed
or covered only by a thin layer of cork
with breathing pores, but the most
vulnerable points are the young branches
and sometimes buds. The sinker of
the mistletoe seedling is able to pene-
trate certain tissues by dissolving the
walls of cells living in its path. It is
uncertain whether cutinized or corky
cell walls can be so dissolved, but the
writer believes that they can.

(7.) The trees most liable to infection
are those which occur singly or in
clumps or rows along streets and high-
ways, in vacant lots and parks, along
the border of fields; and narrow strips
of timber along streams. ‘The damage
to trees in forest stands is negligible. °
Shade and ornamental trees suffer most.

(8.) While it is not certain that any
broad-leaved tree is wholly immune to
attack from the American mistletoe,
some are practically so, although free-
dom from infection seems to vary with
locality. In the choice of trees for plant-
ing the question of the ability of a tree
to resist infection might profitably be
considered. It is believed that any tree
subject. to infection may be infected
by seed from mistletoe growing upon
any other species; e.g., the hackberry
may be infected’ by seed of mistletoe
grown on the elm, the live oak from
those on the mesquite, etc.

AS

‘wanted. I

Plant Sanitation. 41

(9.) The damage to trees may be very
largely overcome by breaking and scrap-
ing off the bunches and scattered sprouts
of mistletoe every year or two. If the
parasite is attached to small branches
these may be: pruned off a few inches
below the mistletoe, and thus the in-
fection be wholly removed at that point.

(10.) Infection upon old branches and
upon the trunk is very difficult to get
rid of, because the cortical roots spread
freely in the soft bark and any piece left
there may give rise to new mistletoe
sprouts. Since the cortical roots do not

- extend into the wood (of course sinkers

do), the removal of the hard and soft
bark clean to the wood about an infected
spot should exterminate the parasite
at that point. The objection to this
method is that it necessitates large
wounded surfaces, Such wounds should
always be disinfected and afterwards
coated with tar.

(11,) In some cases mistletoe has been
killed from old branches by the appli-
cation of chemicals, which is made more
effective by snbsequently wrapping the
limp with burlap. Thus carbolineum
alone, and asphalt paint with burlap
wrapping, were found to eliminate the
infection.

(12.) Itissuggested that a combination
of the above methods would be effective,
First, remove with gouge or chisel the
exposed shoots or buds of mistletoe

(May, 1910.

down to the wood without making large
wounds; fill the larger wound holes
with tar, and paint the whole surface
with carbolineum or with asphalt paint.
When asphalt paint is used wiap after-
wards with burlap.

_ 18.) The cutting off of large branches
in order to get rid of mistletoe is to be
discouraged. Itisaptto injure a tree
more than the mistletoe would, parti-
cularly if the latter be broken or scraped
off every few years.

(14.) Every wound on atree, e.g., those
caused by digging out mistletoe or by
cutting off branches, is a point of attack
for disease-causing germs. Such wounds
should always be disinfected and painted
with tar or some similar waterproofing
coating,

_ (15.) The mistletoe question resolves
itself largely into the question of the
care of trees. The spoiling or killing of
trees by mistletoe is due chiefly to
neglect, A well-organised movement in
behalf of civic improvement would help
to remedy this defect. City and county
officials who have charge of streets and
parks and public highways should be
required to’ see that trees on public
ground are kept free from mistletoe.

(16.) The use of the mistletoe in
Christmas decorations gives it a com-
mercial status which has some bearing
on the question of its control and
extermination.

APICULTURE.

CONVERSATIONS WITH
DOOLITTLE.

DIFFERENCES IN COLONIES.
(From Gleanings in_ Bee Culture, Vol.
XXXVII., No. 1, January 1, 1909.)

‘*Mr. Doolittle, I believe I have the
poorest strain of bees in the world, and
I want you to tell me how to get rid of
them and to get some that are first-class.
Can you do this ?”

“Certainly. Kill those you have and
purchase such as you would like.”

‘*But that is not just the answer I
know that such a course
would be all-right; but is there no way
of changing from the poor strain to one
which is first-class without killing those
I now have ?”

“Yes, But why do you say you have
the poorest strain of bees in the world?
Have you tried all the different strains

which now exist? Have you tried all
that exist in the United States, even?”

‘““No, I have tried none but those I
now have, which came from a colony
I purchased at an auction three years
ago. Perhaps I was rash in my expres-
sion ; but the larger part of my colonies
do very little, while one, especially, has
given me good returns the past two
years. Now, if I could only have all my
colonies equal to this good one I should
feel quite proud.”

“ But the good one must have come
from the original colony you purchased
at the auction, and this shows that
there isa marked difference in bees as
to their working qualities. But it seems
to me that your trouble is a case of
selection rather than the adoption of an
entirely different strain of bees.”

“But why should this colony show
such a marked difference from the other
four? I have only five colonies in all,

MAY, 1910.]

and this one gave me a greater surplus
than the other four combined.”

“The difference in the industry of
certain colonies of bees has often been a
surprise to their owners; but during a
careful investigation for years, certain
facts came to light which have enabled
the careful and practical apiarist to
overcome this matter to a great extent.”

*‘Now you are getting at just what I
want to know. How can this difference
be overcome ?”

“One of many great things having a
bearing on this matter is breeding. The
importance of breeding from our very
best colonies is great, and is becoming
better understood as the years go by;
and the bee-keepers of America stand in
the foremost ranks of the world on this
particular question.”

“Yes; but how isitdone? Take my
case with one good colony and the four
poor ones for an illustration.”

‘Next year you should rear all your
queens from the one which heads that
best colony, and, as opportunity offers,
have every colony you possess headed
from queens reared from her.”

‘“But do you think this colony as
good as there is in the world?”

“It should not be, if your first talk.

about your bees had even a grain of
truth in it. The one colony in two
years’ time, with no attention paid to
breeding matters, could not beas good
as some colonies headed by queens from
those who have spent five, ten, fifteen,
and twenty years in bringing their best
colonies up and up till they stand at
the very head of the list in the United
States, or as nearly up to perfection as
seems possible at the present time.
There are a score or two of breeders in
the United States to-day, who, in all
probability, have bees as much ahead of
those you have as yours are ahead of
those found in their native haunts,
where the uplifting touch of man has
had nothing to do with them.”

‘Then why do I not kill all of mine
off, as you at first suggested, and start
anew?”

“ Because it would be an unnecessary
waste. Buy a queen, or a colony of
bees, from some one of the breeders you
have confidence in, and from such a
purchased queen rear queens next season
until you have one to head each of the
colonies you may have in the fall
of 1909. -Or, perhaps, it might extend
your vision and prove a benefit to you
to keep the queen in your best colony,
rearing one or two queens from her as
well, and see how they will compare

412

= «=

>

with those reared from your purchased

queen,’

‘‘T begin to_ see now, andI thank you
very much, But youspoke of certain
facts which had todo with this matter
as though breeding had not the whole
to do with it. What are some of the
others ?”

“A beginner, like yourself, is often
impatient for increase, and much in-
crease means little honey, except, per-
haps, from some first or prime swarm,
or from some colony which is made just
right, and at the right time in the
season. Allof the others are crippled
on account of a lack of bees, or a lack of
the proper number of bees in just the
right time to take advantage of the flow
of nectar which gives a surplus in your
locality. In sucha case, the beginner,
with the best bees in the world (or even
a man who has kept bees for years, but
paid no attention to these things), would
find himself in almost the same condition
you have been describing to me about
your two years’ experience.” :

‘*] begin to understand ; for the colony
which has done so well for me wasa
prime or first swarm, asI call them, a
year ago last summer, and this summer
it did not swarm at all.”

“Thenin wet seasons bees generally
get just enough nectar to stimulate
breeding, which gives large numbers of
bees, with hives crowded with brood
and very little if any honey in the
sections, except, perhaps, with some

-colony which comes up to the harvest in

just the right condition so it does not
incline toswarm, when, with only two
or three days of a good nectar-flow, such
a colony or such colonies will give a

surplus, while those that incline to
swarm will give none. Results in such
cases devolve more largely on the

management of the apiarist than upon
the strain or quality of the bees.
admit that there are poor bees, but I
know that quite a few of our. most
practical apiculturists of the present
time believe that there are lazy bees, or
those which have been bred so closely
for colour or some other desired point
that their usefulness is very largely
crippled. However, we can show that
the fault is not altogether with the bees,
when fifty to five hundred colonies
accomplish little or nothing during any
season, for close study will tell us that
the season is a poor one; that our
locality is overstocked, or that we as
apiarists are not bringing every colony
to the point where it is ready to take
advantage of one or more flows of nectar
when they come,”

SEH
ae as a Vee
eg

Apiculture, —

NATURAL STERILISATION OF SOIL.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle, Vol.
XLVII., No. 1211, March, 1910.)

As our readers are aware, experiments
carried out by Messrs. Russell and
Hutchinson at Rothamsted have thrown
an entirely new light onthe origin of
the enhanced fertility brought about by
soil-sterilisation. That soils sterilised by
heat or by certain poisons such as
carbon-bisulphide yield larger crops
than similar unsterilised soils has been
demonstrated by various observers. A
full account of the explanation, given
by the authors just referred to, of the
mode of action of the sterilising agent
was published in these columns on
October 23, 1909. Briefly, it amounts to
this, that heat or poisons kill out those
organisms, such as amzebeze and in-
fusoria, which normally prey on the soil-
bacteria. Certain of the soil-bacteria are
also destroyed. Those which remain
have the field to themselves, and hence
increase and multiply exceedingly. In
the absence of competing organisms, the
supplies of nitrogen-compounds in the
soil are the more available for the crop,
which, in consequence, flourishes more
abundantly in the sterilised soil than
in one in which occur multitudes of
organisms all hungry for nitrogen. The
nitrogen compounds of the soil go into
the plant instead of being shared
between the plant and the teeming
“population” of the soil, An interest-
ing application of this sterilisation
hypothesis ismade by Messrs A. & G. L.
Howard in a recent issue of Nature.

It appears, according to these authors,
that the Indian ryot has practised a
kind of summer fallowing or weathering
from time immemorial. During the
months of April and May he exposes the
alluvial soil of the Indo-Gangetic plain
to the burning sun. Where the soil is
lightit is ploughed by means of the
native wooden plough; where it is
heavy, it is, however, not worked—
owing, apparently, tothe lack of suit-
able tackle—until the arrival of the
monsoon rains.

The effect of the exposure of the
worked, light soil to sunlight is remark-
able, the beneficial result on the succeed-
ing crop being equal to that which would
be obtained by the application of nitro-
genous manure. Messrs. A & G. L. C.
Howard suggest that the effect of the
intense sunlight is to partially sterilise
the soil, and thus to induce in the soil
similar changes in micro-flora and fauna
as are effected by artificial sterilisation,

- SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE,

(May, 1910.

Thus, if we accept this explanation,
the summer weathering has precisely the
same effect as a dressing of nitrogenous
manure, in that it renders nitrogen com-
pounds available tothe crop. The des-
tructive action of sunlight on bacteria
has been demonstrated experimentally,
and is, of course, exploited constantly
by thrifty housewives, as, for example,
in exposing bedding and other house-
hold effects to bright sunshine.

The detailed effects of sunlight on soil
bacteria have not yet been investigated.
We may predict confidently that results
of the greatest practical importance will
be obtained from such investigations.
It is, at all events, probable that the
secret of the origin of the nitrate beds of
S. America, whence are derived the bulk
of our supplies of nitrate of soda, is
bound up with the partial sterilising |
effect of sunlight.

Nor is it at all impossible that the soil
lying in the deep shade of trees might
not be ameliorated by sterilisation.
Anyone who has the opportunity might
well try the effect of sterilising such
soils in, which little will grow, by means
of copious waterings of carbolic acids or
permanganate of potash, and then
determining whether grass and other.
plants would not succeed better than in
similar unsterilised soils, Of course, it
is not suggested that shaded soil so
treated will become fully fertile, for
evidently sterilisation cannot serve’a
plant in lieu of sunshine: nevertheless,
it is probable that some amelioration
might be effected. In any case, the
investigation of the bacterial flora of
the soil, which is bound to be of no small
service to horticulture, should receive a
powerful stimulus from the work of
Messrs. Russell and Hutchinson.

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

(From the Chemist and Druggisl, Vol.
LXXVI., No. 1566,, January, 1910.)

In the current number of the ‘‘Board
of Agriculture Journal,” there is a paper

‘by Mr. E. S, Salmon, F.L.S., Mycologist

to the South Hastern Agricultural Col-
lege, Wye, Kent, on ‘‘The Making and
Application of Bordeaux mixture.”
This subject is dealt with in the
Chemists’ and Druggists’ Diary, 1910,
but it is useful to emphasise anew
some of the points referred to in Mr.
Salmon’s paper. The Bordeaux recom-
mended for spraying fruit-trees is of
the strength known as 4-4-50 (Imperial),
and the importance of using wooden
vessels is urged. The mixture should
always be freshly made, as it is diffi-

May, 1910.]

cult to keep the, gelatinous precipitate
in suspension if more than a day old.
A method of using stock solutions is
outlined, and there are illustrations of
the mixing apparatus, but these do not
present any practical difficulty to a
pharmacist who bears in mind the fact
that the best precipitate is produced by
mixing the copper-sulphate solution and
the milk of lime when both are diluted
to the utmost the strength of the mix-
ture allows. If the Bordeaux mixture
is properly strained no trouble will
subsequently arise from blocking of
the spray-nozzles. In speaking of the
test of copper in Bordeaux mixture, we
note that Mr. Salmon parenthetically
refers to potassium ferrocyanide as a
poison. It is not usual to designate
those chemicals as poisons that are
administered in doses of 10 grains.
No additions should be made to the
Bordeaux mixture, treacle and soap
sometimes used being unnecessary.
Mr. Salmon objects to powder and paste
forms of Bordeaux mixture, as the re-
sulting liquid settles much quicker than
when the chemicals are combined in
dilute solution. The production of a
ready-made torm of the mixture that
would be free from this objection is
worth investigating, as, no matter how
explicity the directions are given for
making Bordeaux mixture, the number
ot farmers who are able to carry them
out successfully is small. With the
spread of scientific knowledge among
agriculturists this difficulty should dis-
appear. The article deals exhaustively
with the spraying-machines and nozzles
with which Brodeaux mixture is used.
The spray produced must be _ very
fine and ‘“ misty” orsmoke-like: a hang-
ing “mist” or “fog” must be pro-
duced, which drifts over and through the
tree, and deposits on the surface of the
leaves excessively minute drops, which
when dry give the parts of the trees that
have been sprayed the appearance of
being almost uniformly covered with a
very thin bluish film or dust. Such a de-
posit is so intimately attached to the sur-
tace of the leaf or fruit that it does not
readily wash off, The points to be con-
sidered about spraying-machines are
(1) the machine and: its chief working
parts must be made of material which
the spray solution will not affect chemi-
cally, (2) the pump must be powerful
enough to maintain a pressure suffi-
cient for the particular nozzle used,
and (8) the build of the machine must
be suitable for use in the particular
plantations or orchards to be sprayed,
Many agricultural chemists alieady
undertake sheep-dipping or supply the
apparatus for the work. We see no

434

. - Se Se
, > Saat ee
Fd Nee

Scientific Agriculture

reason why chemists should not in like
manner specialise in tree-spraying ap-
paratus or undertake the operation of
freeing or protecting fruit-trees from
agvicultural pests.

BARBADOS: REPORT OF THE AGRI-
CULTURAL WORK.

GENERAL CoNcLUSIONS.

(From the Barbados Report of the Agri-
cultural Work for the season between
1905-1907, Imperial Department of
Agriculture, West Indies.)

From the preceding summary the
following conclusions may be drawn
from the results of this year : —

(1.) The average yield of canes was a
fairly good one being 31:94 tons for the
whole field. ;

(2.) An ordinary application of farm-
yard manure without the addition of
artificial manures produced a crop of
23 tons of cane per acre. 5
_ @.) This crop can be substantially
increased either by a further large appli-
cation of farmyard manure or by the
application of artificial manures,

(4.) The application of 20 tons extra of
farmyard manure gave an increased
yield of about 8 tons of cane per acre of
the value of $24:°00, .

(5.) The most favourable result of the
application of artificial manure was
given by the plot that received 80 lb. of
phosphate as basic slag in January,
putash 60 lb. as sulphate in January and
nitrogen (as sulphate of ammonia) 15
lb. in January, and 45 lb. in June. This
plot gave about 40 tons of cane per acre,
an increase of about 17 tons of cane by
artificial manure. The value of this
increased yield was $51'00, the cost of
manure was $15'36, and the net profit
$35°64 per acre.

(6.) Minerals alone (80 lbs. of phos-
phate as superphosphate and 60 Ib.
potash as sulphate, applied in January)
gave an increase of 6 tons of cane per
acre ; but the results of the phosphate
series and potash series leave it doubt-
ful as to whether this increase is due to
the phosphate or to the potash.

(7.) The application of nitrogen in
addition to minerals gave an increased
yield; 40 lbs. nitrogen as sulphate of
ammonia applied partly in January and
partly in June gave an increase of 3
tons canes. Net profit by the addition
of nitrogen $252. An application of
60 lbs. nitrogen as dried blood partly in
January and partly in June gave an in-
crease of about 6 tons of cane, Net profit
by the application of nitrogen $8:28,

Scientific Agriculture,
THE COLOUR OF BLACK COTTON
: “SOIL.

By H. E. ANNETT,

Member, Department of Agriculture,
India.

(From the Chemical Series, Vol. I., No, 9,
March 1910.—Abstracted by

J. C. WILLIS.)

The black cotton soil of Indiais the
second most important soil of the
country and covers at least 200,000 square
miles. After describing the experiments
in detail he comes to the conclusion that
the black colour is mainly due to the
presence of several per cent. of titani-
ferous magnetite and 1-2 per cent. of
soluble humus. The soils are not rich
in organic matter judged from the
European standard. The amount of
clay is exceptionally high, and accounts
for the cracking that occurs in hot dry
weather. D .

These black cotton soils occur over

415

(May, 1910,

WATER REQUIREMENTS OF CROPS
IN INDIA.

By J. W. LEATHER,
Member, Department of Agriculture,
India.
(From the Chemical Series, Vol. I., No. 8,
January, 1910.—Abstracted by

J. C. WILLIS.)

By means of pot cultures, answers
were sought to the questions: ‘‘ How
much water is transpired by our field
crops?” and ‘During what period does
the crop require the principal portion of
this water ?”

Among the most important conclusions
reached are that in suitably manured
soil the amount of transpiration is re-
duced by one-third, that good tillage (as
we have for years preached in this
country, where tillage is nearly un-
known outside of the Tamil country and
the planting districts) and a deep soil
reduce it also, and that in general the
longer lived crops have a higher ratio of
transpiration than those which mature
rapidly. The amount of water trans-
pired also rises rapidly when the plant
begins to shoot, and remains high till

near maturity, when it falls again
cousiderable areas in the north of Ceylon. rapidly.

EDUCATION.

THE PROBLEM OF AGRICULTURAL
EDUCATION.

1. THE ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol, IX.,
No, 205, March 5, 1910.)

One of the greatest advances in educa-
tional matters was made when it was
realised that the conditions of life had
so changed, and the work that had to
be done every day for the people ofa
country had become so specialized, that
it was no longer feasible to educate its
inhabitants according to one _ broad
plan, the methods of which should be
generally applicable to all of them.
The increase of population, for one
matter, had made it necessary that the
things required for the daily life should
be produced ona large scale, by the aid
of machinery, rather than by individual
craftsmen, and the cheapening of the
products of the new mode of manu-
facture, together with the improved
conditions of living, had again reacted
by bringing about a state of affairs that

further favoured the tendency for the
population of a country to increase ata
greater rate than that which had ever
obtained before. Competition became
keen, and it wasseen that education
must no longer be simply a matter of
general preparation for living as an
adult, and of the provision of means for
inculeating the principles of discipline,
but that it must be conducted, for each
individual, in a manner which had
definite relation to that part of the
world’s work to which his energies

would be devoted ultimately.

The first effect of the realization of
this fact has been to cause much stress to
be laid on that side of education which
has for its object the production of
technical efficiency. There has been, in
fact, too great a tendency to give in-
struction, and to leave out most of that
which includes the essentials of true,
education. “The result has been the pro-
duction of schemes which went little
further than to devise means for impart-
ing knowledge, so that, in relation to all
that is meant by education, no real

May, 1910,]

advance was madeon the old system.
Under the former conditions, the in-
dividual attained to a wider experience,
and little interference was made with
the chances for his later specialization,
while the new method limited him from
the first, and did less to provide him
with the means of liberally enjoying his
leisure. Another result has been that
whatever has had relation to the more
mechanical arts and crafts has been
fostered, to the comparative neglect,
until recent years, of the claim of the
agriculturist to be fitted in the best
possible way for the work which is to be
his through life. Perhaps this late re-
cognition of such a claim is not without
its advantages, for it has come ata time
when it is continually realised to’a
greater degree that mere instruction is
not education, and that the aim of those
who have the framing of schemes for edu-
eationin their hands should not be the
training of individuals to be merely
capable of doing a certain thing in a
certain way. Such schemes should, on
the contrary, bring out the mental
energies of those individuals, so that
they may be able to appreciate the true
inward meaning of what they are
taught, and to attain that mental in-
dependence which will lead to critical
consideration ot the work of others,
while giving them the capacity usefully
to extend the scope of their own.

The West Indies share with all other
tropical countries the circumstance
that their interests are essentially agri-
cultural. Their usefulness to the rest of
the world must lie in the fact that they
possess the conditions which enable them
to produce, for the non-tropical zones, in-
dispensable articles of food, clothing and
shelter. It must therefore be patent
that the education of the inhabitants of
this part of the world must have special
reference to the interests of agriculture.
This cannot mean that the standard of
that education should be inferior to that
of the dweller in countries where the
chief occupation is the treatment of raw
material, so that it may become more
directly applicable to the uses cf man.
The agriculturist, as a matter of fact,
has the means of true education closer
to hand than the follower of any other
kind of occupation. He is face to face
with the direct results of the forces of
nature. Heis met with the responsi-
bility of attaining a state of mind that
can devise means of gaining a knowledge
of those forces which will enable him to
direct them in such a way as to be of
the greatest value to mankind. Finally,
to this end, he is provided with oppot-
tunities of observation and experiment

416

ot te! oe r. -

which are without equal asa means cf

broadening his mental sympathies, and -

thus giving him the manner of true
education. With these advantages,
there should be no difficulty in making
agricultural teaching and practice as
efficient as those of any other branch of
knowledge. It will supply a mental
training that will produce the individual
who takes a living interest and pride in
his work, the moreso as it provides him
with a means of realising that he is no
longer the slave of routine, but the
possessor of powers to originate and
modify methods of procedure in ways
which form the reflection of his own
personality.

There are three broadly differing sets
of circumstances under which instruc-
tion, either of an agricultural nature, or

leading to this, must be given. These :

obtain in the primary school, in the
secondary school, and, in the case where
an agricultural training is continued
after the pupil has reached an age when
there isno longer any necessity for him
to be subject to school discipline, In
the primary school the teaching will
never be .of a_ directly. agricultural
character, it will, rather, be of the
essence of nature study, in order that
the most useful and immediately appli-
cable means of education may be
employed, and that the mind of the
pupil may become of use to him in the
work that he will be called upon todo
when he leaves school. The idea of
nature study will obtain as well in the
secondary school, but its scope will be
widened, and it will show a closer
connection with the requirements of
ractical agriculture. In the case of a
poe who goes on from this stage to the
next, there is always, in a proper scheme
of agricultural education, a transition
period, during which he is still subject
to disciplinary measures, while at the
sane time, he is given more freedom otf
action, and his work becomes of a more
practical nature, It is at this stage that
a cadetship at a Botanic Station, or,
where this is provided, and where itis
intended to take up the more advanced
branches of agriculture, a course at an
agricultural college becomes of use

The third set of circumstances under
which education in agricultural matters
is received, is that which obtains while
the recipient is actively engaged in the
work of a practical agriculturist. This
is nota time that has its distinct limit,

like that of the conditions just described. ~

It extends just as long as the agri-
cultural work is being done. In other
words, those who gain their livelihood

from the soil require more than any

—

es
ay

- Education,

others, to be always ready to learn, and
to seek opportunities by which their
knowledge may be made greater. With
the present progress in agriculture, it is
very necessary that such individuals
shall begin the acquisition of such know-
ledge under as favourable conditicns as
possible—that they shall be set in the
right way, so that no time may be lost,
and.that their efforts to gain knowledge
shall have the merit and use of order-
liness. tis easily seen, in this connec-
tion, that the Courses of Reading in
Practical Agriculture, cf the Imperial
Department of Agriculture, have been
devised for this very purpose. The
steady pursuit of these will make it
evident why the education of the prac-
tical agriculturist is never regarded as
being finished, and why active sympathy
with the work of his advisers is neces-
sary to his best welfare.

- AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
IN THE SCHOOLS.

By Pres. KENYON L, BUTTERFIELD,
Amherst, Mass,

Given before the Massachusetts Horti-
cultural Society, March 7th, 1908.
(From the Transactions of the Massachu-
setts Horticultural Society, 1908.)

I like the word ‘ vocational” as ap-
plied to a system of training for one’s
life work. While it suggests that one is
preparing for an occupation, it seems to
imply that technical skill is not all of
vocation, and that the man himself as
wellas the work he has todo are to be
considered in preparation for vocation.
This is so because if you show a man
what he ought to know about his calling
in life you must indicate to him not
merely how be may become a skillful

worker, but you must tell him how.

his particular calling is related to other
callings, how it is bound up with the
welfare of the State and nation, what
bearing it has upon the development
of civilization, and indeed you must
show him also its moral aspects. Con-
Sequently while a vocational training
prepares men and women for work, it
is far from blind to the fact that mere
individual skill and efficiency are not
sufficient.

It may be objected of course that
vocation is not all of life, and conse-
quently that a vocational education is
not a liberal training. But I contend
that for most people vozation is the
larger proportion of life, when you take
into consideration all these industrial,
political, social and moral relationships.

53

417

May, 1910,

The areas of the two circles are sub-
stantially the same. At any rate, this
may be said, that for most people voca-
tion is the key to the most of life.

We have several great divisions of
vocation, namely,—agriculture, manu-
facturing, transportation and commerce,
home-making and other work for women,
and the so-called professions, With
respect to the last it may be said that
gradually new professions are arising
out of the old vocations. It is becom-
ing increasingly evident that education
for all these vocations is necessary.
In the past we have emphasized the
professions and have neglected training
for the manual vocations. Furthermore,
we have laid stress on the training of
leaders; we have not given enough at-
tention to the preparation of subordi-
nates. We have attempted to train
men who are supposed to do mental
work chiefly ; we have neglected to train
people who aretointellectualize muscular
work. We have attempted to train
generals; we have not trained captains.
We have made it possible for the few
to find their niche in the world’s work ;
we have turned the mass of boys and
girls loose to get along as best they
could in the struggle for existence.

But now we have come to see that
there is a supreme industrial reason
for training for vocation. We need to
develop the maximum skill of indivi-
duals in the interests of production,
just as we need to secure the maxi-
mum return from a machine or an
acre of land. We have learned also
that sociologically there is a strong
reason for vocational training, lying in
the desirability of adjustment of the
individual function and ability to social
progress. We need to have each man
doing the work for which he is best
fitted and which the world wants done.
We must put the square pegs in the
squate holes, both in the interest of
the individual and of society.

{n our industrial problems heretofore
agriculture has been treated largely
as a non-mental pursuit. It has been
looked upon as an art, an art with
a low degree of skill,—‘‘any one can
farm.” But we have reached the time
when theabundance of scientific know-
ledge about agriculture shows that this
Opinion is no longer tenable. The de-
pletion of soils, under our old system
of agriculture which ‘‘anybody could
follow,” further emphasizes our mistake.
Furthermore, land was formerly given
away and some of it held by the in-
efficient, now we are approaching a
time of land scarcity and a time wnen
land can be held only by the efficient,

May, 1910.]

Consequently the need of a training
for the vocation of agriculture is forced
upon our attention, and we find a great
movement setting in in which agricul-
ture, as well as our industrial vocations,
is knocking at the doors of the schools.

Before going further it would be well
to signify that agriculture as we use it
implies a rather definite sort of thing.
Itis not chiefly an art; it is a body of
knowledge. While it may not perhaps
be justly called a svience, such as
chemistry, it is an applied science, such
as medicine. It has to do not primarily
with practices, but with laws. What
are the underlying principles that
govern soil activity and plant and animal
growth, and how may these laws be
utilized by man in the production of
economic goods? True, agriculture in-
cludes the art of farming, although
training in agriculture does not attempt
to perfect one in the art. On the
technical side agriculture would develop
reasons for processes.

But it has also a business side. It
involves the question of selling, —con-
sequently that of marketing and that of
farm management.

It has a social side. Agriculture is
related to other industries, and indeed it
is fundamental to them. The rural
voters are of great political significance,
and our forty millions of rural people
constitute a great factor in the develop-
ment of our national life and thought.

Agricultural education, like all other
forms of industrial education has, then,
its vocational purpose, but it also has its
pedagogical purpose. That isto say, it
has educational value. It is interesting
to know that in the argument made for
industrial education to-day men _ con-
tinually hark back to the old days of the
farm home regime for children and
describe the educational vilue of the
experience in the typical farm home.
They say frankly that the chief reason
for putting industrial education into
the schools, at least so far as mere
schooling is concerned, is that if possible
something may be developed which shall.
take the place of this old farm home
training. Kurthermore, we have come to
recognise the value of manual skill in
training the mind itself. Even with our
definition of agriculture there is room
there for manual training. It follows
therefore that agriculture may be used
for strictly educational purposes, without
reference to vocational ends. While in
the main agriculture will be taught asa
vocational subject, itis worth while to
keep in mind thatit has alsoa definite
and specific educational value, even for

418

those who are not to follow agriculture -
asa vocation, Agriculture presents facts
that, are worth knowing by every in-
telligent man. It develops principles
that illustrate natural laws in many
fields. It organizes processes. It gives
manual work. All of these things are
of definite value to the growing mind.
They are educational.

There are three grades of school work
in agriculture. First, the college and
graduate grade, which may be grouped
together for our purposes; second, the
highschool grade; and third, the element-
ary grade. The first two define them-
selves. The third perhaps requires a
word of explanation. The schools have
heen giving natura study for a number
of years. Nature Study uses many of
the materials of agriculture, and while
there is perhaps no very sharp line of
demarcation between nature work and
agriculture ina general way, the two
things should be kept apart. Nature

_work is relatively unorganized and un-

systematic. It does not confine itself to
any one body of knowledge. It aims to
teach the child to observe, to love nature,
to appreciate the beauty of the common-
place, and to look for the cause behind
the phenomenon. Even elementary agri-
culture is rather definite and fairly well

organized. It studies processes. It has
an economic bearing, It deals with an
industry. It shows the interests of men

making a living from the soil. Its
illustrations are specific, such as come,
for instance, by the use of school gardens
and the incubator.

Now the real question that arises after
this brief preliminary survey is this:
Shall agriculture as we have defined it
be utilized to any large degree in the
publie school system? So tar as college-
grade work is concerned this question
has been settled. Agricultural colleges
have been supported at public expense
for fitty years. We need not discuss
that. question further. The point at
issue concerns the work of secondary
and elementary agriculture. It seems
tome that we may at once answer this
question also in the affirmative, provided
we are ready to acknowledge the value
of agriculture as mental training and
are willing to assent to the proposition
that the school system shall be _ utilized
for purposes of vocational training,

I do not think it needs elaborate
argument to prove that the subject
matter of agriculture properly taught
gives abundant material for training of
the mind. The educational value of
science in general and of applied science
in particular is pretty commonly reco,-
nised, Agriculture offers a mostinvit-

Education.

ing field for the study of science in its
application to the work of men. It
' trains the powers of. observation as
almost nothing else does. It brings the
student into contact with real processes,
with men at work, with the man achiev-
ing things, with the great current of
the world’s industrial life. Agriculture
in its broad sense has economic and
social aspects of large meaning. The
importance of the agricultural industry,
the dependence of other industries upon
it, the development of population, the
significance of rural life in our American
civilization,--all these things give breadth
of view and sanity of judgment. The
mental value of the manual art of agri-
culture, particularly for boys and girls
who do not live upon the farm, is gener-
ally recognized by the movement for
school gardens. I might go on with
other illustrations of the educational
value of agriculture. I think there is
no longer any doubt in the minds of
educators about this.

The other question which has been
raised is whether the school system shall
be utilized for vocational education.
We cannot dwell long upon this point,
and I do not think we need to. Itis true
that at the beginning the public school
was not designed primarily to prepare
for one’s life work; it was rather
designed to give each child the tools
which he could use in any occupation.
Gradually, however, there has crept ina
new use for the public school system.
This movement began when State-sup-
ported institutions established courses
for law, for medicine, for pharmacy, and
the like, and when the normal schools
for teachers were established. It was
forwarded with particula: regard to the
industries of life by the passage of the
famous Morrill Act of 1862, establishing
a college of agriculture and mechanic
arts in every State and territory in the
Union. The preparation of men for the
higher positions in all important voca-
tions of life, including the industries, is
now a recognized part of the public
system of education. But the movement
has gone further than that, and in many
States there have been established tech-
nical high schools, and commercial
departments or courses, with the defi-
nite object of preparing boys and girls
for the vocations of life, particularly not
represented by the professions.

The question now comes up—Shall this
movement be extended? Why not?
Shall the public school system serve all
the people, or shall it continue to serve
merely that fraction of our youth who
go on into the colleges and become
generals or captains of industry? 1 go

419

[May, 1910.

so far as to say that our democracy toa
great degree depends upon the proper
answer to this question. Wecan never
democratize education, we can never
democratize industry, we can never
thoroughly democratize our civilization
until we have made the public school
system the feeder for all the great
vocations of life. Agriculture plays
such an important part in our national
labour and life that no scheme of voca-
tional education could for a moment
ignore it.

Let us pass to the final questions,—To
what extent and how can elementary
and secondary agriculture be made a
part of the school system ?

First, with respect to elementary agri-
culture. Certainly elementary agricul-
ture should be taught in the rural
schools, both because the environment
of the child must play so large a part in
his education, and because the study of
agriculture in the country school will
lay a foundation for interest and skill in
the agricultural vocation, into which
so many of the country-bred children
willgo. Toa degree, elementary agri-
culture should also go into the city
schools because the city environment
yields so little to many phases of the
child’s education, and because the
material of agriculture is in itself so
fresh, so interesting, so tonic.

_ There are difficulties in the way of
introducing elementary agriculture into
the public schools we cannot deny, first,
because of the lack of qualified teachers,
and second, for lack of time. With res-
pect to the teachers it is safe to say that
teachers of elementary agriculture can
be trained. They are being trained.
But we should not blink the fact that
probably the ordinary teacher in the
country school who has to teach many
things will hardly prepare herself ade-
quately to teach elementary agriculture.
If this work is to be done at its best we
can expect that only special teachers
specifically trained can meet the need,

With regard: to the lack of time the
only solution is correlation of subject
matter. Agriculture may be. taught
through arithmetic, or, better, arith-
metic through agriculture. If agricul-
ture is to be introduced into the lower
schools it must not come in simply as
an additional subject. It must be re-
lated to all other subjects in the curri-
culum, but related in an organic and
definite way.

Now with respect to secondary agri-
culture. Shallit be put into the high
school as a means of education alongside
the other subjects, or shall it be only

May, 1910.) 420

a means of vocational training by
which the school in which it is placed
shall be a finishing school? Or shall
both be done? I advocate that it be
introduced into the schools for both
reasons. There are difficulties in making
agriculture a part of the regular high
school curriculum, and in some schools
it will be a long time before that is
done, But it is worth doing. I am
satisfied that there is a movement now
setting in which arises from the interest
of the teachers and looks toward this
very thing. Some wish to teach agri-
cultural subjects in order that the pupil
may be better able to enter the agricul-
tural college.

There can be but one answer to the
question,—Shall agriculture of second-
ary grade be given as a vocationa
subject? It is needed badly. Our agri-
cultural colleges are doing well, and a
few years hence they are going to have
many more students than they are
having to-day. Butas every one knows,
they do not meet the need of the
great body of young men who will
never go to college no matter how good
the course, no matter how great the
need of training.

Perhaps the most important question
which faces us at this time is whether
we shall have separate schools of agri-
culture, or whether we shall put agri-
culture into existing high schools.
Agricultural educators and others are
gradually taking sides on this question,
and I think it is only fair to say that,
whereas as hort time ago the idea seemed
to be running in favour of separate
schools of agriculture, to-day some of
our leading men are making serious
objections to the separate schools of
agriculture and are advocating very
strongly that agriculture shall be put
into existing high schools and recognized
as a subject of study there. While I
do not expect to say the final word on
this question, and while in fact I hold
myself in readiness to change my
Opinion, my present answer to this
inquiry is that we should do both. 1
believe keenly, to put the matter in a
nutshell, that we ought to place agri-
culture in the high schools alongside of
other subjects of study, but I believe
that at the same time we should estab-
lish separate schools of agriculture sub-
stantially vf secondary grade,

Let me state some of the advantages
of the separate schools, In the first
place they emphasize vocation. It
seems to me that the ordinary course of
study in the high school, in the nature
of things cannot, and perhaps should
not, give due emphasis to a particular

calling. The special task of the high
school is to give foundation training.
Inevitably the demand for vocational
education will compel high schools to
offer also courses fitting pupils for
various occupations. But almost as
inevitably the occupational courses will
be segregated. Whether or not the
separation shall be so marked that an
entirely new school shall be set apart
for a given vocation or set of vocations
is a question to be determined entirely
by circumstances. Some towns can
afford the separate schools, some cannot,

In the second place, the separate
school is likely to have more adequate
equipmeut for specialized purposes. It
is difficult for the average high school
to procure adequate land, animals, crops,
teachers. The separate high school of
agriculture must have those things,
merely to justify its existence as an agri-
cultural school. It takes a large equip-
ment for the proper study of agriculture
if the course is to fitonefor the business.
Few high schools can afford the expense,

In the third place, separate schools
will have the agricultural atmosphere.
Students will think, act and dream in
terms of agriculture. Whichever way
they turn they come upon something
that drives home the fact that they are
studying agriculture, that they are
preparing for cheir vocation.

And finally, separate schools of agri-
culture will naturally evolve into finish-
ing schools for young men who cannot
go to college. 1 donot believe our public
high schools will ever devote sufficient
attention to any one vocation like agri-
culture to make it possible for them to
train the number of men who ought to
be trained for work upon the farm. It
seems to me imperative that we recognize
this need, and that we supply it by that
form of school which definitely makes
agriculture, as a life work, its principal
objects and aim.

There are many objections raised to
separate schools of agriculture. One of
them is that the high schools can do this
work well enough. In the first place,
however, you must remember that this
equipment costs money. Our larger
high schools are in thecity, and even if
they put agriculture into the high schools
they are bound to reach only a small

proportion of the pupils who need this ©

work. You will have the anomaly also
of an agricultural school or courses of
study inacity environment. Of course
it would be possible for the city to estab-
lish its high school out in the suburbs in
the rural section, but when you have

done that you have to all intents and ~

purposes made a separate high school,

=
a
coh
™
as
\

Bducation,

It is also objected that if you have
separate schools you break down the
present schoolsystem. It seems to me
that in answer to this we would say that
separate work is a necessity for ade-
quate vocational training. We must
organize agriculture as a vocational sub-
ject of study by itself, related of
course to other subjects, but still a
thing somewhat by itself, if you are to
get real vocational results. And this
process logically will probably eventuate
in separate schools fer agriculture.
Furthermore, I do not see that it is
necessary to separate these individual
agricultural high schools from the public
school system. It seems tome that we
must maintain the integrity of our
public school system, but I do not believe
that the mere fact of establishing an
agricultural high school leads necessarily
to making that school something apart
from the public school system.

It is also urged that separate schools
make a cleavage of social classes. On
this point my feeling is this. It is better
to have cleavage within the schools than
to have a cleavage between the schooled
who do not go into industries and the
unschooled who do. And that is precise-
ly what has taken place in the days gone
by. Those who went through the
high schools have largely gone into
professions. They have not gone into
industry. And boys who have gone into
industry have not been educated in the
high schools.

If you put agriculture into the high
schools, you attract those who want to
go into this field of industry. Sooner or
later there may come some cleavage in
the school itself. If agricultural edu-
eation is introduced into the school, and
the school is made really vocational,
made really a finishing course, it will
of course be marked off necessarily from
other educational training and from
work of a general type. But I foresee
no serious danger from this. Vocations
do inevitably breed social classes. I
can’t see that. thorough training for
vocations, even in schools specially de-
voted to that purpose, is likely to in-
crease the tendency to stratification.
It will rather break it down because
each occupation will be dignified by
being intellectualized.

And finally, I object to the idea
implied in the argument against separ-
ate schools of agriculture, that a voca-
tional course fails to educate a man
as wellas to make a worker. Iclaim
that a well-balanced course of agri-
culture, properly taught, trains men,
and that it has definite educational
values. Hence sucha course is still an

~ 421 [May, 1910.

educator of men as well asa trainer of
workers. The man is trained asa worker
and the worker is educated as a man.
In the same way in which a man educated
by his work, so aman may be educated
in the process of being trained for his
work.

Let us then put agriculture into the
schoolseverywhere. Let us haveseparate
schools of agriculture wherever such
schools can be maintained. Let us also
put agriculture into the regular work of
existing schools. Let us give every boy
and girl in the Commonwealth a chance
to prepare for farm life, and at least to
use the splendid materials offered DY
agriculture in securing a broader outloo
upon life.

DISCUSSION.

Dr, David F. Lincoln asked for further
information concerning the proposed
Northampton school.

Pres. Butterfield replied that he was
not familiar with all the plans, but it
was expected to open the school next
autumn. Itis established as the result
of a provision made by Mr. Smith of
Northampton some. sixty years ago.
After much delay the city has decided
to aid in organizing it; and a Director
has been chosen.

It will be a school for youth who
desire to get practical work in horti-
culture and husbandary onthe farm,
and at the same time have some regular
school studies with it. The aim of the
course will be to give general as well as
technical instruction. He stated thata
farm had been purchased on the out-
skirts of Northampton, and that it would
be a boarding school. He said that this
kind of a school would develop in a little
different way than an agricuitural high
school, or any organization in a small
town. It will become a sort of semi-
agricultural college, though open to boys
as young, perhaps, as fourteen years.
They will taka up subjects not taken in
college. The length ot the course is to
be four years, and a course of study has
been outlinedina pamphlet issued by
the Commission on Industrial Education.
Pres. Butterfield said he thought there
Was, need of such an institution in the
State.

Pres. Butterfield referred also to the
Davis Bill, introduced into Congress by
Congressman Davis of Minnesota, which
provides $8,000,000 to bedistributed to
States on the per capita basis. The Bill
calls for establishment of schools of agri-
culture and mechanic arts in each State
and under its provisions agricultural
schools can be provided in agricultural
sections,

May, 1910,]

The income is limited to ten cents per
capita, thus Massachusetts would receive
about $325,000 for this purpose. He
thought that the Bill would not be likely
to pass this season, but it was being
pushed by interested parties, and would,
no doubt, soon become a law.

Robert Cameron inquired how far
this agricultural school would carry a
boy. Would he beable to analyze soil
and water? Hefurther asked what the
boys would be able to do after being
graduated from the agricultural school
rather than the high school.

Pres. Butterfield replied that people
very often mistake the work of a farmer.
Analyze soil and water is the province of
the man in the laboratory and not the

farmer, In training farmers we do not.

make chemists of them; we do try
to make them understand the funda-
mental principles of farming. He said
that in some cases in the college
work mendo not get the best results.
Some were not fitted or were in-
capable of making a success of the
vocation. The ideal of the college stand-
ing back of its graduates had not been
reached. A boy who is quite capable of
doing the required work in good shape
in the college might, when placed ina
position where he must do the real work
and make it a success, bea failure. He
said that he thought the course in an
agricultural college could be fu:ther
developed by requiring that every boy
should have had at least one summer of
practical work in managing a firm.

AGRICULTURAL TEACHING FOR
THE RYOT.

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 8, August 2, 1909.)

It has often been said that the chief
problem of Agricultural Departments in
this country is how to get the results of
experiment and research to the know-
ledge of the ryot. To establish certain
conclusions at Pusa is one thing; to
place these achievements at the disposal
of the actual cultivators of the soil is
another and much more difficult matter.
The question has for some years been
engaging the attention of the officers
concerned, and in the recently issued
Report of the Board of Agriculture a
brief account is given of the discussion
on the subject held in Nagpur last Febru-
ary. The symposium, as it may per-
haps be called, centered on the report of
a Committee which had considered the
best means of reaching the ryot. Dr.
Mann, by whom the recommendations
of the Committee were brought up, has

422

long been an enthusiastic advocate of
popularising experimental results, and
no exception can be taken to his state-
ment of the general principles on which
attempts to educate the masses must be
based if they are to be successful. Who-
ever wishes to teach the ryot must
have a personality which will win confi-
dence. He must have an accurate know-
ledge of local conditions. The peasantry
everywhere in the world are inclined to
doubt whether. a stranger’s theories will
apply to their part of the country, and
if this initial distrust is to be overcome,
it can only be by showing an exact
familiarity with what the peasant him-
self knows. The methods which it is
sought to introduce should be such as
will pay a profit when the increased cost
has been taken into account. Ur. Mann
also insisted upon the necessity of ena-
bling the ryot to get capital at a cheaper
rate by means of agricultural banks and
similar organisations. The financial
aspects of the improvement of agricul-
ture must undoubtedly be kept in mind
from first to last. It would be dubious
kindness to induce the ryot to adopt a
new method which, though profitable
under ideal conditions, was more costly
to him than his own familiar way. It
is, moreover, idle to obtain great results
on experimental farms by the use of
manures or appliances which are beyond
the means of the ryot, As bearing on
this point we note with interest that
the Director of Agriculture in Hastern
Bengal and Assam, in sketching the
work to be undertaken on the agricul-
tural stations, says:—‘‘The scheme. of
sugarcane experiments has been re-
modelled with a view to (a) the existing
soil conditions of the farms, (6) the
limited resources of local ryots. It is
considered that heavy doses of oil cake
and other expensive manures are not
within the means of ordinary ryots and
prejudice whatever good results may be
obtained on the farms. At Rajshahi
and Jorhat it is therefore proposed to
experiment with a view to find the best
cane for local conditions with the manu-
rial treatment most generally in vogue in
the neighbourhood.” This new scheme
is obviously on the right lines, though it
is plain that the improvement of
manures, with a due regard to the
means of the ryot is a most important
branch of agricultural reforms. Dr.
Mann’s final recommendation was that
efforts at agricultural improvement
should be concentrated on small areas
and on problems of a definite character.
This suggestion is fully in accord with
the policy which its author pursued
when he served as Scientific Officer of
the Indian Tea Association and which

Education.

led toa general recognition among tea
planters of the value of scientific assist-
ance in coping with the problems of
tea-culture. Among the speakers who
followed Dr. Mann, the Chief Commis-
sioner of the Central Provinces was
pemaps the most practical, touching as

e did on the close connection between
agricultural reforms and co-operative
credit. Many will be disposed to think
that the solution of many difficulties
will be found by linking co-operative
societies with any scheme for dissemin-
ating agriculturalinformation. It seems
reasonable to suppose that, if a Co-oper-
ative Society is working on right lines
and is enabling its membLers to win their
way out of a condition of debt and
dependence, it will kindle in the minds
of these members a desire for better
methods of cultivation and for making
a more profitable use of their land. And
being already organised for one useful
end they should find it an easy matter
to co-operate for other purposes such
as the purchase of any artificial manure
which may be recommended by the Agri-
cultural Department or of appliances,
similarly reeommended, which they could
not individually afford to obtain. There
is indeed no limit to the beneficent oper-
ations of Co-operative Societies when
they once have taken root and have
attained an independent vitality. The
Royal Commission on Decentralisation
rejected the proposal that the revival of
the village purchayat should be entrust-
ed to the Registrars of Co-operative
Credit Societies, but we are not con-
vineed that the idea is not deserving of
further consideration, for a vigorous Co-
operative Society might well become the
village organisation for all the purposes
which require the united action of
the villagers.

THE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURK.
(From the Uwiversity Farm, Davis,
California, No. 48, September, 1909.)

The School of Agriculture opened for
instruction to regular students in Janu-
ary, 1909, Its purpose is to furnish a
technical training in agriculture to those
who do not wish, or do not feel able, to
pursue a college course. The regular
course is for three years, and does not
fulfil the requirements for entrance to
college. After finishing the course in
the school, however, a student can
usually make up the remaining college
entrance subjects, if he wishes to do so,
by spending a year or two at an ac-
credited high school.

The plan of the school is ultimately
to include work in Domestic Science for

425

Vv

(May, 1910.

girls. But at present, owing to in-
sufficient facilities, only boys are admit-
ted to the School.

LENGTH OF SCHOOL YEAR.—The school
year is divided into two terms. The
first term begins during the latter part
of September and runs until Christmas ;
the second terms begins immediately
after New Year and closes early in May.
Instruction begins promptly at the
beginning of the term, and all students
are expected to be present on the first
day otf the term, and to remain until
the close of the term.

CouRSE OF StuDyY.—The course of
study covers quite completely the
various branches of agriculture followed
in this State. The principal aim of the
course, however, is to give sufficient
understanding of the fundamental princi-
ples upon which all successful agricul-
ture is based, so that those who have
completed the course will be able to
act intelligently in arriving at a solution
of the individual problems which every
farming enterprise presents. With this
end in view, more than half of the work
of the course is actual laboratory or
field work. Most of the time is spent
on strictly agricultural subjects, but
solid courses are given in practical
English, mathematics and history.

COURSES OF STUDY.

First Year.
First term, Second teim,
13 weeks. 18 weeks.

Botany and Plant

Propagation ws 8 8
Livestock Judging — 4
Agriculture rs 4
Entomology 6 —
Poultry _ 5
Farm Practice wag ye 3
Arithmetic and Alge-

ra Bi AreLS: 3
English See 3
Second Year.

Chemistry ... i 8 8
Horticulture and Viti-

culture ... ~ 16 6
Animal Industry 10 —_
Dairy Industry — 8
Farm Accounts _— 2
Mathematics 3 3
English fs B 3

Third Year,

Soil Fertility and Farm

Crops ... Pa 6
Farm Mechanics 6 6
Irrigation ... lew: 4
Animal Physiology an

Animal Industry 4 4
Elective 4 4.
Mathematics 3 3
History and Civics 3 3

¥

May, 1910, ] 424

Note.—During 1909-10 second-year stu-

dents will take, in place of animal indus-
try first term,

Entomology (6) and

Poultry (5) or Agriculture (5). Animal
industry will be given in the second
term in place of dairy industry.

MISCELLANEOUS.

FARMERS’ CO-OPERATIVE
SOCIETIES.

(Extract from Board of Agriculture,
(England) Leafiet, No. 97.)

The idea of combining for purposes of
trade in Societies conducted on_ co-
operative lines perhaps originated in
England, where it has certainly received
its greatest development. While, how-
ever, English workmen have always
been the foremost in this movement,
English farmers have too often stood
aloof and have allowed foreign nations
to carry agricultural co-operation to a
point unknown in this country. There
are many reasons for this reluctance to
join Co-operative Societies, reasons
which are not at all discreditable to the
farming class, who have often shown
themselves fully capable of combining
in other directions. Yetit has proved
disastrous to them in some respects, for
it has enabled the farmers of foreign
nations, who have shown greater apti-
tude in trade combination, to secure
markets for their produce in competition
with English growers.

There are signs, however, that this
unwillingness is dying out, and there are
many Societies throughout the United
Kingdom which are carrying on a
successful business which farmers and
all other cultivators of the soil would do
well in joining, though there is still
ample room for the formation of other
Societies on similar lines,

Agricultural Co-operation may be
applied in four ways:—(l) The joint
purchase of farm requisities, such as
artificial manures, feeding stuffs, seeds
and implements; (2) The joint sale of
agricultural produce; (3) Mutual insur-
ance; and (4) Credit banks and loan
societies on co-operative lines. The
present leaflet deals only with the first
two subjects, the last two being con-
sidered in separate leaflets.

SocIETIES FOR THE PURCHASE OF FARM
REQUISITES. 5

This kind of society is obviously the
most simpJe and most readily adapted to
farming needs. Indeed, there are some
large associations of this order which
have a continuous history extending
over thirty or forty years, and which
have undoubtedly been of great service

to the agricultural classes. The benefit
of such societies is perhaps most obvious
to smallfarmers, who only require to
buy manures, cake, seeds and imple-
ments in small quantities. By pur-
chasing direct from the manufacturer
and selling at a trifle above cost price
a Co-operative Soeiety enables a small
farmer to procure his goods at a much
more moderate price than would be
possible if he purchased on his own
account from local dealers. He obtains
the benefit of lower rates ot carriage,
and is assured by guarantee of the genu-
ineness of his goods.

The benefit to a large farmer is equally
great, though for a less obvious reason.
The quality of manures and feeding
stuffs can practically only be tested by
analysis, and even then some scientific
knowledge is requisite to appreciate
the results obtained and the relation
between the price charged and the value
represented by the analysis. By joining
a Co-operative Society a farmer is
assured not only that he is paying the
proper market price, but also that he is
getting a genuine article for his money,
for it cannot be to a Society’s interest to
cheat its own members,

SOCIETIES FOR THE SALE OF AGRI-
CULTURAL PRODUCE.

Societies tor the sale of produce are
chiefly of benefit to small farmers and
persons who confine their attention toa
few kinds ofagricultural produce, They
are certainly also useful to those exten-
sively occupied in mixed farming,
though it is chiefly among dairy farmers
that societies for the sale of produce
find their members. It is well known
that in Denmark, where large quantities
of milk are made into butter for the
foreign market, the dairy farmers have
formed Co-operative Societies in order
to secure not only economy in manu-
facture, but also that uniformity of
quality which has enabled them to dis-
place their rivals. Small holders who
desire to sell their produce in the market
will find membership of a well-managed
Co-operative Society an enormous ad-
vantage, inasmuch as they will be saved
the trouble and expense of marketing
their goods, and will be able to devote
the time so saved to the cultivation of
their holding. A double saving is thus

Miscellaneous.

=F > >< s —e a
~ ee FS

ee

a

igs

|

Miscellaneous,

secured. lt must not be supposed, how-
ever, that the Society for purchase can-
not also be a Society for sale. It is
useful to begin with the former class of
business and proceed to the latter as the
Society progresses and prospers.

The secret of success of all co-oper-
ative trading, however, is solidarity of
union. Every member of a Society who
undertakesto sell his produce at the
Society’s store or depot should be bound
to offer all his produce if wanted, or at
any rate the best he has. If he tries to
sell his best produce privately and only
sends his inferior stuff to the Store he is
acting against the interest of the Society
and may bring about its downfall, since
no customer will go to a store where
only second-rate goods are to be bought
when better produce is on sale elsewhere.
This point cannot be too strongly
insisted upon, and should form one of
the rules of every Society that is formed.

- The second point is that profits should
be divided in proportion to trade done,
and not to capital invested. There are
many Societies formed on joint stock
lines with which farmers may usefully
and profitably trade, but these are not
Co-operative Societies in the true sense
of the word, and small local Soeieties
should not be formed on these lines. If
profits are divided according to trade
done every member has an additional
inducement to support the Society by
his custom.

Finally, it is advisable that societies
should not attempt too extensive a
business at the beginning. Leaflet No.
111 (Co-operative Egg and Poultry
Societies) shows how small societies may
be formed for the purpose of dealing in
one class of produce. It is usually advis-
able to begin in this way,and to extend
the business as trade grows. It tends to
greater security, and is less likely to
rouse the hostility of other local traders.

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT.
(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol,
XXXIV., No, 9, September 1, 1909.)

It is but too frequently repeated a
truism that more than eighty percent.
of the people of India live on agri-
eulture, that itis the staple industry of
the country. For years and years now
it has also becomean equally patent fact
that this resource is slowly but surely
failing us, and that the land has ceased
to yield enough to maintain the millions
that live on its bosom. All thisis per-
fectly true, and the ancient idea of agri-
culture being the best of all pursuits nas

54

425

[May, 1910,

begun to look ridiculous in the light of
existing conditions. any causes have
brought about this sad state of things.
What with the heavy Government
assessment, the frequent failures of the
monsoon currents, plague and such other
evils, the Indian cultivator has come to
be on his last legs; and unless something
is done for him, and the agriculturist
himself is induced to do something for
his own salvation, his case seems to be as
hopeless as that of the nomadic tribes
that haunt the terrible sandy wastes of
the Sahara. When reflecting upon the
present sad condition of the Indian
cultivator one important point, however,
is generally completely lost sight of—
the comparative question of population.
It will be hypocritical to deny that the
Land-tax is heavy; that the way in
which it is collected inconveniently
exacting ; that the erratic course of the
monsoons not only ruins the crops but
also, by withholding a plentiful supply
of fodder, kills millions of cattle—the
most valuable asset of every Indian
agriculturist, But why lay all the sins
of commission and omission only at the
door of the causes of deterioration we
have mentioned above, and lose sight of
the tremendous increase that has taken
place in the population during the last
hundred years, the irresponsible mul-
tiplication which has taken place asa
result of the Pax Britannica? A certain
area can, even under the best climatic
conditions, support only a_ certain
number of people. If the number of
voracious mouths increases by leaps and
bounds and no effort is made to add,
by scientific means, to the productive
capacity of the land—can the latter be
held responsible for all the sufferings of
those who live thereon? This is an
aspect of the question that has not been
given as serious attention as it deserved.
The ‘‘Kxtremists” on this particular
question twit the Government with
the excessive Land-tax and their spend-
ing more on railway construction than
on irrigation, and attribute this as
the great cause of our frequent famines
and chronic scarcity. The authorities,
on the other hand, very pertinently
ask the question, were there no famines
in India before the British Govern-
ment stepped in? Both the parties
are in one sense right, but each has
lost sight of one fundamental fact,
The interrogator forgets that whereas
his vatan, a hundred years ago, supported
adozen people, it has now to support
twice if not four times that number.
And all the while the land has been
deteriorating. Hxhaustion is a universal
and eternal law. Government, on the
other hand, forget that, though there

May, 1910.]

were famines in the pre-British days,
the helpless mouths to be fed were not
as bewilderingly numerous as they are
now —and that there were no exports
of food grains in those days—neither
Railways nor Ralli Brothers. So, to no
small extent, both the combatants may
be said to have been arguing in a circle—
losing complete sight of the essential
necessities of the situation. The people
must accept the inevitable—the existence
of British supremacy, and cultivate the
art of adapting themselves to existent
circumstances. Since irrigation on any
eolossal scale is non est, and so the
expansion of the area cultivated im-
possible, their only salvation lies in
eking out the maximum of product from
the land already under cultivation, by
nourishing it with artificial means and
scientific methods and make it yield far
more than it has hitherto or ever before
done. On the other hand, the British
authorities should also remember that
since Railway extension, heavy land
assessment, Income and Salt taxes, a
perfect but ruinously costly system of
administration, a heavy military outlay,
etc., are unavoidable in the circumstances
of the case, their best genius, bona fides
and energy should be directed towards
helping the productive capacity of the
agriculturist, who represents more than
eighty per cent. of the population, in
order that he may be able simultaneously
to support his aggravatingly multiplied
brood, as also to meet the demands made
upon him by the exigencies of a foreign
domination. It will thus be seen that
the unprofitable process of arguing in a
circle has gone on too long. The people
must do a good deal in the matter and
the Government a great deal more.
What Government ought to do in the
matter has been stated so unequivocally
and so repeatedly by responsible Indian
thinkers and politicians, that we will not
to-day look into this side of the question.
We have no doubt, that with the pro-
mising era of reform that will shortly
open, Government will do the needful in
the matter of lessening the burden of
the Land-tax, taking up in hand, more
seriously than hitherto, the question of
irrigation, and providing every possible
facility to the ignorant Indian agri-
eulturist for improving his own lot.
But, on the other hand, the Indian culti-
vator must be made to realise that his
beloved ‘“‘mother earth” loves him as
much as she did his forefathers, but that
she is completely exhausted, through
more than the proverbia] thousand and
one causes, and that she cannot now
provide for him and his brood of un-
earning and unheeding progeny, unless
she is better taken eare of, Herein lies

426

improved agriculture.

a Ji a | Ph
aes ek

2 Se Os

2 ARGS Lt

Miscellaneous,

the crux of the question. There has
been somuch talk lately about ideals—
Swadeshi and others—that absolutely
nothing has been done towards, what we
may call, a practical awakening—parti-
cularly in the matter ofan agricultural
revival. Efforts in this direction have
spasmodically been made, in a dilettante
sort of manner. But unless thecountry,
as a whole, realises the necessity of
introducing such reforms as can alone
make the land yield enough to meet the
needs of the ever-increasing population,
it is bootless to hope that the prospects
of the ‘‘staple” industry of the land
can in any way improve.

But, to come to the point. Since
“passive resistance,” and such other
shiboleths have reached a high level of
suicidal aggressiveness, and have proved
miserable failures, does it not behove all
honest patriots to try their best to
inspire, encourage and revive the agri-
cultural industry? So far as _ the
Bombay Presidency is concerned, the
Hon. Sir Muir Mackenzie has been try-
ing all along his best. He may be said
to have been the father of agricultural
conferences in this presidency. That his
interest in this important question has
not abit abated can best be gathered
from the fact, that he presided this week
at the inauguration of the Deccan Agri-
cultural Association in Poona. The
remarkable speech which the Senior
Member of the Bombay Council made
on the occasion should be most carefully
studied by everybody interested in the
improvement of agriculture. The Agri-
cultural Association just started inthe
capital of the Deccan is a move in the
right direction. We have pointed out
above how, through various causes, the
productiveness of the land has deterior-
ated. The only remedy for improving
the position lies in bringing home to the
ryot the importance and paramount
necessity of adopting latest scientific
methods. There must, in fact, be a
regular and continuous campaign of
agricultural education. In this respect
it must be admitted that the Bombay
Government have done a good deal.
Thanks to the living interest taken in
the subject by the Hon. Sir Muir
Mackeuzie, an Agricultural College has
been established and a number of scho-
larships offered. The various Govern-
ment farms also practically illustrate
what can be done in the matter of
But these in-
stitutions cannot possibly reach the gen-
eral mass of cultivators. This work must
be undertaken by local bodies like
the Association just started at Poona—
there must be at least one for each

Miscellaneous,

district. The present is a promising
time for the starting of such bodies.
There was a time. when the Indian agri-
culturist was conservative toa degree,
and believed that the methods which
had been handed down from sire to son
through ages were the best. But by
slow degrees this feeling is changing.
Even ignorant villagers have slowly but
surely begun to realise that science really
has something practical to teach, that the
information already acquired is worth
disseminating, and that given a problem
there is not unseldom a solution ready,
or if not ready, that it will be found. It
is just at such psychological moment that
earnest efforts must be made to convert
the ryot. Hitherto there has been no
spontaneous effort on his part. Lack of
means, smallness of holdings, the fre-
quency of famines and their innate con-
servatism have all combined to prevent
any general movement for agricultural
improvement. But, we are sure, even
the mostignorant ryots are now ina
mood to be won if they are only pro-
perly wooed. What is necessary is

practical and frequent demonstration of”

the unmistakable superiority of modern
scientific methods over the ancient but
crude ones mostly followed. This can
best be done by district associations and
by the more substantial and enlightened
of landowners. The problem of im-
proved agriculture opens a vast field for
the superfluous energy of those who are
devoting it at present solely to unpro-
ductive politics.— The Parsi.

AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS.
(From the Journal of the Board of Agri-
- culture, India, 17th February, 1908.)

The formation of local Associations
for agricultural improvements has been
one of the most common methods of
increasing interest in the subject. It
has been successful in some cases and
more especially in the Central Provinces.
On the other hand the success has by no
means been universal.

In the Central Provinces, the local
Agricultural Association is most directly
connected with the Agricultural Depart-
ment of the Province. The district is
taken as a unit and the Collector is
Chairman of the Association. The in-
fluence and co-operation of the district
officers is considered to be an essential
condition of success. It is held that the
Associations must be in close touch with
the superior officers of the Agricultural
Department, one of whom always
attends the meetings of the Associations.
The meetings are held half-yearly before

427

{[May, 1910.

the opening of the kharif and the rabt
seasons, and the Director and Deputy
Directors devote some months each year
at these times to going from meeting to
meeting. Thus they know the members
personally. The members are limited in
number, and consist chiefly or almost
entirely of substantial agriculturists,
owners of villages who are also culti-
vators, heads of sub-divisions of culti-
vating castes and the like,—and the mem-
bers undertake to carry outa demonstra-
tion of an improvement suggested by the
Department. In this they are assisted
with seed, implements, or other mate-
rials needed for the purpose, and their
work is inspected by the Superintendent
of the nearest farm or other member
of the Departmental staff. At every
meeting an actual programme of work
is submitted, criticised by the members,
modified, if necessary, and the several
pieces of demonstration allotted to the
members. At the meeting the method
of lecturing without any actual pro-
gramme of work is being given up.
In the programme no piece of work is
recommended by the Agricultural De-
partment, unless it has been proved by
the Department itself to be likely to
succeed. T'wo meetings such as have
been described are held annually, and
though the people clamour for more, it
is considered advisable not to add to the
bumber. The time ot holding these
meetings depends on the system of
cropping.

These Associations have been largely
instrumental in introducing superior
varieties of tur, of jowar and of sugar
cane, and the adoption of improved
implements. The greatest advantage is,
however, felt to be that they bring the
Department into close touch with the
best cultivators in each district.

In Madras, the development of Agri-
cultural Associations has taken a more
independent line. They are officially
patronised but are independent bodies.
They usually take the district as the
unit, but branch associations are formed
in smaller areas. Their utility gener-
ally depends on the activity of local
men, generally educated men and often
substantial land-holders. They have in
the deltaic areas been the means of
introducing the system of transplanting
single seedlings in rice cultivation.
Elsewhere they have brought into prac-
tice improvements in manure conser-
vation; they have caused the use of the
process of. green manuring with wild
indigo after paddy to be adopted in
the Tanjore district, and have intro.
duced iron ploughs. They have hee,
instrumental in extending the culty.

Mav’ 1910,]

vation of paddy in Tinnevelly, jute in
Tanjore and Malabar, and ground-nut
in Malabar and South Canara. They
have, however, not been in existence
long enough for a definite opinion to be
formed of: their general utility. There
is a Central Agricultural Committee in
Madras which forms a link between the
various local Associations.

In Bombay there has been com-
paratively little development on this
line, but three District and a number
of Taluka Associations exist. They are
always independent bodies and often
combine in their functions other pur-
poses as well as those of agricultural
improvement. The two most active
and successful are in Dharwar (a District
Association) and in the Sangamner
Taluka of the Ahmednagar District. In
each case they depend largely for their
success on the personal influence of an
active local man, and they only have
official patronage. In Dharwar the Asso-
ciation has been instrumental in bring-
ing about the extension of the cultiva-
tion of Broach cotton in the district,
the more careful selection of Dharwar-
American cotton seed, and the adoption
of the Turnwrest plough. In Sam-
gamner the Association organises an
exceedingly important local agricultural
show subsidised by the Agricultural
Department, and has intr oduced im prov-
ed varieties of wheat. It has lead to
the establishment of a grain bank;
while breeding bulls have been intro-
duced as a« result of its operations. Many
of the Bombay Associations are con-
tinually asking for demonstration to
undertake; and the difficulty has been
and is now to find matters of proved
value for them to try.

In Bengal a Provincial Agricultural
Association and Divisional and District
Associations have recently been formed,
but it is too early to say what their
effect has been. These Associations
are largely composed of townsmen,
pleaders and Zamiudars not themselves
cultivators. In fact cultivators’ hold-
ings are generally so small that it is
considered unlikely that agricultural
Associations on the model of those in
the Central Provinces are likely to
succeed:

The utility of Agricultural Associa-
tions seems to depend largely on the
presence of a body of substantial men
who are also cultivators, on the personal
touch of the higher staff of the Agri-
cultural Department with the members,
on the definite engagement by the

members to do definite pieces of work,
and on the regularity of mestings, in-
spections and reports. In other matters

498 ’ - 2

‘conditions will vary with the districts.

It may and will be advisable to have
smaller associations than those of a dis-
trict in some instances, If such smaller
associations can .be sufficiently «sub-
stantial and intelligent, the Sub-Com-
mittee considers that they should be
encouraged.

NOTH ON ARGEMONE MEXICANA.

By J. H. MAIDEN.

(Krom the Agricultural Gazette of
N.S. W., Vol. XIX., Part 10,
October, 1908.)

(Previous references,—1891, Jan., p. 32;
March, p. 125; April, p. 175; 1895, March,
p. 157; April, p. 227; 1897, Jan., p. 3; 1899,
June, p. 490; 1901, June, p. 648.)

This weed known as ‘‘ Blue Thistle,”
“* Yellow Puppy, ” Mexican Poppy,”
“ Devil’s Fig,” ** White Thistle,” “ Binni-
guy Thistle,” ‘‘ Prickly Poppy,” is widely
looked upon in New South Wales as one
of the few weeds without any redeeming
feature.

In the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural
Journal (April, 1908, p. 493) the following
statement appeared :—

Mr. Bergh (Modder River) moved :—
‘That Congress (Harmers’ Congress, 1908)
r ecommends to Government the necessity
for removing from the list of noxious
weeds the plant commonly called Mexi-
can Poppy.” Seconded by Mr. Haarhoff.

Mr. P. Nel (Beaufort West) moved, as
an amendment :—‘‘That the Government
be informed of the diversity of opinion
between farmers as to the value or
otherwise of the Mexican poppy as a
fodder plant, and that they be requested
to appoint experts to make immediate
investigation.”

On a vote being taken, the amend-
ment was negatived, and the motion
agreed to.”

On inquiry of the Under-Secretary for
Agriculture at Capetown, the following
information was elicited :—

With reference to your letter of the
15th May last, relative to the above sub-
ject. [am directed to inform you that
the principal reason advanced by those
wishing to have Mexican Poppy (Arge-
mone mexicama) withdrawn from the
list of noxious plants is that in their
opinion it is not only uninjurious to, but
will even, in certain seasons, serve as
food for stock. This statement it will be
noted is not an official one by the De-

partment, but emanates from the farm-

ers themselves.

ee |

Miscellaneous.

Now I want to give even Blue Thistle
its due, and if any one wiJl show cause
why this weed should not be extermin-

ated, I shall be very glad to hear it. I

particularly desire evidence that stock
oe not an odd nibble, but use it as
ood.

[This is the yellow flowered thistle-
like poppy, not infrequent as a weed in
the dry country, e.g., about Elephant
Pass.—ED. }

CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIKTIKS:

PROCEEDINGS OF THE FouRTH Con-
FERENCE OF REGISTRARS.

(Krom the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXV., No. 2, February 1, 1910,)

One of the most interesting chapters
of the Proceedings of the Fourth Con-
ference of Registrars of Co-operative
Credit Societies is the report of the
discussion on the question how best to
encourage the assistance of non-officials.
In some parts of India this problem
has not to befaced. Mr. Ramachandra
Rao, of Madras, stated that he had
more offers of non-official aid than he
could make use of. But in Bengal and
in some other Provinces public spirit
among leading men has apparently not
risen to the level which it has attained
in Madras, and it has become necessary
to consider seriously how the help which
is ungrudgingly given in Huropean coun-
tries and in Madras can be secured.
The discussion was opened by Mr.
Buchan, who in a brief paper described
the present condition of affairs. The
Registrar in most Provinces is no longer
able to undertake the very important
work of propaganda. It is as much
as he can do to supervise the societies
already in existence. Owing to the lack
of local organisers he has been put in
the position of a financing agency, an
arrangement which Mr. Buchan rightly
declares to be unsound. If the Co-oper-
ative Societies are to have any life in
them, and to embody a healthy spirit
of self-help, they must be able to attract
local capital instead of relying upon
such loans as the Registrar is able to
arrange with the aid of a few philan-
thropists, and obviously if a loan to a
Co-operative Society is a safe investment
yielding a reasonable return on the
security, money ought to be forthcom-
ing locally from those who know the
society and its work. Further, agricul-
tural co-operation admits of many varie-
ties of form, which are indeed neces-
sary if full advantage is to be taken
of its principles. One locality needs one

429 [May, 1910.

kind of co-operation, a second locality

requires another. Different forms are
indeed in vogue in almost every Pro-
vinee in India. So much depends, how-
ever, on the locality and its special
needs that forthe successful adaptation
of co-operative credit to local peculiar-
ities the assistance of local men is
essential. All these facts points to the
necessity of enlisting the aid of a suffi-
cient number of voluntary organisers,
But the main ground upon which
such help must be obtained is that
tersely stated by Mr. Buchan: —‘ In
no country has co-operation become
a force until it has become a popular
movement, And so it will bein India.”
Believing, as we do, that in the adop-
tion, on a national scale, of the prin-
ciples of co-operative credit will be
found the remedy for the want of
capital and the heavy indebtedness
from which Indian Agriculture is suffer-
ing, and recognising that only by means
of the assistance of the educated classes
can the movement become popular in
India, we are convinced that ne effort
should be spared to make the work of
superintending societies attractive to
men who have the requisite education
and leisure. Mr. Buchan’s suggestion
is that District Co-operative Committees
should be formed, composed of members
really interested in co-operative credit,
whose object it should be to spread
co-operative principles, work out schemes
for the formation of new societies, and
supervise these societies when formed.
It is not improbable that this idea
would prove effective. This disinclin-
ation to personal service may be in some
measure due to ignorance of what res-
ponsibility is involed and of what
should be done. A committee would
remove these difficulties and be a means
of training new members in the prac-
tical application of co-sperative princi-
ples. Mr. Buchan proposes that the
District Officer should be honorary
president of the District Committee.
This feature of his scheme is searcely
necessary, and lays it open to the criti-
eism' offered by Mr. Fremantle that
‘societies started by prominent men
in order to please the Collector would
not do any useful work.” There is no
reason why the District Officer should
not give all the aid that he can, but it
should be distinctly understood that
only willing helpers are wanted, and
that those who are not interested are
disqualified. Two Indian Registrars are
of opinion that the Government ought
to recognise the work of the honorary
organisers in some appropriate manner,
They may be presumed to know the
failings of their own men of light and

MAy, 1910.] 430

leading, but the large number of liter-
ary and other societies which exist in
this country would seem to indicate
that there is an abundant supply of
disinterested service if only it can be
tapped. If, however, rewards are re-
quired we know of few forms of public
work which are more deserving of en-
couragement than efforts to lift the
peasantry of India out of the morass
of debt.

IRRIGATION METHODS.

By A. S. Kenyon.

(From the Philippine Agricultural |
Review, Vol. I., No. 10, October, 1908.)

A correspondent writes asking for
some notes on the amount of water
necessary for the growth of different
crops, the best means of applying the
water, the number of applications, and
the periods of the year for watering.
This makes too much of ademand upon
the limited space available for ‘‘ Answers
to Correspondents,” so that the reply
is given here in the ordinary pages of
the Journal as being of general interest.

In the first place, the volumes of water
required for the full growth of various
erops will vary very much. Water is
directly required by plants for transpi-
ration or evaporation through the sur-
faces of their leaves, consequently the
amount of foliage isan important factor,
and for the formation of their actual
bulk, of which water is a large consti-
tuent, running, in some cases, over 90
per cent.; but its greatest service is in
dissolving and thus rendering available
the plant foods contained in the soil.
In many parts of the State winter crops
get sufficient moisture from the heavens
for all their requirements, at any rate
with proper cultivation, while the same
may be said toa less degree of summer
erops. The latter may be successfully
grown, without artificial aidin watering,
over large areas where they are at
present either whole or partial failures,
by the adoption of improved methods
which are, in general, sowing in drills
sufficiently wide apart to permit of culti-
vation and, especially after rains, the
frequent use of the horse-hoe or scuffler,
between them. But in other localities—
over the greatest part of our northern
districts —winter crops require additional
moisture in many, nay, most years, and
the summer crops always. The supply
of these requirements is met by irri-
gation which may be derived from pub-
lic works under the State rivers and
water supply commision or from private
sources, such as pumping plants or by

«

i

iM

the construction of dams. It is well to
bear in mind that the Water Act 1905,
the water in all rivers, creeks, lakes,
lagoons or marshes even if wholly on
private land, is the property of the
Crown and can only be used lawfully
for irrigation under the authority of the
Commission. - True, riparian owners are
entitled to the free irrigation of 3 acres;
but only in direct connection with a
homestead or for its service, so that the
exception is only trifling. Licenses to
divert water from any source may be
obtained on reasonable terms and givea
much-desired security of tenure.

Having obtained the water, care must
be taken in applying it to the ground
so as to make a thorough job of it.
Mere soaking of the top few inches only
means early loss by evaporation with
but little water reaching the subsoil to
be there stored for future use. Sur-
face roots are encouraged and a brief
stimulus given the plant, too soon to
be lost. As water cannot be forced into
the ground, sufficient time must be
allowed for it to soak in and penetrate
to a reasonable depth. The time neces-
sary may beas little as fourteen hours,
but will generally amount to twenty-
four or over. The volume of water
necessary will depend upon the charac-
ter of the soil, and upon the method of
distributing adopted the rooting charac-
ter of the plant will also be a factor,
tomatves and lucerne, for instance, re-
quiring very different volumes. The
volume may vary from 8 inches or under
to as much as 20 inches in depth over
the whole surface. The most usual
depth is found to be about 7 inches.
One inch in depth over a surface of
one acre is equivalent to 23,000 gallons or
8,630 cubic feet.

The best means of distributing the
water so as to reach the plant’s roots, is
undoubtedly underground perforated
pipes; but this isa very costly method
and one not likely to be brought into
use here for some time to come. The
next best is by distributing furrows.
The furrows are ploughed out by the
ordinary garden or orchard plough and
generally along the line of fall, the
plants being sown in drills to suit. The
distance apart of the furrows depends
upon the nature of the soil; but 6 to 8
feet may be taken as the furthest and
3 feet as the most general. For fruit
trees, only two furrows are used for the
first two years, one on each side of the
row. Later, as the root system increases,
four or five furrows in each, depending
upon the distance apart of the trees, are
adopted. The water is let into the
furrows froma head ditch or distribu-

Miscellaneous.

Miscellaneous. 431

tary channel by outlets made of iron
pipes, wooden boxes, or simply shovel
euts secured from washing out by wisps
of straw or grass. Largely the amount
let out to each furrow must be deter-
mined by experience and ‘‘rule-of-
thumb” methods. The length of the
furrows varies with the nature of the
soil, the slope, and the natural features ;
they should rarely exceed ten chains in
length and are more generally about five.
Sufficient flow should be allowed into
each to just reach the lower end after
thoroughly soaking the ground on the
way. As soon after watering as the
state of the soil will permit, the scuffler
or harrows should be run over the
surface to torm an earth mulch to retain
the moisture. Cultivation as soon as
possible after watering is not only
essential for the furrow method, but
for all the systems.

The corrugation or permanent furrow
is the next way of distributing the irri-
gation water. For lucerne, the greatest
of the fodder crops, this systemis emi-
nently suitable, it being perennial and
profiting by frequent watering. In this
system, the plant is grown along low
ridges,and the shallow hollows or depres-
sions between are used for distributing
the water much the same way as for
furrows. After cultivation is, of course,
essential, care being taken to preserve
the shape of the corrugations. Owing to
the permanent character of the furrows,
watering is much simpler and more
certain. Once in working order and the
irrigator familiar with his ground and
its requirements, water may be turned
on into the head ditches and allowed to
distribute itself, saving a lot of labour
and annoyance.

In the spreading system, distributing
channels are run along contours, that is
on lines of the same level, at distances
of several chains apart. The water is
let outfrom a distributary by any of
the means already described and at
frequent intervals ; itis allowed to flow
slowly over the surface to the next
contour channel which picks up any
surplus. When well arranged, the result
should be the same as in the furrows,
very little reaching the end beyond that
required to soak the soilin the imme-
diate vicinity. If the land has been well
graded and levelled, this is a fairly
simple operation and the water will need
but little coaxing or blocking with the
long-handled shovel to spread over the
whole surface between the contour
drains. Plenty of labour at the outset
in land preparation and efficient system
will tend to greatly reduce the labour
required in distributing, and as the

[MAy, 1910.

latter is a continuous expense, no pains
should be spared to reduce it to its
lowes limits compatible with good
work.

The flooding or check system comes
next in order of merit. Check banks
which are advisably made low and wide
so that implements may be worked over
them, and at intervals to allow 6 inches
in depth of water at most being put on
the land. In somewhat undulating
country the check banks may with
advantage be run on the contours, each
being 4 inches lower, the water beiug
about flush with the top of the check
bank. With the _ section § generally
adopted, narrow and high, there is a
considerable liability to break away
causing a loss of water and damage to
crops. If the ground is tolerably level,
the check banks may be run in straight
lines, to suit cultivation and harvesting,
inclosing from 5 to 10 acres in each cheek,
This brings the description of distribut-
ing systems to a conclusion, for the
letting of water on toa paddock to find
its way as bestit can over the surface,
forming islands and leaving pools is not
a system, though unfortunately only too
common in practice. Too much stress
cannot be faid upon the three cardinal
requirements for successful irrigation :
preliminary grading or levelling of the
land to be watered; allowing sufficient
time for thorough soaking ; and surface
stirring as early as possible after
watering.

In all cases see that the seed bed is
moist. Land may be watered before
ploughing or after; but the moist seed
bed is essential, It may, of course, be due
to natural causes without any watering.
For winter crops, the next watering
depends upon the season. It may not
be needed until late in September, and
sometimes not at all. A third watering
is rarely called for. For summer crops
water seed beds as before, then give
another watering about a fortnight after
sprouting, and a third in a four weeks or
so as the season requires. This should
be sufficient to give afull and mature
growth. In the case of lucerne, a water-
ing should be given immediately after
each cutting, and then get to work with
the harrows. This, with favourable con-
ditions, may mean that five or even more
waterings may be needed. For fruit
trees, four waterings at most will do,
save in exceptional seasons, and vines do
with one less. Crops of the market
garden order wlll probably require more
frequent attention, but as they will in
general be of small extent only, they can
be sufficiently satisfactorily dealt with.
If supplies are drawn from a _ public

May, 1910.] 432

channel, provision will need to be made
to store some water for this purpose as
the channel will, in all probability, be
empty for longer intervals than the
plant will stand. Tanks are chiefly con-
structed, and with a pump available,
the soil may be used to form a basin
above the level, from which the water
may be gravitated as required.

The above notes will serve as a general
answer to the queries given at the head
of this article, but it is well to 1emember
that only broad principles can be given
the cultivator on paper. The irrigator
himself must solve most of the pro-
blems--and they will not be few—that
will arise. Hired labour will seldom be
satisfactory. The successful irrigator
will always be the small holder who can
give his personal attention to a small
area and work it thoroughly. As for
the larger holders, profits are to be
made even with rougher and cheaper
methods of distribution; but not to the
extent possible with the smaller man.

As a parting word, never let the water
touch the stems of growing plants in
hot weather, else you run serious risk
of injury to the plant. As to results to
be aimed at, if fruit growing is_ the
selected way, little improvement is
possible upon the existing methods of
cultivation and watering in vogue in
Mildura and in the Goulburn Valley. If
fodder and its conservation into animal
products per medium of the cow or the
sheep is chosen, then use all endea-
vours to get a good standard of lucerne.
Do not graze, but cut it and hand feed ;
and prepare to cut it out at intervals of
from five to eight years and resow after
an interval of other crops.

LITERATURE OF KCONOMIC
BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE.

By J, C. WILLIS.
Olives :—

DAyegalliers.
d'olive 1900.

Pickling green and ripe olives. Gras-
by in Queens]. Agr. JI., Feb. 1910,
p. 56.

TYolivier et Thuile

Kxamination of olive oil for the pre-
sence of Arachis oil. jtlackman i in
Chem. and Drug., 26. 2. 1910, p. 829,

Opium :—

The Bengal opium department. Ind.
Agr. 2, 8. 1908, p. 80.

aS OP eee res ee eee eee
a ere

’ wy We Sa We ee —
! et Se

Das Opium; Seine Gowan and
es Tropenpfi., May es

Opuntia :—
Prickly peeea as fodder. Queensl. Agr,
Jl., 21 Aug. ’08. “T,A.” Oct. 1908,
p. 142.
A new forage plant for India. Ind.
Agric., Nov. 1909, p. 827
Prickly pear: a pest or a fodder
plant. Ewart. Jl. Dpt. Agri. Vic-
Loria, Sept. 1909, “ T, a ” Red. 1910,
java ley

Palnyra Palin :—

The Godaveri palm disease. ‘‘T.A.”

Sept. 1907, p. 203.

Pandanus :—
Pandanus, Str. Bull., Aug. 1907, p. 241.

Papaw :—

Correlation of flower and fruit struc-
ture in Carica Papaya. Wester:
Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, ’08, p. 41.

Packing and shipping of fruit.
“TA.” Feb. 1909, p. 148.

Papaya juice, Philippine Ag, Review,

April 1909, p. 178. op A” Sept.
p- Palle
ents Papaya. Tropenfl., Nov, 1909,
p. 542.

Paper :
The roan ieenee of paper mane paper-
pulpin Barma. ‘‘T.A.” June 1907,
p. 355.
Lalang as_a paper material.
in Str. Bull. 1907, p, 379.

Lalang grass possessing good paper-
uialeing qualities. do. May 1908,
p 7 ry

Paper from wood pulp.
1907, pp. 407.

Wood pulp and wood pulp mach-
' inery. Queens!. Agr. JI., 1904, p. 44.

Lalang asa paper making material.
Agri. Bull. Str., Dec. 1908, p. 585,

Thesupply and manufacture of wood-
pulp. Ind. Tr. Jl., April’09. ‘*T. A.”
Novy.,; p. 409.

Pa per making i in Todia. Madtas Mail
23.10.09. “1. A.” Feb, 1910, p. 107.

New fibres for paper. Jan. 1910, p. 34.
Paper making in India. do. p. 102,
Paspaium :—
Pohath. A note on amu cultivation.
“TA,” July 1907, p. 52.
Patchouly :—
Patchouli. Str. Bull., June 1908, p. 195.

Ridley

a BPN Dec.

Miscellaneous. :

aye

aeN

Miscellaneous,
Pepper :—
Pepper cultivation in Malabar.

“TA.” Oct. 1907, p. 289.

The cultivation of pepper in Sarawak.
Str. Bull. 7, p. 189. ‘‘T.A.” Sept.
1908, p. 245.

Persea :—See Avocado.

Phaseolus :—
Lima beans. “T.A.” Aug. 1907, p. 140.

Lima beans. Agr. News, Mar. 1909.
«T.A.’ June 1909, p. 533.

Phormium :—

Zimmermann, Die Kultur und Ver-
wendung von P. tenax. Der Pflan-
zer, 14,1, 08, p. 8.

Phormium tenax. Philippine Ag.
Rev., May 1909, p. 244.

Phytelephas :--

Vegetable Ivory. W.I. Bull. IX, 3.
1908. ‘T.A.” May 1909, p. 441.

Pimento :—See Allspice.

Pineapples :- -

Fertilisers for pineapples.
Oct, 1907, p. 283.

Fibre d’Ananas. Journ. d’Agr. trop.
30, Nov. 1907, p. 328,

Pineapple growing in the West
Indies. Jam. Bull. 1908, p. 15.
Do. W. Ind. Bull., 1907,
p. 151. °° T.A.” June 1908, p. 526.
Fungus diseases of pineapples. W.
Ind. Bull. 8. 1907, p. 158.

L’industrie des conserves d’Ananas a
Singapore. Journ. d’Agr. trop.,
June 1908, p. 190.

Manures for pineapples. Agr. News
4. pee p. 100. “T,A.” July, 1908,
p. 82.

Pineapple culture III, IV. Fla, A.
Exp. Sta. Bull., ‘‘T.A.” Sept. 1908,
p- 231. Oct. 1908, p. 344.

Manufacture of pineapple juice.
Queensl. Agr, Journal, 1908, p. 211.
“T.A.” Sept. 1908, p. 244.

Pineapple growing in Florida. Hume.
Trop, Life, July 1908, p. 101, Aug.
1908, p. 116.

La culture de Annas en Hawaii.
Journ. d’Agr. trop., Oct. 1908, p.
304. L’Agric. pratique des pays
chauds, Jan. 1909, p. 10.

Packing and _ shipping of
“'T.A.” Feb, 1909, p. 150.

L’Industrie de lAnanas en Hawaii.

"Agric, pratique des pays chauds.
Rota p. 107. concluded March,
p. 207.

id bps Ge

fruit.

5d

433 May, 1910,

Pineapple growing in Porto Rico.
P, R. Ag. Exp. Sta. Ball. No. 8, 1909.

Pineapple industry in India. Agr. J].
India, April 1909, ‘T.A.” Sept.
p. 282.

The soil requirements of the pine-
apple. Ag. News. Oct. 16. 1909, p. 324.

Pineapple growingin Bataan. Philip-
pine Agr. Rev., Sept. 1909. ‘*'T.A.”
Jan. 1910.

La culture de l’Ananas & Porto Rico.
Journ. d’Agri. trop. 1909, p. 364.

Plantain :—

Les plantations de bananier au
Surinam. Journ. d’Agr. trop. Feb.
1908, p. 36.

De bacoven Kultuur in Costarica uit
een handelsoogpunt. Ind. Mere. 8,
9, 1908, p. 661,

Le bananier a Costarica, Bananes

seches et farine de banane. Journ.
d’ Agr. trop. Sept. 1908, p. 267.

Potentialities of plantain meal. Ind.
Agric, Aug. 1908, p. 248,
Bananas in the West Indies. Trop.

Life, Nov. 1908, p. 170, Dec. 1908,
p. 186.

Bacoven Kultuur in Suriname.
Mere. 17. 11. 1908, p. 853.

Banana growing in Cuba. Agr. News,
Aug. 1908. ‘‘T.A.” Dee. 1908, p. 524.

Kultur und Ausfuhr der Banane
in zentralamerika Tropenpflanzer.
Feb, 1909, p. 83.

Les plantations de Bananiers en
Kgypt. Journal d’Agr. trop. Jan.
1909, p. 14.

Packing and shipping of fruit. ‘°T. A.”
Feb. 1909, p. 149.

Banana cultivation. Queensl. Ag,
Journal, Aug. 1909, ‘*T,A.” Nov.,
p. 422.

Fibres de bananiers. Hautefeuille.
Journ. d’ Agr. trop, Apr, 1908, p. 97,
May 1908, p. 140.

Banana _ fibre weaving.
Sept. 1908, p. 390,

Potentialities of plantain meal.
“T.A,” Jan. 1909, p. 20.

L’alecool de Banane. Journ. d’Agr.

trop. March 1909, ». 76.
Plectranthus :—

P. ternatus received from Paris with
letter 401 of 1901. Oumime, pomme
de terre de Madagascar.

Ind.

Str. Bull.

Podocarpus i—

Yellow wood, Agr. Journ. Brit. EH,
Africa, April 1909, p. 440.

May, 1910.] 434

Potato :—

The origin of the potato. Nature 17.
12. 1908, p. 205.

Varieties of Potatoes grown in the
Central Provinces. Dept. of Agr.
C. P. by G. Evans.

Psophocarpus :—

Note sur le haricot de Birmanie.
Bull. Jard. Col. 7. 1907, p. 429.

A FLORAL PARADE FOR COLOMBO.
By J, C., WILLIs.*

In a land that is fond of ‘f Tamashas,”
in which flowers are fairly easily and
plentifully to be obtained, and in which
motors and other vehicles are abundant,
there is a good deal to be said in favour
of holding a ‘‘ Floral Parade” such as
that which was held in Honolulu on
February 21, 1908. An account taken
from the ‘‘ Hawaiian Star” is subjoined,
as well as a list of prizes,

Writing to Mr. L. G. Blackman, Editor
of the Hawaiian Forester and Agricul-
turist, to whom I am much indebted for
his kindness in sending me papers about
it, I received a book of pictures showing
the prize cars, &c., which were one mass
of flowers, as well as the procession
leaving the State House.

Mr. Blackman in a letter says :—

‘With regard to the chief desiderata
to make such an undertaking successful
I would recommend the following:

Its occurrence upon a public holiday.

Appointment of a small energetic com-
mittee of organisation with small sub-
committees for the various departments.

Prizes for each class of competing en-
trants.

A general rendezvous on day of event
for the judges to examine, and to allow
the contestants to be arranged properly
for the parade. For this latter purpose,
names of contestants should be required
a few days before, and places reserved
for each in the line of march. A good
plan is to stake out, or mark with white-
wash on the roadway, an allotted place
for each entrant to take position before
the parade is set in motion.

A grand parade of the contestants,
with finally a distribution of prizes.

Paper flowers should be either barred
or placed ina class by themselves.”

Such a parade should be a very success-
ful event in Colombo, held say in Janu-

* Written early in 1909.

Hee Oe ea a ee ae ee ee
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ary, and should add to the attractions
of the town during the town season, and
encourage the keeping up of good
gardens. We would suggest that every
kind of vehicle have a class.

THE GRHAT FLORAL PARADE.

Citizens of Honolulu are enthusiastic
in comment on their 1908 Floral Parade.
As it wended its way through the streets
this morning the crowds didn’t seem to
know which part to cheer the most, and
after it was over the general verdict
was that it was ‘‘ the best yet,” and that
it was an exhibition to be very proud
of. The weather was perfect, and a full,
clear sun brought out the full brilliancy
of the splendid colourings of the parade.

The start was quite prompt at 10
o’clock, and there was little interruption
after the first head of the parade moved.
Some difficulty was caused by street cars,
which did not stop the schedule service,
and especially they interrupted the
picturesque pa-u riders in their gallop
along King Street. The spectacle, on its
own scale, was declared to compare well
with Mardi Gras or any other event of
the sort to be seen, and the pleasure
of the public was expressed on every
hand. Floral beauty, feminine beauty
and the picturesque and the comic ele-
ments were all in the line, and the
happy result will add to public interest
and enthusiasm for the next parade.

The streets along which the parade
passed were lined by large crowds, who
cheered the various striking floats as
they passed.

Punahou College grounds were crowd-
ed long before the parade arrived, and
a handsome sum must have been realized
as an entrance fee of 25 cents was
charged.

The judges of the various divisions
had places roped off for them on the
Ewa terrace of Bishop Hall, and about
this the crowd assembled in a dense
throng. The police kept the drive in
front of the judges’ stand clear, how-
ever, and the parade reviewed slowly
before this.

After the winners had been announced
by the judges, these returned over the
course in review, and as they passed
they were photographed by Bonine with
his moving picture outfit. The sun was
shining brightly the while, and condi-
tions presaged an unusually successful
set of films, ;

The Oahu College pageant, which at-

tracted a great deal of attention, was —

‘6 i : * 4 eee tee
Miscellaneous. =

Ponene
|

a

4

Miscellaneous,
a reproduction of the May-day parade
given by the pupils of Punahou _last
spring.

A few minutes after 10 o’clock the
bugle call to start was sounded by Joe
Leal mounted on a prancing charger,
and the third annual Floral Parade was
in motion. Charles F. Chillingsworth
mounted on a gray horse assisted by
L. Petrie led the parade followed by
five young men mounted on bicycles,
the cycle decorations being very good.
One tandem was qupposed to represent
a boat, the entire hull being done in red
and white, while the riders were dressed
as sailors, Following the bicycle riders
eame the island princesses headed by
Miss Kmma Rose, who looked very well
with her herald and other members
of her suite.- Next came the princesses
of Maui, Oahu and Kauai in the order
named. After the princesses came the
pa-u riders in command of Judge Frank
Andrade, followed by a large number
of other riders consisting of Punahou
riders, cow boys, juvenile pa-u riders
and others mounted on prancing steeds.

After the parade had wheeled into
King Street it marched to Nuuanu, up
Nuuanu to Vineyard, through Vineyard
to the Queen’s Hospital grounds to
Punchbowl Street, where the automobile
section left the other part of the parade
and proceeded to the Punahou grounds.

The rest of the parade marched down
Punchbowl to King, and out to the
Punahou grounds where they joined the
automobile section.

The cars in the All Nation section were
as follows :—

1,—Governor’s car decorated with
American and Hawaiian flags driven
by C. de Lovelace. The passengers were
_ Governor and Mrs. Frear, Misses Virginia
and Beatrice Frear and Miss Dorothy
Smith and Master Harvey Hitchcock.

2.—Hawaiian car decorated with maile
and ilima representing the period of
Kiag Kamehameha I, L, Palenapa as
Kamehameha, and Arthur Aiwohi, Boki
and Mrs. Fern as his suite. Palenapa’s
personation was fine and was much
cheered.

3.—Portuguese car, driven by A. W.
Seabury, decorations blue and white;
flowers with the royalarms of Portugal
on the back of the machine, Mrs. Sea-
bury was the only passenger.

4.—Japanese car, representing Fuji-
yama, the whole car being in brown
with pine trees at the base, and white
effects to represent snow at the top.

5,—Japanese car, decorated with yel-
low flowers and yellow fans driven by

485

(May, 1910.

Nakamura, with two young ladies dress-
ed in Japanese costumes as passengers,

6.—Chinese car, representing a dragon
and other Chinese characters, driven by
HE. H. Lewis, and having as passengers
Hang Chack, Lum Chung Wo., Jr,
Look Chock and the Misses Ngan Hong
Quon and Sai Hong Quon dressed in
Chinese costume.

7.—British car, driven by George
Davies, representing John Bull and
Britannia with the Royal Standard of
Great Britain and other English flags.
George Davies, dressed as an Euglish
huntsman, while James Wilder was
dressed as John Bull with Miss Dorothy
Hilerbrock standing, her right hand
resting on a large non, representing
Brittania.

8.—Italian car, driven by Blackman,
decorated with the Italian colours, and
having as passengers Miss Irmgard
Schaefer and Mesdames Humphris and
Wilder.

The School section autos were:

Six Kawaiahao girls in Quinn’s car
representing their different nations in
the school, each in their National cos-
tume, the car being decorated in blue
and white, the colours of the school.
The nations represented and the names
of the girls follow: Wattie Robinson,
Hawaii; Josephine Olmes, Portugal;
Marie Hong, Korea; M. Salamanca,
Philippines; S, Hashadate; Japan, and
Sen Lan Ching, China.

Iolani School, J. A. McLeod, driving,
decorated with colours of the school, red
and white, having as passengers the
Rev, Mr. Bliss and four students.

St. Andrew’s Priory, A. Gartley’s car,
having five young girls from the school
dressed in yellow and black, the car
itself being decorated with ilima colours.

Mills Institute car, decorated with
Oriental colours and flags, the passengers
of the car being dressed in Oriental
costume.

Methodist Korean School, Clarence
Cooke driving, the car representing a
Korean pagoda and the passengers be-
iag dressed as Koreans.

Aliiolani College, Alexander Young’s
ear, representing a Hawaiian canoe, the
five boys from the college being dressed
in Hawaiian costume, Maile and ilima
as decorations.

Kamehameha School, J. B. Castle’s
car, driven by Schoening, the car being
decorated in red, the five passengers
being boys from the school dressed in
the uniform of the school,

May, 1910,)

Punahou car, decorated with the colours
of Punahou, yellow and blue; the ladies
of the school being dressed in yellow
with blue ashes. Stanley Kennedy was
driver, while the young ladies in the
car were the Misses Kennedy, Langton,
Smith and Hind.

The Committee
follows :—

A. Gartley, chairman.

R. H. Trent, treasurer.

C. BF. Chillingsworth, marshal.

L. Petrie, assistant marshal.

Geo. R. Carter, automobiles.

A. J. Campbell, carriages and vehicles.

S. M. Ballou, all nations,

Gerritt P, Wilder, Inter-Island Ha-
waiian Princesses.

Frank Andrade, pa-u_ riders.

W. A. Greenwell, riders other than

pa-u.

John Hughes,
grounds.

H. EK. Cooper, social clubs.

Albert Afong, prizes and decorations.

J. H, Soper, tickets.

J. B. Freitas, bicycles..

A. F. Griffiths, schools and colleges.

Private automobiles were in line as
follows :—

Mrs. George Fairchild was driving her
own car, the whole car being tastefully
decorated with violets. Huge bunches
of violets were at each end of the car,
while the ladies were dressed entirely in
violet carrying violet coloured parasols,
The passengers being the Misses Helen,
Alice and Lady Macfarlane.

Alexander Young’s car had Alexander
Young, driving, the whole car being in
blue, with butterflies and hydrangeas.
As passengers Mr. Young had Mesdames
R. W. Anderson, A. A, Young, A. Berg
and Miss Pauline Young.

United States Marine car was decor-
ated with the American flags entwined
with red and blue bunting, the colours
of the Marine Corps. The name U,
S. S. Marines in yellow flowers was
on both sides of the car. Harry Wilder
drove and had as passengers seven
marines in full dress uniform.

Kunalu Boat Club’s car was decorated
entirely in yellow and white, the colours
of the club. Oars and life preservers
were also used in the decorations. Jack
McCandless drove the car, and had fcr
his passengers the Misses Angus, Hall,
Lucas and Catton.

Colonel Sam Parker’s car used by the
Hawaii Promotion Committee was de-
corated in the national colours, having as
its passengers F. L. Waldron, W, T.
Lucas and James McLain,

in charge was as

arrangement and

436

Car representing legend, ‘‘ Remnants
of Robin Hood,” was entered by. 'T.
Clive Davies. The passengers were Miss
Muriel Davies, Maid Marion ; Miss Gwen-
dolen Davies, Allan-a-Dale’s bride;
Master Brian Davies, Master Arthur
Davies. Car was driven by T. Clive
Davies.

Mrs. L. Abrams’ car, driven by Mrs,
Abrams, was decorated entirely in
yellow poppies representing California.
On the front of the hood two brown
‘Teddy Bears” stood guard. . The ladies
in the car were dressed entirely in yellow,
they being Mesdames Crane, Soule and
Arendt, Hifteen thousand flowers were
used in the decorating of the car.

S. R. Jordan, driving his own ear,
which was deccrated in blue and green
morning glories, had as his guests Mrs,
Hugo Herzer and the Misses Jordan,
Spaulding and Restarick.

W. H. Brown’s car, known as the
“ Brownie car” and driven by himself,
was decorated with sunflowers and
paper berries. As his guests he had
Masters Stanley Mott-Smith, Ernest
Mott-Smith, Jr., Ernest Peterson and
Everett Brown.

C.C. Von Hamm, who received first
prize for Class C, had his car decorated
representing a basket of violets, the
entire car being one mass of the beau-
tiful flowers. Mrs. Von Hamm was his
only passenger.

William Schuman, who had his sister
Miss Myrtle Schuman as his passenger,
and who received second prize in the
Section C class had his car entirely
decorated with pink and white chrysan-
themums.

The ‘‘Nervy Nat” brothers in their
ancient Venetian Gondola with every-
thing to match were one ot the features
of the parade. The car looked the part
as did their owners, Old Venetian
shutters, wooden staves where the hood
should have been, were only some of the
things that were on the car. A chicken
coop on the rear in case of a break down
was another feature of the make-up of
the car Thetwo nerve brothers were
at their best during the entire parade.

Judge Kingsbury and Mrs. Kingsbury
had their car decorated only with the
American colours. Mrs. Kingsbury was
entirely in white.

The three Mardi Gras cars entered by
the Kilohana Art League were driven
by Messrs. Schaefer, Brown and Hodgins,
each car being ina different colour. All
the drivers as well as the passengers
were masked,

eat
~~.

~ Miscellaneous,

_Mrs. George Ross’s car driven by
Donald Ross and Miss Creighton as
passenger, was decorated with sugar
cane stalks and looked very pretty.
Both of the occupants had sugar bags as
their costumes.

The ‘“‘Prosit” car owned by Edgar
Henriques and decorated to represent
a huge cask was one of the best features
in the parade. The members of the
Anti-Drink Club Messrs. Hall, Martin,
Bergstrom, Reinecke, O’Neill and Doyle
were dressed as they were at the time
of the baseball cirnival. During the
entire parade they were drinking, but no
one knows what.

“The car that once through city
streets” belonging to Judge Ballou was
driven by Frank Thompson, the motive
power being a pair of old mules that
have been here since the first mules
arrived in the early 40’s. In the old relic
of better days were Billy Roth, Billy
Walker, Billy Williamsonand Dr. Smith
of the Naval station. An old funeral
trapping was on the back of the car,
while bunches of crape were placed at
different parts of the car. The mules
were draped in black, while the pas-
sengers wore bands of crepe on their
left arms.

THE PRIZES.

Prizes to automobiles were awarded
as follows, according toclass, and the
prize pennants distributed to the winners
by Mrs. Governor Fear :

Section A—Large touring cars:
First—Alexander Young.
Second—Mrs. George C. Fairchild.
Third—Kunalu Boat Club.
Honorable mention- U. S. Marine

Corps.

Section B—Small Touring cars:
First—Mrs. Louis Abrams.
Second—S. R. Jordan.
Third—Willard Brown.

Special prize to T. Clive Davies.

Section C—Runabouts :

First—C. C. von Hamm.
Second—William Schumann.
. Third—Kilohana Art League
Schaefer).

Section D—Comical Automobile:
George and Richard Cooke.

Comic Section, Vehicles:
Lunalilo Home Float.

Comic—Riders: ~*

Horse wearing pants.

Vehicles—Multiple team :

EK. H. Lewis (with band).

Four-in-hands :

First—San Juan Hill.

Second—Army transportation wagon.
Double teams ;:

Sam Parker,

(Gus

437 [May, 1910.

Single teams :
First—C, W. Macfarlane.
Second—Tom Hollinger.
Surreys:
A. J. Campbell.
Tableaux Floats :
Kilohana Art League.
Fire Departments :
First—Hose and Engine No. 4.
Second—Hose and Hngine No. 2.
Bicycles :

First—Tandem boat, Gilliland
Rodrigues.

Second—-Boy on blue and white dec-
orated wheel.

Third-— Goat cart.

Most Original :
Bicycle Fish, Freitas.
Most comical :
Harvey Canillon (tramp character).
Pony and Juvenile Turnout :
First—Marjory Gillman.
Second—Marian Stacker.
Other Vehicles :
Horse propelled auto, F, KE. Thompson.
Island Princesses :

First—Oahu—(Mrs. Mignonette Myers).

Second—Maui-—-(Miss Alice Bartho-
lomew.)

Special mention, Hawaii (Miss Emma
Rese),

Comie Section, Vehicles :

First—Wash wagon.

Flowers, Island Princesses :

Hawaii, Lehua; Maui, Red Rose from
Iao Valley; Molokai, Kukui; Oahu,
Tlima; Kauai, Mokihana.

Pau Riders :

First—Mrs. Hilo.

Second—Mrs. Kapulani.

38rd—Mrs. Walanika,

Cowboys:

First—John Fernandez.

Second-—-Sonny Gay.

Third—Ernest Gonsalves,

Juvenile Cowboys:

First—Monsarrat.

Second— Walter Grace.

Special prize, Harvey Holt.

Puecial prize for Riders to Mr, Kili-
nahi,

and

Best appearing couples, ladies: Miss
Wattie Holt and Miss Anabel Low;
Miss Rosie Herbert and Miss Lucas.

Best appearing couple : Miss Ross and
Mr. Lishman, first; Miss Smith and
Mr. Clark, second.

Juvenile Girl rider: First, Miss Ross;
Second, Miss Herbert.

Juvenile Boy riders: First, Master
Douglas Damion; second, Master Clark
Pratt.

Corie Ride :—Mr. Freitas.

The prizes for all except the bicycles
and juveniles were handsome pennants of

*

May, 1910,]

blue, red and yellow, first, second and
third in the order named. The prizes

dollars in cash.

DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE
AND THEIR FUNCTIONS.

(From the Agricultural News: Vol. VIII.,
No. 179, March, 1909.)

The functions of Departments of Agri-
culture are numerous and varied; it is
desirable, therefore, from time to time,
to review them in order to ensure that
all are properly exercised.

Some of the chief functions of a Depart-
ment of Agriculture are to collect the
results of experimental work that is in
progress at the stations under its control,
to keep in touch with investigations
carried on elsewhere, and to include in
its organization suitable means for
autasule the knowledge thus accumu-
ated.

The last named point is most import-
ant in agricultural work, and more
especially in regard to tropical agri-
culture. The great diversity of the
whole subject, and the fact that a
good deal of knowledge has been placed
on record which, however, is not yet
accessible in text-book form, but is
scattered in different journals and other
publications, together with the further
fact that the fund of information is
constantly being added to, all combine
to make the collection and diffusion of
results a very prominent part of the
work of an Agricultural Department.
It is not enough that the knowledge
exists, it must be made available to those
whom it most concerns, and every effort
made to adapt it to local conditions.
The men most interested—planters and
farmers—are frequently too busy or un-
able to hunt up required information
from out-of-the-way sources, hence the
value of a central agricultural office,
with its erganized sub-stations and staff
of officers, which recognizes as a chief
part of its duty the necessity to indicate
where facts needed are to be found, and
to make them easy of access to all.

A planter working alone encounters
many difficulties and stumbles upon
many problems interesting or perplex-
ing, he may expend much time, thought
and energy upon these, he may even
experiment and alter his methods of
working as the result of these efforts.
All this is time-consuming and the re-
sults are uncertain, If he is in touch
with a well-equipped Department he can
at the outset explain his difficulties or
views, he canthen learn whether these

-is probably largely determined by the

points have already received attention,

- either in his own neighbourhood or else-
other than these were from one to five - C

where, and his line of action can be
directed by the information thus made
available, Should his difficulties or
views be new, he can have laid before
him the general principles underlying
the questions at issue, and his thoughts,
experiments, and work can be directed
in right channels. Erroneous ideas will
be eliminated and sound ones engour-
aged, and thus the departmental assist-
ance may make for continuous progress
with the minimum waste of energy.

The usefulness of agricultural experi-
ment work cannot be lightly estimated,
since by its means the stock of definite
knowledge is increased, but it may
safely be stated that much of the value
of this work would be lost, were it not
for the continued existence of central
Agricultural Departments and the organ-
ized staff of officers at the outlying
stations, whose duties keep them in
touch with the work of planters all the
year round. Itis not enough to issue
periodical reports on the results of experi-
mental work. Planters seldom assimi-
late all that appears in the reports
brought before their notice, even when
these deal with their own subject; they
may, itis true, read such publications
carefully, but the points picked up in
this reading appeal to the mind accord-
ing to the particular work in hand at
the time, or the bent of the mind at the
moment. As a result, much valuable
information that is contained in reports
and occasional papers is often passed
over and forgotten. simply because it is
not immediately applicable.

The facts would be noted as being use-
ful if read at a seasonable time, or when
the subject in question was occupying
the mind of the reader; but under other
circumstances no impression is made
and the results of the experimental
work are in danger of being lost.

It is, however, the function of an
Agricultural Department, not only to
carry out experiments but to use
every effort to see that the results are

applied by the planters concerned. The -

points elucidated therefrom are again

brought to the notice of the planter by

officers of the department, and empha-
size at the time when the work in ques-
tion is calculated to be of value, or its
application appears opportune. Indeed,
planters themselves rely on the depart-
mental officers to point out the appli-
cation of the latest experimental re-
sults, and to be ready to give specific
information if asked for it, and progress

artes

—

Miscellaneous.

~

- readiness with which this exchange of

_ thought takes place. -

An up-to-date Agricultural Depart-
ment, therefore, whose operations
ramify in different directions, and whose
officers are in touch with each other, so
that there isa continuous interchange
of ideas, finds one of its most valuable
functions as a collector and distributor
of information. Knowledge, which may
exist in the minds of isolated indivi-
duals, and which would otherwise have
but a limited use, is brought out and
made available for the service of all.
From this point of view the existence
of the central and sub-central officers
and stations must be regarded as being
most valuable, and even necessary, since
it ensures that the results of research
are not lost, that they are put to the
test and modified to suit local conditions,
and that they -are continually being
kept before the notice of those whom
they immediately concern.

It may be pointed out that this
work of taking existing knowledge and
making it available for general use is
one which may perhaps be regarded as
being more valuable, and more practi-
cally remunerative to the general body
of mankind even than the creation of
knowledge itself. Much useful know-
ledge may lie stored up and unused for
lack of an intelligent gnide to its
existence and usefulness, while its
proper diffusion may change the current
of thought of a community or class of
workers and immediately prove re-
munerative and of tangible value. What
better instance can be cited than that
of Mendel whose discovery lay hidden
in The Proceedings of the Natural
History Society of Briinn for nearly
forty years? As soon as his work was
brought to light and adequately made
known, it was immediately fruitful of
great results, the full importance of
which is probably yet unrealized,*

It: is important that those in adminis-
trative charge of affairs should re-
cognize the value of organisation for
the purpose of diffusing knowledge—
agricultural and otherwise. They are
often prone to think that its useful facts
have once been placed on record that
is sufficient, and that in the usual course
of things they will be discovered and
applied by those locally iuterested ; but
this is seldom the case. Progress in any
given line of work is immensely hastened
and rendered both easier and more cer-
tain by the existence of organizations
whose duty it is to collect, co-ordinate,
classify and diffuse knowledge. In agri-

"See Agricultural News, Vol. VILI., pp. 33-4
and 49-50. ;

439:

[May, 1910.

cultural work this implies agencies of
many kinds, reaching out on the one
hand into the fields and into close touch
with the daily work therein, and culmin-
ating ina central organization capable of
the duties outlined above. Such a sys-
tem is well exemplified in the agricultural
organizations of various countries, but
perhaps nowhere to greater advantage
than in the magnificent system of the
Departmentof Agriculture of the United
States, which is proving of incalculable
value to that progressive country.

SECOND “MASTERS” LECTURE.
THE PRODUCTION OF HORTICULTURAL
VARIETIES.

(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle, No.
1,188, Vol. XLVI., Saturday,
October 2, 1909.)

On Tuesday last, Prof. Hugo de Vries
delivered the second ‘“ Masters” Memo-
rial Lecture before a large audience at
the Royal Horticultural Society’s Hall,
Vincent Square.

Mr. A. D. Hall, F.R.S., who occu-
pied the chair, in briefly introducing
the lecturer, referred to the purpose of
these lectures, which are intended to
keep alive the memory of the late
Dr. Masters, and to bring before the
horticultural world the researches of
science as its discoveries bear upon the
practice of horticulture, and thus to
continue the work—the application of
science to horticultural practice—which
Dr. Masters never lost an opportunity
of furthering.

Prof. de Vries, in his first lecture
(see Gardeners’ Chronicle, June 26, 1909,
p. 419) dealt with Dr. Masters’s own
researches in vegetable teratology; in
this one his subject was mainly his own
researches into the origin of horticul-
tural varieties. He pointed out that
Darwin’s work on the “ Variations of
Plants and Animals under Domestica-
tion” had led the way for prolonged
investigation in showing how great a
significance attached to these variations
in supporting the theory of evolution.
Varieties may be regarded as ‘small
species,” ¢e., groups of plants differing
from one another in only one or at most
a few characters, but differing so that:
if their origin were not known, some
botanists would regard them as distinct
species.

If, as will be generally admitted the
facts of variation strongly support the
argument for evolution, the lecturer
pointed out that the process by which
variations arose in all its details became

MAy, 1910.]

a most interesting and important sub-
ject of enquiry. While the actual
manner in which species are produced
in Nature may differ, and it probably
does differ in details, from that in
which varieties are produced in horti-
culture, yet the laws governing the
process will be the same in both cases.
In “fixing” the varieties which arise
in the garden, there is generally the
difficulty of guarding against cross-polli-
nation, since numerous closely-allied
forms are usually cultivated in close
proximity to the new form, and there
is the fact that many of the variations
it is desired to reproduce and develop
are only faintly indicated at first, as
in the cases of dcubling of flowers or
variegation of foliage. Only after care-
ful selection and constant care do such
variations become so marked as _ to en-
sure a sufficient contrast with the species
from which they were derived to make
them worth cultivation as novelties.

There are thus two types of varieties
with which the horticulturist has to
deal--the ‘‘ constant” variety and the
* ever-sporting” variety. The former
type, Prof. de Vries calls ‘ mutants,”
and in reply to a question, pointed out
that ‘‘ mutants” differ from other vari-
ations, fluctuating variations as they
may be called, in that the former arise
suddenly and not by small degrees, and
when they have once appeared they
“breed true” to their new characters
provided they are self-pollinated, while
varieties formed after the tedious, oft-
repeated selection of small differences,
differences depending very often upon
methods of cultivation, belong to the
“ever-sporting” type.

Good examples of ‘“ Mutants” are
furnished by white ‘‘sports” of many
flowers and by dwarf varieties. With
these the florist’s work in fixing lies
in securing isolation, and if isolation
be: complete, the fixirg is accompalished
in a single year.

The extent and even the occurrence
of variegated Horse Radish depends
largely upon the method of cultivation,
and, the extent of doubling seen in
other plants may vary enormously even
ona single plant at different seasons of
the year. These afford examples of the
“‘ ever-sporting” varieties. Such vari-
eties may arise fully developed or may
appear only by steps. Small indications
of possibilities appear first, and the
florist has to isolate them and ‘“ work
them up” by constant selection of the
most marked variations in the desired
qirection.

The lecturer then went on to show how
varieties have been produced under his

440

‘seed of the common type

own observation in plants whose his-
tories had been known for many
generations.

His first example was the peloric form
of the common Toad Flax. This form
has, in allits flowers five spurs, instead of
only one spur as seen in the common
type. It has been found in a considerable
number of widely-separated places under
circumstances that leave no reasonable
doubt*thatit has been produced from
It rarely
produces seed, but, being perennial, is
able to hold its own for a considerable
number of years, though it may finally
disappear. Prof. de Vries sowed seed of
the common type in his garden and
watched the progeny through eight
generations, always excluding the chance
of cross-fertilisation, without observing
any change whatever. In the ninth
generation, however, a plant bearing
peloric flowers suddenly appeared. Thus
a sudden variation had occurred under
his own observation without any pre-
vious indication of deviation from the
type. The seed he was able to save from
this abnormal specimen reproduced the
variation, and similar variations had
arisen from succeeding generations at
intervals.

In like manner he had seen sudden

- variations arise in (Hnothera_ biennis,

where a form with very narrow petals,
which he had ealled ‘‘cruciata,’ had
appeared, and in the Dahlia, where the
tubular corollas were darkly coloured
inside instead of outside, as is usual.

Asan example of an ‘‘ever-sporting ”
variety, the lecturer gave an account of
the experimental development of the
Double Corn Marigold (Chrysanthemum
segetum), since double flowers of Compo-°
site form an excellent example of “‘ ever-
sporting ” variations.

The seed in this case was derived from
the large-flowered garden variety, in
which there are on an average twenty-
one rays, though the range of variation
in number is up to twenty-four and
down to nine. In the fourth year, by
selecting flowers showing the largest
number of rays each year, the average
was raised to about one hundred,
It might have been expected, said the
lecturer, that the average number of ray
florets might be increased by this process
of selection, but there was also the
chance that a double variety might be
secured, and this was actually the case,
for in the fifth year one was secured in
which about two hundred rays were pre-
sent in the head. Thus, by selecting what
was at first a slight variation from the ©
normal, and jpreeding from those of its

aa

Miscellaneous. 44)

progeny which showed the greatest
development of that variation, a fixed
double form was at length reached.

Anothey instance of an interesting
“ ever-sporting” variety was afforded by
the race of five-leaved Clovers which the
Professor had succeeded in establishing.

The case of ‘‘mutants ” in Ginothera
Lamarckiana, to which the lecturer next
referred, afforded an instance of not
one, but several new forms, arising
suddenly in one generation from seed of
one plant. About a dozen of these
“mutants” could be relied upon to
appear each season; the number of
different ‘‘mutants” is, of course, not
unlimited, but the same novelties spring
from it almost every year, and in cases
where they can be got to produce seed
by self-pollination, they breed true.

One of the most interesting of these
‘*mutants” is the dwarf form known as
nanella, which, though much shorter in
the stem than the type, bears flowers
quite as large and is, therefore, very
showy. This form appears in the pro-
portion of about 2 per cent. of the seed-
lings from Lamarckiana every year.

Another “mutant” named lata has
weak stems, and much broader leaves of
a paler green colour than the type, and
with rounded tips, while a form known
as albida is also fairly common, and,
like others, may be distinguished from
the type even in the seedling stages; it
has narrow, whitishleaves. Many other
mutants have occurred and usually re-
occur among the seedlings of Lamare-
kiana every year.

THE DISCUSSION.

Professor Percival raised the question
as to whether there was any periodicity
in the occurrence of the periods during
which mutations occur, suggesting that
perhaps every ninth, tenth, or twentieth

-generation or so might see their _recur-

rence in certain species. Mr. Diuery
also referred to this question, basing his
remarks upon his experience among the
many ‘‘ mutants” which occur naturally
among British Ferns. Prof. de Vries
thought that perhaps fifty generations
might be nearer the period at which
mutations might occur, but pointed out
that the question must be pursued for
a long period, in order that it be
answered. So far no answer could be
given. ;

Mr. C, C. Hurst expressed his obli-
gations to the lecturer for his lucid
lecture, and emphasised the importance
of the facts Prof, de Vries had stated,
namely, first that ‘‘mutants” were
general variations which breed true so

56

[May, 1910.

long as they are isolated, and, secondly,
they were of sudden occurrence com-
pletely developed. 7

The Chairman, in conclusion, thanked
Prof. de Vries for the lecture, and ex-
pressed the hope that all who are in
any way employed in raising new varie-
ties of plants will keep careful records
of their work, for, in order that greater
knowledge of the laws that underlie
the causes of variation may be obtained;
there was abundant need for experi-
ments to ‘‘ watch, wait and record.”

THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUMS.

(For the Season 1909-10.)

The Philadelphia Museums continue to
offer to the schools of Philadelphia the
privilege of bringing classes to study
its collections from foreign countries
and to listen to lectures along the line
of their geographic work.

Visits to the Museums are most profit-
able to the children after considerable
study of a country or region in the

~ school room.

Atatime selected by the teacher, a
class or grade may be brought to the
Museums where they will be given a
lecture on the subject selected from the
accompanying lists.

Hach lecture is profusely illustrated
by coloured lantern slides. The lectures
are adapted to the comprehension of the
children who attend, those to the lower
grades being given in very simple
language.

At the close of the forty-five minute
lecture the class will be divided into
sections, and accompanied by guidss,
will be shown the products, manu-
factures and materials which appertain
to the country or countries on which the
lecture has been given.

. The visiting classes should be restrict-
ed to not more than about one hundred
pupils,

DATES FOR VISITS.

It is necessary for thore who-wish to
take advantage of these opportunities to
arrange for dates and to select subjects
in advance. If arrangements are made
over the telephone, Preston 4798, call
for the Curator, Mr, Chas. R. Toothaker.
If by letter, address the Philadelphia
Museu 34th Street below Spruce

reet.

Nearly all schools find it convenient
to visit the Museum in the afternoon,
arriving at about2p.m. I[f any other
time of day is more convenient, arrange-
ments can be made accordingly.

May, 1910.]

In accordance witha provision of the
Board of Education, the Superintendent
of Schools, Dr. Martin G. Brumbaugh, is
authorized to grant to teachers and
classes permission to visit the Phila-
delphia Museums once a year for half
a day, upon the written request of the
Principal.

LECTURE SUBJECTS.
For Fourth Grades.

THE UNITED STATES.--Some of the most
important plant, animal and mineral
products; important industries charac-
teristic of various parts of our country;
lumbering in the north, south and west;
fishing for cod, salmon, etc,, in Atlantic
and Pacific ; cotton and sugar production
in the south; grain fields and cattle
ranches of the middle west; fruit raising
in California and Florida; mining in the
Rockies and Alaska; iron, coal and
petroleum in Pennsylvania; glimpses of
interesting natural features, Niagara
Falls, the Yellowstone, ete.; types of the
inhabicants of various regions.

Note.—This lecture is necessarily very
general. Teachers preferring to do so
can arrange for separate lectures on the
Southern States or the Western States.

Wheat from the Seed to the Table.—
Cultivation, harvesting, transportation
and manufacture of wheat and flour in
the United States. It will be the aim
in this lecture to draw attention not
only to wheat and flour as important
materials of commerce and to the
machinery and processes employed in
wheat raising and manufacture, but also
to the occupations of men in agricul-
ture, manufacturing, transportation and
trade.

For Fifth Grades.

THE WEstT INDIES.—EHspecially the
beautiful islands of Cuba and Porto
Rico—sugar, tobacco and tropical fruits ;
the pecple, their manners, customs and
occupations; cities and towns; means
of transportation.

SouTH AMERICA.—Principal cities; peo-
ple, manners and customs; industries
and productions; coffee and rubber in
Brazil, wheat and cattle in Argentina,
cocoa in Ecuador, :nining in the Andes,
Some of the most interesting plants
and animals; the great forests, plains
and mountains; the Andes and the
Amazon.

Notrt.—Teachers desiring to have a
single country or section treated in
greater detail can arrange for a lecture
on Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Chile,
Peru, or the Andes.

442

- hi <= pe =
Miscellaneous.
For Sixth Grades.

Inp1IA.—Life and habits of the people;
caste; curious customs; characteristic
scenes in the large cities; bazaars;
palaces; important industries, such as
tea, rice, coconut, spices, mining; tigers

and elephants; glimpses of the rivers,
forests and mountains.

JAPAN.—Native life in city and country;
foreign influence ; manners and customs ;
residences and shops ; temples and idols ;
the growing of rice and tea; camphor ;
silk culture; pottery and art work;
bamboo and other forests.

CHINA.—A trip through the Celestial
Empire; Pekin, Hongkong, Canton, and
other cities; native shops and foreign

quarters; canals; temples; country
villages and farm life in the far in-
terior; the culture of tea, rice and

opium; curious means of transportation
and other features of interest.

For Seventh Grades.

SoutH AFRICA.—Cape Town, Kimber-
ley, Johannesburg, Durban; farming
industries, fruit, wine growing, grain,
cattle and sheep; the diamond mines,
the gold workings, coal deposits ; Boers,
English, native black races; the Cape to
Cairo Railway; the wonderful falls of
the Zambesi,

CENTRAL AFRICA,—The Congo and the
Niger; native races, their manners and
customs; cities and villages; the jungle;
palm oil and rubber; wild animals.

PHILIPPINES.—Civilised Christian peo-
ple of the north and central islands; the
Moros of the south; heathen tribes;
manners and customs; Manila hemp,
coconut, rice, resources and industries ;
education.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.—Prin-
cipal cities; civilised and native people;
occupations; agriculture, stock raising ;
mining; the Barrier Reef, pearl fishing ;
kangaroo and rabbit; the desert of the
interior; commerce.

For FBighth Grades.

Any of the subjects listed for the
lower grades may be selected. The
lectures will be more extensive, dealing
more fully with our trade relations with
the country considered, and the im-
portant products exported.

In addition the following subjects
touching on the whole world are
alranged :—

Forests and Lumbering.—The forests,
important trees, and methods of cutting
and getting them to market, with
glimpses of the lumbermen at work or
in camp in different sections of the
United States and Canada, Mahogany

~

ae

getting in Mexico, Central America and

Africa; teak in India; the forests and
lumbermen of Japan, the Philippines,
Australia and New Zealand.

The Forms of Carbon.—The Great
diamond mines of South Africa, show-
ing how the diamonds are taken from
the ground, separated from the blue
clay, graded and cut. The graphite
pits of Ceylon. Coal mines and miners
of Pennsylvania and other sections of
the United States, of Hurope and
Australia. Petroleum wells and refining
in various parts of the world.

Transportation in all. Lands.—How
people travel and carry their goods in
different parts of our own land and in
foreign countries. Transporting of com-
mercial materials by men, by pack
animals, and by primitive carts and
boats in Asia and Africa ; modern steam-
ships and railways in Kurope and
America.

For Advanced Grades,

Lectures may be arranged on any of
the special subjects enumerated in this
circular, or on such subjects as Cotton,
Wool, Sugar, Spices, Beverages, Rubber,
Fisheries, Fruit Industries, etc. These
lectures describe the production of the
raw material, its preparation for man’s
use, the countries of production, and
the importance of the material in the
ecommerce of our own and other coun-
tries. Other lectures may be chosen on
subjects of special commercial interest
such as Important Harbours of the
World, Ancient and Modern T'radeée
Routes, the Commerce of South America,
Foreign Business Methods, etc.

SPECIAL LECTURES.
Free Public Lectures on- topics of
popular interest will be given at the
Museums as usual during the Winter.

See separate announcemert.

Several Schcol Extension Lectures will
be given in the Museums’ Lecture Hall
during the winter as a part of the course
oe by the Free Library of Philadel-
phia.

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF
MANURING.

(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 4, April, 1909.)

Plants, like all other living organisms,
require nutriment, and according to the
supply of this nutriment will their
development be.

Plants absorb food in the fluid state
only, either as gas or liquid, The gas is
carbon dioxide (‘‘caibonic acid gas”)

Miscellaneous. : 443

[May, 1910.

which exists in the air. A few plants
are credited with absorbing nitrogen.
The other nutriment is absorbed in
solution in water.

If an Ordinary plant be very carefully
dug up with all the earth adhering to
the roots, and the earth be then care-
fully washed off, it will be found that
there isa main root (perhaps several).
This main root branches again and again,
giving off smaller roots, until finally
very fine hair-like processes are seen:
these ure the ‘‘ root-hairs,” and through
these root-hairs the plant absorbs all its
liquid nutriment. A land plant without
root-hairs cannot live; and hence the
necessity of great care in transplanting
young plants. Thus it is very important
to havea loamy soft soil for these root-
hairs to ramify into and obtain nourish-
ment in the neighbourhood of the root.

Water.—Herbaceous plants may con-
sist of from 60 to 80 per cent. of water,
hence an adequate supply of water is
essential. In arid: districts the water
question is the most important, but
with energy the difficulty can be over-
come to a considerable extént,

By a process known as ‘‘dry farming ”
a huge tract of barren land has been
recently brought under cultivation in
America. It was pointed out that soon
after rainfall on thisland, thousands of
tons of water evaporated which might
be retained in the soilif proper cultiva-
tion were practised. The process of
retention consists simply of preserving a
good open soil by deep cultivation and
constant hoewng of the surface to preserve
a fine tilth layer of well broken soil on
the surface, which tends to prevent
water coming to the surface from below
to any great extent, and to keep it
imprisoned in the soil for the use of the
roots of plants. Of course ‘‘dry farm-
ing” means hard work, and the habits of
the Indian cultivator are not ordinarily
such as to benefit them for this kind of
farming. The hoeing has to go on con-
tinually.

The following elements are essential to
plant life, besides the elements men-
tioned above as contained in water, viz.,
hydrogen and oxygen, and in carbon
dioxide, viz,, carbon and oxygen :—

Non-metallic—Nitrogen, sulphur, phos-
phorus.

_ Metallic—Potash, calcium, magnesium,
iron.

Nitrogen—ls a constituent element of
what are called “nitrates.” These
nitrates usually resemble ordinary salt
that one uses at table. Nitrate of soda
or Chili saltpetre is an example ofa
nitrate; it is used as a fertilizer or

MAY, 1910.]

manure. This nitrogen in the form of
nitrates is taken up in solution in water
by the root-hairs of plants and is used
to build up the tissue of which the plant
consists, there is no plant not containing
nitrogen in some form. To the rule that
nitrogen is absorbed as nitrates in
solution in the soil moisture, there is an
apparent exception in the case of the
leguminous plants, Legumes if grown
in a soil devoid of nitrogen will yet find
nitrogen which other plants would fail
to do, the explanation being that on the
roots of legumes there are to be noticed
small ‘ nodules,” which, if examined,
will be found to contain micro-organisms
or bacteria or germs which take nitrogen
from the air between the particles of
soil and form nitrates, and these nitrates
arethen utilized by the plant roots as
indicated above.

Nitrogenous fertilizers are applied to
land as nitrates direct, e.g., saltpetre, or
nitrogenous organic matter, e.g., decom-
posing cowdung, decomposing animal
matter, etc. This nitrogenous organic
matter is ultimately decomposed by
certain germs into nitrates. Before this
happens, the nitrogenis useless to plants
or is ‘‘unavailable.” Hence to render
fresh farmyard mauure, etc., a good
fertilizer, it must be applied to land
where there ate plenty of the required
germs living, Now these germs live
preferably in a good open, warm or
well-tilled soil, and notin a heavy un-
stirred unerated soil.

Sulphur—Is taken in by the root-hairs
of plants as a soluble sulphate in solution
in the soil moistures, e.g., sulphate of
ammonia, gypsum or sulphate of lime.
Although gypsum is only slightly soluble,
in time most of it finds its way into the
plants; it contains the very useful con-
stituent lime as well as sulphate.

Phosphorus.—This essential is taken
in by the plant in the condition of
soluble phosphate; although it is applied
to land in such forms as bone-dust, bone-
meal, ground bones, slag, superphos-
phate, etc. The phosphorus in bones is
absolutely useless as it exists, or, in
other words, it is ‘‘unavailable”; but
when the bones rot as they do ina soil,
though slowly, the phosphorus is changed
to phosphates which are soluble and can
then be taken in as plant food, when itis
said to be ‘‘available.” The finer the bone
is ground, the more readily “ available”
is the phosphorus init for food. Whole
bones take years before being any good
as manure, while buone-meal is much
quicker in its action. :

Calcitum—Is an essential constituent
of plants, but a very small quantity is
sufficient. The great point about calcium

444

| Ae
x

ee

Miscellaneous, =

(and lime) isthat it isa stimulant, its
presence in the soil rendering other
ingredients such as phosphates, sulphates
and nitrogen in organic matter more
quickly available to plants. The lime de-
composes complex substances with all
these nutrient materials as it were
locked up in them. The many virtues
of lime have been set forth in this
Journal, Volume I, No. I of 1907 (wide
page 33).

Potash—Is_ an essential, and plants
rich in starchy or sugary matter, e.g.,
otatoes, beetroot and fruits are very
fond of potash. Wood ashes contain a
small amount of potash.

Magnesium and Iron—Axe also essen-
tial, but only in very small quantities, so
that all soils practically possess quite
sufficient of these.

Chlorine and Sodium—Are held by
some to be essential, but in other respects
a similar remark applies as in the case of
magnesium and iron above.

An application of any very soluble
manure to land must be given with
proper caution; because the very fact ot
its being soluble renders it more liable
to be washed out of the soil in drainage
water during and after heavy rain.
Such a soluble and valuable fertilizer
as nitrate of soda should be applied
when the crop has germinated, and
again later on, so that by giving two or
three dressings the plant is able to
absorb it instead of its being washed
away. Where a slower acting nitro-
genous manure is required sulphate of
ammonia or farmyard manure, etce., is
better bevause it is less soluble and,
therefore, less likely to be lost, and the
nitrates as they are formed in the soil
are mostly absorbed at once on a well
cropped area. Krom the above it is seen
that if land rich in nitrogenous material
be left fallow,.the whole of the nitrogen
is ‘‘nitrified ” or changed into nitrates,
and instead of being used by a crop
these are washed out of the soil by
heavy rain.

Superficially it would seem likely that
if the average analysis of the plants
cropped on a certain area of land was
taken together with the analysis of the
land, one would be able to get a clear
insight into the requirements of that
land;that is, however, not so, since
analysis does not indicate how the
various elements of plant constituents
are existing in the soil, 7.e., whether or
not they are in an ‘‘available” condition.
Hence in all cases it is necessary to
experiment by applying fertilizers con-
taining the different plant foods, and
to observe the result in each ease both
separately and with mixed fertilizers.

Mascellaneous,

One of the handiest modes of pro-
cedure is to select six strips of land right
up the length of a field and number
them 1 to 6. To numbers 1, 2, and 3
apply phosphate; to 2, 3, and 4 apply
kainit, which .is potassium sulphate
together with magnesium sulphates and
chlorine; and tol, 3, and 4 apply nitrate
of soda; to 5 lime; and to 6no manure.
The plots will then be manured thus :—

(1) Phosphates and nitrate.

(2) Phosphate and kainit.

(8) Phosphate, kainit, and nitrate.
(4) Kainit and nitrate.

(5) Lime.

(6) No manure.

When the treatment that best suits
the land and crop is ascertained, the
whole area should be manured accord-
ing to the result. Anexperiment should
be next made todiscover what minimum
quantity of this fertilizer gives the
maximum yield of good healthy produce.

The experiments indicated above have
the advantage that they do not interfere
with the ordinary working of the area
and that they are quite cheap. The
advantage reaped by the additional
knowledge will depend on the future
action of the experimenter. It must be
seen in experiments of this sort that the
strips manured differently are separated
sufficiently to prevent any fertilizer
obtaining access to a neighbouring strip
and upsetting the arrangements.

Tosum up, for all practical purposes
in manuring a few experiments should
be made to see that the soil contains (1)
a sufficiency of organic matter, or
‘‘humus” as it is called, (2) potash,
phosphates, nitrates, lime, and earthy
moisture, and (8) warm pure air between
the particles, asa result of good culti-
vation. This followed by (4) a good tilth,
or pulverized surface, is what is required
of every person who is interested in
the production of good crops.

MARSHALL'S 30 H.P. OIL TRACTOR.
(From the seeuliurat Journal of
India, Vol. [V., Pt. IIL.)

This Oil Tractor is manufactured by
Messrs. Marshall, Sons & Co., Ltd., of
Gainsborough, England, with the object
of supplying acheap mechanical power
for agricultural purposes, which may
possibly be useful in India.

The Tractor is fitted with a two-
cylinder engine and has three speeds,
2,4, and 6 miles per hour, The engine
can be run on Petrol, Kerosine, Benzine,

445

[May, 1910.

Gasoline, ete. With tanks filled with
kerosine it can be run for ten hours
continuously.

The engine is fitted with wide travel-
ling wheels to travel over sandy ground,
In working order it weighs approximate-
ly 43 tons and carries 25 gallons of fuel
and 75 gallons of water; it is fitted with
a water-cooler and a patent pump for
circulating water through the cylinder
jacket. ;

The engine can be used for ploughing,
harrowing, cultivating, sowing, reaping
and hauling; it can also be used for
driving any fixed machinery such as
threshing and winnowing machines, corn
and cake grinding miils, chaff-cutters,
ete., without any addition or alter-
ation. This engine drives 3’ 6’ full size
Marshall’s Threshing machine fitted with
Chaff fan, Bhoosa rollers and Bhoosa
shifters continuously for five hours with
a consumption of 1 gallons of kerosine
per hour. One man is required to
operate it.

Experiments in India show that it can
plough 1% acres of land that has been
previously broken, per hour; with a
consumption of less than 2 gallons of
‘*Chester Brand” kerosine oil, and un-
cultivated land at the rate of one acre
Ber hour with the same consumption of
oil.

The cost is Rs. 8,000. The Daputy
Director of Agriculture, Bangal, saw
the machine at work at Semapore and
reported thus :—

‘We were only able to test the
ploughing, as there was nothing to thresh
and no pumps or ordinary machinery
to be worked, Soil tested by ploughing
was sandy loam, Two four-furrow
ploughs were attached to the back of
the Tractor and 8 furrows 6” deep and 93”
wide were ploughed at one and the
same time.

** Ploughs :—Cockshutt’s (Canada) Four
Farrow: Plough cost Rs. 300.
Work done :—

9 acres in 7 hours.
Oil used :—
15 gals. Chester Oil.
% 4, Petrol.
$ ,, Lubricating Oil,
Quantity of work done: Excellent.
Fuel :—Cost of working per acre :—

Rs. A.
Kerosine a SEt | 7
Petrol 0 10

Lubricating Oil... 1 12

10 13+9 Re. 1, 3.

Cost of fuel per acre= Re, 1,3. 18 acres
can be ploughed per day of 10 hours,

May, 1910.]
Cost of working per day :— yt
Per day.
Rs. A.
1 mistri at Rs. 60 per month= 2 0
2coolies ., 10 es 012
212
Cost of fuel per day (I8acres) 15 8
18 4
Cost of working by bullocks :—
1 man and pair of bullocks=
4 acre per day,
1 man at... As. 6
1 pair of bullocks ., 6
12 per day.

To plough 18 acres per day would re-
quire 26 ploughs.
26 x 12=312, t.e., Cost per day=Rs. 19.8.
_Capital Outlay :— Rs
Oil Tractor and ploughs
Bullocks and ploughs

9,000
3,000

“ Accordingly, without considering ini-
tial outlay, where ploughmen can _ be
got at 4 annas and less per day, it is
cheaper per unit to plough by means of
bullocks.

“The Oil Tractor will not suit small
holdings or paddy cultivation, but where
large holdings ot high land cultivation
are concerned, and where labour is scarce
and dear, the Oil Tractor is an economi-
cal motive power for ploughing.

“There is no doubt about the utility
of this Oil Tractor. In addition to
ploughing, threshing, pumping, sugar-
cane crushing and carting, etc., can be
done, but in Bengal unless the holding
is compact and 200 to 300 acres in extent,
high land cultivation is concerned, and
ordinary labour costs Re. | per head per
day, it will be found there is no advant-
age in changing the ordinary system
of cultivation now in vogue in the
Presidency.’—(EDITOR).

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE IN
HORTICULTURE.

(From the Experiment Station Record,
Vol. XXI., No.5, October, 1909,)

Investigation of horticulture was the
main topic of consideration at the recent
meeting of the Society of Horticultural
Science. The need of it was the key-
note of the meeting, and there was
frank admission on the part of many
that little more than a beginning has
yet been made. It was made clear that
in organisation for teaching and for
experimentation horticulture has not

us

ee
aE ae
Miscellaneotis: —

kept pace with the advancement of the
times, and that this fact has restricted
its efficiency in both directions,

Horticulture as a separate subject
was one of the first to be organised in
the agricultural colleges. It was recog-
nised as one of the grand divisions of
agricultural education, and in point of
equipment was developed quite as early
as agriculture. It was popular, and the
practical usefulness of its courses was
realised early in the history of these
instructions. It was looked upon as a
department unto itself, and the distine-
tions between it and other departments
of instruction were carefully guarded.

Horticultural instruction in this coun-
try has had a higher aim than that
in Kurope. The English and continental
gardeners are largely men of the ap-
prentice-school type, whose training has
been centered on learning to do things—
on developing skilland good judgment.
The object of the agricultural colleges
of this country is to make educated
men, as well as men with practical
training. The effort in horticulture has
been to teach not only the art but the
principles, so far as they are known,
and to reduce horticulture to a peda-
gogic basis. But in this the subject
has not kept pace with other branches
of agriculture of late. The attempt to
hold it intact and to itself has retarded
the development of its organisation,
and prevented its keeping pace with
the differentiation and _ specialisation
which have been going on in agriculture.
The mode of organisation has now be-
come traditional and unsuited to present
conditions. The units are far too large,
and do not develop specialisation either
in teachers or students.

Horticulture is at present a highly
developed art. The art has developed—
far beyond the understanding of the
science, and skill drawn from experience
is depended upon rather than a know-
ledge of principles. The work of horti-
culturists has dealt largely with the
art—with the commercial and cesthetic
side of the subject. This has predomin-
ated to such a degree as often, and
perhaps usually, to give the student an
imperfect conception of the field, and
a biased view as to the needs on the
experimental side.

At no stage has there been the at-
tempt to correlate horticultural prac-
tice and problems with the sciences
that there has been in some branches
of agriculture proper. The fundamen-
tals of horticulture have not been
sufficiently developed to meet the de-
mands of scientific training, and graduate
work in that subject has not been so

_ Mascellaneous.

arranged as to promote investigation
except in a quite limited way.

The science has been to a large degree
borrowed from the related sciences, and
systematic investigation in the science
of horticulture by horticulturists has
been prosecuted only sparingly. They
have been too busy with the practical
questions and often in conducting large
plantations on a commercial basis. In
their teaching and their experimental
work they have spread themselves over
too broad a field. Their work has been
diffuse, and there have been few who
have been content to confine themselves
to a definite field. This has necessarily
made much of the work superficial; aud
the success met with in assisting prac-
tical men has tended to engender a
certain satisfaction with that kind of
work, and prevented full realisation of

' the need of more fundamental investi-
gation. i

Horticulture as a science has not yet
been organised, and the field of horti-
cultural investigation has not yet been
surveyed and mapped. Only quite
recently has much consideration been
given to the science of horticulture and
its upbuilding. It presents a virgin
field.

The meeting of the society at St,
Cathrines, Ontario, was therefore a
noteworthy one in the prominence given
to this subject. In this respect it was a
realisation of what was expected when
the society was organised under its
present name several years ago. Asa
mark of its interest in the subject, the
society rejected a proposition to change
its name to that of an Association of
Official Horticulturists; the sentiment
prevailed that the body should prevail
the name and the character of a society
of science as related to horticulture. As
such it hasa wholly unoccupied field,
and may become a_ very important
agency for the advancement of horti-
cultural science and, the reorganization
of horticulture in the agricultural
colleges and experiment stations.

In the presidential address, Mr. W. A.
Taylor, of this Department, voiced the
great and increasing need for science in
horticulture. This must be developed
out of thorough-going research, funda-
mental in character and method, and
aimed primarily at principles and laws
rather than at practicalrules. The need
of well-trained, well-poised men to con-
duct such work was strongly empha-
sized, for it was recognised, that with-
out men with the proper training and
the proper outlook, little real advance-
ment in horticultural science can be

44

7 {[May, 1910.

looked for. Men first, and then the
development of methods of research in
horticulture, were looked upon as the
two things most needful for horticul-
tural investigation,

In a paper on the Adam’s Fund in its
relation to Investigation in Horticulture,
E. W. Allen, of this Office, described the
work which is beiug done in horticulture
under that fund, and pointed out some
of the essential features of investigation.
The review showed that the Adams fund
has stimulated a considerable amount of
investigation in the field of horticulture,
and that this coversa quite wide range.
OF the forty-five projects in the field,
however, only a part are being con-
ducted by horticulturists, the remainder
being in charge of men in other depart-
ments.

This illustrates the intimate relation-
ship between horticulture and the basic
sciences, and the necessity of taking
account of the investigation done there
in determining the present status of
science in horticulture. The horticul-
turist entering the field of investigation
requires a quite broad view of science.
This familiarity must teach him the field
of these sciences, and in a general way
what has already been done. He must
know not only the methods and the
spirit of science, but he must be able to
think clearly in science. He must be
able to analyse the large practical pro-
blems in his subject, and resolve them
into their scientific aspects, so as to
define his investigation, get a point of
attack, and give the work direction,

There is much advantage to be gained
from the point of view of the horti-
culturist, provided there is combined
with it a broad scientific outlook and
sympathy. The man _ with practical
sympathies and an understanding of the
conditions of the art should be in
position to turn out more efficient and
useful investigation in horticulture than
one whose duties take no account of
these considerations.

But the horticulturists too often
approach their problem from the stand-
point of the art primarily, rather than
that of science, and as a result the
experimental work in that field has
consisted quite largely of trials and
experiments which gave only a super-
ficial answer and are not conclusive or
permanent in character. Up to the
present time there has not been a very
widespread or well-defined sentiment
for research under existing conditions.
The horticulturists have felt the pres-
sure to getresults of immediate practical
application by the shortest route. The

Jag P. hee:
rs ia =

May, 1910.] 448 Miscellaneous, .

needs of the art have appealed to them
strongly, and the commercial and prac-
tical aspects of the subject have been
alluring and fascinating.

In a general way there has been agree-
ment among horticulturists that there
ought to be more investigation- in their
subject, and a recognition that it is
based on the application of principles in
science which ought to be worked out.
The demands upon them prevented such
work in the earlier stages, and this has
gradually shaped their attitude toward
experimentation in horticulture until,
in away, it has become fixed, so that
although the way now opens for research
they are not drawn to it. They have
not had the inspiration by investigation
by foreign horticulturists, or an organi-
sation of the field, or a summing up of
the status of knowledge from a scientific
standpoint.

Twenty years of experiment station
work has changed the view but little.
The work has been mostly in circles and
has continued largely along beaten
paths. Investigation is largely a matter
of sympathies and temperament, and
these have not been developed. The call
is loud and insistent for men of that
training, but the demand cannot be met,
The difficulty gets back to the colleges.
They are not holding up the ideals to
the occasional student suited to that
sort of career, and developing in him
the standards for real progressive
work in horticulture, the spirit of
research, and the point of view of
science as well as of commercialism.
Until this is done, until horticultural
instruction is put upona higher plane,
and the possibilities for advanced work
in science with a horticultural outlook
are developed, we shall have to draw
largely on the basic sciences for the
principles of horticulture.

More attention needs to be paid to
what the basic sciences are contributing
which has a bearing on horticulture, and
it would bea great help to have the
scientific basis of horticulture gathered
from all sources and arranged in a
systematic way. The knowledge of
what has been done is a prerequisite to
original investigation in any line,

It isa singular fact that we have no
text-book or treatise on horticulture in
its scientific aspects, no book which
brings together forthe teacher or the
student what is really known of the
principles which underlie operations in
horticulture. We have such books for
animal nutrition, for breeding, for agri-
cultural chemisty, for soils, and other
bianches of agriculture, but not for
horticulture, We have, it is true, books

on the principles of fruit culture and of
vegetable growing and the like, but they
are the principles or elements of prac-
tice, not of science.

Whata help such a book would be to
both the teacher and the investigator !
It would give the status of science in
horticulture in such a way as to furnish
a starting point for original and pro-
ductive investigation, and something to
build unto. There would be no further
excuse for working around in circles.
Such a treatise would illustrate the
meaning of investigation, and openupa
vast number of subjects for study. It
would help greatly in organising the
subject, and aid in formulating the
practical problems in their scientific
aspects.

The preparation of such a manual
would prepare the way for a classifica-
tion of horticulture from a scientific
standpoint. It would furnish a basis
for horticultural ‘science, and would
in fact be the beginning of that science.
Science as applied to any subject is
knowledge verified and arranged in an
orderly system, and the office of science
is the study of the sequence of pheno-
mena. This, then, is the office of horti-
cultural science—to bring together scien-
tific knowledge as it relates to that
subject and arrange it in an orderly
system, and to study the sequence of
phenomena in horticulture.

The paper by Prof. L, H. Bailey, on
‘¢ The Field of Research in Horticulture,”
was a definition of the kind of work
needed to develop the fundamentals of
horticulture, the kind of men required

to carry on such work, and the need for

recognition. It was a frank setting
forth of the manner in which horticul-
ture as a subject is lagging behind, both.
in teaching and investigation.

Professor Bailey explained that the
practices of the present day have grown
up in a sort of haphazard and indefinite
way. They are in large measure found-
ed on shrewd guesses. Because they
have served us very well so far there is
no reason to expect them to continue to
meet our needs. ‘ Research in horticul-
ture is as much to be furthered as is
research in anything else... There
really can be no worthwhile horticulture
unless it be fouuded on original scientific
investigation.”

The definition given of research was
clear and explicit. It was charac-
terised as ‘‘a competent effort by a
competent person to discover principles
and facts that are underlying in one
year as wellasin another, and that do
not grow old and out of date, in dis-
tinction from the making of tests and

Miscellaneous. —

_ the re-elaboration of present knowledge.”

Citing an illustration from horticulture
of this distinction he said: ‘‘To deter-
mine what varieties of apricots are best
adapted to a region may be one of the
most useful undertakings, but it is of
temporary value and a new test should
be made every five or ten years. To
describe the varieties of apricots is of
the same order. If, however, one were
to inquire for the principles that control
the variation of apricots, or that deter-
mine the limitations of varieties, or that
underlie the physiological processes in
apricot growing, or that explain the
close inter-relation of the apricot flora
with climate, he would be entering the
field of real research.”

Research depends on the intention and
method of the work, and specially on
the capacity of the man who undertakes
it. Its intention is to go to the bottom.
It requires a research type of mind;
‘“‘few persons are capable of projecting
and completing real investigational
work,” hence men must be selected who
have the special aptitude and qualifi-
eation forit. Itis futile to attempt to
exact it of all men.

Professor Bailey expressed the belief
that on the research side the horticul-
turists in the colleges and stations are
not making great headway, and that
few new men are heing turned out who
promise to meet the coming problems.
The reason for this -condition was
assigned very largely to improper or in-

efficient organization and plan. ‘‘ Horti-
culturists are forced to cover too
much ground,” he said ‘and neces-

sarily they cover some of it very thin.
The work is not sufficiently specialised.
There is the same need that horticul-
turists become particularists as that
other college officers become unquestion-
ed authorities in particular subjects. ...
If the subjects that we class with horti-
culture had been wholly unrecognised

. until this time, it is inconceivable that

they would now be organised under the
present form,”

He urged differentiation in function
and specialization in horticulture, and
pointed out that the horticulturists
should themselves be actively preparing
a reconstructive movement.

In regard to the kind of men needed
for the college and station work, Pro-
fessor Bailey laid great stress on the
development of the point of view and
the scientific spirit, and upon the neces-
sity for graduate work. In this he drew
upon his address given before the Asso-
ciation of American Agricultural Col-
leges and Experiments Stations, at Port-
land, the past summer. He urged that

57

449 [May, 1910,

the colleges must not only train farmers
but must train the trainers ot farmers ;
they thus have a double work to perform.

“The college that makes no adequate
distinction between these two lines of
service ought not to undertake to train
men for the best leadership, or to ex-
pect that even the best men from the
graduating classes will be fitted for it.”

The point was made that the college
that trains a man inoculates the spirit
into him, ‘‘No person is prepared for
college and station work who does not
possess the scientific spirit...... The
point of view is the first consideration;
the curriculum is one of the means of
working it out,” The type of mind deter-
mines the man’s attitude toward a
problem. ‘The attitude of the young
man toward his work is just as im-
portant as the work itself; and for
this attitude his instructors are in large
degree responsible.

‘* Because a man has graduated from
a college of agriculture it does not
follow that he is fitted tor a position
in a college of agriculture. My con-
tention is that we have now come to
the time when we must more closely
scrutinize the men who are to officer
our colleges ot agriculture and our ex-
periment stations, We have now
skimmed the surface in agricultural
investigation, taking off the apparent
and the easy subjects. The constituency
is rapidly rising in intelligent appre-
ciation of what we do. We must now
go deeper, attack the essential under-
lying problems, teach more _ funda-
mentally.” :

Professor Bailey urged strongly the
importance of postgraduate study: to
prepare men for service in the colleges
and stations. Such study he considered
essential to efficient service at the pre-
sent stage. He pointed out that practi-
cally all the postgraduate students of
to-day will be candidates for positions
as teachers and experimenters. It is
important, therefore, that only men
suited to it be encouraged to enter upon
such graduate work, and that we ap-
preciate the value of the time element
in training persons for college and
station work. They should be allowed
to mature and ripen.

These are important considerations.
They are fundamental to progress.
There has been no cessation in the
demand for men for our colleges and
stations. The supply has not kept pace
with it, and men have been pressed into
the service who were never intended
for it. The demand is especially for
men of advanced training, men ripened

May, 1910.]

by postgraduate study, and with a
broad insight into science and its
methods and its spirit.

This is true of horticulture as well
as elsewhere, but the supply is exceed-
ingly small, The opportunity is here
but not the men to meetit. The need
for investigation lies in its relations
to both the art and to teaching. The
more transitory tests and experiments
have been extremely useful, although
half-way knowledge is uncertain and
likely to be misleading. Horticulture is
largely intensive, and mistakes are
serious. As Prof. Bailey said, ‘‘A special
obligation of good and careful investi-
gation rests on all those who study any
ef the practices whereby men and
women wrest their livelihood in the
world.” From the standpoint of the
teacher the present need for investi-
gation is even more imperative if horti-
cultural instruction is to keep pace
pedagogically withthat in other branches
of agriculture, based on investigation
in which the horticulturists themselves
take an active part.

There has seemed sometimes to bea
disinclination among horticulturists to
map out a restricted field and settle
down to investigation init. Ina number
of instances men are now employed
primarily for investigation, and the
attempt is made to relieve them of every
disturbing or distracting feature, and to
leave them to their quest. Someof these
men unfortunately fail to meet the re-
quirements, because they cannot resist
the fascination of horticulture as an art
and a business, and the practical ques-
tions which it suggests.

The commercial possibilities are dis-
concerting to some well-prepared men.
Too often they are drawn by the at-
traction of making money, rather than
by that of adding new facts to the fund
of human knowledge and thus becoming
one of the ecivilising agencies of their
day. The commercial spirit dominates
the scientitic, and they become restless
and dissatisfied. We can never have
investigation in horticulture under the
direction of horticulturists, until we
have a classof men with the investigative
turn of mind, the training which pre.
pares for it, and the taste which makes
its pursuit and its associations satisfying.

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

PROGRESS REPORT XLIX.
Membership.-—Since the meeting of
February 7, 1910, the following members
have joined the Society :— Chas. A. Peiris,
D. E. H. Pedris, W, M. R, Elwes,.-T,

450

bed

Miscetlameous.
McGuffie, Henry B. Less, J. W. Oldfield,
Geo. Boysen, W. Carver, Felix

Fernando, S. Alex. Marten, Watkin R.
Roberts, A. J. Van Rooyen. ‘These
aot ous bring up the total membership
o 920._

Official Tours.—The Organizing Vice-
President (Dr. Willis) returned to Ceylon
after nearly a year’s absence on leave
and resumed duties on the lst instant,
relieving Mr. R. H. Lock, who had been
acting for him.

On the 20th and 21st Dr. Willis visited
the Matale District in connection with
the extension of school garden work at
Madipola, where an addition of land has
been granted.

The Secretary has been on inspection
duty to Alutgama, Kosgama, Weke,
Ambanpola, Galgamuwa, and Matale.

Mr. Wickramaratne visited Maggona,
Chilaw, Puttalam, and Bellana, and has
been engaged practically during the
whole of March in the Rayigam korale,
being assisted during the latter part of
the month by Mr. N. M. Jayasuriya,
tocum tenens tor Mr. L. A, D. Silva, who
is on sick leave.

Mr. Molegode has been working in
the Matale District, visiting Naula,
Dambulla, Inamaluwa, Galawella, &ce.

Mr. Chelliah, whose work lies in
the Northern -Province, paid a visit
to Anuradhapura in connection with
damage done by the paddy fly, He has
since left (4th instant) for Batticaloa to
temporarily fill the vacancy created by
the transfer of Mr. Breckenridge to the
scene of the tobacco experiment at Maha
Illuppallama.

Branch Societies.—The Secretary of
the Dumbara Branch has forwarded
report and balance sheet for the past
year, which will receive due notice in
the Society’s annual report. The branch,
which continues to do excellent work,
has arranged for an agricultural show to
be held at -Teldeniya on July 22 and 23. ©
Special medals will be offered (1) for the
best exhibit of Tobacco grown and cured
in the district, and (2) for the best sample
of locally raised Cotton.

The programme of the Harispattu
Branch for 1910 includes paddy cultiva-
tion on improved lines at five centres
under the supervision of the Agricultural
Instructor of the Central Province. A
village show has also been decided on,

The Galle-Gangaboda Pattu Branch is
carrying out a comparative test to
ascertain the difference in the yield of
broadcasted and transplanted paddy.
This Society is interesting itself in assist- —
ing cultivators to secure manure from @

- Miscellaneous,

reliable source, instead of purchasing
adulterated stuff from the local bazaar.
A market garden is also about to be
started at Baddegama,

The Secretary of the Anuradhapura
Branch reports that aseries of ploughing
demonstrations is in contemplation if
the present drought is relieved in April ;
also that a show is under consideration.

The Rayigam Korale Branch holds
market shows at Kalutara, Wewita, and
Bellana on May 7, 14, and 21 respec-
tively. The Wewita show will be held
in the Society’s experimental garden
near Bandaragama. Prizes will be
awarded to the best school gardens in
the district.

Paddy (Rice).—The Galle-Gangaboda
Pattu Branch approached the Society
with a view to repeating a previously
successful effort at co-operation for the
supply of manure for yala cultivation.
Satisfactory arrangements have been
made for a supply of crushed bones,
which is the manure commonly used in
the South.

Mr. W.R. Bibile, Ratemahatmaya, at
whose request a small quantity of the
well-known Samudrabali paddy was
obtained from India, reports that a trial
of this variety by Mr. D. Kotalawala
yielded seventy times the quantity
sown. The seed was put in the nursery
on August 138 last, transplanted on
September 6, and the crop harvested on
December 23, The land was manured
with cattle dung. Agricultural In-
structor Wickremaratne reporting on
this experiment says; ‘‘Isaw the field
in November and found the transplant-
ing had been done too close, otherwise
the yield would have been considerably
greater. The large size of the ears was
striking.”

Mr. J, A Wirasinghe, Mudaliyar of
the Rayigam korale, who supervised a
series of experiments by his headmen
with a view to proving the advantages
of transplanting, reports thatthe results
were very. satisfactory. The actual
figures will be given in the next Progress
Report.

Mr. Valoopillay of Anuradhapura re-
ports that a variety of paddy, known in
Tamil as “ Thillanagakam,” was able to
withstand the attack of the paddy fly,
while two or three other varieties sown
at the same time were seriously damaged.
A sample of the paddy has been secured,
and the matter is being further investi-
gated with a view to discovering the
possible cause of immunity and the
existence of other varieties possessing
similar properties,

451

[May, 1910.

Cotton.—The following isa report by
Messrs. D. J. Ross & Co. on a sample
of cottcn grown in the Province of Uva:
‘Mr. H. KE. D’Hsterre of Braemore has
asked us to write you with reference to
the cotton sent tous from Randeniya.
To begin with, we understand this
cotton was grown from Caravonica seed.
Last September we gota small quantity
of this seed cotton from Mr. D’Esterre
and had it ginned in India by writer’s
brother. The ginned sample we sent to
our friends in Europe, who gavea very
favourable report on the cotton, and
their valuation, dated Manchester,
September 29, was 9d. to 93d. per lb
This will give youa better idea than
anything of the quality. Of course, the
lot we have received from Mr. D’Hsterre
may not have been so well ginned as the
sample we got, as he and his people have
little knowledge of ginning, and it is the
easiest thing in the world to destroy
cotton in ginning and reduce the value
by half or more, The staple of this
cotton is of fair length and good strength,
but is what is known amongst spinners
as rough staple.”

The Assistant Government Agent of
Hambantota is conducting a_ cotton
growing experiment in the Tissama-
harama district.

TheSecretary, Wanni Hatpattu Branch
Society, in reply to an inquiry, states
that in 1909 some 33 ewt. of cotton were
produced in his district, 31 ewt. of which
was raised by a Kuropean planter, and
about 2 cwt. on Crown chenas by
villagers,

According to the report of the Secret-
ary of the Jaffna Branch 260 acres of
cotton were planted in Delft last year.

The British Cotton Growers’ Associa-
tion advise the despatch of half a ton of
Black Rattler and 25 1b. each of Allen’s
improved Sunflower and Griffin cotton
seed. Black Rattler was specially recom-
mended for trial in Ceylon by Professor
Dunstan. Intending growers should
book early for this seed.

T regret to have to record the death of
Mr. Cobham-Lea, one of the pioneers of
cotton cultivation in the North-Central
Province, who had been growing Sea
Island cotton near Galgamuwa under
great difficulties and with indomitable
pluck.

Implements and Appliances-.—The
popularizing of light iron ploughs (such
as the Meston) suitable to local conditions
has occupied the attention of the Agri-
cultural Instructors. The services of
Mr. Wickramaratne were placed at the
disposal of the Assistant Government
Agent, Kalutara (Mr. Plant), for the

May, 1910,] 452

greater part of a month to carry out a
programme of work for the cultivators
of that district. The Assistant Govern-
ment Agent was himself present at some
of the centres where demonstrations
were held, and as a result of the personal
interest he showed in the work, there
has been considerable activity and
enthusiasm in the localities. visited by
the Instructor.

Mr. Molegode held several ploughing
demonstrations inthe Matale District,
but owing to the very dry season, coup-
led with the indifference of the headmen,
the results were not very satisfactory.

A Sivagiri plough has been forwarded
to Mr. Chelliah for use in the Northern
Province, and a duplicate set of the im-

lements received from the Koilpati

‘arm will follow. Mr. Chelliah is about
to begin a series of ploughing demonstra-
tions in the Eastern Province with the
approval of the Government Agent, and
has also furnished himself with one of
Mr. Lefroy’s bags for capturing paddy
flies, so that he may be in a position to
go to the assistance of cultivators
whose crops are being damaged by this
pest. Mr. Valoopillay, referring to Mr.
Chelliah’s demonstration in the working
of the bag at Anuradhapura, writes:
“Tam of opinion that this treatment
will be effective and shall give it a good
trial when the plague comes on again,
probably in March, and report results.”

The difficulty in threshing paddy
experienced after the recent outbreak
of rinderpest in the south and east of
the Island pointed to the necessity of
some suitable appliance for this purpose
being introduced to the notice of culti-
vators. A local firm has imported two
machines of moderate price, one for hand
work and thejother for bullock power,
which appear likely to suit local require-
ments. These have already had aprivate
trial, and it is intended to shortly give
members of the Society an opportunity of
seeing them worked. On its capacity
being tested the hand machine proved
that it could do more than twice as
much with the same number of hands
-required to control seven animals. The
machine adapted for a pair of bullocks
or buffaloes promises still greater
possibilities.

Orchella Weed (Rocella Montagnei).—
In November, 1908, attention was
directed to thislichen ina letter from
Professor Dunstan, Director of the
Imperial Institute, London, to the Hon.
the Colonial Secretary, in which it was
stated that there was a considerable

shortage of the product in the English ~

market, and in consequence manu-

facturers were unable to obtain supplies.
It was added that consignments of good
quality were likely to fetch £12 per ton
and over ¢c.i.f. London, and the hope
expressed that it would be possible to
revive the trade inthe dye stuff, which
atone time was a large export from
Ceylon. Acopy of this letter having
been transmitted to the Society by the
Secretary of the Ceylon Planters’ Asso-
ciation, inquiries were set on foot, and
after a good deal of correspondence, an
order for 5 tons at the ptice quoted
above was placed by a London firm,
acting through the Imperial Institute,
with Mr. M. C. Abdul Cader of Jaffna.
A consignment consisting of 96 bags was
duly despatched through the Society at
the end of last year. The actual weight
of the orchella weed was 87 cwt., the
shortage being due to a miscalculation
discovered at the last moment when
there was no time to make up the defi-
ciency. For the information of in-
terested parties the details of the trans-
action are given below :—

Cwt. qr. lb.
Ninety-six bags of orchella
weed, gross weight 3 909 2 7
Less tare and draft Re 38 1 20
87 0 15
£30. £ 3. d.
At £12 percwt, ... 5257
Less discount RealOne
———-. 50 19 5
Rs, e.
At 1s. 4 3/16d. tae — 755 70

Cost of boat hire
from Jaffna ... 72 0

Freight to Lon-
don, Rs. 187:98 ;
shipping char-

ges Rs. 43°84 181 82

501 88

This amount (Rs. 501°88) was duly re-
mitted to Mr. Cader, who, however,
reports that he is not satisfied with the
results of the transaction.

Sericulture.—A further communication
has come from Europe with reference to
Eri cocoons, embodying definite pro-
posals of a business-like nature. Any
member interested in this matter could
get information regarding the proposal
on applying to the Secretary.

The Society has now secured a cocoon

cleaning and a spinning apparatus, and
is about to entrust them to the teacher

of Mediwake school, who has shown ~

special aptitude for

working such
machines.

253, 82

ha a eg meee : , = 2 .

Miscellaneous,

~The Indian Imperial Entomologist has

kindly forwarded samples of machine-
cleaned Eri cocoons (yielding 100 per
cent. silk) and spun silk for inspection.

Seeds and 'Plants.—An order has just
gone forward for over 3,500 packets of
vegetable seeds booked by members for
the May-June planting,

Two bushels of the ( 0-days Samba have
been received for Mr. R. C. Proctor of
Chilaw, and a bushel of the drought-
resistant paddy, known in Burmese as
‘“‘Taung-deik-pan,” for the Assistant
Government Agent of Hambantota (Mr.

Woolf),

Some seed of the Algaroba or Mesquit
bean (Prosopis juliflora) has been receiv-
ed from the Hawaii Islands, but it is
doutful whether any will germinate, as
they have been badly attacked by
insects. The seeds were got out at the
instance of a member, who thinks that
the tree might be introduced into our
dry areas and meet the difficulty of
securing asupply of cattle fodder during
the rainless months of the year. Colom-
bo isapparently too wet both for the
Algaroba and the Locust bean. Plants
of the latter have been forwarded to the
drier districts for trial.

A good quantity of Lima beans of the
best kinds has now been distributed,
and should help to improve the quality
of the beans usually found in our
markets,

Six bags of Congayam grass seed
(Pennisetum cenchroides) are expected
within the next few days for plarting
in our dry areas. A plot of it growing
at the Government Stock Garden has
made a surprising stand against the
recent drought, and so far the grass
gives no signs of spreading as a weed.

The attention of members is invited
to the special advertisement in the
“Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of
the Ceylon Agricultural Society” for
March, in which a list of the seeds and

lants still available to members at the

overnment Stock Garden is published.

Reports and Analyses.—The Govern-
ment.Agricultural Chemist has reported
as follows on twosamples of soils from
Maggona_ Reformatory where garden
work is being carried on :—

Sample No. 1 is a brown cabooky
loam in a poor state of division. The
soil has no body, and to give it this
necessary quality and binding material
it would be as well to take several
crops of green manure off it and mulch
in the leafy material. The mineral plant
food is very poor in’ phosphoric acid,
which would be q disadvantage if grain

453° May, 1910,

crops are to be grown, and would re-
quire to be replenished with a_ readily
available torm of phosphoric acid. The
potash, although not so poor as_ the
phosphoric acid, is poorer than it ought
to be to yield good crops. The lime and
magnesia are in fair proportion.

Sample No, 2 is similar in appearance
to No, 1. In mechanical and chemical
composition there is but slight difference,
but the potash and phosphoric acid are
in better proportion. As a general mix-

ture the following might’ be recom-
mended :—

Mixture. lb, Nitro- P20s KzO

gen.

Fish 800 15:0 120 —
Castor Cake ..000 15:0 — —
Steamed Bone Meal...100 3°55 23:0 —
Concentrated Super... 50 -- 210 —
Nitrate of Potash ...50 55 — 19°0
Sulphate of Potash ...50 — — 250

Per Acre...850 39°0 560 44:0

As much mulch, such as cattle manure,
prunings, refuse, &c., should be spread
on the land to improve the tilth.

The Government Entomologist fur-
nishes the following report on a sample
of Anuradhapura oranges damaged by
insects :—‘‘ The oranges submitted have
been attacked by the fruit fly (Dacus
sp.). The most practical treatment for
this pest is to collect and destroy all fallen
and wormy fruit daily. The fruit may
be destroyed either by burning, or by
sinking it in water, or by burying it
deeply. In the latter case, at least one
foot of firmly pressed earth must cover
the fruit, or the flies will make their
escape, It is particularly important
that this treatment should be adopted
during both crops of fruits, although
very little damage may be noticeable
at the time. It is also possible to do
some good by poisoning the adult flies.
This may be done by spraying the trees
with a mixture of syrup (sugar and
water) and arsenic, to which a few dreps
of citronella oil have been added. [If
your correspondent would like to try
this method, I can give detailed parti-
culars of the poison mixture.”

The Government Entomologist replies
as follows to acorrespondent inquiring
about a wash: to keep off: the paddy
bug :—“‘I fear that there is no chemical
solution that can be relied on to keep
off the paddy bugs. Recommendation
No. 3 of the Circular is the nearest ap-
proach to such treatment, and of the
three substances recommended, I should
prefer kerosene. The systematic collec-
tion of the bugs—either by the sticky

May, 1910.)

winnow or by the use of a cloth bag—will
be found an importaut measure in the
treatment. But I consider that pre-
ventive measures are still more import-
ant than curative treatment. I have
several times pointed out that, in the
intervals of the rice crops, the bug feeds
upon and breeds on the natural grasses
that spring up on the banks and on
waste lands surrounding the fields. This
grass shoald be periodically burnt off.
By so dcing the virulence of the pest
during crop time will be very greatly
diminished. Grass growing in fallow
fields should not be allowed to run to
seed. It must be understood that itis
upon the unripe seed of the grasses
that the bugs teed. The fire should
therefore be applied before the grass
has ripened its seed and dried up. Clean
cultivation and rotation of crops would
be a very great check upon the ex-
cessive development of the pest.”

The Director of the Imperial Institute,
refering to asample of Gardenia latifolia
resin forwarded for investigation, writes
that, as the resin does not appear to
belong to any well-known groups of
resins, a detailed chemical examination
is being made, which will take some
time.

Miscellaneous.—The Agricultural Ex-
plorer attached to the United States
Department of Agriculture, in asking
for assistance in securing some thousands
of mango seeds, writes :—‘‘ Through the
introduction by this office of the best
East Indian mangoes, of which we have
distributed many plants in the West
Indies and Florida, very unusual interest
has been aroused in this fruit. Al-
though we have imported a large num-
ber of varieties as gratted plants, itis
our belief that promising new varieties
could doubtless be orginated from these
if we planted several thousand seeds of
the different recognized good varieties
from various Oriental countries.” The
directions given for packiug may be
useful to others, and are given below :—
‘*Select only seeds which have not been
ruined by having a fork stuck into them.
Scrub the flesh off as thoroughly as
possible with a stiff brush and abund-
ance of water. Dry the seeds for an
hour or so in the shade (uuder no circum-
stances expose them to bright sunlight
after washing), then spread in layers in
the packing material in a box that will
not be broken in the mail. To prepare
the packing material, take equal parts
by volume of finely powdered charcoal
and chopped sphagnum moss. Charcoal
from which all creosote has been ex-
pelled will be sent to you when we order
the seeds. Itis very important that the

454

Ot SS ee ee

ak nae

packing material be of the right damp-
ness—neither too wet nor too dry. In
order tc get the mixture in the right
condition, throw the sphagnum into a
pail of water and stir it until thoroughly
saturated with the water. Then take it
out by the handful and wring it as hard
as possible, squeezing out every drop of
water possible with the hands. Mix this
damp sphagnum with the charcoal, and
use this mixture in layers between the
layers of mango seeds.”

The Superintendent of School Gardens
reports that school gardening is spread-
ing to the girls’ schools, The teacher of
the Balangoda Girls’ School has written
acknowledging her indebtedness to the
‘“‘Govikam Sangarawa” (the Sinhalese
Agricultural Magazine) for the instruc-
tion she has derived from that publi-
cation, and states that the produce of
a garden is worth Rs. 50 per mensem
to her.

It is much to be regretted that the
magazine referred to above has not a
larger circulation, as it is greatly ap-
preciated by all into whose hands it
falls, The Committee on publications
might well consider whether it would
not be to the advantage of the Society
to vote a sufficient sum to allow of, say,
1,000 copies being supplied to each
Government Agent of the Sinhalese-
speaking Provinces, for free distribution,
at the discretion of the Mudaliyars and
Ratemahatmayas, so that the Magazine
may have as wide a circuiation as
possible,

The visit of Professor Dunstan of the
Imperial Institute, who evinced great
interest in the work and possibilities
of the Society, is worthy of record. The
study he has made of the conditions
under- which cultivation is being carried
on in Ceylon will, no doubt, enable him
to offer valuable advice to members of
the Society. The Secretary will be glad
to receive any specimens upon which
reports are required, and to forward
them to the Imperial Institute for in-
vestigation.

A set of.coloured plates of insect pests,
with short descriptions and directions,
has been received from the Imperial
Entomologist for India. These plates
are full of instruction, and are parti-
cularly valuable for educational pur-
poses:

C. DRIEBERG,
Secretary.
Colombo, April 6, 1910,

“o-

Misceliangou

~

* 455

[May, 1910.

Correspondence.

PACKING PLANTS FOR EXPORT.

DeEAR S1rR,—Most of your readers would
appreciate an article by Mr. Macmillan
on “ Packing Para Rubber Plants for
export.”

One always hears of plants sent out by
the Gardens arriving in excellent condi-
tion after a long voyage.

The articles which have from time to
time appeared on packing Para seeds
for export were invaluable to many

readers.
Yours faithfully,
A, VAN STARREX.

Crystal Hill Estate,
Matale, 26th April, 1910.

{[Mr. Maemillan states that he has not
much new to add to what he has al-
ready written; his forthcoming book on
Gardening in Ceylon will contain a
chapter on this subject.—EKDITOR. |

COTTON SEED RATE FOR
PLANTING.

Sir,—In the January number of the
Tropical Agriculturist there is a report
on a tour made by the Secretary of the
Ceylon Agricultural Department to India,

On page 66 of the 7. A. the Secretary
says :—Authorities do not seem to agree
as to the seed rate for cotton. The West
Indian Department advises 6 lbs. for Sea
Island, myself 48 lbs. for Egyptian, and
at Koilpati 10 lbs. is considered ample.

I should like in the first place to point
out that 45 lbs. was recommended, and
not 48 lbs.

As there seems to bea lack of infor-
mation on this question, 1 would like to
explain to your readers some of the
reasons for those differences in amounts
recommended.

It is considered that quantity of seed
required depends on the following
factors :—

1. The distance between the lines or
ridges and number of seeds sown at
each hole.

2. The character of the soil.
8. The size of the seed.

4. The conditions under which the
crop is grown (1.é., irrigation or rain),

In the Sea Islands the distance is at
least 5 feet between ridges and 22 inches
between plants, the soil is light alluvium,
and therefore the percentage germina-
tion is high and little resowing required,
single plants only are left.

Cotton under irrigation in Egypt is
planted 32 to 34 inches. between ridges
and 19to20 inches between plants; the
soil is frequently heavy and germination
often irregular; resowing in places is
practically always required; the quan-
tity of seed used in Egypt is 1} bushels
per acre.

With Indian cottons less seed is re-
quired as the seed is generally much
smaller than Egyptian or Sea Island.

It has been my experience that cotton
under irrigation always requires more
seed than cotton grown with rain; the
irrigating seems to cake the surtace soil,
and unless there are several seeds to-
gether they are unable to break through

In Nyasaland, without irrigation I
find that 10 to 12 lbs. is sufficient for
Egyptian and as low as 6 lbs. for
Upland cotton,

In conelusion, I consider it a mistake
to economise in seed, especially with
cotton grown under irrigation.

Tam, ete.,
J. STEWART J. McCALL,
Director of Agriculture for Nyasaland,

The Agricultural & Forestry Department, —
Zomba, Nyasaland Protectorate,

4th March, 1910,

ALOES, Socotrine cwt.
Zanzibar & Hepatic ,,
ARROWKOOT (Natal) Ib.
BEES’ WAX, cwt.

Zanzibar Yellow __,,

Bombay bleached __,,

os unbleached ,,
Madagascar
OAMPHOR, Japan +

China a
CARDAMOMS, Tuticorin
Tellicherry

Mangalore ,,
Ceylon. ~ Mysore
Malabar
Seeds, E.1,& Ceylon ,,
Ceylon Long Wild ,,
CASTOR OIL, Calcutta ,,
CHILLIES, Zanzibar cwt.

SINCHONA BARK.—Ib.

iF)
o

”” |Retined

456

MARKET RATES FOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS,
» (From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current, London, 12th A pril 1910.)

RS SS SSS
—— eee
QUOTATION s.

QUALITY.

Fair to fine
Common to good
Fair to fine

Slightly drossy to fair ...
Fair to good

Dark to good genuine 6,
Dark to good palish

Fair average quality
Good to fine bold
Middling lean

Good to fine bold
Brownish ae
Med brown to fair bold
Small fair to fine plump

—

.[80s a 85s

40s a 7038

--/7d a 8d

£5 15s @ £6 10s
£6 15s a £7

Is 53d als 7d
116s

283 a 23 6d

Is 9d a 1s 10d
28 a 283d

1s 3s als 9d
is 10d a 28 8d
ls 4d a 2s 10d

Fair to good «xls 2d a 1s 4d
Fair to good +e jis 8d als 9d
Shelly to good --|6d a Ils7d

Good 2nds
Dull to fine bright

«+ {34d a 3 1-16d
--|4U8 a 453

eylon Crown Renewed 33d a 7d
oss t Org. Stem |2daé6d
Red Org. Stem {13d a 43d
Renewed 3d a bid
Root lid a 4d
CINNAMON,Ceylon Ists|Good to tine quill 6idals 5d
per lb, 2nda ” ” ; 5id a 1s 4d
8rds ” oe 6da 1s
4ths os ” 9 43d a 82d
Bee ee eet coring Gaaht ped lia Goes ea
Ib,|Dull to tine brig 5 sa ls 6d
CLOVES, pee ‘|Dull to tine 9d a 10d
Ceylon BS ear aes 9d a 10d
Zanzibar Fair and fine bright 54d a 53d
Stems ..|Fair 2id
Oe Plantation cwt.|Medium to bold 65d a 100s
Native Good ordinary nominal
Liberian » |Fair aH bold: ats Bate
» y, |Special Marks 60s a 69s
COCOA, Ceylon Plant. », Red to good 548 a pad
i te Ordinary to red 398 a 56s
Se Ee Golebed *' |Small to good red 30s a 8's
COLOMBO ROOT », |Middling to good 30s a 85s
CROTON SEEDS, sift. cwt.|Dull to fair 45s a 47s 6d
CUBEBS * +. Bee stalky to good s308 a 170s
1, rough,, |Fair 40s nom,
GINGeE Benee Cut a < Small to fine bold 658 a 853
», jomall and ea oe 2.008
i Common to fine bo. s a 50s
CochELROUER Small and D's ae 6d a 45s
Unsplit 3
@auM Reeth CUM x Sm. blocky to fair os pa ceed
i Pale and amber, str. srts. a
Ne » little red/£12 a £14
Bean and Pea size ditto|75s a £14 2s 6d
Fair to good red sorts |£8a £12
Med, & bold glassy sorts|/£6a £8
Madagascar ,, |Fair to good palish .,,/£4a£8 15s
ad ..|£4 & £7 Os

4RABIC EH. I, & Aden
Turkey sorts
Ghatti
Kurrachee
Madras

ASSAFCETIDA

KINO

MYRRH, Aden sorts cwt
Somali

OLIBANUM, drop

pickings
siftings
{NDIA RUBBER

”
”

Ceylon, Straits,
Malay Straits, ete.

Assam

Rangoon

8 a9 re .
Ordinary to good pale

Sorts to fine pale
Reddish to good pale ...
Dark to fine pale ay
Clean fr. to gd. almonds
com. stony to good bleck
Fair to fine bright

Middling to good

ay 99

Good to tine white
Middling to fair
Low to good pale
Slightly foul to fine
Fine Para bis. & sheets

7 Ceara 23 99
Crepe ordinary to fine..
Fine Block
Scrap fair to fine
Plantation

258 a 32s 6d nom.
3083 a 50s

,.|208 a 423 6d nom.

208 a 30s
15s a 25s
£9 a £10 10s
15s a£s
6d a 9d

a0
sy

12s 2d a 12s 6d
12s 6d

986d a 10s 2d

5s 6d a 8s

Fair Il to ord. red No. i|s a 7d

£6 15sa £6 17s 6d
£710s a £7 12s 6d

QUALITY, QUOTATIONS
IN DUS UBE MLS Contd.) G A, a
orneo ommon to g00
Java Good to finered _ c Hr me oe 5
Penang Low white to prime red}35 gq 4s 8d
Mozambique Fair to fine red ball ...!75 gd a gg
Sausage, fair to good ..'75 4 gs 104
Nyassaland Fair to fine ball 16g 3d a 7s 4d
Madagascar Fr to fine pinky & whitels, 6d a 6s 6d
Majunga & blk coated ..|4g a 45 4d
Niggers, low to good ..!9, 9 5g
New Guinea Ordinary to fine ball ., 486d a 63

INDIGO, E.I. Bengal

MACE, Bombay & Penang
per lb,

Shipping mid to gd violet|9, 104 a 3s 8d

Consuming mid. to gd
Ordinary to middling

Oudes Middling to fine
Mid. to good Kurpah
Low to ordinary
Mid; to fine Madras
Pale reddish to fine
Ordinary to fair

Java ey » £e0d pale
Bombay Wild
MYRABOLANES, ewt peaad Coconada
B ubblepore
pmb ay eo amlise
Rhajpore, &c.
Bengal » |Calcutta
NUTMEGS— . |64’s to 57’s
Bombay & Penang ,, |110’s to 65’s

NUTS, ARECA cewt.
NUX VOMICA, Cochin
per cwt. Bengal

Madras
OIL OF ANISEED
CASSIA
LEMONGRASS
NUTMEG
CINNAMON
CITRON ELLE a
ORCHELLA WEED—cwt
Ceylon
Madagascar Fy

PEPPER - (Black) Ib.
Alleppy & Tellicherry
Ceylon ¥
Singapore on

Acheen & W. C. Penang

(White) Singapore ,,
Siam

Penang

Muntok

RHUBABB, Shenzi

Canton

High Dried...

”

”
”
o

SAGO, Pearl, large
medium
small

SEEDLAC ewt.

SENNA, Tinnevelly Ib.

SHELLS, M. o’PEARL—
Egyptian cwt.

Bombay

- Mergui

Manilla 0

Banda ae
TAMARINDS, Calcutta...
per cwt. Madras
TORTOISESHELL—
Zanzibar, & Bombay lb.

TURMERIC, Bengal cwt.
Madras

”
a

”
”
”

Do.

Cochin
VANILLOES— Ib,
Mauritius... 1sts
Madagascar ... } 2nds
Seychelles .. ards

VERMILLION ..

WAX, Japan, squares

160’s to 115’s
Ordinary to fair fresh
Ordinary to good

” 1)

” yy
Fair merchantable
According to analysis
Good flavour & colour
Dingy to white
Ordinary to fair sweet
Bright & good flavour

» |Mid. to fine not woody...

Fair

Fair
», Lo fine bold heavy

Dull to fine

Ordinary to good

:

=.

Fair to tine flat -+/1035 a 1s 5
Dark to fair round +-(5d a 64d 4

..;Dull to fine on (20s a 228 4

es a ee
8.6da18s6d—

Ordinary to gd. soluble |453'a 60s

Good to fine bold green 43d a7d Py,

Fair greenish 24d a 44d
Commonspeckyand small|i¢d a 23d a
Small to bold .. 278 a 1359 an

Fair to good 3
Sorts

Foxy & reddish 34 a
|Lean and inferior
\fine, pure, bright
|Good white hard

--|10id a Is1d

- |£358a£9736d
-- £7103 a £10 16s

Mid.to fine bl’k not stony|11s a 123 6d

Stony and inferior -./48 @ 5S

Small to bold «.{L1s a 298 .
Pickings -. [88 a 238

Fair ..|198 6d

Hanger fair to dne bold|23s a 24s 6d
Bulbs [bright/17s a 18s
Finger +. [208°

Bulbs (143 @d

Gd crystallized 3 agi in/13s a 12s

>, {lls 68 a 14s
«(lisa Lis 6d
38 2d

oe [408

+28 6d a 2s 10d
2s 2d a 235d
2s 6d a 2/8 nom,
2s 2d a 2s 6d
1s 6d a 2s

ls da 2s 4d
‘Is lida 2s 4d
1s 8d als 10d
ls 7d a 2s

4d a 43d

5s a 586d
5sa 6s

5s 3d a 6s 6d
4s 9da 5s 6d

3s 4d a 3s 8d
23d a 23d
1$d a lia

2d a1s

Is

88a 10s
10s

--|3gd
+-(3dd a 44d
«lid

+ ae /B40 a, 83 a
Fair to fine se --/6fd a a

Fair 3 aoe +o 163d q
Fair cs cee eee 640

Fair 5c 50 «(7ad

Ordinary to good «1s 3d a 2s 8d ~

18s a, 127|6nom-

«|253 ~2303 nom.

THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE

Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the 6. A. 8.

COMPILED AND Epitep sy A. M. & J. FERGUSON.

No. 5,]

MAY,

1910. [Vor. VI.

RUBBER TAPPING UP TO DATE.

PRACTICAL NOTES.
(Special.)

At the request of several eminent Rubber
Planters, I have been asked to give a description
of how tapping knives should be used and how
tapping may be most profitably carried out. [
can only give a few

NOTES AFTER SEVEN YEARS’ CLOSE STUDY
and practical experience gained

IN CEYLON, AND TWO YEARS SPENT IN
THE STRAITS,
Johore, etc., where I stayed at intervals on
most of the largest Rubber Estates.

After a Rubber treehas been properly marked
out, to suit the method of tapping to be ad-
opted, the following information may be found
useful :—

1. In the first operation the knife which
should be employed when tapping is com-
menced, is the ‘‘Leading” or “‘ Vertical Channel”
knife. This vertical channel should be very
carefully made and great care should be exer-
cised in the depth.

This channel should be cut close to the Cam-
bium near the area to be tapped. This Vertical
Leading Channel should be made to face the
right direction. All Rubber Estates are, of
course, or should be, lined East and West.

Where Rubber has been closely planted, it is
immaterial which direction the channel faces.
It is of the greatest importance that the knife
used be provided with a special guard which
can be regulated to a ‘‘nicety” and thus prevent
damage to the tree—at the same time securing
the very best results.

2, ‘The second operation is the opening of
the area to be tapped, after it has been care-
fully marked out. Even greater care (if possible)
should be exercised in this delicate work.

58

If tapping on full or half “Herring Bone ”
System, this cut should be made at an angle of
35 to 45 degrees from the ‘‘ Leading” channel,
with the “V” or if with the ‘‘Y” method,
(which I saw several years ago very successfully
carried out on Lanadron Estate in Johore) a
slightly more acute angle is used. The knife
employed is known as the square-cut First
Incision knife, and should be made with a pro-
perly constructed guard which can be adjusted,
so that the knife will cut to any required depth
and at the same time will not penetrate the
Cambium. This knife should be about 1-16th
of an inch broader than the side or guard of the
paring or tapping knife to be subsequently
employed, In cases where no up-to-date pull
aud push knife can be got, it will be found

advantageous to cut a small tapping channel
at the extreme top end, of about one inch in

length in the opposite direction to the main, or
each tapping channel. This enables a ‘‘tapper”
to get a clean cut and besides saving the bark
(or rather using it), assists to keep the tree
symmetrical when the other side is tapped—
the renewed bark on the previously excised
portion will then have an even surface. I have
seen very large numbers of trees put very
much out of original shape through insuf-
ficient attention being given to these im-
portant, though apparently small matters,

I would here make a special note for those in-
terested, that only specially trained coolies
should be employed on these two operations as
badly opened trees, especially young ones, prac;
tically mean the beginning and continuation
of bad tapping. These two operations are now
made easier and safer by using ‘‘ Opening”
knives with proper inflexible guards.

A trained cooly can easily open ahundred 5 to6
year old trees in a day; and once open, the opera-
tion has not of course to be repeated for say 18
to 20 months, so the proportion of Opening-
Tappers to the ordinary is very small indeed,

458

3. The third operation of paring or tapping is,
of course, much easier, but care should be taken
in the selection of knife to be used. This knife
is known as the Tapping or Paring knife.

From the experience of many well informed
Planters it has been found best and safest to
employ a knife with a rigid guard having a
slight ‘‘ lead” or “ feeler” with a rounded lip—
this enables the Tapper to do the best work with
least possible damage to thetree. When a good
Tapper goes into the wood he feels it at once.
A properly constructed tapping knifeis not in-
tended to cut wood, butonly Cortex or living
and dead bark. The edges should be as keen as
a pen-knife or even a razor—the cleaner the cut,
or shaving, the better the flow of latex ; a jagged
cut with a blunt tool impedes the flow to a
very appreciablo extent.

The blades should be changeable, and if made
with four cutting edges asa few are, they
should also be made reversible. Ifa blade is
made thin and keen like arazor and properly
supported to withstand the work, it will give
the very best results.

A tapper should notrub his knife back over
the newly excised bark, but should make two or
three clean cuts, as the contour of the channel
will not allow the paring to be made in one
operation. Rubbing backwards and forwards
over a newly made paring, closes up many
delicate latex cells which may have just only
been slightly opened. It has generally been
found in practice, that about 3/64ths-of-an-inch
is quite sufficient paring to remove at one opera-
tion and the number of times a tree should be
tapped, entirely depends on climatic conditions.

PRICKERS AND WouND RESPONSE.

From observations carefully noted from the
infancy of this very important Rubber industry
inthe Hast, lagree with many practical Plan-
ters, that tapping a Rubber tree is similar to
trying to milk a cow ; the little that isleft in
the living source of supply remains there for its
nourishment. A wound is caused which, in 99
cases out of 100, becomes a festering centre ;
and after that, if it be not properly cared for,
the ultimate result is what can only be expected
by anyone who knows anything about Botany
—the ‘“protea” is disturbed for ever.

GEO. 8S. BROWN.

PURPUREA.’’

April 19.

DEAR Srz,—The article on Tephrosia purpurea
taken over from the Agricultural News of the
West Indies and originally from L’ Agronomie
Tropicale into the March TZ. A. (p. 227) is
rather misleading. The reference to the plant as
one suitable tor forming hedges and grow-
ing up to9 and 11 feet will make those who are
not familiar with this common weed think of
it as a probable shade tree and_ protection
against wind. The article speaks of its ability to
combat lalang and keep down other weeds.
Those who know the Sinhalese ‘‘pila” and
Tamil ‘kavalai” will realise how exaggerated
are the claims made on behalf of the plant,—
Yours truly, =

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

A BELGIAN RUBBER CO. DIRECTOR
IN COLOMBO.

Among interesting foreign visitors to Ceylon
recently was M. Jacob, a Director of a big Java
Rubber Co., the Cultuur Maatschappij Baja-
bang, with 3,500 acres, of which some 1,400 are
planted in rubber the oldest being four years
old and of which 600 to 800 acres more are being
planted up this year, Our visitor, who is also a
member of the Belgian ‘‘ Société des Planteurs
de Caoutchouc”’ of Antwerp, was visiting
several rubber estates in Ceylon, including
Clyde, Kalutara, with an introduction from Mr.
Davidson, and also saw all he could of the
rubber trees at Peradeniya and at Heneratgoda.
Heis now on his way to Java to furnish a re-
port on the Bajabang property for his co-
directors and shareholders; and hopes to visit
estatesin the F. M.S. en route.

M. Jacob told us that the best four-year-old
rubber on Bajabang is of some 23 inches girth,
3 feet from the ground, and that tapping is
being commenced this year, The oldest rubber
he knows in Java ison a neighbouring estate,
40 acres of 5-year-old and 200 of 4-year-old. Java
growth as arule is the same for 4-year-old as 5
or even 53 in Ceylon, while there is not much to
choose between it and that of rubber in the
Malay States. The greatest amount of capital
put into rubber in Java so far is Belgian, rather
more than the amount of English and much
more than that invested from Holland. The
difficulties in obtaining land, he said, were cer-
tainly getting greater—in securing the best
land, that is, most suitable for growing rubber ;
for Government were more and more averse to
parting with it. Among recent visitors tothe
Dutch Indies, he said, was M. Grisard, a well—
known Rubber magnate, who he understood was
on his way home to Europe now and about to
float a new Company when he reached home.

SILT-TRAPS FOR RUBBER ESTATES.

FURTHER SUGGESTIONS.

With reference to our remarks last month des-
cribing a practice that might be pursued for con-
serving the soil on rubber estates where the lie
of the land makes them subject to wash, we may
add that the making of the silt-traps should be
devised according to rainfall. In wet districts
they should be longer and larger; also in steep
land afew cross-drains of ordinary dimensions
are recomended. Steep land can with safety be
planted in rubber much closer than flat land, as
the former gets more light, and with the dikes
at the upper side of each plant it would be safe
against all wash.

While Para rubber seems to like periodical
flooding on flat land, it would equally rejoice
inthe gradual percolating of the rain water
caught in the silt traps. When cattle are kept,
an ideal cultivation would be dead level rows of
guinea grass—double rows, taking care not to
put any too near the rubber plants. This grass
is very harmless and would disappear when the

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910.

rubber branches join overhead. A good story
is told of a young Scotish 8. D., who got up a re-
gular rebellion with his weeders. The P.D. came
out and, asking the meaning ofit all, was told:
‘Can you no see whatI am doing?” He had
had all the weeders weeding uphil/, a thing they
simply cannot do. ‘‘ Well,” said he, ‘‘Mr. —
they have been pulling all yer soil down to the
river for the last 30 years, and J’m tryin’ ma best
ta get it back for ye” !

We are told of one coffee Superintendent
who used to pursue tedious searches for his
pickers, tracking them in the trodden down
weeds ; pickers on that estate had to tread down
the weeds round the coffee trees before they
could start the picking!

“THE FERTILISING {INFLUENCE
OF SUNLIGHT,’’

Thisis the subject of an articlein N «ture of Feb
17th, to which our attention has been directed. It
is written by Mr A Howard, Imperial Economic
Botanist of Pusa Research Institute. and Mr
G LC Howard, also of that Institute. [t notices
what we have already dealt with some months
ago, the discovery of Drs. Russell and Hutch-
inson that partial sterilisation of the soil by
heating or by poisons leads to an increase in the
supply of nitrogenous compounds and to in-
creased fertility. These discoverers had also
asked :—‘‘Is it possible to suppress the phago-
cytes, which live on bacteria in ordinary field
soils, by any economical and practical process?”
The answer is in the statement that the best
cultivators (ryots) in the Indo-Gangetic plain for
centuries past expose the alluvial soils of the
plains of India to the intense heat and light of
the Indian hot weather in April and May. The
beneficial result on the succeeding crop is extra-
ordinary, and has all the effect of a nitrogenous
manuring. Except in market: garden crops near
the cities and in crops like sugar-cane and
tobacco, manures—it is stated—are but little
used in India. The extended use of cheap light
iron soil-inverting ploughs during the hot dry
weather after the rabz harvest would do much
to bring about a better exposure of the soil to
the sun, and a more complete sterilisation. The
wooden ploughs now in use are not adapted to
open up the heavier lands unless they are mois-
tened by rain, and in consequence a large area
of the arable land is not ploughed at all until
the monsoon. The Messrs. Howard consider
one of the greatest improvements possible in
Indian agriculture would be to impress on the
ryot the value of weathering all arable lands in
April and May toa much greater extent than is
done at present. In collaboration with Mr H M
Leake, economic botanist to the Government of
the United Provinces—the well-known old Dul-
wich boy and Cambridge Scientist, youngest son
of Mr W Martin Leake (Ceylon Association Secre-
tary)—the Messrs. Howard referred to have hadin
progress for the past five or six months aseries of
experiments in which the practical effect of
weathering during the hot months on both the
yield and quality of wheat is being ascertained,

459
TEA EXPERIMENTS AT PERADENIYA:

A most valuable andinteresting Peradeniya
Gardens’ circular, which has justcome to hand is
one, exceptionally wellillustrated, describing the
tea plots at the experiment station, Peradeniya.
It should certainly be purchased by all the tea
planters. After a full account of what has been
done at the experiment station, conclusions,
pointing conclusively to the great benefit to be
derived from green manuring, even without
the aid of artifivials, are given. Tho best green
manure for the elevation and soil, it is stated, is
the Dadap, and the next Crotalaria. It is not
advisable, however, to sow the latter unless there
is sufficient labour on the estate to cut it at the
right moment, The statements that Crotalaria
is liable to cause serious diseases if grown asa
green manure are misleading ; when cut at the
right moment, while soft and green and before
flowering, it is harmless. There is no ciass of
green manure that will give so much material
in the first twelve months after sowing, nor dis-
integrate the soil so completely by its root
growth. A plan of the experimental plots is
given, there are several tables, and the photo-
graphic reproductions illustrate a view of Crota-
laria, Dadap and Albizzia plots, a plot manured
with cattle manure, showing the rested bushes,
and a ‘singlo’ indigenous plot, showing vacancies
from removal of inferior jat bushes.

‘‘FERTILISERS FOR TEA.’’

South Indian Scientific Officer’s Paper.

The information contained in the following
notes has been kindly supplied by the proprietor
of several South Travancore tea estates for publi-
cation for the benefit of tea growers :—

The estates in question are at elevations ran-
ging from 1,200 to 3,000 feet, the temperature
ranging from a minimum of 64°65 degrees in
December and January to a maximum of 87-88
in the same months, the average minimum being
68, which is also the minimum from May to
November, and the average maximum 83. The
annual rainfall is about 168 inches, the dry sea-
son lasting from November to March, the aver-
age rainfall for the three months from January to
March being only 4°2 inches. The wet season is
from April to November with an average of 161:2;
June, July and August being the wettest months.

The soil is a fairly free loam containing decom-
posing Gneiss and Cabook. It has a fair me-
chanical condition, but chemically it is some-
what deficient in Nitrogen, Magnesia and
Phosphoric Acid. It also contains very little
of the lower oxides of Iron, but a fair amount
of Potash which would be rendered available by

cultivation. The mechanical analysis was :—
Fine soil passing 90 mesh vei 20°00
do, do. 0 mesh «« “29°00
Medium do. 20 mech -» 3'00
Coarse sand and small stones » 48°00

100°00

The essential parts of the chemical analysis
showed ;—
Organic matter nm 8°90
Oxide of Iron and Manganese ee 0°20
Lime vy O'LO

460

Magnesia, ee 0°043
Potash vee 0138
Phosphoric acid « 6°0388
Containing Nitrogen 0°140

Acidity te fair

One field of tea, 22 years old, before manuring
showed a falling off in yield, the leaf being of
poor quality and growing to banji before the
Shoot had time to mature. In 1906 this field was
given an application of Fraser’s mixture at the
rate of 729lb. peracre; in February 1908 an
application of Parry’s manure at the rate of
1,015lb. per acre; and againin February 1909
an application of Parry’s manure at the rate of
640 lb. per acre.

The crops were as follows :—

1904 796 lb, per acre, | 1907 376 lb. per acre.
1905 463 do. 1908 1,013 do.
1906 590 do. | 1909 982 do.

The trees have now quite recovered their vigour.

The following is a comparative statement of
the cost of Fraser’s mixture (Colombo) and
Parry’s fertiliser with equal strength per acre of
essential fertilising ingredients, viz., Fraser’s
840 lb. and Parry’s 1,0001b. per acre, and the
actual cost on the estate including transport :—

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The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

PLANTING METHODS: AND TAPPING
SYSTEMS.

IMPORTANCE OF CAPABLE AND EXPERIENCED
MANAGEMENT,
(Zo the Editar of the ‘‘Financier.”)

As aconstant reader of the Financier, will you
permit me, through the medium of your valued
columus, to makea few remarks upon an article
entitled ‘‘Wide Planting—A Dutch View,”
emanating presumably from a Mr van Romunude,
which appeared in your issue of March 29th?

1. The Extent and Method of Tapping.—
The first words I would draw attention to are
the following :—

After noting that little is yet known 7c the extent to which
the Ficus elastica and the Hevea brasiliensis may be tapped
at one time, and also on the best methods of effecting this

operation, he (Mr van Romunde) says science and experi-
ence enable us to reach some kind of working basis.

With regard to the first part of the above, I
fancy a good deal is known of the extent to
which Hevea brasiliensis, at any rate, wil! ‘stand’
tapping, though I admit that little is known of
the effect it may eventually produce on trees
systematically tapped in artificial plantations
throughout a normal lifetime ; that is to say, the
normal period of economic utility on normal
plantations has only been surmised, and has not,
so far as I know, been yet definitely determined.

With regard to the ‘best methods of effecting
this operation,’ there cannot to my mind, for
physiological reasons, be any two opinions as to
what principle of tapping is theoretically correct.
As Professor Fitting clearly demonstrated in a
most able treatise lately published, the effect of
incisions on any tree must cause a local disorga-
nisation of the conveyance of plant food from one
part of the tree to another. The water and
nutrient salts in solution which are obtained
from the soil by the roots (principally the
root hairs), and conveyed through the sap-
wood tissue (phloem) up to the leaves, are there
combined with the products of assimilation
of the leaves, that is, mainly carbon (the
oxygen of the CO} being returned to the atmo-
sphere), to form complex carbohydrates, such
as sugar, starch, etc., which are again conveyed
down the stem, principally through the bast.
The natura! direction is vertically downwards.
The more a system of tapping approximates,
therefore, to what isknownas “ringing” or
‘“‘sirdling,” the more irregular must be the flow
of the plant-food, and consequently the greater
the difliculties placed in the way of its reaching
all parts of the plant quickly and efficiently. For
this reason I am particularly averse to the half-
spiral and full-spiral systems of tapping, parti-
cularly the former, which, if carried out with
two vertical channels, one on each side of the
tree, is tantamount to ‘‘girdling,” and the tree's
recovery then depends upon whether the reserve
material stored in the reservoir ducts below the
girdle is sufficient to keep the tree going till the
cambial layer or creative tissue has bridged the
wound with ‘‘wound calli,” and restored the
communication.

With regard to the full spiral system of tap-
ping, the enormous number of transverse cell-
walls that the sap must have to negotiate before
it can get down must render its progress very
slow, thereby minimising its usefulness,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— May, 1910.

I have always considered the herring-bone
system the most rational and theoretically the
most correct, because as long as a clear space is
left on either side of the tree (i.e., not allowing
the lateral arms to overlap) there is always room
for the sap to follow a natural and norma! course.

THE QuEsTION oF WIDTH,

(2) The articles goes on :—

One thing sure is that they must grow so widely apart
that neither under ground nor above ground may they
interfere with each other’s development, and tho study of
this point has led to the acknowledment of 15, 17 or even
20 or more feet intervals as desirable, for in the struggle of
the trees for the mastery even the surviving fittest suffer
severely, and their development is delayed, to obviate
which thinning is resorted to, and must be started as soon
as the struggle begins, etc., etc.

In spite of the above statement, we find under
the last heading of ‘‘ initial close planting” the
words: ‘‘A maximum production is better assured
by initial close planting, for, if widely done at
first, we find awkward unequal gaps later on.”

Can anything be more contradictory ? And
why should the pepe occur if the operation
known as ‘‘supplying” is properly attended
to from the beginning ? I must confess that on
the numero's well-managed estates that I have
seen in Ceylon, South [ndia, &c., the gaps have
been conspicuous by their absence, and the
trees extremely even when planted 20 ft. by 20 ft.

EFFECT oF CLOSE PLANTING,

In forestry, by close planting of timber species,
such distances as 3 ft. by 3 ft. and 4 ft. by 4 ft.
are implied, and I assume the article refers to
distances of this kind, Close planting intensi-
fiesthe struggle for existence, and generally
speaking, the closer the planting the keener the
struggle ; but | hardly think it is strictly correct
to say, ‘‘for in the struggle of the trees for the
mastery even thesurviving fittest suffer severely.”
At any rate, this is an extremely far-fetched
way of looking atit, and tends to be misleading.
The struggle tor existence commences as soon as
the young trees begin to interfere with, and
erowd, each other. In this struggle threo dis-
tinct types of trees are established, viz.:—

(a) Dominant trees. (b) Dominated trees.
(c) Dead and dying trees,

Wherever possible trees of class (c) are left as
a covering to the soil, unless they are interfering
with the development of members of classes (a)
and (b), or where their usefulness as convertible
timber is greater than their utility as a soil cover-
ing. After a certain period, therefore, class (c) is
eliminated irom thestruggle, which goes on bet-
ween (a) and (b). It is now that the skill of the
‘thinning operation” comesin. For example, if a
dominant tree is keeping back two dominated
trees, the crowns of which could quickly expand
and fill the gap caused by the removal of the
dominant tree, it would obviously be correct to
fellthe latter. Again, if a dominated tree were
interfering with the proper development of a
dominant, or a more promising dominated tree,
it would be correct to remove it, and so on.
This process of elimination goes on until the
regeneration fellings are reached, when the
process changes to the leaving of those likely to
prove the best ‘‘parent” trees. Lastly, at the
period of the rotation, the final felling takes place.

CLosE PLANTING.

_ Now, with regard to the effect of closo plant
ing on individual trees, it stands to reason that

461

the closer the planting, the greater is the
check on lateral growth, and, therefore, the
greater the development in the only possible
direction, namely, upward. The result is a
plantation of long, whippy stems closely
crowded together with small conical-shaped
crowns, all jostling and crowding one another
to get up to the light. Now is the time
when, by judicious periodical thinnings,
the crowns of the better trees are given more
room, made to spread out umbrella-wise
and by having more leaf surface spread out to
receive the sun’s rays, more COs is absorbed,
more plant food is formed, and consequently,
girth increment is quickly added, giving the tree
stability. I take it that the words ‘‘ for, in the
struggle of the trees for the mastery, even the
surviving fittest suffer severely,” refer to this
delaying of the ability of the trees to put on girth
increment. But surely there is no suffering
here, for though the surviving fittest are not
adding girth increment at first, they are reach-
ing the light, vanquishing their fellows and so
qualifying themselves for girth increment later
on, and that is why I think these words, and
also the subsequent words, ‘‘with close planting,
the improvement of the crown is stimulated,”
are somewhat misleading and contradictory. In
this latter case, absolutely the reverse to stimu-
lation of the crown is the result until the sur-
viving trees have established their predominance.
Errect oF WIDE PLANTING,

Conversely to the above, the effect of wide
planting 1s to lessen the struggle for existence
proportionally, and so increase lateral growth
by stimulating, through the medium of light
the activity of adventitious buds, and to dimin-
ish the intensity of upward growth. The result
is a bushy formation at first, developing into an
umbrella-shaped, short-stemmed tree, Fortu-
nately, in the case of Hevea, the strong,
warm, forcing soils and hot-house, tropical
atmospheres in which it thrives best have given
it the characteristic, under such conditions, of
a clean, whippy stem from the initial stage, as
opposed to the undesirable bushy formation.

Now, in the case of timber production, the
object aimed at is the production of the greatest
possible amount of timber per unit of area,
whilst in the case of Hevea, and, in fact, all
rubber-producing species, the object is the pro-
duction of the greatest amount of bark surface
for tapping, for the greater the bark area the
preater the amount of laticiferous tissue.

Given, therefore, the above favourable charac-
teristic of Hevea, wide planting enables it to
spread out its crown to the sun without inter-
ference from its neighbours, which it would
appear to begin to do from the age of about
three years onward.

With a planting distance of 20 ft by 2v0 ft,
therefore, each tree would have a crown spread
of 20 ft at the widest part and an outside circum-
ference of something over 60 ft. In Brazil,
where the Hevea, in its indigenous forests, has
to participate in the struggle for existence, the
surviving trees often attain great height and
girth, but then the age at which tapping is com-
mercially possible is probably much greater
than in artificial plantations, where it is given full

(Continued on page 464.)

462

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

CEYLON TEA ESTATES AVERAGES: COLOMBO SALES 1910 TO MARCH 3ist.

Name,

[SPECIALLY COMPILED FOR A, M. & J. FERGUSON, |]

Copyright Registered under the 1908 Ordinance.

Ib Av,

Westward Ho!

30921 62°87

Monkswood 30600 62°14

St. Johns

28578 61°12

Tullybody 39451 60°44

Court Lodge 36740 59°70

Denmark
Hill 35974 58°96
Glassaugh 58947 58°38

North Cove 28596 58°08

Wanarajah

94250 57:96

Tommagong 21834 57°29

Naseby
Gonapatiya

20008 57°01
26256 56°82

High Forest

113214 56°75
Preston 26401 56°55
The Scrubs 32605 56°45

Hornsey
Gonakelle

49732 55°45
22697 55°12

Agra Ouvah 75540 54°90

Loinorn 29259 53°89
Tientsin 23530 53°82
Agra El-

bedde 30469 53°67
Maha Uva 47333 53°66
Harrington 35219 53°57
Inverness 85605 53°37
Glasgow 88109 53°08
Blink

Bonnie 25936 52°97
Middleton 65870 52°71
Bramley 40607 52°33
Palmerston 26527 51°87
Mocha 53038 51°72
Cleveland 12706 51°64
Mossend 3681 51°41
Marigold 26012 51°18
Ingestre 70513 50°66
Fairlawn 45583 50°57
East Fassi-

fern 16981 50°48
Coreen 41263 50°34
Ireb 28470 50°27
Ormidale 28849 49°91
Glentilt 72294 49°h7
St. Vigeans 14556 49°50
Pedro 71069 49°44
Ardlaw and

Wishford 56446 49°40
Waldemar 47193 49°25
Dunnottar 22591 49°24
Gampaha 65847 49°17

Queensland 33982 48°88
Mt. Everest 15070 48°83

Highfields
Seenagolla
Killarney
‘Theresia
Warleigh
Stafford

62130 48°72
14257 48°60
42866 48°55
48937 48°51]
24267 48°41

9910 48°41

Gangawatte 32705 48°36

St. Clair

105861 48°35

Name.

Dambagas-
talawa
Richmond

Logie
Simla
Lyegrove
Avondale
Annandale
Ladbroke
Callander
Dovedale
Lameliore
Faithlie
Binioya
Invery
Moray

Ib Av.

23201 48°29

2615 48°29
26941 48°25
12531 48°13

8164 48:00
17198 47°98
26793 47°98
19068 47°94
17557 47°87

3978 47°82
59934 47°77
16815 47°56
45830 47°53
67551 47°47
65285 47°47

Bunyan and

Ovuca
Kenmare

64143 47°47
4215 47°31

Munukettia 27501 47°30

Name,

lb Av,

Templehurst 21170 45°36

Maymolly
Cranley
Elemane
Stubton

40216 45°26
21450 45°22
14605 45°13
17730 45°11

Verelepatna 52960 45°06
New Valley 39501 45°05
Kelaneiya &

Braemar 43610 45°00
Grange

Gardens 25870 45°00
St Mary’s 11831 44°92
Brownlow 56490 44°91
Tonacombe 47715 44°83
Lucky Land 26200 44°82
Mahatenne 15747 4481

Name. Ib Av.

Manick-

waite 17238 43°52
Hyndford 22969 43°47
Nyanza 24551 43°40

aga 11147 43°36
Craigmore 10739 43°32
Penrhos 38499 43°27
Little

Valley 15144 43°27
Orion 64781 43°26
Hatton 29510 43°24
Sylva-

kandy 140130 43:22
Blair-

lomond 9861 43°18
Bopitiya 40456 43°17

Dickapitiya 21665 43:17
Badde-

St. Clive 13287 44°80
Delta 27081 44°76
Kinross 16699 44°76
Tymawr 86456 44°75

gamma

38626 43°13

Ambragalla 120702 43°12

Detenagalla 28173 47°26

Robgill 23018 47°16
Devonford 21476 46°97
Rickarton 23814 46°81
Holbrook 7790 46°70
Camnethan 30776 46°67
Donachie 14044 46°67
Erlsmere 34925 46°67
Winwood ~~ 31.158 46°66
Evalgolla 26025 46°56
Ravens-

craig 16392 46°51
Rookwood 58912 46°50
Melton 28234 46°38
Dunkeld 43279 46°23
Kincora 25862 46°16
Muirburn 45978 46°15
Harrow 45898 46°12
Deaculla 27912 46°07
Monte

Christo 54955 46:06
Unugalla 41358 46-00
Battalgalla 68331 45°96
Stamford

Hill 28690 45°96
North Pun-

duloya 11910 45°95
Cecilton 15810 45:91
Avon 34086 45°90
Minna 15364 45°87
Glen Taffe 21325 45°80
Mount

Vernon 47172 45°80
Westmor-

land 21228 45:78:
Clarendon 28381 45°63:
Adisham 49966 45°58
Attampet-

tia 47703 45°53
Bandara

Eliya 158601 45°47

St Evelyn
Florence

17678 45°45
111706 45°37

Queeuwood 18166 44°62
Wattamulle 9507 44°61
Strathspey 20306 44°56
Talgaswela 42974 44°60
Marlbo-

rough 132122 44°45
Wattagollie 22048 44°41
Queenstown 33050 44°36
Rookatenne 29158 44°35

Mahagalla 32755 43°11
Genekeriya 6545 43:11
Poonagalla 48058 43-10

Roeberry

54620 44°33

Donnybrook 37751 44°29
Panilkande 70890 44°27

Eastland 12880 43°09
Rahatun-

goda 21229 43:07
Mousakellie 15106 43°07
Troup 8695 43°06
Alma 14849 43°05
Temple

Land 16564 43:00
Pembroke 5018 43:00
Battawatte 48560 42'93
Hanagalla 32575 42°92
St. James 12828 42:99
Gallinda 23185 42°88
Mincing

Lane 16505 42°82
Theydon

Bois 28950 42°82
Birnam 30544 42°76
Mansfield 23311 42°76

Mousa Eliya 27090 42°72
Errollwood 31443 42°70

Waraga-

lande 39529 42°69
Madulkelle 34102 42°69
Bollagalla 25445 42°69
Vogan 127105 42°67
Ottery 78005 42°64
Meath 7065 42°64
Tempo 52055 42°63
Anning-

kande 10545 42°61
Somerset 6648 42°59

Ampitigoda 21331 42°51
Macaldeniya 33952 42°50

Cabin Ella 28586 44:25
Uvakellie 46111 44:24
Opalgalla 21555 44°24
Temple-

stowe 52159 44°23
Glenanore 12664 44°13
Meeria-

tenne 11036 44°13
Nonpareil 27663 44°10
Shawlands 47145 44°09
Weygalla 20685 44°05
Columbia 15183 44°05
Oakwell 31966 44°00
Walton 15600 43°98
Bittacy 19322 43°97
Oonoogal-

oya 54800 43°92
Kirklees 46912 43°90
Hathorleigh 42064 43°87
Poolbank 17660 43°84
Gallola Div. 16140 43°84
Rambodde 20938 43°78
Glengariffe 28166 43°74
Upper

Ohiya 27217 43°68
Agra Tenne 17660 43°63
Galapita-

kande 30150 43°62
Deviturai 64615 43°60
Osborne 27126 43°55
Beauvais 17624 43°54

Tamara-

velley 33824 42°49
Dunbar 34975 42°48
Nakiade-

niya 66112 42°47
Yelverton 19989 42°47

Name

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. —May, 1910,

Ib Av,

Kehelwatte and

Bodawa 15703 42'45
Rilpolla 11940 42°44
Hangran

Oya 26525 42°40
King’s

Grange 24844 42 33

Dambagalla 4870 42:37

Coventry 28120 42°35
Kurulugala 24751 42°33
Glendon 40895 42°30
Glen Esk 11600 42:27

Great Valley 65144 42°26
Gonanagalla 49085 42°25
Carfax 16971 42°25
Doonevale 12475 42°25
Castlereagh 50230 42:21
Demodera-
watte
Abergeldie
Labuduwa
Whyddon
Ben Nevis
Galleheria
Polgaha-
kande 16445 42°10
Gingran Oya 32867 42:09
Morahela 39009 42°08

13290 42°21
17410 42°20
5220 42°16
24443 42°12
5099 42°11
34275 42°10

Ingeriya 24334 42°07
Koslande 38635 42:03
Waverley 3458 42°00
Ashbourne 2143 42°00
Porapass 32260 41°98
Newburgh 51271 41°95
Donside 6199 41°95
Deemaya 32830 41°93
Wallawe 24674 41°87

Glenalmond 6805 41°82

Pallagodde 58015 41°79
Harden-

huish 25882 41°77
Nellicollay-

watte 25923 41°76
Gwernet 9130 41°73
Amherst 8210 41°69
Natuwakelle 45500 41°69
Deniyaya 52600 41°67
Belton 10045 41°66
Richmond

Hill 16097 41°65
Bullugalla 55245 41°55
Sanquher 21302 41°51
Neuchatel 77140 41°50
Old Madde-

gama 20577 41°49
Neboda 79021 41°48
Beverley 44790 41°47
Torwood 48013 41°46
Ardenlee 7811 41°44
Knavesmire 71667 41°42
Laxapana-

galla 47678 41°41
Panmure 29350 41°41
Medde-

godde 13995 41°40
Y ahala-

tenne 99089 41°37

Beausejour 15465 41°33

Choisy
Farnhara

74545 41°32
18505 41°31

Name Ib Av,
Coldstream
Group 21155 41°30
Swinton
Div. 39642 41°28
Walpita 25743 41°25
Marie and 85262 41°24
Bambragalla 3540 41°22
Shannon 20955 41°20
Glencorse 31670 41°18
Ferndale 23475 41°17
Bowhill 18230 41°17
Nadoo
Totum 45518 41°14
Harangalla 54394 41°13
Andan-
godde 11716 41°11
Keenagaha-
ella 17206 41°09
Kellie 32065 41°‘08
Sannos 7920 41°08
Raxawa 19267 41-07
Hillside 8961 41°04
Hauteville 3928 41:02
Igalkande 20085 40°93
Awliscombe 6095 40°92
Mossville 63743 40°90
Odoowera 21440 40°83
Kehelgama 19164 40°83
Dumbu-
godde 36780 40°81
Bowlana 20943 40°80
Perth 57504 40°78
Rosemont 14224 40°78
Nugagalla 17250 40-73
Leangapella 15520 40°72
Tembili-
galla 60705 40°71
Theberton 17079 40°70
Geragama 66730 40°70
Dalukoya 16620 40°69
Anniewatte 6510 40°68
‘Stonyhurst 31665 40°67
Ganapalla 58642 40°65
Ferriby 19957 40°64
Clyde 64088 40°63
Murray-
thwaite 11610 40°63
Kobbaka-
duwa 16590 40°56
Ormondale 12013 40°55
Wihara-
gama 9048 40°55
Halloowelle 19751 40°53
Massena 19165 40°53
Looloo-
watte 19905 40°52
Dangan 9035 40°52
Mousadella 18517 40°47
Nahavilla 27620 40°42
Waitalawa 38340 40°41
Ambagas-
duwe 6341 40°41
Hathmatte 26253 40:39
Pattipolla 16420 40°36
Nugahena 18411 40°32
Kempitiya 8077 4031
Tismoda 56990 40°28
Gondana-
wella 6526 40°26
Siriniwasa 26840 40°25

Name Ib Av,
Girindi Ella 25608 40°25
Forest

Creek 12272 40°22
Nahalma 54255 40:21
Lowmont 6254 40°21
Cotta 39125 40°20
Radella 5126 40°20
Myraganga 45599 40°16
Atherton 16094 40°13

Muendeniya 46172 40°11

Tunisgalla 35596 40°11
Tavalam-

tenne 28390 40 05
Semidale 47622 39°97
Clydesdale 3607 39°96
Mowbray 13036 39°88
Horagalla 5958 39°88
Longville 20405 39°86
Pindeni Oya 39274 39°85
Monrovia 17240 39°85
St. Heliers 34072 39°84
Rosita 3035 39°83
Agra Oya 37956 39°82
Lonach 35576 39°80
Munangala 14520 39°80
Dimbul-

kande 11060 39°80
Owilikande 41370 39°75
Jak Tree

Hill 24493 39°75
Elston 70338 39 72
Waraka-

mure 48105 39°70
Kintyre 7008 39°70
Carney 3265 39°70
Harrisland 3820 39°68
Eliawatte 11440 39°63
Puspone 38819 39°62
Findlater 31244 39°62
Olympus 24656 39°62
Moredu-

kande 4756 39°62
Rothes 4675 39.62
Carolina 6258 39°57

Kandaloya 49770 39 56

St. Aubins 10349 39°55
Culloden 8172 39°54
Charlie Hill 4910 39°54
Ankande 19893 39°53
Talawitiya 15815 39°50
Purana 8894 39°50
Sirikandura 28110 39°46
Paniya-

kande 16425 39°45
Mahalla 4224 39°43

Maligatenne 3543 39°41

Katugastota 7555 39°40
Sapumal-
kande 59970 39°38

Yollangowry29035 39°36

463)
Name b Av.

Pansala-

tenne 51303 39:05
Kitulgalla 46779 39°05
Ballywatte 28188 39°02
Alpha 26535 39°00
Maskeloya 6244 39:00
Warwick 2573 39°00
Knuckles

Group 11680 38°98
Balado 31390 38°98
Dikmuka-

lana 12019 38°95
Alludeniya 9048 38:94
Taprobana 13220 38°91
Ettapolla 4750 38°88
Morton 15290 38°87
Gadadessa 9962 38°87
Labugama 18190 38°85
Kabragalla 7172 38°82
Galata 31032 38°79
Silva Land 30597 38°78
Goolshane

ally 32487 38°77
Higham 29598 38°77
Torrington 16560 38°75
Cooroondoo-

watte 50187 38°73
Mipitia-

kande 16280 38°73
Parambe 30595 38°72
Hila 56910 38°70
Kiriporuwa 49277 38°68
Citrus 38625 38°65
Berry Hill 2615 38°65
Allingford 20855 38°62
Kudaganga 3767 38°62
Udawatte 7960 38°61
[rex 29008 38°59
Oonana-

kande 15440 38°58
Clunes 35925 38°55
Matale 22650 38°54
Aigburth 23896 38°50
Walahan-

duwa 17810 38°50
Moragalla

Group 6518 38°50
Suduganga 15670 38°49
Karagaha-

tenne 13422 38°41
Moragalla 3390 38°39
Bellongalla 29670 38°38
Heatherton 13251 38°38
Palm Garden15015 38°34
Erin 23665 38°31
Freds Ruhe 17000 38°31
Narangoda 25180 38:29
Glenugie 6775 38°29
Avisawella 62967 38:26

Erracht
Hegalla
Kannatota
Maldeniya
Wella
Ruanwella

57754 39°34
34644 39°33

7190 39°28
42290 39°27
19500 39°27
55622 39°26

Shrubs Hill 39912 38°26
Balgownie 16024 38°26

Salawe
Noorani
ingrogalla
Mt Temple

14565 39°26
13610 39°14
32330 39°14
47890 39°10

Ambalawa
Vicarton
Welikande
Mahagoda
Elchico
Mentmore

13752 38°26
6605 38°17
19805 38°15
2535 38°13
11730 38°11
19090 38°11

Kituldeniya 24300 38°11

Footprint
Grroup

9935 38°08

464
Name. Ib. Av.
California 1965 38°08

Mahawale 133743 38°08
Embilia Oya 32088 38°05
Summer Hill 2384 38°05
Newmarket 7918 38:00
Yoxford 1330 38:00
Wewawatte 17511 37°88
Widworthy 11170 37°88

Aldie 4502 37°87
Tokkatia-
mulle 3972 37'87

Damblagolla 16134 37°87
Now Angamana

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

Name lb. Av.
Glendale 5000 36°00
Panviile—

kande 5340 35°98
Panvilla 7371 35:98
Medenham 22820 35°94
Uragalla 1389 35°94
Balantota 52511 35°91
Romania 17110 35°90
Karawkettia 6349 35'70
Parusella 4209 35°70

Lantern Hil! 33367 35°70
Bloom Park 9232 35°58
Glenorchy — 4520 35°58

41845 37°87 Andiatenne 31788 35°57

Doolhena 12836 37:82 Bowella 15556 35'42
Millewa 40860 37°82 New Rasa-
Gona 49826 37°76 _ galla 14990 35°42
Headington 3785 37°75 Patchakadu 9240 35°35
Kuruwita 5165 37°72 Agrakande 3011 35°29
Halbarawa 8508 37°70 Alplakande 1876 35°28
Goodhope 32637 37°68 Florida 10272 35:28
Kanuketiya 4980 37°65 Katukurun-
Gonamade 3459 37°63 — doya 2085 35°20
Udaveria 2834 37°57 Poilakande 56390 34°90
Eltindale 26701 37°56 Agars Land 14995 34°85
Yahalakelle 43095 37°50 Sudangedere 4420 34°84
Burnley 6915 37°42 Vendoola 2874 34°84
Lynsted 4235 37°38 Strathdon 2940 34°79
Kalupahana 8581 37°35 Lebanon
Chapelton 6347 37°35 — Group 16456 34°67
Moorland 461093722 Kulupane 9775 34°57
Pinneduwa 11469 37:21 Madala 4742 34°52
Vellearuna 17234 37°20 Spring ale 3230 34°51
St Martins 762037°20 Matale 8398 34°45
Patulpane 696037°20 Ellawalla 7448 34'36
Wepalle 1638 37°17 Deligama 4740 34°35
Lyndhurst 14653 36°97 Lindoola 3755 34°27
Golconda 1777 36°90 Kelburne 3505 34°10
Bridstowe 16043 36°84 Kelani 72817 34°10
Candawatte 4544 36°73 Pingarawa 7095 34:00
Burulugo- Easton 2114 34°00

della 5105 36°64 Katooloya 9112 33°75
Nilloomallay Watawella 3904 33°75

12385 36'61 Hapugas-

Laurawatte 35599 36°56 tenne 16500 33°63
Edward Hill 2989 36°48 Aranayake 6005 33°49
FRilandhu 2525 36°48 Nikakotua 5875 33°40
Oxford 47138 36°41 Springwood &400 33°36
Ederapolla 11625 36°38 Mariawatte 6267 33°10
Ninfield 12825 36°38 Ingoya 6451 33°02
Bogawan- Hopewell 9178 33:00

talawa 4330 36°35 G atagaha-
Darrawella 38733632 wala 32330 32°89
Sadamulla 6472 36°31 Atgalla 8800 32°71
St Ives 8256 36:24 Laxapana 6880 32°70
Kalugama 30183 36:20 Lorne 13960 32°62
Hantane 475903618 Kalduria 3610 32 60
Hatdowa 6983 36:17 Kehelwatte 5532 32°56
Sidmouth 51550 36:05 Alver 11791 32°56
PLANTING METHODS: AND TAPPING

SYSTEMS.

(Continued from page 461.)
play from the start, and will never attain such
proportions, butis tappableata much earlier age.
DANGERS.

1 do not think there is much doubt that white
ants will attack living Hevea trees as well as
dead ones; in fact, I myself have seen it. There is
no doubt that, in view of white ants and the dre-
aded ‘Fomessemetostis,’ it is imperative the trees
should be ao planted that at any rate their root

_ Name lb Av Name lb Ay
Abbotsford 5370 32°12 Pinnekande 6668 29°32
Hunasgeria 1674 32°07 Galaha 7489 29°25
Sunnycroft i138 32°04 Wattakelle 3228 29°00
Meddakande 6492 31°97 Tarawera 15540 28°95
Kotagaloya 11215 31°96 Allakolla 3045 28°57
Gaiatura 4509 31:77 Nambapana 3836 28°07
Berragalla 2522 31:74 Dover 3758 28°07
Hoolankanda 2125 31:73 St. Helens | 2980 28:00
Rutland 3680 31°57 Ukuwella 1600 27°75
Ury 4600 31°56 Poengalla | 1836 27°54
Dangkande 6432 31°52 Attuwatte 12080 27°50
Depedene 5660 31:50 Kotugodde 2060 27:28
Sandranpitty 1265 31:39 Avington 4880 26°96
Blairavon 2390 31°37 Wahagapitiyal277 26°68
Pendle 2810 31°28 Rayigam 5583 26:27
Hill! End 8146 31°24 Kalugala 5276 26°18
Asgeria 4479 31-24 Cottaganga 14002600
Mudamana 4736 31:17 Wandura-

Ettio 1748 31°15 = goda 13519 25°97
Appallagoda 210031710 Kurugala 2029 25°89
Halgolle 8036 30:90 Hologama 3851 25°78
Glassel 6285 30°48 Roxburgh 6004 25°30
Digalla 3456 30:24 Weoya 2400 25:00
Maddagedera 3500 30°24 Karawanella 3690 24:98
Algooltenne 2941 30°14 Penylan 6600 24°67
Arslena 1280 29°87 Guruwewa 3782 24:09
Iscadu 4828 29°72 Ratmala-

Lauderdale 4005 29°63 — watte 8845 23°24
Loolecondera 2883 29°32 Hlowita 22164 22°62

GREEN Tea.

Bowlana
Taprobana
Ooloowatte
Udapolla
Oakfield

5805 45°63 Udapalata
2295 44°44 Madampe
2973 44°27 Dunedin
6894 40°31 Udabage
27769 40:11 Kiriwana

INDIAN,

Glen Morgan15920 40°29 Kolam

Prospect
Terrace

29305 39'81 Periashola
3600 38°30

WYNAAD,

6986 38 10
5457 24:44
5504 23 32
4250 14°70
33351 14°10

10580 36°07
11790 31°75

Pootoomulla46010 33°36 Perengodda 28165 31°53

Halashana
Thiashola

Vagavurrai
Lockhart

Madupatty
Sothuparra

Chittavurrai27110 43 44

Surianalle

Devicolam

Kannia-
malay

Ashley

(Niterri TEA.)

3520 51°13 Lovedale 9817 42°01
2679 42°10 Cherambadi 6113 29°29
TRAVANCORE. ;
35843 45°83 Istield 31850 37°39
21788 44°61 Yellapatty 3900 35°30
104005 43:86 Perravurrai 34800 35:20

1 60844 43°76
Chakanad
52513 43°30 Letchmi

62367 41:23

Sevenmallay34854 34:07

6690 33:27
20547 32:99

Munjamally 1274 32-00

Stagbrook 19592 31-91

255614 40°00 Kalaar
Munaar

22767 39°11

22408 31°75
27831 28:36

Koliekannm 1038 27°05

systems do not intertwine, and, for this reason,
L fancy, most plauters will agree that no plant-
ing distance less than 20 ft by 20 tt is advisable
in the case of Hevea. ‘hese questicns, however,
can be safely left to the experienve and skill of
the many extremely clever and practical planters

who control the local

management of our

Eastern and Middle Eastern estates, and who
are, after all, the hub of the whole industry.

B.L. 8S. Winton,

(Late) Imperial Forest Service, India.
Speldhurst Lodge, Spelihurst, Kent, March
3lst.—Financter, April 2.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910.

Mm. LEPLAE’S VISIT TO THE EAST.

TOUR OF THE BELGIAN CONGO
DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE.

Visit To Java : AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION.

It was the good fortune of one of our re-
presentatives the other day to run up against
M. Leplae, the Belgian Director-General of
Agriculture for the Congo, who was on his way
back to Brussels to the Congress of Colonial
Agriculture, after a tour in the Middle and
Far East where he had been to learn under
what conditions rubber is grown, what kind of
soil is most suitable for it, how it should be
planted, how it should be tapped, what are the
best instruments fortapping, and what are the
best methods of manufacturing the article. He
had also, of course, taken the opportunity of
making a study of other tropical products; but
it was in rubber that he had been most interested
in view of the fact that, after his return to Bel-
gium, he will go on to the Congo and there have
planted under his supervision 5,000 acres of
Hevea, which, he has not the slightest doubt,
is the most suitable kind.

Tue Propvets oF JAVA.

When M. Leplae left Ceylon on March 5th he
went to Batavia and then to Buitenzorg. Here
he was received by the Governor-General of the
Dutch East Indies, Mr A W F Idenburg, who
has béen twice Minister of the Colonies in Hol-
land, and the Director of Agriculture, Mr
Lovink, who has been Director-General of Agri-
culture in Holland. He is now undertaking a
complete re-organisation of the Department of
Agriculture in Java, in which will, in all pro-
bability, be merged the Board of Trade, for,
as nearly all the trade in Java is in agri-
cultural products, they deem it expedient to
make the Board of Agriculture and the Board
of Trade one Department.

M. Leplae visited the botanical garden, labo-
ratories, acd museums at Buitenzorg, which
with the possible exception of Pusa, near Cal-
cutta, form the largest scientific institution
in connection with Tropical Agriculture and
Botany inthe East. These he found very in-
teresting. He also travelled extensively in Java,
studying the estates growing sugar cane, Manila
hemp, sisal, tea, cinchona, cacao, pepper, Kola,
coca, indiarubber (hevea and ficus), rice and
other products.

Matasar TEA; 1,800 ts. Per Acre.

He made a special visit to the big tea factory
of Malabar, near Bandoeng, which was the
finest in Java. I1t was, he said, deemed to be
perfect as regarded cultivation. They got very
large returns per acre—the largest, it was be
lieved, in the world, with the exception, per-
haps, of some in Assam, The crop amounted to
something like 1,800lb, per acre. The tea was
grown on volcanic soil of a very high fertility,
and there was a very large amount of rain. It
was perfectly cultivated and all the factory
machinery was driven by electricity. It gave
regularly dividends of 80 to 100 per cent,

59

465

RUBBER.

With regard to rubber, Ficus Hlastica was
in great favour; mistakenly, he thought. Hevea
seemed to him tobe much better, especially
after what he had seen in the Federated Malay
States, There could not be better rubber than
Hevea. There were few old plantations in Java
but there were very many acres under young rub-
ber which was growing very well. This was ac-
counted for by the very rich soil. French, Eng-
lish, Dutch, and Belgian Companies were fre-
quently opening out new plantations. It was
generally believed that in Java and Sumatra there
were from 200,000 to 300,000 acres under rubber,

SovEREIGN RIGHTS.

Asked as to the position of affairs with regard
to sovereign rights/M. Leplae said that sovereign
rights belonged, apart from Government, only
to those estates which were sold prior tc the
Dutch occupation. All other land was leased.
The Government was trying to abolish the
existing sovereign rights. There was one
“Society” with English capital in it that had

bought an estate over which the owners
had sovereign rights but as far as the
majority of capitalists was concerned, the

acquisition of sovereign rights by the Govern-
ment would have no effect. There was only
one estate in five or six hundred, or a
thousand, that was not leased.

In Sumatra M. Leplae visited only an estate
belonging to the Galang Co., on an island of
15,000 acres, in the Rio Archipelago, just out:
side Singapore. On that island 2,600 acres
had been put under rubber which was grow-
ing fairly well in clay soil. Vory interesting
results from the use of nitrogen manure were
being obtained. The application seemed to
be doing a great deal of good, for trees 1}
years old were as large as trees 3 years oldon
the same soil, but to which the manure had not
been applied. Something like half-a-pound of
guano per tree was used to start the growth in
the cold, clay soil. Once they got started they
grew perfectly, but if they didnot start well
they grew very slowly.

M. Leplae visited numerous estates in the
neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur, especially some
with seven, eight, 10 and 12 year old rubber,
and was very much interested in what he
saw. The factories were very well equipped
and many new ones were being erected, with
suction gas plant machinery of 100 or more
horse-power. Some of them made up to 3,000
Ib. of dry rubber a day. They generally now
went in for rapid coagulation, coagulating
the latex in ten minutes, instead of taking
a whole night as formerly. They got a
better coloured rubber in this way, a paler
rubber. Some, however, smoked the rubber
with very successful results and one estate
he visited, which smoked the whole of its
No. 1 quality rubber nearly black, obtained last
week the record price of 12s 9#d a Ib.

CLEAN WEEDING.

What had interested him very much was that
in all the plantations clean weeding was in
vogue. They were very enthusiastic advocates
of clean weeding and they did not use green
manure. They occasionally planted small plants

466

on hillsides to prevent wash, but even then they
generally used Passiflora, The trees prowing in
estates not clean weeded could not be compared
in size with the others.

TAPPING.

Another feature was that they all used 5/16 in.
gouges, there were no patent knives to be found
and with these they did splendid tapping work.
The coolies seemed to understand the use of
the gouges quite well.

DIsEAsEs.

They were fighting diseases most successfully.
White ants had been traced to be due to stumps
and trunks left in the ground, These were
always now removed as soon as possible and the
white ants were got ridof very easily. It was
only on low, swampy and peaty soil that they
had trouble. On soils of this nature rubber
trees grew extremely well, but

Dip Nort Give Muco RUBBER.

The distance most favoured for planting was
20 feet square.

Mr. Gallagher's Experiments.

M. Leplae has been very much interested in
the experiments of Mr. Gallagher, the Malay
States mycologist. These led tothe conclusion
that the best method of tapping was the one by
which one quarter only of the tree was tapped.
This seemed to give very good results and could
be undertaken every day. The yield of rubber
was estimated at 160 to 200 1b. an acre at six
years and 500 lb. at ten years.

GENERAL KEMARKS. *

In answer to further questions M Leplae said
that he thought prices would go down, but he
did not think they ever would go under 3s. to 4s,
@ pound or that the cost of production would
ever rise above Ls. to 1s. 2d. From the financial

oint of view rubber was a sound proposition

or many years tocome. There would probably
be a slight drop in a few months, but not a
severe one for some years.

PTEROCARPUS TREES DESTROYED
BY A FUNGUS.

The last number of the ‘“‘ Agricultural Bulle-
tin” of the Straits refers to a fungoid disease
attacking the Pterocarpus trees used as shade
in Penang. Mr. W. Fox, Superintendent of
Forests and Gardens, and Mr, Gallagher, the
Government Mycologist, together examined
the diseased trees (of which some 100 are said
to have succumbed) and the parasitic fungus
discovered (Polystictus Occidentalis) is thought
to be the cause of the disease, which, according
to Mr. Massie, of Kew, cannot be suppressed by
any remedial measures, though he suggests as an
expedient for prolonging the life of the tree to
some degree that a trench should be dug round
the base and filled with a solution of nitrate of
potash orsoda, Asthe Pierocarpus is a common
shade tree with us, it would be as well that pre-
cautions should be taken against the appearance
of this disease, if it has not already appeared. In
this connection we would draw attention to the
treatment (referred to by Mr. Fox) adopted by
Mr. G. F. Scott-Elliott in curing plant diseases,
viz., a process of forcing fungicides into the
tissues of the tree through the trunk. We
should like to have Mr. Petch’s opinion as to
the value of his treatment,

The Supplement to the Tropical Agricullurist

TEA GULTIVATION LECTURE BY
MAR. ANSTEAD.

PREVENTION OF HELOPELTIS BY SPRAYING,

In an interesting lecture Mr RD Anstzap,
Scientific Officer of the U.P.A.S.I., said:—

Tra.—I suppose that your great trouble is
the attack of Helopeltis, but from what I have
been shown up here, it seems to methat you
have got the thing very weil in hand. From
what I have seen, you are doing the right thing.
When the attack is really bad, you must prune
it down, burn your prunings, clean up the land,
and thenspray. I think that the burning of
prunings is the really most important thing.
Tf under local difficulties of labour, money and
time, you cannot carry out the full programme,
do not let this item be neglected. Mr Antram has
proved that mosquitoes will hatch out from
prunings for aperiod of sixteen days or more,
especially if these are kept fresh and green in
nullahs, or by showers of rain, so you see theim-
portance of getting prunings burned the same
day, so do not neglect the burning of prunings, do
not let them lie on the ground. With regard to
spraying I am a great believer in prevention ra-
ther than cure. Spraying keeps the insects away
from the bushes, and prevents them laying eggs
to a certain extent, andso can be used as a
preventive method. Once theattack is got in
hand, spray the whole tea jf necessary, and do
not wait until the blight gets bad again. One
pound of imperial soap to 20 gallons of water
will work out at an application jof 200 to 300
gallons per acre. Spraying is absolutely useless
unlessit is well done; every partof the bush must
be wetted, An ordinary garden Syringe will do
good work, but the spraying machine is a matter
for yourselves, as your water may be near or
far off. The great point to be attended to in
spraying is to wet every vart of each bush with
the wash, Il attach great importance to attack-
ing the disease in the very beginning. Watch
your tea, and Jet your pluckers keep a watch
for the presence of mosquito blight and have
the sprayers behind the pluckers. It is at the
beginning of the attack that 16 can be most
easily stamped out ; once it has got under way,

_ it is difficult to deal with.

MANURING TO PREVENT HELOPELTIS.

I think this is an extremely important matter
for tea growers to take up and will get more and
more important every year. I think there is
nothing like manuring to tackle Helopeltis. It
is an axiom when dealing with all diseases, that
to keep the plant vigorous and at the top of its
health, by manuring, is half the battle. In
selecting your manure you cannot look at the
soil and the condition of your tea, and say you
want this and you want that; you must have a
starting-point. This starting-point isa chemical
analysis of the soil. I strongly advise all/of you
to, as soon as possible, get an analysis of your
soil made, and the analysis [ want is one that
shows the availability of plant food in the soil.
I think at present with the big district that I
have, that you will be wasting my time by
making me do these analyses ; that you should
get the same done by professional chemists, and

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910.

let me have them to advise you upon. Having
got the analysis I can suggest a system of man-
uring, and you yourselves must experiment with
this. Unless your soil is ina good mechanical
condition, there isnot any use putting in mineral
fertilisers ; you must bring up its mechanical
condition first. The best thing, but of course
impossible in South India, is cattle manure.
Poonacs will do but they are slow. What your
soils over and over again need when they are
ruo down is humus, and this must be sup-
plied before artificial manures are used. One
way, and perhaps the best way, under local
conditions of supplying humus, is to grow a
green dressing and dig it in. I think you
should cultivate and grow amongst your tea a
local leguminous weed. I have seen numerous
leguminous plants since I came to the district
and [. hope you will send me specimens of other
likely ones to Bangalore. The best plant I have
‘seen is athing they have got in Mysore and
the Nilgiris, Itis something like the sensitive
plant, but it has no thorns ; the botanical name
1s Cassia Mimosoides. I have no doubt what-
ever that it would grow here; it grows in the
Nilgiris in large quantities. After having got
the mechanical condition back, you can go on
with mineral fertilisers. There is one thing I
would like to call your attention to and ask
you to think about. The manure you usually
uso for tea consists of Poonac of some sort, bone
meal, sulphate of ammonia, or nitrate of soda,
and sulphate or nitrate of potash. This is
applied just before the monsoon, The mineral
part, the ammonia and nitrate salts, and the
potash salts, are very soluble and are undoubt-
edly being washed out of the soil, into the
drains or rivers, and carried away. This must
result in a big loss, since these constituents are
very expensive. I would suggest that you either
‘manure after the monsoon, or, if you cannot do
this, then, you divide the application into two,
putting the Poonac and-.the bone before the
monsoon, and the minerals afterwards. The
cost of application will be greater, but the sav-
ing in the loss of manure and the increased
benefit obtained from this system will more
than repay the extra cost. 1 should like you
to think this over and conduct some experi-
ments on these lines.—M Mail, April 25.

‘CITRONELLA OIL.

PoweEr!'uL MovEMENT FOR VALUATION ON
{ERANIOL ConTENT.

Outstanding in the essential oil world at the
present time 1s 4 strong movement to establish
market conditions for citronella on a basis of
purity rather than the limit of sophistication on
which contracts are now formulated. Tho hon-
our of developing this important matter to
what promises to be a successful issue rests with
the Perfumery and Essential Oil Record, the new
departure in trade journalism which enjoys the
advantage of Mr. J C Umney’s editorship.

In CEYLON

a system of sophistication obtains which cun-
sists almost exclusively of the addition of

467

Russian petroleum, and Schimmel’s raised test
on which practically all contracts for citronella
oil are made passes from 10 to 15 per cent of
this adulterant, with the result that whilst
money is wasted in freight on the petroleum oil,
the soap maker, who is a large consumer of
citronella, gets a product which virtually is not
much more than 8) per cent. of the strength of
a pure oil. This Schimmel’s test is devised
along the following lines :—

That in the first place the solubility in 80 per
cent alcohol should be determined, and then
the test repeated after the addition of 5 per
cent. of Russian petroleum. In the latter case
the citronella oil should still form a clear solu- .
tion with 10 volumes of 80 per cent alcohol.

This is a solubility test pure and simple, and
the proposition now is that it should be super-
seded by a valuation on the basis of geraniol
content, just as cassia oil is sold on its percent-
age of cinnamic aldehyde, and lemongrass on
the citral strength. In addition, Mr. Umney
has put forward, quite by way of suggestion,
certain requirements as to specific gravity, solu-
bility, optical rotation, and refractive index,
and his first tentative ‘‘ London standard
test” for trading purposes may be tabulated
thus :—

Specific gravity, 0°900 to 0'°915 ; Opt. rotation in 100 mm.
tube, 0 dg. to — 1Edg.; Refractive index, about, 1-4800 ;
Acetylisable constituents, at least 60 per cent. Solubility,—
The oil should be soluble in 2 to2 vols. of 80 per cent alcohol,
and should remain clear on the addition of more than 30
per cent alcohol up to 10 volumes,

This, as we have explained, was a purely ten.
tative proposal, but, having regard to the fact
that it is put forward as a substitute for
Schimmel’s test, it is interesting to observe the

ATTITUDE OF MESSRS SCHIMMEL AND CO.

to the idea. As becomes a great firm, they take
a broad view of the matter—a view, indeed, that
accords with their oft-repeated plea for co-
operation in obliteration of Ceylonese adultor-
ation. Naturally the famous Miltitz house
cannot part with their test without a pang, and
crave indulgence for it on the ground of its easy
application—a condition that would not apply
in the case of the proposed London standard.
In acknowledging, however, that a solubility
test is of a limited value, they admit that the
geraniol content is of far greater moment as a
guide in purchasing citronella. They add the
suggestion that the oil should be tested at its
place by Goveroment chemists, and only pass
into trade if if contains at least 60 per cent.
geraniol and meets the official tests in all other
respects ; in other words, they say a Govern-
ment certificate should be granted before ex-
portation,

We have reason for believing that Mr Umney
has a large measure of support for his proposal
from buyers and sellers of citronella oil, and the
next step will probably be to bring these in-
terests together, may be at the London Chamber
of Commerce, so that an understanding may be
arrived at to translate the movement into a
permanent concrete commercial agreement,—
British anol Colonial Druggist, April 1.

468

THE RUBBER MARKET AND
SUPPLIES.
THe Srrone Furure Position.

Latest mail advices from London show in a
striking way the firm position of the rubber in-
dustry. Two years or more ago, when rubber
prices were high, it was said that the Brazilian
industry would be stimulated and that more ex-
peditions would be fitted out, and that largely
Increased supplies would soon be the result,
This, however, was by no means realised; for
the production of wild para was increased by
only 570 tons in 1908 over 1907, and by only 830
tons in 1909 over the 1908 production.

The present position is remarkably firm, and
points to higher prices yet during this year.
The whole visible supply of para rubber in the
world on April lst was 5,279 tons, against 6,038
tons at the same date a year ago, being a de-
crease of 759 tons. America had stocks in hand
740 tons less than in 1909; England had 289
tons less ; and in Brazil at the Para warehouses
the stocks were 390 tons less than in April, 1909.

Therubber received at Para during March, 1910,
totalled 5,210 tons, the receipts during that month
for the last 4 years being rather remarkable:

During March, 1910 5,210 tons
i 1909 4,140 ,,
‘ 1908 4,240 ,,
. 1907 ah! S80
But during the period June 30th to March 3lst,
the Para receipts have been

32,180 tons in 1909-10
30,420 ‘5 1908-09
28.680, see 1907-08
29,390 1906-07

a

There is thus every indication that the pre-
sent prices will continue and even advance ;
and it seems unlikely that the South American
output will increase to any very appreciable
extent for several years to come. Itis, therefore,
not to be wondered at that buyers are anxious
about their supplies and are prepared to buy
two years ahead to be sure of acertain quantity.

TAPIOCA AND RUBBER.

An editorial note in the Strats Agricultural
Bulletin says :—We learn that the low price of
tapioca has been a considerable factor in the in-
crease of rubber growing among the Chinese, as
the tapioca growers find that at the present price
it does not pay. The Dutch and Javanese, we
learn from Mr de Kruyff, Director of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, do not make up the tapioca
into starch, but cut the roots in two and dry them
in the sun, and thus dried export them to Bel-
gium, France and Holland, where they are
utilised for the manufacture of alcohol. This
cheap method might pay even while the tapioca
is at so low aprice.

PLANTING PRODUCTS IN SAMOA.

We learn on enquiry at the British Consulate at
Apia, Samoa, under date 12th March, 1910, that
the export of copra from Samoa in 1909 was 9,389
tons: and of cacao beans 386 tons. About the
same quantities are expected this year, 1910.
No tea is grown in Samoa. There are several
large rubber plantations on one of which—a
Berlin Company—the trées will probably be
tapped in two years from now.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

SIR FRANK SWETTENHAM ON “RUB+
BER AS AN IMPERIAL ASSET.”

Than Sir Frank A. Swettenham none knows
or could know, better the Middle East. A life
spent in the service of the Empire in and about,
Malaya has given him unique opportunity for
the study of every enterprise, which has assisted
the prosperity and development of that portion
of the King’s dominions. What more natural
than that a new paper devoted to rubber should
seek Sir Frank Swettenham’s views? Sir Frank
courteously placed half-an-hour of valuable time
at the disposal of a representative of the Rubber
World.

**Tn the light of recent events,” said Sir Frank,
“it is curious to look back upon the apathy of
the financial and commercial world towards rub-
ber planting. As long ago as July, 1883, Sir Hugh
Low, then Resident of Perak, reported officially:
‘ All kinds of india rubber succeed admirably,
and seeds and plants of Hevea brasiliensis have
been distributed to Java and Singapore, to
Ceylon and to India, and supplies will be for-
warded on application to any person or insti-
tution which will take care of these valuable
plants.’ And again in February, 1884, Sir Hugh
wrote: ‘British capitalists have, within the
exception of the enterprising merchants from
Shanghai, as yet done little or nothing in Perak.’
Sir Hugh’s advice, however, was totally dis-
regarded, and it was not till about 1900, 17 years
later, that rubber cultivation was seriously under-
taken. Since then, as you know, Ceylon with
the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago took the
lead in those remarkable rubber developments
which have culminated in the present boom,

‘*sTR HUGH LOW, THEN, WAS THE PIONEER
of rubber cultivation in the East?”

‘Virtually, yes,” said Sir Frank; * at any
rate. it was he who first drew the attention of
planters and financiers to the advantage of rub-
ber cultivation in Malaya. The Indian Govern-
ment initiated the scheme, but the present
flourishing condition of the rubber plantations
in Malaya is really due to the care Sir Hugh
lavished on the first seedlings sent to him.”

‘““The Indian Government secured the first
plants?”

‘Ves. Somewhere about the year 1876,” con-
tinued Sir Frank, ‘* the Indian Government,
recognising the possibilities of commercially
cultivated rubber, commissioned Mr. Wickham
to collect in Brazil seeds of Hevea brasiliensis,
the tree from which the highest quality wild
rubber is secured. Several thousands of seeds
were collected and sent to Kew, and the re
sulting seedlings were in due course packed in
wardian cases and despatched to Singapore,
Ceylon, and to Sir Hugh Low at Perak, Plants
from these seedlings were carefully reared in
Singapore Botanical Gardens and in Perak, and,
maturing in six years, seeded. From the Perak
seeds were raised four hundred trees, which
were planted under my own supervision while
I was temporary Resident of Perak during the
absence of Sir Hugh Low. Thenceforward seeds
were supplied to such planters as required them.
It is gratifying ,to know that nearly all_the

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910,

money invested in rubber plantations is Bri-
tish; it is only lately that the foreigner has
come in at all,”

‘‘ What do you think of the present position,
Sir Frank ? ”

“ Well, I think, of course, that there are far
too many new rubber companies beirg pro-
moted. Itis difficult to understand how the
flotation of one or two and sometimes three
companies a day can possibly be justified.”

‘‘ There is, of course, an enormous demand for
rubber, which is the raw material of many in-
dustries ?”

‘* No doubt,” said Sir Frank, ‘‘that some of the
companies recently promoted are quite sound ;
but there are many that none but a lunatic, so
one would think, would dream of trusting with
his money.”

‘To what particular faults of promotion do
you refer?”

‘¢ Over-capitalisation for one thing, extra-
vagant prices paid for the estates for another,
and lack of foresight. Immense areas are now
being rapidly put under rubber, and three difli-
culties will have to be faced by the directors of
rubber companies. The first is the labour
question. With large areas put under cultivation
there will be a corresponding demand for labour
and though no doubt it can be met by China,
India, and Java, it cannot be met at once. With
this demand for labour, competition to secure
such as there is will be keen, and wages will rise
in proportion to the scarcity experienced,

‘‘ Secondly, there will be a great demand
for competent, trained Huropean supervisors,
and here the shortage will be acutely felt, and
competition to secure the best men has already
brought about a great rise in salaries, Then
until time has elapsed to permit of the due
training of Europeans, incompetent men will,
and must, be appointed to important positions.
We shall therefore find increased expenditure
augmented by wasteful management.

“Thirdly, at no distant date, certainly not
later than 1915, the production of cultivated rub-
ber will be enormous, and unless the demand
keeps pace with the supply there will bea drop
in prices which will severely tax resources of all
but the oldest and soundest: companies, besides
killing the wild-rubber trade of South America
altogether, for I believe wild Para rubber can-
not be collected for much less than three shil-
lings a pound,”

“You think that reduction in price, com-
bined with the increase of cost, will prove
disastrous ?”

‘«¢Pisastrous’ may be too large a word,
for I think old-established, well-managed and
moderately capitalised companies—especially
those with a good reserve or a second cultiva-
tion like tea, sugar or coconuts—will be able to
stand the strain, but that recently established
companies will only be kept going with diifi-
culty, and that badly managed and greatly over-
capitalised companies will inevitably collapse.
For all that, there will have been established a
great commercial, I may also say, imperial asset;

469

and, when things have righted themselves, there
will remain a great industry of which Britain
may wellbe proud.”

An imperial asset rubber has already become,
and wild-cat finance must not be allowed to
obscure the essential and permanent benefits to
be derived from the rapid development of its
cultivation and its uses. Sir Frank Swetten-
ham’s warning should not go unheeded.—The
Lubber World, March 31,

PRODUCTS OF THE PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS.

COFFEE, COCOA AND COCONUTS
OUTTURNS DURING 1908 AND 1909,

We have been making enquiries of the British
Consul-General in Manila, with a view to em-
bodying this and similar information from
elsewhere in our forthcoming Handbook and
Directory, as to the outputs of tropical pro-
ducts in the Philippine Islands in the past two
years. In the following tables—for which we are
indebted to Mr Edward Lillingston Steuart
Gordon, the Acting Consul-General—Northern
Luzon, comprises that part of the country
lying to the north of Manila; Southern Luzon,
the remainder of the chief island. The Viz-
vayas comprise all the islands lying between
Luzon and Mindanao including Mindoro. The
statistics are based on information supplied by
the Bureau of Agriculture. The Director of the
Bureau states that considerable experimental
planting of coffee and cocoa has been going en
during the past few years, so that the output in
the near future should show the effects of this,
Also that where only a few trees of one or
both are grown on a farm, even if in bearing,
they and the product often escape the enu-
merator. For these reasons it would be safe pro-
bably to add 25 per cent tothe figures given.
Those for coconuts are substantially correct.

Coffee is grown in all the provinces of the
islands, except those of Bataan, Zambales and
Tlocos Sur, on the west coast of Northern Luzon:
in most parts of the country however, to a very
limited extent. The largest producing provinces
are Cebu with 29,468 lb., and Occidental Negros
with 22,317 lb. in 1909; and close upon the
heels of the latter comes Batangas which in-
creased its production from 4,184 lb. in 1908 to
21,936 lb. in 1909. The figures are as follows:—

1908. 1909.
Acres, |b. Acres. Ib.
Northern Luzon 820 44,735 785 31,214
Southern Luzon 289 15,774 563 28,499
Vizcayas 894 44,649 1,124 69,689
Mindanao eo _ 32-2384
Total ...2,003 105,158 2,504 131,716

ee

Cebu also heads the list of provinces produ-
cing Cocoa, with an output in 1909 of 94,491 Ib.
Orienta Negros comes second with 49,680 Ib,
and Pangasinan third with 20,135 Ib, Non-
producing provinces are Cagayan, Isabela and
Pampanga, The production tables read :—

470
1908. 1909.

Acres. lb. Acres, Ib.
Northern Luzon 593 33.874 466 34,592
Southern Luzon ...1,0382 37,556 852. 70,450
Vizcayas ...1,714 117,900 3,122 221,190
Mindanao . 1388 7,329 79 7,862

Total

...3,477 210,859 4,509 334,094

The principal Coconut-producing provinces
are those bordering the Pacific Coast, a not-
able exception being La Laguna which pro-
duced over 20 per cent of the total output
of the islands. Provinces producing over 5,000
tons are Tayabas, 14,920 tons, Samar, 11,700
tons, Leyte 6,264 tons and Bohol, 5,312 tons.

1908. 1909.

tons. tons.

Northern Luzon 4,175 4,243
Southern Luzon 56,766 57,791
Vizcayas 35,580 35,202
Mindanao 6,326 6,630
102,847 103,826

Tea, Cardamoms, and Cinchona--we learn—
are bot grown in the Philippines at all.

A beginning has been made with the planting
of Rubber in and near Mindanao, but it is still
too early to expect any results,

DRAGON FLIES AND PARA RUBBER.

[I was recently informed that Dragon Flies
had been doing damage by eating the young
tips of Hevea shoots. That Dragon Flies eat
any part of a plant is an entirely erroneous
idea. Their food consists of the small insects
of which there are so many always flying about,
and this is what they are after when they are
seen hawking about all day. They occasionally
settle on a twig fora rest, but when in this
position are not feeding. That the Hevea shoots
in question had been damaged is undeniable,
but the damage was done probably by some
form of aphis or blight, though this could not
be found, and it is more than probable that
the Dragon Flies were feeding on the blight.
The larvae of the Dragon Fly are grub-like
insects with large heads and formidable jaws,
and are found in ponds and steams. These
grubs feed voraciously on small water insects.—
Ropoten D. AnstEAD, Planting Expert.—Plan-
ters’ Chronicle, April 9.

SISAL HEMP AND HURRICANES.

That sisal hemp is almost immune to hurri-
canes is demonstrated by Captain Calder’s
estate at Visari. On the exposed hills where
the wind was strongest on the date of the recent
blow, the sisal was hardly affected. Some of
the shrubs which were leaning with the wind
were readily put upright with no damage to the
plant.. Mr Knowles reports that at the Nasinu
Experimental Station the leaves were bruised
and torn from the fact that the leaves were too
long for the distance between the rows. Hoe ad-
vises thcse intending to plant to plant ten
instead of elght feet apart.—21ji Times, April 6.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

INDIAN RICE,
The average area devoted annually to the
cultivation of rice in India exceeds

SEVENTY MILLION ACRES,

and the number of people who consume it
must amount to many hundred millions.
There must, therefore, be a very great number °
of people directly or indirectly interested
in the composition of Indian rice, which
recently formed the subject of enquiry by Mr.
David Hooper, F.c.s., Curator of the Industrial
Section of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. The
results of the investigation, however, which
are recorded in a brochure recently issued in
the Vegetable Product Series of the Agricultural
Ledger, is considerably enhanced in the light
of the decision arrived at at the meeting of the
War Hastern Association of Tropical Medicine,
held afew weeks ago at Manila, that

BERI-BERI IS DUB TO A LACK OF PHOSPHURUS
IN THE RICE

vaten by the victims to the disease. There is
an imamense variety of rices, differing in shape,
size, weight, colour, consistence and properties,
known under various names. Some are regarded
as more digestible than others, and some as
more nutritious or satisfying, while others are
considered fragrant, sweet, medicinal or useful
in the arts. No rice, however, is so lacking in
phosphorus as to be the possible cause of beri-
beri were it consumed in its natural state. It is
the polishing which does the mischief, for this
removes the skin, or pericarp, of the grain, which
contains sufficient phosphorus for the system.

As a result of a series of experiments Dr. H.
Fraser, who represented the Government of the
Federated Malay States at the Manila Conference
found that beri-beri invariably occurs in persons
living on a rice diet and eating white rice which
has been polished. Experiments conducted in
the United States in 1904 proved conclusively
that while raw rice afforded 9°88 per cent. of
proteids. the brans of rice meals gave from
9°26 to 13°41 per cent. of proteids and from 9 to
14'3 per cent. of fat. and that rice dust contained
from 8°5 to 11 per cent. of proteids and from
5-2 to6'9 per cent. of fat, while polished rice as
usually offered for sale contained only 6°56 per
cent. of proteids. The sole object in polishing
rice, which practice is largely followed in most
European markets, is to make it attractive in
appearance, and it only really affects people
who live practically exclusively ona rice diet.

THE BOILING OF RICE ALSO REDUCES I's
¥OOD VALUE,

for this removes more than half the fat, over 8
percent. of the albuminoids, less than 8 per
cent, of the carbohydrates and 17°6 per cent. of
the ash; so there would seem to be good ground
for the prevalent idea that the parched rice con-
tains the most nutriment. Rice grownin India
differs considerably in composition from that
grown in other countries such as America, Java,

‘Japan, Cochin-China, and there is also a great

variety in the composition of the various rices

‘ grown in different parts of India. On the av

erage, however, Indian rice, according to Mr
Hooper, consists of water 12°8 per cent., albu-
minoids 7°3, fat ‘6, starch 78°3, fibre ‘4 and ash

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910. 471

‘6. Hoalso reminds us that tho well-known
chemists, O Rosenheim and S Kajuira, who
recently studied the proteids or albuminoids of
rice, found 7 per cent. of total proteid present
in rice, of which -14is aglobulin, 0:04 an albu-
min and the remainder a proteid, which, like
the glutenin of wheat, is soluble in dilute alkali.

The results of the analyses of 159 samples of
Indian rice are appended to Mr Hooper’s Re-
port in tabular form. The average percentage
of proteid is highest in those from Eastern
Bengal and Assam and Bombay, and lowest in
those from Cuttack and the Central Provinces ;
but the most interesting conclusions are drawn,
he says, from the individual analyses, where the
ercentage varies from 9:81 in a sample from
ahs to 5'44 in a sample from Cuttack. One
object in conducting these examinations has
been to discover what natural circumstances
have contributed to the superiority of the con-
position of certain grains, and it has been found
that in some cases the locai reputation and
market value of rice coincides with its high
nitrogen content. The examination has re-
sulted in giving a prominent place to certain
rices which deserve attention at the hands of
cultivators as containing over 8 per cent of
albumenoids, and among these mentioned are
the ambemohar of Belgaum and the jeera salai of
South Canara. Of 22 Madras samples two
averages of 11 each were taken, and they gave
the following results :—

Water: Protein. Fat. ° Carbo Fibre. Ash.
Hydrates,

8°94 710 “74 81°54 “43 1:25

11°69 6°81 1°30 79°00 "49 “98

Mr Hooper’s last conclusion, an4 it is certainly
one of the most interesting, is that the rich-
ness of the grain appears to be due not so much
to the races of the plant or the appearance of
the grain as to the cultivation. The grains of
finest composition are found in plants grown
in rich virgin soil or in lands liberally manured.
Instances of this kind are found in the red rice
grown in tawngya by the Chins of Burma, in the
Kanapur rices of the Carnatic and in the
Kasaragod rices of South Canara. And in Mr
Hooper’s opinion attention to the cultivation
of the rice plants in the way of manuring the
land appears tobe one of the principal means
of improving the quality of the grain for com-
mercial and edible purposes.—M. Mail, May 3.

SCALE ON PARA RUBBER.

Specimens of ashiny black insect on young
shoots and leaf stalks of Hevea have been re-
ceived. The same scale has been noticed on the
‘leaves and young shoots of Ceara rubber. This
scale has been identified by Mr E E Green, the
Entomologist for the Ceylon Government, as
Lecanium nigrum: another species added to the
list of Zecanium pests on Southern India Es-—
tates. Mr Green writes, with reference to this
scale, ‘*It occurs not uncommonly on the leaves
and young stems of Hevea in Ceylon, but has
never shown signs of developing into a serious
pest.” Itshould, however, be carefully watched
and should it show any signs of becoming a pest
here it should be promptly sprayed.—(Signed)
H.C. Westaway, Hon, Secretary, U. P. A. S. I.
—Planters’ Chronwcle, April 30.

MYCOLOGY AND ECONOMIC BOTANY.

Two numbers of the Botanical series of the
Memoirs of the Agricultural Department of India
which have recently been published are worthy
of more than mere passing attention, in that a
perusal of their pages seems to indicate some-
what clearly the trend of research which is
likely to be followed in Economic Botany and
its subsection, Mycology, in connection with
agriculture. The first paper is by Dr. Butler, ©
the Imperial Mycologist, upon the wilt disease
of red gram. .... What has now proved to
be a harmless form in connection with red gram
will probably prove to be so also with pepper,
and it remains for the newly-appointed Myco-
logist in Madras to determine the real offender
in the latter plant. A careful perusal of Dr,
Butler’s paper will be instructive to those
interested in the subject. It affords an excellent
illustration of the extreme care necessary
in mycologleal work, and the many pitfalls
which lie in the way of the careless investigator
are clearly indicated. But the chief interest
in the present Memoir is not confined to this
important piece of work. Dr. Butler reviews
the various methods hitherto adopted in
combating this class of fungus. diseases, such
as are caused by organisms which are capable
of living for long periods in the soil without
the presence of their natural host, And he
is driven to the conclusion that, where long
rotations of other crops are not possible, no
direct method can be adopted with any hope of
success, and he is fain to place his reliance upon
the raising of immuue varieties. This is not
altogether a new note in mycological research,
and work in this direction has already been
done on various crops in different countries.
Rust in wheat, the potato disease, the diseases
of cotton and those of sugar-cane, have for the
past ten years or more been thus approached,
and the success attained has been sutticiently
decisive to show that herein lies an important
line for future investigation. Preliminary studies
have been commenced with red gram, and Dr
Butler is collaborating with the Bombay Agri-
cultural Department in the endeavour to discover
new and disease-resistant strains. Little work
has as yet been attempted in this direction in
India, but it is not improbable that, in their
turn, coffee, pepper, tea, and even such long-
lived plants as palms and fruit trees will have
ultimately to depend upon this line of work for
the continuation of their cultivation, Thus far
the Mycologist. The carrying out of his propo-
sals lies in the hands of the Economic Botanist,

What are the first steps to be taken in this
raising of immune varieties ? The answer is given
very clearly in the second Memoir before us,
Mr. Howard’s investigation of the forms of the

NORTH INDIAN TOBACCOS
of the rustica type. The first stup in investiga-
tion of acrop is a careful and scientitic study
of the forms already existing in the country.
The plant breeder must in the first instance
collect his material, which is none too easy a
task. He must grow the plants collected from
all sources side by side for several generations,
and note the minutest differences. He must
classify and analyse his material, eliminate all
‘accidental hybrids by the application of Men-

472

del's laws, and reject all such forms as are not
perfectly true to seed. The greater the diver-
sity in his raw material, the greater are the
possibilities of their improvement....

The sooner the various Agricultural Depart-
ments start upon the new road cpened up by
Mendel’s discovery, the sooner will they justify
their existence. Not only must they seek to
obtain plants with greater cropping powers,
greater resistance to drought and so forth, but
ever held prominently in view must be their
liability to the prevalent disease of the country.

And what is true of fungus diseases is also true
of insect pests. These latter are not all due to
deficiency of rainfall or other climatic influences,
for we know already that certain varieties are less
liable to attack than others. Take, for instance,
the green bug in coffee. Planters in South India
are calling out at the inadequacy of the usual
spraying methods recommended. But the coffee
plant flowers and fruits fairly early, and it should
not be impossible, by suitable crossing experli-
ments, to obtain immune varieties here as eise-
where, and the sooner the task is undertaken the
better for all concerned.—M. Mail, May 2.

PLOUGHS USED IN COORG.

Mr. L T Harris, Commissioner of Coorg,
has sent us the following note compiled by Mr
G Haller, Assistant Director of Land Records,
on the ploughs in use in Coorg :— Various types
of ploughs have been tried in Coorg from time
to time butall failed mainly on account of the
excessive weight and dearness. What is re-
quired is a cheap plough that will last for
many years and which is light. The ordinary
ryot spends yearly about eight annas for his
plough, «.e,, the plough itself costs eight annas,
and the yoke eightannas, the plough lasts about
two years and the yoke three, The length of
the plough is22 inches; and weighs about 9%
lb. The shape of it resembles a boat that has
been cut in two. It is five inches at the
broadest part and only one inch in the front.
The body of the plough is made of wood on
which the ploughshare is fastened, consisting of
a piece of iron about one foot in length; the
ploughshare is renewed after the first year at a
cost of two annas. To the plough the handle
and yoke are attached, the length ofthe former
is three feet and four inches, while the yoke
consisting of a straight pole is eight feet and
four inches in length. To this pole a cross pole
is fastened by ropes to which the bullocks are
tied, The weight of the handls is 34 lb, and that
of the pole is 5 lb., thus the entire weight is
about 18 lb. The plough itself becomes worn out
in one season and is used in the following year for
the third and subsequent ploughings, 1.¢., after
the soil has been made loose. It is rarely used
after the second year. Deep ploughing is not essen-
tialin Coorg. The bullocks used for ploughing are
about four feet in height, and five feet in length,
and are very weak. The fields are in terraces in
the greater part of the Province and the ryot is
thus obliged to carry his plough from field to
field unassisted. It is, therefore, apparent that it
is very essential for the plough to be light. Mr
Haller will be glad tosupply any firm which
desires a specimen or photograph of the plough
used in Coorg.—Indian Trade Journal, April 7.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

WEST AFRICAN RUBBER
PRODUCTION,
GREAT HOPES FROM HEVEA AND FUNTUMIA.

In a report on the Bordeaux rubber market in
1909, Messrs. Fauches and Channel make a
number of interesting observations on the Ivory
Coast and its present and future as regards
rubber, from which we select the following :—

Two schools of ‘ monitors’ have been at work
under the direction of teachnical agents—one
at Assikasso, in the eastern part of the Colony,
and the other at Bouake, in the west. The
natives who have been educated there have
become in turn salaried agents, at the diw-
position of the district commanders, in order
to extend in the villages the knowledgerequired
for the good preparation of rubber; and, in the
meantime, the action of these agents has been
combined with that of the administrators—
station chiefs—who have received special in-
structions that in all their travels they are to
train the natives in the matter of rubber
preparation. Lhe application of a programme so
methodically conceived must, say the brokers,
soon produce excellent results, which will be
largely helped forward if the merchants on
their part will lend their assistance by applying
just principles in their purchases.

The question et production is being very care-
fully studied. The planting of lianes and trees is
being continued everywhere and with regularity.
Besides, there are districts still unexploited in
the depths of the Cote d’Ivoire forest land, and
the production of Funtumia rubber may still be
increased, judging by reports that have heen
received from the Lieut.-Governor.

According to observations made by M A
Chevalier and Capt. Schiffer in their travels
over the Céte d'Ivoire, the Funtumia reproduces
itself naturally and without care with great ease,
thanks to its light seeds and its rapid develop-
ment. By preserving these reproductions until
they arrive at maturity new sources of supply
will be available. Besides the Para plantations
made in 1898 have prospered so well that the local
administration is now engaged in effecting a large
plantation of this variety at the station of Agbo-
ville on that part of the railway which is already
working, The object of this plantationis to en-
courage colonisation and to put « sufficiently
large nursery at the disposition of planters.

With the Hevea and the Funtumia, which pros-
per well together the Cote d’Ivoire may become,
thinks the Lieut..Governor by reason of its favour-
able situation one of the principal rubber coun-
tries. These datashould prove of especial interest
to allconcerned in rnbber.—/inancier, March 15.

RUBBER-GROWING AMONG THE
NATIVES IN DUTCH S.-E. BORNEO

is going ahead rapidly under official prompting.
Government land has been granted to paerene
of nativesfor that purpose. In the district of
Amuntal, there are extensive plantations of
Rambong rubber, Several planters, who have
been up there, have formulated a scheme for
buyii g up this rubber from the growers and for
working it up on the spot. Native rubber
growers have ordered large quantities of rubber
seedlings from Singapore,-—Strarts Times, April 15,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910. 473

CHEMICAL SPRAYS FOR WEED,
INSECT, ETC., DESTRUCTION.

We have received a very neatly drawn up
circular from the Acme Chemical Co., Limited,
Tonbridge, Kent, giving a general idea of the
methods they recommend for the destruction of
weeds, insects, and fungi. They submit that
the only effective method of ridding land of
weeds, especially Lalang Grass, is to attack the
roots with a solution of Arsenite of Soda. Where
the roots are not more than a foot below the
surface, and the soil is fairly loose, the solution
will find its way to the roots if the ground is
well and carefully sprayed. If the grasses and
weeds have been cut down and removed, and
the surface so cleared that there will be no
waste of solution upon the rubbish lying about,
a good dressing at the rate of 25 gallons to 70 or
80 square yards (that is 80 by 1) will be sufficient
to killthe roots without taking them up; the
time chosen for application is when the ground
is moist with dew. The ground should be well
sprayed once, and then again before it has time
to dry, one dressing following the other whilst
the ground is wet. If the roots are more than
a foot down it may be. necessary to fork them
up or to loosen the ground so that the solution
can easily penetrate to them. Itis stated that
to destroy young Lalang by forking costs at
least about $30 per acre, whereas the cost of
Arsenite of Soda of sufticient strength to accom-
plish this more effectually upon an acre of
ground would only cost about $13 (1 dollar=2s.
4d.) cif. Port Swettenham, Singapore or
Penang. The time, occupied in spraying the
solution over an acre would take three men,
with a fairly good distributing apparatus, from
three to four hours, There may be cases where
from the nature of the ground, or the fact that
the Lalang is so deeply rooted that it has to be
dug up and the roots taken away and destroyed,
but even in such cases many broken pieces of
root are bound to be scattered over the surface.
These will grow again if not destroyed, One
spraying would be sufficient to destroy these
pieces of broken roots, thereby using just half
the quantity of solution.

Ants or any other vermin feeding on vegetable
matter in the soil would also be destroyed.

Another preparation manufactured by the
Acme Chemical Co., Ltd., is ‘‘ Fumerite” a
non-poisonous preparation which when mixed
with the soil gives off a gas most deadly to
insects and especially to ants, The fumes
permeate the soil for a considerable distance
around if the surface is beaten down fairly close
after the powder has been put in the earth.
The fact that white ants work in tunnels makes
this powder very effective against these insects.
The fumes collect in the galleries and complet-
ly exterminate the insects, If the powder is
put near the roots without actually touching
them the fumes will travel through the soil
without doing harm; ants and other insects
living in the soil or among the roots are never-
theless killed. Its action is very quick in warm
and moist soils, and for a long time it will
continue to be very objectionable to insects.
In the course of a couple of months it will

60

é

become exhausted, but the residue is a good
plant food. They strongly recommend its use
against the attack of ants on young plantations,
and they give full instructions in the circular
how to use it both in young plantations and in
older plantations. This powder is mixed with
from 100 to 200 parts of soil, and is very cheap.

“ Anti-Fungi Powder” is a non-poisonous
powder cotaining the active properties of the
Bordeaux Mixture ; it does not scorch or injure
foliage. In many situations where it is difficult
to use liquid fungicides this powder is most
useful, and in any case it is cheaper to use than
the liquid. 1t has been used with good effect
against fungoid diseases on Hops, Tomatoes, otc,

‘“‘ Arsenate of Lead Paste” is a poisonous
preparation which destroys all biting and leafs
eating insects, such as caterpillars and beetles,
It may be mixed with Bordeaux Mixture or
Solution of Sulphate of Copper, and so act as an
insecticide and fungicide. Of all arsenical
washes Arsenate of Lead is best to use because
of its being more easily mixed. It is held in
suspension much longer than Paris Green, and
the scorching noticeable after using Paris Green
never occurs when Arsenate of Lead is used, It
also adheres to leaves better than most washes.
1 lb. is sufficient for 25 gallons of water, and
as it is only necessary to slightly wet the leaves
it is an economical wash. On cotton plantations
it has been customary to use quantities of Paris
Green Powder, but owing to the uncertain effect
of Paris Green, its scorching of the foliage, and
danger to natives inhaling the poisonous dust,
Arsenate of Lead Paste, in solution, is quickly
taking its place.

The Acme Chemical Co., Ltd., manufacture
chemicals for agricultural and horticultural use,
and are specialists in insecticides, fungicides, etc.

We hear that a copy of this circular has been
sent to all rubber plantations, and if planters
will write them explaining any difficulties, they
will be happy to give them the benefit of their’
many years’ experience in combating the attacks
of insects, diseases of plants, and destruction
of weeds,

If spraying machines or powder distributing
machines are required, on being supplied with
particulars of the work the machines are to
accomplish, the nature of the ground over which
they have to work, etc., they will be glad to
send particulars and quotations.

THE UTILITY OF GHALK.

BY MR. JOHN HUGHES.
AGRICULTURAL ANALYST FOR HEREFORDSHIRE.

The value of freshly burned lime for agri-
cultural purposes has been recognised from
@ very remote period, also the utility of the
application of chalk, which consists of lime
combined with carbonic acid, has also been
recognised by practical farmers. But the
conditions of soil and climate which should
determine respectively when the highly caustic
or quick lime, and when the mildly caustic
chalk should be applied have not been re-
cognised as they should be. In the first
place quick lime when properly burned and

474

slaked with water is not only highly caustic
in its action, but, compared with chalk, being
readily soluble in water, exerts a strong
caustic or burning action upon the humus or
vegetable matter that may exist in the soil,
so that it not only neutralises any acidity
existing in the soil, but it positively burns
up and converts the valuable hygroscopic
vegetable matter into carbonic acid, which
subsequently unites with the lime, forming
carbonate of lime. Quicklime, therefore, may
be used with advantage on soils that contain
an excessive amount of vegetable matter, be-
cause such matter in its acid state as it exists
in damp mooriand pastures, is really injurious
to healthy vegetation, and the formation of
nitrates ; but on many soils such as granite,
“gravel, and sandy soils, the application of
the highly caustic quicklime is calculated to
do more harm than good, because these
soils, though deficient in lime, are usually
also deficient in vegetable matter. Bayldon
in his book on the valuation of rents and

tillages states that on no point in agri-
culture does more vague uncertainty pre-
vail than on the use of lime. No infer-

ence has been drawn either from _ practice
or science to guide the farmer with cer-
tainty in applying lime to the land ; in
fact, itis applied often by the caprice or indivi-
dual judgment of the farmer without any certain
knowledge of the result that will be produced.
On light soils of all kinds, he states, the bene-
fit of lime is very doubtful. The above repre-
sents the opinion of an experienced valuer in
1864. At the present time thereis a strong
opinion gaining ground among practical men
that the use of lime in moderate quantity is
necessary to counteract the injurious effect pro-
duced by the continued application of acid
manures on soils naturally deficientin lime, for
acid manures certainly tend to remove the avail-
able lime as proved by the Woburn experiments.
Indeed the great success of the application of
phosphates in an alkaline form such a basic slag
and the more recently introduced basic super-
phosphate has afforded a practical! illustration of
the great benefit which has resulted from the
use of the above manures ou certain kinds of soil;
the question to be decided is the particular form
in which lime can be most efficiently employed.
In considering the relative suitability of a ferti-
liser it is usual to assume that the availability
is dependent upon the solubility in water and
in weak solutions of a vegetable acid like
citric acid.
RELATIVE SOLUBILITY IN WATER,

Causticlimeis more soluble in cold than in
boiling water, while chalk is only very slightly
soluble in cold distilled water. According to
to my experiments the actual figures are as
follows :—

1 part caustic lime dissolves in 833 parts of
water.

1 part chalk dissolves in 22,222 parts of water.

It will be seen how very much more soluble
caustic lime is compared with carbonate of
lime in the form of chalk. But the ordinary
soil water contains vegetable acids such as
carbonic, ulmic, and humic acids, which
exert a powerful solvent action on the

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

various soil ingredients that constitute the
natural food which the roots of plants aided
by the acid sap contained therein absorb trom
the soil by osmotic action. Consequently it is
not the solvent action of pure cold distilled
water that should be considered, but rather the
action of soil water impregnated with vegetable
matter. Itis therefore very natural that some
vegetable acid solution should be selected asa
standard solution. In Germany, Professor
Wagner has suggested a 2 per cent. solution of
citric acid as a standard solvent for estimating
the probable availability of phosphate of lime in
basic slag. In this country Dr Bernard Dyer
has suggested a weaker solution of only 1 per
cent citric acid, while I in 1901 suggested a still
weaker solution, namely, 10 per cent. solution,
consisting of 1 part citric acid dissolved in 1,000
parts of cold water, which represents an acidity
absolutely less than that possessed by the sap
of any farm crops, so that any lime, phospho-
ric acid, or potash dissolved by sucha solution
may fairly be regarded as existing in a form
available for plant food. When caustic lime
and chalk finely ground are exhausted with this
solution the following results were obtained :—
Relative solubitity in. 10 citric acid solution
1 part caustic lime dissolves in 809 parts solution.
1 part chalk dissolvesin 984 parts solution.

As l part of carbonate of lime in the form of
chalk consists of 56 lime and 44 carbonic acid,
it followsthat 56 lime existing in the 1 part of
chalk is dissolved by the above 984 parts of
water, which is equivalent to 1 part of lime
in the form of chalk being dissolved by
1,758 parts of this 10 solution of citric
acid. From these figures it appears that in
pure cold water caustic lime is about 27 times
more soluble than chalk, but that in the weak
10 citric acid solution lime as caustie lime is
only about twice as solubleas lime in the form
of chalk. Consequently if chalk be reduced
by grinding to the same state of fineness
as caustic lime it will be sufficient if one
ton of such ground chalk be applied per acre
instead of 10 cwt. of ground lime. In addition
to the convenience of the application of chalk
instead of the irritating caustic lime there is
the less cost to be considered.

Rough chalk can in many districts be ob-
tained at 3s to 4s a ton rail as against lime
at 128 to 15s per ton. Further, the mild
chalk while supplying the lime necessary for
bacterial action in the soil does not burn up
and consume the vegetable matter which is
so valuable as a plant food and also for the
retention of moisture. Indeed, the agricul-
tural utility of chalk on all light soils has
hitherto been sadly neglected, and the heavy
dressings sometimes applied were very costly
and quite unnecessary. Chalk should be dried
and ground into a fine powder, then applied
on the surface, followed by a light harrowing
in order to effect the necessary mixing with
the soil, so that it may be rendered soluble
by the soil water, and the sap acidity of the
rootlets of the subsequent crop.

The red soils of Herefordshire and Worces-
tershire furnish good illustrations of the kind
of land that would be improved by dressings
of finely ground chalk. But all light land such

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910.

as gravel, granite, and sandy soils, which are
usually deticient in vegetable matter, and at the
same time deficient in lime, will be greatly
enriched in fertility by the application of a
ton of finely ground chalk per acre.

Basic SUPERPHOSPHATE.

The reasons why a solution of ‘10 per cent,
Citric Acid (1 to 1,000) was selected as a standard
solvent. Also particulars of the process of
analysis employed.

SELECTION OF A STANDARD SOLVEN'.

It is generally recognised that plants
derive their mineral food by absorption
in a liquid state through their root hairs ;
solid particles, however small, being incapa-
ble of passing through the membrane of the root
hairs. The absorption of food is in fact a process
of dialysis, the acid solvent or sap being
inside the root,and the plant food being in the
soil on the outside, This dialytic action can only
proceed when there is a sufficient supply of
moisture on both sides of the intervening mem-
brane, Hence during a drought, as the soil
moisture becomes dried up, the flow of the root-
sap through the intervening membrane is
checked, and the plant droops and perhaps dies
from want of nourishment. How to imitate the
natural action of the root sap upon manurial
materials, or upon the store of available food in
the soil, and to evolve a standard solution which
when used in definite proportions, would indi-
cate the extent to which manurial materials,
either directly applied or existing naturally in
the soil, would become available as plant food,
is a problem which has hitherto puzzled
Agricultural Chemists. In selecting a standard
solution, it seems very natural that some vege-
table acid should beadopted. In Germany, Dr.
Paul Wagner, of the Darmstadt Agricultural
Station has suggested and for some years em-
ployed, a 2 per cent, solution of Citric Acid,
namely two parts of Crystallised Citric Acid
dissolved in 2100 partsof cold distilled water.
He takes one part of manure and 100 parts of
such solution and mechanically agitates in a
bottle for half-an-hour and then filters off the
liquid and determines the proportions of plant
food dissolved. In this country, Dr. Bernard
Dyer, after a long and laborious examination of
the acidity of the sap in 103 different plants,
arrived at the conclusion that the average acidity
of the sap might be represented by a1 percent.
solution of Citric Acid, and thata solution of
that strength might fairly be employed in the
determination of the proportions of available
plant food either in asoil or manure. In arriving
at this conclusion, he appears to have overlooked
the fact that out of the 103 plants examined, no
less than 16 specimens, representing the principal
farm crops, such as Wheat, Barley, Oats, Turnips
Swedes, Mangolds and numerous grasses, yiel-
ded an average sap acidity of less than °50 per
cent. Further, that the original acidity of the
sap must become greatly diluted by contact with
the moisture associated with each particle of
soil, In devising, therefore, a standard sol-
vent, the writer has preferred to employ
a solution of less acidity, but in greater volume,
because in nature the solutions are very weak,
while the volume of water in the soil is very

475

large. Thus, an inch of rain represents in
round numbers 100 tons of water (224,000 lb.)
per acre, which at 30 inches per annum re-
presents 6,720,000 Ib. a year. If, therefore, 5
ewt. (560 lb.) of Basic Super be applied per
acre, it will, under ordinary circumstances, be
exhausted by no less than 6,720,000 Ib. of water,
ora proportion of 1 part solid to 12,000 parts
liquid. For these reasons then, a solution of
.10 per cent,, namely, L part of Citric Acid
to 1,000 parts cold distilled water, has been
selected as tho standard solvent, and to be
employed for exhausting manures, in the pro-
portion of 1 part of manure to a 1,000 parts
of this solution (or similar proportions),
24 hours being allowed for the exhaustion.
This solution is 26 times weaker than that of Dr.
Wagner, and 10 times weaker than that of Dr.
Dyer, and represents awacidity absolutely below
that found in the sap of any of the 103 plants
examined by Dr. Dyer. Consequently, it may
fairly be claimed that all phosphate of lime that
is dissolved by such a weak solution, represent-
ing only 10 per cent of Citric Acid, may be safely
regarded as being in a condition readily avai-
jJable as plant food.

PARTICULARS OF THE PRocEss oF ANALYsIs,

The manure must be ground into a fine
powder and 1 gramme placed in a large beaker,
or bottle, to which 1 gramme of Citric Acid
and 1,000 ce of cold distilled water are added.
It is desirable to weigh out the materials in the
morning in order to allow occasional stirring or
shaking during the day, for after standing all
night, the solution having had a final agitation
next morning is tobe filtered off. The filtrate
is then concentrated to about one-fourth the
original volume, the lime removed and the
phosphoric acid determined in the usual way by
the magnesia process. The matters insoluble in
the solution having been collected on a filter
are ignited and weighed, thus obtaining the
proportion of mineral matters insoluble in the
standard solution.—JoHN Hucuss, ¥.1.C., Agri-
cultural Analyst, 79,Mark Lane, London, H.C.

RUBBER IN SOUTH INDIA.

REPORT ON A FOUR LN CocHiN AND TRAVANCORE.
(By Kudolph D Anstead, Planting Expert.)

Leaving Bangalore on January 24th I started
on a tour in South Travancore and Cochin, and
visited a number of Rubber estates, and also
some Tea estates in the hills of 8S. Travancore. I
attended a Planters’ Association meeting at
Quilon on January 29th and gavea short ad-
dress dealing with the more important local
agricultural matters. On February 15th [ left
Cochin and returned to Bangalore, proceeding a
few days later to South Mysore to conduct some
experiments in the cross-tertilisation of hybrid
coffee. On March 24th I resumed my tour and
visited the Mundakayam district and saw a
number of the Rubber estates there. On April
2nd TI attended a meeting of the Mundakayam
Planters’ Association and lectured on the dis-
oases of rubber and important points connected
with ils cultivation. Leaving the next day, I
proceeded to Peermade and Central Travancore
and made a tour of the Tea estates, ending by

476

attending a meeting of the Central Travancore
Planters’ Association on April 9th and lecturing
upon the treatment of Helopeltis and manuring
ot Tea. I finally returned to Bangalore on
April 13th.

RUBBER.

Without making any distinctions between one
estate and another, or one district and another,
I may say that I was very much struck by the
appearance of the para rubber throughout the
whole of my tour and can congratulate the
planters as a whole on its excellent prospects.
I had the pleasure of visiting the far-famed
Palapilly estate, without doubt a most success:
ful piece of rubber cultivation in every way.

DisEAsEs.—As is the case with all cultivations
of one plant on a large scale and over a large
area, diseases are present. This is to be expec-
ted indeed it would be a very, remarkable thing
were it not the case. Both “Pink disease ” and
“Die Back” occur and cause an amount of
trouble which varies from place to place. Both
diseases are to be foundon several indigenous
_ trees in the surrounding jungle and spores are
constantly carried from the jungle to the rub-
ber, which accounts for the annual recurrence
of the disease on the rubber. There is, however,
no cause for special anxiety. Planters know all
abont these diseases, and are taking every pre-
caution and there is no reason to suppose that
they will ever be allowed to assume the pro-
portions ofan epidemic. Hvery care should be
taken to tackle the disease directly it appears,
and a constant watch should be kept for its
first appearance. ‘T'his, in tact, is being done
throughout the district. Of the two, the ‘ die
back’ is probably the more important and
the more to be feared, especially if it is neg-
lected. Quite recently two Circulars (Vol. iv.
Nos. 21 and 23) have been published by the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, written by Mr
T Petch, the Government Mycclogist, dealing
at length with the ‘‘pink fungus” and the “die
back,” and I cannot do better than quote Mr
Peteh’s excellent descriptions of the two
diseases. At the same time I advise every
planter interested in rubber to obtain these
most interesting circulars, and ‘‘read, mark,
learn, and inwardly digest” every word of them
even down to the scientific names of the fungi
producing the diseases, .... The disease is
always apparent soon after the monsoon has
begun. In the dry season the spores are pre-
sent, lying dormant on the trees in convenient
places such as the forks of the branches, which
18 a very common point of attack, waiting only
for the rain to supply them with sutticient
moisture to start them into growth. This sug-
gests the possibility of a preventive method of
control, Copper sulphate is a well known
fungicide, and its presence kills growing fungi.
If then during the dry weather the trees can be
coated with this fungicide, when the rain comes
the spores will germinate in its presence and be
killed. The spores are blown about in the dry
season, and the fungus grows during the Mon-
soon, the production of spores being its final
stage at the beginning of the following dry
season ready for redistribution. Presumably
then there are few or no spores being carried
about in the monsoon and if those in itu are

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

killed by copper sulphate as they germinate,
the rubber should be free from the disease
for a year. This is the method ‘‘on paper,”
In practice it needs an experimental trial,
and at Palapillay it is undergoing this
trial. Every tree was, during the dry weather,
painted as far as it could be reached with Bor-
deaux Mixture made up with gum to make it
stick. Jam informed that the work was not
difficult ; and the cost wassmall. The result
as far as the protection of the trees from disease
is concerned will not, of course, be known until
after the monsoon. I hopeata later date, with
the permission of Mr Nicoll, to publish fuller
information about this method and its results.
The disease appears to attack trees from two to
five years old more than older trees. When it is
found, the affected part should be cutout. In
the case of quite young trees they should be cut
back well below the affected part. On old trees
the diseased part should be cut out, and care-
fully collected and burned. The wound should
then be tarred, care being taken to apply the
tar to the cut and not to spread it over the bark
A still better plan would be to wash the
wound first with Bordeaux Mixture and to
tar it afterwards. A watch should be kept
on all treated places to see that the new bark
is healing up properly, and that all traces
of the fungus have been removed. If this work
is consistently done and a watch kept, especially
at the beginning of the wot weather, for the first
appearance of the disease, there is no reason to
fear the disease.

lt would be interesting to know exactly what
trees in the jungle are attacked by Corticium
Javanicum, and, these being known, it would
obviously be an advantage to eliminate them if
possible from the borders of the estates.

Rupouewk D. Anstran, Planting Expert.
—-Planters’ Chronicle, April 30,

RUBBER CULTIVATION IN SPANISH
POSSESSIONS IN GULF OF GUINEA.

The following information is from the report
on the trade of the Spanish Possessions in the
Gulf of Guinea in 1909, which will shortly be
issued :—There is said to be a plentiful supply of
vine rubber in the districts of Bata and Klobey
onthe mainland. Trade in this article fell off
during 1908, owing to the fall in prices in
Europe; during 1909 it improved, but was
affected adversely by the prohibition of the sale
of guns and powder, for which there is a great
demand awongst the natives.

The planting of Para rubber is being taken
up in the Island of Fernando Po, one firm having
about 3,000 trees growing well, of which about
500 have been raised from Ceylon seed and 2,500
from local seed. The larger trees, which are
seven years old, have been tapped, but only to
ascertain the flow of latex, which is said to be
greater than from trees in the gardens at
Victoria, in the Cameroons. Another firm has
about 500 trees from seed obtained from plan-
tations in the Eket district, Eastern province,
Southern Nigeria. The climate and soil of
Fernando Po appear to be generally suitable for
the cultivation of Para rubber.— Board of Trade
Journal, March 31.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910.

CHINA TEA IN 1909.

A GLANCE At THE SEASON.

Another season passes into review, and 1909
goes down to history as a year that on the
whole has been favourable, both for black and
green descriptions, alike to the native manufac-
turer and to the foreign shipper. There may
have been, of course, as there geveraily are in
most seasons, times when business bas actually
been unprofitable for both parties, but taking the
bitter and the sweet together final results have
been on the right side, though possibly in a more
modified degree than was at one time antici-
pated. The quality of the black tea crop ail
round may be correctly stated to have been
‘* quite good”; particularly was this the case
with Keemuns and Oanfas, For a short time
after the opening of the Hankow market on
May 11, Russian buyers seemingly had abso-
lute control over the arrivals of the first-named
teas and paid fancy prices for fancied Keo-
muns—Il 1s, 70 to 75 per’ picul—which intrinsi-
cally were not worth more than the later
purchases at Vis. 50 to 55. But prices all round
for Keemuns must have yielded a golden
harvest to tea-men, while the teas themselves
fully proved in results that they were worth
the money paid for them. These teas were
brisk and strong and pre-eminently commanded
the attention of the homo trade. Regarding
the quality of the Ningchows there were certain
differences of opinion, some expert buyers
affirming themto have been quiteas good teas
as for some years past ; others that they pos-
sessed more strength than usual, and again
others declaring them to be thin and insipid,
a view shared in by the native. These teas were
approved of in Russia, but though the average
bnying price wasa fairly reasonable cone, the
teas did not ‘‘ catch on” in the home markets,

For Hankow teas prices. ruled throughout
considerably below the currencies of 1908, and
notably was this the case with the commoner
grades, which averaged all round some twenty
per cent lower prices than in the previous year.
The quotations are worth repeating, if only to
warn intending operators that, if exceeded,
there can be no repetition of 1909. First crop
Shuntams Tls. 9 to 11 per picul, Kokews Tls.
10 to 11, Lylings Tls. 11 to 12, and sweet
Otopacks at Tls. 12 to 14 per picul. How cheap
these teas were does not appear to have been
recognised at the time they were offered; in
fact they hung fire, but they were subsequently
bought in the Shanghai market by those who
failed to appreciate their value, at an advance of
20 per cont to 25 per cent, that is, that common
teas which were literally going a-begeing in
Hankow in July and Aueustat Tls. 9 to 12, in
many cases realised T]s, 14 to 17 in Shanghai in
October and November. And even at these
enhanced prices these common teas did not lose
money to ultimate shippers.

Regarding these teas it
out of place to restate what was written
of them in these columns last May —
“The goodecup quality of the crop is bound to
be recognised, but itis matter for regret that
their stalkiness and dustiness are not unlikely

may not be

477

to prejudice the value of common teas for blen-
ding purposes.” From what we know these con-
ditions kept home currencies to the low level! of
cents 4 to 4? per lb, though these teas were by
no manner of means in over-supply.

THe YeaAr’s Hxport.

The total export from North China of black
teas this season is the lowest for the past four
years, as indicated by the following figures :—

1906 1907
Russia os 32,250,009 36,120,(00
U.S, and Canada 6,100,000 5,500,000
United Kingdom 4,890,000 8,500,000
Continent of Kurope 2,300,000 3,300,000
45,450,000 53,420,000

198 1909
Russia 34,350,000 28,000,000
U's. and Canada 13,300,009 6,600,000
United Kingdom 7,4' 0,000 6,400,000
Continent of Kurope 3,500,000 3,000,000

58,550,000. 44,000,000

The position of China Congous in the several
markets of the world is, at the momert, exceed-
ingly favourable. It is up to buyers next
month to gang warily, and not spoil the horn in
their endeavour to make a spoon.

Though no snow fell in this neighbourhood
during the Chinese New Year holidays, yet the
country of the tea district is said to have been
sufficiently visited, and native advices are to
the effect that a crop of good quality may not
unreasonably be expected.

Tea Marxina.

Incidentally attention may be drawn to the
anomaly of marking tea chests with a double
season, Inthe old tactory days at Canton, when
teas were not brought in to market until the fall
of the year, and shipped off by sailing vessels in
the winter months, it was reasonable to mark
teas in that manner; but now-a-days when the
whole crop goes forward in the year of its pro-
duction the practice is generally maintained,
and uselessly.

IMPRUVEMENTS IN CULTURE,

It is gratifying to be able to record the fact
that steps are being taken with a view to the
improveme.t of China black teas generally, and
that the first move will be an attempt to regain
in some measure for Ningchow teas the quality
and popularity which for long years they en-
joyed. Towards this desirable end a

MEMORANDUM HAS BEEN SUBMITTED BY AN

INFLUENTIAL TEA HONG TO THE
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE,

Industry and Commerce at Pekin, pointing out
the difficulty of securing a combination of tea
hongs, tea dealers and tea growers, and sugges-
ting that the Viceroy and tho Governor of
Kiangsi may be instructed to advance Ts.
30,000 or Tls. 40,000 to begin with for the sup-
ply to growers of bean-cake, ground nuts and
vegetable refuse for manuring purposes. This
has special reference to the Yiningchou dis-
trict, where it is pointed out that supplies of
the article have declined from 200,000 half-
chests to 60,000 half-chests, entirely owing to
the fact that the natives have neglected to
clean the ground, turn it over and fertilise it,
Keemun is pointed to as an object lesson, for,

478

as is well-known, Keemhn teas have attained
and still maintain their popularity simply owing
to the fact that untiring attention is paid to
these matters, and that as a consequence
the production of this district has increased
from 20,000 half-chests afew years ago to
95,000 half-chests last year, and that the pro-
bability is that considerably over 100,000 half-
chests will be sent to the market at Hankow this
season. The memorandum points out that while
Indian teas are stronger, are protected by Gov-
ernment aiid are free of duties, yet with the ab-
olition of likin, stricter attention to culture and
manufacture, China teas could certainly be made
stronger than at present; while they will always
have that ‘‘sweet fragrance” from being sun-
dried, which teas prepared by machinery never
can possess. It admits that Indian tea owes its
present pre-eminent position to widespread ad-
vertising, as well as to its incessant, almost un—
scrupulous, exposure of the “alleged impurity ”
of China teas ; and it urges the Ministry and
the high authorities to take immediate steps in
conjunction with merchants ‘‘so that the trade
may be recovered and extended,” There is a
touch of sarcasm as to the methods adopted by
the China Association and a bit of sound com-
mon serse in the following excerpt :—‘‘ The at-
tempt of certain foreign tea firms to eulogise
Chinese teas by means of the press (obtaining
cheap press notices rather than advertising)
and lectures has not met with any noticeable
success and unless the teas are radically im-
proved no amount of public praise will help,”
which may be construed to read : ‘Improve the
tea first, and make it worthy of all advertise-
ment afterwards.’

The memorandum concludes by pointing out
the risks incurred through the absence of proper
storage fur teas which, in the case of Hankow
teas particularly, are stowed away in junks and
subject to the vicissitudes of the Han river, bad
weather, squeezes and inability to deliver tea
sold as readily as could be wished, aad prays
the Ministry for a loan for the building ofa
godown capable of storing, at least ‘200,000 half-
chests of tea.’ Such accommodation would be
beneficial to native and foreigner alike, it
would enable the native to deliver his produce
in better order, as also to finance it more easily,
while it would certainly benefit the foreigner if
it but contributed to retard the present rushed
export, the prime cause of much trouble. 1t
would enable him to give a little more time to
inspection and to ship off his purchases more at
his leisure.

No official reply has as yet been received to
his memorandum, but the wind blows that it
is receiving attention.

{t is pleasing to note that small experiments
with artificial manure are to be made this year.

Another proposal has been made by an im-
portant native authority in which there is show
of reason, that a combination should be made
for the purpose of leasing a certain area of tea
land, which should be planted out, manured
and. kept clean, and the plants given what
they lack now, asufficiency of space, light and
air; that these teas should be specially sold
as being from a certain district, and by no

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

chance mixed with the leaf of contiguous gar-
dens. Doubtless this would entail an initial
expense to teamen, but they appear to be hope-
ful that all in the end would benefit.

The green tea season of 1909 establishes a re-
cord in the shortness of its duration. First ar~
rivals came to hand from the Hoochou districts
on June 15, and the market opened on June 17,
with purchases at Tls. 295 per picul; or 3 per
cent higher than last year. ‘These teas are little
else than Pingsueys in disguise. Their chief
points of difference are that they bear a different
name and are packed in half-chests and not in
boxes. When the supply of Hoochous is ex-
cessive itis sometimes found necessary, in order
to effect a sale, to repack the teas into boxes,
This happened during the past season when 12
per cent of the crop or over 3,000 half-chests
were so repacked.

The opening prices of Pingsueys were really
the lowest of the season. Later on quotations
had risen 10 to 15 percent. for first crop leaf.
The second crop was poor and disappointing
and of the third crop amounting to some 30,000
half-chests of highly faced rubbish over 80 per
cent was unfit to pass the American standard
and so it was that thousands of packages of the
meretricious article were precluded entry into
the States, and were shipped off only to ewell
London stocks. The early arrivals of Wen-
chow teas were of capital cup quality and
the first few chops bought were amongst
the cheapest purchases of any green teas during
the season. Shanghai packets likewise were
rather above the average fora month or two,
but later on they fell off markedly in both
cup and make. Supplies of both these de-
scriptions are on the increase and promise to
beheavier. The advantage these teas present
to the continental buyer is the ease with which
he can secure any special line for which he may
have orders.

It was hardly to be expected that the heavy
supplies of Hyson which came to hand in 1908
(about 190,000 cases) would be maintained, but
the trade is a big one, about as large as that of
the whole ofthe country teas put together.
The fluctuations in prices are very heavy, often
Tls. 15 to 30a picul, but the business must pay
teamen handsomely.

Every season has its special features. The
two that stood out in boldest relief this last
season were the rush there was for the most
audacious faked common Pingsueys, the ease
with which those rushes were met, the extra-
vagant prices demanded and without the
least delay or difficulty obtained. And this too,
when it is remembered that the American stan-
dard for Pingsueys isa first crop tea. Isit to be
wondered at that the brown infusions ofthe
third crop teas caught the keen eye of the inspec-
tor and that the teas were refused admission ?
In the circumstances shippers stand to be shot
at with their eyes open.

The second feature was the absurd range of
prices established for choice Moyunes and more
than maintained for the second and third chops.
Many of these teas are still unsold in New York.

The lines to all concerned in the production
of green teas this year must indeed have fallen
in “ pleasant places.”

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—May, 1910.

The following particulars of sources of supply
have their interest :—

1907, 1908, 1909.
(For half chests.

Moyunes 0 67,000 58,000 55,000
‘Tienkais 6 52,000 44,000 654,000
Fychows Ws 26,000 39,000 49,000
Country teas +e 145,000 141,000 158,°00
Hysongs «+ 123,000 188,000 138,000
Pingsueys .- 161,000 145,000 142,000
Hoochous ve 13,000 16,000 27,000
W enchows and Shanghai
packed a 32,600 34,000 37,000
474,000 524,000 502,090
The export figures read as follows :—
1907. 1908. 1909.

United Kingdom
Continent of Europe
United States

2,750,000 1,800,000 1,300,000
2,700,C00 5,000,000 6,500,000
16,400,900 13,750,000 15,400,000

Canada 575,000 = 1,(00,000 1,100,000
Batoum 9,000,000 13,0L0,0C0 10,000,C00
Bombay 1,000,000 1,500,000 1,200,000

North Africa 375,000 590,000 865,000

32 8C0,000 36,640,000 36,365,000

Noticeable features in the above figures are
the rapidly expanding trades with the Kuro-
pean Continent and North Africa. Hamburg’s
big business is in Sowmees, to cost c.i.f. 4d or
under, not a high standard.—The vagaries of the
stocks of green tea in London are really remark-
able and the following figures, if correct, will

create surprise :—
lb.
The stock of Green Tea in London on July

31st, 1909 was .. 1,200,000
The total export of Green Tea to London

for season was 1,300,000

2,€00,000

The delivery for eight months August to

March inclusive 3,820,000
Showing an excess over deliveries of stock

to be tat?) 9.2; 270;000
But the stock in London on March 3ist,

191U was 3,300,000
Which shows that supplies from other sources

must have amounted to no less than 4,520,000

—

That is, that the indirect import into London
is three-and-a-half times as large as the
direct export from China.

It is well known that large quantities of
tea find their way from Hamburg and Mar-—
seilles into London, as also the quantity was
never exhibited in this way before. It would,
indeed, be interesting to know with some ex-
actness, the contributing proportion from each
and every source.—North China Herald, April 15.

RECORD RUBBER GROWTH IN THE
PHILIPPINES.

It is reported from Davao that on the plan-
tation at Lais, managed by H S Peabody, 100
Castilloa rubber trees, three years old, were
measured (without selection of trees) and the
measurements 3 feet above the ground ranged
from 22 to 34 inches in circumference. These
trees are bearing seed. From reports it appoars
that these trees equal in size the rubber trees
of Ueylon which are from5 to 7 years old.—
Mindanao Herald, April 16,

479

SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY.

Lonpon Section: Lecture on Roeper,
Mr. H. K. Rutherford and Mr, H. Wright Speak.

A meeting of this section was held at Bur-
lington House, Piccadilly, W., on April 4th,
Dr. J Lewkowitsch in the chair. A paper was
read by Dr. P Schidrowitz on

THE INDIARUBBER INDUSTRY,

The lecturer first briefly sketched the origin of
the rubber industry, the founders being Han-
cock, Mackintosh, and Goodyear. Peal, in 1791,
was granted a patent for the application of
caoutchouc to waterproofing cloth; in 1820
Hancock devised a ‘‘masticator” for working
up rubber into a homogeneous mass, and Mac-
kintosh was the first to use a solution of rubber
for waterproofing purposes. Goodyear, in 1839,
discovered the use of sulpher for vulcanising
rubber, a process which Hancock independently
discovered in 1844. The lecturer emphasised
the importance of vulcanising, which renders
rubber proof against temperature and atmos-
pheric action...... The rubber industry consists,
said Dr. Schidrowitz, of a series of industries :
(1) The preparation of the crude rubber ; (2)
manufacture of rubber articles ; and (3) working
up of waste rubber. The influence of the plan-
ting industry has made itself felt in the im-
roved methods of preparing the crude rubber
so that the old territorial classifications in
grading are giving way toa system based on
the botanical origin. A series of lantern-slides
was then shown to illustrate the method of
obtaining the Jatex of the rubber-trees and
methods of preparing rubber from it. The
sources of rubber were thus classified :—

Indigenous,
Amazon

Planted.
Malay, Ceylon,
Java, Sumatra,
Samoa,

Hevea braziliensis

Ficus elastica Assam, Malay and

Kast generally Dutch colonies,
New Guinea,

etc,

Tropical and sub-

Funtumia elastica }
tropical Africa

Landolphia species Uganda, Cam-
eroons, etc.

Castilloa elastica Mexieo and

Central America Mexico, West
: Indies
Manihot Glazcovii Brazil The East,

Cameroons

The acreage of planted rubber was put ag
693,000 acres, of which 250,000 are in the Malay
Peninsula and 190,000 in Ceylon. The chemical
differences between rubber from the various
species is surprisingly small when allowances
have been made for the various methods of
obtaining and treating the latex. ‘The planta-
tion industry has so developed that it has been
shown that it is possible to prepare all qualities
of high-class rubber. The physical ditteratides
are more marked, but these may disappear when
more is known of the conditions of preparation,
The bulk of the rubber is still made by hap.
hazard methods, and loses much in washing.
The amount of resin present is influenced by the
method of preparation. Para rubber still sets
thestandard, but does not fetch the highest price

480

owing to the proportion lost on washing. After
touching on the influence of age onthe trees
and discussing the question of yield, the lecturer
quoted some figures by Mr H K Rutherford for
an estatein Malay, where 100 to 200 lb. of rubber
per acre is being produced at a cost of 10°74d,
to which should be added 33d for freight, pack-
ages, etc., and an amount varying from 1d to 2d
per lb. for interest on capital. After noting
that the method of coagulating the latex is by
adding acetic acid, the lecturer enumerated the
varieties of ruhber that are made, crépe, and
sheet being the chief, The trying is sometimes
carried out in a vacuum drier, but the results
vary according to the care with which the drier
is employed. The discovery that an enzymo
present in the Hevea latex ia destroyed at 183°
Fabr. has been utilised to the advantage of

the resulting rubber. Tho lecturer next re
ferred to probable changes in the methods
of preparing crude rubber, the improve-

ment of the means employed for wild
rubber, and the preparation of good rubber from
low-grade resinous rubber by chemical process,
Synthetic rubber then claimed attention, the
subject being reviewed from Tilden’s isoprene
method to Harries’s recently published work.
The matter resolves itself into a competition be-
tween chemists and Nature, the latter producing
rubber which can be put on the market at 1s a |b.
This is a very large proposition, considering the
cost of the materials from which the chemist
starts. The analogy of indigo is a misleading
one, as indigo only exists in a dilute formin the
plant and costs about 3s 6d per lb. Tho manu-
facture of rubber goods was next described, and
the methods of vulcanising with sulphur and
sulphur chloride were dealt with in detail. The
recovery of waste rubber by various processes
was cousidered and the new ‘ reforming’ process
described. ‘he last-named consists in grinding
the waste rubber to powder, heating and causing
the rubber to cohere by great pressure,

Discussion.

The CHAIRMAN—opened the discussion. He
said the problem of preparing synthetic rubber
is similar to that of making artificial camphor,
and referred to Harries and Bayer processes re-
cently patented for synthetic rubber. An elect-
rolytic, method of coagulating rubber has been
recently introduced. Sir George Watt referred
to his official duties as botanical expert to the
Indian Government. Mr. H. K. Rutherford
created some amusement by his candid warning
about taking the advice of experts, giving several
instances where the experts have been wrong.
Mr. H. Wright pointedly asked whether Har-
ries’s work marked any advance of commercial
importance. He placed the yield per acre at 300
lb., this estimate being based on recent experi-
ence. There are today 720,000 acres of rubber
plantations in the Hast, and the British lead the
way in the industry. Mr Hammond Smith spoke
of the need for quick drying in the wet climates
where rubber flourishes. He looked to the School
of Tropical Medicine for help in enabling white
men to live healthily in West Africa and so be
able to supervise the rubber industry in that
country. Colonel Burley, as an expert on reco-
vering rubber, said he wanted rubber with the

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

minimum of resin. Mr FL Ross, engineer to
the Re-formed Rubber Co., described the pro-
cess used by hiscompany. He hoped to be able
to supply rubber tiles at 1/ per square yard : this
would be an ideal floor covering of practically
everlasting wear. Mr W F Reid dealt with the
question of recovering rubber and of devuleani,
sation by means of inert selective , solvents
Rubber need not be used for waterproofing pur-
poses, a substitute should be found, as the
rubber is, he considered, unsatisfactory from the
wearer’s point of view. Other speakers were Mr
Bevan, Dr. Stephens, Dr. Phillips, Mr H C T
Gardner and Mr AC Chapman, after which Dr.
Schidrowitz replied. Harries’s work was not,
in his opinion, of commercial importance, and
he considered that chemist most unfair in his
trertment of Dr Tilden’s paevious work. —Chemist
and Druggist, April 9.

THE RUBBER INDUSTRY OF JAPAN.

H. M. Commercial Attaché at Yokohama (Mr.
E F Crowe) has forwarded the following parti-
culars relative to the use of various products of
rubber in Japan :—

The subjoined statement of the imports of
erude rubber during the past four years shows
how rapid has been the development in the
rubber trade :—

Quantity, Value.

lb. £
1906 a0 606,728 59,°00
1907 a6 693,125 7~,600
1908 1,039, 430 90,500
1°09 1,331,825 150,060

Inthe closing months of 1909 there wasa
sudden development in Tokio and Yokohama of
the use of solid rubber tyres for jinrikishas, and
there is little doubt but thatthe fashion will
spread to nearly all the large towns in the pro-
vinces, The price naturally varies considerably
according to the quality, but it appears that a
pair of wheels with tyres costs from 26 yen to 34
yen (yen=2s. 04d.), and the tyres alone from 14°5
yen to 18 yen apair (the diameter of the wheel
is 42 inches), It is estimated that these tyres
will last two years, but as they have only been in
use a short time it is impossible to judge, On the
other hand British imported tyres used by the
brokers have lasted for over ten years ; similar
tyres now cost 30 yen. Most of the tyres now
coming into use are manufactured locally,
though some few are imported. All the Japanese
firms making tyres also manufacture rubber
solesfor the ‘‘tabi” or blue socks which the
rikisha men wear ; they also make rubber balls
and various other rubber goods. There are many
small factories with from 10 to 15 hands, especially
in Osaka. The principal consumers of rubbersare
the electric wire works, which manufacture
articles for the use of the army and navy. Two
companies are jnstalling plants tor making
waterproofs for the navy. Japan import sup-
plies of crude rubber from the Straits Settle-
ments, the Dutch East Indies, the United King-
dom and America, Plantations have been made
in Formosa, and wild rubber is also found there,
—Boarad of Trade Journat, March 31.

'

TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST

AND

MAGAZINE OF THE

CEYLON ACRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Vou. XXXIV,

COLOMBO, JUNE 15rx, 1910,

No. 6,

CHENA, JHUMING, TAUNGYA,
OR LADANG.*

There can be no doubt that chena
-“eultivation” is a most vicious and
destructive way of exploiting a country,
and there can be no doubt that it
is, theoretically, unnecessary—that the
land will stand continuous cropping.
There is no reason tosuppose that it will
not do so—no soilisso pooras all that,
where manure or green manure exists,
and there is rain.

The fact is that chena cultivation is a
symptom, showing the existence in
Ceylon of a low state of agricultural
equilibrium. Unthinking people declare
that native agriculture in Ceylon is in
a state of comparative perfection, that
the methods and crops cannot be im-
proved. Nothing canbe more untrue,
and the reason that attempts to improve
the quality of the crops or the tools
have hitherto failed, is that people have

taken hold of the wrong end of the stick, ©

or rather, have attempted to lift the
wrong lever.

What is really the case is that agri-
culture among the villagers has slowly
sunk to a low level, if indeed it were
ever ata much higher one, and every-
thing fits in with something else, so that,

* Burning off the forest, cultivating a crop or
two, and abandoning the land,

for that level, the methods in use are the
best. We have before us the problem
of raising the level.

Itis no use trying to improve the
agriculture before we have first of all
made sure that all the preliminaries to
successful and progressive agriculture
are properly seen to. The most import-
ant of these, as we have described at
length elsewhere, are capital, transport,
and education. Transport and educa-
tion facilities have been sufficiently well
attended to by the Government, and for
years we have been trying to persuade
people that capital is the essential key-
note of progress in Ceylon, The Euro.
pean planter isable to go ahead with
crops like tea, rubber and cacao because
he has the capital at his back to tide
over the period of waiting, and he can
adopt improved methods for the same
reason.

Chena cultivation is one of many indi- |
cations of a poor people, not possessing
the capital necessary properly to deve-
lop the land. © Practically no capital is
necessary to open a chena, and yeta
good crop is obtained. The land has
been lying fallow for some years, and
its fertility is further increased by the
scorching it receives during the burning
off, and which, as has lately been shown,
destroys the amoebee, &c., which feed
upon the more valuable micro-organisms
of the soil,

Gums, Resinss

The opening of the Experiment Station
at Maha-iluppalama in the North-Central
Province, in the midst of a chena
country, has given us the opportunity
really to study this question. The land,
we were assured by the local villagers,
was only fit for chena, but the first
glance at the excellent soil showed that
this idea was probably absurd, As a
matter of fact, we have cultivated it
continuously since the N.E. rains of 1904,
or six years consecutively, and the crops
are as good as ever they were.

The real truth ot the chena proposi-
tion would appear to be this. The
moneyless native clears and burns off
the land, and puts in his first crop,
which is oftena ‘‘ bumper.” He usually
tries a second, but the weeds are now
getting a firm hold, and greatly reduce
the yield, while ina third season it is
very commonly hopeless to expect any
crop, because of the growth of weeds.

The land is therefore abandoned, and
slowly ashrubby growth appears on it,
and as it gets taller, the weeds of open
ground slowly disappear, and are re-
placed by the weeds of shady ground,
which when the land is again opened
will disappear. And by leaving the
land alone some years, not only do the
weeds of open ground, which were so
troublesome, disappear, but a_ large
proportion of their seeds also die, so
that when the land is again re-opened it
is not at once covered by these weeds.
After 8 to 50 years the chena process is
repeated, most often in the wettest
regions, where the growth upon the

482

chena most rapidly reaches height and

density.

All our work at Maha-iluppalama goes
to show that chena land may be kept in
a state of continuous cropping, provided
that the weeds are kept down. This of
course necessarily means much greater
expenditure upon weeding. Allowing
for the fact that the chena cultivator as
a rule does not injure his health by
excessive devotion to work, it is prob-
able that he might be able to keep his
chena under crop, but he would likely
have to reduce the area. But he would
also have to spend more on tools, fenc-
ing and other things, and therefore
must necessarily have more command of
money than he has at present.

Chena in private hands cannot of
course be interfered with, though every
encouragement should be given to
experimenting with continuous crop-
ping, rotation of crops, permanent crops,
and the like. Butit may be suggested
that no chena be allowed on public land
unless part of the land be properly holed
and planted with coconuts or other per-
manent crops, at distances of say 80 ft.,
this crop to become the property of the
Goverrment. Many of the trees would
doubtless die, but many would grow
properly, and the land become of per-
manent value. .

As the population increases, and the
people are driven to harder and less
easual work, chena necessarily dis-
appears, and itis in this way that its
final exit must probably be looked for,

J. GC. W.

GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS.

SYNTHETIC RUBBER.
(From the Chemist and Druggist, No.1,
574, Vol. LXXVI., March 26, 1910.)

** De Indische Mereuur” of March 8
published some particulars of the work
done by the Synthetic Rubber Co., which
was formed in this country about three
years ago to investigate various pro-
cesses proposed for the manufacture of
synthetic rubber, The company first of
all examined the Gottschalk process,
and this was speedily disposed of, as it
was found impossible to produce rubber
by it.. Attention was then directed to
the Heinemann process, which also
proved to he valueless, after £1,000
had been expended in experiments with
it. Atthis stage the company undertook
research work on its own account, and at

one time it seemed to be on the high

road to success. Ata meeting held in
March, 1909,the President announced that
they were in possession of a satisfactory
method of making rubber, and a call on
the shareholders was made in order to
defray the cost of large-scale trials.
This process is believed to be that
invented by Liley, of Oxford University.
it is understood that this actually
yields a product having the chemical
and physical properties of rubber, but
that the cost of production is so high as
to render its working unremunerative
under present ccnditions. The article
continues with the remark that it is not
impossible that a syntehtic rubber may
be made eventually, but that until the
price of natural rubber rises to about

20s. per lb,, itis very improbable that it

3 =

by

ae

can be made at a profit.

‘Junn, 1910.) 498

The possibility
of rubber rising to this value it considers
is very remote, since the output from
plantations wil! increase rapdily in the
next few years, so that there is likely to
be a decline rather than a further rise in
price. The view taken iu the article
referred to seems to be that generally
accepted by rubber planters, and it must
be admitted that at the present moment
the chances for the prosecution of. syn-
thetic rubber seem to be poor. It is gen-
erally believedthat in the most favouvab-
ly situated and best managed plantations
in Ceylon the cost of production of sheet
Para rubber of the best quality is about
Is. 2d. to 1s. 3d. per Ib., and that such
rubber could be marketed profitably
at ls, 6d. On the other hand, it seems to
bethought that the only possible raw
material for the manufacture of rubber
is turpentine oil, and with the produc-
tion of this article already unable to
overtake the demand, it is not a promis-
ing source, andits price even now pre-
cludes its use for rubber manufacture,
even if a good process were discovered.
It is amistake, however, to suppose that
there are no other promising raw wmate-
rials. What is needed is a cheap un-
saturated hydrocarbon, capable of ready
condensation to form very complex mo-
lecules, or an unsaturated acid obtain-
able in large quantities from which such
a hydrocarbon can be easily prepared.
Two raw materials naturally suggest
themselves in this connection, viz., acety-
lene, and one or other of the liquid
unsaturated acids of the drying and

‘semi-drying oils, and it is probably by

the use of such products that the
eeplen will be solved, ifitis solved at
all.

SUBSTITUTES FOR RUBBER.

By C. Simmonps.

(From Nature, Vol. LXXXIII., No. 2107,
March 17, 1910).

The present demand for india-rubber

naturally directs attention to those

_ articles which, toa greater or less degree,

may serve to repjace rubber in its in-
dustrial applicatious, and so help in
conserving the supply.

Of such articles a very large number
have been proposed. Those in actual use
to any considerable extent are, however,
relatively few. Kor present purposes the
various surrogates may be distinguished
as (1) rubber-substitutes proper, consist-
ing wholly of ingredients other than
rubber; (2) composite or ‘‘artificial”
rubbers, which contain a certain pro-
portion of natural rubber worked up

’

Saps and Hxudationsy

with other substances; and (3) true
synthetic rubber. namely, a product con-
taining the rubber molecule synthesised
in the laboratory or factory by chemical
means from simpler compounds,

At present the first of these classes
is commercially the most important.
Scores of recipes are in existence, in-
cluding very diverse ingredients; but
the basis of most isa modified oil. At
first sight there seems little sugges-
tion of india-rubber in the properties of
an ordinary vegetable oi], but a simple
experiment will indicate the kind of
modification which certain oils readily
undergo, and which help to fit them for
use as rubber substitutes. If we test
the drying properties of boiled linseed
oil by spreading a little of it overa slip
of glass and allowing it to dry, a film of
oxidised oil is eventually obtained,
having a certain modicum of toughness
of elasticity. The liquid oil has taken
up oxygen, and thereby become con-
verted into amore or less elastic solid,
Tung-oil substitute is essentially such
an oxidised product, manufactured by
heating the raw oil until it has absorbed
enough oxygen to cause it to thicken
and become solid on cooling, when it is
powdered and worked up witb a little
petroleum,

In a somewhat similar way the oils
can be made to take up sulphur, be-
coming thereby solid and endowed in
some degree with elastic properties.
The treatment is analogous to the
“vulcanisation” of rubber. *‘ Brown”
or “‘ black” substitutes are manufactured
by beating the oil with sulphur, a pro-
cess corresponding to the “hot cure”
method of vulcanisation. ‘ White” sub-
stitutes may be made by merely mixing
the oil, cold, with 20 to 40 per cent. of
sulphur chloride; or, better, by first
dissolving the oil ina suitable solvent
such as carbon tetrachloride. This
resembles the ‘‘cold cure” process used
in vuleanising rubber. Colza oil is largely
used for these purposes, but various
others are available—linseed, maize,
arachis, and castor oils, for example,
The chemical reaction involved is a some-
what complicated one, but probably it
consists mainly in the formation of
what chemists term an “ addition-pro-
duct.” The proportion of sulphur taken
up by the substitutes varies rather
widely, ranging from 5 to upwards of
15 percent. As would be expected, oils
which have previously been oxidised to
a notable extent (e.g., ‘ blown” oils)
require less sulphur to saturate them
than do the natural oils.

“Nitrated” oils are also used as the
basis of some rubber surrogates, Thug

ro ee . an) hie” Ta. be re FO eee.

Gums, Resins,
4 Zi

one well-known product is a solution of
a nitro-cellulose in linseed or castor oil
which has been nitrated by treatment
with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric
acids. Other such articles are made by
oxidising the nitrated oil with lead
peroxide, or by simply heating it in air.

These oxidised, sulphured, and nitrated
oils, in one form or another, are largely
used as substitutes for rubber. OF the
other substitutes proposed, a few
examples may be given, toindicate some-
thing of their general nature.

First, there are those which, while still
retaining oil as one ingredient, include
also other important constituents. Thus,
*Henton’s rubber” is a mixture of oils
with tar, pitch, and creosote; which
mixture, when digested with nitric acid,
gives a toughened mass, aud this on
heating yields an elastic product simu-
lating rubber, ‘“‘Russian” substitute,
said to be useful for covering telegraph
cables, contains as ingredients wood-tar,
hemp and linseed oils, ozokerite, sper-
maceti; and sulphur. ‘ Oxolin” is made
by impregnating fibrous material such
as jute or hemp with linseed oil, oxidis-
ing the oily mass with warm air, and
working the product up between rollers
into a coherent mass, which can then be
vulcanised by heating it with sulphur.

In another category of substitutes oil
plays only a subordinate part, or is alto-
gether dispensed with. Thus ‘‘Jones’s
substitute” is stated to be made from
various gums and gum-like products as
the chief constituents. In W. H. Per-
kin’s patent (23,031/07), gelatine or glue
is dissolved in creosote and then treated
with some reagent—potassium bichro-
mate, formaldehyde, or tannic acid--
which will render the gelatine or glue
insoluble; after ‘‘setting” the mass ob-

~ tained is digested with acetone to make
it firmer. ‘‘Textiloid” has for its ingre-
dients various resins, nitrocellulose and
ca.aphor. As a curiosity in this class
may be mentioned “grape rubber,”
produced from the skins of grapes by
means of pressure; it is not, however,
a commercial article. Finally, though
this can only be a substitute for rubber
in very hard articles, we may mention
the interesting material, ‘‘ bakelite,”
recently introduced by Dr. L. H. Baeke-
land. Itis a condensation-product of
formaldehyde and phenol, which can be
moulded as desired, and afterwards
hardened.

In what sense are the foregoing
articles and their likes to be considered
as ‘substitutes’ for rubber? Some
persons are disposed to deny them any
right to the title, and would look upon

484

them as mere adulterants
used partially to replace rubber in wl
would otherwise be an all-rubber article,
Othersadmit, though sometimes grudg-

ingly, that there is a place which such
Much de-
pends on what the article is sold as,

substitutes can usefully fill.

and on what use it is to be put to,
Not all the special qualities of rubber
are wanted in all the products for
which it is employed. A door-mat
is one thing, a bicycle tyre quite
another, where a high degree of elasti-
city is not
stance, in waterproof goods and electrical
insulating work, there is a legitimate
field for substitutes which may serve
the required purpose. Even here they
may not be equal to rubber, but they

_find their justification in their lower

cost. After all, we do not need razors
to cut sticks with.

It may be said at once that no Sub-
stitute is equal to rubber in every
respect. Chemically, the latteris a very
inert substance. much more so than the
substitutes. Hence, even if the latter
were not otherwise inferior, they would
be less durable than rubber under
certain conditions. They are nearly all
acted upon more or less readily in
circumstances where rubber remains un-
harmed. The modified oils, in fact, are
still oils in the sense that they remain
glyeerides, decomposable by alkalies,
as also. by steam under pressure. If
used for articles exposed to these agen-
cies, they fail in durability, whatever
their excellences otherwise.

The fact that substitutes of this class
are readily saponifiable by alkalis
makes it an easy matter to detect them
by analysis when compounded with true
rubber. As a rule, the proportion of
substitute used is from 5 to 25 per cent.,
and even the smaller quantity is re-
cognisabie.

Of the composit2 rubbers (or ‘arti-
ficial rubbers,” as they are sometimes
called), one preparation, which has been
made in quantity, and_ is said to be
excellent for many purposes, has for its
basis Guayule rubber incorporated with
certaingums. Another such article is
compounded of natural rabber and some
other substance of vegetable origin,

probably a latex or a gum, reputed to —

contain the same chemical elements as
rubber and in much the same proportion.
Such articles are, of course, only parti-
ally ‘“‘ substitutes” for rubber, and their

eost rises with that of the latter ingre-—

dient. Moreover, if any very large
.demand for them arose, there is always
the possibility that the supply of gums

and latices would become insufficient,

er
hat

really needed, as, for in- -

Tye
4

1, 1910,] ‘ ie teers Be

“and the advantage of lower cost would

thus tend to disappear,

Coming now to true synthetic rubber ;
a question often asked is whether there
exists any probability of such an article
being manufactured and _ displacing
natural rubber, either wholly or to any
large extent. Will rubber plantations
go the way of madder fields and indigo
eultivation? Well, the future is on the
knees of the gods. In the face of the
precedents just mentioned, to say
nothing of others, he would be a bold
man who would venture to say that
even the best quality of rubber may not
some day be made on a commercial scale
from cheaper materials such as_ beet
sugar and calcium carbide. But the day
isnot yet. There are beginnings ; there

- are clear indications of the direction in

a polymerised terpene.

which to proceed ; there is distinct pro-
gress to note. But there is still some
distance to go, and the eud of the
journey may not be even in sight,

India- rubber chemically is essentially
An article
patented some time ago, and named
‘‘turpentine rubber,” appears to fore-
shadow a synthesis of true rubber.

Turpentine is a mixture of terpenes, and _

the article in question wasto be ob-
tained by passing turpentine through a
hot tube, and treating the resulting
vapours with hydrochloric acid: The
resultis a solid condensation-product ;
and the idea at the base of the process
appears to be the production of poly-
merised terpenes having someof the
elastic properties of rubber.

A more promising, becausea more
scientific way, is that outlined in Heine-
mann’s patent No, 21,772 of 1907. Herea
true synthesis is attempted. It is based
upon the well-known fact that rubber is
probably a polymer of the semi-terpene
isoprene. The first step is the produc-
tion of the unsaturated hydrocarbon
diviny!; CH2: CH, CH: CHz. This is
obtained by passing mixed acetylene
and ethylene gases through a _ heated
tube. With methyl chloride, divinyl
yields isoprene (methyl divinyl CHz2:
C(CH3). CH: CH); and the isoprene on
treatment with strong hydrochloric acid
is converted by a union of molecules into
a substance closely resembling caout-
chouc, if not identical withit. The raw
materials, so to speak, are thus acetylene,
ethylene, and methyl] chloride, which are
themselves obtained by any of the ordin-
ary methods, e.g.,from calcium carbide,
alcohol, and beet sugar residues respec-
tively. The question is, can this or
some other comparatively simple syn-
thesis, theoretically quite possible asa
laboratory operation be translated into

‘the presents sleep peacefully

rece ORG BR Es a dae SAT nn St SR aaa nc Nala Rn 3a RE ap

Saps and Hxudations.

a practicable and profitable mode of
manufacture on a large scale? One of
the first doubts to arise is whether the
syothesised caoutchoue will have the
physical properties of natural rubber ;
or whether these, by any course of treat-
ment can be imparted toit. This doubt
resolved, there comes the question of
economical production in competition
with the natural product. Much time
and thought have been spent on the
problem of synthetic rubber, and it is
safe to conclude that there will yet be
many a headache before it is solved.
Judging by what is known to have been
done rather than by the promises,
owners of rubber plantations may for
in their
beds.

DANGERS, MISTAKES, AND
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CAOUT-
CHOUC PRODUCTION OF ASIA. IT.

(By D. SANDMANN in Tropenflanzer,
April, 1910. Abstracted by J. C. WILLIS.)

The milk should as soon as possible
be made into rubber, before decompo-
sition sets in. He states that rubber
made by allowing the milk to stand un-
til sour is less elastic. The milk in
transport to the factory should be pro-
tected from the heat of the sun. He
recommends a horsehair sieve as more
easily kept clean.

The various methods of coagulation,
and machines in use for preparation of
rubber are then described.

FUNTUMIA ON THE IVORY COAST.
(By A, CHEVALIER, Journ, d Agri. trop.,
February, 1910. Abstracted by
J, C. WILLIS.)

M. Chevalier leaves undecided the
question whether Funtumia or Hevea is
best suited to Western Africa. The
former is of course native there, whereas
here in the Kast, where both species are
foreign, Funtumia has shown itself very
liable to the attack of a native cater-
pillar, and its cultivation involves a
good deal of expense in spraying, and
its growth is but slow.

Rubber can be prepared by boiling the
latex, and this method is recommended
for native use, though the natives are.
giving it upin favour of coagulating by
aid of the latex of certain lianes, such as
species of Strophanthus? or sometimes
by solution of soap (4 a bar of Marseilles
soap to 45 litres of latex).

Gums, Resins, 486

NOTES ON THE PREPARATION OF
RUBBER FROM FUNTUMIA
ELASTICA ON THE IVORY COAST.

(By A. CHEVALIER, in Bull, Jard.
Col., 1910. Albstracted by J. C. WILLIS.)

All over this district the natives bleed
the trees by herring-bone incisions, the
ribs of which often meet round the tree.
The same trees are bled at intervals
often of less than six months. The
herring bone is taken right up the trunk
and often out upon the branches, but
the higher cuts do not heal with the
rapidity of the lower. Many trees have
been destroyed by the tapping that has
gone on, for Funtumia is not a good
resistant tree. He recommends that it
be not bled before the eighth year.

REMARKS ON THE SELECTION AND
THE BLEEDING OF MANIHOT
GLAZIOVII.

(By O. LABROY, Journ. ad’ Agr. trop.,
3lst March, 1910. Abstracted by

J. C. WILLIS.)

He refers to a preceding article by
M. Cardozo, according to whom the good
trees in a Ceara plantation do not ex-
ceed 20 %, and goes on to state that one
cannot tell the good trees by external
examination of the leaves, &c., though it
is supposed that the trees of poor yield-
ing capacity have a thick much fissured
bark. He then goes on to consider the
various methods proposed for improving
the breed. It may be noted that careful
selection of Ceara Rubber is already
well under way at Peradeniya.

SOME REMARKS ON RUBBER
GATHERING IN EASTERN PERU.

By W. T. BURRES.
(From the American Review, Vol. L.,
No. 2, February, 1910.)

Having been asked to tell you some-
thing about rubber in Peru,—I refer
to wild, not cultivated rubber—so far
as it came under my observation during
the time I spent in that country, I
will endeavour to recount to you, as
briefly as I can, some of my personal
experiences while acting as surgeon of
an American mining company in Peru.

I must begin by saying that what
I know about rubber per se is a minus
quantity, but, happening tojbe connected

“(the latter country

with a company that, among other
interests, took up that of rubber, I did
* see something of its field of operations

and certainly learned to appreciate the
enormous difficulties and constant dan-
gers attending an enterprise having for
its object the collection of this valu-
able product, the uses for which seem
to be daily increasing in the manu-
facture of articles of all sorts from
automobile tires to hygienic tooth
brushes.

You, gentlemen, are, of Course, pri-
marily interested in cultivated rubber,
but, inasmuch as the wild product
constitutes at present by far the greater
proportion of the world’s total supply,
I assume that, along with your efforts
to replace, by scientific cultivation of
the various species of rubber-producing
trees, the drain upon the natural sources,
which, immense as they are, are yet
not inexhaustible, you pay some atten-
tion to what is being done in the opening
up of new fields of supply. -

The area of eastern Peru is very great,
—very much greater, indeed, than is
usually supposed. When one speaks of
South America one does not at once
conceive of it as composed of a number
of very large countries, but perhaps
rather the contrary ; one seldom realises
that Brazil for instance, is almost as big
as the United States, excluding Alaska.
But, reverting to Peru, I may remark that
the frontier between this country and
Brazil has a length of between 1.600 and
1,800 miles. As much as from three to six
months are frequently occupied by
native rubber producers in the making
of a round trip from one district to
another, travelling as they do by canoe

along the various waterways and oc¢a- -

sionally making rather difficult portages.
When, therefore, we here in Mexico
have to get to points involving per-
haps a horseback or muleback ride of
four or five days, and think we are
pretty remote from civilisation, such
ventures sink into insignificance in com-
parison with the month-long journeyings
which the pioneer in South America
has to undertake in pursuit of his
business.

Upon the first trip that I made into
the interior of Peru after reaching the
Pacifie coast of South America, where
I had often been before, we started

from Mollendo,—which serves as the

chief port for Southern Peru and Bolivia
having now no
seaboard at all of its own),—proceeding,
by rail, via Arequipa, having an ele-
vation of 7,500 ft. above sea level, up

into the plateau of the Andes, occupy- —

eS a oe ee

: ee

ing three days on the way, and leaving
the train at a place called Tirapata.
From there we had to take animals
and ride across the large range of the
Andes, attaining ac one point an alti-
tude estimated at 17,000 ft. above sea-
level; we then started down the eastern
slope over the now well-known trail of
the Santo Domingo Mines. The change
in level was very abrupt, dropping in
eleven hours from something like 17,000
ft. to 2,000 ft. The trip took five dayson
horseback,

I was at that time surgeon of a
mining company whose directors, being
possessed of a lot of human nature,
thought that there was not enough
doing in extracting oresfrom the bowels
of the earth, and decided therefore to
branch out into the rubber business.
In pursuance of this scheme an expedi-
tion of whichI was a member was organ-
ised, and indue eourse started out. We
explored a big section of practically
hitherto unknown country, traversing
never before reached by white men and
discovering, among other things, a new
river, which, at the instance of the
Peruvian Government, we named the
West River, after a Dr. West who had
made some important exploration trips
some distance to the north during pre-
ceding years. We suffered many hard-
ships and went through many dangers,
but fortunately without any loss of life.
It was an intensely interesting and excit-
ing trip in every way. Without going
into the numerous details of our experi-
ences, I may say that the result of our
undertaking was the opening up ofa
new rubber country, followed by the
formation of million dollar company to
exploit the same. I became surgeon of
the company in connection with my
medical work at the mines. Very soon
a force of between three hundred and
four hundred men was put to work. I
left the mining camp every six weeks to
go into the rubber country, taking with
me all necessary supplies. The country
was very unhealthy in parts, the sick
list being as high at times as forty per
cent. Application was made to the
Bolivian rubber men for ‘‘ Caoutcheros.”
The Company estimated that they had
available a yearly supply of 300,000
pounds of rubber, capable of being
largely increased. They ordered and
obtained from the United States, at con-
siderable cost, a shallow draft steamer
for general transportation service on
the rivers, and finally got things in
fairly satisfactory running order. They
worked the business in two ways. They
imported expert rubber gatherers to
eXplore and open up the rubber forest ;

‘TONE, 1910.) ee 487

Saps and Haudations.

and they sent agents down certain
tributaries of the Amazon to interest
the rubber gatherers (who were mostly
Peruvians and Brazillians) in trading
with the company ona basis of exchange
of commodities. Thus the company got
a large quantity of rubber already pre-
pared by the native gatherers according
to native methods,

To give you an idea of the cost of
getting that rubber out, [ must tell you
that, after repacking it in such a manner
as to adapt it to transport on the backs
of mules aud Indians, it had to be carried
for at least ten days in this way to reach
the nearest railway station. Thence it
had to be conveyed to the Pacific port
of Mollendo, this taking three days and
forming the most expensive item in the
transportation bill. It may be asked
why shipment should not be made
directly down the Amazon to Para
instead of the seemingly complicated
route I have described. The answer is
simple,—namely, on account of the
existence of a series of rapids extending
for a distance of over one hundred miles
on the Modera River, the chief tributary
of the Arnazon, which, although navig-
able at certain seasons of the year, are
very dangerous, making the percentage
of lossin their passage very high. To
make the business’ profitable, the
company had to buy the rubber at a
very low price,—50 cents per pound,—
exchange being the same asin Mexico.
It the company had gathered the rubber
themselves, it would have cost them
much more, on account of lack of experi-
ence in the work. The company spent on
enormous sum of money, principally in
the opening of a main trail and the build-
ing of stations, as well as on the in-
troduction of supplies ; so that they had

to do business on an extensive scale in

order to realise even a moderate return
on the capital expended.

The chief product was rubber, derived
from a species of Hevea. This tree,
although presenting no very striking
characteristics, is easily recognised once
it is known. The natives cut down
entirely all: the large trees claiming
that they would die anyway, if left
to stand after two or three tappings,
by which a less quantity of caout-
chouc would be obtained than by one
thorough tapping completely drain-
ing the tree of its latex. From twenty,
twenty-five to one hundred pounds of
rubber were often taken from a single
tree. Young trees of volunteer growth
were always coming up, and it was said
that in ten or twenty years there would
be a new rubber forest. The forests in
which these Hevea trees occurred were

Gums, Resins,

in the low level country. In the foot
hills, at elevations from 2,000 to 5,000 ft.
above sea level, arother rubber pro-
ducing tree was found. This was regu-
larly tapped, but, never cutdown., It
gave asuperior, and consequently higher
priced grade, of rubber, but in less
quantity.

With regard to cost of transportation
and supply, it is possible that the former
may be reduced somewhat, as improved
means of communication are provided,
but it will never be cheap. So far as
production is concerned, that is diminish-
ing all the time, as is natural. Only a
little planting of rubber is being done in
South America in old and exhausted
sections. There are, it is true, enormous
reserves as yet untouched, but these are
being rapidly exploited and cannot,
of course, last indefinitely. All the
affluents of the Amazon are being con-
stantly worked by the rubber gatherers,
and we found that when we penetrated
the remotest portions of the country
and reached the Rio Madre de Dios,
taking two months on the trip, these
rubber githerers were already on the
grcund. Under the terms of a treaty
which Brazil concluded with Bolivia in
regard to the Acre region, the Brazi-
lian government agreed to build and
operate a railway parallel with the
Madera Falls, to afford an outlet for
the product of Bolivia; and I believe
that steps are being taken to commence
this important work. Some English and
French rubber companies used to send
their product by the Madera River, but
lost a great quantity in doingso, The
construction of the railway referred to
“will open up a vast section of new
country, principally in north-eastern
Bolivia, and will materially facilitate
the transportation, in both directions, of
both Bolivia and Peru.

With regard to the labour employed
by the company, I may say that the
real workmen for packing or other un-
skilled labour were the Quechua Indians,
brought from the plateaus of the moun-
tains, who were fairly civilised ; but the
natives encountered in the forest country
were absolute savages, and undoubtedly
up to the time of which I speak the
majority had never seen white men.
These savages, of which there were a
number of tribes known generally as
‘“‘Ohunchos” wore practically no dress;
the women adorned themselves with
tooth necklaces and nose pendants, and
many had their bodies painted, These
people lived mostly by hunting and
fishing and on the natural fruits of the
country, including some half-cultivated
bananas, whichlatter occasionally afford-

488.

ed our party an emergencyfood supply. = = 3 —
Some of these tribes were ‘excccteetes ad
fierce and implacable, but, if well treat- — ¢
ed, they would be friendly. We had —

no real difficulty with them at any

time, because perhaps we were constant- =
ly on guard and wellarmed. They had —
a wholesome respect for fire-arms. In
every new section of rubber country
opened up by the ‘‘Caoutcheros” these
savages were immediately ‘‘ civilised”
according to the standard of the former;
they were taught the use of tobacco
and alcohol and robbed of their most
attractive women,—who, by the way,
were more often than not the cause of
inter-tribal wars. I am speaking, it —
must be remembeied, of conditions as
they existed four years ago, during my
first trip to those regions. Asscciation i
with white men has doubtless had its bc a
effect upon the native and changed (but “
not necessarily improved) his character ;
and I dare say that to-day one would
have to go into still more remote parts ~
to see the real savage with all the
weird accompaniments of his aboriginal
state. ’

I have, of course, made no attempt in
an extemporaneous talk like this to deal ;
in any detail with so large a subject as =
that of the rubber industry, nor dol | 2
desire to pose as an expert or authority — ,
in this line. I have simply tried to give 5
you a sketch of the conditions as I i
found thém. :

NOTES ON CEARA RUBBHR IN
GERMAN EAST AFRICA.

By T. G..THOMPSON.
(From the Agricultural Journal, British
Fast Africa, Vol. Il., Part 1V., wt
January, 1910.) =a
Having just returned from a run cs
through the rubber districts of German
East Africa, I have pleasure in submit-
ting a few impressions and ideas from a
practical point of view. I had the agree-
able companionship of a friend who,
like myself, is interested in rubber grow- a.
ing, and whose knowledge of the verna- Bey,
cular was of much importance, 2 a
Making Tanga our headquarters, and
fortified with letters of introduction, - a
the owners of a number of very interest-
ing andimportant estates were inter-
viewed and the various operations —
investigated. < ph
I should like to record a sense of the
friendliness with which we at
received, the willingness displayed to
give information, and explain the minut

a?

ee
5

“Fons, 1910,)

est details, and further we were most
hospitably entertained. Nothing wasa
trouble, and to make us .comfortable
seemed quite a pleasure. It is not’ my
intention to compare or criticise the
styles and methods employed on one
estate as compared with those on
another in such a way as°*tvould lead to
the identification of these estates. This
would be invidious and __ill-becoming
under circumstances where all were
equally agreeable and obliging. I there-
fore refrain from naming the various
properties individually and shall content
myself by referring to them generally.

The configuration of the country,
though in general flatter than the
Mirtini-Mazeras district ot B.E.A., is not
unlike it in some respects. A fine range
of mountains, the Usambara, makes a
conspicuous background to several of
the plantations. One railway runs from
Tanga to Mombo some 80 to 90 miles,
and another from Daressalam to Moro-
goro, while there are good roads from
Tanga in various directions where rick-
shaws can be used. Wehad a walk one
day of about 20 miles from Ngomeni and
visited a very large property on which
we spent the better part of two days
and nights, then we had another good
walk to the railway at Muhesa seeing
several other Plantations on the way.

_What strikes one particularly is the
similarity of soil throughout, a rich
loamy chocolate approaching a hue of
purple in colour, only near the coast it is
rather more’sandy. The soil is very
deep_and easily penetrated, nothing
that I have seen in B.E.A. is comparable
to it, and it is specially adapted to the
growth of the Manihot Glaziovii which
is the variety universally cultivated.
Of course, other branches of the rubber
family are exploited and experimented
with but not seriously cultivated. The
climatic conditions and the character of
the soil are all that could be desired for
growing the Ceara to perfection, and our
neigh bours are very fortunate in having
found a product so splendidly suitable
to their country. It makes one’s teeth
water when comparison is made with
our scantier and less kindly soil, the
natural effect of which is a slower
growth of the tree and a_ retarding of
the producing period. All the estates
visited were in beautiful order ‘‘spick
and span” to the last degree. The
thoroughness of everything as far as
cultivation is concerned was most pro-
nounced.

After soil and climate the next import-
ant matter is the item of seed, and here
our friends have to be commended for
their carefulness and foresight. No one

62

489

Saps ant Kuudations,

in G.H.A. would think of using seed that
had not been gathered from a thoroughly
mature tree and kept under suitable
conditions for acouple of years. Selec:
tion isa most important matter in the
betterment of tree life, as well asin the
animal creation, and here [ am sure we
shall score heavily when the time comes
when we know something of the genea-
logy and condition of the seed that we
are puttingin the ground. At present
the seed question with us in B. H. A.
is a vexed one. It is only natural that
growers should retain the best qualities
for their own requirements, while
seconds and mixed lots become the arti-
cles of commerce. In B. EK. A. so-called
German seed can be purchased at from
1 to 14 rupees per lb.. but it is not the
selected quality. The cheapest seed used
for sowing at stake in EK. A, costs
Rs. 24 there. With the middleman’s
profit, cost ot transit, etc., this would
mean about Rs.4 per lb. here. Yet at
this figure it is no more expensive than
the lower priced article, for only three
seeds need be placed in a pocket while
6 to 9 of the other are necessary, In
the result it is not half as costly when
the health and quality of the young
plants have been taken into consider-
ation. I would rather pay four rupees
per lb. for thoroughly selected and pro-
perly matured seed than one rupee for
an article I know nothing about. These
are points not always kept in view, I
fear, when laying in supplies of seed.
How much heart burning and disap-
pointment are caused by poor germin-
ation, and,how often is the plant a poor
sickly weakling when it does come, all
of which could be avoided by aproper
selection of seed.

It is the universal custom to sow ‘at
stake’ in G. H. A. instead of transplant-
ing from the nursery. No nurseries are
necessary there, and from the nature
of the soil much smaller holes suffice
for receiving the seed than with us.
A boy’s fez turned upside down repre-
sents the shape and dimensions of the

ocket, say 6 inches by 6 inches, while
HEN 16 inches by 16 inches is usual.

For speedy germination the following
are among the plans adopted: When
rain is expected soil is spread on a
sheet of corrugated iron to the depth
of a couple of inches, the seed is placed
in this and well watered, it is then
covered with another sheet of corru-
gated iron and placed in thesun, The
upper sheet is removed frequently
to permit of further watering and a
hot moist temperature is maintaiued.
In three days germination has taken
place and, provided weather conditions

Gums, Resins.

are favourable; the iron sheet is carried
to the holes and the seeds placed in
position and lightly covered up. This
is a great saving of trouble and expense
over the nursery system from which
the young rubbers are transplanted
when 18 inches to 2 feet high, often sub-
jected to rough handling in the lifting
and transplanting which damages and
destroys a fair percentage besides throw-
ing back and retarding the growth of
the plant.

Another method employed for quick
germination is to spread seed on a
blanket and cover it up with another,
keeping the seed well watered and
thoroughly moistin the sun. Ina very
few days germination takes place, when
a couple of seeds are placed in soil in
small baskets or rotting pots. These are
packed closely together in a shaded
place and watered regularly. When-
ever the rains come the pots are placed
in the holes or pockets loosely packed
with soil, and after a time the better
of the two plants is left in possession.
Though more trouble than the corru-
gated iron plan I am inclined to favour
this latter system as, in the event of
the rains not coming when expected,
the young plants would have to be
watered in the holes and, unless this
is done regularly, would speedily wither
off and die, whereas it is a much sim-
pler matter to water all the baskets
when closely packed together than the
holes singly. The average distance of
planting is about 10 feet by 10 feet,
which brings it out at 485 plants per
acre. As two or more plants come up
in one hole they are allowed to grow
together for atime, when the best is
selected to remain and the others are
either planted out independently or
used for filling up casual vacancies.

The Germans are very careful as to
clean weeding from the earliest stages
of growth for first few years of the
life of the young rubber. After three
years the weeds do not trouble them
much, and then perhaps a couple of
cleanings a year will suffice, but, as I say,
in the earlier stages they are very parti-
cular. Norare they keen on intermediate
catch crops. Only on one estate did
I see a leguminous crop being raised
between the lines of rubber. For Ground
Nuts and other cereals they seem to
have “‘no time,” devoting all their atten-
tionand energies to the rubber. With
their fine soil it is not necessary to
provide a green crop for the nourishment
of the plants and, having plenty of it,
they do not need to make ridges for the
prevention of its being washed away, nor
is draining necessary. With the rapid

490

ay Ty ee A Le

growth of the tree tapping is general
by the end of the second year. For the
following twelve months the trees are
not severely dealt with. They are going
through a sort of apprenticeship and
getting accustomed tothe knife. Itis
wonderful how the trees seem to take
to this andthe effect it has on them.
Once a tree is tapped it increases more
rapidly in girth than one untouched, and
evidently settles down at once as a
latex producer, in which it can evidently
be encouraged. If two trees of the same
age and like each other are treated
differently this becomes apparent. Say
No. 1 is tapped _ at the end of the second
year and No, 2 ayear later, it will be
found that No. 2 yields no more during
its first year’s tapping than No. 1 did
when a year younger, while No. | in its
second year’s tapping gives considerably
more, clearly showing that the yield
can be encouraged by tapping judi-
ciously. Though trees are reckoned to be
giving a good yield at five year’s of age,
yet the quantity goes on increasing
under favourable circumstances. On one
estate there is a tree whose career seems
phenomenal. It is now in its eleventh
year and during the past twelve months
yielded 26 lbs, of moist rubber, while two
years ago it was giving considerably
less. This tree has been tapped monthly
and is in a flourishing condition. No
amount of proper tapping seems to in-
jure good trees. They will cease yield-
ing latex if over-taxed, but the life of the
tree is not endangered. It just requires
a resting time to gather its forces again.
During the first year of tapping the
Germans are satisfied if a tree yields one
quarter pound of wet rubber,—say two
ounces of dry. No peeling of the bark
is required during this period, but it soon
becomes a necessity, as the outer bark
thickens very much and becomes a har-
bourage for white ants and other insects,
the refuse from which dirties the rubber.
Methods of tapping vary much in
different properties. In one case the
pricking might be confined toa single
section on one side of the tree, while in
another it may ‘be in three or four
vertical lines, but in no case is pricking
permitted all round the trunk at one
time. Morning and evening are said to -
be the best times for tapping, and the
part being operated on should never face
the snn.

I did not see anything new or striking
in the matter of the knife used. ere is
one of the things in which I was dis-
appointed at not finding something I
had not seen before. Anything seems to
do, from an ordinary carver or table
knife to a tool made on the premises,
something like a chisel with avery flat

(June, 1910

~ Jun, 1910,]

edge and sharp so as’ not to make a
widening incision. Preparatory to tap-
ping the section to be operated on is
coated with a solution composed in some
cases of limes and water, fifty being
required for a bucketful. - Acetic acid of
2 per cent, or carbolic acid of 4 per cent.
strength may be used, while the seeds of
the baobab tree are alsoemployed. These
contain a certain quantity of organic
acid which is found very suitable. The
coating of the tree with such a solution
is of course to encourage coagulation. I
believe that an excellent article for this
purpose has recently been put on the
market under the name of ‘' purub,” but
the Germans consider it too expensive,
and as we are only discussing what I
actually saw in use, the merits of purub
are outside our province.

When the latex has been thoroughly
coagulated on the tree it is generally
rolled off in balls, but in some cases is
just. pulled off in scraps and folded in
the hand. Whena sufficient number of
balls have been collected they are sliced,
are passed through smooth rollers
where rinsing in water also takes place,
and it passes out in the form of what
is known as lace rubber. This is re-
peated several times till it is quite
clean. It is then passed along to
the drying and cleaning house where it is
smoked for a period of fourteen days, a
stove being erected outside the building,
the flue of which is carried to the inside.
When the rubber is thoroughly dried it
is packed in cases for export. Another
method is similar, only that the heat is
increased during the last few days and
the lace rubber is pressed into blocks,
Some growers only split waste and
smoke the balls, packing and exporting
in bags, but this is not considered an
advisable system. Yet another method
adopted is to pass scrap rubber through
fluted rollers, washing as in the first
instance. It comes out as crepe rubber,
and being pressed and blocked is cut into
slices about 3” thick by 6 inches square
and hung up todry.

While muchimpressed by _ the soil,
climate, and the cultivation of rubber in
G. A., with the consequent remark-
able growth of Ceara, it seems to me
that far greater advance has been made
in Ceylon in what might be termed the
manufacturing department of the crude
article. G. E. A. strikes one who has
been familiar with the treatment of
*‘para” rubber in Ceylon as being much
more primitive, finer machinery and
plant as well as more scientific methods
having been adopted in Ceylon. I do
not mean this as derogatory to, but fair
criticism of, our German friends. In
B. E, A. we are no doubt behind them

491

Saps and Hxudations.

in natural advantages, but, as faras I
can see, that only means it will be later
before we can draw supplies, and I put it
down that trees are fully as far forward
there at two years old as they could. be
here at three.

The greatest rubber pest inG. E. A.
is pig, and heavily barbed wire has been
found necessary to fence the properties,
while some employ hunters. White
antsare also very destruetive and will
attack trees four or five years old,
completely ruining them.

The labour question is not without its
difficulties evenin G. H. A, where boys are
rather scarce, These are brought down
from the interior by agents who receive
14 rupees per boy for expenses and for
procuring them, The hoy signs on for six
months and is paid at the rate of 12 rupees
per month, but labour is not plentiful, It
is usual to have a headman in charge of
each gang of fifty boys, and in some in-
stances I found that Malays were em-
ployed for that purpose. They seem
active and intelligent, accustomed to
plantation work in their own country.
A weeder’s daily task is 1,000 square
yards in light grass and 600 yards in
heavy. Roughly the cost per acre is
estimated at 160 rupees for three year
old trees. The quantity constituting a
day’s gathering is one lb. including the
putting on of solution, tapping, ete. If
a man brings in more than his pound of
moist rubber he is credited with the
difference against his month’s work or
paid at the same rate for the excess.
Thus, if he brings in two pounds daily his
month’s work is completed in about a
fortnight, and he can knozk off if he
chooses for the balance of the month,
Should he continue at his work and bring
in 2 lbs. each day he receives two
month’s pay instead of one. Itis quitea
common thing for a man to bring in 13 to
2 lbs. per day when he becomes expert at
the operation. If after a fair experience
a man does not come up to his pound per
day he is not considered suitable for
that work.

I had some interesting discussion over
‘“Dichotoma,” the most recent variety of
Manihot from Brazil. The Germans do
not favour the enthusiasm with which
it has been received in some places. They
have had it for the last two years, and
the -seeds gathered from these young
trees have thrown back in_ size to be
little larger than Glaziovii. Whether it
is that this variety does not thrive away
from its native home, the fact remains
that it threatens to deteriorate very
rapidly in G.EH.A., and the question is
would it be any better suited for B.H.A, ?

492

EDIBLE PRODUCTS.

THE STATE OF THE NUTMEG
INDUSTRY.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. IX.,
No, 206, Barbados, March 19, 1910.)
The Imperial Department of Agricul-
ture has recently received enquiries as
go the prospects of disposing of the
essential and expressed oils of nutmeg
at remunerative rates. In response to
these, information has been obtained
which is of more general value, and the
bulk of it is therefore published here.

firstly, as regards the demand for
West Indian nutmegs in the United
States of America, the position is
summarized in the following article
which appeared in the Spice Mill for
November, 1908, p. 677 :—

Although the ordinary consumer in
this country (U.S.A.) never heard of, or
purchased, British West Indies nutmegs
under their name, still those acticles are
being sold to them, mixed up with
Singapore nutmegs. Owing to the small
demand in the United States for the
British West Indies nutmegs, because
of their inferior quality, the importa-
tions are exceedingly light, amounting
to about 2,000 barrels per annum.
The nutmegs are shipped principally
from Grenada (which island is the
heaviest producer of the entire group of
the British West Indies) to London,
England. There they are graded as to
size, and mixed with Singapore nutmegs,
and then shipped to this market and
sold under the trade name of Singapore
nutmegs, according to size and quality.
_ The total production of the nutmegs
in the British West Indies is so small
thatit is not taken into consideration
in the preparation of statistics here or
abroad. Not until the quality of
British West Indies nutmegs is improved
by cultivation can they be sold under
their real name.

Attention is alsodrawn to a transla-
tion of an article bearing on the subject
generally from De Indische Mercuur,
which appears in the next number of
the Spice Mill (December, 1908, pp. 749-50).
The chief conclusions, due to Dr Treub,
Director of the Botanic Gardens, Buiten-
zorg, Java, reached in this, are :— _

(1.) That the price obtained for nut-
megs has been declining, with large fluc-
tuations, for many years. This is shown
in the following table, which gives the
prices, per 4 kilo, obtained in Amsterdam
for 110’s to 115’s in cents, for Banda nut-
megs, since 1898 ;—

_ of the nutmegs.

Highest. Lowest. Average.
1898 a 95 “< 80a: 86
1899 ee 84 an 78 oi 81
1900 oe 80 ies gn o 80
1901 eee 65 eee ie eee 60
_ 1902 ae 78 san 5d soe. peed
1903 a 86 et 76 aaa 81
1904 = 63 sn 50 oe 55
1905 ae 5 Bee 48 Se 46
1906 pe 55 BY 43 ee 48
1907 43 36 39

(2.) It is difficult to trace the real
cause of the lower prices. It is not
entirely due to overproduction, as is
shown by the following table, giving the
total export (from official statistics)

during the same years, from the Dutch -

East Indies, which are the principal pro-
ducers of the article :—

Kilos.
1898-9 1,889,772
1899-1900 2,670,481
1900-1 2,861,518
1901-2 2,891,072
* 1902-3 2,840,304
1908-4 2,686,899
1904-5 3,389, 804
1905-6 2,798,090

(8.) It is suggested that the fall in
value of the product is due to a smaller
demand, consequent on a decreased con-
sumption per capita,

(4.) In considering any possible effects
of increased production, the exports
from Java cannot have had much influ-
ence on the result. This is shown by
the table below, compiled from the
statistics of the Handelsvereeniging
(Commercial Society) of Batavia, Java,
which shows the share of that island in
the total export from the Dutch Hast
Indies. It should be compared with the
table that has just been given :—

Kilos.
1902 x 99,000
1903 aE 82,375
1904 ae 199,200
1905 Ae ~ 174,200
1906 cee 182,200
1907 ate 147,500

(5.) As far as nutmeg tallow (or

nutmeg soap) is concerned, it appears
that this is only used in the drug trade
and, toa certain extent, in the manu-
facture of perfumery. It is nct lhkely

- that the fall in price of this, in harmony

with that of nutmegs, would lead to
such an increased demand as to react in
the direction of raising the market value

4
2 : ft j
eS ee ee ee eee te ee ee

‘Jonn, 1916.) : me

_-(6.) The field for nutmegs as a spice is
much larger than that asa material for
the oil. Even if the nutmeg tallow (ob-
tained from the oil) could be used on a
larger scale, for manufacturing soap, the

price paid would be too low to make it
profitable to grow nutmegs.

(7.) In view of the fact that the
demand for nutmegs is not greater, and
that there does not seem to be any pros-
pect of its increase, Dr. Treub recom-
mends that growersin Java should not
enlarge the area under cultivation, but
that they should replace the plant by
another crop as soon as possible,

In their Semi-Annual Report, dated
October, 1909, Messrs. Schimmel & Co.
say :—

Nutmeg oil remains unchanged at low
prices. There has been no lack of cheap
nutmegs suitable for distilling, and
occasionally exquisite material could be
found at ridiculously low prices. All
those interested in the article are ad-
vised, when requiring large parcels, to
ask us for special quotations.

To return to the nutmeg itself, an
account is given in the Revue des Cul-
tures Colomales, Vol: XXV., pp. 348-4,
of the way in which it is prepared for
export at Djati Roengge, Java, from
which the following is translated :—

Preparation of the crop for export is
very simple. The mace is carefully re-
moved from the ‘seed,’ in order to pre-
vent the growth of moulds, and then
the latter is washed in brine, Drying
is conducted in sunshine, or by means
of drier, as quickly as possible. The
nuts, separated from the shell, are
rolled in slacked lime and then packed
in cases, the interior of which is coated
with lime; these cases measure 45 x
45 x 45 centimetres (1 foot 6 inches each
way), and are each capable of holding
60 kilogrammes (about 182 lbs.) of nut-
megs. The mace is packed in unlined
cases, which are lined with paper. These
measure 61 x 61 x 61 centimetres (about
10 feet 04 inch each way), and each
also holds about 60 kilogrammes. These
measurements are the ones preferred by
the importers at Amsterdam. The cases
are strengthened by means of iron
bands or iron wire. The treatment of
the nuts with lime is for the purpose
ot preserving them from a boring beetle
called ‘boeback,’ At Banda, they are
sometimes smoked for the same purpose,
though this does not appear to be neces-
sary. The nutmegs are graded into
nine kinds, and the mace into four kinds,

In dealing with the question as to
the advisability of expressing the oil

493

Edable Products.

(fat) from the nuts for shipment, careful
experiments are required for the pur-
pose of ascertaining what proportion of
the oil can be extracted. To approach
the question theoretically, on consulting
various authorities, it was found that
the average proportion of oil that can
be expressed from the powdered nuts,
with the aid of heat, is about 25 per
cent, of the weight of the material
pressed. A barrel of nutmegs weighs
approximately 165 lbs., sothat this quan-
tity would yield about 41 lbs. of oil.
As far as the essential oil is concerned,
acccrding to Gildemeister and Hoff-
mann’s Volatile Oils, the amount of oil
obtained by distilling nutmegs varies
from 8 to 15 per cent. of the weight
of the material taken. Allcwing a
simple average of 10 per cent., this
would give 163 1b, of essential oil from
one barrel of nuts.

In considering, however, the advisa-
bility of placing the oils on the market,
the chief matter of serious import is
that, as is shown above, there is only
ony, limited demand for either of

em.

CONSUMPTION OF CACAO,
COFFEE, AND TEA,

(From the Tropenflanzer, April, 1910.
Abstracted by J. C, WILLIs.)
Detailed figures in kilograms. (1 kilo
= 2 lbs.) are given for all the principal

countries, from which we take the

following :— .
Cacao, Coffee. Tea.

Germany 1899 13,271,800 156,137,300 —-2,958,900

: 1909 40,724,800 213,483,400 4,961,201"

America 1809 15,980,563 379,900,000 32,776,000

1909 53,378,775 410,000,000 —-45,0u0,000

France 1899 17,656,374 81,448,000 $85,000

1909 28,254,200 —«-107,134,700 1,223,300

England 1899 14,775,400 «13,100,000. 104,200,0.0

1908 24,2647112 ‘14,700,000 128,009,000

Increases in consumption are enor-
mously larger in Germany and America
than in France and England, amounting
in all to 71 and 82 million kilos against
82 and 34.

THE COPRA EXPORTS OF THE
DUTCH INDIES.

A note in the T'ropenflanzer for April
gives these for 1908 as 229,491 metric
tons, those of Ceylon for the same
period being 383,994 metric tons.

CINNAMON IN CEYLON.
(Krom the Ceylon Independent, 13th
May, 1910.)

Many of the Chaliyas (Sinhalese caste
of cinnamon-peelers) from the neighbour:
hood of Galle were accustomed, while
prices were good, to migrate at a certain

dible Products.

period of the year to the Central Pro-
vince to cut cinnamon in the forests,
generally contracting with the planters
for the produce where growing on
private properties. In Ceylon the princi-
pal and only cultivated species is dis-
tinguished above all others by the
Sinhalese name of = peni kurundu,
which signifies honey or sweet cinna-
mon; the second variety is mnaya
kurundu, or snake cinnamon; the third
kapuru kurundu, or camphor cinna-
mon; the fourth kahata kurundu, or
astringent cinnamon; the fifth sevel
kurundu, or mucilaginous cinnamon ;
the sixth davul kurundu,; or flat or
drum cinnamon; the seventh nika
kurundu, or wild cinnamon; and the
eigbth, mal kurundu, or bloom or flower
cinnamon. Whatever doubt there may
have existed with regard to other pro-
ducts grown in Ceylon, there is none
whatever about cinnamon being indi-
genous to Ceylon, for large trees are
scattered through the oldest forests of
theinterior. Theisland has been famous
for its spice from the commencement of
historical records. The Dutch under
Governor Falk, first commenced the
systematic cultivation of cinnamon in
1767-70, In 1506, the Portuguese found
cinnamon only in its wild state, but the
Sinhalese king who lived in Cotta con-
tracted to pay an annual tribute of
250,000 lbs. of cinnamon in return for
the protection of the Portuguese; 3,000
lbs. of pepper and cinnamon was the
present sent by the Kandyan King to
the King of Holland in A.D. 1602. At
one time the most important article
trom India was cinnamon, which (accord-
ing toa writer) sold for £8 sterling per
lb. in Rome. The ‘‘Odours of the far-
famed cinnamon spice” came by a poetical
liberty to be associated with ‘‘ Araby the
blest.” Cinnamon bushes over a hun-
dred years old in Ceylon still bear good
crops, and the same soil has grown cinna-
mon for perhaps over 2,000 years, The
Romans communicated with India once
a year in the time of Augustus, investing
the equivalent of £403,000 sterling in
the trade, and calculating the profit at
100 per cent, The first gardens opened
in cinnamon were by the Dutch in the
year 1767. They formed the Kadirana,
Ekela, and Maradana garden between
Colombo and Negombo as well as the
Moratuwa and Beruwala gardens, cover-
ing altogether 15,000 acres, together with
gardens near Galle and Matara, The
best soil for cinnamon is said to be com-
posed mainly (up to 90 per cent. of pure
silica) of snowy white siliceous sand (de-
posited, probably, from fresh water
lakes), or near the sea-coast a little
south of Colombo, around the City,

493 *

Bark

got
from jungle bushes in the hill districts,
and some time ago cinnamon was plant-
ed not only by the natives but by
European coffee planters in Dumbara,

and northwards to _ Negombo,
of a fair quality is sometimes

Hantane, Nilambe, Dolosbage, Matale
and other districts. The average yield
of cinnamon is from 100 to 125 Ib. per
acre. Really fine cinnamon Ceylon only
can produce in perfection, and the great
market for cinnamon used to be found
in Southern Europe, chiefly in Spain
and Italy. In all Roman Catholic coun-
tries, a good deal is used for incense
purpose, while still more is worked up
in the manufacture of chocolate, For
which Spain is specially famous.

W.O. A.
Mannar, April 21.

AGRICULTURAL HISTORY AND
UTILITY OF THE CULTIVATED
AROIDS.* II.

(From the JU. S. "Department of Agri-
culture Bulletin No. 164,
: February, 1910.)

There can be no question as to the
importance of the cultivated aroids.
Though a large number of varieties, and
even distinct species and genera, are
included under this general term, the
series may be viewed agriculturally as a
single cropof world-wide importance,
Itis unfortunate that the studies re-
ported upon by Mr. Barrett could not
be carried farther, but even this in-
complete report contains a very much
wider range of information than any

- other publication on the subject.

The culture of the taro extends from
the West Indies across the Pacific
Islands, Japan, China, the Malay region,
Hindustan, Madagascar, and the whole
breadth of tropical Africa. The natives
of East Africa grow the taro exten-
sively and have many named varieties.
Welwitsch reports Colocasia as growing
spontaneously in the Portuguese colony
of Angola, evenin districts where itis
not now used by the natives. The taro
exists also amongst the natives of the
interior of Liberia, though the eddoes
(Xanthosoma), introduced from the West
Indies in the last century, are now
preferred,

The scientific name Colocasia has been
connected through the Greek with an
ancient Egyptian word ‘“‘culcas.” The

* Everywhere grown by natives under the
names idaran, Gahala (taro), Rata-ala,
Habarala, &c,

Pv te. ot ee ae > we

JuNn, 1910.)

taro is cultivated in Hegypt, but its
port aaiby in that country was questioned
by De Candolle, who also doubted
whether ‘‘culeas” was really the name
of the plant that we now call Colocasia.
I have recently learned from Mr. A.
Aaronsohn that the taro is grown in
Palestine and Syria, especially in the
vicinity of Beirut, and that the word
‘*culcas” is still in use among the Arabs
asthe name of the plant. Mr. Aaron-
sohn is also inclined to believe that the
culture of the taro in Palestine is very
old. Theculture otf the taro in China is
considered by all authorities as very
ancient. The Chinese residents of Cali-
fornia import considerable quantities of
taro from Canton and from Hawaii, and
are beginning to produce it in California.
There isalso said to be a growing demand
for it among the white population,
W hether the.taro also existed in ancient
America and thus had a really world-
wide distribution in prehistoric times is
an interesting question worthy of a
eareful investigation from the stand-
point of ethnology as well as from that
of the agricultural study of the varieties.
The fact that these cultivated aroids
have been so persistently neglected by
Huropeans lends them an especial in-
terest inthe study of primitive agri-
culture, since we have much greater
justification for supposing that their
distribution represents the work of
primitive man than in the case of plants
in which civilised people have been in-
terested. The present tendency to give
more careful consideration to such plants
and to exchange varieties between re-
mote parts of the world is likely to
disturb the present localisation of
varieties and make it even more difficult
to learn their source unless careful
studies of the varieties accompany the
work of introduction.

There seems to be no record of an in-
troduction of the taro into America by
Europeans until very 1ecent times, and
yet botanists have reported it as exist-
ing in many localities among the natives.
The close external similarity of the taro
to the yautia renders it very probable
that mistakes would be made and pre-
vents our placing any complete reliance
upon the reports, even of acknowledged
authorities, unless we can know the
facts on which their identifications were
based, Thus Seemann, who was an
eminent and thoroughly competent
botanist, reported the existence of
Colocasia in Panama with the native
name oto, while Mr. Barrett reckons
the oto as one of the varieties of
Xanthosoma. Varieties having leaves
with a closed sinus are _ reckoned
as Colocasia, those with a completely

495

Edible Products,

margined open sinusas Alocasia, those
with the margin interrupted in the
sinus as Xanthosoma, These leaf charac-
ters are certainly very convenient in
dealing with these varieties that
seldom or never flower, but it has to be
admitted that such differences are often
found among members of the same
genus in other groups of plants. The
forms reckoned as Xanthosoma appear
to be more different among them-
selves than some of them are from
varieties placed in Colocasia. Thus the
Palma yautia is very distinct from the
other Porto Rican varieties, Its failure
to produce timbers, ready production
of flowers and greater similarity toa
species that grows wild in Central
America indicate a more recent domesti-
cation.

Varieties of aroids with the taro-like
leaves are widely distributed among the
natives of the West Indies and adja-
cent parts of the continent, although
not nearly so popular in cultivation as
many of the varieties of Xanthosoma. In
Porto Rico and Cuba the taro retains the
supposedly indigenous name ‘‘ malanga,”
which would hardly be the case if it
had been introduced by the Spaniards,
If the natives of the Caribbean region
considered it superior to Xanthosoma,
it might be thought to have spread
amongst them since the discovery, but
it is more difficult to understand the
wide distribution without popularity,
unless we suppose that the taro was
formerly more popular than at present
and is being displaced by Xanthosoma.
If the taro was not already in America
before the arrival of Europeans, it seems
more likely to have been introduced
from Africa than from the Pacific islands.
Importers of slaves from Africa found
it to their advantage to supply the
negroes with their accustomed foods,
The African oil palm and the cola nut,
as well as certain varieties of sweet
potatoes and yams, are supposed _ to
have been established in the West Indies
during the period of the slave trade.
The name ‘‘malanga” itself is similar
to many African words. One of the
East African names of the taro is
‘* malombo.”

If it be true, as Mr. Barrett seems
to think, that Alocasia as well as Colo-
casia has numerous American varieties,
it becomes reasonable to suppose that
the three principal types of cultivated
aroids, Xanthosoma, Coiccasia, and Alo-
casia, were originally domesticated in
America, The American nativity of
Xanthosoma has not been questioned,
but the greater importance of Colo-
casia and Alocasia among the Polyne-
sians has made it appear that they

Edible Products.

must have originated in the Pacific
islands or the Malay region. The same
argument has been applied to the coco-
nut palm, which is certainly a native
of America, though it has usually been
ascribed to the shores of the Pacific and
Indian oceans hecause of its much
greater importance in the East Indies
than in the West.

The domestication of root crops char-
acterised an early epoch in the develop-
ment of primitive agriculture in tro-
pical America. This is shown by the
large series of root crops that were
domesticated in America. In addition
to the cultivated aroids, there were
sweet-potatoes ([pomcea), arrowroot
(Maranta), cassava (Manihot), yams
(Dioscorea alata), apio (Arracacia),
Lleren (Calathzea), potatoes (Solanum
tuberosum, S. commersonti, and other spe-
cies), ullucus (Ullucus tuberosus), achira
(Canna edulis), masua (Tropeolum
tuberosum), oca (Oxalis crenata), and the
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tubero-
sus), The yam bean or jicama (Pachyri-
zus) and the chayote (Chayota or Se-
chium) were also grown as root crops,
though propagated from seeds.

In addition to this series of plants
that have become known as root crops
and are usually mentioned as such in
botanical works of reference, there are
records of several other species_ that
are planted as root crops in South
America. <A list of these has been
collected recently by Prof. H. Pittier,
of the Bureau of Plant Industry. includ-
ing Polymnia edulis, Lepidiwm meyenti,
‘Portulaca grandiflora, and several other
plants whose botanical names and agri-
cultural possibilities are still unknown.

The root crops that were domesticated
in America stand in distinct contrast with
Old World root crops, both in number and
in character. The species cultivated in
the Old World were relatively few,
mostly the seed-propagated garden
vegetables of temperate regions, such
as radishes, turnips, beets, parsnips,
carrots. ete. The temperate root crops
domesticated in the Old World were
mostly capable of being eaten raw, as
though they had been used first by
people unaccustomed to use fire for
cooking vegetables. The root crops that
were domesticated in America are not
eaten raw by the natives. Many of
them are disagreeably acrid in the raw
state like the aroids, or even positively
poisonous like the cassava. Very few
new types of plants appear to have been
domesticated as root crops in the Old
World Tropics, and none of them have
attained the prominence of several of

the American species. The banana
appears to have been domesticated first

as a root crop, and some of the varieties’

are still cultivated tor their root-stocks
in New California and in Hast Africa.

The greater antiquity of the domes-
tication of plants in America is to
be inferred from the fact that many
of the cultivated species are not known
in the wild state, while in the Old World
there are very few species, if any,
that do not have wild representatives
that still appear closely similar to the
domesticated forms. In the case of the
yautias the American natiyity is clearly
indicated by the wild species of Xan-
thosoma. One of these grows abund-
antly in Guatemala, and is eaten by
the natives in times of scarcity of other
food. Yautias are also cultivated in
Guatemala, but rather sparingly, Indian
corn being the chief staple in all parts
of the country. The varieties of Xan-
thosoma cultivated in Guatemala ap-
pear quite distinct from the common
wild species. The wild plant is larger
and has a lighter green foliage, and
the root-stoecks that provide for the
vegetative propagation of the plant are
very slender, only about the diameter
of an ordinary lead pencil, instead of
the large, fleshy, tuberous root-stoeks
produced by the cultivated sorts. This
wild species has a considerable similarity
to the variety cultivated in Porto Rico
under the name ‘‘yautia palma,” but
has a shorter and thicker spadix with
a less ample spathe. >

The abundance of the wild Xantho-
somas in the mountainous parts of
Guatemala, including the volcanic dis-
tricts, makes it easier te understand
how a poisonous plant might come to
be used and finally protected, propa-
gated, and cultivated by primitive man.
The agricultural development would
come about very naturally and gradually
atter the making of the simple discovery
that these acrid plants could be eaten
after they had been kept for a time
in boiling water. This discovery was
possible in many places in tropical
America in the very early stages of
human progress, before cooking utensils
were used and even before fire had been
definitely adopted by primitive man.

Springs of hot water are numerous, and

are shown by special abundance of
ancient remains to have been centres
of population in primitive times. For-
mer association with hot Springs is also
suggested by the habit of many of the
Indians, such as Kekchis of eastern
Guatemala, to drink only hot water.

Au alternative possibility has to be

admitted, that the taro plant, like the

JUNE, 1910.)

banana, might have been brought to
America from the Pacific Islands in
rehistoric times, and might have
allen into comparative disuse as the
result of the discovery in America of
the Xanthosoma, which seems to bea
better plant for general agricultural
purposes. There is good historical evi-
dence that the banana, which certainly
originated in the Old World, had been

brought to America betore the Spanish

conquerors arrived. No such direct testi-
mony is likely to be secured regarding
the tarv, which attracted relatively
little attention from the early historians
of Spanish America. We have torely
upon the general considerations that it
isnot likely to have been brought by
the Spaniards, and still less likely to
have been adopted by the Indians, who
are very slow to take up the cultivation
of any new plant unless it appears to
have a very distinct advantage. The
Polynesian method of cultivating the
taro in pools or swamps is not known to
be applied to the plant anywhere in
America. Mr. David Fairchild, of the
Bureau of Plant Industry, states that the
Polynesian system of planting the taroin
the muddy soils of swamps or artifi-
cially flooded places is in use in the
island of Madeira, introduced, doubtless,
by the natives of the island who have
lived in Hawaii. The nearest approach
to this system is seen when the plants
are scattered along the banks of small
streams. Many yautiasare raised in
Porto Rico on very steep, rocky slopes
ot mountains, where the soil is very
shallow and irrigation is quite out of
the question.

Whether or not we agree with Mr.
Barrett regarding the prospective com-
mercial importance of the aroids or their
profitable cultivation in the United
States, the study of them is eminently
justified by two practical considerations :
(1) that they are extensively used as
food by millions of natives of tropical
countries, and (2) that they are worthy
of more careful consideration by all
HAuropeans who undertake to settle or
reside in tropical countries.

The Tropics afford a great variety of
fruits, though there are few localities
where the traveller’s expectations of
profusion aie realised. But if fruits are
usually to be reckoned as scarce, there is
often a downright famire of vegetables.
Not only on the Isthmus of Panama, but
in many other parts of the Tropics
where railroad building and other im-
provements are being attempted by men
from Europe and the United States, the
deficiency of tresh vegetables is re-
cognised as a practical difficulty which

63

497 Edible Products:

seriously interferes with comfort, health
and efficiency. 3

The Department of Agriculture tre-
ceives many letters from American
residents of tropical countries asking for
information and seeds of varieties of
temperate vegetables that will grow in
the Tropics. In some regions moderate
success with a few otf the temperate
types of vegetables is possible if special
careis used and after sufficient experi-
ence has been accumulated. Varieties
better suited to tropical conditions are
being discovered or introduced from
other tropical countries. The success of
the Chinese gardeners with some of
their seeds from Canton shows that
their varieties and methods of culture are
worthy of our careful consideration.

In many cases the most practical
advice that can be given to persons
newly established in tropical localities
is to study and make use of the
indigenous tropical vegetables, of which
these yautias, taros, etc,, form excellent
representatives. These’ plants will
thrive and produce abundantly under
extreme tropical conditions where most
of our temperate vegetables will refuse
to grow, and the others can be expected
to produce only the most indifferent
results. Theacrid substances and milky
secretions render the aroids immune to
many of the diseases and insect pests
that interfere with the cultivation of
other kinds of plants that lack such
protection,

Propagation by root-stocks is an
especial advantage under tropical con-
ditions, since it avoids the difficulties of
germinating, transplanting the seed-
lings, and caring for the plants in their
tender early stages. With sufficient
water the cultivated aroids may be
expected to hold their own with any
other crop, and they will also thrive in
places too wet for most of our cultivated
plants,

The agricultural advantages make it
all the more desirable that residents in
the Tropics should become thoroughly
acquainted with the cultivated aroids.
Many people think they have tried the
tropical vegtables who have not really
done so. It is necessary to leara how
to use anew plant, as well as to learn
how to grow it, and one must persist
until he has had a fair opportunity
of testing his own taste. The ten-
dency te condemn any _ unfamiliar
dish is very general, whereas the
same flavour that seemed so objection-
able at first may appear quite attrac-
tive after we have become accustomed
to it. This is true of the aroids used as
garden vegetables. By people who have

\ Rakes tees on ey y j oe ey

&é

Se
Pe |
~
*

Edible Products. 498 [JUNE, 1910,

become familiar with yautia or eddoes
they are often recommended as better
than potatoes. But if one expects too
close a similarity he is disappointed.
Instead of the soft, mealy, white,
bland-tasting ‘‘mashed-potato,” one
finds a much firmer material of a
somewhat yellowish or greyish colour
and a distinct, slightly nutty flavour.
Nobody would be likely to mistake
eddo for potato, and if potato were
expected eddoes might be a distinct
disappointment. But if we give the
eddo a fair trial on its own merits, it
may hold its own with the potato in
our gastronomic affections. We may
be surprised to find ourselves’ as
willing to have eddoes’ served as
potatoes, or to find that we miss the
eddoes at home as much as we did
the potatoes in Africa.

SHIELD BUDDING FOR THE MAN GO.

(From the Agricultural News, Vol. IX.,
No. 207, April, 1910.)

In Bulletin No, 20 of the Hawaiian
Agricultural Experiment Station, an
account is given of the means by which
shield budding may be employed in the
case of the mango, and the advantages
of the method suggest that it is worthy
of trial in the West Indies. An illus-
trated account of the propagation of the
mango by patch budding was given in
the Agricultural News, Vol. III., p. 283.
In order to facilitate experiments in
shield budding by those who are
interested in the subject, the following
information has been taken from the
bulletin to which reference is made :—

The proposed method is new only in
its modifications and in its application
tothe mango. Itis merely shield bud-
ding with an inverted T adapted to the
peculiarities of the mango. Shield bud.
ding is probably one of the oldest, and
certainly the most widely practised, of
all. methods of budding. Ordinary
shield budding had been tried on the
mango long ago, following the general
practice in the selection of bud-wood
and stock that governs in the shield
budding of citrus fruits, peach, or plum.
In this case young bud-wood was used
with the leaf still attached, and it was
inserted in young wood. Itsoon became
apparent, however, that this method
would not work successfully, and it was
abandoned, giving place to the patch
bud, which was practised with more
mature bud-wood and stock. The
present method consists in using wood
of the same maturity as in patch
budding, but adopts the similar device

for bringing the bud shield into contact
with the stock, and may be known as
shield budding with an inverted T in-
cision.

TH Stock.—Budding by this method
has been successfully performed on
stocks from an inch to 8 inches in dia-
meter. What the limitations are, on
either side of these dimensions, is not
known at present. Wood of this size, in

- seedling trees, may be from two to five

yearsold. It is essential that the stocks
be in a thrifty condition and, still more
important, that they should be in
‘‘flush.” If not in this condition, the
bark will not readily separate from the
stock. It has been found that the best
time is when the terminal buds are
just opening. Unless the trees are
watched carefully, they will pass this
stage before the flush is observed.
When the young, brown leaves have
appeared, it is often too late to bud, and
the operation must be postponed until
the next flush. ©

THE Bub-Woop.—The bud-wood which
has been most successfully used is that

which has lost most of its leaves, and is

turning brown or grey in colour. Such
wood is usually about an ineh in dia-
meter. It is not necessary in this
method of budding that the bud-wood
should bein flushing condition, although
it may beanadvantage to have it so,
It should, however, be healthy wood
of normal growth.

PREPARATION OF THE STOCK.—The in-
cisions should be made in the stock
about six inchesin length. At the lower
end of this make an incision at right
angles to it, with the knife edge pointing
upwards at an angle of about 45 degrees
with the stock, thus making a curved
incision. Insert the sharpened end of
the handle of the budding-knife beneath
the bark at the junction of these in-
cisions, and push it gently upward,
raising the bark so as to make a place for
the bud, It is not necessary to push the
handle far, but, by gently prying, the
bark may be separated trom the stock
if the latter is in proper condition, with-
out injuring the delicate cells against
which the bud shield is to be placed.

PREPARATION OF THE BuD- Woop. —The
bud is now to be removed from the bud-
wood. With arather heavier knife than
is generally used for budding, in the
right hand, and the bud-wood held
firmly in the left, place the blade
against the bud-wood with a very slight

inclination, and ent so as to make as.

flat a surface as possible under the bud
shield. This bud shield should be about
3 to 34 inches long, with the bud in
the centre. The small portion of wood,

2 ,
omy f

~ ~~

JunE, 1910-]

- which will thus be taken off with the

bud shield, may be removed if it slips
If not, it should be left in
place. The lower end of the shield is
then taken between the thumb and
finger, and gently inserted in the incision
prepared for it, pushing it up untilit is
held firmly in place by the surrounding
bark.

TYING AND WRAPPING,—The stock
must then be tied with raffia or some
other soft, but strong, tying material,
so as to prevent drying out. The cut
surfaces below the actual bud are usually
covered with grafting wax, and the
whole is then wrapped with a waxed
cotton bandage, beginning at the lower
part and winding spirally to the top,
exposing only the actual bud. This
method of wrapping protects the bud
and the wound from the access of
water. The bud is shaded by a short
piece of bandage hung over. it and held
in place by being laid under the upper
strands of the spirally wound bandage.

SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT.—In about
three or four weeks, if the bud remains

- green, the stock should be lopped ata

point about 7 inches above the bud.

- Care should be taken, in thus cutting

stock partly off, to avoid splitting
downward. It should be made to split
upward into that portion of the stock
which is to be destroyed. This lopping
will serve tu force the bud into growth.
Many other buds, on the sides of the
stock, will start into growth before
the new one. These must all be cut off.
It has not been found necessary to
remove the tyiag and wrapping material
until the bud has made two flushes,
and often it is not necessary at all since
the raffia is usually beneath the waxed
eloth, and the latter naturally expands
with the growth of the stock. When
the bud has started into growth, the
top of the tree may be completely cut
off and destroyed. The stump remain-
ing above the bud may be cut off with
a sloping cut close to the bud, after the
latter has made three or four flushes.
ADVANTAGES OF THE METHOD.—It has
been found that buds can be set quite
rapidly by this method. In the ex-
perience of the writer, five or six buds
could be set, by this means, to one by
the bud method. Speed may be increased
also by the use of unskilled Jabour in
the tying and binding operations. The
operator can set the bud and pass on
to the next without any danger of its
getting out of place before the helper,
who immediately follows, ties it.
Perhaps the most important advant-
age in this method of budding lies in
the fact that it may be used success-
fully when the bud-wood is not in an

_ 490

Edible Products,

active growing condition. The most
tedious part of patch budding is in
removing the bud, and frequently in
doing so it will be broken. Further,
it is often impossible to get bud-wood
of a desired variety in active condi-
tion. when the stocks are ready to be
Operated upon.

The method may be applied most ad-
vantageously to seedling trees in orchard
form when they have become large
enough to be operated upon, when the
buds should be set only a few inches
above the ground. It may also be used
in top-working old trees to new
varieties.

WORLD'S VANILLA CROPS.

(From the Chemist and Druggist, Vol.
LXXVI., April, 1910).
Mr. Hermann Mayer, Senior, sends us
the following statistics of the 1909-10
Vanilla production :—

Tons,
Seychelles AB 4ee 10
Bourbon a. 85
Mexican ae 70
Comores, Mayotte, ete. sie 40
Madagascar and Nossi-Be .., 25
Mauritius 2

Ceylon, Java, Fiji, Zanzibar, ete. 10
Guadeloupe and Martinique... 15
Tahiti fei .» 180

Total (about) 390

This quantity falls 110 tons short of
the 1908-09 crop, and as Tahiti shows an
increase of 40 tons, the actual deficiency
in the finer qualities totals 150 tons, or 40
per cent, on the previous year’s yield,
which was of full average extent.
Prices during the past twelve months
have moved in accord with the statisti-

‘eal position, showing an improvement

of 30 to 40 per cent. for all varieties ex-
cept Tahiti. These have profited by the
shortage of all other sorts and main-
tained their value, notwithstanding
the larger returns. Only unimportant
balances remain in the Colonies, and, as
new crops are unlikely to be landed in
quantity before November next, statisti-
call Me the position appears exceptionally
sound.

VANILLA CULTURE FOR TRO-
PICAL QUEENSLAND.

By Howarp NEWPORT,
(From the Queensland Agricultural
Journal, Vol. XXIV., Pt. 4, April, 1910.)
The culture of Vanilla offers facilities
to the settler in the northern parts of
the Agricultural belt of Queensland that

Edible Products.

hitherto have been but little availed of.
Some twelve or fifteen years ago Vanilla
commanded a price so high (25s. to 30s.
per lb.) that considerable areas were
planted up in various parts of the world,
and big money if not actual fortunes
were made. The result that history has
shown to be inevitable under such
circumstances followed—chemists turned
their attention to the production by
synthesis of an article so much in de-
mand, and by close planting and over-
bearing, diseased conditions were in-
duced in the plantations. On the evolu-
tion of a synthetic product more or less
- similar or at least usable as a substitute
and cheaper, coupled possibly with the
dying out of hundreds of thousands of
vines—notably in the Seychelles—the
price dropped to 3s. to 5s. per lb., and
the industry as a whole suffered a con-
siderable set back.

The histery of tropical—as well as
other—agricultural products of this na-
ture--of a group that may perhaps be
called auxiliary rather than primary—
also shows us, however, that these
things work in cycles, and that Nature
generally comes out ahead _in the end.
It is, then, for the tropical agriculturist
to follow the trend of demand and
supply of products such as the one under
discussion, and be prepared to take
advantage of the fact of an increased
demand in the near future.

When the production of a more or less
satisfactory substitute, being synthe-
tically supplied, may prevent a rise-in
price to the level previously attained,
it would seem that a reaction is taking
place, and the demand for the natural
Vanilla beans or pods is increasing and
the price slowly, very slowly, but surely,
on the upward grade, good qualities
fetching 16s. to 17s. 6d., and the poorer
qualities down to 8s.

Some of the special advantages in
vanilla culture for tropical Australia lie
in the fact of its requiring very little
clearing of land. Scrub land with the
trees standing—i.e., fairly heavily shaded
clearings—are essentiai.

In this part of Queensland the felling
of the heavy scrub often casts 30s. to 40s.
per acre, and anything up to another £10
may be expended in clearing it for plant-
ing; this is at once eliminated, and the
lightest of brushing at a cost of a few
shillings per acre substituted for it.
The work is light and easy, no digging
or ploughing being involved, and can be
done by women and children. Vanilla
is, in fact, the least troublesome in its
culture of almost any agricultural staple.

500

The returns per acre are high and
often very large, and the product is of
high value per bulk and not readily
perishable, and, therefore, lends itself
to cultivation in places that are as yet
the more difficult of access and the
transport from which of the more bulky
staples is a matter of some moment. No
diseases are known to exist on Vanilla
here, aud the climate, soil, and rainfalls
are particularly in its favour.

When Vanilla was first introduced
into Queeensland it is difficult to say.
Mr. L. A. Bernays mentions two varie-
ties having been already introduced into
Queensland in his ‘‘ Cultural Industries”
dated 1883, but Baron F. von Mueller
omits any reference to the plant in his
“Select Extra-tropical Plants,” dated
1888, which would seem extraordinary.

The Vanilla of commerce is the dried
and prepared pods of several species of
climbing orchids. The name “ Vanilla”
is said to be the diminutive of the
Spanish ‘‘vaina,” a pod. Vanilla is a
native of Central and South America,
and is cultivated in Mexico, Brazil,
Honduras, Guadelope, Reunion, Mauri-
tius, the Seychelles, Java, Tahiti, the
S.S. Islands, in Polynesia, &e,

There are eight or more known varieties
that produce marketable pods, of which
five are foundin Mexico. The three best
known varieties are V. planifolia, V.
sylvatica, and V. pompona. V. planifolia
produces long, thin pods of great aroma,
which, however, require treatment; the
pods of V. sylvatica are found to split to
an undue extent,* which reduces the
value of the product, and V. pompona
pods are small and short, another dis-
advantage in marketing, though these
pods may be left on the vine to brown,

V. planifulia is the best variety for
cultivation, and as itis of this variety
only that plants, or rather cuttings,can
be obtained in this country,: the follow-
ing cultural notes, unless otherwise
specified, may be taken as alluding to
this species only.

The Vanilla vine is of exceedingly
handsome habit of growth, and, like
most orchids, isa true epiphyte, so that
while requiring a support—a living tree
by preference—to grow on, it obtains
none of its nutiiments from that tree.
Asa plant itis curious in that neither
the flowers, leaves, nor pods in the green
state have any scent, and give no idea,
therefore, of the fine aroma and flavour
that are developed on the pods being
cured ; in thatits flowers are very rarely
fertilised by natural means ; and also in
that, though an orchid, to thrive it must
have connection with the ground, At

(remo

Sed ee
’ y

ia
E

June, 1910.)

first the cuttings must be planted in the
ground, but as it ascends its support it is
not unusual for the original stem to
shrink and die away at the ground end.
This in no way adversely affects the
plant, however, as it has meanwhile sent
down erial rootlets which, on reaching
the ground, become independent sub-
terranean sources of supply of plant
food; nevertheless, the greater part of
its nutriment is obtained from the at-
mosphere by means of its. thick fleshy
leaves and tendrils or serial roots. Like
all orchids heat, moisture, and shade are
essential to its successful culture.

Soin, CLIMATE, AND RAINFALL.

Vanilla requires a rich vegetable soil
and a well-drained situation. Sandy
soils are too light, do not hold enough
moisture, even though shaded, and re-
quire manuring; while clay soils hold
too much water and are too heavy.

Any of the ordinary scrub soils of
Northern Queensland having a foot cr
more of rich leaf mould are just what
the Vanilla vine likes best. In climate
Vanilla seeks hot, moist conditions, with
a temperature between 70 degrees and
90 degrees Fahr., which is again what is
generally to be foundin North Queens-
land scrubs. In the matter of rainfall
from 50 to 60 up to200 ormore inches
per annum is required, the nearer the
average is to the 100 the better, and, if
possible, a locality. having a well-dis-
tributed rainfall for nine or ten months
in the year, and two fairly dry months—
viz., August to October—is a material
advantage.

Lay, ASPECT, AND SITUATION.

In selecting a site fora plantation in
this country fairly level land may be
chosen. A gentle slope is an advantage
in preventing the lodging of storm water
and insuring surface, and probably also
subsoil, drainage. Gently undulating
country will do, but the steeper slopes
as well as the low-lying hollows should
be avoided, Vanilla isa very soft-bodied
plant, and, though it wants moisture, it
abhors stagnation—so much is this to be
avoided that, in some countries, beds
6in, tol ft. high; and ina circle of 4 ft.
orsoin diameter round the supporting
tree, are often made by a ring of stones
filled in with leaf mould to make sure
that water cannot accumulate and stand
round the roots—the stones are said to
afford the roots protection and keep
them cool too. This, however, will not
generally be necessary in Queensland.
Wind is another enemy of Vanilla,
especially where the thick vines are
draped in curtains over the supports and
can swing andbreak. A westerly aspect

501

Edible Products,

may be chosen on this account, though
this point is governed by the amount of
natural protection to be found on the
weather side of the clearing or plantation.
Almost any situation may be chosen
with the one exception of to» great
proximity to the sea; salt air is harmful,
keeping the vines poor and stunted,

CLEARING, SHADE, AND SUPPORTS.

Having selected the site, the next
matter to bearin mind isthat Vanilla
is planted in the open, and special shade
trees grown at stated intervals for its
accommodation ; this, however, is risky,
more costly, involves delay, and is un-
necessary here,

The standing serub supplies all the
essentials, and, as before stated, requires
but a brushing. The shade necessary is
not dense, but chequered. With too
much shade in this country it has been
found that the vine grows luxuriantly,
but will not bear, and with too little the
reverse happens. Where very dense
only the big trees may, therefore, be
left, and in lighter scrub saplings of even
4 in. to 6 in. indiameter are retained.
When cleared 250 to 300 trees left stand-
ing to the acre, which afford both shade
and support, would be about right, ;

Humus being an essential, it is highly
inadvisable to burn off any brush; if
possible, it is better to pull it into heaps
and let it rot.

As the vines grow they must be kept
within reach. They grow quickly, and
the natural tendency is to run up the
trees to great heights, When this
happens the vines are pulled down and
draped over supports fastened between
the trees, 4 ft. to 6 ft. above the ground.
These supports should be hardwood,
round by preference, and of 38 in. to 4 in.
in diameter, and may be spiked to the
trees, If the trees are fairly hardwood;
though wooden spikes 12in. to 18 in. long,
and about 1 in, diameter, may be driven
into auger holes in the trunks it about
the same height, and the vines draped
on these. In soft woods like candle-nut
these soon perish, however, and let
the vine fall, or possibly even kill the
tree. Wire is cheap, easily erected, and
fairly lasting, but forms too sharp a
bend for the fleshy vines, which are apt
to break or be frayed in two if swinging
in the wind.

Two No. 8 wires 4in, tc6 in.apart strung
from tree to tree may be the best alter-
native if wooden bars are not available,
or the trees are too uniformly soft to
carry spikes, but even then pieces of
bark or old sacking should be put be-
tween the vine and the wire, as the acid

Edible Products.

in the sap in time causes even galvanised
wire to rust, damaging the plant, and
ultimately causing the wire to break.

The clearing is now ready for planting,
and, if well brushed, should only require
going cvetr with a brush knife once a
year orso. Chipping or weeding is un-
necessary if properly shaded, and is
detrimental as tending to disturb and
damage the delicate roots which are
so near the surface as to be barely in the
ground atall. A carpet of dead leaves
is what is wanted.

PLANTS AND PLANTING.

Vanilla is usually and is best propagat-
ed by cuttings. Plants can be raised
by seed, but the process is troublesome,
rather intricate, and takes about a
year longer. The seed: is very minute,
and if seedlings are required the seed
should be washed in soap-suds, mixed
with fine sand, dried, and carefully sown
in prepared soil ina specially protected
situation—a bush-house or glass germin-
ating house by preference. Cuttings,
however, are generally obtainable. In
such places as the Seychelles, where
plenty are available, these cost from
4s. to 6s. 8d. per 100, but here may cost
anything up to 6d. each. Cuttings of
6 ft. length are best, but if plants are
urgently needed may he sub-divided
into lengths of not less than three eyes.

The best time to plant is at the begin-
ning of the wet season about Christmas
time, or soon after, when full advant-
age of the rain can betaken. Septem-
ber plantings—if planting weather ob-
tains—save a lot of time, but with so
soft and fleshy a plant as Vanilla,
watering must generally be resorted to
in October and November, or many
will be lost. With fortunate weather a
September planting may save a year
in bringing a field into bearing, but
is risky.

The plantingis done by digging a
shallow trench some 2 in, deep and wide
in the soil at the base of the tree trunks,
laying therein a portion of the vine
from which the leaves have heen care-
fully cut off, pressing leaf mould on
top and covering or mulching it with
dead and rotting leaves and vegetable
matter. This accomplished, the rest of
the vine is laid vertically against the
tree and tied there by some soft material
sufficiently broad not to cut the soft
Vanilla. Two plants should be planted
against each tree, or if large, with no
other trees near it, three, The length
of the trench depends on the length of
eutting—for 6 ft. lengths three to four

502

nodes or eyes, and for three-knot
lengths one eye, may be put into the
ground. (Pig

The vines grow quickly, and if good
seasons are experienced some crop
will be obtained in the second year
after planting. Usually it takes three
years, however, and the plantation gra-
dually increases in productivity as the
vines increase in length, and are draped
round the trees-on the pegs or between
them on the rails set for them in thick
and somewnat untidy-looking festoons.
A plantation will last thirty or forty
years, possibly more, and is not con-
sidered in full bearing till six or seven
years old.

If 250 tree trunks are left standing
and two cuttings are set to each, 500
plants will be absorbed in the acre—
more or less may be planted—there is
no hard-and-fast rule for this method
of planting in virgin scrub land, but
more implies rather dense shade, so
less would be the more advisable.

MANURING AND PRUNING.

The Vanilla crop is said to be tosome
extent an exhausting one, though this
is usually only noticeable in plantations
where the shade trees are especially
grown, the soil is deficient in humus to

start with, and the moist and humid .

conditions so much liked by Vanilla do
not exist, and it has to rely for nutri-
ment mostly on the soil.

Usually the radius within which the
roots of any one vine extend is quite
small—s ft. or 4 ft. at most—so that
in virgin scrub land, with a good surface
of leaf mould, manuring should not be
required for many years, ifatall. For
sick vines in exposed situations or over-
bearing plants the only manure required
is humus, which is best supplied by an
armtul of leaf mould aud dead leaves.
Artificial manures should be avoided,
and, especially animal matter of any

ind.

No pruning is necessary either under
normal conditions. Under conditions
of too heavy shade or too heavy wet
and cloudy weather just before blossom-
ing time—about September—sometimes
the nipping off of the growing tips will
induce the production of flower spikes.
Otherwise the only operation of this
nature is the careful pulling down of

vines that have run up a tree trunk

and draping it within reach—also done
about September—z.e., before the blos-
soming. The operation has to be some-
what carefully done, as the vines break
easily, and is best accomplished by two
persons with long,

thin forked sticks a

er,

'<

vim
Fy 3

ms - JUNE, 1910,} i

like clothes props, one working the fork

up between the vine and the tree, care-

fully disengaging the tendrils, and the

other catching the loose vine in the

sors of his stick and lowering it gently
own.

FLOWERING.

In the second year a few flowers may
be seen, enough to study and practice
on, but not enough to count on as a
erop. By the third year, however, com-
mencing here, early in October, and
lasting till the end of November or later,
a large proportion of the vines should
yroduce flowers, which they will do by
sending out fat, bright green buds in
the axils of the leaves here and there,
seldom in two consecutive eyes, which
will grow only an inch or two in length
before bursting into clusters of buds.
One cluster to a yard or so of vine is
a good flowering. In.a few days the

first flowers of the cluster will open, |

and it will continue slowly developing
-and opening blossoms for some times
two months or more. This flowering is
the most interesting if not the most
anxious time for growers.

FERTILISING OR POLLINATING.

The Vanilla blossom while having the
male and female organ in the same
flower is of such construction that it
cannot fertilise itself. The insects that
fertilise Vanilla do not exist here, or
indeed, in most countries where Vanilla
is produced commercially. Even where
they do exist—the wild forests of Mexico
—the proportion of flowers so fertilised
is very small. Hach blossom has, there-
fore, to be artificially fructified or ferti-
lised. Considering that each vine may
produce hundreds and a_ plantation
thousands of flowers, and it takes
roughly—allowing for failures—some 150
or 200 such fertilisations to give 1 lb.
of Vanilla beans, the work might ap-
pear appallingly great. As a matter
of fact, it is very simple and quickly
done. So simple is it that children can
do it easily and so rapidly that hun-
dreds (experiment at Kamernuga has
shown about 1,000) can be fertilised in
a forenoon.

While the process is simple, it must
be thoroughly understood tobe carried
out successfully, The bast way is to
get a flower and pull it to pieces with
this descripiton and the _ illustrations
in front of you.

‘ The tool necessary is a little piece of
stick—bamboo splinter or toothpick—
some 3 in. long and }+in. wide, and
quite thin and flat. A pin hammered
out flat at the point and the head-cut off

502 aie Rdible Products.

stuck into a piece of pencil for a handle
makes an excellent fertilising tool.

When examined this flower will be
found to have only one thin petal which
has any colour on it (and not much of
that); when this is gently torn away
it is found to be growing from the
sides of and protecting a white or pale-
green rigid little column with a knobbed
top. This carries the male and female
organs, aud any damage to it must be
carefully avoided. The tube to the
stigma or ovary has two lips at the top
end, the upper one longer than the
lower one forming a flap or lid; above
this is the male or pollen-bearing part
hanging over as though on a hinge at
the top of a column. The process of
fertilisation or pollination as it is
generally called cousists of taking the
flower between the thumb and second
finger of the left hand with the fore-
finger at the back of the top of the little
column, placing the fértilising tool side-
ways flatagainst the front of the column
and gently lifting it.

First, the lower lip is lifted, or rather
both are lifted together; then the lower
one, being shorter, slips from under the
tool, leaving the aperture open. The
pollen glands are then lifted, and the
upper lip, which prevents the pollen
falling in naturally, is foreed behind
them, and the pollen glands fall for-
ward again. Now, care must be taken
not to raise the tool any further, or
the part containing the pollen is cut
off. At this juncture the flower is held
between the fertilising tool and the
first finger of the left hand, the left
thumb is then gently pressed on top of
the pollen masses, pressing them on to
the stigma, where they stick, while the
tool is withdrawn sideways, and the
pollination is complete.

The vine blossoms in Queensland. be-
tween September and November. Hach
cluster consists of some fifteen to twenty
flowers, which open successively at the
rate of not more than three, and gener-
ally only one, a day. These flowers
remain open only the one day, and
pollination is difficult as well as most
uncertain once the flower has begun to
wither. Itis necessary, therefore, to go
round the plantation every day in the
flowering season, round every vine, and
to each eluster, once it has begun to
open its blossoms, The pollinating is
best done in the forenoon, from sun-
rise to noon or not later than about
2 p.m.

In this time a good worker may

ollinate 1,000 flowers; it would be a
airly large plantation to average 1,000

Edible Products,

blossoms a day, and in a plantation such
as might with success be opened in
Queensland and pollinating could be fin-
ished in an hour or two each morning.

The success or otherwise of the
fertilising operation can be seen by the
second or at latest third day. When the
blossom opens the stalk of the flower,
which is really the embryo pod, is seen
to be a bright green colour. If the
pollination has been successful this
retains its colour, begins to swell
perceptibly by the second day, while
the blossom itself fades as quickly,
but does not fall off, sometimes adhering
to the quickly growing pod for a month
or more. If the operation on the other
hand has not been successful, the embryo
bean turns a yellow colour, does not
swell, and the blossom usually falls off
within three days, sometimes at once.
The pollinating is frequently left entire-
ly to women and girls in other coun-
tries, and is light and easy enough work
for them in this country.

PRICKLY PEAR AS FODDER.
(From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol.
XXXIV., No. 2, February, 1909.)

The “ prickly pears” belong to an ex-
tensive genus widely distributed in
America and the West Indies. Many
of the species have been introduced into
Southern Europe, Africa, Australia, and
elsewhere for the sake of their edible
fruits, and also owing to their utility as
hedge plants. All the species are more
or less fleshy, especially while young,
and most of them are armed with
strong sharp spines.

The plants are available in large quan-
tities in many countries, and in some
of the Australian colonies have become
a pest, so that some method of utilising
them is highly desirable. The compo-
sition of the plants indicates that they
should be fairly nutritious as feeding-
stuffs for cattle; but a serious objection
to their use as a fodder is the presence
of the spines, which are not readily
rendered innocuous.

A résumé of the methods available
for this purpose, and a large number of
analyses of prickly pear plants as
grown in the Southern States are given
in two Bulletins of the Bureau of Plant
Industry (Nos. 74 and 102, Part I.) pub-
lished recently by the United States
Department of Agriculture. 3

The chemical composition shows that
the feeding value of these cacti com-
pares favourably with those of ordinary
green fodders and rootcrops. Although
the ‘‘cane cacti” have a higher feeding
value than prickly pear, practical consi-
derations relating to growth and ease
of propagation render them of less value
than the latter, except where they are
naturally abundant.

With the exception of Cereus gigan-
teus and Echinocactus Orcuttiiand a few
Other rare species, the genus Opuntia
supplies the material mostly utilised
for fodder, and it is the flat-jointed
forms which are principally employed
in America. There are about five
species in the cylindrical-jointed group
which have been used with some success,
namely, O. imbricata from Mexico,
O. arborescens, O. fulgida, and O. pro-
lifera from the coastal regions of
Soutkern California. Of these, prob-
ably the most valuable are O. fulgida
and O. imbricata.

Opinions regarding the value of prickly
pear as a fodder are very conflicting ;
but it appears tc be generally regarded
in the United States as best suited for
use with richer material, such as bran
cotton-seed meal.

Various methods for rendering the
spines innocuous are employed in the
several cactus regions. The most com-
mon practice consists in singeing the
spines over a bush fire, or in a less
primitive manner by the use of a gaso-
line blast flame, such as is used by
plumbers. A more efficient method, and
one said to be used in Australia, is
boiling or, preferably, steaming the
prickly pear for several hours, thereby
rendering the spines harmless. Chop-
ping machines are also employed in
Texas, the object in this case being to
cut the prickly pear into such small
pieces that the spines are made inno-
cuous by abrasion. In New South Wales
it is considered that the most practic-
able method is the conversion of the
material into ensilage, since aftera few
months the spines become quite soft,
aod the ensilage is said to be both
nutritious and palatable.

Experiments conducted in California
have shown that by selection and eross-
ing of cactus plants it is possible to pro-
duce a spineless variety valuable as a
pasture plant and having a feeding value
about equal to that of lucerne

=e ee

“504 (June, 1910.

lee

Fe, Ts to Poms am

05

_ MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS.

BAOBAB TREES USED FOR
STORAGE OF WATER.

(From the Kew Bulletin, No. 3, 1910.)

Sir Joseph Hooker has ealled our
attention toan account of the manner
in which the natives of Kordofan form
reservoirs for rain water in the trunks of
living Baobab trees (Adansonia digita).
The paper by Capt. Watkins Lloyd,
late Governor of Kordofan, Soudan, from
which the following extract is taken is
published in the Geographical Journal,
March, 1910, pp. 258-254, with an illustra-
tion of the tree on p. 251. The country
referred to lies to the west of El Obeid.

‘“Hlsewhere the people are dependent
on water-melons and the water they
store in baobab trees. The melons are
small and almost tasteless, and are grown
in enormous quantities amongst the
corn. When ripe they are collected in
heapsand protected from the sun until
required for use.

‘“‘The baobab trees have to be care-
fully prepared for use as _ reservoirs.
The large branches are first cut off near
the trunk. If thisis notdone, the trunk
is apt to split assoon asit is hollowed
out. Round the bottom of the tree a
shallow basin some 20 or 30 feet in
déameter is made, in which the rain-
water collects. As soon as there is a
storm, the people go out and fill their
trees. The water so stored remains per-
fectly good until the end of the next hot
weather, or even longer. A few trees,
naturally hoilow, have a hole at the top
between the branches, and fill them-
selves, the branches. catching the water
and acting gutters. These are called
“lagai” and are highly valued by the
Hamara.

“The Arabs did not invent this method
of storing water, but improved on the
system of their predecessors, who
made the hole in the trunk only 10 or 12
feet from the ground. The present
system gives acistern 20 feet high and
from 8 to 10 feet, or even more in
diameter. Owing to the labour involved
in preparing and filling the trees, water
isusually bought and sold, and on the
main roads where there is much traffic,
as between Nahud and Jebel el Hilla on
the way to El Fasher, the capital of
Darfur, the people do a regular trade by
supplying merchants and travellers with
water.

“The bucket, called a ‘ dilwa,’ used by
the Arabs deserves mention. It consists
of a piece of leather suspended by strings

64

6 inches long from a piece of wood bent
in a circle, to which the rope used for
drawing the water is fastened by three
or four strings. On reaching the bottom
of the well the leather opens out and
collects the water, however little there
may be.”

Though this appears to-be the first
reference by an English geographer to
the process of hollowing out the trunks
of Baobab trees-so as to serve as reser-
voirs, it is not the earliest record of
the practise of storing water in this
fashion in Kordofan. We are indebted
to Captain H. G. Lyons, R.5., F.R.S.,
for having called our attention to a
passage in Mr, J. Petherick’s account
of Egypt, the Soudan and Central
Africa, published in 1861. At pp. 208, 209,
Petherick says of the Baobab :—‘‘ Its
trunk and even branches, for the most
part hollow, are of immense size, the
diameter of the former attaining as much
as40 feet, . ...

‘““These trees, in many parts of the
country where water is scarce, form
highly valuable natural tanks, and when
filled by the rains are carefully pre-
served and tapped by the natives during
the drought, and enable them to inhabit
parts of the country which otherwise,
for want of water, would be untenable.”

HISTORY OF THE SEA COCOA-NUT

(LODOICEA SECHELLARUM,
LABILL.)

By E. BLATTER, S. J.

(From the Journal of the Bombay Natu-
ral History Society, Vol. XIX., No. 4,
28th February, 1910.)

There is scarcely any other palm which
has been so little known and was yet
the most celebrated formerly as the Sea
Cocoa-nut or Double Coco-nut. The
French eall it Coco de mer, Coco de
Salomon, and Coco des Maldives, and it
was known to the writers of the 16th
and 17th centuries under the names of
Nux Medica and Cocos Maldivicus. Be-
fore the exploration of the Seychelles
in 1748, by order of Mahe de la Bourdon-
nais, then Governor of Mauritius, the
nuts were only known from having
been found floating on the surface of
the Indian Ocean, and near the Mal-
dive Islands, whence their French name
was derived, and even in the time of
Rumphius the nut was spoken of as

Miscellaneous Products.

the “mirum miraculam nature, quod
principes est omnium marinarum rerum,
ques rare habentur.”

The first European who described this
famous fruit was the Portuguese Gar-
cia d’Orta (Garcia ab Horto). He was
physician to the Viceroy at Goa for
about thirty years. In this capacity he
found leisure for private study which
he spent in the exploration and des-
cription of the useful plants and drugs
of the country. In 1563 he published
the results of his investigations in his
Coloquios da India,” which were soon
translated into several modern langu-
ages, and into Latin by Clusius in the
year 1567, This work went through
many editions, and it is in the one of
1605 that we read the following account
of the ‘‘Coccus de Maldivia.” This nut,
especially the kernel, are recommended
by the inhabitants of the islands (Mal-
dive Islands) as a remedy against poison.
I have been told by many trustworthy
people that it proved useful in colic,
paralysis, epilepsy, and other nervous
diseases, and that the sick become
immune against other diseases if they
drink water that has been’ kept
in the shell for some time, and to which
has been added a piece of the kernel.
Butas I have no personal -experience I
am not inclined to believe in these
things. I had no time to make experi-
ments, and | prefer to use medicaments
whose virtues are known to me and
shown by experience, as, ée.g., the bezoar
stone, theriac, and many other medicines
than new ones which are less reliable,
because I do not know whether I have
to ascribe to imagination only what
people say about the beneficent effects
of that nut. If, however, in the course
of time, some facts will be verified, I
shall not feel ashamed to change my
opinion. The skin of the nut is black
and smoother than that of the common
Cocoa-nut, mostly ovate and not quite
as round as the common nut. The
kernel or inner pulp is hard and white
when dry, sometimes slightly pallescent,
full of cracks and very porous. The
dose of the kernel] is about 10 grains,
taken in wine or water, according to
the nature of the disease. The nuts
are sometimes very large, sometimes
small, but they are always found thrown
upon the shore. There is, besides, the
common opinion that the Maldive
Islands formed once part of a continent
which by an inundation of the sea
disappeared, those islands alone being
left; the palms, however, that produced
those nuts, were buried underground,
and the nuts themselves became petri-
fied in the way we find them now.

[Jonm, 1910.

Whether those palms belong to the
same genus as our nut is difficult to
say, as nobody up to now was able to
see either the leaves or the stem of
that plant. Only the nuts are washed
ashore, sometimes in pairs, sometimes
single; but nobody is allowed to collect
them on penalty of death, because every-
thing that is carried ashore belongs to
the king. This circumstance has added
a. good deal to the value of these nuts.
The pulp or medulla is then removed
and dried in the same manner as our
‘““Copra,” till it becomes hard like the
one you see in the market, In this con-
dition you might easily mistake it for
cheese.” To this account Clusius adds
the following note: ‘‘I have seen ves-
sels made of this nut in Lisbon as well
as in other places; they are usually
more oblong and darker than those made
of the common Cocoa-nut. You can even
find the dried medulla of the nut in
the market of Lisbon; its virtues are
highly praised, and it is preferred to
almost all other alexipharmics. For
this reason it is sold very dear. But you
can easily gather from our author
how little faith such fabulous virtues
deserve,”

Whilst Garcia d’Orta was staying at
Goa, a Spaniard, Christobal da Costa
(Christophorus a Costa), of the medical
profession, left his home with the only
desireto ‘‘observe and study the various
plants which God had created for the
benefit of the man in the different coun-
tries and provinces.” On his tour he
came to Goa where he met his colleague
Garcia d’Orta. From the personal inter-
course with him as well as from d’Orta’s
book he received most of the informa-
tion which some time after was published
in Spanish and translated into Latin by
Clusius in the year 1572. Regarding the
Sea Coco-nut we read in his book: ‘‘ The,
‘Coceus de Malediva’ is in such high
esteem with the natives of that Island
and with the people of Malabar, not
only with the lower classes but also
with kings and princes, that in all sick-
ness they confide in that fruit as in a
sacred anchor. They make of it drink-
ing cups in which there is a piece of
the kernel hanging from a small chain,
and they are strongly convinced that
whosoever has drunk water from such
a cup, is immune against every poison
and disease. I saw, however, a good
many that drank from those cups and
fell sick nevertheless. In spite of many
careful observations I never noticed that
anybody was cured by such a drink.
Some even assured me that after a
draught from such a cup the spleen and
kidneys got inflamed. The price of
these nuts is, nevertheless, very great,

506

Pa
i Fete
Pee
y Seer

~

Jone, 1910.]

a single nut without any ornaments
being sold for 50 and more gold pieces.”

The fame of the Sea Cocoa-nut was so
great in the 16th century that it founda
place in Camcens’ famous epic (X 136).

“Nas ilhas da Maldiva nace a pranta
No profundo das aguas soberana
Cujo pomo contra o veneno urgente
He tido por antidoto excellente.”

“O’er lone Maldivia’s islets grows

the plant,

Beneath profoundest seas, of sover-
eign might,

Whose pome of evry Theriack is
confest,

By cunning leech of antidotes the
best.” (Burton).

Another account of the Sea Coco-nut
and description of the Maldive Islands we
find in the “‘Itinerario” of John Huyghen
Van Linschoten (1596), who had spent five
years (1584-89) in Goa, and had seen a
great part of Hastern Asia. The follow-
ing quotation is taken from the edition
of the “ Hakluyt Society”: ‘* Right over
against the Cape of Comariin, 60 miles
into the sea westward, the Islands
called Malidyva doe begin, and from this
cape on the north side they lie under
7 degrees, and so reach south-east, till
they come under 3 degrees, on the south
side, which is 140 miles. Some say there
are 11,000 islands, but it is. certainly
known, they cannot be numbered. The
Inhabitants are like the Malabares : some
of these Islands are inhabited, and some
not inhabited, for they are very lowe,
like the countrie of Cochin, Cranagnor,
etc., and some of them are so lowe, that
they are commonlie covered with the
sea: the Malabares say, that those
islands in time past did ioyne past unto
the firme land of Malabar, so that the
Sea in process of tyme hath eaten them
away. There is no merchandize to be
had in them;, but only coquen, which
are Indian nuttes, and cayro which
are the shelles of the same nuts, and
that is the Indian hemp, whereof they
make ropes, cables, and other such
WKen 5) 23. ae ew Chere aresome
of these nuttes in the said Island
that are more esteemed then all the
nuttesin India, forthat they are good
against all poyson, which are varie faire
and great and blackish: I saw some that
were presented unto the viceroy of
India, as great asa vessel of 2 canes
measure, and cost above 800 Pardawen
which were to send unto the King of
Spaine. Of this tree and her fruites, to-
gether with the usage thereof I will dis-
course more at large in the declaring of
the Indian trees and fruits,”

507

Miscellaneous Products.

We are looking in vain for a more
detailed description of the fruit in the
II volume of the Itinerario, where a
great number of plants are described.

The best account of the Maldives
is that by Francois Pyrard who was
shipwrecked there in 1601. His des-
eription contains also the following
short note on the Double-Cocoa-nut:
“The King has, besides his revenues,
certain rights, eg-, everything that is
found on the seashore belongs to the
king, and nobody has the courage to
touch anything of the kind in order to
keep it, but all must bring what they find
to the king, whether it be a piece of a
wrecked ship, pieces of wood, a box or
other things carried to the shore. The
same obtains with regard to a certain
nut which is sometimes washed ashore.
It has the size of a man’s head and can
be compared with two large melons
grown together. People call it Tavar-
carre, and they believe that it comes
from a tree growing at the bottom of
the sea. The Portuguese call it ‘‘ cocoa
des Maldives.” It has medicinal properties
and carries a high price. Very often on
account of this Tavarcarres, the servants
and officers of the kind maltreat a poor
manif heis suspected of having found
such a nut; if somebody wants to take
revenge on his neighbour he accuses him
of having a nut in his possession, in
order that his house may be searched,
and if anybody becomes rich on a sudden
and within a short time people begin to
say that he found a Tavarcarre, as if
this werea great treasure.”

More credulous than Clusius and D’Orta
as regards the wonderful properties
of the Sea Cocoa-nut is Willam Piso, a
Duteh physician, who had _ travelled
in Brazil between 1636 and 1641, and who,
by his writings added considerably to
the scientific knowledge of the West
Indies. He devotes a whole chapter
written in elegant Latin tothe ‘‘ Nux
Medica Maldivensium.” He first of all
excuses himself, because he gives the
figure of the fruit only instead of the
whole plant; but nobody, he says, can
expect the illustration ofa plant which
has been devoured by the sea and
is now growing at a depth of 16
fathoms... The introduction of the chapter
gives a vivid idea of the high esteem
in which the Sea Coco-nut was held
for centuries, and at the same time,
of the way in which scientific subjects
were treated 300 years ago. Itruns as
follows: “Amongst the immense benefits
which the Divine Providence has show-
ered upon mankind during the last cen-
turies, one of the most valuable is the
discovery of so many medicaments deg:

Miscellaneous Products.

tined fo1 the protection of the human
race, because after the welfare of the
soul, the health of the human body takes
the first place. With regard to the in-
vention of the iron machines, of which
our present age is boasting so much, I
should rather say that they are for the
ruin of the nations than for their wel-
fare. Also the art of printing, though
it may be specially fit for the preserva-
tion of the literary monuments, only
favours the bad zeal (kakozelia) of unable
scribblers. Similarly, there is no reason
why weshould be proud of the booty
ot the Aerythrzean Sea or of the gold
mines of the Atlantis, because, accord-
ing to the highminded poet the yellow
metal is more dangerous than the iron.

Jamque nocens ferrum, ferroque no-
centius aurunr

Prodierat ; prodit bellum, quod pugnat
utroque,

(Ovidius Metamorphoses primo.)

But the glory, of the European Argo-
nauts can never be too loudly sung;
they_ have discovered a new continent
which was hidden for centuries, they
have unveiled the secrets of the sea and
shown the way to so many _ islands
scattered in the Indian Ocean. By their
efforts it came out that almost

Omnis ferat omnia tellus,

and that foreign medicaments of high
and rare value were introduced into our
country. Amongst them the Sea Cocoa
nut (Nux Medica Maldiviensis) occupies
the first and foremost rank, whether
We consider its rareness or its prize and

value, or finally its usefulness that was -*

ever praised.”

As to the origin ot the nut Piso gives
two opinions. The common people say
that it grows on trees that are hidden
in the sea, or which were covered with
water at the time of an inundation, or
that had their roots in the water as
their natural medium. The more devout
hold a different view. They believe
that the nut growson an island called
Pallayas, which is invisible to those who
want to tind it, and visible to others
that do not know aboutit. From that
island the nuts are carried away by the
ocean-currents and washed upon the
shores of the Maldives. The inhabitants
of the Maldive Islands believe that
PaJlayas is the happiest of all the coun-
tries of the world, and that the devils
and malicious genii want to hide it be-
fore the eyes of man.

Piso relates that Rudolf II, Emperor
of Germany, offered 4,000 florins for a
Sea Coco-nut, but the family of Wolfered
in whose possession the nut was, was

not inclined to part with it, In the
Maldivian Islands the value of one nut
was estimated at from 60-120 crowns;
but those which measured as much in

breadth as in length were the most

esteemed ; and those which attained a
foot in diameter, were sold for 150
crowns; some kings have even been so
greedy of obtaining these fruits as to
have given a loaded ship for a single
one.

We can easily understand the great
desire of many of becoming the happy
owner of such a nut, if we read the long
catalogue of cases drawn up by Piso, in
which the Nux Medica is said to have
played such an important part in the
restoration of the diseased to their
former health. We cannot refrain from
reproducing in this place for the’ benefit
of the ‘‘sons of Adisculapius” at least two
of the many medical prescriptions which
were believed in and followed in the 16th
and 17th centuries ; —

In Peste et Febribus malignis Contagi-
osis.

Cocci Maldivensis 3).
nundati 37.

Seminis A cetosce
Syrupie succo Granatorum
acidorum, aut Scabiose, aut florum
Tunice, 3), Discordii, Fracastorit 3f.
Decocti radicum Petasitidis, Scordiw et
Scorzonere, aut aquarum Boraginis,
Buglosse q, s. F. Potio.

In dysenteria cruenta, et Torminibus:
facta ante preparatione debita per
Rheum et Clysteres.

Corticis intermedi Nucis Mediccee 3)
(si destt, Medulla aut Putamen vicem
suppleat). Terre Lemnice, Lapidis. Be-
zoartici, Orientalis et Bistorte radicis
ana 3}. Syr. de succo Portulace parum,
and consistentiam, Bol. F. et wnsuper
adjectis requisitis, Conditum, potio, et
sinvilia.

The most complete historical account
of the Sea Coco-nut we find in Rum-
phius (Herbarium Amboinese, VI, 210)
who deseribes the marvellous fruit
under the Dutch name ‘Calappa Laut.”
The stories are fabulous enough, but
in addition to it he tells us, that many
other tales were related to him respect-
ing it, too absurd to be repeated.
The Malay and Chinese sailors used to
affirm that it was born upon a tree deep
under water, which was similar to the
Coco-nut tree, and was visible in placid
bays, upon the coast of Sumatra, but

that if they sought to dive after the

tree, itinstantly disappeared, The Ne-

gro priests declared it grew near the

island of Java, where its leaves and
branches rose above the water, and in
which a monstrous bird, or griffin had —

its habitation, whence it used to salle ae

(A.

~ June, 1910,)

forth nightly, and tear to pieces ele-
phants, tigers, and rhinoceroces with
its beak, the flesh of which it carried
toitsnest. Furthermore they avouched
that ships were attracted by the waves
which surrounded this tree, and there
retained, the mariners falling a prey
to this savage bird, so that the inhabi-

tants of the Indian Archipelago always |

carefully avoided that spot. Rumphius
thinks that the Chinese as well as the
natives of the Archipelago have set,
perhaps, too high a value upon the
medical properties of the nut, consider-
ing it an antidote tc all poisons. The

_ principal virtue resided in the meat or

albumen, which lines the nut, and which
is so hard and corneous, as to be pre-
served for a length of time after the
embryo is destroyed, This substance is
triturated with water in vessels of
porphyry, and mingled with black and
white, or red coral, ebony, and stags’
horns, was all drunk together. The
great men formed of the shell which
possesses fewer medical properties, pre-
cious vessels, cutting off a transverse
slice, which constitutes the lid; in this
they put their tobacco, betel, lime and
whatever else they masticate believing
they can never then be contaminated
by anything noxious.

With the discovery of the Seychelles
in 1743, a new period began for the
Sea Coco-nut, the object of so many
legends and superstitions, Ia Bourdon-
nias was the first to discover the tree on
one of the Seychelles Islands. He called
it ‘Isle of Palms, now known by the
name of ‘‘Praslin.” Later on the tree
was also found on Curieuse and Round
Island. These are within half a mile
of each other, mountainous and rocky.
Plant, the well-known explorer of Port
Natal, tells us in what surroundings this
noble palm is growing; ‘‘ In the Seychel-
les,” hesays, ‘‘I more nearly realized my
preconceived ideas of tropical vegetation
than at any other place;—the beach
fringed with common Coco-nuts; the
ravines and water-courses overhung
with Bananas, Bambovus, the open ground
full of Pineapples—miles of them run
wild; the tops of the mountains covered
with forests of Ebony and Rosewood,
interspersed with Tree-ferns of some
20-30 feet high, and then these glorious

‘ Lodoicess, with their leaves of fifteen

to twenty feet span, and trunks reach-
ing to the sky; to say nothing of the
groves of Cinnamon Cloves and Bread-
fruit, all new to me in this their
natural wildness and beauty.” Harrison
is not less enthusiastic when _ he re-
marks; ‘‘To behold these trees grow-
ing in thousands, close to each other,

09 Miscellaneous Products.

the sexes intermingled; a numerous
offspring starting up on all sides, shel-
tered by the parent plants ;—the old
ones fallen into the sear and yellow leaf
and going fast to decay to make room
for the young trees, presents to the eye
a picture so mild and pleasing, that it is
difficult not to look upon them as
animated subjects, capable of enjoy-
ment, and sensible of their condition.”

Although the tree had been discovered
at last, it still took along time before
it was accurately described, Pierre
Sonnerat gave a description of it, though
nota very scientific one, when on his
tour to New Guinea he landed upon the
Isle des Palmiers (Praslin). He was the
first to introduce the tree into the Isle
of France.

' The description given by Rochon does
net add any new information. It is,
however, interesting to hear, that it
was not uncommon as late as 1759 to see
the nuts sold for upwards of four
hundred pounds sterling each.

After this several botanists described
the palm under different names: Gmelin
called it Cocos maldivica, Giseke, Bor-
assus sonnerati, Commerson, Lodoicea
Callipyge and Cocos maritima, Persoon
Lodowea maldivica. At last La _ Bill-
ardiere was able to give a botanical des-
ecription of it under its present name
Lodoicea séchellarum, to which he added
figures from specimeus preserved in
spirits, together with a representation
of the tree from a drawing made in the
Seychelles Islands by M,. Lilet. The
description is followed by an account of
the uses of the Palm, communicated to
the Museum of Natural History at Paris,
by M, Queau-Quincy, Correspondent et
Administrateur General des _ Isles
Seychelles, The description, however,
was still deficient in many points, and it
was to be expected that a botanist like
W.J. Hooker could find no rest before
he had found out everything about that
interesting tree.

“These accounts of la Billardiere”
he writes in 1827 ‘‘in conjunction with
some nuts that Mr. Barclay and myself
received from our inestimable friend
and correspondent, Charles Telfair,
Esq., of the Mauritius, only served
to stimulate our curiosity; and we
requested Mr. Telfair, to procure, if
possible, either from the palms that
he informed us were cultivated in the
Isle of France, or from the Seychelles
Islands, such specimens as would enable
us to publish more satisfactory delinea-
tions than had yet appeared. The Isle of
France Palms had not yet fructified ; but
Mr. Telfair lost no time in begging his

Miscellaneous Products.

friend J. Harrison, Hsq., of the Seychelles,
to obtain the necessary specimens.
With the utmost promptitude and kind-
ness that gentleman devoted several
days to visiting, with a dozen of blacks,
the Isles of Praslin and Curieuse; and in
the midst of those little known islands,
he not only made drawings from the
living trees, but procured and forwarded
to us, through Mr. Telfair, the male and
female spadices and fruit, in different
states, preserved in spirits, with leaves,
a seedling plant and even a portion of
the trunk. All these, except the fully
ripened fruit, arrived in safety. A per-
fect representation, therefore, of the
mature nut, is still wanting.”

This want has been supplied, in the
meantime, by various botanists, and the
once so mysterious Sea Coconut tree is
as well known as any other plant. We
are not going to give a detailed des-
cription of the tree, as we are only con-
cerned with its history, but we must
mention a few points of interest regard-
ing its life-history and economic uses.

This magnificent palm requires a great
length of time to arrive at maturity.
The shortest period before it puts forth
its flower-buds is 380 years, and 180
years elapse before it attains its full
growth. From the age of 15-25 years
it isin its greatest beauty, the leaveg at
this period being much longer than
they are later on. The stem grows
quite upright, straight as an iron pillar,
and in the male trees frequently attains
a hundred feet in height, the females
being shorter. At the age of thirty it first
puts forth its blossoms, the males form-
ing enormous catkins about 3 ft. in
length, and 3 inches in diameter, while
the females are set on a strong zigzag

stalk, from which hang four or five, or.

sometimes as many as eleven nuts, aver-
aging about 40 lbs. weight each. From
the time of flowering to the maturation
of the fruit, a period of nearly 10 years
elapse, the full size, however, being
attained in about 4 years, at which time
it is soft and full of semi-transparent
jelly-like substance. The arrangements
provided by nature for the roots of this
tree, are cf a most peculiar kind. The
base of the stem is rounded, and fits into
a natural bowl or socket about 25 feet
in diameter and 18 inchesindepth. This
bowl is pierced with hundreds of small
oval holes about the size of a thimble,
with hollow tubes corresponding on the
outside, through which the roots pene-
trate the ground on all sides, never, how-
ever becoming attached to the bowl,
their partial elasticity affording an al-
most imperceptible but very necessary
* play ” tothe parent stem when strugg-

510

_ roofs of houses an

ling against the force of violent gales.
is bowlis of the same substance as
the shell of the nut, only much thicker ;
it rots very slowly, for it has been found
quite perfect and entire in every respect
et years after the tree has been cut
own.

The crown of the trunk, 7.e., the heart
of the leaves is eaten like that of the
American cabbage palm (Oreodoxa regia),
and often preserved in vinegar; but it
is less delicate and slightly bitter. The
trunk itself after being split and cleared
of its soft fibrous part within, serves to
make water troughs, as well as palisades
for surrounding houses and gardens.
The foliage is employed to thatch the
sheds, and even for
the walls. With a hundred leaves a com-
modious dwelling may be constructed,
including even the partitions of the
apartments, the doors and windows.
The down which is attached to the
young leaves serves for filling matt-
resses and pillows. Of the ribs of the
leaves and fibres of the petiole they
make baskets and brooms. The young
foliage affords an excellent material for
huts: for this purpose, the unexpanded
leaves only are taken, dried in the sun,
and cut into longitudinal strips, 2 or 3
lines in breath, which are then plaited.
Of the nut are made vessels of different
forms and uses. When preserved whole
and perforated in one or two places the
shell serves to carry water. Plates,
dishes and drinking cups made of the
nuts are valuable from their great
strength and durability, so that this
kind of utensil in the Seychelles Islands
bears the name of ‘“ Vaiselle de I’Isle
Praslin.” Amongst other articles, shav-
ing dishes, black, beautifully polished,
Bae in silver and carved, are made from
them.

The marvellous medicinal properties
which were ascribed to the nuts by
ancient physicians, both Huropean and
Asiatic, have been recognised as fanci-
ful nowadays and depends solely on
the rarity of thefruit. It is consequent-
ly no longer valued by Europeans but it
is (according to Dymock) still in great
repute among the Arabs and natives of
India as a tonic preservative and alexi-
pharmic. Ainslie relates that in his
time the Vytians occasionally prescribed
the kernel given in woman’s milk in
cases of typhus fever, the dose being ‘‘ a
quarter of a pagoda weight twice daily,”
and adds “it is also reputed antiscor-
butic and antivenereal.” Dymock men-
tions that in Bombay it is prescribed as
a tonic and febrifuge in combination
with Lignum colubrinum (the small
branches of Strychnos colubrina, L.)

June, 1910.)

It is also believed to possess several
other properties. ‘‘ Daryali-naryal” says
S.A. Ravat, ‘‘is corrupted in Bombay
into Jehari-naryal which means ‘ pois-
onous Coconut, and it is believed to
be so by the common people. It
is, however, non-poisonous, and is com-
monly given to children, mixed with
the root of Nux vomica, for colic. It
seems to act mechanically, like Bismuth.”
Rubbed up with water, it is given by
natives to check diarrhoea and vomiting,
especially in cholera. Some believed
that the water of the green fruits or its
soft kernel is antibilious and antacid
when taken after meals.

Itis to be regretted that the tree is not
cultivated, and that a practice has
prevailed of cutting it down in order to
get at the fruit and tender leaves, and
it is to be feared that this will lead to
the extinction of the Sea Coconut, which
will become in reality as rare as it was

supposed to be by the travellers who
picked up the first known specimens of
its nuts floating on the sea.

THE UTILISATION OF
EUCALYPTUS LEAVES.

(From the Indian Trade Journal,
Vol. X1V., No. 177, August 19, 1909.)

There are many places in Australia
where eucalyptus oil is distilled for
medicinal purposes, and there is said to
be an establishment in New South Wales
where acetic acid is an important by-
product in the distillation of the oil. It
is, however, at Fort Esperance—about
fifty miles distant by water from Hobart
—that the eucalyptus oil itself is con-
sidered merely a by-product in the pre-
paration of the more valuable extract
for use in preventing deterioration of
boilers. This extract has the appearance
and consistency of tar when prepared
for export to England. It is shipped
with no more liquid in it than is neces-
sary to prevent caking in the casks en
route, it being thinned, however, on its
arrival. The extract is said to diffuse it-
self through the water of boilers and
cleanse them of any acid, greasy or
saline matter, forming with such delet-
erious ingredients a harmless sediment
which sinks to the bottom, and it pre-
vents any formation of crust round the
water-line. The American Consul at
Hobart says that four tons of eucalyptus
Jeaves will produce one ton of the ex-
tract for boilers, and about seventy or
eighty pounds of eucalyptus oil. Twigs

Sl

Miscellaneous Products.

of the leaves are taken off the trees ir-

respective of the age or height of the
tree, except that old tress are not pre-
ferred owing to the great preponderance
of woody matter. They are placed in
large bags, and, by an iron hook arrange-
ment, are carried down the hill-side
along wires specially strung for their
easy transportation to the mill. The
leaves are for the most part about ten
inches long, and from an inch to an
inch and a half wide. The leaves mostly
used at the establishment referred to
above are taken from an underbrush of
trees in “‘ bush” destroyed by fire about
two years ago. The same trees may be
considered good for another crop of satis-
factory leaves in about three years after
the first leaves have gone to the mill.
The leaves are placed in a large cauldron,
called a digester, and steam is applied
for four hours. During this steaming
the acetic acid in the leaves passes out
as vapour, the eucalyptus oil is carried
by the steam to the condenser, the waste
water being separated by the use ofa
syphon. The residuum in the digester
is then subjected to steam presure, by
means of which the valuable extract is
obtained, being first, however, boiled
down to the consistency of tar. The
woody matter which is left in the
digester after the oil and extract have
been taken out is then removed, and
burned as 1efuse, In order to prevent
the digesters being eaten by the action
of the acetic acid in the leaves they are
painted with the extract before the
leaves are put in and the steam applied.
Some- experiments have recently been
raade at Port Esperance to ascertain if
varieties of eucalyptus leaves, other
than the blue gums, could be used for
the production of both boiler extract
and eucalyptus oil and as a result it
appears that practically every variety
of eucalyptus leaf will furnish the boiler
extract, but that the best quality of
eucalyptus oil by-product is obtained
from the blue gum. The stringy bark
contains more of the extract, but less of
the oil than the blue gum. The local
consumption of eucalyptus oil for medi-
cinal purposes is very large. There are
other uses to which, it is said, eucalyptus

can be put, although there has, as yet,

been no practical demonstration of
such usesin Tasmania. An illuminant,
known as ‘‘gum gas,” can be produced
from the leaves, and is said to give a
bright light. An Australian authority
has estimated that 10,000 feet of gas can
be obtained from a ton of leaves. The
eucalyptus bark is said to contain a
fibre suitable for paper, and eucalyptus
woods are considered valuable for many
purposes,

\

Noa | B12”

PLANT SANITATION,

PLANT DISEASES,
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle,
Vol. XLVII., March 26, 1910.)

So much activity has been devoted
in recent years tothe investigation of
fungal diseases of plants that a new
work from the pen of an authority on
the subject is most welcome.

It is true that we have in this conntry
the treatises by Mr. Massee, which
serve as excellent introductions to the
study of plant diseases; nevertheless,
we have lacked, hitherto, a text-book
which would serve for the student who
has passed beyond the elementary stage,
and is embarking on amore advanced
course. This lack is now supplied by
Professor Duggar’s new volume in the
American Country Life Series.*

The study of plant diseases is, up to
a certain point, so easy and straight-
forward that anyone with a microscope
and a little patience can pursue it.
The spores produced by most parasitic
fungi are of definite shapes, sizes and
patterns, and hence, by comparing their
microscopic appearances with the fig-
ures in the text-books, the several pests
may be identified. But the trouble
begins when the fungus suspected of
causing mischief is not in the sporing
stage. Then, to all but the specialist,
the work of identification is well-nigh
hopeless, unless means are at hand for
keeping the fungus alive under such
conditions as are calculated to induce
it to form its teli-tale spores.

Hence the student will be particularly
grateful to Professor Duggar for having
given, in the first part of his book,
instructions for the cultivation of fungi
in the laboratory. As he points out,
the application of bacteriological me-
thods to the cultivation of parasitic
fungi is of the highest importance, Nor
are these methods difficult of applica-
tion; with the help provided by Pro-
fessor Duggar’s book, an_ intelligent
student may carry his studies beyond
the more empirical stage, which con-
sists in the ‘‘running down” of tungi,
to a stage in which he is able to con-
trol their cultivation and thus gain an
insight into their peculiar modes of life.

So importantis it that parasitic fungi
should be studied in this manuer, that

* Fungous Diseases of Plants, by B. M, Dug-
ar, Professor of Plant Physiology in the
ew York State College of Agriculture,
Cornell University. (Genn & Co., pp. 508.
Illustrated. $2°00.

we could have wished that. Professor

Duggar had dealt with ‘ methods”
even yet more fully. The information
given in the seven chapters which make
up Part I (on Culture Methods and
Technique) is sound, and includes me-
thods of isolation, preparation of pure
cultures, and the technique of micros-
copical preparations.

Part II. consists of descriptions of
parasitic fungi and of the methods
whereby they may he kept in check.

The perusal of this work demonstrates.

at once its excellence and the very
primitive state of our knowledge with
respect to preventive methods. The
references to original memoirs, given
at the head of each chapter, should
prove of considerable service to the
student, and must also give him—if,
perchance. he is a native of this country
—some food for reflection. For although
one of the pioneers of plant pathology
was the British botanist, Berkeley, of
recent years, with three or four dis-
tinguished exceptions, our botanists
appear to have almost deserted this
field of investigation.

This is the more unintelligible, since
not only may a study of fungal dis-
eases lead to advances of the greatest
practical importance, but it is bound
also to advance botanical secienee no
less considerably.

It is hardly an exaggeration to say
that our only method of coping with
these agents of plant diseases is that
of spraying; but spraying. important
as is undoubtedly is, cannot be the last
word of advice of science to the prac-
tical man.

Truth to tell, the etiology of plant
diseases remains in large measure for
the future to discover. New methods
are required. The enormous progress
made in the combating of human dis-
eases—progress which a few years ago
the pessimist would have pronounced
im possible—encourages us to entertain
the conviction that new modes of at-
tacks on funyal pests will be devised.

Is it too much to hope that some of
the botanical laboratories of this country
will take up, methodically, this pro-
mising line of research? In it science
and practice meet, and have much
ground in 2ommon. :

But though our perusal of Professor

Duggat’s book has suggested to us how

Plant Sanitation, —

much remains to be done, it also, as
we have said, indicates how remark-
able has been the progress in some
directions in the unravelling of com-
plex life histories of parasitic fungi,
such, for instance, as the rusts.

513

[JUNE, 1910,

It is indeed a graceful.act of repara-
tion that the country which has sup-
plied us with so many mischievous
pests should now come to our aid so
successfully in the work of mitigating
the evils for which they are responsible,

LIVE STOCK.

THE DIGESTIBILITY OF PRICKLY
PEAR WHEN FED TO CATTLE.

(Agricultural News, VII. 168,
October, 1908.)

A pamphlet has lately been issued by
the United States Department of Agri-
culture (Bulletin 106 of the Bureau of
Animal Industry) containing a detailed
report on a lengthy series of experiments
conducted at the College of Agriculture,
New Mexico, in order to test the diges-
tibility of the cacti known as‘ prickly
pear’ (Opuntia spp.) when fed, both alone
ea conjunction with other foods, to
cattle.

Previous bulletins issued by the Depart-
ment have given analyses showing the
chemical composition of a large number
of cacti, including prickly pear, but
since the value of a material as a food is
not determined solely by its composition,
it is necessary also to know the percent-
age digestibility of the nutrients found
present by the chemist.

The mode in which the digestion ex-
periments are conducted is simple. First
the animal is fed on the feeding stuff for
afew days until all other feeds have
been removed from the alimentary canal.
The animal is then, under suitable con-
ditions, fed with a weighed amount of
the feeding stuff, the composition of
which is determined by analysis. All
the liquid and solid excreta is collected,
weighed, and analysed, and the amount
of nutrients it is found to contain is sub-
tracted from the amount of the corres-
ponding nutrients fed. In this way the
percentage of each constituent digested
is ascertained. —

The following were among the conclu-
sions arrived at as a result of the experi-
ments :—

The average digestibility of the nutri-
tive constituents of prickly pear (Opuntia
spp.), fed alone, were: dry matter, from
63°96 to 65°86 per cent. ; ash, 33°68 to 35:81
per cent. ; albuminoids, 40°87 to 57-47 per
cent. ; fat, 68°38 to 69:02 per cent. ; carbo-
hydrates (starches, sugars, ete.), 78°95
to 81°78 per cent-, and fibre, 41°32 to 53:99
per cent,

65

Compared with ordinary green fodder
foods, it may be said that the above
figures show a somewhat low digestiblity
for the albuminoids of prickly pear, a
very low digestibility for the ash, buta
very good digestibility for the carbo-
hydrates. Taken altogether, the digesti-
bility of the various constituents is
about the same as that of immature
green maize fodder.

When prickly pear is fed with well-
cured fodder, as hay for instance, or
oats, cotton-seed meal, etc., the digesti-
bility of both materials isincreased. In
these cases the prickly pear has a greater
food value than the above figures would
seem to indicate,

The albuminoid ratio, i.e., the ratio of
albuminous, or nitrogenous constituents
to carbohydrates, is very low in prickly
pear. Hence, much better results will
always be obtained when itis fed with
some food rich in nitrogenous con-

epuecate, as pea, or bean, or cotton-seed
meal.

It is suggested that a satisfactory
ration for milch cows would consist of
50 lb. of chopped prickly pear, 5 lb. of
cotton-seed meal, and a small amount of
rough cured fodder, as hay or straw,

BEE-KHEPING IN CEYLON.

As to the productiveness of the indige-
nous hee (memessa) under the _ best
system of culture, the data available are
very limited ; but there can be no doubt
that the indigenous bee is sufficiently
productive to be remunerative, The
Italian bee is probably better—it is
certainly easier to handle and can be
subdued with a single puff of smoke,
but beekeeping started with the indige-
nous_bee can be readily extended to
the Italian or any other foreign variety.
Thanks to Mr. Shanks, the chief engi-
neer of the Harbour Department, who
is the Pioneer in this matter, the Italian
bee has been successfully introduced
and will probably spread to all parts
of the Island. As to the quality of the
honey and wax produced by the local
bee and the imported bee there should

JUNE, 1910,]

hardly be any difference. The extracted
honey of the local bee sells very readily
at Re. 1/- a hottle or more, Native
doctors prefer the meemessa honey to
any other in their medicines. The
absence of suitable honey plants is the
chief diffizulty in the successful rearing
of introduced bees which, for this reason,
have to be artificially fed during the
greater part of the year. The intro-
duction of such plants is, therefore, one
of the ways in which the industry
could be fostered. The Ceylon Agri-
cultural Society has done something in
the direction by encouraging the grow-
ing of buck-wheat and introducing log-
wood. An effort should be made, if
possible, to select such plants as will
produce good fodder or other produce
and at the same time serve the purpose
of bee plants.

Beyond material profit, the intelligent
bee-keeper is rewarded by the intellec-
tual pleasure he derives from the phe-
nomena of bee life, for on those who
keep bees the pursuit exercises a
fascination few persons can resist.
carding the fanciful writings on the
economy of the hive, there is still in-
finite interest to be found in it:—the
sanitary precautions, the foresight, the
division of labour, the courageous self-
sacrifice for the common good, the un-
tiring industry and vigilance of the
workers, the great regard towards the
mother queen (the ruling monarch), and
last but not least the extraordinary
unity.

By the use of the Benton cage the
transport of queens by post, and by
means of a nucleus hive of small stocks,
is rendered possible. In this way queens
or stocks are supplied by apiarists who
make a special business of breeding.

As a rule bees vary in appearance with
age—young bees are more hairy and when
they are just hatched their hair is so
light that they havea powdered appear-
ance. Old bees generally lose much of
their hair, and the abdomen may be
almost bare and shining. Very young
bees are slower in their modvements
and cannot fly, so that if shaken on the

514

Dis-'

* oy ij

e jie
Live Stock.

ground they cannot rise again, and in
this way they often get lost. Young
bees are less likely to sting when han-
dled and they receive a strange queen or
workers readily where old bees would
destroy the former and enter into deadly
conflict with the latter.

The number of bees iu a hive differs
widely with the stock, some being better
than others; andit varies with the season
and the prolificness of the queen. For
want of a natural good supply or owing
to incessaut rain, a weak stock may he
reduced to afew hundred bees; a strong
stock at the height of the honey flow
may contain 50,000 or more. However,
the number of bees in a hive cannot
be ascertained until they are counted,
and no local bee-keeper appears to have
done so yet. Stocks of Apis indica ad-
mit of being made very strong by arti-
ficial feeding. The number of drones
may reach thousands if the bees are
left. to themselves; it varies with the -
age of the queen and should usually
be from a few hundreds: up to a couple
of thousands during the hot season.
Expert opinion is that workers live only
seven or eight weeks in a moderate
working season and less when hard
working, those living through the in-
active season live longer than during a
honey fiow. I have known workers to’
live over five months in a queenless
colony. Naturally drones are hatched
during the swarming season and des-
troyed or worried out of the hive when
the swarming is at an end. The per-
formance of the sexual function causes
death of the individual drone. In a
queenless colony, however, drones are
tolerated all throughout. Observation
of the treatment of the drones affords
the bee-keeper. valuable information as
to the condition of the colony and to
some extent the honeysupply- Queens
normally live several years; they have
been known to lay weil up to four
or five years of age, and a queen is
supposed to be at her best in her
second year.

A. P. GOONATILAKRE.
Veyangoda, Ilth February, 1910.

515

(JuNnH, 1910.

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE.

THE MULCH.
(From the Planters’ Chronicle, Vol. V.,
No. 18, April 1909.)

The motto of modern agronomists
should be, ‘‘Tilth, mulch and microbes.”
The most important of these may be
microbes, but mulch is a very big word,
and one of the greatest of factors in
plant economy,

If there is one fundamental principle
of plant cultivation that is neglected
more than any other, it is unquestion-
ably the artificial protection of roots
from heat and dryness dangers.

Tilth has to do with all the major
operations of soil manipulation. Mic-
robes, under favourable conditions,
attend to the oxidation, nitrification,
and other chemical transformations
which put crude organic substances into
the plant food form ; indirectly with the
acids ‘‘set free” (sic) by the decompo-
sition of humus, and possibly by their
own toxins and excretory products, they
are also concerned with ‘the break-
down” and solution of the mineral
elements themselves.

To give these microbes a ‘‘square deal,”
in other words, to keep the soil surface
fresh’ and moist, and at a more or less
even peEPonute: to prevent wind-
drying and sun-burning, to give the
root-hairs on the feeding roots a chance
to take their liquid nourishment in com-
fort and abundance, we must mulch.

It is sad fact that a small per cent. of
the producers of vegetable products
know, or even care to know, the prime
functions and qualities of plant roots,
that the very large majority of planters,
and even horticulturists, do not use
mulches. It is sad because it means an
unnecessary and unconscionable loss of
probably about 16 per cent. of the
normal production of the world’s cultiv-
ated crops. And, putting the total
annual value of all merchantable pro-
ducts of cultivated plants at about
£5,000,000,000, doubtless as an under-
estimate, the loss from the non-mulch
system of the majority of agronomists

isa matter of some £800,000,000, at least. ,

It may be argued that this is not lost,
that it is ‘‘ left in the ground ;” but this
point needs no reply, it merely asks the
question whether a forest soil would
outlast a bare soil. Now that the modern
farmer has found out that the chemical
analysis of soils is a farce, that an array
of digits and decimals has but little to
do with fertility, that the plant knows
more about it than the test-tube, and

that chemical fertilisers are not plant
foods, a big step forward has been made.
But as to the subterranean battlefield
where living matter must meet and try
to devour the cold, dead grains of
one-time rocks—there the question of
economy and ecology are left to fight
it out. Bacteria and toxins, colloids and
enzymes, antibodies, acids, a medley
microcosm, all somewhat affected by
each, and all more or less successful in
breaking down the mineral material into
stuff that plants can make their ashes
(skeletons) with; these factors, though
plainly demanding both air and moisture
that the good work may goon, are only
too frequently neglected in toto; the
meaning of the battle, the armies,
the weapons, and even the results, are
grievously ignored by the average agri-
culturist.

One-half of the £8,000,000 lost yearly
through ignorance and carelessness in
attending to crop roots would not only
pay for all the Government agricultural
appropriations and all the scientific in-
struction along all the lines of theoreti-
cal and applied agronomy in the whole
world, but would keep for five years a
mulch expertin every farming district,
in every country, and establish, on five
years subsidies, 1,000 well-equipped insti-
tutions for plant growth investigations.

Until recent years the art of farming
was ahead of the science; the planter
did “thus and so” because certain
methods were generally followed with
good results. To-day the science, though
only glimpsing the new light on
the high points of modern agriculture’s
broad domain, is soaring above and
beyond the mere art of plant produc-
tion. Tobesure in some branches of
horticulture the art seems more devel-
oped than the science; but even there
the scientific foundation and framework
is being gradually demonstrated. The
future oleraculturist will investigate
the idiosyncrasy and inherited Mendel-
ian characters of each variety before he
puts it out on a large seale. The viti-
culturists’ sons will keep an eye on their
“cultures” in the hard-by laboratory.

_A square deal for the roots! Protec-
tion from their enemies, the venomous
grass-root excretions (that can make
even a lusty orange-tree sick and choke
the vigour out of the best stand of
maize), the burning rays of the sun, the
deadly soil surface dryness, decent bed
and board, i.¢e., tilth and humus: give
them these, and there will certainly be

JUNE, 1910.]

an increase of hundreds of millions of
solid cash which the planters will have
to spend.

lf mulching were an expensive affair
or difficult, there will be more sympathy
for the Josers. But the dust mulch is of
the simplest preparation; the straw, or
leaf blanket is, except for the grain
crops, almost always possible and pro-
fitable, the live mulch, or ‘“ cover crop,”
is the tripie-action modern implement
which the farmer is beginning to wield
very successfully in the soil-food-man
war. If roots were only outside, on the
top where the easy-going, well-meaning,
farmer could see them and note their
symptoms and understand them! But,
of course, being stuck into the ground,
they are just anchors or props, and
therefore their comfort— under the even
coolness and moistness of a mulch where
the microbes can multiply and the
humus business hum—their very exis-
tence is practically forgotten.

Once on a cacao plantation belonging
to one of the well-known English firms
the manager ordered a labourer from
the dank, insanitary recesses of the
sodden ‘‘field” to demonstrate to me
the good old way of “forking” the
surface soil. After an embarrassing
quart de minute, the perplexed fellow
said, ‘‘I can’t boss; I got no cutlas.”
Such things seem incredible, of course,
but one can see only too commonly, the
root-murdering method in actual prac-
tice just as one may see grass knee-high
in coconut nurseries, or scorching hot
white sand between the nearly half
exposed nuts, which have an wnac-
counted for habit of dying, or at least
sulking for years.

To suggest a leguminous live mulch to
the more advanced class of agriculturist
is to meet with the objection that—
‘‘¢there is only enough moisture, to say
nothing of food,in the ground for the
primary crop, and, besides, the blanket
erop would hardly give back its own
seed.” ‘

The vertical forking method, to let in
air and food and break the clamminess
of clayey or silty ‘‘packed” soils, which
was first put before the Agricultural
Society of Trinidad and Tobagoin 1907,
was hailed with gladness by perhaps
half-a-dozen cacao planters and put into
immediate, if but transitory, practice...
Give a coconut, orange, tea, or coffee,
estate manager a live mulch plant to
keep down the grass and weeds and to
freshen and enrich the surface soil, then
hear him explain that he has long-stand-

516

: > awe pe ee.
Scientific Agricultur

ing orders to make “ not les’ than three
general cleanings per annum,” and they ~
must be made on a very generous scale
under pain of the suspicious proprietors ’
criticism.

a

AN AMERICAN METHOD OF
DEVELOPING AGRICULTURE.

(from the Journal of the Board of Agri-
culture, Vol. XVII., No. 1, April 1910).
Great efforts are made by the agri-

cultural colleges in the United States to

attract and interest famers in their
work. One method, which seems to be
inereasingly popular, is to bring instrue-

tion to the farmer’s door by the use of a

special train, from which lectures are

given at wayside stations. An instance
of the use ofa trainin this way was
mentioned inthis Journal in July last

(p. 828), and a similar, but somewht novel,

form of giving instruction has recently

been tried in Indiana.

The train was supplied without charge
by the Erie Railway Company for the
Agricultural Experiment Station of
Purdue University, Lafayette, which
provided the lecturers and exhibits.

The train was composed of three
coaches and a double side door horse and
carriage car. Lectures of 45 minutes’
duration each were given at the stations
where the train stopped. The lectures
were givenin the coaches, which had
been fitted up with charts by the
University ; and the horse and carriage
car contained three cows for demon-
stration purposes.

After a lecture of 30 minutes had been
delivered a 15-minute demonstration was
given in regard to the cows. When the
people had assembled on the platform,
one of the doors of the car in which the
cows were kept was thrown open, and
two Jerseys wereshown to the spectators.
The general run of the demonstration —
lecture was as follows :--

‘“‘Here you see two Jersey cows. Can
anyone say off-hand which is the better ?
The first cow cost about £10 per annum
to feed. She produced £11. 10s. worth of
milk or £11 15s. worth of butter fat, so
you had about 385s. profit per annum -
for the pieasure of milking her twice a
day. The second cow, another Jersey, is
a better producer, and gave £19 worth
of milk. This cow also cost £10 per
annum to feed, but she showed a much
larger profit. We get at the value of
these cows by record. Kvery farmer
should keepa record of his cows, the
same as every other business man does

Scientific Agriculture: -

of his business and manufacturin g costs,
The record is the only way to get at the
value of cows for dairy purposes.”

Pamphlets were then handed round
explaining the importance of milk
records,.and the Jecturer continued :—

“There are over 600,000 cows in the
State of Indiana. One third of them are
of the same type as the first cow shown,
so that about 200,000 cows in this State
are producing practically no profit at
all, These Jersey cows-are more suitable
for a district where butter is made. You
have the great Chicago market for fresh
milk before you, and you should see to
it that you get cows that will produce
plenty of milk.”

The second door was then thrown Gpen
and a Holstein cow shown, the lecturer
continuing :—

‘*This is a Holstein cow. She cost £2
more per annum to feed than the Jersey
cow, or £12, She produced butter fat
valued at £17 or milk valued at £38,
The milk trom a Jersey cow contains a
larger percentage of butter fat, but the
Holstein is the milk producer for this
fresh milk district. This cow, by record,
produces over 1,100 gallons of milk per
apnum, or about ten times her own
weight.”

From 50 to 200 farmers were present at
every station.

At an evening meeting the Railway
Industrial Commissioner of Hrie, who
had accompanied the train, said that he
had noticeda wonderful change in the
interest taken by these farmers in this
train, compared with that taken by
them in the first train on milk -produc-
tion, some three years ago. Even when
a similar train for improving maize
growing went through last spring a
great many farmers were too shy to go
into the coaches, but this time as soon as
the train arrived at the station the
tarmers rushed into the coaches and
took a lively interest in the whole matter.

“These trains are provided by the
railway companies with the object of
developing the agriculture of the district
through which their lines run. In this
particular case, the railroad company
were endeavouring to pro.aote the trade
in fresh milk for the Chicago market, by
encouraging farmers to keep cows for
milk production rather than for butter,

NITRO-BACTERINE.

By T, PETCH, B.A., B.SC.

“Tt was mentioned in the Heeleaka
Report for 1908 that the results which
were obtained from the inoculation of

517 [Jonp, 1910,

the seeds of leguminous green crops
with nitro-bacterine previous to use were
not such as to warrant any definite
recommendations as toits use. In plot
experiments inoculated seed certainly
grew better than untreated seed, but
this was not the case in the majority
of field experiments. Discrepancies in
the results obtained were probably due
to differences in the nature of the soil
ov which the experiments were made,
for this has an important bearing on the
subject. It seems desirable, therefore,
to renew investigations in this direction
with a view to determining whether on
certain soils inoculation of green-crop
seeds with nitro-bacterine is likely to be
economically profitable.” The foregoing
is quoted from the Programme of the
Scientific Department of the Indian Tea
Association for 1910, Similar> experi-
ments, it is understood, have been
carried out in Ceylon, but details have
not been published.

The course of these experiments is
usually the same. Seed is inoculated
according to the directions, and in some
cases a control plot is sown with unin-
oculated seed at the same time. If the
inoculated plot shows an advantage,
that is attributed to the‘ acticn of the
bitro-bacterine. [fit does not, the failure
is attributed to some factor in the soil;
often the expianation is given that the
soil is so rich in nodule-forming bacteria
that the nitro-bactrine does not sensibly
inerease theiz number.

But such experiments, as a rule, omit
the most essential detail. Few of the ex-
periments would use chemical fertilisers
without having first obtained a com-
plete analysis, giving the percentage of
each constituent to two places of deci-
mals. Andeven if such analysis were
supplied by the vendor, and the mixture
was not liable to change, they would
obtain a check analysis. Yet nitro-
bacterine, though it presumably con-
tains living organisms liable to injury
or death, is accepted and used without
any bacteriological analysis.

This point has not been overlooked in
HKurope. Nitro-bacterine has been tested
for two successive years at each of two
agricultural stations in Germany. In
addition to the usual inoculations and
crop tests, a bacteriological analysis of
the mixture has been made at the same
time by competent bacteriologists, ac-
customed to isolating and identifying
nodule-forming bacteria. The result of
the analysis has been the same in all
cases, viz: that nitro-bacterine does not
contain any wnodule-forming bacteria,
Similar work has been done in Italy with
exactly the same result.

Jung, 1910.]

Nitro-bacterine, therefore, falls into
the same category as Moore’s cultures
of nodule-forming bacteria. The latter
were dried on cotton wool, and distri-
buted by the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture many yeats ago. But the distri-
bution was abandoned, because it was
impossible to preserve the bacteria in
that way, and therefore the cultures
were valueless. When nodule-forming
bacteria are dried they die, and for that
reason nitro-bacterine cannot contain
any.

ARTIFICIAL MANURKS.

(From the Madras Agricultural
Calendar, 1909.)

Plants remove certain mineral sub-
stances from the soil which they utilise
as food, and itis upon the presence of
these substances that the fertility of a
soil largely depends. The amount of
them in the soil is limited, and sooner or
later, if no provision is made to replace
those removed by the crops, the residual
amount of one or moreis insufficient for
the needs of the plants, and impover-
ished crops result. The supply of plant-
food in the soil is kept up by adding
farm-yard manure or artificial fertilizers
or by green-manuring, etc.

Unlike farm-yard manure which sup-
plies all the different kinds of plant-food
required in the soil, artificial manures
supply only one or at most two of these
substances, and it is necessary to make a
judicious selection in order to correct
the deficiencies in the seil. For example,
the application of phosphate to a soil in
need of potash would merely result in
loss to the cultivator.

Many artificial manures are lable to
be washed out of the soil by rain or irri-
gation water,and others are destroyed
by the action of micro-organisims, so
that there is great danger of loss if more
is supplied to the soil than is _nevessary.
Only that portion of the fertilizer which
is recovered in the crops is of value, and
the residue must necessarily remain until
the next cropison the ground, repre-
senting so much capital which returns
no interest. Under these circumstances,
the object to be aimed at in applying
artificial manures is to supply sufficient
food to the soil to satisfy the require-
ments of the succeeding crop only. In
other words it is to feed the crop and
not to enrich the soil. A well-chosen
artificial fertilizer should act promptly
and decisively on the crop to which it is
applied.

Artificial fertilizers are spoken of as
either ‘slow.’ or ‘‘ quick” acting, accord-

~ . ‘gi

Note *, ? re ee ees eh
» at - re
Pt aie

518 . Scientific Agricuture,

ing tothe length of time over which
their effect is felt by succeeding crops.
Thus superphosphate is quick-acting and
its effects are chiefly felt by the crop—
immediately following the application,
but bone-mealis a slow-acting manure
asitonly gradually becomes available
as plant-food aad its effects are felt over
several successive years. In this con-
nection it must be remembered that the
same amount of plant-food applied in
the form of superphosphate or bone-meal
hasonly the same total effects on the
crops, and that with bone-meal the only
difference being that in the case of bone-
meal it is spread over a number of years,
during which the capital represented by
itis bringing bo return and much loss
may occur.

Considerable skill is required in the
application of artificial manures both as
regards time and method, but in this the
properties of the fertilizer may be taken
as a safe guide. The easily soluble
quick-acting manures are preferably
applied when there is a prospect of a
vigorously growing crop to make use of
them. For example, nitrate of soda
should never be applied until there is a
crop on the ground, as there is great
danger of its being washed out of the
soil. Thesame applies to ammoniacal
fertilizers, for, although the soil hasa
strong retentive power for it, itis soon
converted into nitrate aod washed out.
The fact that soil retains ammonia make
the application of this preferable to
nitrate for wet lands and in wet
weather.

Pkosphatic and potassic fertilizers are
retained by the soil and their time of
application may be determined by
their convenience ; superphosphate, for
example, iscommonly drilled in with the
seed or broadcasted the same day as
sowing. Slow-acting manures like bones,
basic slag, etce., may be applied many
months before sowing.

On light open soils possessing little-
retentive power it is better to use
slightly soluble manures in preference to
soluble manures which would easily be
washed out.

Artificial manures do not provide any
organic matter for the formation of

humus and consequently in soils natur-~

ally poor in this constituent, like many
Indian soils, long continued applications
of them lead to a reduction of the humus
and a ccnsequent alteration of the con-
dition of the soil. This change may
have serious effects on subsequent crop-
pings. Undoubtedly the best method to
use artificial manures is in conjunction

with bulky organic substances such as ©

| Scientifie Agriculture.

farm-yard manures and poonacs or to-
gether with the practice of green-
manuring.

Knough has been said to show that
the question of the application of
suitable artificial manure to cultivated
land is by no means a simple one, and
moreover certain crops show a prefer-
ence or dislike for special manures.
Any cultivator who is wishful to use
artificial manures on his crops is able to

519

(JUNE, 1910,

obtain the advice gratis of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture either by communi-
cating with the Director or with the
Deputy Directors. Any samples of
manure, it forwarded by cultivators to
the Agricultural Chemist, will be ana-
lysed free of any charge and reported
upon.

W. H. HARRISON,

Agricultural Chemist, Coimbatore.

AGRICULTURAL FINANCE AND CO-OPERATION.

THE AGRICULTURAL BANK AOT
OF THE PHILIPPINE GOVERN-
MENT, 1908.

(First Philippine Legislature, Special
Session, A. B, No. 240.)

No, 1865.—An Act creating a Govern-
ment Agricultural Bank ot the Philip-
pine Islands and appropriating for funds
thereof the sum of one million pesos.*

By authority of the United States,
be it enacted by the Philippine Legis-
lature, that:

Section 1. An agricultural banking
corporation, to be knownas the “ Agri-
eultural Bank of the Philippine Govern-
ment,” is hereby created and established,
with its principal office and place of
business in the city of Manila.

Sec. 2. The sum of one million pesos
is hereby appropriated out of any of
the general funds of the Insular Trea-
sury not otherwise appropriated, as and
for the capital of said bank.

Sec. 3, The Agricultural Bank of the
Philippine Government is herevy autho-
rized to receive deposits of funds of
provinces, municipalities, the Postal
Savings Bank, societies, corporations,
ard private persons, and the Postal
Savings Bank, and provincial and muni-
cipal governments are hereby autho-
rized to make such deposits. Interest
to be paid by said bank on deposits
so made shall not exceed four per
centum per annum.

Sec. 4. The affairs and business of
said bank shall be administered by a
board of directors, composed of the
Secretary of Finance and Justice, and
in his absence or in the case of his
disability the Acting Secretary of Fi-
nance and Justice, the Insular Treasurer,
and in his absence or in the case of
his disability the Acting Insular Trea-

* Re, 1,500,000,

surer, and three citizens of the Philip-
pine Islands, or of the United States,
resident within the Philippine Islands,
who shall be appointed by the Gov-
ernor-General by and with the advice
and consent of the Philippine Commis-
sion. The Secretary of Finance and
Justice and in his absence or in case
of his disability the Acting Secretary
of Finance and Justice shall be ex-officio
president of the board of directors.
Three members of the board of directors
shall constitute a quorum at any meeting
thereof.

See. 5. The Insular Treasurer and
in his absence or in case of his dis-
ability the Acting Insular Treasurer
shall be the manager ot said bank, and
shall perform the duties of his office in
accordance with this Act and the by-
laws of said bank duly adopted as
hereinafter provided.

The official bond of the Insular Trea-
surer, and in his absence or in case of
his disability that of the Acting Insular
Treasurer shall be liable for the faithful
performance of the duties of such Insular
Treasurer or Acting Insular Treasurer
when acting as manager of said bank,

Sec. 6. With the approval of the
Governor-General, the Insular Treasurer
is authorized to constitute provincial
and municipal treasurers agents of said
bank, and they shall render such services
in the operation of said bank as may be
required of them by the Insular Trea-
surer. When constituted agents of
said bank, provincial and municipal trea-
surers are charged with official responsi-
bility, and their bonds shall be liable for
the faithful performance of their duties
as such agents and for the safekeeping
and accounting for any money or pro-
perty of said bank confided to their
custody.

The Governor-General may, on request
of the board of directors of said bank or
of the manager thereof, require any

JUNE, 1910.)

officer or employee of the Government
to perform any service or render any
assistance to said bank which he, the
said Governor-General may deem proper.

Subject to the Civil Service Act and
rules and the ‘by-laws of said bank, the
manager of the bank is authorized to
appoint such other personnel as may be
necessarily required for the proper oper-
ation of said bank. The personnel so
appointed by the manager of said bank
shall perform the duties and shall receive
the salaries prescribed in the by-laws.

Sec. 7. The Attorney-General shall be
the legal adviser of said bank, and shall
render such legal services to said bank
as may be required of him by the
manager of said bank or by the board of
directors thereof. In the performance
of his duties, the Attorney-General is
authorized to require such services from
the provincial fiscals as to him may seem
best in the interest of said bank.

See. 8 The board of directors is
empowered to adopt such by-laws not in
conflict with this Act, as may be proper
for the prudent and successful operation
of said bank, and to amend or repeal the
same: Provided, That such by-laws, or
any amendment or repeal thereof, shall
not take effect until the same shall have
received the approval of the Governor-
General,

See. 9. The members of the board of
directors, appointed as such by the
Governor-General, shall each receive for
each day of meeting of the board actually
attended the sum of ten pesos.

Sec. 10. The bank may make loans
only for the payment or satisfaction of
incumbrances on agricultural lands, for
the construction of drainage and irriga-
tion works, and for the purchase of
fertilizers, agricultural seeds, machinery,
implemeuts, and animals, to be used
exclusively by the borrower for agri-
cultural purposes, and no loan shall be
made by said bank to any person or
corporation not engaged in agricultural
pursuits.

See. 11. No loan shall be made except
upon resolution of the board of directors.
No person or corporation shall be per-
mitted to borrow less than fifty pesos
nor more than twenty-five thousand
pesos: Provided, however, That fifty per
centum of the capital of said bank shall
be set apart for loans of not more than
five thousand pesos to aby One person or
corporation.

Sec. 12. No loan shall be made except,
(a) Upon the security of a first mort-
gage on unincumbered,improved urban
property or upon unincumbered agri-
cultural land, not to exceed torty per

centum of the value thereof. No loan
shall be made unless the Attorney-
General shall have certified and the
board of directors shall be satisfied that
the real estate offered as security for the
loan is free from all incumbrances, and
that the title thereto isin the mortgagor.
All mortgages shall contain a covenant
requiring the mortgagor to insure for
the benefit of the mortgagee all buildings
of strong materials on the property to
the amount of their value as fixed by
the board of directors.

(b) Upon the security cf a chattel mort-
gage to the bank on crops already
harvested, gathered, and stored: Pro-
vided, however, That no loan on the
security of such crops so harvested,
gathered, and stored as aforesaid shall
exceed forty per centum of the market
value thereof onthe date of the loan.
The property mortgaged shall be insured
by the mortgagor for the benefit of the
mortgagee to the full amount of the
loan.

See. 18. All mortgages on real propert
and chattel mortgages on harvested,
gathered, and stored crops shall be
registered with the register of deeds in
the jurisdiction where situate, and it
shall be the duty of the _ registrar
of deeds to indorse on such real or
chattel mortgage, and on his record
thereof, the.date and hour of. its
reception, and such registration with
the registrar of deeds of such real or
chattel mortgage shall be notice to
all the world of the lien created by such
mortgage and of the terms and conditions
thereof, The expenses of registration
shall be paid by the borrower.

Sec. 14. The bank shall not exact more
than ten per centum per annum on any.
loan made by it.

See, 15. Loans shall not be made fora
period exceeding ten years, and may be
made payable in instalments as the
board of directors may determine in
each case. -

Sec. 16. No fee or charge of any

kind whatsoever by way of commission
shall be exacted or paid for granting or

obtaining loans, and any official of the ~
bank exacting, demanding, or receiving
any fee for service in obtaining a loan or —

for the use of his influence to obtain a

loan shall be punished by imprisonment

for not less than one year nor more than
five years, in the discretion of the court.

Sec, 17. Within one year after fore-

closure sale of property has been accom- —

plished the mortgagor of the property
shall have the right to redeem said

property from the bank upon payment —
of the amount found due by the court —

- Junn, 1910,|

in the decree of foreclosure with interest
thereon at the rate specified in the
mortgage, together with all costs incur-
red by the bank by reason of the fore-
closure and sale and the care of the
property. é

Sec. 18. The Agricultural banking cor-
poration provided for in this Ast shall
have the general powers mentioned in
section thirteen of ‘‘The Corporation
Law,” which are not in.conflict or incon-
sistent with the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 19, Allacts or parts of Acts in-
consistent with the provisions of this
Act are hereby repealed.

See. 20. This Act shall take effect on
July first, ninteen hundred and eight.

Enacted, June 18, 1908.

By-LAWS OF THE AGRICULTURAL BANK
OF THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT,

See. 1. The principal office and place
of business of the Agricultural Bank of
the Philippine Government shall be in
the office of the Insular Treasurer at
Manila.

See. 2. The banking hours shall be
such hours as shall be fixed by the
manager.

See. 3, Vhe seal of the Agricultural
Bank shall be the seal adopted for the
use of the Government of the Philippine
Islands, with the additional words
‘* Agricultural Bank ” engraved thereon.

BoARD OF DIRECTORS.

Sec. 4. The board of directors, unless
notified to the contrary, shall hold a
meeting every Monday morning at nine
o'clock at the principal office of the
bank. Special meetings may be called
by direction of the president.

Sec. 5. The board of directors shall
appoint a secretary who shall attend all
meetings of the board, and shall perform
such other duties as may be _ pres-
cribed by the by-laws.

Sec. 6. No member of the board of
directors shall borrow from the bank,
nor shall any member act upon any
loan in which any relation or business
associate is interested.

Sec. 7. No liability shall attach to
any member of the board by reason of
any loss which the bank may suffer
through erroneous appraisement of pro-
perty, depreciation in value thereof, or
fraud either of borrowers or agents of
the bank.

Sec. 8. It shall be the duty of the
board of directors, whenever an appli-
cation for loan is submitted toit by the

66

1 and Co-operation.

manager with all the necessary inform-
ation, to take action thereon within two
weeks from the date of submission.

See. 9. The board of directors shall
observe the following order of business
at its meetings :

1. Reading of the minutes of the
previous meeting and action thereon,

2. Unfinished business.

3. Reports of committees.

4. Reports of the manager
bank,

5. Applications for loans and action
thereon.

6. New business,
7. Adjournment.

This order of business may be changed
at any meeting of the board upon the
unanimous consent of all members
present.

See. 10. The minutes of all meetings
ot the board of directors shall be signed
by the president and attested by the
secretary, and be entered in the per-
manent book of records kept for such
purposes.

Sec. 11. It shall be the duty of the
board of directors to make an annual
report concerning the operations of the
bank, examine the accounts and reports
submitted by the manager of the bank,
and to approve or disapprove same; to
examine into and pass upon all recom-
mendations of the manager forthe wel-
fare of the bank, to provide for and
regulate the expenditures and expenses
of the bank, and to provide for the
examination of the accounts, and the
auditing of the accounts at least once in
every month.

PRESIDENT.

Sec. 12. It shall be the duty of the
president to preside at all regular meet-
ings of the board of directors; to sign all
minutes of the meetings of the board,
and to direct the secretary to call such
special meetings as may be necessary,
and in the absence of specific action of
the board of directors, to give such in-
structions to the manager of the bank as
may be necessary to further the interests
of the bank.

of the

MANAGER,

See. 18. The manager shall exercise
a general supervision and control over all
affairs of the bank, under the direction
of the board of directors; shall have the
control of the personnel, and shall be
charged with the keeping of the records
and accounts of the bank; shall execute
all necessary documents pertaining to
the sale or transfer of real estate, release
of mortgages; or for any purpose neces-

Agricultural Finance

sary to carry out the acts authorized
by the board of directors. He shall con-
trol all the real estate and improvements
on property which may come into the
possession of the bank by foreclosure or
otherwise, and shall be charged with the
safe-keeping of securities, mortgages,
bonds, moneys, and so forth, pertaining
to the bank, He shall render such
reports to the board of directors at such
time and in such manner as they may
prescribe, He shall make recommend-
ations to the board of directors relative
tothe management of the bank as he
shall deem necessary, and in the absence
of specific directions of the board of
directors or the president may take such
action to protect and further the in-
terests of the bank as he may deem
essential, which action shall be reported
at the next meeting of the board of
directors, taking place thereafter. He
shall instruct the agents and employees
of the bank in their respective duties
and prescribe such rules and regulations
for the proper conduct of the business
as appears necessary. He shall forward
to the board of directors all complete
applications for loans, with his recom-
mendations thereon. He shall prescribe
the method of book-keeping and account-
ing to be used by the bank in all of its
branches, subject to the approval of the
board of directors.

AGENTS.

Sec. 14. Provincial and municipal
treasurers acting as agents for the bank
shall be responsible directly to the
manager of the bank, and shall render
any accounts or statements called for by
him, and shall keep such books and
records as he shall prescribe.

See. 15. Provincial and muncipal
treasurers, whenever they have been
constituted agents of the Agricultural
Bank under the provisions of section six,
Act Numbered Highteen hundred and
sixty-five, may be authorized by resolu-
tion of the board of directors to receive
deposits for the bank either on time or
in open account.

SECRETARY.

Sec. 16. It shall be the duty of the
secretary to keep the minutes of the
meatings of the board of directors and
to have the custody of all the records of
said board. He shall be the custodian
of the seal of the bank, and shall affix
the same to all documents signed by the
president or manager, which, in the
opinion of the president o1 manager,
or by law, require the seal. He shall
perform such other duties as may be
prescribed by the manager of the bank.

522

‘et tee

¢

LOANS.

Sec. 17. All loans from the Agricul-
tural Bank shall bear interest at the
rate of ten per centum per annum, pay-
able at least once a year, to be computed
from the date of payment by the bank
to borrower to the date of repayment of
the loan to the bank. All loans shall be
in multiples of fifty pesos. Loans of
ten thousand pesos or more but less
than twenty thousand pesos shall re-
quire the affirmative vote, or subsequent
approval of the resolution, of four mem-
bers of the board of directors. Loans of
more than twenty thousand pesos shall
require the affirmative vote, or subse-
quent approval of the resolution, of all
members of the board of directors. ~

DEPOSITS.

See. 18. Time deposits will not be re-
ceived in amounts of less than fifty
pesos.

Sec. 19. Interest on time deposits shall
be paid as follows :—

For six months, at the rate of two and
one-half per centum per annum.

For one year or longer, at the rate of
three and one-half per centum per
annum.

See. 20. Time deposits shall be evid-
enced by certificates of deposit, which
shall be signed in Manila by the mana-
ger of the bank and in the provinces
by the agent of the bank.

Certificates of deposit shall be negoti-
able and the interest thereon shall be
payable at the office of the bank were
deposited, on the date of the expiration
of time shown on the certificate and
unless renewed, interest will cease from
said date.

Sec. 21. Deposits in open
shall be signed by the agent of the bank
in the provinces and returned to the
depositor, the other copy to be preserved
with the records of the bank. Depos-
itors shall also be furnished pass books.

No original deposit shall be received
of less than five pesos.

WITHDRAWAL OF DEPOSITS.

See. 22. The bank may permit the
withdrawal of fixed deposits at auy time
on the surrender ot the certificate of
deposit, properly indorsed: Provided,
That no interest shall be paid unless the

deposit remains the full length of the.

time for which the certificate is issued.

Sec, 23. Any portion of a deposit in
open account may be withdrawn by
check, properly signed by the depositor.
Blank checks shall be furnished by the
bank on request.

[Jonn, 1910, —
mi ye

account ~

ak
i a oe

“

—

JUNE, 1910.)
MORTGAGE.

See, 24. All mortgages guaranteeing
loans shall be made in such form as
required by the manager of the bank,
with the approval of the board of direc:
tors. All mortgages shall contain among
others the stipulation that funds ad-
vanced thereunder shall be used solely
for the purpose therein designated, that
the mortgagor shall pay the taxes, and
any failure or neglect to so use the funds
or to otherwise observe the explicit
terms of the mortgage agreement, will
work a forteiture of the mortgages and
terminate the periods of loans as express-
ed in the mortgage, resulting in fore-
closure proceedings or any other action
on behalt of the manager of the bank
thatmay become necessary to protect the
interests of the bank. Whenever in the
opinion of the manager of the bank such
a course is advisable, the mortgage shall
contain a provision that the principal of
the loan secured by the mortgage may
be retained by the bank and paid out
from time to time as the expense for
which the loan is made falls due, or as
the money is required for the purpose
for which the loan is made.

See, 25. Upon the breach of any mort-
gage condition which shall become
known to any officer or employee of the
bank, it shall be the duty of said officer
‘ or employee to report to his immediate
superior, who shall take immediate
action to notify the manager of the
bank, who shall take such action as he
may deem necessary to protect the
interests of the bank.

INSURANCE.

Sec. 26. Prior to the advance of any
money on a loan by the manager of the
bank, the borrower shall deliver to the
proper officer of the bank an insurance
policy against fire, covering the build-
ings, improvements, or stored crops, as
the case may be, which are offered as
security for the money, in such amounts
as are required by the board of directors.
If the borrower neglects to pay the
premium on insurance on the property
mortgaged, the bank may pay such
premium and the amount so paid be
chargeable to the borrower.

APPRAISEMENT OF PROPERTY.

Sec. 27. Before any loan is granted
by the board of directors, the property
shall be appraised. The manager of the
bank may, before submission of the
loan to the board, have the property
offered as security appraised by a com-
mittee, the members of which shall be
appointed by him, and who shall in no
way be associated with the applicant for
the loan, and shall be acquainted with

523

and Co-operation.

the property valuations in the locality
where the property is situated. Said
committee shall certify under oath that
they have a knowledge of the property
offered as security and that they believe
the actual cash value thereof as stated
by them is just and reasonable and the
condition of the property is such as to
warrant a loan of the amount stated in
the application, or such amount as they
may determine.

PERSONNEL.

Sec. 28. The personnel of the bank
shall consist of a secretary who shall not
receive more than four thousand pesos
per annum.

Manila, September 22, 1908,
Approved as provided by section 8,
Act No. 1865 of the Philippine Legis-

lature,
JAMES F, SMITH.
Governor-General.

REGULATIONS,
(Agricultural Bank of the Philippine
Government, 1909.)

All officers and employees of the pro-
vincial agencies of the Agricultural
Bank of the Philippine Government are
governed by the provisions of Act No.
1865 creating the bank, Acts, amenda-
tory thereof and by the by-laws adopt-
od py. the Board of Directors of the

ank,

The following regulations are promul-
gated for the information and guidance
of all officers and employees of agencies
of the Agricultural Bank of the Philip-
pine Government and strict compliance
therewith is requested.

REPORTS.

1. Immediately upon balancing the
books at the close of business on the
last business day of each week, a re-
port on Form No. 13 shall be made out
and mailed to the Manager at Manila.
This report should show; (a) The total
of all deposits made during the week,
(b) the total of all withdrawals made
during the week, (c) the total amount
remaining on deposit in the Agency at
the time the report is made, (d)) the
number of new accounts opened during
the week, (e) The number of accounts
closed during the week, and (f) The
number of active accounts on the books
at the time of making the report.

2. Immediately upon balancing the
books at the close of business on the
last business day of each calendar
month, a report on Form No, 13 shall

Agricultural Finance

be made out and mailed, giving the
same information for the month as the
Weekly Report gives for the week.

LoaNs, PAYMENT OF INTEREST
AND PRINCIPAL.

3. When it is more convenient for a
borrower from the bank to pay the
interest on his loan to an agency, in-
stead of to the main office, he will be
directed to do so, and the agency is
authorized to receive and receipt for
the same.

4. Interest paid into an agency
should be remitted to the main office
of the bank at Manila, at the close of
business on the day collected. Forms
of receipts and remittance blanks will
be furnished all agencies by the bank.

5, Payments on the principal of loans
may he paid, collected, and remitted
the same as interest.

6. All loans will be made from the
main office, but applications therefor
may be left at any agency for forward-
ing to the Manila office.

CHECKS AND CHECK Books.

7. A record of all check books issued
shall be kept, showing the dates sold,
the name of the depositor to whom
sold, and the inclusive numbers of the
checks contained therein.

8, All blank checks will be furnished
to depositors by the bank and checks
or orders drawn on any other form
than that supplied by the bank will
not be honored.

9. No blank checks shall be furnished
by one depositor to another, and the
agency will refuse to honor a check
signed by any one other than the de-
positor to whom the blank check of
that number was originally issued.

10. Only such qvantity of blank
checks as the activity of the depositor’s
account warrants, shall be issued at
one time and the quantity so issued
should be such as to supply the depos-
itor for approximately thirty days:
Provided, that not less than one book,
or the unused portion of a book re-
turned by some other deposito1 (after
the stubs of used checks are removed),
shall be issued.

11. Checks on the bank may be made

66 to
but

(See Regulations 16, 17 and 18.) It is
suggested that the use of checks payable
to bearer” be discouraged in every
possible way:

524

12. A depositor’s account should
always be consulted before a check drawn
against it is paid or certified.

CERTIFIED CHECKS,

13. Checks may be certified by agents
when such checks are desired for purely
provincial purposes, or for use in pay-
ment of custom duties, taxes, etc., and
when so certified may beused through-
out the province in which the agency is
located. However, where the practice
of certifying checks interferes with the
sale of demand drafts or telegraphic
transfers, certification will not be per-
mitted. When acheck is certified, the
amount thereof shall be immediately
charged to the drawer’s account. (See
Regulation No. 22).

SIGNATURE CARDS.

14, The signature of each depositor
shall be obtained at the time he makes
his initial deposit with the bank, upon
the signature cards furnished, which
cards shall be permanently retained in
the files of the Bank.

PAID CHECKS.
15, Paid checks shall not be returned
to the drawers but shall be permanently
retained by the Bank.

INDORSEMENT.
16. All indorsements ou checks must

be dated the day the indorsement is .

written, and when check books are issued
to depositors this requirement should
be impressed upon them. (See Regula-
tion No. 11.)

17. Two witnesses shall be required
to an indorsement by mark, the address
of each witness to be stated on the check.
This is the practice followed by the
Insular Treasury and all commercial
banks. In cases where an indorsement
consists of Chinese or Moro characters,
one witness may be accepted to such
indorsement, provided all parties are
known personally by the bank officials ;
otherwise two witnesses shall be required
with the address of each stated.

18. When checks are made payable to
the order of a firm, corporation, company,
or co-partnership, the indorser for any
one of them should be required to
submit, and permanently file with the
agency, evidence of authority to indorse
for and on behalf uf the firm, corporation,
company or co-partnership concerned.
The same rule shall be followed in cases
where one individual indorses for and on
behalf of another.

BANKING HOURS.

19. Agents should establish and main-
tain regular banking hours for transact-

' ing business with the public,

(Sonn, 1910,

Junn, 1910.)

20. Each day, after the close of busi-
ness with the public, all the accounts of
the bank shall be posted and balanced.

MISCELLANEOUS.

21. The Insular Auditor has no super-
vision over the accounts of the bank
except in so faras may be necessary to
obtain information concerning the pro-
vincial treasurer’s cash accountability as
provincial treasurer.

22. Demand drafts and telegraphic
transfers will not be sold by, the Bank
or any of its agencies; but this business
will continue to be done by the pro-
vincial treasurers as heretofore, under
Act No. 1686. (See regulation No. 13).

525

©

and Co-operation.

23. No funds will be received on in-
terest-bearing time-deposit until the
agency is authorized to do so by the
Manager,

24, All deposits and withdrawals made
by a depositor during a day should be
entered in one sum on the proper side of
the cash book at the close of business
each day, and then posted to the de-
positor’s account in the ledger.

25. No information concerning a de-
positor’s transactions with the bank
shall be furnished to any person by any
officer or employee thereof; and any
officer or employee of the bank violating
this regulation shall be removed from
the service.

MISCELLANEOUS.

THE SAIDAPETH AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE AND FARM.

By C. BENSON, M.R.A.C.,

Late Deputy Director of Agriculture,
Madras.

(From the Agricultural Journal of
India, Vol. 1V., Pt. IV., October 1909.)

This Institution has now, after a
chequered existence of over forty years,
been closed. Its history is connected
with the work of the Agricultural De-
‘pirtment of Madras and the earlier
effcrts of Government towards Agri-
cultural improvement, Some account
of its early days may, therefore, not
be without interest. Its work was then
alluded to as typical of what should
be done in India in the cause of agri-
cultural advancement, and visitors came
from all parts of India to consult its
Superintendent, Mr. W. R. Robertson,
M.R.A.C. The history of this farm will
afford enlightenment on various points
connected with the correct establish-
ment of Government farms.

In 1863 the then Governor, Sir William
Dennison, drew attention to the prac-
tice of cropping without rotation, to
deficient manuring, to the extensive use
of cattle manure as fuel and to defective
implements and cattle. He suggested
the importation of improved agricul-
tural implements, and accordingly a
steam plough, a variety of smaller
ploughs, harrows, cultivators, seed-drills,
horse-hoes, threshing machines, win-

nowers, chaff-cutters, waterlifts, ete.,
were obtained from England.

About this time the Collector of Madras
(Chingleput) started a ‘‘Model Farm”
of about 350 acres at Saidapeth which
had recently become Government. pro-

_perty, ‘‘partly with aview to demon-

strate the value of the new implements
to the satisfaction of the ryot and to
remove native doubts as to the advant-
ages derivable from them, partly to
test various manures, partly to exhibit
an improved system of agriculture.”
These views were endorsed by the then
Secretary of State, who expressed a
hope for ‘a continuance of this interest
in a question so closely allied to the
welfare of the people.”

The management of the farm was
first entrusted to a Committee of gentle-
men interested in the work who placed
a Superintendent in charge on Rs. 75
a month. The post of Superintendent
changed hands tour timesin the first
two years, and as this was highly un-
satisfactory, the Committee decided to
get from England ona salary of Rs. 200
a month “a highly educated farmer,
acquainted with agricultural chemistry
and machinery and possessed of a

_ thorough practical knowledge of all

farming operations, and the manage-
ment of cattie, sheep, etc.” But the man
obtained turned out “ to be an ordinary
farmer, without any scientific education,
wedded to his wn ideas and opinions,
and carried on the business of the farm
just as he thought proper, with very
little regard to the instructions given
him.” After eleven months’ trial, the
Managing Committee found him unfit

7 - a es =
526 [Jonm, 1910,

Miscellaneous.

for the post and had to make temporary
arengements again for carrying on the
work,

In November, 1868, the late Mr. W. R.
Robertson arrived to take up the post
of Superintendent. The Committee soon
found that he was ‘exactly the man
they wanted,” and from that time for-
ward, the work at Saidapeth was Mr.
Robertson’s work. In 13871 the Manag-
ing Committee ceased to exist, and the
general supervision of attempts towards
the advancement of agriculture in
Madras was entrusted to the Local
Board of Revenue, and the actual
management to Mr. Robertson. About
this time, and largely as a result of
the efforts of Mr. Robertson; the Go-
vernment of Lord Napier resolved on
a comprehensive scheme for starting
experimental farms in various parts of
the Presidency. This scheme is only
now, 85 years later, being put into effect,
but that Mr. Robertson’s work was
appreciated is shown by the fact that
in 1878, the Government of India, in the
course of a general review, recognised
that in Madras there was already a
Department of Agriculture, and held
. that its expansion was impeded mainly
._ by want of funds.

As a preparation for the study of
Indian agriculture, Mr. Robertson had
the advantage of experience among
Irish peasant cultivators, but in his first
eight years in India he was greatly
handicapped by the fact that he had
no opportunity of making himself ac-
quainted with agricultural practices and
conditions in Madrasas a whole, while
the site of the farm at Saidapeth had
been unfortunately selected in a locality
which did not represent any ordinary
agricultural conditions in the Presidency.
Geologically the soils are derived from
alluvial deposits, probably estuarine,
and their ‘‘ general character is that
of pure, or nearly pure, silicious sands,”
though beds of black clay occur below
the surface, and in one or two places
they crop out on the farm, whilst a
ridge of metamorphic rocks runs through
the southern portion of the estate and
crops out in twoor three places. This
ridge has a considerable influence on
the underground water-supply derived
from the Adyar river which bounds
the estate on the south and on the east
where it is tidal and salt. The soils
are deficient in the power of absorbing
and retaining moisture, and on wetting
they decrease in bulk considerably, and
when they again dry, they become very
hard, especially at the surface. Their
composition is shown in the following
analysis ;—

Field No. 1*
Surface soil.

Field No. 4* ,
Surfsce soil, Sub-soil.
per cent. per cent,

Const tuents
per cent.

Alumina oes oe 3°24 4°12 2°060

Oxide ofiron ... 4 1°35 1:80 2°900

Phosphate of lime .. O12 0°24 0°009
Caibonate of lime ... 0°31 0°70 0°560
Carbonate of magnesia Trace Trace Trace
Sulphate of lime ‘race Trace Trace
Chlorides.. ee mae 0°90 1°08 0°720
Organic matter.. ee 2°12 2°50 1°740
Moisture ... ose an 2°09 2°76 1°420

Sand 89°87 85:90 90°400

These fields represent some of the
best of the land on the estate, and
_there the outcrop of the estuarine clay
considerably influences the character of
the soil, and the ‘‘sand” found is ex-
tremely fine in texture. The greater
part of the estate is thus described by
Dr. Voelcker: ‘‘It has a poor hungry
sandy soil, and the land is little better
than a great sand-hill” and “ought
never to have been selected.”

In 1871 the site of the farm was con-

demned by General Cotton who had
taken a prominent part in the selection
of the implements originally brought
out, and who as early as 1868 had pressed
on the Government of Madras the neces-
sity for a special department to be en-
trusted with agricultural improvement
“in all parts of the country,” so that
Government should ‘‘not be depend-
ent upon the scanty leisure or casual
half-hearted efforts of untrained persons,
whether Collectors or their delegates.”
The main grounds of his indictment
of the farm were that ‘neither the
extent nor the variety of soil render
it sufficiently typical for a Central
Farm, nor were the irrigation facilities
such as to enable the great questions

of the value and use of water to be.

properly asked and answered”; but
Mr. Robertson who at that time anti-
cipated the early start of the above-
mentioned scheme of district experi-
mental farms defended the retention
of Saidapeth mainly, it is believed, for
its nearness to the head-quarters of
Government, and his defence was ac-
cepted.

In the early days of the farm a great
deal of attention was devoted to im-
plements and machines. In their very
first report the Committee remarked
that though their trials had been in-
complete, they had proved, on the whole,
highly satisfactory and led them ‘to
hope that ryots of this Presideney would
soon learn that the extensive use of
English implements and machinery in
the cultivation of the land was certain

* These field numbers are those used in
the map published in the ‘‘ Records of the
Saidapeth Farm,” 1885; they were altered
later on,

“in noes

JUNE, 1910,]

to be attended with great advantage.”
In this they were mistaken. With
ploughs the early experience was unsatis-
factory. A windmill with throw pumps
was also tried and failed ; for in the still
season of the year it was almost useless.
A bucket pump (by Burgess and Key)
was, however, tried with better result,
and figures were published to show that
it lifted water at scarcely one-third the
cost involved in using the picotta. For
chaff-cutters a demand soon sprung up,
and one of the winnowers imported was
said to be much applauded. In 1866-67, a
steaming apparatus for preparing cattle
food was imported, but its later history
is not clear, though a story regarding it
is worth recording. One day one of the
numerous amateur authorities on agri-
culture who was visiting the farm, on
seeing it, remarked: ‘‘Oh! I see! A
steam plough !”

Until Mr. Robertson arrived, the trials
of implements, etc., were not at all
systematic. Neitherin those days nor
for long after was any real attempt
made to test indigenous implements
thoroughly. Soon after his arrival the
farm had begun to manufacture imple-
ments, etc,, and a number of implements
and tools had been sold in various parts
of the Presidency. At the sametime, a
special grant was made to enable the
Superintendent to import implements
and machines from abroad to meet local
demands. Mr. Robertson then reported
that ‘‘ we have now facilities to experi-
ment with a view to determine the
shape and description of implements
best suited to the circumstances of the
Indian ryolt, and last but not least, we
can prove to the Indian cultivator that
his local smith and carpenter can make
up and repair any of our most useful
implements:” The implement to which
special attention was given was_ the
plough, andaform was evolved which
had considerable advantages. At the
same time, a leaning towards American
styles became general, and imports from
that country were frequent, especially
of chaff-cutters and maize-hullers. Of
these machines, as well as of a number
of waterlitts, including a bucket-pump
driven by a steam engine, trials were
recorded in 1870, and it was then that the
Double-Mhote, to which Mr. Robertson
became greatly devoted, was
mentioned, and the data then recorded
as to the cost of lifting water, though
slightly modified by him in respect of
the Double-Mhote, remained those of
reference on the subject until Mr.
Chatterton’s trials* of 25 years later.

* Vide Bulletin No. 32 of the Madras Agricultural
Department, dated 1905-06.

527°

first:

Miscellaneous.

Speaking generally, it was to waterlifts
and especially ploughs that attention
was thereafter directed at Saidapeth,
but notwithstanding the many advant-
ages of ploughs of Kuropean type, they
have not still come into general use. In
later years several private firms spent
considerable sums in endeavours to push
the trade in such ploughs, There is,
however, one exception to this, and that
is the introduction from Saidapeth in
the late seventies, largely owing to the
etforts of the late Sabapathy Moodelliar,
of the heavy iron ploughs now so gener-
ally used in the Bellary and Anantapur
Districts tor breaking up black cotton
soil which is infested with the grass
kundara nattu (Ischemum pilosum)*.

But itis not necessary to follow the
work done at Saidapeth in respect of
implements and machinery further, and
I may turn to other matters that early
received attention. In the first report
there is mention of trials of Lucerne, of
which the Committee was not hopeful;
of guinea grass, of whichitis said that
it ‘‘is very hardy, easily cultivated and
propagated, and yields frequent cut-
tings”—an opinion amply justified by
later experience ; of Chinese sugarcane,
with which not much success was then
attained; and of English clover, with
which there was such success that the
Committee proposed to get more seed
and theseed of Italian rye grass also,
In the next year, there were trials of
several kinds of exotic tobacco, which
were said to have grown well, but of
which I have not been able to find any

further record; of ‘‘French honey-
suckle” and Maltese Lucerne, which
both apparently failed; and of the

Carob bean, some trees of which I can
remember as still standing and bearing
small thin pods ten years later. The
year 1867-68 was notable for several
‘‘unauthorised” experiments by the
Superintendent, amongst which were the
sowing of wheat and field peas and also
for the commencement of growing maize
which later became a regular crop on
the farm; whilst in this year a field was

. laid downin grass with Hariali (Cynodon

dactylon), During these years the chief
native crops grown were sorghum and
horse-gram (Dolichos biflorus), and with
these fair success was attained. In
1869-70 attention, so far as crops are
concerned, was directed to these last
two crops with special reference to their

* Ploughs for the same work have only recently
been adopted in Dharwar, Vide Lecture by Mr,
H. 8, Lawrence, before the Royal Society of Arts,
January 1908. Dharwar adjoins Bellary on the
west,

- Mr. Robertson alludes,

Miscellaneous, 45

use as fodder crops, and special papers
were prepared and published by the then
Superintendent on these matters, as
well as another on the growth of Caro-
lina paddy. Maize continued to demand
attention, and the reports show that
Italian rye grass, German beet-root and
mangel-wurzel were grown—but con-
demned; it is also worth noting that
amongst other
_erops which he tried for fodder, to the
wild indigo (ZYephrosia purpurea) of
which he remarked that the sheep were
very fond, and said that he had selected
some seed from wild plants, ‘‘and hoped
that by cultivation after two or three
generations, it will become a useful
plant.”

It was also about this time that atten-
tion was first given to the raising of
fodder crops, and this was a necessity
from the fact that a considerable flock
of sheep was maintained on the farm,
It had been started at the opening of
the farm, on a basis of Coimbatore and
Salem ewes which were crossed with a
half-bred Coimbatore- Merino ram, whilst
at the same date two Southdown rams
were purchased in England, only one
of which reached Madras alive. In the
next year, Mysore sheep were added to
the flock, and some Patna rams were
obtained and used, but in 1869, Mr,
Robertson pointed out that the flock,
although His Excellency the Governor
allowed free grazing in his park at
Guindy, was far too large, and contain-
ed only acomparatively small propor-
tion of sheep that were worth keeping.
He then began a system of breeding
after selection. In the previous year,
some attention was given to the fatten-
ing of sheep, and in 1869 several experi-
ments in this line were begun; whilst
in 1869-70 there were experiments in
feeding cattle alsu. Pigs had been kept
from the first, and though the Commit-
tee at one time doubted the advisability
of continuing to breed them, they after-
wards changed their minds and increased
the stock with a view to the sale of
sucking pigs and young porkers. Rab-
bits and poultry were also kept, and of
the latter for many years there were”
continual new importations of good
stock from Australia and England.
Much of this work was altogether be-
side the question and was only rendered

ossible by the peculiar situation of
Saidapeth close to a large town like
Madras; but the experiments in feeding
cattle, though primarily intended to test
the fattening value of fodders, etc.,
are of some interest, as they rare, I
believe, the only tests that have been
made in India of the feeding value of
local produce.

a eS ae 2 eee “=
~ <i 23 Se sae
[JUNE,

It should be mentioned also that ata
very early date the feasibility and utility

of the “‘ box system” of housing cattle

was clearly demunstrated there and, as
Mr. Robertson remarked in 1870, ‘‘ there
can be no reason why working and
young cattle should not be kept in loose
boxes at night, and there is no better
or more economical way of making
manure than under the loose box system.
On sanitary grounds alone, the system is
worth general adoption.” Further ex-
perience has only confirmed the justness
of these conclusions.

In 1871 a new departure was made by
dissolving the Committee. Insubmitting
the last report its President, Mr. (after-
wards Sir William) Robinson, whose in-
fluence in later developments was very
great, fully reviewed the work in a
letter worthy of study. From this time
onwards the work of the farm was
greatly concerned with implements,
especially ploughs and with fodder
crops.

When the scheme for district farms
was formulated by Government in 1871,
the primary difficulty was the provision
of competent Superintendents, and a
class of apprentices was formed to
supply these. For training such men
the Agricultural College was eventually
established on the Saidapeth Farm.
Meanwhile the superintendent was pro-
vided with two Assistants. Of the
latter [I was one, and the other was
recruited direct from Germany by Sir
William Robinson. We were intended to
relieve Mr. Rcbertson at head-quarters,
but before this was possible the Agri-
cultural College had commenced work
in October, 1876. The scheme of train-
ing was far too complicated and elabor-
ate. whilst no proper provision was
made for the teaching staff—though Mr.
Robertson proposed the appointment to
the staff of an Agricultural Chemist, a
Botanist and a Veterinary Surgeon, both
for sGientific investigation and for pro-
fessorial duties—the idea being that in-
struction in veterinary science should be
given at the College. And though the
idea under which the College was started
was undoubtedly correct—it is now
being given effect to in all Provinces—
the fact that provision for experimen-
tal enquiry in all parts of the country

dropped largely out of sight was, per-.

haps, the real cause of the failure of
the institution. ;

A few years later, there came the

establishment of the Agricultural De-
partments (or Land Records Depart-
ments), and there Mr. Robertson was
not. provided witha post. The College

Ae

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caf
a
e

*

was handed over to the Educational] —

RM EM aR! erat ay Mate one net te Nh ge MAE we Bah yt BRS as Oe
ar ad yas “s *
7 wet” 4 : ;

529 Miscellaneous.

JUNE, 1910.]
Department, and the farm was for a
short time retained under the Agricul-
tural Department as a temporary seed
and cattle depdt. In 1885 the latter
connection was finally broken up, and
about half the old farm estate was
attached to the College for teaching
purposes, and the remainder was dis-
tributed for various public purposes.

With the history of Saidapeth for
the last 25 years I have had no inti-
mate connection, but I have tried to
give here a sketch of what was done
in connection with what was one of the
earliest, if not absolutely the earliest,
persistent efforts made in India towards
the development of a sound method or
policy in the matter ot agricultural im-
provement and to which effort may
easily be traced much of recent de-
velopment in the direction. I think
that it will be admitted that on the
whole the Saidapeth Farm did useful
work as the pioneer of agricultural work
which we all hope will now be more
persistent.

CO-OPERATION FOR SMALL
HOLDERS.

(From the Journal of the Board of
Agriculture, Vol. XV., No. 8.)

The following paper on Co-operation
was read by Mr. EH. J. Cheney, one of
the small Holdings Commissioners, at
the Conference of Representatives of
Local Authorities convened by the
President of the Board ot Agriculture
and Fisheries, and held in London on
Wednesday, 7th October, 1908 :—

‘“T am honoured by being asked to
introduce the subject of co-operation to
your notice thig afternoon, and, having
regard to the limited time at our disposal
and to the impossibility of dealing
adequately with a subject of such im-
portance in the course of a few brief
remarks, [ propose to omit the usual
statistics and references to the progress
which co-operation has made on the
continent of Hurope, and to confine my
observations to a few salient facts in
regard to co-operation as it affects the
small holdings movement.

‘“‘Before proceeding further, I should
like to emphasise the fact, to which the
President referred at a meeting at
Norwich on Saturday last, that there
are two separate and distinct branches
of the farming, market gardening and
fruit-growing industries:—(1) The pro-
ductive ; (2) the distributive.

‘*At the present time the grower or
producer attempts to deal with both
branches of this business himself, and

67

fails entirely to realise that they are
very much more separate and distinct
than he is disposed to imagine. The
first requires an agricultural training,
and the second a business or commercial
training. I fear the large majority of
the farmers of this country do not
appreciate in the least what a very
distinct line of demarcation there is
between thetwo, and, however well
qualitied they may be with regard to
the productive side, they havea very
great deal indeed to learn with regard -
to the distribucive side. The truth of
this must be patent to everyone, if it is
considered what a wide commercial
knowledge and experience is required
before a man is considered competent to
conduct a large merchant’s or trader’s
business with any prospect of success,
and yetthe farmer, with no commercial
knowledge at al) in the strict sense of
the term, considers that he can compete
on equal terms with men who are head
and shoulders above him in their know-
ledge and experience of their own parti-
cular branch of trade.

‘*Now, the only way in which farmers
can get over this difficulty is by forming
themselves into powerful agricultural
co-operative societies, and by employing
a staff of expert managers tc look after
the trading side of their business. This
has been done with great success in
Norfolk and Suffolk, where a large
society exists, managed by an elected
committee of thirty of the leading agri-
culturists of the two ccunties in con-
juuction with a competent staff of
experts. By this means the two branches
of the farmers’ business are combined.

‘Now, if it is necessary for the large
farmers to combine in order that their
business may be conducted to the best
advautage, how much more is it neces-
sary that the small holders should do so,
and so be in a position to buy their re-
quirements and market their produce on
the best terms possible? The small man
will be too busy to attend markets or to
study them, all his time will be occupied
in tending his crops and his stock, mar-
keting must be left more or less to
chance, a few flooded markets may
cause his ruin, and unless the small men
will form themselves into local societies
the development of the small holdirgs
movement will be hampered very seri-
ously indeed.

“To my mind, and I do not speak
without experience, the co-operative
movement should be developed upon
the following lines :—

“Firstly, there should be one large

society fora county or group of coun-
ties ;

lay
-

Miscellaneous.

“* Secondly, there should be small local
societies, affiliated to the large one;

and

“Thirdly, there should be a central
bureau or intelligence department, where
the managers and representatives of the
large societies could meet to discuss
questions of policy and of contracts
and to organise an interchange of trade
and the marketing of produce.

‘An attempt is being made at the
present time to promote joint action
between the agricultural co-operative
organisations of England, Scotland and
Ireland, and if the fact is, realised and
accepted that the central body must
not be a trading body but a central
bureau or intelligence department, it
willbe of the greatest assistance possi-
ble, and will help considerably the agri-
cultural co-operative movement gener-
ally. It could be run, too, without im-
posing any tax, either openly or other-
wise, on the trade of the _ societies
affiliated to it.

“Under a system of the kind the small
man would be placed on equal terms for
trading purposes with the largest farmer
in the country.

“To illustrate what I mean, the large
society to which I have referred, admits
small societies to membership on the
basis of one 5s. share for every ten
members; one-quarter: of the share
capital has been called up, which means
that the cost of affiliation to the large
society costs the small society 15d. per
member, and for this the small society is
admitted to full membership. The large
society can supply anything from a tin-
tack to a steam engine, and the purchase
of coal may be taken as an example of
the advantages which a small man would
derive from joining it. This society
makes contracts direct with the colliery
for from 5,000 to 10,000 tons of coal ata
time, and if the small society could take
one or two trucks, it would obtain them
at a price which might mean a saving of
from 5s. to 7s. 6d. a ton on the cost at
which its members could obtain coal in
small lots locally. The small society
could also obtain the best seeds, the best
cake and feeding stuffs, and the best
artificial manure and other requirements
at the lowest price possible.

“Then with regard to the marketing
of produce and stock. Take the pig
trade by way of illustration, The farm-
ers of Suffolk are very large pig
breeders, and the usual practice was to
send the pigs to the local markets. This
method answered very well when the
markets were not glutted, but when
they were the results were disastrous;
another drawback was that the pig

530

markets were in the hands of a ring who ©
controlled the prices to their own
advantage. To get over this difficulty
the society decided to have their own
expert, a man whois in touch with all
the important markets throughout the
country. Between £60,000 and £70,000
worth of pigs passed through his hands
last year. The effect of this arrange-
ment is that the pig ring’ has been
broken, flooded markets are avoided, and
members can rely on obtaining the
highest market price of the day. .

‘““Now there is no reason whatever
why this system should not be multiplied
indefinitely, and applied to the disposal
of fruit, vegetables and the like. I came
across a case only last week where a man
sent one ton of apples and garden stuff to
London and received in return a postal
order for 2s.; that kind of thing isa
matter of common occurrence, and
unless steps are taken to organise the
producers, and to insure as far as is
practicable that they shall reap a fair
and proper return for their labour of
months, Iam afraid it will go very badly
indeed with them. Then again produce
must be sent to the consumer in the best
condition possible; almost everything
pays for careful grading, and this, as a
rule, could best be done by the experts
of the large society of the district. I
cannot refer further this afternoon to
this most important question, but I hope
I have said enough to cause you to
realise how absolutely vital organisation
is to the success.of your tenants, and
how necessary it is to encourage it in
every possible way.

“Twill now make a few remarks on
the subject of land renting associations,
which will be as a rule trading bodies as
well.

‘* When the Small Holdings Act came
into operation there was a great rush to
form associations, but unfortunately
many of them were formed under a mis-
conception of the amount of share
capital that would be required. Some
of the promoters seemed to imagine that
twenty men, for example, had only to
form themselves into a registered asso-
ciation, with a capital of say, £50, and
to apply to a county council for 200
acres of land, and they were bound to ~
getit.

“The question of capital has received
the careful and serious attention of the
Board, who have come to the conclusion
that councils are justified in letting land
to an association, provided its nominal
share capital, called and uncalled, is
equal to three years’ rent of the land
applied for, it being thought that this

JUNE, 1910, He

June, 1910.]

amount of share capital, which is a
separate and distinct matter from the
amount of capital required to farm the
land properly, will impose a sufficient
liability upon the members of the Asso-
ciation to furnish a gurantee that they
will not admit unsuitable persons to
membership. hen associations are
prepared to pay six months’ rent in
advance, or can provide an_ outside
guarantee, of which the council can ap-
prove, that the rent will be paid when
it becomes due, a lesser amount of share
capital may be considered as_ being
sufficient, but to my mind the first is
far and away the best system to adopt,
and I am pleased to be able to state that
two important societies have been
started under it already, one at Mere in
Wiltshire, which takes possession of 452
acres of land this Michaelmas, and the
other at Biggleswade in Bedford, to
which land has been let to the extent
of 280 acres, also from this Michaelmas.
The importance of societies of this kind
cannot be overestimated, since their
success depends on mutual _ responsi-
bility, which paves the way to credit
banking and other important branches
of the co-operative movement.

“The gain to a county council from
letting land to an association is also
considerable. Only one rent would have
to be collected instead of say twenty to
thirty, and the committee of the associ-
ation would select the tenants and be
answerable for the proper cultivation of
the land. The gain to the members of
the association would also be great,
mainly because of the help which it
would be to them in their farming
operations. An association could invest
a portion of its capital in some of the
heavier farm implements, such as Camb-
ridge rolls, drills, and the like. There
is indeed no limit to what can be done
by self-help and co-operation,

‘There is another most important
factor to consider in connection with
the movement, namely, the position of
the industrial or distribution societies in
relation to it, ‘The turnover of these
societies runs into millions, the Leeds
society alone deals with produce which
it would take from 60,000 to 70,000 acres
to grow, not counting beef, mutton,
milk, poultry and eggs.

‘*T much regret to find that societies
of the kind have not shown any serious
indication at present of either applying
for land or of a desire to establish their
members upon it. Inmy humble judg-
ment, schemes of the kind would be
bound to succeed owing to the ready
market which the industrial societies

531

Miscellaneous.

have at their command, and even suppos-
ing that the astute business men at the
head of the industrial co-operative move-
ment cannot seo their way to recom-
mend their members to embark in the
cultivation of land, I would impress upon
them the desirability of forging a bond
of union between the agricultural and
industrial branches of the movement,
whereby the organised preducer of the
country is brought into direct touch
with the organised consumer of the
town.

‘There is only one other matter in
connection with co-operation to which I
will refer: itis the very important one
of mutual live stock insurance. In view
of the conditions under which the small
holders will farm, it is essential to his
success that he should run as few risks
as possible, and to that end he must be
placed in a position to insure his crops
and his stock. He would find no diffi-
culty in covering them against fire or
against hail, but he would find consider-
able difficulty at the present time in
protecting himself against other risks at
anything like a reasonable rate. The
death of a horse, a cow, afat pig and
the like would be a very serious matter
indeed to the small man, and might
mean the loss of a considerable portion
of his income for the year,

** A co-operative insurance society is
about to be started in London, I would
urge upon the promoters the extreme
desirability of putting the insurance of
stock before that of fire, and of placing
means at the disposal of the small men
by which they could extricate them-
selves from the serious financial diffi-
culty in which the loss of stock would
involve them.

‘‘ Before sitting down I wish to make a
brief reference to another important
subject, namely. that of agricultural
education. Ifthe small holdings move:
ment is to succeed in the way it can and
ought to do, education and co-operation
must go hand in hand, and the move-
ment opens upa splendid field of use-
fulness to your technical instruction
committees.

“JT venture to think that the necessity
for providing scientific and practical in-
struction in agriculture has never been
more pressing and I suggest that special
efforts should be made to apply the
results of scientific research in a practical
and business-like way.

*“ No one realises more than I do the
value of scientific knowledge, but what
I feel strongly is that the time has come
when the results of research should be
applied in a practical way, when the

Miscellaneous. , 532

knowledge obtained at Rothamsted, at

oburn, and other stations of the kind,
should be brought direetly to the door
of the small man.

‘‘ Hxperimental plots are necessary, no
doubt, for students at the universities,
agricultural colleges. and agricultural
institutes, but tothesmall man they are
almost valueless:

“TI should like to see county councils
taking an allotment or small holding in
every district under their own direction
and control by arrangement with the
tenant, and applying to the cultivation
ef that holding the most approved
methods of scientific cultivation ; seeing
is believing, and if the small men ofa
district saw an allotment in their midst
yielding better monetary results when
treated and cultivated in the light of
scientific knowledge, the value to them
would be almost incalculable, and would
be the means, not only of putting money
into their pockets, but af raising the
standard of intelligence throughout the
country side and of adding to the
interest and charm of the cuitivation
of land—than which no more interesting
occupation is possible.”

LITERATURE OF ECONOMIC
BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE,

By J. C. WILLIS.

Rafia.—Raphia wax. Bull. Imp. Inst. VI,
20. 4. 1908. ** T.A.” July 1909, p, 7.

Resins.—Zanzibar anime or copal. Gard,
Chron. 47, 1908, p, 11.

Der ostafrikanischer Copalbaum
(Trachylobium Verrucosum). Zim-
merman in Tropenpfl. 22. 2. 08. p.17.

Botanische Notizen aus den Suma-

tranischen Urwidldern. Moszkowski
Notijbl. Berlin. V. 1908, p. 80.

Copal resins from British West
Africa. Bull, Imp. Inst. VI. 1908,
p. 245.

Gumsand Resins. Imperial Institute.
Selected reports No. 63. 1909.
Rhea.—Ramie fibre. Str. Bull. 1908, p. 445.
Rossi. Le ramie. L’ Agric Colon. II.
1908, p. 203.

Manufacture of ramie. Queensl. Agr.
Jl. Nov. 1908, p. 234.

Ramie wool. Ind. Agr, Apr. 1910,
p. 122.

~

oh eee
ry,

Rice — Rotation of crops in paddy fields.

Willis. ‘“'T.A.” Apr: 1908, p. 297.

Rice : its cultivation and fertilisation —

in tue U.S. of America. Trop.
Life. Apr. 1908, p. 51. “‘T.A.” July.
1908, p. 26.

Advantages of transplanting paddy.
“TA.” Feb. 1908, p. 181.

The cultivation of rice. “T.A.” Feb.
1408, p. 178.

Experimental
British Guiana,
1907, p. 187.

Extermination of rats in paddy fields:
Str. Bull. Mar. 1908, p, 92.

Rice industry of British Guiana.
Agr. News. 13, 6. 1908, p. 177.

Suggestions for the improvement of
rice cultivation in Ceylon. ‘T.A.”
Dee. 1907, p. 412.

Experiments with rice.
1908, p. 488.

Paddy or rice cuitivation.
Supp. May 1908, p. 496.

The Village cultivator and paddy
cultivation, Dissanaike. ‘‘T,A.”
Aug. 1908, p. 128, Oct. p, 369.

La cultur du riz dans le Turkestan

rice cultivation. in
W. Ind. Bull. 8.

“«T,A.” May
Ae

russe. Journ. d’ Agr. Trop. 31. 8.
1908, p. 229.
Rice. Ind Agric. July 1908, p. 210,

Padiproeven. Meded. Java Suikerind.
17. 1908.

Rice Investigations: Report of First
Years Expts. Exp. Station Record.
U.S. A. Oct, 1908, p. 137.

Transplanting of rice. Agr.
of India. Oct 1908, p. 488.

Rice cultivation in Lowe1 Burma. Ag.
Journ. of India. Oct. 1908, p. 357.

Further report on extermination of
rats in rice fields. Str. Bull. Nov.
1908, p. 522. :

Rice cultivation in Hawaii, Agr-
News. 8. 8. 1908, p. 245. “ T.A,” Dec.
1908, p. 523.

Journ.

‘Vergelijkende proef met enkele rijst-

varieteiten. Korte Berichten 72
Buitenzorg 1908.

Eenige mededeelingen over rood®
rijst. do. 68.

Rice. ‘‘T.A.” Dec. 1908. p. 548.

Rice culture on the Atlantic Coast.
XLIL. 2. Jan. 1909, p. 19. ;
Rice culture in the United States:

do, p 26. ‘*T.A. March 1909, p. 242-
Paper from rice straw. “T.A,”
March 1909, p. 280.

Se

: <2 tee
{JuNnE, 1910, |

rr

Paddy in Madras Presidency “T.A,” —

March 1909 p,. 246.

:
-
‘

Tons, 1910.1

Production et consommation du Riz
aux Etats-Unis en 1907-1908 Journ.
d’ agri. trop. Mar. 1909, p. 83.

The advantages of transplanting
paddy. Madras Ag. Calendar. 1909.
“T,A.” April 09, p. 333.

Paddy. ‘“T.A.” May. 1909, p. 482.

Improvements in paddy cultivation

on the Sivagiri Home Farm.
“TA. June. 09, p. 528.

Transplanting of paddy.

June. 1909, p. 529.

‘T. A.”

Articles in Bulletin of the College cf
Agriculture Tokyo 1903—1909.

On the stimulating action of manga-
nese ate rice. Vol. V.p. 467, &
VI. p. 185

On the jafuenes of different ratios
of lime to magnesia upon the
growth of rice. VI. p. 97.

On the action of various insoluble
phosphates upon rice plants, VI.
p. 215.

~ On the effects of soil ignition upon

the availability of phosphoric acid

for rice culture in paddy fields.

VIL. p. 263

On the behaviour -of rice plant
to nitrates of ammonium salts.
VI. 285.

‘The manurial value of different
potassium corpus for barley
and rice. VII, p.6

On the stimulating aa of manga-
nese upon rice. WE: 27.

On the stimulating action of manga-
nous chloride on rice. VII. 449,

On the composition of rice straw.
VIL. 619.

The fertilization of rice. Louissiana
Planter. Jan. 1909, “T.A.” July.
1909, p. 24 3

The transplanting of rice in Chhatis-
garh, Ag.Journ. India Oct. 1908.
“TA.” Aug. 1909, jp. 120. contd.
Sept. p. 218.

Ueber die Hiweisstoiffe aus _ Reis-
samen, Journ. Col. of Ag. Tokyo
DP. phi

Report on rice cultivation. Philip-
pine, Ag. Review. May 1909, p. 269.

Rice culture on the Atlantic Coast.
Louis. Pl. & Mg. Montr. Jan. 1909.

583

Miscellaneous,

Improvements in Paddy Cultivation:
nd. Ag. July 1909. ‘“‘T.A.” Jan-
1910, p. 28,

Het rijstkultuur en irrigatiewerken
in Cochin China, Ind. Merce. 1. 2.
1910, p. 77.

Single planting of paddy. Ind.
Agric. 34, Oct. 1909, ‘*T.A.” Feb.
1910, p. 111,

Field crop experiments. Krauss in
Hawaii. Sta. Rep. 1908, Exp. Stn.
Ree. 22. p. 29,

Rice growing in the United States.
Agr. News, 19. 2. 1910, p. 63

The Composition of Indian rice.
Hooper. Agr. Led. V.P. Series 110.
1909. Ind. Tr. Jl. Oct. 1909, ‘*T.A.”
Mar. 1910, p. 210.

La culture mecanique du Riz. Main.
Journ. d’agr. trop. Mar. 1910, p. 76.

Production of rice in the United
States. ‘‘T.A.” Apr. 1910, p. 313.

Rice cultivation in Buarma. Ind.
Aste. Feb. 1909. ‘‘T.A.” Apr. 1910,
p. 315.

Korean rice trade.
Journ. Apr. 1909.
1910, p. 317.

Paddy experiments in India. ‘*T.A.”
Supp. Apr. 1910, p. 367.

Vergelijkende proef met Rijstvarie-
teiten. Korte. Ber. 3, 1910.

La taxe d’immatriculation des rizieres
en Cochinchine. Bull. Ec, Indoch.
1910, p. 15.

Voorlopige onderzoekingen omtrent
enkele Correlaties by Oryza sativa,
Korte. Ber. Buitenzorg. 6. 1910.

Ind. Trade.
“TA.” Apr.

Posie —Rozelle its culture and uses.

. Dept. Agr. Farmers. Bul. 807.
1907, “T.A.” Apr. 1908, p. 311.
Preservation of red sorrel fruits.
Agr. News. May 1908. ‘‘T.A.”
1908, p. 244.

Hibiscus esculentus. See Bot. Centr.
87, p. 292.

THE INTRODUCTION OF IMPROVE-

MENTS INTO INDIAN
AGRICULTURE:

By THE WORK OF AGRICULTURAL

DEPARTMENTS.

‘TD, A.” Oct. p. 511. on I,—INTRODUCTION.

Rice growing. Queensland. Ag. The essential difference between Agri-
Journ, Sept. 09, ‘T.A.” p. 415. cultural Departments in the East and

Rice cultivation in low ane land in the West is that the latter have
in Burma. Ag. Journ. India. July. arisen to meet the spontaneous demands

09, ‘T.A.” Dec, p. 507 of the cultivators of the soil, whereas

' Miscellaneous, 534

the former have been lately created by
a bureaucratic Government anxious to
give all the assistance it can to its agri-
cultural subjects. The demand for im-
proved agriculture has not in India, ex-
cept in special cases, come from the culti-
vator. While, therefore, in the West
the cultivator is naturally in direct
touch with the Department of Agri-
culture, in India it is necéssary for the
Department to put forth every effort,
first to ascertain the needs of the culti-
vators and then to demonstrate how
they can most effectually be met.

The subject of the present report is
a consideration of the methods hy
which these ends have been attained and
of the improvements which have been
introduced as a result. It must not be
forgotten, however, that the success of
a particular method in one area by no
means ensures its success in another,
since the conditions vary so enormously
in different parts of India. This has
necessitated the description of the con-
ditions, under which a method has been
found effective, in far greater detail
than would have been otherwise neces-
sary and the giving of a number of
illustrative examples.

II],— AGRICULTURAL. ASSOCIATIONS,

The fcrmation of local associations
or societies, which have as their object
the improvement of the agriculture in
the district, has been one of the most
common methods employed for increas-
ing interest in the subject and bringing
the Agricultural Departments into im-
mediate touch with the people.

CENTRAL PROVINCES.—In the Central
Provinces the agricultural associations
which have been founded in every dis-
trict are very closely connected with
the Agricultural Department and in
nearly every case the impulse towards
their formation has sprung from the
Director of Agriculture. The district
has been taken as the unit and the
Deputy Commissioner is always Presi-
dent of the association. In fact the
influence and co-operation of the dis-
trict officers is considered to be an
essential condition of success. I¢ is held
that the associations should always re-
main in close touch with the superior
officers of the Agricultural Department
and one of these always attends the
meetings of the local association. These
meetings are held half yearly, generally
before the opening of the kharif and
rabi seasons. The Director and the De-
puty Directors of Agriculture devote
some months each year at these times
to attending the meetings of the asso-
ciations. Thus they know the members

personally and they consider this per-
sonal knowledge essentially necessary.

The membership is limited and consists —

chiefly of substantial agriculturists,
owners of villages who are also culti-
vators, heads of cultivating castes and
the like. At the meetings, all the pro.
ceedings are in the vernacular and
usually consist in a discussion of the
results of demonstrations carried out
by the members in the previous season
and the presentation of a programme
ot work tobe carried out in that which
follows. The latter is generally done
by the Deputy Director, and his pro-
gramme is then criticised by the mem-
bers, modified where necessary and the
various pieces of demonstration are
allotted to the several members. No
work is recommended which has not
been already proved by the Department
to be likely to succeed. For the de-
monstration of an improvement the
members are assisted with seed, imple-
ments, or other material required and
their work is regularly inspected by
the Superintendent of the nearest farm
or other member of the departmental
staff. Through the associations the
Deputy Director of Agriculture is thus
enabled to get into close contact with
the people and as a result Jarge numbers
of people are attracted to the farms
of the Department for information.

The following are improvements that
have been introduced ag a result of the
work done by these associations. The
pickling of jowar seed against smut, for-
merly unknown, is now largely prac-
tised ; the cultivators in the Chhattisgarh
District are beginning to adopt the sys-
tem of transplanting rice, where broad-
casting was previously universal, with
considerably increased profits; superior
varieties of jowar and of sugarcane
have been extensively introduced; new
or improved implements suited to
the conditions of special tracts have
been adopted. But it is felt that per-
haps the utility of associations has been
best shown in their being the means
of bringing the Agricultural Depart-
ment into contact with the best culti-
vators, and so winning their confidence.

MADRAS.—There is a Central Agricul-
tural Committee which meets quarterly
in Madras, the Director of Agriculture
being at present Chairman. It issues
leaflets, ete., on subjects of agricultural
interest and is also supposed to connect
the work of al] the district associations.
Each district has nominally an agricul-
tural association and some have branch
associations in the taluks. Hach district
association frames its own rules, ar-
ranges its own programme of work and

.

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[Junn, 1910.

‘Junn, 1910,]

een ee ee ae Pere eee ee eye, ye

contributes an annual sum to the Cen-
tral Agricultural Committee for help
received. The Collector of the district
is ex-officio Chairman of the district
association and as a rule the Sub-
Divisional Officer is ex-officio head of
the taluk association but otherwise no
official support is given. Meetings as
arule are nominally held once a month
and usually after the district board

“meeting. Such meetings mainly consist

of district board members. Occasionally
the Collector of the district inspires a
temporary enthusiasm into the work of
the association, but the membership is
too large and indiscriminate to render
it possible for the Agricultural Depart-
ment to give any real help. It would
be invidious to point to any one associ-
ation and tosay that it is doing good
work as it is too soon to say how much
of thisis of a spasmodic nature.
BomMBAY.—In Bombay the development
of agricultural associations is taking
place very fast. But here the associ-
ations, though officially patronised and
generally having one of the district
officers as President, are much more
independent bodies than those already

“deseribed. They often combine in their

functions, other purposes as well as those
of agricultural improvement. They are
in close touch with the Agricultural
Department and in one of the most
successful, a superintendent of the local
experimental farm has been the secre-
tary of the association. They, however,
usually depend largely for their success
on the personal influence of enthusiastic
local men. Some of them represent a
district, others smaller areas, and the
latter promise to have considerable suc-
cess. As arule the members of the asso-
ciations are anxious to varry out demon-
strations and the difficulty has been
to find matters of proved value for
them to introduce. Nearly all these
associations hold annual agricultural
shows some of which have been effective
in introducing new implements and
methods.

Among the results which have been
pactly due to the activity of the Dhar-
war Association, are the rapid populari-
sation of Broach cotton in the Southern
Maratha Country and the more careful
selection of Dharwar American cotton
seed in the same districts. Other associ-
ations have devoted themselves to the
introduction of improved varieties otf
crops and of new implements; to the
spreading of superior bulls and in one
ease to the establishment of a grain
bank. It is felt, however, . that their
utility depends largely on continual
touch with the more experienced officers
of the Agricultural Department.

535

Miscellaneous.

BENGAL.—In Bengal there is a provin-
cial association in Calcutta, six division-
al associations and a district association
in almost every district. These are all
purely official bodies dependent for their

-existence on the amount of interest

shown by the Commissioner or the Col-
lector» and the officers of the Agricul-
tural Department. The members are
land-holders and pleaders and the pro-
ceedings are ecnducted in English. The ~
members have asarule home farms of
their own on which to conduct demon-
strations. The cultivators’ holdings in
Bengal are generally very small, but it
is hoped to reach the actual cultivator of
the soil through the landlord by means of
these associations. They have already
done much in the way of seed distribu-
tion to cultivators and there is an
annual agricultural show in connection
with most of the associations. One of
the superior officers of the Agricultural
Department attends all meetings of the
divisional associations and as many of
the district associations as possible.

PunJAB.—In the Punjab there are at
present two agricultural associations, at
Lyallpur and Hissar. The Lyallpur
Association is entirely composed of col-
onists who are directly interested in
agriculture, the number of members
being, however, small. This association
has been instrumental in introducing
improved wheat and also American
cotton and has assisted in the introduc-
tion of implements such as_ reapers,
horse-hoes and winnowers. The mem-
bers have been of special value in
bringing the needs of cultivators to the
notice of the Agricultural Department.
The Hissar Association was started
mainly with a view to the preservation
and improvement of the famous Hissar
breed of cattle by providing good bulls
and removing bad ones. They are now
ucdertaking similar work in connection
with camel breeding. In the Punjab,
however, itis felt that the formation of
agricultural associations should not be
pushed until the work and statf of the
Agricultural Department have devel-
oped sufficiently to enable it to furnish
advice and guidance.

EASTERN BENGAL AND ASSAM.—There
has been little development along these
lines in Hastern Bengaland Assam. The
Agricultural Department keeps in touch
with individuals in the different dis-
tricts who are termed associates and
these undertake special pieces of de-
monstration. In such cases the Agricul-
tural Department supplies seed, appli-
ances, ete.,, free of cost. In this way
the spraying of potatoes has been intro-
duced into portions of Khasi Hills and

Miscellaneous,

saltpetre and bones as a manure for
paddy have been brought to’ the notice
of cultivators in the plains of Hastern
Bengal.

UNITED PROVINCES.—In the United
Provinces the recent policy has been to
avoid the creation of agricultural asso-
ciations by official action but to assist in
every possible way associations spont-
aneously formed. A recently founded
association in Mainpuri has already done
good work in its first year in the
popularisation of improved implements
and several of its members (zamindars)
are opening small demonstration farms
of their own.

CoONCLUSIONS.—Taking a general view
of the whole question the utility of
agricultural associations may be said
to depend largely on the presence of a
body of .oen directly interested in
cultivation, on the personal touch of
the higher staff of the Agricultural
Department with the members, on the
definite engagement by the members to
do definite pieces of work, and on the
regularity of meetings, inspections and
reports.

In other matters conditions will vary
with the district. It may be advisable
to have smaller associations than those
of a District in someinstances. If such
small associations can be sufticiently
substantial and intelligent, they should
be encouraged.

While it is not desirable to discourage
altogether associations of which the
members are non-cultivating landlords
as in Bengal, the primary object should
be to interest the actual cultivator him-
self in agriculturalimprovement. Such
associations can be but stepping stones
to this end. No association, large or
small, should be formed until (a) a spon-
taneous demand on the part of the
people themselves arises, (b) the Agri-
cultural Department is in a position to
advise and guide them in their work.
The number of associations should not
be greater than the available staff of
the department can conveniently keep
in touch with.

Il].—LocaL DEMONSTRATIONS.

It must be recognised that local de-
monstration of any improvement it is
desired to introduce, is one of the most,
if not the most, effective method of
securing its adoption. Considerable suc-
cess has, indeed, been achieved along
these lines. In the case of this method,
however, very special adaptation to local
conditions is necessary and it is im-
possible to lay down any scheme which
will be of general application. Demons-
tration farms have in some cases had

- [SuNm, 191

considerable success in Bombay and in

the Central Provinces, but as such they —

have not been used to any large ex-
tent elsewhere.

CENTRAL PROVINCES.—Considerable de-
velopment has been reached in the Cen-
tral Provinces where the methods em-
ployed are as under :—In the first place,
experiment is rigidly separated from
demonstration. Nothing is tried in a
demonstration farm, which, in the opin-

-jon of the officers of the Agricultural

Department, is not actually of proved
value for the tract in question, and
each demonstration farm has a definite
purpose in view. A varying amount
of laud is taken, which should not be
greater than the particular purpose
demands and the assistant in charge
can efficiently manage: a small area
carefully cultivated is much better than
a large area inefficiently managed. The
ocenpation of the land is purely tem-
porary. It is lent to the Agricultural
Department by an annual arrangement
and the cultivator to whom the land
belongs is guaranteed against loss. He
is given also a large share or even the
whole of the profits. The land is se-
lected bv one of the senior officers of

the department. No difficulty has hither- —

to been found in inducing cultivators
to- lend suitable pieces
assistant is then placed in charge.
specially trained in the particular pro-
blem to be demonstrated. Local methods
are entirely adopted in working the
land, except as regards the particular
point to be illustrated. The demons-
tration plot is visited at frequent in-
tervals by the superintendent of the
experimental farm for that particular
tract, who has special interest in the
success of the demonstrations and, in
addition to this, the assistant in charge
sends in a weekly diary of work done.
He visits the leading men of the villages
of his circle and discusses matters with
them pointing out the advantages of
the improved method and asking them
to adopt it in their own villages.:
is generally possible to get
number of cultivators to adopt the
method recommended in the same sea-
son as itis being demonstrated to them
so that the greater part of the
assistant’s time is spent in touring
from village to village to guideand ad-
vise such cultivators. The assistant ean
supervise the work in about eight
villages within a radius of four miles if
supplied witha pony. Totake aconecrete
case, in Chhattisgarh where the trans-
planting of rice is being introduced and
where the roads are almost impassable
during the rains, it is absolutely neces-

y
0.

of land. An.

It —
a fair

7

Sale bt

“JuNE, 1910,.

sary that each assistant engaged should
ride from village to village of his circle
so as to see the work at least every
second day. When there is some diffi-
culty in getting the practical part of
the new method taught to villagers as
in the present case, an experienced
transplanter is sent to each village of
the circle. He works daily along with
the coolies and trains them in various
processes. It was thus found possible in
1908 to get as much as 100 acres trans-
planted in one village and 3800 acres in
One circle.

The agricultural assistant is ordinarily
kept in the same circle for at least a
year and, if possible, he is employed to
demonstrate some other- improvement
during the second cropping season.
Great care is taken to cultivate friendly
relations with the cultivators. From
the experience gained it is felt that to
carry on demonstration work on a large
scale it will be necessary to appoint two
classes of men. The one class should
consist of educated men who have a
_ thorough practical knowledge of agri-
culture and who have preferably passed
through an agricultural college. The
other class should consist of intelligent
villagers who can preferably read and
write and who have been taken from
the land and trained in the improved
methods practised at the experimental
stations. Kor every one of the first class,
from six to ten of such men could be
most usefully employed. They would
be attached to a village and each would
have to work with his own hands in
training the ryotsin the new methods
recommended,

In addition to the demonstration of the
method of transplanting rice in Chhat-
tisgarh,in the same district successful
demonstration has been given of me-
thods of using irrigation water most
effectively and of how to grow addi-
tional crops after early and medium
rice. The method of eradicating kans
grass by means of Ransome’s Turnwrest
plough has also been most successfully
demonstrated.

BomBay.—In Bombay, a dairy farm
was started at Poona some 17 years ago.
Apprentices were taught improved dairy
methods and bulletins giving detailed
information were then issued. The
result has been so far favourable that
separators are now commonly used in
all parts of the Bombay Presidency and
there is a large trade in butter for con-
sumption in India and for export. The
demonstration of the value of some oil
cakes as manures for sugarcane and
other valuable crops has been so success-
ful that oil-cake, chiefly safflower cake,

68

587

Miscellaneous,

is now commonly used as a manure in
many tracts. Broach cotton was success-
fully grown on the Dharwar Farm and
this success was then demonstrated to
cultivators in the district who are now
growing it on a large seale.

Apart from special farms a good deal
in the way of local demonstration of
improvements has been done in a num-
ber of provinces, Efforts in this direc-
tion have, however, in the past been
limited by the smallness of the trained
staff available. One most successful
piece of such work has been done in
Bombay in improving the manufacture
of gur (crude sugar) from sugarcane
by sending trained sugar boilers to
various centres where they produced
a higher quality of gur at a considerably
less cost particularly for fuel,

MApRAS.—In Madras the general in-
troduction of the iron sugarcane mill
was due to the demonstrations of its use
being held in importaat sugarcane tracts.
But demonstration farms (areas taken up
for demonstration) have not yet been
attempted. Considerable success has
been obtained in advising pecple to try
better proved methods of cultivation.
The planting of single paddy seedlings
has, for instance, become a common
practice in many of the chief paddy
growing tracts. People tried this for
themselves on a small scale and they
gradually adopted the practice.

The successes of such experiments have
at times found their way into the press
and have thereby become widely spread.
Recently the Agricultural Department
has been assisting cultivators to adopt
improved practices by lending imple-
ments and trained coolies and by the
advice, encouragement and assistance of
its subordinate officers. The practice of
drill cultivation of cotton in the Tinne-
velly district has within the last two
years greatly extended and though only
750 acres were grown this year by ryots
under this system, there is every indica-
tion of a rapid extension in future, So
far in Madras it has been found best to
leave the ryot in full control of the
demonstration areas, but in backward
areas where itis not possible to get the
ryot to carry out the demonstration, it
may be necessary to take up land or
come to some other arrangements with
the ryots and keep it more under the
control of the department.

PuNJAB. -In the Punjab owing to the
dearness and scarcity of labour parti-
cular attention has been directed to-
wards the demonstration of labour-
saving appliances, Encouraging pro-
gress has been made thus with reapers,

Miscellaneous. :

winnowers; horse-hoes and ploughs and
hopes are entertained of the extension
of the use of hand-hoes and seed drills.
The first step has beento show the
machine working on a farm or at fairs.
In the case of the reaper the demonstra-
tion took the form of offering to reap
the crops of private cultivators at a
fixed price and this has led to the
purchase of a large number of reapers
by private persons. The cultivators
being entirely new to machinery, every
assistance has been given by forming
classes for teaching village mechanics
and farm labourers the management and
adjustment of machines, by visiting
purchasers frequently and removing
difficulties in the field, by providing
mechanics competent to execute repairs,
by showing purchasers how to organise
their labour to the best advantage, by
issuing, where necessary, pamphlets of
instructions and by sending out men to
see that machines are properly stored
during the off-season.

UNITED PROVINCES.—Demonstration
farms have not _been markedly successful
in the United Provinces, but some good
results have been obtained on private
farms conducted on similar lines. For
instance, the Meerut Farm has been the
means of popularising oats, and the Jatau
Farm near Agra (now replaced by one
at Phariha) has introduced Muzaf-
farnagar wheat. The Jalaun Farm in
Bundelkhand. whilst primarily an experi-
mental farm, has successfully started
the introduction of groundnuts. In-
cidentally the experimental farm at
Partabgarh has served for demons-
tration in the improved methods of
cultivating sugarcane. On the whole,
however, small plots in the hands of
cultivators have been more effective
than actual farms under the control of
thedepartment, By this means Muzaf-
farnagar white wheat has been introdu-
ced into a large number of districts asa
preliminary to the extension of seed
depots.

EASTERN BENGAL AND ASSAM.—In
Eastern Bengal and Assam demons-
trations in the spraying of potatoes asa
preventive of disease and in the use of
bone-meal and saltpetre as manures
for paddy have been carried out on
cultivators’ holdings. The method
which is being followed is for the farm
superintendent to go out and select the
land, then one or more demonstrators
who are the sons of cultivators trained
at an experimental station are sent out
to conduct the demonstration, It is
found that cultivators, especially in the
Khasi Hills, welcome these demons-
trations and are eager for more.

538

(J UNE, 1910,

It is’ obvious that full details of the
results obtained by demonstratious of
whatever kind are not given in the
preceding paragraphs. Theivformation
given is only a sketch of some ot the
successes obtained. It appears probable
that the establishment of demonstration
plots or farms on lines similar to those
adopted in the Central Provinces is
likely to prove very useful in many
other places. The sympathy and in-
terest of the cultivators should, however,
first have been won; without this the
method is not likely to have any very
marked success.

I1V.— VILLAGE AGENCIES.

It has always been a problem of con-
siderable difficulty in connection with
the introduction of new implements, to
get such as are of undoubted value,
adopted by the cultivators, but the
institution of village agencies as devised
in the United Provinces promises success.
These are managed by local agents with
whom implements are placed and from
whom they can be hired out or sold.
Before the agency is established the
particular implement is always demons-
trated carefully to cultivators on the
spot. A member of the staff of the
Agricultural Department then visits
such agencies from time to time, accom-
panied by a mistri who can repair the
implements. He also visits the culti-
vators who have adopted them, ascer-
tains whether they are working satis-
factorily and arranges for such repairs
as are necessary. Arrangements are
now being made to train village mistries
at Cawnpore in the work of repairing
the simpler implements. For such use-
ful implements as chaff-cutters, ete, a
stock of spare parts on the spot has been
found essential. A register is kept of
all those who buy the implements, and
an occasional note is sent out enquir-
ing whether cultivators are satisfied.
Various implements have been distri-
buted by this means. Village agencies
have not yet, however, been tried long
enough to enable a definite opinion to be
formed of their utility, but they seem to
fill a distinct want.

V.—VERNACULAR AGRICULTURAL
JOURNALS.

Vernacular Agricultural Journals have
been established in several parts of
India by the Agricultural Departments.

UNITED PROVINCES.—In the United
Provinces a monthly vernacular paper
of six to ten pages edited by the Assis-
tant Director of the Department is
published at Cawnpore. It has been
successful in arousing general interest in

.

Jonz, 1910.)

the work of the department and in lead-
ing to correspondence. Its value could
be enhanced by more careful editing.

CENTRAL PROVINCES.—In the Central
Provinces there is a monthly depart-
mental vernacular paper. It has been
found that everything which is written
must be thoroughly practical, must be
very carefully edited, and deal with
the immediate needs and interests of
the cultivators. The translation into
the vernacular must be carefully made
by a man who is himself connected with
the land. The paper as _ published,
usually contains popular statements of
the work of the experimental stations

‘with practical directions to enable the

cultivators to apply them to their own
circumstances. It contains a ‘‘ Query
and Answer” coiumn in which the
readers are encouraged to ask the de-
partment for advice. It also furnishes
a means of advertising improved strains
of seed, agricultural machinery, and
other things for sale at the agricul-
tural stations. It consists of 15 to 20
octavo pages and is published in three
languages. Its popularity is indicated
by the fact that its circulation has re-
cently risen from 2,500 to 6,000. It costs
Re. 1 per annum, :

MADRAS AND BomBay.--In Madras
and Bombay no vernacular agricultural
journal is issued by the department,
this being left to private enterprise.
The danger of this arrangement is that
as the department has no control of
the matter issued, unsuitable or even
incorrect information may be published,
and it is hence very important that
such papers as are patronised should
be in the hands of responsible men,

In Madras an agricultural calendar
for which there is a large demand has
been published by the department. The
calendar contains articles and notes on
agricultural subjects written by the
members ot the agricultural and other
departments. It is printed in Tamil,
Telugu and EHoglish. One of the agri-
cultural associations publishes a small
vernacular paper on its own. The Com-
mittee consider that such journals as
are published by the Agricultural De-
partments should be specially desigued
to meet the requirements of actual
cultivators and land-holders. They
should be essentially vernacular publi-
cations, with possibly an English edition.
To meet the more highly educated
English-speaking strata, the Agricul-
tural Journal of India published from
Pusa should be the only recognised
medium.

539

Miscellaneous,

VI.—LEAFLETS AND CIRCULARS.

In many countries one of the best
means of bringing practical agricultural
information to the cultivators of the
land has been the issue of leaflets and
circulars couched in popular language.
In India where the standard of educa-
tion is lower than in most Western
countries the value of such publica
tions is more problematical but they
have frequently been used with success.

BENGAL.—In Bengal a regular series
of such leaflets is issued both in English
and in the vernaculars, and are distri-
buted by agricultural associations. It
is, however, too soon to draw any con-
clusions as to their effect.

Mapras.—In Madras agricultural leaf-
lets have been published in the verna-
cular in the district gazettes, and more
recently in separate form. The intro-
duction of Banku paddy into a large
area is partly due to information thus
published.

CENTRAL PROVINCES.—In the Central
Provinces the issue of leaflets has been
restricted, and such information is
usually published in the Journal of the
Department. This is considered a better
medium on account of its present large
distribution. But printed directions are
separately issued in the vernaculars,
when new seed, new manures, etc., are
distributed.

BomBAay.—A similar plan was also
adopted in Bombay in connection with
the distribution, some years ago, of
foreign varieties of ground-nut. The
result has been exceedingly good and

- especially inthe Satara district these _

superior introduced kinds have now
largely replaced the local varieties.

During the past year or two the
number of leaflets issued in Bombay has
been very much increased. They are
published in English and the vernacular
of the district to which they apply.
They crasist essentially of practical
directions regarding agricultural im-
provements and usually one leaflet deals
with only one recommendation. They
are generally used (1) in connection with
demonstrations of implements and
methods, as, for instance, atagricultural
shows; (2) in a particular area where
special need has arisen. They are not
usually distributed except 1n connection
with the visit of an officer who can
explain the nature of the improvement.
Their actual value is still an open
question, but they certainly promise con-
siderable utility.

UNITED Provinces.—In the United
Provinces no generally successful direct
results have been obtained by the issue

Miscellaneous.

of leaflets, but the issue of a leaflet
giving a list of all the implements kept
in stock by the department with working
drawings, has led to a large demand for
some of these implements, and another
leaflet describing the method of culti-
vation of American cotton has certainly
been of use in districts suited to this
variety. These leaflets like others now
in the press have, however, been
published in response to trequent letters
of enquiry.

PunJAB.—Leaflets were used in the
Panjab with great successin the cam-
paign against the cotton boll-worm in
1906. The area affected represented
quite two-thirds of the cotton area of the
province (or 700,000 acres) and concerted
action had to be arranged for in a
short time among a large population.

Leaflets enjoining the ploughing up of
old cotton fields, the destruction of old
cotton stalks and the use of trap crops,
as well as explaining the object of these
measures, were issued to the number of
about 75,000 in each case, to the sub-
ordinate revenue staff, for distribution
to all who could read. Illiterates were
reached through the subordinate revenue
staff, each man being directed to make
the purport of the directions known to
allin his circle, Rewards were offered
to those who did specially good work.
Leaflets containing directions for the
cultivation of American cotton have
also been of value.

BurMA.—In Burma where the standard
of vernacular education among the culti-
vating classes is high, there has been a
large demand for the simple leaflets
issued by the Department of Agriculture.
Enquiries have shown that they are
widely read and acted upon, and revenue
surveyors and other revenue officers are
encouraged to explain and discuss the
subjects with the cultivators,

In general the experience of the past
four years tends to confirm the opinion
expressed at the meetings of the Board
of Agriculture in 1905, that ‘‘ leaflets to
be successful in reaching their object
should be brief, perhaps not exceeding a
couple of pages and should contain one
definite fact or the description of a single

process which it is desirable that the |

ryots should know and adopt, with
illustrations where necessary.” The
vernacular translations of these leaflets
to be of real value to the cultivators
should only be entrusted to the most
practical of Indian assistants. The
translations should be essentially free
and couched in such language as will
make the matter absolutely clear toa
cultivator of even less than ordinary
intelligence.

540

oF See

VIL—UTILIZATION OF THE GENERAL
VERNACULAR PRESS.

There has been little systematic contri-
bution to the general vernacular press”
by the agricultural departments witha
view to the introduction of agricultural
improvements. In Madras, however,
monthly notes from the agricultural de-
partments are sent to papers where their
publication is likely to be useful, and in
addition, several special matters (such
as the advantages of transplanting single
paddy seedlings) have been from time
to time brought to notice in this way.
Similar means are adopted in the Punjab
where a press communique is issued
once a month to the leading English and
vernacular papers and has been dis-
tinetly successful where it is confined to
information on _ established success.
The press rendered great assistance in
the campaign against cotton boll-worm
in 1906, in drawing attention to what
was being done and awakening general
interest.

In almost every province all the publi-
cations of the department, including the
local journal and leaflets, are sent to the
press and such matter is freely taken
and published. .

There seems little doubt, on the whole,

that widely circulating local papers ~

should be recognised as a medium of
reaching the cultivators, more parti-
cularly where there is no local agricul-
tural paper. Noeffort should be spared
to give contributions a popular read-
able form such as is likely to command
attention,

VIII.—AGRICULTURAL SHOWS AND
EXHIBITIONS.

‘Agricultural shows and_ exhibitions,
provincial or local, have been held in
every province in India.

Large provincial shows have been held
in Bombay in 1904, in Caleutta in 1906
and in Nagpur in 1908 in connection with
large industrial exhibitions.

CENTRAL PROvINCcES.—Of these the
biggest and best was that held at
Nagpur in 1908. Its aim was almost
purely educative. A carefully selected
set of exhibits of all the different agri-
cultural products of the Central Provin-
ces and Berar and elsewhere was arrang--
ed, including improved appliances likely
to be useful here, from
America, All exhibits were labelled and

full information in Hnglish and Verna- ~

cular was given in each case on the label.
The agricultural exhibition was divided
up into sections with special assistants
in charge of each, who explained every-
thing to visitors in their own language,

' a ae
[Jonn, 1910, —

Europe and -

ya

Junn, 1910.)

All agricultural machines and imple-
ments were shown at work daily.
Arrangements were made by which
cultivators from different districts were
brought to the exhibition on definite
dates. On these dates special attention
was given to such demonstration as
would be of interest to the cultivators
concerned. For example, the people of
Chhattisgarh who are now for the first
time learning how to transplant their
rice were shown by skilled workers on
specially reserved plots in the exhibition
grounds the whole process of preparing
the land and actually transplanting the
paddy.

BomMBAY .—The lines on which the agri-
cultural section of the exhibition of 1904
was run were not very different from
those just described. It owed its suc-
cess to similar causes, though it was
hardly so highly developed as that at
Nagpur. Nearly 500 selected cultivators
were taken to the show, exhibits were
demonstrated in four languages and as
a result there has been a largely increased
sale of improved implements, while en-
quiries addressed to the department
have been steadily increasing,

But such large provincial exhibitions
can only be organised on special occa-
sions and under special circumstances,
Smaller shows can, however, be held at
more frequent intervals and are so
held in every province. They range in
size from institutions |like that at
Lyallpur in the Punjab, annually
attended by 1(0,000 people and attached
toalarge cattle fair, to small taluka
shows in parts of the Bombay Presidency
or to the demonstrations which are made
in connection with the smaller cattle
fairs and religious festivals in Madras,
It is probable that the principles which
should guide the organization of such
shows are the following. While local
effort may and should direct and arrange
the show, the part. which the Agricul-
tural Department takes in it should be
very caretully organised and attended
to by one of the superior staff of
the department. Agricultural products
which cannot be grown on the culti-
vators’ own land should be excluded,
Asmany things as possible should be
shown in motion, as these are always
centres of attraction. Popular lectures
with lantern illustrations, where suit-
able, should be combined with practical
demonstrations. Farm produce should
be arranged in sufficiently large quan-
tities to allow of being handled by those
interested. Alarger number of small
shows thus organised are probably more
useful than fewer ones on a large scale,
provided local interest is thoroughly

541

tice. If

—= 6 , Se nate | Sa 7. rae 6

Miscellaneous.

aroused. Success in such small shows is,
however, largely connected with the
presence of working exhibits, which can
be sent fromshowtoshow. The interest
of the cultivators themselves must also
be aroused and maintained, and in this—
connection attention may be called to
the magic lantern exhibitions on agri-
gultural subjects arranged in recent
years in connection with the shows in
Bengal. -

It must be remembered, however, that
such shows and exhibitions take up a
considerable amount of the time of the
staff of the Agricultural Department,
and this method of introducing improve-
ments should take its place in such order
as is considered best for each province.

IX.—ITINERANT ASSISTANTS.

BomMBAY.--In Bombay some of the
senior assistants of the department have
been employed for a number of years in
travelling in the districts, and _ this
method of introducing improvements,
getting in touch with the cultivators
and finding out the local difficulties, has
been so successful that a considerable
extension of the system is being made.
Among other work these assistants have
been spreading large quantities of Broach
cotton seed in suitable areas and also
superior varieties of ground nut, and
reports on the success of these introduc-
tions have been collected by the same
agency. Experience has shown that
only men specially chosen as being able
to win the confidence of cultivators
should be sent. Further, they are
always sent out to tour for definite pur-
poses and are required to furnish fre-
quent reports as to the progress they
are making. Definiteness of work and
regular supervision are felt to be abso-
lutely essential.

Mapras.—In Madras there are no itin-
erant assistants attached to districts.
The managers and other officers attached
to agricultural stations are encouraged
to tour in the tracts to make them
thoroughly familiar with the local prac-
any special line of demons-
tration is to be brought before the culti-
vator, one of them is put on to special
duty. Local fairs and festivals are
attended' and demonstrations are fre-
quently held there. It is noticed that
where such touring has been done the
cultivator has begun to realise that the
department is working for his benefit.
In addition to this a specially chosen
senior assistant will now be attached to
each Deputy Director, These assistants
are further often used by the Deputy
Director to go through a district pre-
vious to bis own tours which are hence

ye

Miscellaneous.

made very much moreeffective. Useful
results have also been obtained here as
well as in the United Provinces, by
sending members of the staff to interview
correspondents whose letters do not
make their requirements clear. It is
felt that at present itinerating work by
the subordinate staff should ordinarily
be confined to the tracts represented by
the agricultural .stations, that they
should be attached to an agricultural
station in order that they can benefit by
the work being done there, and that
their efforts to introduce or suggest im-
provements should be confined to such
work as has been demonstrated success-
fully on that agricultural station.

UNITED PROVINCES.—In the United
Provinces no special men have been kept
for this purpose. Most of the farm staff,
however, spend a portion of their time
on tour, during which they are in daily
contact with influential cultivators, who
thus become familiarised with the Agri-
cultural Department and the extent to
which it can be of assistance to
them. Much of the success achieved by
the department in the introduction
of improved implements and of im-
proved varieties of crops such as
Jaunpore maize, Muzaffarnagar wheat
and American cotton is directly attribut-
able to such assistants. Whenever
letters of enquiry on important subjects
are received the reply is, if possible,
followed up by a visit from one of the
senior assistants. :

BENGAL.—_In Bengal there are two
provincial and six divisional inspectors.
The former are primarily intended for
special work such as collecting seed
throughout the province, attending shows
to give demonstrations, and _ rsport-
ing on the progtess of any improvement
which has been introduced, The collec-
_ tion of types of jute seed and of sugar-
cane varieties has been made by their
means. The Divisional Inspectors are
chiefly employed in supervising demon-
strations, conducted by members of the
agricultural associations, but as time
permits they assist in other work in
their own division.

PunsJAB.—Little can be added here as
regards the Punjab which has not been
already noted under previous headings.
Assistants have toured to helpin demon-
stration, to advise men who were
cultivating American cotton, to assist
those who were using implements of a
new type, to collect special information
and to make special inquiries.

On the whole the employment of
itinerant assistants (these being either
farm superintendents or special officers
employed for the purpose) is a very

542

[Juns, 1910,

effective method of reaching the culti-
vator. It seems essential, however, that
these should be men of considerable ex-
perience, that they should be employed
on one definite piece of work at one time,
and that they should be in constant
touch with the Deputy Director under
whom they are working. If these condi-
tions are satisfied, such men may be of
great value for the introduction of new
seed, new implements, or new processes
which can be demonstrated on tour. It
seems very inadvisable, however, to
appoint or keep travelling assistants
without specific duties.

‘ X.—SEED FARMS.

Inasmuch as the provision of pure and
improved seed is one of the principal
needs of the Indian cultivator and as
there are no recognised seedsmen in
the country, the Agricultural Depart-
ment in every province has felt it its
duty to arrange for the provision of
such seed, and this has proved to be
one of the best means of getting into
touch with Indian cultivators. Many
methods have been used to obtain such
seed for distribution, the method follow-
ed varying with the conditions of the
province and ‘of the class of seed it
was desired to supply.

BENGAL.—-In Bengal the supply of good
jute seed has been secured by the _ es-
tablishment of separate farms. This
method has, however, not been alto-
gether a success and the need will be met
in the future by the devotion to this
purpose of portions of the large ex-
perimental farms belonging to the de-
partment. The selected seed which the
department supplies is in strong demand
among jute growers.

CENTRAL PROVINCES.—In the Central
Provinces seed farms for the supply of
selected cotton seed have heen estab-
lished in connection with the agricul-
tural stations belonging to the depart-
ment. On these however only the
initial stages in the production of seed
are carried on. Whenasufficientamount |
has been so produced, the seed is given
to cultivators to grow for the depart-
ment under contract.

MADRAS.—A very similar principle has
been followed in Madras in the case
of cotton, the seed after careful select-
ion on the agricultural station being
given to cultivators to grow for the
department.

PunsgAB.—In the Punjab a large area
has been taken up by the department
itself for seed growing. There isa 500
acre farm at Sargodah for growing seed
of good varieties of cotton and wheat
for the cultivators on the irrigation

JUNE, 1910,]

colonies. Similarly a large area is avail-
able for seed growing at the Lyallpur
farm and a fair quantity of seed has
been already distributed. There is a
steady expansion in the demand for
such seed.

UNITED PROVINCES.—In the United
Provinces no special seed farms are at
present considered to be necessery.
Two or three privately owned farms
make a speciality of seed production,
and these have been largely used, more
especially for obtaining large quantities
of Muzaffarnagar wheat. Beyond this,
considerable quantities of selected seed
have been distributed from the experi-
mental farms, and great attention has
been given to the organisation of the
seed supply, especially in the case of
wheat and American cotton. The ex-
perience so far obtained indicates that
there is a considerable demand for good
seed. It is essential that this should
be met for the present from seed grown
under the supervision of the Agricul-
tural Department. When large quan-
tities are required, it seems feasible in
most places to get the seed required
grown, under contract, for the depart-
ment, and provided there be careful
supervision this is probably better than
that the department itself should own
and manage large areas for seed grow-
ing. The seed farms should be selected
in localities which will serve as wide
a field as possible in each province.

XI.—SEED DEPOTS.

Even when the department does not
grow seed for distribution, great good
can sometimes he done by opening depdts
where superior seed, purchased in other
districts, can be had by cultivators.

UNITED PROVINCES.—The most striking
success in this direction has been achiev-
ed in the United Provinces where Muzaf-
farnagar white wheat has been spread
over large areas by means of depdts
where sales are effected on credit. This
systemm continues to increase in popul-
arity and its extension is only limited by
the difficulty of providing responsible
supervision. The successful restocking
of Bundelkhand with seed after the
great famine of 8 years ago indicates
what can be done by the use of seed
depdts on the lines indicated. Recently
the supply for cash of the best local
cotton seed available has been success-
fully carried out by means of temporary
village depdts asa result of the famine
of 1907-1908. This has been so much
appreciated that it is being continued.
The best local seed cotton is bought,
hand-picked and ginned, the seed being
then distributed at bazar rates during
the sowing season.

543

Miscellaneous.

BomBAY.—In Bombay certain of the
experimental farms have been made to
serve as seed depdéts. This has been
particularly the case in connection with
the effort to grow Egyptian cotton in
Sind and with the extension of Broach
cotton cultivation in the Southern
Maratha country.

BENGAL.—In Bengal a depot has been
established where the seed of various
important crops can be obtained at
normal prices. Here the quantity of
seed available for a single buyer is
limited. The chief sales effected up to
date have been to members of the local
agricultural associations. The demand
for good sound seed from the ryots is,
however, likely to increase in the near
future.

EASTERN BENGAL AND ASSAM.—A
similar central seed depot has recently
been established at Dacca in Hastern
Bengal and Assam which stores and
supplies the best available seed of the
crops of most importance to the _ pro-
vince, Seed grown at Government farms
is also sold at bazar prices. Seed obtain-
ed from outside is selected on the field
by an officer of the department and is
supplied at cost price. The work of the
depot is rapidly increasing.

Mapras.—In Madras seed depots for
good and pure cotton seed have been
established for several years. So far
only fairly large depots have been main-
tained, but it is felt that better control
could be effected if village agency depdts
were started, so that the area and
survey numbers of lands to be sown
could be noted and checked. The in-
spection of crops sown with pure seed is
a most important point when pure seed
is being distributed.

There is no doubt that the establish-
ment of good seed depots is likely to
lead to good results. Itis essential, how-
ever, that only the very best seed should
be stocked and sold and that very com-
plete arrangements for storage should
be made. <A_ single distribution of
inferior or unsuitable seed is likely to
discredit the department. The system
adopted in the United Provinces has
proved itself satisfactory and is fully
deseribed in the Agricultural. Journal
of India, Volume If., Part III.

XII.—COLONISATION WITH EXPERT
CULTIVATORS.

In some parts of India there are groups
or castes of cultivators particularly
skilled in some class of agricultural werk.
The importation of a body of these men
into a new area will generally raise the
standard of cultivation in the district to
which they are transferred. The diffi-

Miscellaneous.

culty of getting people to leave their
own district is, however, in India always
great and so the application of this
method is decidedly limited. But in-
stances of successful colonisation of
backward tracts in this manner have
occurred, some of them of very far-
reaching effect.

PunsJAB.—The colonisation of the

Chenab Colony in the Punjabis the most.

outstanding example of how agricul-
tural improvement can be effected by
the force of example. A large propor-
tion of the land colonised was allotted
to the numads who originally grazed
their herds over the whole tract. The
rest of the colonists included men from
the best agricultural district in the
province. The success of the nomad
who had no previous knowledge of agri-
culture, in assimilating the best practices
of his neighbours, has been phenomenal.
The whole colony is now a tract as well
cultivated from an economic point of
view as almost any part of India.

At the instance of Sir Kdward Buck
poudrette farmers were transferred
from Farrukhabad to Cawnpore in the
United Provinces. Again the Central
Provinces Department of Agriculture at
a later date imported kachis from Cawn-
pore to show the cultivators of the pro-
vince how to use night-soil as a manure,
and to some extent their system of culti-
- vation has been adopted by local men.

XIIIL—UTILISATION OF INDIVIDUAL
EXPERT CULTIVATORS FOR THE
INTRODUCTION OF IMPROVED METHODS
IN NEw DISTRICTS.

While it is only rarely possible to
colonise a backward area with large
numbers of better cultivators, it is fre-
quently comparatively easy to induce
single men to go to a new tract as
employees of the Agricultural Depart-
ment to show the people the methods in
which they are experts.

CENTRAL PROVINCES.—The successful
case in which this has been recently
done has been already referred to in
connection with the introduction of the
system of transplanting rice in Chhattis-
garh in the Central Provinces. So
successful have been the men who were
introduced to show the transplanting of
rice that some of them arebeing retained
as village kamdars by the malguzars of
the villages in which they have been
employed. :

MapraAs.—Another case in which a
slightly different method was adopted
may be quoted from Madras, With a
view to securing the general adoption of
the drill system of cotton cultivation
used in the Bellary district, cultivators

Be ee (Jon

m, 1910

from Bellary were in the first place
taken to the experimental stations
belonging to the department and were -

there used to train the farm coolies in
the new system. After the latter were

_able to carry out the method, they were

sent out to villages to train the péople.

BoMBAY.—In Bombay similar methods
have been adopted, Expert cultivators
from Gujarat have been employed to
demonstrate their improved methods

elsewhere, and expert sugar boilers from

near Poona have been sent with excellent
Lesultsto almost every district in the
Presidency where cane is grown to
prepare gur_ by their superior system.
It may be added that the gang of sugar
boilers employed by the department is
in constant demand.

BuRMA.—Another case is the employ-
ment of Angami Nagas to teach the
people of Chin Hills in Burma their
methods of terrace rice cultivation.

On the whole there is little doubt of
the utility of this method when well
considered and well organised.

XIV.—TRAINING THE SONS OF
CULTIVATORS.

CENTRAL PROVINCES.—An important
departure was made some years ago by
starting at the Nagpur Agricultural
School a one year’s course in practical
agriculture for training the sons of
farmers. The teaching is givenin verna-
cular and consists almost wholly of
practical work on the farm with a
Minimum of lectures and book work.
At the outset it was found very difficult
to attract the right stamp of students,
although scholarships were freely given
by the District Councils. A few sons of
cultivators were however attracted
with a real desire to learn something
connected with their protession. That
some measure of success has been secured
in these cases has been shown by
enquiries into the work they have been
doing in the villages after leaving the
college. Itis found to be very desirable
to keep in touch with the students after
they have finished their course, to
encourage them to write and explain
what they are trying, to advise them
upon any difficulties that they experi-
ence, aud to visit them in their home
when occasion offers. Some of the
passed students are the keenest members
of the district agricultural associations.

BoMBAY.—In Bombay, too, but to a
very limited extent, the sons of ryots
are taken for two years’ training on
some of the experimental farms. This is
rendered possible by the provision of
funds by a Bombny gentleman for the
purpose.

9 J eae
5a ?
pe

JUNE, 1910.)

UNITED PROVINCES.—In the United

- Provinees an offer is made to teach and
train labourers if they.are sent to the
farms. Wages are paid, but not many
usually avail themselves of the oppor-
tunity. Courses for cultivators at experi-
mental farms have not been tried system-
atically, because it is a risky proceeding
as they are likely to be more impressed
by experimental failures than by experi-
mental suecesses. Demand exists for
similar facilities in the Central Pro-
vinces, but only from missionary schools,

EASTERN BENGAL AND ASSAM.—In
Eastern Bengal and Assam sons of culti-
vators are given apprenticeships tenable
at the experimental stations. They are
required to do manual work on the farms
and are trained by the farm saperintend-
ents in experimental work
years, after which they are sent out as
demonstrators among their fellow cultiv-
ators. It will be seen that experience
so far has not been sufficient to indicate
how far a demand exists for vernacular
instruction by means of short courses at
the Agricultural Colleges or at the
experimental farms. With suitable
precautions the practical training of the
sons of ryots might probably be under-
taken with advantage, but, at present,
it is impossible to lay down what these
precautions must be.

XV.—UTILIZATION OF COURT OF WARDS
ESTATES.

When Zamindari estates are under the
management of the Court of Wards, a
great opportunity exists for demon-
strating improved methods. Systematic
efforts are now being made in this
direction by the Madras Court of Wards,
An expert has been appointed as Agricul-
tural Adviser to the Court. It is his
duty to make detailed inspections of
the estates under management and draw
up a comprehensive programme of what
ought to be done to improve the agricul-
ture on the estate. If itis or becomes free
from debt, . home farm is usually started
at a convenient centre: eight such
farms now exist in the Madras Presi-
dency. These are under the executive
control of the Agricultural Adviser,
Their most important objects are (Ll) to
instruct the ryots of the estate in better
methods of agricultural practice and
stock-raising, (2) to form an interesting
and profitable occupation and hobby for
young zamindars when they succeed to
their estates.

This method might profitably be fol-
lowed in such provinces as have large
zamindari estates. Hven without the
appointment of an expert much can be
done by Managers of Court of Wards

69

545

for two.

Miscellaneous.

Hstates to improve the agriculture of
their districts, and it would be wellif this
were recognised as an important duty
by each Manager.

XVI.—Co-OPERATION BETWEEN
OFFICERS OF THE AGRICULTURAL
DEPARTMENT AND DISTRICT OFFICERS.

There is large scope for co-operation
between the executive officers of Govern-
ment and those of the Agricultural
Department. The District Officer has a
close knowledge of his own district, his
influence is great among the people and
his appointment as president of the local
agricultural association at once gives
dignity and status to it. His influence
is particularly great in connection with
all matters where co-operative credit
is involved, and these will be more and
more important as time goes on. In
those provinces where work among culti-
vators is most highly developed, it has
largely been connected with the presence
of an enthusiastic or sympathetic dis-
trict officer. It is therefore important
that all officers of the Agricultural
Department should keep in as close
touch as possible with the district officers
and discuss freely with them any pro-
posals they may have for work in the
district.

XVII.—GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.

Before proceeding to draw general
conclusions on the subject of the present
report it will be well t>. refer to the
financial aspect of the question. It is
impossible to estimate the value of any
method to a cultivator unless account be
taken of his financial conditions. Ideas
of a ryot’s financial condition are often
very vague. It is probable that in many
parts of India a cultivator does not have
any ready capital. He has to borrow
every year to meet the expenses of culti-
vation, and the rates of interest which
he has to pay in sume provinces are
often 24 per cent. and sometimes more
perannum. It may not, therefore, be
sufficient that a new method involving
additional outlay will give a return of 10
to 20 per cent. over the old method. Ac-
count must also be taken of the extra
capital involved and the rate of interest
which the agriculturist will have to pay
for this. As the cultivator has no
capital he can afford to take no risks.
Unless we can show that the new method
is a certainty, the cultivator will not
take it up. A certainty will mean as
a rule to a ryot something which will
give him a return of over 25 per cent,
on the extra capital invested. The
Indian cultivator is not nearly so con-
servative as is often supposed. He is
quick to see any advantage, but there

Miscellaneous.

must be no risk and he must be able
to pay for the capital from the results
of the new method.

It will be seen, therefore, that the
connection between agricultural im-
provement and the extension of cheap
credit is very close, and hence it is
vital that there should be collaboration
between the department and the co-
operative credit organisation. The
latter is often the best possible intro-
duction to agricultural improvement.
Improvement of agriculture by co-oper-
ation and the growth of co-operative
credit societies have gcne hand in hand
in the principal agricultural countries
of Europe.

It remains now to summarise the
general conclusions which may be drawn
from the present report. It is probable
that each of the methods which have
been considered is adapted to special
conditions. It seems certain that if a
really good improvement is presented
to an Indian agriculturist, he is willing
to take it up, provided it is within his
means.

The winning of the confidence of the
cultivators is the first condition of
success. With the spread of primary
education it will be possible more easily
to win their confidence, and, hence, the
extension of primary education is one
of the most important of the indirect
methods of agricultural improvement.
But success depends much more on the
personality of the officers and staff of
the Agricultural Departments than on
any system. At the same time the
promotion of a spirit of enquiry among
Indian agriculturists must always be kept
in view as of great prospective value.
As long as the effort is only from
above downward, the work of the de-
partment cannot be judged a success.
There is evidence that in several pro-
vinces a considerable number of genuine
enquiries are addressed to the depart-
ment, and the manner of response to
these may be productive of much future
advantage or the reverse. One great
essential is to be sure about the best
local practices and to know by careful
local investigation why they are used.
Thus one is able to ascertain the actual
needs of the cultivators, and will be
less likely to recommend outside methods
which may be improvements, but are
not acceptable under local conditions.
In the past attention has not always
been sufficiently paid to this point.
The result has been a _ suspicion that
methods or materials recommended are
likely to show unexpected difficulties
in practice on the part of cultivators.

546

7 UNE, 1910. Ba

Finally it seems desirable that in ek
cases work in a particular direction
should ir the first place be concentrated
on comparatively small areas where
knowledge of what is being done can
spread from hand to hand, rather than
dissipated over a large stretch of country,
Once a method is thoroughly established
and recognised as an improvement over
a small area, a knowledge of it will
usually spread naturally and without
much effort over similar areas in the
surrounding conntry.

CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

REPORT, 1909—1910,

MERTINGS.

The last Annual General Meeting of
the Society was held on June 8, 1909..
The present report deals with the tweive
months ensuing since that date. Meet-
ings of the Board were held on August
2, October 18, December 18, 1909, and
February 7 and April 6, 1910... A special
meeting was held on July 5, 1909, re the
Tobacco Experiment. :

The following were the more import-
ant subjects discussed :—Experimental
and Model Gardens, the new Rubbers, a
Scheme for Education in Agriculture,
Plant Breeding, Loan Banks, the Im-
provement of Tobacco, Spices, Nitrify-
ing Bacteria, Weeds, the position of the
Village Farmer, Basket and Mat Making,
Cotton Pests.

MEMBERS.

The present roll numbers 931, and
though 63 new members joined during
the twelve months, the total inclines to
remain between 900 and 1,000, chiefly
owing to the necessity that arises fcr
removing the names of the inveterate
detaulters from the list at the end of
each year. The Board is poorer by the
death of Messrs. J- Knighton Nock,
Simon D. Dabre, Gabriel W. Jaya-
wardene, and B. T. Doole.

Mr. Nock was closely associated with
the Society’s work, particularly in
connection with the organizing of shows,
at which his willing and able services
will be greatly missed.

The Board has also lost by retirement
from the Public Service the Hon. Mr.
J. P. Lewis, Mr. F. H. Price, and Mr.
Herbert White.

His Excellency the President approved
of the following new members serving
on the Board :— Rev. Father Paul Coore-
man and Mr. 8S. D, Kristnaratne.

STAFF.

Dr. Willis, Organizing Vice-President,
who was absent from the Island on leave
since April of last year, resumed duties
on February 17 of this year, and relieved

Mr. R. H. Lock, who had been acting
for him.

The number of Agricultural In-
structors remains as before, viz., three

for the Sinhalese and two for the Tamil
Districts.

The question of appointing additional
instructors, who are much needed, is
awaiting the elaboration of the scheme
for establishing Model] and Experimental
Gardens. It is very desirable that there
should be at least one instructor for
each Province. |

In addition to the itinerations of the
Agricultural Instructors, the Secretary
as well as the Officiating Vice-President
did a considerable amount of travel-
ling on inspection duty during the year.

In December last the Secretary, ac-
companied by Messrs. N. Wickremaratne
and S. Chelliah, Agricultural Instructors,
spent a fortnight in Southern India,
visiting, among other places of interest,
the Experimental Station at Koilpati
and the Sivagiri Home Farm, The short
tour was full of interest and instruction,
and formed the subject of a special re-
port by the Secretary. Every facility
was provided by Mr. Sampson, Deputy
Director of Agriculture for the Southern
Division, and Mr. Lonsdale, Agricul-
tural Expert to the Court of Wards,
for inspecting the farms and gathering
all necessary information on the spot
with the ready assistance of the farm
managers,

BRANCH SOCIETIES.

The Branch Societies as a whole have
not furthered the work ot the Society
to the extent they should have done.
Some indeed have been quite dormant,
but it is satisfactory to be able to make
a good report of others. The lack of
activity in the former must be attri-
buted to the want of initiative and en-
thusiasm on the part of those who con-
stitute the Committee, since it should
be quite possible for one Society to do
the work that another is doing if the
same forces areat work. Facile princeps
among these branches is the Dumbara
Society, of which the Hon. the Govern-
ment Agent of the Central Province is
Patron; Mr. William Dunuwille, Disawa,
President ; Mr. fs Paranagama,
Ratemahatmaya, Vice-President; and
Mr. C, Rasanayagam, Honorary Secret-
ary and Treasurer. It has a member-
ship of 204 subscribers, and at the end
of last year had a fair balance in hand,

547

Miscellaneous,

after meeting the expenses of the year. -
It is actively interesting itself in the
improvement of paddy, cotton, tobacco,
fruit, and vegetable cultivation; it
holds periodical shows and regular meet-
ings (at a meeting held on March 12
150 members were present), and has done
conspicuous work in connection witha
co-operative movement, which is referred
to elsewhere.

I lately had an opportunity of per-
sonally following the Society’s over-
ations into the farthest limits of Uda
Dumbara, and am convinced that it is
working on sound lines, and has suc-
ceeded in awakening in the people a
practical interest in agriculture. If
every branch had as much enterprise
and steadiness of purpose as the Dum-
bara Society, the interests of the agri-
palatal masses would be well looked
after.

SHOWS.
Shows were held at Galle, Kegalla,
Telijjawila, Mirigama, Hanguranketa,

Bellana, Nuwara Eliya, and Pannala.
The Galle, Nuwara Kliya, and Kegalla
shows were on a large scale, That at
Mirigama was purely a school garden
show, held under the auspices of the
Government Teachers’ Union, and proved
an unqualified success. The presence of
His Excellency the Governor and a num-
ber of visitors from Colombo wasa great
encouragement to both the teachers and
scholars who participated in the under-
taking. The rest of the shows were ona
small scale, and confined entirely to
village produce. The value of these
purely village shows is now fully re-
cognized, and quite along list of them
appears in the 1910 programme,

EXPERIMENTAL GARDENS.

So far no settled scheme for organizing
and financing such gardens has been
adopted, and their initiation has hither-
to been mainly due tolocal effort. The
gardens at Bandaragama, Weragoda,
Balangoda, and Rajakadaluwa began in
this way, and have been maintained
with some assistance from the Society.
Inall an attempt is being made to show
the best way of cultivating garden
crops, and to introduce new varieties of
useful plants ; but the garden at Raja-
kadaluwa is also carrying on an experi-
mentin the continuous cultivation of
chena crops according to a four-course
rotation, consisting of grain, legume,
root crop, and cotton, each in turn
occupying a fourth of the area given to
the experiment, which, as it is continued
year by year, should furnish a valuablg
object-lesson to the cultivator,

Miscellaneous,

On the motion of the Hon. Mr. Kanaga-
sabaia Sub-Committee was appointed
to consider a scheme for encouraging
model and experimental gardens in the
Provinces, to be worked under the super-
vision of the Society. This Sub-Com-
mittee, which has now become a per-
manent advisory board, drew up a
memorandum of conditions, the chief of
which is that the Society will contribute
an initial grant not exceeding Rs.1,000,
and an annual upkeep grant not ex-
ceeding Rs. 200 for a period of five
years, on the undeistanding that similar
sums will be raised locally. The memo-
randum has been widely circulated, and
applications for grants will be received
up tothe end of the present half-year.

IMPROVED IMPLEMENTS AND
APPLIANCES.

Considerable difficulty has been expe-
rienced in inducing native cultivators to
adopt any new ideas under this head,
but the unfortunate outbreak of rinder-
pest last year, and the practical extinc-
tion of agricultvral stock in some parts
of the Island, gave the Society an oppor-
tunity of going to the assistance of the
paddy grower, and at the same time
proving the advantages of employ-
ing implements and appliances which
are labour-saving and do not depend
upon the employment of a large number
of cattle. For a time the services of the
instructors were entirely given to
demonstrating the working of light
ploughs of the modern type, and through
their efforts the critical situation in
which the cultivators of the Hamban-
tota District found themselves was
relieved. It will be seen from the
special report made by the Assistant
Government Agent of that district (vide
Progress Report XLVI.) that he esti-
mated the area that could have been
brought under cultivation after rinder-
pest, with available resources, at 500
acres; but eventually practically the
whole irrigable area (some 3,000 acres)
was got ready for sowing, and, what is
of considerable importance, the ploughed
fields gave a better yield, and were
prepared for sowing at a cost which was
not more than in the case of mudded
areas. Altogether the work accom-

plished at Tissamaharama and elsewhere.

under very trying conditions was most
gratifying, and while acknowledging on
behalf of the instructors the compli-
mentary remarks which the Assistant
Government Agent passes on their work,
I should wish to add that without his
active and vigorous co-operation it
would have been impossible to carry on
the campaign with anything like the
success which characterized it,

548 —

: Demonstrations in the working of
implements were also given in the other

Provinces of the Island, and definite
programmes were carried out in the

Kalutara,- Kurunegala, and Batticaloa

Districts, with the approval and _ assist-
ance of the respective Revenue Officers.

Another difficulty experienced by cul-
tivators in the rinderpest-stricken areas
was the threshing of their paddy. After
considerable inquiry a suitable type of
machine has been secured in the May-
furth thresher for hand and animal
power, which is found to do faster and
cheaper work than is accomplished by
the treading of cattle. These machines
are likely to become popular, parti-
cularly where large stretches of paddy
land exists, as at Batticaloa.

TRANSPLANTING IN PADDY CULTIVATION.

Experiments carried out in different
localities yielded satisfactory results.
The tollowing statement gives the name
of the person who undertook the trial,
the locality, and the yield of paddy in
fold, t.e., the multiple of the quantity
used in the nursery. In every case
single seedlings were used, and the
distance between plants varied from 4
inches to 9 inches :—

Mr. James Wickremaratne, Weligam korale 345-fold
Mr. T. B. Mineriya, Tamankaduwa 366,
Mr. N. A.S, Jayasuria, Ambalangoda 200° ,,

288 4;

° 0.
Mr, J. A. Wirasinghe, Rayigam korale
Do do

Do do
Do do

All but the second of these experi-
ments were inspected by the Secretary
or the Agricultural Instructors. The
Society is indebted to those who carried
them out and thus helped to prove the
advantages of transplanting over broad-
casting. The fields employed for the
purpose of these demonstrations were in
nearly every case within easy access by
road, and in general appearance, height,
fullness of ears, and tillering habit, the
crops were conspicuous in their supe-
riority over those of the neighbouring
fields.

MANURING OF PADDY.

The following are the comparative |

results of manuring paddy with a mix-
ture of 2 cwt. bone meal and $ ewt.
nitrate of potash per acre.

The Mudaliyar, Rayigam_ korale,
manured two plots with the mixture
and two with bone dustas found in the
bazaars ; all the plots were of equal size.
Two bone-dust plots gave each 30 and
26 bushels, while two others manured
with the mixture gave 38 and 386 bushels.
In a similar experiment carried out by

the Mudaliyar of Gangaboda pattu, 24

~

‘i;
RS;

dune, 1910] st Gees : 549

Galle, the yield with bone dust was 194

bushels, with the mixture 343 bushels.

The Secretary of the Anuradhapura
Society reports his results in fold. In
cne locality, while an unmanured plot
gave 7-fold, the manured plot gave
15-fold; in another loclity the results
were respectively 24- and 39-fold, under
similar conditions.

The Mudaliyar, Wellaboda pattu
(Galle), reports that where ordinary
bone dust gave 44 bushels, the mixture
gave 133 bushels.

The Secretary, Dumbara Agricultural
Society, reports that Rambukwella
Korala of Palispattu got 61 bushels by
using the manure, whereas the best lands
only gave 32 and ordinary fields 18 to
20. After deducting the equivalent of
the manure in paddy, there was still a
large excess over normal yields. The
Korala’s report has been printed and

- eireulated in the Dumbara villages, and

the Co-operative Credit Society has re-
solved to supply manure on the same
conditions as paddy.

It is to be regretted that fuller details
were not furnished; but in every case
equal areas were employed and the
same rate of sowing adopted, so that
for purposes of comparison the results
are quite useful.

COTTON.

The prospects of cotton cultivation
may be said to have somewhatimproved.
Trials in different parts of the Island—
Chilaw, Hambantota, Madugoda, &z.:—
tend to show that Sea Island cotton, if
grown at the right season and cultivated
in the proper way, can be successfully
raised, and produces a lint which is
infinitely superior to that of any local
variety. Professor Dunstan, who while
in Ceylon last Mareh evinced great
interest in the possibilities of cotton
cultivation, was inclined to think that
an improved Upland variety, such as
‘Black Rattler,” should suit local con-
ditions better than any other. Acting
on this advice the Society has, with the
help of the British Cotton Growing
Association, secured a consignment of
this seed.

The occurrence of areas that refuse to
grow any of the crops successfully raised
in other parts of the Island, the opening
up of large acreages in coconuts in the
dry districts, the depression in the
tobacco trade as a result of the enhanced
duty on tobacco imported into India,
the existence (though to a limited ex-
tent) of a spinning and weaving in-
dustry, the probability of a reliable
local agency being shortly established to
act as a medium between the grower

Miscellaneous.

and the market, and lastly, the possibi-
lity of successfully growing cotton in
suitable areas—are all circumstances
which favour this cultivation.

The laudable efforts of the British
Cotton Growing Association to encour-
age cultivators have so far not been
attended with the success they deserved.
Had an old-established and well-known
firm been chosen as the local agents of
the Association in the first instance,
considerable progress ought by now to
have been made, ‘The temporary sus-
pension of ginning operations, and the
want of an agency to handle the pro-
duce, have acted as a serious set-back,
while the extraordinary prosperity of
the other agricultural industries of the
Island has tended to push any new crop
out of consideration. : ‘

Of late there has been a revival of the
weaving industry through the efforts
of the Salvation Army, as well as cer-
tain enterprising people in the north of
the Island. By the introduction of an
improved type of loom the profits on
weaving have been considerably en-
hanced. There is also a fairly big trade
in the manufacture of fabrics in the old-
tashioned looms still used in Batticaloa,
but which have now been practically
abandoned in Chilaw.

In Upper Dumbara the weaving in-
dustry has shrunk to the narrowest
limits, and the outturn of the loom de-
pends chiefly on the fostering care of
the Kandyan Art Association. The
materials manufactured are coarse in
texture and have no commercial stand-
ing, but their quaintness fetches for
them a fictitious value as curiosities.
There is, however, here an opportunity
for reviving cotton cultivation, since
cotton growing and spinning are still
carried on on a small scaJe, so that any
development in weaving could go hand
in hand with extension of cultivation.
Through the efforts of the Dambara
Agricultural Society an experiment in
growing Sea Island cotton was under-
taken, and gave encouraging resulcs;
and as this body is following up its first
experiment, and is also considering the
question of introducing a better type of
loom, there is some prospect of the
trade in Kandyan woven cloths being
re-established on a business footing,

TOBACCO.

Ceylon-grown tobacco is utilized for
the manufacture of cigars or for chewing
purposes. The bulk of the chewing
tobacco hitherto found a ready market
in Travancore State. In spite of periodic
fluctuations due to overstocking, the
industry has always been admitted to
be a thriving one, and practically the

Miscellaneous.

only source of agricultural revenue to
the Tamils cf the North, Within the
past few months a serious check has
been experienced by tobacco growers in
consequence of the Indian Government
raising the import duty on tobacco
from Rs. 90 to Rs. 900 per candy. So far
as Ceylon is concerned the new tariff
has practically killed the trade in chew-
ing tobacco, and the grower of this leaf,
which is raised on a particular type of
soil, is much exercised in mind as to
what can take the place of the tobacco
crop. Cotton is likely to do, and the
Society is taking advantage of the situ-
ation to encourage cotton cultivation in
the North, but at present the tobacco
grower is inclined to look askance at
any product that will not yield him the
magnificent returns that tobacco -does.
The Society, in the meantime, has em-
barked upon a comparatively big enter-
_ prise with a view to proving the possi-
bility of turning out an improved
smoking tobacco for the foreign market.
The system of cultivation practised at
present results in the production of a
large coarse leaf, while the method
of curing induces a rank tobacco only fit
for the manufacture of a crude form of
cigar for local consumption. By the
employment of superior seed, a better
system of cultivation and harvesting,
and an improved method of curing, it is
hoped that the object sought will be
attained. The scene of the tobacco ex-
periment is the Experiment Station at
Maha Iluppalama, where 50 ‘acres of
land were made available by the Botanic
Department for the purpose. The
Society voted a sum of Rs. 27,000, and
Government contributed half the cost of
the salary of the expert (Mr. Edward
Cowan). Operations began practically
at the commencement of the year, and
reports of progress have so far been
satisfactory. Mr. Breckenridge, Agri-
cultural Instructor, has been sent on
special duty as conductor under Mr.
Cowan, with whom the Superintendent
of the Experiment Station (Mr. Harbord)
is co-operating. Both Su.natra and Java
tobacco are being tried.

In Trincomalee the Messis. Molesworth
Bros. have been carrying on tobacco
cultivation on improved lines. and are
now turning out a cigar of a superior
type, with which they are trying the
market.

SCHOOL GARDENS.

The Society has done much to push on
the work of the Schoel Garden Depart-
ment, which is making very satisfactory
progress. With the exception of a
handful of teachers of the old school,
who are nearing their time of retire-
ment, there is a general desire on the

part of school masters to work under
the scheme, and in most cases with
gratifying results. The advantages of
the education which the scheme provides
to the rising generation in the rural
districts are undeniable, and its influence
upon village life and character is
material. Under these circumstances it
would be a wise policy to gradually
develop this department by additions to
the staff as well as to the votes, so that
the scheme may ultimately embrace all
the schools of the Island. At present it
is impossible to grant aid to the extent
that it is demanded by both Govern-
nient schools and those under Peiveie
management.

LOANS TO CULTIVATORS.

The Committee appointed by His
Excellency the Governor to report on
this subject have sent in their recom-
mendations (vide Sessional Paper VIII.
of 1910), the more important of which
are that an Ordinance be introduced on
the lines of the Indian Co-operative
Society’s Act, No. X. of 1904, by which
societies formed in Ceylon can be cor-
porated; that the accounts of the
societies should be submitted for Govern-
ment audit; that there should be joint
and unlimited liability of the members ;
that Government should allow similar
fiscal, legal and executive privileges to
societies as in India; that where necessary
financial aid will be rendered by Govern-
ment, but that in no case should mone-
tary grants be given unless a sum equal
to that asked for be first raised by the
members,

These recommendations have still to
come into effect, but in the meantime
some attempts are being made by local
societies to go tothe aid of the culti-
vator by means of loans of paddy and
manure, and in some cases of small sums
of money. The most successful of these
is the movement set on foot by the
Dumbara Branch, and as it is the first
local body that has launched so far in
this enterprise, a report on the working
of the Co-operative Credit and Loan
Society is given below for the infor-
mation of other branches :—

This Society was started in August,
1906, with 22 members and a deposit of
Rs. 42(. Since then the increase in
membership and deposits has been as
follows :—

On December 31, 1906, there were 37 Ks.

members with a deposit of .. 670
On December 31, 1907, there were 48

members with a deposit of 740
On December 31, 1908, there were 49 '

members with a deposit of 810
On December 31, 1909, there were 69

members with a deposit of —_ ... 1,000

- Junn, 1910.)

The increase ot membership during 1907
and 1908 was 6 and7 respectively. The
increase for the year under i1eview
was 15.

Meetings.—A general meeting and six
committee meetings were held during
the year,

Finance.—Balance on January 1, 1909:—
8. Cy
Cash .. 712 60
Paddy : 140 0
Reserve Fund 88 31
Paddy bin 45 0
935 91
Deposits during the year 190 0
Interest on cash loans 76 60
Interest on paddy loans - 42 80
1,245 31
Expenses during re year:
interest paid vs 32 40
Balance... 1,212 91
Rs. c
Cash 816 60
Paddy 226 0
Beserve Fund 170 31
Total... 1L 212 91
Cash Loans. —
Rs. ¢
In 1907 loans were made to 11 per:
sons amounting to 550 0
In 1908 loans were made to 15 per-
sons amounting to 750 0
In 1909 loans were made to 19 per-
sons amounting to 950 0

551 - Miscellaneous.

Of these, only one loan of Rs, 50 made
to the Arachchi of Ambale has not yet
been recovered. Two other loans made
in 1908 were renewed in 1909 on payment
of interest.

Paddy Loans.—
Bushels.

In 1906 loans were made to 42 per-

sons amounting to 50
In 1907 loans were made to 53 per-

sons amounitng to 763

_ In 1908 loans were made ‘to 50 per-

sons amounting to 954
In 1909 loans were made to 87 per-

sons amounting to ee . 1314

All the paddy lent out has been

returned with interest.

Many applications for loans in paddy
as well asin cash had to be refused for
want of funds. The utility of the
Society can be greatly increased if its
finances will allow of it. Many appli-
eations had also to be refused for want
of security. If Government can be
induced to grant loans to the Society
and to give a legal status to the Society
by creating a first charge on the produce
of the land of the borrower, the Society
will be able to extend its benefits to
many who cannot be reached and helped
by it as presently constituted.

The thanks of the Society are due to
the caretakers and distributors of paddy
at Madugoda aud Mediwaka.

At the end of the year 1909 there was a
balance of Rs. 87 tothe credit of the
Society, and the amount as allowed by
the rules will be transterred to the
Reserve Fund.

The Dumbara Revicaltural Society and the Co-operative
CREDIT SOCIETY OF DUMBARA.

BALANCE SHEET, 1909.
Cash Account,
Rs. ec. Rs. ¢
Balance 611 33 | Loans made in cash 804 60
Fresh deposits during the year 19¢ 0] Interests paid on deposits 18 47
Loans repaid during the year 710 0| Stamps and stationery s 2 40
Vegetable seeds sold ie 9 50 | Vegetable seeds and mango plants
Mango plants sold 8 15 purchased 15 80
Agricultural Society’s subscrip- Subscription to Ceylon Agricul-
tions ae 50 0 tural Society _... 8 0
Interest received ... .. 7660{ Amount deposited in Savings
| Bank SAA 450 0
| Balance in hand 356 31
1,655 58 1,655 58
Paddy Account.
Bus, Lahas, Bus. Lahas.
Balance ma LOL 6 Paddy loans outstanding ... 11s 2
Borrowed from Appuhamy, Balance in store eh 9 0
Registrar a 5 Zs 0
Interest recovered mee aL (a) a aT
125 2 125 2

3)
(tee

eee oe OD, . SE MS ee ee

Miscellaneous.

Profit and Loss Account. ; fakes Pea
: Rs, ¢c. Rc
Interest paid to depositors 82 40 | Interest received on cash loans... 46 60
Net profit ac 87 0| Interest received on paddy loans,
216 bushels ae se = 42 80
119 40 119 40
Reserve Fund Account.
; Rs. ¢. | Rs. e
Balance a 170 31 | Balance ae «. «©6888 Bl
A paddy bin ee . 43 0
Net profit is 87 0
170 31 170 31
Balance Sheet.

; : Rs. ¢. Rs. e.
Deposits ih eae .. 1,000 0] A paddy bin Be , ee ey: 5509 |)
Agricultural Society’s Funds 137 79 | Paddy in two stores, 123 bushels... 226 0
Agricultural Show Funds 107 21 | Loans outstanding ... «. 9348 40
Interest due to depositors . ~ 60 40] Deposit in Ceylon Savings Bank... 500 0
Reserve Fund ar » 170 81 | Cash in hand ve Pre ets 703) |

1,475 71 14475 71

FODDER AND STOCK.

Until there isa rational relation be-
tween the number of cattle and the
fodder supply the nuisance of cattle
trespass will continue. The practice of
cultivating special crops for fodder, as
is donein India, has yet to be adopted
by native cattle owners; the absence of
suitable pasture lands only tends to
intensify the evil of cattle trespass. One
of the members of the Board is giving a
trial to Sorghum asa fodder crop, and
his experience should be of assistance to
others who have been thinking of culti-
vating such crops.

The Society has been trying a number
of fodder plants likely to suit local con-
ditions, such as the locust bean, Algaroba
bean, chou-moellier, and Congayam
grass. The last mentioned (Pennisetum
cenchroides) is likely to prove an acquisi-
tion in thedry parts of the Island.

APICULTURE.

Bee-keeping on modern lines continues
to make progress, and the demand for
hivesis steady though slow. The ten-
dency among amateurs is to keep to
native bees, as the European strains
require so much attention in the way
of feeding, &c. Messrs. A. P. Goone-
tilleka of Veyangoda and J. V, Perera of
Colombo are giving close attention to
the training of Apis indica, and have
succeeded in inducing them to store
pure honey inasuper. Mr. Perera, who

C. RASANAYAGAM,
Honorary Secretary and Treasurer.

agrees with Mr. Shanks as tothe value
of Pterocarpus indicus in the honey-flow,
lately extracted some excellent honey
with the aid of the Cowan extractor. At
Pinnawela school bee-keeping has been
taken up by the boys.

SERICULTURE,

There are no startling developments
to report under this head. With the
advice of the Sericulture Committee the
Society has been co-operating with the
Indian authorities in order to develop
eri silk culture. Machines for cleaning
the cocoons and for spinning have been
secured through the assistance of the
Imperial Entomologist for India, alsoa
pure strain of silk-worms which are
bred atthe Stock Garden to keep
up a supply of eggs. Itis hoped that
before long a fair market rate will
be offered as the result of a compromise
between European and Indian firms. —
The Tata Silk Farm at Bangalore has
been taken over by the Salvation Army,
and with the interest which Major
Booth-Tucker is taking in this matter, it
may be expected that more rapid ~
Progress will follow. Writing to the
Secretary in April, Major Booth-Tuecker —
mentions that he is just setting out on
a tour through Europe, the main object

of which is to find the best markets for _

silk and to secure the services of experts.

Samples of eri cocoons raised in Ceylon

are being forwarded to him.

~

ae

June, 1910.)

% PUBLICATIONS.

The ‘* Tropical Agriculturist and Maga-
zine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society,”
the ‘“Govikam Sangarawa,” and the
“Kamat Tholil Velakkam ” continue to
serve the interests of the Society’s
members as the monthly English,
Sinhalese, and Tamil publications re-
spectively.

The occasional publications consist of
the calendar and leaflets on special sub-
jects of importance to agricultucists.

AGRICULTURAL HDUCATION.

The absence of any provision for
regular agricultural training, and the
difficulty of gaining admission to Indian
Colleges, place Ceylon boys at a great
disadvantage. The Committee appointed
by His Excellency the Governor to report
on a proposed scheme of agricultural
training tor Ceylon have made their
report (Sessional Paper XXXVII. of
1909) embodying practical proposals,

which, itis to be hoped, will soon come

into effect.
ANALYSES AND REPORTS.

A perusal of the information published
under this heading in the Progress
Reports will give some idea of the in-
quivies and investigations that have been
carried on. In this work the Society
has bad the fullest co-operation of
the Government Agricultural Chemist.
Willing and ready advice on the subject
of insect pests has always been available
from the Government . Entomologist,
while for the identification of plants
thanks are due to the Curator of the
Royal Botanic Gardens.

THE [MPERIAL INSTITUTE.

The visit of Professor Dunstan,
Director of the Imperial Institute, during
the first quarter of the year gave those
who are closely connected with the agri-
cultural work of the Colony an oppor-
tunity of discussing local problems with
one, who, from his - official relations with
all the British Colonies, has had excep-
tional opportunities for studying the
affairs of the tropics. Itis only a want
of time that prevented him from attend-
ing one of the meetings of the Board and
addressing its members.

The Secretary has been appointed
Secretary toa small committee which is
collecting samples of agricultural and
industrial products to fill up gaps in the
collection at the Imperial Institute,
London.

Professor Dunstan, before leaving
Ceylon, authorized the Secretary to
notify to members of this Society that
he will be pleased to examine and report
on promising samples forwarded through
the Ceylon Agricultural Society.

Sia aA, Roy Ta ON «saree ON

LOMLE ERY Sid Poke Abiseg korea a

a

55 2a, Miscellaneous.

MUSEUM AND READING Room.
The Secretary has gradually got to-

gether a fairly large collection of local —

and Indian products which should form
the nucleus of an agricultural museum,

an institution which is a much-felt want _

in Colombo both by residents and
visitors. The question of suitably hous-
ing the exhibits has vet to be settled.
Witha museum might appropriately be
associated a library and reading room.
The Society has even now a good stock
of books of reference, and also receives
as exchanges almost all the agricultural
publications of the world.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

The thanks of the Society are due to
Government for the continuance of its
annual grant; to His Excellency the
Governor, its President, for identifying
himself with the work of the Board;
to the Organizing Vice-President and
Editor of the Society’s Journal (Dr.
Willis), for being the medium of a happy
co-operation between his own Depart-
ment and this Society; and to the
Revenue Officers and their headmen for
their assistance in furthering the
Society’s work in the Provinces.

The Secretary desires tc commend to
the Board the two Agricultural In-
structors who have shown the greatest
aptitude, viz., Mr. N. Wickremaratne and.

Mr. S. Chelliah.
C. DRIEBERG,
Colombo, June 8, 1910. Secretary.

PERADENIYA EXPERIMENT
STATION.

MEETING OF May 12, 1910,

Minutes of a Meeting of the Committee
of Agricultural Experiments held at the
Experiment Station, Peradeniya, on
12th of May, 1910.

The following members were pre-
sent:—Dr. Willis, Chairman, the Govt.
Entomologist, the Government Chemist,
the Hon’ble Mr. EH. Turner, Messrs. Ros-
ling, Fraser, Jowitt, Anderson, Vander-
straaten, and the Secretary. ;

The Secretary read the Progress Report
since the previous meeting, and the
following resolution was passed unani-
mously :—

Proposed by Mr. Rosling and seconded
by Mr. Bamber : ‘‘ That Mr. N. W. Davies
of Portswood, Kandapola, be asked to
fill the vacancy on the Committee of
Agricultural Experiments caused by the
resignation of the Hon’ble Mr. J. N.
Campbell.”

J. A. HOLMEs,

Secretary, C: A. EK:

Miscellaneous.

PRoGRESS REPORT ON EXPERIMENT STA-
TION FROM 10TH MARCH TO 12TH MAY.

TrA.—The Indigofera sown in plot 142
has been cut twice since the last meeting ;
on the first occasion the yield was 1,367
Ibs. (March 18th) and on the second 468 lbs.
(April 29th); this brings the total for
the year up to 4,123 lbs.

In plot 147 the Crotalaria striata, which
had previously been unsuccessfully bent
to see if it would cover the surface of
the soil, was cut for the first time on
April 28th and weighed 1,194 lbs.

Crotalaria striata on plot 148 has been
twice cut since the last meeting, and
the weight of the two crops. equalled
1,893 lbs., making a total for four months
of 2,044 lbs.

In order to smother Tora weed which
is becoming very troublesome on some
of the tea plots, Crotalaria has been
sown on plot 151, and residue of lemon
grass after distillation is being thickly
muleched on the dirty patches from
152-155; hand weeding has also been
resorted to in order to eradicate the
bulbous roots.

The yield of green leaf for the week
ending May 7th was considerably in
excess of anything previously recorded,
2,044 lbs. baving been despatched to
Peradeniya Factory.

The bushes are still being plucked to
the whole leaf, but experiments are
being made on certain bushes as to the
growth of new flush from whole and fish
leaf plucking.

CacAao.—The dadaps in the young
eacao have been pruned, the weight of
leaf, ete., thus available for mulching
around the plants being as follows :—
In the two low shade plots 747 and 1,283
lbs., and in the high shadeplot 719 lbs.,
the fourth plot has had the branches
bent as before.

Supplies have been planted and shaded
and are progressing favourably.

In plots 1-10 all the lower branches of
the shade trees (dadaps) have heen
lopped.

All the experimental plots have been
manured up to date.

There has been a remarkably ‘heavy
blossom all round during the last three
weeks.

144 ewts. of cacao was sold by auction
on 4th April at the rate of Rs, 41 per cwt.

Coconuts.— The oil experiment decided
on at the last meeting has given the
following result for fresh nuts :—

Weight of Husks and Nuts...
500 Husks ne ee
Nuts

Water

Sale shells

No. of days drying ... 7.

Of the ten acres of young coconuts over
five have been drained and one has been
planted with Tephrosia candida seed.

On the coconut land selected for fruit
experiments all the palms have been
felled, but have not so tar been removed.

Statistics as to their fruit and leaves
are appended,

The price for coconuts realised at the

sale on 4th April was Rs. 46 per 1,000

all round.

_ Rupper.— Para.—The following results
in latex have been obtained from the
various methods of tapping for the last
17 days, during which period the latex
from the trees from each row has been
bulked ;—

Full herring bone 49 ec.
Left to right 4 sp. aa 42 ,,
Right to left ? sp. ane Bp iany
Vertical channels pricked 1082 ,,

Three trees have collapsed as the re-

sult of thumb nail pruning, although ©

no severe winds have been experienced.

Measurements of trees were taken in
March the 11th to the I6th to ascertain
the effect of rain on the girth. Rain
fell for two hours on March the 14th, and
measurements taken three hours later
showed an increase of }’to}”. Further
measurements taken the following
morning showed the girths had again
fallen to the normal, and in some in-
stances further decreased by 2”.

Ceara.—No further tapping experi-
ments have been tried on Ceara as the
trees are not yet recovered from win-
tering; despite the lack of leaf the
bark appears to be renewing in a most

satisfactory manner, and is full of latex. |

M. Dichotoma.—Four further losses

from: wind in the 20-month@ ola fiotaan

have been recorded.

Pappy.—The paddy land has been pre-
pared for the Hineti crop which will
not be transplanted but will be manured
as before.

CoFFEE.—Land has been madeready __
for the purpose of growing more ex- —
tensive plots of Coffea Robusta and

“sy

June, 1910.)

Liberica, seedlings of which are at pre-
sent thriving in nurseries.

The various varieties all blossomed
towards the end of March.

‘Tospacco.—About one-quarter of an
acre of Dumbara tobacco has been plant-
ed out and shaded.

SUGAR.—Sugar-canes from Java have
been planted at the request of a gentle-
man who is desirous of introducing the
best varietiesinto India, and who thought
that the best means of propagation
would be to temporarily plant them
in Ceylon. -

Maize.—A small quantity of maize
has been sown at the request of Mr.
Drieberg in order to supply seed for
the School Gardens,

GREEN MANnvuRES,—The following legu-
minoss% were cut and yielded :—

Cajanus indicus | 9,200 lbs. per acre
Tephrosia hookeriana 1,700 ,, 4, 4
Mimosa pudica .. 10,700 ,, ,, ,,

Beds of Crotalaria incana and striata,
Indigofera hirsuta, and Tephrosia pur-
purea have been sown; also oneacre of
Tephrosia candida in the young coco-
nuts and about one-quarter acre of
T, hookeriana in rubber.

GrRAss.—About 14 acres of land have
been cleared of Lantana, ete. and plant-
ed with Guinea grass.

~ = OIL GRASs.—Cymbopogon Martinii has

been uprooted and planted out, about
' 12th May, 1910,

} 562¢ a

Miscellaneous.

70 plants are now living and the seed —

gives promise of being fertile.

A large plot of Lena Batu has been

planted.
A shipment of two dozen bottles

Andropogon citratus oil has been made — aes

to London.

FrRuits.—The plantains are progress-
ing very well, as are the pineapples.

Some cashew-nut seeds sown in the

nurseries have also germinated satis-
factorily.

The coconut land decided on for fruit
experimental purposes will be ready for
planting in the middle of June,

NURSERIES, —Teak seed from Java has
been sown.

PEPPER.—The best varieties of pepper
vine have been ordered from the
Director of Agriculture, Madras.

WasH.—The following are the weights
of wash on the various plots :—

Desmodium triflorum 30 Ibs
Mixed Crotalarias ose eel One
Dadap stumps «se 880) 45
Blank aes Kye OLA Sg
Crotalaria incana we 30075;
Albizzia plants Kote PEL OSes
Crotalarias across slope ... 50 ,,
Plain deep forking ... 1,893 ,,
lpomea ne seein oDaise

VISITORS. —184 visitors, including the
Director of Agriculture, Bombay, have
visited the Experiment Station during
the last two months.

J. A, HOoLMEs,
Supt. Experiment Station, Peradeniya

Pha ay ee
La ma ey

ow atten AME ey A

a3
a

\

552d

MARKET RATES FOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS.
(From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current, London, 111h May, 1910,)

a

—

ALOES, Socotrine cwt.
Zanzibar & Hepatic ,,
ARROWROOT (Natal) Ib.
BEES’ WAX, owt.

Zanzibar Yellow 7
Bombay bleached ,,

5 unbleached ,,
Madagascar
OAMPHOR, Japan ff

China vr
CARDAMOMS, Tuticorin

”

Tellicherry

Mangalore ,,

Ceylon.- Mysore
Malabar

Seeds, K.1,& Ceylon ,,
Cey lon Long Wild ,,
CABTOK OIL, Calcutta ,,
CHILLIES, Zanzibar cwt.

CINCHONA BARK.,-— lb.
Ceylon

”

Iste
2nds
3rds
4ths

Chips, &c..
CLOVES, Penang
Amboyna
Ceylon
Zanzibar
pele R

CINNAMON,Ceylon
per lb.

COETE
Coals Plantation cwt.
Native
Liberian
COCOA, Ceylon Plant.

Native Estate fs

Java and Celebes ,,

COLOMBO KOOT

CROTON SEEDS, sift. cwt.
CUBEBS

GINGLR, Bengal, rough,,

Calicut, pent 7 See

Cochin Rough ,,

’
‘3

- Japan ‘
Q@UM AMMONIACUM

a”

ANIMI, Zanzibar

Madagascar

AKABIC H.1. & Aden
Turkey sorts
Ghatti
Kurrachee
Madras

ASSAFQ:7Tibva

KINO

MYRRH, Aden sorts cwt
Somali

OLIBANUM, drop

”
”

pickings
siftings
INDIA RULbBEK

»
”»

Ceylon, Straits,
Malay Straits, etc.

Assam

Rangoon

QUALITY.

Fair to fine
Common to good -
Fair to fine

oe

: Slightly drossy to fair ..

Fair to good
Dark to good palish |
Retined

Fair average quality ...)
Good to fine bold |
Middling lean |
Good to fine bold
Brownish

Med brown to fair bold
Small fair to fine plump | |
Fair to good
Fair to good
Shelly to good
Good 2nds

Dull to fine bright Ns

Crown, Renewed
Org. Stem

Read Org. Stem
Renewea
Root

Good to fine quill

v »

”

Fair to fine bold

”

Ib.|Dull to tine bright pkd.
.|Dull to fine

‘\wair and fine bright
.|Bair

Medium to bold

Good ordinary

Fair to bola

Special Marks

Red to good

Ordinary to red

Small to good red

Midadling to good

Dull to fair

Ord. stalky to good

Fair

Small to fine bold

Small and medium

Common to tine bold

Small and D’s

Unsplit

Sm. blocky to fair clean

Pale and amber, str. srts.

es little red

Bean and Pea size ditto

air to good red sorts

Med. & bold glassy sorts

Fair to good palish
es red <

Ordin: ary to good pale

Sorts to fine pale a
Reddish to good pale ...
Dark to fine pale 0
Clean fr. to gd. almonds
cou). stony to gocd block
Fair to tine bright
Middling to good

” >

Good to tine white
Middling to fair
Low to good pale
Slightly foul to fine
Fine Para bis. & sheets

» Ceara
Crepe ordinary to fine..
Fine Block
Scrap fair to fine
Plantation

Fair 11 to ord, red No. 1

Dark to good genuine. . /B5 15s a £6 108

1s 4da 2s 10d
lis 38da 1s 4d
1s 7d

-l6d a Is7d

3yd
4Us a 45s

asd a 7d

2d a 6d
1jd a 44d
8da bid
lida 4d
6;dals 5d
5#d a 1s 4d
5da 1s
aga a sed
24d a 3d
id 5sa 1s 6d
9d a 10d
9da 10d
5d @ 53d
2d

65s a 100s
nominal
43s-a 55s
57s6d a 70s
52s 6d a 56s
37s a 50s
3Us a 8US
30s a 35s
453 a 47s 6d
150s a 170s
40s nom,
65s a 84s
55s a 60s
45s a 50s
42s 6d a 45s
438

35s a 78s 6d
£15 a £16
£Ll2a £14
758 a £13 10s
£8 a £12
£6a £8

. |£4 a £8 158

£4a £7 10s
258 a 32s 6d nom.
328 a 50s

_.|208 a 42s 6d nom.

20S a 30s

158s a 25s

£18 15s a £20 15s

15s a £8

6d a 9d

558 a 65s

50s a 65s

458 a 608

30s a 40s

10s a 25s

16s a 20s

10s 8a

9s

ie 7d a 10s 10d
8

”

“lisa a 88 cd

6S 6a
5S10d a 6s
4s a 4s 9d

QUOTATIONS.
/80s a 853s INDIARUBBER.( (Contd.)
40s a 70s Borneo
-\7d a 8d Java
Penang
£615sa £6 17s 6d} Mozambique
|£7 716 a £7 12s 6d
Nyassalana
£6 lisa £7 Madagascar
Is 6d a ls 77a
145s
2s a 2s 6d New Guinea
Is9dailsi0d |INDIGO, EI. Bengal
2s a 2s3d
ls 38 als 9d
2s a 2s lid

SEEDLAC
SENNA, Tinnevelly

ewt,
Ib.

SHELLS, M. o’ PEARL—

QUALITY. QUOTATIONS,

Common to good 88 3da 4s 6d
Good to finered | « [5s 6da 589d
Low white to prime red|3s 3d a 4s 6d
Fair to fine red ball .../73 a 88 6d
Sausage, fair to good ..'6s10d a 8s 3d
Fair to fine ball «|6s a 73 2d

Fr to fine pinky & whitel5s a 6s 2d
Majunga & blk coated ..|ss 6da4s
Niggers, low to good ..\23 a 4s
Ordinary to fine ball ..|4sédaé6s
Shipping mid to gd violet|Zs 10d a 8s 8d
Consuming mid. to gd.|2zs 6d a 28 10d
Ordinary to middling |zs 2d a 2s6d
Oudes Middlingto fine |2s5 6d a 2/8 nom.
Mid. to good Kurpah_ - |2s zd a 2s 6d_

Low to ordinary Is 6da2s
Mid. to fine Madras Is 6da2s4d ;
MACE, Bombay & Penang Pale reddish to fine jis lida 2s 4d
per lb. Ordinary to fair ls 8d ais 10d
Java », geod pale. jis 7d a 28
Bombay Wild gid a 43d
MYRABULANES, cwt ak G and Cee ona 58 a 586d
ubblepore 5s a 63
Bombay Bhimlies 5s 3d a 68 6d
Rhajpore, &c, 4s 9da5s 6d
Bengal », |Caleutta 5s 6d a6s
NUTMEGS— 64’s to 57’s 1s ais 6d
Bombay & Penang ,, », |110’s to 65’s 43d a 1s
160’s to 115’s 4d a 44a |
NUTS, ARECA ewt./Ordinary to fair fresh |14s a 16s
NUX 'VOMICA, Cochin |Ordinary to good 9s a liséd .
per cwt. | Tepes aa os 6s éd a 78
Madras Ny oA 6s 9d a 83
OIL OF ANISEED _,, |Fair merchantable 4s 6d
CASSIA », |According to analysis |3s 4da 8s 8d
LEMONGRASS », |Good flavour & colour |2#d
NUTMEG ;, |Dingy to white 1gd a ljd
CINNAMON » |Ordinary to fair sweet |2da1s
CITRON ELLE Bright & good flavour [ls
ORCHELLA WEED—cwt
Ceylon « |Mid. to fine not woody...|8S a 103s
Madagascar » |Fair ee [LUS
PEPPER- (Black) Ib.
Alleppy & Tellicherry|Fair 3gd
Ceylon ,, Lo fine bold heavy «. .- [3gd a 44d
Singapore a oe (ad re
Acheen & W. C. Penang Dull to fine ee oes 33d a 39d
(White) eingenove », [Hair to fine v. --|tad a ba
Siam » [Fair =) one ++ (Gad
Feenane », Pair o- oe «+ [64a
Muntok », Hair ..\7d a 7ad
RHUBABB, Shenzi ,. (Ordinary to good (1s 2d a 2si6d
Canton ..(Ordinaryto good .. {104d a ls id
High Dried. ,|Feir to tine flat . (93d a Lid
Dark to fair round . [6d a 64d
SAGO, Pearl, large , {Dull to fine. .. . |2ts az4as
wedium .. ”» ” -Os a 228
small ay iss 6d a 20s |

Ordina ry to gd. soluble /45s.a 605
Good to fine bold greenj4;d a7d
Fair greenish 24d a 44d
Commonspeckyand small isd a2id

Egyptian ewt. Smalltobold .. 293 4 137s6d
Bombay ,,| » . 278 & 135s nom—
Mergui a ” ” any -.|£517/6 a £9 7/6
Manilla ,, |Eair to good + |£7 7/6 a £10 2/6
Banda ,, |sorts 45s 230s nomy
AES, Calcutta,,,|Mid.to fine blk not stony lls a12s6d—
er cwt. Madras /|Stony and inferior ./48 a 5s :
TORTOISESHELL—
Zanzibar, & Bombay lb. |Small to bold » {lis a 29s
Fickings u. [88a 23s
TURMERIC, Bengal ewt.|Fair 19s 6d
Madras _,, |inger fair to tine pold|28s a 24s 6d
Do. , |Bulbs Loright Ts a 18s
Cochin. ,, |Finger : yfohe
Bulbs iF, ire ed peas
VANILLOES— 1b, ey
Mauritius... Ists|Gd crystallized 3} a8}injl38salgs
Madagascar ... 2nds|Foxy & reddish 3a ,,|/118S68al4s
Seychelles ...J drds|Lean and inferior +» {108 6d a Bs Me ae
VERMILLION .. Fine, pure, bright . (83 2d
WAX, Japan, squares Good white hard soe |) 203m

ie apes, Meee

THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE

Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the 6. A. 8.

CoMPILED AND EpirEp sy A. M. & J. FERGUSON.

ae —e

No. 6.]

JUNE, 1910.

(Vor. VI.

THE TOBACCO TROUBLE IN
TRAVANCORE.

HOW WILL IT BE SOLVED?

We learn from South India that the recent
impost. on tobacco levied by the Travancore
Durbar in conformity with the rate of tax fixed
by the Imperial Government has proved to be a
serious drain on the tobacco traders of the
State and is likely tu ruin them. The system
under which the trade is carried on is explained
in the last Travancore Administration Report :—.

‘*The tobacco required for consumption in
the State is imported by merchants on their
own account, by land, sea or rail, and bonded
in Sirkar warehouses, where it is allowed to
remain in the joint custody of the Durbar and the
merchants, The merchants remove the tobacco
from the warehouses after paying the import
duty of R9vU per candy for all kinds,”

It has always been the policy of the Travan-
core Governmert to encourage and foster the
tobacco trade, and at one time nearly half the
revenue of the State was derived from tho
tobacco trade of which the Government had the
monopoly. Subsequently the Government
monopoly was abolished, and the trade was
thrown open to public competition. The import
duty on Ceylon tobacco was then fixed at R190
per candy. Having realised by experience that
so high a duty as R190 per candy on Ceylon
tobacco was injurious to the trade and to the
best interests of the State, the Government
reduced the import duty on Ceylon tobacco to
R90 per candy at which rate it remained till
February 25th last. The solicitude which the
Government had for the growth of the trade was
so great that with a view to encourage tobacco
merchants and prevent smuggling, warehouses
on different trade routes and at convenient
centres for sturing tobacco were placed at the dis-

70

posal of the traders. As will be seen from the
quotation given above, this practice prevails
even now. Another concession which tobacco
traders enjoyed has been the privilege of pay-
ing the duty on tobacco by degrees as sales
were gradually effected. The tobacco being kept
in bonded warehouses under the care and super-
vision of Government Officials, the traders have
been at liberty to sell at their convenience, and
after each sale to pay the duty on the quantity
sold—a privilege not enjoyed by tobacco traders
elsewhere. They were also encouraged to im-
port all the tobacco they could afford to buy
during the season of the North-East Monsoon
when alone the Travancore vorts are available
for safely landing goods, and to keep it in
the bonded warehouses, The peculiarity with
the Ceylon tobacco is that Travancore and
Cochin are the only countries where it is
principally consumed. In Travancore it is
used by all classes of the native inhabitants as
an almost indispensable ingredient in chewing
betel. The average consumption per head of
the population last year was 4°2lb. against 41b.
inthe year previous. The way in which the
Ceylon tobacco is cured and prepared is highly
relished by Travancoreans who consider it an
antidote tothe evil effects of malaria and the
dampness of the climate, The traders in Trav-
ancore have invested a large amount of capital
in the purchase of Ceylon tobacco and in making
advances to tobacco cultivators in the district
of Jaffna in Ceylon where this variety of tobacco
is exclusively grown. The total capital invested
this year alone is R16 lakhs. They have also in
stock in the Government warehouses in Trav-
ancore 2,600 and odd candies of tobacco valued
at R5} lakhs, and they have now in Ceylon,
ready for shipment, 1,500 and odd candies valued
at about R3 lakhs. The newly-levied duty ig
Rl As 8 per pound of tobacco which is R900 per
candy, This huge enhancement at one sweep is

554

a crushing tax which has already affected the
tobacco trade. The merchants who have stored
tobacco to the value of several lakhs are already
in difficulties. On account of the terribly high
and prohibitive price now put on tobacco the
trade in Ceylon tobacco hascome to a standstill,
and the merchants have begun to sustain a
heavy loss, The only result, if the present state
of affairs should continue, is the complete ruin
of about a dozen rich and influential merchants
who have long been trading in Ceylon tobacco.

There is another point worthy of mention.
In the district of Jaffna a large Colony of
about 50,000 people has been carrying on the
cultivation, manufacture and export of Ceylon
tobacco for the past several decades. If the rate
of duty is to remain as it is at present, there
will be complete annihilation of the trade and
total ruin of the tobacco colony in the island of
Ceylon also. The Travancore Government have
notified that the new tax would be levied from
the 25th February last, z.c., with retrospective
effect for about six weeks. In octher words, the
retrospective clause has been made applicable
to tobacco imported months and years ago and
lying in the Government warehouses on which
duty has not yet been paid, in spite of the fact
that the Travancore Government had offered
several inducements to the merchants to buy
Ceylon tobacco and store it in warehouses under
the custody both of the Government and of the
merchants. And the merchants had themselves
no previous intimation about the enhanced tax
or its retrospective application. ‘The request
of the merchants is threefold:—In the first
place, they want that on Ceylon tobacco im-
ported and stored in the Government ware-
houses before the 25th February, 1910, nohigher
duty than R90 be levied per candy. Secondly,
they pray that Government should grant them
permission to import at once on the same terms
as before the tobacco already bought by them
and now ready for shipment. They have pur-
chased tobacco worth about R3 lakhs. They
further add that, this being the shipping season,
this concession be granted as early as possible.
Thirdly, they implore the Government that
they will be pleased to cancel the new impost
and revert to the original duty of R90 per candy.

There is another aspect of the matter, viz.,
that of revenue to the State. The finances of
the State are not in a flourishing condition.
It has not yet emerged safely and steadily
from years of deficits. As shown below the
excess of expenditure over income was for the

year 1902 2,67, 073
Do 1903 9,61,481
Do 1904 4,22, 467
Do 1905 7,95,518
Do 1906 9,19,701
Do 1907 2,03, 662
Total for these 6 years .. 35,69, 902

Against this total deficit of R35,69,902, Trav.
ancore had only R5,65,406 as surplus distribu-
ted over the last two years thus :—

1908 - 56,910
1909 wm 5,08,496
R5, 65,406

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

The surplus came mainly from the new settle-
ment rates, and the maximum limit of taxation
from land has thus been reached ; the settile-
ment operations have almost been concluded in
the State. Such being the state of affairs, there
is no appreciable source of revenue which the
Government could legitimately and conveniently
stop. The annual revenue from tobacco alone
is, on an average, about R12 lakhs which income
is sure to be considerably reduced, if not made
to disappear from the Account Books, in case
the new tax on tobacco is to be continued. The
Department under the Excise Commissioner
has last year, as annual revenue, Rs.46,67,274
distributed over the following items :—

Rs.
1. Customs 13,35,552
2. Tobacco 12,98,549
S4iSalt co ie: 10,08, 854
4, Abkari ... ws 9,70,403
5. Opium and Bhang 53,916
Total ... 46,67,274

From the above it will be seen that tobacco
figures largely in the receipts of the Depart-
ment, whose income is about half of the revenue
of the State. It is, therefore, a serious matter
for the consideration both of this Durbar and of
the British Government. Mr. Rajagopalachari
has already addressed the Madras Government
on the subject, and it remains to be seen as to
how the problem will be solved. In the mean-
while the merchants have also made up their
mind to approach the British Indian Govern-
ment in the matter.

No reply—we learn on enquiry of the Acting
Colonial Secretary—has yet been received
from either Travancore or Madras to the repre-
sentations made by the Ceylon Government
re the increased duty on tobacco and the con-
sequent ruination of the Jaffna industry in that
product. The Government of India imposed
the duty with a view to making up for an ex-
pected lossiu Opium revenue, and the difficulty
is thought to be that it cannot help Ceylon
without giving it preferential treatment. It
is, therefore, unlikely that Ceylon will be bene-
fited, unless, as we understand is the case,
the Indian Government finds that it is only
killing the goose which lays the golden eggs by
stifling the trade altogether, aud thus obtaining
no revenue atall. In the event of this happen-
ing it may decide to take off the duty generally,
and the Northerners of this island will be once
again in their old position. Otherwise there
seems to our authorities nothing for it but for
the men of Jaffna to seek to gain a living by
the pursuit of some other industry !

CACAO PRODUCTION IN ECUADOR
IN 1909.

The ‘‘Nachrichten fiir Handel und Industrie”
(Berlin) of March 4th, quoting from a report by
the German Consulate at Guayaquil, states that
the total production of cacao in Ecuador in 1909
was 62,065,716 lb, as compared with 63,196,125 1b
in the previous year, a decrease of about 1°8 per
cent,—Board of Trade Journal, March 31, :

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910.

F.M.S. PLANTERS’ GONFERENCE
ON RUBBER.

Mr. W J Gallagher, Director of Agriculture,
was voted tothe chair at the Planters’ Conference
in the Masonic Hall on Sunday morning, which
was attended by about 40, including leading
planters in the Federated Malay States.

TapPaBLE GIRTH.

The CHaIRMAN—was about to open the dis-
cussion on the first item on the agenda, the
girth at which to commence tapping, when Mr
A B Lake proposed that the press be excluded
from the meeting. Mr U E S Baxenpats ob-
jected, saying he thought the representative
of the press should be allowed to remain. Tho
matter having been put to the vote, it was de-
cided, by a majority of one, not to exclude the
press, and the discussion was resumed.

The CHaiRMAN—said that most of the written
replies he had received favoured a girth of 18
inches, at three feet from the ground, as the
best time to begin tapping.

Mr. BaxENDALE—said that, from his own ex-
perience, 18 inches was a fair girth to start
at. If65 per cent of the trees in an area were
tappable at 18 inches, it would probably be
worth tapping them; but it would depend on
the age of the trees. He did not think that
tapping increased the growth of trees, on the
contrary he thought that the growth of the tree
was retarded while tapping was in progress.

Mr Duncan—thought the girth at which tap-
ping could be begun should be determined more
by the possibility of tapping well than by any
particular size. Personally he should not like
to start tapping trees of smali girth but, having
80 per cent of trees of that girth, he would not
mind tapping down to 16 inches. He did not
think the quality of rubber from young and old
trees differed very much. If a tree was big
enough to be tapped without any danger, it
should be tapped.

The CHairRMan—said the general opinion
seemed to be that age should not be considered
but girth alone and 18 inches at a height of 3
feet from the ground was generally favoured.

Mr E V’Carzty—asked if anybody could say
whether small trées were injured by tapping.

The CualInMAN—said only two answers had
been received under this head: one said it in-
creased growth, the other that no harm resulted
if the methods were good. :

Mr M Cumminc—said that he had known trees
badly tapped which had had their growth
retarded for several years.

The CHatrMAN—said he thought the meeting
was in favour of tapping at 18 inches girth
three feet from the ground and that it agreed
that if a tree were tapped well there was no
deleterious effect.

Tapping SysrEeMs.

The next pont discussed was the best system
of tapping. In the writtenanswers sent in the
Chairman said five correspondents preferred
tapping two opposte quarters, one suggested one
quarter in one year and another said, for con-
venience of working, he preferred two adjacent
quarters, though, apart from convenience, he
would prefer two opposite quarters,

555

Mr F G Harvey—thought that opposite
quarters was the best system but the objection
was that two oups were required,

Mr W H Trorrer—said the only plan he
knew was to take one line up and come down
the next line and use one cup in the morning and
the same cup in the evening on the other side.

Mr Cumminc—said there was one point on
which people were pretty well satisfied and that
was that, on tapping renewed bark, the bark
was got through more quickly than the first time.

The CHAIRMAN—said he should have some
figures available in the near future on influence
dp aistance between the cuts, as he thought the
question was an important one. He then traced
a diagram on the blackboard to show that the fur-
ther apart the cuts were made, the less distance
the material to renew the cut away bark had to
move in a transverse direction—its course more
pearly approached a line parallel to the axis of
the tree. Turning to the question of

WHICH PERIOD OF THE DAY WAS BEST FOR TAPPING,

the Chairman said the answers he had received
varied from 5 to 10 a.m, and 6,30 to 9.380 a.m,
After some remarks from those present he said
that it was, like other questions, a subject of
compromise, Planters might know what was the
ideal, but they had to fit it in with special cir-
cumstances 1n which they found themselves.
On the question of whether it was

BEST TO TAP EVERY DAY OR EVERY OTHER DAY,

Mr. A J CAMPBELL, Superintendent of Experi-
mental Plantations, said that, as the result of
experiments which he had carried out over a
period of six months, he found that, in the first
three months, tapping on alternate days gave
slightly the best results, but during the second
three months, tapping every day gave the big-
ger yield.

Mr. Cummine—said he experimented with
daily tapping for six months and had to return
to tapping every other day.

Mr. A. J Fox—stated that has experience
was against daily tapping.

Mr. U Burn-Murpocu—said he found daily
tapping yielded very little more latex than tap-
ping on alternate days,

Mr. A. B. Lake—thought the result of the
experiments would depend on the character of
the land.

Some discussion ensued as to the amount
of labour required by the two systems, in
the course of which the CHAIRMAN said that the
number of cuts—the amount of bark removed—
at the end of two days was the same under both
systems but the covlie walked twice the distance
and used twice as many cupsin every-day tap-
ping as ir tapping on alternate days. In con-
clusion he said that he thought a majority
favoured tapping on alternate days, but he re-
minded his audience that there were two ways
of looking at thisasat other problems; the best
way, and the most practicable way under the
particular conditions to be faced.

VARIATIONS IN YIELD,

In opening the discussion on ‘‘ variations in
yield ” the CHAatRMAN drew on the blackboard a
sketch of achart showing the monthly variations
in yield,

556 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

Mr BaxgenpaLE—then said :—‘' Before ven-
turing to address an audience, which includes
so many planters who have had the advantage
of @ more varied experience than my own,
would like to make it clear that with one
exception my remarks only apply to a
very limited area in one of the Coast dis-
tricts. The conditions, soil, rainfall, etc., are
so different in the hill country and the lowlands,
that I shall be filled with a glad surprise if my
experiences have been generally shared by those
whose interests are confined to an Ulu district.
1 must at any rate go to the hill country for
the highest yield I have ever known. This was
from one of the trees imported by the late Sir
Hugh Low, and it is growing on Gapis Kstate,
Perak. In fifteen days, from July 17th-July 31st,
1902, I collected 63 lb of rubber from three small
cuts close to the base. After I left Gapis, Mr
Salisbury continued the tapping spasmodically,
and the total result of our labour, in 35 days
actual tapping (between July 17th and Sept.
18th) was 18 lb. of rubber dried in lumps. The
tree was 25 years old and measured 89 inches in
girth, at one yard from the ground. At the
risk of depreciating shares in Coast district
Estates I must regretfully turn to my own
country-side and submit nine pounds an
acre @ month as the average for the first
three months’ tapping of four year old
trees, as the lowest yield I have experienced.
While it may be asserted that a large and
well distributed rainfall is essential, the bene-
fit is not always immediately apparent. For
instance, I found the yield per coolie in the
wettest month last year considerably below the
average. The fact that the tasks were completed
later in the day no doubt had a good deal to do
with this, but when the trees become very wet
the latex washes over thecuts and spreads itself
in such a fine layer down the bark that it is
most difficult to collect even in scrap form. I do
not find that this has any adverse effect on the
yield. Both this year and last year our highest
yields, not only by the coolie but by acre as
well, were in February and March when the
wintering was general. A certain botanical
authority, who from time to time writes to
financial papers advising that no more than 40
trees should be planted to the acre, evidently
fails to take into consideration the damage done
to such brittle trees, by wind, white ants and
fungus. The fewer trees, the greater the
percentage of loss; but even if all survive, I
question if you would be getting the best
results from your land by such wide planting.
Basing my results from avenue trees (8 lb.
each at $ years old), I findthat if the trees in
the old fields had been planted 40’ = 40’ instead
of 15’ x 15’, weshould be harvesting consider-
ably less rubber than we do at present. I know
that 15’ x 15’ is pow generally considered too
close ; but, at any rate, it allows of a good selec-
tion being made when thinning out becomes
necessary. The best result | can quote from
avy field in the:Coast districts came from one
originally planted with 312 trees to the acre,
aud gradually reduced to 14V—at ten years old.
While I believe in the advantage of regular
and systematic tapping, I have on more than
one occasion seen striking evidence that the

Para tree accumulates reserves of latex. Of
course, I am aware that many people hold the
same theory on this subject that others hold
about women, dogs and walnut trees—‘ [he
more you beat (ortap) ‘em the better they
be,’ and anything I may say which savours to
the contrary may be regarded almost heresy
by some present. JI do not mean to say,
that if the 25-years-old tree I tapped for the
first time in 1902 had been tapped twenty years
earlier it would not have yielded far more
rubber in the course of its natural life—and I
am also prepared to allow that it would have
been more profitable to its owners, unless its out-
put had flooded the market for pencil eraser
which was its most important purpose in those
days—but I think 1 am justified in entertaining
doubts of the yield being maintained at the rate
of half-a-pound a day, until someone tells me he
has collected 18 lb. of rubber from any tree in
ayear. It isthe same story with young trees.
I never now see the brimming cups of latex that
used to gladden my heart in bygone days when
we tapped our trees vigorously for three months
of the year and rested them for nine. But now,
though the tree yields less per day, it yields
more in the year and it pays to tap every day (or
alternate day) if the price of rubber was even
less than 12s alb. There is, however, this to be
said tor ‘resting.’ If your estate happened
to be—unlike any of those floated in the last
few years—short of labour,—you would have
the consolation of knowing that you could get
back some of the arrears and at less cost of cole
lection—provided the shortage was not great
enough to make the ‘rest’ too long.”

Mr. Trorrer and Mr. Lake—said they found
that the response of rubber to rain was felt the
second day following that on which the rain fell.

Mr P W PaRKINSON--said his experience was
that the yield was higher in wet than in dry
weather.

Mr Duncan--said that trees responded very
quickly to rain in flat land.

Mr E V Carey--said that, on the whole, he
found the yield better in wet than dry weather.

Mr TrorteR--then described the case of two
neighbouring estates one of which, in March,
1909, was yielding at a much higher rate from
young trees than the other from old trees, while
in March of this year the opposite was the case;
the estate whose trees were yielding so much
in 1909 was not doing as well, while the estate
with the older trees was yielding excellently.

Mr Dupvis Bkown—-thought seeding affected
the yield. The decrease in the published figures
of February outputs from estates this year was
very marked.

It was pointed out by sume of those present
that February was a short mouth, that it in-
cluded a Tamil holiday, and that these two fac-
tors necessarily made for a decreased output.

Mr R W Harrison—thought that hill ground
maintained yield better in drought than rubber
planted in flat land,

Bark RENEWAL.

Onthe question of bark renewal, the next
item on the agenda, Mr Cummine said that
regarding distance of planting, which was a
factor, a great deal depended on the configu-
ration of the land, Closer planting was possible

und Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910.

on hill land than on flat because the light had
more chance to get among trees on the slopes of
hills than on level ground. He thought that,
from his observations, close planting would,
during the first few years, give more rubber
than wide planting.

Mr. Parkinson—said he considered two years
was an ample allowance for bark renewal on
the first tapping but afterwards three years was
required.

. The CHarrMan—said a similar view had been
sent in by one planter.

Mr, Cummine —said there were a great many
estates the trees on which might be tapped
after six months for bark renewal. As the
Chairman had said it all depended on the depth
of the cut.

The CHaIrMAN—said that the general opinion
seemed to be that three years was the right time
to allow for bark renewal though it was his im-
pression that most estates were worked on a
four-year system. [t was not a question only
of what a tree would bear, it had to be consid-
ered what thickness was best to give an econ-
omic return.

NuMBER OF Cuts.

On the question of the number of cuts to the
inch the CHAIRMAN — said he had received writ-
ten answers giving 10, 16 to 20, 22 and 25 cuts.

Mr. Lake—said he favoured 25 and Mr HT
Fraser thought 30 was a possible number.

The CHarRMAN—considered that 2U cuts per
inch ought to be obtained, that 22 was a good
average. He thought anything over 25 would be
exceptional.

Mr Cummine—said a lot depended on how
old the trees were when tapping was started... In
tapping ten-year-old trees never tapped before
it was not possible to get more than 1 to 12 cuts
to the inch,

Mr Parkinson—agreed, and added it was
not possible to get so many cuts on renewed
bark as on trees newly tapped.

The CHAIRMAN—said it seemed that a good
average was 20 to 25 cuts. His experience was
that 1t was possible to get more latex with 20 or
22 cuts than with 10 or 15. Some Ceylon plan-
ters, with whom he had lately spoken, had as-
sured him that in Ceylon it was no use trying to
get more than 15,

Turning to the next item, the best kind of
knives, cups and instruments generally, the
Chairman said the written answers favoured the
improved farriers’ and the gouge except one,
the writer of which preferred the Sculfer knife.

Mr Parkinson—said more depended on

‘“THE MAN BEHIND THE KNIFE ”

than on the knife itself.

On the subject of latex cups the Chair-
man said he had had answers from eight
people ; five were in favour of glass, and three of
earthenware, while three of the answers added
that no metal cups should be used.

Mr. Cummine—said he had experimented with
aluminium cups. They were expensive, but at
the end of six months they were just as good as
ever, They were also easily cleaned and light
to handle,

Mr. ParkrnsoN—had found porcelain satis-
factory. It costa good deal more than tin, but

557

it was clean and had a longer life. His coolies
took round a latex bucket and a water bucket,
washed the cup on the spot and hung it up.
Latex came well out of a porcelain cup.

Mr. Duncan—said he employed the same
method. He had found glass cups very satis-
factory as they were easy to clean. A good many,
however, arrived broken,

Mr. Parkinson —said the percentage of porce-
Jain cups broken in transit was very small.

The CHarRMAN—said he thought there was
a general agreement that tin cups were not so
good as cups made of aluminium, glazed earthen-
ware or porcelain. He added that he supposed
most people were agreed that all other vessels
should be of the best quality of enamelled iron,
as cheap qualities chipped too soon,

In some remarks on spouts, it was mentioned
that aluminium v-shaped spouts had been used.

COLLECTION OF LATEX.

Discussing the collection of latex, Mr Duncan
said he had the latex put straight into enamelled
tins, acetic acid was added, and the tins were
then placed on trucks and taken straight to
the factory, the shaking in transit assisting
coagulation.

The CuarkMAN—said that the main question
was whether it was best to coagulate’the latex
in the field or at the factory.

Mr. Cummineg—said that when latex had to be
brought a Jong way to be coagulated it was not
so good as if it was coagulated on the spot,

After some further discussion the CuyarRMAN
said it seemed that there was an agreement that
the quicker latex could be coagulated, the better,
It seemed to him that the meeting favoured co-
agulating in the field.

Mr Fox—then said that he had been running a
smoking machine for the last ten days as an ex-
periment. At first it had turned out rubber of
a variety of colours but latterly the colour had
been more even and the process seemed, so far,
to be a good one.

The CHairMaN—thought smoking was the
system of the future and added it would be
interesting to see what price the rubber pro-
duced by Mr Fox’s machine fetched.

THe Cook's Task.

The next subject was the coolie's task.

The CHaiRMAN—said it was difficult to fix the
task. His written answers gave from 800 to 1,500
cuts per day and 250, 275, 300 and 310 trees.

Mr Fox—said he found his coolies averaged
1,600 cuts. The coolies tapped and collected
the rubber but did not ‘‘scrap.”’

Mr Parkinson —said the task must vary with
the age of the tree. He found an average of 150
trees with 8 cuts each making a total of 1,200 cuts,
the cooly collecting the latex and bark, washing
the cups and carrying the latex to the coagulat-
ing sheds. With older trees he found an average
of 120 trees with 8 cuts each. The ‘' scrapping”
was done by women and children. When doing
150 trees the coolie did 75 in the morning, stop-
ped, collected the latex ; then another 75, finish-
ing from 2 to 2-30 p.m.

in the course of some further discussion the
CHAIRMAN said on one estate the tapper did
nothing but actually cut the trees, He did not
even place the cups.

558

Mr Duncan said the difticulty of such a system
would be that another coolie would always have
to be ready to place the cup at exactly the right
moment.

On the question of the control of tapping
coolies, which figured next on the agenda, Mr.
Burn Murdoch said :—

“I feel very diffident about opening the
discussion on this question as 1 have seen few
estates beyond my own circle and have no infor-
mation of their methods of control. The ques-
tion asked—is the control of the individual
or the group the best and how ? I say unhesi-
tatingly ‘of the group.’ The whole matter in
my mind is very closely identified with heading
No 11 on the agenda ‘Style of book for keep-
ing returns,’ for this reason, that the daily
return, if kept for separate sections, enables
avery close supervision to be kept on any parti-
cular group or section, For instance. if section I,
under normal conditions, gives 100 Ib and a look
atthe list shows it has fallen off to 70 lb, that
particular section can be at once visited and the
reason of this falling oft almost certainly found
out, This would apply also if the same section
suddenly rose in yield. Unless estates are grouped
or divided up into tapping sections, I cannot see
how really efficient control can bekept, This
system of course entails a lot of clerical work but
1 do not think it is in any way wasted. In fact
I would go further and say I do not ses howa
large area could be otherwise efficiently con-
trolled. The size of the sections of course depends
on the lay of the land, but I would not recom-
mend sections of more than about 6,000 trees. A
good coolie or sub-kangani can be put in charge
ofthis. I donot think there can be anything
said in favour of individual control. It is im-
possible that there can be Europeans enough
to watch all the individuals. The European of
course generally supervises the work and
gets at the individual through his section
kangany. 1 do not think 1 need say any more
in opening the discussion under this heading.’

Mr Parkinson—said he agreed that the system
was best on a large estate. On his estate they
worked by fields of 2U acres or more. If there
was a falling off on any particular field it was
possible to find out by the returns sent in to the
office, and go and visit it.

In answer to a question asked by the CHaik-
MAN, Mr Burn MuRpocu—said about 30 men
could be coveniently controlled in a group
under his system.

PERCENTAGE OF GRADES.

The last subject which was brought before the
meeting was the percentage of different grades,

Mr Burn MurpocH—gave 75 per cent of No 1
as the results of his observations. Mr Baxsgn-
DALE thought 60 per cent represented the aver-
rage of the low country in a dry season.

In the further course of the discussion Mr H
T Fraser read the following figures relating toa
series of experiments lasting over six months :—-

Youne RuBBER.

First three. After six,
No. I 85 83
Lump 1 3
Scrap 10 10
Shavings 4 As
100% 100%

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

In concluding the CHA1RMAN—remarked that
he thought 70 was a good number, and he
added the caution that, in order to ensure pu-
rity, the water in the cup should be as clean as
possible, as all the little hardly visible impu-
rities in the water were centres of coagulation
in the cup. Finally he said that he was sorry
to say that the books he had hoped to have
showing the style of book useful for preparing
rubber returns were not ready, nor were the
plans of a drying house yet available.

An enthusiastic vote of thanks to Mr Gal-
lagher for taking the chair with such conspic-
uous success brought the meeting to a close,
~—Malay Mail, May 3.

THE AVAILABILITY OF SULPHATE
| OF AMMONIA.

The common belief is that sulphate of ammo-
nia when applied asa manure must first be con-
verted into nitrites and then into nitrates by
the action of nitrifying germs, but it is now
known that it can, to some extent, be directly
absorbed. The result of recent investigation by
Hutchinson and Miller of Rothamstead has
gone to show :-—(1) That ammonium sulphate is
absorbed directly by wheat and peas; (2) that
under the conditions of the experiment peas
thrive equally well whether they are supplied
with ammonia salts or nitrates ; (3) that wheat
grows best with nitrates; (4) that the growth of
young plants may be stimulated by freshly ap-
plied ammonium sulphate ; (5) that unless the
land is very poor there is little need for au
interval between application of the manure
and growing the crop as the manure is immed-
lately available to a certain extent; (6) that
where plants are required to take up a large
quantity of nitrogen it is likely that both am-
monium sulphate together with nitrates will
prove more beneficial.

CEARA SEED AND ANTS.

If Ceara seeds which have been filed do not
germinate in the nursery quickly, they are apt
to be attacked by ants, which gain an entrance
through the filed orifice and eat out the whole
of the kernels. A planter, who has been trou-
bled in this way, informs me that he can keep
the ants away from his beds ofseeds until the
Ceara seeds germinate by putting fresh coconuts
round them. He breaks coconuts in half and
puts down four to six of these halves at intervals
round each seed bed. The ants devote all their
attention to feeding on these coconuts and leave
the Ceara seed alone. The ants can be killed
from time to time, if desired, by pouring boiling
water on the coconuts covered with them. My
informant protects his vegetable-seeds, such as
lettuce, onions, &c, of which ants are very fond,
in the same simple way.—Rupoipex D, ANSTEAD,
Planting Expert,—Planters’ Chronicle. May 7.

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910,

COCA CULTIVATION IN PERU.

The bulk of the coca leaves of commerce are
obtained from Peru, with smaller amounts from
Bolivia, Java and Ceylon. In recent years, owing
to the increasing use of the drug, either as such,
or inthe form of cocaine, the demand of coca
leaves in Peru has been so great that the natural
forests of coca bushes are beginning to show signs
of exhaustion, and attention is now being given
to the cultivation of the plant (Der Tropen-
flanzer, 1909, 10. 386). It grows in Peru at an
elevation of from 700 to 2,500 metres above sea
level, and requires a deep, fairly rich soil. In
forming a plantation the existing crop on the
land is cut and the débris from this piled in
heaps and burnt, the heat from the burning re-
fuse serving to destroy insect pests in the soil.
The plants are best raised from seeds sown in
nurseries. Coca seed keeps badly, and it is
advisable to use seed not more than eight days
old for sowing. The seed bed should consist of
good, well-worked soil, and the seeds should not
be deeply buried, but merely lightly covered
with a thin layer of soil. They should germi-
nate in about a fortnight, and should reach a
height of from 8 to 12 inches in about four or
five months, when they are ready for trans-
planting. The soil in the proposed plantation
should be well worked to a depth of about one
foot, and the seedlings planter out at distances
of about 40 inches from each other, 2. ¢. 40 inches
square should be allowed to each plant. The
plantation requires little care except occasional
weeding, but young plants in the nursery or
the plantation require shading from strong sun-
shine and protection from frost on cold nights.
Leaf collection should not begin till the plants
are two years old, but to secure a return in
the first two years, maize or manioc (cassava)
may be taken as a catch crop between the
rows of coca plants. In collecting the leaves,
these should be roughly torn from the
branches, but should not be broken off, or
cut a little above the connection of the leaf
petiole with the branch. A well-grown plaut
should yield annually from 5 to 10 Ib. of leaves,
and should continue to yield for from ten to
twenty years, provided it 1s grown in good soul
anda suitabie situation. The leaves should be
slowly dried in a shady place, frequent turning
being resorted to, to prevent sweating.

The present value of Peruvian coca leaves is
about 54d. to 6d. per lb., but the carefully grown
and prepared Ceylon leaves fetch as much as
10d to 1s. per lb., or more, at the present time.
Since the natural supply of Peruvian leaves is
failing to some extent, there would appear to be

AN OPENING FOR THE MODERATE EXIENSION

OF COCA-PLANTING IN CEYLON

and the Federated Malay States, where the
plant has been found to do well already. In
forming plantations care should be taken to
secure seed of the Peruvian variety, the leaves
of which contain cocaine, and not that grown in
Java, which furnishes leaves containing little or
no cocaine, but only closely related alkaloids,
which have to be convaEeed into cocaine by a
chemical process after extraction, The Java
leaves, it should be noted, however, are richer
in ‘‘ total alkaloid” than the Peruvian sort.—
Imperial Institute Bulletin, Vol. VIII, No. 1.

569

RUBBER IN COCHIN AND
TRAVANCORE.

{By tHe U.P. A. S. 1. Screntiric Orricer.,)

CuLTivation.—My views upon the system of
keeping rubber clean weeded have been ex-
pressed elsewhere. On many estates cultivated
under this system the annual loss of top soil is
enormous, and it will doubtless seriously affect
the life of the rubber. The rainfall on a typical
estate, for instance, during last year was in May
15'5 inches, in June 33 inches, and in July 33°6
inches. This heavy rain fell on bare soil which
had- been powderedall through the dry season
by constant mamotie weeding, and the conse-
quence was that tons and tons of the very best
top soil were washed away and laid over the
surface of surrounding paddy fields. The loss
and the evil are usually admitted, and in some
cases curious, and often expensive and cumber-
some, methods of mounds and trenches, &c., are
adopted to try and stop the wash. The simplest
method of all is to grow a green dressing instead
of weeds, and keep the soil covered. This will
not only stop the wash during the monsoon, but
it will add humus to the soil both from its own
material and by catching and holding the fallen
rubber leaves, which on many clean weeded
wind-swept estates are blown away and lost, and
allthe dry season it will keep the soil shaded
and moist, bringing the svil water near the
surface where it 1s wanted.

A Drrecr ExperimMEen'r—showed on one estate
I visited that the soil under a covering of Passi-

flora contained in February, after three months

of dry hot weather, 11 per cent. more moisture
than the soil which had been kept bare and
clean weeded. The preservation of the top soil
and the constant addition of humus to it to
improve the mechanical condition are most
important points, and I am sure that no rubber
planter can afford to neglect them. In some
districts a thick cover of Erythrina is grown,
the branches being bent over so that the whole
soil is shaded, and covered with a thick layer of
mulch, while open spots are covered with a crop
of Passiflora or Crotalaria. Such estates are
guite as good as, in fact in one or two notable
instances much better than, estates which
have always been clean weeded. Erythrina will
not grow in all districts, possibly because
the necessary soil bacteria are not present. If
the soil in the holes in which the plants
are started was inoculated with a little
soil brought from an estate where Erythrina
is well established probably the diflficulty
would be overcome. This, however, is hardly a
practical method, though it would form an inter-
esting experiment. In districts where Eryth-
rina will not grow, Albizzias should be tried, and
cut over in the same way as Erythrina, and more
use should be made throughout the whole of the
rubber districts of local leguminous plants like
the various indigenous Crotalarias, Cassia hirsuta,
Cassia mimosoides, Tephrosia tenctoria, Tephrosia
purpurea, &c.

The starting-point for such green dressings is
aclean weeded estate. In a new clearing the
weeds should be got rid of as soon as possible by
rounds of weeding following one another in
quick succession so that the indigenous crop of

560

weeds is allowed to seed as little as possible.
This is the time tospend money lavishly upon
weeding. As soon as the weeds have been got
fairly well in hand, which should he at the end
of 18 months at most, the whole place should be
covered with Passiflora, which should be planted
out from nurseries in beds down the rows, and
cultivated, and hand-weeded till established. This
will choke out the last of the weeds, and it can
then be replaced by a suitable légume. Estates
treated this way will have a longer future be-
fore them, and will Iam convinced, reach a
tappable size just as rapidly as places which
are kept clean weeded. When it comes to tap-
ping, the yield of latex will be greater from trees
grown with a green dressing, because there will
be more soil moisture in contact with the roots.

Manurine.—Suitable manures for rubber
have still to be worked out, and only direct
experiment in the tield can determine what will
be the best mixture. An analysis of the typical
soil on each estate should be made, showing its
mechanical condition, and the amount of plant
food available init. This will indicate the kind
of fertiliser which will be most suitable, ana
with this as a working basis experiments vary-
ing the amounts of the ingredients and times
of application must be made. In the absence
of chemical analyses of the soil a complete fer-
tiliser containing 7 per cent of Nitrogen, 8 per
cent of available phosphoric acid, and 8 percent
of Potash, will probably be found about right.
This should be supplied atthe rate of 3 1b, per
tree, in two applications of 15 lb. each, in
September and March.

MANUFACTURE.—My attention was called to
discoloured biscuits, which are sometimes ob-
tained. These dry black and are in several ways
unsatisfactory. To assign the exact reason for
this would, of course, need careful laboratory
study, but 1 think that the remedy lies in pay-
ing more attention to cleanliness of the collect-
ing cups, andthe use of disinfectants in the
factory. Coagulating dishes, &c., should be
kept scrupulously clean, and free from bacteria.
When dark coloured biscuits are obtained I
advise a general clean up, especially of the col-
lecting cups, and I think that it will be found
that this will remove the evil. The question of
the most suitable material for collecting cups is
one which has not been solved to general satis-
faction. Glass is, in my opinion, the best as it
is so easily kept clean. In Mundakayam, bow-
ever, a great deal is to be said for coconut shells,
which are very easily and cheaply obtainable
locally and in practice can be easily washed free
of latex and keptclean. Hach shell when out
of use is hung onthe top ofa stick stuck in the
ground against the tree to keep it from being
splashed with mud when rain falls.

Many estates which have begun to tap are
preparing to erect factories, and in this con-
nection { should like to call attention to the
fact that each year as the trees grow older there
will be a steadily increasing crop of seed,

The demand for Hevea seed for planting pur-
poses will soon be at an end, but there seems
to be an excellent prospect of using it as an oil
seed, This is a by-product of the rubber indus-

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

try which will repay attention, and it should add
considerably to the profits, especially when the
price of rubber falls, as I suppose it must do in
future years,

Hence in building factories and putting down
machinery provisiou should be made in the plans,
and in the horse-power of the engines, for the
possible future addition of crushing plant, since
the best plan of handling the seed will probably
be to crush it on the estate, extract and shipthe .
oil, and return the cake, as Parad poonac, to the
soil as a fertiliser. I foresee that in the future
there are great possibilities in this direction.—
RuvDotpew, D, Anstean, Planting Expert.—Pian-
ters’ Chronicte, May 7,

RUBBERS FROM SIERRA LEONE,

The rubber-yielding plants indigenous in
Sierra Leone include Funtumia elastica, Stapf,
the West African rubber tree, and species of
Landolphia vines. A number of samples of
rubber from both these sources have been for-
warded to the Imperial Institute from the
Colony, and the results of examination [of the
best] is given in the following :—

‘*Funtumia rubver. Prepared by diluting one
part of the latex with 10 parts of water and
boiling.” Weight, 2} |b.

The specimen consisted of thin irregular bis-
cuits, which were very moist and mouldy on the
surface when received. Before analysis and
valuation, the mould was removed and the
surface moisture driven off by exposure toa
gentle heat. The biscuits were dark coloured,
clean, rather rough on the surface, and had a
smoky odour. The physica! properties of the
rubber were very satisfactory. An analysis gave
the following results :—

Rubber after Composition of

partial drying. dry rubber,
Per cent. Per cent,
Moisture ae 94 =
Caoutchouc high. 53159 90°65
Resin a3 5°7 63
Proteids me 1'8 19
Insoluble matter 12 1°3
Ash 0°27 0 29

The rubber was described by brokers as
‘‘fairly clean rough biscuits ; strong, well pre-
parea and in good condition,” and was valued
at 48 to 4s 3d per lb. in London, with fine hard
Para quoted at 48 7d per |b.

This rubber is of good quality, containing over
90 per cent. of caoutchoue in the dry material,
whilst the amounts of resin, proteid and in-
soluble matter are all low. The sample as
received contained an excessive quantity. of
moisture, and in consequence there had been a
considerable development of mould on the sur-
face of the biscuits during transit. It was
stated, however, that the sample hau not been
dried thoroughly before despatch, as would be
done in the case of rubber prepared for sale,
The price quoted for the biscuits after partial
drying here was very satisfactory.—Imperial
Institute Bulletin, Vol. VIII., No. 1 of 1910,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910,

NICARAGUAN CRIOLLO CAGAO.

MR. J. H. HART’S CRITICISMS OF
MESSRS, R. H. LUCK’S AND HERBERT
\ WRIGHT'S BOOKS.

From the proceedings of the Agricultural
Society of Trinidad and Tobago we note
that a somewhat heated discussion has been
waged by agricultural scientists in that
island regarding the identification of cer-
tain varieties of cacao. The names of more
than one scientific gentleman connected with
Ceylon are mentioned, and we are, therefore,
induced to give a brief outline of the corre-
spondence which covers eight pages of the
journal referred to. It appears that at an
Agricultural Show held in Port-of-Spain some
time ago, the Department of Agriculture ex-
hibited a set of cacao pods amongst which was
alot labelled Viearaguan Criollo, These pods
according to Mr. J. H. Hart, F.L.s., were
so contrary to the form recognised as -Vicara-
guan Crioltto as figured by Preuss, Wright,
and several others that it would appear
important to ascertain their origin, and he
suggested that the Department of Agricul-
ture might be asked to afford information
on the point. The pods in question had
yellow skin, bottle necks, and generally showed
all the points of Trinidad Criol!o. Our old
friend, Mr. J. B. Carruthers, subsequently
wrote to the Secretary of the Agricultural
Society regretting that Mr. fart con-
sidered the designation on the labels of
some of the cacao exhibited at the Show
incorrect ; and pointed out that the ques-
tion of the characters of the varieties of
Theobroma afforded much scope for difference
of opinion and those who had paid special at-
tention to the matter had varied views. Clas-
sifications had been made by Hart, Morris,
Preuss, Wright and Lock, and he had discussed
the subject with the last three botanists. All
their lists applied to some extent to varieties as
found in all countries where cacao was culti-
vated. In regard to Morris’ and Hart’s classi-
fications, Mr. Carruthers said Dr. Preuss
was of the opinion that they did not always
strictly apply to cacao even in _ Trinidad
itself, The most recent and authoritative
classification was that of Mr. R. H. Lock, late
fellow of Caius Cambridge and Assistant Di-
rector of Gardens, Ceylon, who was an authority
on variation and heredity in plants. His paper
in the Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Peradeniya, with coloured plates was most ex-
haustive. Unfortunately there was no copy in
the library there and his own copy was in the
hands of the binder in England, so that he
could not compare the pods which were exhi-
bited at the Show with Mr. Lock’s system.
Proceeding Mr. Carruthers pointed out that
new strains arise in cacao with great facility,
and in Trinidad as elsewhere the pods borne by
a tree at one crop do not always agree in their
external characters, size, shape, colour, etc,,
with the fruits of the same tree at another time.
This resulted in much confusion and made tho
task of compiling a satisfactory and permanent

71

561

catalogue of cacao fruits possessing distinctive
characters more than difficult. The fact that
the varieties are so little constant makes them
of less importance agriculturally, and for some
years he declared he had advocated that in
amelioration of cacao cultivation, selection for
bearing yields and not for varietal characters
was the best mode of progress. He had no
doubt that, as Mr, Hart pointed out, the pods
he saw at the Agricultural Show were not what
he recognised as typical ‘* Nicaraguan Criollo”
and perhaps not even what he would call ‘ Ni-
caraguan Criollo” at all, but as there wasnoac-

- cepted standard it was not possible to label podsso

thatall experts inthis question would be satisfied,
Mr. Hart makes a vigorous and lengthy reply
alleging that the question referred to the De-
partment of Agriculture, had not been answered,
but a disquisition on value of varieties of cacao,
and an estimation of the work of various writers
on the subject, had been substituted. The ques-
tion asked was plain; viz. ‘‘ It would appear im-
portant to ascertain their origin, and I suggest
that the Department of Agriculture be asked to
afford information on the pont.” He also asked
it to be further noted that the ‘t Government
Botanist has altered the subject of the minute
paper, and had substituted another for discus-
sion.” He then proceeds to criticise the works
of both Mr. R. H. Lock and Mr, Herbert
Wright. Mr. Hart is, of course, an authority
on the subject and we give his remarks in full:—

Mr. Carruthers refers to Mr. Lock (a gentle-
man of short tropical. experience) as having
given the most recent and authoritative classi-
fication of cacao, A izeference to that gentle-
man’s work however will show that he was
almost entirely dealing with material sent to
the Hast from the West Indies; the larger

. part of which Messrs. Lock and Carruthers

should be unaware was selected and forwarded
by the writer to the late Dr. Trimen when in
charge of the Ceylon Gardens, and since. It
should follow therefore, that I may rightly
claim some authority in my own determinations;
especially seeing that my experience extends to
more than twice that of the gentlemen men-
tioned. Lock’s classificationis given in Wright’s
Work (page 30) which I have in hand and
differs little from those of Hart and Morris.
But although Lock’s classification may be autho-
ritative for Ceylon, where they have assembled
some of the West Indian and Central American
varieties, it does not necessarily follow that it
covers all the cacao of the western world.
The Government Botanist discusses and depre-
ciates the value of classifications but appears to
have overlooked the important fact in relation
to the question now at issue, (viz ): that Lock
has actually given a most distinctive character
for Nicaraguan Criollo while he asserts that
there is no accepted standard. His contention
is unfortunate, for if there is one variety in
the whole range of cacao, which can be de-
fined by its characters it is the Nicara-
guan Criollo, and it is to be noted that
Preuss, Wright, Lock and Hart, all agree
upon this point. Nicaraguan Cacao has a high
shouldered pod either red or yellow and has
seeds nearly double the size of any other
variety of Theobroma Cacao, a fine break,

flavour and colour of the most admired type.
Trinidad Criollo has a bottle-necked pod, either
redor yellow, with small roundish light col-
oured seeds, not half the size of the Nicaraguan.
Lock—unfortunately perhaps,—does not appear
to have seen or recorded a bottle-necked Criotlo
form and there is no figure of it among Wright's
Illustrations of Ceylon-grown Cacao. In fact
it has not been sent there. I found the Nica-
raguan Criollo in Central America in 1886, and
I againfound itin Nicaragua in 1893. I col-
lected it, with three other distinct species of
Cacao not hitherto well known, and introduced

it to Trinidad, whence | distributed plants to -

Ceylon a year later. These plants are the
parents which produced the fruit of Nicaraguan
Criollo figured by Wright at p. 28 of his work,
and exactly eoftesporid with figures and draw-
ings by Preuss, who shows the bean at p. 166,
Fig. I, and the pod in Plate I, Fig. II, as he
saw themin Nicaragua. Wrightmentions that
Preuss ‘‘ states that Criollo is neither native or
wild in Trinidad, but has been introduced
there.” This gives an erroneous impression, as
Preuss was referring to the Venezuelan Criollo
(see page 40 of Wright’s work.) He did not
tind the Trinidad form in his 14 daysstay here;
personally I did not find it until after nearly as
many years search. The pods exhibited by the
Department of Agriculture cannot claim close
affinity with Nicaraguan; but have all the
characters of Trinidad Criollo. The statement
that there is ‘‘no accepted standard” cannot
be sustained, for more than one reason, as this
Cacao has recently been valued on account of
its unique character at nearly double the value
of Trinidad Cacao. Itis notnow grown ex-
clusively in Nicaragua, but still appears plenti-
fully in the neighbourhood of Rivas on the
estates of Monsieur Menier and others. Certain»
minor differences in form no doubt occur, as
Mr. Carrutherssays, in pods upon the same tree.
But it is yet to be recorded that the bottle-
necked form of pod changes to a high-shouldered
form, or that the large bean of the Nicaraguan
ever changes to thesmall one of the Trinidad
Criollo and vice versa. The classifications of
Hart and Morris are said by Wright to be
applicable to Ceylon, on account of the fact he
mentions (viz.,) ‘‘ that most of our seed supplies
have been obtained from Trinidad.”—(Wright,
p. 29). Itison this page I find the sentence
adopted by Mr. Carruthers, in which Wright
quotes Preuss, as stating that the classes of
Hart and Morris ‘‘do not strictly apply even in
Trinidad itself.” This statement, it may be
noted, came from a gentleman who was able
to make only a hurried examination of the
countries he visited, but whose experience is
far from equal to that of the writers he dis-
cusses, from one of whom he sought his Trinidad
information. The fact is, I introduced a valu-
able variety of Cacao from Nicaragua, I know
it weli andits points, and I cannot accept the
nomenclature adopted by the Department of
Agriculture as representing Nicaraguan Oriollo,
when I know it to be something altogether
different, well distinct, and more valuable than
that exhibited by the Department. And I again
venture to ask that the Department be good
enough to furnish for the information of the So-
ciety the source or origin of the pods in question.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

PLANTATION RUBBER.

MR. J. PARKIN’S VIEWS,

Mr John Parkin, M.A., F.L.8,, writes in the
course of an interesting article on ‘‘The Science
and Practice of Para Rubber Cultivation,”
which ispublished in the April issue of Science
Progress, a8 follows :—

THE QUALITY oF PLANTATION RUBBER.

The rivalry which is now commencing bet-
ween plantation Para rubber and the wild pro-
duct of Brazil will be keenly felt in the near
future. The latter has been the Standard
caoutchouc for a long period, and buyers can
rely onits uniform, excellent qualities. Manu-
facturers have their machinery especially adap -
ted for its manipulation. Its requirements as
regards vulcanisation are known exactly. Itis
the specified brand to be employed in a number
of Government and other contracts. Little
wonder then that plantation rubber should
have met with some little opposition at the
outset. The surnrise rather is that it has come
to the front so quickly. This early success is
largely nodoubt to be attributed to the general
shortage in the raw rubber supply, but is
partly also due to the great purity of the plan-
tation article. It can be used directly for mak-
ing rubber solution and is largely bought up
for this purpose. Wild Para has first to underge
the laborious process of cleaning.

If plantation rubber had appeared in quantity
ten or fifteen years ago, it would most likely
have had aharder uphill fight to finda good
market. The supply.of Brazilian Para relative
to the world’s demand was then much greater.
Manufacturers would have been chary, about
risking their money and reputation on an untried
raw material. For the planting community,
then, it would seem that cultivated rubber has
arisen at a most opportune time. Manufacturers
are obliged to turn their attention to it, and by
doing so must hasten on improvements in its
preparation, so that ultimately it will take a
place in the rubber market second to none,

Though the best grades of plantation rubber
have almost invariably received a higher price
per pound than fine Brazilian Para, yet the buyer
isin reality purchasing the cultivated caout-
chouc at arather cheaper rate, for the wild
rubher suffers a loss of 10 to 15 per cent. of its
weight in washing, whereas the plantation pro-
duct loses hardly 1 per cent. Rubber planters
will not be content to rest till their article
fetches a relatively higher price than fine Para.

The influences above mentioned no doubt
keep the value of plantation rubber intrinsically
rather lower than that of the Brazilian export ;
but at the same time there is a general impres-
sion that the former lacks to some extent the
strength and elasticity of the latter. This
is at present a much disputed point. But
taking into account both the general bias
of manufacturers for the well-tried wild article
and also the variety in shape and quality of
the cultivated rubber now on the market, there
would seem to be little ground for regarding
the best grades of plantation as inferior to fine
hard Para. A fair amount of badly prepared

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910.’ 563

and ‘‘ tacky ” rubber from the East has reached
Mincing Lane from time to time, and this
must tend to damage the reputation of plan-
tation Para as a whole. It may be claimed,
however, that previous to the arrival of cul-
tivated Hevea rubber from the East, no raw
caoutchouc so free from impurity and moisture
and so pale in-colour had ever been put on the
market.

The youthfulness of the trees from which the
majority of plantation rubber is at present
obtained had been blamed for this supposed
lack of strength, The tapping of cultivated
Heveas is begun when their stems, at a height
of 3 feet from the ground, have attained a
girth of about 20 inches. They reach this size
under favourable conditions of growth in five
or six years fromthe time of planting. The
rubber in the forests of the Amazon is col-
lected from much older trees, Then it is an
undoubted fact that rubber from quite young
trees or twigs of Hevea is very deficient in elasti-
city. There has consequently been much opinion
expressed to the effect that the latex takes
some time to mature and so naturally itis argued
that the rubber from old trees must be better
than from young ones, But the botanical fact
is lost sight of that new laticiferous elements are
continually being added by the cambium to the
bast, no matter what age the tree may be. These
must take time to mature. Previous to their full
development they are not likely to yield an ap-
preciable quantity of latex. Hence, unless the
latex alters its character as the tree grows older,
there is no reason for thinking it is less mature
in a six or ten year-old tree than ina 15 or 20
year-old one; both will have immature latici-
ferous tubes as well as fully functional ones.

The reason why the latex from young stems
and shoots yields an inferior rubber may be asso-
ciated with the fact that this latex is contained
chiefly in the tubes formed in primary growth.
These may guite well differ in the contents from
those produced in the so-called secondary
growth, which is due to the activity of the cam-
bium and by which the tree increases its girth.
Tf there be any truth in this supposition, then
this will account for the fact that the rubber
from Hevea trees under four years old, and es-
pecially of Castilloas of asimilar age, is midway
instrength between that from the shoots and that
from older trees. Insuch young trees the primary
laticiferous tubes will still be yielding some
latex, which will mingle with that from the se-
condary tubes, giving an intermediate product.
Later the primary ones will become wholly
compressed by the growth in thickness, and
cease to giveany latex.

Further, direct testing of the rubber seems
now to be dispelling this notion of an inferiority
in the caoutchoucfrom six to ten-year-old trees,
as compared with that from older ones, Beadle
and Stevens (Beadle and Stevens, Chem. News,
1907, 96, 37, 187) have carried out interestin
vulcanisation tests with plantation rubber al
fine Para. They argue rightly that, as almost
all rubber is vulcanised before use, the trials of
comparison should be made after, and not be-
fore, vulcanisation. Their results are distinctly
favourable to plantation rubber, Tests for

tensile strength and elongation at the moment
ofrupture gave results equal, if not superior,
to those of fine Para, They consider therefore
that the statement that plantation rubber is
wanting in ‘‘nerve” is not justified, and con-
clude that the new product will turn out to be
at least as good as, if not superior to, Brazilian
fine Para. The variation in the quality of
plantation rubber which is to be observed at
times should be attributed rather to differences
in the method of treating the latex than to the
age of the trees.

SYNTHETIC RUBBER.

The possibility of the production of a com-
mercial synthetic caoutchouc to compete with
the natural article has at times perturbed the
rubber-planter, A few years ago the forth-
coming of an artificially prepared product
looked more hopeful than it does now, In the
first place a distinction must be drawn between
a laboratory prepared and a commercial syn-
thetic rubber. The former has been an accom-
plished fact. Bouchardat as far back as 1878 had
noticed that a tough elastic solid, resembling
India-rubber was produced by the action of
strong acids on isoprene for a number of years,
and credit is due to Prof. Tilden for his work in
this direction ; no one since apparently has ad-
vanced further than he did. A synthesis of cao-
utchouc occurred in his laboratory by accident.
Engaged at one time in researches on the
terpene series of hydrocarbons, he noticed that
some liquid isoprene which had_ been laid
aside in bottles for several years had formed
clots of solid substance which had the com-
position and properties of india-rubber. He
set to work to investigate the matter and
found that isoprene could be changed into
caoutchouc in two ways: either by very slow
polymerisation in the presence of a trace of
acid, such as had occurred in his laboratory
by chance, or by bringing isoprene into con-
tact with strong aqueous or moist gaseous
hydrochyloric acid. The first method is nota
practical one on account of the long period re-
quired, and the second could not be made a
commercial success, as the caoutchouc is merely
asmall by-product in the formation of isoprene
hydrochloride ; and further the yield of iso-
prene from the turpentine—the starting point of
the synthesis—does not probably exceed 10 per
cent under favourable conditions. Tilden con-
fesses that after two years’ experimentation he
had to reluctantly abandon the subject, seeing
no way of making synthetical rubber commer-
cially possible,

Even if future research should result in the
production of artificial caoutchouc in quantity,
itis very doubtful if it could ultimately com-
pete with natural rubber, especially the plan-
tation variety, as this most likely could be sold
with a fair profit at a price of 3s or even 2s 6d
per lb. Tho raw material required for the syn-
thesised product might cost nearly as much.
Then again, though the artificial rubber might
appear, asfaras chemical analysiscould show,
identical with the natural article, it might be
lacking in the essential physical properties, The
synthesis of a colloid like caoutchouc, presum-
ably of high molecular weight, is a problom of gq

564

different order from that of such comparatively:

simple crystallisable bodies as vanillin or even
indigo.

However, at the present price of rubber, a
synthetic commercial rubber of passable physical
properties would not only bea boon, buta lucra-
tive discovery. Patents have been taken out,
and even companies floated for the production
of synthetic rubber, but nothing visible has
appeared as yet !

it is important also here to draw a clear dis-
tinction between a true synthetic caoutchouc
and the so-called artificial rubbers. These latter
are merely substitutes or adulterants, and would
be discarded if raw rubber were cheaper. They
are prepared chiefly from oils, linseed being
considered the best,

It is, of course, not the purpose of this paper,
even if the writer had the necessary knowledge,
to deal with the chemistry of caoutchouc. This
part of the subject has already received full
treatment in the pages of Science Progress. Suftice
it here to say that through the important re-
searches of Prof. Harries, attention is now being
directed towards the synthesis of caoutchouc
from carbohydrates. This investigator has shown
good reasons for regarding caoutcrouc as related
to the pentoses, and so it is suggested that in the
plant it may be derived from such sources,

ConcLUDING REMARKS.

This new industry then appears to have a most
hopeful future beforeit. The time, however, has
by no means arrived when Managers of estates
can content themselves with any rule-of-thumb
methods. Hastern planters seem fortunately
well alive to this, and now recognise the value
of true scientific help. A Manager of a well-
known estate has recently put in print some
admirable ‘‘Conclusions” on rubber cultivation.
One of these reads :—‘t The text-books on rub-
ber-planting should only be regarded as historical
works ’—a maxim, I venture to say, of wide
application.

Everything connected with this novel culti-
vation is still largely in the experimental stage.
It is a pleasing sign to see Directors of Compa-
nies deliberating upon the advisability of
employing scientific experts on their estates.
Considering that such enormous profits are now
being made by the older Companies, a small
fraction of their receipts might well be spent in
this way. Planters should not be content with
the scientific assistance rendered by the Govern-
ment alone. A superintendent of an estate has
not the time at his disposal, nor probably the
necessary training, for carrying out laboratory
experiments, or for keeping a sharp look-out for
the initial stages of disease—a vital point. Joint
experts for several neighbouring estates might
well be employed. Money so spent upon plant
sanitation should be regarded in the light of
insurance,

It is also gratifying to note that this new
tropical industry is almost wholly of British
origin, The seeds were collected in Brazil and
transhipped by an Englishman, Kew raised the
young plants and sent them to the Middle East.
The Botanie Garden Departments there took
charge of the trees and made the first tests
upon them, bringing their cultivation to the
notice of the planting community. The planters,

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

once realising the possibilities of this new un-
dertaking, took it up with their characteristic
energy and daring, and have already brought
it to a surprisingly successful issue with bright
prospects opening ahead. Thus as a nation we
have taken the lead in this new cultivation.
May we not lose our hold upon it through pay-
ing too much heed toimmediate gains, and too
little thought to the more distant future !

The subject has further an Imperial aspect.
The foundations have now been truly laid for
making the British Empire before long self-
supporting in regard to this valuable raw
material.—M. Mail, May 11.

STATISTICS OF PARA RUBBER.

The following figures, which include Peru-
vian, are compiled by Messrs. Lewis & Peat,
and are for the month of April :—

VisIBLE SUPPLY.

(1st May.)

1910 1909 1908 1907

tons. tons. tons. tons.

Stock in ere 1280 720 2078 955
Liverpool (Caucho 460 490 1226 480
ie Para 510 940 1250 1040

r America 90 975 820 510

a on Continent 30 120 310 150
Afloat to Europe 2180 1920 1400 1460
» America 140 580° «+300 560

Total Visible Supply
including Caucho 4690 5745 7384 5155

ee eee

ReEcEIPTS AT PARA,
1910. 1909. 1908. 1907.
During April 3600 3760 3350 4490
Price of Hard fine perlb. 10/6 5/44 3/6 4/10
3», Soft ,, 4, 10/6, .5/3h..3/5% 4flT
Torat Crop REcEIPtTs.
(January, 1909—April, 1910.)

1909-10. 1908-9. 1907-8. 1906-7.
Para and Caucho 35,780 34,240 32,045 33,955

DELIVERIES,

(During April.)

England 2680 1380 1150
Para & Caucho {auerice 490 1810 920
Continent 550 490 490
3720 3680 2560
Tora Stocks—ALL Sorts.
(Including Mediums.)
1910 1909 1908 1907
London & Liverpool
30th April 2784 2249 5180 3127
Posirion lst May, 1910.
Decrease in receipts during April,
1910, against April, 1909 bd 160 tons
Increase in receipts—July, 1909/
April, 1910, Para sorts against
last year a 1540 do
Jncrease in deliveries—A pril, 1910,
against April, 1909 AY. 40 do
Decrease in visible supply Para
kinds; against May Ist last year 1055 do
Increase in stock, London and
Liverpool, Apri! 30th, 1910,
against stock April 30th, 1909,

all sorts be 5385 do

und Magazine of the Ceylon A gricultural Society.—June, 1910.

AN EDINBURGH PROFESSOR OF
AGRICULTURE IN COLOMBO.

MR. ROBERT WALLACE, F.R.S.E., F.L.S.,
EN ROUTE TO INDO-CHINA.
To REPoRT ON THE OUTLOOK FOR RUBBER.

We had the pleasure of a call last month from
Mr Robert Wallace, F.R.S.E., F'.L.8., Professor
of Agriculture and Rural Economy in Edinburgh
University since 1885 and Garton Lecturer on
Colonial and Indian Agriculture since 1900.
Professor Wallace was a through passenger to
Saigon and was going to French [ndo-China on
behalf of certain English capitalists to enquire into
and report on certain specific rubber areas and to

INVESTIGATE GENERALLY THE OUTLOOK FOR

RUBBER IN THAT COLONY.
Thereafter Professor Wallace proceeds home by
way of Japan and Canada, visiting en route
British Columbia, where he has a fruit farm.
Professor Wallace is Expert Adviser and a
Director of a British Guiana Balata Company.
The property is an excellent one, but labour is
scarce and the directors are considering the
importation of South Indian labour. Mr
Wallace is probably one of
THE MOST TRAVELLED AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS

ALIVE.
He was farmers’ delegate to Canada in 1879, and
Special Commissioner to report on the Highland
Crofter Settlements in Manitoba to the Govern-
ment at Ottawa in 1893; Hxaminer in Agricul-
ture tothe University of New Zealand, and to the
’ Dick Bequest ; Professor of Agricultural R.A.C.
Cirencester, 1882-85 ; made agricultural investi-
gations in Italy and India, 1887; Australia and
New Zealand, 1889 ; United States, 1890, 1893,
1898, 1907-8-9; Egypt, 1891; Greece, 1891-92 ;
South Africa, 1895, for the Cape Government ;
Canada and Mexico, 1907 ; Rhodesia, 1908, for
the Chartered Company; Expert adviser to
Victorian Government at inter-colonial cattle-
tick conference held in Sydney in 1896,
Heis a prolific writer and has published a con-
siderable quantity of enduring work. His book
on Indian Agriculture is well-known in the Hast.

Professor Wallace is

Not A STRANGER TO CEYLON :
having spent a fortnight here some 23 years
agoand having maintained a correspondence
with our “senior” for many years thereafter.
Mr C Drieberg is an old student of Professor
Wallace’s ; while in the few hours he spent in
Colombo the Professor met two old friends in
Messrs Greenshields and Craig.

BELGIAN CONGO TAXES ON
INDEARUBBER.

About 33d per lb. Export Tax from July Ist.
The ‘‘ Moniteur Belge” for April 7th con-
tains a Belgian Royal Decree, dated March
22nd, providing that, from July ist next, there
shall be levied on exported rubber, other than
plantation rubber, collected in the Colony, a
tax of 75 centimes per kilogramme when the rub-
ber is from trees or lianas, and of 50 centimes per
kilogramme on so-called rubber ‘desherbes.’ These
taxes are to be levied in addition to the export
duty,—Board of Trade Journal, April 28,

565

PINK DISEASE OF PARA RUBBER
AND BORDEAUX MIXTURE.

In wy reporton my tour in Travancore it was
mentioned that at Palapilly Hstate, the Para
Rubber trees were being treated with Bordeaux
mixture as a preventative to Pink Disease. Mr
RT Gudgeon, the Manager, has kindly sent me
some valuable information about the process.
He writes as follows :—

‘Painting Rubber trees with Bordeaux mix-
ture to prevent the attack of Corticuwm javani-
cum.—I will answer your questions in order,

lst—‘' Strength of Bordeaux mixture,

6 lb of Copper Sulphate.
4 lb of freshly slaked burned lime in 45
gallons of water.

‘This is whatI started with, but allowing for
a certain amount of Copper Sulphate not dis-
solving I now put 10 1b instead of 6 lb, I mix
it up im lots quarter the bulk of above.

‘© The Copper Sulphate is dissolved in boiling
water and of course in wood or enamel buckets.
As arule the whole of the water to be used is
utilised first -for dissolving the Copper Sulphate.

‘‘T putasolution as strong as I could make it on
2 or3 four year old trees, but { found itinno way
affected the bark other than slightly drying it up
on the outside but nothing like so bad as tar does,

“9. The best mixture I have found and by
far the cheapest, as 16 only cost just the cooly
hire for collecting, is the bark from a tree which
is locally called Kola-Mavoo. This putin water
and kept insoaking 5 or 6 days makes an excel-
lent paste. I had 34 inches of rain a few hours
after I had applied the Bordeaux mixture with
this paste mixed with it, but one could see the
mixture on the trees quite plainly after.

3. lLonly paint just where the branches join
the main stem and over any wounds there may
be on the tree.

4. “IT have never tried the sprayer and should
imagine ita very expensive way of doing it on large
3, 4, or 5 year old trees, as well as not so effective as
the brush. There isno other waste with the brush.

5, ‘“Ithas cost me about 150 rupees to do
500 acres , 200 acres of which were 24 year old
trees and cost very little. This includes labour,
pan, Copper Sulphate and brushes. The amount
a cooly will do is difficult to say, as it entirely
depends on the age and size of the trees, and I
also pruned the trees carefully as I went along,
which is not included in the above cost. At
least 90% of the trees were done in the older
clearings, only those that had branches shooting
out very high up were missed. I used about
45 lb. of Copper Sulphate, but there was a great
deal of waste owing to my unfortunately not
getting it closely ground and fine quality.
Coolies had to grind it themselves the best
way they could. Strawson’s Copper Sulphate
is much the best and dissolves fairly easily in
cold water, but I doubt if you get it out here.”
.... The actual benefits to be obtained from
this system can only be ascertained after the
monsoon is over, and I shall hope to publish the
results with the kind permission of the managers
of Palapilly Estate as soon as they have been
obtained. I have little doubt, however, but that
they will prove to be of an encouraging nature,

Ropotrek VW, ANSTHAD, Planting Experi,
—Planters’Chronicic, May 21,

566
COCONUT PALM DISEASE IN BORNEO.

We have lately received from a correspon-
dent, in Borneo, an account of a serious disease
in coconuts, which bears so great a resemblance
to that known as bud-rot, which has hitherto
only been met with in India and Ceylon, at
least inthis part of the world, tbat it seems
highly probable thatit is identical. Our corre-
spondent, Mr # Hose, describes it as follows:
“The leaves turn yellow and the fruit, if there
is any. hangs limp, the leaves drop down and
gradually die, the stem of the tree gets thinner
and thinner near the top, then the centre shoot
drops out, apparently having rotted ; insidethe
heart, at the top, itis like rotten wood-mud, It
seems to attack trees of any age, Trees on wet
or dry land are affected by it. According to
native stories, it has only put in an ap-
pearance since the last two years.” A very
valuable and full account of an _ exactly
similar disease is published in the Bulletin
of the Agricultural Research Institute of
Pusa, No. 9, March, 1908, by Mr E T Butler,
the Imperial Mycologist. He says: (p. 5) ‘Asa
general rule, the first indication that a coconut
palm is attacked is the opening out of the outer
leaves from the head. ‘The leaf stalk becomes
slightly flaccid and the weight of the leaf causes
the whole to drop. Thenthe ends of the pinnae
or leaflets atthe extremity of the leaf become
flaccid and hang down almost vertically, this is
accompanied with aloss of colour, the dropping
and discolouration of the leaflets then extend
gradually backwards to the whole leaf. Later
on, the tips of the leaflets turn yellow and dry
up, followed gradually by the entire leaf, which
eventually hangs down, withered, from the
crown. The attachment of the leaf sheath
to the tree is weakened so that the outer
discoloured leaves can be easily torn from the
crown one after another, or many together, all
the leaves are similarly affected... . Gradually,
as the palm weakens, new leaves that are put
out are smaller than of old. This is apparent
even before they unfold from the bud and re-
sults in the central shoot which is merely the
unopened leafbud becoming stunted and pallid.
Later on, it begins to wither and the upper
tree part turns brown, Eventually it may dry
up altogether, but this may not occur for many
years. The top of the stem and the white
internal part of the crown are quite normal,
except in old cases just before death, when the
latter rots. One of the conspicuous marks is
the way the nuts are injured. Even in_ the
first year or two the nuts are affected. They
are fewer and smaller than usual, on splitting
the husk is found unaltered and usually the shell
also. The white kernel is, however, shrivelled
and indurated and copra prepared from it is
said to be deficient in oil. The fluid inside is
reduced in quantity, ana is altered in quality,
becoming unpalatable to drink, In later stages,
a large proportion of the nuts drop in animma-
ture condition. In more severe cases the spa-
thes are unable to burst out at all or if they do,
rot away early and the palm becomes barren.”

This description fits well the account from
Borneo, and seems certainly to be of the same
disease, and as it has thus approached so

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

near to the Malay Peninsula it is very desirable
that a watch be kept for its appearance here,

The disease is not situatedin the bud of the
tree, but in the roots, which are attacked bya
parasitic fungus belonging tothe genus Botryo-
diplodia, at least thisfungus appears always to
occur on the rotting roots of trees affected by
this disease. The destruction of the lateral
roots cuts off the water supply of the palm so
that the bud dies of drought and starvation.

The death of the palms is very slow. ‘‘Young
palms may be killed in five years, but this is
exceptional. Eight or ten years appears to be
a more usual period while in many cases the
disease progresses enough to cause barrenness
but fails to kill the tree outright. Thus, in one
large garden only two hundred coconut palms
were in bearing out of about two thousand,
while the deaths were not numerous.”

‘« The disease is worst in heavy alluvial valleys
and poor laterite hill soils, 1t is least severe in
the sandy soil of the littoral. There is plenty of
evidence that the disease is infectious. A palm
evidently affected and brought from an infected
district ten years ago was planted in a garden
where the trees were all healthy. A few years
later, it began to turn yellow and others near
by wore attacked; now thirteen trees are
affected and the original one is dead and the
disease has spread to neighbouring gardens.”

The disease attacks not only coconuts, but
betelnuts, and caryotas. The treatment recom-
mended is destruction of all diseased palms
whether they be only just attacked or practically
dying. The roots should be dug out and witb ©
the stem leaves burnt at once. Lime, preferably
quick lime, should be well dug into the infected
spot, and the ground frequently dug over to
break up and aerate the soil. If necessary, the
soil should be drained, as undrained or insufi-
ciently drained soil affects the roots injuriously
and the weeds on the ground destroyed, and ma-
nuring with cow dung or nitrogenous fertilizers
should be tried. No plants should be planted
in the infected spot for a year after the re-
moval of the diseased trees.

As in the case of most at least of these
ground root fungi, the progress is compara-
tively slow, so that it should be possible if
taken in time to stop an outbreak with the loss
of a very few trees, but in order to do this
plantations must be carefully examined, and
any tree exhibiting the symptoms described
above should be destroyed and removed as
quickly as possible.

There is another bud-rot disease in India pro-
duced by the fungus Pythium palmivorum in
which the shoot is actually attacked by the fun-
gus. The withering of the shoot at an early
stage is the most characteristic feature. The
first symptom is the turning white of a whole
leaf towards the centre of the crown, the bud
then turns white, rotsand the crown falls off,
the whole of the ‘cabbage’ becoming converted
into a putrid, foul-smelling mass, The whole
palm is killed in a few months, and recovery is
very rare. But these symptoms do not seem
to be identical with those of the Borneo disease.
It appears chiefly to attack the palmyra palm
in India but also areca and coconut.—Ep,—
Straits Agricultural Bulletin for May,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910.

COGOA AND COCONUT PRODUCTION
IN 1909: 1N THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

The British Acting Consul-General at Manila
(Mr E LS Gordon) has forwarded the following
particulars of the production of cocoa and coco-
nuts in the Philippine Islands in 1908 and 1909,
the statistics given being based on information
supplied by the Bureau of Agriculture :—

Cocoa,—-Cebuis the chief cocoa producing pro-
vince, the output in 1909 being 94,491 |b.; Orien-
nal Negros came next with 49,680 lb., and Pan-
gasinan with 20,135 |b. The area under culti-
vation was 4,509 acres in 1909, as against 3,477 acres
in 1908, The total production of cocoa was 334,094
Ib. in 1909, as compared with 210,859 lb. in 1908.

Coconots.—The principal coconut producing
provinces are those bordering on the Pacific
Coast, with the exception of La Laguna, which
produced last year over 20 per cent. of the total
output of the Islands. The total production
of the Islands amounted to 103,82! tons in 1909,
as compared with 102,847 tons in 1908.

The Director of the Bureau states that con-
siderable experimental planting of coffee and
cocoa has been going on during the past few years,
and the outputin the near future should show the
effects of this.—Board of Trade Journal, May 12.

THE FOOD VALUE OF COCONUT MILK.

There is an enormous amountof waste of valu-
able food material in India in one direction or
another. This is because people donot know
the food-value of the material thus wasted. One
such is the water, or milk, of the coconut.
During the hot months of the year in Bengal,
but in Calcutta especially, the people consume
large quantities of the water in the young coco-
nut, called *‘ Dawbs.” It is asserted that the
water of one or two ‘‘dawbs ” enables a poor
man to go without solid food for a day. To
test the truth of this a reference was made by us
to Mr. D Hooper, F.c.s.,. of the Economic
Museum, Calcutta, who hasvery kindly supplied
the following interesting information :-—‘ I have
made no analyses of coconut milk, butit has
often been examined by chemists in other parts
of the world. Professor Van Slyke in America,
for instance, examined the milk of unripe and
ripe nuts, and found the following constituents ;

Milk from Milk from

Unripe nuts. Ripe nuts.
Water 94.37 91.23
Ash -61 1.06
Glucose 3.97 trace
Cane sugar trace 4.42
Proteids 13 29
Fat a2 14

‘“ You will thus see that the milk contains all
the elements of nutrition—proteids, fat, sugar
and mineral matter. The milk of the ripe nut
contains more proteids and ash, and, strangely
enough, the sugar becomes changed in the pro-
cess of ripening from amorphous glucose to cry-
stalline cane sugar.” It is the milk of the ripe
nut that is wasted in such large quantities in
the markets of Calcutta especially, and in Ben-
gal generally. Ifsome process could be discov-
ered of preserving this milk intact, a highly nut-
ritious beverage would be added to our dietary.
—Englishman, March 11.

567

ESTATE CULTIVATION: THEORETI-
GAL AND PRACTIGAL.

In response to a request that he should supply
information on the subject of estate cultivation,
Mr. J. A. Holmes, of the Experimental Sta-
tion, Peradeniya, has sent the ‘‘ Times of
Ceylon” in response to an enquiry following infor-
mation gleaned from the observations ofthe most
eminent agriculturists, theoretical and practical:-

The relative value of manures may be arrived
at either by regarding their relative effect on
crops, or by reference to the market price of
their constituents; the two methods do not
necessarily give the same result, though they
naturally tend to agreement. Wagner, as the
result of numerous experiments with nitrogenous
manures appiicd to crops, and continued for
several years, gives the relative value of nitrogen
in various forms as follows :—

Nitrate of sodium a0 100
Sulphate of ammonium sie 90
Green crops aa 70
Steamed bone dust, fish manure, meat guano 60
Farmyard manure Re 45
Wool dust Ac 30
Powdered leather 20

Whilst the land is continuously covered by vege-
tation the loss of nitrates by drainage will be
reduced toa minimum. The accumulated nitro-
gen will be chiefly in the form of grass roots and
stems, and humus. When such land is forked,
the vegetable matter and humus are oxidised,
and gradually yield their nitrogen asnitric acid;
the ash constituents which they contained are
at thesame time liberated,and become once more
available as plant food. The nitrogen collected
is kept in an insoluble form, as vegetable mattert
and consequently cannot be washed away, bur
accumulates in the surface soil to a greate,
extent than is possible in clean-weeded land.
Humusisalso produced in considerable quantity.

Leguminous crops have a special power of
acquiring nitrogen from the atmosphere by
means of their root-tubercles, and are hence of
the greatest value. The accumulation of nitro-
gen in the surface soil in the form of roots,
stubble, and decayed vegetable matter is, in the
case of agood crop of green manure, so con-
siderable that the whole of the above-ground
growth may be removed and the land yet
remain greatly enriched with nitrogen. The
growth of leguminous crops is the most impor-
tant means which a planter possesses for en-
riching his land with nitrogen. The character-
istic advantage of green manuring lies, however,
in the large amount of humus which the soil
acquires. All the carbon which the crop has
obtained from the atmosphere is incorporated
with the soil. Green manuring is thus especially
adayted for light, sandy soils, which need humus
to increase their retentive power, Itis em-
ployed with great advantage to fertilise barren
soils in hot climates, Leguminous crops are
clarly to be preferred before al! others for the
purpose of green manuring, as in their case
nitrogen is obtained from the atmosphere,

1t may also be of interest to planters to know
that the ordinary clean-weeded, drained rubber
slope, if the washed soil is not caught in pits
and redistributed about the land, loses well over
R200 worth of manurial constituents per annum.

568
SINGLE PLANTING OF PADDY.

Userut [NFoRMATION, |

The following Press Note has just been issued
by Mr M E Couchman, 1.¢.s., the Director of
Agriculture in Madras :—

So much has been written of late regarding
the best method of bringing improved methods
of cultivation to the notice of the cultivators,
that the following brief note on the attempt
which is now being made to popularise the
single planting of paddy in the Tanjore District
may be of general interest.

During the past three years the advantages of
planting single seedlings of paddy, in place of
the customary bunches of twenty or thirty, has
been brought to the notice of the educated pub-
lie, through the Agricultural Calendar, leaflets,
Press communications and tours by officers of
the Agricultural Department, supplemented by
the efforts of the Kumbakonam Agricultural
Association. As a consequence, small plots
planted on this system may now be seen in many
parts of the Delta during the crop season.

With a view to expedite the spread of the
practice among the agricultural population at
large, a special leaflet has been prepared by the
Deputy Director of Agriculture, Southern Divi-
sion, giving simple instructions to those who
wish to try it. This has been translated into
Tamil, and 100,000 copies struck off. Some of
these will be distributed by the agency of the
Revenue Department, but the greater number
will be given direct to the cultivators in the
villages by agents of the Agricultural Depart-
ment. Three subordinates who have had
special training in the subject have been selected
to tour through the three Talugs of Shiyali,
Kumbakonem and Negapatam. At each centre
they will assemble the leading cultivators and
discuss with them the subject of reducing the
present seed-rate and adopting the practice of
single planting. Hach will be supplied with a
sufficiently largenumber of the leaflets to enable
him to givea free copy to everyone who shows any
interest inthe subject. The advantage of distri-
buting the pamphlets by hand in this mauner,
by trained men who have made a special study
of the subject, is that they will be able to meet
the objections raised by the sceptical, and to
supplement by personal advice, based on exper-
ionce,the instructions contained in the pamphlet.

It may not be out of place to recapitulate the
reason why so much importance is attached to
the subject. The first is the waste of seed under
the present system. For transplanting one acre
of land upwards of 120 to 200 lb of seed is used
in Tanjore. Yet in the Kistna District, where
single planting has been the custom from time
immemorlal, 14 !b of seed is found enough for
one acre. No one who knows both districts
would maintain that the average crops in Tan-
jore are as good as those in Kistna, though the
soil of the Kaveri Delta is probably better en
the whole than the soil of the Kistna Delta, as
it ig more loamy and better drained. Ihe few
individuals, who have given single planting a
fair trial in Tanjore, have been satisfied that
they get better crops than before. It follows,
therefore, that at least 100 1b of seed is wasted
for every acre of wet land in Tanjore. Accor-
ding to the latest satistics, there are 1,043,930
acres under paddy cultivation in Tanjore.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturis«

The present system of planting in Tanjore
is, therefore, responsible for the annual waste
of more than 100,000,000 Ib. of paddy. At the
present wholesale price of 26 lb. per rupee, the
value of this isno lesa than R35 lakhs, equal to
a self-imposed cess of R3:8 per acre on every
acre of wet land, and sufticient to feed the popu-
lation of the whole district for nearly three
weeks. Apart from the saving of seed, better
crops are usually obtained from the singly-
planted crops than from crops planted in clumps
containing from 20 to 30 plants. Many of these
plants die at once; others struggle on for a
longer or shorter time, and produce no ears, but
by competing with the other plants in their
clump for food, light and air, they weaken these
and reduce their yield, The grain produced under
these conditions is of inferior quality and weight
to that produced by plants which have suflicient
space for their full development from the start.
The subject is of national importance, and it is
hoped that the special measures now being taken
to advocate a more rational system will receive
sympathetic consideration from all who ars
interested in the land.—M, Mail, May 14.

GROWTH OF PARA RUBBER.
South Inp1an Notes.

Kutikul Estate, Mundakayam P.O., Travan-
core. 8. India, April 27th, 1910.

From observations made after a series of
measurements extending from August 1908 to
February 1910 I have come to the conclusion
that it is possible to determine very closely the
approximate growth of Para Rubber, growing
under normal condition (Lowcountry), one year
in advance, thus giving estate managers an op-
portunity of fairly accurately forecasting the
amount of crop obtaiable, and the number of
tappable trees they will have, one year from date
of measuring. It was in comparing the circum-
ference of trees at the base in August 1908, with
the measurements obtained from the same trees
at 3 feet from the ground the following August,
1909, that a similarity was first noticed. Later
on, the basal measurements of other trees were
taken and compared with the 3 feet circum-
ference measurements a year afterwards, and
these too were found to be similar, showing
that, under ordinary conditions, we may assume
that the figures of ono period’s basal measure-
ments will approximate the figures of the same
trees at 3 feet from the ground one year later.
That this discovery is valuable. if proved correct,
will be self-evident to every estate manager
who has to make an estimate of amount of crop
and cost of production a year or 6 months
ahead, That this theory holds good on estates
at an elevation of more than 1,000 feet is not
claimed, and as far asis known it isonly appli-
cable to estates at alow elevation. The figures
given below are taken from measurements of
trees on an estate 500 to 750 ft. above sea level.
Average basal measure- 3 feet from ground mea-
ments Trees Nos.1 to 20 surements from same
August 1908 (Planted 1906) trees August 1909 y
Inches 10°33
Same trees February 1909
Inches 12°07
Average basal circumfe-
rence 20trees August 1908
(Planted 1907) 5°08
Same trees February 1909
Inches 7'15

Inches 10°02
Same trees I'ebruary 1910
Inches 11°45
Same trees August 1909

(Planted 1907) 6°16

Same trees February 1910
q Inches 7'13
(Signed) J. R.

—Planters’ Chronicle, May 14.

VINCENT,

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910,

RUBBER IN THE F.M.S., JAVA
AND SUMATRA.

MR. F. COPEMAN’S VIEWS.

Mr F Copeman, of Messrs. Maclaren and Sons,
manager of the India Rubber Journal, and direc-
tor of some eighteen rubber companies, has
arrived in Ceylon after a tour in the Federated
Malay States, Javaand Sumatra with his son
Mr. H F Copeman, who, we regret to hear, was
laid up with fever in Sumatra for a fortnight.

Speaking to a Ceylon Observer representative,
he said that he had visited several of the big
properties in the Klang district, in Malacca, in
Perak, and in Province Wellesley. He had spent
five or six weeks in Java, going right through the
island and seeing all the best rubber estates, and
in Sumatra he had been to nearly all the best.

TAPPING.

In regard to tapping he had found that a very
common form everywhere now was the half-
herring bone and the basal V on trees of small
girth. On some estates, especially native-owned
property in the F.M.S., they were tapping trees
of too small a girth. On one native estate he
saw trees ten inches in girth being tapped with
a basal V three feet fromthe ground, There
was very little tapping in Java. Tapping on
anything like an extensive scale had not been
done yet, but it might be expected at the end of
this year. The growth there was slow although
the soil of the mountains of Java was superior to
the soil of the hills of Ceylon. Some of the finest
soil in the world was on the slopes of the Yang
Mountains in Java, There trees four years old
were being tapped at an altitude of about 1,200
feet. In Sumatra tapping was more carefully
done than in any of the countries he had visited.
The half and full herring bone systems were
used ahd there were very fine yields.

GENERAL CULTIVATION.

Speaking with regard to general cultivation
Mr. Copeman said that so far they had not, in
the F. M.8., Sumatra and Java, gone in for
intensive cultivation to the same degree as in
Ceylon ; in fact, it was quite éxceptional to hear
of manure being used. The reason manure was
used so much in Ceylon was, probably, that
the soil of Ceylon was not nearly so good as
that in other parts of the Kast. In the growth
of the trees other countries beat Ceylon easily
on account of the soil, not because greater care
was taken in cultivation.
was known the world over as the best,

In Java rubber was generally grown with a
catch crop and the same applied to a certain
extent to Sumatra. Inthe former country they
were cutting out a good deal of the old Java
coffee and substituting robusta coffee, which
gave an enormous yield, If the rubber were
planted in the old coffee land unquestionably
the growth was slower ; but if the coffee and
rubber were planted together, he did not think
there was very much difference ketween such
rubber and that planted alone, provided always
that wide planting methods were adopted. He
did not recommend anything closer than 20v ft.
by 20 ft. or 16ft. by 24 ft. In planting robusta
coftee asa catch crop it was best to plant be-
tween the rows, and not in the row, because
when the coffee grew up and the rubber began

72

Ceylon agriculture

569

to come into bearing, it interfered with the sup-
ervision of tapping operations. In Ceylon the
catch crop, of course, was nearly always tea.
In some parts of Java cacao was grown very suc-
cessfully, as an inter-crop rather than a catch
crop. Most of the estates in the F,M.S. were
growing rubber alone. In Malacca and Pro-
vince Wellesley tapioca was grown as a catch
crop and, in some notable cases, sugar.

THe PREPARATION OF RAW RUBBER.

“JT do not see any difference worth naming
in the preparation of raw rubber,” said Mr
Copeman, in response to further questions,
‘the methods are much about the-same. I hold
that although Ceylon may be a year or eighteen
months behind the Straits and Sumatra the
Ceylon rubber, when it comes into bearing, will
be found to be every bit as good, and the yields,
I should think, will be about the same.”

PLANTATION RUBBER,

*‘T stand by plantation rubber. I do not
want to express any opinion with regard to re-
cent flotations, being interested in flotations
myself, but I stand very firmly indeed by plan-
tation rubber and believe in itsfuture. I would
place tirst the Klang district of the Federated
Malay States, after that Sumatra, and Ceylon last,
behind even Java. When Ceylon rubber comes
really into bearing 1 do not think the yields will
be any less than those obtained in the Straits and
Sumatra but as arubber growing country I prefer
the Federated Malay States and Sumatra.”

THe Furure or RvusBBeEr.

‘‘As far as the price of rubber is concerned,”
added Mr Copeman, ‘‘I do not see any prospect
of an immediate fall or of any very substantial
fall for the next year or more. After that I do
think we shall have a very substantial fall and
I think the price will gradually come down. I
think that the highest price has now been
reached. I cannot see any immediate sub-
stantial fall, Not only are the present prices
absolutely abnormal but the increase in con-
sumption during the past few years has been
very gradual, we have never had a very big in-
crease. I do not think the supply will be too
great for many years to come because of the
many new uses to which rubber can be put.
Plantation rubber will pay well when wild rub-
ber will not pay for the collection.

TOBACCO GROWING IN BURMA.

A FALLING OFF: IN SPITE OF PROTECTION.

A correspondent writes to the Rangoon
Gazette :—-‘‘ [t is remarkable that at a time when
an important duty on tobacco imported by sea
has been imposed, the production of locally
grown tobacco in Burma should have fallen off
by close on 5,000 acres. The offical report gives
the total acreage under tobacco in 1908-09 as
58,103 acres whereasin the previous year the
figures were 63,070. All districts in Burma grow
tobacco except three, The largest acreage is
given as in the Henzada District. There is no
doubt much grown in Aungyi, as in the hilly
parts of the Province, which escapes enumera-
tion. The difficulties in raising an excise tax on
tobacco grown inthe more remote parts of the
Province would be enormous,—M. Mail May, 17,

570

RUBBER CULTIVATION IN TRINIDAD
AND TOBAGO.

MR. J. B. CARRUTHERS ON TAPPING
CASTILLOA.

PLANTATIONS IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO.

Rubber planting in Trinidad and Tobago. is
in its infancy, and owing to lack of confidence
or the necessary technical knowledge in culti-
vation and extraction of latex the progress has not
been very rapid. There are at present in Trini-
dad some rubber trees of ages varying from one
to fifteen years of the following species, and the
following figures have been returned in answer
to circulars from the Department :—

Hevea 80,000. Castilloa 600,000. Funtumia 25,000,

It is not possible to compare the growth of
these trees with those of similar age in Hastern
plantations because in the latter countries the
trees have been grown from their being planted
as stumps, on clean weeded land and the height
and girth under these conditions is much greater
than in the case of trees surrounded by weeds or
shading the soil with other trees and shrubs,

I have recorded very few measurements of
trees in what is termed in the East ‘‘abandoned
land”; and this is unfortunate, as these figures
would be of use to compare with trees in Trini-
dad and Tobago which are growing either ‘sur-
rounded by weeds periodically ‘‘brushed” gene-
rally in association with Cacao, Erythrina (Bois
immortelle),’ Banana and other plants, From
general observations, however, I am of the
opinion that the growth of Para rubber under
the local conditions is very little if at all inferior
to that of the trees of the same species in
Malaya and Ceylon treated in the same way,
Of the relative growth of Castilloa I have still
less reliable data to form an opinion, but ob-
servations in different parts of Trinidad and
Tobago lead meto the belief that Castilloa and
Hevea (Para) grow equally well and vigorously
here. It is true that in places Hevea seems to
thrive more than Castilloa, but the reverse can be
observed and I do not think there is any reason
to suppose that, taking the island as awhole,
either plant grows more vigorously than the other.

HEVEA OR CASTILLOA ?

The decision for intending rubber planters,
as to which plant may be expected to prove
more Scohtable’ is not easily settled. The
chief arguments in favour of Hevea are :—That
it grows vigorously on comparatively poor soils
which are well drained. That the yields of
rubber from trees already tapped, as far as they
have gone, compare favourably with those of
similar age in other countries. That the me-
thod of extracting the latex from Para rubber
trees has been brought to a degree of perfec-
tion which, though still capable of improvement,
is eminently satisfactory and practical. Against
this, however, as previously mentioned, is the
argument that these methods of extracting the
latex from Para involvea large amount of regular
daily labour which we cannot hope to reduce by
mechanical means. That the rubber of cultivated
Para trees has secured a high place on the mar-
kets of the world as a valuable rubber, and is in
continual demand by the manufacturer. That

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

the coagulation is easy and the preparation of dry
rubber a well understood and easy process.

The arguments against Para as compared with
Castilloa are, that the supply of seed locally is
limited and importing from the far Hast is by
no meansan easy or certain way of getting plants,
That the plant when young is greedily eaten by
almost all animals. I have seen many thousands
of plants in a large nursery browsed down bya
cow, and deer, monkeys, pigs, &c., are very fond
of the plant.

The arguments in favour of planting Castilloa
elastica are to some extent more based on ex-
pectation than on exact data. The tree grows
vigorously and in some cases when side by side
with Hevea compares favourably with the latter.
An almost unlimited supply of seed and young
plants is available, The important question of
probable yields is not an easy matter to express
an opinion on, Large plantations of Castilloa
exist in Mexico and other countries; but figures
of the yields, as far as they are obtainable, do
not show anything like the return which Hevea
has given in Malayaand Ceylon. The differences
in the returns from large areas in Mexico Cas-
tilloaand Malaya Para are enormous. In the
latter country in one State, Negri Sembilan,
300,000 tapped trees gavean average of 2 |b.
7 0Z., per annum, while the highest Mexican
figures on asizeable area I have seen are } |b.

The results of all observations and experi-
ments which have been carried on in Trinidad
and Tobago are most encouraging in regard to
the amount and quality of the latex in the
tissues of Castilloa trees of age and size, but the
methods of extraction are at present by no means
satisfactory. I carried on very few experiments
or observations in extraction of latex from Cas-
tilloa when in the Kast the planting of that
tree not being considered as against Hevea.

Since my arrival inthe West Indies I have
been making many tentative experiments and
observations as to tapping Castilloa, and am of
the opinion that the methods which have been
used for extraction of latex up to the present
are unsuited to the structure of the tissue of
Castilloa and the arrangement of its latex
vessels. The use of the knife in Hevea causes
little or no gaping of the wound, and the bark
tissues can be cut smoothly and very thin. In
Castilloa the fibrous character of the tissues
makes it difficult to cut clean or thin and there
is always a widening of the wound which takes
a long time to heal and is the potential har-
bourer of insects, fungi and other undesirables.
For these reasons [ am inclined to believe that
if the latex can be extracted with a minimum of
wound to the tree, and at the same time by
a process which can be done quickly, and is
therefore labour-saving, a great advance will
be made inthe methods of tapping Castilloa.

TAPPING OF CASTILLOA.
Being of opinion that the cutting or slicing

~ of Castilloa bark was unsuitable, I began soon

after my arrival a series of experiments on in-
dividual trees with sharp pointed weapons of
differing dimensions, all of which were meant
to penetrate right down to the old wood, with
as small a puncture as possible.

Can the latex be so extracted with success ?
It is too early to be at all confident, but the

and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910. 571

tappings with various crude instruments I used
at first gave excellent results per square inch
of bark tapped. I have recently received from
England a series of instruments made from my
designs, in which the pricking points, varying
in size and length, distributed on rollers, can
be forced into the bark making equidistant
punctures all over the surface of the trunk.

When I have carried on a series of exact ex-
perimental tappings with these new tapping
instruments and discover which of the pricking
points is the most effective, and at what dis-
tance the punctures should be made, an account
will be published in detail, and it is therefore
not necessary here to go further into the question.

It would be premature to make any estimate
of the quantity of the latex which may be ex-
_ pected from these pricking methods, but results
on small areas of bark in one pricking have given
yields which when multiplied by the difference
between the area tapped and the area available
amount to trom { to 2% lb. per treeinone tapping.

It must, however, be explained in connection
with these preliminary experiments over a small
portion of the area of the tree that it is 1mpro-
bable that the whole area will give as much as
the multiple of the amount recorded from the
smaller area. In the latter some latex comes
from an area outside the tapped and measured
portion. Mr Smith of Tobago, who has carried
on experiments as to this method of tapping,
supports this and informs me that a trial of the
whole area ona tree in his estate showed a less
amount than that obtained from a portion.

The question as to whether the maximum of
latex can be extracted by pricking the whole
as against treating a portion, say half or one-
phir. of the tapped area of the tree is one which
must be determined, and in aseries of experiments
which I have planned and which will be carried
out by the pormission of the owners on six diffe—
rent rubber plantations of trees of eight years
and older, this problem will, I hope, be solved.

I hope that such experiments will be carried
on by all planters having tappable Castilloa
trees, and it will be of much assistance if any
carefully recorded data as to yieid by pricking
or any other process can be sent to me. In
order to get the best yields from the pricking
method the tree must be occasionally sprayed
with water during the tapping process until
the latex ceases to flow, this will be found to
largely increase the amount extracted, the holes
by this means being kept open and the rubber
not allowed to coagulate in them and thus stop
auy further flow.

My experience on this point has been that '

while the flow from punctures properly made and
without spraying or watering will flow for some
15-25 minutes, if coagulation is prevented by ap-
plying water the flow will continuo from 50.75
minutes and will result in some 30 per cent. to
40 per cent. more latex.

With regard to methods of planting I would
strongly advise the planting of rubber by itself
on the land and not in conjunction with other
trees. Mixed cacao and rubber plantations
rarely do justice either to the one or the other
cultivation. Therubber should be planted in
the open without any shade over it at all, and
the method of planting stumps which has resulted

le

in such excellent plantation of over 300,000
acres in Malaya, will probably be found to be the
best here. The stumps used are plants from
the nurseries of six to eighteen months old from
which the green portions have been cut and the
roots roughly trimmed, the result being a stick
of about 4 in. in diameter from 4 to 5 feet
high. These, when planted in the field in suit-
able weather, should strike and produce leaves
within a few weeks.

The field must be prepared for the rubber
some months before they are planted ; and if it
is virgin jungle, the best method will be directly
after it has burnt off to establish by sowing
broadcast or by planting whatever cover plant
is selected as the most suitable.

When once the cover plant is thoroughly es-
tablished, the field needsno moreattention, and
when the stumps are ready, and good planting
weather is anticipated, they can be put out with-
out materially disturbing the cover on the soil.

DistaNcE or TREES.

As to the distance of planting, like most agri-
cultural problems it admits of argument. The
reasons against close planting, ¢.c., 12 x 12 feet or
closer (302to the acre) are : That it prevents the
tree from growing to full vigour and to the
greatest posrible size, forcing it to run up to the
hight and giving no room for lateral branches.
That it increases the cost of collection of rubber
since a larger number of trees have to be tapped
for the same amount of rubber. That if it is
found necessary to give the trees more room the
cutting out of a proportion of them is fraught,
with much danger to the remainder, inasmuch
as each dead rubber tree root or portion of root
isa potential centre of root disease fungal or
insect. To. plant more rubber trees than it is
intended to permanently keep on the estate and
afterwards by cutting out reduce the number is
a dangerous policy. All acquainted with diseases
in plants will agree that to leave the dead
roots in close proximity to roots of living trees
of the same species is most likely to encourage
root fungus and insect pests.

lf a planter finds it necessary to give more
growing room for the branches and leaves of
some of his trees, it is preferable to pollard
some allowing them to grow slowly underneath
the branches of the unpruned trees, rather than
by cutting them out to leave the decaying roots
dotted all over his fields, That the admission
of sunlight freely asis possible in a plantation
of rubber with trees 20 to 30 feet apart isa
safeguard against the attacks of parasitic fungi.

The advantages claimed for close planting
are that it gives for first years of tapping a
much larger yield per acre. Evidence in eastern
plantations point to this being true during the
first 4 or 5 years but the additional cost of tap-
ping and the probability that this result will
not be so marked as the trees get older to a great
extent modifies this reason for close planting.

I would have preferred to postpone the wri-
ting of these notes of rubber cultivation until I
had more exact data upon which to base my
opinions, but the number of queries with regard
to the possibility of rubber in Trinidad and
Tobago, both locally and from Hngland, soem to
necessitate some report as tothe position up
to the present, Our definite knowledge is at

572

pieent very scanty, and accurate and reliable
ata must be gathered by exact observation and
experiment. The position in regard to the rub-
ber industry in Trinidad is not unsimilar to

that which obtained in Ceylon and Malaya some °

ten yearsago. Themass of statistics and ob-
servations which have been carried on by the
scientific officials of these places, as wellas by
intelligent and painstaking planters, has given
these countries an industry upon which they
haveexact knowledge and the prospects and
profit of which they can accurately gauge.

_ It is, however, certain that both Hevea Brasi-
liensis (Para) and Castilloa elastica grow vigo-
rously and yield latex in good quantity in
Trinidad and Tobago. No data exists as to
yields, only spasmodic tappings having been
made and no rubber has been prepared but by
the crudest methods; but alltheseattempts have
been encouraging and contain no evidence that
the trees of Trinidad and Tobago possess.any less
of the profitable characters than the Para and
Castilloa trees of rubber-producing countries.

Future Experimenta, Work.

Through the kindness of Mr Boos, I have had
placed ai my disposal for experimental purposes
97 Para rubber trees of 9 or 10 years old, aver-
aging in girth at 3 feet from the ground 2 feet
103 inches, and at the base 3 feet 84 inches. I
am making arrangements to carry on a conti-
nuous series of tappings every other day for two
years or more, and all data of yields, quality of
rubber, &c,, will be carefully recorded.

I propose to begin a series of experiments on
a large scale with Castilloa directly the experi-
ments I am carrying on with a small number of
trees have given some information as to the best
shape of puncturing instrument and the most
effective way of forcing it into the bark.

For this purpose the estates below mentioned
have placed plots of trees at the disposal of the
Department of Agriculture and therefore while
regretting the lack of information on important
points which this paper show I hope that in the
course of a few months the knowledge which we
so much desire may be obtained. The planter
who is at present waiting timidly on the bank
will be encouraged to plunge and will also have
figures to enable him to choose between the
rival merits of Hevea and Castilloa :—

Santa Aneta Longdenville Mr F Boos.

Santa José Guaico Mr J G de Gannes,

Verdant Vale Arima Mr J Wade

Poole Savana Grande The Poole Estate
Syndicate.

Richmond Tobago Captain Short.

Louis D’or Tobago Mr T WM Orde.

Monte Cristo Cumuto Mr H Monceaux,

The illustrations distributed through this
issue show the various species of rubber culti-
vated in Trinidad. In all cases the plants
have been grown without continuous weeding,
and this factor should be taken into considera-
tion in considering the size of the trees as
compared to trees of the same species in other
countries.

Plate 1-—Castilloa elastica 6 years old.
as 2—Funtumia elastica 3} i
‘9 3- Castilloa elastica 6 "3
23 i a” 3308 M 12 a
. 5—Hevea brasiliensis 3 a
aA 6—Funtumia elastica 12 ce
" 7—Castilloa elastica 20 "

J. Bic.
—Trinidad Bulletin of Agriculture, April 1910.

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist

CASTILLOA RUBBER.

—_—_—————

DISAPPOINTING EXPERIMENT.

The Indische Mercuur quotes a speech made
by Mr. Tobias, at a meeting of the Mountain
Cultivation Section of the Agricultural Union
at Djember, on the subject of the cultivation of
Castilloa, which contained the following :—

The cultivation of the Castilloa was held to be
of little account at the last Rubber Congress in
1907. It was barely mentioned. A few planters
had yet tapped it, so results could rarely be
reported. Although I could have started early
to tap, I made several journeys to other lands
to learn how to handle it. And with several
rounds of visits at my back and a number of
figures which I took down I was able to com-
pare my experience with those of other planters,

Amongst the plantations visited was the Simo,
where a beginning was made with planting the
Castilloa in 1899, so the oldest trees have about
ten years’ growth. As many as 3,606 of them
have been tapped, with a result of 11341b. good
rubber, and 421b. scrap, or 214 grammes per tree
about. On the Soember Telogo estate, about
1,800 to 2,000 feet high, the first planting of
Castilloa took place in 1901. Fresh planting
was done in 1903 and 1904, and 1n the early part
of 1909 there were 9,080 trees ready to be tapped.
The first tapping took place in 1908. But the
first yield was notclean. It was not rolled out,
and so was full of watery hollows, and even the
later yield of tappings could not be called dry.
The proportion of latex to dry rubber was 6} to 1,
and the yield per tree was about 10 grammes,

At Kali Mrawan, on spurs of the Majang
Mountain range, the Castilloa trees are on
rough ground, about 1,000 to 1,600 feet high.
The first were planted there in 1900; then
followed plantings in 1901, yearly on to 1905,
and then again in 1908. The oldest (about
73 years old) trees were tapped in 1909,
when 1564 grammes latex were collected, or
about 19} grammes dry rubber per tree. The
second tapping yielded only 16 grammes per
tree. The six, five and four-year old trees were
also tapped in order to learn the quality of
rubber from young trees. There were tapped
140 six-year oldtrees. They yielded 184 grammes
dry rubber per tree. Five-year old trees (200
wore tapped) yielded 164 grammes per tree, and
four-year olds (of which 150 were tapped)
yielded only 104 grammes dry rubber per tree,

CoMPARATIVE TEsts,

Comparative tests were made with incisions on
both sides ot the tree, thus tapping practically
the whole circumference of the trunk. But the
extra yield, in the opinion of the lecturer, was
relatively insignificant. It made no difference
in the six-year old trees, and not much in the
five and four-year old ones. Thus tests had
been made in three different parts of Java at
different heights above sea-level, with different
soils, climates and rainfalls. The Solosehe ground
had been well cultivated for a long time, but
such was not the case at Uhlang and Besoeki.
Some reports from Soember Telogo date back to
1880, 1882, 1885 and 1888. The oldest plantations
at Kali-Mrawan date back fourteen years.

Taking the yield of the Solo trees at 1934
grammes, the Soomber Telogo trees at 94 gram-

and Magazine uf the Ceylon Agricultural Society. —Jume, 1910.

mes, and the Kali-Mrawan at 1844 grammes, we
are still far off half a pound per tree, and it
must be remembered that the yield begins to
fail in the eighth year But even the yields
named were not reached with repeated tapping.
I only know one district in Java that favours the
castilloa ; it is in the Preanger, where the trees
return 21b. of dry rubber each ; but Iam un-
able to say whether this refers toa limited or a
large number of trees. It is always to be under-
stood that the castilloa fumi yields more than
the castilloa elastica.

I found castilloa yield 14 Ib. of dry rubber per
tree in Ceylon—a 1 lb. yield being reckoned on
for seven-year old trees. The question, there-
fore, arises, how is it that trees so generous in
Ceylon are so niggardly in Java? Iam at a loss
for areply. I hope for better results with the
Hevea.—Indian Trade Journal, May 26.

‘‘MANIHOT’’ RUBBERS ON THE
NILGIRIS.

THE Rupper FoR HicH ELEvarions.

A planter, who signs himself ‘*Hopeful,”
writes to us as follows from the Nilgiris :—

Sufficient time has now lapsed on the Nilgiris
since planters started experimenting with tho
three new varieties of the Manihot, for at least
one of these planters to state from actual ex-
perience, whether he thinks these rubbers will
prove the salvation of the planter, who owns
land at an elevation at which itis absolutely
certain no rubbers such as Para, Castilloa, etc.,
willgrow. At the start, no one could tell, not
even the exporter of the seed from Bahia, the
seller in Ceylon, or the purchasing planter, at
what extreme height these Manihots would be a
success, The general idea was that these var-
ieties would grow at higher altitudes than the
species above-mentioned, and consequently allow
planters at these altitudes to participate in the
great boom! It is only natural that planters
whose land elevations prohibited rubber plan-
ting anxiously wanted a species that would
really thrivein more temperate zones, and like
the proverbial drowning man and the straw,
when the Manihot arrived, with even the sus-
picion of a likelihood of its being grown profit-
ably, at 5,000 ft. above sea !evel, there was a
great rush to try it. As I will later on show, 1
do notthink thereis the slightest doubt that
THESE RUBBERS WILL Du, AND DO WELL, IN SHEL-

TERED BLOCKS, AT EVEN 5,500 FT., ELEVATION,
Everything, however, must have its drawbacks
or this disappointing old world would be too
easy to live in, There certainly would be no
booms of any kind. The great drawback, one
which has well-nigh disgusted and compelled
most experimenters tostop and abandon hope
as toits being even moderately cultivated, is
the utter impossibility of germinating even 5 per
cent. of the seed! With the utmost care, 7.¢e., well-
regulated heat, good drainage, the right amount
of watering, etc,, from 10,000 seed (90 per cent
guaranteed sound) I have only managed to raise
250 plants, or 24 per cent, The remaining un-
germinated seed, if still carefully nursed, may
distribute its germination over a twelve-month ;
but, at this rate, when would any appreciable
area come into yielding ? I think men at high
elevations are far from wise to let this trouble-

578

some germination damp their ardour, or indeed
make them ‘‘ chuck it,” as some seem inclined
to do. Knowing that I have got hold of a good
thing, I also know what my 25 per cent of plants
will yield in three years, in the way of cuttings ;
these are easy to strike, and
EACH THREE-YEAR-OLD TREE
(judging by the growth, which I shall presently
describe, of one year old trees)
WILL AT LEAST YIELD 20 CUTTINGS,
at a modest estimate, so that every 250 plants a
man owns at the present moment will, in three
years, give him 5,000 cuttings and so on, ad lib.
Thank Heaven with drawbacks there is the ‘‘law
of compensation” also, As this is a subject
which must interest a yreat number, I will now
give the experiences up to date of another
planter and myself, who were absolutely the first
to try the Dichotoma and Piauhyensis on these
hills at a high elevation. We started by pur-
chasing a few Dichotoma plants from the Horti-
cultural Gardens, Madras ; this was during May-
June, 1909. When planted on my friend’s estate
at an elevation of 5,400 ft., and on my estate at
5,750 ft., the average height of tho plants was
1ft. Today (exactly a year after) these trees
average 6 ft., and some stand at 7 and 8 ft. All
are branching beautifully, and what is most
encouraging, many have a girth of 7in. at the
collar. These plants have
STOOD THE FIRST WINTER WELL,

frost lying in the valley not 500 yards away !
I consider that my friend’s elevation is
the maximum height at which these rubbers
will be quite satisfactory, as my Dichotoma,
which is now 6ft., is not nearly as fine as his
in girth measurement, in consequence of my
350ft. higher elevation. We have kept careful
notes, and made searching enquiries from men
who are growing these at elevations lower than
5,000ft. and from all the replies we have had
and from what we have seen,

PERADENIYA IN CEYLON NOT EXCEPTED,
we have come to the conclusion that the
Dichotoma will at anything below 5,000ft. grow
spindly and tall, and from 5,000ft. up to 5,500ft.
thick, robust and sturdy, provided always this
variety is grown in well sheltered hollows.
A Mysore planter was disgusted with the growth
of his Dichotoma at 3,000ft. aiter seeing my
friend’s at 5,400 not only as regards girth, but
also in height !—The above notes concern the

PLANTS BOUGHT AT THE HORTICULTURAL

GARDENS, MADRAS,

Subsequently my friend got 2,000 seed from
London, of which he raised 25 per cent plants.
These he planted in the field six months later
and all are now growing vigorously in a one-acre
plot. This plot was visited by our Scientific
Officer a few days ago and that gentleman, who
has seen the growth of the Dichotoma in various
localities and at various elevations, was asto-
nished, as well as hugely delighted, at the
growth and robustness of both Dichotoma and
Piauhyensis on my friend’s experimental acre.
The rainfall, | might mention, is only 50 or 53
in yearly. It will yet pay those who think they
have thrown away rupees on non-germinating
seed, carefully to conserve all plants they have
managed to raise, no matter how few; for ina
short time they can multiply each plant many
times over with cuttings.—M, Mail, June 1,

a74

RUBBER PLANTING IN THE
PHILIPPINES.

£300,000 BRITISH CAPITAL FOR
DEVELOPMENT WORK.
2,500 ACRES TO BE PLANTED.

We are indebted, toan old Ceylon resident
,MrTH Stephens, Dentist, Manila, brother o
the well-known Dolosbage planters, for a copy of
‘The Manila Times” (May 19th) containing the
following article on rubber :—

Backed by nearly P3,000,0U0, (about £300,000)
worth of capital to be used in development work
inthe Philippines, Captain A C Littler has re-
turned to Manila after an extended trip through
England and Scotland, where his missionary
work for the islands brought out English and
Scottish savings to be used in local industries.
Captain Littler’s first venture will be in the rich
Cotobato valley of Mindanao, whither he will go
next, to lay out the plantation of the

RIO GRANDE RUBBER ESTATES

Company, Limited. This concern will plant
2,500 acres of rubber. Mr Frank Bost, a rub-
ber expert, who has had experiencein Borneo,
the Straits Settlements, and Central Africa,
is now on his way here from England to
take charge of the work. This company has a
working capital of P400,000, most of it subscri-
bed by Scottish capitalists. It was floated in
Glasgow ; the stock was subscribed twice over.
Difficulties encountered at the start in the float-
ing ofthe company, were surmounted by the in-
surance of a prospectus containing an article on
the rubber possibilities of Mindanao, published
last year in the ‘‘Times.” The company will
devote itself entirely to proceeding the best
grade of pararubber. Every possible care will
be taken in the planting and cultivation of this
product which, according to Captain Littler, can
be grown bétter in Mindanao, than in any other
part of the world. During the years of waiting
for the rubber to reach maturity, the efforts of
the company will be turned to the gathering of
the wild rubber that is found in much profusion
in many parts of the southern island. A special
machine for the clearing and compression of this
grade of rubber will be imperted, and efforts will
be made to pay the preliminary expenses of the
plantation from the profits of this hitherto
little exploited branch of the rubber business.

Speaking of his plans this morning, Cap-
tain Littler said: ‘‘If we can solve the labour
problem, we will turn out a hard rubber that
will be in every respect the equal of the
hard para of the Malay Peninsula or the
Amazon Valley. And we will be able to
produce it cheaper than anywhere else
in the world. ‘‘Our company has been orga-
nised on a cash box basis, we feel that our
estimate of profits has been based upon a very
fair consideration of the rubber market and
its possibilities Many investors ot Kurope are
becoming sceptical of putting their money in
rubber development companies because of the
alluring promises held out. Butwe have made
no promises that we cannot fulfil, Rubber sells
today at more than 11shillings a pound. Wecan
produce it at a large profit, selling it at slightly

The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist

more than 3 shillings a pound. No rubber-
producing country in the world can make a
better claim. For our labour we expect to
depend upon the Moro, With proper treatment,
Iam hopeful that the wild and semi-civilised
man of Mindanao is capable of the labour neces-
sary to the development of the island.” Captain
Littler spent yesterday in conference with the
officials of the Bureau of Forestry preparing for
his trip into the Moro country next week, The
exact site of the land upon which the company
willsettle has not been decided, butit will beone
of several sites in Mindanao. When the planta-
tion ofthe syndicate has been put under devel-
opment, Captain Littler will turn his attention
to the lumber possibilities of Mindanao. He
represents a syndicate that is ready to invest
P2,000,000 in the development of the logging
industry of the southern island.— Manila Times,
May 19.

oe wr ee.

ARTIFIGIAL RUBBER ONCE AGAIN.

We learn from London that Professor
Harries, of Kiel, one of the leading auth-
orities in Germany on rubber, claims to have
discovered a valuable substitute for that com-
modity. The process is said to be based on the
boiling together, under certain conditions, of
isopren with acetic acid (eisessig). in a closed
tube, the result being’ the creation of a grey
composite, possessing allthe properties of the
purest rubber, and capable of being vulcanised
in the same way as guttapercha. At present,
this artificial rubber has only been produced in
small quantities, but it is the Professor's opinion
that when his method has been further deve-
loped it will permit the placing on the market of
the article at one-third the cost of real rubber.
The Professor’s claim has attracted considerable
attention, but is not believed. His article differs
materially from numerous other proposed sub-
stitutes for rubber, which have failed when
laboratory experiments succeeded, by attempts
at commercial uses. Well-known scientists in
Europe and America are devoting great atten-
tion to the subject, as the reward of a successful
discovery would be enormous, exceeding, pro-
bably, that of the substitution of synthetic for
natural indigo.

CEYLON CITRONELLA OJL.

COMPLAINTS AS TO QUALITY.

Messrs. Schimmel & Co., of Miltitz near
Leipzig, London and New York, sent us by last
mail their semi-annual report to the end of
April, 1910. As usual, it contains interesting
references to Ceylon essential oils. Ceylon cin-
namon oil, we note, ‘has enjoyeda very active
demand” andits manufacture in their works
is steadily extending. In the year 1909 they
distributed over 100,000 kilos of Ceylon cinna-
mon chips, while the sales exceeded in quantity
those of the year 1908. The imports of cinna-
mon chips via Hamburg have again increased,
being 2,941,578 lb. against 2,785,824 lb in 1908.
Citronella oil is as usual exhaustively dealt with.
The shipments of Ceylon citronella oil from
Galle in the year 1909 reached the record, total-

und Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—June, 1910,

ling not less than 1,512,084 Ib., that is to say
about 235,000 lb. more than in the previous year.
The excess in shipments took place chiefly
during the summer-months and had as a result
that the prices receded to nearly Jid. per lb.
We regret, however, to read that the supplies
during the time under review occasionally left
much to be desired in the matter of quality.
This led to several claims in London, in the
settlement of which Messrs. Schimmel! & Co,’s
opinion was invited. As aresult of these claims
the question of introducing a more stringent
test to take the place of ‘‘Schimmel’s Test,”
which, though it has proved its usefulness, no
longer meets the present needs, has again be-
come a matter of importance. How the test of
citronella oil can be improved is discussed at
some length, and Messrs Schimmel add that
‘*The best plan of all would be if the Govern-
ment of Ceylon were to superintend the citro-
nella oil business on the spot as, according to
statements made some timeago, appeared to be
its intention. The oils ought to be tested by
Government chemists and should only be
allowed to be exported if they contained at
least 60 per cent. totalgeraniol, and if in other
respects also they conformed entirely to tho
tests prescribed. An official certificate to this
effect should be given with each parcel of oil
tested and the exportation of all oils without ex-
ception which failed to answer the test should
be prohibited. We should regard it as a mistake
if any relaxations were to be made, and oils of
less than the standard quality were also to be
admitted for exportation, as was the intention of
the Ceylon Government in the year 1904. The
rigorous enforcement of such a regulation would
probably beattended by the best results, as it
would mean a final removal of the evil and
would once more turn the citronella oil trade
into healthy channels.” Some such proposal as
referred to was, we believe, mooted in Ceylon at
the end of 1904.

RICE INVESTIGATIONS IN

HAWALEE,

In a fertilizer experiment with rice it was
found that 200 pounds per acre of a complete
fertilizer gave practically as large yields of
paddy as did greater quantities up to 800 pounds.
Moreover, the results w:re approximately the
same whether applied before the crop was
planted, or when well advanced in growth. A
number of cooperative fertilizer tests were made
for the purpose of testing, on a commercial
scale, the results already obtained on the trial
grounds, and to bring greater profits, if possible
from the rice industry. These experiments were
entirely satisfactory, in so far as the results
from the fertilizers were concerned, but were
somewhat interfered with by the unusual insect
troubles to which rice, was subjected during
the past year. The variety of rice referred to in
previous reports as No. 19, 1s now firmly estab-
Jished anid has given excellent returns wherever
it has been planted. Satisfactory progress is
also being made with upland rice as a hay crop.
—Hawaii Agricultural Rxperiment station Annual
Report for 1909.

575

SOUTH INDIAN PLANTERS AND THEIR
SCIENTIFIC OFFICER.

From a lecture delivered by Mr R D Anstead,
B.A,, Planting Expert, at a Planters’ Meeting
held at Fairlawns, Yercaud, on April 28th, we
quote a few paras :—

IT am informed that

CEARA RUBBER

is showing every prospect of success in this
district. Jam very glad to hear it, and Iam
very much impressed with the possibilities of
this Rubber from what I have seen of it in other
districts. The climatic conditions which prevail
on the Shevaroys should suit it very well. Ina
plantation of Ceara you will probably find a very
creat variability between the individual trees
both in appearance and in yield of latex. While
some trees give a good yield others hardly give
any. Those of you who interd to extend your
cultivation of Ceara should test your existing
trees by experimental tapping, and when you
find a really good one, break it up into cuttings
and plant your new clearings with these. These
will give trees true to type, while seed will not
come true owing to the natural cross-fertilisation
which goes on between the bad and good trees.
Ceara Rubber will respond to good Jand and
good cultivation just ae much as coffee or any |
other crop, and it it is to be grown seriously
every attention should be paid to this. Suit-
able green dressings for Rubber will be found
in the plants already mentioned and also in
Cassia hirsuta and Tephrosia tinctoria, again
both indigenous weeds.—Planters’ Chronicle,
May 14.

WORLD’S VANILLA GROPS.

Mr. Hermann Mayer Senior sends us these
statistics of the 1909-10 vanilla-production :—

Tons.
Seychelles Aft oH ust 10
Bourbon A bias a8 35
Mexican ae Ans ay, 70
Comores, Mayotte, &c, ag 40
Madagascar and Mossi-Bé ... 25
Mauritius He aa 2
Ceylon, Java, Fiji, Zanzibar, &c, 10
Guadeloupe and Martinique... 15
Tahiti es pe 180

Total ... (say about) 390

This quantity falls 110 tons short of the 1908-9
crop, and, as Tahiti shows an increase of 40 tons,
the actual deticiency in the finer qualities totals
150 tons, or 40 per cent on the previous year’s
yield, which was of full average extent. Prices
during the past twelve months have moved in
accord with the statistical position, showing an.
improvement of 30 to 40 per cent for all varieties
except Tahiti ; these have profited by the short-
age of all other sorts and maintained their value,
uotwithstanding the larger returns. Only unim-
portant balances remain in the Colonies, and,
as new crops are unlikely to be landed in quan-
tity before November next, statistically the posi-
tion appears exceptionally sound,—Chemist and
Druggist, April 30,

576

‘‘THE RUBBER TREE OF TONKIN
AND NORTH ANNAM.’’

‘‘BLEEKRODEA TONKINENSIS.”

We have received a most interesting bro-
chure written in French, by M. Ph. Eberhardt,
Inspector of Agriculture in Indo-China, and
M. Dubard. It is entitled ‘‘ The Rubber Tree
of Tonkin and North Annam, Bleekrodea Ton-
kinensis,” and gives an account of this tree,
which, it is stated, is indigeneous to the whole
of north of Indo-China; that is to say, in a
latitude in which Hevea cannot be developed.
From the plantation point of view the tree
presents the same advantages as Hevea, and
the rubber is as easy to collect as that of the
Ficus. It is excellent in quality, midway be-
tween Hevea and Ficus and nearer, perhaps, to
Hevea to which it is very little inferior.

Attention was first seriously drawn to the
tree in 1905, but it was not until two years
later that M. Eberhardt and M. Dubard set out
on an expedition to collect botanical samples, to
tap some trees, and bring away some latex.

The result of their investigation is shown in
an exhaustive botanical and scientific study of
the plant in the brochure under review. Tap-
ping was first done by natives, who accidentally
discovered the value of the product, in a very
haphazard way which, if it did not result in
the death of the tree, caused it to undergo a
long period of non-production. The natives,
however, being lazy, gave it up after a time,
as they did not find it worth their while. They
made use of several methods of tapping.

In the first case they made, in the base of the
trunk, about three feet from the ground, and
on the large branches as many incisions as pos-
sible, by means of any cutting instrument, con-
vinced that the more incisions they made, the
more latex they would get. The quantity of
rubber gathered in this way—instead of being
more—is, on the contrary, less, for the normal
flow of the liquid is no longer permitted, the cir-
culation being interrupted; in addition, the
latex gathered under these conditions contains
avery large quantity of organic débris such as
pieces of bark, lichens, and mosses.

Another way, one which is employed for the
creepers, is to take off with a hatchet, or more
often a simple knife, a large portion of bark.

In addition, by a third method, cruder even
than the first two, more especially reserved for
creepers, they divide the plants into parts
and extract from each piece the latex which it
contains, by warming one of the extremities
over a slow fire. In this case, beside the latex,
they gather at the same time the sap of the
plant which oozes out of the piece just like a
large amount of water.

In whatever way, however, he taps the tree,
the native recvives the latex in the little re-
ceptacles formed from an internode of bamboo,
fluted at about two-thirds ofits height in order
to be able to apply this part of least thickness
to the base of each wound, If he were con-
tent to gather his latex in this fashion, the

The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturisc

bamboo would contain but a relatively small
quantity of foreign matter; but that process
would be too long, so he makes an odd twenty
or so incisions with his knife in the same
part of the trunk and, as he cannot place
and hold there an equal number of bamboo
tubes, he gathers with his finger the
milk which flows from the wounds thus
made and then wipes it on the edge of the
bamboo tube. One can thus see how much
foreign matter he is forced to introduce into it
at the same time, scraping in some degree the
whole surface of the bark which he naturally
does not take the trouble to wipe or wash be-
forehand. The gathering having terminated,
the bamboos are transported either to the vil-
Jage or to a neighbouring stream of water; there
they are put into a pot full of water which
without any care, is boiled. Drawn from the
bamboo tube, the product obtained by coagu-
lation is in the form of a ‘‘ black pudding.”
This nearly always contains a certain quantity
of organic matter generally found in the centre,
The presence of this organic matter has been
characterised as a fraud, but it is not really
—for what follows is what actually happens :

The latex of the Bleekrodea coagulates
very quickly; a part even coagulates of
itself in the receptacle in which it is
carried. This coagulation is still further facili-
tated by the movement which the latex is
submitted in transport and which acts as a
sort of churning, releasing sufficient heat to
separate a certain number of globules of the
serum and hasten their adhesion. In this
first coagulation, however, all foreign or-
ganic matters are imprisoned ; when, shortly
afterwards, all is subjected to heat, all the
globules not separated during the voyage stick
to the core formed by the first coagulation,
the “ black pudding ” lengthens at the two
ends and imprisons in its midst the impure
mass. Sometimes, before putting the latex in
boiling water, the natives draw out the first
ball formed, which explains the presence in
the market of unformed balls, generally very
much reduced, and of an inferior quality.

There is no doubt, however, that the Bleek-
rodea Tonkinensis will become one of the great
economic products of the colony, We give
the following translation to show its commercial
value :—

‘The commercial value of Bleekrodea rubber
has been determined by Messrs Hecht Brothers
from two samples which were sent them by
Mr. E Perrot, the learned professor of the
School of Pharmacy, to whom we had sent
them, at his request, to obtain an estimate. One
was a sample which had been treated with ether,
deprived of foreign matter; it was priced at
from 8 francs to 8°50 francs a kilo (2:21b.) The
other was a crude sample carelessly gathered
by natives and containing many impurities. It
had naturally coagulated without the help of
any acid and was valued, despite its impurities,
at 5°50 francs akilo. It should be added that
this estimate was made when Para was valued
at 9°50 francs. Bleekrodea rubber is, therefore,
a rubber of a very fair quality,”

Ceylon Agricultural Society.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

REFERENCE TO HIS LATE MAJESTY KING EDWARD VII.

The annual general meeting of the

Ceylon Agricultural Society was held at —

Yoon on June 8th at the Council
Chamber. H, E. Sir Henry McCallum
presided, and the others present were :—
_ The Hon. Mr. H. L. Crawford, ©.M.G,,
the Hon. Mr. W. H. Jaekson, the Hon.
Mr. C. T. D. Vigors, the Hon. Mr. P.
Arunachalam, the Hon. Mr. S. C. Obeye-
sekere, Captain E. M. Slaughter, Extra
A. D.C., Messrs. P. D. Warren, R. B.
Strickland, W. D. Gibbon, G. W. Stur-
gess, E. E. Green, E. Cowan, A. Harbord,
Dr. J. C. Willis, Dr. H. M. Fernando,
Messrs. Jas. Peiris, F. L. Daniel, Alex.
Bruee, A. E. Rajapakse, A. P. Goona-
tilleke, Tudor Rajapakse, W. A. de
Silva, C. Drieberg (Secretary), end
‘a few visitors.

A VOTE OF CONDOLENCE.

Before the business on the agenda was
taken up, His EXcELLENCY—all the
members standing—said :—Gentlemen:
since we last met a terrible calamity has
befallen the nation. Suddenly, without
warning, the Angel of Death swept
down, and has taken unto himself our
most beloved Sovereign, King Edward
VII. It is a blow not only to us per-
sonally and collectively in Ceylon, but a
tremendous one to the whole nation ; and®
in sustaining this blow, Iamsure I am
voicing the feelings of this Society when
Isay that our deepest sympathy goes
forth to those who were near and dear
to him, and whom he has left behind
him. I think, therefere, before we pro-
ceed with the ordinary business of the
day, that we should at once, at this our
first mecting since his demise, in a brief
resolution, put on record our feel-
ings’ concerning the calamity I have
referred to and our sympathy with the
Royal Family. I, therefore, will ask

you in solemn silence to assent to the |
following resolution whichI have pre- —
pared for your acceptance :— poe

‘‘That it is with feelings of the deepest
sorrow that this Society has heard of —
the sudden demise of their well-beloved
Sovereign King Edward VII. Whilst
bowing to the inscrutable decree of
Divine Providence, the Society submis-
sively desires to record its keen sense —
ot the terrible loss which the nation has -
sustained by the early passing away
of its sagacious, powerful and far-seeing
monarch, the protector and lover of
his people. With fervent loyalty the
Society humbly begs that an expression
of the profound sympathy which it feels
in their deep affliction may be conveyed
to Their Majesties the King and Queen,
to the Queen-Mother and the members
ot the Royal Family.”

H. E.’s TRIBUTE TO CEYLON’S LOYAL

SYMPATHY,

After a moment's silence, His Excel-
lency continued :—Gentlemen, you have
accepted the resolution, I may say that
I feel glad of this first public opportunity
Il have had to say how deeply impressed
I have been with the sincere sorrow and
fervent loyalty which have been mani- |
fested throughout the length and
breadth of Ceylon in connection with —
the death of our late Sovereign, From
high and low, rich and poor, from village,
hamlet and Societies—practically from
everybody—the Governor has received
most eloquent testimony of the intense —
feeling which this sad event has brought |
about. These expressions of regret and _
loyalty are being collected in a volume

and will be forwarded in due course,
together with memorials of all sorts and
descriptions, to be laid before Their —
Majesties, as soon as all the resolutions,
such as the one you have just passed, -
have been handed in.

Advertisements.

“Ceylon Observer

No. 19, BAILLIE STREET, COLOMBO.

>

CEYLON ILLUSTRATED.—Describing the Progress of the Island since 1803, its
present Agricultural and Commercial Enterprises and its unequalled At-
tractions to Visitors, with useful Statistical Information and with upwards of
one hundred illustrations. By John Ferguson, ¢.M.G

SKINNER’S FIFTY YEARS IN CEYLON.—An arobiogtachy ob ane late Maro?
Thomas Skinner, ¢.M.G., Commissioner of Public Works, Ceylon. Edited by
his daughter pee Skinner. With a Preface by Sir Monier Williams, K.c.t.5,

KNOX’S CEYLON.—A reprint of Knox’s account of his captivity with other
Englishmen in torn and of his escape after a detention in the Island for
194 years. First Printed in 1687. wae “e

CEYLON IN THE FIFTIES AND THE EIGH TLES. =a tetrospect and Con-
trast of the Vicissitudes of the Planting Enterprise Aantee a period of Thirty
Years and of Life and Work in Ceylon, by a Planter

CEYLON IN 1837-46.—A Lecture by the late A. M. Ferguson, ¢.M.«a,

CEYLON IN 1847-60.—A Lecture by the late A. M. Ferguson, ¢.M.G

EARLY BRITISH RULE JN CEYLON.—Being a Lecture aslivarsd ov behalf of
the Colombo Pettah Library Building Fund, by John Ferguson, ¢.M.G

CEYLON IN 1899, after Three Years’ Administration by Governor H. E. Sir West
Ridgeway, K.c.B., and what may be done in 1901-1902 oF

OLD AND NEW COLOMBO, by John Ferguson. Paper read here a fulinnestine
of the Foreign and Colonial Section of the Society of Arts in London on
Thursday, November 23rd, 1899. Sir Thomas Sutherland, M.P., G.o.M.G., in
the chair; with interesting Discussion pes is sos

THE CEYLON MANUAL (for the use of Officials) comprising Historical, Statis-
tical, and other Information concerning the Island and its Administration for
the year 1908. Compiled from official and other Reliable Records, at the
request of the Coon Government, by Herbert White, of the Ceylon Civil
Service. a a re a

SINHALESE MADE EASY

MEHE VARKEN se

EASY STEPS TO SINHALESE

INGE VA os _ aus or

YENNA VEHNUM.—A Tamil Handbook for Beginners by F, P, Harvey.

TAMIL SELF-TAUGHT es Bee seg sie

VEGETABLE CULTURE.—(In Sinhalese), by D. J. Wickramaratna. Selection of
Site, Fencing, Preparation of Soil, Manures, Transplanting, Plant Life,
Manures, Water Supply, Crop, Seeds, Implements, Season and Climatic con-
ditions, Works for each month of the year, Mushroom growing, etc.

BETEL CULTIVATION.—(In Sinhalese), by D. J. Wickramaratnua. Selection of
Land, Preparation of Soil, Varieties of Betel, Cuttings, Sticks, Manure,
Plucking, Implements, Diseases, ete. es ”

BURIED CITIES OF CEYLON.—A Guide-book to ie riadnapine and Polon-
naruwe; with chapter on Dambulla, Kalawewa, Mihintale and Sigiri, with
Lithographed Plan of Anuradhapura, by 5. M, Burrows, M.A. Oxon, Ceylon
Civil Service, Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. . oe

VESTER GUIDE TO KANDY AND NUWARA ELIYA.—By S. M. Burrows,
M.A., Oxon, (7th Edition), Revised and Enlarged. Now in the press. eats

GUIDE TO KANDY, by G. J. A. Skeen, now in the press. vee oe

GUIDE TO COLOMBO. By G.J. A. Skeen. New Edition (the 6th) with Maps
and Illustrations. a rer ves oo

Bookstore,

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Copy of Catalogue of Books can be had on Application.

40

60

Advertisements.

THE LAMP PUMP.

BADGOCK’S PATENT.
The Cheapest and most Compact Pumping Plant in the World.

Pump and Motive Power combined.
MINIMUM EXPENSE OF WORKING AND UPKEEP

LAMP ? Price
PUMP com-
MODEL plete
No. 1. (exclusive of

fixing),
Shallow | &. 35
We'lType.
Se ae
Fleor space
required for Weight, in-
this Installa- cluding pack-
tion, 2 ft. Gin, ing cases
23 cwts.

by 2 fi. 6 in.

No Danger, Noise, or Smell. No Skilled Attendance Required.

Per Hour.
This Machine will deliver at a height of 60 ft. from water level ... .. 300 gallons
” x t 33 ANS ile, gp ic .. 400 gallons
Average cost of Pumping (with price of Oil at 8d. per gallon) bar .. One Penny,
Larger types of the same inexpensive system of working supplied.

AWARDS.

The only SILVER MEDAL by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Ju'y, 1908. ;

Tunbridge Wells and South Eastern Counties Agricultural
Society, July, 1908.

; OF 7 Warwickshire Agricultural Society, August, 1908.

GOLD MEDAL, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908. Agricultural Section.

SILVER MEDAL, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908. Steam Engine Section.

SILVER MEDAL, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908. Machinery Section.

” ” ”

Apply for Descriptive Catalogue to

THE LAMP PUMP SYNDICATE, Ltd.,

HMYDRAUOLIC ENGINEERS,
12, Carey Street, Westminster, LONDON, S.W,

Cable Addrees :—-“ Pumsyndi,’’ London,

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