IRS ANG 43 SSeS $323 ACP IE Ba pet ore ae < aries tat ea vas net eit N a yy $ 'y ye tate Nee Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 httos://archive.org/details/tropicalagricul371911cey!| 3k) | pee ea It 9) eee co ae ar eh } opal Ne cn % ~ The Tropical Agriculturist — __. Magazine of the Geylon Agricultural Society. 4 (FOUNDED 1881.) EDITED BY J. C. WILLIS, M.A., Sc.D., S.D., Director, Royal Botanic Gardens « Organizing Vice-President, C.A.S. Vol. XXXVI. 4 Containing Numbers | to VI: July to December, 1911. ae pegs 44A9G ae A. M. & J. FERGUSON, a i" ; COLOMBO, CEYLON. 1912. State eee ae 3 . Sper te eee eeees Oo #58 4 * peoue 2a? a he eunte ee A. Accident Insurance and the Farmers ... Account of the Working of the Land _ Settlement Scheme in St. Vincent Advantage of Drainage wee Agricultural and Industrial Problems ... do Credit in Italy do Matters, Oodbicaity ray Pes do Kesearch, Development Grant for Agriculture and Scientific Research do in Japan ; 736 “All-Island Agricultural Show Amended Rules Governing Contracts of Plantation Rubber oe Ants, Extermination of Se Apiculture om Artificial Rubber Be Australian State Loans to Settlers vps Avocado in Southern California “ep B. Bamboo for Paper Making ay do | Hats: A Growing Industry ... _. do, The Philippine and the so Banana aud Henequen Oultivation in Mexico oon Banana Cultivation in Jamaica co do Industry of Santiago de Cuba ... ‘do :is it Seedless ba Bejuco Industry, Development of Beven, A , on Coconut Cultivation .. Bill of Co- -operation in Denmark Blasting Tree Stumps Bleeding Rubber Tree, A Botanical Gardens of Ceylon Brazilian Coco-Palm Breeding for Egg Production British Guiana and India Rubber Broom Millet a28 Business Men’s Lecture Course List CG. Cacao do Manuring Experiments at Peradeniya Caftein-free Coffee, A New Caingins (Chenas). os Camphor Oil a do Production in Burma Cardamom Fat from Makulu (Hydnocar- pus Venenata) one Carnauba Wax ~ Castilloa Elastica Tapping and Yields . do Rubber in Jamaica. Conference on - Castor Oil Culture in South Africa do do Seeds att ‘2.290, Pace. Casuarina Hedge 459 Causes of Salinity in Soils and Methods of Reclaiming Saline Soils * 141 Ceara Rubber Fey aS: do Seed Oil and Poonac 498 Centralization of Agricultural Research. 52 Cereal Crops in the Northern Hemisphere 421 Ceylon Agricultural Society: Minutes of Annual General Meeting 61 Ceylon Agricultural Society: Minutes of Board Meetings 250, 450 Ceylon Agricultural Society’s Progress Reports 157, 349, 449 Ceylon Agricultural Society: Statement ‘of Receipts and Expenditure for Tweleve months ending December 31, 1910... 68 Ceylon and its “Products” and “History” 88 o Coca beh, 16 Ceylon’s Palm Products ap 73. do __ Rainfalls ee 169 Chemical Process to Preserve Timber ... 43 Chinese Tea Seed Oil be VAST Cinnamon and Cassia Ad 482 do in Ceylon, Scarcity of A 268 Citronella Oil es Il do do Industry of Ceylon Ses 71 do do Standard 391 Clerus Formicarius in Relation to Shot- hole Borer ko 129 Coca Leaves, Production and Use of ... 104 Coconut Conditions in Laguna wen, IG do Cultivation oh 16 do District Notes 284 do do do from the N.W.P. 75, 362 do Estates, on the Valuation of 480, 565 do do Valuation of 562 do Growing in the Philippine Islands 398 do in British New Guinea Add 268 do Lands: The Copra Industry ... 74 do Palm Cultivation and Production in the Phlippine Islands and in Ceylon 361 do —_— Palm Cultivation in Ceylon and the Philippines 362 do Palm Products for Third Quar- ter of 1911 370 do , Physiology of the ae 214 do Prospects a4 317 do Ventures by Lever Bros. an 169 Coconuts in Java and in Travancore ... 562 do in the Philippines Sine 278 Coffee and Tea in Chile ne 85 do , A New Caffein-free ie 380 do , Liberian S45 87 do Present High Price of aut 365 do , ” Sugar and Tea ate 482 Coffees, Blight-Resistant Be 584 Continuity i in Agricultural Matters... 97 Co-operation in Denmark sue 152 Co-operative Conference at Midnapore... 322 do Credit ie 321 ii ; INDEX, s Pace. Pxex. Co-operative Credit and Educated Classes 245 Fruits Worth Growing in Ceylon wo A do do , Indian, Advocacy of 320 Fungicides and Insecticides 507 do Demonstration and Rural Fungoid Parasites to Control Scale Insects 429 Improvement 3 439 Fungus Attacks, Degree of Virulence of 41 do Facts and Figures 353 Future Delivery Dealings «. = 482 do Movement in Denmark, The do of the Rubber Industry 181 Growth of é 538 ee PETES Copra Industry’s Rapid Increase 422 — do in the Seychelles Be 583 G. do Trade in Philippines ...235, 274 Gardening at Girls’ Schools Clueeaes 249 do do of Odessa es 485 do in Ceylon i) Cotton in South Africa ; 376 Germination of Hevea Seeds 232 Cow Tree of Ceylon, and Papaya : 359 Glucose as a Food Stuff sae 20 Crops as Green Maoures, Value of Grape Fruit for Ceylon 568, 576 D.fferent Yee 144 Green, BE. E. 129, 240, 255, 318 Current Literature 166 do Mauures, Value of different Crops as 144 fie EE Ground-nuts in the West Indies, Tistess on 106 Growth in Girth of Trees ‘as 488 D. Guano Palm Industry in Honduras _... 182 Dedigama Market Show 326 ‘ pitt Wi Td Beeyuctio n of Lantana ; 576 H rant for ri ral ? Bieyrlonment, G sia ies Bree 535 Harrow, Patent Flexible 477 do ofalhivenstocialneuranica Hat-making Industry for the Sinhalese 465 in Sweden 316 Hawaiian Growers’ Association, Fourth Dictionary of Terms used in Agriculture, Annual Meeting of 194 _ Botany, Chemistry and Allied Scien- Health of Superintendents and Coolies... 269 cies 256, 327, 460, 553 Heatin London, Remarkable Se 267 Diseares of Plants and Injurious Insects | 238 Hemp Holds First Place 408 Distillation of Orange Flowers at Grasse 92, 367 Henequen and Banana Cultivation in Drainage, Advantage of 142 Moxico 375 Drieberg, C. 61, 212, 249, 250, 341, 449, 450,459 | Hevea Rubber Wood as Fuel 499 Dry Farming 284 Hickory King Maize (illustrated) 212 Holmes, J. A. 156, "336, 545 E Humus, Value of 53 if Hydnocarpus Venenata (Cardamom Fat) 102 Economic Association, The Work of 543 do do (Makulu, Sinh.) Economy on Estates, The Practice of . 146 as Cardamom Fat 102 Educated Classes and Co-operative Credit 245 PANE ict Education for the Country Life 544 Egg Production, Single Testing System i I. ot Breeding for 136 Improved Hat-making Industry for the : Elliott, E. 225, 305, "393, 501 Sinhalese Ter 465 | Estate ‘‘ Buildings” and *‘ Soils ” oe 89 India and Paper-making ae, 102 eroalypius Trees, Conditions best do Rubber in Dutch Guiana see 207 Suited 570, 571 Indian Agriculture 5 85 Meee seant Fruits i in the Tropics 486 do Mango Juice 38 do Supervision in the Middle East 79 Indigo and Indigo Prospects a 279 Experiment Station, Peradeniya 156 Industrial and Agricultural Problems .. 334 Experiments Bearing on the Cultivation Insecticide Control Law in California, ot Paddy ah 221 Proposed oe 236 Bitorlinntion of Ants 92 Insecticides ae 318 do and Fungicides AS 507 Insects and Plant Diseases, Injurious ... vo 1238 F. Intensive Cultivation in Japan ase 477 Farewell Noto by the Editor 489 ido Gardening an 377 Farmers and Accident Insurance 536 do ° Horticulture 477 Farmers’ Co-operative Demonstration International Institute of Agriculture .. Mee) Work in its Relation to Rural Im- do - Rubber Exhibition .-, 188 provement 439 Introduction of Para Rubber into the Federated Malay States in 1910 dos 365 Malay States 170 Financier’s Special Rubber Commissioner Invites China Coast Business Men to in Ceylon 466 Lectures 355 Flies and Disease Carriers 337 Ipecacuanha in India, Cultivation of ... 571 Flowers on French Riviera, Cultivation of 284 Itinerary in Uva Province 546 Food Auimals, Suggestions for Pontrelling Tuberculosis among 130 % Freak Plantain Bunch, A ste 369 K- Fruit and Pumpkin F lies 240 Kalutara Agri-HorticulturalShow .. 70. do Industiy of Cuba 481 Kapok and its Cultivation ou) / ’ Page. L. Labour, Oriental vs. Occidental 334 Lac Industry, The a 425 Land Improvement Credit in Great Britain 55 do Settlement Scheme in St. Vincent 342 Latex and its Relation to the Life of the - Parent Plant 378 Lever Bros,’ Coconut Ventures ae 169 Live Stock Insurance in Sweden te 316 Loans in France a 56 Lock, R. H. bee ph Ty . M. Macmillan, H. F. 415 Mango Weevil, The ate 514 Manuring of Hevea Rubber ars 98 Maple Sugar ie 35 Market Rates for Tropical Products... 264 Matugama Agri-Horticultural Show ... 70 Maxwell-Loefroy. be 318 Meat Supply in m Italy 48 Method of Tapping the Ceara Rubber Tree 470 Milk Supply in Large German Towns . 515 Mosquitoes bah 382 do and Malaria 255 Mycology in Relation to Administration 427 N. New Forest Legisiation in Italy 547 do Uses for Rubber .» 3, LOL - Notes and Comments SS 498 Nutmeg, The Cultivation of the 4 572 Nuts : i 367 oO. Orange and Lemon Trees among Coco- nut Palms 467 Our Palm Products for the 3rd Quarter, 911 370 Pe, Paddy Cultivation in Ceylon during the 19th Century 325, 305, 393, 591, 559 Paddy, Experiments Bearing on the Culti- vation of ops 221 Palm Oil in West Africa +388, 368 Palmyra Disease 3 98 Papaw Culture in the Philippines a 32 Papaya and Cow Tree of Ceylon 359 Papaya, Cultural Directions for 8g 479 Utilization of Mee 282 Papor Industry i in Ceylon eg 408) do Making, Bamboo for 561 do- do _, Suitability of Various Woods, Bamboos and Grasses for 212 do én Testing at the Forestry Court Cellulose erry? Allahabad Exhibition 295 Para Rubber in Burma 381 do do __, Introduction intothe Malay States of 170 do versus Ceylon 490 Passion Fruit Culture 418 Patent Flexible Harrow 477 Peanut O.1 373 do do Industry of Marseilles 373 do ,The He 374 Peat Utilization in Germany 373 INDEX iii Pag, Pepper Pera | Peradeniya Experiment Station 156, 336, 545 Philippine Tobacco Eh 213 Physiology of the Coconut 214 Plantain Bunch, A Freak 369 Plant Diseases and Insects 43 238 do Food and its Preservation ls 180 Planter of 22 Years in Coffee, Tea and Rubber ; 471 Planting in Java and Travancore 562 do in Trinidad 574. Problems, Agricultural and Industrial. 334 Production of Tea in Ceylon 265 Progress Reports of the Ceylon Agricul- tural Society 157, 349, 449 Preservation of Plant Food 180 do of Timber by Chemical Process eee 43 Q.. Queensland Nut, The “es 480 R. Rainfall, Ceylon: 83 Years of 2 Dry pres of 11 Years 169 Raitt, W, 295 Rat Destruction in Java 369 Report on the Danish System of Taxation 356,548 Research, Centratization of Sgricultural 52 Rice as a Muscle Builder he 312 do Cultivation 299 do Culture, 4th International Congress of 305 do , Dry Grain, Coconuts, Tobacco, and Gotton in the Northern Province 574 do Exports from Siam 232 Rinderpest in Davao District, Eradicating 242 Rivalry between Panama and Suez... 341 Roselle 6 574 Rule of Thumb in Sugar Making se 38 Rubbe do raed Guttapercha in Borneo ae 92 do do and ‘‘The Ter- penes” ; 463 do and the Philippines 290 do at Auction, £1,000,000 Worth.. 478 do Coagulation 91 do Commissioner in Ceylon, Financier's 466 do Country of the Amazon be 168 do Drying Methods, New woe 381 do Enterprise, New oa 391 do Exhibition, an International ... 86 do do and After pee 382 do do in America 469 do Exhibits from Ceylon and Malaya 478 do , Future Delivery Dealings PE 582 do ‘in Angola iS 576 doin Brazil ne 92 do in British East Africa He 584 do in do Guiana 290 do in Congo hs do in Java 79, 382, 562 do in Negombo bb 76 do in Nyasaland ae do in Several] Countries Bat 467 do Investigation, Ceara Ae 85 do, Manuring for one 581 do Market, The “3 479 do Paving es 87 do Progress, How Hey: 475 do Prospects 377 : | iu vy x : x “jes aie iv INDEX. Ne Gen PAGE. ‘Pace. , ens Smoke, Cure for .. 588 Tea in China in the 17th Century | ve By gu ae Bvauitios a5 367 ae in wie Brooke, Bond & Co’s Report: ee ak co) upplies ace 575 o in Java ie te TepPinen Bord N38 on in ae, Beene Experiments on ... 363 ii 0 do ups etn 45) o in Nyasalan .-. 189, 487 ‘do Te, A Bleeding 576 do in the Caucasus Sp Oa | do , Yields fora Young and ‘Old 569 do Shares ae 83 Ni PdOMi hs Wild aus 76 do Share Values, Indian and Ceylon... 583 ‘do World Remains Interesting 390 do Shipments from Ceylon ude 90 \ do , World’s Visible Supply of 478 do , Sugar and Coffee 482 —=—— do Trade, Thompson‘s Annual Report Ss on the | as 81 ‘ ; Termites bY sae ea a Begin iauek RRO NSS EE ae rents Abr Am OUsttS, of pia 274 1 Scale Insects, Control of, by Means of aot nde pieend were sii ae Fungoid Parasites 429 do Rubber Country of the Amazon... 168 See by ae cd pei aon Report... ae oy do Industry and the Exhibition 493 Scientific prerting of a Country’s Agri mae aot Commerce in Philippine : 298 do Cultivation in Ceylon 33 ge Peres god se ein a ie) 385 do ae ie European Marketed in ne : ation, The Value of 533 domain Bey lon 562 Scourge of the ‘Tropics, The aemoliy| do in South Africa 376 Scovell’s Estate, Bangalore 341 Tomato-Seed Oil 380 - / _ Sea Island Cotton and St. Vincent Soils 268 Trade Review of Ceylon Producein London 360 GC DERahe: Hevea as do do _ of Local Products in the Shot-hole Borer and Clerus Formicarius 129 Tree Planting in F aronaes Meee i Silk Cotton or Kapok -» - 469° Trees and Moisture 84 5 Seaton in Fiji ee Tropien Sun and its Effect on Animals Smoking of Rubber sp. once Bde =: Speke Pile Genres ve uF Tuberculosis among Food Animals, Sug- % Soitend melts Plant P ea gestions for Controlling A 130 Soils, Causes of Salinity in and Methods of Reclaiming Saline 141 U. ' Soy Bean, The aye 410 Uses for Rubber, New 101 Soya Bean Culture in Ceylon als 575 do do , Food Value of aa 88 do do , The cram yA Vv. do do Trade ue 507 Vanilla Crops in 1910-11 37 ae oe eer Popohut eee Vanilla in ve Seychelles ae «583 State ia ng ‘Agriculture i in Norway 150 hort? saa Cha aE ae 41 do Loans to Settlers in Australia... 249 —— 2 Statement of Ceylon Agricultural Society’s Accounts for 1910 ms 68 Walter Molegoda E 546 Sugar Cultivation in the Philippines . 423 6 as = a Industry, the Hstimated World's... 312 Wane Papin Rangel te ie ie ne cape paduety ane Be White Ant, Circumventing the “4 179 do -Palm of the East Indies ae 234 So uo inon et Obes Clearings, 180 - page nesand Cotes, 4 482 dodo Proof Timber i Sun in the Tropics on Animals and Man, dgunibsaper i 374 The Effect of be it ABS, Whitewishe & Ghod AI0 Synthetic Indigo vis 281 Wick one N vee ee Ab Bunce: 192 ickremaratne, N. 260 Wild Potato of Chili 486 do Rubber 76. Y T. Willis, o ane 1, ee 102, 193, 289, 305, 385, "489, 553 ANN Tapping and Xi ld of Castilloa Elasti e Willis 256, 827, 460 Re MAME GHG Bote dct et den eetloae chin cele vw. :.480, 565, Ura Tea and Coffee in Chile ie g5 Wind-Breaks, The Use of : 552 q do and Copra Trade of Odessa ae 485 Wood-Alcohol Industry in Germany ° 192 do Drinking in France whi 266 Te Saray rae do , Economic Value of ee) 5738 Y. do , High Prices fee 376 Yields from Young and Old Rubber,sTrees 569, TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST MAGAZINE OF THE Vou. XXXVII, GARDENING IN CEYLON, While there is no doubt that local gardens have much improved in the- last 15 years, the general standard is none the less a Jow one, and, with the inereasing prosperity of Ceylon we may hope.to see itrise. The wages of garden - coolies are decidedly on the increase. One thing that militates against good gardens is the fact that people are so continually on the move, and think that it is waste of time and money to lay out pretty gardens. If they would re- member their successors in all cases, this need no longer be an operative cause of poor gardening, but this we fear will be long of coming. Would it -be possible for estate Companies, for example, to compel the bungalow garden to be kept in good order, the V. A. to be the judge? Another thing is the ignorance of the garden owners, and this is perhaps the most important of all. They employ only a cooly, not a trained gardener, - CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. COLOMBO, JULY 15rx, 1911, No. 1. and consequently are not able to get really good results unless they have themselves some knowledge of garden- ing. It is very desirable that greater knowledge of this kind should spread abroad, but how best to spread it is a difficult question. If every one would take a personal interest in their garden, Spend time and labour upon it, and note the results of doing everything in this way or in that way, so as to learn rapidly by experience, a great deal would be done. Many of course cannot afford a good garden unless they can get something out of it, and to these we would suggest growing quantities of vegetables or fruits and thus making the garden pay. With the publication of a book upon local gardening, more people should begin to take an interest in the subject, and pay personal attention to the work of the garden cooly to a greater extent than merely telling him to water here or there, to weed this place or that, or bring in flowers for the table. 2 Be iu SU RS: (JuLy, 1911. GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS. THE GERMINATION OF HEVEA SEEDS. (From the Agricultural News, Vol, X. No. 283, April 1911). It has been found that the seed of Hevea brasiliensis, which has been im- ported from time to time for use in Grenada, has shown very unsatisfactory germinating power, and, in view of the cost of the seed, it was considered ex- pedient by Mr. G. G. Auchinleck, B. Se., Superintendent of Agriculture, to make observation on seeds grown locally, for the purpose of deciding as to what the low percentage of germination might be due. The results of Mr. Auchinieck’s in- vestigations have been presented by him in the form of a report, from which the following information is taken. They show that experience in Grenada is confirmatory of that which has been described already from other parts of the world. Mr. Auchinleck points out that the low germinating power of imported seed is obviously due to actual sterility of the seeds, to their rapid deterioration after maturity, or to both causes acting at once. For the purpose of obtaining information in regard to the suggested deterioration, seeds from capsules which had been opened just before dehiscence took place were planted twenty-four hours after the fruits had been plucked, afew being kept, however, for three days. The number of seeds collected altogether was 975, and 160 of these were set aside as being too light, That there isa great differencein weight between the heavy and light seeds is shown by the fact that 100 of the former were found to weigh 15 oz., while the weight of the same number of light seeds was only 6 oz.; there was, however; no observable difference in size between the two kinds. In the continuation of the experiment, all the light seeds were planted in a bed, while of the heavy, eighty were sown at stake and seventy-five in pots. None of the light seeds germinated ; of the heavy, nineteen of those at stake, and thirteen in pots, gave sprouts. These results appear to justify the rejection of light seeds when those of Hevea are being selected for planting. Observations on the rapidity with which the seeds lose weight, together with the consideration that from two weeks to several months are required for germination, led to the supposition that the rate at which heavy seeds be- come lighter in the soil might result in a serious diminution of their power to germinate, before the young plant has had time to pierce the hard seed coat. This led to the following experiment, undertaken to find how quickly heavy Hevea seeds may lose weight. For the purpose, ten heavy seeds were packed in thoroughly dried charcoal, in a flask ; while ten others were placed in a flask open to theair. Hach lot was taken periodically from its flask, at the same time, and weighed, with the following results :— Day of Seeds Seeds in weighing: in air. charcoal. grams. grams Ist. 48'8 49°0 5th 48°5 43°5 9th 47°0 405 15th 45'5 38'7 20th 44.4 38'0 25th 43°0 37'5 30th 41°‘8 37'2 42nd 39°0 37'0 49th 38°0 37'0 54th 387°5 37'0 Calculation of the results shows that in two weeks the seeds keptin air had lost 6 per cent. of their weight and those in dry charcoal 20 per cent., the latter being about the extreme limit of desiccation ; the light seeds took fifty days to reach this. Further observations, made for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of the decrease in weight, gave negative indica- tions that this is due to the loss of water; and it is thought that it takes place on account of the presence of a definite ferment in the seed. The fact that the trials were com- menced late in the bearing season make it impossible to ascertain if the poor germinating power is the indirect result of some imperfection in the flower, or irregularity in fertilization, It was noted, however, that the embryos of all the seeds examined appeared to be normal, and there was the interesting observation that, out of about 320 capsules, all were trilocular and three seeded, except two, which possessed four loculi and four. seeds. The seeds in the abnormal capsules were subjected toa germination test, and three outofthe ~ eight gave sprouts. Attention is drawn to the faint possibility that a tendency toward irregularity in the floral organs of Hevea brasiliensis is indicated, with the consequent production of a low “ x i Juzy, 1911.] germinating power in the seed thatis eventually borne. The improbability of the correctness of sucha suggestion is, however, pointed out. The final conclusions from “the in- vestigation are given as tollows :— (1) Seeds of Hevea brasiliensis lose weight rapidly after maturity, the loss being apparently due to desiccation. (2) Theloss of weight appears to coin- cide with loss of germinating power. (8) Desiccation apparently takes place, in some instances, even before dehiscence of the capsule. (4) Probably, without special pre- caution, Hevea seeds will lose their germinating power within two or three weeks after the ripening of the capsules, The matter of practical importance that can be deduced from these results is that no Hevea seed should be sold until it has been selected rigorously by weight and there is the additional indication that no unnecessary exposure, or loss of time in planting, should be allowed after the seeds have been received, NEW USES FOR RUBBER. Use oF PARA RUBBER SEEMS TO HAVE No Liwit—A PERFECTLY SOUND INVESTMENT. The field for the use of Para rubber seems to have no limit, according toa report made by Consul-General James T. DuBois, Singapore, to the Depart- ment of Commerce and “abour. Consul-General DuBois claims that money put into sound rubber companies, and managed on good business princi- ples, is as sound an investment as can be found in any country. He speaks of the supply and demand in a manner that is encouraging to investors in rubber. His report is as follows: As the area of Para rubber culture increases in the Malaysian Archipelago at the rate of several millions of trees a year, the question arises, will not the supply sofar surpass the demand that the price will fall below the profit- giving line? As the soil of most of the Malaysian Archipelago is well adapted to rubber culture, and as rubber can be produced ata cost of 25 cents a pound and the field for the consumption is extending rapidly ttroughout the world, it would seem that there is no valid cause for alarm among those who are interested in rubber. estates which have been started right and are managed right, Saps and Exudations The uses of rubber are becoming so varied that the supply must constantly and largely increase in order to meet the demand. Aviation affords a new and ever augmenting field for the con- sumption of rubber, The tire industry -is as yet inits infancy. Food and liquid preparations, which are ever increasing, need rubber to keep the jars air-tight. Formerly balloon fabrics were manu- ftactured solely of varnished silks, now rubber-coated cottons are coming into use, three plies of which weigh less than 5 ounces per square yard and stand afar greater strain than varnished silks. The patent pipe lighters have rubber plugs. The shock absorber to reduce vibrations on all kinds of vehicles as well as machin- ery, is made of rubber. Ladies’ dresses are trimmed with rubber beads, and white rubber shoes for evening toilet are becoming fashionable. We have rubber stair treads, and all kinds of special rubber shoes and boots are being manufactured aad widely sold. The fuses used in mining, flooring for various buildings isa probability, and even an adulterated rubber is proposed for pave- ment. Rubber tips for chair legs and toe caps for boots will come into com- mon use, The field forthe use of Para rubher seems to have no limit, and the money put into sound rubber companies which have bought land by the acre and not by the square foot, and are cultivating it with care and managing the estate on good business principles, is as sound an Investment .as can be found in any —country.—Manilla Bulletin. CONFERENCE ON CASTILLOA RUBBER IN JAMAICA. By W. HARRIS, F-.L,S., Superintendent of Public Gardens. (From the Bulletin oF the Department of Agriculture, Vol. I. No. 4.) On January 38rd, 1911, a conference of Departmental officers and planters inter- ested in the culture of Castilloa rubber in Jamaica was held at Hope at the invi- tation of the Director of Agriculture, The objects in view were first to report progress as to the yields of rubber that had been obtained from established trees in various parts of the island, secondly, to consider the question of varieties and the desirable species for trial in Jamaica and lastly for demonstrations of tapping by the most experienced operators, A summary of the facts thus made available is here recorded, Gums, Resins, 1.—The species of Castilloa at present growing in Jamaica. The Castilloa elastica of Cervantes was one of the earliest species described, and it was for long supposed that all the Ule or Hule, and Caucho trees of Mexico and Central America belonged to this species, but the large amounts of Aweri- can capital that have been invested in Castilloa rubber cultivation rendered necessary the careful investigation and study of the trees which were found to vary greatly in their yields of latex and in Other respects, and one of the facts that have been clearly established is, that there are many species of Castilloa instead of a single species ranging over the enormous extent of territory from Mexico to Bolivia. In 1875, the India Office despatched Mr. Robert Cross, am experienced collector, to Central America to gather seeds of Castilloa elastica. Cross assumed that the Caucho of Darien (Panama) was the sameas the Ule, or Castilloa elastica of Cervantes and selected the forests of the rivers Chagres and Gatun, then well-known localities for rubber, for the purpose of collecting the seeds. Mr. Cross made no botanical specimens of the Caucho trees beyond some badly preserved old leaves and seeds, so that there was no means of identifying the species with certainty on his arrival at Kew. Hesent home about 7,000 seeds, all of which perished in transit. He had observed that the seeds were of a very perishable nature, and made a large polechion of cuttings of the true bran- ches. He was shipwrecked on the Pedro Cays off Jamaica and all left the ships but Mr. Cross who refused to desert his cut- tings. Eventually he was rescued by H. M.S. ‘‘ Dryad” and landed at_Kings- ton whence he sailed on the R. M.S. “Nile” arriving at Southampton October. From the cuttings thus obtained a sup- ply of plants was raised at Kew and of these 57 were despatched to the Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, in 1876 and 1877 and the majority arrived alive. Plants were also sent to Liberia and the Camervons river on the West Coast of Africa, aud to Mauritius and Zanzibar on the east coast; also to Singapore. Java, Jamaica and Grenada. From Ceylon plants were sent to Caleutta, Burma and Madras, and from Singapore to Perak and Queensland. The first plants sent to Jamaica did not live, but in the Annual Rerort on the Public Gardens and Plantations for - in Rs gk: : : 4 . - (Juby, 1011. the year ending 30th September, 1882, Mr. (now Sir Daniel) Morris, who was then Director, states, that ‘‘ The Castil- loa or Central American rubber was introduced from Kew last year (1881) and there are two plants, one of which is in good health.” It occurred to me that the plants sent here in 1881 might have been raised from some other source than the cuttings taken from Darien by Cross in 1875, and I communicated with Kew on the sub- ject, but the Curator of the Royal Gar- dens assures me our plants were also raised from the Darien cuttings and that their records show that these were sent to Jamaica in 1881. One of these apparently died, but the other two grew into fine trees and the seed obtained from these produced the majority of the older trees now growing in Jamaica. One of the original trees was destroyed by the hurricane in 1903, but the other still survives after a most eventful history since it was taken as a cutting from its home on the isthmus. In 1882 some of the trees sent to Ceylon in 1876 flowered and fruited and some- time later Dr.- Trimen, who was then Director of the Ceylon Gardens, sent a specimen and a drawing—with complete analysis of the flowers and fruit—to Kew. Sir Joseph Hooker at once saw that the Darien tree as cultivated in Ceylon differed considerably from the true Castilloa elastica, and that eminent botanist read a paper on ‘‘ The Castilloa elastica of Cervantes and some allied rubber-yielding Plants” at a Meeting of the Linnean Society in December, 1885, just 25 years ago, pointing out the differences that he had observed in the structure of the several forms that he had examined. Notwithstanding this, subsequent writers persisted in referr- ing the tree cultivated in the eastern tropics and in the West Indies to Castilloa elastica, In the early part of last year Professer H. Pittier, who was for many vears Director of the National Institute of Costa Rica, but has for some time been a member of the scientific staff of the U. S. Department of Agriculture at Washington, applied to us for botanical specimens of our Castilloa trees, as he was engaged in monographing the genus. Specimens were sent to him from the original tree at Castleton and from a tree at Hope Gardens. Professor Pittier states that the Castleton and Hope trees are identical and that they belong to his species guatemalensis. ; Fortunately for growers here this species is probably one of the best that Juny, 1911.) ) ~ could have been selected tor culture in -—_- suitable districts in Jamaica. Most of the rubber sent from Guatemala and from British Honduras is produced by this species. Professor Pittier in a letter to me states that for semi-arid regions, with well characterised dry and rainy seasons, he would recommend Castilloa lactiflua of the Soconusco district of the State of Chiapas in Southern Mexico; C. nicoy- ensis from the dry Pacific slopes of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, and probably C. panamensis from Panama ; while C. costaricana from the humid Atlantic slopes of Costa Rica, and C. elastica are better adapted for districts With predominant rainy weather. __ Mr. Briscoe, the agricultural instructor for St. Thomas, recently discovered two small plantations of Castilloa in the r -eastern part of St. Thomas. The trees in one case were raised from seed im- ported from Mexico seven years ago, and in the other the seeds were import- ed from Costa Rica about ten years ago. I submitted leaves of these trees to Professor Pittier and he has provision- ally identified the Mexican tree as C. elastica, and the Costa Rican tree as C, costaricana. When the trees flower and fruit in a few months’ time I hope to secure com- plete botanical material to be sent to : Professor Pittier for authentic determin- - ation, but it would appear from our _present information that we have at least three species in Jamaica. I may mention that Mr. David Fair- child, the Agricultural Explorer in _. Charge of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has made arrangements to send us during the coming fruiting season, a Bc small supply of seed of every reputed : -rubber-producing species of Castilloa ~ for trial in Jamaica. . 11—YIELDS OF RUBBER FROM . CASTILLOA TREES. a A.—Mr. W. CRADWICK, Agricultural Instructor. J. Castilloa trees planted at Retreat estate in Portland five years ago have now an average girth of 29 inches at 2 feet from ground. The height is 25 to 35 feet. ‘These trees were planted in Banana land at a spacing of 14 feet. 2. At Rosend in St. Mary, the follow- ing measurements were obtained. r Variety. Age. Girth at 3 feet. ee o Manihot Glazioyii 4 years 26% inches, b) Castilloa guatemalensis 3 years 22 re (¢) Hevea Brasilionsis 3 years B12k ay Saps and Exudations. Photographs of (a) and (b) are given in plates 66 and 65. We are indebted to the Attorney, Mr. Henry Cork, for permis- sion to reproduce these photographs. 3. At Burlington in Portland the oldest Castilloa tree (obtained from Castleton in 1887 and estimated to be 23 years old) was tapped on December 23rd, and gave 4lb. 6. oz. of crude rubber and 7 oz. of scrap, total 4lb, 13 oz. in one tapping, This is the highest yield yet recorded in Jamaica. This tree was tapped in September and October, 1907, and gave 22 ozs. rubber in pope tappings extending over three weeks. It is growing on poor hilly land un- suitable for bananas, and now has a girth of 86inches showing, a gain of 6 inches in a period of 33 years. At the last tapping the latex ran freely and a splendid yield was obtained. The leaves from this tree have been identified by Mr. Harris as those of the species guatemalensis, originally intro- duced through Castleton Gardens. B.—Mr. J. BRISCOE, Agricultural Instructor, (1) Two large Castilloa trees at Castle- ton age 25 years gave 4 lbs, of rubber in 5 tappings or 2 lb. per tree (Species Guatemalensis). (2) Four trees in St. Thomas-in-the- Vale, aged 10 years, averaged 3 ozs. rubber each at the first tapping (Species guatemalensis). ~ (8) Three trees at Linstead, aged 10 years, averaged 2 ozs. rubber each at the first tapping, two of these girthed 50 inches, and the others, 387 inches, (Species guatemalensis.) (4) At Koningsberg ir St. Mary, No.1, 8 years, 48 inches in girth gave lloz. ; No. 2,12 years, 72 inches in girth, ' gave 2 lb. No. 8, 12 years, 84 inches in girth, gave | lb. 11 ozs. (Species guatemalensis.) St. Thomas— (a) Castilloa elastica from Mexican seed, trees 7 years old, 36 inches in girth, gave 9 ozs. rubber. (b) Castitloa costaricana, from Costa : Rican seed, trees 10 years old, 36 inches girth, gave 7 ozs, rubber. Linstead, St. Catherine— Species, Castilloa guatemalensis. (a) Three 10 years old trees, averaged 24 ozs. rubber each, Oils and Fats. (b) Three 10 years old trees, averaged 24 ozs. rubber each. St. Andrew— Species, Castilloa guatemulensis. Belle Vue, Red Hills, tree aged about 24 years, girth 62 inches, Ist tapping gavellb. 9 ozs., 2nd tapping a month later, gavel lb. 8 ozs.—Total 3 Ib. 1 oz. C,— Mr, L. WATEs, Agricultural Instructor: for Portland and St. Thomas. In Portland, 76 trees varying from 8 to 14 years have been tapped. The yields have varied a good deal. One tree 14 years old and 65 inches girth, gave 25% ozs. of rubber at the first tapping. The tree was tapped every month but after the third tapping gave no latex. After a rest of 4 months the tree gave a further 7ozs. and two months later 5 ounces more, making a total yield of 2 lb. 9 ozs, rubber from this tree. as uLY, 1911. Mr. Wates concludes from his experi- ments that 8 or 4 tappings a year will be the maximum desirable and that on suitable soil in Portland, trees of ten years should girth 45inches and yield from four to five ounces of rubber for — the first tapping. He considers from these observations that a yield of 225 lb. of rubber per acre per annum after the ninth year can be reasonably expected from Castilloa plantations in the Parish. lll. TAPPING. The demonstrations of tapping on some 7 years old trees at Hope showed the great convenience and utility of the new ‘‘ Thompson tool” for tapping Cas- tilloa trees, We can recommend this implement as the best tool yet tested in Jamaica for tapping Castilloa rubber trees. H. H. C. OILS AND FATS. CAMPHOR OIL. Semi-Annual Report of Schimmel & Co. April, 1911. (FRITZSCHE | BROTHERS.) During the past six months no _ note- worthy alterations have occurred in the Japanese camphor oil market. Only a few large parcels have been brought for- ward since we covered our requirements fora lcng time ahead, and these have mostly found buyers at full prices in the United States. Light and heavy camphor oil, the by-products of our satrol manufacture, have enjoyeda very active demand, because they have re- cently been used chiefly as substitutes for turpentine oil or in the manufacture of turpentine substitutes, the price of genuine turpentine oil having risen to a figure never known before. We have repeatedly been under the necessity of advancing the prices of our oils, and the fact that they still continue to bein brisk request shows that for the present there is no piospect whatever of any decline in the quotations. Our special quality light camphor oil, known as *« A.” possesses about the following con- _ stants: 4i5° 0,860 to 0,870, b. p. 170 to 182°, flashpoint at 763mm. press, about 58°. This quality has at intervals been in such request that our works were scarcely able to keep pace with the demand. The working up of crude camphor oil has attained so great an im- portance in our establishment that, although our plant is on the largest imaginable scale, we are only able to keep up with orders by working night- shifts. According to a Japanese source *, the net profits of the Formosan Monopoly Bureau have increased in the year 1909 to 25 million Yen (= over £250 000,) while the results for 1910 are expected to he still better. Camphor from Southern China, of which the priee at the time of the Report (August 1910) was 140/-as compared with 145/-for quality B and 140/ for quality BB of the Japanese article, was in poor demand, while apparently the synthetic article had dis- appeared trom the market. According to further reports in the same paper a special commissioner of the American firms interested in the campkor trade, Mr. Anderson, has personally entered a protest with the Japanese Government against the irregularity in the sales of refined cam- phor to the United States. A journey to Formosa, undertaken by Mr. Anderson for the purpose of collecting infor- mation, showed that a certain Japanese firm which had a concession for the pre- paration of crude camphor only, was unlawfully engaged in refining camphor. This led the American to enter a fresh protest with the Japanese Ministry of Finance, accompanied by a threat of * Oriental Physician and Druggist, Yokohama 4 (1910), No, 36, p. 6, Jony, 1911.) diplomatic representations. Similar com- plaints are said to have been made of the firm in question some years ago. An American trade-paper t devotes a lengthy report to the subject, from which we gather that the firm concerned (which is here also mentioned by name) has been preferred by the Government for supplies of crude camphor at the expense of other Japanese refiners and that the firm is said to contemplate monopolising the trade is refined cam- phor for itself, or at any rate for Japanese houses. It would beimpossible 4 Oils and Fats. for the American refiners to take any effective measures against such a proceeding, either by fiscal or by diplomatic means. A report by Dr. Miller, interpreter at the Imperial German Consulate-General at Yokohama {, contains detailed in- formation on Japanese camphor, dealing with the production, export and other commercial matters relating to the drug. These particulars amplify in many respects the information already given in our Reports, for which reason we re- produce them textually below: Tur EXPORTS OF THE PAST 3 YEARS HAVE BEEN AS FOLLOWS :— 1907. L908. 1909. Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Piculs. Yen. Piculs. Yen. Piculs. Yen. Old Japan ... 80,576 5,026,858 18,075 2,063,410 40,507 5,469,398 Formosa 22,648 2,619,148 16,710 1,710,493 50,030 4,377,816 Total 58,224 7,646,001 84,785 8,778,908 90,537 7,847,214 Two points at once strike us in con- sidering these figures. 1. The great difference between the export values of the years 1907 and 1909 in proportion to the quantity exported, indicating a serious de- preciation of the product. 2. The considerable increase, smount- ing to over 100 per cent. of the exports during the year under re- view as compared with the pre- esding year. The following explanation of these two factors may be given :— For many years the Japanese Mono- poly Bureau believed that it was possible -to control the world’s market in camphor and to dictate prices according to its pleasure. The Bureau therefore advanced its average sale price from i120 yen per picul in the year 1903, to an average of from 150 to 160 yen (the highest limit) in the years 1906 and 1907, while at the same time it promoted most assiduously the collection of camphor, partly by increa- sing the purchase prices paid to the producers, partly by the laying down of new plantations of camphor trees. After the revival of the Chinese production and the appearance of artificial camphor, however, the demand for Japanese cam- phor underwent a considerable decline, and the Japanese Government, after suspending its sales for a long time, was finally brought to the conviction that the measures it had so far taken were a failure. It therefore decided upon repea- _ + Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter 78 (1910), Vo. 10, p. 7. , ted reductions in price, the last of which was made in September, 1908, with the object of thereby getting rid of its steadily accummulating stocks. Since that time the prices have been as follows :— a) In Japan. 80 yen per picul for im- proved B. camphor, and 78 yen per picul for B. camphor. b) Abroad. 140/- per cwt. for improved B. camphor, and 185/- per ewt. for B. camphor. Taken in London or Hamburg. For the above reasons the high figures relating to the year under review do not warrant the conclusion that there has been an increase in production, in fact they are in the main only the consequen- ces of the severe reductions in price and of the sale of the accumulated stocks which has been made possible by these reductions. In Old Japan the produc- tion has even declined in consequence of the lowering, in the year 1909, of the prices paid to the producers. With regard to the camphor exported from Old Japan (Kobe), it should be noted that this is not all of Japanese origin, but that it includes, in addition to camphor produced in Japan, consider- able quantities of camphor which has been separated out from oil produced in Formosa. The exports of camphor oil from Formosa to Japan in the year under review amounted to 36,394 piculs, from which about 18,000 piculs of cam- phor were prepared. + Deutschea Hand, Arach. 1911, Februory Number, p. 137. Oils and Fats. The subjoined table shows the condi- tions of production during the past few years, 7.e., during the administrative and not the calendar years. 1907. 1908. 1909. Formosa : Piculs. Piculs, Piculs, 1. Camphor A ... — 314 _ 2. Improved B... 17,796 31,040 31,007 3. Camphor BB... 28,879 16,594 29,342 Total ... 46,675 47,948 60,349 Japan : 1. Improved B... 4,818 6,552 8,139 2. Camphor B ... 4,338 5,457 3455 Total... 9,156 12,009 11,504 Grand Total .... 55,831 59,957 71,943 B is crude camphor ; improved B (BB) is crude camphor which has been purifi- ed to 97% by distillation, A is pressed BB and is only prepared in Formosa. The estimated production during the administrative year 1910 is for Formosa 58,090 piculs of camphor and 67,300 piculs camphor oil; therefore, assuming that 30,000 piculs of camphor will be recover- ed from the oil, the total output of Formosa would amount to 88,000 piculs. This estimate is based upon the assumption that the advance in prices which has taken place on the European market since the end of last year, will again induce the producers to prepare sufficient camphor to satisfy the largest possible demand. But whether this high estimate will, in fact, be realised appears for the present all the more doubtful, because in spite of the abun- dance of camphor forests in the island, a lack of trees is already making itself felt in those districts where order has been established, so much so, that occasionally it is necessary to distil old branches and roots. In any case, how- ever, the production in Formosa during the administrative year shows an in- crease over the preceding year, whereas in Japan, in spite of every endeavour, it has been impossible to increase the producticn to the desired extent, not- withstanding the fact that as the re- maining supplies of trees dwindled, the distilling plants were not only frequent- ly removed, but young trees and roots also were worked up. As regards the new plantations which are being laid down energetically both in Old Japan and in Formosa, it is to be observed that plants raised from seed cannot be worked up until they are at least 15 years old, and also that the ex- — periments of growing camphor trees from roots or slips have _been a failure* both in Formosa and in Japan. Owing to the serious reduction in price, the revenues of the Monopoly have fallen off greatly, and in Old Japan, where the average price of production of the camphor during the past three — years has been about 90 yen per picul, the Monopoly has actually been working ataloss. Butin Formosa also, although the cost prices there are lower (58 to 60 yen per picul) it is doubtful whether, under the present conditions, the Monopoly can cover its expenses, taking into account the very onerous export- ation and freight charges, as well! as the costly military operations against the ravages which have been undertaken for the purpose of opening up new camphor forests. Newspaper reports state that for the reasons above mentioned the firm of Mitsui and Co. which, as is well known, at present controls the marketing of the camphor Monopoly, advised the Japa- nese Government some time ago to abolish the State Monopoly, because it would otherwise be impossible to main- tain the article against the competition of the Chinese and the artificial pro- ducts. It is, however, to be expected that the Government, being loth to abandon a Monopoly which has been established on a large scale and with a considerable staff, will for the present concentrate its efforts upon continuing the struggle against the synthetic camphor, even at a loss, at any rate so long as there are grounds for hope that it can dictate prices which will make the manufacture of the syn- thetic product unprofitable. That the Japanese Government assumes for certain that this is the case at the pre- sent time, may be inferred from the statement of the Director of the Mono- poly Bureau that “natural camphor was not threatened by any danger so long as no new manufacturing prozesses were discovered which would make it possible to produce synthetic camphor at a lower cost than the present,” e. The table below shows the quantities of camphor exported during the admin- istrative year to the various countries of destination :— [Juny, 191. ig" Jury, 1911.) 9 Oils and Fats. EXPORTS FROM Formosa-Kelung, Quantity : Value: Piecul. Yen. Germany ». 18,496 1,674,840 U.S. A, .. 14,818 1,064,279 France .. 10,119 969,349 U. Kingdom 5,680 588,953 British India se AZZ 130,895 Hong Kong aa — _ Total Including ... other countries 50,038C 4,377,818 It is to be noted that the above statis- tics, supplied by the Japanese and Formosan Customs, for the first time represent approximately the actual con- dition of things, inasmuch as the pro- portion of the exports sent to Germany, the principal consumer of the product in question, appear to have been accu- rately stated at 25,000 piculs, represent- ing a value of 2 million yens. In former years, when camphor shipped to Hurope was as a rule declared as for export to Hong Kong, the statistics referring to the division of the exports were in the highest degree misleading, Another matter which merits atten- tion is the pronounced increase in the exports to France, which in the year under review took 16,288 piculs, value 1,486,864 yen, against only 4,577 piculs, value 508,348 yen in the preceding year. The shipments of camphor from Formosa have again declined consider- ably in the first half of the current year, as is shown by the following figures :— First half year 1910 18,824 piculs* te) 33 oe) 09 30,874 ~ +9 The reason of this decline is that the camphor stocks of the year 1908 have in the meantime been cleared. It is well known that camphor is also refined in Japan ; but it should be point- ed out that this branch of manufacture has not been undertaken by the Mono- poly Bureau but only by private persons, to whom the Government cedes at definite prices a certain quantity of erude camphor fixed in advance. At present there are 7 private refineries, of which 4 are at Kobe, 2 at Osaka and 1 at Tuipeh. The total quantity of 1efined camphor produced inthe administrative year 1909 amounted to 9,442 piculs in Formosa, and 7,270 piculs in Old Japan. During the same period the Japanese Government supplied the following quantities of raw material :— 1. To the refineries in Formosa _2. To the refineries in OldJapan 7,454 ns * To this should be added 12,998 piculs of camphor prepared from Formosan oil and exported from Kobe, - 2 9,00 Picul., 7,454 i) Old Japan (Kobe). Formosa-Japan, Quantity: Value: Quantity: Value: Picul. Yen. Picul. Yen. 6,389 545,574 24,885 2,219,928 10,081 824,646 24,394 1,888,925 6,169 518,516 16,288 1,487,865 10,081 890,413 15,761 1,429,366 4,983 498,312 6,405 629,207 996 108,066 996 108,066 40,507 8,469,398 90,587 7,847,216 The price of refined camphor per 100 lbs. (English) during the year 1909 and in the first 7 months of 1910 wasas follows :— 1909. 1909. January 65 Yen, November 70 Yen. February ... 65 ,, December ... 71 ,, March Lae cOO nay een SLO os April 67 ,, January Aine ev (Ue tare May 68: 55, >. Hebruary ) v0 a5 June 68 March Boece OMe July 684 ,, April 695 ,. August 684 ,,, May 684 , September 69 ,, June .. 684 ,, October... 70 ,, July beatin Ougas As the’ Monopoly covers only the preparation and sale of crude camphor, the quotations of refined camphor are not subject to fixation by the Govern- ment. Thisfact is said to have been utilised by the Japanese firm of Suzuki Shoten in Kobe (in whose hands the exports of refined camphorare chiefly concentrated) for the purpose of cutting the prices to such an extent that accor- ding to newspaper statements the Asso- ciation of American Camphor Refiners has recently threatened to boycot the erude camphor from Japan and Formosa unless the Monopoly put an end to this practice. It is reported that the Japanese Ministry of Finance is at the present moment engaged in making a thorough enquiry into the subject. * The exports of camphor oil, 2.e,, of the red and white oil which remains behind in the process of separating the camphor from the camphor oil, were as follows :— Quantity ; Piculs. Value: Yen 1909... 12,727 280,310 1908 12,599 212,947 Of these amounts, Germany in the year under review only received 1402 Piculs, of a value of 21,944 Yen. The production of camphor in China is steadily dwindling. In amplification of previous notes on the subjectt we may * Compare the statements on page 32 of the present Report. ; + Report April 1908, 21; April 1910, 26; October 1910, 26. Oils and Fats. state that according to recent German Consular Reports”, the total output has declined to 9579 piculs, of a value of 680,827 Haikwan Taels of which 4889 piculs were exported via Shanghai and 3945 via Foochow and Amoy. For the year 1910 only the figures of the ports of shipment are yet known. Shanghai exported 4410 piculs, while Foochow shipped 981 piculs to Hong Kong and Amoy, 21 piculs to Hong Kong and3 piculs to Singapore. It is not probable that there will be an increase in the exports so long as the price does not advance above the parity of 145/ per cwt. cif. London, which corresponds to a cost price of 60 H, T. at Shanghai, Upon comparing the statistics of ex- ports from Shanghai (Central China), with those of Foochow and Amoy (Southern China) it will be found that for the past four years the shipments from Shanghai have remained almost unchanged, while those from the two other ports have shrunk to barely more than one-twentieth of the old figures. The reason of this is that in the South the supplies of trees have been reck- lessly wasted, but not so in Central China, where, on the contrary, large reserves of trees are left almost un- touched, extending far into the interior towards the province of Szechuan, If the price of camphor should go up, these supplies may possibly be utilised also, provided by then the Chinese have learned more rational and economic methods of production. Under the title ‘‘ Camphor Industry in Foreign Countries” the Bureau of Manu- factures of the American Department of Commerce and Labour has published a comprehensive Report by several U.S. Consuls +. The contents are indicated by the title. The several reports so far as regards natural camphor are from Japan (Yokohama and Kobe), Formosa (Tamsui) and Ceylon (Colombo). The report from Borneo deals almost exclus- ively with the conditions relating to Borneo. As becomes the leading position of Germany in the domain of synthetic camphor, the report on this article is by the U.S. Consul at Hamburg. The reports contain detailed information on the mode of preparation and the condit- ions of trade in every producing district of any importance, but as these matters have alveady repeatedly | een dealt with in our Reports we refrain from entering into further particulars. * Nachrichten f. Handel u. Industrie 1911, No. 39, p.4 and No. 31, p. 4. + Special Consular Reports Vol. XLIII, Part. III. Washington 1910, According to a communication -by Thoms* to the German Colonial Con- gress, held at Berlin from October 6th to 8th, 1910, the Committee for the Economic Development of the German Colonies has offered a prize of 3000 M. (£ 150, ¢ 750) for the first, 5 kilos of camphor produced in a German Colony. We have referred on a _ previous occasion t to Cayla’s detailed statements on the occurrence of a true and a spur- ious camphor tree in Indo-China. Atthat time, Lan identified the spurious tree as Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Br. Cayla 1reports{ that Dubard has lately botanically examined two parcels con- sisting of parts of plants from both species of trees sent to him by the Agri- cultural Department of Indo-China, and that he (Dubard) has proved beyond doubt that the specimen marked ‘‘spurious camphor tree” was as a mat- ter of fact derived from Cinnamomum Camphora, while the specimen marked “true camphor tree” consisted of parts Cinnamomum cecidodaphne var. uniflora. There was no room for any-error so far as Dubard’s identification was concerned, Lemarie (continues Cayla) observes in connection with the above that the differentiation between the true and the spurious camphor tree was merely a personal distinction made by Crevost, by whom also the two specimens in question were forwarded. According to Dubard the fact remains that two species of Cinnamomum occur in Indo- China, both of which are designated there as ‘‘camphor trees” and both of which according to Meissner, contain camphor. Lan passes without remark the identification of one of his speci- mens as C. cecidodaphne and continues to maintain that his spurious camphor tree is identical with C. zeylanicum, although the occurrence of the cin- namon trees in Indo-China is not referred to either in the previously existing liter- ature on the subject or in the recent work of Perrot and Eberhardt. It would indeed be remarkable if the Annamese, who surely must have strip- ped the tree of its bark at some time or other, had named the tree from its negative instead of its positive proper- ties. phor tree the ‘‘spurious cinnamon tree of Japan.” In any case the occurrence of Cinnamomum zeylanicum in Indo- China would be a new fact and well worth further investigation. * Chem. Ztg. 34 (1910), 1237. + Report April, 1908, 23. } + Journ.d’ Agriculture tropicale 10 (1910), 252, 8 [JULY, 1911 woes The Japanese, too, call their cam- © j ULY, 1911.] On a previous occasion* we have given full details (taken from an article by Cayla) on the experiments by Haton and Campbellt in the introduction of the cultivation of the camphor tree in the Federated Malay States. We there- fore refer to the original publication for details, especially in respect of the plantations and the distilling-practice. Apparently the Japanese have been seriously alarmed{ by the report that it is intended to lay down extensive camphor plantations in the ‘ Southern States of America” (probably meaning the Southern United) and fears are again entertained as to the continuance of the Japanese Moropoly. But, as if to dissipate these fears, it is also report- ed that the two new Japanese celluloid works would be able, in the event of their favourable further development, to absorb the entire Japanese camphor production. Itis to be added, however, that the informant from whom the American paper quotes this news is himself doubtful whether the works in question will be able permanently to carry on their business at a profit. R. T. Baker§ the well-known Bot- anist, has read a paper at Sydney on the native camphor trees of Australia, According to Baker the species of the genus Cinnamomum which have so far been recorded in Australia, are endemic, and not identicalwith any Indian species, as maintained by some systematists. Baker not only founds his classification upon morphological indications, but also on the anatomy of the bark and on the chemistry of the timber and of the oils ob- tained from the leaves and bark. Baker has found that similar to a plan advanc- ed by himself and Smith || many years ago for the different Hucalyptus species, acertain agreement exists between the venation of the leaves and the chemical constitution of the essential oil of the leaves. This fact enables the oil-distiller, by the simple experiment of observing the disposition of the veins, to ascertain what class of oil can be obtained from them, and it is therefore of considerable practical importance, especially since the phellandrene oils of the eucalyptus have recently found employment on a con- siderable scalein the treatment of refrac- * Preliminary Notes on the Preparation of Camphor in the Federated Malay States Agri- cultural Bulletin of the S. and F.M.S., August 1909. From a reprint kindly sent to us. + Report April 1910, 27. t Oriental Physician and Druggist 4 (1910), MV OMSO! Pe keene § From a private communication kindly made ‘to us by the Author. || Comp. the report April 1902, 41, il Oils and Fats, tory ores*, The presence of phelland- reve in oil from the leaves is indicated by the very oblique lateral venation of the leaf. It has been ascertained that of the Cinnamomum species which have so far been investigated in Europe and Australia those which contain camphor have penniveined leaves, while leaves with a tri-nerved venation yield a cam- phor-free oil. The] importance of this difference is evident. In its Cinnamo- mum trees Australia possesses a native source of camphor which as yet remains unexploited. Krom the leaves of Oliveria high camphor-yield has been obtained, and camphor is also present in the wood, but the oil distilled from the bark still awaits examination. C. Lau- batit, a species little known at present, and a few other species also appear to be camphoraceous. As a result of the in- vestigation, so far as it has gone, Cinna- momum trees have been planted on the North Coast with the object of utilising them for oil and camphor-production. The discovery of camphor as a consti- tuent of an Australian oil was made by M. Scott in the course of the examina- tion of a sassafras oil from the Colony of Victoria. CITRONELLA OIL. SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT OF ScHIMMEL & Co. (Fritzsche Brothers, London and New York, April, 1911.) Since our October report the prices of Ceylon citronella oil have slowly but steadily declined, until towards the end of January they reached their lowest level at 104d. cif. London; since then they have remained unchanged with a rather lifeless tendency. The shipments from Galle during the past year again established a record, the figures being as follows :— 1,747,984 lls. in 1910, Compared with 1,512,034 ,, * 1909, % » 1,276,965 ,, “ 1908. In 1910 therefore there has again been an increase of over 235,000 lbs. Although this fact might sufficiently explain the quiet state of the article, we may never- theless mention that the exports from 1st January to 20th February 1911 only reached 176,480 lbs., compared with 359,377 lbs. in the same period of 1910. We have therefore to reckon with a decreased export of about 183,000 lbs. ’ in the first six weeks of 1911, although it * Comp, the present Report, p. 39. Oils and Fats. may be assumed that this temporary falling off will be made good in the course of the next few months. Accor- ding to the information in our posses- sion, the decline is apparently -due_ to the fact that the New York market shows a tendency to hold aloof, for the shipments to European ports show no noteworthy differences. Java citronella oil has also been offered plentifully, and although the prepara- tion of this highly esteemed quality has for some considerable time been concen- trated in the hands of a few producers, whose principal endeavour itis to pre- vent over production at all costs, they have nevertheless found it necessary to show more pliability in their demands than has been the casein recent years. Weare regularly in receipt of consider- able supplies of a quality which answers the highest requirements. As stated at some lengthin our last two Reports*, attempts are being made by certain interested persons in England to supplement, or rather to replace, the solubility test (Schimmel’s test) of citro- nella oil, which is now the customary commercial test and which was _ intro- duced by us, by a “‘ geraniol test,” under the plea that our test does not afford sufficient gurantee ofa pure oil. The geranicl test consists in determining the acetylatable constituents of oil (total- geraniol, geraniol+ citroneilal) and it has been proposed in one quarter that the market price of Ceylon-citronelia oil should be based simply upon its total- geraniol content, and in another that the oil should be required to show a minimum content of 60% or should be divided, according to its total-geraniol content, into three classes, containing respectively from 56 to 60%, 60 to 64% and 64 to 68%, and valued accordingly. The question has lately been debatedt with renewed animation because we had taken the liberty of writing a letter to an English Journal{ pointing out the difficulties which standin the way of the practical introduction of such a test in Ceylon. The fact that in London this attitude of ours has been made the occasion of charging us with inconsis- tency shows that we have been com- pletely misunderstood, for we have never asserted that the geraniol test is not the best method of valuing citronella oil. But the conviction that the value of citronella oil depends in the first place upon its total-geraniol content does not blind us to the difficulties which * Report April 1910, 39 ; October 19:0, 37. + Chemist and Druggist 77 (1910), 895, 912; Perfume and Essent. Oil Record 2 (1911), 3. + Chemist and Druggist 77 (1910), 875, 12 ([Juny, 1911, would probably accrue from the general introduction of such a standard into the Ceylon ceitronella oil trade, for the reason that so far as our information goes, the chemically-trained. assistance required for the purpose is wanting in the Island. If this difficulty could be overcome we_ should certainly not be the last to rejoice, for it would be entirely in accord with our desire if this oil also could be tested and sold on strict chemical principles. And we should regard it as the best solution of the problem if the Govern- ment of Ceylon were able to arrange for the official control of the distillation and sale of citronella oil, and for the examin- ation by Government-chemists of the quality and purity of the oil destined for export, because all the existing malpractices would thus be put an end to if necessary. But these are pious wishes which in all probability are hardly realisable, for, as already stated, there are not enough trained chemists in the Island to carry out the tests, quite apart from the expense which the examination would entail and the con- sequent increased price of the oil. This is also the opinion generally held by the large exporters of citronella oil in Ceylon* who surely are best acqu- ainted with the existing conditions, and most able to form a correct judg- ment. In answer to this it is said that it has been possible to arrange that cassia oil is to-day sold everywhere according to its cinnamic aldehyde con- tent, and lavender oil according to its linalyl acetate content; but these com- parisons do not hold good, because every layman can be taught in the shortest possible time to carry out a cinnamic aldehyde estimation, while the ester estimation of Javender oil does not meet with any difficulities in the south of France, where there are plenty of chemists or pharmacists who know how to carry out properly the saponification method. But if our information is correct, the crucial point in the whole question of the geraniol test is just this, that Ceylon does not possess a sufficient number of trained chemists or pharma- cists to carry out the necessary examin- ations, and that the layman can be of no use in this particular matter because he does not possess the knowledge required for chemical work of this nature. Besides this, it is necessary to lay special stress upon the fact that in determination of the total-geraniol con- tent in citronella oilit is particularly pecessary always to work under the same conditions, if comparable results * Chomist and Druggist 77 (1910), SIteaee ee Juny, 1911.) a2 England. and why, ‘are to be obtained. In reading through the articles which have been published on the geraniol test, we came among others, upon a_ prescription* which referred to the writer’s ‘‘own method” to the complete neglect of all the newer investigations, especially those relating to the acetylation of citronella oilt. At the present time in particular this is much to be regretted and show how well-founded is our fear that the deter- mination of geraniol will not always be carried out accurately. We wish to point out again that in the case of _ citronella oil in particular it is necessary to adhere strictly to the prescribed method, if the results are to be indica- tive of the actual total-geraniol content and are to be mutually comparable}, For this purpose we give below a method by which we work in our own laboratory, and which according to our experience produces the best result with mixtures of known geraniol and citro- nella content. 10 ec. each of citronella oil and acetic anhydride with 2 g. anhydrous sodium acetate and a few fragments of porcus plate (in order to prevent the liquid from bumping) are kept boiling at an equal temperature in an acetylation flask for 2 hours on the sand bath. When the mixture has cooled, a little water is add- ed to the contents of the flask and the whole is heated for a quarter of an hour upon the water bath under frequent shaking in order to decompose the excess of acetic anhydride. The oil is then separated in a_ separating - funnel and washed with water or, better still, with a solution of common salt until it gives a neutral reaction. Of the acetylated oil dried with anhydrous sul- phate of sodium, 1. 5 to2 g. is saponified —__- with 20 ec. of seminormal potash-liquor, any free acid which may have been present having been previously care- fully neutralised. The time of saponifi cation must be at least one hour. The reason, therefore, why we are not so enthusiastic about the geraniol test as those interested in the subject in for the present, and so far as regards the trade in Ceylon itself, we continue to hold toa test for Ceylon citronella oil which can be carried out by anybody without special know- ledge or trouble, is not to be sought in opposition to the test itself, but rather in the difficulties of carrying it out. -“The method known as “ Schimmel’ test” to which wea adhere may again be briefly * Chemist and Druggist 77 (1910), 896. + Report April 1909, 36 ; April 1910, 154. £ Comp. Report April 1910, 154, Oils?and? Fats. repeated here in its originalform. By this test citronella vil must give a clear solution with 1 to Z vols. 80° CO, and this solution must remain clear or may at most show a slight opalescence upon the addition of upto 10 vols. 80% alcohol. Even after being left to stand for several hours, no drops of oil may separate out from the solution. As it has been shown in the course of years that oils which have been adulterated to a moderate extent also stand this test, we proposed some considerable time ago* an “increased test” under which an oil after being diluted with 5 per cent of Russian petroleum must also answer the above test. We have been able to convince ourselves both in our laboratory here as well as by experi- ments on the _ spot, that really pure Ceylon citrovella oils are able to stand this ‘‘increased test,” and that con- tradictory statements which have been circulated from England are without any foundation. Further experiments have gone so far as to show that pure Ceylon citronella oil will answer the test even when instead of being diluted with Russian petroleum it is diluted with 5 per cent of the rather more sparingly soluble American petroleum. Where, therefore, Russian petroleum is not available American may be used. In that case, however, the opalescence is a little more pronounced, but here, too, no drops of oil may separate out froma solution of 1: 10, When the 10 vols. of alcohol is being added the glass cylinder should only be moderately tilted, be- cause otherwise oil which may have separated out isso finely suspended as to make observation very difficult, If our proposals had long ago received the attention which they merit, and if Schimmel’s ‘increased test” had been generally introduced into commerce, the present discussion would be wholly superfluous, for in that case there would no longer have been any complaint of bad quality, seeing that ready solubility also affords a certain guarantee for a sufficient geraniol-content, To the ob- jection that ways and means would be found in Ceylon of so preparing adulterated oils that they would pass the ‘‘increased test,” we may answer that the same may be said with exactly the same amount of justification of the _geraniol test. We may add that in the meantime we have-.grudged no expense or trouble to obtain really unadulterated citronella oil from Ceylon, and we are glad to be able to inform our clients that we are now in possession of ‘such an oil, which * Report April 1904, 32, os -* ee Oils and Fats. answers every test, including of course Schimmel’s ‘‘increased test,” and which possesses a geraniol-content ranging from 57 to 61 per cent according to the drums. The price of this newly-introduced variety of oil, the sppearance of which will probably be received with general satisfaction, is about 10 per cent in excess of the ordinary quality. In our October Report of 1909* we referred to experiments which had been made by J. F. Jowitt of Bandarawela, Ceylon, in the cultivation and distil- lation of Andropogon (Cymbopogon) grasses. The oils obtained by Jowitt have since been examined at the Impe- rial Institute in London by Samuel S. Pickles, the botanical origin of the corresponding grasses being at the same time again carefully determined by Stapf. The result of this examination,t which was published at theend of last year, is especially interesting because, in addition to the familiar citronella and lemon-grass-oils, the oils from the wild mana grass{ as wellas from delft-grass, are here described for the first time. Up to the present nothing was known concerning the properties of these oils. Of mana-grass, which probably consti- tutes the mother-plant of citronella- grass, Stapf distinguishes two varieties : Cymbopogon Nardus var. Linneei (typi- cus) and OC. Nardus var. confertiflorus. in Ceylon the natives differentiate still further, having a series of names for each slightly different plant (compare the table on p. 10), but Stapf traces all these back to the two varieties men- tioned. The oils of these two grasses have no attributes which are character- istic for each particular variety ;on the contrary, in both cases the same range of differences in yield and properties of the oils distilled at different times is— observable, and this is’ probably corre- lated to the mode of cultivation and manuring, as well as to the season when the oil was distilled. The yields varied from 0'06 to 0°45 per cent.; they were at their lowest in grass distilled in May, the succeeding months, generally speaking, producing a larger yield. All the oils ranged in colour from bright to deep yellow, and with few exceptions they had an agreeable citronella-like odour, although mostly * Report, October, 1909, 42. + Cymbopogon Grass Oilsin Ceylon. Circu- lars and Agricultural Journal of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, Vol. V., No. 12, November, 1910, 145. Also Comp. Bull. Imp. Inst. 8 [1910], 144. {Comp. Report April, 1907, 32, 33. see Report, October, 1909, 42. Also a little acrid. alcohol. When 10 volumes of the solvent was added the solution showed amore or less marked opalescence and in two cases a slight turbidity ; only in one instance (No. 14) did the solution remain clear even when diluted. In addition to the total-geraniol content (geraniol citronella) the geraniol content was estimated separately by the phthalic anhydride method*, the citronella-con- tent being calculated from the differ- ence. This test showed that the relation ot geraniol to citronellal varied as irregu- larly in these two grass oils as did the other properties, the variation being similar in each case. In some, such as the Lenabatu oils, geraniol predominated; in others, as for instance, the Maha- Pengiry oils, citronellal. These and all other details are best seen in the table on the next page. Setting aside samples 11 and 12, the constants of the two oil varieties lie within the following limits :— Oil of C. Nardus Oil of C. Nardus var. Linnaet. var. U'onfertiflorus. alse 0°894 to 0-926 0-900 to 0°929 aD... )— +. 4°54 to—6°32! 4 12°12’ to—2°11' TVotal gerniol... 43°5 to 64°7% 39°1 to 64'2%. As already stated above, there is therefore no particular difference be- tween the oils of the two mana-grasses. Samples 1] and 12 show greater devi- ations; they attract attention because of their high sp. gr., their very pro- nounced dextrorotation and their low total-geraniol content. These samples, however, are abnormal, and they have therefore been left out of accountin drawing up the limits of value, because, according to Stapf, the corresponding BUASH ey are to be regarded as degenerate orms. None of these mana grasses is thought to possess any commercial interest. Apart from the fact that the oil-yield is generally small, the oils themselves are of such poor quality that they can- not compete with the citronella oils of commerce. Wecannot form an opinion on the question how far this judgment is correct, not having had an oppor- tunity yet of handling oils of this kind. From Lenabatu-grass, uow called Cymbopogon Nardus, Rendle, lenabatu, Stapf, Jowitt prepared four oils which behaved like the ordinary commercial oils. The yield varied from 0:42 to 056% and the corstants lay with- in the following limits: 4152 09138 * Report, October, 1899, 24. They gave a clear solu- tion with 1 to1'4 vols. of 80 per cent. 14 -[JuLy, 1911. cy Suny, 1911.] to 0:917 #»—11°53 +~to—14°1l6, total gera- niol 57:8 to 621%. The citronellal con- tent was from 244to 33°6%. All the four samples gavea clear solution with 1 vol. of 80% alcohol, the solution becom- ing’ opalescent upon the addition of 10 vols. of the solvent. Oils and Fats, highest yield, 0'77%, was obtained trom a grass distilled in November, two samples ofgrass distilled in June and August only yielding 0'59% each. The November oil also gave the highest total-geraniol content (84'°8% as compared with 79 and 83,5% for the two others); forthe rest Of three Maha-pengiri oils from all the three oils agreed with Java Cymbopogon Winterianus, Jowitt* the citronella oil. Patent Plant. eG oc en No. Botanical Name a= & 109g according to Stapf’s Native Name. 415 | ap a7 > ~ Cwt.* Rs, Cwt.* Rs. United Kingdom 269 12,304 270 10,290 Belgium 20 6,326 3874 6,981 France _ — 5 161 Germany 14. 3,621 38138 470 Italy — 20 375 16,961 Switzerland 128 6,822 58 3,000 United States _ —- — 18 EDIBLE PRODUCTS. COCONUT CULTIVATION. By Mr. A. W. BEVEN. {Read at the Annual General Meeting of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, Jane 20, 1911.] It is not my intention in this paper to write a treatise on coccnut planting, giving estimates of the cost of opening an estate, &c., as such information is to be found in Ferguson’s ‘‘Coconut Planters’ Mannal.” My object is to write on the cultivation of a coconut estate. Cultivation should commence immedi- ately after planting, General rules will notapply, for some estates have hard gravelly soils, some heavy clayey alluviums, some loamy clay, some clayey loams, and others sandy soils varying in colour from a red sand to the white cinnamon garden sand called by the Sinhalese ‘‘ maradan-vella,” Planting.—The usual method of plant- ing is to cut holes of 3 feet cube. or of other dimensions, according to individual idiosyncracies, holes a little surface soil is thrown in, and on this the plants are placed. There are objections tothis general system. In wet weather the holes get filled up with water, and if the wet weather be con- tinuous, the plants get drowned. A second and greater objection is that the soil round the plants cannot be tilled by being loosened with mamoties, so as to give the plants a good Start, as the roots are below the reach of cultivation till trunks are formed. > * Fractions of 1 ewt, omitted, « At the bottom of these ‘Jury, 1911.) The system I adopted, when I took to eoconut cultivation thirty years ago, was to cut holes38 feet cube and to fill them with the surface soil cut from their sides to within one foot of the surface. By this means the holes become saucer- shaped, and are about5 feet in diameter. Cultivation can, by this system, com- mence almost immediately after plant- ing; and can be continued in an increas- ing circle with the growth of the plants and the spread of the roots. I was very ratified to find there was one other who followed this system, viz., Mudaliyar A. H, Rajapakse, on his EKheta estate, through which the Negombo line runs. Some people express the fear that by putting down the plantsso near the surface the stability of the tree will be affected. Thereis nofear of that, for the bole of the tree, which is its sheet anchor, and takes the place of the tap root of other trees, will establish itself in the original bole, and even deeper, according to the texture of the soil. Weeding.—The next operation calling for attention is weeding. This should be undertaken soon after planting. If the estate be weeded from the start, weeding will not cost much, and a beautiful sward will ccver the ground. Most estates are planted on the goyia system, that is, the land is yviven to villagers to fell, burn, clear, and plant, aod they are allowed a share of the subsidiary crops grown on the land, besides being paid at so much per tree and plant (previously agreed upon) at the end of a specified number of years. This system has its advantages and disadvantages, The advantages are obvious, One disadvantage is that the villagers do not supply vacancies. till the time arrives for giving over. Then the landowner has an estate with a large proportion of plants just put out. Some experienceed planters think that minor cultivation impoverishes the soil and should not be practised. This it undoubtedly does, but not to an extent to be detrimental to the coconut plant- ation, particularly when manuring is practised. As against the impoverish- ment of the soil, there is the benefit aceruing to it from constant tillage. In dry districts cotton could be grownas a subsidiary crop. Tillage or turning over the sow with mamoties should go handin hand with weeding. Hvery time the land is weeded, or at least once a year, the soil should be tilled in an increasing cirele round the plants and muleched with weeds, which should be placed at least a foot to 18 inches away from the plants to avoid trouble with black ants (kadias). 3 7 Edible Products, All laggards and recent supplies should have a large coconut shell full of kainit. When in course of time the eilges of the tilled circle touch each other, the intervening spaces should also be tilled. Probably by this time the estate will have come into bearing, as a result of continuous tillage. After this the land can be ploughed. Efficient ploughing is not practicable on any but sandy soil, unless tilling precedesit. The land should be harrowed the year after tilling. These operations should be carried on in alternate years, so as to have the soil always in a fine state of tilth. Unfor- tunately every one does not realize the benefits of having the soil in a friable state. If brought into this condition, most of the rain water is absorbed by the soil; and air is drawn in after it, The soil therefore becomes aerated to a greater depth than the furrows made by the plough. Roots traverse further and deeper and find their way to the regions of permanent moisture. The loose soil on the surface acts asa mulch and prevents the evaporation of mois- ture. The roots having gone deeper and evaporation having been arrested, it follows, of course, that coconut trees are better able to withstand droughts and tobear and mature better crops. The aeration of the soil renders soluble the insoluble p!aat food in the soil. If Government abandons its dog-in-the- manger policy of destroying all the salt produced in excess of its requirements, and issues denatured salt to agri- culturists, and this be spread over the soil before itis harrowed, the soil will be kept moist. In illustration of how little planters of experience, who, how- ever, have not made a study of agricul- tural chemistry, realize the benefits of a thorough aeration of the soil, I may mention that recently a gentleman wrote to me and complained of the drought and and its effects as seen in the dropping of immature nuts. I suggested the procedure I have just explained, alsoa thick cover of Crota- laria. Hewritesinreply: ‘Thanks for your suggestions about ploughing, which I wish [ could carry out more fully, though nothing will prevent the nuts being burnt in such weather as we are having, and the droppings from the young trees in the harder soils.” He should not be too sure of the impossi- bility of overcoming these untoward results of droughts. None of us are too old to learn. 1 L 108 Ks Total .. £3,635 10° ‘8h On ANOTHER ESTATE. The following selected details from a non-irrigated district on the north-side Edible Products. will be useful by way of comparison. The soil is loose and gravelly without clay, rain 150 inches; thirty one acres were planted to produce a crop the fol- lowing year. There were besides 1385 acres yielding fruit, of which fitty acres were plants, and eighty-five ratoons :— ey Sid Clearing and preparing land eo lOy Loy, 102 Stumping ust 9. TOs Ploughing ARTO! VE Trenching Se il OMA a ACM fe Procuring plants and forking sealiBe, | LO.) \ ae Planting nan | \ Ags Weeding 470 acres 148 38 4 Ploughing and harrow- ing 580 acres see AQ 18). 44 Pruning Lae AG aa Ol. 1) 4 Propping aa) Wey Kowien COP Reaping Soe ioiealy LO Carting Aan yd Ae aes wie The total expenditure was £1,250. The payable bunches amounted to 40,916 or 303 to the acre. The receipts were £458 from miscel- laneous sources, coconuts, cattle, cocoa, and £2,210 15s. 3d. from bananas. AREA UNDER BANANAS. In the last returns of the Collector- General the following are shown as the areas under bananas in Jamaica last year in each parish :— Acreage in Bananas in each Parish an 1900-10, Parish. Acres. Kingston = St. Andrew 1,295 St. Thomas 5,864 Portland 8,891 St. Mary 28,610 St. Ann tee 2,200 Trelawny 1,460 St. James 2,285 Hanover 8,164 Westmoreland 423 St. Elizabeth 254 Manchester sll Clarendon 1,591 St. Catherine 12,758 Arrears 871 Grand Total .. 69,066 EXPORT. In 1901 Jamaica exported 8,248,485 stems of bananas, while the latest returns from the Collector-General show this trade during the last four years to be as follows :— 3 $ “a , ah N 22 ‘ [Jory, 1911. FRvIT, BANANAS. Years. Qualities. Values. — 4 Stems. &. S,) es : 1909 16,712,210 1,403,829 15 9 1908 13,942,567 1,088,721 5 1 1907 16,009,662 $80,531 8 2 1906 14,981,145 842,689 8 2 The prices given by the Fruit Com- panies per 100 bunches to those who con- tracted to supply a certain number all the year round have in recent years been as follows, although local con- ditions affect the prices paid for bananas, and it is not possible to quote any general prices applicable to all’ circum- stances :— January, £6;February, £7 10s.; March, £10; April, £12 10s.; May, £12 10s.; June, £11 10s.; July, £7 10s.; August, £5 10s.; October, £6 5s.; November, £6 5s.; De- cember, £5 10s. PAPAW CULTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES. st (From the Queensland Agricultural Journal, Vol. XXVI., Part 5, May, 1911.) . Mr. Jesse, of Jolo, tells of his method of raising papayas as follows. The pro- cess of cultivation is divided into four stages :— ° First. The sprouting stage. The seed should be planted in boxes, about 18 in, by 18in. by 8in., containing rich earth, with which is mixed a couple of handfuls of bone ash and 15 drops of tincture of iron. Plant the seed about 1 in. apart and bury about1lin. below the surface. The surface should be sprinkled lightly with water abcut sundown. In about a week the young shoot should appear, | and at three weeks the shootshould be, — about 8 in, high. 4 Second. The stage of preparation of i, the soil for the transplantation of the young shoot and its early development.— Having located the site for the tree, dig a hole about2 ft. in diameter and 1 ft. deep. Procure enough rich earth mixed a with bone ash to fill the hole, and then sprinkle 15 drops of tincture of iron over yeh the surface. Now dig up your sprout, — being careful to retain the earth about its roots, and bury about 2in. deep. In order to protect the young shoot from the direct sunlight, drive four sticks into the ground around the sproutand suspend a gunny sack. After about two weeks, the young plant will have ad- justed itself toits new home, and the sunshade may be removed. By this ~7 Be 4 time the plant should bein a flourishing condition, and in three weeks should be _ 3in. in diameter at the base. Third, The forced nourishment stage, —Bore a hole in the trunk about 6 in. from the ground, 1 in. deep and of a dia- meter slightly larger than that of the red rubber tubing obtainable at your drug store, Filla quart bottle half full of sugar and dissolve in water. Wher the sugar is thoroughly dissolved, connect the bottle with the hole in the tree by means of red tubing. In twenty-four hours the tree will have absorbed the contents of the bottle. Fourth, The fruit-bearing stage,—If the young fruit appears too numerous, it is well to pluck the’ least promising. ‘Then, if the tree is unable to support itself, propitup. At fivemonths some of the fruit on the lower cluster will show streaks of yellow. Now is the time to hasten the ripening. This is done by wrapping a gunny sack about the lower clusters of fruit and the trunk. Crows are very fond of the ripe fruit, and this expedient serves also to scare them away. When yellow spots about the size of a peso appear, pluck the fruit and place it in a cool dark place for several days. By this time the fruit should be yellow over the greater part ' of its surface, and will gently yield to thumb pressure. It is now ready for the ice-box. If the fruit is allowed to turn yellow before it is plucked, much of its strength is drawn back into the tree, to be supplied to other fruit in a -less advanced stage of development. If these directions are followed, your trees ought to bear fruit 10 in. to 12in. long, and 6in. to 8 in. in maximum diameter. Once a year sprinkle bone ash over the surface around ‘the base of the tree. This should be sufficient fertilisation. The tree (Javan) at maturity varies from 15 ft. to 20ft, in height and isabout 7in. in diameter at the base. TOBACCO CULTIVATION IN CEYLON: VIEWS OF AN EXPERT, A GREAT FUTURE FOR THE INDUSTRY BUT A SYSTEMATIC BEGINNING NECESSARY. ' (From the Times of Ceylon, May 11, 1911.) We have had the views of several authorities from time to time on the ‘tobacco industry of Ceylon—some _ favourable and others much less opti- Mtnistic. The subject is one that has 5 33 | Rdible Products. received considerable attention. Govern- ment went sofar a few years back as to decide to get out an expert; but the scheme fell through, Instead a com- mercial trial to produce Sumatra wrap- per tobacco was begun at Maha-illup- palama, with the assistance of Mr. H. Cowan, who was fora few years assist: ant of a Tobacco Company at Sumatra before he came to Ceylon, and whose services the Ceylon Agricultural Society gladly availed itself of. At present there is in the island a tobacco expert, Mr. J. van “eenhoff, who has had considerable experience of to- bacco investigation work in various parts of the world. Mr. van Leenhoff was Chief of the Tobacco Division of the Transvaal and late Government Tobacco Expert of Porto Rico and of the U.S.A. Department of Agriculture, Washing- ton, D.C. Heis a holder of the certi- ficate of the ‘‘ Ecole d’Application des Tabacs,” Paris, and of the Imperial To- bacco Manufactures, Strasburg, Ger- many,and he has reported on the To- bacco Industries of Cuba, Rhodesia, Orange River Colony, and Mauritius. Mr van Leenhoff came to Ceylon in January last, having been recommended by Professor Wyndham Dunstan to ad- vise and report on the pioneer culti- vation of tobacco carried on on Moles- worth Brothers’ Kstate in Trincomaiie. The Ceylon Agricultural Society took the opportunity of Mr van Leenhoff’s presence in the colony to ask him to also report on the tobacco experiment at Mahailuppallama, while the Ceylon Go- vernment also appointed him to visit the various districts in the island and report on the whole industry. Having concluded all three commissions, Mr van Leenhoff is sailing today for Europe. FUTURE OF TOBACCO IN CEYLON. Seen by a representative of this paper yesterday; Mr. van Leerhotf very cour- teously expressed his views. “From samples grown in different districts which I haveseen, I think there isa great future for the tobacco in- dustry in Ceylon,’ said Mr. van Leen- hoff. ‘‘But you must start systema- tically from the beginning. You cannot create a sound tobacco industry with- out carrying it out on scientific lines. Itis a very sensitive crop—sensitive to environment, soil, climate, &c., and last but not least, to treatment in the field, shed, warehouse, and factory ; and itis only ascientifically-trained expert that can appreciate allthese points. I have observed that there is a tendency among cultivators in Ceylon, who are keen to try to improve their crops for Huropean FRdible Products, , taste, to simply import seed which is grown in other countries regardless of the difference in conditions. If they go on like this it will probably take them a great number of years to find out the kind of tobacco likely to give the best results, if at all. In other words, TRIALS SHOULD NOT BE MADE ON A COMMERCIAL SCALE, as negative results will cause financial ruin. You can’t make a profitable in- vestment of a tobacco plantation, when it is yet unknown in which direction to proceed. For instance, Turkish tobacco seed planted ina heavy clay soil with an abundant rainfall will not produce Turkish tobacco as it is used by cigarette factories. The leaf will be too large, too coarse and too dark, and of no use whatever for cigarette purposes. The same remark might apply to Sumatra seed, which is not liable to pro- duce a wrapper leaf under conditions totally different to the original country of production. You might. out of 1,000 seedlings be lucky to get one or two plants which show adaptability to their new surroundings. Thething has to be carefully watched. Thatis why I say you must start from the beginning. That means making several trials in small plots in the most promising dis- tricts, carefully studying their growth, and final product, and thus ascertaining the leaf that is likely to have the best commercial value, which could be done in co-operation with private planters, who are very keen on it, and who appear ready to offer land and buildings. If you get only one kind of tobacco in one particular district then you know ex- actly where you are.” A VISIT TO JAFFNA. ‘You have been to Jaffna, of course?” “ Yes, and it seems to me that it is the only place in the island where tobacco is taken up as an industry. The cultiva- tors of the North aim chiefly in producing a chewing tobacco, and as long as they have got a good market for that product I would not advise an alteration in the treatment. An attempt to alter their tobacco might lose for the cultivators the market they have already, and the ruination of the industry would be in- volved. Butas there is a tendency to over-production of tobacco in Jatfina with regard to the market demands, it is absolutely necessary to take imme- diate steps to produce a kind of tobacco there which is suitable for the European market. The cultivators being very in- dustrious and used to tobacco work, it is my firm opinion that very good results might be expected of systematic experi- [JULyY, ‘1911, a ments there on the spot. The tobacco used for making cigars, of which the methods for developing the best quali- ties of the leaf are rather primitive, could very well be used for cigar filler purposes, even for HKuropean cigars, if | _properly developed, sorted, &c. A MATTER FOR GOVERNMENT TO TAKE UP. While naturally not wishing to say anything about the experiments at Maha-iluppalama, as his report has just gone to the Agricultural Society, Mr van Leenhoff is of opinion that proper in- vestigation isa matter that Government should seriously take up. ‘‘ An expert should be engaged to carry out investi- gations so as to get sound information at a minimum of time and cost. Only by these means can you arrive at a con- clusion as to the best tobacco which can | be produced in Ceylon. An expert is necessary, as the question of fertiliz- ation, treatment of seed and curing require the most careful attention ; while the main pointin all districts is to choose the right time for planting as regards rainfall, soas to avoid irrigation expen- ses and coarseness of leaf as much as possible.” ‘You are of opinion then that Euro- pean markets can be found for tobacco grownin Ceylon ?” “Yes, decidedly so, The Jaffna to- bacco asitis,if kept in bales for a cer- tain period, may be used for blending, as it has the original aroma. Ihave no doubt that you can create a large in- dustry for plantersin Ceylon. The field work lasts only three months. The curing (or drying) takes three to six weeks, and the small planter need not bother about the process of fermenting, as this could be done by the dealers in tobacco or the manufacturers them- selves. In any case, the tobacco could simply be baled and kept ina warehouse for a year or soto undergo the ageing process ora slow fermentation.” THE Topacco DISTRICTS. ““Whatare the districts which have struck you as being most suitable for the cultivation of tobacco ?” “ Dumbara, I consider to be quite suit- able for the cultivation of aromatic to- bacco, more particularly cigar tobacco, ‘which would, of course, obtain better prices. Certain partsof Trincomalie are also suitable for the growing of smoking tobacco. But they should not be too near the sea, and the precaution must be taken to experiment with a plot to test the burning qualities. I am of opinion that there are places in Jaffna where } - & Sb SRS aR esti yh Ae y my » Bk Yi - Suny, 1911.) smoking tobacco can be grown to advan- tage ; but, as I said, to make the _ in- dustry pay by finding outside markets you must start from the beginning and find out which tobacco can be most pro- fitably grown acccerding to the corditions of soil and climate where the cultivation is carried out.” ° Mr, van Leenhoft is taking away with him several] samples of Ceylon tobacco leaf, his collection including some very fine specimens of tobacco grown as a catch crop on Messrs. Molesworth Bro- there’ estates in Trincomalie. His re- ports on the experiments at Maha-ilup- palama and tothe Government will be looked forward to with interest, and should lead to a better understanding of the whole question of tobacco cultivation in Ceylon. It would have been an ad- ditional advantage of much value if Mr. van Leenhoff could have carried out practical investigations and demoastra- tions as he has donein other countries, where he has served the Governments in a practical way and left behind him valu- able reports and data, if not actual guides. MAPLE SUGAR. (From the ZLowisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XLVL., No. 12; March 25, 1911.) Ranking prominently among the manu- facturing and commercial industries of New England, yet sometimes classified asafarmindustry, is the maple sugar business of Vermont. Historically it dates from the time of the Indians, who were accustomed to make sugar from the sap of the maple, by: whom the art was introduced to the white settlers, not of Vermont, however, but of New Hampshire, for Vermont in the early colonial times was a part of New Hampshire. The Indians valued highly the sugar of the maple, and they used it as an agreeable flavouring for the dishes made from maize or the In- dian corn. The advent of the sugar making season, when the sap of the maple tree began to run, was celebrated by the Indians with a special ceremony, anda dance was giveninitshonour. The opening of this season in the spring was regarded with the same reverence and deference by the New England Indians -.-as the harvest moon and the season of the wild rice by the Indians along the western lakes, The Indians tapped the maple trees by udely gashing them with their toma- awks and collecting the sap in dishes 85 Edible Products. of birch bark. The sap was reduced by the continuous introduction into it of hot stones until it became syrup and subsequently sugar. The product of the Indians was very dark, almost black, and of the texture of gum opium, and it was rather bitter, as wellas sweet, the result of the smoke, foreign matter and scorching. The Indians, however, secured another form of sweet from the maple tree which was quite different from the syrup and sugar and much more attractive. It was in the form of wax, a maple wax looking very much like honey. This maple wax was evaporated in the sun, and it was obtained in another way also. Late in the season, near the conclusion of the sap flow, the smali quantity that still exudes from the tree is very heavy in sugar and very sweet. This late sap, as it slowly trickles down over the bark of the tree, is quickly trans- formed by the warm spring sunshine into wax, and even to civilized people this maple wax is a delicious confection. It is probably unknown in New England to-day, but if a visitor to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the maple sugar season will visit the green market and hunt up the Micmac Indians, he will be very likely to find for sale by the women sitting on the curbstone little birch bark corn- ucopias filled with maple wax. The early settlers in northern New England were very grateful for the production of the maple, and they had no other sweetening material, for in those remote settlements such luxuries as sugar imported from England were all but unknown. The industry of manufacturing maple sugar for the market has been cne of very marked development. The same progress in the way of perfection of methods from the tree to the com- mercial use in the city has prevailed in connection with the maple sugar busi- “ness as with other industries. The process begins with the tapping of the tree. The opening of the season, or the season when the sap flows freely, varies according to weather conditions, from early in February until some time in March, and whatever time the sap may begin to run it continues not much later than the first day of April, and but a few days later atthe most. The condi- tions favourable toa good maple produc- tion season are plenty of snow, warm, springlike days and cold nights. The snow should thaw enough to make little rills of water here and there during the day, and it should freeze during the night hard enough to form a crust that will bear people, and often it will Edible Products. support ox teams. The running of the sap will continue as long as these condi- tions last, and not much longer. There are three principal kinds of maple in the country where the industry flourishes. There is the rock maple, which is the true sugar maple, the white maple, which is an upland maple producing sap, but the sap carries a small proportion of sugar, and the swamp mapie, the sap of which also carries a small percentage of saccharine matter. Years ago, before modern me- thods. were introduced in the maple sugar and syrup business, the trees were tapped in a very wasteful manner, and in a manner which permanently injured the trees. The farmers of those days apparently had an idea that the larger the hole bored in the tree the more sap would flow, so they bored holes with two-inch augers and nearly or quite to the heart of the tree. Such a thing as plugging the holes after the sap was done running did not occur to them, and, of course, while the holes did in many cases heal over, a cavity was left in the interior of the trunk which began the process of decay, and many fine old rock maples of great age have come to their end as a result of the lack of knowledge of those who tapped them for their sap. As intelligence increased in connection with all industries, it was known that the sap which flows upward in the spring passed up between the outer wood of the trunk and the inner bark, and all that was necessary to secure it is to bore through the bark and far enough into the wood to allow the spile to be driven in securely. The spileis the conductor of the sap from the tree to the recep- tacle placed to catch it. Nowadays the holes are bored with small augers or bits, and not very deep, so that the process of tapping trees as practised at the present time injures them very little or none atall. In the old days spiles were made of wood, sometimes of pine wocd with holes burned through that portion driven into the tree, but usually they were made of the wood of the sumac, a beautiful golden yellow wood, having a straight grain, and through the centre, no matter what the size of the branch or trunk, a core or pith which was eéasi- ly pushed out. Instead of buckets and pails used to-day for catching the sap, the old-time tarmers used troughs hollowed from the halved section of pop- lav trees. The sap was gathered and either conveyed to the farmhouse, where either in the farm kitchen orin an out- building, it was boiled down in open settles, or it was collected and conveyed 36 me toa shanty built in the sugar grove, where it was boiled down, also in open kettles, time farmers showed a little more erystal than did that of the Indians, but it was always dark, perhaps we should say it was always dark of differ- ent shades. The syrup was the chief product manufactured. The sugar was made into cakes by runing it when hot into cups that had been lightly glazed with butter or lard. his, in brief, is the sum total of the process - of making maple sugar and syrup in the old days by the farmers of New England. We have mentioned the innovations in the method of tapping, that is, of boring trees. To-day specially made metallic spiles are used which can be driven in so firmly that the buckets for receiving the sap can be suspended from them if desirable. The same innova- tions have been adopted in the manu- facture of syrup from the sugar cane. Instead of the open kettle of the old days in Vermont sugar makers now evaporate their sap in vacuum pans, which is not only economical, but very much more expeditious, and which turns out sugar as light-coloured as the lightest so-called brown sugars of the sugar cane, Of course it is understood that the vacuum pan is just what its name implies. In it the sap is boiled in a vacuum, whereby it evaporates with great rapidity. and with a considerably less degree of heat than is required by the open kettle process. The superior- ity of the vacuum pan process is indi- cated by the appearance and quality of the finished product. On some of the sugar farms in Vermont there are many thousands of trees. gether, and they may bescattered over a wide area. They may be scattered among other forest trees or standing singly , over wide ranges of pasture or moun- tains and hillsides, for a great rock maple standing alone in an open pasture | is never neglected by the sugar maker for the very isolation of its position and the consequent conditions surrounding it make it always a big producer of sap. On these large sugar farms there is somewhere conveniently located a sugar house, where are installed the vacuum pans and such other apparatus as is necessary in the making of the sugar. The sap is collected once or twice a day, according to how freely the trees run, This is determined not only by the tree itself, but by the season and by the day itself, for if the day continues cold, that is, if there is a cold wind blowing so that the sun does not melt the snow, th A RRS SEATS a! bog y a NPR oe se es ory, eS The sugar made by the old- These trees may be, collected in groves standing near to- | ‘Vv —s- -— =. or : F ee be ae ee, gee ee a Sirs ie Ri es ep ae oaa — - certain Joy, 1911.] sap will run very little. It will not run freely on a dull, cloudy day. If the day is perfect and the conditions which we have mentioned above prevail, the sap will run not only drop by drop, but almost ina steady stream from many of the trees. Under these conditions it is necessary to collect the sap at noon and again along towards night. In a grove of trees where the maples stand near together, sometimes long spout or pipe lines as they might be described, are arranged on forked sticks or fastened from tree to tree leading from certain points in the grove to a vatin the sugar house. The sap is collected and poured into spouts or pipe lines, which greatly facilitates the collection of it. The sap is also collected in barrels and hauled to the sugar house on horse or ox sleds. There is no more interesting or fascin- ating season in northern New England than the season of maple sugar making In recent years the manufacturing of maple products is carried on with the greatest intelligence and scientific knowledge. There are standards that have been adopted, and that are generally recog- nized in the business, and there are certain conditions and rules regulating the business and the marketing of the product. Vermont has enacted wise laws applying to the yurity of maple products, and the centre of inspiration of everything applying to the maple sugar business, from the tree to the store and the city commission merchant, everything which tends to preserve the industry with all its high reputa- tion in Vermont, is the Vermont Maple Sugar exchange, | Maple sugar sold in the Boston market as a guarantee of purity, and the only reason worth considering for the difference in price is a slight difference in quality and colour. The finest grades are in cakes and come packed in neat cartons, The lower grades of soft sugar are shipped in kegs. Syrup is shipped in tightly sealed screw-top tin cans or cases. _ We conclude this narrative by allud- ing toa favourite pastime or entertain- ment during the maple sugar season which may not be familiar to everybody. It is known as sugaring off, and is very much in vogue in Vermont, New Hamp- shire, and in Boston by the New Hamp- shire and Vermont associations. But as practised in the city it is a tame and a make-shift affair at best, We have in mind one celebrated hotel in is industry has. become such a leading one that the Edible Products. New Hampshire which is both a summer and a winter resort. It is aboutas well- filled with guests in the winter as itis in the summer, and at both seasons people are constantly turned away. In the winter, beside the crisp, health- giving and healing air, it offers as inducements its, open wood fires and sugaring off parties. Sugaring off parties begin in this wise: Maple syrup which has been boiled down almost to the point of crystallization, just before it passes from sugar to syrup, is placed over the fire, Just at this period the process is very interesting and very fascinating to those who have the privilege of participating in it. In the great kitchen of this hotel blocks of snow are placed on long tables, and from time to time the hot, thick syrup is taken from the kettle and poured upon the snow. It is quickly cooled, and at first changes to soft wax. This is a very delicious form of confection, and of course the flavour is incomparable, After a little time more syrup is dipped from the kettle, and this time perhaps on cooling itisa little harder. Again, the process is repeated, and after cooling the product is found to be a soft sugar just at the stage of crystalization, but yet scarcely beyond the syrup stage, and so the dipping and cooling goes on unta thé’ syrup has become real sugar, and until the company are satisfied, or until the supply gives out. VANILLA CROPS, 1910-11. (From the Chemist and Druggist, No. 1,638, Vol. LXX VIII, June 17, 1911.) Mr Herman Mayor Senior has_ issued his annual vanilla statistics, showing that the world’s production for the sea- son 1910-11 amounted to 570 tons. The characteristic feature of the vanilla market during the past twelve months has been an unusual evenness of strength throughout which culminated last February in a basis of 18s. 6d. per lb. for sound low-grade Bourbon or Sey- chelles varieties in the primary market, and this figure has been fully main- tained since, with better qualities at cor- respondingly higher rates, Short crops in the 1909-10 season, with practically no stocks taken into the new, have in a natural way caused this firming up, and so eager has the American inquiry for Bourbon sorts been, that for the first time in all experience their value tem- porarily surpassed that of Mexican. The latter have since advanced as well, and meet withan increasing Huropean demand, chiefly on the part of France, | Edible Products. in which country anew Pure Food Act on lines similar to the American one, combined with the general shortage of other descriptions of vanilla, has lately stimulated this demand. Looking upon Tahitis and also Mexi- cans from the British trade standpoint as outside varieties, chiefly on account of their localised outlet, and in the case of the latter also on account of their ap- pearance at trade centres quite six months after the bulk of the crops from the Indian Ocean Islands have come in, we find, by deducting their returns from the total,a year’s yield of 195 tons of vanilla, against 140 tons in 1909-10, a con- siderable increase, but still about 25 per cent. below a normal year’s average from the same sources, on which Central and Western Europe are almost entirely, and the United States partly, relying for their supplies, The various crops have been :— Tons. Seychelles ue ay 22, Bourbon on w. «458 Comoro and Mayotte seep Oe Madagascar AaG ee DOF Mauritius was pestis Fiji, Java, and Ceylon aerAN, Guadeloupe and Martinique 10 Mexican Ly woe 185 Tahiti - 240 Total A +1. 510 The outlook for new season’s Seychel- les is poor, for Bourbon, Madagascar, and Comoro fair, and for Mexican good. INDIAN MANGO JUICE. We have received from the Oriental Cannery Co., Honovar, India, a sample tin of this preparation of which we have formed a very favourable opinion. It is of semi-solid consistency, and the colour and taste that of the best ripe mangoes. Itis excellent served as a sauce with blanc-mange, etc., and could also be used to make ices, or simply mixed with milk to form “mango fool,” or used alone, in place of mango fruits, for dessert. According to the report on it from the ‘‘ Lancet,” it is stated to be practically free from sugar, and to possess anti- scorbutic properties, while the British Medical Journal states that it is free from preservatives, and the material appears to consist of nothing but the pure pulp withits natural juice. It can therefore be confidently recom- mended as a very satisfactory means of enjoying the mango fruit at any time or place. 88 “y THE RULE OF THUMB IN SUGAR MAKING. MU (From the Louisiana. Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XLVI., No. 17, ’ April 29, 1911.) In what the survivors of that long departed epoch may term ancient times ~ that is before the era of chemical con- trol generally in the operation of our Louisiana sugar ftactories—the most satisfactory results in the quality of product were often obtained by pro- fessional experts profoundly ignorant of the scientific principles they followed which led to the final accomplishment of their most excellent work, and often unlearned in the rudiments of a common school education. . The writer of this article has, during several successive years, seen a densely ignorant negro make good sugar through- out the rolling season without compre- hending the special operation of a single one of the several valves of the vacuum pan he attended in turning out such good work. Likewise unlearned oper- atives at the ancient open clarifiers and the still more ancient open kettles, without the least understanding of the chemical principles of sulphuration and the alkaline effect of the lime which ueutralized the excess of mineral acids and the normal vegetable acids which held the albumen and other deleterious compounds in solution, have been noted for reliably producing throughout the sugar manutacturing that practically perfect clarification which is the indis- pensable foundation in the art of making the finest quality of sugars. In those ancient days the salaries of some of our deservedly famous Louisi- ana sugar makers, who worked, one might say, by a sort of seventh sense of judgment, or through some incompre- hensible talent, and the simple rule of thumb, exceeded for the two or three months of the sugar making season those per month paid the members of our National Cabinet or the Judges of our United States Supreme Court. And in justice to those latter operatives or ~ experts we may say they fairly earned the high wages for their work; as their ability was exceptional and its practical results extremely profitable to their fortunate employers, the sugar of whose factories often became famous in the leading markets of the country. That chemical control soon destroyed the opportunity or professional career of most of those gifted followers of the laws of practical experience, the sense of individual judgment and the rule of -[Juny, 1911. lt | ba thumb, — is cost of quality ; generally known by all persons in this state who are interested in the growing of cane and its conver- sion into marketable sugar, and most fully known and emphatically appre- ciated by the most of those experts who were not permitted to continue their work under the guidance of their own unhampered resourcefulness, Chemistry promptly stopped the ex- cess of sulphuration which bleached the cane juices to the degree desired for the manutacture of faney grades of sugar, in which it demonstrated that quality was gained at too great a sacrifice of quantity. It increased the liming of cane-juices almost to or entirely up to the point of acid-neutralization tinting the formerly clear and colourless clari- fied juice with a touch of straw colour, and darkening it progressively and steadily in concentration and ultimate concreting into massecuite. until its dried product bore the dull gray colour due to alkalinity, and its final molasses was made to figure commercially as black-strap. The surviving experts of that epoch of the. rule of thumb in our local sugar industry mostly charge that the modern _ deterioration in the grades of the major portion of our Louisiana sugar crops is due to that struggle for quantity at the thus reversing the charge made against them by chemists that their excellence of quality was gained at the wasteful sacrifice of quantity. To an experienced observer both those charges and counter-charges were and are based on reasonable grounds. Had the former sugar-making experts been more familiar with chemistry, and its actions and reactions, probably they would have done much better in their particular line of business. Perhaps if the modern chemical managers who have supplanted them in the control of the operations of our central factories would cultivate and acquire more of that in- comprehensible seventh sense founded on practical experience which our out- of-date sugar making experts appeared to possess, it would be to the marked advantage of general chemical control of the sugar factories. Whatever be the case and condition it is a fixed and incontrovertible fact that the certainty of chemical principles is more to be depended on than the vari- ations of human judgment. Those prin- ciples are guided and governed by the -imroutable lawsof natural physics, as fixed and unchangeable as the grand universal law of gravitation which guides the movement of every known ‘39 Edibte Products, solar and planetary system ; while erra- tic human judgment might be just not sufficiently erratic to be governed by the laws of a lunatic asylum, With this known certainty and reli- ability of chemistry and its principles, it is up to chemistry in a mechanical art in which it plays so important a part to do’ far better than the mere guesswork of human ignorance and unlearned human judgment. That is itis up to it under erudite and intelligent direction. If a plantation darkey could guess how much -sulphur and lime to use on the express- ed product of a ton of cane and make a quality of sugar which .levee-buyers would scrap over to purchase, but do it at the cost of quantity of product, then chemistry or chemical control of the same _ sugar manufacture should surely be able to achieve the first desirable result, and at the same time remedy the evil which made cr makes such rale-of-thumb work sacri- ficial. That chemical control since its instal” lation has very largely increased the average yield per ton of cane in our Louisiana sugar factories goes without saying. The writer of this article remem- bers the time about twenty-five years since that when an able chemist who had charge of one of our Louisiana sugar houses claimed to have obtained 150 pounds of sugar per ton from a cane erop whose manufacture he had superin- tended, he was considered by many of our leading planters as being very largely lacking in veracity. A year or two later Mr. Thompson’s noted Calu- met plantation pulled the sugar yield from anentire crop to about 200 pounds per ton of cane. And to-day the factory that does not get more than 150 pounds of sugar per ton of cane ground is deemed out of therunning and doomed to uitimate failure. Chemical control has done wonders in intreasing our sugar yields beyond the utmost aspirations of the experts who strove after quantity in their departed epoch, Nowitis promising to give us generally a co-equal gain in quality, which as an exact science it should be able to do better than the inexact direc- tion it generally supplanted two or three decades since. Edible Products. THE SUGAR MAKING INDUSTRY IN INDIA. (From the Lowisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XLVI., No. 17, April 29, 1911.) India is the greatest cane sugar-pro- ducing country in the world, but not- withstanding this fact, its sugar market has been captured first by the beet sugar, and later by cane sugar from Mauritius and Java. This condition of affairs has been brought about by the backward state of the Irdian sugar cane industry in the matter of machine ap- pliances. It is estimated that with modern machinery and better organi- zation of the industry, India could pro- duce 50 per cent. more sugar, Sugar cane is a crop particularly well-suited to the country, and, in the matter of sugar production, India ought to be an exporting rather than an importing country: Thenative mills are, accord- ing to the American Consul in Bombay, either the “kolhu,” a mortar and pestie arrangement, in which the cane is bruised and pressed, or else wooden roller mills, of which there are two kinds—the ‘‘gundi,” consisting of two, sometimes three, upright wooden roi- lers, and the “ beina,” used in the Pun- jab, and made of two horizontal wooden rollers. These mills are made locally at a cost of from twenty-six to forty shil- lings. They are hard to work, and do the pressing very ineffectually. In many parts of India these old, clumsy wooden mills are being replaced by the iron sugar mill. This improvement, how- ever, was only effected after a close study had been made of native ways and requirements, and after the machines had been adapted to these. The culti- vators had experienced a great deal of trouble in procuring an efficient machine for crushing purposes, as, owing to their lack of knowledge about machinery, the imported machine soon got out of order, with the result that the cane was imper. fectly crushed. Most of the sugar pro- duced in India isconsumed in the form of “gur,” or unrefined sugar (correspond- ing to the ‘“‘ Muscovado” of the West Indian planters), because of its adapta- bility to native sweetmeats and native cookery. The establishment of large central factories has been urged as a means of increasing the sugar yield of the country, and meeting the formid- ablecompetition of the imported article, Although there are afew factories of considerable size, most Indian cane is grown and manufactured by small cul- tivators. Under present conditions the large central factory is hardly prac- . } ' VA «feet ves ‘ 40 ; [Juy, 1911. ny " bs A . 1 WAI ’ for home consumption, but by Oriental ~ ‘ 4 ticable. The system of land tenure which obtains practically throughout the country is vot adapted to such a system. The soil is divided into a num- ber of small holdings, which produce a variety of crops, according to the fancy (j of the cultivator, Itis practically im- | possible, therefore, to secure a concen- tration of sugar plantations around a factory, and so long as cane is only grown in small and isolated patches through a radius of many miles, the cost of handling and carriage, added to the loss of sugar in transit, handicaps the | factory so much that success is out of the question. The portable iron mill, therefore, has been more practical, the cheapness of Indian labour counter- balancing the economies practicable in the large central factories. About half the sugar cane produced in India is grown in the United provinces, The American Consul states that Mr. W. H. Moreland, Director of Land Records and Agriculture, Lucknow, has given much time and attention to the study of: the Indian sugar industry, and would, the Consul believes, be interested to learn of any new crushing machine which would be adaptable to the needs of the Indian cultivator. It is often through the agricultural departments of the various provinces that such things are brought into the ‘country. It is not easy to introduce an article of this des- cription into India, and unless firms are prepared to go to a good deal of trouble, and perhaps some expense, in learning the exact needs of India in respect to such machines, it will be useless to make any such attempt. DOMESTIC RICE CULTURE INCREASES RAPIDLY. (From the Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XLVI., No. 17, April 29, 1911.) The United States Department of Agriculture has completed a report on: rice culture in the United States in ‘a which, after an elaborate technical — } survey of the subject, the Department calls attention to the great changes in | the methods of cultivation as follows:- “In 1884and 1885 afew farmers from the North-western prairie States settled =— on the great southern prairie which extends along the coast from the parish of St. Mary in Louisiana to the Texas line about 140 miles. Finding that rice, which had been grown for many years methods, was. well-suited to conditions of agriculture here, they commenced. pr ‘were made. . wry, 191). fark immediately to adapt the agricultural machinery to whieh they had been accustomed to the rice industry. The gang plough, dise harrow, drilland broad- cast seeder were readily adjusted, but the twine binder encountered a number of serious obstacles. However, by the close of 1886 the principal difficulties had been overcome. herever prairies were found sufficiently level, with-an inter- secting creek which could be used to flocd them, they were surrounded by a small levee thrown up by a -road grader or by a plough with a strong wing attached to the mold-board, ex- tending it four or five feet. These levees were usually twelve to twenty- four inches high, and the interior ditch was twelve to eighteen inches deep and four or five feet wide. Very few interior ditches were made for drainage. The land was so level that fields of forty and eighty acres were common. Large crops were produced. The prairies were practically free from injurious grasses, and the creek or river was soft and bore no damaging seeds to the fields. The rice fields were handled like the bonanza wheat farms of Dakota, and fortunes Levees were cheaply con- structed; little attention was paid to drainage, more than to remove the surface water; shocking, stacking and threshing were done ina very careless manner; the main object being appar- ently to plant a large acreage and harvest a certain number of bushels regardless of quality. Ultimate failure was certain, but it was hastened by drought. A succession of dry years followed. The creek failed and reser- voirs were found to be expensive and unreliable. ‘The soil and climatic conditions in South-eastern Texas are almost precisely like those in South-western Louisiana. Rice culture in this section requires no separate treatment. What is applicable to the one applies also to the other. There is a belt of prairie land well-suited to rice extending from the Sabine river west for 250 miles or more along the coast. Within afew vears large farms 41 Edible Products, have been opened and devoted to this cereal witb excellent returns.” On speaking of the prospects of the industry the Department says :— “The outlook for the further exten- tion of rice culture is very promising, According to the best estimates there are about 10,000,000 acres of land in the five States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico well suited to rice cultivation. The amount which can be successfully irrigated by present methods, using the available surface and artesian flows, does not exceed 3,000,000 acres. The balance of the land could probably be ~ brought into cultivation were it neces- sary, but the cost would, perhaps, be prohibitive at present prices. Three million acres is a conservative estimate of the area which can be easily irrigated. The best results require rotation of crops; consequently only one-half of that area, or 1,500,000 acres, would be in rice at any one time. At an average yield of 10 barrels (of 162 pounds) per acre, 1,500,000 acres of rice would produce nearly 2,500;000 pounds of clean rice, nearly six times the amount of our present consumption. There is no satis- factory reason why the United States should not grow and mill all of its own rice and become an exporter. * The employment of machinery in the rice fields of the South-west similar to that used in the great wheat fields of California and the Dakotas is revolu- tionizing the methods of cultivation and greatly reducing cost. The American rice grower, employing higher priced labour than any other rice grower in the world, in all probability will ulti- mately be abie to market his crop at the least cost and the greatest profit, If, in addition, the same relative im- provement can be secured in the rice itself, and if varieties which yield from 80 to 90 per cent. of head rice in the finished product can be _ successfully introduced, American rice groweis will be able to command the highest prices for pao product in the markets of the world. PLANT SANITATION. ‘THE DEGREE OF VIRULENCE OF FUNGUS ATTACKS. vi (Krom the Agricultural News, Vol. X,, No. 234, April 15, 1911.) In these days, when almost everyone -. connected with agriculture has had a considerable, and often unpleasant, 6 experience of the general effects of fungus diseases on crops, it is hardly necessary to point out that some fungi are much more thorough than others in carrying out their work of destruction. It is only requisite to consider for a moment the damage inflicted upon the sugar-cane in the West Indies by the rind fungus during the last decade of Plant Sanitahon. the past century, and to contrast it with the comparatively small annual toll exacted by the root fungus of that crop, or by the pod diseases of cacao, in order to realize fully how different may be the effects produced. In the first instance, the colonies were threatened with the complete annihilation of their staple industry ; while, with the other two, though the yield is reduced toa greater or less extent by the parasites, some return may always be expected from the crops. Since the attacks of endemic fungi, such as those causing pod diseases of cacao, are much less immediate in their economic effect, and consequently of a considerably less alarming nature to the community in general, ample time is afforded to the mycologist in which to perfect his means of combating them, and to the practical agriculturist in which to realize the importance of such means and to apply them to his crops. Moieover, endemic fungi are frequently in their nature more easy of control than the epidemic. The majority of plant diseases are of an endemic nature, and this fact, taken in conjunction with their extended scientific study, has resulted for the greater part in the formation of fairly efficient means for reducing the damage they inflict, and the recognition of the nature and import- ance of these diseases has called into being a body of men specially trained in the knowledge of this subject. Now, since common experience has shown in many cases that such trained men are able to give advice which, if followed, will result in the extensive reduction of the losses formerly incurred owing to the attacks of parasites, a natural belief is tending to arise that mycologists can always afford advice of a simple kind for controlling or eradicating all fungus diseases. In reality, this is far from being the case. Much depends on the nature of the host plant, on general external conditions, and on the co-operation of large numbers of persons whose crops are attacked by any given disease. Even then the position may appear almost hopeless, and may only be saved by the inter- vention of some unforeseen external circumstance. A good illustration of what is meant is afforded by the out- break of canker on the chestnut trees of the United States, which only attracted attention in the year 1904, and has now become a serious epidemic, so far impos- sible to control. The disease is due to a wound fungus identified as Diaporthe parasitica, Mur- rill, which lives in the inner bark and Bu ate cambium of the stem and all woody — branches of the chestnut. On limbs © with smooth bark, the parasite pro- duces pale brown, sunken patches on the outer bark. These become more or less thickly covered with the yellow orange or reddish brown pustules of the fungus, | which break through the lenticels. Ina damp atmosphere, the summer form of spore is extruded in a yellow or greenish tendril, which becomes brown as it grows older. The fungus grows so fast that it’ can completely girdle a branch or small trunk, and thus kill it in from one to. two' years. Even large trunks are girdled as a rule in four years. The native American chestnut (Cas- tanea dentata) is the plant most subject to attack, but the chinquapin (Castanea pumila), found native from New Jersey to Florida, is also affected, while the disease has been found, as well on the Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata). Indeed, it is suggested that imported plants of this foreign variety growing at Long Island may well.have served as the original source of the disease. This point has not, however, been definitely . established. Instances of a disease which may have been this were noted as early as 1902, but it was not until 1904 that it attracted at- tention; while it did not receive full in- | vestigation by a mycologist until 1905. At that time it had assumed serious pro- portions, and by 1909 over fifty per cent. of the trees within a radius of twenty- five milesof New York had been com- - pletely killed out. In addition to this, the disease had appeared at various pointsin a number of states, and its rapid spread throughout the whole of — the chestnut and chinquapin-growing area of the United Staces appeared im- minent. Another very serious consider- ation was that all the preventive measures tried within the area of serious infection had failed absolutely to pro- duce any effect, though these had been carried out on a fairly extensive scale by trained men, and though support was given to the work by the United States Department of Agriculture. There was,. moreover, no lack of co-operation on the part of individuals, and no want of money. Everything possible was done in many instances, but absolutely no re-. sult was achieved. At the present time, practically every tree within the infect- ed area is doomed, while the possibility of the complete destruction of the native American chestnut and of the chinqua- pin must be faced. Itis needless to state that this destruction represents a loss of economic products aggregating in ~ value several hundred million dollars, Jaws in all districts ‘Juty, 1911.) Metealf and Collins, writing in 1909, took a less gloomy view of the situation. They believed that the spread of the disease could be restricted to the badly infected area, if stringent measures were adopted with this object. These measures included the most careful in- spection of all nursery stock and the passing of very thorough quarantine at that time free from the disease. Furthermore, they stated that the Department of Agriculture was prepared to give all pos- sible assistance, particularly in educat- ing the public to recognize the disease, so that trees recently infected in a pre- viously healthy area could be removed, and diseased parts burned. In such an area, whereithe sources of reinfection were small, very careful excision of diseased parts mightalso prove effective. Hveu then, they advised that constant vigilance would be necessary. Spraying experiments with infected trees were in- conclusive. In the badly infected area, the complete destruction of diseased trees was recommended as the only course to be adopted, since the sources of ‘reinfection were so numerous as to pre- clude the possibility of successful treat- ment. It was also suggested that, sub- sequently, replanting with a partially immune variety, such as the Japanese chestnut, or witha cross between this and the native species, might be found possible, though the Japanese tree does not yield such good nuts, and does not appear to be as nearly as useful as lumber. No disease as destructive as this has ever yet been experienced in the West Indies. The sugar industry was fortun- ately saved by the discovery of com- paratively immune varieties of cane, giving returns as good as, or even better than, the variety destroyed, Neverthe- less, the experience of the United States in the instance quoted indicates that an outbreak of disease might occur on any crop, which could not be checked by the most. skilful treatment or the most thorough co-operation, and that noth- ing would remain but to face the conse- quences and to adopt the cultivation of some different plant. CHEMICAL PROCESS TO PRESERVE ‘ TIMBER. Woop BoiEp IN SACCHARINE SOLUTION —PROCESS CLAIMED TO BE SIMPLE ' AND INEXPENSIVE. (From the Manila Baitetins June 5, 1911.). A limited stock company, located near _ Wellington, New Zealand, is now engaged in treating chemicaily lumber of ordin- 43 Plant Sanitation. ary quality for railroad ties, fence posts, etc., and claim is made that the mate- rial so treated will last as long as the best wood the forests can produce. According toa New Zealand journal, the company has established extensive works capable of treating a million feet of lumber per month, and yet is quite unable to cope with the rush of orders received. In reporting on the new process, Con- sul-General W, A. Prickitt says :— The preserving process is said to be simple and inexpensive, and consists essentially in boiling the wood iu a saccharine solution to which certain other substances are added according to: the special purpose for which the lumber is required. The lumber is not subject to any external pressure or vacuum at any stage of the process. The wood as itis received is immersed ina cold solution in large open tanks. This solution is gradually raised to the boiling point and is maintained at this temperature for a certain time, depending on the size and density of the wood, After cooling the wood is removed and placed in adrying chamber, the temperature of which is slowly raised. When sufficient desiccation has taken place the chamber is gradually cooled down. The time occupied of the whole treatment generally takes but a few days, though in special cases.and for large-sized timber it may be extended for several weeks. The action which takes place is described as follows :— As the temperature of the solution in which the wood is immersed is raised the airin the wood expands and the greater portion escapes in a series of bubbles. As _a_ saccharine solution boils at a slightly higher temperature than water, the moisture in the wood is converted into vapour and escapes along with the air. During the boiling the albuminous matter in the wood is coagulated and rendered inert. In some measure this coagulation accounts for the strength of the wood being increased by the process, While cooling the solution is rapidly absorbed by the wood and pene- trates every part of it. The company is executing an order for 180,000 sleepers for the Government Rail- way Department, and the works were lately inspected by the Prime Minister. The company is also treating large quantities of wood for use in railway cars and carriages. Among the advantages claimed for this process is the statement that the timber can be treated as soon:as it is brought in from the woods and then Live Stock. 44 immediately used tor the purposes required, whereas in the ordinary way the sawn timber must be allowed to season for a year or more before being worked up. It is claimed, also, that it ¢ Vheirag “3 $e [Jony, 191, a there is no waste in lumber which has ~ been treated, as the process stops all warpage and splitting, as well as render- ing it absolutely immune from dry rot and borer insects. LIVE STOCK BRIEF REPORT ON THE VETERIN- ARY INSTITUTIONS OF JAPAN. By R. F. Kyieut, Assistant Chief Veterinarian, and C. G. THomsoN, Superintendent of the Serum Laboratory, (From the Philippine Agricultural Review, Vol. IV., No. 3, March, 1911.) ORGANIZATION. The veterinary work forms one of the divisions of the bureau of agriculture, which is under the administration of the Minister of Agriculture and Com- merce, and to it are assigned the inspec- tion of meat, the inspection and quaran- tine of imported animals, and the control of contagious and infectious animal diseases, Although the im- provement of equines is left entirely in the hands of the military department, the remainder of the animal husbandry work comes within the field of the bureau of agriculture, and so much has been done along this line by the import- ation of foreign stock that in some localities it is difficult to find an animal of pure Japanese blood. Numerous publications pertaining to the veterinary work and organization have been issued paite form of pamphlets and compil- ations. RINDERPEST ERADICATION. The work of the eradication of rinder- pest in Japan by the bureau of agricul- ture is greatly tacilitated by existing provisions, not only for the slaughter of animals affected with this disease, but also for those suspected of being infected. Quarantines are maintained against the districts where disease prevails by an efficient police force in such a manner that there is little danger of the extension of the area infected. As a matter of fact, however, the Japanese people have such a _ hearty respect for law and order that there are few attempts to violate any quarantine regulations that are imposed. ' In addition to the slaughter of the animals affected and those directly exposed, and strict quarantine over the infected locality, the injection of anti- rinderpest serum is practised upon the neighbouring animals which are not known to have been directly exposed to the disease. The Japanese officials believe that anti-rinderpest serum 1s valuable in stamping out an epizootic of rinderpest, and that in the majority of cases a dose of 100 cubic centimeters can be depended upon to confer a passive immunity to the average animal for a period of two or three weeks. It appears that their conclusions regarding the value of anti-rinderpest serum have been drawn principally from literature. They use serum largely on those indivi- duals which they believe are not exposed and where they do not expect the disease to appear. The fact that they do not have a large number of cases among a animals that have been injected with | anti-rinderpest serum seems to be due to the fact that very few ot the injected animals are actually exposed. Their tests regarding the efficiency of this serum have been, so far as could be ascertained, the simultaneous injection — of serum and virulent blcod. It is believed that the simultaneous injection — of large doses of serum will greatly reduce the percentage of mortality in 4 animals that are given virulent blood, but this does not prove that the injec- 5 tion of anti-rinderpest serum will prevent | an attack when an animal is exposed several days after the injection of serum. - However, some of the Japanese, especi- ally Dr. H. Tokishig, Superintendent of the Institute for the Infectious Diseases of Animals, believe the injection of anti- rinderpest serum to be of little value except when used in connection with other measures, such as the slaughter of infected individuals and those directly exposed, strict quarantine of the infected district, etc. During the past few years outbreaks of rinderpest in Japan have been largely due to the importation of disease from China and Korea. On ~ several occasions they have suffered _ from small outbreaks which have been ~ - Juty, 1911] {pie traced to these sources, but these out- ae breaks have been speedily suppressed by is stringent measures, and the country : has remained free from rinderpest until another importation of the infection. Japan suffered its heaviest losses from rinderpest in 1896, for which year about 7,000 deaths are recorded. This infection was stamped out during the same year, and no new cases appeared until 189. Since then the disease has appeared from time to time through importations received from the mainland, but it has never seriously menaced the livestock ‘\industry. At the present time Japan is entirely free from rinderpest, and to prevent the importation of contagious and infectious animal diseases’ the Government has installed quarantine stations at the principal ports, and has issued stringent regulations governing the inspection and quarantine of animals received from foreign countries. QUARANTINE STATIONS. One of the quarantine stations, that at Yokohama, was visited. It is small, accommodating only about 50 animals, but as practically no animals except } those for breeding purposes are im- ported at Yokohama, it is of sufficient size for that port. The quarantine station is located about 5 miles from the central part of the city and is situ- ated on a small inlet so that live stock ean be transported directly from the steamers to the place of quarantine. The entire station occupies about three-tenths of a hectare of ground, and is surrounded by a tight board fence about 8 meters in height, In the centre of this area is a buildirg of two stories which is used by the quarantine officials as an office. Around this central struc- ture are several other buildings used for ‘, the detention of animals. These build- ings are constructed along sanitary lines : having concrete floors and electric lights. They are well ventilated and offer ample room and comfortable accommodation to the animals. Some of these buildings, those used for the detention of animals -— which may have been exposed toany of ‘ the diseases which are most commonly 3 transmitted by flies, are provided with - | double screen doors and windows. In addition to these structures there is a small building located in one corner of -the grounds for the isolation of suspected eases of disease, and another similar building whichis used exclusively for . post‘mortem work. Bovines and other _ animals susceptible to rinderpest, im- -ported from foreign countries where rinderpest is known to exist, are held at this quarantine station for twenty days they are eviscerated, Live Stock. after their arrival. In case rinderpest develops among any of the imported animals during the period of quarantine the entire herd is slaughtered and with- out indemnity to the owner. These regulations do not apply, however, to cattle imported for slaughter, as these are held in quarantine for two weeks only, after which time they are required to be slaughtered within three days. SLAUGHTER-HOUSES AND MEAT INSPECTION. The cattle dealers and butchers are required to furnish men for slaughtering their animals, and they are charged a moderate sum for the use of the abattoir (for cattle and horses, 1 yen* per head, and for hogs, 25 sen). The buildings connected with the Government abattoir at Tokyo cover about one-fifth of a hectare of ground which is inclosed by a board fence. On two sides of this en- closure are sheds for tying animals which are awaiting entrance to the slaughter-house. The hours for slaugh.- tering are from 5a.m. tol0a.m. There is daily inspection before killing com- mences of the clothing worn by the men working at the slaughter-house and of all baskets and other utensils. The Government inspection of meat consists of a careful ante-mortem inspec. tion of the animals and a thorough post-mortem examination of the carcass. The ante-mortem inspection is conducted in ashed which is near the entrance of the main building and equipped with scales for weighing the animals. Near this shed is a building used as an office for the veterinarians and police officers in charge, and at one end of this latter structure is a laboratory sufficiently equipped to enable the veterinarians to make a microscopical examination of the abnormal tissues revealed by the post-mortem examination. This labor- atory is supplied with glass jars and preservatives for the collection of in- teresting pathological specimens which are occasionally encountered. The main structure, where the butcher- ing is performed, has“ concrete floor with deep grooves running in two directions so that the fluids are carried into the main gutters without spread- ing over a large area of the floor. The walls to the height of 14 meters are enamelled tile. About one-third of this building is partitioned off for the dressing of cattle. These are skinned on the floor, and then by means of men and tackles, are hoisted to a track where A post-mortem examination is made in this room, and * Lyen = P13 25 sen = 25 centavos, Live Stock. if no pathological lesions are found, the carcass is stamped and passed for food. If any abnormalities are revealed, the carcass is run into a separate room for a final examination and the viscera are carried into another room where they are placed upun a table and given a thorough examination in order to ascertain whether or not the carcass or any of its parts are fit for human con- sumption, A room adjacent to the main killing floor is devoted entirely to the cleaning of viscera. Hogs are slaugh- tered on the opposite side of this puild- ing and go through the same system of inspection as the cattle. Horses and other animals are occasionally slaugh- tered, but cattle and hogs form the principal means of supply. Condemned carcasses are taken from the slaughter- house to the crematory, while condemn- ed parts, such as lungs, livers, etc., are rendered sterile by boiling at the scapalgatie iawn and then used for ferti- izer. The Government slaughter-houses are under the supervision of the Police de- partment, and the stamps with which the quarters are marked bear the words “Inspected by the chief of the Police Court.” The bureau of agriculture in- spects the meat and decides whether or not it is fit for human consumption. The remainder of the work at the abattoir is under the supervision of the Police department. The inspection of meat is very thorough, and all meat imported into the Philippine Islands bearing the stamp of the Japanese Government may be considered fit for human food unless affected by decomposition or other changes which have taken place after the inspection. At the Government abattoirs in Japan, a great many parts are condemned on account of the pre- sence of animal parasites. Among those more frequently found are the EHchino- coccus, the Strongylus Paradoxus, and the Distoma hepaticum. The first of these often produces in the lungs a marbled appearance, which on microscopical ex- amination somewhat resembles a lung affected by contagious pleuro-pneumo- nia. The last of the three mentioned is very common, and when this parasite is found the entire liver is condemned. Aside from'the parasitic affections, tuber- culosis is one of the diseases most frequently discovered. This disease is quite widespread in Japan, and the Government has taken important steps toward its control. Pe INSTITUTE FOR THE INFECTIOUS ~ DISEASES OF ANIMALS. In connection with the control and era- dication of animal diseases, the bureau of agriculture maintains at Tokyo, under the direction of Dr. H. Tokishige, a laboratory well equipped for experi- mental work and the production of serums and vaccines. The scope of its work is indicated by the following table showing the quantities of various pre- parations there during the year 1909 :— Anti-rinderpest serum liters 400 Anthrax serum Pee (0 0) 151 Anthrax vaccine Winget [o) 5 Tuberculin ie SO) 33\ Mallein cubic centimeters 725 Chicken cholera vaccine... liters 40 Swine erysipelas serum ... do 2°5 Auti-strepticocci serum... do 29 The preparation of serum for hog cholera and backleg is being commenced, but ue to the present time very little has been produced. All the animals at the institute are inclosed in the same yard, so that great precautions are necessary to prevent the spread of the different diseases from one stable to another. For this reason animals are kept in fly-proof sheds which are so constructed as to readily permit a thorough disinfection. The un- necessary passage of attendants from one building to another is prohibited, and all persons entering any part of the grounds, except the laboratory proper, are required to wear rubber boots which are immersed in antiseptic baths upon leaving any of the buildings. The in- stitute covers about one hectare of ground, and is inclosed by a high fence. About thirty-five animals are used in the production of anti-rinderpest serum, besides a few others which were being held as virus carriers. The general method of the prcduction of anti-rinderpest serum is very similar to that,which is being practised in the Philippine Islands, but the process of immunization is a trifle slower. animals are bled twice during a period of three days about two weeks after the inoculation of 700 or 800 cubic centi- meters of virulent blood. Norules are laid down as to the number of bleedings which each animal is to undergo, but the treatment of individuals depends greatly upon the need for serum, the amount of virus available and other factors. As a rule animals are dis- charged after the second bleeding follow- ing inoculation of 3,000 cubic centime- ters of virulent blood. The men in 46 ei [Jony, 1911 charge of this work claim that larger i _ plates. \ A doses of virus do not give a correspond- ing reaction, but tend to be destroyed rather than absorbed. They maintain that the serum animals may be used for the production of serum indefinite- ly without any reduction in the potency of the serum produced. After being placed in stocks the animals are bled from the jugular vein by means of a trocar and canula, the blood being received into a cylindrical glass jar about 10 or i2 centimeters in height and of a capacity of about 400 cubic ceuti- meters. After the blood is drawn these jars are covered by means of glass They claim that a much better separation of bovine serum is obtained by the use of this type of jar than with all cylindrical ones of a smaller diameter. After the separation of the serum from the solid parts of the blood, it is drawn from the jars by means of a pipette, and without filtration is sealed for delivery in brown glass bottles of 10 cubic centi- meters capacity. Itis said that abcess formatiom seldom follows the injection of this unfiltered serum. They think that the strength of the individual has much to do with the efficiency of the serum produced, and on this account they use only strong robust bulls as serum animals, Those which give a medium reaction to the inoculation of virulent blood are con- sidered better for the production of serum than those which experienced a very strong or very weak reaction, as those giving a very strong reaction are believed to be weak individuals. Before a serum animal is put into constant use as such his serum is tested on a calf and must protect the calf in doses of 110 cubic centimeters per 100 kilos against ae praul taneous inoculation of virulent vod. VETERINARY INSTRUCTION. Besides maintaining quarantine sta- tions and slaughter-houses and labora- tories for the preparation of sera and vaccines, the Japanese Government has gone still further and has established a veterinary course to prepare men for recommending and carrying out the sanitary principles for the preservation of live stock. 'The course is given in the Imperial University at Tokyo, and for entrance the completion of a course in one of the “higher schools” is required. The period of instruction covers three years of ten months each, and includes the principal subjects pertaining to _ veterinary and sanitary science. _ The main building used by this course is occupied by class rocms, labcratories, and museums. The museums are especi- 47” Live Stock. ally well equipped, containing numerous specimens and models. The anatomical section contains skeletons of all domes- tic animals, models of the organs of special sense and viscera, and paper models of the head and limbs, showing the relative positions of muscles, nerves, bursae ligaments, and blood vessels. These models have been prepared by the professor of anatomy by means of plaster of Paris casts of dissected speci- mens, andare as natural and accurate as models could be made. In relation to horse-shoeing, there are specimens and drawings illustrating the positions occu- pied by the bones in various attitudes of the horse. Horse-shoes from various parts of the world are exhibited as well as shoes for correcting all abnormalities. Another section contains animal food- stuffs, both foreign and Japanese, and specimens of nearly all the medicinal plants. Models of horse stables and dairy barns, as well as models of the different breeds of stock are used for instruction in animal industry. Besides the models and specimens already mentioned, the museum contains a large supply of pathological specimens which have been collected by the faculty. . At the rear of the main structure are three buildings used for hospital pur- poses, One of these provides stable room for about twenty large animals. Another is used as a small animal house, and contains accommodations for about forty cats or dogs. Both of these build- ings contain consultation and operating rooms, andare fully equipped with in- struments and apparatus for clinical work. Horses are shod and clipped at the hospital, the owners being required to pay a small sum for the expense incurred. As a whole the veterinary course seems to be very thcrough and up-to- date in every way, and compares very favourably with the courses given at the veterinary colleges in the United States. CONCLUSION. The Japanese have shown a clear understanding of the importance of animal diseases by the establishment of suitable quarantine stations and abattoirs, and of excellent veterinary colleges and laboratories for the study of subjects pertaining to veterinary work and the education of men to pro- tect their live-stock interest. The enactment of wise legislative measures again demonstrates their realization of the importance of live-stock protection as well as a confidence in the men who are making a life study of this work | Lave Stock. This FEaliVAthOn of the a hence of the live-stock industry and the confid- ence placed in the men capable of its protection, together with the determin- ation of the veterinarians to put into actual practice all sound theories per- taining to the work, have in recent years prevented animal diseases from causing serious losses, There are many points in the laws, methods, and institu- tions pertaining to veterinary work in Japan that are worthy the consider- ation of other countries. ITALY. THe CRISIS IN THE MEAT SUPPLY AND THE RECENT ITALIAN ZOOTECHNIC PROVISIONS. With regard tothe above matter we reproduce the following from the last number of the Bulletin of the Bureau of Social and Economic Intelligence, pub- lished (81st May, 1911) by the Inter- national Institute of Agriculture. The crisis in meat has spared no country inrecent years, and consequently not even Italy. Much has been written upon its causes, which certainly are complex, but the chief cause, it appears, is the increase in the consumption of meat, which is due to the increased well- being of the lower classes. In fact, it appears that, while in 1903 the annual average consumption of meat per inhabitant was 21 kg., in 1908 it rose to 25 kg., to arrive at 30 kg., in 1910. At the same time the employment of animals in agricultural work has also increased. It is then no wonder that, as meat is an article the quantity of which it is not easy to increase, an increase in supply has not been able to keep pace with this rapid increase in demand. To meet the difficulty, recourse has been had to importation which, in only three years, has increased tenfold, in the case cf cattle alonerising from 12, 000 head in 1907 to 122,000 in 1910. At the same time exportation has diminished. All this has given a new impulse to the rearing of Italian cattle, which has also derived advantage from the young cattle imported from abroad, The census of cattle, in 1908, in fact, showed an increase on the figures of 1881, of 1,427,000 head of horned cattle, 1,844,011 swine, 2,567,000 sheep and 608,000 goats. Yet neither the increased importation, nor the natural increase of native cattle, nor the diminished export, sufficed to 48 be ria oe (Jury, 191. prevent an alarming rise in price both of live cattle and of butchers’ meat, whence the King’s Government has thought well to accelerate the natural increase, eucouraging additional zootech- nic production by means of suitable rewards and various legal provisions. This is the intention of the bill presented to the Italian Parliament on the 14th December, 1910, by the Minister Raineri, providing for the protection and increase. of the national zootechnic production. By this bill the provisions on the Estimates for Agriculture would be increased by 200,000 frances for the en- couragement of horse breeding. The Minister of Agriculture, besides, will promote and subsidise the establishment of service stations for cattle, and the introduction of breeding cattle of im- proved stock; will grant prizes to the breeders; will encourage the develop- ment of mutual cattle insurance socie- ties, and the co-operative dairies; will found and subvention new zootechnie, institutes ; will arrange for shows with prizes for breeding stock and competi- tions in the scientific feeding of cattle. (Summarised from the Bulletin of the. Bureau of Social and Economic Intelli- gence of the I. I. of A. Year II., No.5, 31st May, 1911.) This article and others in this issue » are taken from the new publication ‘““Communications to the Press” issued by the International Institute of Agri- culture in Rome. A summary of the contents of the Bulletin of Social and Eeonomic Intelligence, from which these are mostly abstracted, is given below. SUMMARY of the 5th No. (Year II) of the Bulletin of Social and Economie In- tellagence, of 3lst May; 1911 (pp. VIII and 265). I. CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION.— 1. Germany: The Development of Co-: operative Dairies ; Statistics of same for the last Decade.—-2. Austria. Agricul- tural Co-operative Societies registered on the Ist January, 1911,—8, Belgium. (a) The Co-operative Dairies at the National Dairy Congress ; (b) The House Keepers’ , Clubs, (c) Miscellaneous Information.—4. Denmark. The new Bill on Co- -operative Societies (Introduction and _ text).—5. France. Statistics of Agricultural Co- Operative Societies for Production that have received Long Credits from the State.—6. Hungary. The 9th National Farmers’ Congress and the matters dis- cussed at it.—7. Italy. Current News.—8. Russia. The Co-operative Dairies of -. Buropean Russia and of Siberia.—9. Bibliography of Co-operation (classified according to Nations), II. INSURANCE.—l. Germany. Insur- ance of Butchers’ Beasts.—Hungary. (a) Bill on the Agricultural Workmen’s Aid Bank; (b) Communal Cattle Insurance Societies.—Italy, Current News. Ill, Non OCo-oOPERATIVE AGRICUL- : TURAL COreEpDIT.—1. Great Britain and , Treland. Facilitations of Credit for the Improvement or Reclaiming of Lands.— 2. Italy. Proposal for Reforming the Organisation of Agricultural Credit in Sardinia.—3. Portugal. The New Legis- ‘lation on Agricultural Credit.—4. Biblio- graphy for the Subject of Credit. IV. GENERAL AGRICULTURAL ECco- NOMICS.—Germany. The Rise in price of Meat, its Causes and Remedies accord- ing toa Recent Enquiry.—2. Italy. New Provisions for the Increase of the Zoo- technic Industry. APICULTURE. THE BLOSSOMING OF THE EUCALYPTUS AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE PRODUCT OF THE HONEY-BEE FROM A Com- MERCIAL STANDPOINT. (From the Queensland Agricultural 4 Journal, Vol. XXVI., Pt. 3, March, 1911.) — Wehad, not long ago, to remark upon 4 the singular reticence of most of those _ engaged in farming pursuits, and in ‘ what may be called the minor rural i industries. Amongst these are poultry- breeders, bee-keepers, nursery-men, pig- breeders, flower-gardeuers, foresters, naturalists, and many others. They may make discoveries in their particular branch of industry which might be beneficial to many engaged in the same line of business, but not a word do they publish, and itis hard to get any inform- ation even by paying a visit to their holdings. It would seem as if they want to keep everything dark for fear that someone else might derive any benefit by any publicity. A few years ago we - visited many parts of the State in the t) interests of the farming and fruit-grow- 4 ing community. We took photographs m of the most interesting crops, machinery, stock, &c., and described the farms and the districts visited in this journal. Amongst the very interesting places visited were portions of the Blackall - _ ~—Range, including Nambour, Eumundi, a. Mapleton, Petrie’s Creek, &c. From el ‘Rockhampton to Barcaldine, Cunna- ‘cof mulla, Thargomindah; from Cairns to $ Redlynch, and thence to Kuranda, Ma- __-reeba, Atherton, the Russell River, &c., % ye : Lave Stock, we scoured the country for information subsequently published in the interests of the districts visited. What do we hear now of the life of the settlers, of their successes or failures? Practically nothing beyond a few meagre notes sent by a newspaper correspondent to some of the city and town journals, convey- ing the information that rain is wanted or not wanted, so that so many points fell, or that the Shire Council decided to put a culvert over a gully. As to any detailed intormation about crops, none is usually forthcoming except from sugar-planters. What leads us to this bit of sarcasm is that we have heen asked a question about the effect of the eucalyptus on the product of the honey- bee, but bee-keepers give us no inform- ationon anything connected with bees ‘beyond a few items in the Queenslander once a week. We can find no better answer to the question mentioned than the following extracts from a paper read at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in 1895 by Mr. D. R. McConnel, M.A. :— ‘* Bee-keepers, like all others who are engaged ir rural production, should be, and to a great extent must be, observers of the out-of-doors manifestations of Nature. To them the indications of a honey-flow are all the more important because the blossoms, which yield their harvest are for the most part beyond their cultivation or control. In no part of the world has it been found profitable to combine the harvesting of honey with the growing of plants to yield the nectar. The apiarist, therefore, is thrown for his returns in some measure upon the crops of neighbouring farmers, but to a far larger extent upon the wild blossoming of field and forest. His eye is on the weeds of the byways and the meadows, or scans the tree tops of the woods. To him the burden of the ciouds is as momentous as to the agriculturist. A heavy sudden storm may wash out tons of nectar from the flower-cups, long- continued wet may imprison and starve his bees, and drought may wither up the sources of hisspoils. It is, therefore, no idle curiosity which leads a_bee- keeper to narrowly observe, and, if possible, make guiding deductions from, variations of the weather and of the efflorescence of honey-yielding plants. ‘Perhaps in no part of the world is the native flora characterised by so general and abundant a secretion of honey asin Australia, and at the same time by such capricious appearance of its blossom. The former feature is remarkable, because the honey-gather- ‘ing insects are comparatively tew, and Live Stock the native apide are tor the most part too insignificant in size to tulfil the function of floral fertilization. Prob- ably in the case of flowering trees their fertilisation is partly secured by the crowds of honey-sucking parrots and other birds which scream and chatter among the laden boughs, and completed by the honey-eating beetles, of which there are great numbers. The uncer- tainty of the times of blossoming, on the other hand, is a feature more remark- able than the first, and extremely dis- concerting to the apiarist. In countries of more temperate climate, furnished with a constant water supply or with more regular periods of rainfall, the honey season, if not the quantity of honey, can be depended upon with toler- able exactness. In Europe the field crops, the fruit and forest trees, the heather, have little variation in their times of blossom. In Northern America bee-keepers can count upon clover, bass- wood forests, or mountain sage almost to a day; and the fall brings in its regular supplement of goldenrod and other meadow and marsh plants. In Cuba and tropical South America the honey-flow is always in’ the winter months. In Northern Asia and in Canada the yield is governed by the annual melting of the snow. In India it appears the migratory Apis dorsata is sufficiently regular inits habits for its native owners to date by. But in Australia, at any rate in Southern Queensland, it is almost an abnormality for eucalypts to blossom in successive years, or within weeks or even months of the preceding time of flowering; while they will occasionally, though rarely, blossom twice in the same year, a.e., during the twelve months from winter to winter. Comparing season with season, it seems that most eucalyp- tus would blossom normally every other year; but, through an age-long experience of our variable climate, they have developed an excessive, one might almost say prescient, sensitiveness to meteorological conditions. They are guilty of no temerarious lavishness in their arrangements for continuing their species. In wet seasons they will searcely blossom at all, even for two or three years. In dry seasons they will blossom year after year until the next wet period. Indeed, it may he said that the hotter and drier the season the more abundantly they flower. But the very shoots of these trees seem: to wait until the last moment to decide whether they shall become tufts of new leaves or branches of blossom; and if b f any chance they have been deceive by appearances of honey-laden | 50 Ga) (JuLy, drought into the formation ‘of. the latter, they possess the power—even after the flower-buds are apparently — fully formed—of holding them month after month unopened. I have seen a grey gum (Zu. saligna) in my stable- yard with flower-buds that hung for thirteen months without any apparent external change until they finally burst into blossom at the end of that long time of waiting. This was during the flood year of 1898. Incredible as it may be thought, I believe that observations of gum-tree blossoming, continued through a number of years, would give data upon which fairly reliable fore- | casts of coming seasons could be made. For example, the last two years, reck- oned from May to May, have been an unusual period of intermittent rainfall. During that time the eucalypts have occupied themselves in extending their leaf growth; butas early as April this year almost every kind of eucalypt might have been observed to be develop- ing extraordinary masses of flower-buds, and if the season should prove dry throughout, though not an unmixed blessing to the community in general, it will bring a wealth of harvest to the hives. Old ways are still heard of by which the weatherwise could read the skies; and_ old-fashioned bee- keepers believed their bees knew _how to forecast the coming season. There may, indeed, be more in the affinities of Nature than we think; and we may, perhaps, come.to understand better her infinite mysterious sympathies when we have ceased to attack her with the egotistic mathematicism of our day, and have learned to approach her through avenues of greater receptiveness and love. ‘* Besides the irregularity due to wet or dry seasons, eucalypts vary exceed- ingly in the normal time of flowering according to the individual kinds, Hw. maculata (spotted gum) flowers usually in midwinter; tereticornis (blue gum) about August; crebra (red ironbark) about September; melano-pholia (silver- leaved ironbark) easly in December ; sidero-phloia (grey ironbark) sometimes in December, oftener later; corymbosa (bloodwood), usually the latest about March; and so on through the numerous kinds of the species. But the blossoming of individuals fluctuates much according to their distance; from the coast, or position north and south. Perhaps of all the sorts in Southern Queens- land, tereticornis (blue gum) and ;corymbosa (bloodwood) are the most constant as to the flowering time of ' year. It is evident then that were it : st Suny, 1911.) not for their irregularity in blossoming eucalypts would provide an almost unequalled succession of honey-flow throughout the year. However, the varieties do not grow so near as to provide this continuity in one locality, although so many are the different _kinds that hardly any wooded district could be without something approaching it. The yield of honey from most varieties is enormous. A glorious thing itis to stand beneath a towering gum- tree almost snow-white with its pro- fusion of blossom, its vast top ‘the summer home of murmuring wings.’ At such times a bee-master is as glad and as busy as his bees. The quantity of nectar compensates our bee-keepers to some extent for the irregularity of blossoming, Butit is not safe for them to depend upon eucalypts alone; and there are other trees and shrubs which give an equally good and, in some cases, a better quality of honey. They belong for the most part, like the eucalypts, to the myrtaceous order. And I cannot help regretting that in a late enumer- ation of the products of this order,made, as published, by a distinguished botanist of this city, mention was omitted of a product so valuable and distinctive as its yield of honey. * Among the most numerous of the Myrtacecee are the ‘ tea-trees, all of which are rich in honey—the finest quality being obtained from those that beautify the river beds and _ watercourses, the red bottle-brush or river myrtle (Callistemon lanceolatus), and others. The paper-barked tea-trees (Melaleuca leucadendron et var,)and other swamp varieties have abundance of honey, but of a rank, objectionable flavour and smell, and dark in colour. All the Angophore (apple-trees and sugar gums) are good honey yielders—the so-called ‘sugary gum’ (Angophora lanceolata) having a peculiarly luscious, thick, though dark honey. The Tristanie are also most valuable honey producers, especially the ‘swamp mahogany’ (Tristania suavolens), which has a deli- -_ eate honey of delicious peachy flavour and aroma, perhaps the finest tobe found in the colony. The plaxts men- tioned all flower annually, mostly in the spring and early summer, and prefer moisture to drought. with the exception of the Angophore, which share the irregularity of the eucalypts to which they are most nearly allied. There are, besides, great numbers of flowering shrubs and trees in scrubs, which also ‘blossom annually, and yield honey of very fine flavours and colours. So reliable are scrub fiowers for a yearly ¥ Live Stock. yield that no bee-keeper is wise to select a locality for his apiary where his bees cannot easily reach them. The marshes and swamps on the coast are covered with honey-plants, including a number of varieties of tea-trees and grass-trees, and the mangrove. But the honey gathered from such localities near the sea is very strong, salty, and dark, andI am particularin mentioning these facts, because eucalyptus honey is often eredited with flavours derived from in- ferior sources. The results of a harvest, and the market value of a season’s take, will be much modified by the presence of honeys other than from eucaly pts. * Among the eucalypts themselves the . quality and quantity vary very much with the tree. The product of the blue gum (teretizornis) has a delightful musky perfume, very distinguishable among the hives on a warm spring evening, and a pale amber colour; but as it blossoms in late winter or early spring, the bees ean seldom take full advantage of it for storing. In my experience the brightest and finest eucalyptus honey of Southera Queensland comes from the ironbarks, particularly the grey ironbark (sidero- phloia), and the broad-leaved or silver- leaved ironbark (melano-phloia), which is a stunted, crooked tree, and therefore seldom cut for timber. The bees seem to prefer the latter; I have seen them leave the grey ironbark almost untouch- ed when both were in full blossom at the same time. The honey of the black- butt (Hu. pilularis) has the most un- usual characteristic of not candying, even if kept for several years, probably on account of its extreme density, which gives it a jelly-like consistence and makes it difficult to be extracted from the combs. “Tn none ot the honeys of the euca- lypts, so far as I have tested them, is there the slightest suggestion of the flavour of the oil secreted by the leaves. It is unlikely that in any of the spacies the oil is secreted with the honey, so that the reputed excellence of this kind of honey for medicinal purposes is prob- ably no greater than that of any other honey, and rests on no other basis than the general emollient and nourishing properties of the article from whatever source. The much-talked-of and much deprecated ‘eucalyptus flavour’ seems to have originated in one of those commercial tricks which do so much damage to the interests of honest traders and producers. It will be re- membered that a certain savunt of a chemist, travelling in Tasmania some years ago, brought before the French public the ‘extraordinary virtues’ of Scientific Agriculture, the eucalyptus honey he had found in that island, dark in colour,aud gathered, as he stated, by black bees about half the size of the European insect. The story went the round of the newspapers, and it appears that some persons in Sydney pricked their long ears at the prospective profits of the new trade, and purchasing a quantity of so-called ‘black’ honey, gathered sometimes on the Clarence River in large quantities by natives and shipped to Sydney in casks, poured eucalyptus oil into it until they thought it had enough of the smell and flavour of that extract and sent it off to London. About that time there appeared in the British Bee Journal some paragraphs on the horrible ‘ euca- lyptus’ smeli of the new Australian honey, which threatened to stink visi- tors out of the Agricultural Show where it was exhibited. The British Bee ~ af i a Y ate is ’ Journal is, or was at that time, 1891, edited by Mr. Thos. W. Cowan, F.LS., F.G.S., &c., &c., a distinguished scien- tist who had made a hobby of micros- copes and bees, a member of the famous family of paper manufacturers in Edin- burgh. An uncle of mine, also with a . hobby for bees, was a personal friend of Mr. Cowan’s, and had written to him ‘ on the prospects of a market for his Australian nephew’s honey. Mr.Cowan’s reply isin my possession, in which he ‘ assures my uncle that ‘if his nephew’s honey is no better than the Australian: honey he had seen and tasted, he (the nephew) would have a difficulty in dis- posing of it.” Mr. Cowan mentioned at ; the same time that Australian honey f fetched from . 25s. to 30s. the cwt., and was bought by druggists. (It was then the time of the great influenza epedemic.”) 4 SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. : | THE CENTRALIZATION OF AGRI- CULTURAL RESEARCH. (From the Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XLVI., No. 17, April 29, 1911.) Agriculture, in the modern sense of the term, isa many-sided subject, and requires for its successful advancement the work of many men who have been trained, not only in different branches of natural science, but also along very different lines. The two extreme types of men interested in the advarcement of this most important branch of human knowledge are represented by practical planter on the one hand; and the academical scientist on the other. Midway between these stands the man entrusted with the care of field experi- ments, who must be possessed not only of a general knowledge of the nature and value of the different branches of scientific investigation, but also of the methods and conditions of practical agriculture as exhibited in the district to which his work is intended to be of service. Now it is part of the nature of scienti- fic research that the general conclusions at which it arrives are, in many cases applicable to practical methods over a very large area, when once they have been modified to suit local conditions. Consequently, the number of individuals required to investigate the scientific side of any problem is relatively small, while the number of practical workers the - to whom they may be of value is large. The channel by means of which the. a results obtained in the laboratory are usually conveyed to the practical workers in any agricultural district is through the man entrusted with the conduct of field experiments. The num- { ber of these men must depend either on ; geographical conditions or on the extent 1 to which land is under cultivation. The functions of the middle man referred | to above are three-fold. In the f first place, he must test the value of laboratory results as applied to the production of crops under local condi- tions, though the lines along which these tests should be made must be indicated by the scientific investigator who inter- prets the results. In the second place, he is required to give advice when — needed to the practical worker, in the light of the knowledge acquired from the tests conducted, so that the inform- ation obtained may be thoroughly dis- seminated. Lastly, he may from his experience of local problems suggest lines of investigation, which would be of value, to be conducted by the appro- — priate members of the laboratory staff. The body of academical scientists is generally composed of men who have been trained in one of four special aspects of natural science. They may be concerned with the determination of — the composition and properties of sub- stances employed in agriculture (Agri- cultural Chemistry); with the study of plants of economic importance (Botany); ia “Juuy, 1911.) - with the investigation of the damage inflicted on crops by animals, parti- ecularly insects (Entomology); or in -studying the ways to prevent the loss due to the lower forms of plant life (Mycology). The problems which they investigate are suggested in the course of their work, by a study of the current literature of their subject, or by con- sideration of the suggestions received from those in charge of field experiments in a large number of different districts. In the case of the Entomologists and Mycologists, scientific investigations may also be necessitated by the occur- rence of an epidemic attack of some insect pest or fungoid disease. Itshould, however, be understood that it is not necessary for such workers to possess, as part of their equipment, a detailed knowledge of the conditions of agricul- . tural practice in any special district; what they need is to be accurately informed of those conditions, in the - places where their advice is required, in order that they may he enabled to recommend the adoption of the measures that are most suited to those conditions. It is here that those who are in charge of experimeut stations possess a parti- cular usefulness in giving the specialist an accurate idea of the circumstances in which his knowledge may be applied. This knowledge is general. It only requires to be adapted in such a way as to apply to the problem which is causing uneasiness to those who are engaged in agricultural pursuits for the purpose of making a living. It is part of the function of the labor- atory staff to keep itself thoroughly in touch with all the current literature relating tothe subject of scientific agri- - culture, as well as to conduct research. This literature must be correlated and disseminated, through the medium of definite publications, in a form in which it is of most service to the practical man. Besides rendering available all the latest results of investigations madein other parts of the world, the body of scientific investigators must prepare more tech- nical articles setting forth for the bene- fit of other similar bodies the results of its own researches. : The value of co-operative efféct be- tween the various ty pes of men concerned with agricultural interests is well illus- trated by the working of such depart- menty as those in India and the United States, Institutions ot this nature are, broadly speaking, modelled on the lines already indicated. The scientific staff is - subdivided into groups of men concerned with the investigation of problems con- ~ nected with one branch of science only. condition by the use Scientific Agriculture. Their results are conveyed through middle men and thus become available to the farmer. It is clear that when such a department requires to enlarge the sphere of its activities to include a new area, it can doso to the best advant- age, not by increasing the personal of its scientific staff, but by adding to the members of the middle men in its em- ploy. A body of specialists whose work is intended to elucidate problems con- nected with agriculture in India has recently been assembled at the Agricul- tural Research Institute at Pusa. The results obtained by them are published, and so made available to the various provincial departments and planters’ assoviations, and the scientific officers of these institutions direct the application of the results to the conditions of culti- vation which exist in their districts. All such organizations are intended to direct ancl economize the energy spent on scientific investigation, in order. that the most satisfactory results may be obtained for the minimum expenditure of labour, money and time. THE VALUE OF HUMUS. (From the Agricultural News, Vol. X., No 282, March, 1911.) In those islands of the West Indies where sugar-cane cultivation is carried on more particularly, the agricultural procedure, which is often the outcome of the experience of sevexal generations of planters, shows that the importance of an adequate supply of humus in the soil is generally recognized. Every effort is made to keep the soil in good of farmyard — manure, andas little waste as possibleis permitted of such plant remains as are available for application to the field ; while there is a constantly greater understanding of the need and import- ance of green dressings. It is generally understood, by now, that the term humus means to. the agri- culturist the dark-coloured material, formed of plant remains, that gives the soil its characteristic different colour from that of the sub-soil. The re- searches of recent years have shown that this material is formed, from vegetable waste, by the action of bacteria in a partial or total absence of air. The circumstances under which it is pro- duced cause more of it to be found in . land that has not been tilled for some time than in that which has been turned over regulatly; this condition is met with more frequently in temperate climates than in the tropics. It is a Scientific Agriculture. matter of common observation, however, in this part of the world, that the humus content of clay soils is higher than that of sandy soils, because the access of air to the interior of the soil is not as great in the case of the former as in the latter ; so that almost ideal conditions for the production of humus are afforded by clay soils. In dealing with humus more generally, it will be well to treat in turn, of its importanee, firstly in relation to the soil, and secondly with reference to the plant. It must not be forgotten, how- ever, that all final effects of humus have a direct ov indirect influence on the plant; for whatever affects the soil must ultimately have its influence on the vegetation which it supports. the most useful effects, tc the agricul- turist, of. the possession by asoil of a good humus content is the circumstance that this improves its texture, so that there is ease as well as economy in till- age operations. The artificial employ- ment of this fact has its largest appli- cation on heavy clay soils, in the im- provement of their condition by the use of vegetable matter either in the form of decayed remains such as trash, or as withered green dressings. Another matter, to which a passing reference only need be made here, on account of its comparative unimportance in the tropics, is the effect of humus in darken- ing the colour of soils and thus increas- ing their ability to absorb heat. It is recognized by the agriculturist that all soils contain mineral plant food in an unavailable condition. He, knows, too, that some of this may be freed ina state in which it can be used by plants, by the employment of artificial dressings such as lime. Humus probably plays the greatest part, however, in this matter, both artificially andin nature. This is because of its power to form bodies, commonly called humic acids, which have a dissolving actionon some of the mineral constituents of the soil. The process is naturally slow but is con- tinuous, and where the soil is well sup- plied with humus, its eventual import- ance in relation to the provision of mineral plant food is obvious, especially when consideration is given to the com- paratively small bulk of this food that is necessary to plants. A final general matter in connexion with humus ina soilis probably of the greatest concern as regards its ultimate effect in enabling that soil to produce quantities of vegetation. This is the circumstance that it provides ideal surroundings to, and a certain amount of tood for, the bacteria which effect One of - improvements in the soil, from the agri- eculturist’s point of view. This appears particularly to be the ease in relation to the nitrogen-fixing organisms. Greater recognition of the importance of the extent to which these affect the nitrogen content of the soil is being attained rapidly, and the matter is brought parti- cularly to the notice of agriculturists on account of the comparative difficulty and expense of sustaining an adequate nitro- gen content in the land from which they raise their crops. The next matter to consider is the value of humus in relation to the plant more directly. In the first place, humus itself contains nitrogen, potash and phosphates, and this isa fact that becomes of importance when the sugges- tion is made to remove plant waste from the land, or on the other hand, to bring in supplies of vegetable material from other areas on which it has been raised. The matter will be considered further, in the former aspect, when the question is raised of the destruction of vegetable matter for the control of pests. The most important and most fully recognized direct function of humus in relation to the plant is the effect that it possesses in increasing the capacity of soils to absorb water, as well as their ability to hold it when it is supplied to them. It has been considered already that | the power of a plant to grow depends upon the existence of several limiting factors, the absence of, or deficiency in, any one of which will interfere with its power development. OF these factors, as is well known, the one whose absence or insufficiency most quickly shows itself is the water-supply, and the importance of humus in keeping this at an adequate level cannot be under-estimated. The consideration may now be under- taken of some of the more particularized facts in relation to humus. One that has been indicated already is the quick rate at which vegetable matter is lost from sandy soils. This is on account of the easy access ot air to such soils, whereby the bacterial action which would lead to the formation of humus is — prevented, and oxidation takes place; so that the material is quickly lost in the atmosphere. Itisin such soils that the agriculturist requires to exercise the greatest care in regard to the supply of humus, especially asif this is deficient, any water that they receive passes away almost immediately through drainage. The burning of waste vegetable mat- ter, particularly of trash in cane fields, for the eradication of pests, is often — wk Oy SH A oe) x =’ oe eS ol ee ae abe a als mets.” ~Juiy, 1911.) — recommended. It appears; however, that this can only be done continuously, with impunity, where there is irrigation and the plentiful supply of artificial manures, as in Hawaii; and it remains to be seen, even there what will be the ultimate effects of the procedure. Other matters that remain for short consideration in the present relation are those, dealing with what is called ‘soluble humus,’ and the connection be- tween carbohydrates in the soil and the increase of efficiency of the nitrogen- fixing organisms. Soluble humus, it may be explained, is the product obtained by theaction of alkalis sach as ammonia and soda on the humic acids; there isa large amount of this matter dissolved in the dark liquid that drains away from manure heaps, because of the alkalinity of the contents of such heaps through the production of ammonia. Much re- mains to be discovered concerning solu- 5 Agricultural Finance & Co-operation, ble humus, and it is not yet known with certainty if similar bodies are of direct use to green plants. The effect of the presence of carbo- hydrates in the soil, in increasing the power of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria to do the work that is required of them, is probably due to the greater provision of food, whereby there is an augment- ation of the number of bacteria present above that which is normal, with a corsequent enlargement of the amount of nitrogen fixed. Information concern- ing the question has been given already ; it is receiving scme attention in a practical way, more particularly in Antigua and Mauritius where experi- ments on a field scale are being under- taken. Little consideration will show that work of this and a similar nature should throw much further light on the matter of the value and importance of humus to the agriculturist, AGRICULTURAL FINANCE AND GO-OPERATION. LAND IMPROVEMENT CREDIT IN GREAT BRITAIN FROM 1846 TO 1910. State credit on behalf of agriculture is provided tor in England by numerous laws, amongst which we may mention those of 1846, 1849, 1864 and 1899. The administration of these laws (the most important of which are the Public Money Drainage Acts, 1846 to 1856, the Private Money Drainage Act, 1849, and the Improvement of Land Acts, 1864 and 1899) has been entrusted to the Board of Agriculture, who periodically render an ‘account of their working. From a recent publication of the Board, the Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence of May 38lst, 1911, published by the International Institute of Agriculture, takes some data of which, from their interest, we think well to give a summry :— It appears that in the period of 63 years from 1847 to 1910 more than 18 millions sterling was advanced for land improvement in Great Britain. Only part of this sum (about £4,000,000) was advanced out of public money; the re- mainder was private money, advanced to landowners under the provisions of special laws. ‘ The greater part of the money ad- vanced—about nine millions, out of a total of 18 millions—was devoted to drainage. The amount advanced for the erection of farm buildings was also con- siderable, viz., about 54 millions in 63 later. years. Then follow the advances for the building of labourers’ cottages (nearly 14 millions); for the erection of mansion houses (nearly one million) ; for fencing and embanking (close upon half a million), and for roads (nearly a quaxter of a million) Other smaller sums were advanced for minor improve- ments. This not inconsiderable sum _ has been advanced in different propor- tions in the various years; more largely at the beginning and to a less extent It appears, in fact, that while the average amount advanced per annum between 1846 and 1882 was £387,000, it was only £158,000 per annum . between 1883 and 1910. This diminution was due, not only to the tact that the most important im- provements necessary were soon made, but to the crisis which occurred in English agriculture in the last decades of the 19th century, and made the land- | owners chary of placing burdens upon the land, the return from which, it seemed, must continue to diminish. In regard to the procedure which a landowner must tollow in order to ob- tain an advance, full information is given in the article quoted, and we refer the reader who is desirous of turther prrticulars to the Bulletin itself. (Summarised from the Bulletin of the Bureau of Kconomic and Social Intelti- gence of the International Institute of mp 2nd Year, No.4, May 3lst, 11), Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. 56 SOAP COMPANY INCORPORATED. CAPITAL P100,000—WiLL COMPETE WITH IMPORTED SOAPS—GOODS ON MARKET JUNE 15. ° (From the Manila Bulletin,) The Philippine Soap Company has been incorporated with a capital of P100,000 and will enter the market to compete with imported goods. The new company has opened offices at No. 90, Calle Arlegui, will begin oper- ations on June 4, and will be ready to place its goods on the market by June 15. The company has engaged the ser- vices of a Spanish expert in the manu- facture of soaps, who has been trained in Spain and Italy, and thoroughly un- derstands the business. Plaia goods will be placed on the market to begin with, and later it is the intention of the com- pany to manufacture fancy — soaps. Manila and the Philippines offer a good field for the manufacture of soaps, as almost all the soaps used in the islands, with the exception of cheap Chinese soaps, are imported from foreign countries. The officers of the new company are: President: T. J. Wolff, well-known in this city as president of the Sanitary Steam Laundry ; Secretary ; L. F. Good- ale, the Supervising Railway Expert of the Insular Government ; Treasurer : J. Williamson. FRANCE. LOANS OF Four MILLIONS MADE TO THE AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIE- TIES FOR PRODUCTION AND SALE IN THREE YEARS, UNDER CONDITIONS OF FAVOUR. With regard to the above we extract the following from the last numbei of the Bulletin of the Bureau of Hconomic and Social Intelligence, published by the International Institute of Agriculture. Everyone knows the magnificent pro- gress that agricultural association has made in France during the last twenty- five years, especially by means of those agricultural syndicates that owe their origin to the Law of 1884, and that, rapidly extending themselves over the whole land, to-day have reached the number of 5,200. These organisms, that the French are not wrong in considering as the germ cells of the associative movement, do not confine themselves to the defence of the - millions. . be professional interests of their members, — but also do business in buying and sell- ing for their members, and initiate every kind of mutual and co-operative socie- ties, from the mutual credit (3,000) and insurance societies (10,700) to the co-oper- ative societies for production and sale (2,600). To these last the interest of the legislator is especially given as he sees in them important instruments for the pre- servation and the advancement of pea- sant. property. Afew of these societies,as the co- operative dairies (fruitiéres) are of very ancient origin, especially in the Alps and in the Jura, but almost all the rest are of recent date, and have arisen as the expression of the industrial evolution that agri- culture is undergoing. : Many of them require, through the very nature of their business, a large plant and an expert technical , staff: hence the necessity of resorting to credit, hence the intervention of the State to place at their disposal a cheap long term Credit. , The law of 29ch December, 1906,on long is credit to the agricultural co-operative societies .provides tor this need. It authorizes the Regional Banks (inter- mediary organs between the State and the Local Societies) to grant the agricul- tural co-operative societies for produc- tion, transformation and sale long credits for a maximum period of 25 years at an interest not exceeding 2 %. The regional banks do not take the money necessary from their own capital, but it is ad- vanced them without any interest, by tne State, to which it is supplied (always without interest) by the Bank of France. The agreement of the 8lst October, 1896, and the law of 17th November, 1897, in fact, establish that the Bank of France must lend the State, without interest, for credit, the amount ot 40 million franes to be repaid on the expiration of the - privilege of the Bank, and in addition ~ sum equal to the to this, an annual amount of an eighth ofthe rate of the discount multiplied by the amount of the bank bills but never less than two Now, by the law of 29th December, 1906, the State is authorized to advance to the agricultural co-oper- ative societiés for production, through the medium of the Regional Banks, a third part of the above annual sum, which in a few years has even amounted to 7 millions. ay The beneficent effect of this law was at once felt, for the agricultural co-oper- , and cheese factories | purposes of agricultural . \ OO — Eo ee ‘i ’ i ; ; Oe pS EDS ee ee oe Se BUA a ' ledge of letters. Jury, 1911.) ative societies for production rapidly increased in number and importance. From a recent publication of the French Ministry of Agriculture: Diz ans de crédit agricole, Paris, 1911, we learn that at the end of 1911 as many as 128 co-operative societies had profited by the new credit to a total amount of 4,132,180 francs. These sums were distributed as follows: 80 dairies with a capital of 856,810 franes received 1,384,930 francs for an average period of 12 years; 21 fruiticres with a capital of 297,412 frances, received 460,800 frances for an average period of 15 years; 27 wine growers’ societies with a capital of 676,626 franes, received a loan of 922,603 franes (for an average period of 18 years); 5 wine and oil societies with a capital of 62,050 frances, 103,250 (average period of loan 18 years) ; 5 oil mills with capital of 50,187 francs, 68,250 (17 years); 10 distilleries with eapital of 324,855 franes, 521,965 (16 years); 16 societies for collective pur- chase and utilisation of agricultural machines, with 66,175 trancs capital, 57 Education. 120,442 (10 years); 2 starch factories with 74,000 franes capital, 52,000 franes (22 years); 7 societies of various kinds with 396,570 franes capital have received loans of 547,940 frances. Among the co-operative societies re- ceiving larger assistance, let us men- tion the co-operative dairy of Periers (Manche) and the winemaking co-oper- ative society of Toulouse, each of which received 100,000 francs, the Distillery of Ameville-sur-Scie (Seine Inférieure) and the Agricultural transport society of May-en-Multier (Seine-et-Marre) to which were accorded respectively 140,000 and 150,000 franes. It is well to note that the largest loan the State is empowered to make, in virtue of this law, to each co-operative society must not exceed twice the fully paid up capital of the co-operative society itself. (Summarised from the Bulletin of the Bureau of Social and Economic Intelli- gence of the I. I. of A, (Year II. N, 5, 3lst May, 1911). EDUCATION. SCHOOL GARDENS IN JAMAICA. By P. W. Murray, Instructor for School Gardens. ‘(A Lecture delivered at the Agricultural Course for School Teachers, 1911.) (From the Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, Jamaica, Vol. I., No. 4.) Importance of a Teacher's Position.— The work of a teacher should be not merely to impart to his pupils a know- It should go further and give the child a broad view of the social life of the community, of his duties asa citizen of that community, and of his responsibility to prove himself a useful member of society when he leaves school and goes out to work. If such an aim were the ideal of every teacher, a - boy in after life would remember his teacher with a sense of gratitude—grati- tude the result of success and of the thought that his teacher has fitted him directly to obtain that success—I say, he would remember his teacher with such feelings, rather than, as so many of us do, with a sense of aversion and dislike because of unjust treatment in the past and uncalled for impositions in the class- room, 8 The movement of the times points to an additional and intelligent develop- ment in the curriculum of our schools, Experience has proved that there is no power of education greater than that of bringing the young mind in touch with the plant and with the soil, and in so doing, teaching him something of the marvellous work of the Great Creator. Better than any book used for impart- ing knowledge is the workshop of na- ture, if I may so express it, and as a ready and convenient miniature of this mighty workshop the school garden has been brought into operation. Jamaica an Agricultural Country.— Jamaica, as we ail kuow, is entirely an agricultural country. Our _ presert wealth has come directly from the pro- ducts of our soil. Our interest in the future so far as we are able to see, will lie in this self-same direction ; hence the necessity of giving the children of our elementary schools as thorough a know- ledge as possible of agriculture. Highty per cent. (80 %) of our school children will probably earn their living by some form of agricultural work, and we should make every effort, direct every force, use every means at our disposal to fit them for their life’s work. If we can _Rduecation. create an interest in the children’s minds that will stimulate them to seek for knowledge in this direction. they will become intelligent workmen, and their labour will increase the general pros- perity of theisland. If we can encourage “the children to look forward to homes of their own, and this healthful out-of- door work where they will derive strength from the soil, it. must have the ultimate effect of producing a hardy profit. Value of Education.—I have tried to show that it is toward agriculture that we in Jamaica should now turn our attention. Now there is often seen in our people a tendency to avoid the soil. Sehool gardens will, if properly used, correct this tendency, and at the same time give better ideas of agricultural work than those which we have at present. It is an old adage that ‘‘ we must bend the tree while it is young.” It is there- fore important that we should mould our children’s lives as far as ‘possible in the most approved ways along those lines which they will most probably have to follow. Functions of School Gardens.—The general functions of the School Garden may be classified as follows :— 1st, and this I consider the most im- portant. To bring the child in touch with nature, and to enable him to appre- ciate something of its wonder. It will ever be the source of its greatest pleasure and inspiration if he is taught to see behind the flower the hand which paints it. The efforts to draw outsuch observation and to strengthen it by daily uses in the many directions which a school garden supplies, cannot fail to tell very power- fully on the general mental and moral nature of the child and in the up-bring- ing of a good and a useful character. 2nd. To develop the power of observ- ation. Indifference to our general surround- ings, due to lack of observation, is the fatal cause of narrow knowledge and con- sequently limited development. Nature broadens out and blesses the mind which recognises the many things which she presents for consideration, and the many lessons which she teaches for practical ccnduct. 3rd. To develop accuracy. The neces- sary work connected with a _ school garden, such as the laying out of beds aud the correct manipulation of the tape line cannot be too highly estimated asa valuable addition to a child’s edu- - 58 line, and work to that line is, as most emplovers of adult labour know, a power — that is largely absent from our working population, especially in ‘the eountry. districts. This glaring defect will be most certainly corrected in such training as a child will receive in connection with a properly conducted school garden. ~ 4th. To train directly for life’s voca- tion, and to correct the tendency to avoid agricultural pursuits now ‘so evident in certain portions of the island. In all countries where enforeed labour in any direction existed for a long period, as soil cultivation did here ‘for the many years of slavery, the emanci- pated people and their descendants have generally manifested an aversion to that description of labour. I venture to express the opinion that no means of curing this fault will be more effective than those which the school ‘gardens afford. In the course of a few years, instead of the aloofness from agriculture,’ which we now witness in so: many of our intelligent young people, leading them to reside in the cities and towns and to search for employment in directions already overcrowded, or to leave the island, we shall find an eagerness to follow a pursuit which is more fruitful than most others, one full of real plea- sure, and which ‘if patiently and perseveringly followed will not fail to yield also profit in solid cash. School Gardens in: Home Infe.—The large majority of our adult population are apparently perfectly content with their untidy environments, and it is to be feared that we must look to the rising generation for 4 advance in neat cottages with their well- kept kitchen gardens and flowering plants. . ‘ If the children are trained intelligent- ly, and their love for Nature excited and enthusiasm evoked in the school gardens, it will be well nigh impossible tor them not to carry improved taste and improved habits into their homes. — It is more than the expression of a hope that instead of cottages in the midst of bush or with economic plants struck any where and anyhow, we shall in time see homesteads marked by evidence ot industry, order, care and comfort. In some of the schools which I have visited, I have, on speaking to the children, suggested to them that efforts should be put forth in this diréction. Some cf the teachers have agreed to visit ‘the small gardens kept by ‘the children at their homes and award a prize in the form of a book to the child — ia f i a cation. The ability to lay off a straight — any general ‘Lessons b duuy,. i941) who.has the best garden, the Inspector of Schools presenting the prize on the day of the inspection of the school. These: small gardens as an outcome of school garden work are in my opinion the. best test of the work of the school garden. Where a child has been su thoroughly interested by the teacher in his. work.as to imitate that work in leisure hours at his home, it is evident that that teacher understands his work, and is himself interested in it. Sehoob' Gardens afford Practical Object for Class-room Work.—'the sehool garden should, I may be pardoned for thinking, form also the basis around which the major portion of the school work should: be centered. It should be used’ to give definiteness in instruction: It is wonderful how adaptable a garden is to the study of the three ‘‘R’s.”. We have already in use in our schools many books on agri- cultural subjects from which our reading lessons are taken. I should like to draw your attention to another which has been recently introduced, the Hon. J. B.. Williams’ book on. School Gardens. The school garden can be runin con- junction with this book, and lessons read from. it, either by the teacher to the sehool, or by: the children to the school, should immediately be put into practice, or the attention of the children drawn to the facts.as stated. in the book while at. work in the garden.. For example, when reading about the flowering or the root system of a plant, an object lesson. taken from the school garden should always be given. This would vastly improve the child’s reading, _and also his knowledge of the plant, and doubly:increase his interest in his read- ing lesson. Nothing is:more distressing than to be told to write a composition: upon a sub- jectabout which you know absolutely nothing, or upon a subject about which you have no interest. I am speaking from my:own experienceand from observ- ation, when I say that one chief diffi- cuity in the caseof young children is the lack of:something to say on the subject proposed. The teacher should find in theschool gardens a well-stocked recruit- ing ground for composition subjects, readily understood, of varied interest, ‘and.on which the child, if he has been previously brought into contact with the: work; should find no difficulty in - writing at some length. - The schoo] garden supplies material for Arithmetic of all kinds, Addition, Measurements, Fractions, Subtraction, Division, Multiplication, Areas, Ac- 59 Education. counts, ete., ete. These could all be readily and aptly illustrated from the school garden, and would give definite- ness to the subject under discussion, In order that these functions may be effectively carried out, it is necessary that the school garden be modelled along such lines as will ensure the work- ing out of the points in view. I may say briefly that a school garden is nota miniature ground, or a kitchen garden, asso many term it, It is essentially an educational medium, and_ should be kept upto that standard,if ever the results which are anticipated and desired are to be attained. 1 have had to propose very formidable changes in the planning of our school gardens. This has not been donetogive the teachers unnecessary work, but to ensure results of educational value, and in many cases such a remodelling has been followed by an increase varying from 30% to 100% in the grant awarded at the annual inspection. Planning a Garden.—The following are some of the principal features to be considered in the planning of a garden: —Simplicity of arrangement, at the same time embracing all that is desired. Order, for without order itis impossible to attempt to teach auything, much less such a subject as we are discussing: There must also be a methodical classi- fication of the different crops of the garden if results are to be attained. It is just here that the gardens of our country have failed. Thereis little or no. classification at all. evident. It is contrary to all fundamental principles of Agricultural practice, to grow to- gether and upon the same bit of land at the same time, with but few exceptions, crops of different varieties. We are so bountifully blessed in this Island with productive conditions, that it has been possible to produce two average crops in many cases, on the same bit of land growing together. This has always been followed by the absolute destruction of that land, which has resulted, unless heavily manured, in its abandonment, and the necessary amount of cleaning and replanting another such plot by the owner. This glaring fault has also destroyed the advantages, which are to be had and which should certaiuly be illustrated in the school gardens, that of rotation of “crops, which should have resulted in an improved condition of the soil and would have obviated the necessity of removal. Classification is also necessary to the study of the peculiarities, or of the Education. requirements of any one crop. It is also important to the study of the difference in variety of any one kind of economic plant. Withouta proper classification, it would be impossible to conduct a garden of any value for all the benefits that are expected to result upon the mind of the child are dependent on this point. A school garden should contain all the economic crops of its particular district. We have not yet reached the stage when it is fair to suppose that further know- ledge, and advantages to be derived theretrom, is not to be discovered upon any one ot our staple crops, The method of treating these crops, or rather the soils upon which they grow, or the tree which produce them are still open to considerable improvement. I might say that our people, as compared with other ~ countries, have only just begun to realise that there is such a thing as an intelli- gent agricultural practice, and that the plant is a living, breathing organism, and will respond in a most sensitive manner to either good or bad treatment. The treatment of our soil is still open tomuchimprovement. We do not realise that it teems with life, that it has physi- cal, chemical and biological properties, and that all of these are to a large extent within our control. I may say there isa field here and an opportunity for the teacher who realizes this, to interest his children to suchan extent that they will see that there is more on the earth upon which they live than mere dirt. Practical use of School Gardens.—The school garden should also be a means of introducing into a district any possible crop that might be of value to the dis- trict. I know of one particular garden which has been of the greatest value to thousands of people, by teaching them as Object lessons how to cultivate vege- tables. I speak of the Mount fletcher school or Mavis Bank school garden, situated in the Port Royal Mountains. This garden has been the means of intro- ducing and fostering the vegetable in- dustry of these hills which send into the city of Kingston weekly produce to the value, 1 snould think, of a couple of hundred pounds. The people of these mountains were for many years dependent on the large coffee plantations for their livelihood. The majority of these plantations have gradually died out, thus reducing the quantity of work and the price of labour —poverty and hard times were the result —and were it notforthe development of this valuable industry both to the people themselves and to the city of Kingston, 60: Was! Viger. these mountains would have been largely _ abandoned by the working population. This same industry has been largely i extended throughout Manchester by means of the school gardens, and I see no reason why the same work should not be done on a larger seale than at .~ present exists in other parishes. We certainly have the soil and climate. All _ that remains is a knowledge of the indus- d try, and the men to push it. | Experimental Workin School Gardens. —A school garden should also afford, or : be the means of testing different varie- ‘q ties of the same plant, so that it may be Aa known which variety is best suited to M each particular district. We have not yet learnt even in our staple crops that itis possible tc improve to a consider- able degree the plants which we culti- ~ vate. Even the sugar-cane to which I can testify, is open to much improve- ment, lt has been found that in many cases an increase of yield of from 30 % to 15% bas resulted by introducing a new variety of cane produced by the crossing of our local varisty on imported stock. It is alsoa known fact that in every district we find several varieties of the | same plant in our grounds. Take for “A instance the cassavas, Theremust be, I should think, at least ten varieties com- monly grown. The school garden should test these in small lots to find which is the quickest-maturing, which in a given time, say 12 months, will give the | heaviest yield, and which will best with- stand the drcught. These are points : with which few have as yet experi- ° mented outside of the Hope Gardens. These facts would supply a much- needed knowledge and be the means of | bringing better results with the mini- i mum of labour and care. : The same thing might be done with ; canes and potatoes. In the banana : business, everything depends upon knowing when to prune your trees so as ve to meet top prices. This can only be F 4 done by a careful study of the habits of the plant and by continuously experi- menting with it. Hach banana root should be carefully labelled, showing the’ date of planting, the date when the 3 pupes and tubers were allowed to run " im on shooting, and the date of cutting. = From these facts it will be readily seen how to handle the plant so as to meet the best market. Labels should not only be attached to this one section but to every section of the garden, showing up plainly and distinctly. Aes Interesting work should also be con- ~ ducted in the coffee section whichshould = be of course nicely established throughs —_ Nae 1 Juv, 1911.] FA } out the bananas or plantains. It has - often been held that Long Top coffee is the only method of training our coffee bg trees in some parishes—I doubt this. The advantages to be had in training our - trees to the short top system are too great to be lightly passed over, and the school garden should be the testing field. It would be most interesting to establish both systems in the gardens and record carefully the results. Grow for instance the short top in the plan- tain section, and the long top in the bananas, or where the entire crop is grown in the plantain section, then divide this section. Much useful work may also be done in showing the effect of the mulch which is so absolutely neccessary in some parishes. of some of the beds be mulched and the other not. It will generally be found that this is the determining factor in the yielding capacity of most of our soils. Thad the pleasure of visiting a school garden at Top Hill on the border of the Pedro Plains iv St. Elizabeth, in com- pany with Mr. J. P. Palache. For two years the people of this district have been put to the greatest straits for want of food due to the severe droughts which have visited them, many having to tramp for long distances over bad roads even to secure the corn and breadfruit which formerly was so plentiful among . 61x I should advise that one-half - pin erect | A Miscellaneous. them. What was my surprise then, on passing through the desert, if I may so express it, to find just on the borders a regular oasis of healthy, vigorous vegetation in which cassava, yams, corn, potatoes, &c., were all growing in pro- fusion. This had continued all through the drought, and had been one of the main supplies, combined with 2 or 3 or 4 acres in similar condition in the district. One had to see this plot to fully realize its significance. This condition was brought about by the combined forces which should be in strong evidence in all our gardens, viz., desp and thorough forking and the application of a heavy and continual mulch. I shall touch upon the last feature of a garden before I close, and that the ornamental or flowering section. ~ Ornamental Section.—This, in my opinion, should be the ornamental sec- tion, and should therefore be kept separate and distinct. Its proper and correct place is, therefore, the border running around the lower or annual section. ‘I would suggest that in this section, the permanent and ornamental shrubs be planted, such as the shoeblack, the croton, &c., all being kept to a height of 3feet. This will give colour to the garden, and at the same time in no way interfere with the major or economic section, MISCELLANEOUS. CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. . MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, JUNE 20TH, 1911. Minutes of a General Meeting of the Ceylon Agricultural Society held at the Council Chamber at 12 noon on Tuesday the 20th June, 1911. His Excellency the Governor presided. The others present included :—The Hon. Sir Hugh Clifford, Hon. Messrs, _ Senior, C. T. Vigors, P. Arunachalam, Solomon Seneviratne, A. Kanagasabai, Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, Drs. Willis and Lock, Messrs. R. W. Smith, EH. B. Denham, W. D. Gibbon, Francis _Beven, James Peiris, A. EK. Rajapakse, Dan. Joseph, J. D. Vanderstraaten, and the Secretary (Mr. C. Drieberg). Visi- tor; Mr, C. B, Brodie. , The minutes of the meeting held on June 8th, 1910, were read and confirmed. The Hon’ble Mr. Arunachalam moved and Mr. W, D. Gibbon seconded the adoption of the Report for 1910-1911.— Carried. Commenting on the Report, His Excel- lency announced that negociations were proceeding with the Bombay Govern- ment for the training of Agricultural Instructors at the Poona Agricultural College, and that Government proposed to offer four Scholarships for this pur- pose. Statement of Revenue and Expen- diture for the year ended December 3lst, 1910, having been previously cir- culated, was tabled. Mr. James Peiris moved, and the Hon’ble Mr, Solomon Seneviratne second- ed,the adoption of the Report of the Committee appointed to deal with the Miscetlaneous. question of bringing, the villager into closer touch with the Society.—Carried. Mr. Francis Beven moved and. Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike seconded that the following Committee (with power to add to their number) to organ- ise an all-Island Agri-Horticultural Show for 1911 be appointed :—The Direc- tor, Royal Botanic Gardens, the Cura- tors of Peradeniya and MAakgala Gar- dens, the Government Agents of the nine Provinces, the Assistant Govern- ment Agents for several Districts, the Chairmen of the Planters’ Association of. Ceylon, Chamber of Commerce, and the Lowcountry Products Association, Dunuwille Disava, Secretary, Ceylon Agricultural Society, the Government Veterinary Surgeon, the Maha Muda- liyar, the Colombo Atapattu Mudaliyar, the Hon’ble Messrs. Seneviratne and Kanagasabai, Messrs. HK. B. Denham, A. J. R. de Soysa, M. Kelway Bamber, J. D. Vanderstraaten, L. W. A. de Soysa, and Francis Beven, Mudaliyars A. HE. Rajapakse and C, M. Sinnaiah. The consideratien of Mr. van Leen- hoff’s Report on the Tobacco Experi- ment at Mahailuppalama. was with- drawn fromthe agenda onthe sugges- tion of His Excellency the President that it should be brought upat the. next meeting of the Board. With reference to an enquiry from His Excellency as. to how certain alterations in the report came to be made, Dr. Willis explained that they were made at a meeting of the Tobacco Committee at which Mr. van Leenhoff was present and with the latter’s approval. The Hon. Mr. Senior added that some of theremarks in the original report were made undera mis- apprehension on the part of Mr. van Leenhoff, whose knowledge of English was not very perfect. It was therefore found necessary to somewhat. modify ‘the report in certain places, and this was done with Mr. van Leenhoff’s consent and approval. Mr. R. W. Smith, Director of Irriga- tion, read a paper on ‘ Wells.” The paper by Mr. A, W. SBeven entitled ** Notes on Coconut Cultivation” was, in the absence of the writer, taken as read. H.E. the President moved a vote of thanks to the writers of the two papers. C, DRIEBERG, Secretary, C.A.S. 20th June, 1911. : By R. W. SMITH, A.M.LC.H., B.As, B.Biy, Trinity College, Dublin, Director of Irrigation. _ The question of water supply is so inseparably connected with agriculture that the following notes regarding: ‘““Wells” and the selection of sites for same may be of general interest: 2. In the northern climes, especially in North-Western Europe, the difficulties experienced by agriculturists in connec- tion with water are mainly found in the. disposal of the surplus supply. The, rainfall, though perhaps not excessive in actual quantity as compared with tropical countries, is tolerably evenly distributed and the evaporation small. The soil—especially in districts where this question of surplus supply has to be considered—is retentive, and absorption isataminimum. The result is that the water which falls on the surface in the form of rain has either to run off to natural drainage outlets or remain in excess on or near the surface. Artificial drainage then becomes necessary. 3. This leads up to one main point. which has to be kept in mind when con- sidering the question of the selecticn of sites for wells, namely, that, speaking generally, the source ofall supplies of fresh water is found in rainfall. Arte- sian wells and springs are often credited. with some magie power which enables them—like the traditional ‘‘ brook” in the song—to ‘‘go on fur ever,” but on consideration it will be seen that even they’ (magic as they are!) must have some original source of supply or they would become exhausted. 4. When this water supply, in the form of rain, reaches: the surface of the ground, it meets, in the case of the retentive soils mentioned above, one of the-worst conditions to be found. Ina short time the surface becomes, satur-_ ated, and, if it has naturally steep slopes, the surplus water runs off into drainage channels, and thence, to the rivers and is lost. There is only one worse condition, and this isin the case of bare rock, when the whole supply is lost; at least to the immediate vicinity. 5. The other and best extreme as: regards conservation of the supply, occurs in the caseof a pure sand soil, where nearly the whole of the supply is: retained in certain cases. As these notes are written for the consideration of an Agricultural Society, the writer: may be pardoned for dealing with the. general question under consideration from the point of view of the agricul. . 3NO09 GQ3LY3SAN!I Y3LVM LIVS ~ 3NO09 WSLVM sau? 3LIS TISM YAAIM V YVAN SLIS 4 32v4NNS WOON BLIiS 113M oe ye WN dOudLNO Sant NVISSLYYV ALINd ¥WToOu YSAG GNVS 3LIS T1aM- fff - éf if ‘s P hp oe pine 3 Lf ff ef LPS é Lf ff Ae, ais 174M aovauns~ eget 0 a5 4. “ Bt is a ba ‘ . ¥ ‘ 1 | , : . 1s ‘Tauy, wit) | j ' © School Gardens,” { ‘ — turist, and an endeavour will be made to treat the subjectina popular way. Now the bare rock or the purely sandy soil havenot much in them to interest the agvriculturist at first sight: He can- not grow crops on either, and he cares for nothing else. All the same, both these uninteresting looking objects may come in useful. 6. The function of a well is to supply water, and the suggestion which brought forth this paper was, it is believed, not wholly unconnected with the subject of one which is dear to the heart of the Society’s Secretary. The well is an important item in the ‘school garden (or any other garden), and is required both for the supply of water to quench the thirst of the scholar when he has worked as hard as he is expected to work, and also that of the various plants which are grown. The quality of the water is important ‘in the former case, and it may be briefly suggested that, all other things being equal, the siteof any well, the water from which is to be used later on for dietetic purposes, should be selected, so that the natural surface drainage of the ground falls away in every direction, if possible, from the well, and in the case of, say, a house or school compound, the safest position for the well, having regard only to the question of quality in the water, will be found in the highest point of the ground. Manifestly in the ease of sidelong ground the possibility or probability of contamination from the neighbouring higher ground must also be considered. This point seems almost too obvious to require notice, but the writer has seenmany wells in pri- vate and public places so situated as to lead one to suppose that the main object in the original selection of the site had been to secure the maximum of pollu- tion in the water, 7, The water which reaches the ground surface in the form of rain, assuming that the surface has a slope, will, inthe case of bare rock, run down the slope untilit meets a place where the rock has some “overlay ”—more or less deep according to circumstances— of earth or soil. The latter may take the form of stiff and partly watertight clay, and in such a case the water can- not easily percolate into the soil, and tends to travel further on or near the surface. Such places are easily recog- nized, as the ground near the bare rock margin is always unduly wet after rains. To sink a wellin sucha position would be a mistake, as the probability is, the subsoil would be found relatively dry Fe eene Uygeetioneous. and waterless, possibly even ata depth approaching that of the rock surface. Itis not, however, very likely that such retentive clay would be found in this position, especially if the rock surface is steep, as the latter has nearly always undergone a process of partial disintegration, and the detritus so pro-. duced takes the form of gravelly or sandy soil, which quickly absorbs the water running off the rock surface. All underground water has a ten- dency to travel toa place where it can repose ata lower level, and does travel to a greater or less extent due to the force of gravity. This travel of the water is arrested in various ways and in varying degrees. It may, in its underground progress, meet a bar of roek or watertight clay which it cannot pass, and then it must accumulate at this barrier until either its motion is entirely arrested, or until it flows again over the top of this underground dam, as it may be called, and finds its way to lower levels. In either case a _ sort of underground reservoir is formed, and if the depth below the surface be not too great, such a position is favourable for a well site. (See Diagram No. 1.) In the ease of the water flowing off bare rock, as described above, and sink- ing under the surface (at the rock margin) into a gravelly soil, it will con- tinue to travel underground until it meets aclay or rock bar suchas that described, and the former is very fre- quently found at the place where the ground surface flattens out into a plain or more gently sloping surface below some mountain or rock hill. Rather a good instance of this is found in the case of Kurunegala rock (Diagram No. 2 shows the idea). The water which has been collected on its surface appears again on the surface of the ground lower down—but in this case relatively close by—in the form of springs, of which the ‘‘ Rajapihilla” is perhaps the best known. There are, however, many others more or less well defined. There is evidently some watertight bar of rock orelay near the position of these springs which compels the water in its travel to reach the ground surface again. In most similar positions the probability is that the same phenomena would be found, and it would not be difficult to select a good site for a well. 8. Though not necessarily always true, it is still very often found that the ground, having regard to its surface and slopes, is imitated by the subsoil strata, that is to say, the planes of the surfaces of the latter are ,often found to Miscellaneous. Py be roughly parallel to the ground sur- face. Thisisnot to be wondered at,as these strata have been formed in the long process of time and at. different periods. Assuming that these conditions exist in any particular place, and that some of these strata are formed of porous water-bearing material and others are of a more or less watertight nature, and again that some impervious stratum is overlaid by a water-bearing soil, then one would naturally select the hollows in the ground surface rather than the elevations as sites where well-sinking would be likely to prove successful. This is another of those cases where such a principle seems almost too axio- matic to require statement, but the writer has seen so many cases where the exactly opposite course has been taken, resulting in disappointment and loss, that it may perhaps be worth while to draw attention to the point. The probability of finding water moder- ately high up on the slopes of an ele- vation from which the ground falls away in every direction isso remote that it is certainly not worth while spending money on it. 9. Let us now turn to the case of the pure sand soil, the other extreme from the bare rock. There is no better form of storage reservoir—having regard to conservation of the water supply—than a deep bed of sand overlying a water- tight stratum of clay or rock. Thus, in Holland, the sand dunes along the coast area source of water supply for large cities and towns, but there the sea level takes the place of the underlying rock. The water which reaches this sandy bed, either directly in the form of rain, or by flow from some higher level, is retained there under the best conditions, and subject to the mininum of loss by evaporation and absorption, properly so-called. The losses by percolation depend largely on the relative area of the sand bed, as compared with its depth and the depth of water supplied in a year, as replenishment, over the unit area. Also on the slope, if any, of the subsoil watertight stratum. Where large areas of sand deposit are found they occur usually in level ground, and the substratum is similar. An exception occurs in the case of a deep sand bed inariver. The watertight, or pactially. watertight, substratum slopes downwards similarly to the sand bed surface, and when the water in the river has ceased to flow over the sur- face it still continues its travel down- ‘{JuLy, 1911 wards under the surface. A good site for a well can often be selected onthe margin of such a river, and the water will be supplied by percolation laterally from the bed. 2 There is a certain amount of percol- ation, and consequent loss thereby, in ~ even a very level sandy tract, as des- cribed above, under any ordinary con- ditions. If it be supposed that the watertight substratum and sand surface are absolutely level for a considerable — area, but that the substratum curves upwards until it meets the surface of the sand all round at some distance from the centre of this area, then the travel of the water which falls in rain oris supplied otherwise over this area uniformly will be arrested, and the ‘‘water plane” or ‘‘surface of satur- ation,” say the level of the free surface of water in wells sunk in various posi- tions over the area, will be the same in each place. Such a case is rarely found, and there is usually some open- ing on one or more sides: possibly all round by which the water can escape by percolation. This process goes on until the friction caused by the water having to flow between the’grains of sand overcomes the action of gravity, which tends to make the water flow, and all motion is arrested. . The water plane will then be found to represent a sloping surface, falling towards the out- lets for escape, and varying in gradient according to the character of the sand as regards its coarseness or fineness. Supposing, therefore, that this sand bed is 1U feet thick, and that the water - in a well situated near the centre of the area in question stands at a level of 5 feet from the surface and 5 feet deep in the well, this depth will be gradually reduced to perhaps one foot or only a few inches in wells sunk near the margins of the area on the side or sides. _- on which the water can escape hy | percolation. It stands to reason, therefore, that the best site for a well in such positions | is one near the centre of the sandy tract, or at least at the point or points most remote from the outlets for escape. (Diagram No. 38 illustrates this.) This seems to provide a contradiction to the remarks made previously about select- ing anatural depression or hollow for a well site, as in actual fact the centres of these sandy tracts are frequently the highest points, and the selection of a well site at such places seems paradoxi- cal. The subsoil conditions are, however, __ the most important to keepin view, — ee aa 2 oS ae a ee CS ; - : : Jury, 191) _ An interesting case of this nature is found in Mannar island, where the writer had cn two occasions to make investigations for water supply. At the eastern (Mannar town) end of the island and on the south-western shore the ‘winds of the south-west monsoon have thrown up sand dunes, and _ these extend inwards tor, roughly, one-third ot the width of the island and lie over the subsoil coral formation. The nat- ural escape for the rain water by percol- ation is situated all along the shore margin, and the limiting level is that of mean sea. The surplus water after rains flows out to sea until the water plane takes its limiting slope, and fresh water wells can be sunk in the sand along the shore almost up to the wash of the waves. In addition, the fresh water surface in these wells actually rises and falls with the tides, as the flow is temporarily arrested (or decreas- ed) at the time of high water. The inland margin of this sand dune _ tract borders on a silty plain, where the percolation is partially arrested, so the best position -(7.e., the position where the greatest depth of fresh water can be obtained) for wells is on the inland border of the dune tract. Similar conditions prevail at the other end of the island (Talaimannar), but there the whole width of the island is made up of sandy soil, and so, in plot- ting a contour map of the subsoil water levels, they will be found to represent curved lines roughly parallel. to the coast line, and culminating in a point which is equidistant from the shore on the north, south, and west sides. This point represents the position of best supply from a well. Before leaving this subject it may be mentioned that the loss by evaporation from the surface of sandy soil is only about one-fifth of that from the surface of water, and the actual relative losses by evaporation from water, earth, sand and other surfaces may be taken as approximately in the following ratios :— Grass sod surface 1:92 Cereals 4 1:73 Forest 151 Water 1:00 Bare soil 0°65 Sand ue Bae 0:20 Soil covered with forest leaves 0:07 It_will be seen from these figures that the losses due to evaporation from sandv surfaces are only about one-third of those from bare earth surfaces, and about one-tenth of those from grass lands. As “evaporation” and the _ losses classed under this heading may 6b.” Miscellaneous: account for 60 to 70 per cent. of the rainfall, it is important to bear this point in mind in the selection of well sites, having regard to the conservation of the available subsoil water supply. Incidentally also this matter is of con- siderable interest to agriculturists in the consideration of the question as to what condition their ground surfaces should be kept in. Well tilled, loose earth surfaces re- semble the sand formation, and greatly decrease losses by evaporation. In the drier districts the tea planter who keeps his ground surface free of all grass and weeds and the soil loose would appear to be acting wisely in sodoing, as he is helping to conserve the water supply for the roots of his plants. But this is perhaps a digression. 10. Inthe above paragraphs the ex- treme conditions have been dealt with, but by far the most difficult problem remains in the case of selection of well sites in districts where the ground sur- face is all composed of ordinary soils, is only very gently sloping, and gives no special indication of the subsoil form- ation. There may be no rock and no sandy soils for miles round. Speaking generally, such localities are not pro- mising, and in many places the only course left is to take the risk and make a trial by either borings or pits. “When the writer was attending lec- tures in the University School of Engi- neering, an old Professor once made the remark (probably repeated to each successive class of students!) ‘‘ always look out carefully foc other men’s fail- ures as such failures are only unintended experiments.” This is pretty sound advice, andit may be repeated here. In these difficult districts, where the surface of the ground gives: no help in selecting a well site, the oest course isto hunt round and find, if possible, some other person’s. success or failure, In the former case the water plane is in view, and the probability is that it extends some distance round, though this is not always true. If two or more existing wells show the water plane at moderate depths, thenit is fairly safe to try asite in some position between them, and in lower ground if possible, If the water planes in two or more wells stand about the same level, the chances are all the better. Failing any existing wells, some indications may be given by examining the river cr stream beds or water-courses in connection with a good topographical map (if such exists) of the district and the records of the nearest rainfall gaugings, If these water-cour- ses are unduly numerous and their cross Miscellaneous. - sections appear unduly large for the catchment, then it would appear that a large proportion of the rainfall runs off by these channels and comparatively little is absorbed in the ground. There are some localities where these pheno- mena are very marked. If the beds of the water-courses are sandy, which they usually are in moderately flat country, and where no rock is found on.or near the surface, then it may be well to sink pits in the sand (which costs little) and see if the underground water is still flowing. The result may be some indi- cation of the porosity or otherwise of the ‘subsoil formation. In any case a deeply cut river bed is in itself an elongated trial pit. which shows the formation down to thisdepth. Ifa fair supply of water is found, after adry spell,in the sand bed, then it is fairly safe to sink a well alongside (as shown in Diagram No. 4);.and if the sides of the river banks show no seepage and the hed is dry, this is a pretty safe indication that well sinking at moderate depths is use- less in that locality. In South Africa farmers often provide a sort of artificial water supply to wells by throwing up low dams on lines transverse to the direction of the natural surface slope of the ground, the object being to form small tanks or reservoirs in which some of the surplus water. which would otherwise have run off the surface into the natural drainages, is held up. The wells are sunk on the lower side of these low dams, and the water plane is raised above the surface, on the upper side of the dams, and stands there in small lakes. This tends to raise the water plane on the lower side also by seepage and prolongs the supply in the wells. A similar method is adopted in some of the very dry districts in India also, and the water which is thus stored for irrigation is not drawn off direct by sluices from the tanks, but is lifted from wells sunk below the bunds. The rea- soa is thatitis weJl known that where the water is so raised by manual labour it is not wasted, and a minimum is used. Tke village and other tanks of Ceylon have the same effect in raising the water plane, and the landowners in very dry districts take care to plant their coconuts only underthe bunds of tanks or channels. Where wellsaresunk, their sites are invariably chosen in similar positions. Il. Any reference to wells generally leads up to the question of artesian systems, and perhaps a few remarks may not be out of place in this connec- tion, as the popular notions regarding these are frequently tinged with the magical and supernatural. ' i (Jory, 1 ; | The writer may be permitted to give a a very homely illustration, of an artesian system as follows. Imagine a large basin or chatty (the kind called ‘‘thatti-— ya” in Sinhalese) partly filled with sand ~ and then another smaller basin or chatty of exactly the same shape placed inside the bigger one and pressed down into © the sand until the bottom reaches within, say, one inch of the upper ‘sur- face of the bigger chatty, leaving about one inch in thickness of a layer of sand between the two chatties and all over the outer surface of the smaller chatty. Assume also that the size of the smaller chatty is such that when it rests on this one-inch thick bed of sand all round its top edge will be just level with that of the bigger chatty. Let the upper chatty then be filled with some watertight substance, such as putty, but the upper surface of this putty be hollowed out by a depression, which is about half the | depth of the chatty (if completely filled). To make the whole appear more natural the larger chatty may be buried in the ground until its brim is just level with the surface. We have here a miniature artesian system, and the top edge of the sand is usually called the ‘‘ outcrop.” If now a small tube equal in length to - the height from the centre of the hollow formed in the putty to the sand at the bottom be inserted in the centre of the hollow formed in theupper surface of the putty, and this tube be pushed down until it reaches the smaller chatty and is passed through a hole drilled in the latter and into the sand at its lower end, then the water held up in the sand will rise in the tube, and under favourable conditions will begin to flow out at the topend and partly fill the hollow in the putty. This is what happens in artesian systems, and thereason is because the ‘‘outcrop” cf the water-bearing stratum of sand is higher than the bottom of the hollow formed in the surface of the putty. Ifthe water supply to the sand “ outerop” is kept up to meet the loss in water drained off by the pipe, the prozess will continue indefinitely. Dia- gram No. 5 gives a rough idea of the system.) In actual nature the under- and over-lying watertight strata are formed of clay or some such material, and the water-bearing stratum lying between them may be sand or gravel or a mixture of both. The circle of the outcrop may be tens or hundreds of miles across, and one side may be depressed and lie deep below the surface, or the whole system may be depressed. In the case where the whole system lies deep below the surface, the water will not naturally rise to the ~ yuk re ~ i nlite i aS - eh ; . ay Rs Gt USM a Et. a a Te ee ¥ ‘at ; ‘ yi Suny, 1911.) ground surface in a bore hole. It will only rise to a level approximating to that of the lowest point in the outcrop, and a water supply so obtained is only of practical value in extraordinarily dry countries such as parts of Australia, When the water has reached its maxi- mum level in the bore, it may still lie hundreds of feet below the ground sur- face, and has to be raised by artificial means, such as “deep-well” pumps, which are generally costly to instal and operate. . Inthe cases where one side only of the outerop is depressed and the other side lies at a considerable elevation an artesian well may be possible and effective, delivering water with more or less pressure atthe ground surface, but in such cases, speaking generally, the higher side of the outcrop must be relatively high compared to the position of the bore hole and also comparatively close. The water supply (by rainfall or otherwise) at the position of the upper outcrop must. be abundant. The occurrence of springs on the sur: face as described earlier in this paper is a condition which partly partakes of the nature of an artesian system. Sufficient has been said to indicate the general conditions, which are subject to innumerable modifications, and also to point to the fact an artesian system in such a position as, say, asmall island or a promontory,is a practical impossibility, except on avery small scale, and then only in the region of high hills or mountains. _ 12. These notes, written as they are for the Ceylon Agricultural Society, would hardly be complete without a brief reference to the very remarkable— probably unique—conditions which pre- vailin the Jaffna peninsula, and are all the more appropriate, as referring to the district where intense cultivation _ is the order of the day, and where wells are to be found every few yards, though generally sunk and lined at very con- siderable expense to the landowners. The following particulars about the ** natural” wells—so called—will be ine teresting to those who are not already acquainted with them ;:— There are three of these “natural” wells—possibly more—which are well known in Jatfna: the “ Nilaverei” or Puttur well, the ‘ Yama” well at Urelu, and the “ Devil’s well” (‘‘ Pe-kinarn ”) at Kurumbakattu.' A description of the first will be sufficient, as they are all similar in natural formation. The Puttur well resembles a small “keni,” or bathing tank, such as is generally found at the temples. Itis 48 feet long by 36 feet wide, with the 67 | Miscellaneous, usual ramped slope at one side leading down to the water. The writer is unaware what the actual circumstances were attending the cutting of this well, but judging by appearances it would seem that those who were engaged on the work intended excavating the usual ‘“‘ keni” and finish- ing up with perhaps 3 feet deep of water. They would appear to have been unaware how ‘thin the ice” was— in this case the rock crust—and it can only be conjectured that this crust broke through and part or the whole of the bottom fellin! One is compelled to this belief, as otherwise it would have been difficult to get any men to under- take such dangerous work. Atall events the result is certain. This crust representing a thickness in all of, say, 14 feet, that is 9 feet of rock and 5 feet of clay overlay, was broken through and stood over a cavity filled with water, but of what dimensions nobody as yet knows, The total depth of water was measured by the writer, and amounts to 147 feet 6 inches, of which the top 80 feet or so is fresh water and the remainder salt. The level of the water surface is practically invariable (only rising after heavy rains), and represents, of course, the ground water plane, which at this place and in dry weather stands at almost exactly 2 feet cver mean sea level. There are only a few inches difference between the levels of the water planes in the three ‘‘ natural” wells mentioned above, and they are relatively almost exactly in proportion to the distances respectively of these wells from the sea at the nearest point, the greatest dis- tance representing the highest level. It would appear therefore that the water plane is represented by a very flat cone with its apex at the most central point of this portion otf the peninsula. It may also be taken as exceedingly probable that the margin between the salt and fresh water—at what may be called the “salt water plane”—takes the form of an inverted cone, with its apex situated at the same point and its base coinciding with the mean sea plane all round che coast, (Diagram No. 6 shows this.) The tormation is all limestone rock, which is perfurated ina most remark- able way with holes and cavities of all sizes, and these represent the under- ground storage space. Investigations some years ago in connection with the proposed Jaffna water supply showed that these conditions were uniform all over the north end of the peninsula, and Miscellaneous. ; 68 the practical result, which is well known to the inhabitants, is that well sinking is an absolute certainty, and, givena knowledge of the surtace levels, the depth to which a well must be sunk is known to an inch. _Also, the flow from a well or any similar cavity sunk below the water plane is exactly in proportion to the superficial area of the cavity at‘a given average depth below the water plane. It may be useful to note that for small depths below the water plane the flow from the Jaffca rock formation in a well of 14 feet diameter and 25 feet depth to the water surface from ground level is such that one ordinary ‘‘ well sweep” cannot reduce the water level more than -about 4 feet when kept continually ‘working, and this represents a. total quantity of 17,000 gallons. in a 10-hours’ working day, equal to, say, 2,700 cubic feet of water, or, say three-quarters of an inch deep over an acre. 13. In conclusion, it may be said that the term “ well” is one which is used to describe any cavity in the earth’s surface which is sufficiently deep to reach the water plane, and passes through all the various phases between the mere water hole and the tube bore, embracing also .all the usual variations in size, shape, and methods. of lining with timber, brickwork, masonry, &ce. To enter into a description of all these technicalities is beyond the scope of such a paper as this, but a general principle which must always be kept in view may here be stated, namely, that the larger the superficial area. of the opening below the water plane, the greater will be the supply obtainable in any one place, and that most wells require either partial or complete “‘steining” or lining with brick or masonry. ; ‘When the quality of freedom from contamination is import- ant, then this masonry lining should be built solid in mortar for several feet ~ below the surface, and without mortar when the water plane is reached. If the - subsoil below the water plane is pure sand, it may be necessary to plug the | bottom of the well with concrete to t prevent the sand being drawn up into ~ the well, and possibly the sinking of the lining as a consequence, and this parti- cularly where large quantities of water have daily to be extracted. Care should, however, avoid following the precedent supplied by a case which came) to the writer’s knowledge some years ago,’ when on examining a well (masonry lined) situ- ated in a position where the subsoil was THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. STATEMENT OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE FOR 12 Montus ENDING DEc.'31, 1910. ‘Amount. 4 Amount. Total. RECEIPTS. Rs. c. Rs. ¢, Balances at Bank of Madras, &c,, December 31, 1909 —_ 43,073 93 Members’ Subscriptions :— Local subscriptions for 1908 257 0 Do 1909 763 0 Do 1910 4,059. 40 Do 1911 444 0 Do 1912 ~16..0 Foreign subscriptions 394 50 Less paid to Ceylon Observer ... 295 87 98 63 Life members’ subscriptions 50 0 5,688 3 Government grant for 1910 ... — 30,000 0 Interest :— On Bank of Madrasaccount — 788 52 Total ... 79,550 48 PAYMENTS, General Expenditure :— Organizing Vice- Rs, c. President 3,000 00 Secretary ..» 8,000) 00 Clerks and peons 2,715 37 Agricultural In- structors 2,326 63 Stationery... e _Postages and telegrams .. Office furnitute ove Bank charges and commis- sion -Micellaneous petty expen- 8eS i ne Auditors’ fee for 1909 ac- counts ith avis Advertising ... os s AF (Jury, 1011. the water and be taken to most undoubtedly water-bearing, it was found that the bottom of the well had been plugged with concrete, as above a described, but in addition, to make matters more comfortable, the whole ot the masonry lining from top to bot- ; tom had been built in brickwork in cement mortar, thereby effectively ex- cluding all entrance of water, and the | inside being as dry as a drum. writer gained considerable locally, added to a subtle suspicion of the supernatural, by making the ‘water flow. This was nota difficult operation, | involving only the boring of three-or four holes in the concrete bottom and «+ © ‘The J “kudos” .firing a dynamite ‘cartridge’ in one of them. Ag R. W. SMITH. Trincomalee, March 25;'1911. : Total, a Rs. c. Bs. c 150 0 ey 0) a, —— 12,833 69 . i Pi fe | ’ at, ; Si . v.,. et wf j i ‘ oo f Suny, 1911.) 69 ‘Miscellaneous, ‘ss a —(Continued.) Amount. Total, PAYMENTS. —(Continued.) Neder "Total, is x Bes.\ cc... Revs Rs. es) Selsey 1c t \ Brought Forward ... 12,833 69 Brought Forward... 26,477 °03 f Travelling Expenses :— Seed Store at Government Secretary, Ceylon enn Stock Garden :— ‘tural Society .. 1,207 48 Shoo b 70 0 Agricultural Instructors .. . 4,090 91 s AEE he eutaeas 6 ; Show Judges, &c. . 86-76 Seed es see pee ast en a Bree ngiog Vice-President Sieh ibis ha “a bes 115 67 Staff ... wv» 464 74 s Y iy 5.849 89 undry Payments :— ; Agricultural implements... _ 154 1 Tropical Agriculturist and : ’ . Magazine of Ceylon Agri- Seed Supplies :— . cultural Society :— : Excess purchases over sales — 38 36 ering Haglish Magazine 5,223 24 Pid oe b Satee Sinhalese Magazine :— R Rae f Editor’s fee Rs. 450 00 Bree pn Printing, Pos- peaeteble seeds 277 32 281 75 tages, &e. as 459 21 ne 188 61 191 25 2 Cotton .. 383 86 120 27 Rs. 909 21 Ginger . 55510 245 Less subscrir- Pia wild indigo, tions: ived 7 25 19 48 75 Z ee ee 293 5] Grafted plants. 706 44 = 670 25 y Printing Tamil Congayam grass. 12 44 Ra edition aye see 92001. Soybeans... 4258 — : — 5646 75 Castor ale 6 60 0 50 y p Guvar PA Mrs — Agricultural Shows :— Ground-nuts .... 64 81 64 31 Indian exhibits ws 256 95 Durian ve 17,63 a Cost of medals, &c. 257 50 Tobacco 0 56 Fa Grants to Hengrajgoda and Sundries » 35 82 23 75 > Ibbagamuwa Shows... 100 0 Sorghum = and | Sete A GA 45 fodder 406 3 50 40 95 Sericulture Experimental Total... 1,482 59 1,444 23 Farm ;— yD meee eee Coolies’ wages... -. 417 0 Cadjans for roof ee 54 58 (Excess purchases, Rs. 38°36) Implements... se 56°25 1" : 3 Cocoons ,... oh 12 3 Tobacco Experiment :— i Coolies’ wages, &c. .. 5,993 93 q 539. 86 -Salary of Superintendent, 4 Less sale of cocoons 157 73 &e. 4,229 16 Hides ront-fordarm Salary of conductor .. 458 80 “1910 Ds X10 5.0 Travelling expenses «. — 522 23 ie 167 73 Cost of sheds ... see 2,239 94 372.13 Cost of guano ... we )\ 323, 0 Sundry purchases .. 314 75 - Experimental ideas aS 14,081 81 Balangoda, coolies and wa- Less Government contri- 2 ges, &c, 212 50 bution af .. 1,750 0 4 Balalla,: wire: fencing, im- plements, &c. 97 62 - i — * Grants to "Rajakadaluwa, ee an gne. Kalalgama, and Bandara- At Bank of Madras .. 40,3875 10 gama gardens 350 0 Stock of stamps an 58 50 2 Grant te school gardens .. 500 0 ———— 40,433 60 = 1,160 12 RS eS y —_—— Total ... 79,550 48 Carried Forward 26,477°03 See ae We certify that we have prepared this account of Receipts and Payments from the books of _ the Society, and that to the best of our belief it is correct. FORD, RHODES & CHURCH, Colombo, May 10, 1911, Accountants, Miscellaneous. KALUTARA AGRI-HORTICUL- TURAL SHOW. The above show was held on Tuesday the 30th May, 1911, at the Kalutara Kachcheri, The show was coxfined to the Kalutara Totamune only. Consider- ing the unusual dry weather during the year, and this being the first show of its kind in the district, a better show could not have been expected. | Class I. Fruouirs.—This class was fairly full and there was good collection of oranges, jak, pineapple, and papaw. The exhibits of plantain and mangosteen should have been very much better. Class II. YamMs.—The exhibits in this class were poor in quality as wellas in quantity. There were, however, a few good exhibits of cassava and sweet potatoes, Class III. VEGETABLES.—Fairly good ; but competition poor. Kalutara being a district where vegetable cultivation is earried on, the exhibits should have been very much better. ; Class IV. Dairy PRopuctTs.—Good average samples of milk, &c., were _ shown. Class V. COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS.— This class was very full, and there was good competition. Coconut oil was specially well represented. Class VI. LivE Stock.—A poor class. Class VII. NEEDLE Work.—Not par- ticularly good. Class VIII. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS.— Poor. Class IX. SWEETMEATS AND PRE- SERVES.—Fair. Class X. SCHOOL GARDEN PRODUCTS. —There were three competitors, and Tantirimulla school was awarded the prize. L. A. D. Sitva, Agricultural Instructor. MATUGAMA AGRI-HORTICUL- TURAL SHOW. The above show was held at the Rest- house grounds on the 27th ultimo, and was opened by Mr. G. F. Plant, the Assistant Governmert Agent, Kalutara. The shed put.up for the occasion was rather too small. In spite of the wet weather which continued for two days and kept away many villages, a fairly large collection of exhibits representing all classes was displayed. I was led to understand that this show was better in quality and U % ages ae pt quantity of exhibits than the last show held at Bellana in this Korale. From this it would appear that cultivation is improving in this Korale, } ‘ Section 1. EFRuITS.—This was the second best class in the show. Speci- mens of Mangosteens, Pineapples, Man- goes, Oranges, Pumelos, Papaws, Limes and Kamarangas were particularly good. Mandarian Oranges, Pomegranate, Ano- na, Jambus, Nam-nams and Plantains were rather poor. Class 2. YaAmMs.—In this class Cassava, — Sweet Potatoes, Arrowroot, Raja-ala and Gahala made a good show. \ Class 3. VEGETABLES.—This class was the best both in quality and quartity of exhibits. Melons, Ash Pumpkins, Gourds, Luffas, Kohila, Bandakka, Capsi- cum Chillies and Biling were particularly good, There was a specimen of a large kind of bitter gourd measuring about eighteen inches in length. Class 4. Dairy Propucts.—This class, comprising Milk, Curd, Ghee and Eggs was tolerably good. Class 5. COMMERCIAL Proptcts.—The exhibits in this class were satisfactory. Specimens of Coconut Oil, King Coconut Oil, Honey, Paddy, Pepper, and Coco- nuts were particularly good. Class 6. Live Srock,+A few pens of native fowls and four native bulls made up this class. Classes 7, 8, 9. NEEDLE-WORK, INDUS- TRIAL PRODUCTS, AND SWHETMEATS.— These classes were tairly represented. Class 10. ScHooL GARDEN.—Meegaha- tenne School carried away the shield for the best garden in the Korale. Hight schools competed for the best collec- tion of school garden produce, and the prize was awarded to Kevitigala School. Bellana and Matugama deserves honour- able mention for the collection dis- played. June 5, 1911. N. M. JAYASURIYA, CAINGINS (CHENAS). (From the Philippine Agriculturist and Forester, Vol. L., No. 3, March, 1911.) By general consent, Philippine agri- culture is under a curse. General con- sent is not proot, and in this case a good argument can be made against it. But assuming that the curse is real, there are three candidates tor the place— ignorance, lack of draft animals, and the ~ caiigin. The caifigin is Jand cleared of woody vegetation and used for crops, — Me 1 a “JOLY, 1911) — tl Z sometimes only one, it is abandoned. This system of agriculture is common throughout the eastern tropics, and at least ia parts of the New World as well. It is very popular with poor people who like to be their own masters, and in great disfavour with the State. The inducement to make eaifigins is well illustrated by the cut on the oppo- site page.* The caifigin is comparatively free of troublesome weeds, and is exceed- ingly fertile. The streak of very thrifty ‘ maize inthe picture was a hedge; the - chiefly occupied by cogon (illuk). the Philippines, these hedges gradually - meters ; ‘return to forest. ‘the nearness of seed-bearing trees. _ Philippines. remainder of the field on both sides wes n to as much as ten then they are cleared, and present in large measure the advantages of real caifigins. After a time weeds enter the caifigin, the ground packs, the temporary exuber- ance of fertility wears out, and it becomes easier, with the implements available, to secure a given yield by clearing a new plot. The old clearing widen, sometimes - goes back to forest almost immediately if it is in the forest, but to grass first if there is brush and grass land about it. Here enters the interest of the State. ~ In the Philippines it is in the interest of the State to have all, or nearly all, of - the good agricultural land in permanent agricultural use. But the forest wealth is the wealth of the whole people, and the whole people cannot afford to have the forest sacrificed for the sake of a couple of crops. It takes many years for the forest on a caifigin to become valuable again. S Still, the best thing about an aban- doned caifigin is the chance that it will If it is oceupied at first by grass and there are no (fires, brush will smother the grassin a few _ years, and trees will in turn smother the brush, quickly or slowly according oe there are fires, they will kill most kinds of brush, but will not injure the cogon. As the result of fire, following caifigins, for fire rarely hurts the tropical forest at all,—there are great grass areas in the And these grass lands not only do not constitute any wealth at all for the people, but they injure the neigh- bouring cultivated iand in several ways. In the first place, forests the world over serve to conserve and regulate the water supply. In astudy of conditions in four Wisconsin towns, F. A. Shriner and the writer showed a decade ago that ‘a decrease in the forest from 27% of the area to 6% resulted in the drying up of 65'5 miles of creeks, and a decrease to hes anor eens!) gta ye Ns Re A deuny Saleeen tee esa * Not reproduced, After producing two or three crops, or ' have fetched better prices.” Miscelianeous. about one-third in the flow of water. The rest of the water escapes in floods, doing damage instead of being useful. In the last number of this magazine mention was made of aridity in Mexico, resulting from deforestation. The floods of Tarlac and Pampanga have the same cause. The forest isa protection against wind and dry air, as well as against floods and dry creeks. And then there are the locusts. They do not breed in cultivated land, and they do not breed in the forest. But so. long as men make and leave waste land which is not forest and not in cultivation, we need not hope to be without ee 5 Correspondence. CITRONELLA OIL INDUSTRY OF CEYLON. Galle, 27th May, 1911. DEAR SirR,—In the April number of your valuable magazine is an interesting article on Citronella Oil by Mr. N. Wickremaratne. May we be allowed to comment on the first and last paragraphs? The former states that “asa result of the attention given to this matter (viz,, standard of purity), recent shipments to London This is hardly in accordance with facts, as the present value of Citronella oil in London is 10d. per lb,, which is as low a price as has prevailed for some years. In his last paragraph Mr. Wickremaratne states that the average yield of an acre of the grass is 68 lbs, of oil per annum. Taking the present value as 54 cts. per lb, this gives Rs. 36°72 gross. After allowing for reaping, cart-hire, distilling, &ec:., this would leave little or nothing for the cultivator, whereas, we believe, that we are correct in saying that the oil can be sold without a loss at some- where near 37 cts. per lb. Perhaps Mr. Wickremaratne will give us further details ? Yours faithfully. Cuas. P. HAYLEY & Co. {[Mr. Wickremaratne admits that he was not correct in saying that better prices were fixed; what he intended to convey is that during. greater part of last year there was a slackness in the Ceylon oil trade; but that, as the result of greater attention to the question of purity, there was a brisker market. He, however, is not inclined to concede that his estimate of average yield of oil per acreis toolow. Heis supported in this opinion by the figures given by a practical planter published in the ‘*7T.A.” for May, 1906.—Ep.] MARKET RATES FOR (From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current, London, 24th May, 1911.) gg ae ah TROPICAL PRODUCTS. “ QUALITY. QUOTATIONS. QUALITY. QUOTATIONS i A near sain rae INDIARUBBER(Contd.)| 9 cs ALOES, Socotrine cwt,|Fair to fine ++ /708 & 758 Zanzibar & Hepatic _,, Common to good A oa a 72s 6d Ponce Cen oe ee 2s a 2s 4d Bey oe = Crate ie Pp teins qq Sdavod Penang Low white to pans red bs ete Zanzibar Yellow _,, Slightly drossy to fair ...|¢615s ag617s6a] ™ ozambique eee ==. ey q 7 810dad4s3d Bombay bleached __,, |Fair to good ; £710s a £7 15s Neeesland Hate to hue be 8 Bees 4s 1d Bs unbleached ,, |Dark to good genuine ../@5 15s a £6 786d Madagascar Fr to fine pinky & white 3s 8da 4s Madagascar bark to good palish .|g6 10s a £7 Majunga & bik coated 3s 2d a 3a 3d CAMPHOR, tenren ” Bemied lit ts 63d a 1s 83d) ; Nigger emptor Roan oe ane ae on RD AMOMS. 1 aoe Ge va ty ies boa MY +-/1558 New Guinea Ordinary to fine ball -./9s 94 a 3s 9d Ca pucorl Mid alice tenet ra ee sp Bao (INDIGO, E.I. Bengal |Shipping mid to gd violet/3s a 3 gd Tellicherry |Good to fine bold --123 9d a 38 Consuming nid ea 2s 8d a 23 11d Brownish 23 a 28 6d y. & |2s'dd a 238d Mangalore ,, |Med brown to fair boldjgs bd a 3s 9d Ceylon.- Mysore __,, |Small fair to fine plamp Is 8d a 38 2d Malabar .. |Fair to good 1s 10d a 28 Seeds, E.1,& Ceylon ,, |Fair to good .. 128 a 281d Ceylon Long Wild ,, |Shelly to good -(6d a ls 6d CASTUR OIL, Calcutta ,, |Good 2nds - (39d CHILLIES, Zanzibar cwt.|Dull to tne bright --|40s a 458 CINCHONA BARK.—]b./Crown, Renewed 38d a 7d Ceylon Org. Stem |2daéd Red Org. Stem |19d a 43d Renewed 3d a 54d Root lida 4d CINNAMON, Ceylon Asta Good to fine quill 6idals 5d per lb, 2nd 5) ” 53d a 1s 4d ards i a 5da 1s 4ths 43d a sd Chips, &c..|Fair to fine bold 25d a 3de CLOVES, Penang Ib. Dull to tine bright pkd. At an ls 3d Amboyna -|Dull to fine pa a 10d Ceylon wi an a 10d Zanzibar Fair and fine bright ad a 74d Stems -|Fair COFFEE t Ceylon Plantation cwt.|Medium to bold 70s a 1188 Nat age Good ordinary Liber »» |Fair to bold 60s a 65s COCOA, Ceylon Plant. ,, |Special Marks 70s a 85s Red to good 63s a 698 - Native Estate », |Ordinary to red 40s a 608 Java and Celebes ,, |Small to good red 25s a 77s COLOMBO KOOT » |Middling to good 30s a 35s CROTON SEEDS, sift. cwt.|Dull to fair 47s 6d a 55s CUBEBS » |Ord. stalky to good 150s a 1603 GINGER, Bengal, rough, Fair 35s nom. Calicut, ad » |Small to fine bold 80s a 84s »» |Small and medium 60s a 70s Cochin poh », (Common to fine bold 40s a 45s Small and D’s 40s Japan » |Unsplit 35s @UM AMMONIACUM , »» Sm. blocky to fair clean|40s a 67s 6d ANIMI, Zanzibar |Pale and amber, str. srts |£15 a 216 little red £12 a £14 Yair to good red sorts |£710s a £10 Med. & bold glassy sorts|/£5a £7 Madagascar .,, |Fair to gaod palish ....|£4 a £8 15s red £4a 27 10s aRABIC E.I, & Aden ,, Ordinary "to gooll pale Boe hoe 6d Turkey sorts ,, a 57/ Ghatti », |Sorts to fine pale... 208 a 42s 6d nom. Kurrachee »» |Reddish to good pate ..,208 a 30s is Madras », |Dark to fine pale ..|L58 a 258 n ASSAFGTIDA » [Clean fr. to gd. almonds|£17 a £18 com. stony to good block|25s a £133 aa Aa ‘ Fair to tine brighé a a ae en sorts cwt to goo Somali A Batadting 2 50s a 52s 6d OLIBAN UM, “grep »» |Good to fine white 458 a 60s Middling to fair 35s a 408 pickings ,, |Low to good pale 12s 6d a 279 6d siftings ,, |Slightly foul to fine {20s a 22s 6d INDIA RUBBER Ceylon, Straits, Malay Straits, etc. Fine Para bis. & sheets}/58 » Ceara Rf 48 7d Crepe ordinary to fine.. fa ea 1ld a 5s 2d .|38 iad a 33 11d 4s 1d Plantation Fair Il to ord. ren No, 1138 @ 383d 283 2d a 38 Assam ” Rangoon Oudes Middlingto fine jogéd a 2/8 nom, Mid. to good Kurpah 2s 2d a 2s 6d Low to ordinary _. ls 6d a 29 Mid, to fine Madras None here MACE, Bombay & Penang|Pale reddish to fine 2s 6d a 28 8d per Ib. Ordinary to fair 2s a 23 6d Java », good pale 9s a, 2s 6d Bombay Wild 4d a 5d MYRABOLANES, cwt|UG and Coconada 4s 6d 2 53 Bombay Fe Tabblepers 4s 6d a 63 3a Bhimlies 5s a 6s 6d Rhajpore, &c. 43 6da5s 9d Bengal >, |Calcutta 5s 6d a 6s NUTMEGS— 64’s to 57’s 1s als 6d Singapore & Penang ,, sy (80'S jad 110’s 54d NUTS, ARECA ewt.|Ordinary to fair fresh |17g3 6d-a 20s : NUX VOMICA, Cochin Ordinary to good 8s 6d a 9s 6d d per cwt. Bengal ” ” 7s a 7s 6d i Madras Ay oe 7sa8s6d ~~ i OIL OF _ANISEED _,, |Fair merchantable 4s 9d CASSIA », |According to analysis [3s 4d a 3s 8d , LEMONGRASS », |Good flavour & colour » |33d NUTMEG », |Diugy to white 1¢d a 13d CINNAMON » {Ordinary to fair sweet |2da 1s 4d CITRON ELLE Bright & good flavour {11d : ORCHELLA WEED—cwt ; Ceylon » |Fair +1103 f Madagascar Fair + l108 , PEPPER (Black) Ib. ‘ Alleppy & Tellicherry|Fair (44d a 44d Ceylon ,, »» |, to fine bold heavy ../334 a, 6d Singapore Fair fy oy) sel4ad Acheen & W. C. Penang Dull to fine + on 138d a, 4d c (White) Pinggpore » |Eair to fine oe --\6g¢d a 8d Siam » |Fair ae oss --\7d eneng » |Fair +. on 64d. ‘ ntok » |Hair oo [7H y RHUBARB,’ Shenzi ’ |Ordinarytogood _... lig 9d a 28 6d * Canton .|Ordinaryto good --{10d a Is High Dried, .|Fair to fine flat + (84d a 9$d Dark to fair round [54d a Tod SAGO, Pearl, large .. {Fair to fine We -- (18s a 193 medium ..| ,, ” 17s a 188 6d smail ase lds a 158 SEEDLAC ewt, Ordinary to gd. soluble |52s 6d a 72s 6d SENNA, Tinnevelly da7d Ib.|Good to fine bold green Fair greenish Commonspeckyand small|i4d a 2d SHELLS, M. o’PEARL— / Egyptian cwt.|Small to bold Bombay ui on ea Nom./45s a 150s Mergui ” ” ” +, |£10.2/6a 212 9/6 a Ee of Sete to good --|£77/6 a £13 5s + |258 #303 nom, igen Da Calne Mid. t to fine b’k not stony|10sa 12s j r cwt. Madras_ |Stony and inferior .-|49 a 58 TORIOISESHELL— Zanzibar, & Bombay lb. |Small to bold --(10s a 388 Pickings -- 188 a 238 TURMERIC, Bengal cwt.|Fair 20s Madras ,, |Finger fair to one bold|26s 6d a 2s 9d Dow) 75 bs [bright|22s 6d, Cochin », {Finger -. |198— ‘ee \ Bulbs . [148° VANILLOES— Mauritius ie Gd crystallized 3: api in|14s a 19s — Madagascar .. «. 7 2nds| Foxy & reddish 3 », |188 a 163 6d Seychelles: . 8rds eee andinferior - ...|128 6d a 13s VERMILLION .. Fine, pure, bright . [385 WAX, Japan, squares | Good white hard... 41s 63 THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the G. A. 5. CoMPILED AND Epitep spy’ A. M. & J. FERGUSON. No. 1.] JULY, 1911. [Vol. IX. CEYLON’S PALM PRODUCTS. THE HALE YHAR'SS RECORD. Is 4 Boom Comine? The year, as regards palm products, has, so far, been a very remarkable one, When oil and copra prices began to fall, from the highest point ever reached, this began to help the desiccating mills, which have now, twice in their history, been able to compete with the all-powerful copra man in securing nuts. Take Oil first. This seemed rivetted at £36 per ton in London for months, and only towards the end of the second quarter did it rise to £38. The demand for our oil must have been poor. This, some in tho trade put down tothe new love, Soya bean. However that may be, the fact remains that there was a consider- able falling off in export up to 30th June of no loss than 82,463 cwts., as compared with the same date last year. The lower price paid for oil certainly pointed to either the soap- makers going slow, or to their striking other and cheaper oils, that ofthe soya bean being probably cne of them. Crushing has, however, gone on very briskly in most of our local oil mills. The depressed price of oil reflected on Copra, resulting in a fall of no less than 263 rupees per candy. The lowest price Estate Copra fetched was about Rs. 67. With oil at £36 in London, driers could not pay the price the mills were able to, so that Desiccating Mills insome districts were actually flooded with nuts. It paid the copra men better to send their nuts to mills rather than to dry them. We had sent away to date only 147,189 candies against 310,668 candies last year, or 163,479 candies less, Today copra stands at over Rs. 76°50 a candy in Colombo. It may, how- ever, go higher, after our big nut crops are over, say, at the end of August. Then, from all we can gather, nuts, are to be very scarce. They always are in the last quarter, but particularly so . 10 will this be the case this year. Then copra drying will be sure to fall off. The high price of copra we understand caused a considerable falling off in the manufacture of coconut butter, or Palmin, last year in Europe. This, no doubt, had something to do with the poorer demand for our copra, the price of which was bound to give way, we think. Our shipments of copra this year will probably look very small as compared with those from the American Colony, the Philippine Islands, with its huge export of copra, and little or nooil. If, however, we add the nuts which we convert into copra. as also those we annually turn into over 28,000,000 lb. of Desic- cated, not forgetting our nuts in shell—some 16,000,000--exported, we fancy the Philippine total annual nut crop would not show up so well. The effect would be greater if we could calculate our local consumption of nuts, though, to be sure, the Filipinos consume nuts too. As regards Desiccated, the year opened with 23 to 24 cents for this, very fair prices considering the very high price and the scarcity of nuts. But still, with better crops, and _ slightly cheaper nuts, mills did much more work in the second quarter. Some of our Desiccating Mills had to shut down, while others went very slow, owing to continuous drought and very great scarcity of water, while nuts came tumb- ling in in greater quantity than they could cope with. Fortunately sugar was cheap over the period, and, that, together with June being Coronation month, of course, meant that con- fectionery, cakes and biscuits had to be made in unusually large quantities to help to feed the great London multitude. Upto June 29th we shipped no less than 11,438,925 Ib. against 9,893,415 lb. in the first half of last year or 74 million lb. in excess ; the price now stands at 224 cents to 23cents Colombo delivery, There is a falling off in Poonac, strange to say, of over 50 percent, This can, we think, only be accounted for by the very high price of it, 74 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist owing to the high price of copra and nuts. Prob- ably the Home and Continental Crushing Mills were able to produce it more cheaply than Ceylon could supply it. But it looks as if this year is to be one of the poorest in the decade for this famous fodder. We did fairly well with our Nuts in shell for the half-year, 7,604,329 nuts were sent away in shell, against 5,805,647 in 1910, Crops have been satisfactory in quantity. The kernel, however, as must be expected, with five consecutive years of half our average rainfall, in our best nut districts, was very poor. It took fully 34 nuts, all round, big and little, to make a pound of desiccated, while, in many cases, it required fully 1,400 to 1,500 all round, to produce a candy of first quality estate copra. There are very few nuts on the trees for the end of this year, and we hear on all sides that nuts are to be very short September to December, and, in fact on into January, February, March, which is always our shortest crop period. With yarn and fibre the mills worked on the whole six months, save when water supply failed, which it did at a good many mills. Several however, had to shut down. There were two reasons for this. The first was that husk went to very abnormal prices. The second was that there was no water in the tanks for retting. This was doubly unfortunate in the face of the best prices the mills ever saw, the best bristle fibre reaching 11, while mattress fibre was worth K3'90 at buyers’ stores, Colombo. Now with these prospects of very short nut crops we may well ask if there is to be a “boom” in Coconut products. Last mail seemed to bring expectation of this, especially in ‘Copra.” We attract attention to Mr. Wicherley’s paper in the ‘‘ Rubber World” re- produced elsewhere, which is, on the whole, a carefully compiled statement, based, we should think, on information gathered from Ceylon authorities. But apart from this, the local rnmour is that there is a great deficiency in this year’s supply of Copra. If this is so, there is a good time coming for all interested in coconut plantations and gardens now in bearing. The following details of Copra Exports for 1911 are kindly supplied us by Messrs. Freuden- berg & Co., and will be studied with interest :— Exports oF Copra, JANUARY TO May, 191). TONS. Jan. Feb. Mar. April. May.* Total. Ceylon 846 918 1108 1818 9°3 5643 Java 7167 8064 6U17 4858 5772 31878 Singapore 4651 2291 4743 5458 5819 22962 Penang 1560 1110 1940 2375 1530 8515 Cochin 309 602 1127 152) 8785 7343 Padang 1045 783 967 295 10L6 4096 Macassar 2352 1891 3299 1909 3184 12626 Molluken 5786 2023 5892 4056 4438 22201 Manila &Cebuds700 5200 4500 9000 6000 30400 29416 22882 29599 31280 32487 145664 From figures published last month the total shipments of copra from the Dutch Hast Indies, Straits and Singapore, Ceylon, and the Philippines for the period January to May, 1910, were given as 162,315 tons against the total for these months of 145,664 tons repre- sented above. * Provisional. COCONUTS LANDS: THE COPRA INDUSTRY. Is A BOOM COMING? By Wiutiam WICHERLEY, F.R.H.S. It is common knowledge that some of the shrewdest brains in the City have for some ; months now been concentrated on the problem which is at present disturbing the edible oil industry all over the world—viz., shortage of supply, and the consequent certainty of an enor- mous increase in the price of the raw material, in the category of which copra, the product of the coconut, stands first and foremost. The finest copra comes from the Malabar Coast, the next in esteem being produced in Ceylon, whilst that from the Malay States, Dutch East Indies, Philippines, and the South Sea Islands follows in their stated order. So faras the out- turn from the South Seas is concerned, this, as it applies tothe European market, may be left out - of count, since the Australian and American demand greedily consumes everything offered from that quarter. About three years ago, Messrs Lever Bros., of Port Sunlight, embarkea on the heroic endea- vour to direct this trade to England, but the attempt is stated to have been a complete failure. After sinking thousands of pounds in the enterprise, this firm decided early in the present year to cut their losses, and leave the Solomon Islandg and its copra trade severely alone. The cost of collection was found to be enormous, often amounting to over £50 per ton, at a period when copra could be purchased in England at £22, delivered! Messrs Lever Bros, are now turning their attention to the palm-nut forests of the Belgian Congo in the endeavour to obtain supplies. The same uneasiness is manifested among other large consumers, who, for the time being, are obtaining some assistance from the soya bean. This cannot last, however, for mavy reasons, chief of which is the ever widening demand for this legume as a food among the Asiatic races. Hxperts recognise that the only solution of the difficulty is the consolidation of the copra industry into channels which would ensure continuity of supply, together with a price always moving in consonance with that of the ruling market. To obtain this desideratum, itis absolutely necessary to secure the means of output, which can only be accomplished by out and out purchase of the lands which yield the product, or the financing of the meaas of pro- duction. The latter would be the readier, if the more risky, means of operation, but it has drawbacks which have before now frightened away investors. The only difficulty in the way of purchase is to persuade the native owners to ask a reasonable price for their properties. For the moment, thanks to fictitious inquiries from irresponsible people, they entertain the notion that Europeans are tumbling over each other in a desire to pay anything from fifty to a hundred years’ purchase for coconut lands in bearing, whereas a reasonable figure is anything between six and twelve years’ purchase of the certified net profits, averaged over a period of five years. tind Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911 75 There are plenty of lands to be had at these rates, but purchasers must be prepared with hard cash—money down always impresses the Ceylonese particularly—and not waste time in attempting share purchase considerations, de- bentures and the like, for this never leads to anything but ‘' talkee talkee,” in which the native delights, but has not the slightest inten- tion of converting into a business travsaction. Investors should remember that money talks in the East louder and to more purpose, than in any other part of the world. In arriving at the approximate value of an estate, purchasers should consult a European valuer. Native proprietors are notoriously bad cultivators. They do not understand the value of manuring or of tree preservation. Hence ‘“‘vacancies,’often amounting to one-third of the originally planted area, are to be met with, whilst there is in the majority of cases an entire absence of orderly and efficient management, which is responsible for immense loss of revenue annually. These facts are mentioned in order that purchasers may not be disappointed if they find that they have not secured for their money quite a ‘‘ Kew Garden” pattern of pro- perty. As a rule, coconuts are planted 70 to 75 treesto theacre. [In Ceylon and Southern India they come into partial bearing at seven to eight years. When ten years old they are in full bearing, and will yield uninterruptedly for seventy years or more. The average yield of a full-bearing planta- tion is not more than 45 nuts per tree per year, during which there are six pickings. State- ments of yields approaching and exceeding three figures are often to be met with in partic- ulars supplied by vendors, but they should be received with the greatest caution. Itis quite true thatthere are many estates where indi- vidual trees will yield 70, 80, 90, and as much as 1U0 nuts forcopra each year, but they are the exception, Itis equally true that careful and elaborate manurial experiments have con- clusively proved that under scientific and proper cultivation the Ceylon coconut may be made to yield a much higher average than that above recorded. Itis in this direction and in the com- plete utilisation of the valuable associated pro- ducts of the copra-yielding nuts, that European investors may safely look for very handsome and increasing profits. The test value of the nut for copra is to be found in the count to the “‘candy.” A ‘ candy ” is 560 lb weight. There- fore, the lower the count the higher the value of the nuts. Thus the average count in Ceylon is 1,300 nuts to the candy. In Java and the Dutch East Indies it is 1,560, whilst in the Philippines it is over 1,700 nuts. The Ceylon product possesses, in addition to value in the count, an appreciable associate in its fibre, which is always in good demand. The following will give some idea of the value of the outturn of the Ceylon coconut :— Count to the candy of 560 lb. = 1,300 nuts. Fibre obtained from a (7 cwt. candy = (mattress) la ewt, (brush) {Note.—A candy of 1,300 nuts produces 42 gallons of oil, and in ‘‘ poonac,” which is the residue “cake,’’ about 45 per cent of the whole. ] Present value of unhusked nuts on the tree = £4 17s 6d per 1,000, {Note.—In desiccated form 1,000 nuts yield 330 lb., whilst the parings, which yield high- class copra, average 35 lb weight.] The present price at Colombo of desiccated nuts is 20 cents per |lb., and of nut parings copra Rs. 80 per candy of 560 Ib. A survey of the above figures will enable one to arrive without much trouble at the approxi- mate value of coconut properties. Take an estate of 1,000 acres, fully bearing, we should have the following returns :— Gross value Acres, No. of Annual of trees. yield. nut harvest. Nuts. E 1,000 70,000 3,000,000 14,675 The total outgoings will average Rs. 80 per acre, thus showing net profits £8,675, or about £8 12s 3d per acre—not at all a bad return as tropical agriculture goes. Owing to the in- difference and want of enterprise among the native owners, the wastage of fibre and other by-products 1s enormous, Tons of husks are simply allowed to rot on the ground, whereas if the fine long fibre which they carry were utilised, it would add consider- ably to the profits of an estate. Three million nuts give about 750 tons of oil, tho ruling price for which f.o.b. at Colombo is at present £31 per ton. The fibre from 3,000,000 nuts will yield 1874 tons of brush and 750 tons of mattress, the respective prices of which are at present per ton £12 10s and £33s. A fibre-making plant capable of dealing with 10,000 husks per day will cost £1,000 sterling. Here, then, are the main facts connected with the coconut industry as it is run under native management today, but we think sufli- cient has been stated to show the immense possibilities for development and improvement that are open to the application of Huropean methods, and to the enterprise of the white man. The opportunities for British investors in trop- ical agriculture are neither too numerous nor over attractive, but in coconuts--truly termed the Consols of the East—there is just now a clear field, and if, by dallying, they lose these oppor- tunities—and the ubiquitous Contintental capi- talist has been much in evidence among coconut lands lately—they will have lost a chance which will never occur again. ~- Rubber World, June 15, NOTES FROM THE COCONUT DISTRICT, N.W.P. June 17/24. Laree May-June Coconur Crops. It seems strange, that in spite of the deficient rainfall, we should have large May-June crops. Everyone of whom I have sought information, has the same pleasant news to give, large crops, Ido not know whether it is general through- out the Island, but the general rule in the Wes- ternand North-Western Provinces is, that the largest crops of the year are harvested in May, 76 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist June and in July-August. Whatisthe reason for this? It caunot be due to raintall, for while most rain falls in the Western Province during the S.-W. monsoon, the N.- Western Province, or at least the littoral, gets most rain during the N.-E. monsoon. Shall I hazard a guess ? Can it be due to the rain-water of the 8.-W. monsoon having more saline matter init than the rain-water of the N.-K. monsoon? This is an interesting subject for investigation. Will not the Agricultural Society take the matter up and have an analysis made monthly of the rainfall to determine whether during the S.-W. Monsoon months there .is more salt in rain-water than during other mouths ? A. B. RUSBER IN NEGOMBO. SOME INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS. The tapping of the little Para rubber garden, now the property of the Coconut Oil and Desic- cating Co., Ltd., planted by Mr. C. M. B. Wil- kins in May, 1906, was started some 6 weeks ago, when it was exactly 5 years old. Mr. Wilkins, Managing Director, hopes to secure fully 1 lb. per tree for the first year, which speaks very well for such a very dry climate. The little garden for the first 4 years was never once weeded, the only expenditure under that head- ing having been the cutting of the fine crops of Mauritius grass grown on the Jand which is wet and well suited to that product, the garden keeping some 30 head of mill cattle in grass all the year round. As soon as the grass was cut, a liberal top dressing of cattle manure and mill yard sweepings was applied, and the rubber plants well mulched. The roots of the rubber plants were so well protected from the sun. that they never seemed to feel the long trying droughts we had with the very poor average rainfall for the district, of only 47” per annum during the 5 years, against the usual 70” to 80” This little experimental garden seers to prove that, under similar conditions, such land in the lowcountry is well suited for a Dairy Farm, At the end of the 4th or 5th year, when, owing to the shade of the rubber trees the grass becomes very thin, one would have to close the Dairy, i.e., the richer milk of the tree will displace that of the cows, which must be consigned to another clearing for their grass supply. WILD RUBBER. THE NEW BACT aat DEFENCE IDEA. That estate rubber is bound to be the controlling power in the rubber world is the intention, and sure knowledge, of all who are concerned in rubber cultivation. Hstate rubber willset the price, and the pace. Estate rubber will be produced at a price which, whilst still yielding a substantial return upon capital invested in sound and well managed concerns, will leaye no room for antiquated, wasteful, unduly difficult, unstable or ex- pensive operations, euch as the collection of wild rubber must ever be. At present fine hard cured Para rules quotations through the whole market, despite the attempts that have been made, and with reason, to list and operate wild rubber and plantation produce separately. This cannot last very much longer. is coming when ‘wild rubber” will be practi- cally beaten out of the market, There is a slight difference between the much vaunted and costly ‘‘finest hard cured” and_ the eastern plantation product, This difference is, however, so slight as to be practically negligible, especially considering the continued improvements in machinery construction on the one hand, and of rubber manufacture on the other. Those who are interested in the sale of the Amazon material, of course, decry the plantation product, declaring that thereis no comparison between the two, This is natural. The necessity of their trade compels them to say this, though it resembles much the saying of the thing that is not. The opinion held by persons engaged in industries in which rubber is extensively used is somewhat different. It is probable too that the private opinions of the wild rubber speculators themselves do not quite coincide with their public utterances. How- ever this may be, it is certain that the Brazilian authorities see with fair clear- ness how the land really lies. What- ever erroneous opinion they may holdas to the comparative superiority of their own rubber over that of the Eastern plantations, they labour uuder no misapprehension as to the manner in which their position is threatened by the plan- tations. It must be said to their credit, also, that, having seen their peril, they are preparing to meetit, aud have no intention of being ewept oft their feet without a struggle. Whether they will succeed or not is quite another matter. The general opinion of those who ponder the pro- blem that faces Brazil, and examine it in all its bearings, is that the wild rubber magnates, and the Government of the Republic will gain com- paratively little from all their efforts ; that when the Hastern plantations are fully organised, and come into proper working, the wild produce will go down beforeit asa sand dyke before a flood tide, Several schemes have been proposed for strengthening the position of the Brazilian Government, and protecting Brazilian produce, There have been various valorisation efforts, and market rigging has been carried ovt on a large and scientific scale. There is also a great scheme for the general improvement of communications, the clearing and dredging of waterways, the provision of more steamers, and the building of many roads. This is the most promising scheme of all. If it does not help wild rubber much it will still open out and improve the country, developing things all round. So far as rubber 1s concerned, however, the benefit seems highly problematical. Inthe first place, by the time these roads are built, and the rivers cleared and stocked with ship- ping, years enough will have elapsed to per- mit of Eastern rubber estates securing the fullest command of the market, reducing their cost of production, and making it impossi- ble for the wild rubber men to live. The improvements will hardly go far towards cheapening the produce of Para and Ama- zonas, at least in the beginning. Road buil- ding and river training are tairly expensive operations. The work will have to be paid for The time » and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911, 77 by somebody. The rubber regions have no heavy population over whom the cost could be spread in the shape of a light tax. Generally there is no population at all in the regions where the roads will be most necessary. The Government may probably try to recoup itself by imposing further taxation on the rubber, This will ensure swifter ruin, and there is al- ready bitter complaint being made that the tax- ation has led to much of the present mischief. Now the various plan3 and proposals have materialised and taken the shape of three laws, one authorising a £6,000,000 foreign loar and the creation of a bank, which are intended to de- fend the rubber of Para and Amazonas. The object of the Governments and dealers, as set forth in a message from the Associagao Com- mercial of Manaos, to Messrs. Rothschild, Lon- don, isto bring about stability of the market. It is remarked, with reason, that if the recent violent oscillations of price continue, Amazonas will be ruined. The Association’s telegram says that the measures proposed for the defence of rubber would be intended to ensure rormal con- ditions in the markets only during each crop, following the probable fall of prices long enough for the producer and the trade to regulate busi- ness. Calculated on the basis of tho lowest prices, a surtax of 400 reis is sufficient to cover the service of the loan, while there is also to be counted the probable valorisation of the stock employed for the purpose of defence, in order to avoid great and violent oscillations, The capi- tal of the loan will always be represented by the rubber or cash in the proposed banks at Manaos and Para, whose object will be to organise the service and reduce the cost of production of rub- ber. There issome idea that the loan may be used to buy rubber on a falling market, and some doubt is expressed as to the Government’s guaranteeing of the loan, though the bank ques- tion seems quite sound, and it may be started in on a £3,000,0U0 level. A translation of the most important parts of the laws shows Art. 1, The Executive is hereby authorised to grant such favours as it may deem necessary, in- cluding exemption from taxes, with the excep- tion of export dues, for a period not exceeding 15 years, to such individuals or companies as undertake to establish rubber refineries in this capital or propose by means of new and up-to date methods to wash, rectify rubber in such a manner as to admit of the export of a single type of the first quality. Art 2. The processes employed for the puri- fication and’ antiseptic method of preserving the rubber shall not prejudice in any way its chemi- cal and physical constitution as an industrial product. Art 3, The Executive shall, at the a.t of granting the concession, determine the con- ditions on which it is granted, its duration, the rights and obligations of the concessionaires and shall fix the sum to be paid by the said con- cessionaires for fiscalisation by Government. Art 4. So soon as the refineries are in full and in regular working order the Executive shall unify the taxes actually levied on rubber exported, in such a way as toeliminate for purposes of tax collection, intermediate and inferior types. Art 5. Should the yield of the unified taxes on rubber appreciably during the first six months - exceed the amount collected during the cor- responding six months of the preceding year the Executive shall forward to Congress, at its next meeting, such data as will enable it to de- cree the reduction of the tax. Art. 6, All dispositions to the contrary are hereby revoked. Law No. 1,180 of 17th May :— Art. 1. The Executiveis hereby authorised, in agreement with the Government of the State of Amazons and the Federal Government to con- tract a loan abroad up toa maximum of £6,000,000 bearing interest at the maximum rate of 5 per cent gold on the responsibility of the two States and with the Federal endorsement. Art. 2. The duration of the loan shall be 10 years, and the amount realised therefrom shall be devoted to aiding the production of rubber. Art. 3. To meet the service of the loan, in so far as concerns the State, a surtax of 400 réis per kilo on rubber exported is hereby created, the yield therefrom to be deposited each week in special account in the State Treasury. Sola Par. The collection of this tax shall cease s0 soon as its yield produces a sum sufficient for the complete execution of the obligations assumed by the State in relation to the loan. Art. 4. The Executive is likewise authorised to make an agreement with the Government of the State of Matto Grosso for the purpose of in- suring that the surtax referred to in the pre- ceding article shall also be levied on the pro- duce of that State. Art. 5. The net yielc of the loan shall always be represented in cash or rubber. Art. 6. Ifit is found impracticable to float aloanin accordance with the terms of Art. 1 of this Law, the Government may contract another up to a maximum of £3,000,0U0 sterling, bearing interest at the maximum rate of 5 per cent, gold, on the exclusive responsibility of the state and guarantee of the surtax treated of in Art. 3. Art. 7. The authorisation granted in pre- vious laws for the realisation of any operations of credit for the purpose of aiding and _ protect- ing the rubber industry and other products of the State and for the making of such agree- ments and arrangements as may be necessary, is hereby confirmed, Art. 8. All dispositions to the contrary are hereby revoked. Law No. 1,181 of 17th May :— Art. 1. The Government of the State is here- by authorised, as from the date of this law, to guarantees a maximum annual interest of 6 per cent, gold on the capital of £3,000,000 sterling, issued by series, fora period of 30 years, of a bank to be founded in this City, whose princi- pal operations shall be dealing in agricultural and hypothecary credit, within the dispositions of the present law. _Sola Par. Government may make such pre- liminary arrangements as may be necessary for the organisation of the bank. Art, 2 describes the operations of the bank. 78 The Swpplement to the Tropical Agriculturist TRUE BLUE. THE HAND oF THE Dyer, AND His Dyss. Ceylon is not a great dye-producing country, There is, as in every land, a small, localised. manufacture of vegetable and earthy dyes, just as there is a small production of local yarns and textiles. There is, however, no pro- duction for export purposes, whilst the small import trade in dye stuffs is limited almost entirely to anilines of the fiercest and most deadly order. Generally, however, Cey- lon imports her dyed and printed goods, cotton or silks, from abroad. The gay and often startling reddhas, the veittes of the Jaffna folk, the sulus and loongies of the Malay, are de- signed, woven, and dyed in England, and Ger- many. The old dyeing industries are dead. In this Ceylor is not by any means singular, Ex- actly the same state of things is noted in every other country, and not in the East alone. The old vegetable dyes, with their beautiful delicacy of shade, their permanence, are now little used. Their preparation was often tedious and trouble- some. They could nut be produced as cheaply as the new Western chemical dyes could be bought inthe bazaars. The new dyes now)shine in the carpets of Persia, and Turkey Central Asia and India, and glow in the gay fabrics with which the world decks itself. They do not glow for long, however, the majority of these aniline and alizarin dyes. Unlike vegetable products they are all fugitive and some are only less so than others. This is known to all who buy the em- broidered goods of Kashmir. Beautiful for a spell, they soon go dingy, drab, dirty brown for ever, Ceylon is not a great dye-producing country, but there is, however, no reason why it should not become one. There was a time when it did not count as a tea-producing territory, and when the rubber brought here experimentally by Wick- ham was regarded in the light of an interesting botanical curiosity rather than anything really serious. Indeed Ceylon can, if she will, not only produce natural dye of the best, but market it at a price low enough to encourage the dyer to educate himself in the use and nature of true, fast, dyes, and to give his clients honest value for their money, a thing they seldom get now. Ceylon, whilst performing this philanthropic work, can make gains that will content even those accustomed to the wonderful dividends that many of our fine tea- cum-rubber companies have been yielding. She can grow indigo to profit, even as she grows tea, and she ought to do it. She has soils and aspects variable enough, and rainfall and water supplies good enough, on the average, to permit her to doso. She has colonists with the need- iul brains and energy, and 89 will be saved from the deadly sins that beset and killed the fndustry in India. She will, as she must, if she is to do any good to herself and to the world, work on modern lines, avoiding blind leaders who would let her fall into the ditch. She can grow good indigo, and produce at once a true bluedye, and immense quantites of the very best manure, just the very kind that is wanted by her light, open, but rather thin soils, manure that hasthe double advantage of being magnificently rich and healthy, and at the same time cheap. The day comes when the matter will be considered very seriously. But it will not be enough for Ceylon to grow her indigo, and to put it upon the market in a form that will prove attractive to the dyers. That will be but a portion of her task. If the work is not done completely she will not only be denied her just profits, but will run the risk of suffering losses that need uot be suffered. Having produced her dye she must educate the dyers to its use; must force the sales upon the market; must, above all, educate the great cloth buying public. This means that Ceylon must begin by learning all about the matter herself, appreciating it in all its bearings. The public for all that it likes good clothes and prefers to have good value for money, and that may of the feminine half of it make something like a cult of dress, is lament- ably, ludicrously, ignorant about dyes, People do not know the alphabet of the matter. As for natural ndigo, synthetic indigotine, alizarin oz logwood blues, neither dames nor dress- makers know much more than their babes of the differences and characters of these. The dyers know better, and so do some of the dealers, but the hand of the dyer is subdued to the dye in which he works, and he and the dealer give the public what is most easily sold at the largest profit. The public, who would soon be content with margarine, if only it could be sold as butter, buy, and go their ways. They have short memories. Lamenting their faded garments and house fur- nishings, they content themselves with remark- ing with a sigh that ‘‘ there is no such thing as a fast blue.” They have reason for this philos- ophy under present conditions, but they forget the past, and the stuffs that gave warrant for the saying “true blue.” The vast majority of blue cloths, and yarns now on the market are dyed not with a natural indigo but with what must be styled trasb. There is no sense in lamenting over the fact, whilst accepting it, or abusing the chemists and dyers, who sell whatever the public will buy. The only way is to make an honest dye and sell it so as to kill out the trash, while educating the public up to it. Ceylon can do this if she enters the indigo trade, as she can and ought. She will do it by carrying on a strong and in- telligent campaign on the market and in the press. The matter is easy enough, needing only intelligence, honesty and determination, all quali- ties to be found in abundance here. Let us glance briefly at the matter, which ought to in- terest even those who have not any intention of touching indigo, since all may at some time want to buy blue cloth. Into the history of the virtual killing of the Indian indigo industry by the Ger- man chemists, who took up and developed the English invention of synthetic dyes we need not enter here. We have already outlined it. Suffice to say that the chemists succeeded in making and marketing a real indigotine, got from tar ard other waste. This was a true chemical indigo, containing the identical atoms that went to make the Behar dye. lt lacked and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911. 79 something however, an undiscoverable some- thing, possessed by the vegetable product. The result was that it was not fast. It came ont in the wash, it faded in the sun, and is shrank from the sea. Also, it destroyed the cloth. It was sold cheaply, however, and in a form that pleased the dyers. The profits were very small though, and have of late almost vanished. Synthetic Indigo is inturn threatened. It has already begun to be displaced, largely by two other blues, firstly by alizarin blue, and secondly by a blue got from logwood. These cheap dyes are, however, even more fugitive and destructive than synthetic indigotine. Alizarin blue in the best cloths fades to a dirty reddish brown if ex- posed to light and air. It will do this in a month. It also eats absolute holes in the cloth. It begins to go off in a fortnight. Alizarin is fast to sea water only to a certain extent, but it cannot stand the sun. Logwood dyes are even more fugitive, but they do not destroy the fabric. True natural indigo, the old dye, is fast in all conditions, and does not eat the fabric. Itis the only blue of which this can be said. But the public knew nothing of this. They have forgotten about natural indigo, and wait to havethe truth regarding other dyes impressed upon them by proof and persuasion: There is an Indigo Association now in existence, but it does nv good whatever, It only wastes time and money, and its ‘‘work” can only be expressed by. the horribly slangy, but expressive, word ‘‘footle.” It only requires dissclving and rema- king. What is wanted is the establishment in London of an emporium and agency with an energetic and able Managing Secretary, a chemist and dyer, one in thorough touch with the trade atthe head. This emporium would have branches in the great Northern manufacturing centres, and also in Paris and Berlin. This being done and things kept booming, the public would soon turn from the blue devils of Alizarin and adhere to true blue. Itisa great opportunity for Ceylon to do the missionary work, ——and take the reward. JAVA RUBBER INDUSTRY, Reporting on the trade of Java, Sumatra, &., for the year 1910, Mr Consul J W Stewart states that the past twelve months were most interest- ing for rubber in Java, as the oldest ofthe Hevea plantations had reached the productive stage. Little actual tapping has been done, but some half dozen estates have made a commencement with this work, and the small quantities of ‘ Java plantation’ which have reached the Lon- don market have been conspicuous for the high prices realised. Figures as to yields per tree are not yetavailable, but results obtained have been highly satisfactory, bothas regards yield of latex and percentage of dry rubber, On many plantations trouble has been caused by root disease; but planters are taking ener- getic measures to check it, and the Government chemists are interesting themselves keenly in the matter andrendering the readiest assistance. Of the capital sunk in rubber ventures during 1910, that of British investors easily takes the first place, and from figures compiled by the Netherlands Indian Agricultural Syndicate it appears that in Java alone no less than £5,500,000 has already been paid up in respect of 87 British companies with an authorised capital of nearly £7,000,C00. The figures are admittedly incomplete, as the origin of all the capital is difficult to trace, and it is probably that the actual British interest is even greater. The agricultural syndicate mentioned above has also endeavoured to collect statistics as to the area planted with rubber in Java, and have ar- rived at a total of 157 estates, with an area of 85,000 acres ef planted rubber, principally Hevea Brasiliensis. These figures are, however, recognised as incomplete, and owing to the apparent reluctance of many planters to furnish it will probably be some years before reliable statistics can be obtained, Au interesting feature in connection with the rubber industry has been the establishment in Java during 1910 of a British firm of rubber en- gineers who are constructing large numbers of temporary and permanent rubber factories. An in- ferior variety of wild rubber, the export of which has of late years attained considerable propor- tions, is that known as jelutong. This product is collected by natives in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo and is obtained from trees belonging to.the Dyera and Alstonia families. As the method of collection employed by the natives is extremely destructive to the trees the Govern- ment of Netherlands India has found it ueces- sary, in order to prevent their extermination, to impose restrictions on the collection of jelutong. Concessions for the exclusive right of collection have already been granted to two companies, one American and the other German, and there are still large stretches of territory available, =H, & C, Mail, June 16. EUROPEAN SUPERVISION IN THE MIDDLE EAST. This is a subject which is engaging the thoughts of experienced Planters in this coun- try. 1t has been asserted that there is already too touch recruiting of white men from Europe. In the opinion of more than one leading Planter whom we have interviewed the opposite is really the case. We want much more white supervi- sion, said one Selangor Planter, and the estate which stints itself in respect of the same is adopting a suicidal policy. Lack of European supervision was bad enough in the earlier days. With the prospects ofa number of estates ap- proaching the bearing state it is rendered a much more serious matter, and there must be no weakening but rather strengtheniny of the European staffs onthe different estatesin this country. Tho extra initial expense to an estate, caused by the addition of one or two European Assistants, will be more than compensated by the rosults dueto supervision. The question of European supervision is one of the most im- portant of the hour, and we hope that some ot ourreaders, who realize its importanes, will give their views for the benefit of their brother planters. We hope as time goes on tointerview leading Planters on the subject, which, as we have pointed out is one of deep concern to the welfare of this country. Mr WRG Hickey, manager of Shelford estate, Klang, advocates much closer supervision by Europeans than can now be observed. (Grenier’s.)—S. F, Press, June 20, 80 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist Rubber Growing on Waste Land. Land which is not fit for growing Hevea rubber trees or Coffee, Cocoa, Tea, etc., can be made to yield good profits by cultivating the new varieties :— Manihot Dichotoma Ule for Glay Soil Manihot Piauiensis Ule for Sandy Soil Both of these varieties also grow well in dry regions with very good results. For trial orders we send 10 lbs. (about 3,700 seeds) by parcel post, includ- ing postage, on reccipt of £3. of 135 lbs. at the rate of 3/6. per lb. delivered in Hamburg. Always state full postal address. Bags Orders may be booked through your European Agents or sent direct to us. Detailed information on application. Gevekoht & Wedekind Telegraphic-Address : “ Gevekind Hamburg.” A. B. C. Code Sth Edition. Hamburg 1. THE BRAZILIAN COCO-PALM. Pernambuco is situated in the centre of the tropical part of Brazil, within which the coco- palm grows most luxuriantly. The coco-palm seems to be indigenous tothe district™ which extends from the vicinity of Bahia on the south to Parahyba on the north. but it attains its fully luxuriant and most prolific development in the vicinity of Pernambuco. The coco-palm is one of the most beautiful and attractive natural adornments of many of the public parks and private gardens of Pernambuco, often attaining a height of from eighty to ninetv feet. The trunk is without branches, and the leaves which cluster ina tuft atthe top are from fifteen to twenty feet in Jength. At the base of the leaves the nuts hang in clusters, the number varying from three to fifteen according to the age and condition of the tree. ‘the United States Con- sul at Pernambuco says that the nut is first planted in its natural state with hull and fibre. At tha expiration of about twelve months, or when the plant has reached a height of about three feet, it is transplanted and set out in rows about forty feet apart. If cultivated and irri- gated the tree will produce at the end of five years, otherwire it will require about ten years to produce, Although the rainfall within the *Not_so we think and DC Candolleis our authority— this palm has its habitat in the Eastern Archipelago, about Sumatra.—iD., C.0. coast region averages about eighty inches per annum, it all occurs during the months of the rainy season, and often when it is of no service to certain vegetation. The summers are hot and dry, and young plants and trees need to be irrigated. There are two coconut markets in the city of Pernambuco, one for the green and the other for the mature or dried nuts. The green nuts, which are picked at about the end of five months, and before the real meat of the nut has begun toform inside, are composed entirely of water, which forms one of the prin- cipal. and most popular beverages of the neigh- bourhood. The water is non-alcoholic, and when iced isconverted into a most savoury refrigerant. Its action is diuretic. When the nut is partially mature the inside is sometimes extracted, and by the use of sugar and some other ingredients is converted into a popular confection. The meat of thedried or ripe nut is used exclusively for food, being usually seasoned and mixed with different provisions for flavouring purposes. The owner of one of the large plantations in Per- nambuco has recently stated that he averaged about four shillings net profit per annum from each tree. The greater proportion of the nuts are consumed locally, but a considerable quan- tity is shipped to Rio de Janeiro and other cities of Brazil, and also to EHuropean countries where the improved facilities for extracting the oil have greatly enhanced their value.—Royal Society of Arts Journal, June 16, and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911, 81 Ww. J. & H. THOMPSON’S ANNUAL REPORT ON THE TEA TRADE. 38, Mincing Lane, June, 1911. The publication of the official statistics for the twelve months ending May 31st affords an opportunity of reviewing the history of the past season, recording its results, and of surveying the position and outlook, The period under review has proved a successful one for produ- cers in the aggregate, although those who make common and medium tea have increased their profits to a greater extent than others. The most important factor has been the increased consumption in countries other than the United Kingdom ; notably in Russia, where the greater purchasing power consequent upon prolific har- vests has resulted in an increased demand for tea. The amount of Bcitish grown tea taken outside the United Kingdom during the past 12 months exceeded last year’s by 16 million lb. The majority of this increase was purchased locally, with a result that from India, despite an increase of about 63 million lb. in the total shipments, receipts in London have been smaller by over 8 million lb. From Ceylon the increased offtake amounted to over 4} million lb., coincidently with very little alteration in the quantity of China tea pur- chased. The result here was felt in smaller im- ports, which, coupled with a continuance of a good rate of Home Consumption, conduced to the buoyant and rising market experienced from autumn onwards, culminating in the early months of 191lLin a higher level of value for common and Jow medium teas than has been reached during recent years. In our last Annual Review we stated that, as- suming a continuance of the increased consump- tion both at Home and Abroad, and in the absence of any sign that China tea was regaining favour, the question to be considered was whether there would be suflicient tea from India and Ceylon to supply requirements. This belief has been fully justified, and although Home Consumption has been little more than stationary for over a year—the increased quan- tity used being only equal to the estimated rate of growth of our population—the large increase taken by other markets, Russia and Australasia in particular, has created ashortage here, from whichthe healthy state of the London market has been the direct outcome. An examination of the movements during tke year reveals the reason for the present basis of values. Common and low medium _ grades have not been offered in unduly large quantity here, as the Dooars and Assam have furnished a smaller amount than usual of tea coming under this category. As these grades are used by all the great distributors in their blends—the efforts on the part of those inter- ested to induce the public to use finer tea having had as yet very little success—deman.] increases to an extent that affects quotations, keeping the price of fair Pekoe Souchong between 74d and 8d ver lb. Asis always the case when the at- tention of the trade is concentrated on the lower priced varieties, better class teas receive less support, and it is to be regretted that, during 11 the past year, good and fine grades, particularly those from India, have hardly been appreciated to the extent of their worth, although choice tea has not failed to find a ready sale. Inp1IaAn TEA, The crop despatched from India has again created a record by exceeding that of last sea- son by about 64 million lb, At the beginning of the season weather conditions were favour- able, but afterward, heavy rainfall experi- enced in many localities made later flushes rather indiffereut in quality. In Assam, the early flushes were the best and a number of good teas were received, but the autumnal crop again proved disappointing, and only a few flavoury Invoices were marketed. Cachar and Sylhet, which in 1909-10 sent a large crop of good use- ful tea, fell away slightly, both as regards out- put and make of leaf. Continental enquiry has been consistertly good for leaf teas from these districts, as well as for suitable teas from the Dooars, which has furnished a larger quantity of tea fully equal, if not preferable, on the whole, to that made last season. Autumnal teas from this district possessed good colour and flavour, and fully deserved the high prices paid for them, The Terai has been more fortunate this season, and while climatic conditions have been some- what adverse, the yield, both in quantity and quality, has shown an advance on the previous one. In Darjeeling more tea than in 1909-10 was made, but in character the majority of in- voices were inferior, Nevertheless, the 6x- panding demand for this growth, for home and Russian use, has ensured high prices for all with distinctive flavour. Following the shortage in Ceylons the atteation of the trade here has been diverted to Southern Indian varieties to make up the deficiency, with the result that the increase from Travancore and the neighbouring districts has been well received, and with quality on the whole excellent, remunerative prices have willingly been paid, The average of public sales in London on growers’ account is about 8 3-5d against 8 1-31 the previous season, and 7 7-8d in 1908-9. CEYLON. In contrast to the record crop in 1909 of nearly 192 million lb, the output from the Is- land, during 1910, showed a deficit of over 10 million lb, viz., 1814 million lb. To what ex- tent this heavy falling oft is to be attributed to the effect of interplanted Rubber is difficult to determine, but as in many gardens where no Rubber is growo there has been a_ shortage in output, it is safe to put adverse climatic condi- tions, as the principal cause. The quality of the teas received here has been up to the aver- age, the proportion of commonest grades being smaller than usual. Of the entire crop gathered, 108 million lb, or 60 per cent, was marketed in London, and realised an average price of 820d per lb as compared with 815d per |b in 1909-10, and 7°86d in 1908-9. The appre- ciation of and demand for Ceylon tea, asa distinct variety, continue to be shown in all quarters. CHINA. The quantity of China tea used here has shown some expansion, owing to the high prices ruling for common teas from India and Ceylon, 82 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist A larger amount has lately been taken by the trade for blending purposes, and the percentage used since January lst has risen to 6 per cent or more of all the tea used in the United King- dom, compared with about 34 per cent in 1910. The quality of the teas received here has not been remarkable. A number, smaller than usual, of choice teas arriving early inthe season werereadily absorbed. During March the better grades were largely purchased by Russia, from whence a somewhat unusual demand was ex- perienced; but a quantity of very common tea has been Shtained from America to supply the wants of those who retail tea at a low quotation. This is entered amongst imports and deliveries of tea ‘‘ From other countries.” About the middle of March a cable was cir- culated through the Press, to the effect that it was the intention of the Chinese Government to prohibit the importation of all foreign tea into that country, and to reduce the export duties on China tea, amounting to about 2d, per lb. A prompt protest was made by the Russian Ambassador at Pekin, and while the former proposition would have a temporary disturbing effect in Calcutta and Colombo, the movement is primarily directed against the Russian-owned Brick-tea factories situated at Hankow, A large quantity of Indian and Ceylon dusts and fan- nings, bought locally, is used there to face the brick tea. This trade has during the past few ears assumed large proportions, some 12 million bs. having been taken direct from Calcutta and Colombo for this purpose, The action of the Chi- nese Government, if persisted in, may have the effect of making the Russians remove the factories out of Chinese territory. The second proposition is clearly designed to promote the export of their own tea,.thus enabling them to compete on better terms with other tea-producing countries, JAVA, Java teas have not shown the expansion in output which was generally expected, and the total quantity marketed here has only exceeded that of last year by ¢ million lb. While un- favourable climatic conditions have to a certain extent accounted for this, it must be remem- bered that the acreage under cultivation can only increase slowly, for, although most of the estates own undeveloped land, the labour sup- ply, although generally readily obtainable and cheap, yet owing to the prosperity of the natives, is not everywhere abundant, and many proprietors who also have rubber plantations hesitate to increase the area under tea in face of the difficulty of maintaining an efficient la- bour force for both crops. The produce has been, speaking generally, excellent; and the attention given to market requirements, both as regards manufacture and packing, is not surpassed anywhere. A feature of Javanese teas has been the consistent equality of the offerings, which ensures for thein a continuance of support throughout the whole year. The majority of the estates have for some years used the finest Assim seed, and with expert cultivation ani manufacture are now producing tea which ranks with that from good Indian and Ceylon estates. During the past twelve months the crop gathered has been about 40,500,000 lb. of which about 32 per cent has been disposed of on the London market. Asia and Australia—not London nor Holland— secured the additional 4 millions exported in 1910. The scramblo for tea during the early months of the present year has drawn attention to other possible sources of future supply, and from coun- tries not previously known as tea-producing, come rumours of planting and cultivation. We hear of operations in the highlands of British East Africa, and already a small quantity has been marketed here. In Annam there are plan- tations which are now in process of being equip- ped with the latest machinery, where experi- mental use of Assam seed gives promise of im- proved quality and quantity by degrees from this little known territory. Natal’s small crop con- tinues to be locally used. Tke labour question is yearly becoming one of the most important problems to be faced in all producing coun- tries, and with the competition created by the requirements of rubber plantations, consid- erable expansion in the area under tea is made difficult. How this can be overcome is a matter of particular importance, for at the present rate of development in the total consumption, progressive, not stationary, production is needed. With the present outlook for tea, small stocks, and supply and demand gradually becoming more nearly adjusted, the question arises in many minds as to the probable policy that will be adopted in the manufacture of the coming crop. That the values of low priced teas seem likely to remain on a higher basis than has been the case the past few years seems patent to most observers, and consequently the tempta- tion to pluck “freely,” even on gardens where such has not been the case, is not unnaturally strong, but under this head we would remind our friends that coarse plucking may easily lead to such deterioration in quality and such in- crease in quantity, that the net result would not improbably prove less satisfactory than some anticipate. Quality, though not apparently rea- lising its proper comparative value, is wanted, and more perhaps now than _ previously, as the Blenders, although tied to price, must give their customers a good palatable drink for the money. The disturbing influence of the Budget announcement has again caused some dis- location of business, aud while the effect on deliveries has not been great, the uneasi- ness caused throughout the country by the uncertainty both as to the probable date of the Chanceller’s statement and the possibility of any alteration in the Duty has been very marked. The growing interest taken by the public in tea has been shown by a business done in tea shares greater than for many years past, with the result that not only have the public a more marketable security, but in addition have, under the favourable condition of the Industry, seen a marked appreciation in the value of their holdings. 1910-11. 1909-10, 1908-9. 1907-8. Stock May 3lst all kinds lb. 87597000 91058000 695310C0 95404000 and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911. 88 In the season 1908-9 deliveries were swollen and Stocks were depleted by abnormally heavy clearances prior to the Budget. ToraL TRANSHIPMENTS DuRING THE PAST FouR SEASONS—I1ST JUNE TO 3lst May. 1910-11. 1909-10. 1908-9. 1907-8, Indian Ib. 10231700 €643700 9192900 €866300. Ceylon do 3229600 3506500 2365900 2894800 China do 1705600 1631900 3440400 2329400 Java & other Countries do 1629700 1€84900 1283400 1108 'CO Total do 16799600 15467000 16.82600 15198600 Average price rea- lised for Indian Tea soldin Lon- 1910 1909 1908 1907 don on Garden Account 1911 Average price rea- lised for Ceylon Tea sold in Lon- don on Garden 1910 1909 1908 1907 Account —81-8d ~—81-8d —77-8d —8d per lb TEA SHARES. CoMPANIES’ RESULTS FOR THE Past YEAR. Sufficient of the tea companies have issued their reports for the 1910 season to make it pos- sible to analyse their results and to see how far great expectations of last year are in the way of being realized. It will be remembered that directly after the rubber boom had exhausted itself in the spring of last year there was talk of a coming tea boom. The arguments in favour of a boom in tea shares were based on three factors. First, the world’s consumption of tea was showing a steady increase, for which the Indian teas were wholly responsible; even in those countries where China tea was still consumed in large quantities its use was steadily diminishing before the ever-growing taste for a stronger- flavoured leaf. The second point was the be- lief that before the production of tea could rise to meet the increased demand a substantial ad- vance in price would have to take place, this belief being based onthe argument that most of the land suitable for tea cultivation was al- ready planted. And the third factor rested on the assumption that the boom in rubber would lead a large number of tea companies either to abandon tea or so to interplant with rubber as seriously to diminish the productive capacity of their land. In the following table are shown the total crops and the net profits of the Companies for 1909 and 1910 :— —8 3-5d — 8 1-3d —7 7-8d —8}d per lb 1910 1909 1908 Crop. Net Profit. Company. 1909, 1910. 1909, 1910 Ib. lb, g. £. Alliance 1289700 1186600 a12061 al02 7 Amalgamated 4312000 4355300 39251 abs75l Bandarapola 80500 733600 a7920 a 4336 Ceylon Tea Plant. 5516500 540000) 71112 276546 Ceylon Prop. lea 1229900 1179800 8456 a9836 Consolidated ‘Tea and Lands 16391500 16462200 148460 «@179326 Eastern Produce 4807400 4782100 a86162 75133 Kast India and Ceylon 2012900 2059900 _ 20209 Imperial Tea 5267300 5335000 41718 47877 Lunuva (Ceylon) 1739100 1758900 12813 = #13134 Nuwara Eliya 1824700 1686100 20885 21336 Standard Tea 1305800 127850) 14831 15080 Yatiy ntota 1505700 1414100 12583 a18186 alncluding profit from other sources, Crops SMALLER AND Prices HIGHER. It will be seen that in practically every casa crops’ were smaller, but it must be remembered that 1909 was an exceptional year, some of the estates then securing the biggest crops on record, and therefore a certain falling off was to be expected, The falling off in crops was due to much less favourable clitaatic conditions, but as so often happens with most natural products, a shortage in supply produces its own com- pensation in higher prices. Net profite, it is safe to say, would have been larger but for the difficulty in obtaining sufficient native labour in Ceylon, due in a great part to the extension of rubber planting in that island. On the last occasion when tea prices rose considerably many otf the Indian estates adopted the practice of what is known as ‘coarse plucking” in order to take advantage of the high prices ruling, ‘‘ Coarse plucking” means the utilisa- tion of the lower leaves of the tea plant, and these are naturally inferior in quality. There is, however, no indication from the results so far published that any tendency in this direc- tion was allowed to develop last year. This point, perhaps, is more clearly brought out in our next table :— Average price Yield per Company. per lb. aore, 1902, 1910. 1909. 1910, d, . lb. lb, Alliance 8°05 8°09 479 442 Amalgamated 931 9°15 836 388 Bandarapola 586 6:22 718 642 Ceylon Tea Plantations 8 33 8°44 523 496 Ceylon Proprietary Vea - 7°55 7°94 463 462 Consolidated Tea and Lands 7°65 784 563 651 Eastern Produce 7°90 8°05 440 437 East Indian and Ceylon 7°36 | (7°62 _ =_ Imperial Tea 7°70 7°81 490 493 Lunuva (Ceylon) 6°68 6°70 512 492 Nuwara Eliya 8°05 8°36 640 592 Standard Tea ‘ 7°96 812 517 506 Yatiyantota 6 03 6 23 534 603 QuaLity PracticaLLy MAINTAINED. Here are shown the average price per pound realised on the whole output in 1909 and 1910 and the yield per acre for each of the two years, Prices in every case are higher and yields generally lower. Where yields have fallen sub- stantially it is nearly always the case that the price has risen proportionately, indicating that there could have been little falling off in quality as compared with the general average. The decline in the yield per acre shows, however, that the falling off in the total production of tea is not due to any restriction of the area under cultivation, nor is the falling off in the yield per acre sufficient, except in a few isolated cases, which in themselves may have been the result of a particularly bad season, to have been due to the interplanting of rubber. Therefore, on the results of the past year there seems little to justify the expectation of a real boom in tea shares; in fact, as rubber and tea thrive on similar soils, the extension of rubber planting has resulted in a rise in the price of labour, and this, as far as can be seen, is not likely to fall while tea and rubber are not less profitable than at present. As regards the immediats future, however, while trade con- tinues so active all over the world, the con- sumption of tea will go on increasing, for the consumption, as may be seen from a glance at 84 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist the figures of the past few years, always expands with any increase in the purchasing power of the working classes. Production on the other hand is limited by the margin of selling prices over cost, Thus there is a likelihood of an increase in tea prices, but it seems equally probable that the increase in cost of cultivation will not allow of a larger margin of profit. The statements regarding the smallness of the avail- able area of uncultivated tea lands in Ceylon and India have been refuted by reliable author- ity and it therefore seems extremely doubtful if any restriction of the potential production may be anticipated through the limitation of the areain tea. In conclusion a table may be given showing the capital and movement which has taken place since last year in the shares of the leading tea companies, including those whose results we have discussed where possible, Company, Shares, Paid. Dividends. Price end of May. . £ £ 1909. 1910. 1910. 1911. Alliance 1 i) 10 10 al6 12 1-18 Amalgamated 10 +10 nil nil — 75 do Pref. 16 10 (paid to May, 9; 9% 1908) Ceylon Tea Planta~ tions 1 1 30 35 74 74 Cosolidated Tea and Lands 10,10 nil nil 10 14 Consolidated 74 per cent 2nd Pref. 10 10 (paid to Nov., 13 114) 1907) Kastern Produce 1 I 14 2v 163 31-8 Kast India & Ceylon 6 6 10 124 97-8 114 Imperial Tea 1 l 7 74 ast 11-16 Nuwara Bliya 1 10 8 8 134 13 Standard 10 #10 20 20 275 273 Vatiyantota 1 u 8 15 026% 2 7-16 _@ £10 shares. : —Financial Times, June 15 b Ex. div. TREES AND MOISTURE. A GREAT EXPERIMENT. In order to determine the actual effect of forests on the flow of the great waterways of the country, one of the most important and far- reaching experiments ever undertaken is being carried on in the United States. Experiments are being made on the crest of the Rocky Mountains at the head-waters of the Rio Grande in Colorado to settle beyond all further question the effect of trees in conserving moisture. Minute observations (says the Philadelphia Record) will be made, winter and summer, until the average conditions in the heavily forested area at the Rio Grande headwaters are estab- lished beyond doubt. Then that portion of the watershed will be denuded of all timber, and not less minute observations will be taken of the conditions that ootain after the trees have been removed. The experiments will no doubt extend over an indefinite number of years. Those who have undertaken the work will not stop until they consider that there is nothing more to be ascer- tained on the subject. The Government has established an experiment station at Wagon Wheel Gap, well toward the headwaters of the RioGrande. Both watersheds are being covered and the flow of the streams toward the Atlantic and Pacific are noted. The area included in the experiment ranges from a trifle over 9,000 feet to nearly 11,500 feet in altitude, and is situated in the Rio Grande National Forest, This site was selected after all the Colorado National Forests on the Continental Divide had been thoroughly examined and comparisons had been made. Dams and weirs have been put in and the water is being accurately measured under all conditions, winter and summer. Each watershed carries a small stream of a permanent character, common to the upper slopes of the Rocky Mountains, The streams will be mea- sured until a distinct relation between them has been established. By a large number of meteorological observa- tions for a number of seasons, it will be possible to average the general conditions and establish the regimen of such streams. The Government Weather Bureau is co-operating with the fores- try service in the observation of conditions at Wagon Wheel Gap. DIFFICULTIES OF THE WORK. A continuous automatic record of rainfall is kept at various points on both watersheds. The amount of snow falling upon different parts of the area included in the experiment must be re- corded faithfully, and accounted for by melting or evaporation. The air temperatures, which affect the melt- ing of the snow and ice and cause evaporation from the soil and from the surtace of streams, rust be continuously and accurately recorded and the humidity of the air obtained at the same time. The temperature of the soil on the slopes must be taken affecting as it does the melting of snowbanks in the spring. In short, every day of every year must be classified as re- gardst he factors which might affect stream flow. No matter how severe the weather, the Gov- ernment force of experts is out at Wagon Wheel Gap, measuring streams, making notes on snow falls and temperature, and contributing a new chapter to the interesting story which is being. unrolled by science. The streams at this alti- tude are icy cold even in midsummer, but in winter their temperature is nearly unbearable. Nevertheless the water observers have to don their wading boots and stand in the middle of each rushing stream, with delicately er bees recording instruments at their ears, unti they have measured the velocity of the water. Then careful measurement of the height of the stream must be taken the observer still stan- ding almost hip-deep iv the icy stream. Insevere storms the difficulties attending the measure- ment of snowfall are sometimes great. Often itis necessary for the experts to visit the snow stations on snow-shoes, and similar difficulty is encountered in visiting the meteorological stations where weather conditions are recorded. CONSTRUCTION OF StoRM WEIRS. One of the most interesting features of the work is the operation of the weir method of con- trol by which the stream regimen is secured. The instrument isa stage register actuated by a float, within a still well which is located in the cen- tre of a basin above the weir. The instrument gives a continuous graphic record of the water height by the revolution of a drum which is ac- tuated by a float, and by the movement: of a pen, actuated, by clockwork, across the record sheet. The weirs are so coustructed that they may be easily regulated for all stages of water and Magazine uf the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911. 85 A storm weir has been installed at each dam to care for high floods. To prevent the loss of water through underground seepage concrete dykes have been put in, which catch all the sub- flow. These dykes open into a settling basin for the purpose of setting the water and cat- ching the debris carried on the stream at flood time. This will give an accurate idea of the silt carried by each stream in flood time. The deposit of silt in the settling basin is measured from day to day, thus giving a correct idea of the amount of foreign material carried by such streams under all conditions. The rainfall is measured at the foot of each watershed, and ata common point near the heads of the two sheds, making three automatic measurements. Besides the automatic regis- tering rain gauges there are two ordinary 8 in. gauges on each watershed. For measuring the snow, 16 snow scales have been installed. The depth at each is measured after each snowfall and the water equivalent to the snow on the ground is obtained by taking representative samples. Soil temperatures which are highly important are taken to depth of six inches and are obtained by electric resistance thermometers which are read each day.—Literary Digest. INDIAN AGRICULTURE. It is estimated that nearly 86 per cent. of the inhabitants of India gain their living in agricul- tural pursuits. Yet itis a fact that agriculture in itself is not deemed an honourable calling. Students have traced this strange belief to the Buddhistic times when it was conceived to be the gravest sin to take the life of the minutest of living things, and naturally those who dug and turned the soil, crushing worms and ants and the like, were looked upon as sinners. But the contempt for the tiller of the soil goes even further back, for when Manu created the four great class divisions amongst the Hindus, he placed Sudras, the agriculturists,as amovest the lowest. At the present time the agriculturist is not necessarily aSudra. Brahmins and Kaj- puts will put their hands to the plough, and we believe, it is only certain classes amongst the Jains who carry their religion so far that they will not dig the soil for fear of crushiug some minute insect. At the same time the distaste for agriculture still remains, and if such great multitudes are engaged in it, 1t is because they have nothing else to which they can turn their hands and because of their general apathy and belief in Kate. There is no sign that the business of agriculture is likely to be taken out of the hands of the very ignorant people who are engaged init. And as it is only the very ignorant who in the whole history of India have ever tilled soil, it is not surprising that this fertile country should in the broad result be yielding in food stuff both as regards quantity and quality, much less than other parts of the world not 80 blessed by Nature but occupied by &@ progressive and intelligent race of far- mers. Lt may be said, of course, that nothing is to be expected trom the rayat. He is in debt and so many zemindars’ agents have so many ways of robbing him of anything beyond what is sufficient to keep him alive, that it is not to his interest to grow better and larger crops than he is obliged to. That is, of course, true, but the point is that if zemindars, who, particularly in Bengal, are well educated men with interests not entirely selfish, could be induced to take in agriculture the same interest that rich landed proprietors do in other parts of the world a great impetus would be given to the scientific utilisation of the soil. A few zemindars in Bengal maintain what are styled home farms, and it is with these that a beginning might be made, Itis not even necessary to spend money on experimonts. The Government has done that and continues to do it, but the results of the official experiments are not taken advantage of, and, apart from the help given to European planters, the money spent on the official experi- mental farms has not produced an adequate re- turn.—Z'imes of India, July 7. TEA AND GOFFEE IN CHILE. The quantities of tea, coffee, and yerba mate consumed in Chile are shown in the following table, writes Consul Alfred A. Winslow, Val- paraiso: Yoar Tea Coffee Yerba mate 1906 2,845,546 6,969,259 8,944,408 1907 ... 2,329,239 5,938,592 8,925,444 1908 ww» 2,289,382 5,773,493 5,377,955 1909 wwe «2,752,279 8,541,863 7,788,242 1910 3,343,789 9 25',736 9,287,806 Either tea or yerba mate isserved in Chile at 4 p.m., not only in the homes, but at clubs, res- taurants and hotels and many business houses, A cup of tea and a roll or small cake in the club or hotel cost from 8 to 12 cents United States gold, while the business houses serve it treerather than have the clerks leave their work to go out for it. Ecuador supplies about 50 per cent. of the coffee, Brazil 21 per cent., Guatemala 6 per cent. and the balance scattering. Brazil supplies 45 per cent. of the yerba mate, and Uruguay about 37 per cent. England supplies 89 per cent. of the tea and Germany 8 percent. The duty on coffee is $1'66 United States gold per 100 pounds; on yerba mate, 83 cents per 100 pounds; and on tea, $16 59.— American Grocer. CEARA RUBBER INVESTIGATION. The latest Bulletin of the Imperial Institute gives a variety of interesting information as to the recent investigation made by the scientific and technical department of the In- stitute. A considerable number of samples of Ceara rubber have been forwarded to the Insti- tute from British Colonies and Protectorates. Referring to Ceara rubber from Ceylon, it is stated the specimen weighed 10 0z., and con- sisted of three square sheets of. light-brown opaque rubber, clean and well prepared, but « little mouldy on the surface. The physical pro- perties of the rubber were very satisfactory. A chemical examination gave the following results: —Moisture, 0°9 per cent ; caoutchouc, 91°3 per cent ; resin, 3°] percent ; proteid, 3°4 per cent; ash, 1:3 per cent. The specimen was valued at probably about 8s. per 1b. in London, with hard Para at 10s. per 1b., and good to tine plantation Para biscuits at 8s, 10}d.to 9s, perlb. This rubber is of good quality and satisfactory in composition, except that the amount of ash is unusually high. 86 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist AN INTERNATIONAL RUBBER EXHIBITION. Firsy Notice. The International Rubber and Allied Traces Exhibition now open at the Royal Agricultural Hall represents the increased knowledge of every phase of the industry gained since 1908. All phases of the industry and allied trades are represented in the exhibits and the Goverument of most of the rubber-producing countries are represented, Among the British States and territories represented are Queensland, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, the Malay States, the Gold Coast, British East Africa, Uganda, Bri- tish Guiana, Trinidad and Dominica. Stands have also been taken on behalf of Southern In- dia and British North Borneo. The foreign Governments represented include Belgium and the Congo, Holland andthe Dutch Indies, theGerman Colonies, Madagascar, the French Congo, the States of Para and Manaos, Brazil, Peru, Hawaiian Islands, Ivdo-China, and French Equatorial Africa. The Ceylon and Malaya stands provide the visitor with a very excellent idea of the progress which the plantation industry has made in these portion of the Middle East. Several plantation companies are giving their shareholders the opportunity of inepecting the produce from the plantation. Amongst these exhibits the Guthrie ground represented by the products of the following companies :— Linggi Plantations, Limited. Kabu (F.M.8.) Rubber Company. Limited. Kamuning (Perak) Rubber and Tin Company, Limited. Galang Besar Rubber Plantations, Limited. Sungei Buaya (Sumatara) Rubber Company, Limited. Other individual companies whose products are being shown are: Highlands and Lowlands Para Rubber Com- pany, Limited, one of the market leaders ; the Mabira Forest (Uganda) Rubber Company, Limited ; the Singapore Para Rubber Estates, Limited, another dividend-paying concern in the Malay States; the United Malaysian Rubber Company, Limited; the Soconusco Rubber Plan- tations, Limited, in the State of Chiapas, Mexico ; and the Rosehaugh Tea and Rubber Company, Limited, of Ceylon. All the principal estates in Ceylon are repre- seuted by exhibits of plantation rubber and photographs. The arrangements are in the hands of two committees, one appointed in Ceylon and the other in London, Mr. Ed- ward Rosling represents the island as Com- missioner, Mr. Kelway Bamber and Messrs. A L Baines, F H Layard, H Storey, G H Golledge, and I Crosbie Roles are the delegates appointed in Ceylon, while the following gentle. men from the London Committee, representing the Ceylon Committee in conjunction with the above at the Exhibition, viz.: Messrs C J Scott, A Bethune, RA Cameron, G F Traill, W Martin Leake, CS Armstrong, Percy Bois, H K Rutherford and G F Walker, July 4 will be a Ceylon day and no doubt planters from the island who are now at home will be specially attracted. In the Dutch Court may be seen what the plantations of Java and Borneo are doing with tke co-opera- tion of British capital in developing the rubber plantation enterprise. The number of specially- designed machines with which an_ efficient rubber factory must be equipped form a most important and instructive feature of the exhi- bition, The papers read and discussed during the conferences will be of great value, for they embrace such subjects as vulcanisation pro- cesses, the constituent parts of the parent Guayule, crude indiarubber, tapping Hevea trees, indiarubber shrubs of Africa, their cul-. tivation and working, dissolving indiarubber, physical and mechanical tests of indiarubber, hygienic conditions, and maintenance of health in the rubber planting districts of the tropics, ete. At this, the biggest rubber exhibition yet held, everyone connected with the industry may see under one roof a complete exposition of the many and varied phases of the rubber enterprise. A private press view of the Exhibition took place on Saturday, and was followed by a luncheon, over which Major Sanderson pre- sided, in the absence of Sir Henry A. Blake, G.C.M.G. (the president), who had been com- manded by the King to attend the Naval Re- view at Spithead. It was announced that the following telegram had been forwarded to His Majesty: ‘‘Sir Henry A. Blake (the president) and management of the Inter- national Rubber and Allied Trades Exhibi- tion (of which Your Majesty is patron), the scientists, chemists, and manufacturers coming from all parts of Your Majesty’s Do- minions, and the representatives of the nume- rous foreign Governments, who are officially taking part in the Exhibition, and who are as- sembled at a press view at the Royal Agricul- tural Hall today, send loyal and dutiful greet-, ings. We most earnestly pray that you and your Royal Consort may live long and havea prosperous reign. Should Your Majesty find time to visit the Exhibition it would give un- bounded satisfaction.” (Cheers.) The opening ceremony of the Exhibition was performed by the Earl of Selborne on Monday. Sir Henry A Blake, president of the Exbi- hition, in introducing his lordship, said that there were represented at the Exhibition dele- gates and official representatives from every rubber-growing country in the world. They had come together in friendly international competition for the purpose of shewing the progress that had been made in that great in- dustry since the last exhibition in 1908, and also for the discussion of papers that would be read dealing with future problems. The Uxhibition showed the great advance that had been made in the industry, the extent of which was very roughly appreciated by the public, and yet a very small fringe of the industry had been touched. Dealing with the production of rubber, Sir Henry Blake said that last year the yield was 75,000 tons, which, at 7s. a pound, was valued at £85.000,000. Putting aside the wild rubber from Brazil, all the plantation rubber that had yet come to the market was but a very small and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911. 87 amount in comparison with the amount of rubber that would be put on the market within the next two or three years. Some people had assumed that tho price of rubber must come down considerably in consequence of the increased production. He earnestly hoped it would, because, it was a mistake to imaginethat the price of rubber must necessarily interfere with the return on capital and the amount which up to the present day had been won from the immature trees would be enor- mously increased in the near future and the increased yield of the mature trees would more than compensate for the decrease in price. That would briug the rubber industry into an entirely different horizon Manufacturers were only waiting for rubber at a reasonable price to enable them to look forward to limitless expansion of the uses ofrubber. When that time came rubber would be a product of the world as wheat. The speaker referred to the specimens of rubber pavement which are laid down in various parts of the hall, and said that he had no doubt that the time would soon arrive when the process would be absolutely perfect for the purpose of street paving, and when the time did comea diminution of the nerve strain and brain fag by the cessation of street noises of the present day would bring improved health and comfort to the busy workers of the great cities. The Earl of Selborne, who has received with cheers, referred to the representative character of the Exhibition, and its completeness and authority. What great contribution, he said, rubber had given—and it would be much more so in the future—to the solution of the problems of prosperity of some of those parts of the Empire whose administrative lot had been a struggle, in its financial character for a good many years past. The effect of the rubber in- dustry upon the West Indies and different parts of Africa, not to mention the East, would be enormous. Iu the production of rubber there lay the secret of prosperity and financial stab- ility hitherto unknown in the tropical and sub. tropical parts of the E:opire. Apparently this was the first time in which the tree products of a tropical zone were likely to rival, in adaptation for the purposes of art and manufacture, the tree products of the tem- perate zone. It was curious how long it had taken since the properties of rubber were first known to realise the purposes for which rub- ber might be used. After all, rubber was not an invention of yesterday or ten years ago, but it was only quite recently that the world had come to realise the place rubber was going to take in the arts and manufacturers of the world, Prince Henry of the Netherlands, who was accompanied by the Dutch Ambassdor, visited the Exhibition on Tuesday. He was met at the entrance by Sir H. Blake, the president of the exhibition, Mr, Staines Manders, the manager, and the representatives of the Nether- lands. Miss Swart, a daughter of the chairman of the Netherlands Commission, presented the Prince with a bouquet, after which a tour of the exhibition was made, Prince Henry ex- pressing himself as very pleased with every- thing he saw. Prince de Ligne, representing the King of the Belgians, also visited the exhibition, —A. & C, Mail, RUBBER PAVING. In the ‘‘ Engineering Supplement of the London Zimes of June 23, the following interes- ting editorial paragraph appears :—It is confi- dently predicted by the authorities of the forthcoming International Rubber Exhibition at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, that the paving of a large area of the hall with india- rubber will give a fresh impulse to the pro- posals which have from time to time been made for the use of this substance as a London road material. The arguments in favour of the adoption of rubber for road surfaces are its noiselessness and durability, combined with complete freedom from dust. It is, moreover, very readily cleansed, and being wholly non- absorbent would not require much watering. Everything, however, depends upon the ques- tion of relative economy. It seems almost im- possible to contemplate the use of rubber in this way upon a large scale unless the cost of the raw material should sink permanently to, say, two shillings a pound. Very favourable results are said to have been obtained by the employment of rubber blocks in roadways ex- posed to the heavy traffic, and the amount of wear after many years has been almost inap- preciable. In fact, these experiments suggest that the material would in the long run be cheap as compared with wood paving or as- phalte in consequence of its great relative dura- bility and the absence of costly renewals. A careful and comprehensive test in a City thoroughfare would be of much interest. LIBERIAN COFFEE. The coffee-plant flourishes and reaches a size in Liberia to be found in nv other part of the globe. The berries are larger and richer than those produced in any other country, and when properly cured possess the most delicious aromatic flavour. In Liberia two crops are gathered each year, one during the rains and the other during the dry season. The rains begin in April and May and close in October and November. The chief and most important coffee crop is gathered during the dry season, 7.¢., in the months of December, January and February. When the coffee is picked the berry is usually crushed ina mill or mortar, and then spread on the ground in the sun ina prepared place until well dried. Every evening the ccffee is removed in order to avoid its get- ting wet from rain or dew. When dried it is beaten in a mortar until all the pulp is entirely separated from the beans. It 1s finally cleaned by fanning, and some of the planters grade it by removing all broken and undeveloped beans. Liberian coffee is very strong, and is therefore used in Europe to give strength to weaker coffees. As generally prepared, it has a little bitterness in its flavour, and it is therefore often mixed with other coffees to overcome this, — Royal Society of Arts Journal, June 23. 88 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist CEYLON AND ITS “‘PRODUCTS’’ AND ‘“‘ HISTORY.’’ ‘¢ Coconuts,” ‘‘Cocoanots,” ‘‘Cacao,” ** Cocoa-GARDENS ” ;—Wuy was ‘‘ CEYLON” TAKEN BY THE BRITISH IN 1796? The ‘Ceylon Observer” has fought for 40 years to get rid of the erroneous spelling of the name of our principal Palm, and although ite editor’s opinion was scarcely once shared in the press (and books) during the ‘‘ seventies” of last century, now it is very different. In England and America as well in the tropics, the correct form of ‘‘coconut” is fast pre- vailing. It is a pity that ina recent account of Ceylon in the London press from official quartei >, there is nothing to help heme readers to distinguish clearly between the palm and the ‘‘chocolate” or cacao bush; but rather, such spelling and reference that may well make “‘confusion worse confounded.” For instance, what may uot home readers’ understand when they come on: ‘A little higher up the monotony of the tropical vegetation is raised by the metallic foliage of cocoa-gardens, which presently, as the altitude increases, are replaced by low tea bushes, set in ordered rows, dotting the hills as far as the eye can carry.” Curiously enough in this paper dealing with ‘landscape ”’ as well as ‘‘history,” there is not one mention of the Palm (Coconut) as a feature in the out- look, although the ‘‘Palmyra” is named ; but among the products which have mainly caused materia! prosperity are mentioned the ‘ cocoa- nuts”*—(pretty sure to be confounded by some stay-at-home folk, with ‘‘cocoa-gardens.”) In the brief sketch of history, it is a pity that one reason for the British interfering in Ceylon in 1795-96 is not mentioned, namely, that the object was to capture and hold the Dutch Pos- sessions everywhere at that time, on behalf of the legitimate ‘‘ Orange” family who were dispossessed by the Bonaparte’s; and the Gov- ernor in Colombo (Angelbeck) was more than suspected of making the surrender to the British, easy, because he was a partisan of the Prince of Orange. At the end of the war, when the islund had to be returned, it was decided to retain Ceylon and give Java in exchange—a far better bargain for the Dutch ! SOYA BEANS AND OIL. There has been a considerable set-back in the export of Soya Beans from Manchuria and several reasons are advanced for the depression. Some are of the opinion that the Manchurian beans have not the commer- cial value originally claimed for them. Others again think that the oil has been found a more profitable line than the export of the beans *That is in the separate paper ‘‘ Facts and Figures” (where most of the agricultural statistics, though not acknowledged, are pri- marily due to the ‘‘Ceylon Handbook and Directory”). The wrong spelling forthe palm and products is adhered to in every case, although this error is now avoided by all Ceylon authori- ties, But mo:t likely, for this, the London * printer ” must be to blame, themselves while yet again the suggestion is made that the success which has attended the experi- mental cultivation of the bean in the West makes it possible that in future, countries in these parts will be in a position to supply their own requirements. We give the following extract from an exchange on the Food Value of the bean. Two varieties of Soya may be seen growing at the Government School Garden in Colombo--one of these is a creeping species, evidently the variety recommended for green manure, while the other is already bearing pods, and is the variety which produces the beans. FOOD VALUE OF SOYA BEANS. The soya bean has lately came into sume pro- minence by reason of its extensive uses in the manufacture of oil and soap, and because it forms return cargoes for tramp steamers bringing coal to the Hast. Dr. Gilbert Brooke, Port Health Officer of Singapore, describes some new uses for this article :— The object of this paper is to show that we have at hand an article of diet which is cheap, which can be grown over large areas of the globe, which is palatable, which is not attacked by any known insect or fungus, which forms valuable by-products, and—most important of all —which contains, more nearly than any other known animal or vegetable substance, all the essential and properly proportionate constituents of a perfect diet. Rice is a very badly balanced food, consisting mainly of starch, having next to no nitrogen, and hardly any fat or salts. In this rice stands, in the scale of food values, almost at the bottom, whereas the soya bean standsat the top. But it is remarkable that nature and experience seem to have taught rice eating races that one of the best accompanimonts torice is some form of leguminous food, such, for instance, as dhal, the small yellow pea so much used by natives of India. Following out this analogy it would seem to be most desirable to foster among Asiatic races that depend mainly upon rice as a staple the simultaneous consumption of the soya bean as supplying in abundance those essential food elements that cannot in the least be derived from rice. Among the economic products derived from the soya Dr. Brook enumerates these :— (1) Bean Curd.—A most nutritious jelly can be made from the soya bean, This has been known and widely used by all classes in north China for the last 2,000 years. (2) Bean Milk.—The beans are dried, very finely ground, and made into an emulsion with water. This forms a valuable mtlk, which resem- bles cow’s milk, in that it coagulates when heated and acidified. The possibility of this is due to the fact that the proteid is composed of casein, as in the case of animal milk. (3) Bean Cheese.—A nutritious cheese is fre- quently made in Japan from bean milk. (4) Bean Flour.—The dried and pulverized bean is most valuable as a soup basis. It is also useful for making biscuits and infant foods. Soya biscuits, produced by a Scotch firm, are supplied on several P. & O. mail boats. e \ and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911, 89 GREEN BUTTERFLY BRAND Contains no sugar, is sterilized, pure full cream, and being homogenised mechanically, is the BEST procurable, and has saved many lives. (5) Bean Oil.—There is a very high percentage of fat in the soya bean. This is of commercial value. It is edible, and also forms an excellent basis for candle and soap manufacture. (6) Bean Cake.—The seed cake left after ex- pression of the oil from the soya bean forms one of the most vaiuable and rich cattle foods known. (7) Bean Sauce.—The soya bean ground up and steeped in vinegar or brine forms a basis for Worcestershire and other sauces, (8) Bean Coffee.—A substitute for coffee may be made from the soya bean, by a dry toasting and grinding it, then adding boiling cow’s milk or hot soya milk, (9) The straw surpasses in nitrogenous value that of wheat or even hay. It is quite possible that the leaves or root may have medicinal pro- perties, but this has not yet been worked out.— Home paper. ESTATE “BUILDINGS” AND “‘SOILS.’’ A planting correspondent writes :—‘‘I re- member seeing a good many years ago two very useful books often on planters’ tables and re- ferred to, but which have gone out of sight altogether so far as. my experience goes. They 12 USSELL & CO,, LTD., LONDON AND NORWAY ( @. Always insist on Fussell’s, 4577, ae were issued by the Planters’ Association and were Prize Hssays, I think, on Estate Buildings and the other on Kstate Soils, They were nicely printed in London. Can you tell me anything about them and where copies can be got ?”— Certainly, we reply ; because the P. A. sold most of the editions to this office and a few copies re- main, although not advertised lately. The Prize Essays on Estate Buildings with scores of dia- grams and plans for Stores, Bungalows, Cooly Lines, Cattle-sheds, &c., were by Mr, J. de C. Ballardie and Mr. T. C. Owen—both still well- known in the London-Ceylon world; and well printed by ‘‘Strakers” and bound together make a handy octavo volume of about 200 pages in large type, the plans about 40 to 50 being all drawn to scale. Being published in 1879, “ coffee” was still the staple ; but most of the buildings are adapted to tea, rubber, &c. The price of the volume should be R6; but it can be got now for half or R3. The other little book of 154 pages (also printed by ‘‘ Strakers”) is Mr, John Hughes’ Report to the P. A. on Ceylon Soils and Manures, in a handy volume, R1°65, published ; but can now be got for arupee, and both will at once be re-adver- tised in view of our correspondent’s enquiry. r 90 The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist TEA SHIPMENTS FROM CEYLON. Matale E., July 12th. Dear Sir,—Can you inform your readers : 1. Under what heading, if any, tea from India, and sold in the local market, appears in the Chamber of Commerce export table when the tea is re-shipped ? 2. What quantity of tea was shipped from Ceylon in June? 3. How much of it was Ceylon grown ? 4, Whatis the estimate for July shipment ? - —Yours, etc., INTERESTED | We are unable to answer No. 1. Neither the Customs nor the Chamber of Commerce returns show this, though it is well-known that teas from India are brought here and sold for export in the public market weekly, such salesia Junealone including some 3,324 chests and 518 packages according to Messrs. Forbes & Walker’s Circular. No. 2.—The export of tea from Ceylon in June was 19,667,102 lbs. of black tea and 672,993 lbs. of green, total 20,340,095. No. 3.—Vide answer to No. 1, No. 4.—The estimate of shipments to the United Kingdom for July is 9% to 10} million Ib. There is no official estimate for other coun- tries, but these may take about six million lb.— Ep. C.0.] PEPPER. There are three principal kinds of pepper— black, white and red. They are divided into about 40 varieties of black, and 30 of white, and 25 of red. Black pepper is the green or unripe fruit of the pepper vine. It grows in clusters, very similar to currants, and is picked twice a year, dried either by the sun or artificial heat, and then shipped—handled about the same as raisins. Whona pepper berry is cut in two you would note that there are three distinct parts, outer or black coat, second or gray coat and white center. The best grades are those which are nearly or entirely solid, thereby containing the most white meat, The low grades are almost like little empty puff balls. You can crush the berries between the fingers, These low grades come principally from the province of Acheen, in the Island of Sumatra. Although owned by Holland, the Dutch have never been able to conquer the natives, who still have their own rulers and are masters of the land, except a narrow strip on the coast. Naturally the me- thods of cultivation are very crude and the dry- ing is done on the ground, and not much care is taken when shoveling that pepper into bags to leave behind sand, stones, and other dirt that happens to be there. Acheen is an important part of the crop, so the EHuropean traders have established standards whereby we have four grades :— The ‘‘A” grade weighs 4 lb. 13 oz. to the gallon. The “‘ B” grade weighs 4 lb. 5 oz. to the gallon, The ‘‘C” grade weighs 3 lb. 13 oz, to the gallon. The ‘“‘D” or lowest grade, weighs only 3 |b. 5 oz, to the gallon. Of course, the poorer qualities are lighter ones and these fill up a gallon measure with the least weight, These several classes are made by im- mersing pepper in water. The best, or ‘A’ grade type, sinks to the bottom, while the poorest or ‘D’ grade floats on the top and is skimmed off. The intermediate grades, ‘B’ and ‘OC,’ are mixtures of the best and poorest in dif- ferent proportions. When the best pepper is ground a light gray powder isthe result, while the poorer kinds yield a dusty black powder. ’ The best known good pepper is that coming from Singapore. Itis grown by Chinese or Malays and away from the influence of civilisation. It is dried over smokey fires which gives it a flavour by which this kind is recogaised. White pepperis not a natural product. To get it, the pepper berries are allowed to ripen thoroughly. During their later growth the black skin becomes loosened. When the crop is harves- ted itjgall put into water to remain several days, being stirred around at intervals. The stirring is done often under pressure to hasten the process. This combined stirring and pressing is accom- plished by having bare-footed natives walk around in vats. This causes the pepper skins to fall off more or less, so that when eventu- ally dried it is practically free from its black covering and white pepper is the result. The practice of afterwards using bleaching powders has been done away with. There is quite a little pepper substance lost by the process, as the shell or outer black part possesses much pungency and considerable aromatic quality, besides pepper is at its best condimentally before it ripens. The fact has lead to an 1m- proved process, namely decorticating. By it the better or heavier varieties or black pepper are changed to white by mechanical means. The manner of doing this is by suitable machi- nery, to keep the berries in contact with a revolving stone, which at every turn scrapes off a bit of the shell and in the end there is left the smooth, round, white hearts of the berries, When these hearts, or centres, are ground, the result is a pepper almost pure white. This decorticated pepper found instant favour with chefs and stewards as a seasoning for potato salad and mayonnaise dressings, be- cause its use did not leave in those things the little disfiguring black specks which are a part of black pepper or ordinary white pepper. Red pepper grows in every part of the world except the North and South Poles and Tam- many Hall. The hottest kinds, however, come from the tropics. It is there that real concen- trated Hades is raised in the form ofa small narrow pod from Mombassa and Zanzibar. These grow wild in the swamps in the interior. The climate back from the sea coast is fatal to white men, so again we have a commodity that is unimproved by civilisation. It is quite a job to grind these pods. They are tough, oily and very irritating to the miller and his work- men, The powder from these 1s what is gener- ally known as cayenne or red pepper. Cayenne pepper comes from/ Natal, South Africa. The quantity produced is so small that it very sel- dom if ever is exported. Other kinds are pro- duced in India, West Indies, Japan and Mexico and Texas.—American Grocer. and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1871. a) | PLEATEO | ack i | - ganvace: BANDACE | = yor \ TABLOID” _ =a =| waaree Wh ic Wen} sarc WOOL }) TABLOIO" ‘TABLOlO’ B cram " jl | im isl | ri 3: 84 1 3 5 Measurements: 84 x 44 X 53 in BURROUGHS NEW YORK MILAN MONTREAL xx 293 vw TABLOID’ »« MEDICAL OUTFITS’ ‘TABLOID’ MEDICINE CASE No. 258 (The Settler’s) Fitted with the world-famed ‘TABLOID’ Brand MEDICINES, BANDAGES, etc. Us perfectly reliable in hot or damp climates. They i iN are prepared in accurate doses ready for dispensing i and are quite palatable. case (black japanned). Mh ih ‘Tabloid’ Medical Equipments are obtainable at the principal pharmacies in all countries WELLCOME & CoO., SHANGHAI | IDEAL FOR, TROPICAL, AGRICULTURISTS | rem Dem a SI > 2e Parry (att re 3 ze The medicines are In climate-proof metal Price in London 28/0 LONDON SYDNEY CAPE TOWN BUENOS AIRES ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SS SSS SSS SS SSS, RUBBER COAGULATION. REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN TREATMENT. ResipvE Fiuip a VALUABLE Asser. A correspondent writes to the Straits Times of July 5th :— What looks like a potential revolution in the process of converting latex into rubber is begun. The new era is not to be marked by any mere alteration in the present style of machinery or even in the chemical phase of the work ; it is to be effected byja wholly radical renewal of mechan- ical means. The existing system of coagulation and smoking is threatened with utter extinction and in its place is promised an entirely new mode that is said to be more economical, more scientific and, asa consequence, more materially eftective. The advent of this latest system has been screened with something amounting to as- tonishing secrecy but some general details have become known. The actual and particular details may be expected shortly, for we under- stand that the apparatus, illustrating the inno- vation, is being exhibited for the first time at the Rubber Exhibition opened last week in London. THE New Procgss. _At present there is only one installation of the kind in use in Malaya and that ison the estate of a Belgian company at Kajang. There, in the factory, the new machinery is at work every day under the strictest supervision. The principal component of the installation is a big drum con, nected to a powerful gas plant. The latex is pou- red into the drum, which is then started to re- volve at a lively pace. The action is to allintents and purposes an adaption of the simple milk- churn that every rustic dairy-maid in England is familiar with. The revolving of the drum creates a commotion among the latex and the thick of it rises quickly to the surface and forms a cake, That essentially is the first part of the per- formance. But while the latex is thus being churned round, a heavy jet of smokeis forced upward into its midst and permeates the whole of the liquid, making it bubble like the water in a kettle. The smoke, which is purified by first passing through a mass of cotton-wool, is made to penetrate the latex by sheer pressure and in so doing antisepticises it more effectively than is done bythe prevalent system. The re- sult is a pure sheet, no less marketable by reason of the fact that it is not dirty with smoke. The advantage, if all this is accurate, is ob- vious. The company which can turn out a clean rubber, antisepticised and less liable to be “tacky ” than the smoked sheet we know, will com mand a readier market’ than the company which retains the crude method of belching unclean smoke into the open pores of the newly made rubber sheet. In the latter fashion itis the choking of the pores with carbonic dust that turns the sheet to its dirty brown ; and the manufacturer at home is put to the trouble of cleaning before he can use it for his best manufactures. If, on the other hand, the manufacturer can get a g2 re The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist sweet clean article. that needs practically no cleaning ne will assuredly take it and even offer, pevbaps, a better price for it, As a well-known rubber man toldus oneday ‘* You wouldn’t buy kippered herrings if you could get fresh.” And that more or less expresses the probable attitude of manuiacturers. Treatine ‘‘ Dirty WATER,” There is another lesson to be learned inciden- tally from this Kajang estate, and that is the value of the fluid leit in the coagulator aiter the sheet has been skimmed off. his fluid in the past bas been contemptuously regarded as noth- 1ng better than ‘‘ dirty water” and it is no ex- aggeration to say that thousands of pounds have been thrown in the drains of the F. M.S. by re- ason of that view. ‘hat ‘‘dirty water,” in the hands of a good chemist, is vaiuable. 1t stands to reason that 1t must contain a certainamount of latex that has not solidified, but although that must have been patent to planters since the beginning, it was never thought worth while to spend money in redeeming the latex. The Belgian company’s work answers that. Lhey have sent out a first-class chemist who has taken the subject well in hand. And at the moment, we believe, the company is being saved $200 a day that would otherwise be throwa into the river and lost. RUBBER AND GUTTA-PERCHA IN BORNEO. A great awakening took place in 1910 inregard to the value of native gums of North Borneo, of which there are four—gutta-percha, gutta- jelatong, gutta-jangkar, and rubber. About the beginning of 19U9 a British company obtained a coucession from the Raja to control the output of the torests of Sarawak, and a large plant for refining and preparing the gums was erected at the mouth of the Sarawak kiver, eighteen miles from Kutching. it is estimated that no less than 4U,0U0 acres have been brought under rub- ber cultivation in 1910 in British North Borneo. This has greatly stimulated the demand tor coolie labour, which is brought from Java, Sin- gapore, and Hongkong, through agencies at those places. According to Government re- ports, there are now employed on the various rubber estates about 15,UUU coolies. When the trees now being planted become productive, it is estimated that 50,000 coolies will be required. As this estimate is based on real plantings, there is a bright outlook tor large expansion in the general commercial condition of North Borneo. —Ltoyal Society of Arts Journal, June 23. BRAZIL IN THE RUBBER MARKET, We understand from our own sources of in- formation that the floating supply of rubber in Brazil has been greatly reduced by private pur- chases, and it is probable that the maximum amount now awaiting delivery is 6,0U0 tons. Lhis is about half the tigure estimated a couple of months ago. If this process of absorption can be coutinued for a little while longer, it is evident that the general position of the rubber- producing industry will be very much better than at any time during the past twelve months. Stock Eachange Gazette, June 15, TO EXTERMINATE ANTS. Many and various remedies have been tried, frequently in vain, to get rid of these trouble- some pests. The following means are suggested in a recent number of the ‘ Bulletin’ of the Trinidad (W,I,) Botanical Department :— For the extirpation of ants the following remedies are good. To be effective they require attention and perseverance. It is well to find their main burrow or nest, if possible. Arsenic is sure destruction to them, but itis dangerous to handle. Air-slaked lime, plentitully dusted in warm, dry weather over and around the anthills or in the house or other places infested will cause the ants to vacate them in a short time. Snurr.—Dust a little snuff upon the floor of the rooms of the pantry. Draw a thick chalk line round a smooth tree or across an upright board or post, and they will not pass over it. CampHor.—Put a piece of camphor, the size of a filbert nut, into 2 quarts of cold water. When cold, apply to pot and other plants, and the insects will be driven off without injury to the plants. Mix together 1 part of calomel and 10 parts of finely powdered white sugar ; lay it in little heaps about their nests and runs; the ants will eat 1t and die. Coal oil, mixed with six times its bulk of water, sprinkled over the nests every few days, will kill and drive them away. Pan or saucers nearly filled with honey or sweet oil attracts ants, and they are drowned in it, Fiowers of sulpher, 4 1b., potash 4 oz. Set in an earthen vessel over the fire until dis- solved and united, Atterwards heat to a powder. Infuse a little of the powder ia water, and sprinkle in places intested with ants. To Destroy Brack ANtTs.—A few leaves of green wormwood scattered among the haunts of black ants will drive them away. Reb Awnrs. — Powdered borax sprinkled around will exterminate both red and black ants. THE DISTILLATION OF ORANGE FLOWERS AT GRASSE. The distillation of orange flowers onthe French Riviera, and particularly in the district sur- rounding Grasse, 18 a very important industry. Here 3,0U0 tons of these flowers are produced annually, not including the leaves and even the young truit of the orange, which is also utilised tor making the essential oil, so valuable in the manufacture of perfumes. he best quality of oil, called zéroli, is obtained from the flowers of the wild, or bitter orange tree, locally termed bigaradier, The flowers of the sweet orange are not so productive, and yield a quality known as néroli doux, which is inferior tothe other, A still more inferior quality 1s obtained from the brouts (the leaves and newly-formed fruit), this quality is called petit grain. and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911. 98 The flowers are gathered during the month of May. For their distillation an ordlnary still may be used, but a special apparatus is prefer- able. These are of smaller size at bottom than those employed for distilling spirits, and some- what higher ; a grating is also provided, so that the flowers and leaves are not in direct contact with the fire. An ordinary-sized still should contain about 40 kilogrammes of flowers (88 lbs.), and between 50 and 60 litres (11 and 13 gallons) of water. This should yield from 30 to 40 litres (6 to 8 gallons) of liquid. The products cf distillation pass from the still into a recaiver, so arranged that the condensed liquid always remains atthe same level in it, the water is drawn off from the bottom by a bent tube, whilst the globules of essential oil that float on the surface are collected at the top of the vessel. The oil, though not very soluble in water, is sufficient to impart its perfume to it, and is sold as eau de flour @oranger, whilst that obtained from the distillation of the leaves is termed eau de broule. A kilogramme ol orange flowers yields, on the average, 2 grammes (30°86 grains) of néroli, worth from 500 to 1,000 francs per kilo (£9 1s. 7d. to £18 3s. 2d. por lb.). The orange-flower water is sold, on the average, at 25 centimes per litre (about 24d. per quart.) The leaves yield about 14 grammes per kilo of petit grain, worth about one-tenth the price of the néroli. The quantity of flowers furnished by each tree varies considerably, and depends on age, vigour of growth, situation, soil and other circumstances. A well-kept garden near Grasse, with trees, half of which were forty years and the other half twenty-two years old, has pro- duced as much as 2,800 kilogrammes (about 2 tons 15cwt.) in a single year. The cost of plant- ing ahectare of orange trees is estimated at 4,000 francs, or about £65 per acre.—Royal Society of Arts Journal for June, PALMYRA DISEASE. We extract the following from a report on the bud-rot of palms in the Godavari and Kistna districts written by Mr Macrae, Entomologist to the Government of Madras :— Species of patm attacked.—Four kinds of pala trees are common in the delta. Of these the palmyra palm, the coconut palm and the areca nut palm are all subject to the disease but the date palm has never been observed to be attac- ked. Many thousands of palmyras, several hun- dreds of coconut palms and a few scores of areca nut palms have succumbed. Palms of all ages are liable to attack but more mature palms die than young palms. Symptoms and cause of the disease.—The first indication that a palm is diseased is usually the withering of one or more of the expanding lea- ves. The central bud dies and the leaves gradually wither one after another towards the exterior of the crown. When a deceased crown is cut open spots are seen on the leaf-sheaths and occa- sionally on the leaf-stalks and leaf-blades. At first these are light coloured but gradually be- come brown or even black when they have be- come dry and old. Tho spots are slightly sunken with a raised rim. On some of the spots a white wooly wel or mycelium is seen. This is the body of the fungus, Pythium palmivorum, which causes the disease. It is made up of many fine, colourless threads woven together. These threads produce small round sacks in which are develop- ed the spores. They are tho reproductive bodies of the fungus. Many attempts have been made to cultivate the fungus artificially, but all have failed. Lt will grow only on living parts of certain palms, Some other parasitic fungi behave in the same way. On an average the rate of extension of the disease as a whole seems to be a little over amiloayear. Except for an extension beyond Peddapur, for one up the right bank of the Godavari river in Yernagudem taluk and for the one to Masulipatam the area affected by the disease is continuous. The Imporial Mycolo- gist writes :—‘‘ It is quite clear both from the observations made in the field during the past four years and from information gathered from the cultivators, that the spread has occurred in a centrifugal manner from the locality in the Gautami Godavari first infected. Naturaily the flow has been more rapid along some lines than others, and barriers such as the main chan- nels of the river anc tracts bare of palms have checked extension in some directions for a greater or less period; on the whole, how- ever, the onset has been remarkably even and regular all round.” 6. Disease not Uniformly Distributed.—Though, speaking broadly, the disease occupies a con- tinuous area yet its distribution in that area is very uneven. In some localities many palms die continually, in others a few die now and again while in others only occasionally a palm succumbs. The Imperial Mycologist mentions a case in one of the lankas near the place where the disease is believed to have originated, in which 400 palmyras were found dead or dying in asingle acre, and another case at Kolanka where 50 to 75 per cent of the palms within a mile of the village had succumbed by the end of 1907. ‘‘Such a high mortality cannot be equalled now in any part of the affected area.” The intensity varies even from field to field. Several cases have been seen where the disease is confined to definite topes of palms while topes in adjacent fields remain quite healthy. Damp- ness of soil favours the disease, Alovg water channeis, on paddy bunds and on black soil the mortality of palms is greater and more rapid than in opener situations and on sandy soil. 7. Means of Spreading the Disease.—The chief possible ways by which the disease may be spread from tree to tree are— 1, by the wind, 3, by insects, 2, by tappers, 4, by birds, 1. Wind.—** Most epidemic diseases which resemble the bud-rot of palms are spread through the air. ‘he parasites depend for their propagation chiefly on spores, which are set free and are carried into the air by the wind. Alighting on healthy plants they germinate and produce infection, Such are the potato blight, cereal rusts and the like. Pythium palmivorum, which is very similar to the cause of potato blight, produces spores which would be just as capable of causing rapid spread of the disease as those of the latter, provided that 94 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist they are formed in a position where the wind can easily reach them. This is not often the ,case, however, since spores have not been found on the surface of diseased crowns, except in the comparatively small number of cases in which the blade or expanded portion of the leaf, is attacked. In the large majority of cases the seat of attack is the compact mass of leaf bases, the leaf-sheaths, which form a tubular covering to the top of the stem. Having entered the outermost of these, the fungus grows in towards the softer underlying ones and usually does not begin to produce spores until several have been penetrated. Spores have never been found on the hard outer sheaths, but usually occur be- tween the softer inner ones at some distance from thesurface, Here they are not exposed tothe air and cannot serve as an effective means of propagation. In some cases, however, the young leaf shoot atthe apex of the crown is found to have been attacked in the portion which afterwards becomes the expanded ‘‘ blade” of the leaf. ‘his usually occurs while it is still small and hidden in the tube of leat-sheaths, being the result of direct contagion from the latter. Jna very few of these cases the parasite has been found still alive when the young leaf has pushed out into the air, and it is probable that, in periodsof high humidity or during heavy dews, spores would develop in this situation, freely exposed to the wind. A second con- dition in which there may he air-borne infection occurs when the tube otf leaf- sheaths begins to disintegrate as an effect of the disease. In old cases the outer leaf-skeaths wither and fall away and eventually nothing is left but a bare pole. In these old withered sheaths no spores capable of germination have been found, but it 1s quite possible that they occur, and if this is so, they would be a means of dissemination. A third condition is the re- sult of the stripping of the outer leaves for thatching and still more in some localities for fibre. In the operation the cld leaf bases are torn away, and itis not uncommon to see leaf sheaths that are still almost white from their internaal position, exposed. In infected trees this must offer considerable opportunities for aérial dissemination of the spores. It is doubtful how far the above conditions are sufli- ciently frequent to account for the intensity of the epidemic. I[t appears that if this were a common method of spread, the area affected would by now be far greater than it is. Airborne infection is always rapid and instead of the dis- ease being confined to one small district, it would be found throughout the country.” There is no doubt but that the conditions mentioned above do occasionally occur and that therefore the wind does play a small part in disseminating spores. This means of distribution is too for- tuitous, however, to explain completely the steady spread of the disease. 2. Tappers.—‘‘ Dissemination of disease by human agency is particularly likely where, as in bud-rot, the diseased parts of the plant are habitually handled by persons who afterwards come into contact with susceptible portions of healthy trees, As already mentioned, each vil- lage uses the produce in leaves of a large uumber of palmyras ior thatching. In addition a large number of trees are tapped for toddy and jag- gery. Over 400,000 palms are tapped for jag- gery in the Godavari district (mostly in the up- land taluks) according to the Imperial Gazet- teer. For both these purposes the bulk of the palms in the district are climbed at intervals, It is the practice of the climbers to strip off the outer sheaths, both because they impede their operations and because they serve for fuel. Hence the inner fresh, moist and softer sheaths are oiten exposed, In diseased trees this is just the position in which felted masses of the my- celium of the parasite are found.- Fragments of the outer sheaths containing living mycelium no doubt often break off and remain on the person of the climber. The mycelium itself would readily adhere to his knife, Itis easy to see that in repeating the operation in a healthy tree there is every chance of his successfully, if un- consciously, inoculating 1t with the parasite. There are indications in some places that the disease has followed lines of communication used by the people, particularly the ferries across the canals which intersect the district. These are no doubt used by the tappers and the matter would be explained if the infection is conveyed by them. In this district the coco- nut trees are not tapped for toddy and their leaves are rarely cut. Hence they are seldom climbed. Arecanuts are neither tapped nor are their leaves cut and when climbed it is only to remove the bunches of nuts, which project wollaway from the stem. It is possible that this explains in part the comparative immunity of these two species of palm,” lt is not during the process of tapping that fresh palms are infected. ‘he parts of the crown that are cut to get the juice do not often have the disease. it 1s while they are removing the lower leaf-sheaths to use as fuel and to a smaller extent when they do so to clear the way for climbing up, that fresh palms catch the disease from infective material adhering to the tapper’s person and instruments. ‘his, 1 believe, is the chisf means’ by which the disease is spread in the delta. As it entails con- siderable exertion to climb to the top of a high palm, the tapper, while he is about it, removes In most instances as many of the lower leat- sheaths as possible and leaves exposed the living, tender, pale, yellow leaf-sheaths within. Then the palm is exposed to iniection from two other sources—(1) to a small extent from spores carried by the wind, (2) to some extent trom spores and mycelium carried by insects, Experiments were couducted at three places in the affected district inJulyand August 1910 to ascertain the method of infection, Mycelium and sporapgia of the fungus were cultivated in as purea condition as possible and then de- osited on the surfaces of newly exposed leaf- sheaths of healthy palms, On the 17th July the crown of a palm in which the central expanding leat had become pale, was cui off in Rajabhupalapatnam in the morning and brought to Samalkota in the afternoon. The outer leaf-sheaths were removed till clean, young spots were exposed on the inner sheaths. Several of these spots were care- fully cut out with a sterile knife and placed on a glass stand in a moist chamber. Next eat 4 and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—July, 1911. 95 morning the diseased spots had a copious growth of white mycelium on their surfaces. On mi- croscopic examination this proved to be a pure growth of pythium. A small piece of mycelium was carefully removed, mounted on a slide un- der a coverslip in a drop of water, and irrigated with fresh water. In removing the mycelium care was taken to remove aérial mycelium only. All instruments and the water used had boen sterilised. In halfan hour the sporangia pro- duced vesicles and on bursting liberated zoos- pores. This went on rapidly till most of the sporangia had discharged their zoospores within the next half hour. The material used for in- oculating the first 15 palms was similar to the above. The water from the above culture oa the slide was washed into a watch glass and a drop or two of this used to inoculate the last threo palms. This, though not rigidly fulfilling the conditions of apure culture, is the most that can be done with a holoparasite. Eighteen young palmyra palms in one field of Bhimavaram village were consecutively num- bered from 1 to 18. The only criterion of choice was that the palms should be small enough to be operated on from the ground. They varied from 3 to 12 feet in height. Tho outermost dry leaf-sheaths were removed. The inner dry ones had the attachment of ono limb to the trunk severed while the attachment of the other limb remained iatact. Usually 3 or 4 leaf bases were so treated thus giving access to the softer, less, changed, leaf-sheaths within. These half-attached leaf-sheaths were held aside, the inoculating material placed on the outer side of the uncut leaf-sheath just within the last half-attached one. The half-attached leaf-sheaths were then replaced in position one after another. A cord of fibre was then tied round to keep the leaf-sheaths in position. In a few cases a fold or two of the fibrous material attached to the leaf-bases was wrapped round the leaf-sheaths and wetted with water. Alithe operations were done to each palm_ before beginning the next one. The surfaces of the newly exposed leaf-sheaths on which the inoculating material was placed were not sterilised. Butas the leaf-sheaths fit very tightly together and were exposed for only a few seconds, it is probable that they did not contain any of the organism that causes this disease. The palms were chosenin a place in which it is known that diseased trees had not occurred On the 18th of August the palms were exam- ined and every one was found to have become infected with the disease. Three of them had died, i.¢., the growing point was dead. The number of leaf-sheaths that had been pierced by the fungus varied from 1 to 11. Diseased spots from the inner leaf-sheaths of two of the palms were placed in a moist chamber and developed aerial mycelium, zoosporangia and zoospores which were identical with those op the spots of the original diseased palm and are pythium paimivorum. This experiment was unexpectedly successful. It shows that when the conditions of humidity are suitable as in the monsoon a palm that becomes infected stands a poor chance of escape. In most of these cases the infective material was placed on the leaf sheath by means of a knife, either the small one ordinarily used for such work or the ordinary katti of the tapper. At Kothapeta and Itam- pudi similar experiments wereg carried out and confirmed the above results. In each nlace a tapper inoculated some palms himself by pas- sing the tip of his katti over a diseased spot and then touching the surface of the leaf-sheath of a healthy palm. These palms carry infection from one palm to another. (3) Inskcrs.—T wo large insects common in the delta, the black rhinoceros beetle and the red palm weevil are capable of carrying the myce- lium and spores of the fungus attached to their bodies and one or other or both are often found in borings in diseased trees. In several of the palms that were inoculated in the course of my experiments the latter insect wasfound. When a living leaf-sheath is wounded it exudes a sweet gummy juice and this seems to be the attraction. In uature the beetles and weevils get into the heart of the bud, The young pupae emerge with- ia the disintegrating mass of tissue and observa- tions conclusively prove that they carry the in- fective matter (mycelium and spores) from place to place within the limits of a single bud. The raycelium and spores of the fungus cannot well help becoming attached to their bodies and being carried away to healthy palms when the insects take to flight. The experiment has been tried of ajlowinga weevil to walk over a diseased spot bearing sporangia and then confining it in a cage on the outside of the leaf-sheath of a palmyra, but the results are not yet available. In Ramachandrapur, Lankalakoder and other vil- lages the disease has been observed to be severe in the vicinity of the huts of the Midigas, a low caste of people who live ontflesh. This has also been remarked near the huts of fishermen. The offal of carcases and fish afford good breeding grounds and the number of insects being greater in such favourable situations than elsewhere, the number of palms visited is greater. I am con- vinced that palm weevils and rhinoceros beetles play a part in disseminating the disease, HEx- actly to what extent has still to be found out. (4) Brros.—Birds may conceivably spread the disease. If they perched on an infected part of a leaf orifthey preyed on the insects that occur in the infected parts of the bud, mycelium and spores might easily become attached to their feet or bills and so be carried out to other palms on which they might alight. The affected parts of the leaves are seldom suitable places on which to alight, and what birds, if any, prey on rhino- ceros beetles and palm weevils is not yet known. The opportunities that birds have of spreading the disease will only be occasional. Besides the rate at which the disease spreads is so slow and the progress of the disease is so steady that it is improbable that birds play any considerable part inthe dissemination. The evidence now available goes to show that the disease is spread— (1) chiefly by palm climbers, (2) to a smallar extent by insects (palm weevils and rhinoceros beetles), (3) occasionally by the wind and by birds. 8. The length of time taken to kil! a palm varies. At first when the disease is eating into the bud no sign of ill-health can be seen by a 96 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist ' person standing on the ground. Only by cutting off and examining the leaf-sheaths can signs of disease be detected. When the central bud has been killed the young expanding leaves become yellow. This is the first outward indication that anything is wrong. Now the growing point in the centre of the bud has been killed no new leaves are produced. There is then no hope of recovery. ‘The palm, however, goes on living for a time on the reserve food stored in its tissues but the leaves gradually die till nothing is left but a bare pole. The number of leaf-sheaths that may be pierced by a series of diseased spots in a line varies. The highest number I have seen is 29. Even in this palm there were still 4 leaves besides the central bud untouched by the furgus. It must have taken several months for the fungus to pierce all these leaf-sheaths. The length of time according fo experiments from the infection of the palm till the death of the growing point and the withering of the central expanding leaves varies from one to ten months. From observations made in the field it is believed to extend to almost two years. From many enquiries made of residents in the delta it appears that the time that elapses before the palm is reduced to a bare pole may be up to three years or more. Thus a palm may be affected from one to ten months or more before it shows visible signs of disease and after that may ‘linger for upwards of three years. During this time there is very little hope of recovery from the disease. 9. Recovery.—A very few cases of recovery even after a great part of tne crown has withered have been observed. This is dueto the growing point having escaped injury. Nearly all re- covered palms succumbed in a comparatively short time to a renewed attack of the fungus. I have seen only three examples of recovery. One of them subsequently died of disease aad the other two were cut down in order to discover where the new shoot arose. It was found in both cases that the original growing point had been missed and had begun new growth. Thus out of thousands of diseased palms under obser- vation since the operations were first instituted in 1906 only one case of recovery,that mentioned, above, has been observed. 10. Dormant condition of the fungus.—The fact that these cases of apparent recovery almost invariably succumb Jater on, is an indication that the fungus is able to pass into a state of suspended activity. When the operations were begun it was frequently observed that even after a locality had been cleared of all dead and dying palms, new cases of disease continued to show. ‘‘ At first these were believed to be new infections conveyed in some manner unknown. Then it was noticed that there was a difference in the distribution of these cases as compared with outbreaks which were undoubtedly due to fresh infections as when a village became at- tacked for the firsttime. In the latter case the deaths were in groups or often in one small part ofa village only, indicating spread from one or a few early attacked trees. The deaths in villages that had been one or more times cleared of all outwardly diseased trees occurred scattered throughout the cleared area. In Amalapur village such scattered cases continued to recur with the greatest persistence. In two small areas kept under continuous observation which had been cleared of large number of diseased trees in November, 1906, five subsequent inspections up to Septem ber 1908, yielded fresh cases. It was im- possible that outwardly diseased trees could have escaped cutting on these occasions, since the plots were close to the road through the village which was frequently traversed by those in charge of the work. Similarly outside infection was scarcely to be thought of for the whole vil- lage, as well as those adjoining had been very thoroughly and repeatedly worked over, being the head-quarters of the taluk where the cam- paign was prosecuted with the greatest energy. Examination of several of these casesshowed that the outer leaf-sheaths bore unmistakeable evi- dence of previous infection, the old brown spots on the outer sheaths being split and dried up. The sheaths of at least two years’ leaf supply often remain attached to the tree, and there was every reason to suppose that some of the spots seen on this and other occasions on the outer sheaths may have been two years old. It is now believed that such old spots may serve for aconsiderable time to restart an active phase of the disease. This is probably brought about through the tardy germination of resting spores, which have several times been found in the dried mycelial webs on the surface of old spots. The mycelial growth resulting from the germination of the resting spores is small and soon termi- nated by the formation of one or two sporangia. The spores from these would settle on the sheaths in contact and might succeed in pene- trating them, whereas from their small number, and entangled position in the old sheaths there would be little likelihood of the sporangia being carried to other palms before germination.” In my investigation in the Godavari I have several times seen unmistakable cases where the disease had become arrested within the bud. In one case near Vijeshwaram in Kistna district during an experiment an apparently healthy palm was examined. The disease was found to have pene- trated several leaf-sheaths. ‘The diseased spots were old and dry. These were cut away and several of the next inner clean leaf-sheaths were removed. Three months later the palm was still unattacked. It is still uiider observation. Those who, while conducting the operations, have been living a considerable time in the dis- trict have observed that palms wkich have diseased spots on their expanded leaves invari- ably die. The length of time between infection and the appearance of the first visible symptom has been proved by experiment to extend to ten months. From field observation it is estimated to extend in some cases up to almost two years. This ac- counts ina measure for the numbers cut out month after month in some places. These are not all cases of new infection but are the visible results of infection that took place months be- fore. This is another factor that has prolonged the operations. ews ~ © Bek TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST MAGAZINE OF THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. Von. XXXVII,. COLOMBO, AUGUST 15rtx, 1911, No. 2. CONTINUITY IN AGRICULTURAL MATTERS. Not only is contiguity required in dealing with agriculturists, but also continuity, and this is one of the weak points in the present organisation of the island from an agricultural point of view. Ifa given improvement is to be introduced intoa certain district, not only must it be demonstrated near to the people, but it must be continuously demonstrated. If it is demonstrated in one season to be a success, and then taken away, the man who seesit will say that it was removed because one was afraid (or certain) that it would not succeed twice running. Successful results must be shown for at least four or five seasons running before people can be expected to imitate them, other than perhaps one or two of the most intelligent agriculturists. For this reason it is important to try doubtful experiments only in Experi- ment Stations—and to some extent in school gardens—and to demonstrate to the people, on the spot, only those which are unquestioned successes. If, for example, there be any doubt whether a new variety of some local crop be a success, it can easily be tried all over the island by being distributed to, the school gardens, and then demonstrated to the people in those districts where it succeeds. In the same way, agricultural shows; as we have already pointed out, should be continuous in any district where they are started, or the good they do is merely evanescent. Whereas, if they be continuous, some good may be expected “to follow atter they have been held four or five times in the same place. But this is a topic on which one might write for long, and we aim always at keeping ieaders short. 98 MANURING OF HEVEA RUBBER. (From Tropical Life, Vol. VIL., No. 5, May, 1911.) Although the application of manures is a comparatively recent introduction into rubber plantations, experiments have already shown that their judicious use is followed by good results and im- proved yields. It has been established that when the soil is supplied witha well-balanced plant-food the growth and the vigour of the rubber trees are considerably increased, rendering them atthe same time more capable of resist- ing pests and injuries from other causes. Properly manured young trees allow tapping operations to be commenced six to twelve months earlier, whilst simil- arly treated old trees show a greater increase in girth and renew their bark more quickly and more thoroughly than the trees grown on unmanured land. Experiments have further shown that owing to the application of manures the flow of latex was more vigorous, and that the coagulation of rubber from this latex took place more promptly. If, on the other hand, it is bcrne in mind that the fertility of the soil of a plantation is reduced not only by the amount of plant-food removed in the latex, but to a much larger extent. by the considerable quantities of fertilizing ingredients which are continuously required for the renovation of the bark, for the growth of new wood, and for the production of leaves and fruit, it is obvious that sooner or later even the richest soil becomes exhausted unless adequately manured. It therefore follows, in the light of the above results, that it is to the advantage of every planter to prevent soil-exhaustion on his plant- ation, and at the same time to encourage increased yields of rubber. Unfortunately, on nearly every plant- ation the production of farmyard manure and compost. even if all the waste is clearly collected, is insufficient to meet the manurial requirements of the plantation, Therefore, in order to maintain or to increase the fertility of the soil, the bulk of, if not all, planters must avail themselves of the use of artificial manures, especially as they can be made up to any formula, and so enable the owner or manager to apply just those fertilizing ingredients that are needed. Nitrogen in readily available form is supplied by nitrate of soda, nitrate of potash, nitrate of lime, sulphate of aramonia and calcium cyanamide or nitrolim. Nitrate of soda, nitrate of potash, and nitrate of lime contain nitrogen in the form of nitric acid—which is directly assimilable by the plants— dissolve easily in water, and are not absorbed by the soil. They should therefore be applied in light dressings only, in order to prevent their being washed out of the soil. Nitrate of soda contains 15°5 per cent. and nitrate of lime 139 per cent. nitrogen. Nitrate of potash cortains 13°5 percent, nitrogen and 44 per cent. potash, and should— owing tothis high percentage of potash— only be used on soils which are deficient in potash. Sulphate of ammonia and calcium cyanamide contain 20 per cent. and 18 per cent. nitrogen respectively, but in. such a form that they must undergo a change into nitric acid in the soil before they become an available plant food. In the Tropics, however, this change takes place very speedily, so that there is scarcely any difference between the effectiveness, nitrogen for nitrogen, of nitrate of soda, nitrate of lime, sulphate of ammonia, and calcium cyanamide. The choice,between these is dictated more by the character of the soil and the price of the fertilizers per unit of nitrogen. Whereas cyanamide and nitrate of lime are suit- able for all soils, though preferable for those poor in lime, sulphate of ammonia should only be used on soil well pro- vided with lime. Nitrate of soda can be profitably used on almost all soils, excepting light sandy soils, but shows its. best effects on loamy soils, All these nitrogenous manures are quick acting, and their nitrogen will be absorbed by the rubber tree withina short time* of their application. It will therefore be advisable to meet the conti- nuous requirements of the rubber tree in nitrogen by applying a portion of what is required by means of some less quickly available manure, such as oil cake or | blood meal. . The best-known phosphatic manures are super-phosphates and Thomas’ phos- phate powder or basic slag. The manurial value of the superphos- phates (ordinary and concentrated) de- pends upon their content of phosphorie acid soluble in water and in citrate of ammonia solution. Whereas the percent- * The effect of an application of nitrate of soda upon the flow of latex in Ceara trees was manifested within 48 hours. Bulletin, No. 16.) I tee Oe [Avaust, 1911. GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS. calcium — EER eis ak Si ess BANE hed (See Hawaii _ ¥% Ber, £ Aveust, 1911.) , age of water-soluble phosphoric acid ranges from 12 to 20 per cent. in ordinary superphosphates, the concentrated super- phosphates contain 40 to ‘43 per cent. water-soluble phosphoric acid, and 2 to3 per cent. phosphoric acid soluble in citrate of ammonia solution. If superphosphate is applied to the soil, its phosphoric acid, being soluble in water, becomes disseminated thioughout the soil, and is there absorbed by other soil constituents, as lime, magnesia, iron, and alumina, forming phosphates which are insoluble in water. In soils contain- ing a fair amount of lime the water- soluble phosphoric acid is precipitated into phosphate of lime, which supplies the plants with available phosphoric acid; buton soils poor in lime, the water- soluble phosphoric acid is either subject to being washed out of the surface soil, or is absorbed by the oxides of iron and alumina forming compounds, the pbhos- phorie acid of which the plants can only assimilate with the greatest difficulty.’ The use of superphosphates should there- fore be limited to soils which are not deficient in lime; on these, 1 lb. of phos- phoric acid in ordinary superphosphates has the same effect as 1 1b. of phosphoric acid in concentrated superphcsphate. _ Thomas’ phosphate powder, a by-pro- duct in the manufacture of steel free from phosphorus, contains 15 to 20 per cent. phosphoric acid, 40 to 50 per cent. lime, and 4 to 5 per cent. magnesia. The phosphoric acid in Thomas’ phosphate powder, although insoluble in water, is easily soluble in weak acids, and there- fore readily assimilated by plants. In genuine Thomas’ phosphate powder 80 per cent. and more of its phosphoric acid is soluble in a 2 per cent. citric acid solution, which portion is considered quite as available as the water-soluble phosphoric acid in super-phosphate. As She phosphoric acid in Thomas’ phos- phate powder does not. undergo eny changes in the soil which might reduce its availability, the use of this phosphatic fertilizer is not restricted to any parti- cular class of soil, but can be applied with advantage to all soils. Its effects are most marked on soils deficient in lime, and on soil containing an excessive quantity of organic matter, in which eases the effects of the Thomas’ phos- _ phate powder are due not only to the _ phosphoric acid but also to the lime it contains. The latter can be easily assi- milated by plants, and, like every other form of alkaline lime, improves the mechanical condition of the soil, pro- motes the oxidation of the nitrogenous reserves, brings the soil potash in solu- 99 Saps and Exudations. tion, and helps to neutralize and render harmless the organic acids of .soils rich in humus. The principal potash manures in us are sulphate of potash and muriate of potash. The former, containing 48 to 52 per cent. potash is especially recom- mended for soils deficient in lime, where- as the use of muriate of potash, contain- ing 50 to 59 percent. potash is better limited to soils containing an ample supply of lime. The sulphate of potash, being less soluble than the muriate of potash, is better retained by the soil, and in very wet districts, although a little dearer, is a more profitable source of potash than muriate of potash. If the soil of the plantation is so poor in lime that this deficiency cannot he made good by the continued use of Thomas’ phosphate powder as _ phos- phatic manure, the application of burnt lime or ground lime-stone becomes necessary. As to the quantities of fertilizing in- gredients to be applied to rubber plant- ations, this depends not only upon the different requirements of the rubber trees at their various ages, but also upon the condition of the soil, For plantations on fair average soils, show- ing neither a marked excess nor a marked deficiency in either of the three fertilizing inyredients—nitrogen, phos- phorie acid, and potash—the supply of plant-food may be considered as well balanced if these fertilizing ingredients are applied in the proportion of 1 part nitrogen, 1 to 1/5 parts phosphoric acid. and 1°5 to 2 parts potash ; and, therefore, for trees ola enough to be tapped, which require about 40 lb. nitrogen, 60 lb. phosphoric acid, and 70 lb. potash per acre, the following mixture may be safely recommended to’ ensure good results :— 14 ewt. nitrate of soda (or 14 cwt. sul- phate of ammonia). 14 ewt. oil cake. 33 cwt. Thomas’ phosphate powder (or 14 cwt. concentrated superphos- phate). 1; ewt. muriate of potash. All these manures may be mixed to- gether, with the exception of Thomas’ phosphate powder and sulphate of ammonia. W here, however, plantations are laid out on poor soils, the above quantities should be increased by one-half; and a similar increase is advisable as regards the potash supply on light soils, whereas on strong soils—which are, asa rule, Gums, Resins, poor in phosphoric acid and lime—5 ewt. Thomas’, phosphate powder per acre will meet the requirements of the rubber tree better than either of the phosphatic dressings suggested above. Furthermore, if the trees show a good leaf growth, the nitrogenous dressing may be decreased by one-third, whereas if the leaf growth is weakly, better results will be obtained by increasing the nitrogen supply one-third. Astothe manuring of young plant- ations, the planter will be well advised to make use of the nitrogen collecting power of leguminous plants, which, grown between the rows, and forked in when they are in flower, are able to meet the young rubber trees’ requirements of nitrogen. In order to enable the legu- minous plants to develop vigorously, and to accumulate an increased quan- tity of nitrogen, it is, of course, neces- sary to manure same with phosphoric acid and potash, say 2 to 3 cwt. Thomas’ phosphate powder and 3} to 3 ewt. muri- ate of potash per acre. Such ‘green manuring” may be practised as long as the growth of the leguminous plants does not hinder the roots of the rubber trees in their proper development. When, however, green manuring is not adopted, the nitrogen has to be applied by means of artificial manures. Young trees should receive, during the first year, a manuring with 2 oz. of nitrate ot soda, # oz. oil cake, 1} oz. Thomas’ phosphate powder, or #4 oz. concentrated superphosphate, and ¢ oz. muriate of potash per tree, these quan- tities to be doubled from year to year till the trees are fit for tapping, when the full manuring suggested above may be adopted annually. The artificial manures are to be sprinkled around the trees. Until the young trees reach their fifth or sixth year, itis a betcer practice to manure them singly, by distributing and fork- ing in the manures around the stem ata distance of from 1 to 1} ft. for each year of the tree’s growth. After the sixth year the soil of a plantation is so thoroughly permeated by the roots of the trees that the artificial manures can be distributed over the whole plantation. 100 ae ee { ae" ae Sith toe - [Aveust, 1911, CASTILLOA ELASTICA: TAPPING AND YIELDS.) | By FRANK EVANS, Botanic Department, Trinidad, B.W.L. (From Tropical Bate, Vol. VIL., May, 1911, No. 5.) There appears to be great diversity of Opinion, both as to the best method of tapping, and the yield obtainable from the Central American rubber tree (Cas- tilloa elastica). Latest xeturns show very clearly that estimates of yields made in former years were far too high. Cross, in 1881, estimated the annual yield of dry rubber at 12lb. per tree; another writer stated that the average annual yield of trees in Nicaragua, when tapped spirally, was 10 lb. per tree. j In 1903 and 1904, trees in the Dominica Botanic Gardens gave an average of 1 lb. per tree. The tapping in 1908 was by — means of slits cut with an ordinary knife, and in 1904 with a tool used in the East tor tapping Hevea. The Dominica experiments of 1905 conducted with a view of ascertaining the best method of tapping, favoured oblique lines cut about 18 in. apart on one-half of the circumference of the tree; this agrees with the results of Trinidad experiments. In 1908, when the writer carried out trial tappings on plantations in the Naparima district of Trinidad, good results were obtained witb oblique cuts made with an Hevea tapping knife, also with incisions made with an ordinary 2 in. chisel driven in with a mallet. When using mallet and chisel, care should be taken to drive in the chisel at one level, as an upward or downward cut is apt to split the bark. In 1910, experiments with pricking instruments ~ were made at the Trinidad Experiment Station, the idea being to puncture the whole surface of the trunks toa height of 8 to 10 ft. from the ground. Prelimin- ary tests gave promising results, small punctured areas giving yields amounting to 7 to 2? lb. dry rubber per tree at one tapping. The chief drawback to the use of pricking instruments is the diffi- culty of making clean cuts, the wounds usually being rough-edged and heal badly. Another objectionis the amount” of labour required to continually force in the prickers ; but this difficulty could probably be overcome by the use of a portable engine, worked by compressed air, and connecting by tubing with the tapping tool. The apparatus must be light enough to be carried and guided . Aveust, 1911.] by one man. This may seem impossible or difficult, but many agree that tapping operations of the future will be con- ducted with the aid of steam, electric, or other power. Experiments in Tobago ‘show that eight to ten-year-old trees tapped with mallet and chisel will give an average annual return of 3 to 4 oz. of dry rubber per tree. A few trees give 1 to 13 lb. On one plantation it is recorded that some years ago a few hundred ten-year-old trees gave 4 to # lb. per tree. In 1905, experimental tapping with V-shaped cut on a few, thirteen-year- - old trees in the St. Lucia Botanic Gar- dens, resulted in an average return of 11:16 oz. per tree. This yield is similar to that obtained the same year in the vicinity of Bluefields, Nicaragua, where 6,000 trees gave an average of 11°3 oz. dry rubber per tree. Results in Ceylon appear to be less favourable, as, accord- ing to the published minutes of the Hxperimental Station Committee, a tree at Peradeniya. tapped to a height of about i8ft., gave only 50:90 grammes of dry rubber, although the method of tapping was the full herring-bone on each side, inflicted with mallet and chisel. Reports from Mexico show the yields in that country vary from 8 to 12 0z,, according tothe age of the trees. The tapping method in most general use is -the long V-shaped cut; but as the apex of the V does not heal well, this system of tapping leaves much to be desired, and is being discarded by the more advanced Mexican rubber planters. Dr. Olsson-Seffer, who has made an exhaust- ive study of the Castilloa tree, recom- mends the half-herring bone system of tapping, which consists of a longitudinal ehannel into which oblique cuts lead from one side only, and so, whilst the - full area to be tapped is covered, the v article on some of tree suffers less than by the V cuts. NEW USES FOR RUBBER. CONSTANTLY BEING DEVISED—ADDI- TIONAL USES THROUGH RECENT Dis- COVERIES BESIDES THOSE FORMERLY PUBLISHED. (rom the Manila Bulletin, June7, 1911.) Only recently the Bulletin gave an the new uses for rubber, and the fact that with the pre- sent production it would be impossible to overstock the market as the demand was rapidly increasing, in fact keeping ahead of the supply. 101 hey Saps and, Exudations. Some additional uses for rubber are here given, new uses being constantly devised, which must result in increasing to some extent its consumption. Some of the more recent new uses are suffi- ciently unique to be interesting and afford an insight into the diversified utility of this remarkable material. The following on the new uses and recent discoveries is taken from The India Rubber World :— One of the most remarkable, and at the same time, one of the most beneficent uses suggested for rubber, is for the construction of artificial or supplement- ary muscles for children suffering or threatened with infantile paralysis, By the local application of strips of elastic rubber over the weakened muscles, in a manner devised and described by Dr, Roland O. Meisenbach, Buffalo, N. Y., the tensile strength the muscle lacks is supplied, a local stimulus effected and contractions prevented, while the appli- cation being painless and not incon- venient, and the effect being continuous and independent of the patient’s volition, the remedy is especially applicable for children. Carpet sweepers are equipped by a manufacturer with corner buffers, by means of which the furniture is protected from injury, and they can be applied to either new or old sweepers. Another manufacturer employs rubber in the manufacture of a pad that protects table tops from defacement by hot dishes, In the future development of the flying machine, rubber seems destined to prove an important factor. Rub- berized fabric tor planes has been given the preference by the most successful practical aviators, while the extent to which a safe and successful landing depends on the quality of the rubber tyres with which the “ plane” is equipped, has induced leading tyre manufacturers to bestow particular attention on the production of “aero- plane tyres.” In the form of hose, rubber comes into use In an ingenious machine, employed by paviors in Germany, for ramming or tamping paving blocks into place. The pneumatic ramming tool is connected by rubber hose with a portable air com- pressing plant, and the compressed air, acting on its mechanism, causes it to deliver a rapid series of hard blows on the paving stones that are being set. Another use to which rubber hose is putis in the operation of an ingenious vacuum cleaner, for which a stream of water from an ordinary faucet furnishes the power. Passing down one arm of a Oils and Fats. Y branch, it creates, by suction, a partial vacuum in the other arm, and this in turn is connected with the cleaning tool. The dust laden air draws up the tube, encounters the water at the junc- tion of the Y, and the dirt is washed down the drain. Rubber tips for furniture, rubber tiling for floors, rubber trays and dishes are made for photographers, while rubberized cotton fabric for balloons is much less expen- sive, lighter and more impenetrable than the water-prooted silk heretofore used. In addition to its extensive employment in tyres, rubber has found very many uses in connection with the automobile, mats for the floors, pads for the pedals, hand grips for the levers, all are made of rubber, and to some 102 ) ,* bv « Pre hI z NiO et SD ed ‘[Aveust, 1911, extent it enters into shock absorbers and similar devices, to say nothing of the tubing for gas lamps, electrical in- sulation, hose connections for radiators, etc. It would be possible to enumerate a thousand and one purposes for which rubber in various forms is employed, that have been added within the past few years toits uses. It isa question whether, with all the additions that have been made to the output within the past few years, in the shape cf plant- ation production, reclaimed rubber, etc., the ‘‘new uses” have not more than made up for the increase in production, so that, as faras the volume at the dis- posal of the consumers is concerned, there is but little improvement to be recorded, OILS AND FATS. HYDNOCARPUS VENENATA, GAERTN. THE SOURCE OF THE POISONOUS CARDAMOM-FAT USED IN THE MARGARINE ‘‘ BACKA.” (By A VoiGeT in Jahresb. d. Verein. fir angew. Botanik, p. 171, 8, 1911.) [Abstracted by J. C. WILLIS. ] In November and December, 1910, many people in the large German towns were madeill by a margarine called Backa, Investigation showed that a fat had FIBRES. INDIA AND PAPER-MAKING. (From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. XXVI., No. 2. February 1, 1911.) Mr. William Raitt, an authority on paper fibre, read a paper at the Allaha- bad Industrial Conference in which he makes out a good case for thinking that a liberal reward awaits those capitalists who take up in earnest the manufacture of paper-pulp in this country. The pre- sent position of India in regard to the production and consumption of paper is not much to its credit. Mr. Raitt estimates the consumption at 40,000 tons a year, as against a consumption of a million tons in the United Kingdom, This limited demand is perhaps not. to be wondered at when it is considered been obtained from England under the name ‘“ Cardamom-fat,” known also as Maratti-fat. , Some seeds were obtained aud proved to be those of Hydnocarpus venenata (Makulu, Singh., Makal, Tam.) a common tree in the lowcountry of Ceylon. The fruits are used here as a fish poison, having narcotic properties, and the oil from the seeds is used in skin complaints. Enquiry showed that these seeds are known in England as ‘false Carda- moms,” and are used to adulterate the true Cardamoms, with which they have much likeness, 3 phe Oe ee ey ee ee ee ee eee ee P3 ci ae at be a: an te teed that the vast bulk of the people are illiterate, and have, therefore, no use for books. magazines or newspapers. But it is at first sight surprising that a half even of the small amount of paper consumed in India is imported from Europe, and that a country which ~ abounds in the raw materials of the paper industry should be dependent on foreign countries whose supplies of raw material are steadily and rapidly di- minishing. The explanation which Mr. Raitt offers of these puzzling facts is very simple. The essential condition which the manufacturer of paper must satisfy is cheapness. Hence he has in every age used materials rejected by other crafts. When rags were worth- less, before the days of shoddy, he used rags. Arisein the price of rags drove x _ Aveust, 1911.) ~ their local resources. ~ required, and him to employ Esparto grass, and, when his supplies of this material ran short, he resorted to pulp made of trees which were of little value for any other pur- pose. It may be asked why at this stage in the industry India has not developed into a great paper-making country. The reason is not very evident. A demand for wood-pulp has already uvisen in India. Owing to the fact that the grasses used in paper-making yield a considerable percentage of waste, the -eost of carriage becomes an important . factor. Mr. Raitt states that 2} tons of Bhabar and Munj grasses are required to produce aton of paper. Consequently, when the local supply became exhausted, a point was soon reached when railway rates made profitable manufacture im- possible, and, indigenous wood-pulp not being available, Indian mills have been driven to import wood-pulp to eke out The Bareeness Gs reign wood-pulp is accounted for partly a the aneance of timber of the kind partly by the enterprise and business acumen which have led its manufacturers to locate their factories in the immediate vicinity of the forests, so that the waste portion of the wood is eliminated on the spot, and only the actual paper-making pulp is sent by ship or rail. It is the adoption of this mode of economising in freight charges which is required in India. “ The Indian paper trade,” says Mr. Raitt, ‘has shown no want of enterprise in the past, and the best proof of that is in the fact that it has now expanded up to the full econo- mic limits of its present raw material supply. Provide new sources of that, and the paper-maker will do the rest. Tn suitable localities erect pulping mills to reduce the local raw material to half- staff, eliminating on the spot the 60 per cent. of waste and reducing the freight and handling charges in the proportion of 24 tol. Briefly and simply, in that lies the future of the Indian paper indus- try.” And the sooner the enterprise is taken in hand the better. The recent vise in the price of both pulp and paper joints to the diminishing supply and Tauéeasine dearness of the timber resour- ces on which Europe has hitherto relied. The wonder is that the enormous con- sumption has not told earlier upon prices. According to Mr, Raitt, a London daily 103 Fibres. paper devours in a year the arboreal produce of 5,000 acres, with \the result that ‘* whole districts once clothed with virgin forest— nay whole|provinces— have gone galloping down the ever-open maw of a hungry press until now a condition of things has been reached in which the pulp-wood resources of the United States of America are admittedly exhausted aud those of Europe considerably curtail- ed.” Indiahas,in these circumstances, a splendid opportunity. Happily this coun- try is rich not only in spruceand fir, which offer only a limited supply, but also in the bamboo which is, as Mr. Raitt says, literally inexhaustible. A mill erected in a suitable locality for pulping bamboos will never be rendered useless by the disappearance of its raw material. It can easily perpetuate its supplies. On this ground alone Mr. Raitt is, it seems to us, justified in predicting that bamboo pulp will ultimately become the leading staple of the paper industry. Itis strange how long it has had to wait for recognition. More than thirty years ago Mr. Thomas Routledge wrote his pamphlets on the merits of bamboo as a paper-making material, but only as recently as 1905 was the importance realised of ascertaining by skilled investigation the practical possibilities of this giant grass, which flourishes over huge areas in India. In that year the Indian Government request- ed Mr. R. W. Sindall, a London Paper expert, to visit Burma and report on the feasibility of using bamboo for the manu- facture of paper. The conclusions at which he arrived were favourable, and have since been confirmed by the actual conversion of bamboo into paper. The experiment was carried out by Messrs. Thomas and Green, of the Soho Mills, Wooburn Green, who were agreeably impressed with the admirable qualities of bamboo paper, its strength, and the suitability of its surface for both letter- press and lithographic work. Unfor- tunately the conditions on which the Government of Burma were prepared to make concessions to the pioneers of a new industry were too onerous, and nothing has been done, so far as we know, to put Mr. Sindall’s calculations to a test on a commercial scale. Possibly Mr. Raitt’s paper may rouse new interest in a@ promising industry which has all the essentials of success. 104 | io as ie * PRODUCTION AND USE OF COCA LEAVES. | (From the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, Vol, VIII., No. 4, 1910.) Coca leaves are derived froma plant, Erythroxylon Coca, which occurs native in the countries along the Western Coast of South America, and especially in Peru and Bolivia. In recent years coca plant- ations have been formed in Java and Ceylon, and considerable supplies are now derived from these latter countries, but especially from Java. The drug is the source of the alkaloid cocaine, which is very largely employed in medicine as a local anaesthetic. Attention has been particularly direc- ted in recent years to the trade in coca leaves and inthe alkaloid cocaine pre- pared from them owing to the fact that this alkaloid has been used by natives, especially in Far Eastern countries, as an intoxicant, with the result that re- strictive legislation has had to be intro- ducéd in India, the Straits Settlements, and elsewhere to prevent the spread of this “ cocaine habit,” From a commercial point of view special interest attaches to the drug from the fact that an understanding is stated to have existed until recently among the comparatively few manufac- turers of cocaine, whereby the prices paid by them for their raw material— coca leaves--have been keptat alow level, whilst prices for the pure alkaloid have been raised. Owing to the diminution in output from Peru, Java has acquired a predominant position in the produc- tion of coca leaves, and a proposal has been made there recently that planters in Java should take advantage of this ~ — state of things to establish a practical monopoly in this industry. As tke cultivation of coca leaves is already well established ic Ceylon, and may be taken up in other British colonies, it becomes of interest to summarise the position of this industry at the present time, _ The commercial supply of coca leaves is almost entirely derived from Java, and Ceylon. Cocais produced in Bolivia, Brazil, and other parts of South America, but only very small quantities are exported from these countries. Experimental cultivation of the leaves has been undertaken in India, United States, the States and elsewhere, but at present’ there appears to be no production ona commercial scale in these countries, From Peru, both coca leaves and cocaine are exported. The cocaine pro- duced is crude andimpure, and is mostly exported to Germany, where it is refined. From Java, coca leaves only are ex- ported at present, though it has been proposed to open a factory there for the manufacture of cocaine. The coca leaves exported from Javaare stated to contain little or no cocaine, but they are rich in other alkaloids from which cocaine can be made by a comparatively simple process. All the Java coca leaves are at present said to be worked up in Holland and Germany for the manufacture of cocaine. The statistics of export of coca leaves and cocaine from Peru and of coca leaves from Java and Ceylon, so far as they are obtainable, are given below: - EXPORTS OF CRUDE COCAINE FROM PERU. To United To United Dee any: | _ Kingdom, States. Hie Year. Quantity | Value | Quantity | Value | Quantity | Value Kilos. &. Kilos. | £. Kilos. : | E 725 | 1903 6,770 | 84,626 . 553 6,912 58 3,550 1904 6,155 76,961 959 11,987 284 2,304 1905 6,188 108,600 — 300 5,684 134 fea 1906 5,184 | 69,862 _ 424 5,582 Sig ok To France. ] Total. Quantity | Value Quantity Value Year. Kilos. £, Kilos. 25) 1908 414 5,180 7,800 97,506 1904 128 1,600 7,527 94,099 1905 ni Si 6,778 116,590 1906 805 3,676 5,914 79,071 : [Avausn, 1911. ‘y | : DRUGS AND MEDIGINAL PLANTS, ~ Peru, © the | Federated Malay — eee ee ee bi yi J _Avaust, 1911.) ~ General for Peru in London. - 1906 ‘to of coca leaves For the above figures the Imperial Institute is indebted to the Consul- to information supplied by the Secretary ~to the British Legation at Lima, the total exports of cocaine’ trom Peru amounted to 6,057 kilograms, valued at - £66,630 in 1907. According to the Boletin de Ministerio de Fomento, published at Lima, the exports of coca leaves from Peru in 1905 amounted to 1,315,825 ilos, valued at £94,956, and in 2,842,916 kilos, worth £130,825, but thase figures are believed to be merely approximations. Later data are not obtainable. The Consul-General for Bolivia, in London states that the total producticn per annum, in | that 105 According | Drugs and Medicinal Plants. country, is about 95,000 ewt., but of this only a very small amount is exported. EXPORTS OF CocA LEAVES FROM JAVA. 1904, 1905. 1906, 1907, 1908. 1b. lb, Ib Ib. Ib, 57,082 151,057 274,259 583,765 1,026,022 The above figures were compiled for the Imperial Institute from Batavia market reports, by His Majesty’s Consul at Batavia. According to the Cousul- General for Holland, in iondon, the total exports from Java and Madura in 1908 were 416,612 kilograms, valued at 166,645 florins, and of this quantity 311,292 kilos went to Holland, 102,320 kilos to Germany, and 3,000 kilos to the United Kingdom. No cocaine is at present produced in Java. Exports OF CocA LEAVES FROM CEYLON.* | To United Kingdom. To Germany. To Belgium. Quantity. |-Value. | Quantity. Value. Gatity. Value. oe Ib. £t. Ib. i Ib. £. 1906 38,301 1,584 1,182 57 1,136 38 1907 28,542 137 1,488 19 — —_ 1908 33,833 896 2,668 36 ae ail 1909 30,207 820 1, 649 242 22,589 ? To Holland. To Switzerland. Total. Quantity Value. Quantity Value. Quantity Value. Year Ib. est ib. £. ib. a) 1906 — _ — = 41,724 1.669 1907 | “ee 4,239 148 11,736 389 46,986 1,348 1908 | 8,146 36 40,281 1,848 80,088 2,315 1909 wa —- — 13,809 455 2 68; 306 1,940 The Trade Repti of the United Kingdom do not show imports of coca leaves or cocaine under these headings, but the following figures of imports to the United States and to Hamburg afford some indication of the course of i trade in these products. Imports OF CocA LEAVES TO UNITED STATES. Quantity. Value. \ lb. Dollars. 1904-5 oe ee = 342,518 1905-6 aN 2,650,141 488,545 1906-7 or 1,515,616 212,424 1907-8 633,121 76,109 IMPORTS OF MEDICATED LEAVES{ TO HAMBURG FROM PERU. Kilos. 1905 618,600 1906 587,400 1907 354,800 If the export of coca leaves from Peru may be taken as about 1,000 metric tons per 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 maximum pos- sible production of cocaine per annum would be from 18,000 to 20,000 kilograms * From a Return supplied by the Principal Collector of Customs, Colombo. { The original figures are in rupees; these have been converted at the rate Rs. 15=£1. {Probably mainly coca leaves; the figures Returns as for coca leaves. 14 given for 1906 is quoted in the Hamburg Trade Edible Products. (89,000 to 44,000); but this is Jittle more than a guess at the actual production, since a large proportion of the coca leaves which appear in commerce is no doubt used in the preparation of such products as ‘‘coca wine,” liquid extract of coca leaves,” etc., and is not employed for the production of cocaine. In this connection it is of interest to note that de Jong, in a recent number of Teys- mannia (1910, p. 201), estimates the world’s consumption of cocaine at 12,000 kilograms per annum, and points out that since the yield of dry coca leaf in Java is about 286 kilograms per acre, and as this is equivalent to 6 kilograms of pure cocaine, the area under coca can be extended to about 3,500 acres in Java before the present world’s consump- tion of cocaine is reached, assuming that export of coca leaves from Peru can be suppressed as the result of the competition of the Java product. He recommends as the most economical plan the cultivation of coca as a catch crop in Para rubber plantations, so that a return may be secured in the first six years before the Para rubber trees are old enough to be tapped. In order that the Java planters may further secure their position, he recommends that they should combine to erect a co-operative central factory for the extraction of cocaine, so that they may be independ- ent of cocaine manufacturers in Kurope. Manufacturers of cocaine in Germany, who have been consulted on the feasi- bility of this project, state that there would probably bea saving of from 10 to 20 shillings per 100 kilogram of leaves 106 worked as the result of extraction in — Java instead of in Europe, and they express their willingness to take a share in the erection and working of the proposed Java factory. ‘ At first sight this suggested extension of the Java industry in coca leaves seems to offer a prospect of serious competition with the Ceylon production of this drug, but it must be remembered, in this connection, that the variety of coca leaf cultivated in Java is only suit- able for the manufacture of cocaine, since it is stated not to actually cortain this alkaloid, but only alkaloids nearly — related to it, and which after extraction are readily convertible by chemical means into cocaine. The coca grown in Ceylon, on the contrary, appears to be of the Bolivian variety,and should there- © fore be available, not only tor the manufacture of cocaine, but also for the production of galenical preparations of coca, the form in which the drug is usually prescribed for internal use. For this purpose carefully prepared coca leaves of high quality are required, and consequently the Ceylon coca leaves, which answer these requirements and usually fetch the highest prices obtain- able for this product, should be able to retain their present commanding — position so far as this particular outlet is concerned. A complete investigation of Ceylon coca leaves is now in progress at the Imperial Institute with a view to determining definitely the nature of the alkaloids present, and especially the proportion of cocaine. EDIBLE PRODUCTS. NOTES ON GROUND-NUTS IN THE WEST INDIES. (From the West Gan Bulletin, Vol. XI., No. 8, 1911.) The following paper is intended as a summary of the results that have been obtained up to the present in the experi- ments on the cultivation of imported varieties of ground-nuts. These have been conducted at various Botanic and Experiment Stations in the West Indian islands during the last few years. An account of them is givenin the Annual Reports of the Botanic Stations from the year 1907 onwards. In addition to the results thus obtained, various points in connection with these plants have also been included, in order to make the information presented as complete as possible. An earlier paper on this plant, by Freeman, containing a summary of the position of the industry in the West Indian islands before the introduction of the new varieties will be found in the West Indian Bulletin, Vol. 1V., p. 101.) Various articles have also appeared on this. subject in the Agricultural News; _references to these are given at the end of this paper. In the year 1907-8, two American varie- ties of gvround-nuts, Dixie Giant and | Tennessee Red, were imported by the — Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, and distributed for trial at the Botanic and Experiment Stations in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, Anti- gua and St. Kitts-Nevis. In the subse- quent year. two other varieties, Spanish and Carolina Running, were imported Al : . x y Eee re ee — ~ other islands in that year. ' ment of Agriculture. Aveust, 1911.] fvom the United States and grown in. the same islands. The results obtained were, on the whole, disappointing, with the exception of the yields given by the varieties grown in Dominica. This was to some extent due to poor germination, in the case of the Dixie Giant variety, and in that of the other varieties to the attacks of fungi. These consisted of a rust fungus on the leaves, reported as UOromyces sp. and Uredo sp., and a sterile reot fungus which has since been found on several host plants, but has not so far been known to form any kind of fructifi- cation. | In the year 1909 the trials were conti- nued, some varieties being rejected in certain of the islands. In Dominica the results were largely spoiled by the outbreak of three different diseases on the experiment plots. Two fungi occurred on the leaves—the rust fungus referred to above and identified at Kew as Uredo arachidis, Lagh., and a leaf spot fungus, Cercospora personata, Ellis. The same root disease fungus also attacked the roots, lower portions of the stem, pods and surfaces of thé nuts. The rust tungus also occurred in certain of the The results obtained throughout the islands were, however, considerably more promising ‘than those of the two previous years. DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETIES. A short account of some of the Ameri- can varieties is given in Farmer’s Bulle- tin, No. 356, of the United States Depart- Descriptions of others have been obtained from local sources. Spanish.—This variety is a strong- growing plant with upright’ stems and thick foliage. The pods are small, and are clustered about the base of the plant; they are rough and dark in colour, and each usually contains two nuts which entirely fill it. The pods adhere well to the plant when it is dug up, and are thus easily reaped. The nuts are light brown in colour and rich in oil. The period trom the time of planting to maturity varies in the West Indies from twelve to eighteen weeks. Carolina Running.—This variety has long trailing stems and thick foliage, which render it suitable for a green dressing. The pods are borne on the long trailing stems, and do not adhere well when the plant is dug. Each con- tains two nuts, on an average, which are about three times as large as_ those of the Spanish variety. The period from the time of planting to maturity is from sixteen to eighteen weeks in the West . Indies, 101 : Edible Products, Tennessee Red.—This variety is similar in habit to the Spanish, but the pods are longer, though small, and contain four, sometimes five or six, nuts ofa dull red colour, crowded together. It is more suitable for stock-feeding than for market purposes. The period from planting to maturity varies from twelve to eighteen weeks. Dixie Giant.—This variety is so called owing to the large size of its pods, while the nuts are about four times as large as those of the Spanish. It was found that it did not mature well in the United States, and this experience has been repeated in the West Indies. The plants are trailing in habit, and the foliage is thin. The pods are borne along the trailing stems, but adhere well on digging, Hach pod contains two large nuts, of a very light reddish-brown colour. The plants require from seven- teen to twenty-four weeks to mature. Virginia Bunch.—This is a somewhat dwart plant with upright stems and rather light foliage. The pods are large and clustered about the base of the plant, and adhere well on digging; they are bright and clean, and contain two, or sometimes three nuts in each. The nuts are light brown in colour. The plants take fifteen weeks to mature in Dominica. Virginia Runner.—This is a strong- growing variety with creeping stems and heavy foliage. The pods are seattered along the stems and do not adhere well on digging. In other res- pects it resembles the Virginia Bunch variety, African.—This variety is also of a trailing habit, with dense foliage. The pods are berne along the stems and do notadhere wellon digging. Each pod contains three nuts, of a light brown colour. These plants require twenty- four weeks to come to maturity in Dowinica. Gambia.—This variety is of a trailing habit, with dense, compact foliage. The pods are scattered along the stems and adhere particularly well on digging. Two nuts are produced in each pod. These are of light pinkish-brown colour. A strain having three nuts to the pod was found to occur occasionally in Montserrat. This has since been found to breed true. PREPARATION OF THE LAND, PLANTING AND HARVESTING. The soil most suitable to this crop is a sandy loam containing a sufficient supply of humus. It should be well drained, free from weeds and ina good state of Edible Products. 108 tilth, especially on the surface. It is not advisable to use farmyard manure on the land in the same yeax as the nuts ate to be planted, as by this means a large number of the seeds of weeds are introduced ; this manure also causes the nuts to form large quantities of foliage and ahigh percentage of poorly filled pods. A green dressing may, however, be grown and turned in some few months before planting. It is probable that a moderate dressing of lime, at the rate of 1,000 to 2,000 lb. of freshly burnt lime to the acre, would prove advant- ageous on all soils except those con- taining an excess of this substance. In the West Indies, the seed is planted in rows 13 to 2 feet apart, and the plants are from | to 14 feet apart in the rows. The greater distances apply to the trail- ing varieties. The nuts are shelled, and one or two are planted in each hole. The plot should be kept free from weeds, but should not be disturbed after the nuts are beginning to form. When the nuts are ripe, the plants are dug up and the pods removed by hand. They are then dried in the sun and stored in sacks or bags. A thresher for removing the nuts in their shells from the vines is at the Ellis Keystone Agricultural Works, Pottstown, Pa.; the General Southern Agent is Mr.-G, C. Burgess ot Petersburg, Va., from whom _ full information can be obtained. It is probable that other machines are also to be obtained, but this is the only one concerning which information has reach- ed this office at present. (See Agricul- tural News, Vol. X., p. 41.) RESULTS OF THE TRIXLS FoR THREE YEARS. The results obtained in 1907 were ofa very preliminary nature, as the area planted was very small in each case. In consequence, little could be done beyond observing how the plants germinated and grew, and obtaining as much seed made © [Avevsn, 1011 as possible for planting in 1908. A few points of interest are, however, worthy of record. In St, Vincent, the Tennessee Red variety germinated very badly, and practicallly no nuts were obtained from it. The Dixie Giant plants were attacked by a rust fungus identified then as Uromyces sp: It is, however. almost certainly the same as Uredo arachidis. In St. Lucia, the Dixie Giant. variety, which was the only one grown, yielded nuts which were found to germinate in the ground before they were properly ripe. This indicated the necessity for planting in that island at such a time as should allow the nuts to ripen after — the end of the wet season, In Dominica, the two American varie- ties made a good start and gave a satis-_ factory yield of cured nuts. It may also be noted that the ‘ African’ variety which was grown in a larger plot of } acre gave a yield of 443 lb. of cured nuts, or an estimated yield of 3,569 lb. of cured nuts per acre. In Montserrat, the results obtained were not very promising; the nuts pro- duced by the Dixie Giant variety were considerably shrivelled. In Antigua, the foliage of both im- ported varieties was-attacked by cater- pillars. These were kept in check by the use of a mixture of Paris green and lime in the proportion of 1 to6. The soil of the plot was heavy, and did not appear very suitable to the plants. ’ In St. Kitts, the Dixie Giant variety grew well until Octuber, when heavy rains fell just as the young nuts were forming. The rain caused renewed growth, and this resulted in the loss of _many of the nuts. In Nevis, the plants of both varieties dried off. This suggests the probability that they were attacked by a root disease. The results of the trials conducted in 1908 and 1909 are summarized in the following table :— , Bal ag 109 YIELD Per ACRE oF CURED Edible Products. Nots. Where Variety. it pea patie ee Remarks. ‘ Broo us 1908. 1909, i : Limed. | Unlimed. (aoung Running. 504 : Spanis i no ‘ St. Lucia... \ Dixie Giant Crop % LTennessee Red ...lobtained 7 ; (Carolina Running.| 1,187 757 | In 1909 all the plots were by | diseases. . Dominica. .|{ Spanish 1,940 613 ' | Dixie Giant 339 535 | In 1909 part of crop was stolen S LTennessee Red 459 370 ~ (Carolina Running. 889 2,740 | 2,820 ; | Spanish Sy. 364 1,440 | 1,320 ‘ seit J Dixie Giant ...(failed to Montserrat grow = | Tennessee Red 400 i | Gambia ... {2,480 |1,740 | Loeal variety i n 820 | 286 ; (Carolina Running. 680 tf a : } | Spanish ne 440 320 , 400] Soil is apparently unsuitable. Antigua ...|{ Tennessee Red 400 i Dixie Giant 960 Imported seed failed to grow in 1908. 7 (Carolina Running. 4,860 (2,215 |1,735 ee | Spanish Asp 300 8,090 |3,307 | Root disease, 1908. : 4 St. Kitts .../4 Dixie Giant 2 ee ... | Ln 1908 une nuts rotted in the . ground. as | Tennessee Red 300 (3,170 | 3,200 | Root disease, 1908. Apagta (Local variety. 1,800 {1,470 | 1,200 oe (Carolina Running. 1,400 |2,667 | 1,813 : | Spanish nad 810 {8,200 | 747 BaS Novis 3 Dixie Giant 120 1908. The nuts rotted before i ripening. ( | Tennessee Red 360 " | Local variety 570 " Onthe whole, the Carolina Running Hxperiment Plots and Agricultural and Spanish varieties have done best. School, Dominica, 1907-8, p. 31). The ill- ¥ Of the two, the Spanish is more likely effect of a heavy soilis well shown by to be popular as it isa bushy erect plant, ard consequently easy to reap, while it ripens in from three tofour months. The nuts are small; this is a further Se advantage, as they are frequently sold 3. by measure and not by weight. This _-- variety is, however, very susceptible to B root disease. The Carolina Running variety has a trailing habit, and the crop is more expensive and troublesome to reap than that of the Spanish. This va habit would, however, be an advantage - if the plant were used as a cover crop or green dressing. The nuts are large and the yield good. - In Dominica the trials have been generally successful. ONES ee - . PSA “4 ' EINEMIES. The coconut has two principal insect enemies in the Philippines, the Oryctes rhinoceros, commouly called wang, and Rhynchophorus ferrugyineus, the red beetle, and also called wang by many. © In the case of the former the adult insect does the damage, and in that of the latter the larvee. In the College of Agriculture we have seen the case of a tree attacked by the larve of the wang (Uryctes), and the red beetle. The latter began the damage, and when the tree had started to decay the Oryctes laid its eggs, and its larve completed the destruction. The red beetle is far more dangerous than the Oryctes, for the latter’s attack can be detected by the hole it makes and by the ragged appear- ance of the young leaves. But the symptoms of the attack by the red beetle are hard to see and tops of trees appearing healthy may suddenly be lown down by a strong wind. The cabbage of such trees is then seen to be rotten and full of pups of the red beetle. The red beetle, on the other hand, never makes its holes on the old. tissue of the tree to lay its eggs, but almost always takes advantage of those made by the Oryectes; or when the soft tissues around the bases of leaves are exposed, makes its hole there. It is therefore doubly necessary to suppress the Oryctes, thereby freeing our plant- ations of two most dangerous enemies, ~ The best remedy for these insects is to burn all decayed trees, and other decay- ing stuff, keeping the plantation in a good sanitary condition. Treesattacked beyond recovery must be cut down and burned. Wounds on trees must be filled © with cement or other substance, preter- ably poisonous to the ‘insect. The practice of the tuba-makers of making incisions on trees to facilitate climbing them is a fruitful source of trouble, and must, therefore, be condemned. The young tissues around the bases of leaves must not be exposed to the attack of the red beetle by taking away the fibrous stuff aroundthem. By reducing the number of these insects the damage done by them will be reduced. Preventive measures are always the best. . There also exists in these islands the Bud-rot, or the rotting of the cabbage, due probably to bacteria. is highly infectious. Its symptoms, propagation, the method of combating, and the history of its appearance in the province of La Laguna are all described ina paper of Dr, EB. B. Copeland, now ihe ; i? Le ve 114 [Avaeust, 1911, This disease — so rae - Avaust, 1911.) ; , Dean of our College, published in May, 1908, in the Philippine Agricultural Review. GATHERING OF NUTS. The low quality of our copra is due - mainly to the use of immature nuts, and to the poor method of handling it, The common nut-gatherers never allow the nuts to mature ccmpletely. Much is to be gained if, instead of gathering the nuts while on thetree, they are allowed to be dead ripe and to fall of themselves. They will be thus given time to con- centrate their oil contents, and thus yield a better quality of copra. This method has two objections: one is the chance for the fruit to germinate on the tree before falling, and the other is the danger of the nuts being lost, or des- troyed, afterfalling. The first difficulty in localities where it occurs can be avoided through seed selection; the second is easily remedied by keeping the plantation free from weeds. This practice may seem costly, but if we know how to relate it with others it will result economically. ripe nuts fall will suppress the bad habit of the majority of the nut-gatherers of making incisions on trees to aid in climbing. Coconut PRODUCTS. The principal coconut product exported from the Philippines iscopra. The total export of this article for nine months | ending March, 1909, was 5,353,548 dollars, of which 2,774,131 dollars, representing 122,638,576 pounds of the article, that is more than one-half of the export, were imported by France alone (from the “Quarterly Summary of Commerce of the Philippine Islands” for January- March, 1909). But the Philippine copra is classed as the poorest, as can be seen from the following prices of copra from » different countries in Marseilles, Dec. 11, 1909 : — ; ‘For every 100 Kg. : Ceylon sundried rah Raion Fr, Singapore Aiea 4 ee OG as Macassar aie Oh + Manilla ioe. Meda ders OD * Zanzibar ~ Ree TushDOLO uss Java sundried Pte HO) a _ Saigon Kas ... 56 A Cotonon 5s pace OVD ee Pacific Samoa At wea Od sy Oceanie Francaise ary A053 Oh HY Mozambique ear fan tite) 3 (From WL’ Agriculture Pratique des Pays Chauds.) One franc is worth about thirty-eight centavos, 115 ‘per cent. for this product. Letting the ~ Edible Products. Comparing the price given for the Manila copra with that of Ceylon sundried, the former is losing eleven per cent. by this difference in classi- fication. If we could therefore im- prove our copra and_ succeed in classifying it among the best, we would increase our income eleven According to Prudhomme the superiority of the best copra is ‘‘to be mainly attributed toa very careful preparation and to the use of well-matured nuts.” Sun Drying versus Kiln Drying.—As has been pointed outin the beginning of this paper, the low price given for Manila coprais mainly due to an im- perfect method of drying and to the use of immature nuts. Itis worth while to quote Prudhomme when speaking of the different investigations on the effect of drying on the quality of the oil obtained: ‘‘One ean, I think, draw from these investigations the following conclusions : “1. The oil of the most pure and of the best quality are extracted from little coloured copra that proceeds from well-matured nuts. “2. Drying by smoking and kiln drying, when poorly done, have the great inconvenience of yielding copra of amore or less dark colour, giving out a well pronounced smoky odour, and leaving as residue a cake of inferior quality. “3. Sun drying gives the most excel- lent results when well conducted. ‘«4. The tinest copra can only be pre- pared from perfectly mature nuts.” There are several ways of drying copra: kiln drying, smoking in ‘“‘smoke houses,” and by means of the sun. Stoves are also used. In rainy countries where sundrying cannot be relied upon, and where tarmers cannot afford to expend money for stoves, kiln drying can be resorted to, but fuel giving out the least amount of smoke must be used. The desiccated coconut is a product largely consumed the world over, but not produced as yet in the Philippines. This article is used in making pudding and sweet-meats. 7,900,000 kg. of this product was exported from Ceylon in 1903. The industrial preparation of desic- cated coconnt involves several steps: splitting of nuts and separation of meat from shell; the rasping of the meat to reduce it to small tragments ; the desic- cation and the baling of the product, Kdiole Products. The meat after being reduced to a pulpy mass is put ina hot air stove, where it is kept at a temperature of 80° to 88° Centigrade. From this chamber the desiccated coconut is aliowed to cool on wooden tables. Then it is cased in packages made from thin sheets of lead very similar to tea packages, and is sold in that form. Packages containing one- half, one, two, and three pounds of the product are prepared. Three average sized nuts yield a pound of desiccated meat. 6,700 nuts are necessary to pro- duce one ton, (From Prudhomme Le Cocotier.) The coconut oil is a product largely consumed at home. But perhaps for that same reason no effort is made to make it better. The factory of the Philippine Products Company, the first of its kind in the Philippines, run by Americans in Pandacan, exported in 1908 to the United Statesand to Hngland 709,239 gallons of oil, valued at 265,069 pesos, and which were made from 5,825 tons of copra (Report of the Collector of Customs for 1908). Although this oil factory could not dispose of its by- product here and had to export a part, yet it thrived fairly well. Through luternal troubles the company closed its business after the factory was accidentally burnt. The Philippine Products Co. would have gained a great deal more if it could have disposed of its by-product locally. Itisimportant that we create a market for our factory by- products, if factories of any kind are to have a complete success. COCONUT CONDITIONS IN LAGUNA. By O. W. BARRETT, (Krom the Philippine Agricultural Review, March, 1911.) During the latter part of the past year the writer made a visit to the College of Agriculture at Los Banos, where he inspected the various nurseries, fields and plats under cultivation by the students of the College. From Los Banos a journey was made to Santa Cruz, the provincial capital, and from there to Majayjay, Lilio and Pagsanjan. Only at a point about midway between Sauta Cruz and Magdalena were there noted any active cases of bud troubles in the coconuts; here three trees with dead leaves (one with live fruit) were found at a short distance from the high- way; the trunks of the affected trees were severely attacked by a compa- ratively small boring beetle. There was no odour, and no insects were noticed 116 wh | [Aveusn, 1911, about the top. Only one stump was noted near the trees, and the leaves and buds of a felled tree had not been burned. I judge this disease cannot be the genuine ‘‘ bud rot” which caused so much loss to the planters a few years . ago. Discussions with the President of Lilio and others led me to believe that ‘* bud rot” always kills the trees quickly and never allows the retention of any fruits after the death of the leaves; however, a rare affection is known among the coconut planters, correspond- ing to the cases here mentioned, in which the fruits are retained, and from which the trees may recover. About ten dead and leafless trunks were seen standing at the edge of a plantation some 4 to 6 kilometers below Majayjay ; very possibly these had been killed by ‘‘ bud rot,” and the trunks had He been felled as they should have een, ' Considering the very close planting— 5 to7 meters—the health of the trees was all that could be expected; the yield, however, is probably not more than one- third of the normal amount for mature trees when well spaced. In a very few cases was there noted any attempt at cultivation between the trees, and absolutely no eases of ‘‘clean culti- vation” were seen. Near Santa Cruz gabe, yams, and ginger were noted growing between rows of very old trees. A remarkably large percentage of mature trees were practically without fruits, due, doubtless, to the overclose planting and the utter lack of attention. If one- half the trees in some plantations were felled it is believed the yield of the area would be doubled. According to the President of Lilio, the former planting distance was 10 varas (8-4 meters), but on account of the prevalent custom of selling coconut plantations at so much per tree, irre- spective of quality, the present distance of 5 by 6o0r at the most 6 by 7 meters has become very general. Save at the Agricultural College at Los Banos very few coconuts were badly attacked by the oryctes (‘‘uang”) beetle. Practically no seale insects or fungus diseases were noted on the leaves any- where. Another great fault in the planting method of the Santa Cruz districtis the setting out of young plants between the rows of the old or very unproductive trees; no case was noted of the felling of old trees in order to permit the growth — of these young plants,. : ~ Avaust, 1911.] - At Pagsanjan, the native oil mills and Senor Navarro’s copra dryer were inr- spected, There is no question that some form of artificial dryer is very urgently needed in the Laguna coconut districts: first, because the smoke (creosote) per- meating entire chunks of copra must render them unfit for higher uses such as making coconut butter, ete.; secondly, because the present method of drying over the husk and shell fire of the ‘*tapahan ” does not sufficiently reduce the moisture, and in consequence several forms of mold are noticeable on the product when it is ready for bagging, and this undoubtedly results in the loss of « considerable amount of the oil from the copra while en route to Kurope. The native oil press does not, of course, remove all of the oil, as would -@ modern hydraulic or even a metal screw press; however, the quality of “cake” should be very high for feeding purposes because of its freshness and high oil content. I would suggest that one of the Hamel Smith patent rotary machines, which are claimed to com- pletely dry copra in from two to three hours without a trace of smoke in the’ finished product be tried ; one of these machines if set up either in Manila or Pagsanjan to demonstrate its usefulness to planters would, I believe, revolu- tionize the business in these Islands. Considering the status of the coconut business in the Laguna districts, and comparing it with the same status in other countries in which I have had experience, Ido not hesitate to say that’ the coconut planters in the districts in- spected on this trip are getting only about 30 to 40 per cent. of the proper income from their plantations. And since there appears to be very little or no loss from insects or fungus pests, and since the soil and the climate appear especially well suited for this culture, I firmly believe that the said loss is due to the faulty system of planting, and to the lack of cultwation and lve legume mulching in the plantations. BROOM MILLET.* By G. Marks, Instructor of Agriculture, Hawkesbury Agricultural College, N.S.W. (From the Queensland Agricultural Journal, Vol. XXVI., Pt. 5, May, 1911.) The cultivation of broom millet in Queensland is largely extending, the industry having received a considerable impetus in consequence of the increased "Tamil Cholam, a little cultivated in Ceylon, 117 Euible Products. prices due to the demand for good fibre within the State, where up to the present the supply has been utterly inadequate to the wants of the broom manufacturers. In order to give all information on the subject to present and intending growers, we have, from time to time, published articles on the cultivation and subsequent treatment of the fibre, Lately a most excellent and exhaustive bulletin on broom millet, profusely illustrated, written by Mr. G. Marks, Instructor in Agriculture at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, New South Wales, has been issued by the Department of Agriculture in that State, and we are permitted to repro- duce it, together with the illustrations, in the Queensland Agricultural Jour- nal, A thousand copies of the paper have been issued in New South Wales, and we feel sure that equal interest will be taken in the subject in this State.— Ep. Q. A. J. From time to time numerous inquiries are received from different parts of the State asking for information regarding the cultivation, harvesting, and market- ing of: broom millet. During recent years the price has fluctuated consider- ably, according to the supply and demand, and in the seasons which follow an unusually nigh market, many far- mers attempt to grow this crop who have but a slight - knowledge of the requirements of the plant, and of the practical details from the selection of the seed to the harvesting, curing, baling, and marketing of the brush. The result is, that the market is giutted with millet of inferior quality, and the returns give little, if any, profit to the grower. We have in New South Wales soil and climate admirably adapted for the production of the best quality brush, and it is significant that those growers, whose practical knowledge teaches them to produce only the very best, are handsomely repaid for their outlay. REQUIREMENTS OF THE TRADE. Inthe manufacture of brooms three classes of brush are required, which are popularly known as “inside,” ‘‘ cover,” and ‘‘ hurl.” “Inside” millet is used for forming the inside of the broom, and is generally not more than 17 in, long. “Cover” is the class used for covering the inside and also for forming the shoulders. It is longer than the former, and must be from 17 to 20 in. in length. “Hurl” is the longest brush, ranging from 20 to 25in, It must also be fine Edible Products. and straight, and forms the outside covering of the broom. To givea nice finished appearance, only prime hurl can be used, About 14 1b. of brush are required to make an ordinary broom, and the three grades are used in about equal pro- portions. The soil, climate and methods of cultivation determine largely the qual- ity of the brush, but in an average season there would be sufficient of each produced to satisfy the requirements of the trade. When ‘grown under excep- tionally favourable conditions, a larger proportion of long brush is produced. It may be used as covers, but owing to its length a certain amount has to be cut off, so that its use for this purpose causes unnecessary waste. On the other hand, a dry season will have the effect of stunting the growth producing a large percentage of ‘‘inside” millet, which can only be worked in the inside of brooms. Manufacturers have conse- quently to purchase elsewhere to satisfy their requirements. It is not intended to go into detail con- cerning the manufacture of brooms, as this does not exactly concern the grower. Manufacturers require certain classes, and the farmer should aim at producing those classes which invari- ably give profitable returns. CONDITION OF OUR SUPPLY- At the present time there is a great deal of dissatisfaction amongst pur- chasers concerning the manner in which locally-grown millet is placed upon the market, so much so that the export trade has been injured, and the attention of the Federal Authorities has been drawn to certain dishonest practices with the view of bringing broom millet under the provisions of the Commerce Act. Whilst alarge number of producers grade and bale their millet in a manner that com- pares favourably with the imported article, it is to be regretted that a certain section pay very little attention to these details. The chief faults may be divided into two classes—lIst, those the result of ignorance and carelessness; and, 2nd, those which are brought about by un- scrupnlous individuals with the sole object of obtaining an unfair and undue advantage over the producer. Those of the former class may be summarised as follows :— 1, The millet is not graded. All classes are packed indiscriminately in a bale, , 2, The seed is not removed, or only partially so. 118 Peas Fal. o£ [Avaust, 191. 3. Broken, bent, or coarse brush - mixed with the good. 4. The cutis not uniform, Some are eut close to the brush, others have 10 or 12in. of stalk. — ~ 5. The colour is not uniform. 6. Bales badly packed and pressed. Many are irregular in size and shape, are not bound with a suffi- cient number of wires to stand ordinary handling. Brush destroyed by being packed before it is properly dried, causing it to develop moulds of various descriptions. 8. Absence of distinguishing numbers of marks signifying the quality and weight. / A few of the latter class may he mentioned :— 1. Theuse of heavy billets of timber in bales. 2. Watering the interior of bales when packing with millet that has been properly dried. 3. Placing in the bales bundles of stems aod leaves, useless brush, bagging, scrap-iron, sweepings of 4 floors, quantities of unripe seed, &c. A 4. Dressing the outside of bales with prime hurl and the middle with inferior material with the seed a left on. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon some of these dishonest practices, as their effect upon any market must be in- jurious. Owing to the bales being tigktly pressed, and from 4 to 5 cwt. in weight, itis not always easy to detect these faults till they are opened in the factory. However, buyersare naturally becoming very alert, and they are com- pelled to give lower prices on account _ of the risk they run. Many manu- facturers prefer to leave the local product alone, and import their supplies, finding it cheaper to purchase Italian millet at £40 per ton than use local materia) at £20. The size, shape, and general appearance of bales is fairly — constant with individual growers, so | that buyers very soon become familiar : with them. These dishonest practices — have already severely affected the New Zealand trade, and our millet is being replaced by Italian and Californian samples. As a consequence, every honest grower has to suffer through the evil reputation that his trade has ~ acquired, and receive cosiderably lower _ prices for a first-class article, because of — the fear that the agents will have to make some allowance to the buyers on is a ae oe ee ee era 4 y ae 5 ber oe ee bo eae’ mys 2a. aa Say ee earn eI a « can 4 | ip ie, ‘3 ia Ps = Avavs?, 1911.] x tive and permanent. ed account of possible adulteration. The demand for broom millet in this State is limited ; and if its production is to be extended and made profitable, it is essential that the export trade _ be encouraged in every possible way. The local producer at the present time is protected by a Federal duty of £4 per ton. fully 90 per cent. of the millet produced in this State is grown on the rich alluvial lands of the North Coast; and on several of these rivers—notaoly the Hanter, Manning, and Richmond—the industry may be looked upon as lucra- Many farmers have reported their success with this crop, and would not think of reverting to the far less remunerative occupation of maize-growing. The raising of millet need not be confined to these districts, as, with the necessary care, and the aid of a few home-made contrivances, any land which produces twenty-five or more bushels of maize to the acre will yield profitable returns. On many of our western slopes millet should also thrive, particularly in those localities where irrigation -can be carried out, It is advisable, before entering extensively into the production of broom millet, to ascertain fromagents or manufacturers the probable requirements of the trade, with the view of obtaining an idea of the price likely to be obtained during the season. At the same time, should the prices fall after the crop is harvested, the millet may, if properly cured and baled, be stored for a considerable length of time without injury, The following information may enable - beginners in broom millet growing to avoid some common mistakes, and not to neglect any of the important oper- ations which are essential to success :— WaHat Broom MILLET Is. Andropogon sorghum vulgare is a non- saccharine variety of sorghum. It is an annual, somewhat similar in appear- ance to maize while young; but it has thinner stems and narrower leaves, and, instead of having male and female flowers on separate parts of the plant, they are both found together in the brush at the top. The flowers are of two kinds—perfect and imperfect. The former are set directly upon the branch, and are accompanied by some of the latter, raised upon little stalks. The fine stems of the panicle or brush are _ the valuable portions; the other parts are incidental. The brush should be composed of seed stems, uniform in size, length, elasticity,and toughness, and of a nice bright colour. The soil and general methods of cultivation will 119. Edible Products. largely affect the character and quality of the product, even though good seed be used. By long and careful culti- vation and systematic selection certain desirable qualities have been developed and fixed, which remain only so long as the conditions which broughc these changes about are reasonably observed. When a plant is grown fora particular purpose it should be the cultivator’s aim to keep improving it in the direction most profitable to him, This necessi- tates a careful study of the plant and its requirements, and the conditions which make for its proper develop- ment. In broom millet it is not desir- able to obtain a heavy yield of seed, a large development of stalk and leaf, or a sap full of saccharine material, but a special and unusual development of the long, thin stems of which the brush is composed. It makes very little differ- ence whether a large plant is produced or a heavy crop of seed is obtained, provided these stems are long and fine. Cuass OF LAND REQUIRED. The soil requirements of broom millet are similar to those of maize. The best results are obtained trom the deep, rich, well-drained alluvial lands of our rivers. It is, however, capable of adapting itselt to @ variety of conditions, and, with proper care and attention, sandy and even gravelly soils if thoroughly drained, will produce fair returns. Un- drained lands make the working and cultivation more difficult ; the growth is generally slow and uneven, and there is always the liability of the crop becom- ing stunted and diseased. To ensure evenness in ripening, a soil uniform in character and fertility is essential. PLACE IN THE ROTATION. In the general rotation on the farm broom millet takes the same place as maize. It is not advisable to adopt the practice of growing it in the same piece of land continuously, unless suitable fertilisers are applied. It has been found, however, in dry seasons that it does not thrive as well on land following millet as where the previous crop was maize. The reason for this appears to be that being more drought-resistant, it continues to grow, and thus exhaust the soil of its supplies of moisture and plant-food when maize would probably cease growing. At the same time, as the, brush is usually har- vested soon after the flowers have set, the crop can scarcely be classed as a very exhaustive one, particularly if the stalks are cut down immediately after- wards. Where possible, it should follow a leguminous or root crop. Edible Products. PREPARATION OF THE LAND. To obtain the best results, the land must be properly prepared and brought to a fairly fine tilth before sowing. The previous treatment should be such as would destroy weed seeds. The presence of weeds in the early stages seriously interferes with the growth and eculti- vation of the young plants. Deep ploughing is recommended. ‘This not only ensures greater feeding room for the roots, but it also has the effect of increasing the moisture-carrying capa- city of the soil—a fact which must always be remembered, especially in those districts where the rainfall is limited and irregular. The nature of the subsoil must also be considered. Clays should not be brought to the surface, but can be materially improved by subsoilinrg. Ploughing operations should be commenced a couple of months before sowing time. This not only allows the land to sweeten by exposure to the weather, but all vegeta- tive growth turned under is generally well decomposed by the time the second ploughing takes place. In early spring the land should be well fined down by means of the harrow, disc, roller, &e. SOWING AND CULTIVATION. Sowing should not take place until all danger of frost is over and the soil is thoroughly warmed, so that the seed will germinate at once. September, October, and November are usually the best months. If planted too early there is not sufficient heat in the soil to cause the seed to germinate, and it will either rot or the young plants will be so weak that the weeds will very quickly outgrow and smother them. It may be sown about the same time as maize, or two or three weeks later, with advantage. Drills 4 or 5 in. deep are struck out with a plough (a double mould-board one: is preferable) about 3 or 34 ft. apart, and the seed planted along these by hand or machine. The latter is preferable, as it sows more uniformly; and, by using a fertiliser attachment, chemical fertilisers may be applied at the same time. An ordinary maize seed-drill which sows and covers the seed in the one operation, is one of the best for the purpose, Dur- ing hot or dry weather the seed should be sown soon after the drills are cpened and before the soil has had time to dry. When this system is adopted hilling can be dispensed with. It prevents a great deal of evaporation from the soil by exposing a smaller surface. Besides this, the plants, having their roots deep in the soil, have plenty of support, and are not so quickly affected by dry weather. The amount of seed varies from 5 to 8 lb. 120 to the acre. When the plants are6in. high, they should be thinned out to 3 or 4iu. apart for rich soil, and more space > allowed each plart in poor ground. With good, clean, and evenly-graded seed, the sowing may be adjusted so that very little thinning is necessary, thereby saving a tedious and rather expensive - operation. The quality of the brush is affected to a very large extent by the manner in which this thinning is carried ~ out. If too much space is allowed, the plants grow very strong and vigorous, and produce brush which is coarse and unsuitable for market. On the other hand if crowded too much they become very fine and weak. To obtain an even crop, it is essential to have uniform sowing and germination, and later on to thin the plants to a uniform distanee. Some growers preter to sow the seed in “hills” 15 to 20 in. apart in the drills, leaving from six to ten stalks to each. The seed should be covered from 4 tol in. deep, the depth depending upon the character and condition of the soil.. If it is dry, deeper covering is more necessary than would be the ease if the soil were in a good moist condition. Where labour is scarce, several sowings should be made in succession to enable the grower to deal with ‘his crop at regular intervals, and not have the whole area mature at the same time. Rolling the land as the seed is planted ensures a quicker germination and a better stand, particukarly if the soil is a little dry. When drilled, the roller at ° the rear of the machine is quite sufficient. Should heavy rains fall after sowing, and before the seed has germinated, a light harrow should be used as soon as the condition of the soil will admit. When 6 in. high the crop may be harrowed to keep the soil loose and to gradually fill in the drills, and thus destroy any young weeds. Broom millet makes rather slow growth for the first couple of weeks, and the cultivator should be kept going every fortnight or three weeks to keep the surface soil loose and friable, to conserve moisture, and prevent weed growth, and in every instance after rains. For large areas a two-horse spring tine cultivator may be used. When the crop is half grown under favourable conditions cultivation may cease; in any case the surface roots must not be disturbed by eultivating too deeply. In moist and exposed situ- ations the crop may be lightly hilled as — an extra support is necessary. It is during the early stages of growth that the cultivator is of greatest value, as the soil may then be loosened fairly deeply. The most critical period is when the heads are forming, If dry By: weather should set in then, the, brush will be short and stunted. It may be “necessary in some districts to sow early or latein the season so that the crop will not come into flower during such trying conditions. Where irrigation is practised, it is essential to plant in suit- ably graded land and convey the water by means of open drills between the rows. After each application of water, and as soon as the nature of the soil will allow, the soil must be well culti- vated to prevent caking and to conserve moisture. MANURING. 4 On soils that are somewhat poor it is advisable to apply fertilizers. Such erops as cowpeas, field-peas, vetches, and clovers are suitable for green -manuring, and may be ploughed under when they have reached the blooming stage or have been grazed off by stock. - This latter system works well when - mixed farming is carried out and stock of different kinds are kept. Any vegetable matter should be ploughed _ under early to give it ample time to _ desompose before sowing. Farmyard manure, if available, is also a first-rate manure to apply, as it not only supplies the elements required by the plants, but also improves the mechanical con- dition of the soil. Chemical manures are also valuable and are very easily applied. Superphosphate, bone-dust, dried blood and sulphate of potash will be found the most suitable. The quan- tities used for maize or sorghum will do equally well for broom millet. The fol- lowing make a complete fertiliser, and may be applied at the rate of 2 to 23 cwt. _ per acre :— Superphosphate ‘ 80 lb. Dried blood ... waa 64 ,, Bone-dust ‘ Wy. 50 ,, ‘Sulphate of potash 30 ,, 4 The manures should be passed through a sieve to remove lumps and foreign substances that would prevent them _ from passing freely through the drills. They should be thoroughly mixed just before sowing, as if mixed any great length of time before required they are very liable to ‘‘set,” especially if the _ weather is at all damp, and this neces- Sitates breaking up and _ re-screening before use, It is impossible to state _ definitely what quantity of manure is required for each class of soil. Growers would do well to conduct experiments — oOnasmall scale with manure, mixed in -~=varying proportions, and to _ notice which give the best results. Soils. even in one locality, often vary con- siderably in their chemical and phy- 16 21 Hdible Products. } sical characters, and by such tests the farmer may soon determine the most suitable mixture for his land. An excessive dressing of manure tends to produce a strong coarse brush. BENDING THE HEADS OVER, The practice of bending the heads over is not carried out extensively in this State, and as a result a large amount of bent brush is sent to market, which ean be used only as “insides” or “covers.” In many parts of the United States of America this operation is never neglected. When allowed to grow in the natural way, a large percentage of the brush will spread out and bend over on account of the weight of the seed, and thus reduces its marketable value. This is especially the case if there is good rain when the brush is forming. The rapid growth causes the panicles composing the head to become tender and unable to bear the weight of the growing seed. Strong winds, at this particular period, will also cause this, and grain-eating birds, when plentiful, are sometimes responsible for a great deal of damage. This loss may be prevented by bending the head over, and the weight of the seed in maturing will cause the brush to lie close and straight. The turning must be done between the joints or nodes, as if done on the joints the stem will snap and the top die off. The ‘bending checks the flow of sap a little, but the growth in the head is not materially affected. This operation is performed when the seed is beginning to fill out and the brush shows signs of spreading, It should be understood that it is quite possible to grow millet without turning down the heads. Some of the best millet on the market is grown by farmers who do not favour the operation, At the same time there are seasons whena fairly large percentage is com- pletely spoilt, and such losses could have been prevented by the adoption of this system. The stalks are bent about a foot below the base of the head, and, if the plants are very tall, there may be two bends. ‘Fhe heads skould hang clear of the ground, so that they will not be damaged by rubbing or dis- coloured by the splashing of mud in rainy weather. HARVESTING AND CURING. No matter what care has been bestow- ed upon the cultivation of the crop, sound judgment must be exercised at time of harvesting. An excellent crop may be brought successfully as far as Edible Products, this stage, and yet the result may be unprofitable on account of inattention to, or ignorance of, some apparently unimportant detail. The time to harvest and the various other operations re- quired to prepare the millet for market are such as require some experience in order to d> them properly. Even experienced growers are not unanimous on the point of when to harvest the brush, some cutting the heads when in blossom, and others harvesting later so as to obtain better developed seed possessing considerable nutritive value. The time to cut will depend upon the weather and the colour required. Manu- facturers generally prefer a millet having a green tinge. It is then much tougher than when allowed to become nearly ripe. Toobtain this green colour the millet should be cut when the seeds are in what may be called the dough stage. The brush is then fully developed, but the grain is soft. For some classes of goods a golden colour is preferred, in which case the crop is left till the grain is fairly firm. With a little experience itis easy to harvest a large area, and yet maintain a uniform tint. A strong knife (a pruning knife is very suitable) is used to cut the brush, and at least 6 in. of stalk should be lefton. In dwarf varieties the brush should be pulled instead of cut. Select fine weather for this operation. Some growers bend the stalks of drills towards each other diagonally, about 2 or 3 ft. from the ground, forming a sort of platform upon which the cut heads are placed to dry. Others cut the whole of the stalks and lay the millet upon them. DRYING IN THE FIELD. In this State the millet may be pro- perly dried in the field during the greater portion of the summer months. Should thunderstorms occur, the brush must be placed in heaps and covered with tarpaulins, sheets of iron, or other material.. The time required for drying depends upon the season, but still, with fine bright weather, two days should be sufficient. The brush must not be allowed to get wet, as rain or dew soon discolours it. DRYING UNDER COVER. The finest colour is obtained by drying under cover, or away from the direct raysofthe sun. The millet is left a couple of hours in the fieldfor some of the moisture to evaporate before being taken to sheds fitted up withracks one above the other, so that the brush may- be spread out in layers about 3 in. deep. It must be turned regularly at frequent intervals, and when nearly dry may be 122 wires. ‘bushels of seed per acre. from £18 to £40 per ton, the general — ee ayy * [Aveusr, 19 ; placed in thicker layers. This method requires plenty of space and a good deal of attention, and it takes longer to dry. REMOVAL OF THE SEED, The seed is removed by means of a hackler. The machine consists of a roller studded with small iron spikes, mounted ina frame and made to revolve at high ~ speed. A handful of tbe brush is held so that the roller comes in contact with the seeds, which are speedily stripped off. A firm at Morpeth specialise in millet machinery, and supply these in hand, horse, or belt power for about £4 10s. and £5 10s. respectively. For small quantities a handy man can very easily make one, but it is best to purchase one, properly constructed, for treating large amounts. Ll ae GRADING. The grading of millet is most import- ant, and must not be overlooked. While -grading cannot be done so cheaply or expeditiously on the farm as in the factory, still, in the growers’ ‘‘own interest, it is essential that some grading be done.” It should be sorted into at least three classes—‘‘ Inside,” ‘Covers,’ and “ Hurl”; and any which cannot be honestly included in any of these classes should be discarded. Green and Golden also should be kent separate. BALING. a The various grades should be baled separately. For this purpose a press is required. One used for lucerne or other hay can be conveniently adapted for this purpose. Itis important, especially where space is charged for in freight, to reduce the bulk as far as possible. The brush is laid with butt ends outwards and the heads overlapping in the middle. Battens may be placed on top and ~ bottom of the bales, and when pressed the whole is secured by five fairly stout The size varies with individual growers, butabale46in. x 30in. x 24 in., and weighing from 300 to 400 lb. can be recommended. Hach bale should be legibly branded with an indication of the quality. There are several styles ot home-made pressesin use, but one that is coming largely into favour is made on similar lines to a wool-press having wire ropes and a lever. YIELD. The yield ranges from 10 to 15 ewt, of clean marketable brush and 25 to 30 The price of broom millet fluctuates considerably with the season; and while it may vary Es CES ee gt ee ee ee fa gan, ee Te Dee eee en 4 x _. having inferior brush, - for b Aveust, 1911.] average for prime hur) may be set down at £30, cover millet at £25 to £80, and inside millet at £20 per ton. Should the rices, however, be somewhat low when Nanestine takes place, the millet may -be stored forany length of time without deterioration, and disposed of when higher prices are obtainable, On account of the seed not being properly developed, it is best to coun- sume itonthefarm. Its value may be estimated at 4s. per 4-bushel bag. SELECTION OF THE SHED. Special attention must be given to the selection of the seed. That obtained in _ the process of stripping should not be used for sowing, The practice of using such : would speedily lead to deterioration and -the producticn of inferior brush. Good reliable seed can only be obtained by sowing in special areas and allowing the lants to mature their seed naturally. ndividual plants may be allowed to Yipen their seed in an ordinary field, but there is always a dacger of their being hybridised by pollen from plants In any case, seed should be obtained from those which produce the best heads. By proper cultivation and selection the quality and yield of any variety may be improved. Where seed-eating birds are troublesome, it may be necessary to cover the heads with some light material, such as muslin, when the seed is com- mencing to fill out. The ends must be tied loosely round the stalk soas not to Interfere with the free circulation of the sap. After harvesting the heads are thoroughly dried, threshed, cleaned and kept in a place secure from weevils and ‘damp. ~ Where the conditions for saving seed are not suitable it is best to purchase from veliable seedsmen. There are several varieties on the market, but so tar White Italian has given the best results in this State. At the same time, growers are advised to experiment with new varieties from time to time, or introduce fresh strains of those kinds _ they have in constant cultivation, with ‘the view of finding out what particular kind is most suitable to their conditions. By-PRODUCTS. The object of the cultivator should be to produce brush of the best quality ; consequently all other use of the plant must give way tothis. In former years millet was allowed to develop a fair pro- portion of seed, but the diminished value of the brush was not compensated the value of the seed obtained. The finest green brush is usually obtain- 123 Edible Products. ed while the seed is in an immature con- dition, but in the production of good golden-coloured milleta fair proportion of the grain is more or less developed. ‘This contains an amount of nutriment, and can be utilised for the feeding of stock, thus assisting in reducing the ex- penses of the crop. It is, however, generally more or less soft and doughy, and, if intended to be kept for any great length of time, should be thoroughly dried by spreading out in thin layers on tarpaulins. Growers who insist upon ripening their seed will secure brush of * an inferior quality, which brings a low price upon the market, and if exported injures the trade. STALKS AND LEAVES, The plant cannot be recommended as a particularly useful one for feeding pur- poses. While young a certain amount of sugar exists in the sap, but this soon disappears, and by the time the brush is cut the stalks are more or less dry or pithy, and contain a large proportion of fibre matter which is unpalatable. For this reason very little use is made of them beyond turning stock in after the harvest to feed upon the leaves. The refuse should afterwards be cut up with a heavy disc harrow, or cornstalk cutter, and ploughed under for manure. ' PROSPECTS, As the demand for broom millet in the Sydney market is limited, it is not wise to undertake the cultivation of extensive areas, unless the product is properly prepared and suitable for export, For this purpose, prime brush only should be baled ; and, if the necessary details in harvesting and curing have been ob- served, there is no reason why millet should not be exported in a wholesale and profitable manner. Onalmost every farm the implements to plant and culti- vate the crop are found. It will not pay any farmer to obtain the necessary apparatus to treat his brush unless he intends to grow the crop for a number of years. When prepared to do this, and he produces and sends to market millet of the best quality only, it will be found a very remunerative undertaking. In districts where freights are considerable, growers might co-operate and establish smal) factories, where the whole or portion of their brush could be profitably made up into brooms for supplying the local market, ; 124 [Aveusr, tot, TIMBERS. atts TREE PLANTING IN TOWNS.* April 6, 1911.) The tree, standing singly, collected in masses forming woods, or grown as a beautiful avenue, is a fascinating object of study once the attention has been arrested upon it. Ditficultit is to realise that an object of such size, majesty, and strength as a fine old tree represents has sprung from a tiny seed—a_ seed’ which if placed in the palm of the hand may, to the non-expert, prove indistin- guishable from the seed of a small herb or grass of the field. Yet in the one case the tiny seed contains within it the germ which will produce a green monu- ment of 100 to 200 feet or more in height, a living monument which will with- stand the storms and changes of centu- ries, and may witness the downfall and uprise of dynasties and nations. Its seasonal garb does not pass through the kaleidoscopic changes of fashion which man in these later days is heir to. The tree has but the four changes of garment which appear regularly with the changing seasons throughout its life, but this raiment has never failed in its attraction for man. Beautiful as are the tender greens of spring, the deeper, more mature greens of summer, and the brilliant tints of autumn, he who studies trees finds something equ- ally beautiful, even if not more hbeauti- ful, in the stern yrandeur, with its latent promise of strength exhibited in winter. The tree has had a greater influence in the training and civilisation of mankind than is perhaps generally realised, -cer- tainly more than is realised by the man of the city and town. Long centuries ago the greater portion of the land of the globe was covered by vast primeval forests in which man lived a primitive existence, and against which he waged an unequal war. But he was dependent upon the forest for the greater part of his means of subsistence, whilst his house, furniture, cooking utensils such as_ they were, and implements offensive, defen- sive and cultural were all fashioned from the materials of the forest. AS man increased in number and became more civilised, he cleared larger and larger areas of the tree growth, and *Paper read at the Town Planning Exhi- bition in the Royal Academy Buildjngs, Edin- burgh, March 23, by BE. P. Stebbing, Lecturer in Forestry, University of Edinburgh, | now took to living outside, but still in — the neighbourhood of the forest. Still he depended upon the forest for most of the necessaries of life from the mate- rials for constructing his house down to a chief portion of his daily food. It was only with the great increase in number of mankind and with his con- — centration in certain localities, usually the fertile lowlands from which the forests had been cleared, that these sec- tions of the human race began to depend less and Jess on the forest as one of the chief staffs of life. But we see that the instinct of man in the earlier days in the history of the world was to look to the forest as nature’s great storehouse from which he could obtain the necessities of his daily life. ] races of the world at the present day. I wish to make this point, as it explains, I think, the inherent love of trees which lies in the nature of each one of us, though in the city-bred man it may to some extent remain dormant. It explains another point on which I propose to briefly dwell, the instinct of man, if left to himself in a bare tree- less region to plant trees or tree growth, or bushes even, to brighten the monotony of his otherwise dreary surroundings. .» For those of us who have experienced nature in its awesome loneliness in the absence of tree growth of any kind, know full well how appallingly depress- ing it can become. In such localities man, if let to himself, will, I say, start planting trees and wiil take extraordinary trouble to make them grow. Some years ago I was deputed by the Government of India to |. visit Quetta, the beautiful capital of Baluchistan—that rugged province situ- ated in the far north-west of India on the frontier of Afghanistan and Persia. Quetta occupies the central Highland of Baluchistan, and is a_ point of con- siderable military strategic importance. It is situated atabout 5,500 feet, and is’ ~ surrounded by great barren peaks ranging up to 11,700 feet. climbs toit through a dreary rugged waste of rock and sand, with here and — there little villages embosomed in trees and surrounded with small areas of crops. It is a wild country, and the history of Quetta fully illustrates my © point that man in such a country will plant trees for dear life. ist The main station of Quetta was formed after Lord Roberts’s march to Kandahar, ~ At the time the first houses were built, ae ota « It is so with the nomadie - The railway — " mg a Na ag 125 ; save for the fact that the villages around contained some _ poplars and willows and fruit trees, the site consisted ofa barren plain. The planting was first started in 1878 by Mr. Bruce. After the evacuation of Kandahar, the work was taken up mainly by Mr. (now Sir Hugh) Barnes, General Sir Stanley Edwardes, who was in command of the troops, Colonel Gainsford, and Mr. Watson, the forest officer. A Tree Com- mittee was formed and large nurseries established. The trees were obtained from Kandahar, a beginning being made in the winter of 1881-2, when some - 60,000 cuttings or slips of the chenar or ‘plane tree, poplar and willows were brought on camels from Kandahar and planted out along the roadsides and in the gardens. The planes were put on the main road, the Lytton Road. They form a magnificent avenue, now thirty years old, which givesa most grateful shade in sammer considerably lowering the temperature. The growth of the trees was wonderfully rapid, irrigation being then, as now, employed to water them; for allthe water in the country is brought ir channels from the: sources of the springs, its value being fully understood by the inhabitants, who show great ingenuity in constructing these water channels. Other roads were lined with poplars or willows, and if a mistake was made it was in planting the trees too close, and in planting the - avenues on any one road of one species of tree only; and this mistake had to be paid for later on somewhat dearly, to which allusion may be made. The trees _ were attacked by cerambyx beetle pest (4olesthes sarta), the grubs of which fed in the greeninner bark—the grow- ing layer—of the trees, and resulted in numbers of the poplars and willows having to be cut out and burnt. - Not only in Quetta, but also in all the ecantonments throughout Baluchistan, the planting of trees forms one oft the chief recreations of the British com- munity, so greatis the distaste of man- kind, accustomed and used to tree and plant growth toexist withoutit, The whole of the work is carried out by the political and military officers stationed in that portion of the country, few if any of whom had, before reaching the country, any planting knowledge, and many of whom had ccnfessedly pre- ' viously taken but little interest in the growth of trees, Amongst the most _ enthusiastic of the planting community at the time of my visit was General Sir Henry Smith-Dorrien, now commanding at Aldershot, but then commanding the Quetta division, and he attacked and Timbers. wiped out the ‘borer,’ as they called the beetle pest in his cantonmeuts with as much keenness as he planted trees. I have alluded to the fact that the major portion of the land surface of the globe was formerly clothed with vast primeval forests. In the opening phases of his connec- tion with the forest man waged a puny and ineffective war against the relent- less growth of the forest, and had as much as he could do to keep a small clear- ing round his abode, and in many cases this was not attempted. Regions in the tropical world exist at the pre- sent day where this unequal and never- ending strife between man and the luxuriant vegetation of the forest still goes on usually in favour of the forest. With increase of numbers permanent clearings came into being, but the whole of the materials for house-buildings, &c,, came from the forest. At the present day the aborigines of Central India and the Assam and North Burma Hills, as is the case with aborigines in other parts of the world, construct their habitations of wood, grass, and leaves; their house- hold crockery and glass consists of gourds, with lengths cf bamboo for the wine-glasses, whilst a considerable portion of their food consists of edible fruits and roots and leaves and shoots of forest trees, and when they can procure it, meat from the wild animals of the same forest. But man, with increased numbers and civilisation, began a ruthless war against the forest, and is still carrying it on in America, Canada, and elsewhere with the result which now faces us. In Great Britain, once covered with forests, we have no forests at all and few woods of any size, and are at the present moment entirely dependent on our timber, &c., supplies being brought to us from outside. And the sources of this supply are diminishing, and are also being yearly indented on toa greater extent by other countries. But long before the awakening as to the importance of forests commenced in HKurope—a matter of a century of two only—man, the man in the rapidly grow- ing cities and towns had realised the importance of the tree and the place the tree held in his existence. His primitive instincts, laid to rest whilst engaged in ruthlessly exterminating his friend, were aroused into an active repentance when he no longer had that friend at his door, and could no longer watch it garb itself in its’ brilliant seasonal changes of raiment, and no longer had its protection for himself Timbers. and his animals against cold or fierce winds, a hot sun, &c. He then com- menced, after the fashion of man, energetically, but more or less spasmodi- cally, to endeavour to repair the effect of his own destructiveness. To his surprise, however, he found it was by no means so easy to replace the trees on spots from which he had ruthlessly cut them. Nature’s balance had _ been unduly interfered with; the rich store of good soil built up through the ages in her own storehouses of the past had been wastefully dissipated, and whereas she herself never asked the trees to grow on bed-rock, man did. Also, as time went on, the atmosphere, especially in the larger cities and com- mercial centres, became polluted and vitiated with smoke and acids, and man, having no time or wish to study the method by which Nature reclothes the soil when left to herseif after he had passed by, gave up his attempts to maintain trees near or within the areas, rapidly increasing in density of popula- tion in which he worked and lived. We thus arrive at another stage in the history of man and the tree. The city increased in size; the population doubled, trebled, and quadrupled itself ; the single-room tenement, as we were shown by Lord Pentland the uther day, made its appearance and came to stay ; the streets became narrower, the houses higher, and the tree itself disappeared. If we look at the large densely populated capitals of EKurope and the great com- mercial centres of the present day, we find in both that in the parts occupied by the poor classes and workers the signi- ficance of the tree as the close neighbour and companion of man throughout a considerable portion of his existence on the globe has been forgotten or lost to view. But the instinct is there, deep implanted in the heart of each one. Even to the born and bred city child, the descendant of several generations of town-bred men, the craving fora sight of a green field or of a wood comes dimly at times. Probably most of us who are acquainted with great cities have come across instances of such. It was my fortune once to see a youngster from the slums of London taken into a Kentish hop- field. Hecame from one of the worst parts of the great city, and in all his little life had only seen a grimy plane tree and a dark, sooty green grass plot. In the train, so soon as the open country had been reached, he remained speech- less. Once in the hop-gardens he re- covered his voice, and went wild with excitement and delight, It was very 126 yy ee a7 (Avavs' easy to see man’s instinctive love for wild nature and nature’s growth there. _ Equally apparent is it in most of us born and bred in civilised countries when we come face to face for the first time with a tropical forest. Instincts and thoughts to which we fail to give expression surge up within us as we feel that once again we have come into contact with the original homes of our ancestors ; and the feelings, mind you which are aroused by such a contact, which were aroused in that London lad in the hop-garden, are the very ones which it is to the interest of mankind to keep alive and stimulate. Mankind does not seem to improve with his growing habit of congregating in dense masses in cities and towns. He appears, somehow, to lose something of that freshness and breeziness which we associate with the mountain top and find in the dweller on the mountain top. In our more spacious, if less civilised and cultivated days, we lived in closer touch with Nature, and there are those who say that in many ways we were better men for the contact. But the closer life in cities is doing something which, as I think, is even worse for human nature than this. We are losing some of the finer instincts, and cetainly our finer senses of sight and hearing, and even ot - smell. I do not speak from any medical knowledge of the subject, but simply from personal observations made during ~ a number of year’s contact with the folk ot the jungles and mountainous regions of India. They can give us points and a beating in all of the last three; and yet there is no reason to suppose that our ancestors—the ancient Britons, who dressed in blue paint—were not possessed of these finer senses, and were not. the equal in these respects, of the present- day aborigine. Of course, Ido not wish to be under- stood as saying that the town-and city-bred man can hope to remain the equal of the country man in his know- ledge of Nature or in those senses which demand to be constantly used to be kept in high order. But my point is thata good deal more might and should be done to help the dweller in the densely populated portions of the great cities and commercial centres to keep to some extent in touch with Nature. He should be able to see and live with trees, and to see daily, not only on holidays or at the expense of a long walk, which he will not take, trees and areas of green grass and flowers. We who live in the open air and habitually enjoy such sights, and — those who spend several weeks or months | in the year annually in the country, find it difficult to picture the mind of a child ” Saale ys se Sat rage 8 4 loll. ao i te 4 A ; i —~_ ? ‘, ‘\ 6 wn e ha MeN fr _ recreation of the inhabitants. . small trees or yim - "1 aie « who has never seen a field of corn and red poppies rippling under the soft summer wind, or the waving tops of a green forest, or heard the soughing of the breeze in a pine wood; and yet there are probably hundreds and thousands such in these islands. Now it should be quite possible for the rulers of every large city and town to gee that open spaces are provided for the Much has and is being done in this respect, and this exhibition is a witness to all it is hoped to do in the future. Bat lam not eoncerned here with the provision of the open spaces, but with tree planting and the beautifying, not only of the open spaces, a comparatively easy matter, but of the streets and their neighbourhood. When we talk of trees in streets, the - usual idea is, I think, an avenue. Those who have seen the beautiful lime avenue at Trinity College, Oxford, know what a beautiful thing itis. An avenue is a very beautiful thing. But there ‘are many streets far too narrow to take an avenue, and yet it is quite possible that there may be a situation at one or both ends where a tree or a clump of trees can be put; and picture ‘the difference such a clump, changing in colour with the season, will make to the amenity of the street. Or there may be one or more small gardens where bushes and flowering shrubs might be grown, where bright green grass bands or plots may be put, and which if kept in order can be maintained bright and beautiful. Such clumps and bushes and grass bands and plots are, we know the natural conco- mitant of the more well-to do portion of the community. Butso are they often the accompaniments of the better parts - of the city and town. On the continent, for instance, you do not want for beauty in the fine boulevards to be found in Paris or Brussels ; the Unter den Linden is a thing of beauty in spring in Berlin; _ whilst the famous Ring of Vienna is as _. fine a piece of city tree decoration as you could wish to see anywhere. _In these islands we are far behind the Continent so far as the beauty of our streets go. Boulevards as understood on the Continent are entirely absent from most of our big cities. In the exhibition I see on the wall two fine sketches of a new proposed road in Liverpool. These are laid out in the proper spirit, and certainly not one of the least important parts of the town planning is the laying out of spacious tree-bordered roads, or even better, be- cause more picturesque, if space is avail- able, with a double line of trees and a 127 Timbers walk down the centre of the road, like the Unter den Linden in Berlin. Parks and open spaces we have in our great cities, and very beautful many of them . are. In many cases they are, however, situated at considerable distances from the densely congested poorer parts of the town. Here in Edinburgh, a city the natural advantages of the setting of which it would be difficult to beat, I can picture George Street as having a very different appearance with a fine green row of trees down each side. I think the adii- tion of a row on the shop side of Princes Street would add beauty to one of the finest streets in Hurope, whilst, to men- tion others, Hanover Street, Frederick Street, and the other streets running off up the slope would look infinitely more picturesque with trees on either side; and once the trees were up they would break the force and chill of the most persistent prevailing wind I have met! But it is not only in the wealthier part of the city that work of this nature should be carried out. Trees should be planted in lines or clumps, or as single trees in the poorer and more densely populated quarters of the city. It should not. be possible for a_ child to grow up in any quarter ofa city with- out being in daily contact with trees and plant growth. it should be render- ed possible for the town-bred child to know the changes of seasons, not merely by temperature only, but by recogpising the early beginnings of life in the year with the first snowdrop, to be followed by the crocus, and shortly ,after by the budding of the earliest trees. It should be possible for him to know and, if he will, see for himself the trees and other plants flowering and seeding in due season. It may be said that this will be difficult of realisation in. the densely populated poorer quarters of the town. May 1 tell one more small story which I think points a way? Some years ago I was stationed in Darjeeling, in the eastern Himalaya. Darjeeling isa town of considerable size, the summer headquarters of the Govern- ment of Bengal, and possesses one of the great views of the world, the superb snowy giant Kinchin Junga, to see which and Mount Everest beyond all devout tourists to India make a pilgrimage. The town is situated on a ridge and outlying spurs, the houses embosomed in Cryptomerias, oaks. and other hard- woods. Beautiful as is the place in itself, with its incomparable setting of eternal snows, itcameto be recognis- ed that much could be done with the Timbers. object of beautifying the station. Some roads were without trees, the banks and slopes between them overgruwn with a tangled jungle growth; the gardens of the houses left much to be desired in many respects; the roads of the bazaar were dirty, and the offshoot paths overgrown with a matted mass of undergrowth, the home and breeding grounds of pestilential flies and microbes. At the instance of the Lieutenant- Governor, the late Sir John Woodburn, K.C.S.I., as fine and broad-minded ‘a type of the British official as could be found anywhere,a motion was set on foot which had for its object identical aims with those, or some of them, the present Town Planning Exhibition is setting before the public, the beautify- ing of the town so as to render it a better dwelling place for those who had to spend their lives, or a portion of their lives, there. The question, once mooted, was taken up with enthusiasm ; and it must be remembered that, as in Quetta, the population concerned mainly consisted of men who would only pass an uncertain number of years in the station, a transter or final retirement home, ending their connection with it. In Darjeeling astrong Committee was formed, on which the Government, the Municipality, the local bar, merchants, house-owners, and private individuals, British and Indian, alike were repre- sented. : The Government recognised, as was pointed out by the Lord Provost at Lord Pentland’s speech the other day, that it was not to the Municipality (that is, Corporation or Town Council) alone that it should look for the carrying out of the scheme, that the whole responsi- bility did not rest with the Munici- pality alone. Whilst recognising the necessity of the Municipality being the first to move in the matter and prumise its support, it was pointed out that every householder in the town had equally a duty to perform in aiding the scheme, and that no scheme could be complete or effectual unless each house- holder recognised such duty and was prepared to give solid help to furthe1 the ends ip view. Donations and aid were asked for by the Committee from the Government, Municipality and also from the householders, and were forthcoming from each quarter. The Committee then proceeded to lay down in broad general lines its recommendations for giving effect to Sir John Woodburn’s ideas, and these recommendations dealt with the widening of roads, constructing new roads, building up retaining walls to keep up banks and slopes, planting trees 128 ‘and town of this country. vither as avenues or in groups or single ; trees, the pruning of existing trees which required such work, cutting un- sightly undergrowth from banks and slopes and grassing such, cleaning up the gardens of such householders as could not afford to do the work, and in making provision for giving out seed or trees and shrubs where necessary. The broad principles of the work having been laid down, a strong Work- ing Committee was appointed, and the whole of the work done in the station in the year I am dealing with was done by that Working Committee. House- holders who were well off were asked to consult personally the Working Com- mittee as to the details of the improve- ments to be carried out in their own gardens, in sofar as they affected the external appearance of the town, and to carry, out the recommendations made themselves. They were also asked to aid the Working Committee by donating seed and plantsto be planted in the gardens of the poorer classes. This work was done by the staff of the Work- ing Committee, and under the. personal superintendence of the latter. It wasa common sight during that spring, summer, and autumn to see members of the Committee supervising work for a couple of hours before breakfast in the morning, men who would be spending. the rest of the day in their offices engaged in their ordinary daily pursuits. As a result, the improvement in the appearance of the station was astound ing, and fully repaid the time and labour spent on it. : Ihave quoted this example at some length because it shows that the question of the improvement of a town, and more specially the poorer and more squalid parts of a town, is no Utopian scheme. It should be quite possible to institute similar committees in every large city In the case ot the larger ones, such as London, for instance, each local district could have its own local Working Committee once the broad lines of policy had been laid down. ! - Here in Edinburgh a working planting sub-committee of the town planning com- mittee might be formed to look after the __ beautifying of the city so far as such could be advanced by planting work. — For the poorer quarters of the towna | definite scheme of planting, by which I ‘mean not only the planting of trees and shrubs, but also the formation and up- keep of grass and flowers should be laid down and worked up too, as funds allowed, it being a sine qua non that only such work should be takenin hand _ Aveusr, JOU.) as could be looked after and kept up in years to come. To planta row or avenue * of trees, and then leave it to take its chance, usually an extremely poor one, of reaching maturity, is to throw away _-—- good money. Similarly, to plant areas p» of grass and leave them to become refuse ‘ bY and rubbish heaps or mud flats is merely a to add to the squalor and untidiness of a __ neighbourhood. For the dwellings of the wealthier inhabitants, advice would i be offered when demanded or sugges- r. - tions made when it was desired to obtain uniformity of treatment in a particular locality or neighbourhood. or Me ' ' when the planting of a group of trees in _ a garden would afford a_ pleasing Re amenity for a neighbouring poorer committee should be given a free hand ® so far as tree planting and the form- ___ ation of grass plots went. I have men- tioned above how a street, such as ie George Street, for instance, which has a great breadth, could be beautified by an avenue of trees such as_ black Me poplars, or sycamores, or elms. In a other parts of the city horticulturists are of opinion that thorns and the service tree might be used, whilst in sheltered situations I should like to try the plane, lime, and even the horse-chestnut. I should like to go into greater detail on what might be attempt- ed in Edinburgh on this head, but for one thing time will not permit of it, » and for the other I should require to make a closer survey of the city in this respect than I have yet had opportunity to do. There is one other point, -however, in connection with tree planting in towns which applies alike to Kdinburgh and all growing cities and towns. It is concerned not with tree planting but with tree felling. It is difficult to speak too strongly in disapprobation of the indiscriminate and pernicious felling of trees which usually takes place when a new block of houses is to be built or ey a new road laid down. No effort is i locality. In the public streets the sub- . tk = * ~ light a aan i i ae ang" 3 Z % t es z i 129 Plant Sanitation. made to first mark out the foundations or alignment to ascertain whether the trees must come down or can be left to afford a pieasing amenity to the district. Perhaps for the gain of a few shillings ov through ignorance or gross stupidity they are ruthlessly hacked down, a few hours destroying the work of a century, and the stumps remain a lasting source of regret to those inhabiting the district, for they can never hope in their time to replace the trees so mercilessly destroyed. The first rule for a town planning committee to lay down should be that no trees on areas in which building ex- tensions are to take place should be felled or killed without a special per- mission being previously obtained. In conclusion, I could wish to point one moral with no uncertain note, and that is the great effect on the amenity of a district and on its inhabitants which tree growth exerts. A barren country is depressing, and has a like effect on mankind, resulting in the coarsening of human nature, Can one be surprised at the low scale of morality and the absence of the finer instincts of human nature generally associated with coal-mining districts when one remem- bers that alike above and below the surface of the earth the miner finds everything black and lifeless? To merely travel through such a country is depressing. How much more so to liveinit? Andasitis with the Black Country, as itis called, so is it in the narrow street of the slums, where the blue sky is hidden by the smoke of the great city and plant life of all kinds is absent. Give the people better homes to live in—it is a first desideratum—but with the houses give them the companions of their ancestors, the trees, the green grass, and the flowers, for there are species of each which, if properly looked after, will grow even in the murk of the great city. PLANT SANITATION. _ CLERUS FORMICARIUS, IN RELA- TION TO ‘SHOT-HOLE BORER.’ By KE. E. GREEN. It may be remembered that an attempt - was made last year to introduce living beetles of Clerus formicarius, 17 This species is carnivorous (in its larval stages,) feeding upon the larvze of various wood-boring beetles, It had been suggested that it might possibly be of use to us as an enemy of our ‘Shot-hole Borer’ (Xyleborus fornicatus). A small sum was placed at my disposal by the Planters’ Association of .Ceylon Live Stock. for the experiment. I accordingly com- missioned an entomologist friend to go to Scotland to collect and despatch a number off the adult beetles. A large parcel of the insects arrived in due course ; but the beetles had all succumb- ed during the voyage. Theadult insects having failed to survive the long journey, I suggested a second attempt in which the larve instead of the beetles should be submitted to trial. A number of the larve were carefully packed in a tin box with what appeared to bean ample supply of their natural food. This parcel has just reached me. Upon examination of the contents, I find three living and apparently healthy larvee, about three parts grown. The remainder have completely disappeared. I can find no trace of their dead bodies, and I am inclined to believe that they have been devoured by their surviving comrades after the latter had exhaust- ed their proper food. This partial success shows me that it would be possible, wrth proper precautions, to introduce the living larvze; but an examination of these survivors con- 130 \ oe 2h) [AUGUST, 1911. vinces me that they would really be of — little or no use to us. They are much - — too large to be able to live in the galleries of our Xyleborus. Though the younger larve of the Clerus might be small enough to traverse the galleries of the Shot-hole Borer, they would not be able to complete their transform- ations there, and could, consequently, never establish themselves permanently in the tea bushes. : I fear, therefcre, that we must give up all hopes of assistance from Clerus formicarius, and I cannot recommend any further expenditure upon this ex- periment. It may, however, be possible to find an allied but smaller species of Clerid that may be more suited to our purpose. I have been told of another British species (Nemasoma elongatum) which—though ordinarily excessively scarce—occasionally appears in large numbers in restricted localities. lt. preys upon a small beetle that tunnels in wooden palings, and on the rare occasions when it occurs, is said to effectively exterminate the borer upon wlich it preys. oR Se ee eS i Am = LIVE STOCK. SUGGESTIONS FOR CONTROLLING TUBERCULOSIS AMONG FOOD ANIMALS. By J. S. LLOYD, F,R.C.V.S., D.V.S.M., Chief Veterinary Inspector for the City of Sheffield. (From the Veterinary Journal, Vol. 67, No. 488, July, 1911.) It will be useless taking up the time of this meeting in discussing the inter- communicability of: human and bovine tuberculosis, because I think the conclu- sion of the Royal Commission on Tuber- culosis, that the disease in animals and man is one and the same, is now gener- ally accepted. That, I take it, is a suffi- cient reason why tuberculosis in food animals should be controlled, or if pos- sible, eradicated. Remembering that horses and dogs are not generally used as food for human beings in this country, although occasionally affected with tuberculosis, those animals may be at once eliminated from the subject under discussion. Remembering also that the disease is only infrequently seen in sheep, these animals can also be left out of account, and my only remark in counection with them is to ask the questions—Why is a et tuberculosis so uncomnion among sheep?” Is it because of the open-air life they almost invariably lead? Has the sheep a stronger power of resistance to the disease than some other ruminants? I am not aware that the latter matter has been investigated. Leaving out of con- sideration the presence of tubercle in ground game, and birds, as. being of minor importance, we can thus narrow the food animals affected wich the disease and used commonly as human tood, to cattle and swine. ‘ Tuberculosis is well known to be pre- valent in both these classes of animals, but I do not propose to give statistics to prove that such is the case. Granting that it is so, what are the certain results, (1) as affecting the stock-owner, (2) as affecting the consumer of meat and milk from tuberculous animals ? i It has been stated by some that the individual loss to owners of cattle by tuberculosis is not great, but remember- ing the prevalence of the disease, the fact that a certain number die from tubercle, and thata far greater number asa result of infection are unthrifty, there can be no doubt that taken collec- tively, tuberculosis among cattle and ~ swine must cause considerable loss to the owners of snch animals. That the meat of badly infected tuberculous car- a a eS a ro _ has _Aveust, 1911.) cases, and the milk of cows affected with tuberculous udders, are a menace to the health of the consumer probably no one will deny; hence, sufficient reasons why: steps should be taken against tuberculosis among food ani- mals, (1) to lessen the loss of the stock- owners, (2) to safeguard the public health. In dealing with preventive measures we may conveniently consider what has been done so far under the two headings just mentioned. To assist owners of tuberculous stock practically nothing has been done in this country except by individual effort ; whilst as to safeguard- ' ing the public health, certain reeommen- dations have been issued by the Local Government Board, with the intention of assisting inspectors of meat when dealing with the carcases of tuberculous animals, and certain limited legal: powers have been given to local author- ities generally under the Dairies, Cow- sheds, and Milkshops Order of 1899, and to a few of the larger cities in the country under the Tuberculous Milk Clauses, to deal with milk from cows affected with tuberculosis of the udder. It will, however, be obvious, that in thus dealing with tuberculous meat and milk, local authorities are only follow- ing in the wake of the disease and its results, whereas, for any action to be of lasting and efficient benefit, disease should be attacked at its source. The Second Royal Commission on Tuberculosis recommended that steps should be taken not only against tuber- culous meat and milk, but also to eli- minate tuberculosis from amongst tarm animals, but so far nothing has been done in the latter direction, and chiefly, I think, because of the expense such action would necessarily entail. In order to effectually discuss any measures towards the elimination of the disease, it will be well for us to consider how and under what con- ditions the disease is spread, and what well-established facts are now known in connection with methods of infection, which can be taken advantage of in methods of control. It is now well known that the disease, although occasionally congenital, is not hereditary, thus giving us the found- ation fact that young animals are, generally speaking, freefrom the disease. It has also been well established that animals housed in insanitary and tubercle-infected houses, almost invari- ably become victims of the disease. It further ween established that in- fected animals sooner or later dissem- 131 the — Live Stock. inate tubercle bacilli, from one or other of the natural openings of the animals’ bodies; it may be the coughing of in- fective sputa from the throat and lungs, infective feces from the _ intestines, infective urine and discharges from the genitals, or infective milk from diseased udders. Such being the case, can we wonder that houses inhabited by such animals become hotbeds of the disease, and that tubercle free animals brought for housing therein soon become affected ? Taking these facts into consideration it becomes obvious, that in order to eliminate or even to control the disease amongst farm stock we must (1) getrid of all animals suffering from the disease that are dangerously infective to other animals, (2) that houses inhabited by such dangerously diseased animals must be thoroughly disinfected before being again occupied by other susceptible animals, and (8) that young animals must be kept from contact with diseased ones, fed on non-infective food and reared in tubercle-free sanitary buildings or in the open air. The open-air treatment of human con- sumptives has been proved to he of considerable benefit to patients, and its bracing qualities must unquestionably be of at least equal, if not greater, to young animals. In order to carry out the above requirements, it is apparent that two things become necessary ; first, to find out when animals are diseased; and second, to know when diseased animals become dangerously infective. Thanks to tuberculin, the first isa comparatively easy matter; periodical testing being all that is necessary in order to find out the diseased animals. The second is far more difficult. It is practically im- possible to know when diseased animals become dangerously infective, and the only certain and effectual way to prevent infection is by keeping the healthy and diseased animals apart. It of course follows that once an animal is known to have become dangerously infective, the only proper course is to have such an animal isolated, if not immediately destroyed. Such then are the foundation facts to be borne in mind when dis- cussing preventive measures, or when suggesting methods of control. They embody practically the suggestions or recommendations of the Second Royal Commission, and have been put into force as regards testing and segregation by Bang, and as regards destruction of dangerous animals by Ostertag, both with measures of success, Live Stock. A serious attempt to grapple with the disease has been made in America, particularly in the States of Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Massa- chusetts, but in all of these States the work is badly hampered by want of funds. For instance, Wisconsin is estimated to have a cattle population of over three millions, but only 41,000 were tested, either officially or unofficially, during the year 1907-1908, a rate of pro- gress which will take about eighty years to test once all the cattle in the State. Similarly in the case of Pennsylvania with its two millions of cattle and 60,000 tested it will take at that rate thirty- three years to test all the cattle once. It will therefore be granted that to take steps tor eradicating the disease alto- gether, enormous funds would’ be wanted ; even to deal with the danger- ously infective animals a considerable ecest would be involved, a cost which owners of stock cannot stand, and con- sequently must be borne by the State. Bang, hcwever, has shown that suc- cessful individual and voluntary effort to rear a tubercle-free herd can be done cheaply, and providing that great care is taken by the individual stock-owners concerned, great and lasting benefit results. Two methods of controlling the disease thus become apparent; destruction of dangerously infective animals—that is, dangerous to other animals or human beings—to be dealt with by, and at the expense of, the State; voluntary attempts by individual stock-owners to rear up tubercle-tree herds. The first of these methods was practically em- bodied by the Board of Agriculture in the Tuberculosis Order ot 1909, now unhappily withdrawn. All authorities who have given careful consideration to this question of controlling tuber- culosis welcomed the Order, but it met with considerable opposition from the ratepayers, because the cost was to come out of the local rates; and strange to say, city and country ratepayers opposed it for opposite reasons, Country ratepayers opposed because it would apparently benefit the public health of the towns at their expense, whilst city ratepayers welcomed the protection it gave to public health by safeguarding meat and milk supplies, but objected to pay rate-aid for the purpose, because the order made no attempt to assist owners and breeders of stock to raise tubercle-free herds aud thus make a first attempt to reduce the number of tuberculous animals in the country. Apparently both classes of ratepayers had good grounds for their objections, 182 ann ie and whilst it is highly desirable that some efficient if only preliminary stepS should be taken to deal with tuberculosis among animals, it would seem that any new Order made and put. into force should be supplied with State-aid for both compensation and administration, and ought to give material assistance to pioneer owners of stocks who voluntarily attempt to establish tubercle-free herds of cattle and swine. Such action would certainly tend to reduce the amount of tuberculosis among food animals by removing the dangerous infective from all herds and would be a beginning towards obtaining clean herds in different parts of the country, the latter probably becoming centres of education for the benefit of neighbour- ing farmers. Further, the removal and | destruction of the dangerous animals ‘under proper veterinary supervision would in a large measure protect the public from the danger of consuming tuberculous meat and milk. It has been mentioned above that the efforts of Bang and others in building up tubercle-free herds have been more or less successful. Failure has generally arisen through the accidental introduc- tion of tuberculous animals into other- wise free herds ; but knowledge of such a danger should cause greater efforts to be taken to prevent such an occurrence. In this country, no doubt, failures in many instances will be recorded, but persistent and steady effort by both the State and the stock-owner combined must prove advantageous in the end. Tt must not, however, be looked upon as more than a preliminary towards con- trolling the disease. One step has been discussed, and in two countries put into force, that is ‘*stamping out.” In Belgium and Massa- chusetts it has been tried and failed. Taking into consideration the enormous, cost it would involve, and the dislocation of the cattle breeding and milk and meat producing industries that must necessarily tollow, I. do not suppose | that such a course would be seriously considexed in this country for amoment, and it can consequently be summarily dismissed trom further discussion. A second step is one which demands much more serious consideration—I now refer to anti-tuberculous vaccination. I will not describe the technique or results of this method of immunizing young cattle against the attacks of tubercle bacilli. Various veterinarians on the Continent have, however, been working at it since 1884, although it is only much -more recently that serious and to some extent successful attempts have been [Auaust, 1911. e s _ : J -Aveust, 1911.) - made to carry it out ona fairly extensive - seale. Von Behring, Rassignal and Vallee have been working at it, and lately M.S. Arloing (Veterinary Journal, June, 1910) has claimed complete success in from 40 to 50 per cent. out of sixty animals treated. The method of pro-. cedure adopted by the latter observer has been to modify the tubercle-produc- ing properties in both human and bovine - tubercle bacilli by a series of homogene- ous cultures in the depth of 6 per cent. -_ gilycerinated bouillon, andat different “temperatures and _ pressures, These modified cultures have been used for -‘immunization purposes in three ways, subcutaneous, intravenous and digestive. By intravenous injection Arloing obtain- ed 75 per cent. of complete successes, by ingestion 50 per cent., by subcutaneous injection 10 per cent. of complete successes and 73 per cent. of partial - successes, and states that there is no ground for doubt and unrest as regards vaccination, and that he will not hesitate to use vaccines on a large scale. Se gee © ig ey a pe Pc, ae a 2 As a preventive measure, even if only tentative, vaccination appears to me to warrant trial in this country, and as the results, whether successful or unsuccess- ful, would be for the good of the nation, such trials ought to be undertaken by the State. To sum up, the only suggested i measures for controlling tuberculosis in food animals which appear to me to be capable of being put into immediate - action are :—. (1) An order by the Board of Agricul- _ ture compelling compulsory notification, investigation and slaughter of danger- ously infective tuberculous animals— that is animals affected with ‘‘open” _ tuberculosis, with compensation accord- ing to carcase value, and prosecution for failure to notify. x (2) Pecuniary assistance by the State to owners of stock whoare willing to attempt the production of tubercle- free herds, and agree to carry out requirements considered necessary to ‘obtain success, special consideration being given tothe production of tuber- - eulin, free testing, segregation, sanitary e buildings, disinfection, &c. Bae ral Macha a) aha ata a ze i Fe Pe er pe ee Cie Brrr a ates ee eae Meee ae 7 Swe otk < eae iy OF ni (8) Experiments in vaccinating young 4 animals against tubercular infection to _. becarried out by, and at the expense of, the State. _All the above are of course only pre- liminary measures; success or failure will point the way tor further measures in the future. 138 operation, ‘disease in Live Stock. THE PREPARATION OF ANTI- RINDERPEST SERUM BY MEANS OTHER THAN THE INJECTION OF VIRULENT BLOOD. By Masor F.S. H. BALDREY, F.R.C.V.S., D,V.H., I.C-V.D. (From the Veterinary Journal, Vol. 67, No. 43838, July, 1911.) The excessive cost in the production of anti-rinderpest serum on account of the animals necessary for *‘ controls” led to the method of augmenting the amount of virulent material by means of “ peritoneal washings ” or “ peritoneal fluid,” as it is called in Muktesar. Workers in the Manila Laboratories of the Philippine Islands were the first to inaugurate this system. The method has been adopted here, but some of the testings of serum so prepared gave irregular results and led to the follow- ing experiments to definitely decide as to its value. The technique of preparation is com- paratively simple and shortas follows : (For fuller particulars read Ruediger, ieee caltte Journal of Science, Vo). III., 0. 5. Control animals which are to be bled for providing inoculable material are injected into the peritoneal cavity with varying quantities of a 5 per cent. sterile solution of citrate of potash at a temper- ature of about 27°C. This operation is performed one hour before bleeding the animal to death. The injection being made in the flank and the quantity of fluid depending upon the weight of the animal. The weight of hill animals varies from 100-200 lb., and the amounts injected are from 1,000-2,000 c.c. of potash citrate solution. The fluid is collected from the peritoneal cavity immediately after the death of the animal. Hvery precaution is taken to ensure absulute sterility throughout the The amount of fluid recover- ed is about 50 per cent, of what is injected, The theory is that the fluid so ob- tained is as virulent as blood, and experi- ment has shown that a very small quan- tity is capable of reproducing the susceptible bovines. The amount of defibrinated blood obtained from one of the above-mentioned con- trols is 1,200-2,000 ¢c.c., and the amount ‘of peritoneal fluid from 800-1,400 c.c.3 it is therefere seen that the material for hyperimmunizing purposes is increased to more than 50 per cent. without any increased expenditure in animals. Live Stock. The advantage of the method is evi- dent ; it is, however, necessary that the serum produced by hyperimmunization with this fluid should be as potent as possible in order to minimize the amount of the dose necessary for pro- tective purposes, especially as suscep- tible animals such as hill, plateau, the cross-bred Kuropean and. Australian stock require many times the protective dose necessary for ordinary indigenous plains cattle. The following observations were made to test the power of serum produced from the injection of peritoneal fluid as compared with that produced from the inoculation of virulent blood only. Plains animals are much less suscep- tible than hill cattle and produce a serum of less potency. The experiment was therefore divided into two series, viz.: (a) the comparison of plains serum made trom blood injections as against that made from peritoneal fluid injec- tions in these animals; (6) hill serum made from blood inoculations as against hill serum made from peritoneal fluid injections. Charts 1] and2 show the method em- ployed in the serum preparation by means of the inoculation of virulent rinderpest blood into immunized plains and hill cattle. Charts 8 and 4show the method em ployed for the preparation of the serum by peritoneal fluid inoculations in plains and hills. It has been found in this labor- atory that the inoculation of doses of peritoneal fluid cannot be increased to the extent of blood doses. It has apparently a much more toxic effect and deaths have taken place as a result of it within two to three days with all the appearances of acute toxzemia. (Plate I shows the post-mortem appear- ance of the fourth stomach of a bull which died on the third day after incocu- lation.) Moreover, animals do not absorb the material so well, ahd slough- ing of the skin and abcesses are not in- frequent from its use. It has been noticed that an acute inflammation sometimes follows, resulting in a dry gangrenous condition of the skin which eventually peels off as a hard scale, occa- sionally necessitating the destruction of the animal. These results are not apparent unless very large doses, i.e., 3,000-5,000 c.c. are given. With the same quantity of blood no such result is seen. Itis not caused by the material being septic, as frequent 134 examinations have shown that the fluid va is sterile, withthe exception of rinder- pest, Chart 5 shows the result of perito- — neal fluid injection, in which death took place on the seeond day. There were pangrenous areas at the seat of inocu- lation, and the animal presented the toxic post-mortem appearances described above. Many similar results have been obtained, and the post-mortem appear- ances are always identical. It was therefore considered inadvis- able to use more than the dose indi- cated on the charts for the peritoneal inoculations. somewhat less than those of blood, they are as much as can be given to ensure absolute safety in their administration. The post-mortem appearance in Plate 1, showing the acute inflammatory condi- tion, is very characteristic and always seen. Chart 5 shows the course of injection in an animal so inoculated. As death took place on the second day with the toxic post-mortem symptoms above mentioned—rinderpest per se could not have been the reason, and the conclusion is that a toxeemia is the cause of death. Plains animals are much more suscep- tible to this toxic influence than hill cattle. It is known that plains animals are less susceptible to rinderpest than the hill, and this may account for their greater susceptibility to the toxin. The results obtained in the Philippines with peritoneal fluid are much better than ours, and this may be accounted for by the same~reason, 7.é., that all their cattle are apparently as susceptible as our hill animals. In both cases the rapid method of _ making serum is adopted, 7.e., plains animalJs only one byperimmunizing dose, and for hills two hyperimmunizing doses. Serums prepared by the above methods were tested as follows :— The doses are arranged on a plains animals basis, 4.e., So many -€.e, per. 600. lb. of body weight. Lingard has shown that hill animals require eighteen times _ the dose necessary for plains animals,and as these latter are invariably suscep- tible, they were used for the test. | Doses of 2, 4,6 and 8 c.c. per 600 lb. were used to test the serum produced from hill animals, and doses of 6, 8, 10, and 12 c.c. per 600 lb. for serum prepared from plains animals. The doses were so arranged because the serum of plainsis — weaker than hills. In each case the amount of the test dose is multiplied eighteen times, because it is for hill animals and doses given in exact propor- tones to weight in the ratio of 5 ¢.c. per 001b. Although these doses are ~ yy aa Avausr, 1911.] / ) ‘d _ chart of each reaction :— 135 Inve Stock. a The following schedule shows the result in a tabulated form :— ' Hach of the above tests was done in two animals, but I only give one typical Doses of 8 c.e. 10 c.¢. 12 ce. 15 c.e. a serum. reaction. reaction. reaction. reaction. Serum prepared} With V. G. | Both mild | Both very {| Both very | No reaction. by che injection Plains, reaction, mild re- mild re- of V. B. action. action. 8 Serum prepared| With P. F. | One death, | Both severe| One death, | Both mild ; by the injection Plains. one severe reaction. one severe ; reaction. of peritoneal reaction. — uid. Result.—-Virulent blood is a 10 c.e. serum. Peritoneal fluid is a 15 c.c. serum. -~ (a) Therefore serum prepared from plains animals bv the hyperimmunizing with virulent blood is 33°8 per cent. better than that prepared by hyperimmunizing with injections of peritoneal fluid. reaction, 4 Doses of 4 ee. 6 c.c. 8. ¢.¢. 10 ce. 5 serum. reaction. reaction. reaction. reaction, 3 Reseeesateccony 23 Rs Tai bis : Serum prepared| With V. B. | Slight re- Both Both very | Very mild by the injection Hill. action. slight re- slight re- reaction. of V. B. action. action. Serum prepared| With P. F. Death. Both dead. | One death, |! Very mild ' ' by the injection Hill. one severe | reaction. Boas of peritoneal reaction. ‘ fluid. ‘ 5 ——— ~~ - Result.—Virulent blood is a 5 c.c. serum. Ex, Peritoneal fluid is a 10 c.c. serum. injections of peritoneal fiuid. - depreciated 42 per cent. by the addition Although the above results show a depreciation inthe value of the serum, it in no way detracts from the practical utility of the method, in fact, it enorm- ously increases the inoculable material, and I may say that, but forits appli- cation the laboratory would this year have been unable to turn out anything like the quantity of serum it has done on account of the shortage in the supply of hill animals for control purposes. It -_will be seen that the power of serum pro- duced from plains animals by the inoculation of _peritoneal fluid is less _ deteriorated in comparison to the blood - method in similar animals than is the serum frcm hill animals prepared in the same way and compared with the blood method in hill animals. This accentuates the conclusion that the serum of — Yinderpest is an anti-toxic material and not entirely anti-bacterial. It has already been noted thatiplains are much less susceptible than hills, and yet from _-(b) Therefore serum prepared from hill animals by the hyperimmunizing with virulent blood is 50’ per cent. better than that prepared by hyperimmunizing with (c) Serum from plains and hills in equal parts and made by blood injections is of an equal part of serum made by the - method of hyperimmunizing with peritoneal fluid. amaterial which is evidently more toxic than blood they produce a better serum, in ‘comparison, than do the more susceptible hill cattle. Itis generally recognized that the more susceptible an animal is to bacterial influence, the less susceptible it is to the toxin of that bacteria, and vice versa. This appears to me strong evidence in favour of the above conclusion that anti-rinderpest serum is an anti-toxin. Experiments have been commenced on these lines, and the results of the investigation will form the subject- matter of another paper. Conclusions.—That the method of employing peritoneal washings to aug- ment the amount of inoculable virulent material is a good one. (2) It produces anti-rinderpest serum of a high value, but less potent than that produced by blood inoculation. Live Stock. (8) In comparison with serum from blood inoculations it is of greater value in the less susceptible plains arimals than in the highly susceptible hill cattle. (4) That its reaction is produced principally by a toxin which is rapidly formed under the vital influence of the peritoneal cavity. (5) The inoculation of very large doses is not advisable in Indian cattle on account of the danger of death from toxzmia, the inability of the animals to absorb it subcutaneously, and the extreme caustic action it has upon the tissues. (6) The method in the doses above described, and which are small in com- parison to the massive blood injections is valuable in that a good serum is produced. (7) Further experiments in diluting the fluid or mixing with blood may demonstrate improvements on thesystem as at present practised. In the original, numerous charts are included showing the testing of the serum of animals prepared by both methods, and also a beautiful coloured plate showing the post-mortem appear- ances of the mucous membrane of the fourth stomach of a bull dead from the effects of a subcutaneous inoculation of peritoneal fluid. THE SINGLE TESTING SYSTEM OF BREEDING FOR EGG PRODUCTION. By D. &. LAvRIE, Government Poultry Expert and Lecturer. (From the South Australian Department of Agriculture, 1911.) Poultry-breeders have long known that high egg production is a matter of strain, and that. individual hens are heavy layers and others poor layers. It has long been the rule among expe- rienced breeders to carefully select their breeding stock and mate them on modern principles ; thus the well-known South Australian laying strains have been perfected. The high laying power of the original individuals have become fixed as a hereditary characteristic. Breeders at an early date noticed that a strain of heavy-laying fowls could be built up only by breeding from selected layers of marked fecundity. Guesswork gave uncertain and negative results, and it was long ago recognised that some 16 [Avausn, method of measuring a hen’s actual lay- — ing capacity was absolutely necessary. Prap-nests, as they are called, were in- vented and are still in common use. Briefly, they were so constructed that when a hen entered them to lay, in the inviting looking nest provided, she mechanically locked herself in and could not escape until her egg was collected and marked and _ her identification number recorded. The more modern practice in South Australia isto ascer- tain a pullet’s egg production before she is bredfrom. Itis a bad practice to breed from pullets or hens undergoing a test which may prove them to be worth- . less as. breeders. } dantly proven that stock bred from pullets are not equal, in constitution and many other points, to stock bred from second season hens, I speak here of utility breeding for egg production, and am not concerned with the practice of exhibition poultry breeders. The construction of the pens is deseribed later. My reasons for discarding trap- nests are as follows :— 1. Although there are many good trap-nests, I have known of many serious injuries to hens and pullets. 2. Some hens will not enter trap- nests ; others become very excited and the egg production is seriously affected. 3. The trap-nests require constant supervision. It is quite wrong to leave a hen confined for any length of time in the small space provided. From a com- mercial point of view the cost of such attention is too great. 4. Itis impossible to eliminate every source of error where trap-nests are used, and the records, though faithfuliy kept, are not reliable. 5. The poultry-owner who finds it necessary to apply a test to all his hens or pullets does not rank in my esti- mation as a breeder. It may happen that a breeder may yard his selected stock together and then trap-nest them. 6. The cost of trap-nests, either in — cash or in time and labour, is more than _ is generally estimated, and there are) © constant repairs and renewals, of which we hear little. ‘ My reasons for advocating the single — pen system are— d Bs 1. There is no mechanical device to — frighten or injure the fowl. _~ ra 2. Sheis well-housed and has suffi- © cient room for exercise. 3, All possible errors in identification — are eliminated. a Besides, it is abun- ast a - countless classical experiments Aveust, 1911.) ; ) 4. The general character of each fowl can be studied daily and without any trouble. Thisis, of course, a most im- portant consideration. 5. You are in a position tc control her ‘food supply, and, by comparison with others undergoing the test, you accumu- late valuable data. 6. By carefully studying the _ occu- pants of the various pens you will with greater certainty observe divergence from type, tendency toa general type, aud other characteristics. This accu- mulated knowledge, especially if tabu- lated and recorded with pedigree charts and photographs of the individuals tested, becomes an invaluable record. SELECTION. The importarce of systematic selec- tion is gaining general recognition as the basis of the breeder’s art. Itis not, in my. opinion, properly carried out unless on broad lines. The general tendency is for like to produce like, but only when selection has resulted in stock pure for the desired characteristics, The old and accepted theory was that in all eases “ like begot like.” but the great advance in knowledge of breeding, due to the application of Mendel’s law of segregation, has made clear the exact conditions under which alone we can expect like to beget like. One of the most important discoveries of modern times is that of the purity or otherwise of the gametes (male and female germ cells) ; until this was recognised breeders were groping in the dark, and most of their results were more or less acciden- tal. The value of selection, when pro- ceeded with in the light of modern knowledge, is immensely greater than it was. Weknow that our first step in developing any one characteristic is to acquire by selection birds or animals in which that characteristic is pure. When once this is gained a course of rigid selec- tion must give the maximum develop- ment of that particular characteristic. The limits of this article do not permit of detailed explanation of the various laws, nor even a brief account of the which have been made in recent years. When egg production is the end in view our endeavours should tend to concentrate the energies of the pullet or hen on that function. This view of the case will at once indicate the unreasonableness of attempting to develop in one fowl the opposing characteristics of high egg production and maximum flesh deve- lopment. Although a course of rigid selectional breeding will result in the production of strains of great layers, 18 is ’ Tnive Stoch. it must not be thought thata lasting structure can be erected and main- tained upon any but a scientifically sound foundation. Mere selection for one characteristic is generally at the expense of all other characteristics, and the result of such a course would bea fatal lack of balance. Selection has its limits, but that limitis very far above the general average. It is not true that selection results in mediocrity : the method that so results is not worthy of the name of selection. Continued high egg production must be recognised as possible under two main conditions— (1) Through inheritance due to scientific selection with the view of fixing and developing that characteristic. (2) Through physical fitness of the hen or pullet. The processes of metabolism must be normal and capable of legiti- mate development. The inherited capa- city for transforming the energy of surplus food into eggs instead of flesh and waste must be coupled with the physical capacity todoso. Egg develop- ment and the subsequent extrusion are both physical labour ina high degree, further emphasized by the actual shock of almost daily repetition. ‘Theretore it is evident vigour and a robust consti- tution are important characteristics, the inheritance of which must be assured by fixation due to selection. OTHER POoINTs. Although at first sight the modern conceptions of the laws governing in- heritance seem complex, there are a few of such practical importance to the breeder that he may concentrate on these, almost disregarding all other points. Without fully discussing the latter generalisation, it may be remark- ed that the careful breeder will always notice when the accumulations of small deviations in any one minor point amount to a serious difference and will take action in time. To the poultry- breeder may be mertioned some of the so-called minor points when compared with the main one of egg production. I will name some of these, because there is a generally prevalent opinion that nothing is of consequence other than capacity for egg production—a fatal error due to misconception. Type.—Generally speaking this is de- _batable ground, largely caused through misconception or perhaps ignorance. Type has been subject to modifications at various times. To state a case one would not be wise in attempting selec- tion for egg production using as material the English exhibition White Leghorn, which is practically a breed distinct from the original Leghorn as introduced Live Stock. to Kugland forty years ago. Asa general rule deviations from standard type end in other serious modifications. So-called Fancy Points.—Many of these are characteristic of a breed in its purity, and are to a large extent distinguishing factors. Disregard of these may end in a gradual,~sometimes sudden, alteration of a serious nature. The combination of certain external characteristics is pleasing to the eya; modifications often give displeasing results—a mongrel appearance. A strain of fowls may be pure for any one or several characters. Where a breed is pure for any character its inheritance can be calculated, but it is also certain that by selection any character can be either eliminated or fixed, as desired. Broodiness.—For egg production it is of course highly desirable that the material characteristic known as ‘“‘ broodiness” be eliminated. This character is in- herited in a _ definite ratio. In the present state of our knowledge the exact process of the reappearance of this lost characteristic in the non-sitting breeds is not known. It has been sur- mised that broodiness is due to a fer- ment orenzyme. That is probably the case, but the reappearance is due to imperfect demarcation of its “ presence’ or “absence.” There may be another character, intensified perhaps by ner- vous excitement, which holds in check this character which, while really *‘ present” in a very dilute form, is still capable of reappearaace, and would thus account for a supposed mutation, or be accounted a case of atavism. The importance of rigidly discarding from the breeding pen any specimen showing the least signs of ‘* broodiness” cannot be too strongly emphasized. Structural.—Structural deficiencies, in- cluding weakness in the organs of repro- duction, are definitely known to con- form to the general laws of inheritance, and the inclusion of stock of this class can but end in disappointment, It may, appear to the experimenter that the conditions are unduly rigid; so also are the laws of breeding. The work of the modern selector is in eliminating the results of the carelessness and mishaps of the past, and at the same time build- ing up the general capacity of fitness for the prime result of high egg pro- auction. The true meaning of the modern conception of the purity of a character and its mode of inheritance is the fitness of the bird-or animal to maintain that character in its highest form. Thus it is quite conceivable that _a strain of hens may be so deve- loped by selection as to possess the 138 onc potentiality of very high egg production, © and yet through non-elimination of a weakness in the organs of generation (inherited) the birds have but a short life of productivx eness. } PEDIGREE. An accurate knowledge of the pedigree of the subject of selection is most helpful; unless strictly accurate, the value is nil. From ary starting point the process of selection must inelude an accurate history of each subject. Written records are alone of use because, however good the memory of the breeder, errors small or great are likely to occur, and time may be lost. In selecting and mating the breeding penstor the pro- duction of future generations, and ‘for correcting errors, an accurate knowledge of each inmate of the pens is of vital importance. The due maintenance, through successive generations, of any. characteristic depends on mating sexes both of which are pure for that: characteristic. If one is pure and the other impure, the progeny will consist of a few pure and probably three times the number impure; that is to say in other words, if a tested layer> be mated with a male bird whose dam was a poor layer and descended probab,y from a line of poor layers, the pullet progeny will certainly all be poor layers, some of which, if bred ‘‘in the family,” might produce good layers in the second generation. To such an extent does this rule apply that experience teaches that the mating must be “in the line,” and that the introduction of fresh blood, even of equal value as regards laying, will often give results similar to those where the pedigree was poor for laying. FOUNDING A STRAIN. first Year.— With due regard to the ~ general principles enunciated, the breed- ing pen or pens should now be mated, and as large a number of chickens reared as can be properly accommodated without overcrowding. The difficulty in obtaining stock with a satisfactory and reliable pedigree renders it necessary to ~ both ‘‘ line breed” and ‘‘inbreed” so as to have as many matings as possible. In working according to Mendel’s law the proper course is to breed the various generations inter se until segre- gation is definitely assured. This the breeder characterises as ‘‘inbreeding” and ‘‘ undesirable.” There is no more harm likely to result from this method if properly conducted than from any other method; less so, in fact. It is commonly asserted that change ot blood is necessary to maintxin vigour, &e. The” truth is that it is necessary to gloss — [Avaust, 1911, oe Tee / y i ct a a aia ho = hs sy ass (e i“ we et ~ eX rt - i. x SS RR ewe * \ We >. ae ea ae = vate s eos aks = Over, ina happy-so-lucky way, the errors of the past due toa lack of proper con- ception of the importance of thorough selection. Never breed from the un- ‘sound or unfit and your work will progress, but if one parent be unsound no amount of fresh blood will give any definite improvement. Such a course -may enable you to continue a faulty system not worthy of the name of _“ breeding.” Second Year.—Select from the progeny resulting from the first mating as follows, with due regard to type, con- '_ stitution, activity, and main outward ‘factory yield points generally characteristic of layers. Toepuneh all chickens when hatched. Place numbered legbands on each adult retained. Enter number and detail in a book kept specially as a record of the breeding from year to year. Put each pullet in a single testing pen, and take her record tor 12 months. Put the cockerels in spare yerds or pens, as far removed from the hens and pullets as .possible. These cockerels will be wanted for breeding from in the second year. They may run with other hens not used in this scheme. Third Year.—Select for the breeding pens all the pullets which gave a satis- in the single pens. Mate some of these back to the old male bird. 2. Mate the rest with selected males of the same year and breeding. 3. Mate one selected cockerel to one- half of. the original hens. 4. Mate one selected cockerel to the other half of the original hens. You will now have four groups, three of which are continuing the strain by line breeding, and the other group, No. 2 (one or more - pens), will continue the strain accord- lng to Mendel’s law. The Fourth Year.—Continue the line- breeding groups as faras desired, but the Mendel groups (inbred) should have given you at least one line of fowls pure for high egg production. If all your methods have been accurate, this strain will prove of the highest value. It is hardly necesary to point out that it is infinitely preferable to single pen each hen in the breeding season and to let the male bird selected be with each hen for - @ given period. Fertility may be de- _ pended upon, and, in addition, you may discover cases of sexual antipathy from which no good results can be expected, and re-mating must be resorted to. The aitmost precision and accumulation of detail will give you certain results at an early date. Your work once done will be valuable and lastiug, If other- Wise, you will always be at work with indefinite and even negative results, 139 Live Stock, THE SINGLE PEN. Some people who have had no practical experience of the system of single pen testing have expressed the opinion that the health of the birds must suffer, and that their subsequent value as_ breeders must be lessened, if not destroyed. Accumulated experience teaches the opposite, but of course much depends on the construction of the house and yard, forming the pen, and also the method of feeding adopted. In South Australia the mild climate admits of very simple but none the less effect- ive structures. The severe climates of some other countries necessitate modifications in construction. In all mild to warm climates the mate- rials used and the method of construc- tion should offer as little harbour for vermin as possible. For Australia and similar climatic conditions the frame- work of the houses should be of hard- wood free from all cracks, and should be moderately smcoth. The covering material may be of corrugated galvan- ized tinned iron (narrow fluted), or compressed asbestos ( fibro-cement ) sheets. Weather-boarding, and similar material, offer harbour for vermin, and are liable to crack, twist, and warp. The single pens may be fixed or movable. The dimensions of the pens need be not more than 3 ft. by 20 ft. and the roosting and laying house3 ft. square. To have | the yards less than 8 ft. in width is incon- venient for the average person; any additional width adds to the expense of construction. Portable pens allow the ground to be changed daily, and where grass, clover, etc., are abundant, this method is much appreciated by the birds. Fixed pens are more convenient where large numbers of birds are being simultaneously tested. In all cases the pen, portable or fixed, should be num- bered, and the hen therein should also have a legband with a corresponding number. The continuous shed is most suited to this climate, and a permanent structure should be of the following dimensions for testing 20 pullets:—Length, 60 ft.; height in front, 4 ft.; height at back, 3ft. Set out two lines of posts each 38 in, by 2in. and 3 ft. apart inside, posts in each line to be spaced 3 ft. apart from centre to centre; set them about 18 in. in the ground and in perfect line and level at top. Now securely spike a soft wood rail 2in. by 2in. and housed flush into the posts and level with the top of back row of posts. SIDE ELEVATION OF YARD AND HousE. for the hen to enter. This front screen may be held in position in several ways so as to be readily removed, or it may be permanently fixed. The opening lett is 1 ft. 2 in. wide, and as the house is so small is sufficient to enable the eggs to be reached and the house to be kept clean. A shallow nest is hollowed out in the ground and lined with short straw or dry grass; a perch 1 ft. long and resting on a_ peg driven into the ground is all that is required. For a 20-ft. run two additional posts are required, and should stand 6 tt. out of the ground and level with those forming the front of the house; the end post should be strutted. The wire netting covering may be of 2 in. mesh or smaller and 6ft.6in. wide. It must be let into the ground 6 in. andshould be fastened to a galvanized wire, N. 8 gauge, tightly stretched from post to post at the bottom of the trench. This will prevent the hens from scratching holes and pass- ing from one pen to another. Gates 3 ft. wide may be made of soft wood 2 in. by 1 in. bolted together with 4 in. bolts and hung on stout tee hinges; the gate is covered with netting securely fixed. The pens should be rooted with wire netting stretched tightly and laced with binding wire to the netting forming the divisions. The door or gate should be provided witha reliable fastening,or may be padlogked for greater security, The runs may be floored with grass, hay, or short straw to a depth of 6 in. to afford exercise to the hen in scratching for grain, seeds, etc.; this is an important consideration with fixed pens. Portable — pens must be strongly constructed and be placed on level ground; otherwise there is somedanger that the hen will scratch her way out. Keep the hens busily employed scratching all day. In wet climates it may be necessary to cover the runs to keep them dry, but the hens will not remain so healthy. In — cold climates the construction must be modified to suit low temperatures, and the house must be deeper so that a. drop curtain may be used if necessary. There should be near the gate a small movable shelter, under which the food trough and water vessel, grit, and charcoal hopper may stand. In very severe cli- mates (hot or cold) the back and roof may be protected with a layer of several | inches of straw thatching, kept in posi- tion by wire netting of largemesh. This is very effective, and can oe speedily re- newed as required. FEEDING. For Australia and similar climates I recommend the following foods:—W heat bran (or sharps), wheat pollard (also known as middlings), cut greentfood, lucerne (alfalfa) hay chaff, clover hay chaff, animal food (fresh meat or meat | meal) sharp grit, shell grit, small charcoal, and fresh clean water. Grain ip variety according to climate; in Australia, wheat principally. The morn- ing meal is prepared as follows :—One part bran to two parts pollard, varied slightly according to the amount of flour left in the pollard; to this add one-third by bulk of chaffed green- food, lucerne, clover, or lucerne hay chatt which has been steamed for some hours in hot water. The animal food may be givenin the form of soup made either of fresh meat or of meat meal and used to moisten the mash. Three or four times a week animal] food may be given, but excess is a grave mistake. Fowls may eat insect life almost without limit, but animal food in the form of flesh or meat meals has a different effect. To give the quantities of meat scrap advised for some countries would end in speedy disaster in this country. Where oats are milled, finely ground oats will | give good results as soft food or mash ; and in very cold climates a little barley meal or corn (maize) meal may be added, but with caution. At midday a handful of chaffed greenfood (cabbage, kail, silver beet, clover, or lucerne) may be An hour before dark throw a given. handful of grain (good wheat for pre- \ Aueusr, 1911.] 2 eee ME 8 : ference) inthe straw litter; this will ~ occupy the pullet for some time. Always keep grit (both quartz and shell), small ~ eharcoal. and fresh clean water in the pens. The water vessel should be gleaned out daily and refilled as often as required, and should be scalded and _ disinfected once a week. The method of feeding advised is one that will provide all the constituents necessary to fulfil the life functions and give a surplus for egg production. On no account should an attempt be made to force the egg production. You wish to ascertain what the hen will do under suitable con- ditions and on normal feeding, and you also hope to havea sound healthy hen ‘at the termination of your test. Korced pullets wre afterwards valueless as breeders. Avoid patent foods, spices, and other nostrums; they should have '* no place in the practical man’s food- 141 Scientific A griculture. ' house. Endless harm has been caused to _the poultry industry in all countries by the foolish practice of using nostrums, so-called tonics, &c. A carefully bred fowl, if properly housed in a well-vetilat- ed clean house, needs nothing more than a sufficiency of sound, wholesome food and fresh clean water. Give what variety of food you can afford or obtain, but remember egg production depends on the use of food having the necessary constituents, and that what may suit pigs for fattening may not suit laying hens, All mash or soft food should be most thoroughly mixed by hand until of a erumbly consistency. Lazy people recommend shovels, &c., just as the workmen mix concrete; that is the lazy man’s method and is very ineffective. Success in poultry feeding and breeding requires thoroughness in every operation and the avoidance of the lazy man’s so- called “ time-savers.” te - SCIENTIFIG AGRICULTURE. 4 THE CAUSES OF SALINITY IN layer in subsoil prevents free drainage SOILS AND THE METHODS OF RECLAIMING SALINE SOILS. By WwW. H. HARRISON, - Agricultural Chemist. & (From the Madras Agricultural i Calendar, 1911-12.) i In all countries having a high summer a temperature combined with a deficient rainfall, there occur tracts of land which - contain such a high proportion of soluble salts that the growth of veget- ation on them is hindered or even in- _ Under these climatic conditions, the _ texture of soil is an important factor in _ determining the appearance of saline substances init. In loose open soils a _ considerable amount of percolation may occur with a small rainfall and thus remove the harmful salts. On the other hand in close heavy soils, and especially in those having imperfect drainage, little or no percolation occurs, and in __—s consequence the harmful salts are not _~ removed from the soil, but remain in solution in the soil water. During the ‘ dry season this water evaporates from _ the surface, where the saline substances ~~ accumulate as years go on. As these salts accumulate the natural vegetation N becomes less and less, until it is finally _ killed and the soil becomes sterile. _ Again, the presence of an impervious - ' 5 | ie 2, I se vie to the land, andin the manner described produces a tendency for the soil to be- come saline. In fact, under many of the saline tracts in this Presidency such an impervious layer exists. 4 The substances which give rise to this harmful condition are numerous, but usually there are found in the soil the carbonate, sulphate and chloride of soda. These salts are produced by the decomposition of the rock minerals in the soil, and the type of saline soil produced depends upon the _ predo- minance of one or the other. Thus carbonate of soda gives rise to what is termed “black alkali,” a condition which is most harmful to plant life. Sulphate and chloride of soda give rise to ** white alkali,” a condition which although exceedingly detrimental to vegetation is however less so than the black alkali. It does not follow that because a tract of land is saline that thisis due to the decomposition of the minerals in that soil. -In many cases the harmful salts have been transported some distance from other areas, for, in well drained lands the soil solution percolates to a lower level, and the harmful salts are thus removed and finally are incor- porated with the waters of the ocean through the agency of springs, streams and rivers. Occasionally, however, this drainage water finds its way into a tract Scientific Agricutture. of soil from which there is no natural outlet and accumulates there causing that area to become saline. In all saline land in addition to these harmful salts, there are present certain other substances which form the food of plants, and in fact for this reason alkaline lands are generally exceedingly fertile when once the obnoxious salts areremoved from them,and consequently a considerable amount of attention is- being paid to their reclamation in many parts of the world. From the foregoing it is evident that the appearance of salinity is largely due to deficiencies in drainage, and the most successful methods adopted for the reclamation of saline lands are those which aim at improving the drainage of such land. Many methods have been suggested and employed for the allevia- tion of the condition of saline lands, and of these the most successful will be described. A method often employed in previous years consists essentially in covering the saline land with a layer of fertile soil. This is brought about either by flooding the land with muddy water and allowing the latter to drain off, leaving the suspended matter behind, or by carting soil on to the area so as to cover it to a moderate depth. No doubt with a certain expenditure it is possible to obtain crops by this method, but the causes which produced the salinity in the first instance still remain in oper- ation, and sooner or later the harmful salts are concentrated in the new layer . of soil and the crops suffer. As an efficient and permanent cure this method cannot be recommended. A second method consists in dressing the land with large quantities of gypsum (sulphate of lime), and this substance by reacting with the soda salts gives rise to other substances of a less poisonous character and permits crops to he produced. At the same time it affects the texture of the soil so as to improve the drainage. The application of this subs tance has undoubtedly been effective under certain conditions, but it is scarce in India, and therefore would probably prove too expensive for use by the ordinary cultivator. : Probably the most effective way of dealing with these soils is to well under- drain the land and then subject them to heavy irrigation with good water. The cost of underdraining is, however, com- paratively high, and on that account would not commend itself to the ryot. 142 A cheaper variation of this method is to divide the saline area into com- — paratively large sections by means of deep open drains, the earth so excavated — being utilized for the formation of bunds around the sections. Each section is then flooded with water to a moderate depth, and the water then percolates © slowly through the soil to the drains carrying with it the injurions salts, Sometimes once flooding will clear the land so as to enable crops to be grown, but more often it is necessary to repeat the operation several times whenever sufficient water is available. Of course such a method as this is inapplicable wherever water is scarce asin many of the dry lands of this Presidency, but it can be carried out in many of the irrigated areas, and often where an efficient well supply is at hand. ot The ryots of the Kistna Delta reclaim saline land by puddling in large quantities of paddy straw and then flooding with water. The straw in itself assists drainage, and even after decom- position has taken place the humus produced has the same effect. THE ADVANTAGES OF DRAINAGE. By G. R. HILson, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Northern Division. (From the Madras Agricultural Calendar, 1911-12.) Every cultivator knows that if crops are to be grown successfully, one of the. most important points to be considered -is the question of water-supply. The question of drainage is equally portant, “ It may at first seem absurd that, after having incurred expenses either in digging a well or in acquiring the right | to irrigate his lands from a tank or a — im- canal, any one should go to the further © 3 expense of constructing drains, merely © for the purpose of leading the water so obtained, away from the fields again, where it will be of no further use to the crop. advantages drainage which only need to be out to be appreciated. Any one who has observed such crops 4 as cholam, cumbu, korra, ete.. will have — to be gained by good noticed that if during the earlier stages — of growth water is allowed to collect and stand in the lowlying portions of — the fields, the plants in these places are always pale, stunted and unhealthy — looking, and that at the time of harvest There are, however, several — pointed — 4 - “adi a © ee _ August, 1911.) if they yield any grain at all it is only a very small quantity. regard the internal life of the society — { , Aveust, 1911.] last article it is said that the law is to come into force at the same timeas that on the limited liability societies. 153 bei : ‘and therefore are of less interest. .In the - Education. (Summarised from the Bulletin of the Bureau of Hconomic and Social Intelli- gence of the I. I. of A. Year Ti, No. 5, 31st May, 1191, (From the School and Home Gardening Bulletin, No. 31,1910, Bureau of Education.) _ . The objects of teaching gardening in the schools are manifold. It is hoped through the agency of the school garden -_to introduce among the people the _ practice of home gardening. Gardening x is a healthful pursuit ; it makes stronger s and better men and women, and will a _ prove a permanent source of pleasure f 1 > and profit to them; it develops in the pupils a sense of order and neatness, besides teaching appreciation of nature, Re. regard for the property of others, self- zh reliance, respect for labour ; it promotes _ habits of industry; it furnishes useful a - employment as well as amusement to children who would otherwise seek un- _ profitable diversion; it is a means to 7 the pupil of acquiring manual skill and _-~—~—so gaining some knowledge of soils, plants ___— and insects. . Teachers should be required to inspect oat home gardens and report on them. This oa must be recognized. as a part of the ~~ regular school work. Pupils should be - required to plant and cultivate in a _ prescribed manner. Plants may be ‘resetting. Experience has shown that if pupils are given two or three choice varieties of plants they will themselves find enough others to make in all a very good assortment for the home garden. A schooi garden standing alone in a - community, an isolated example of agri- cultural work, is only a beginning of what can be done. School gardening will stimulate and create an interest in the study of higher agriculture, thus paving a way for the solution of the mauy agricultural problems that con- front us. DIVISIONS OF THE WoRK. In every school in the Philippines some - instruction should be given in plant _ culture, and in every school where the _ location will permit there should bea _ well-plauned school garden. _ The character of the work undertaken “must be in some measure dependent upon the character of the soil and the 20 taken by children to their homes for . \ yt EDUCATION. _ OBJECTS OF SCHOOL GARDENING, extent of the site. It may embrace the following branches :— 1. Tse SCHOOL GARDEN. Here two different lines of work may be taken up: First, the making of such gardens as may be introduced in every home; second, the teaching of proper methods of producing staple field pro- ducts of the locality through seed _selec- tion and intensive cultivation. 2. THe HOME GARDEN. Much has already been done in introducing the cultivation of garden vegetables among the people. It is noticeable that markets now abound with vegetables in places where a few years ago they were not obtainable—a result that may be attributed to the emphasis placed upon gardening in the schools. Among the plants which succeed best in the Philippines are eggplant, okra, beans, lettuce, pechay, cabbage, pepper, radish, tomatoes, carrots, beets, ginger, peanuts, garlic, sincamas, ampalaya, native corn, camotes, gabi, and other hardy native vegetables that are grown in the locality of each school garden. Frequently, where ground is limited at school, seed can be germinated in boxes and germinating beds; and young seedlings can be given to the children, who should be required to take them home, to plant them and to care for them, and to make, at certain intervals, reports upon the development of the plant. Certain vegetable products are un- familiar to Filipino households, and have not been so highly prized by them as they should be because the method of cooking the vegetable has not been understood, Where itis possible there should be co-operation between the classes in garedning and the classes in cooking. The bad physical results of an exclusive diet of rice and fish are not noticeable, and one object sought in the establishment of school gardening is an enrichment of food diet. 38. PLANT NURSERIES. Where it is possible to have extended school gardens, useful plant nurseries should be established in which can he Education. grown the best varieties of plants, young trees and shrubs. These can be distributed through the community by means of the’ children, who will be required to care for them when they are taken to their homes, Plants which it is desirable to distribute in this way are maguey, kapok, rain tree, mulberry, sabutan, better varieties of bananas, pineapples, and papayas. The few principles which are to be emphasized in this instruction are the same, no matter what branch of garden- ing is followed. They include a study of soils; use and care of tools; selection and preservation of seed; seed germin- ation; methods of transplanting ; insect enemies and their prevention; import- ance to the plant of tilth, watering, and manuring. 4. FLOWER AND ORNAMENTAL PLANT CULTURE. Even where school grounds are very limited, or where there are no school grounds at all, the work may be begun in bamboo tubes and boxes. Essential principles of plant cultivation can be taught and fondness for such exercise can be developed, although the economic advantages of flower culture are not so apparent as those of vegetable culture. Among the flowers, shrubs, and vines which have been successfully cultivated in the schools ars violets, cannas, four o’clocks, Brazilian creeper, aurora, anti- gonon (cadena de amor,) roses, hibiscus, ixora (santan,) bougainville, allamanda, and jasamine (sampaguita). SELECTING A SITE. In school garden work the first thing to do is to select a suitable piece of ground. The site should be as near the school-house as possible; but area, water and good drainage are of prime importance, and when it is possible to get a better site by going a little farther away; it is best to decide in favour of the distant situation. The land should have a sufficient slope or fall to drain off during heavy rains. The surface of the garden should not contain depres- sions in which water will accumulate or stand. If such depressions exist, they should be filled in before trying to make a garden out of the piece of land. The garden should not be sv high as to make the sinking of wells extremely difficult. Water is a prime necessity to all efforts at gardening, and difficulty in obtaining water forms an almost insurmountable barrier. There should be enough land in each school site for a neat school-house and with 20 meters or more clear land on each side. 154 | Ta THE AMAZON, By H. C. Pearson, Editor of the India-Rubber World, Pa ' . &vo., New York, 1911. a __ This is an account of the anthor’s 4 _ journey to the Amazon rubber country i. 1 ‘ -toattend the Rubber Congress, and is _ a witty and amusing book to read, though the amount of solid information _ to be gathered by any one really interested in rubber is not very great. There are, however, some important paragraphs here and _ there. For example, on p. 49 Dr. Huber’s theory of _ the greater nerve of the Amazon rubber is quoted, andis the same which we overselves have arrived at, thatit is due to the rubber drying under con- tinuous pressure. The author found less adulteration _ than is often supposed to go on: the commonest adulterant is also to be _ found in Ceylon, and is better therefore _ not mentioned. _ By piecing together the paragraphs _ of information that are sandwiched _ between the entertaining personal para- _ the average. Review, graphs, one learns thata great variety of nuts may be used for smoking—not only the two usually quoted. This goes to show that the smoking—as smoking— is not the valuable thing, but that it is the coagulation with the acetic acid formed in the smoke, the keeping anti- septic with the creosote, and the drying under pressure. The season lasts 3-6 months(the river rises from December to May) and tap- ping is daily orevery other day. The yield per tree is doubtful, but the author inclines to think Markham’s estimate of 3-7 lbs. a tree a season about The new railway (Madeira-Mamore) being constructed to avoid the falls on the Madeira will render a good deal of rubber country much more accessible than at present. The rubber country of Bolivia and Peru is also touched upon. The use of special preservatives, and of EKastern Coagulation methods, has not been seriously taken up, thougha few smoking machines, such as the Da Costa have been invented. The book is worth reading, and is in no sense dull, but a very sprightly account of the author’s experiences. 168. MARKET RATES FOR (From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current. London TROPICAL PRODUCTS. 20th June, 1911.) QUALITY. QUOTATIONS. QUALITY. ALOES, Socotrine cwt.| fair to fine + /70S a 75S IN ieee ats (Conta. ) , Zanzibar & Hepatic ,, |Common to good 1 [40s ‘a. 785 6d. J orn eo) Common to good 1s 6d a 2s 2d ARROWKOOT (Natal) lb.|Fair to fine --|8d a 9d eau! Good to finered | «2s 3d. BEES’ WAX, cwt, Penang | Low white to prime red}1s §d a 2s 6d Zanzibar Yellow », |Slightly drossy to fair .../2615s a £617s 6d Mozambique Fairto fine red ball... “Bs td a3s 10d _ Bombay bleached _,, |Fair to good {£7108 a £7 68 Neyassalana Sausage, fair to good’..\4s 6da 3s 9d — 35 unbleached ,, |Dark to good genuine ../e: 15s a £6 796d Mea 2, ex Fair to fine ball “|3s 4d a 3s 8d Madagascar vark to good palish | 10s a £7 adagascar Fr to fine pinky & white|35 a, 882d © OAMPHOR, Japan » |Retined is 6d a 1s 83d Majunga & blk coated ../23 1d a 2s6d Chin 5, |Fair average quality 158 a os Niggers, lowto good . |\sda2sidd ~ CARDAMOMsS, accor Good to fine boid 2s 6d a 8s F New Guinea Ordinary to fine ball ..|9s 6d a 3s 6d we Middling lean og a 2s3d NDIGO, EI. Bengal |Shipping mid to gd violet|3s 2g a 3s ga” Tellicherry —_|Good to tine bold 123 6d a 38 Consuming mid. to gd.\958d a 3s 1d Calicut Brownish is 9d a 2s 3d Ordinary to middling |25 5d a 2s190q Mangalore ,, |Med brown to fair boldlzs 2d. 3s 6d Oudes Middlingto fine” j2s56d 22/8 nom. ~ Ceylov.-Mysore _,, |Small fair to fine plump |is 7d a 3s 3d Mid. to good Kurpah |gs29d agséd Malabar... |Fair to good + lls 8d a 1s 10d 2 - |\Low to ordinary 1s 6d a 2s Seeds, E.I, & Ceylon ,, |Fair to good .. sa 291d Mid. to fine Madras None here Ceylon Long Wild ,, |Shelly to good ed a 1s 6d MACE, Bombay & Penang|/Pale reddish to fine [2s 6d a 25 ga CASTOR OIL, Calcutta ,, |Good 2nds ». 133d ewe per Ib Ordinary to jae net CHILLIES, Zanzibar cwt.|Dull to tine bright ../4Us a 458 Boma wild 2 CINCHONA BARK.—1b.|Crown, Renewed 38d a 7a MYRABOLANES, — cwt|UG and Coconada Ceylon Org. Stem |od a 6d Bombay », |Jubblepore Red Org. Stem {19d a 43d Bhimlies Z Renewed 3d a 54d Relea Rhajpore, &e. Root lida 4d NWTMEGS ngal tp Be vam a “4 INNAMON,Ceylon lets ine ill stds aa 7s . per Tb. 2nds Gost a nae Bid a is ia Singapore & Penang ,, oe 3rds 5d a ls ’S , thal) ade eee ited eed NUTS, ARECA _ ewt. [Ordinary to fair fresh Chips, &c..|Fair to fine bold ida 3d NUX VOMICA, Cochin |Ordinary to good CLOVES, re cuaus lb./Dull to tine bright pkd.|1ida 1s 2d pene wt. Benge ” ” Cale -|Dull to fine pee om, OF ANISEED % Fair” merchantable zi Q ld According to analysis | Bteriane : fir gee Bao pvet aM pet LEMONGRASS * |Good favour & colour COFFEE RE oe », |Dingy to We re Plantation ewt, i 5 s» |Ordinary to fair swee ip aint antatio Meany biog 70s a 113s- CITRONELLE * [Bright w good flavour Liberian »» [Fair to bold 60s a 65s hehe: Ser mee WEED—cewt|} COCOA, Ceylon Plant. ,, |Special Marks 70s a 85s 6d Mady py » [Bair “110s ked to good 63s a 69s ER Agascar >» |Fair =+110s Native Estate » (Ordinary to red 408 2 628 iP EPPER—(Black) lb. Java and Celebes ,, |Small to good red 25s a 778 Alleppy & Tellicherry|Fair +1494 a 5d COLOMBO KOOT » |Middling to good 258 a 30S Ceylon ,, tale fine bold oly «-lagd a 6d. CROTON SEEDS,sift. ewt.|Dull to fair 47s 6d a 55s Singapore Fai see 142d CUBEBS ete stalky to good 165s 2. 1759 Acheen & W: C. Penang Dull to fine ~ lid a bd GING kR, Bengal, rough,, 358 nom, (White) Eingapore » |Fair to fine ie Calicut, oy A,, Sail to fine bold 30s a 85s ee » |Fair BA deel se a 5 an Small and medium 60s a 70s Penang ” [Bair ho Ee ochin Ro a" i gia 145 4 4 he te seamen MeD a deen Moai: RHUBARB, Shenzi 7.JOrdinary togood Unsplit Canton -|Ordinaryto good Japan ” 36s GUM AMMONIACUM ,, |Ord. blocky to fair clean|40s a 67s 6d ANIMI, Zanzibar |Pale and amber, str. srts |£15 a £16 DH little red|£12 a £14 Bean and Pea size ditto|75sa2£1210s | Fair to good red sorts £7 10s a £10 Med. & bold glassy sorts|/£5a £7 Madagascar .,, |Fair to good pete ee ea age 15s os re 24 a £7 10s aRAKIC E.I.& Aden ,, |Ordinary to good pale|25s a 32s 6d Turkey sorts ,, 15s a 60s Ghatti »» [Sorts to fine pale _ .../20s a 42s 6d nom. Kurrachee »» |Reddish to nes pale ...|208 a 380s x Madras »» |Dark to fine 15s a 25s “1 ASSAFQTIDA ss |Clean fr. to BA jalagads £i7a Li - cou). stony to good block|25s a £13s KINO — Fair to tine bright 9d a 1s 2d MYREH, Aden sorts cwt |Middling to good 55s a 60s Somali a 50s a 62s 6d OLIBANUM, drop Good to fine white Middling to fair ” 12s 6d a 278 6d 2Us a, 22s 6d pickings siftings INDIA RUBBER ” a Ib. Crepe ordinary 9 io fine.. 48 9d a 53 Fine Block Ceylon, Straits, Malay Straits, etc. Scrap fair to fine .|38 10d a 4s Assam Plantation s 6d 7, Fair Il to ord, red No. 1)2s 9da 3s Rangoon “A 2s a 2d 9s High Dried.. Fair to fine flat Dark to fair round «.|Fair to fine ~ SAGO, Pearl, large medium small ” vw SEEDLAC ewt, Otdinary ‘to gd. soluble SENNA, Tinnevelly Ib.|Good to fine bold green}4) Fair greenish Commonspeckyand small SHELLS, M. o’PEARL— Egyptian cwt.|Small to bold : “Bombay ,,| 4, ” Nom./455 a, 1508. Mergui ” ” ” w Manilla » |Fair to good 2 Banda », |sorts ---/25s 230s TAMARINDS, Calcutta...|Mid.to fine b’k not stony Ws al2s — per cwt. Madras [Stony and inferior : TOR LOTISESHELL— v Zanzibar, & Bombay lb. |Small to bold --(10s a 333, Pickings e TURMERIC, » Bengal ewt. |Fair 20s ‘Ss Finger fair to rine pold 25s a 27s ” 0. 5, |Bulbs Me 16s 6d Cochin _,, |Finger 419s Bulbs + (14s VANILLOES— lb. ~ ‘ Mauritius ...\ Ists|Gd crystallized 34 a8} ae l4s al Madagascar ... } 2nds|Foxy & reddish 34 a Seychelles -...J 3rds\Lean andinferior ~ VERMILLION .. Fine, pure, bright WAX, Japan, squares |Good white hard — THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE Tropical Agricu turist and Magazine of the G. A. 8. CoMPILED AND EpitEpD By A. M. & J. FERGUSON. No, 2.] AUGUST, 1911. [Vol. IX. MESSRS. LEVER BROS.’ COCONUT VENTURES. MR. WICHERLEY’S STATEMENT REFUTED. In an article reproduced in our July num- ber Mr. Wicherley stated that Messrs. Lover Bros., after sinking thousands of pounds in trying to work the copra trade of the Solo- mon Islands direct with England, decided early in the present year to cut their losses and leave - the Solomon Islands and its copra trade severely alone, This, Mr. Wicherley added, was because the cost of collection was found to be enormous, often amounting to over £50 per ton when copra could be purchased in England at £22 per ton delivered. As a result Messrs. Lever Bros. were now turning to the palmforests of the Belgian Congo in the endeavour to obtain supplies. A very different report has been given us by Mr. Wallace Westland who has visited some of the properties and has frequently met Mr. Fred. Wernham, Messrs. Levers’ Manager in the South Seas. The latest innovation Mr, West- land saw was a tank steamer for transporting the Coconut Oil direct home. The oil is pumped from vats into the steamer’s tanks. On the voyage home it solidifies in the colder northern clime and at the port of destination steam is introduced to the tanks to melt the oil, so that it may be pumped out. Mr. Westland states that hs never saw finer coconuts than on one 7U0-acre estate included in Mr. Wernham’s charge. This was an exceed- ingly fine property with excellent trees, yielding heavy crops. Since then Mr, Wernham has planted up a 2,000-acre block of good flat land and this, too, is doing splendidly, while further developments are still proceeding. This gives an entirely different complexion to Mr, Wicher- ley’s statement: but perhaps he was confusing Messrs. Levers’ coconut ventures with their attempt to grow rubber in the South Sea Islands which was not attended with success. 22 CEYLON’S RAINFALL. ‘A DRY CYCLE OF 11 YEARS.’ Now that intelligence bas come of the fears prevailing in Bombay on account of a deficiency of the monsoon rainfall--and of the dire conse- quences, if it should continue—we are reminded how clearly this year so far has demonstrated that we are still in the ‘“‘dry cycle.” The local rainfall statistics long ago supported the view that Ceylon was liable to cycles of eleven com- paratively “dry years ” succeeded by eleven ‘“wet years.” The late Mr. R. B. Tytler was the first to draw attention to this circumstance, at a time his material dependence lay on his estate in the Doombera Valley, when the ex- perience or absence of a good fall of rain on the coffee bushes, at a critical pointin the season, made a difference of at least £10,000 to him. The matter was fully worked out in columns and carried on in our Ceylon Directory statistics, until the question came under the notice of Sir J. Norman Lockyer, when out in Ceylon and India, during the Eclipse Expedition in 1871, and he connected the variation in the Ceylon rainfall and weather with the sun-spot csole, Be that as it may, it is a fact that while our average annual rainfall for Colombo for 41 years is close on 83 inches (82°91), the fall for the past 8 years has been below the mark, going down in 1909 and 1910 so low as 58°41 and 66°13 inches respectively ; while for the first half of 1911 Oolombo has only got 20°82 inches or little more than half the average for that period, The last year of copious rainfall was 1902 which gave 11870 inches and then the following years recorded as follows :— 8s YEARS OF inches inches inches 1903 =79°39 1906 =71°55 1909 =66'13 1904,,76°62 1907,,70°62 1910 ,,57°30 1905 ,, 65°66 1908 ,, 50°41 1911(%),, 20°82 170 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist It will be noted that only the first year (1903) came near the average. Between the 12 years 1891 and 1902 (inclusive) there were only 4 years be- low the average—three very little below and only one (1892) so low as 60°83; while 8 years gave 119°03, 89°67, 92°23, 101°06, 82°73, 103°11, 83°68 and 118°70 inches respectively. Looking at these figures and the succeeding record of a series of 84 lean years, are we bound to autici- pate two more years—19!2-1913—before the com- paratively dry cycle of eleven years comes to an end? There is some cause for this expectation ; and yet who dare say that we may not, possibly, have ‘tthe unexpected” to happen even during the rest of the present year, with a wet closing of the South-West, and a very rainy North- East Monsoon ? Inthe meantime, we heartily trust that the Simla predictions of immediate farther rains throughout India during the rest of July may be realised, and we hope, a wet August may follow. For India, the risks from a deficient rainfall are serious and momentous to a degree never realised in this favoured, sea- girt, island between the two monsoons. THE INTRODUCTION OF PARA RUB- BER INTO THE MALAY STATES. CREDIT GIVEN WHERE CREDIT IS DUE; AND CORRECTION OF A MisTAKE UNWITTINGLY MADE IN THE LECTURE OF NOVEMBER LAST BEFORE THE Royal COLONIAL InstituTE ON ‘‘CRYLON, THE Mauay STATES AND JAva.” An apology is due to our distinguished and esteemed correspondent Henry N. Ridley, Esq., F.R.S., C.M.G., &c., for the delay in publishing a letter and extracts he was good enough to send us some time back, and which at the time were duly acknowledged, with thanks, and the promise of early attention.—On the other hand, some delay was required to enable a search to be made among the references and authorities upon which certain remarks offered in last Nov- ember’s ‘‘Lecture” about “Ceylon, Malay States and Java” dwelling on the very early days of ‘“*Rubber” in the Malay States. But this was more diflicult than we expected, owing to the misplacing of a box of papers, recently re- covered; and only now have we been able to deal with the matter properly. The fact is that in our preparation, our dependence had to be mainly on the previous Papers by such officers as Mr. (now Sir) Frank Swettenham, Sir Wm. Treacher, Mr. W. E. Maxwell and Mr. (now Sir) Hugh Chifford for the early history and ad- ministrative progress of the Malay States; and better authorities generally could not have been found. But, on the point of the inception and early days of Rubber Cultivation in Perak and other States, there was really more particular and accurate information in a direction not available to the Lecturer at the time. This was the ‘Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and Federated Malay States” and in the issue for January, 1903, we now find Mr, Ridley had given the ‘‘ History of the in- troduction of Para Rubber;into the Malay © Peninsula.” This we had read at the time, but had forgotten seven to eight years later, while ‘‘ Historical Notes on the Rub- ber Industry” in the number of the same periodical for June, 1910, had not reached us. The Magazine, unfortunately, available when we were putting the lecture together. Sir Hugh Low, undoubtedly, de- serves great credit for his special interestin the early rubber plants in Perak; but the Lecturer w2s wrong ininferring, from certain passages which were quoted that he was the first to introduce Hevea plants or to begin the culti- vation, Indeed Sir Hugh Low himself, never mace such aclaim; nor would he do so. The absolutely correct account of the very begin- ning of the I[NpustRyY in RuBBER in Malaja, which has become so important for the FEDE RATED Manay States, is that formally given- by Mr. Ridley in June, 1903, and again (in re- viewing Dr. Willis’s ‘‘Agriculture in the Tro- pics”) in June, 1910; and this has been briefly summarised in the letter of 2nd April last as follows :— Botanic Gardens, Singapore, April 12th, 1911. John Ferguson, Esq., ¢ M.G., &c., Ceylon. Dear Sir,—1t is with some surprise and much regret that I read 1n your lecture to the Royal Colonial’ Institute on “Ceylon, the Malay States and Java,” a reiteration of the myth as to the intro- duction of Para rubber and its cultivation in the Malay Peninsula. It is an eotirely erroneous story which I disproved long ago in the ‘‘ Agri- cultural Bulletin” (a copy of which I send you.) Sir Hugh Low did not intreduce the Para rubber tree at all from Ceylon or elsewhere, The plants were sent to the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, from Kew, and some were planted in Perak by Mr Murton of the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, some in Sir Hugh Low’s garden and others(which Low never saw) in other parts of Perak. But it was not from the descendants of these trees that the Peninsula was planted up to any large extent; but from the trees propagated by Mr Cantley in the Botanic Gardens, in Singapore, whence in reality the whole industry sprung. Of the part played by Sir Frank Swettenham in this [have not fully dilated in my articles on the industry, aud foundation of the cultivation, He did not believe in the value of the culti- vation till he left Singapore anda few days before that reprimanded me for wasting time on cultivating the tree. Previously when at length L had worried the plantersiuto trying this cultivation, a Dyak was told to ascend to the top of one of the old trees of Sir Hugh’sdate and get some rubber. The Dyak did soand came back and said there was none. Soon after, down came over 100 of the finest trees in the Peninsula. Mr.’R. Derry then attacked the rest of the trees and took out a quantity of first class rubber and sold it in London at a good price,and stopped the reaction against rubber which set in immediately the story was published that an official had proved the Para tree valueless. Since the Hevea cultivation has proved a suc- cess all kinds of people have come to the front and calmly annexed the credit in spite of the was not ™ | halal ai eae ig and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—August, 1911, fact that they never did anything at all in the matter ; and it eventually became necessary for me to expose their impostures which I did in the * Agricultural Bulletin.” Still a story once star- ted takes a great deal of time to catch up, especi- ally if it happens tobe quite mythical, You are right about the seeds sent to Ceylon in about 1883. Wesenta lot as our trees fruited first. We were then (1883-1884) distributing to Borneo and other parts of the world. It was to Messrs Murton and Cantley that the F.M.8. owe their estates and not to Sir Hugh Low nor Sir Frank Swettenham. Sir Hugh was indeed a great agriculturist and must rank next to Raffles as all round the greatest man we have had hero, It he had remained hero, agricul- ture would have been a century aahead of its present day status; but much of his work was destroyed after he left. I hope you will some time see your way to cor- recting the ‘‘ Low” myth, which I suspect arose out of jealousy between the ¥.M.S. and the Straits Colony ; but it is difficult to find ont who started it. The whole story from documents, letters, archives and actual knowledge on my part is pub- lished in the Bulletin and is indisputable. I am also publishing a pamphlet on the history of the industry for the Rubber Exhibition, which may help to kill the myth.—Yours sincerely, HENRY N. RIDLEY. To this we append from the “ Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and Federated Malay States” January, 1903: - : THE HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF PARA RUBBER INTO THE MALAY PENINSULA. As there has been a good deal of confusion as to the history of the introduction of the plant into the Hast, the following history may be of some interest. In a letter dated 17th April, 1878, from Sir Wilham Thiselton Dyer, then Secretary to Sir Joseph Hooker at Kew Gardens, he writes: ‘‘On 4th June, 1873, we received from Mr Markham some hundreds of seeds, obtained from Mr Jas. Collins ; of these seeds less than a dozen germinated and six of the plants so ob- tained were taken by Dr King, Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, in the same year to India. The climate of Calcutta did not prove very favourable to the Heveas which require the conditions of growth met with in hot and moist tropical forests. It was therefore decided on consultation with Mr Mark- ham that in the event of more Heveas being raised and sent out from Kew they should be received at the Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, which should then be regarded as the depot for supplying young plants to such parts of indiaas were suited for its growth, On June idth, 1876, we received from Mr. Wickham about 70,000 seeds of which about 4 per cent germinated. On August 9th, we des- patched 1,919 plants raised from these seeds in Wardian Cases in charge of a gardener. Of the whole consignment 90 per cent reached Dr. Thwaites in excellent condition. On August Lith 50 plants were sent to the Botanic Gardens, Sin- Rapore. Owing to the delay in payment of freight these plants all perished. 171 On June llth, 1877, 22 plants were sent to the Botanic Gardens, Singapore. In October of this year Mr. Murton, Superin- tendeut of the Gardens, Singapore, planted him- self 9 Heveas and 1 Castilloa at the back of the resideucy in Kwala Kangsa. Mr. Low reports, “They were brought here in October last by Mr Murton and planted at the back of the residency and are growing very well. They were quite small when they arrived here, but the Castilloa is now(July 26th, 1878), 5 feet high with branches of equal length and the Heveas vary from 4 to 8 feet and are growing vigorously.” Ina subse- quent report dated February 3rd, 1879, Mr. Low writes ‘the Heveas are now 12 to 14 feet high. They take to the country immensely, The Castilloa is a large tree 10 feet high with branches 5 feet long.” At the same time that these were planted some Para, Castilloa and Ceara rubbers were also planted at Durian Sabatang (Teluk Anson), but it appears they were washed away by a flood shortly atter. Ip a later letter from Sir Hugh Low to the Royal Gardens, Kew, dated December 11th, 1896, he writes ‘‘ Aslam writing I should like to mention that the Hevea Braziliensis, which having received from Kew through Singapore, I - planted at Kwala Kangsar in Perak, grew magni- ficently and fruited [ believe two or three years before those of Ceylon. I distributed the seeds to various places in the neighbourhood and they are now to be found in Mr Hills’ Coffee Gar- dens in various parts of the Peninsula and seve- ral placesin Perak. When MrSwettenham was at hcme in the summer I enquired of him as to their condition aud found they were not thought to beof any value as some Dyaks had tapped some of the largesttrees and found that svarcely any juice exuded from them.” This unfortunate statement seems to have deterred Perak plan- ters from paying any attention to Para rubber for some time. Sir Hugh Low obtained some seed from somewhere 1u 1882 and gave it to Mr Wray who planted it at Kwala Kangsar. This may have come from the old trees there, for Sir Hugh Low sent seed (50) from Perak to the Singapore Gardens ; the same year seeds were distributed from the Singapore Gardens, the first recorded being sent to the Bishop of Sarawak. This entirely disposes of the statements by Wray* and others that the first seeds or plants introduced into Perak were introduced by Sir Hugh Low in 1882. In fact almost every plant of Para rubber in the Malay Peninsula was derived from the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, and these directly or indirectly through Ceylon from the Royal Gardens, Kew. In 1877, Marton who had planted the young trees received from Kew asabove mentioned, in the Upper Garden, (removed) to 4 more suitable locality in the new Kconomic Gardens and the trees on the right side of the plate are believed to be these plants. In his report for 1881, Mr. Cantley writes “the tallest Hevea (in the gard- ens) is now 25 ft. tall and.14 inches round the base. These trees commenced to fruit in 1882.” .* Notes on Rubber-growing in Perak (Thai- ping 1897.) 172 Seeds were later received in large quantities from Ceylon, and when the Kwala Kangsa trees began to fruit Sir Hugh Low sent seeds from them back to the Singapore Gardens for distri- “bution. Although the plant grew so well, planters could not be induced to take it up, and owing apparently to a report that it produced no rub- ber, the few people interested in rubber turned their attention to Castilloa and Ceara rubber. But practically with the exception of Mr. T H Hills’ estate, there were no plantations cf Para rubber till Tan Chay Guan commenced to plant in Malacca. In 1897, however, the high price of rubber and the low price of Coffee stimulated the interest of planters and a rush was made for the seeds. At the eame time planters in all parts of the tropics sent for seeds and plants and attempted to grow the plant everywhere with varying suc- cess. In many countries it seems to have proved a failure, the climate being unsuitable, In the Malay Peninsula it appears to have been more successful than in almost any other country both in rapidity of growth and produc- tion of rubber and the only thing to be regretted is that planters did not take up the cultivation ten years ago. Aad finally, from the issue of June, 1910, of the same Magazine, we extract from a Paper en- titled ‘‘ Historical Notes on the Rubber In- dustry,” as follows :— When history is written, even of such a sub- ject as the story of discoveries and invention connected with the rubber industry, it is advis- able that it should be not only complete but accurate, We are led to this observation by reading certain articles in the recent numbers of the “India Rubber Journal” and ‘India Rubber World” and Dr. Willis’ ‘‘Agriculture in the Tropics.’ In these papers the incompleteness and inaccuracy lie in the account of the so- called re-discovery of wound-response, which it was first claimed was av original discovery by Messrs Willis and Parkin, in 1899; but later as a re-discovery of a phenomenon known tothe Amazons seringueiros and some other points. The discovery that the second and later tappings of a rubber tree produce a greater flow of latex than the firstis one that no one can possibly overlook who taps a tree consecutively for a few days running and notes the result. In the ‘‘ India Rubber Journal” of March 21, 1910, an account is given of an article in “Science Progress,” by Mr Parkin, who visited Ceylon in 1899, but unfortunately did not visit Singapore, where he would have found not only a much larger collection of rubber-producing plants, and a much greater number of Pararubber trees of good size, but also that experiments in rubber tapping had been carried on for ten years pre- viously, and that the phenomenon of wound- response had been known for many years. One is glad to see that he mentions the woik done by Dr. Trimen, and the interest he took in the possibilities of profitable cultivation of Hevea Braziliensis ;for Dr, Trimen, has not of late years received the share of credit for his work in this matter and in other agricultural, horticultural and botanical work thet was due fo him, The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist On my first coming out to the Hast in 1888, 1 stopped for a month on the way with Dr. Trimen at Peradeniya, and had an opportunity of seeing the fine Para Rubber trees at Heneratgoda, and talking with Dr. Trimen about their tapping and the possibilities of a future rubber industry. On my arrival at Singapore I found in the Eco- nomic Gardens more than ten times as many Para rubber trees than there were at Henerat- goda, ‘hese had been planted by Mr Cantley, who, like his predecessor Mr Murton, had fore- seen a futurefor rubber. These trees, however, had been much overgrown with secondary growth at which no one will wonder when I say that the vote for keeping up the Economic Gardens, about 120 acres, which were almost entirely overgrown with dense secondary forest, only paid for ten coolies and a mandor. As soon as was practicable the rubber ground was cleared of undesirable trees and shrubs, and I and my assistant commenced to examine into the tap- ping ofthe rubber trees. In these years we had anuual Horticultural Exhibitions in Singapore, the first of which, after my arrival in 1888, was held in 1889. Besides the exhibition of plants and flowers we always showed specimens of new or interesting economic products grown and prepared in the Botanic Gardens, such as tea, coffee, fibres, etc., and always with them were samples of Pararubber from the old trees in the Gardens. Iam not sure if there were any on view in 1839, but there certainly were in 1890, when the Duke and Duchess of Connaught visited the Show. The trees were tapped in the herringbone method and the latex collected in cigarette tins and allowed to coagulate naturally in the tins without the use of acid. The tins were square, aud had a _ hinged lid which could be closed over the cup to pre- vent the falling in of dirt as described in the Bulletin of 1897. These tins were bought by the dozen in the bazaar, and used for a long time. One of these small blocks of rubber is preserved in the museum of the Botanic Gardens, Singa- pore, and though guite black itis firm, clean, sound and good though nearly 20 years of age. A piece of rubber made in a saucer, one of the first ‘* biscuits ” (made 1893) is also sound and good. But most of these samples were distribu- ted to various institutions and to persons inter- ested in it ‘vho sent them to their firms at home, Needless to state we discovered what is now called ‘‘ wound response” shortly after we commenced tapping in 1889, but from some Brazilian seringueiros who visited the Gardens later, I found that it was well-known to them, so did not record it as an important discovery on my part. At that time the preliminary tap- ping before taking thelatex on the second day was called ‘‘ Calling the rubber,” and when samples of rubber were required for any purpose a man was sent to ‘‘ call the rubber” two or three days beforehand. At this date, twenty years since 1 commenced tapping the rubber trees, I cannot remember when i actually discovered the wound- response for myself, Many planters and agriculturists, and Dr, Trimen himself, visited the Gardens in these early days, and the advantages of rubber as a crop was urged on them. They were shown the trees, system of tapping and specimens, and th and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— August, 1911, necessity of ‘' calling the rubber ” before collect- ing in bulk, was explained to them, and they often carried away with them samples of the pre- pared rubber. Many of them came from Ceylon or had intimate relations with Ceylon. All this was going on some years before Mr Willisor Mr Parkin came to the East at all, or had seen a rub- bertree. Mr Wright, in talking of Mr Willis’ discovery of ‘‘wound-response,” (this word in- deed seems to have been invented by Mr Parkin or Dr, Willis, but itdoes not occur in Parkin’s first account of his experiments) says that it is of great practical importance in rubber cultivation, and also of great botani- cal interest. 1 fail to see where the great practical importance comes In, at present; we knew of it all along, and the chief value of its knowledge was that in early days a few ignorant people who attempted to tap a tree one day, and did not find the rush of latex at first that they expected, thought, till they knew of it, their trees were useless. Should we, however, find out the real meaning of it, we might gain some knowledge of the functions and physiology of latex which could not fail to be of value, but at present we are not much wiser today on this subject than we were in 1890. Mr. Parkin’s original paper, publishedin Ceylon Circular June 12-14, 1899, was one of considerable value, although many of the facts were already known to those who had been studying rubber for some years. Unfortunately, in those early days of Singapore, it was almost impossible to get any agricultural research work published in any reasonable time. We had to depend on the services of the Government Printing Press, which was so full of work that papers took any time from six to eighteen months to get printed, and we had, as before remarked, too small a vote tospend a cent on printing from our funds. {Then comes the real story of the first “ Bis- cults’? or ‘‘ Pancakes.”’—J,F.] Biscuits. My, Willis, in his Agriculture in the Tropics, gives so odd an account of Mr. Parkin’s inven- tion of Biscuits that it is worth quoting: ‘*Not only did Mr, Parkin work out the wound-response and thus change what ap- peared to be onlya moderately remunerative industry into a very profitable one, but he also worked out the way of coagulating rub- ber into ‘ biscuits’ the form in which the bulk of-the cultivated Para Rubber has hither- to appeared on the market, (for the sheets of Malaya are simply larger biscuits), Instead of allowing the latex to run down thejtree, and thus ’ become dirty, coagulating into a mass of dingy black rubber in a coconut shell, hoshowed that it could be collected in little tins placed one under the other, cut and then mixed together and coagulated with a certain amount of acetic or other acid.” This discarded system was the one adopted by Dr. Trimen in 1888, and Ceylon had made no further progress till 1899. The coconut shell system was never, I need hardly say, used in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, but the herring- bone system of tapping and the cigarette tins and saucers were adopted in 1889, just ten years pavely, and specimens of the rubber so made ad been freely distributed to many parts of the 178 world, long before Mr. Parkin made his great in- vention, There is absolutely no suggestion as to making biscuits, sheet or any other definite form in his paper at all! The following is Dr. Trimen’s description of his process. The method followed was to smooth the surface by scraping off a little bark toa height easily reached and then to make with a ¢ inch chisel numerous shaped incisions at the foot of the tree ; coconut cups were fastened with clay and the milk conducted to them by little ridges of clay. Most of the milk dried onthe tree in tears, The tapping was done in the afternoon, The real story of the ‘invention ” of biscuits, or ‘‘ pancakes ” of rubber as they were called, is this : When, in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, we began to tap regularly we desired to get a form of rubber which dried more rapidly and kept acleaner, brighter colour and sought about for a more suitable form of vessel to set the rub- ber ip, As no funds were available for anything expensive and any specially made vessel, how- ever simple, was too costly for our experiments, we hit upon the common enamelled iron plates which are extensively sold in Singapore, and being in common use by natives were very cheap. These were found quite satisfactory, and the form that the rubber took in them was that of the well- known biscuit. Biscuits of rubber were made and most of them given away to varioug persons interested in rubber, and very likely found their way even to Ceylon, in about 1897. Sheet was made soon after, at first in a photographer's de- veloping tray of fairly large size, which we hap- pened to find in Singapore. In any case I can- not find anywhere that Mr. Parkin ever made or thought of a single biscuit. Ho gives in his paper no suggestion as to this whatever, beyond sayino that commercial rubber can be freed from moisture and putrefaction by drying it in thin sheets. w[r. Curtis writes in his annual report for 1898, about rubber taken from the Penang trees: ‘*A sample was submitted to Messrs. Hecht, Lewis and Kahn, for valuation, who reported it as beautiful rubber, very well cured, worth to- day 3/3 per lb.” This was tapped and collected in tins which he describes nearly two years be- fore Mr. Parkin discovered the method of mak- ing it in this manner, and it was by no means the first sample sent home to the rubber dealers from the Straits. Rubber grown by Mr. Tan Chay Yan, the first practical rubber planter in the Colony, was ex- hibited at the Malacca Showin 1898. This was the first Para rubber shown for competition from the Straits, It was grown in Malacca at Bukit Lintang. In Mr, Derry’s report of Government Planta- tions in Perak, 1897, he says:—‘‘ Many trees have been tapped and a report on the work submitted. The rubber obtained is not yet sufficiently smoked for sending home, but samples have been valued in Mincing Lane at 2/8 and 3/- a pound and considered equal to the best Brazilian pro- duced rubber and also worth 1/- a pound more than that usually sent home from the Straits. He gives also a number of figures of returns from trees of various ages.”” He sent home in 1899 the first large parcel of Pararubber from the Malay Peninsula; it realised £61 1 6, 174 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist Willis’ ‘‘ Agriculture in the Tropics,” which we do not intend to review here, oly gives an ac- count of Tropical Agriculture as seen in Ceylon. Economic plants not cultivated or of importance there are scrappily and often inaccurately de- scribed (e.g. Sago Ipecacnanha.) It is apparently not intended for a general work on Agriculture in the tropical regions, and this is doubtless the reason why the work with Para rubber done in the Straits Settlements is entirely ignored, Un- fortunately it is clear from the journals which quote from it that the readers are under the im- pression that the account of the development of the rubber industry in Ceylou, as given by Mr. Willis, gives the whole history of the rise of the industry in the Hast, which is far from being the case, Practically nothing was done in Ceylon to push the industry or to experiment with the Para rubber trees from 1888 to 1897.2 Even the stock of trees at the Gardens seems to have been hardly increased. Meanwhile, at Singapore, as far as was possible, everything had been got ready for the development of the future industry. A large number, about 1,400 trees, had been planted to supply the stock of seed, a good many dispersed to various parts of the Peninsula, to District Officers and planters. Experiments in tapping in various forms had been made, wound- response had been re-discovered, block and bis- cuit rubber had been made, specimens exhibited at exhibitions, distributed to various persons and institutions interested in planting, and sent to rubber dealers who had valued it at the top price of the market (1896), while a number of experiments in growth and flow of latex had been tried. There is stillin the Botanic Gardens museum a biscuit dated 1890. It was coagulated without acid and is now quite hard and stiff, shough still light in colour, a pale yellowish white. Those specimens dated 1893 and 1894 are black and are now showing signs of deteriora- tion, but still fairly sound and elastic. It will thus be seen that as a matter of history the Botanic Gardens of Singapore were just about ten years ahead of Ceylon when Mr. Parkin first conceived the plan of making res- pectable looking rubber instead of the messy stuff only known there till 1899, There is nothing whatever to show however that good saleable samples of rubber were made in Ceylon as early as 1899, either published or in the cor- respondence with Ceylon Botanic Gardens in our office. Though Mr. Parkin was unable to visit the Singapore Gardens, he obtained a good deal of information as to our work by correspondence, *So far back as 1883, Dr. Trimen was anxious to see planters experiment with rub- ber and to us, personally, he urged the publi- cation of a ‘* Rubber Planter’s Manual’ at the Observer Press and gave help to tho little book then issued ;—later editions followed in 1888, 1890, 1900; and in some of his Annual Re- ports Dr. Trimen advocated the cultivation. By March 1898, 750 acres were planted in Ceylon by planters, and by May 1901, there were 2,500 and by middle of 19U4 as much as 11,000 acres. The Export from Ceylon rose from 2,792 lb, in 1898 to 41,798 lb, in 1908,—J, F. as he sent a long list of questions in 1899, on the subject and asked me to perform certain experiments for him. Mr. Willis writes in answer, April 15, 1899:—‘‘ Mr. Parkin was so busy finishing off his experiments, that he had no time to answer your kind letter about rubber in Singapore before leaving for England and he asked metodo so. We are very much obliged for the information.......... Your trees yield much better than ours, though poorly com- pared with those at Para, and Iam inclined to think that Para rubber planting will never bea big or lasting industry in the Hast.” It must be remembered that rubber was at that date very low in price and that we were all tapping the trees very lightly and with much caution not being sure that the plant would stand the amount of cutting it gets nowadays. Since writing the above, a copy of the ‘‘Tropi- cal Agriculturist” has cometo hand giving Mr Parkin’s paper in ‘‘Science Progress” in full. He modestly does not mention himself by name as the discoverer of wound-response and the art of making clean rubber, but gives the credit of the “discovery” to Mr Willis and his scientific assis- tant. As in Mr Willis’ various works on the history of Para rubber industry no allusion is made at all to the work of the Singa- pore Botanic Gardens. In Willis’ ‘‘ Agriculture in the Tropics” the only allusion to the work done in Singapore is: * But httle interest was taken in the trees for about 20 years (2.e. from about 1884) except by the heads of the Bota- nical departments in Ceylon, Java and Singa- pore.” Now all that was done between 1888 and 1896 in Ceylon was to tap a single tree once a year. In Java nothing at all appears to have been done as the trees in Buitenzorg were too small and wretched to offer any prospect of their being ever likely to be worth cultivating. About 1894 Dr. Treub and Mr. Wigman, of the Botanic Gardens, Buitenzorg, came to visit the Singapore Gardens, and wished to see the rub- ber trees. On the first sight of the younger ones Dr. Treub turned to Mr, Wigman and said, ‘ Wigman, did you ever seo such trees P” ‘“‘No,” said Wigman, ‘‘ nothing like them.’ (I was surprised but found that the Buitenzorg trees were, though as old, quite small and not at all encouraging in appearance. Dr, Treub took the greatest interest in all economic plants, but evidently up to that date had not thought of Para rubber as beinga suitable cultivation for Java,* and as far as I can gather no -experi- ments or records of observations were made in Java till after 1899. Mr. Willis does not even mention Dr. Triimen’s work, which deserves credit as he was the first, 1 believe, to tap the rubber tree in the East, and to record his results. Meanwhile, the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, was at work from 1889, and was laying the foundation. of the industry and indeed had sub- mitted saleable rubber of first class quality to experts, and had proved that the industry would pay well before Mr. Willis had ever seen a rub- ber tree. Surely in an account of the rise of the industry purporting to be a history of the Agri- persona! remarks when we visited Buitenzorg in September, 1908,—Jd.F, * That was also the effect on our mind by his, > _— and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—August, 1911. 175 culture of the World, this work should not havo been entirely ignored. It was known to most of the planters of the Hast Indies and to many, I am sure, in Ceylon. It would be too long to detail all the dis- coveries and inventions made in the Straits Settlements and F,M.S. connected with the in- dustry. They include most of the systems of tap- ping (except the spiral, which proved a failure); the crepe machines, the forms of rubber kuowa as biscuit, block, crepe and sheet, the wound- response, actual returns of the tree, best method ol packing seeds, and the pests, Fomes, Diplodia Hymenochocte, Termes Gestroi, etc., and methods of dealing with them. ‘To Ceylon we must cre- dit the worm-machine (invented after the crepe machine), spiral tapping, the pricker and Biffen’s centrifugalizer and the Northway knife. Honour to whom honour is due, the Botanic Gardens of Ceylon have produced valuable papers by Tri- men, Bamber, Petch, Green andothers and Parkin’s paper though anticipated was a use- ful piece of work, Tho following extracts from correspondence from Sir William Taiselton Dyer will show to a small extent how far Singapore had progressed in rubber research before Mr Parkin wrote his paper in 1899. Sir William Thiselton Dyer writes in answer to the Director of Gardensin December 1, 1896. —‘'ITam glad Para rubber is going ahead, I “always said the Straits would be the place for it.” June 19, 1897.—** There is a tremendous boom in India-rubber planting. Most of the schemes are simply insane. Your result from a nine year old tree is very good.” December 28, 1898.—‘t Para rubber seems at last fairly established in the Native States, Derry’s report is very promising. ‘ Beautifully prepared’ is only a broker’s term. It means that the rubber is clean and iree from excessive moisture. I can’t imagine why your Para rub- ber is only quoted at 3/3. Ican only suppose it is because it was not smoked.” The reader is also referred to the June num- ber of the Bulletin, 1899 ; but probably by the time he. has read this account he has had had enough evidence laid before him that the art of making saleable rubber by tapping into tins and preparing the resulting latex in a clean and pure form of Para rubber had been inven- ted in the Singapore Gardens some years before Ceylon had got beyond the mud and ccconut- shell stage and that the discovery by Mr. Parkin in 1899 of the method of making clean rubber was anticipated by nearly ten years, ani was perfectly well-known as was wound-responsy, to hundreds of people in the Straits Settlements and other parts of the Hast long before Mr. Willisor Mr. Parkin ever came to the Kast atall. As previously remarked history, if worth wri- ting at all, is worth writing accurately and com- pletely, and the stories of the origin of the in- dustry asgiven by Messrs. Willisand Parkin are inaccurate and misleading. While on the subject of the history of the rise of the rubber industry in the Mast, it may be as well to print here some letters dealing with the subject in its very early inception, as we think they will be found of considerable interest ; Royal Gardens, Kew, 17th April, 1878. Sir,—I am desired by Sir Joseph Hooker to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th April, transmitting an extract from a letter from the Government of India, and requesting the transmission to Ceylon of certain stocks of Hevea and Castilloas. In replying to this letter, Sir Joseph Hooker thinks it will be convenient that 1 should review the whole operations of this establishment in effectiug the introduction of [ndia-rubber plants into India, 1. Hevea brasiliensis—Para Rubber. On 4th June, 1873, we received from Mr Markham some hundreds of seeds obtained from Mr Jas Collins. Of these seods less than a dozen germinated and six (6) of the plants so obtained were taken out by Dr King, Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, in the same year to India. The climate of Calcutta did not prove very favour- able to the Heveas which require the condi- tious of growth met with in hot and moist tropi- cal forests. It was, therefore, decided in consul- tation with Mr Markham that in the event of more Heveas being raised and sent out from Kew, they should be received at the Botanic Gardens in Ceylon, which should then be re- garded as the depot for supplying young plants to such parts of India as were found to be suita- ble for its growth. On June 14th 1876, we received from Mr Wick- ham about 70,000 (seventy-thousand) seeds, of which about 4 per cent germinated. On August 9th, we despatched 1,919 plants raised from these seeds to Ceylon in 38 Wardian cases, in charge of a gardener. Of the whole consignment 90 per cent. reached Dr. Thwaites in excellent condition. All subsequent accounts have been satisfactory, and no difficulty is found in multiplying the plants by propagation to any extent. On August Lith, 59 plants were sent to the Botanic Gardens at Singapore, Owing to the delay in the payment of the freight these plants all perished. f On August 23rd, 50 plants were sent direct to Major Seaton in Barmah. These reached their destination in bad condition. On September 29th, a further supply of 100 plants was taken out to Dr. Thwaites, in charge of Dr. Duthie, Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens, Sabarunpore. These,reached Ceylon in good order. On June Lith, 1877, 22 plants were sent to the Botanic Gardens, Singapore. The Superin- tendent reports that the climate appears suited to their growth. On September 7th, 37 plants were sent to the Botanic Gardens in Mauritius, and reached the destination in good order. On September L5th, 100 plants were again sent to Dr. Thwaites and 50'to Calcutta, in charge of Mr. Morris, Dr. Thwaites’ assistant. Both con- signments reached their destination safely. Of those sent to Calcutta a portion was immedi- ately despatched by Dr. King to Major Seaton, with whom they are now doing well. [t appears, therefore, that while upwards of 2,000 plants are safely established in Ceylon, smaller parcels are also growing in Burmah, Calcutta, Mauritius 176 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist Rubber Growing on Waste Land. Land which is not fit for growing Hevea rubber trees or Coffee, Cocoa, Tea, etc., can be made to yield good profits by cultivating the new varieties :— Manihot Dichotoma Ule for Clay Soil Manihot Piauiensis Ule for Sandy Soil Both of these varieties also grow well in dry regions with very good results. For trial orders we send 10 lbs. (about 3,700 seeds) by parcel post, includ- ing postage, on receipt of £3. Always state full postal address. Bags of 135 lbs. at the rate of 3/6. per lb. delivered in Hamburg. Orders may be booked through your European Agents or sent direct to us. Detailed information on application. Gevekoht & Wedekind Telegraphio-Address : ‘“‘Gevekind Hamburg.” 2 A. B. C. Code 6th Edition. 3B Hamburg 1. and Singapore. The plant is now therefore to be regarded as definitely established in the East Indies, and with ordinary horticultural skil!, in tne course of a few years, in raising an indefi- nite number of young plants. : Beyond keeping a small stock for occasional distribution it does not appear that this estab- lishment is called upon to take any further steps for the propagation and distribution of this plant to India. L should add that on November 21st, 1876, Mr Cross reached Kew with about 1,000 young plants brought direct from South America. Only about three percent. of these plants survived, and they, therefore, contributed but little to our resources for distribution. 2. Castilloa elastica—Rubber of Central Ame- rica. Sir Joseph Hooker has already stated, in a letter to the lndia Office, dated April 1st last, what has been done with respect to this kind. I quote the following passage: ‘‘The cuttings brought home by Mr Cross were received on October 3rd, 1875 (The 7,000 seeds received pre- viously failed to germinate). Steps were imme- diately taken to establish and propagate them, and on August 9th, 1876, 32 healthy plants were forwarded to Dr. Thwaites, 28 of which he sub- sequently reported were well established in Ceylon and doing well.” : On September 15th, 1877, a further consign- ment of 24 plants, was transmitted to Dr. Thwaites in charge of Mr Morris, A few plants have also been sent to Mauritius and Singapore. The propagation of this species will for the pre- sent be continued at Kew, and during the en- suing summer a further small consignment will be sent to Ceylon. Cuttings do not strike so readily as those of the Hevea, and the multipli- cation of plants is therefore necessarily elower. 3. Manihot Glaziovii—Ceara rubber. Mr Cross brought to Kew, on November 21st, 1876, seeds and cutting of this plant from whicha stock of 55 individuals was eventually obtained. On June 11th of last year, four plants were sent to Singapore and on September 15th, at which date our stock had increased to 300 plants of all sizes, 50 were sent to Dr. King at Calcutta, and 50 to Dr. Thwaites in Ceylon, both in charge of Mr Morris. All the stems collected by Mr. Cross were divided between these two recipients. At the end of the year our stock amounted to about 450 plants. There willbe no difficulty therefore in sending a supply of plants of this species to the Conser- vator of Forests in Madras in accordance with the wish of the Government of India. 1t will, however, probably be most convenient to treat Calcutta as the cepét for the Ceara rubber plants, as Ceylon must be for Heveas and Cas- tilloas, With respect to plants of the Copaiba Balsam, nothing can be done. From the five (5) seeds brought to Kew by Mr. Cross, November 21st, Do not drink ordinary milk which has been proved to contain fever germs in immense quantities, and almost every case has been traced to this source. Buy mo” aes fi (GREEN | FRESH, FULL CREAM, PURE, STERILIZED. AS USED ON THE KING'S YACHT. Sold in Pine Tins and small Traveilers’ Tins. Of all Retailers. Wholesale; Miller & Co., Colombo. _ FUSSELL & CO., Lid., 4, Monument Strect, London, England. : NINE GOLD MEDALS 1876, only two plants have been raised, and these gvew with oxcessive slowness. Nothing can there- fore be done at present in propagating them. Recapitulating, | have therefore to state that Sir Joseph Hooker is of opinion :— (1) That it is unnecessary to transmit any more Hevea plants to India, and that applica- tion should be made for them to OCvsylon when required for experimental cultivation. (2) That as the stock of Castilioas at Kew in- creases, turther consignments should continue for the present to be rnade to Ceylon. (3) That plants of the Ceara rubber may with advantage be forwarded to Madras, but that the priucipal stock of young plants should be sent to Caleutta from which they ean be distributed. (4) That for the present nothing can be done, as far as Kew is concerned, with the balsam of Copaiba.- Ll have, etc, (Sd.) W. T. Tarsetton Dyrr, The Under Secretary of State for India. Note—l. Mr James Collins, really the first man to bring the plaut from the Amazons to Europe, was afterwards Goverument Economic Botanist atsingapore, He only remained about « year, and retired. He was the author ofa report, apparently the first real account, of the rubber iudustry in South America (Report on the caoutchouc of commerce by James Collins 1872). ; 28 Ho described and figured the herringbone system of tapping, and invented several forms of tapping knives, among which is the well- known ‘‘Farrier’s knife” which was also sug- gested by Mr Mann, and was used for marking timber in Hanover at that time. He suggested the use of iron vessels for catching the latex in place of the folded leaves plastered to the trunk with clay or calabashes. Clay, he says, con- taminates the milk in a very objectionable manner. Yet this system was the only one in Ceylon till 1899, with a coconut shell substitute for the calabash. 2. Plants were sent to Burma, Mauritius and Calcutta, besides Ceylon and Singapore. The plant has always failed in Calcutta, but neither Mauritius nor Burma seems to have taken any trouble to continue its cultivation. la fact, though later the plant was sent to all the other tropical gardens of the Empire, Ceylon and Singapore alove saw the importance of continuing to propagate it so that, thanks to Thwaites and Trimen, Murton and Cantley, there was a sufficient stock of plants and seeds to start the industry when the demand for cultivated rabber sprang up. But though there were upwards of 2,000 Para rubber plants sent to Ceylon in 1877, there seem to have been in 1899 only about 70 trees in the Heneratgoda and Peradeniya Gardens, while in Singapore, which received 22 plants in 1877 there were over a 178 thousand full-grown trees and from the plants taken up to Perak by Murton some hundreds at least at Kuala Kangsar and Taiping Gardens, were ready as stock for the expected demand. 3. It is interesting to note that Singanore = the first Ceara rubber plants in the Hast. —HD, Colonial Secretary’s Office, Singapore, September 6th, 1878. Col. Sec. No. 4072-78. Sir,—I am directed to transmit to you for your information a copy of a letter from A.B.M’s Resident at Perak upon the subject of the progress and state of the plants of American Rubbers which were sent to Perak from the Botanic Gardens.—I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, (Sgd) J. A. Swettennam, Assistant Col. Secretary, 8.8. The Superintendent, Botanic Gardens, Singapore. Residency, Kwala Kangasar, 26th duly, 1878. No. 202/78, 81k, —In reply to your letter No. 3590 of the 20th July, 1878, requiring 2 repurt on the pro- gress and state of the plants of American rubbers which were sent to Perak from the Botanic Gardens, [ have the honour to state that the only plants of this description within my knowledge are one plant of what I suppose to be the Hevea and nine of the Manihots. These were brought here by Mr Murton in October last and planted at the back of the Residency and are growing very well, They were quite small when they arrived here, but the first is about 5 feet high with branches of equal length and the Manihots vary from four to eight feet and are growing vigorously. I believe Mr Murton left plants of some kind at Durian Sabatang and at lhaiping or Matang and I wiil send on your letter to thuse places in order that if this were the case some report of their condition may be obtained, but 1 did not see anything of them in either place on my last visits there, though I carefully inspected the African Coffee, Cloves, Chinese fruits and Aus- tralian plants growing on the Residency hil) at Thaiping. There are many Districts in Perak which would, judging trom what I have read of the Hevea habitat, be very suitable to tae cultiva- tion of these plants, tois hill on which they are now growing well is of river gravel and I have no doubt they would have been much stronger in alluvial soil.—l have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, (Sgd.) Hucu Low, Resident. The Hon’ble The Colonial Secretary, 8.8., Singapore. From this letter it will be seen that Sir Hugh Low was not the introducer of the Para Rubber plant to Perak, but that the plants were brought The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist to Perak by Mr Murton. This has been proved by other lettersin an early number of the Bul- letin, but the error still frequently appears in various publications. It was probably started by a rather misleading statement in Mr Wray’s Memorandum published in 1897 which begins: “The first seed of the Para rubber (Hevea Braziliensis) was introduced into Perak in the year 1882 by Sir Hugh Low, the then British Resident. It was sent to meto plant but did not germinate having been kept too long after picking. A secon] lot was received a short time after and was planted at Kuala Kangsar.” These were from the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, where trees began to fruit in 1882—EKa. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF TEE PARA RUBBER INDUSTRY FROM 1873 To 1899 1873........8eeds received at Kew from Mr Collins. 1876......... Seeds received from Mr Wickham. First plants arrivedin Ceylon. _ 1877 June. First plants received alive at Sin- gapore. Oct. Mr Murton plants the first three in Perak. US BLy eeces Trees first fruited in Singapore. 1882.28 Seeds sent to Kuala Kangsar, and planted by Mr Wray. First seed also sent to Sarawak from Singapore. INSEY eersarne: Dr. Trimen commenced to tap the trees in Ceylon. 1885 (cire) First fruiting of Ceylon trees. 1889.........Trees first tapped in Singapore, tins used for catching latex. 1890......... Ficst biscuits exhibited at a Horti- cultural Show, Singapore. HET) eaeaebest Rubber sent to Messrs Silver from Singapore Gardens pronounced of very good quality. UL ore Dr. Trimen sends to Kew 2 lb. of Rubber grown at Heneratgoda, 1893.....:... Rubber plants and seeds distributed to all District Officers and Residents in the Federated Malay States to plant near theic hcuses from Botanic Gardens Singapore, (Plants had been distributed to planters for some years previously). 1895......... Mr Kynderslsy starts the first practi- cal Estate in the Federated Malay: States. 1896)... 2. Dr. Willis arrives in Ceylon. Rubber block and biscuit sent home from the Gardens valued at 2/8. USO Fiancee: Mr Derry sends rubber from Perak valued at 2/8 to 3s per pound, 1898 222. cc Mr Curtis sends rubber from Penang valued at 3/4 per lb. Mr Tan Chay Yan exhibits planta- tion grown rubber at Malacca Exhi- tion. 1899......... Mr Derry sends rubber from Perak solid in England for £61—1—6 (3/10 per Ib) sheet. 1899 June Messrs Parkin and Willis publish the discovery of wound response and ; the method of collecting latex in tins, and Magazine uf the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—A ugust, 1911. For Use Im ‘TABLOID’ FIRST-AID BRAND Traoe Mark Outfits ranging frompocket Fi (as tllustrated) to equipments for large estates, mines, etc. 4X 292 179 Emergencies No. 710 ‘Tastorp ’ First-Aip Ideal for individual use. Can be constantly carried in pocket, saddle-bag, etc. In scarlet enamelled metal. Price in London 2/Q Be. os Obtainable at the principal pharmacies in all countries BURROUGHS WELLCOME & Co., LONDON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED [We learn that a well-known pianter (still in Ceylon) was in 1893 in charge of ‘Gangwarily’ estate in Western Dolosbage for our old friend the late Mr. John Drummond. and collected that year a great deal of ripe Para Rubber seud which was sold and sent to the Federated Malay States, chiefly Perak. So little was thought of the rubber product then that, about thesame time, or a little later, some appreciable extent under Ceara was uprocted to make room for tea. Indeed, another Dolosbage planter, close by, was in the habit of collecting (tapping) rubber from trees on his tottam, until he had got a big “Jump” put together and time after time, these samples were sent to Colombo, with no further acknowledgment than ‘*Uf uo marketable value ”—sv little was known then of the source of wealth hidden in Para and Ceara Rubber trees! Some of the Gangwarily Para trees of 1893 (if to the fore) ought to be at least 22 or 23 years and giants and valuable now?—J. F.] CIRCUMVENTING THE WHITE ANT. Ihe damage done by white ants in India every year must run into tens of lakhs of rupees besides involving an appalling amount of trouble and inconvenience besides. This sort of thing has been going on, one may suppose, since India has been India; and, notwithstanding the gigan- tic loss occasioned, the white ant still holds the field against allits enemies—man included. No one has yet been able to evolve a specific for the white ant pest that is applicable under all cons ditions, yet there must be a lot of money wait- ing for the inventor of such a specific. It is not merely in the destruction of wood that the white aut causes heavy loss, for its depredations are probably greater amongst field crops of acer- tain kind. Asan example, it may be noted that the recent experiments of the Government of the Punjab to grow cassava (tapioca) as a famine crop were largely frustrated in almost every district by the ravages of whiteants. In Austra- lia very much the same trouble is experienced in farm operations, but the Australian white ant has a decided weakness for young fruit trees, a failing that has led to an important discovery, which should have its value in India. Mr. W. W. Froggatt, Government Entomologist, New South Wales, has found that German potash (kainit) ‘ will drive white ants out of any soil where it is used as a manure,” In the matter of fruit tree planting, he adds, a pound or so of kainit mixed with the soil when planting should besuflicientjfor each tree. In India chemical manure is practically never used for field crops ; though, if it were, it is admitted that the yield would be increased in value far beyond the cost of the manure employed. The stock excuse is thatthe ryot is too poor to purchase; manure, but ifthe manure to be employed will not only increase his crops but rid him of one of his worst ensmies, would it not be an advantage to the country if the various Agricultural Departments, stepped in and helped the ryot to help himself ?—Pioneer. 180 ANOTHER WHITE ANT ON NEW RUBBER CLEARINGS. JmportTaNt Note sy Mr. Lewron Brain. Some cases have recently been brought to the notice of the Department of Agricultare, F.M.S., Kuala Lumpur, in which Termes carbonarius has been found killing newly planted stumps by stripping them of their bark. Up to the present this has only been noticed on old tapioca estates. These termites were previously considered harmless and it is important to find out as soon as possible how far their ravages have been noticed elsewhere. Termes carbonarius may be distinguished from other ‘‘ White Ants” or Termites, as they are more correctly called, by the large size and sooty colouring of the soldiers, The soldiers of this species are of two kinds; the larger over half-au-inch long including the mancibles or nippers, which can inflict an un- pleasant bite; the smaller, about 3 of an inch. The mandibles are curved upwards to the tips and do not possess teeth between the base and the tip. The queen is as large as that of Termes Malay- anus, attaining alength of one-and-three-quarter inches. These termites are oiten found in the same nest as Termes sulphureus, the little sul- phur yellow species, which lives in hard cased mounds sometimes five feet high, Lhe queen of TZ’. sulphureus average only one-and-a-quarter- inch im length. Termes sulphureus and carbonarius are both described in books as harmless being fungus (or ‘‘mould”) eaters. The fungus grows on cakes or masses of vegetable matter which are stored in special chambers in the nest. Upto now analyses of these masses have failed to show any traces of rubber, but further saroples are wanted for analysis with notes of the depth at which they are tound, as those ex- amined may only have been collected by %ermes sulphureus. lf Termes carbonarius makes a separate nest, it has not yet been described. The etumps are reported to be attacked at night and in the early morning atter and during rainy weather, This would be a dangerous pest to young estates, but for the fact that the nest of Termes su(phureus, which it inhabits, is easily found on well weeded estates and the inmates, both sulphureus and carbonarius, can be easily killed with the fumes of arsenic and sulphur applied through the nozzle of the Univereal White Ant Exterminator. Or carbon bisulphide may be poured on toa Jarge piece of cotton wocl placed in one of the upper chambers of the nest and the hole above stopped with clay. Ihe vapour of carbon bis- ulphice being heavy and very poisonous, sinks along the passages, killing al' insects with which it comes in contact. The Supplement to the l'vopical Agriculturist A third improved methcd would be to find and destroy the queen and then poison the rest of the inmates of the nest. Specimens of the various forms of this Ter- mite, preserved in spirit, and the queen cham- ber in the nest, as well as information about the nesting habits, distribution and damage caused, will be most welcome if addressed to :— The Director of Agriculture, F.M.S., Kuala Lumpur, —Grenier’s Rubber News, July 8. Selangor. TEA IN NYASALAND. Mr. Grenenger, a tea and tobacco planter of Nyasaland, has favoured us with a call. He gave a very interesting account of the work that is being done in that distant and seclu- ded part of the Empire. At present there are only two small gardens in bearing under tea, with acreage of under 600 acres some 200 acres of which is5 yearold. The last year’s ex- port to London amounted to 35 tons only, Kight other gardens are opening up, and the total acreage will ultimately be 50,0U0. It cannot be increased owing to the severely localised rainfall. Knowledge of the cultivation and manuiacture of Tea, however, is very scanty and to get some idea of the methods employed here is Mr. Grenenger’s aim in visit- ing Ceylon. They have, as yet, no pests among their tea, though thrips is in their coffee. Their main products, apart from mealies, are coffse and tobacco, of a very good kind, all well sold to London—1s. 6d. alb. ruling price. The refuse is made into cigarettes locally, PLANT-FOOD AND ITS PRESER- VATION. Attention is invited to the following interest- ing and valuable article on farm-yard manure, and its preservation, issued by the Madras Agricultural Department as a leaflet. The infor- mation given will be found of particular value to larmers and planters in Ceylon, where, so far at least as indigenous cultivation is con- cerned, there is a great waste of valuable plant-tood readily available. Lu Ceylon tuo, as in South India, the soils are thin, lacking a just proportion of organic matter. with the result that it is difficult to maintain properly the fertility of the soil, unless the lacking ingre- dient be supplied periodically in addition to the usual plant foods. Of the ‘‘bulky organic manures” necessary, farm yard manure is the first and best, as well as the most commonly available. Hven better than farm yard manure is incigorefuse—seeth—which will become more commonly available in the near future, but which is not now to be had. Hven then there will be nothing so generally available as farm yard mauure for fattening our thin soils. Every farm, every village, will have abundance, if the cattle byres are properly managed, and the golden dirt preserved as 1¢ ought to be, in box and pit, instead of being wasted or, at most just heaped up, and half its value lost. How the best virtues of this manuce can be preserved is shown clearly in the eatract which we recom: mend to our readers, and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—August, 1911. The following is the leaflet referred to above which has just been issued by the Mactras Agri- cultural Department :— Most of the soils of South India are deficient in organic matter and if the fertility of these soils is to be properly maintained, it becomes necessary to supply this ingredient periodically in addition to the usual plant foods. The manures most suited for this purpose are those classed as ‘‘bulky organic manures” and of these Farm-yard manure stands pre-eminent and its use can be confidently recommended wherever it is available. Farm-yard manure may be used in the fresh state, z.e. as voided by the cattle, but this course is not practicable when the ianc is under crops and, in addition, it is advisable to use manure which has been stored for some time as, by this storage, not only is a more uniform manure obtained, but the plant foods contained in the dung are brought into a state to be easily assimilated by the crop. During the period of storage many changes take place in the compo- sition of the m:nure, brought about by bacteria and other low forms of vegetable life, which bring the mavurial ingredients into a soluble form. These changes, although making the manure more valuable to the cultivator, are always accompanied by more or less loss of the manurial ingredients and consequently the system of storage which reduces these losses to a minimum is, from this point of view, the one to be adopted. Tho main losses which occur during the stor- age of Farm-yard manure are due (1) to the liquid portion draining away and carrying with it the soluble constituents, (2) to loss of nitro- gen in the form of easily vapourised substances and all systems of storage to be economically sound must be based upon principles which tend to counteract these losses without at the same time unduly interfering with the course of the fermentation of the manure. Whatever the system finally adopted, it is of the utmost importance to prevent the urine draining away as this constituent of farmyard manure contains a very large proportion of mauvurial ingredients. This can be overcome toa large extent by the use ofa suitable litter mats- rial which will absorb the urine and so prevent its lass by. drainage. The best litter and one which is generally available is the waste fodder of the animals, but leaves, weeds and the ordi- nary waste of a farm answer well and if these be not available recourse may be had to ordinary soil. The necessity for using ample and suitable litter being apparent for all systems, the different methods of storage may now be briefly reviewed. The chief methods adopted for the storage of manure may be designated asthe Box, Pit and Heap systems and this classification covers in a broad sense all the methods generally adopted. Inthe Box system, the animals are placed in aloose box, with a thick bed of litter to which the waste fodder is added daily. The dung of the animals is trampled into and inti- mately mixed with the litter, which also ab- sorbs the urine, In course of time the whole is trampled into a compact mass, and by thus excluding excess of air, the fermentation is kept within bounds, In the Pit system the animals are placed on a hard floor and the dung, urine and waste litter ia daily thrown it 181 into a pit dug in the soil of the yard and made as water-tight as possible. Dry earth is some- times thrown on at intervals in order to absorb excess of liquid and often in very dry weather water is added so as to keep the mass at the requisite degree of moisture. In the Heap system the animals standon @ hard floor and the dung and litter are daily collected and thrown on aheap in the open. Sometimes in this case earth is also added, Resutts of EXPERIMENTS. These three systems were under trial on the Government Farm at Bellary for many years and the average results obtained may bo taken with confidence. These are given in extenso in the following table :— ir PRE g €g 8 a ,8 wo 4 So oD b= Bem ° a Cigges seek SS) | vist gS ao AAS) SS So Sansa Yes Py m2 OD Ay B'S wm “wo System. 52 Fe MH BE RS SE sy ‘ Og me ws WS BE Wiad, tad O10, OH (OS wit = Ss), 0.0 soa S 5S Og SEAR a OS mise s0 a) =] Lt Ey aS 3 58 25 “5 as 2e @o8 Bee ian ai oe Ba. ce 8 ° Box -. 10,40 90°7 155°3 £672 69°4 6,020 Pit .. 9,830 55% 700 463 87°0 1,765 Heap .. 600 60° 59°8 445 46°0 2,168 This table shows clearly that, from the same number of cattle, for the same length of time, and under the same conditions, the manure given by the Box system is mnch greater iu amount and contains a greater proportion of all the manurial ingredients, and the value of the manure produced far exceeds that of the others. Compared with the Pit system, the Heap system has given somewhat better results, but this only occurs when the heap is carefully protected from heavy rains and from strong winds. If these pre- cautions are not taken, then the losses caused by the rain washing out the soluble ingredients and the wind removing solid particles can become very serious and considerable loss to the cultiva- tor ensue. Further if the heap is allowed to be- come too dry, the heat produced by the decom- position may become so great as to cause the destruction of part of the manure. In the case of the Pit system, the great source of loss is due to the liquid portion of the manure draining away and the use of too small amount of litter. These defects can readily be remedied and when this is done, the Pit system compares very favourably with the Heap method, espe- cially under the usual careless local customs, Wherever the Box system cannot be carried out, choice must be made between the Heapand the Pit systems and this choice must be mainly governed by local conditions,—, Mail, Aug. 8. THE FUTURE OF THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. CHANGES ANTICIPATED. By Herpert WRIGHT. Great: Britain leads easily in point of acreage under rubber in its own possessions, and is closely followed by the Dutch Kast Indies in area, but notin age. The Dutch planters did not take up the cultivation of Hevea ona Jarge scalo until it had been proved a success on adjacent British territory; and, in fact, much of the area under Hevea in Java, Suma- tra, and Borneo is owned by companies ra. 182 gistered in England and Scotland. Germany has planted Hevea in Samoa and New Guinea, and Manihot and Funtumia in Africa. During recent times many of the producing or well- advanced estates in German colonies have been taken over by London companies. This is only one of the ways in which the new plantation industry has altered international conditions in the tropics. Great Britain seems likely to increase its control over supplies of rubber in the East, for while it is true that the United States are credited with conspic- uous activity today in Suitara, this country must continue to lead, since it is already in poseession, in Ceylon, Malaya, aud India alone, of more than half the world’s total planted acreage, a good part of which is already pro- ducing. YIELDING CAPACITY oF PLANTATIONS. The fact that Ceylon alone produced 1,600 tons of plantation rubber last year, as against 75 tons in 1905, and that the East—mainly Malaya and Ceylon—turned out 1,800, 3,850, and 8,230 tons respectively in the years 1908, 1909, and 1910, point to the likelihood of con- spicuous developments in the next three or four years. There are possibilities in the raw rubber industry and the rubber manufacturing trade which very few seem to realise. I have traversed many parts of the Hast and have spent several years compiling statistics relating to the pro- ducing capacity of Hevea trees of various ages in the tropics. I believe that in the most favourable parts of Malaya a yield of one ton per five acres will ultimately be annually obtained ; in less favoured parts of Java and Ceylon 1 estimate the yield at one ton per ten acres; for reasonably good estates in Sumatraand South India I anticipate the yield to be between the two estimates here given. In other words, de- ducting a certain percentage from the world’s planted acreage, I estimate that the balance in full bearing will each yield far more than is now anbually produced from wild sources. The island of Ceylon alone should, unless some unforeseen disaster overtake it, annually yield from its concentrated 200,000 acres more rubber than is or has ever been yearly obtained from the whole continent of Africa, Furthermore, Malaya and Ceylon alone should within tive or six years annually produce more rubber than the whole of Brazil and Central America gave us last year. IMPORTANT CHANGES [MMINENT. It should be clear from this that the day is near at hand when the balance of power in the crude rubber market will be considerably changed. Brazil has hitherto had the monopoly and the officials there know how the country has prospered from the revenue from rubber alone. Africa has, unlike Brazil, been largely dependent upon vines as sources of rubber, and the lessened production noticeable, especially during the past few years, is regarded as hope- less. Both Brazil and Africa alike realise that the shadow ot huge plantation supplies is upon them, and that sooner or later the abundance of rubber will have its effect on price. Inferior- grade Africans, which make up a good part of that continent’s supply, must suffer first ; then The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist the better grades from bushes and trees other than Hevea, and finally must come a struggle between rubber from the wild and from the cultivated forms of Hevea. The supply, in the event of low prices, will be most seriously curtailed from Africa; it will also be evident in tropical America, but not in the same degrea. The Brazilian authorities are giving all possible aid and encouragement to those concerned with the collection of rubber in that part of the world, and their country can always be relied upon to give a fair yield. Complete extinction of the wild rubber crops from the forests of Africa or America there cannot be, in virtue of the existence of a population in both areas which must find some means of employment. Yet a curtailment in supplies from wild areas isa certainty, when Eastern plantation crops shall be coming over at the rate of 3,000 tons per month. Hitherto London has not ranked as of much importance as a centre for rubber, Liverpool having alwaya held the first position. Now a change is already evident. Most of the planta- tion companies are owned by companies whose interests more or less compel them to sell their produce in Mincing-lane. This business — will continue to grow as the yielding capacity of estates increases, while that of Liverpool will, in consequence of lower supplies from Africa and Brazil, tend to lessen. Most London brokers, when asked what prospects they have of dealing monthly with 3,000 tons of plantation rubber, seem disturbed. No time should be lost in preparing the way for the disposal of such quantities, for they will be upon us much earlier than most people imagine.— Home paper. THE GUANO-PALM INDUSTRY IN HONDURAS. This tree requires a damp marshy soil for its best development, and frequently attains a diameter of more than 2 ft. It is not market- able above that size, however, while the mini- mum is 8 and 10 inches. It flourishes and is abundant along the lowlands of the coast. The wood in its natural state is exceedingly porous and light, but damp and soggy. To prepare it for commercial use it is put through an evapora- ting process to extract the moisture, theroby greatly reducing the weight, so that it is not only lighter than ordinary cork, but a given weight 1s capable of being compressed into much smaller bulk. itis used pulverised and in slabs. Lately the commercial possibilities of the wood have become known, as indicated by. advertise- ments in trade journals offering for sale life- preserving equipments made from guano-palm, Planters in Honduras are awakening to the possibilities of the tree, and one banana grower, who annually clears a large acreage fur banana cultivation, is about to send a representative to close a contract with New York importers for a cargo of 150,000 ft, of guano-palm. A recent enquiry from the same market calls for 1,000,000 ft. The greatest drawback to the rapid execu- tion of orders is the difficulty of transportation, —Royal Society of Arts Journal for July, and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Socety.—August, 1911, THE INTERNATIONAL RUBBER EXHIBITION. LECTURES AT THE CONFERENCE. In connection with the Exhibition, a con- ference was held. Sir Henry Blake presided, and among those present, were: Professor Wildeman, Dr. Paul Alexander iDr. F Frau, Dr Ernst Stern, Dr. Linding Sachs, Dr. Werner Esch, Dr. J Huber, Mr H Hamel Smith, and Mr A Staines Manders (the manager ot the f{Uxhibition.) Sir Henry BLakE—in his opening address— said :—In 1908 it was my pleasant duty, on behalf of myself and the committee, to welcome the foreign delegates and growers to our shores —then strangers; but today, with both hands extended, I welcome old friends, whose presence here today is an assurance jn itself that the result of the Exhibition of 1908 has been valuable to every branch of the rubber in- dustry. Of this, if your presence here today were not sufficient proof, there is amplu proof in the exhibits shown under our roof from every part—I believe from'every rubber-grow- ing country in the world. From abroad we have the machine maker, who has sent his improved machinery, and the chemist, who has illus- trated the results of his investigations in the analysis of rubber, and the manufacturer has shown us the improvement in and expansion of new usesfor the raw product. When we last met I think the area under rubber in the Middle East alone was about 450,000 acres. Today that acreage has been more than doubled; andin South America and Central America, East and West Africa, the increase in the acreage has probably been in about the same proportion. However, when considering this question of the large increase of acreage, in respect of the possible output of rubber in the near future, I think wemust make considerable deductions for plantations possibly established under unfavourable conditions of soil or climate or situation, as experience will show. But I think, onthe whole, we must remember that the Para trees planted since 1908 cannot begin to show the results of their planting before 1913 at the earliest, and we must waita couple of years longer before we knowthe result of that large investment in new plantations. In the meantime the continued experiments, and the experience of last three years, cannot but be beneficial to these new plantations. I may say generally that inthe Near East the planter has rather affected—almost exclusively affected—the Hevea Brasiliensis, or the Para tree; but, if my information be correct, the sometimes despised Ceara tree is about to come into favour. I have heard on roliable authority, from a gentleman iu the Exhibition, of at least one Ceara plantation which has begun to yield its harvest two years alter planting. Of course, that would make a very profouud difference in the consideration of planting in certain coun- tries where the Hevea has not been particularly successful up tothe present. These matters as regards Ceara and Hevea are really mattors for the experimenter—the bronzed experimenter in the tield —who faces the discomforts and dis- 183 vases incidental to tropical work in the tield and jungle. But, as we know, he only starts the quarry. When we have the latex it goes to the chemist, who tortures it through various retorts, until he has obtained an answer to his questions as to its likes and dislikes, its at- traction and repulsion, and as to the reasons of its resilience and strength. We know that some of them—have thrown aside the latex, flung it aside, and, inspired by a wild fury of investigation, have dragged the very vitals from the secrets of Nature, and have presented this Exhibition with a row of bottles and a small sheet of synthetic rubber. Well, this is rather startling at first; but, after all, -when we consider that if one of these scientists produced a pint of milk and a pat of butter from a bundle of hay we may be assured of one thing, that the price of hay would goup. We may expect the same as regards the materials of which synthetic rubber is made, so that I do not think it is so disquieting inthe end. But one thing it does do—it points to the necessity for strict economy on all our plantations, and for areduction in the cost of production. Of course, in regard to the Ceara trees there have been great impro: ements in the tapping—in- deed, there have been improvements in the tapping of both, but specially in the case of the Ceara; and, of course, you know the treat- mevt of the tapping of Ceara 1s quite a different problem from that of Hevea. We do not know up to the present what the effect of that will be. The President concluded by congratulating those present on the excellence of the Exhibi- tion. These preliminary proceedings were then brought to a close because of the visit of Her Highness Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig- Holstein to the Exhibition. The Princess was escorted around the Exhibition by Sir Henry Blake, and expressed berself highly pleased with her visit. She was accor panied by Lady Blake and Mrs. Hawkes, lady-in-waiting, and was presented with a boaquet by Miss Fulton, the secretary, on entering the Exhibition, and with another, at the Belgian section, by Miss Pollet, daughter of the Consul-General for Belgium. During the afternoon, Mr. R Fyffe, of the Botanical and Forestry Department at Entebbe, Uganda, read a paper entitled ‘* RUBBER IN UGANDA,” aod in the course of his remarks said that the first year in which rubber figured as an article of export from Uganda wasin 1992, and during that year 68,000 lb. were exported. A study of the composition of the forests of Uganda showed that at least three distinct types existed, in only one of these was Funtumia elastica found. Foliowing the discovery of Funtumia elastica, steps were taken to preserve the trees, and the forests containing it, which were large, were being leased only to responsible companies, who had to observe regulations brought out by the Government for the purpose of conservation. At present the most approved method of tapping was the “herringbone” system. Unlike the Para rubber tree, Funtumia elastica had no wound response and gave the best results, from three to four tap- pings in a year, The trees could be tapped 184 from the base to a height of 20 ft. to 30 ft. at one tapping. It is not advisable to tap beyond 30 ft. at one tapping. Trees which were heavily tapped twigs died. Wounds made on the Funtumia tree did not heal up so quickly as did the wounds in- flicted on the Para and Ceara rubber trees by tapping. This might be accounted for by the acanty crown of foliage which the former pos- sessed, when compared with the latter species. On the whole, the yields obtained were very disappointing, experiments proving the yield of mature trees to be about 5 oz. te 6 oz. of ary rubber per year, tapped to a height of 30ft, The amount of caoutchouc in Funtomia latex was about 0°33 per cent. Funtumia latex coagulated readily by boiling; but the method generaily ad- opted wascoagulation by chemicalsand hot water in long wooden troughs. Funtumia elastica was an exceedingly slow grower, and he doubted if it was of any importance to Uganda from a plant- ation point of view. The growth of plants in the forest was very slow, and althvugh they made much more progress in the open, their rate of development was disappointing. Planting on a considerable scale was commenced some three years ago, and the area at present under rubber cultivation was about 3,200 acres. Of this approximately 2,200 were under Para, 9 () under Ceara and 100 were planted with Fuu- tumia and Castilloa, An estate could be worked so that coffee would form au article of export before the rubber reached a tapnable size, Labour was locally abundant, and as transport facilities were improved it would be more plentiful. The Baganda were au easily-taught race, and there would be no difficulty in teach- ing them to becowe first-class labourers and tappers. Although Ceara rubber had been grown in the country for ten years, it was only within the last year that it had been recognised as a valuable rubber-yielding tree. The method of tapping adopted was that of pricking, after removing the dry outer bark, and smearing the tree with a coagulant. The ‘ half-herring- bone” system was experimented with, and the results obtained were highly gratifying. The yield of Ceara trees varied remarkably in in- dividual trees. The tree particularly lent itself to speedy results from seed selectiou, owing to the comparatively early age at which its latex-yielding capacity could be tested. He considered that there was a great feature for Para and Ceara rubber, Para he recommended as a permanent crop, while for a quick return he preferred Ceara, The conference was resumed on Tuesday. Dr, Torrey presided. The first paper read was by Dr. Tromp cde Haas, the subject being ‘TAPPING EXPERIMENTS ON PARA TREES.” In the course of his remarks Dr. Haas described some of the experiments undertaken for the purpose of deciding which was the best method of tapping, daily or every other day. The conclusions he came to were that a larger aantity of rubber was collected by every-day tapping, but experiments would have to be continued beforethey could get anything like reliable results. The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist In the course of discussion, Mr. Petch said that from experiments made by Mr. Wright in 1906 and by Messrs Bamberand Lock, which were carried on for two years, more rubber was obtained from every day tapping, but it did not follow that everyday tapping was the best. By tapping every other day more rubber was obtained per day than if they tapped every day, but they did not get twice as much. Tapping on the four years system, they might complete the whole of their bark in two years, and then, presumably, they would have togive the trees two years rest. With alternate-day tapping they would beable to tap during the whole of the four years, and therefore at the end of that time they would take more rubber by alternate- day tapping. it all depeuded on how long it took to complete one cycle of tapping round the tree, Mr. MitcHEtt—read a paper on SOME DISEASES OF HEVEA BRASILIJENSIS, in which he stated that the most important dis- ease was fomes. Very few estates in Malaya were free fromit, and many had suffered very much, Itoccurred mostly in trees from one to four years old. It was alsoto be found in nur- series and in old trees. {he physical nature of the soil did not affect it, though loose land allowed the fungus to grow there. Mr. GusTavB VAN DEN KERKHOVE—contri- buted a paperon “ * THE OFFICIAL MEASURES TAKEN : ADULTERATION - OF THE INDIGENOUS RUBBERS,” in which he stated that about 1896 the adulter- ation of some kinds of Congo rubber, especially the red and black Kasai, had taken dangerous proportions. Out of ten twists three were adul- terated and contained a certain quantity of palm kernels and stones. It was absolutely ne- cessary that this evil should be stopped, and the most severe instructions were sent to the producing places, as well as in Europe and America, with the result that the twists were now examined with great care. These wise measures soon showed good results. The same state of things existed in French Guinea in 1897. Competition between the different foreign firms, especially in Conakry, had reached such a degree that the most inferior gums found a buyer at tremendous prices. At the beginning of the year 1901 the French Government decided to prevent the export of the lower qualities of rubber. The interdiction was carefully observed, and no rubber left for Europe without having been submitted to a careful examination, and, considering the tremendous amount of the rub- ber exports in French Guinea, it was easy to imagine the enormous amount of work required. One kilogramme of rubber was often composed of about ten balls, which all ha:l to be handled separately, so that the authorities had to ex- amine millions of pieces one by one. One of the most dreadful frauds consisted in «ixing with the latex mealy or even gummy sub- stances having the appearance of rubber, and without the least commercial value. A simple and practical manner of discovering the said fraud, without recurring to sectioning the balls, consisted in dropping the ball on to the and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—August, 1911, 185 ground; if the same did not rebound well there was evidently a fraud by means of mealy or gummy products without any value, French and Belgian Congo were the African colonies which were the richest as to rubber species, and it was also in those countries that the greatest variety was encountered in the pro- cesses of gathering and coagulating the latex. GROWTH OF PARA. Mr. H. A, WickHAM—read a paper on ‘‘The Para Rubber Trees in the East,” in which he dealt with the danger of too close planting, as tending to arrest growth, impair vitality and set up a struggle for existence which consti- tuted a serious menace for the future. (lean weeding he described as ‘‘clean scraping,” which exposed the soil to the sun and rain, the latter being carried away. The root system consequently suffered from exposure. Syste- matised mulching was better than clean weed- ing. As regarded tapping, he advocated ‘* inci- sion” as against ‘‘excision. It was not at all necessary to pare away growing tissue. In the course of discussion Mr. BAaMBER— pointed out that, as regarded close planting, they had to look at it from a financial point of view. He was in favour of retaining the soil around the tree. Mr. Fox—characterised clean weeding as a “ fetish,’ and Mr. Wycherley was in favour of close planting, as he did not think it had the bad effects which were attributed to it. 5 Mr. WickHamM—in his reply—emphasised his previous points. Dr. E, Dz WiLpEMAN—read a paper, the sub- ject being **AFRICAN RUBBER VINES: THEIR CULTIVATION AND WORKING.” In the course of his address Dr.Wilderman said that from the researches of various botanical ex- plorers we knew that numerous rubber-bearing vines or creepers existed in tropical Africa, which vines have for some years supplied almost all the rubber for the African trade. Their distribution over the African continent was very wide. Broadly speaking, the rubber vine area extended from Senegambia and the Upper Nile to the south of Angola, of Rhodesia, and Mozambique, even to the Cape district. Not- withstanding many favourable opinions, the various species of vines, although undoubtedly producers, had neither been cultivated nor worked as they should be. Nearly all the African rubber brought over to HKurope, espe- cially from the Congo, had come from wild- growing plants, and very often the native, through an intensive and altogether irrational harvesting, had caused a reduction in the num- ber of producing plants, if not their disap- pearance. At first cultivation consisted of seeding in nurseries and setting out the plants afterwards in the woods, or else direct seeding in the woods or in the forest roads. It was soon found that, while vines could be grown from the seed, they attained in the forest in- significant dimensions. To obtain plants as vigorous as the vines worked in the forest by the native, under the conditions there ex- isting, one would have had to wait a considera- able number of years. 24 The result of this was naturally unfavourable to the progress inthe cultivation of vines, their great faultin the eyes of the Government being the slowness of their growth. But one of the conditions of the experiment had not been thought of—the biology of the plant had been altogether overlooked. .To allow a plant to develop normally one must give it notonly the necessary soluble mineral elements through the soil, it must also absorb through its leaves the carbon from the carbonic anhydride contained in the air. What did a plant require to effect this decomposition ? Light and chlorophyll. By planting vines under the shade of trees they were placed in very unfavourable conditions for accomplishing this assimilation, because they were deprived of sunlight. The vines now being exploited in the tropical forests had devel- oped very well, because they grew up with the forest, exposing their leaves, flowers, and fruits to the sun together with the trees. Everybody now agreed that the me- thods of gathering latex used by the natives of Africa were more or jless defective. One sel- dom saw a case where the native extracted all the rubber contained in the vine. The first method consisted in pulling the vines off their props, to get at them easily. The native then very often spreads the stems more or less parallel to the ground, keeping them a certain distance from the soil by means of supports. Afterwards he made incisions in the stems at regular distances, and gathered up the latex which flowed out, It was asserted that the greater number, if not all, the plants thus treated died in the un- derbush, not only because of the unfavourable conditions for vegetation, but also because the wounds caused in the pulling down and tapping would become infected with plant diseases, against which not the slightest precaution had been taken. The reply might be made that the plant would throw out new shoots. That was possible, but they would be few in number, because the vine would first try to heal its wounds and to fight the microbes that invaded them, and would nearly al- ways exhaust itself in futile efforts. Another method used by the natives consisted in tapping the vines without pulling them down. Cutting constituted the third method, which was a modification of the first one, and was often followed up by threshing. The native pulled the vine off its prop, then instead of tap- ping it it was cut in pieces, and he gathered the latex which flowed fromthe ends. ‘This method at first sight looked destructive, but when care- fully examined proved to be superior to all others. Indeed, this was the method of the future, but some modifications had to be made to certain details of its application. What now were the objections that could be raised against this method ? Only one of importance: The latex did not all flow out of the pieces of the vine ; therefore a considerable quantity of the rubber was lost. It had also been objected that the native killed the vine by this barbarous process. At the session’s opening on Wednesday there was. @ continuance of the discussion on Mr. Fy ffe’s paper on 186 RUBBER PLANTATION IN UGANDA. Dr. E. Buack—said there were two important points arising from Mr, Fyffe’s paper—one of which was the distance apart at which trees should be grown, and the other, which was much less known, was the planting of trees producing Manicoba rubber, to only one of which—Ceara—Mr Fyffe had alluded. During five years he had been travelling in all the large rubber-producing countries, and had only just returned from Brazil, and, consequently, he had seen more of rubber-growing probably than any other person. As to the distance at which trees should be planted, two views were .- taken on the previous day. Mr. Wickham contended that there shoald be only 40 trees to the acre and Mr. Wycherley contended that there might be 240. The point could be readily disposed of. The man who planted any other kind of tree as close together in proportion to what he hoped to get as the rubber planter did would be quickly classed asa lunatic. The experience of the world since the days of Noah with regard to trees from which fruit was to be obtained was that the trees must be planted a definite distance apart, in order to prevent trouble arising from the roots interlocking. The reason why this trouble had not arisen yet was because of the slow growth of the trees; but it was coming, because rubber-growers were setting at defiance the experience of the growers of other trees in the ‘world, and it was im- possible that could go on. The second point was of great importance. He had photographs of Ceaca trees in Brazil showing fine growth, but the latex given was practically nit. One huge tree, eight years old, gave only 20 grammes of dry rubber—absolutely disastrous. This was due to the trees being taken from its natural surroundings. The result was they got a good garden, but little rubber. Dr. CHrisTIE—said he was one of the lunatics who advocated close planting as regarded Fun- tumia, but he did not advocate it for Hevea, It was necessary to grow Funtumia closely. It could not be grown unless planted closely, be- cause otherwise they would not get a tapping stem. The tree had the peculiarity of pruning itself; but it could not bring this peculiarity into play unless it was planted closely. Uganda had suffered from a plethora of knowledge of the habits of trees in the forest, without any knowledge of the possibilities of plantation trees. In West Africa thousands of acres were planted with Funtumia without any knowledge of the growth of the tree in the forest. Jf they studied the growth of the tree in the forest, they would see that it must be planted closely. It was atree entirely different in its habits to Hevea; it wasa deep-rooted tree; it had not big surface roots, and wasa tall pole tree with a bold head. It was’only possible to get the necessary tall stem by coppicing. The reason why they must have a tall pole was because they could not tap it to the bottom, as they did Hevea. They had to tap to-a considerable height, because they could only tap the tree three times in the year; the structure of the bark of the two trees was entirely different, and the trees had to be tapped in a different way. Hevea had a network of lactiferous. tissue, The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist whereas in Funtumia they had an upright, parallel system of ducts, which had no connec- tion with each other; and if they attempted to tap the Funtumia as they would the Hevea there would be a ‘‘die-back” of the part, fol- lowed by the death of the tree. . He denied Mr. Fyffe’s statement that the Funtumia was a slow grower; it was only a slow grower in the forest. — It was the second most rapid grower, Cerea being the first. There was no doubt that Fun- tumia had suffered from the wrong kind of tapping being practised. He had come tothe conclusion that it should be tapped by the incision method, and not the excision. If they took out the bark the tree would die back. It must be tapped by making clean incisions, Mr. Hyrre—adhered to his statement that Funtumia was a slow grower in the forests of Uganda, where alone he was acquainted with it. He agreed with Dr. Christie as to tapping, and believed that the best thing to vse was a pricker. Mr. PrtcH—said that in Ceylon they could grow Ceara likea weed, but they could not tap it, though there were some estates getting good results from Ceara. They tapped their trees by all kinds of systems, but they did not mind if the tree died as the result, because they had others coming along and plenty of land. From his own experiments he had not been able to get a tapping system in Ceylon for Ceara with- out kijling the tree. The rubber was in the tree undoubtedly. Up to the present the Ceylon botanical department had not seen sufficient evidence which would warrant them in recom- mending any of the new manihots tothe planter in Ceylon. Mr. WitHEetm Pauw, of Dortmund, read a paper on ‘(THE DISCOVERY OF THE PARA REAGENT.” Hesaid:—The victory of cultivated Hevea rub- ber over natural Para rubber has at last been se- cured! The mystery of Para rubberis resolved. The really significant agent in Para coagulation is brought to light, and we are at last in a posi- tion to replace the primitive Para coagulation methods by an ideal factory method,! Chemistry has led on to this victory, torn asunder the veil, and opened up a wealth of possibilities to Hevea planters and to the whole rubber world as well. The reagent that has made all this possible is carbonic acid, and the advantage possessed by planted Hevea rubber over Para will be clear to’ anyone who studies the two methods and balances their advantages against each other. The new product combines all the good points of plantation Hevea and Brazilian Para, and it shall accordingly be called Hevea Para. For many years chemists have:striven to find what was the particular agent to which the marvellous results obtained in Para coagulation (by the smoking process) were due. Scientists from the greatest of the civilised nations have bent themselves to this problem. [n 1910 no less persons than Drs. Frank and Markwald; of the Dr. Rob. Henriquez Nachfolger Laboratory, busied themselves with this question. With in- finite pains they obtained Urikuri palm nuts, such as are used in the forests for smoking Para, and subjected them toa rigorous chemical ex- amination. They found many things, but, un- fortunately, they did not discover the right one. LG h pet BRE 9 and Maguzine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—August, 1911. Among the valuable characteristics of this pro- duct (designated Hevea Para) are the fol- lowing:—The carbonic acid coagulates the latex instantly. The nerve, strength and elasticity are not only equal to but superior to what is met with in case of Para. The metallic salts present are carbonates, as a result of the car- bonic acid treatment. The rubber is alkaline, for carbonic acid is not destroyed by alkali, but ean exist in contact with it, vide the well-known alkaline carbonic acid charged mineral waters. The solutions of this rubber have as high visco- sity as those of Para, and the product obtained on vulcanisation is the same. Carbonic acid coagulation is the cleanest possible method, and gives the purest and lightest coloured pro- duct possible. On the other hand, Para rubber is coloured by the smoking process. Hevea Para never moulds, for the carbonic acid re- moves the plant-albuminoids which form a soil for bacterial vegetation. Hevea Para oxidises no more readily than does Brazilian Para. Rub- ber coagulated by acetic acid soon acquires a bluish surface colour. This is due to the de- composition of residual albuminoids with form- ation of phenols, which give the rubber its bluish colour, and make it second quality. In the new process we have for the first time a latex coagulated by a gas, and not by a corro- Sive fluid, as in case of the strong acids. Briefly, we have here the only re-agent which can give planation Hevea rubber the same fine quality as Brazilian Para, Another advantage of carbonic acid is that it requires no fine manipulation. Its use can be entrusted to the most ignorant hands. Mr PetrcuH—denied that it was possible for any coagulum to prevent mould. The second longest discussion of the day was raised by this paper which was very severely handled by several of the English experts. Pro- fessor Carmody said they were always ready to hear of any new coagulum, but he did not think the lecturer had made out his case altogether satisfactorily.—Dr. Stevens traversed the paper from end to end, pointing out that most of the statements were contentious statements. At the same time he thoughtit might be worth while to make a trial with carbonic acid. The arguments used. hadnot inspired much confidence in the theory.—Dr Huber objected to the title ‘‘Hevea- Para,”as Para they understood to be rubber from Hevea, The afternoon was devoted to ajoint meeting of planters, manufacturers, aud chemists, and under the chairmanship of Dr. Torrey they dis- cussed the question whether it was not possible for the planter to devise ceitain tests by which they could ensure THE STANDARDISING OF THEIR RUBBER. The Chairman, in opening the discussion, urged that this was a matter of special importance to the planter. Immediately two planters arose and said it was impossible for planters to under- take tests on the field, and that they, on their part, wanted to know what it was the manufac- turers required and then they would endeavour to supply it. Dr Hcser—said that though not a planter by profession, he had planted rubber trees inthe 187 experimental gardens at Para, and he had done a good deal inthe way of testing samples of rubber. He thought it would be possible for ths planter to get good relative results which would be sufficient for the purpose, and he indicated several waysin which it could be done Mr J Ryan—a planter—thought these sugges- ted methods would be impracticable. —Mr Ports said the problem for the planter was not so . much to determine quality as to make from the beginning careful tests of the latex, in order to get absolutely uniform results,—he CHAIRMAN agreed with this, and said that what was wanted was not for the planter to distinguish qualities, but to ensure that the quality of a given kind should be permanent and reliable in subsequent supplies.—Mr Francois Martin, as a manufac- turing chemist, thought it possible something could be done. Professor CaLmopy ~ of Trinidad—said that as regarded Castilloa they got uniform results in the preparation of rubber by a_ centrifugal machine invented by Mr Smith, of Tobago, and an excellent quality was turned out. Mr Harviey—of South Mexico—spoke of the juice of a plant found there which was used in coagulation. He thought chemists might investigate whether a preparation of this could not be used throughout the world. At present their preparations would only keep a very short time. He also urged that it was not so mucha question for the planter as for the manufacturer.—Dr. STEVENs, on the other hand, thought that simple tests could be used by the planter.—Mr. Gorrince said it would be no good the planters making a test if the brokers in London sold it not by that test, but by feel and sight. The CuHAarzsMAN—in concluding the confer- ence on the subject—urged the planters to see what could be done in order to procure that the rubber they supplied should be uniform in quality. To the exhibit of the Imperial [nstitute re- presenting the rubber resources of the Empire the British South Africa Company contributes a collection of specimens of the rubber-yield- ing plants of Northern Rhodesia. These in- clude specimens of Landolphia vines, which are reported to grow luxuriantly in many dis- tricts and to cover large areas of the country, and also a number of specimens of various roots from the bark of which root-rubber is prepared. Additional interest is lent to the exhibit by specimens of dried and mounted leaves and flowers of the plants, further illus- trated by coloured drawings. A very interesting and practical demonstra- tion of the process oi tapping rubber trees was given on Saturday. The tapping of the trees took place at the joint stand of the Soconusco Rubber Plantations, Limited, and La Zacu- alpa Plantations-Company, Limited, situated in King George’s Hall, where specimens of eight live Castilloa lactitlua rubber trees from six to ten years of age from the estates were exhibited. The foliage of the trees had been cut away, and also the whole of the roots, with the exception of about 1 ft, measured from the bottom of the trunks, In spite of 188 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist the trees having travelled about 800 miles by rail and from 3,000 to 4,000 miles ou the deck of a steamship, they arrived in excellent con- dition ; for no sooner had the tapping knife made the necessary V-shaped incisions than the latex flowed freely. The latex so obtained was afterwards coagulated in a centrifugal machine.—H, & G. Mail, July 7. At the conference, which was continued on 6th inst., at the Rubber Exhibition, under the presidency of Dr. Torrey, the first paper read © was a highly technical essay by Professor SCHIDROWITZ on ‘* VISCOSITY OF RUBBER SOLUTIONS.” He said he had studied for two years the effect of various factors on viscosity, the effect of heating in solution, which did not always cause disaggregation. On the contrary, in the case of old forest tree rubber the aggregation appeared to increase. In the case of young or immature trees also it appeared to decrease. Then he studied the effect of deresination, and here again it was found that in the case of old forest trees the result was positive—that was, that the viscosity increased. Then he studied the effect of the method of coagulation on a number of samples, and found, as he ex- pected, that he got very high variations by the viscosity method. A long discussion followed, the most popular point raised being whether these tests would be useful to the planter on the estate. Pro- fessor Schidrowitz said that where the planter was in a position to carry out viscosity tests on scientific lines, it might be useful to him in controljing the quality of his rubber. But he wished it clearly to be understood that he did not prefer the viscosity method to the vulcanisa- tion method. The vulcanisation method was preferable where it could be applied, but the viscosity method was useful where it could not. Dr. Huser then read a paper on the RUBBER TREES AND WILD RUBBER RESERVES OF THE AMAZON, He admitted that interest in the subject was rather discounted by the greater popularity of middle red rubber; but he thought it would in- terest people to know something about the region which yielded the best kind of wild rub- ber. He went into the history of wild rubber at length, and dealt with the variations of the various kinds of rubber which had been found in the different parts of the country. Hevea contained some well-defined groups of species which, though in the first line of practical value, were characterised by botanical sub-divisions. By far the greater part of para rubber came from Hevea Brasiliensis, which was not only the best, but the most unknown variety. I1t grew throughout the whole Amazonian basin, prin- cipally in its southern part, where it occupied not only the low alluvial lands of most of the affluents of the Amazon, but some of the higher lands, principally between the River Tapajoz and Madera, and also between the higher course of this river and the upper River Purus aod its tributaries, and the Acre and others. It was, however, possible that the trees of the higher Jand were of a very near but distinct kind of Hevea, It was evident, however, that the seeds obtained by Mr Wickham, who went to the East, were of the true Hevea Brasiliensis. There were particular kinds of Hevea on the Rio Negro whose latex was said to produce good rubber ; but onthe whole, little was known of the rubber yield of these trees. Of the 12 species of sapium, only one was recognised as producing good rubber. These trees were of rapid growth and the latex was often mixed with Hevea. The exploitation, however, of these trees was not popular, owing to tapping difficulties. The production of a more suitable tapping’ knife might lead to its becoming more popular. Very important as a future reserve of wild rubber was the Caoutchouc tree, which was the large virgin tree of the forest, and was rich in caoutchouc, There was an enormous reserve here. The export of caoutchouc *had increased from 349 tons to 8,000 tons, So many trees were there that the natives did not trouble to tap the trees in the ordinary way, but cut down the tree bodily. He advocated the making by the Government of ‘forest reserves” in order to protect these important trees from extinction in this way, because there was undoubtedly a large and valuable reserve here. Mr. Cuayton BEADLE, in the next paper, called attention to a new method of TESTING RUBBER BY USING THE ENERGY OF A FALLING PENDULUM and noting the distance of the height to which the pendulum rises before and after breaking the specimen, and utilising that in recording the actual amount of work done in breaking the specimen. They did not at present know the-value of this. In the Schwartz machine many thousands of determinations had to be made of mixtures of known composition before the result could be properly interpreted. In this case the machine would have to be used on mixtures of known composition, and made under known conditions before they knew the value to be placed on the results and how they were to interpret the figures, In the afternoon a meeting was held of the India Rubber Testing, Committee, Dr. A. H. BeErkHOovuT, who presided, said that at the meeting held three years ago he ‘was asked to take the initiative in forming this company, The committee had been formed, and had sections in various countries, at the head being Mr Herbert Wright, in London; Professor Dr. Warburg, Berlin; M Pierre Breuil, Paris; Mr C Pearson, New York; Dr. Herbert, Vienna; Mr Kelway Bamber, Ceylon; and MJ E Fol, Delft. First, they had to conquer the difficulty of establishing standardising methods. Of course, it was neces- sary they should understand each other in re- gard to the physical and chemical proceedings of testing indiarubber. [t was too bad that a man should not know the signification of his own figures, and not be able to understand someone else’s. What they wanted was auniform standard for testing rubber, This standard should be beneficial to rubber manufacturing and the culti- vation of rubber, The secretaries of the various national bran- ches then reported on the steps taken in their respective countries to start the work of the association. ar and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—August, 1911. It was announced that Professor Huber had undertaken to form a branch in Brazil. He ad- dressed the meeting, and urged that the Govern- ments of all countries should take steps to see that rubber sent out under a well-known name was really rubber of that kind, and not a mixture or a substitute. Governments should see that it was properly stated where the rubber came from and from what tree. He knew of cases where rubber was supplied under a well-known name which was of a different make and from a dif- ferent tree. Healsoadvocated the forming of museums of standard qualities and kinds of rubber. The conference was resumed on Friday. Dr. Torrey presided. Dr. W CARNEGIE BROWN, M.D., M.R.C,P., read @ paper on BYGIENIC CONDITIONS AND THE MAINTENANCE OF HEALTH ON RUBBER PLANTATIONS.” In the course of his address he said that the development cf the industry had led to a huge demand for labour, and the influx of coolies had naturally led to remarkable facilities for the spread of disease. A large number of Kuropeans had goneto make their homes in the tropics. Apart from the fact that the indigenous popu- lations were deeply affected, many of the labourers, and especially their children, though showing no signs of illness, harboured the germs of malaria and other parasitic disorders, and were consequently a readily available source of contagion, of which the most frequent victims were the other immigrants, and especially the highly-susceptible new arrivals from Egypt. There was, therefore, little cause tor surprise that serious outbreaks of tropical disease were not unusual. During the last two or three years no question had been so frequently asked him as ‘‘Is the climate very deadly?” No doubt, most of the estates were naturally in- salubrious, but the causes of tropical disease were now so well known that almost compete prevention was by no means difficult. The drainage and cultivation necessary for the successful production of rubber were power- ful aids to sanitation, and on a_ well-man- aged estate there should be no epidemics and very little serious illness. Intelli- gence and constant vigilance were required, but, given these essentials, the death-rate should be scarcely higher than in Europe, and with care in eating, drinking, and other mat- ters, an assistant should be as healthy as on any farm in Yorkshire. But he must be a picked man, of good physique, not big or fleshy, with a good family history; no tendency to alcoholism, insanity, or tubercle, and all organs —especially the heart—sound. Dr. Brown went onto comment in very strong terms on the negligence of the authorities in doing little or nothing to arrest the disease which had grown rapidly of late years in Singapore and other places. In 1892 the death rate at Singapore was 31°27, in 1902 it was 51°11, and according to the latest reports it was worse than ever. Malarial fever was very rife. He compared this. with what had been done at Santos and other places, in 1900 the death rate of Santos was 70 per 1,000; in 1903 drainage and sanitary work was undertaken, cleanliness enforced, and a good water supply obtained, with the result that since 1905 there had been no case of yellow fever, and the death rate was down to 22 per 1,000. In Sorocaba yellow fever had been got id of. In Manila the Americans at once under- took to spend £800,000 for waterworks. He also instanced Panama as having been reformed from a deadly, fever-ridden place into one as healthy as Hampstead. It was possible to en- tirely get rid of malaria, which was spread by mosquitoes, simply by well-understood sanitary precautions. It was only necessary to drain and fill up swamps, keep a sanitary staff to look after the natives, and especially look after the segregation of the sick and particularly of the children. Many of the rubber estates had been made free of malaria, and all of them could be. The same thing applied to anky-lostomes and small-pox. Dr. HENKICKsEN read a paper on ‘‘ THEORY OF VULCANISATION,” a subject about which much was heard some ten years ago, but which came to more or less of a standstill. Nothing had been said on it for a long time that was of much consequence, until two or three years ago, when there was a renewal of research and literature on the subject, with the result that an entirely new aspect had been given to the matter. There were, he said, two proposed theories for ex- plaining the phenomena of vulcanisation—one chemical and the other physical. ‘The newer, or physical, theory had been advocated specially by Dr. Ostwald who held that the taking up of the sulphur, or protochlorides of sulphur, by the rubber was exclusively a surface action, or absorption, The older chemical theory was that the changes that took place in vulcanisa- tion were associated with the formation of a series of definite compounds of rubber, with sulphur or protochloride of rubber. Experi- mental evidence had been offered in support of each. Dr. Henricksen reviewed all these experiments, and concluded by saying that physico-chemical methods, and, especially the laws of reaction, kinetics were able to offer fruitful suggestions for a systematic and scienti- fic investigation of vulcanisation phenomena, as well as for practice. Later in the day an important statement was made by Mr. CLAYTON BHADLE as to the amount of ACETIC ACID IN PLANTATION RUBBER. It had been found by testing that the acetic acid used to procure coagulation of the latex on the estates could be practically all washed out, and also that there wasin washed planta- tion rubber less acidity than was found in fine hard Para, the acidity of which was due to the absorption of acetic acid during the smoking process which it underwent. Mr. JAQuEs read a paper on the ADAPTABILITY OF RAW RUBBER FOR MANUFACTUR- ING PURPOSES, in which he stated that, generally speaking, the physical qualities of vulcanised No, | latex com- pounds were identical with those characteristic of hard-cured Para. The tensile properties of the cultivated rubber were usually equal to or of a slightly lower order than, indigenous Para, 190 There were well-known smoked and some pale ualities unquestionably of a higher grade than the average hard-cured Para. A disquieting feature with a few cultivated Hevea sorts was the difficulty experienced when breaking down and masticating them. On the hot mixing rolls some of them did not soften readily, and it was in many cases impossible to obtain a calendered sheet worthy of the name and at all suitable for high-class work. Tough raw rubbers having the appearance of possessing plenty of ‘nerve’ were not necessarily the best for manufacturing purposes. Having said this about the difficul- ties presented by some Heveas, he proceeded to speak in their favour. There were culti- vated Heveas more amenable on the mixing rolls than hard-cured Para, which calendered as well, vulcanised more rapidly, were stronger, and were just as adaptable as the best native rubber. Plantation rubber, under the right conditions, also got strength from maturity. Castilloa, Rambong, Landolphia, Funtumia and Guayule rubbers were softer, and compared un- favourably with Hevea. The highest grade Hevea was pre-eminently the rubber from which to manufacture the first coating for cable wires, threads and surgical goods, on account of its reliability, strength and durability under the very severe trials these articles were subjected to. The manufacturer did not find it profitable to use even lower-grade Hevea for these pur- poses. Onthe other hand, he did utilise Cas- tilloa, Rambong, Landolphia, Funtumia and other rubbers for making tobacco pouches and teats ; but it was doubtful if even the cleverest manufacturer could make a satisfactory hard- wearing pouch from the highly-resinous Guayule rubber without the addition to it of one or other of the former brands. The best pure rubber articles were those made from Hevea. Motor- tyre treads could be made and were manufac- tured successfully from the lower-grade Hevea, Castilloa and similar brands. This part of the tyre contained a good deal of mineral matter, which increased the tensile strength and aided the tread to resist friction. Moreover, the use of the best Hevea, even allowing for the in- creased strength and durability obtained, would be rather extravagant, as the life of a tyre tread was comparatively short, even when made of the finest materia]. All classes of raw rubber were used by the solid tyre manufacturer, and it could not be said that if he used the highest- grade Hevea—that was, if the price allowed it—his goods would give greater satisfaction to his customers. Pontinac, when washed, was used without further refining in conjunc- tion with raw rubbers of a higher grade as the base of a compound, which was spread as a solution on to asbestos cloth and paper to be made into steam-packing and so on. On Saturday, a general discussion was invited, and Dr. Huser (Brazil) said it would be in- teresting to know the OPINION OF MANUFACTURERS ON UNSMOKED PARA as compared with wild rubber trees, The CHAIRMAN—said he could give a partial answer. In his experience it had not been an uncommon thing for manufacturers to get a quantity of third grade—what was called Sar- namby—which they would sometimes rate as -most important tests. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist high as.the best Para, and would use for the same purposes ; but it was a product that would vary enormously, sometimes being extremely good and other times extremely bad. He was inclined to think that, at times, scrap rubber which had not been smoked was every bit as good as smoked. Dr. Hupgr—said there were two kinds of scrap exported from Brazil—the real scrap from the trays or pans, and that which had coagulated naturally in the tinson the trees. Dr. Esu (Germany)—said the experience in Germany was that the best grades of Sernamby would not give the English cut sheet, or be use- ful for goods of high quality. The elasticity after being masticated was. very low in. com- parison with the real smoked Para. 1t was also his experience that for hard cured rubber goods —such as motor tyres—they could not use plan- tation rubbers. 1n some cases Sernamby was better than Para. The CHarrMAaN—said he knew that at least one of the large manufacturers of tyres used large quantities of plantation rubber, and the tyres had a world-wide reputation for wearing quality. The question uf the use of plantation rubber was not a matter of touch and go—not a matter ofa single experiment that did not happen to turn out well. He agreed that some kinds of plantation rubber did not resolve so well, milled under the same conditions, as fine Para. That was tempered somewhat by the fact that it was not uncommon to have two classes of plantation rubber—one that masticated well, and one that did not seem to stand milling so well, and yet when they were vulcanised one was as good as the other. He had seen that pienty of times. It was impossible to tell by observation how a piece of rubber was going to vulcanise. Dr. Esa—said the difficulty with plantation rubber was to get enough of the same kind. One of the biggest German rubber works had said that it was impossible to get English cut sheet from plantation rubber; and that was one of the If a rubber would give English cut sheet it was a rubber of fine quality. There were plantation rubbers which stood high mastication; but most of the manufacturers of rubber goods feared there would not be enough of such kinds of plantation rubber. If they bought 10 tons which satisfied them it was diffi- cult to get another 10 tons later of the same quality, At the same time they would be very glad if plantation rubber increased in standard, so as to be thoroughly reliable. The CHarrMAn—said it depended a great deal on the methods ‘of the factory. No fone was more in favour of plantation rubber than he was; and manufacturers had been able to get along with all grades of rubber of vayin quality, notwithstanding all that was being sai about the necessity for uniform plantation rubber. Mr. I’. CRosprz RoxEs (Ceylon)—thought the difference in quality was:due to the fact that, in the first instance, old trees were tapped, whereas now young trees were being tapped and young trees did not yield as good latex as the older trees, > * 82 : and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—August, 1911, Dr. Huser—remarked that he had gathered from the conference that the superiority of the wild Para was admitted, and that its uniformity was due to the method of preparation. lt seemsd to be the opinion of chemists and manu- facturers that the superiority of wild Para was not in the composition of the latex, but in the mode of preparation and the uniformity of tne product, That was very important to the Brazilians. Mr, SuteR-—said there seemed to be consi- derable variety of opinion as to whether there was a superiority in hard Para over the planta- tiun rubber. Owing to the youth of most of the plantations, there was an iusufficient quantity coming from particular estates; but this would be overcome later. Itseemed to him that one manufacturer preferred one kind and others preferred different kinds. The planter thought it might prove a matter of fashion. Certainly the toanufacturers had given no reasons for the changes they made, and the planter could not tell what toaim at, and therefore simply pleased himself in the matter, and suited his own con- venience. It was ayoung industry, and things would right themselves. The CHAIRMAN—said remarks had been fre- quently made about manufacturers telling plan- ters what kind of rubber they wanted, and what was wrong with the kindsthey did not like. If they did it would involve no end of trouble, Manufacturers did not trouble themselves about composition; they did not care about the per- centage of protein or resinin the rubber; what they did want was that what they got once they should be able to get again They wanted uni- formity. It occurred to him that they should follow the example of the creameries, who collected their milk from all sources, and managed to produce a uniform article. ' Mr Petca (Ceylon)—said two points he had gathered from the Conference was that plan- tation rubber was not as good as it used to be, and thatit was not sufficiently uniform. He agreed that the former point was due to the young trees being tapped now. It was undoubted that rubber from old trees was better than from young ones. He could not understand why the rubber now cominglin was not of uniform quality, asthe bulk was from trees of the same age. As tothe Chairman’s suggestion that they should bulk the latex like the craameries did their milk, they had always been told that whatever they did they must not mix their latex. The planters would be willing to bulk it, iftold to do so, a8 it would save labour, Dr. Buack—said he had satisfied himself, by experiments, that the rubber from young trees _ was absolutely inferior to that from old trees. He did not agree with the chairman as to mix- ing the latex. Mr WHs.LLEY—remarked on the different meanings of the word ‘unformity. Uniformity to a planter meant the uniformity of the product of his estate and to a manufacturer uniformity in the quality he desired. Yet again it meant that there would not be a greater loss than 10 per cent in washing. There were 5,000 or more manufacturers, and it was impossible to get them to give a standard definition. - On Wednesday, Mr Ketway Bameper, of Ceylon read a paper on the ; 191 “GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF PLANTATION RUBBER,” in the course of which he said there had been no great change in the methods of planting Hevea rubber since the previous exhibition, and although a good deal had been said of late of wider planting, the average number of trees per acre might still be taken at about 150, obtained by planting 12 by 24 or 15 by 20. Iu Ceylon this did not appear to check development for the first few years, and gave a more rapid protection of the surface soil from the sun’s rays and direct rainfall. Wider planting, with from 40 to 48 trees per acre, would no doubt give, in time, Jarger and more productive trees, capable of re- newing bark freely ; but up to the present the closer-planting method had been more remune- rative, and for those countries now planting Hevea it would still be the wiser policy to plant at least 100 trees per acre. When rubber first began tobe planted on a large scale it was usually estimated that no returns would be ob- tained under five or six years, but it had been found in many instances that the trees were of sufficient girth to commence tapping in or after the fourth year, and that with careful work no harm resulted; but should the trees be over-tap- ped at that age serious harm might follow. The spiral form of tapping had now almost entirely gone out,and latterly also the old system of prick- Ing and paring was disappearing, as it had been found that better yields were obtained by paring only, and with less injury to the trees. The evidence was, however, not inclusive, and some of the finest work had been done by the com- bined tools, followed by excellent healing of the bark. They might expect a gradual lengthening of the period of bark renewal after each tapping, but opinions were completely changing as to the actual time required. In order to prevent the interference with circulation which un- doubtedly occurred under the ordinary system of tapping, experiments had been conducted at Peradeniya with a new incision method with, so far, very satisfactory results. It consisted in cutting shallow vertical channels down the bark from 6 ft. to the ground, incising these at one foot intervals, and collecting the latex at the base of the trees in the usual way. The method had the objection of increasing the pro- portion of scrap rubber, but if this was collec- ted at once in buckets of water to protect it from the air, and heated to 180 degrees before rolling, the rubber was as good as that made direct into freight, and if smoked could hardly be distin- guished from it. Another point observed was that with the rapid increase in girth of the trees the width of the channels increased in proportion. Mr WickHaM—strongly condemned close planting. He agreed with what Mr Bamber had said as regards tapping, and was glad he had come to view ‘the excision method with favour, Personally, he thought the present method of coagulating with acid would have to give way to coagulating by smoke. At pre- sent they were curdling the latex and forming rubber trees. The smoke method: was that by which the fine hard ‘Para was produced, and it was known that that was always of uniform 192 The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist quality, the very quality which was absent in plantation rubber. If they wanted uniformity they must try the smoke cure, Mr TupHorEe—advocated the collecting of the latex at central factories, as was done with re- gard to milk in Denmark. They would have to place in charge of these factories highly-qualified men. They would then produce rubber in tons where at present they were producing it in hundredweights, and the trouble as to uniform quality would be at an end. The CuaingMan—said that on the question of uniformity the proposal of Mr Tudhope pre- sented many difficulties which were prevented from being carried out. So far as he could judge, what was likely to happen was that they Hate have the estate marks for the production of the estates, and the estate managers them- selves would be the best judges of what grade they should make their different kinds of rubber. The testing of milk was a very different thing to the testing of latex. Mr Kretway BamsBer—in replying on the dis- cussion, further illustrated his new method of tapping, and said he believed it would prove a success. With regard to uniform quality, he believed it was only a question of time and that the present difficulties would be overcome.—A. & C. Mail, July 14. THE WOOD-ALCOHL INDUSTRY IN GERMANY. The wood-alcohol industry in Germany made slow progress until 1880, when the law providing for the denaturation of alcohol was passed, but about the same time the importation of wood alcohol and pyrolignite of lime from the United States began, anda number of the wood distil- ling firms merely bought up these imported raw products and manufactured them into acetic acid, methyl alcohol, and denatured wood alcohol. The largest concerns, however, soon established their own distilling plants in the thickly-wooded surrounding countries of Galicia, Hungary, and Russia, and imported their raw products to their refining plants in Germany. Exact figures of the production of wood alcohol and pyrolignite of lime are not published, but according to a reliable estimate there were produced in a recent year, in Austria-Hungary, and Germany, about 6,500 metric tons of the former and 27,000 to 28,000 metric tons of the latter. The industry has also suffered semewhat of late years on account of the competition with the great volume of denatured potato and grain alcohol produced in Germany. The fact that deciduous varieties of wood are comparatively scarce in Germany is another reason why the wood alcohol industry is not so far advanced. Chemists and distillers state that wood irom coniferous trees produces only about one-half the wood alcohol and pyroligneous acid pro- duced by wood trom deciduous varieties, and that the profitable distillation in the former case depends upon the quality and quantity of the pine oil and tar obtained.On account of the costliness and general application of these woods the stumps of coniferous trees are practi- cally all that are distilled. The distillation of sawdust and wood refuse has not proved profit- able, because practically all these products in Germany come from coniferous woods, which not only produce little alcohol and pyroligneous acid, but very little tar and pine oil. The char- coal obtained in the distillation of sawdust, which is the only other product of possible com- mercial worth, is comparatively valueless, be- cause it is in powder form, and efforts to obtain it in briquette form have as yet proved unsuc- cessful.—Royal Society of Arts Journal for July. SYNTHETIC RUBBER. AND THE TEST COMMITTEE, The challenge by Mr Stanes Manders, the organising manager of the Rubber Exhibition, to the Caoutchouc Syndicate to manufacture synthetic rubber under test conditions was, as stated in our issue of Monday, accepted by the syndicate, The demonstration will take place today. The committee officially suggested to ascertain whether the claims made by the syndicate are capable of satisfactory proof includes Dr Henry P Stevens, m.A., F.1.C., Dr. Philip Schidrowitz, F.c.s., and the Chemical Expert of the Finan- cier, Mr Hermann C T Gardner, F,C.s., M.P.8, The operations connected with the manufacture of the substitute will commence this (Wednes- day) afternoon at 4 o’clock. A strict watch over the substance will be kept day and night until 4p.m. Saturday afternoon, when the substitute for natural rubber will be on view and tested in all ways by experts, the tests including the one of vulcanisation. Our readers may care to hear that the experi- ment of making ‘synthetic’ rubber by the for- mula of tho Caoutchouc Syndicate, Limited, to which reference has been made in our news columns as prospective, is now under way. On Wednesday a quantity of the syndicate’s is- oprene—and something else; what, we do not know—was placed, in the presence of commit- tees of experts and journalists, in an autoclave and there it will remain sealed at the necessary temperature until Saturday afternoon at four o’clock. The receptacle then will be opened in the presence of the committees (having been kept under strict observation by both parties to the experiment to prevent interference by either side), and the resultant mass will be handed over to the inventor of the process for treat- ment. This it will undergo under the observa- tion of the committee of experts. and at seven o’clock on the same evening it is to be divided up, one portion going to the Silvertown rubber works for vulcanisation and the others being handed over to the investigating experts for testing purposes. As a member of the journa- listic committee we cannot indulge in any ex- pression of opinion at the present juncture, but we might just point out that we endorse Sir Henry Blake’s remarks prior to the initiation of the experiment that the production of some substance resembling rubber leaves the com- mercial aspects of the invention still to be con- sidered, and that the real crux of any test lies not in starting off with the isoprene as pre- pared but in the making of the isoprene.—fi- nancier, July 5. mi fe7Vou. XXXVI any ‘price TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST MAGAZINE OF THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. COLOMBO, SEPTEMBER, 15rx, 1911, No. 3. TOBACCO, The results of the first year’s experi- ment with tobacco at Maha-iluppalama are now out, and show, roughly, that the _ tobacco sold for cne-quarter of what it cost. This does not mean that tobacco must be a failure inthe north—we mean of course tobacco-growing for the Huro- pean market—but that there will not be ‘“run-away”’ success in it, and that, to make ita permanent success, while it can doubtless be done, will involve the spending of large amounts _ of money and much time. To transform the experiment just eoncluded into a paying proposition; expenditure would have to be halved, obtained doubled, and yield increased by 50 per cent, There is littl doubt that the yield could fairly easily be increased by 40-75 per cent., and the price obtained doubled. Mr. Cowan was of opinion that, if cured in large quantity, the tobacco would have been equal to average Sumatra, which obtains about 75-80 pfennigs a kilo against the 35 we obtained. There remains then the question “‘ can the expenditure be halved, or price and yield still further increased?” Though the coolies were inefficient, it would not seem likely that their wages, which make the bulk of the cost, could be reduced by a half, and we must there- fore look to still better yields and prices. This is a mattter for long, detailed, and careful work by an expert who shall give his whole time, and that is how the matter rests at present. GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS. ‘ane FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE HAWAIIAN GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION. (From the Hawatian Forester and Agri- culturist, Vol. VIII., No. 8, March, 1911.) On January 238, 1911, in the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce, in Honolulu, was held the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Hawaiian Rubber Grcwers’ Associ- ation. After opening remarks by the President, Mr. F. L. Waldron, Mr. W. A, Anderson, manager of the Nahiku Rub- ber Company was called upon for an address. ; ADDRESS OF Mr. W. A. ANDERSON. Mr. Anderson’s subject was the ‘ Re- sults of Tapping.” His address, in part, is as follows :— ‘* We had very little data on the com- mercial tapping of Ceara trees, because practically no work had been done, and therefore we started more or less inde- pendently at the beginning. At present, however, there is quite a good deal of tapping of Ceara trees in South America and South Africa, reports of which are available from time to time, and they are of assistance to us. ‘Weare now tapping Ceara trees by making a vertical channel up to a height of about five or six feet, the spout being inserted at the bottom. Then on one side we make diagonal euts about six inches apart, beginning at a point six inches above the spout and leading into the vertical channel. On the other side of the channel similar vertical cuts are made half way between those first made, each cut extending a quarter of the way around the tree. In this manner one- half of the circumference of the tree is being tapped. At the next tapping these diagonal cuts, but not the vertical channel, are pared on the lower side, removing a strip of bark about a third of an inch wide. At the third tapping this new cut is pricked along its upper edge, and at the fourth it is pricked along its lower edge; after which it is again pared and pricked in the same manner, so that one paring is followed by two prickings, making one paring in every three tappings. ‘This system was evolved after trying paring alone, pricking alone and prick- ing at the same time. Pricking is more rapid than paring, and gives larger returns fora given amount of labour. The paring alone gives a profitable yield. The fewer parings, as compared with fo1. . 7 A : ; See (SEPTEMBER, > the number of prickings, the better, and while the paring alone gives a profitable yield, the pricking done as described gives a better yield. After the outer bark has been removed a new and tough bark soon forms, which makes pricking alone unprofitable in a few weeks after the bark is removed. For Brest RESULTS. “For best results tapping should be done during the first few days after the bark is removed, for the reason that — otherwise the latex cells appear to dry up with the action of the air and soon wither, If the trees are not tapped during these first few days, they should not be tapped till after several weeks. Hence, before the tree can be thoroughly tapped, the new bark will have reached the stage where pricking cannot well be accomplished, For this reason, removing the bark by paring over a space only wide enough to prick in the next two or three days. proves better than removing all the bark at once and then trying to prick for a long series. Also by using the paring knife as above described—not going too deep—pvofitable tapping is made while removing the bark. nee a ‘Of course, objections have been made to pricking, but objections have also been made by good authorities to paring, and would be made to any method of extraction. The only course open to us is to find the method that looks best, and, if it has not already been proven objectionable, use it until it is shown to be so. It was thought at one time that pricking was responsible for injury suffered by some of the trees in a series of tappings last year, but later experi- ence has brought the conviction that not the pricking, as pricking, but the removal of bark at that time chiefly responsible, aided, no doubt, by the rather severe tapping that closely — followed. The system outlined here may be rather severe, In aherring-bone with diagonals only six inches apart, the top — of one cut extends above the lowest point in the cut above the lowest point in the cut next above it, and for this reason must interfere somewhat with the horizontal movement of materials in the bark. This objection, however, would be stronger in the case of the vertical cuts, and as the flow of mate- — rials in the bark is chiefly upand down ~ or diagonally across, it is rather diffi- cult to determine what strength this objection would have. Also, since the — was nea Wy paring isto be followed by pricking, the former is not as deep as it otherwise would be, and therefore does not inter- fere with the circulation as seriously as itmight otherwise. The paring alone was expected to get all the latex. These close cuts have been made for several months, but not yet long enough to determine whether they might be injurious. Of course, the chance of ‘i injury can be lessened by the avoidance | - of too frequent tappings, sil TAPPING INTERVALS. “The yield froma given tree appears toinecrease for the first six to twelve _ tappings, after which it decreases some- what till a pointis reached where it ' remains about constant. The word _ ‘tapping’ includes the pricking too. Hence a series of six, nine or twelve _ _. tappings may well be followed by a rest, a _ For instance, if the yield diminishes (i after six tappings, it might be well to rest it. Probably twelve tappings should be made. We have found that - arestof a week is sufficient at some _ periods. In this way we remove all the bark wecan. If we start from the tree, our next two parings will remove that off comes immediately after the removal of _ the bark. This pricking takes place as soon as the bark is removed. “Tfa third of an inchis removed at each paring, then in three parings, or » nine tappings, one inch of bark will _ have been removed, and there is plenty ot authority for advocating a rest at this stage. We have found thata rest of a week or ten days is sufficient, and then we start again and get about the same result. At this rate, also, fifty- four tappings will take off all the bark between adjacent cuts. Therefore, tapping for one week and resting for - three weeks would remove all the bark _ ov one side of the tree in about six _ months, when it must be rested before _ beginning on the other side. 3 “The more rubber we get from each tree at each tapping, the more economi- eal the tapping. After the bark on one side of the tree has been removed for tapping, after six months’ rest we ~ would go around to the other side of the tree. It has been found by the experi- ment station reports and observations that, if the tapping is carefully done and -. not too deeply, it will renew in less than a year. Itis only in certain points and when the pricking is too deep, that swellings on the wood are caused. If the pricking is carefully done, it does not swell, but the pricking does gointo 195 Saps and Huudations. the most prolific cells, while in order to get there with the knife we would have to cut deep, because the bark is so thin. ea far we have not found satisfactory nives. ALTERNATE TAPPINGS. * A movement is on foot, and growing, in the Far East, to limit tapping oper- ations in any one year toa quarter ora third of the tree, instead of to a half, as heretofore, thus giving three years instead of two for the tapping surface to be renewed. This might well be con- sidered by us, in which case, instead of the full herring-bone going half around the tree, the half herring-bone going one third around, might be used. Of course this system of tapping is not the last word in the tapping of Ceara trees, but in practice it has shown advantages over any of the other methods tried, and is the best we have found so far; furthermore, the best returns, in the use of this method, were obtained in the series of experiments carried out by the Board of Agriculture and Forestry and the Experiment Station last year, and these were obtained by making two vertical cuts, two in each place andat each tapping. They were made with knives, anda number of the cuts were too deep; a number of the trees have been thus injured. The chief objection toit in my mindis that it does not admit of a sufficient number of tappings in each year. If weecan discover some other method of getting at the same result, I think we will find it better, provided we can secure sufficient labour: ‘When the vertical cut is made, there is a tendency in the bark to crack open— that is, the wood part of the bark cracks open, and this is apt to cause an injury that is difficult to heal, and it makes the bark rust. Aside from that, I have not seen any reason to believe that one will heal before the other. I have not seen any difference in that respect. We did try making vertical cuts on the tree, and found it more difficult to do the tapping in that way without injuring the tree. OTHER TRIED METHODs., ‘*‘ Other methods that have been tried with Ceara trees are: vertical cuts— paring, spiral cuts, V’s, pricking and collecting, pricking and acetic acid, paring and pricking simultaneously. “The latex cells lie so near the cambium in these trees that it is difficult to cut with a knife deep enough to get all the latex without injuring the cambium. A knife with the right sort of guard willina measure overcome this difficulty, but no satisfactory knife of Gums, Resins, this sort has yet been found. The guard should be so constructed as to run in the bottom of the cut and not on the outside of the bark, as is the case with the only locally made knife of this sort that has been produced. Such a guard would not need to be adjustable, asit would always run in the bottom of the old cut, regulating the new cut to the same depth as the old one. Then;due care having been exercised in making the first cut, the others could be regulated by it. In the use of such a knife, by the time it reaches the bottom of the bark you get the maximum amount of cut. I think that possibly this knife might be adjusted by altering the guard. The guard itself takes up one-sixteenth or one-twentieth of an inch. The Bowman- Northway paring knife hasa guard on this principle, but is made for Hevea trees, where the bark is thicker and the parings thinner than with us. WANTED—A KNIFE. “J have no doubt but that a knife suitable to our uses can be produced. I think that perhaps some mechanical inventor here can produce one. We now have coming from the Far East all the knives they have, I mean, one of each of all the knives they have. They stick to the knife with the gouge. They havea bent-in gouge. They have one or two push-and-pull knives. I brought one with me which makes a new cut and the guard runs on the outside of the bark. In order to make a paring of an ordinary cut, we have to make a ‘‘ V” cut orelse a ‘‘U” cut thatis very narrow. We are at present using the Yates- Burgus or “Burgus” knife, which, being a push-and-pull knife and making a very clean, sharp cut and both right and left- handed, has shown itself to be avery good all-round knife, after slight alteration to make the cut more nearly ‘“V” shaped in place of the wide ‘‘U” cut, which serves on the thicker barked Hevea. This knife has no guard, or gouge, but, since our paring is to be followed by the prickings, we do not try to govery near the cambium, and on trees of proper tapping size; the cut can be rapidly made without injury. Of course, we started paring and pricking at the same time, so that a man could do his paring with that knife and then turn around and do his pricking. If you pull, you can gauge the depth to which you go. “A very good pulling knife for making first or original cuts in the vertical tapping system has been developed locally along the line of the modified 196 fa.rier’s knife, used in the experiments of last year. A few of these have been , ne ‘ - AL (SEPTEMBER, 1911, ir Oe made by Mr. Sylvester, and should do good work in making this style of cut. As a rule, the Japanese prefer to draw it, while the Portuguese or Hawaiians will pushit. I brought this knife back with me at the same time I brought the gouge that they are using, and we observed both. The knife lies about flat on the cut and makes a clean, - sharp cut, while the gouge is a bit bevel- ed and is apt to drag. ‘ ‘We would be glad if some enterpris- ing person would produce a knife that could be made to produce a cut from four to six inches apart, that could be fairly well controlled as to the depthof . the cut and width of the paring made. Such a knife would reduce the cost. of paring considerably. It seems to me that we should find someone that could produce a tool with which we can make more than one cut at thesame time. If we could secure such a tool —a knife that one man can handle—it would save usa | great deal in the cost of paring. ‘‘A pricker perfectly adapted to all the conditions has not yet been found, but, of course, one will be evolved in time. Weare at present using a tool designed for an entirely different pur- pose, but which does very good work, following the paring in the system now employed. COAGULATION PROBLEMS. ‘*The most interesting problems to be solved in the future of rubber planting are those in connection with improved methods of coagulating the latex and curing the rubber, and those bearing upon the possible tilizers to the latex yield. “Not only have tapping knives been invented and successfully used, that we have never seen and probably have never heard of, but several machines and processes have been invented for smoking either the latex or the rubber. - relation of fer- - Smoked plantation rubber is quoted at — about ten cents per pound higher than the best unsmoked. This additional ten cents per pound may some time mean to ~ us the difference between profits and no ~ profits, and in any case will mean addi- tional income at comparatively little cost. Besides this, the first factory is just being planned, and for this alone two machines which are unquestionably essential have been ordered—a washing machine and drying apparatus. To equip this factory to the very best ad- ‘vantage, it will not be sufficient to have observed one or two successtul factories in operation ; one should know all the ~ 4 ~ . ah ~ JEPTEMBER, 1911.) . improvements that have been made since these successful factories were - erected. f ALL HXPERIMENTAL. “The making of rubber plantation machinery is in its infancy, and for that reason every advance is likely to bea big advance. Our factories, when built, should be of the _ highest _ possible 2 efficiency, for only by the use of machin- ~~ ery in its highest point of efficiency and economy can we hope to overcome the _ handicap under which we are placed by ~ loeal labour conditions. It would be folly to sit at home and hope we may ae start at the beginning and work — out the problems that others have already gone far in solving. We should learn all the others know and _ then improve on their accomplishments. For this reason I believe this association, if this isthe proper medium for joint action by all the _ plantations and 4 ' planters, should send someone to the — * London Exhibition next summer. Here all the rubber machinery in the world “a will be represented, and especially the products of English manufacturers who _ have for several years specialized in plantation machinery. These will not only be exhibited, but demonstrated, and no better opportunity couid possi- bly be offered, or more timely for us. iia ‘* It seems to me we should send some - ~ one familiar with the problems here, who can adapt to our local conditions what he learns from the discussions and _exhibits there. He can there obtain the best the world affords in tools for + tapping and euring our_ product. _ Ibelieve the person should have some authority to purchase, for he might find ___+just the knife we require to overcome . our difficulties, or he might find just the pricker we need, and if so, should be able to purchase in such quantities as to enable us to use them at ouce. This would also enable us to get the best possible equipment for our factories. Were heto wait until his return home and make his report for Directors to act upon, before orders could be given that must be filled in England, delay of - months would ensue, while, should he order on the ground, the goods might t arrive nearly as soon as he did. Pur- _ @hases have got to be made anyway, and : why not go shopping to the one place Bey where all there is to choose from can be aA? He will be able to seen at one time. a _ compare prices. ~ 7 “The members of the Association have vy, spent in the neighbourhood of $300,000 to oy Z bring the industry to its present state, where the trees are ready to give their 197 - be well spent. Saps-and Exudations. product; $1,000 more, or whatever it might cost to insure the making of this product as valuable as possible, would The factory now under way, and all that may hereafter be built, should have a suitable apparatus, what- ever it may prove to be, or at least the most suitable yet discovered or in- vented for properly smoking its rubber, if by so doing it can obtain ten cents per pound more for that rubber, or even three cents per pound more. ‘*Reports are just now coming to hand of the invention of a successful machine for doing chemically what the smoking process used in fine hard Para does. The late Mr. W. W. Hall had this in mind when he suggested to me several years ago the use of pyroligneous acid for the purpose. If this machine is all that it is boped it will be, we should have it, if it is adaptable to our product. The only way to learn whether it is, is to see it work. DRYING APPARATUS. “We have found that we shall need some sort of artificial drying apparatus. If the rubber is kept for any length of time exposed to the air, a mold forms on it and it takes anyway three or four weeks to dry the rubber out here, and for that reason the rubber company has come to the conclusion that it is wise for us to invest a little money ina vacuum dryer for the reason that we are not ready at this time to spend money on expensive machinery, YIELD PER TREE. ‘Our trees yield about a pound of rubber from one hundred trees at a tapping, or at one hundred tappings from the same tree. We find trees that are not more than ten inchesin circum- ference that will give a profitable yield, while some sixteen-inch trees do not give a profitable yield. We find, too, that removing the bark all at once is apt to injure the tree, but we will probably try to find some way of removing all of the outside bark at once. This knife does very good work cutting through even the original tough bark as well as the new bark that might form. _ ‘* We have over 1,200 trees, and I think it will work out to tap about nine times and then rest the tree for a week. _‘“ We cannot tap one tree one hundred timesin a year unless we make our cuts wider than this. Of course, if we made our tappings twice as far apart, we would get twice as much rubber. We may find that it will be wiser in the long run tomake our tappings farther apart. Ido not think that we shall want to tap Gums, Resins; allthe year round. The trees should be rested from the first of February until the first of May. It will probably be found wiser to tap the tree nine times and then rest it for three weeks, and then make another tapping, in which case we remove one inch of the bark. By this scheme we make eight or ten cuts each side of the channel, and that makes sixteen or twenty cuts onthe tree. Of course the expert will prick a great many more than he will pare. We select the more skilful ones for the tapping. We are not using any acid. We tried a scheme thatI believe is being used in South Africa. We found the same difficulty there that we found in trying to grow without paring. 1am firmly convinced that more or lessinjury is done to the tree every time the bark is taken off. The scheme that we have now adopted avoids that difficulty.” PAPER BY MR. L., F. TURNER. After the conclusion of the discussion following Mr. Anderson’s paper. Mr. L F. Turner read an address on “ Cultiv- ation of Rubber Trees and its: Results.” It was as follows :— ‘*T have been asked to prepare a paper on Cultivation and Soil Conditions. I presume that the request refers entirely to rubber culture, as itis to be read at a Convention of rubber planters. ‘‘Several conditions are necessary for success, with rubber as with all other crops ; we must have soil to cultivate, and we mustcultivate thesoil to a reasonable extent at least. To this may be added that heat and moisture, and proper climatic conditions are also essential. This much will be conceded by all, and then each man has his own opinion of what cultivation means. Different conditions require different methods of treatment; each manager probably recognizes that the stirring of the soil is of prime importance ; each one knows that the roots of the trees must not be cut; and the benefits of fertilizers have been so thoroughly demonstrated that they need no further argument. How best to accomplish the cultivation with the utmost benefit to the trees, and at the smallest expense, is the pro- blem to be solved, and perhaps the best way to get atitis foreach of us to speak of our own conditions and com- pare results. ‘* Puna is pre-emintly a volcanic dis- trict; its ails are, with the exception of the organic matter on ,the surface, entirely of volcanic origin; every pro- cess of the change from rock or sand,, to fertile soil, is here laid before us as an 198 [SmPrEuBmR, 1 open book. The abundance of moisture combined with the warmth of the climate, and its freedom from winds gives surpassing fertility, and the old saying: ‘Everything grows in! Puna,’ is more than borne out by the results spread out before us on all but the most barren rocks; and even among those trees and bushes are springing up, and in some parts dense jungles of lauhala’ are growing almost to the water’s edge. “The enormous flows of pahoehoe, Poa ee Ah en ; bt and the out-bursts of sand and ashes ~ are everywhere apparent, leaving no doubt whatever as to the agencies that have been at work to produce the present conditions. Layers of pahoehoe over deep soil show that fertile land has been covered, and speak either of the vast time that must have elapsed to produce this soil, or of alternate out- breaks of sand and ashes and of lava. And with the exception of the 1840 flow, which came from Kilauea, and the legend of Pele chasing the chief who had bested her in a game, there is no record nor tradition of activity in any of the numerous craters in this portion of the district. “The action of rain on the sand and ashes beats down the surface, and then a little lichen or moss, a few ferns or shrubs, and vegetation has commenced, 'and the decaying vegetation combined with the moisture from the atmosphere, quickly absorbed by the sand and ashes, forms the. beginning of the soil, which deepens and increases in richness, until in some eases it becomes almost a muck. Such are the soils of our better lands, - our arable lands. BS “The grinding and wearing of the rocks as they rolled or were pushed along, - and filling-in of some of the crevices by weathering; the above processes repeated, followed by the further break- ing down, disintegration, and decom- position of the rocks by the roots of shrubs and young trees, form the bhe- ginning’ of our almost impenetrable forests, and with the abundant rainfall sufficiently account for the richness of our lands, Mies “The change from the absolutely sterile rock below, porous as a sponge, and with every vestige of life burnt out of it to the fertile soil of the surface, is illustrated in the numerous upheavals; the gradual deepening of colour as the rocks slowly absorb oxygen from the atmosphere, and humus from the decaying vegetation, is apparent to every observer. Every class of dis- integration is shown, and every class of stone, from the impervious rock, hard SEPTEMBER, 1911.) as fiint and heavy as lead formed under enormous pressure, to the light and friable scoria which can almost be -erushed in our hands, and the trans- formation from the immense houlder to smaller and smaller rocks until the rock soil—the base of all soils—is formed, takes place almost before our eyes, _ **The process of disintegration may be greatly hastened by cultivation. . Anything that will stir the rocks and break or chip off small portions from time to time makes it easier for the rootlets to enter the pores, and so hurries along the disintegration and decomposition. ‘On such soils as these ordinary _methods of culture have tc be abandoned ; add to this fallen trees lying all over ‘the fields, and culture as generally under- stood becomes impossible; all that we can do isto keep down the weeds and elean around the trees while they are young; in this we have derived great benefit from a suggestion of Dr. Wilcox— the arsenic spray. This is a solution of arsenic and washing soda dissolved in water by boiling, and applied by force pumps in the form of a fine mist; it will not take the place of cultivation, but is a valuable auxiliary. ‘We have found that on our lands the best and cheapest method is to leave all the debris on the field to rot back into soil; it keeps down the weeds - and adds to the humus; it must, of course, be laid in windrows, and gradu- ally pulled together as portions of it disappear ; two or three years tell the tale. Ifthe land is planted as soon as cleared of forest—and no other method should be adopted—there will be nearly ayear in which no great expense for weeding will be required ; but sooner or later the weeds creep in, and then if the trees have not made a good growth in the meantime, the trouble and expense commence. Intercrops may be called to our assistance for the first two years ; after that they will have to be aban- _ doned toa great extent, as the roots of the two crops will have interlaced and both will suffer. Our best soils, our arable land! Sand and volcanic ash saturated with humus and thoroughly pervious to aic and moisture require less cultivation than more compact soils; even here, however, a thorough stirring produces new combinations; it new supplies of food are presented to fw the innumerable bacteria, and they in * turn produce large supplies of soluble food material for the trees—whic “promptly respond to it—and if fertilizer is liberally supplied in addition at this time, two or more years’ growth may # y 199 Saps and Exudations. be condensed into one: This requires money, and men !—but it is money well and wisely expended. “Wertilizing is a necessary part of cultivation; it reduces the expense of weeding, not by eradicating the weeds, but by hastening the growth of the crop; two weedings with fertilizer will bring the trees to the same size as three or more without it; it gives them in- creased vigour, and makes them better fitted to withstand unfavourable con- ditions later on. We have found that from one-half to one pound, applied around the tree, gives good results, and that two applications are better than one, evenif only the same amount of material is used. Astothe kind—any good, complete fertilizer will work well, and the higher grades are the cheaper, as the cost of transportation is pro- portionately less. The best proportions of the phosphates, nitrogen and potash, will have to be matters of experiment; analysis of the soil cannot be entirely relied on; there is in all probability vastly more of each in the soil than you are likely to apply, and it is safe to say that if leaching or washing ont can be avoided none of the material will be wasted. ‘“s We have found that a heavy growth of weeds even in the middle of the lines is better avoided ; that by cutting every- thing down there wasa great and imme- diate improvement in the trees. Weeds choke the tiny feeding roots, and by forming a sod prevent the air from entering the soil; this is doubly true of Hilo grass; unless this latter is kept under control the inevitable result with the rubber tree, as with most other trees or plants, is loss of vigour, deterioration, aud eventually death.” DISCUSSION. Mr. Ewart: Do you fertilize all the trees ? Mr. Turner: No; just the younger trees. There is no question whatever _about the value of the fertilizing. Mr. Ewart: What kind of fertilizer do you use ? Mr. Turner: Just the ordinary ferti- lizer of a high grade. The fertilizer that we use was prepared especially tor us by the Hackfield Fertilizer Works. The formula comes from a California fertilizer man, and was given to measa matter of good will: 10% ammonia from nitrate, 8% to 9% of phosphate from steel bean, 5% muriate of potash. I have never used any straight potash. I used it on one tree and killed the tree. It was a small tree, and I put iton Gums, Resins, around the roots. I may say that arsenic spray is an exceedingly valuable suggestion of Dr. Wilcox. It takes two or three applications, but after that it does the work. Mr. Ewart : What is the formula ? Mr. Turner: One pound arsenic, four pounds soda, one gallon water. We dilute about twenty times. Mr. Cooke: What does it cost to spray an acre? Mr. Turner: The costof spraying is very little. On ordinary land it amounts to a dollar or $1:25 an acre, but on our land it would cost more than that, be- cause our land is very rough. Iam figuring more on the labour ; the cost of material on the acre would not be over half adollar. That is very cheap clean- ing. A question! think we should ask the Doctor is how long it can be kept up without injuring the soil. Weuse two or three pounds of soda ordinarily. Mr. Cooke: Cana man spray an acre in a day? Mr. Turner : I think he can go over two acres in a day on ground of the roughest possible description. Mr. Anderson: Mr. Turner asks how long the spraying can be done without injuring the trees. We have done it for years. We have used this spray for two years. Mr. Lindsay: How many applications © did you make in that two years ? Mr. Anderson: We had one field that we sprayed about once in every three months. We gave iteight or ten spray- ings, and the trees looked. thoroughly healthy, and there is a marked difference in the appearance of thesoil. When the grass grows up on the soil it improves considerably in appearance. Me. Turner: It kills out some and does not kill out others. Mr. Anderson: It ic the same thing > I have tried the iron sulphate, but it is not as effective as the arsenic. PaPeR BY Mr. C. J. AUSTIN. Owing to the absence of Mr. C. Js Austin of Nahiku, his paper on ‘“ Pests that have been found in Rubber Trees in Hawaii” was read by Mr. Lindsay. It was as follows :— “When the rubber industry was started in this Territory, it was stated by many people that the rubber tree had no pests, so that those that were investing their hard-earned capital in the rubber business need have no fear of later disastrous developments along that line. But, unfortunately, those 200 ' #9 Eee (SEPTEMBER, 1911, 71 ee ee who made such statements had not taken into’ consideration the great scheme of universal life which is hem- Soha te hy ee + ‘“ ¢ eae iy med on all sides with enemies of one _ kind or another. **And when large numbers of indi- viduals are gathered together these enemies also seem to congregate and carry on a war for existence, and we find that the rubber plant is no excep- tion to the general rule. In the early stages of the rubber planting a small - nocturnal marauder, the cut-worm, did considerable damage to the young plants as they were set out, but as the plants grow rapidly, and those who had the work in charge learned the habits of this nightly visitor, it soon became of little importance, and now it is hardly considered a pest, as it also has a para- site which keeps it in partial check. ** Following the cut-worm, rats com- menced their depredations, and with an appetite that one might fear would be dangerous to well-equipped digestive organs,they peeled the barkthat contains this most valuable gum we gall rubber, and insome instances have been known to climb trees that were six or eight feet high and destroy the more tender shoots either killing the tree or materially setting it back. Buttheir depredations were soon stopped when clean cultiva- tion removed their hiding places, and with the use of dogs and poison their homes were destroyed, so that injuries caused by this small animal at pre- sent, for they are so slight, hardly noticed. ‘* At the present time there are one or too small pests that are still with us in the form of sucking insects. One of these is a small brown scale that usually infests the under part of the leaves and congregates along the mid-rib and the — soft bark of the young and tender twigs. This insect is generally known here as the brown or shell scale, and has been “ determined by Mr. Ehrhorn, Superin- tendent of Entomology of the Board of Agriculture and Forestry, and others, as being Saissetia nigra, The injuries that are caused by this dc not come so much from what they take out of the tree, as by a black fungus that grows on \ a the honey-dew exuded by this scale. This fungus covers the leaves and branches of the tree, and materially checks the respiratory organs, and to a certain extent weakens the tree, other of these sucking insects is what is generally called the Miali Bug (Dactylo- pius). This also exudes a honey-dew which supplies the growing fungus with — The © by + es the material, and also hasa tendency to Ke curl up the leaves, which are all inju- rious to the tree to some extent. However, through the assistance of the Board of Agriculture and Forestry, parasites for these insects have been introduced in the Nahiku district, and we trust that these insects will soon be a> a thing of the past, or be under such - control that their injurious effects will not be felt, as the scale has already _ shown signs of diminishing. | Since tapping has commenced, a few ' slight injuries by boring beetles have - heen noticed, but at present we are un- able to give any special information, nor dowe know that it can be classed as one of the rubber pests ; but will require _ close observation during the coming year to see that it does not get a start in our fields. — £*There is still another pest that may possibly become a menace to our Heveas, This is a fungus disease which is closely allied to what is known as shot-hole fungus (Phyllosticta prunicola), but no _ fear need be felt trom this fungus, as we know how to deal with it.” At the afternoon session of the. Con- _ vention the following officers were elect- ed to serve for the ensuing year :— _ C. D. Lufkin, President. William Williamson, Vice-President. D.C, Liadsay, Secretary and Trea- surer, - Bertram von Damm, Director. - Wade Warren Thyer, Director. 2 a om PAPER BY MR. WILLIAMSON. ee: “The Present Status of Rubber Growing in Hawaii” was then discussed ay bY Mz. William Williamson as follows :— 2 Bi. _ “Gentlemen of the Convention :—A couple of weeks ago Mr. Waldron came to me and asked me if I would talk, and eh I told him that I would be very glad to. ~ He wanted me to talk about marketing, _ orsomething else. I told him I would oi ( talk about marketing, but mostly about something else. All I can say about _ marketing is that we accumulated about _ 40 pounds of rubber, of which 18 pounds i ee eae \y. was scrap. We did not feellike giving _ this away, so’ we sent it on through oS Alexander & Baldwin, through their New York agents, as it was sufficient to _ make up what the companies back there _ Seemed to want—that is, a good working "sample. We expect within a week or _ two to get a report on that rubber. In order to get something to talk about, ~ and asI had not been in Nahiku for two years, but previous to that had eek been Over there three or four times 6 3 each year, and had seen the various a, companies plant their lands, I thought ; 26 / 201 Saps and’ Exudations, it would be a good idea to go to Nahiku and try to give you herea general idea Gr the condition of things over there on aui. “When the first rubber companies were organized to plant rubber trees at Nahiku, some six years ago, it was thought that all that would be necessary would be to cut down the virgin forest, dig holes 3 or4 feet in diameter, and plant the seedlings there. During the first year the trees grew remarkably well, but as the roots struck the edge of the hole, instead of striking through into the virgin sod, in many cases they turned back and formed a tangle within the original hole. The natural result was that during the second and third years they failed to respond to hoeing and became backward in their growth. * During 1908 a few acres to be planted to Hevea from choice seeds were plough- ed in preparation, and the trees planted in this area showed such thriftiness that at the beginning of the next year three of the companies operating in the dis- trict decided to clear the Ceara fields of all stumps and grass, and stir the soil of all the space between the trees. Of the 800 acres planted by these three com- panies, 550 are now clean cultivated, and the balance will be within a few months. The trees have responded readily, showing an average growth of 4 inches in circumference per year, from which itis evident that had the first plantings been in ploughed ground, the Nahiku product would have made its appearance in the market. last year when rubber reached $3:00 per pound. These lands, once cleaned up, are kept in condition by an occasional spraying with arsenate of soda. The writer was doubtful of the wisdom of applying a powerful poison over any considerable area whenit was first recommended, but inso far as hecan see it kills the grass and weed growth, but has had no injurious’ effect whatsoever upon the trees. Some of the lands so treated for about a year where the branches in- terlace to shade the ground are now so free from grass and weeds that they will require no moreattention, Acreage that has not been cleaned up is backward, and it is evident that the longer the trees are neglected the longer will be the wait fer returns, while many thousands of trees will never reach tappable size, while they must share the life-sustaining pro- perties of the soil ‘with the grasses and weeds that grow between. “Throughout the fields are a few thousand trees that have attained a circumference of 20 inches, and a few Gums, Resins. hundred will measure as much as 30 inches. The average run of the 1905-1906 plantings is 12 to 18 inches. ‘* Hight men who have become fairly adept at handling the tapping knife are now tapping under the direct super- vision of the several managers. These will form the nucleus of a much larger force that will be required next year, when at least 20,000 trees will have attained tappable size. “From the results obtained by these men, explained in detail by another paper to be read here to-day, the rubber industry, young as it is, offers great promise of a reasonable return on capital invested, if conducted as it now is by men of intelligence, ingenuity and adaptability. “As the time for tapping over a large area is at hand, one plantation has already ordered machinery for a factory which will be running within a few months, **A movement is now on foot to unite the companies now operating at Nahiku, and if successful this factory will be enlarged to handle the product of the whole district. Additional advantages to be gained by this move are the establishment of a standard product to be known as Hawaiian Rubber and doing away with competition for labour among the various companies. “Noticeable in the district is the planting that has been doze by home- steaders. With a factory at hand to handle the product as it comes from the trees, the writer sees for the individual planter a profitable use for his land.” DISCUSSION. Just two years ago when I went over there, the Plantation was considering putting the lands under cultivation. About two acres had been cleaned up, and some 80 or 40 hevea trees had been planted there. Then there were very few trees that would run 8 inches. To-day under clean cultivation, with many of the smallest trees thinned out; the average size of the trees that I men- tioned is now about 12 to 18 inches, with many 20 inches, and some even as high as thirty. The growth of older trees under.clean cultivation is not as rapid as that of the later plantings, and it is evident from this that if you planta tree in ploughed land it will grow faster than a tree that has been growing for several years in unploughed land, and is clear cultivated later on. Trees of later planting in most cases have caught up with the other trees. You can find there acres and acres of trees that will average twelve to eighteen inches, 202 OS Mr. Lindsay: How about the Hevea trees? <4 7 a eee a Mr. Williamson: The Hevea in some lots seems to be doing nicely. I think it was inJune, 1907, that the first lot was set out up there, and those 1 have measurements of. They average about 10 inches at the base, and the bark will average a fourth of an inch in thickness — 22 inches from the ground. The hevea trees throughout the Plantation seem to be growing very slowly as compared with the ceara. / Mr, Thayer: Will it bea long time before any of those hevea trees produce ? Mr. Williamson : I am inclined to think it will be a year or two. If you wait until they are 20 inches in circumference, it will be a couple of years at least. Dr. Clark: Are they injured by the heavy winds—do the Jeaves fall off ? Mr. Williamson: The hevea leaves do not stand the wind. The leaves seem to curl upin the wind and get brown on the edges and blow off, The trees -in our nursery average about 10 inches. A few ceara trees on our Plantation that were given garden cultivation from the first measure a little over 40 inches, and the average is 80 inches. That is a very good growth. They have grown so fast that the wind has not damaged them a particle. ADDRESS BY Dr. E. V. WILCOX. The Chairman then introduced’ Dr. — E. V. Wilcox, Director of the United — States Agricultural Experiment Station © at Honolulu, who spoke as follows :— One of the things that strikes one in looking into the history of the rubber industry in Hawaii, is the fact that the men who have borne the burden of the finances of the rubber here have had a very good, steady nerve all the time. When we stop to think that at the start nothing was known as to whether rubber would succeed here or not, that the expense of managing the rubber was not understood, that it was not known what the yield would be, and, furthermore, the whole proposition of managing ceara rubber as a plantation | business rather than wild trees, was almost entirely new, and we had next to no information on it at all required good business enterprise to — start in and plant as has been done in Hawaii and keep the business going. ~ } When we first began work on the rubber here, the first tapping and experi- ments were carried on by Mr. Smith, and they indicated that satistactory yields — could be obtained, that the trees were actually producing quantities which ~ I say it SPTEMBER, 1911.] were promising, and immediately we - began on the methods of tapping. I was - impressed, while listening to Mr. Ander- - gson’s paper this morning, with the idea ot the necessity of varying the tapping methods as the trees became larger, and _ Thave no doubt that other modifications bi may be found very desirable when the SS ‘bark becomes a little thicker and the trees become larger. When we started : in tapping. the cut was made.in only one direction, and it was necessary to use the upright cut in order to geta sufficient area or surface of the bark, but i‘ it soon became evident that when the _ rainfall was heavy there was a high pressure, and that the trees had actually popped and split open. Under those circumstances, it may relieve the pres- sure so that the flow will not be so _ extensive. aa The manner of cultivation of rubber '. trees is one of the most important things intheindustry. Like Mr. Williamson, I went over all the plantings of all the companies last May, and [ think it was shortly after that I went over to Puna _ Plantation, too, and was able to observe very carefully the growth of trees with cultivation and without it. It isa very Ps serious proposition on account of the __yery rough nature of the land. It simply - means promptly getting rid of the weeds and giving the sunachance to get at the _ soil. In my opinion, it is not neces- + sary in rubber cultivation to stir the _ soil very much after the trees have once got a start, if you keep the ground be clear so that the sun can getit. Any a ys, ba statement that you may make regarding - the cultivation of soils in Hawaii will - have to be taken with some reservation, as this statement will apply only to the _ particular lands in questicu. In soils which can be puddled; one of the prime ‘requisites in getting acrop from any- ‘ig thing, is to keep off the land when it is too wet. In some of the districts in Nahiku, it will be seen that the manager would havea very easy job, because it - ~~ would be raining most of the time, and yet something must bedone. The weeds could not be annihilated because it is so sje wet that they, after being hoed, would . again grow up. No plant can grow with- - outair any more than an animal can, _ and if you shut out the oxygen it would _ die in a short time, and it will show the effects of the lack of oxygen very quickly. One of the most striking things to me on looking over all the plantings and — comparing them with about a year before, was the great changes that had , ts _ taken place in the physical appearance _. Of the soil where this weed eradication (a had been carried on. In some places the ~ Sh * 2 ) 208 Saps and Fxudations, soil was mud and the horse went along in the mire. After the weeds were removed, the superficial water ran off, and many of those places were actually more or less dry. There was a very noticeable difference, and the air was going into the soil and the trees were growing. Now, from the results that have been had so far in growing rubber in Nahiku, it seems to me that we may be sure that a tree large enough for tapping can be got inside of five years. I do not think that unreasonable. Inside of three years we could get them, with the best culti- vation, but five years is plenty of time to allow to get a plantation of good size for convenient tapping. Itis not possi- ble by any means to get ceara without cultivation,. You can go about the plant- ation and see trees three years old with cultivation that are larger than trees five years old without cultivation in similar conditions. That saving of two years is, of course, of immense advantage, It might make all the difference between succeeding and not succeeding, keeping the stock-holders encouraged and having them discour- aged, and having the question of financial backing trembling in the balance all the time. Of course I have heard some expres- sions of slight disappointment from time to time at the results of tapping experiments which have been carried on here. I. think we have been unduly enthusiastic about the yields which we are going to get, and particularly in Hawaii we are always looking for too large profits. But the results indicate, as Mr. Anderson said this morning, very clearly that a reasonable profit can be obtained from the rubber trees as they stand, and this is the time to settle the matter, so far as we can tell now, as to whether the rubber is an industry here or not. If you can take trees that were planted five years ago with no special knowledge as to what ought to be done to rubber here, starting in on an industry of which there was absolutely nothing known to us, and, after making some mistakes, still get trees which will yield a profit in five years, it seems that would settle the point as to whether there is a reasonable profitin carrying for rubber trees, for every man wh) has charge of rubber work on every plant- ation is now armed with a whole arsenal of information. The yields, as I look at them, are very encouraging. We are dealing with young trees that are more or less lacking in uniformity because they did not receive the same line of treatment. We Gums, Resins, and while there may be a hesitation on the part of some as to the foundation of getting enormous profits, there must be big profit in the business when we can take it out at 50 cents a pound and poll for $1'40, with the unskilled labour ere, One thing that appears interesting to me in the experiments of the Nakiku Rubber Co. under Mr. Anderson is the fact that boys do the work very well. It is not a heavy class of work; it does not require much brute force. Itmerely requires a little manual skill and dexterity. They are very quick in collecting the rubber. It is all light work, and they can easily carry a bucket, perhaps faster than a grown persor, and do the work just as well. That indicates that in that cheap labour we can find a solution of the problem of reducing the expense, provided the price of rubber should fall below where the rubber growers might wish it to fall. In the matter of diseases and the insects and pests of rubber I do not believe they are very serious so far. It may be that some will develop of which we know nothing now, and there are but few instances of trees which have been seriously affected by the _ shot-hole fungus or even with rats as soon as the ground in between the trees has been cleared up. Another point is the matter of alti- tude. 1 don’t know whether it would be wise, it never is commercially, to try to find the limit of altitude in which rubber can be grown, but in going’ over the plantations last May I was enabled to note that the rubber grew as well at 1,400 feet as it did at some lower ele- vations where it received the attention that it deserved. However, an altitude up to 1,800 or 1,400 feet does not seem to affect the rapidity of the growth. The question of the kind of rubber to be grown here is somewhat left open yet, but the decidedly more rapid growth of ceara seems to indicate that that is the one upon which we can depend at present, There is also the hevea and the castilloa, which have been discussed. There have been at times a number who have been enthusiastic about the growth of hevea, but itis so slow as compared with ceara, and is affected so much more by the winds and altitude, for it seems to dwindle out at 1,000 or 1,100 feet, that it seems that the ceara tree is the one to grow here. And as to the rapidity of growth, we may say that the ceara does remarkably well here, and is per- 204 have had different methods of tapping; ‘ ’ fectly satisfactory as to the rate of growth, and in the most part in the shape of the trees. Referring again to the tapping ex- periments which Mr, Anderson has been ~ carrying on, I would suggest that a device might be gotten up which would ~ 4 hold several knives at the same time. That might be possible if we had several trees the same size in trunk; one knife might not cut as deep as the other knife, and in straight cuts a device something like the instrument that was submitted to Mr. Hosmer from a Mexican rubber | expert might be modified in such a manner as to carry several knives, but the device itself would have to be worked outright on the plantation. As a matter of fact all of the actual, practical details of how to make rubber economically have to be worked out by the man who has charge of the plantation. We cannot depend upon any mau who has other things to bother about, and is looking at it from a different. standpoint from the man who is interested init. He cannot work at the practical, details. I am always glad to do whatever I can do toward the encouragement of any industry which really promises to give rewards which | warrant ore in being encouraged, and I have been impressed with the manage- ment of industries which are more or less new, and on which we have only limited local experience. One of the things in gaining success is not to be too enthusiastic at first, net to expect three or four hundred per cent., not to expect that the crops are going to grow without attention, and not to expect that there is going to be no ~ trouble. The plants require attention. It requires not only money, but brains and industry joined together and applied to the business at all times in order to make a success of it, and I honestly believe that the results which wehave — gotten so far from rubber show that not — only have there been men with the — courage to put their money into it, but. that the work which has been done by: the men who have had practically to manage this business, has been con- scientious and has brought about results which are all that any reasonable man can expect, and so, gentlemen, it seems to me that these results are very ~ encouraging at the present time. If you _ can get profit from the trees youhave ~ now, 1 do not see that there should be ~~ any worry about the methods, In ~ looking after the little details which ~ may improve the business from your standpoint, the proposition to unite then ist companies together I believe would be a j 7 wine: SEPTEMBER, 1911.) very fine scheme indeed. It would accomplish just what Mr. Williamson said it would. It would be more economical. You need to have a large plant in order to manage the thing economically. If you are going to have such a thing on the market as Hawaiian rubber, it should be always of the same quality; so that the market can be kept up,soit seems to me that the rubber situation would be greatly improved if the companies were united on an equit- able basis. Gentlemen, I thank you for your ‘ attention. . Mr. Anderson: At the last Convention we asked Dr. Wilcox about the spray. As we have only used this material for about a year, he might be able to tell us what he thinks about it, Dr, Wilcox: As I said this morning, I have used several tormulas at the Station, I believe you found that 1 to - 20-24 is about right; about a hundred gallons covers an acre. At that rate, - only 5 pounds of arsenic were used per _ acre. Itisinavery soluble form. The - mostof it is held uponthe plant and finally falls down when the plant falls down, or if you burn it up, it is burned - upinthat way. Five pounds per acre - isactually less than has been applied for 20,380 and 40 years on the same ground in orchards on the mainland without causing any injurious effects on the soil. The presence of arsenic, even in a soluble form, would not 4 cause a burning effect on the roots, - because they are too thickly covered with bark, and the mere presence _ of it at that rate does not cause ; any harmful effect on plants. I don’t + +see any reason why we should worry about that. Ifit is to be kept up for years and years and years, you might think theremight be an accumulation. The soluble salts are continually washed out of the soil, and I do not believe it could accumulate beyond a certain limit. _ __ I doubt whether it will ever accumulate. _ ~Mr. Turner: I may say that in spray- - ing our trees the barrel was_ placed between two trees, and in dipping out from the tin there was a certain amount he of dripping, and the exact amount that was wasted I do not know, but it was merely dripping. The bark burst open ___and bled all the way through and the tree was defoliated. “Dr. Wilcox: How much was poured in _, there ? Mr. Turner: I was not along with them at the time. _. dead, but they have not recovered yet. 7 205 The trees are not | Saps and Exudations. Mr. Cooke: I would like to offer a suggestion to the Convention at this time, Jt seems to me that we are about getting to a position where the rubber will oe placed onthe market. It might be a good idea to have a Committee to look into the marketing conditions and make suggestions at the next Convention. It seems to me that if a certain standard of rubber can be produced, possibly a unique form of putting it upon the market might give the Hawaiian planter a certain advantage. I don’t believe there is much call for a report, but just offer this as a suggestion, Chairman Lufkin: It seems to me eminently in order that such a Com- mittee should be appointed. Mr. Cooke: I make it asa suggestion, and asa motion also. Dr. Wilcox said that in all shipments we should main- tain a certain standard, and that in my experience is most essential, and it is very essential that the bulk of the pro- duct should come up to the standard. Chairman Lufkin: The motion is duly seconded that a Committee of three be appointed to investigate the rubber mar- ket, looking foward to future market- ing of the rubber crop on several plant- ations, Of course, in the present con- dition of the rubber business, we are all acting for this individually, and it would hardly be practicable, but in view of the fact that combinations are likely to be made, I think we are good business men enough to see the advantage of it, where the marketing can be done by one con- cern or agency. Mr. Turner: There are no two plant- atious that bring the same rubber ; they do not bring the same price. Chairman Lufkin: The object is io investigate the market, ascertaining the best form in which to place the rub- ber on the market, pancakes or what- ever itis, and at the next meeting of this Convention to make a report which will put us in the right way of market- ing the rubber at that time. 1 under- stand this Committee is to make merely preliminary investigations. Motion carried. Mr. von Damm: I would like to say that some time ago I got a small sample of Nahiku rubber from Mr. Williamson and sent it to London, where a friend ot mine in turn took it to experts, and he wrote me and said that they had not seen rubber in that shape before, but that these experts, after analyzing the sample, had said thatit would fall not very far short from the top price of Para, and they were very anxious to find out whether it came from the hevea Gums, Resins, © or ceara trees. I had written him that we were principally growing ceara on these Islands. The experts had the im- pression that it might have come from the hevea tree. Mr. Auderson: We were told by manufacturers in New York that most of the ceara rubber they get is not pro- perly washed and dried that they had imported ceara rubber from abroad and had been unable to use or’ dispose of it and had sent it back. They said that all they needed was working samples in order to give us a definite price for our rubber. Mr. R. S. HosMER’s REMARKS. Chairman Lufkin: My predecessor has very wisely obtained the consent of Mr. Hosmer to address the Association. Mr. Hosmer: I did not come here to make any speech; I only cameas an individual member to show my interest in this Convention, and, indeed, I have not anything technically of interest to contribute. Unfortunately, the appro- priations of our Board have not been sufficient for us to branch out except for our regular routine work, so I have not gone into this investigation froma technical standpoint. There are two things 1 would like to say, however. The Board of Agricul- ture and Forestry is always willing to do all it can in helping on any of the so- called ‘‘allied industries,” and rubber naturally appeals very strongly to us as an industry in which weare especially interested. At this time we can help, possibly, by opening the columns of our monthly magazine, the Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, if you desire to publish the reports of this meeting. Even if you publish them again asa separate report, it could well appear asa special number of the Forester. I think that the papers whicb have been read here to-day ought to be made of permanent record and given wide distri- bution, They ought to goon record for future reference. One other matter, and that is the suggestion made by Mr, Anderson at the end of this talk, that someone from this Association should be present at the Rubber Growers’ Meeting in London next spring. I don’t know much about that meeting, but I do know that there is going to bea big meeting there, and I know from my own personal experience that itis a mighty good thing tor the man himself, for anyone occasionally to gotosuch meetings. He gets a great deal out of it, brought back is of value to the industry. 206 and the information’ ety vs ~ Re: (SEPTEMBER, Istrongly recommend that one of the technical rubber men be sent on behalf of the Association, or in some other way — to represent the Association there; to be on hand to bring back as much infor- mation as he can. } Ifat any tims or in any way the Board of Agriculture and Forestry can be of assistance to the members of this Association, we are thereto be called upon. REMARKS BY Mr. E. M. EaRHoRN. Mr. Ehrhorn, Territorial Entomo- logist : I don’t know that I ean tell you very much about the pests that affect the rubber. I have just read Mr. Austin’s paper, and there is just one — thing I can say, and that is that the rubber growers can be congratulated because they have very few pests attack- ing the trees. Since last year I have looked into the matter, and in fact have kept in very close touch with the rubber growers, and I can say that we know of only two scale insects, that those are insects that are found in forests, generally speaking, but they are kept in check by the parasites that are already here. I forwarded to Mr. Austin at Nahiku some of these parasites be- cause he was. complaining about the black scale pest. The mealy bug which attacks the rubber tree is one common’ kind, but I do not think that you are in danger from the pest or that pest, or that it will injure the rubber tree. The cut worms have, of course, attacked the rubber tree, but that wken they were only very small and the trees were pro- tected by the grass. I think that here- after there will be very little trouble with the cut worm. There is one thing that weshould all be prepared for, and that is the import- ation of any rubber varieties. We have here all the kinds that we want now, and the only danger in the import- _ ation of moreis the bringing in of new pests through importing trees.. There is very little danger from the seeds, yet someone might find some new species of — pests, and there is where the danger is, because in Ceylon there are several root diseases which are very serious pests. They have also the white ant which attacks the green timber'of the rubber tree, and it is known that in Ceylon this species attacks the timber of the rubber tree. In shipments of plants from Manila we find all kinds of — pests, and of course we are always very — careful to see that they are killed before being landed. Thereis one pest _ that Mr. Austin speaks of in his letter, and he sent me specimensofit. They 2 are two small beetles which he found in the root of the rubbertree. They are a common native species, and I told him - that as far asmy conclusions at that _~ time were concerned, the beetles had ___ appeared on account of some sap remain- ing on the tree afterthe tree was cut, and that always draws beetles. I do . ~ notthink that that pest really would be considered as a pest of the rubber tree. 4 Evidently it was not very alarming, because I have not heard anything more 4 ‘about it. The rubber growers are very fortunate in having so few pests, and I think it will be possible to keep out any others. President Lufkin appointed Messrs, F.L. Waldron and George P. Cooke to 8 take up the matter of sending a repre- sentative of the Association to attend _ the London Rubber Exhibition in June. Messrs. Wade Warren Thayer, Albert - Waterhouse, and A. L. Castle were ; appointed as members of the Publicity Committee. Messrs. George P. Cooke, F.L. Waldron and William Williamson were named as the Committee on Markets and Marketing. After tendering votes of thanks to Dr. Wilcox, Mr. Hosmer and Mr, Ehrhorn for their able addresses, the ~~ Convention adjourned. ___ INDIA-RUBBER IN DUTCH GUIANA. os A By the EpIToR of ‘The Rubber World.” (From the ae) Rubber World, Vol. ' XLIII., No. 6, March 1, 1911.) THIRD LETTER, A Morning Ride to the Balata Pier.— Dutch Negro Workmen.—Governmeut Balata Concessions.—Bush Negroes.— _ Balata Trees 400 Years Old.—Locating the Trees.—Balata Crews.—Tapping.— Coagulating.—Bringing the Gum _ to 3 “and Market. Very early morning the Balata Man ay - came around in a stylish little trap _____:s qdrawn by the liveliest horse that I had _--_- yet observed,and invited us to go out < - and inspect a shipment of balata that had just arrived from the iuterior. Our a acceptance was prompt and grateful. gf We whirled down Keizerstraat, which ~~ was crowded with men and women on PAY _ their way to work, down by the huge market sheds where sat scores of country tae ' negroes with baskets of fruit, eggs, poul- ___ try and every variety of tropical edible, 207 Saps and Hxudations. animate and inanimate, which could possibly find sale in the city. Then out through the suburbs and up to the balata warehouses. é Balata arrives in bales weighing about 250 pounds each, the sheets folded to- gether, piled up and then bound with bushrope. One of the first things down on the receipt of a shipment is the in- spection. The sheets are cut apart, partly to allow of further drying, and partly to detect foreign material, particularly sand. Itis then baled again and weighed, the Government Royalty paid, and it is ready for shipment abroad. It is here also that boats are outfitted for halata gathering and for the gold fields. One boat was loading while we were there. It lay some eight to ten feet below the pier, and one negro and four coolies were trying to induce a mule to step up ona narrow plank and then descend into the boat. The mule knew that the plank was so awkwardly placed that it would slide off, and wisely refused, so they blindfold- ed her with a piece of burlap so loosely woven that she could see right through it. Then with a man down in the boat, pulling at the halter and four pushing from behind she suddenly jumped and landed safely in the bottom of the boat, incidentally catching the man below by surprise, and knocking him heels over head under one of the seats, and that is about the way the workmen do every- thing. They are slow, clumsy, and lack mechanical ability. It does not do to be too impatient or to try to hurry them, for then they hasten but always do the wrong thing, and their misdirected energy and ingenuity in accomplishing what you do not want done is appalling. They are willing workers and also exceedingly willing loafers, The Balata Man told of being far up the river at one time with a lot of balata awaiting shipment. This, some negro boatman agreed to take to Paramaribo for twenty guilders. It was seven days’ journey, and they had been four days rowing when they were overtaken by a steam launch. This they hired to tow them the rest of the way, contentedly ' paying twenty guilders for the service. The balata lands are almost wholly owned by the Crown, but are exploited only by individuals or companies under Government concessions. The concession- aires pay half cent per hectare (2'471 acres) for prospecting. Then they pay 4 cents per hectare for ground rent. Added to this is 4 cents per kilogram export tax which must be paid within eight days of its receipt. The only other export tax Gums, Resins, in Dutch Guiana is a small one on gold. — It is probable that when cultivated rubber is produced in quantity it will be required to bear its pro rata of the State burdens. The policy of the Government has never been to embarass the planters; on the contrary it has helped in many enterprises, even going so far as to loan money at a low rate of interest to many of the planters whose estates suffered through disease. Speaking of Crown lands and the wilds, one at once remembers the bush negroes. ‘They were once servants, perhaps slaves, gone into the hinterland and made little settlements where they live by hunting, fishing, and as little farming as possible. In some respects they have lapsed into savagery. They speak a mixture of Dutch and Indian, a language of their own which is analogous perhaps to the pigeon English of the Chinese. They are tractable and friendly if treated well, and are sometimes used by planters with excellent results. They are very honest, and while they often borrow, a debt with them is a_ sacred obligation. Incidents are cited where a man has travelled miles to town with a little money accumulated penny by penny for a long time to pay a debt contracted by his grandfather years before. I think it was Jenman who estimated that many of the mature balata trees that he saw in the Guianas were at least 400 years old. Whether he hit it within a century or so does not matter. Certain it is that the tree is of slow growth, and asan ordinary planting proposition is not to be considered for a moment. The tree which is locally known as the bully” or *boela,” is bctanically the Mimusops globosa. It is found in French, Dutch, and British Guiana, in Venezuela, and indeed in various parts of Brazil. It is very common in the Guianas, grow- ing on sandy reefs that run in all. direc- tions through the lower country, and also along the margins of streams in the uplands. The beginning of gathering is the ex- ploration party that locates the trees. This consists of eight or ten men at 60 cents a day, under a foreman at 80 cents aday, who go out into the bush in Sep- tember, October and November, and stay for weeks atatime, until they have locat- ed asection wherethe trees are thick enough to make gathering worth while. A report is made to the Government concerning the location, and the right to gather balata is obtained. The laws are very strict concerning tapping and de- struction of the tree, or over-tapping, is expressly prohibited, Only one-half of ' 20 pounds of balata. | (SEPTEMBER, 191 the bark area is tapped in one year, and that area is rarely tapped again, The — reason is that the bark grows over the wounds in irregular forms, making it almost impossible to secure a surface that can be bled in a satisfactory manner. The gathering or tapping begins in January. Bush negroes are not used in this work, nor are the coolies. The labourers are invariably town negroes who have been contracted for before the holidays. They have also secured ad- vances of money of which they invari- ably spend every cent in Christmas and New Year’s festivities. It is quite a task to round up these contract labourers, and very often the police are forced to lend a hand in. getting the expedition started. The food supply which the foreman looks after ‘consists of flour, split peas, molasses, salt, fish, beef and pork, tobacco and matches, while each man carries calabashes, a 5-gallon tin can, a cutlass and a queer tin canister foratrunk. They go by boat up one of the many rivers which may take a week or two to the place they have picked out for the central camp. Here twenty- five or thirty men make their head- quarters. As soon as the shelters are built, and they are erected very quickly, the tanks for coagulating are made. They are built on log foundation, the bottom being about 3 feet from the ground, and are shallow wooden pans 10 to 12 feet long and 6 to8 inches deep. They are made from boards split from palm tree trunks, and the cracks are carefully stopped up with balata until watertight. A’ cover is also made to keep out the rain and to prevent ag SEES, twigs, ete., from falling in. The collectors after breakfast spend a short time discussing the weather pro- — babilities, and if it bids fair to be a day free from rain they scatter for the parts of the forest where they have located untapped trees. In addition to cutlass, calabashes and collecting can, each workman constructs a rough ladder of poles and bush rope. ae Tapping is begun at the foot of ‘hee tree, where great gashes are cut in the tough bark, under which a calabash is placed. Thenon up the tree worker goes cutting deep grooves two inches wide, — erisscrossing them so that the milk will — flow downa main channel into the cala- — - bash. Hight or ten trees is a day’s work for one man and from them he should fill _ sai the 5-gallon tin. This should give about The gatherer starts or back tocamp about 2in the afternoo empties the latex into his tank and: "pad the rest of the day tar into the night in ‘eating, smoking and story-telling of the weirdest sort. : The gathering being done at aa beginning of the rainy season, as the < milk flows best then, great care must be exercised to avoid the frequent showers, as water injures the product and often stops coagulation. The dry- ing or coagulation is very simple. The tank is set out in the sunlight for several hours, and a thin skin soon forms on the surface of the milk. After a time when this is thick enough it is peeled off and hung uptodry. This film looks like raw hide and is of a dark red colour. The dishonest gatherer will fold the wet sides of the sheet together before it has thoroughly dried out, and by so doing gets greater weight. Normally, the drying continues for about a week, but the product shrinks for a month or more. The average gatherer brings in ~ from 400 to 500 pounds, while experts in good sections have been known to gather as much as 1,000 pounds in a season, When the work is finished camp is the 209 Fibres. broken and the balata is taken to Para- maribo; the men are paid whatever balance is due them, and they promptly and joyously spend it all in a single night. The sheet balata from Surinam is the standard, and is worth much more than tlock, which latter is never as dry, and often contains impurities. Sheet balata costs to collect from 40 to 45 cents a pound; 20 cents of this goes to the labourer who is paid only for the gum he turnsin. The other costs are a small commission to the foreman, general out- fitting expenses, Government tax, and so on. Balata has been much slower in coming into use than has almost any rubber or gutta. For a long time it was classed among the intractable gums. In 1890 the world could find a use for only 200 tons of it. Little by little, however, it found uses chiefly as a substitute for gutta- percha, until in 1900 400 tons were needed. (To be continued.) PAPER INDUSTRY IN CEYLON. [Special to the ‘* Morning Leader.”} In response to many inquiries made about the possibility of a Paper In- dustry in Ceylon, I should like to saya “few words, and leave my enterprising and industrially inclined countrymen to rie a Me \ a take them for what they are worth. a. There are many points to be considered ie before a mill is established, and the most Yale important of these is THE SUPPLY OF RAW MATERIAL. Till about the middle of the 19th Century, Linen and Cotton Rags were exclusively used as ‘‘raw” materials for paper-making. As time advanced, the demand for paper increased and the supply of rags in large quantities to meet the demand of the Paper-maker we was disappointing ; he was forced to go in quest of cheaper and more inex- _ -haustible raw material. This was found ____- in some varieties of wood, like the Pine, Fir, &e. |The art of paper making an consists of uniting or felting together ____ any fibrous material so as to form a con- tinuous sheet. As such paper could be made out of any fibre, it is for the expert _ to select the one that requires the easiest be and least expensive treatment. 27 FIBRES. Dr. Little, the leading Paper-chemist of America, says :— ‘* Woop AS A Raw MATERIAL” has proved so available, convenient, compact, easily handled and heretofore so cheap, that we have been led to over- look or ignore the immense sources of other and better paper stocks which lie easily within our reach.” -The demand for paper is steadily in- creasing by leaps and bounds, and as it was feared that there would come a famine in the pulp wood, those con- cerned were on the look-outfor suitable provision in other - directions. Mr. Thomas Routledge, the famous Suther- land Paper-maker, who first introduced Esparto Grass into England as a paper stock, found in the Bamboo an excellent material for the manufacture of paper. Ever since then investigations have been going on, and now experts like Sindall, Raitt, Richmond and others agree that THE BAMBOO would be the future mainstay of Paper- akers. Dr. Arthur D. Little says in the American Exporter :— ‘*Hspecially noteworthy in the deve- lopments of the year is the serious and general revival of interest in bamboo as Fibres. a source of paper stock. Its superlative value for this purpose was urged, it will be recalled, by Routledge in 1875. The very favourable conclusions as to bamboo, reached by R. W.Sindall, in his report to the British Government on available sources of Paper Stock in British Colonies, arenow amply con- firmed by Raitt.” In the bamboo Paper-makers have found a really INEXHAUSTIBLE RAW MATERIAL, and Mr. William Raitt, of Bangalore. recommends the establishment of Bamboo Plantations so arranged, that one-third of the whole plantation shall be cut overevery year. This will secure absclute permanence of growth, and in fact such systematic cropping will in- crease productions. Mr, R. W. Sindall in his booklet Bamboo for Paper-making (the book is printed on Bamboo-paper, a copy of which the author was kind enough to send me) has the following :— ‘““In the summer of 1908 the Govern- ment of Burma supplied several tons of bamboo, and this was converted into paper by Messrs. Thomas and Green, Soho Mills, Woodburn, Berks, who found that the material yielded readily to treatment. . . .. This firm reports that the material WORKED EXCEEDINGLY WELL on the Paper Machine and produced a very good sheet of paper. The manager of the North of Ireland Paper Mill Co., who tried this stuff, says — ‘We found no difficulty whatever in working the stuff. . . . The paper was put through the mill just the same as if we had been treating wood pulp, and came on the machine in the usual way. We had no difficulty whatever, nor had we to alter anything on the machine.” The extreme rapidity with which the bamboo grows and the easier treatment it requires in comparison with wood, makes it very valuable. According to Mr. Raitt the yield is 45 per cent. as such, to make a ton of paper 2} tons of bamboo are required. I think trom the results (which were satisfactory and encouraging) of the experiments I have been carrying on, while I] was in charge of the Lunmi Paper Mills, the yield should be a little more than 45 per cent. —very near 50 per cent. I HAVE MADE PAPER OUT OF REEDS, Beesha Travancorica, a sort of plant belonging to the same family as the 210 bamboo, and the yield was much higher, about 66 per cent. This reed} paper,has been very, well commented fon by ex- perts both in India and; England. A beautiful cream coloured paper which looks like parchment is produced from the reed. Tam afraid Iam digressing from the ‘main point, If [ have said too much about the bamboo, it is because this would be the main raw material, IF EVER CEYLON HAD A PAPER MILL. The beautiful forests of Ceylon have an inexhaustible supply of this wood, specially the kind known as “Bata,” | Ochlanda stridula, which is found in profusion in the low lands, There are rivers that would form splendid water courses, allowing easy transport over long distances. It is my belief that ‘“‘there are many localities capable of providing for ever for a paper mill making about ten thousand tons of paper per annum.” In addition to the bamboo there are other kinds of fibrous plants in our forests that could be advantageously utilized for the manufacture of paper. The particular kind of SuGAR CANE known as Rambuk would be an excellent paper stock, and I believe this could be had in any quantity. The fibre of this, I understand, is now used for twine. Murukku (Moringa pterygosperma), Kat Amanakku (Jalropha curcas), Tiruku- - kalli_ (Huphorbia tirucalli), Hlakalli (Euphorbia nerifolia). Plantain fibre and many of the aloes would be excellent paper-stocks, and I have experimented ou most of these. «- Sshows186 160 2 shows 176 116 9 Tree EK Tree D: Rckoben s . 15 Ane A by 218 158 9 besa Uy : e Ade 56 28 of .. 19 i, pio ae 55 26 ” Melort ee leaves marked sa oe 104 57 ” it OG piece .. 140 140 55 Oa 87 36 fi SEE) Wan eee, eeek2eD FPeoO 59 13 3 140 = 185 November 4 ... -- 200 106 60 12 1 101 90 HMAC (hi, ase vee 161 99 53 9 L ay 96 86 Pee tactic O ae ese Ve LOZ 81 43 10 1 ms 90 80 Moku iass Lomas Fa 91 62 39 11 2 ; 86 77 A PAGS ih: 92 61 40 10 2 i, 81 69 Redtan ce sed Oh as 91 51 35 ih 2 et 99 57 os Cae shows 93 59 38 8 3 shows 93 58 Rcd iat 2 IY) 98 98 63 34 6 3 9] 91 — 5y Pr pL Eno) iad OOo) 2100) 76 38 6 8 116 93 86 December 4 ... 96 96 71 34 Piente (G3 102 99 46 i UA TD. os, ODA ATOO e186 62 138 8 190 180 81— Ps oak Pipes LOO Pe1S2r <1 G2 yn fe a shows ey 122 = 68 January 3shows18 91 8 47 Siphte Pome ST 06 mage a .. 10 179 179 86 60 30 9 148 «148 87 42 ™ .. 17 168 168 57 40 21 6 129 124 68 51 5a .» 22 156 156 50 37 20 4 186 125 59 47 - 28 186 186 59 27 5 2 . 198 180 44 20 February 1189 189 66 18 9 2 - 200 160 3Be iN wale 99 ece 4 200 190 T7 15 8 3 ceo 205 160 By 11 36 e SO QOL SCOGSs«SD. 14 5 Dee 206) 18h: AN Giese 00 COO DH NIOO OUD G CO OD. i oo f_ a j : OURS G3 00 DOH OT OD HE OT. CO HE C9 OD OD C9 OUI bt Ft CO — into o> al ee ee Fan! uae i t te ef SESS AGRO 1 ese ok Cae) Cea a ee PTEMBER, tl The growth of stems and roots, if an ccurate enough record is kept, is found - never to be steady, and thetrue explan- ation of its irregularity is probably ana- logous to that just given for the greater irregularity of the growth of: the coco- nut leaves. | In the stems and roots, the cells and tissues, having unequal in- - herent power to enlarge, as we know they have, set up tensions, the accumu- lation and release of which are expressed by the observable irregularities of rate. In roots there is also the opportunity for tensions between cap and body, in spite of the fact that the most rapid enlarge- ment is often back of the cap. In the coconut, the entire elongating region is usually enclosed, and must inevitably stretch with more or less of a jerk every - time the hold between the back part of the cap and the enclosed body is over- come. - The rate of growth is also consequently a function of the weathsr. As an illus- tration, a severestorm began October 31, and the growth during the four day interval following was slower in most eases than it had been immediately fefore. Again, there was some rain February 5 and 6, and February 8 and 9 were stormy. Vibar’s table shows a slower growth during the four days, February 4 to 8, than during the pre- ceding three days. This is more clearly brought in Table III, containing the measurements of Lejano, of the youngest leaves only of six trees. Table III. ae Growth per diem of youngest leaves _ during the periods ending on the dates given. Beginning January 28 :— Ng 217 Hdible Products. Tree. Jan. Heb. Feb. Feb. Feb. 3l 2 Y 9 16 Tees 5067 aaa b20'o bora ere TE) 34 8255) 84 12" 89s TID. 4.22 16 18°5 25: OFF as Average ... 269 27° 7276 163 29°4 DN ie LE 258 TT Sh, Seb ee VR ee 9° ERS 0 162 15:5) Peles We usa), 882! 6) 2004) 20°) 9258 Average... 21°3 25:3 21:1 147 169 It has already been noted that Lejano’s trees are on very shallow soil, which had become decidedly dry by the end of January. The growth of his trees was slower at the beginning of Kebruary than during the preceding September ; while the students whose trees grow on deeper soil found the growth in February more rapid than at any previous time. It will probably be a cause of surprise to many, as it was at first to me, thata few days of rainy weather have a decided detexrent effect upon the growth. Most plants growing in the Philippines whether herbs, vines or trees, and in whatever stage, show this more markedly than does the coconut, Several hundred species, records of the growth of which are in my hands, have shown this whenever the records were so timed as to bring it out. The difference between the diurnal and the nocturnal growth appeared as conspicuously as possible in my San Ramon work; for not merely was there frequently no growth at all during the day, but there was sometimes an actual shortsning. Working here with adult trees, and ata time when the water supply for the root was ample, the difference was still evident. It is shown by Table IV, compiled from the tables of Cevallos. ee. Table IV. és a GRowTH OF LEAVES BY Day AND BY NIGHT. 3 TREES. mx. BoLpD-FACED TYPE, 5 P.M. TO 5 A.M. bs Leaf. 1 2 1483 ] 2 3 1 2 3 me Aug. 6... 00 10°3 09 02 130 08 05 DS oy A530), ys! wee LO) 22:0 3'1 11 480 1:2 3'0 479 248 56 Rosy ewsce. LOG 23°8 20 On 144 1:0 1:0 11°0 70 = 8=6.1°0 ie . a4 41°0 6:2 0'9 41:6 3C 3°2 52°0 18:0 4:0 Oe By. 4.100 4:0 1b) 1) 0'3 U0 389605 0:9 13:2 21 06 Mee. 0°5. 38:2 50 8615 24:0 3940 2:0 33°0 38794 my! 9 0:0. 6:0 232i 06 180 8613 0:8 Uw 50 16 ‘ een alee 270 06 4540 SL On a iy) (1-0 29°0' 820 4-0 eat All figures represent millimeters. The first column is growth in width; other- _ Wise, all are increment in length. ie The checking of the growth during _ the day is obviously a function of the decreased water supply of the crown of _ the tiee. Thesame is true, at least in _ large part, of the damage done by _ drought. On the other hand the check- ing of growth by prolonged rainy weather seems unintelligible, except as a result of the checking of photosynthesis. itis true that the temperature is usu- ally lower during storms; but it is like- wise true that February is a colder Edible Products. 218 month than any from July to December, and yet it shows the most rapid growth except when dryness interferes. As a matter of fact, our differences in temperature from day to day, or from month to month, are less than the usual difference between day and night, and the fact the night is cold does not prevent rapid growth at that time. Regarding the relation between the rate of growth and the age of the tree, it can be laid down as a general rule that from germination to maturity there is a gradual increase in the rate of growth of the most active leaves. The younger the tree, the slower the growth. This has been demonstrated on trees of various sizes; but as the exact ages of the trees are not known, it is not worth while to publish a tabulation of the measurements. It has been emphasized, perhaps un- necessarily since it is necessarily so, that the measurements apply only to the visible leaves. When we state that the most rapid growth is shown by the youngest visible leaf, it means that when a leaf appears it is at near the stage where the cure representing its grand period would reach the highest point. There are also present numerous invisible leaves, the most of which are very small and growing very slowly. Dissection of a young tree, whose free trunk was as yet only 50cm. high, showed the following leaves which had not yet reached the light, but were well enough formed to be separated « with a pocket knife and without the use of a lens. These are numbered from the largest to the smallest. Table V. LENGTH OF CONCEALED LEAVES. I 1:31 m. II 0°43 m. III a wee 0:09 m. of which, 19 mm. sheath. IV ove < 50° mm. V a tes 34° mm, of which, 16 mm. sheath. VI uae ye 21° mm. VII ae ay 15° mm. of which, 0°7 mm. sheath. Vill as a 13° mm. (?) IX 11'2 mm. x 8°7 mm. XI 71 mm. XII wah or 5'°5 mm. XIII and XIV separable, but too small to measure accurately. The rate of growth at different ages can be calculated approximately by the differences in length. It is evident that the growth in length is at first exceed- [SEPTEMBER, 1! ingly slow, less'even than 2 mm.amonth, ang increases until the leaf reaches the © ight. In our coconuts, the interval between the appearance of successive leaves is usually more than one month; so that fully eighteen months can be expected ~ to elapse before the smallest leaf-rudi- ment recognizable with the naked eye would grow into the light. Any condi- tion which controls the rate of form- ation of these leaf-rudiments must there- fore have more or less influence on the rate of the appearance ot new leaves a year and a half later, and on the crops the tree can bear a year and a half later still. And this influence isa direct one. ~ In the case of the coconut, as of any other perennial, unfavourable condi- | tions, by lowering the general vitality of the tree, have indirect effects, the dura- tion of which is altogether indefinite. The fact that leaves ~ succeed each other at intervals of more than one month indicates that our coconuts are not in very good condition; for at San Ramon, until the drought became too severe, the succession was considerably more rapid. In consideration hereof it may be anticipated that better situ- ated coconuts will under favourable con- ditions show a more rapid growth of the leaves than any we have been able to observe. At the time these coconuts came into possession of the college the grove was infested with cogon (lalang) where fire had run through it, and grown up with brush and small trees elsewhere. During the following year it was not cleaned, except immediately around the trees, with a bolo. After a thorough cleaning out it was ploughed shallowly during the first week of last September; the ploughing reached at the most a depth of less than ten centimeters. Asa result of the lack of previous cultivation, and of the shallowness of the soil, this plough- ing cut many of the roots. This was of course immediately injurious to the trees. The number of Jeaves on them was at first from 21 to 27, During the succeed- ing two months the majority of the — ploughed trees shed four leaves, while neighbouring trees shed on the average less than two leaves. There was also an evident and immediate checking in the rate of growth of the younger leaves, from which the trees gradually _ re- covered in the course of about three months. After this interval the growth _ became more rapid than it had been before cultivation, In spite of the temporary set-back it: _ production of nuts, EPTEMBER, 1911.) Po of shallow cultivation. Six months after the act it seems clear that our trees are more vigorous asa result of it. Surface ploughing resultsin the develop- ment of a root system at a greater general depth; and assuming freedom from stagnant ground water this is an advantage, for it immunity from drought. tends to secure Moreover, some measure of surface cultivation is necessary for the controlled and rational use of fertilizers or of irrigation. The grove is now kept in decent condition by the occasional use of the disc harrow at very slight expense, and without even temporary bad effect on the trees. EFFECT OF FERTILIZERS. Half of the grovein charge of the class was fertilized Sepetember Y, each tree receiving 0°6 kilo of basic slag containing % P2 05, and 0°8 kilo of kainit contain- ing 13°50% K20. These fertilizers were donated by Behn, Meyer and Company of Manila for this experiment. For reasons developed elsewhere in this paper, ap application of fertilizer to the coconut is not likely to reach its maximum effect until at least eighteen months, and perhaps as much as three years after it is mide. The fertilizer was scattered over ground already - ploughed, and was then harrowed in. It must first enter the plant in appreciable quantities, and this takes some time before it can begin to have any influence. If it then hastens the building of leaf- rudiments, this effect can be seen only after a year and a half, or more; and the nuts borne in the axils of these leaves will not be ready to harvest with- in three years. However, if the fertilizer is going to have much effect, this must appear more in acceleration of the immediately If it results in growth of the leaves. hae _ more rapidly growing and larger leaves, and so in increased photosynthesis and transpiration, the fertilizer is likely to have ultimate indirect influence on the more important erhaps than its direct effect can be. As a matter of fact, its influence on the - growth of the leavesis already evident. During the first week in March I have had measurements made of the growth - of the leaves of all the normal trees - under observation, fertilized and unfer- tilized. Trees attacked by beetles, and _ a few trees younger than the others, have been left out of account for the sake of uniformity. The following table shows some of the results of these measurements. The first part of it iscompiled from measure- ments by M. B, Raymundo ;— Son" Edible Products. a Table VI. AVERGAE DAILY GROWTH OF LEAVES, FERTILIZED TREEs. Leaf Tree 1 z 3 4 5 6 I 10°71 55 3:14 1:88 0-78 0:28 II | 1042 50 380 1:5 0°57. 0:28 III 10°00 2:85 1'71 1:0 0:45 0:28 IV 10'28 6°14 broken... ma Pe V 8:42 3:28 1°71 0°88 0°36 0°14 VI 5°00 2:28 1:28 O61 07 0°14 VII 707 1:21 0:44 O11 0-04 0:00 Average 8°84 3°74 1°88 1:00 041 O19 UNFERTILIZED TREES. I 3:07 2:0 O38 O17 not , measured, II 4°67 3°57 1°57 0°46 Ill 3-64 2:17 06 0-04 IV 5:85) (ov 221) 0371 V 4°28 3:28 2:02 1°71 VI 3°35 1:8 1:07 0:28 VII 6°85 5'25 3°51 1:42 Average 447 3:12 1:69 0°68 Results of Cevallos, 6 trees each, ferti- lized and unfertilized. Fert. 238 166 68 21 Nor Fert. 266 153 37 16 \ Lijano found the average growth of the youngest of his fertilized trees to be 279mm, and of the unfertilized trees 20°8mm. Two general conclusions can be drawn from these determinations :— 1, The average growth of all leaves of fertilized trees is greater than that of unfertilized trees. 2. The greater difference is to be noted in the older leaves. This indicates that the leaves of fertilized trees con- tinue to grow for a longer time. This may have as much as the more rapid growth todo with the ultimate greater size of the leaves, and so the greater vigour of the tree. THE SPATHE., The growth of the spathe is a matter of general interest as a part of the general growth of the tree, and of special interest to tuba producers since the spathe is the source of the crop. The spathe ceases to elongate shortly before it splits open. This is usually from 75 to 90 days after the first appearance of its tip. The total length of the visible part of the grown fertile branch is usually between seven and nine decimeters. The rate ot growth of all spathes measured has risen at times more than 2 centimeters a day; but the average including periods of depression, and the final period of ;little or no elongation is only half of the maximum, Edible Products: The cure, or rather the part of it we can get the data to plot, is quite irregular. TUBA. Partly for the sake of investigation, partly to give practice, and in chief part because it is hoped that by using some of the trees for tuba, it will be possible to protect the entire grove against the attacks of beetles, a considerable number of trees have been operated on to produce tuba. It might be explained that this is the native name uf the tresh or undistilled sap more widely known as toddy. As Mr. Gibbs, of the Bureau of Scierce, has in press a thorough study of this and other Philippine palm saps, I will here touch on only one point, and on this, the relative flow by day and by night, only because it seems to bein some dispute. Table VI shows the flow from two spathes as reported by Cevallos. Prior to February 10 the removal of slices from the bleeding tips was performed three times daily, morning, noon, and night; from this date on it was performed only morning and evening. The extra slicing at noon would have a tendency to cause a more rapid flow during the day. Table VII. TUBA PRopUCcTION, DAY AND NIGHT. Night hours, bold-faced type. Spathe. 1 2 February 5 .. 123°0 ce. 56°0 ee 169°5 101°0 6 Fis 175°0 124°0 205 182 vi ay 235 112 242 171 8 p 225 135 235 206 9 210 185 213 174 10 fiat \240 150 250 240 11 167 160 290 260 12 175 125 304 209 13 115 185 88 210 14 180 125 191 162 15 at 117 117 212 124 This production of tuba is less than would be obtained by any expert tuba gatherer, chiefly, I believe, because of the excessively thick slices removed by the students ; but I cannot believe that there was anything in their manipui- ation which could cause any abnormal 220 distribution through the day of the — sap. Further, a greater flow during the night is to be expected @ priori as a direct result of exactly the same factors which cause more rapid growth during the night, CONCLUSIONS. The most rapid observed growth of roots is at a rate of about 1:2 meters around each young tree, kept in good condition and devoted to the use of the coconut, have its radius extended at the rate of one meter a year, the tree will ~ have as much ground asit canuse, Only a few roots can grow farther. a The most rapid observed growth of the leaf is slightly over seven centi- metersaday. This is likely to be ex- ceeded by trees better situated, but isa fair standard of excellence. By making an allowance for the weather, if it is unfavourable, itis possible to estimate the state of thrift of a grove from a day’s measurement of growth of several trees. ; The growth is checked by wind, by prolonged rain, and by drought severe encugh to lessen the water the roots can absorb. The growth of uncultivated trees is checked by surface cultivation ; but this check is temporary, and is followed by a more enduring acceleration. , Within six months after the appli- cation of fertilizers, the effect can he seen in accelerated growth of the leaves. This is a practically sure promise of future increase of crop. aan There are leaf-primordia large enoug to be recognized with the naked eye, which will still require one and a halt years in which to grow to the light; another year and a half must pass before fruit matures in their axils. Therefore anything which can influence the rate of development of these youngest leaves — will affect the crop three years later. ; The growth of the leaves and the production of tuba are more rapid during the night than during the day. I am under obligation to S. Asuncion, — FH. Cevallos, A. Lejano, A. Navarro, M. Raymundo, and ‘Tf. Vibar for careful — execution of the field work forming the basis of this report. ; TEMBER, 1911.) EXPERIMENTS BEARING ON THE CULTIVATION OF PADDY. By R. H. Lock, M.A., Sc.D. ' (Paper read before the Board of Agri- ei culture at its August Meeting.) 1. On the Nature of Agricultural Experiments, ‘ia The notes which I have the honour to submit to you this afternoon deal with Belo the method of experiment as applied to -. aparticular branch of agriculture. In order that there may be no mistake about my meaning, I should like, with - +your permission, to explain the sense in __whichI use these terms. Agriculture, _ Itakeit, is the cultivation of the soil for profit, and the best agriculture is that which results in the largest profit - ~ without exhausting the soil and so re- - ducing its capacity for yielding further profit. An experiment is a test planned scientifically for the purpose of obtaining : definite knowledge, and the best experi- ment is that which leads to the most accurate information. What I have _ said so far may seem at first sight to be - in agreement with the opinion univer- sally prevalent in Ceylon among all _ classes—the opinion that the objects of _ agriculture and those of science are _ totally opposed to one another. It is not so very long since we heard the - opinion expressed in this room that a commercial experiment is a different thing from a scientific experiment. That - view is not held in all agricultural OY countries, andit is not my view. One of my main objects to-day is to express - ‘as forcibly as 1 can the opinion that an ~~ experiment which is not a scientific ex- ‘periment is not an experiment at all. xe _. Two things only are essential in a scientific experiment, namely, common -_ sense and accuracy, and any man who possesses these most uncommon qualifi- _ cations has the right to call himself scientific. Without them no amount of - labour and information can produce - science. Let us see what science has to say on the subject of agricultural experi- - ments. _ Wewilltakea simple case of an ex- - periment designed to afford accurate information on some point important to agriculture, that is to say, affecting the - question of ‘profit. For example, we may wish to know whether a certain - quantity of a particular manure applied to a particular crop will produce an increase in the yield, the value of which will be greater than the cost of the manure, the cost of transport to the 221 Edible Products. field, and the cost of application, all added together. Kor this purpose we may mark out two plots of equal area; sow each with the same quantity of seed of the crop in question, and treat them in the same way in all other respects, except that we apply the manure to one of the plots and not to the other. If the plots or their treatment differ in any other way, it will be quite impossible to tell whether any difference which may be found between the yields from the two plots should be ascribed to the effect of the manure or to some other cause. We will suppose that our two plots are each one-hundredth of an acre in extent ; and further, that the crop from the unmanured plot weighs 100 lb., and that from the manured plot 110 Ib; Are we therefore justified in assuming that the same amount of manure applied in the same way always cause an increased yield of 10 per cent.? The answer to this question is ‘ no.” To come to such a conclusion would be to suppose that our work is perfectly accurate, and that natural conditions can be made perfectly uniform. In practice we can only make an approach toaccuracy. Two plots in a field can never be made exactly alike, there will be slight differences in soil, aspect, drainage, and the like, and all these will affect the crop. It is therefore most important to know how close an approach to accuracy may be expected in an experiment like the. present. In order to find this out it is necessary to know how much difference is to be expected between two plots which have been made as much alike as possible, and which have not been manured differently or otherwise difterertly treated. How is this most important point to be ascertained ? The method is to grow a large number of pairs of like plots and to observe to what extent the crops do actually differ from one another. We may take the average crop of all the plots as the amount which each plot ought to yield theoretically, and we shall find that the actual yield of each plot differs to some extent from this amount. From the data thus obtained it is possible to work out the odds that the crop of a single plot will differ from - the average by more or less than a given quantity. _ This has been done in a very interest- ing paper published by Professor Wood and Mr, Stratton in the last number of the “Journal of Agricultural Science.” A brief summary of their conclusions may not be without interest. Edible Products. These authors tind that the size of the plot has little or no effect upon the result so long as the plot is more than one-hundredth of an acre in extent. They find that in the case of similar plots the odds against the yield of one plot being better than the average by more than 3d per cent. are 3 to l. The odds are 10 tolagainst a difference of j mone than 10 per cent, 0) 1 Do 44 do a3 Do 290 do do 20 4 Do 2,700 do do 25 Now, odds of 10 tol do not by any means represent a certainty. If they were commonly so _ regarded, book- makers would find it difficult to make a living; consequently the 10 per cent. increase obtained in our supposed ex- periment by no means proves that the manure is doing any good at all. The chances are only 10 tol that the whole difference observed is not’ entirely accidental, having nothing to do with the manure. Still less is it possible to deduce from such an experiment the amount of benefit which the manure is likely to produce. This information can only be obtained by repeating the experiment. Wood and Stratton have therefore cal- culated the number of times an experi- ment must be repeated in order to give any desired degree of precision. They assume that odds of 30 to 1 represent a practical certainty, and their conclu- sions are given in the following table :— Precision desired in Percentage Required Difference Number between Yields. of Plots. 20 per cent. ays 1 15 A 2 10 Oe, 4 8 sh 6 6 : yt 10 4 ws 23 2 as 91 That is to say, the yield of two experi- mental plots must differ by upwards of 20 per cent. before we can safely con- clude from a single experiment that there is any real difference between them, whilst, in order to detect a real difference of 2 per cent., the experiment must be repeated almost a hundred times. With these facts in view, [ think it may fairly be conceded that agricul- tural science does not fall much behind the other sciences in point of laborious- ness. The man who deduces the value of a manure, or of transplanting, or some other point from a single experi- ment resulting in a difference of 10 per cent. may fairly be called unscientific, simply because his deduction is not necessarily true. 229 i ey ‘ (SEPTEMBER, 1911. : « ~ D’Oyley, Bart., who had held the ckief administrative office in the Kandyan districts since the annexation. He was undoubtedly an able administrator and won the confidence of the Kandyan largely, I believe, by making himsel accessible to allclasses. Regarding thisI was told the following story (by I rather think Mr. J. A. Dunuville, Deputy Queen’s Advocate, Kandy, at one time, and who bs was a grandson of Dunuville Disawe), — Emerging late one afternoon from his office, Sir John found an old Kandyan ee who evidently wanted to make some — complaint, but hesitated to addressthe great man; so the latter, as-was his — wont, said ‘‘Mokada?” The Kandyan had been waiting about all day, and whether through anger or ignorance - shouted out ‘‘Sokade” and bolted. Sir — John could not understand this word, — though he had a good acquaintance with ~ Sinhalese, and proceeded to make — enquiries as to the meaning, but without _ success at first, but did not rest until he © discovered that—though literally it was the name of the wooden bell put on . ~ buffaloes when turned out to graze,it — was used asa vulgar retort, and which accounted for the rapid disappearance of the irate old Kandyan, : b No successor was appointed to the Residency, but the leading member of — the administration after this was Mr. — George Turnour who was shortly atter : f, ang EPTEMBER, 1911.} ‘promoted to be Revenue Commissioner of the Kandyan Provinces, after serving under Sir John D’Oyley in Sabara- gamuwa. Mr. Turnour is described as having early acquired a profound knowledge of - the language “and an_ indefatigable spirit of enquiry,” qualifications which led to his undertaking an examination of the Sinhalese annals, and resultedin _ the publishing (in 1837) of the first parc ’ of a translation of the Mahavanso. 7. It may be here noted, in view of the important services rendered to_ the — Colony by this able civilian and his tather, that the latter, the Hon. George _ Turnour, was a son of Karl Winterton - (an Irish peer) born in Feb., 1768, and married to Emilie de Beaussett, niece of _ Cardinal Duc de Beaussett. He was the officer whose service in the Wanny dis- ' trict in the early days of British rule _ have been already referred to asa most successful administrator, as more fully detailed and acknowledged by Mr. Lewis (in his Wanny manual), and _ whose methods for pushing paddy cultivation in particular, deservedly received high -«.¢C.M.G. The father’s life seems to have been sacrificed to his duty, and he died - at Jaffna, in January, 1813, at the early age of 45, leaving a widow (who lived _ till 1846), and a son George born in 1799, who happily joined the Ceylon Civil Service in 1820, and ina few years rose - to the important office already mention- ~~ ed of Revenue Commissioner. In this capacity he seems to have gained the - eonfidence of the Kandyans and quietly perfected a new departure for the en- - eouragement of paddy cultivation, the details of which more properly come into the history of the next period. - Asitis fraught with important results to agricultural interests, mention should be made at this stage that the affairs of the Colony occupied the attention of _. the English House of Commons, and led * to the appointment, on the 27th May, 1830, of a ‘‘Select Committee to enquire - into the Revenue, Expenditure and Com- - merceof Ceylon.” This action was taken at theinstigation of a Mr. John Stewart, M-P., whose knowledge of the island _ Was in his own words as follows :— ~ “Twas shipwrecked in the island in 1805 where I remained for some months, - and I frequently visited the Colony after that period, and was engaged for many years in commercial intercourse _ ~-with it. I passed several months there ee in 1822, which was the last time I,visited Hs Sah naes __ Limited as was his experience in the island, he succeeded in raising the cry 231 -commendation from Sir A. Swettenham, . Edible Products. of “Slavery” and made other serious charges against the administration. Actual slavery existed at the time in the island, and was not finally abolished till December, 1844; but apvarently the denunciation was rather directed against what was locally known as RKajakariya. This was the system which had existed for centuries in Ceylon, under which the old Sinhalese kings had carried out and maintained extensive public works, irri- gation and others, which existed in aH parts of the island. Though mistrans- lated as ‘‘ forced labour,” it was based on the principle ‘‘ that all land was held from the Sovereign for a registered rent, such rent being payable either in labour ov in kind or both.” The British found a considerable area still held as private property on the tenure of personal service direct to the Sovereign, but in the low-country taken over from the Duteb,tennre by service was abolished on May Ist, 1802. (Kor details see Sessional Paper XVII of 1890.) Inthe Kandyan districts “ rajakariya”’ still existed after the British occupation in a complicated form, and, besides the service due to the Government, covered those rendered by tenants of lands assigned to Chiefs, Temples and others by the Sovereign. In consequence of abuses which had arisen owing (accord- ing to Turnour) to ‘‘the absence of the despotic power of the Sovereign by which the undefined power of the chiefs was kept in check,” a new system was adopted by the Proclamation of 18th November, 1818. By this the payment of a tenth of the produce of paddy lands was declared the substitute of all former gratuitous services due to Government, except for ‘“‘ the construction and repair of roads and bridges,” but all other per- sons were declared liable to ‘‘ perform services to Government on payment.” By a further notification of 16th Octo- ber, 1819, the Agents of Government in the Kandyan districts were directed to restrict their requirements ‘‘for a term not exceeding ten days without previous reference to superior authority.” During the administration of Sir EHdward Barnes this limit was, however, greatly exceeded, as stated in the extract from the report already given. This was possibly overdrawn, and sufficient allow- ance was not made for the exigency of the political situation, which required the opening up of the recently conquered districts; or, the possibility considered ot preventing such extreme application of the right to exact labour from a population, notin a position to contri- bute in money to the development of Edible Products. their country, and accustomed from time immemorial to this mode of dis- charging their liability to the State. The Parliamentary Commissioners (Col. Colebrooke and Mr. Cameron) .deputed to visit the island and make enquiry, took a strong view of the subject, and inter alia recommended the immediate and unconditional abolition of ‘ raja- kariya” without any commutation of that labour either by additional assess- ment in Jand cr by personal or capit- ation taxes.” This. however, only appli- ed to the liability to Government and left untouched the services due by occupiers (tenants) to Temples and other holders of grants from the native sovereigns prior to the British occupation. The special measures already referred to for the encouragement of paddy culti- vation appear to have been gradually dropped and more attention paid to encourage other crops, regarding which I found notices such as Hemp in 1812 and Coffee in 1817. In 1824a Minute by Sir Edward Barnes exempted crops of coffee, cotton and pepper from the general tax of one-tenth they were otherwise liable to, but specially notified this was not to extend ‘‘to any low land applied to the cultivation of paddy.” The. cultivation ‘of Cinnamon, it may be remarked in this connection, was looked after by a special Department which was, however,abolish- ed in 1832, and the officers (who were collo- quially referred to as the gardeners) were incorporated in the new Civil Service, one of whom Mr. James Caulfield (ap- pointed to the Department in 1823) even- tuaily rose to be Treasurer of the Colony and ex officio ‘‘a Deputy Pay master- General to the Queen’s forces,” which entitled him to military honours at his funeral in May, 1861. (To be continued.) RICE EXPORTS FROM SIAM. (From the Manila Bulletin.) Heavy BuYING ON PART OF JAPAN— MATERIAL ADVANCE IN PRICE IS REPORTED. An interesting report on rice ship- ments from Siam comes from the pen of Consul G. Cornell Tarler, Banzkok, who gives some interesting figurés and state- ments regarding the shipments of rice and the advance in prices. | Consul Tarler says :— Exports of rice from Bangkok for the first three months of 1910 amounted to 80, abd coyans to Honekodel and 70, coyans to Singapore. (The coyan equals _ about 2,977 pounds.) Shipments for ‘the (ie first quarter of 1911 totaled 77,984 coyans to Hongkong and 60,397 coyans to Sings.” , pore. Thisshows a well-sustained export- — ation in view of the 40 per cent. shortage _ of the rice crop for the past season. ‘a I have been unable to discover any advance purchases except through a few firms exporting rice to Hurope,and these firms have yearly contracts. The Chinese merchants here are following the Hong- — kong market, where the price of rice has — increased as it has here. For white rice the price has advanced from about $2 04 — a picul (133$ pounds) in November, 1910, a to about $2°50 in the middle of February; itis now about $2°31. In 1909 the same f rice paid $2°04 in October; in the follow- ing Kebruary it advanced to about $2'17. os Local merchants have received tele- — graphic information from their agents that Japan has been buying heavily from Saigon and Burma, the rice in the latter instance coming through Moulmein and ~ Rangoon. Siam rice is not popular with — the Japanese on account of the feat of beri beri. GLUCOSE AS A FOOD STUFF, — a (From the Louisiana Planter and Sugar — Manufacturer, Vol. XLVII., ~_ No. 26, July 1, 1911.) 5 Jn a recent article concerning glucose, ‘" published in the ‘‘ New England Grocer,” Ry the editor of that ordinarily very sound ~ e journal and always excellent, from its — general points of view, makes the state- — ment that glucose is not an inferior 4 product, but a pure, heaithful article, He then goes on to describe corn elucose Ty as constituting perhaps a silver syrup in” contradistinction to the ordinary golden — i syrups which are the residual part secur- ed in refining cane sugars. Our friend, © the editor of the “ New Eugland Grocer,” u commits, or permits, this serious error, — that is to compare ‘glucose, artificially — prepared by boiling starch in dilute — sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, with that — material known as grape sugar, which _ actually exudes from grapes and figs Raa they become dry, forming asis frequentl yy seen on raisins, a white incrustatior That kind cf glucose, or more prope grape sugar, is formed in nature’s lab atory. This is done to a greater or extent in the sugar cane, wherein glucose content is higher in immat canes than in the mature ones. ~ Nature’s laboratory the translation f glucose to sucrose is made by the enz or ferments that Canstimans) a a *, PTEMBER, 1911.] ofthe sugarcane. The glucose is changed into sucrose, and there we have a natural _ aad doubtless a healthful kind of sugar. + Whenever, however, our skilful che- mists seek the transmutation of copper and silver into gold, as was done by the alchemists of old, or seek to convert rags and woody fibre intosugar, as is possible along certain chemical lines, they leave Nature’s processes and Nature’s enzyms or ferments, and utilize ordinary chemi- - eal reactions in order to bring atout the desired results. Those familiar with the _ dyeing industry know that maddex has been superseded throughout the world _ practically by anthracine, alizarin, or synthetic madder. Synthetic indigo has also been produced, and glucose is syn- thetic grape sugar. produced by a chemi- - eal process without the natural ferments that make up the genuine article. The daily press brings the news that Secretary Wilson has issued his pronun- ciamento against the use of saccharin, the investigations of his department having shown that saccharin is injurious tothe public health, and should not be used in this country, or at least in inter- state trade, as is now so generally done. _ Saccharin is not sugar at all, and yet it - has a sweetening power similar to that of sugar, but five hundred times greater, and was discovered by Fahlberg when he was proceeding with coal-oil analyses under the direction of Dr. Remsen, now President of the John Hopkin’s Univer- _ sity. Sacchariv is now under the ban anda contraband article over nearly all of Europe. Its sale is forbidden in some of the States of Europe, and in others is - held under the severest control. In this — gountry, on the other hand, we use —_- muriaticacid diluted with water in which to boil starch, and to thus turn outa He _ heavy white syrup, comparatively taste. : less, yet sweetish in taste, a product of these chemical reactions which has none of the characteristics of the reactions in ___ our own physical mechanism. _Itis to be regretted that a journal of the high standing of the ‘‘ New England Grocer” should come out in defence of _ this synthetic sugar, when every effort _ should be made to show its defective and _ chemical ancestry. Some years back, in _ discussing this matter, we referred to the fact of glucose being made by boiling _ starch in dilute solutions of sulphuric acid. Our article was copied by the _ “Literary Digest,” and that brought out _ from Prof. Chandler, of Columbia Uni- versity, an attack upon our statements, __ which he said were untrue. An investi- _ gation led to the conclusion that our a F : 30 233 factors in the vital principles of the life © Edible Products. statements were practically true, and that the denial of their accuracy made by Prof. Chandler was in the nature of a subterfuge, to conceal the method now adopted in this country in the mapufacture of glucose. In some of our lexicons. glucose is defined as being produced from eorn starch with sul- phuric acid, but in the United States there has been a change from sulphuric to hydrochloric acid, probably because of the more brilliant and clearer syrup that can be got with that acid than with sulphuric acid. On the other hand, the sulphuric acid is reported to he still used in Germany. where immense quantities of glucose are manufactured from potatoes, and weare led to infer that the results there are sufficiently satisfactory to the Germans to permit them to maintain the use of sulphuric acid, while our more. enterprising chemists have gone over to hydrochloric acid. In the use of sulphuric acid for the conversion of starch into glucose an excess of acid must be used, which must be neutralized by the addition of lime. With the use of sulphuric acid this lime then becomes a sulphate of lime, or our ordinary land plaster, and this is very difficult of sedimentation or of filtration, thus leaving the syrups produced with it more or less cloudy. Presumably the hydrochloric acid gives bright and clearer syrups, and a man of the distin- guished attainments and high standing of Prof. Chandler, of the Columbia School of Mines, in New York, would have done better not to have simply denied the accuracy of our statement, but to have gone further and told the whole truth. Some timesa part of the truth is very misleading. Weare afraid that the able editor of the ‘‘New England Grocer” has been misled in some similar way, as in this article he praises ‘‘nature’s glucose”’ very highly, and leaves it to be inferred that the manufactured glucose is equal- ly meritorious, whereas it lacks that link that binds it to organic matter, the enzym or ferment that effects the translation from starch to glucose and from glucose to sucrose in the natural way. Glucose as now sold on the markets under whatever fanciful name may be attached to it, is a compound brought about by the action of mineral acids on starchy substances, and as such its use is deleterious to the public health and ought to be earnestly condemned. Hdible Products: THE SUGAR-PALM OF THE EAST INDIES. By J. C. K. (From the Louisiana Pisnten and Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XLVII., No. 26, July 1, 1911.) The sugar-palm (Arenga saccharitera of botanists) grows abundantly in all the Dutch East Indian islands, and pro- vides the natives not only with a fer- mented beverage termed sagueiro, but with sugar, cordage for the rigging of praus and material for caulking them, and brooms for sweeping. The palm is called pokko gamutu by the Malays, and plenty of the trees are always found in the neighbourhood of. the villages. One of the commonest daily sights in a Malay village is the bringing home, slung over the shoulder, of the large bark buckets full to the brim of sagueiro, the liquid frothing on the top and of a milk-white colour, its fluidity also resembling that of milk. The palm itself is a fine though rather rough-look- ing tree, bearing huge bunches of fruit composed of large orange-coloured ber- ries, the male inflorescence being then over, but the withered remains form similar large bunches of whatat first sight look like strings of small dark purple or black berries, It is the stalk of the male inflorescence only which is tapped for the sap, and as the bunch is very heavy and also bears the weight ot the sagueiro bucket, it is generally support- ed against the trunk by a stout prop. The palms produce fruit more or less thrcughout the year. When about to tap the tree, the native usually climbs up by means of a long bamboo lashed against the trunk of the palm, just the bases of the bamboo boughs being left to form rungs or steps. He then bruises the flower-stalk with a heavy wooden pestle on all sides and from end to end, likewise swaying and twisting the bunch to loosen and dis- integrate the fibres of the stem, or ““make the sap flow,” as the native says. Then a small nick is cut on the underside of the stem and a bucket is slung below, the tapping is done in the evening as a rule, and the sap trickles into the bucket all night, some- times producing fifteen litres, or a little over three gallons by the time the native fetches the bucket in the early morning. During the day (say the natives) the sap practically ceases to flow, and when the bucket is taken away a leaf is tied around the wound in the stem to pre- vent the sap from dripping. Sometimes if there is not much sagueiro in the 234 BR any ee, ( ifm (SEPTEMBER, 1911, bucket it is left for another night on the palm, anda mass of bast fromthe leaf-sheaths is put over its mouth during the day to keep out the sun, rain and ~~ insects, for there is always some slight __ drip from the buckets, and these and the jungle beneath are usually swarm- ing with insects, all eager to lick up the sweet juice. Flies, bees, and wasps are the most numerous, but many beetles and butterflies are attracted ; it is in the sagueiro buckets that the large beetle with extraordinary long forelegs (Huchi- rus longimanus) is frequently found by the natives of Ceram and Ambon, hav- - ing fallen in whilst drinking the sap. One flower-stalk will often give sap for — two to six months, and as one stalk fails another comes to maturity; the life of a palm being tapped regularly is said to be fifteen to twenty years. Ocecasion- ally cne may observe a wasted and blackened palm which has been bled to death by tapping. The sagueiro is either drunk fresh, when it has a sweetish taste, or more often small pieces cut from the living roots of a large tree, heavy and very bitter wood of a brightish yellow colour, are put into the liquid. This makes a very refreshing - drink ona hot day, and is sold very cheaply at all the wayside huts and villages. It is quite possible to become inebriated with fermented saguerio or ‘‘nalm-wine” if large potations are — indulged in, though one but rarely sces a tipsy native. Nor does it produce the fighting and quarrelling that beer and spirits provoke, and these intoxicants Ce are strictly prohibited by the Dutch ~ Government from being supplied to the natives. The sagueiro buckets are large, about ~ eighteen inches deep, and roughly about ten in diameter,and are made of the inner part of the leaf-sheath of the ever-useful sago-palm. SEPTEMBER, 1911.) _ tuted by a law passed on January 15th, 1904, which arranged for the amalgam- ation of the old urban banks founded in 1863 at the time of the Turkish domin- ation and transformed into agricul- tural banks in 1878 by the Russian Government. — Thus, in the course of a few decades this institution has passed from a collec- tion of primitive institutions into a bank of amodern type, which, while it has adopted the principles of other banks operating in the remainder of Europe, is distinguished from them by some special characteristics, thus constituting a type _ by itself. This makes it especially worthy of study, and we therefore refer our readers to a long article on the Bulgarian Agricultural Bank which “appeared in the June number of the Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelli- gence published by the International Institute of Agriculture. SE oe Oe eS A few figures will be sufficient to demonstrate the importance of the Bulgarian Bank. In 1908 it had acapital of 40,241,159°41 Fr., 3,731,509'64 Fr. of _ which was represented by the reserve _ fund. Im spite of the heavy losses eaused by debtors who failed during the year, it realised a gross. profit of _—s«*d43,129,057:22 Fr. and a net profit of 8, 184,850°64 Fr. There were 798,282 oper- vi ations carried out curing the year fora sum total of 1,161,951,569°18 Fr. The greater number of the loans granted were for small sums, in con- formity with the law of 1904; in fact, most of them ranged between 100 and 500 Fr., which shows the enormous bene- _ fit of the bank to the small farmer class. si We must give a few words to the third x form of agricultural credit institution : the small co-operative society. These institutions began to arise in 1896 and ae developed so rapidly that there were already 493 in 1908, most of them being of the Raiffeisen type. Me Their growth is more particularly due tothe action of the Agricultural Bank, __—-which at once realised the great import- ance of these local Banks and worked assiduously to encourage their develop- ment, founding new banks, aiding those already in existence, organising them _. and supervising their working. In 1908 there were in Bulgaria 384 rural banks of the Raiffeisen type supervised and accre- dited by the Bulgarian Agricultural Bank; their members numbered 28.744, , and they had granted loans to the sum of 8,150,587 Fr., receiving in their turn _ _-:1,517,593 Fr.in loans from the Agricul- tural Banks. ‘found themselves 47 Agricultural Finance & Co-operation, . These local credit co-operative socie- ties, distributed about in the smaller centres, have been successful in ridding their districts of the scourge of usury which was weighing so heavily on the peasants and small farmers of Bulgaria. (Summarised from the Bulletin of the Bureau of Economic and Social Intelli- gence of the International Institute of Agriculture, 2nd Year, No. 6.) FRANCE. THE OIL Co-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN FRANCE. During the last decade the associations for the production and sale of olive oil have developed considerably in the oil regions ot Provence and Languedoc. For some time past there had beena serious crisis in the olive-growing industry, which was primarily due to the competition of foreign oils from oil seeds. On the other hand, as the olive growers had no suitable machinery at disposal—they were able at most to count on rough wooden presses—they at the mercy of speculators and _the proprietors of more or less improved oil-works, whose whole interest lay in keeping back as much oil as possible in the olive husks, which became their property after the oil had been expressed. The natural result was that the growers received but a small quantity of oil ofa poor quality from their olives, which was unequal to the competition on the market. The June number of the Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, published by the International Institute of Agriculture, contains an interesting study on the first steps made in this field by co-operation, on its development and its future. We give the following summary of the main points dealt with in the article :— In 1900, the first group of olive growers was formed at Codoux (Bouches-du- Rhone), and gave the happiest results. This example was soon followed by the growers of Cabris aud Gilette (Maritime Alps), who set up some model oil-works. The movement spread. rapidly, encour- aged by the Government, and at the end of 191C there were no less than 20 co-operative oil-works in the South of France. _ The Government aids the movement in| various ways, by spreading the principles of co-operation and technical instruction, granting fiscal immunities or subsidies, and granting loans at a low interest through the Mutual Agricultural Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. 248, y, : Credit Banks of the various districts, in accordance with the law of December 29th, 1906. These loans are granted for & maximum period of 25 years up to double the amount of the paid-up capital, at an interest not exceeding 2 %. _In 1910 as many as eleven co-operative oil-works had received low-interest loans for sums varying from 4,000 to 45,000 tr., the total sum advanced being 170,000 fr. The co-operative oil-works have as a rule an average of about a hundred members, each extract annually from 40 to 150 double decalitres ot olive oil. Several systems of plant are used : some societies buy or rent an old olive mill and bring it up-to-date, others buy suitable premises or have them built, and furnish them with a complete plant, while others have the necessary premises presented to them by the Commune, an association or some private benefactor. In the first case, it is estimated that the sum required for the installatiow and working of a small model oil-works varies between 20,000 and 30,000 fr., that is, 12,000 fr. for the building, from 8,000 to 10,000 for the machinery, and from 300 to 5,000 for the various expenses and the initial circulation fund. The Co-operative Oil-works of Grasse (Maritime Alps), which has at the present day acapital of 18,700 fr., has acquired a large oil-works furnished with the apparatus for the extraction of the oil frem the husks and worked by hydraulic ower; the entire plant cost 47,000 fr. n order to meet this expenditure, the society obtained a loan of 30,00C fr. from the Regional Bank of Mentone at the rate of 2% and repayable in twenty years. Among the more important co-oper- ative oil-works we may mention the ‘«Travailleuse” of Cotignac (Var), which has a capital of 10,625 fr. divided in 25 fr. shares yielding an interest of 3:60 %. This society had a loan of 25,250 fr. for twenty years at the rate of 150%. Its steam plant cost 45,350 fr. and can treat sixty double decalitres of olives per hour. According to recent information, the movement appears to be extending to Algiers. Considerable advantage has already been obtained from co-operation in this branch of industry, both from _ the technical and economic point of view. The double decalitre of olives which now produces an average of 2'3 to 2°6 litres of oil, thatis, from 3fr. to 3°25 fr., gives a return of from 50 centimes to 75 centimes more than formerly, and by utilising the secondary products it has been found ‘persons who havea right to them, that _ {SePr=menr, possible not only to cover the expenses of manufacture, but also to pay the interest on the loan. We are not wrong therefore in feeling sure that co-operation will contribute largely to the resuscitation of the oil industry on the Mediterranean coast of France. (Summarised from the Bulletin of the Bureau of Economic and Social Intelli- gences of the International Institute of Agriculture, 2nd Year, No, 6.) ITALY. FACILITIES ACCORDED TO THE CO-OPER- ATIVE DISTRIBUTIVE SOCIETIES. The Italian Government, rightly think- ing that the co-operative distributive societies might do much to lessen the increasing rise in the price of food, pre- sented a Bill to the Chamber of Deputies on March 9th, 1911, which contains spe- cial provisions for the benefit of these co-operative societies. The principal provision of this Bill (which was examined in the last number of the Bulletin of Economic and Social Intelligence, published in June, 1911, by the International Institute of Agri- culture) is that exempting the dividends which the co-operative distributive societies pay to their customers in pro- portion to the purchases made from the tax on personal property, these divi- dends being considered as the customers’ automatic savings. The dividends relinquished by the is, the sums which are not withdrawn or left on deposit with the society for the — purchase of new shares, and which therefore become the property of the society, do not benefit by this provision. Another important concession is the reduction of the stamp duty to two- thirds of the present amount, that is, to’ 20 centimes for each share certificate or other document representing value issued by the society for an amount not exceeding 100 fr. n The first provision satisfies an old ~ desire of the co-operative society, whose — body of members and customers will — undoubtedly increase as a result of this © benefit, thus enabling the society to give larger dividends or to sell at a lower ~ price. 1 , (Summarised from the Bulletin of the — Buvceau of Economic and Social Intelli- — gence of the International Institute of — Agriculture, 2nd Year, No, 6.) — ie ‘Fa alind apr{ VOGOONVIVE ‘N3GYV9 TIOOHOS .S1HyI9 Fe ee en ON ree = i ial - : “i 7 = Fi “SmPremeer, 1911.) “AUSTRALIAN STATE LOANS "TO SETTLERS. INTERESTING DATA ON THE SYSTEM IN VOGUE THERE FOR ASSISTING AGRI- CULTURAL AND PASTORAL SETTLERS. (From the Manila Bulletin, June 7, 1911.) With the establishment of an Agricul- tural Bank in the Philippines and the small amount of business that has been done by the same since its inauguration four years ago, the systemin vogue in Australia for state loans to settlers, for assisting agricultural and pastoral set- tlers will prove of special interest. In 1899 the Government of New South Wales, recognizing that some assistance was needed to restore prosperity to the large section of the farming community, which had suffered serious loss by drought, inaugurated a system of ad- vances to settlers on lines similar to _ those followed by the Credit Foncier of France. The Act providing for this project, passed in 1899, was frequently amended, until in 1906 the powers of the Board, which until then had managed the whole undertaking of advances to settlers, Were transferred to the Com- missioners of the Government Savings ‘Bank of the State, and the maximum and minimum advances were then fixed, and have since so remained at £2,000 ($9,733) and £50,000 ($243,325) respectively. The popularity and success of this scheme can well be gauged by the fact that up to December 31, 1909, 8,456 advances, totaling £1,362,854 ($6,632,329) were made to settlers, ayeraging £161 ($784) per loan. OF this total, 4,833 ad- vances, representing £566,102 ($2,754,935), had been repaid at the date mentioned, . 249 i Education, leaving 3,628 advances current, The average balance of principal was £220 ($1,070) per loan. In explanation of the real purpose of these advances, and the terms of their granting, the Commissioners are em- powered to make advances upon mort- gages of land in fee simple or of land held under conditional purchase or lease, settlement purchase or lease, or home- stead grantor selection. The advances are made for repaying existing encum- brances, purchasing land, or to effect improvements, develop resources, or buiid homes. The conditions under which loans are repayable vary according to the circum- stances of the individual case ; the maxi- mum loan to any one person is £2,000 ($9,733), the rate of interest ranging between 43 and 5 per cent.; and the maximum period for repayment is 31 years, It is clear that the system is intended to confer and does afford material assist- ance to men who contemplate settling on the land,as well as to those already engaged in agriculture, but necessarily this system was not initiated to meet every instance in which farmers might require credit, usually in relatively small amounts, and for a comparatively short period. To effect this object it is felt by certain responsible local authorities that a system should be established in New South Wales, on the lines of a co-operative bank or borrow- ers’ association, with the sole object of obtaining credit at low cost for its members, with adequate protection of their security on the plan of the co- operative loan organizations which have been introduced satisfactorily in Europe, and of which the best example is said to exist in the Raiffeisen banks of Germany. EDUCATION. GARDENING AT GIRLS’ SCHOOLS. It is satisfactory to find that the School Garden movement is gradually spreading to the Government Girls’ Ver- nacular Schools of the Island. One of the first to take it up was the Kumba- loluwa girls’ school, since when a num- ber of others have followed suit, e.g., Mugurugampola, Kirinidiwela, Handa- pangoda, etc. The illustration published in the pre- sent issue is of a garden at Balangoda girls’ school, where the head teacher, in 32 - difficulties spite of serious drawbacks, is showing ‘good work. The land on which the school stands unfortunately does not belong to the Crawn, and hence many have arisen. It is hoped, however, that before long a Crown site will be available. It is rather an unusual sight to see Sinhalese girls doing garden work under the supervision of their teacher. The development of school gardening in the direction of girls’ schools speaks well for the popu- larity of the scheme, and presages a new era in village life in Ceylon. ep & D3 eal MISCELLANEOUS. CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. _ Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Agriculture, held at the Council Cham- ber at noon on Monday, the 14th August, 1911. His Excellency the Acting Governor presided. There were also present :—The Hon’ble Messrs. L . Booth, Bernard Senior, and C. 1. D. Vigors, Drs. J, C. Willis and R. H. Lock, Messrs. G. M. Lushington, R.S, Templeton, William Dunuwille, J. H. Meedeniya, James Peiris, Francis Daniel and C. Drieberg (Secretary). The Minutes of the last meeting held on April 12th were read and confirmed. Progress Report No. 55 was adopted. Reports by Mr. vanLeenhoff and Mr. Cowan on the Tobacco Experiment at Mahailupalama were submitted. A discussion followed in which the Presi- dent, Dr. Willis, Mr. Booth, Mr. Vigors and Mr. Lushington took part. On the motion of Mr. James Peiris, seconded by Mr. Daniel, the question as to whether the experiment should be continued under the same conditions was referred back to the Tobacco Committee for their recommendation. Dr. Lock read his paper on “ Experi- ments bearing on the Cultivation of Paddy,’ and was accorded a vote of thanks. C. DRIEBERG, Secretary, C.A.S. THE BOTANICAL GARDENS OF CEYLON. By PRoFESSOR FRANCIS RAMALEY, University of Colorado. | **An English glass house glorified ” is the description which % British friend of the writer gave to the garden at Peradeniya, Ceylon. And such it truly is. The brilliant foliage, the strange orchids and pitcher plants, the luxuriant ferns, the uncanny screwpines, are just what one might see in a gentleman’s conservatory—only more wonderful and luxuriant, grown taller and more fair. As a ‘show place” these gardens are not equalled anywhere in the world, and as a place of scientific interest to botan- ists there are few rivals. German zoologist and philosopher, said of his visit to Peradeniya that, in the four days which he spent there, he learn- Haeckel, the - ed more botany ‘than he could have learned at home in as many months of hard study.* Ceylon has been described as a ‘“‘dew- drop on the brow of India,” and, so far as position is concerned. it-is certainly very closely related to the Indian penin- sula. In climate, too, and in the flora and fauna, the northern part of the island is strikingly Indian; the same may be said of the inhabitants.. On the other hand, southern and central Ceylon - has a climate of its own, and the people as well as the plants and animals are quite different, ~ Peradeniya is situated in the centre of Ceylon, about seventy miles by rail from Colombo, the capital of the island. There is no town here, but only a post- office and a few scattered huts. ‘The city of Kandy, however, is only three miles distant by rail or wagon road. In going trom Colombo to Peradeniya the trains are slow, but the traveller does not complain. Indeed, he would wish his jouvney lengthened, for the | trip affords a four-hour introduetion to tropical scenery which is nowhere sur- | passed. Any one can enjoy the journey whether interested in the world of nature or in his fellow man.* There are broad lowlands with coconut trees and fields of rice, alternating with patches of deep jungle in which the natives have © cleared bits of grourd and built their huts. In the higher altitudes tea fields aud chocolate plantations are the rule. But here also are stretches of uncleared forest with trees of all heights and size, — frequently some with handsome red or violet coloured flowers standing out ' boldly amid a mass of dark green. The garden at Peradeniya is only one of a number on the island. It is, however, the largest and most import- ant. Here are the offizes of the Director of the Gardens, whose duties correspond to those of a Government Secretary of Agriculture. Other gardens and experi- ment stations, five in number, are estab- lished in parts of the island where differences in climate furnish altered conditions for plant life. The Peradeniya garden is in the wet zone, or area of natural rain forest, at an altitude of 1,600 feet above the sea, With an annual precipitation of about 90 inches and a mean temperature of 75° — Fahrenheit, there are furnished the necessary conditions for luxuriant plant growth. * Haeckel, ‘‘ India and Ceylon,” Ch, VI. A “dry season,” extending © - others to cyeads. _ every-day life. - EPTEMBER, 1911.) / through February, March and April, limits the growth of air plants hanging from trees, so that in this respect Pera- deniya is not so interesting as Buiten- zorg, in Java. The ‘dry season” is, wever, not long enough to interfere with the growth of most plants, and pearly all of the trees retain their leaves through this period. It is quite other- wise in the arid districts of northern Ceylon, where a monsoon forest with a considerable number of deciduous trees is the natural plant formation. Pera- deniya, though rather too cool for coco- nuts or Para rubber, hasa climate well suited to Castilloa'rubber and to tea and chocolate, while palms of nearly all kinds thrive to perfection. The garden was not originally laid out according to any system of plant classi- fication, but was rather a beautiful park in which trees were planted for land- scape effect. Now, however, the Direc- tor, is developing the garden according to systematic plans and making definite groups of plant families. Thus there are at present well-arranged plots de- voted to palms, others to screw pines, It will necessarily be many years before the new plan can be fully carried out, for most of the plants in a tropical garden are trees. Indeed, the herbaceous garden forms but a small part of the whole. Here, as in any first-class garden of the tropics, much is very new and strange to the botanist from temperate climes. Palms, screw pines, giant bam- boos, orchids and tree ferns which he has known hitherto only from books or _from the puny specimens of the plant house, become the commonplaces of : The sight-of trees of the Composite family, Verbena family and many other groups represented at ‘home only by berbs opens the eyes to some of the real wonders of tropical plant life. An interesting example is _that of the ‘“ potato tree” belonging to the nightshade family. It does not produce potatoes, but its flower resem- bles that of a potato very much en- larged. At home we think of the night- shade family including only herbs and vines, but in the tropics it includes trees as large as our ordinary shade trees, _, such as elm and maple. Nearly every kind of plant will grow ' at Peradeniya; tropical and sub-tropi- cal plants very well indeed; temperate plants for the most part indifferently well. The latter are, however, taken care of at the mountain garden at Hak- oi gala where the higher altitude (5,500 * John C. Willis, moa, (Camb.), #.1,8. 251 Miscellanéous. feet) gives them. a climate resembling that of western Washington and Oregon. The comparative coolness of tropical highlands is well illustrated by Nuwara Kliya, a resort near Hakgala, where in the hotels a grate fire is lighted nearly every evening throughout the year. While an attempt is made to grow in the gardens all of the plants which are native to Ceylon, a great many plants from other parts of the world are also to be seen there. Indeed, the wealth of tropical beauty is here assembled. The flame tree of Madagascar, named from the brilliant colour of the flowers,‘ is a wondrous sight in March and April, the whole tree being a mass of red which hides the dark-green foliage. From India there is a tree, Saraca indica, with a profusion of brilliant orange-yellow flowers; and from tropical America various trees of the genus Brownea, especially interesting because of the graceful clusters ot pendant young leaves. The leaves droop when young and tender, thus presenting very little surface for injury by the overhead sun. As they grow older a horizontal position is assumed and the red colour is iost. It is supposed that the red colouring matter acts as a screen which protects the living substance ot the young leaves just as the red glass ina photographer’s dark- room window protects the sensitive plates from injury by light. Among the most interesting plants are the bamboos, of which many different kinds are cultivated, some native, others imported from peninsular India or from other parts of Asia. Some interesting studies have beer made at the gardens on the rate of growth of bamboo stems. These spring up almostas if by magic. To measure the growth from day to day no expensive auxanometer is needed, but obly a tape measure and a coolie to climb an adjacent tree with the end of the tapé. A day’s growthis measured not in millimeters but in teet or inches. Bamboo stems are hollow, as are most grasses—ftor bamboos are but grasses— and are wonderfully strong considering the weight and the amount of material in them. Indeed, the principle ot the hollow cylinder so well known to engineers was long understood by the Asiatics, who use bamboos tor building purposes. Of economic plants in the garden there seemsalmostnoend. The balmy breezes of Ceylon may well be spice-laden, Ceylon cinnamon is known the world over. The various peppers, as black pepper, long pepper, betel pepper, are woody climbers. A handsome grove of Miscellaneous. nutmeg trees is planted near the entrance—the trees about seventy years old. On the ground under the trees may be found the seeds, #.e., the nutmegs, and around them a covering, the aril of the botanist, which forms the spice known as mace. Clove trees may be seen also; itis the young fiower buds of the tree which are dried to make the cloves of commerce. In the garden one may see the plants which furnish vanilla, citronella oil, tea, indigo, pineapple, ramie. sisal hemp and sago. Almost countless trees there are of economic importance. A few may be named, as those which furnish coffee, chocolate, cola, coconut, Brazil nut, camphor, rubber, gamboge and other tropical products. In speaking of economic plants mention must be made of the Experiment Station which is really a part of the garden, although situated across the river. As a matter of fact nearly all the world lies across the river from the Peradeniya Gardens, as these are situated in a bend of the stream which flows first north, then east, then south around the gardens. The Experiment Station was formerly a private estate bought by the gardens at a low price, because it had been allowed to run down and the chocolate trees nearly all became diseased. Scientific methcds of tending and care have been introduced anda model plantation developed. Here ex- periments are made with new agricul- tural crops and with new methods of treatment. The different species of trees furnishing rubber are being tried as well as improved varieties of chocolate, cardomoms and other crops. Throughout Ceylon there is much general interest in scientific agriculture, and the Controller of the Experiment Station has the encouragement and moral support of the thinking population, both EKuropean and native. ‘The daily newspapers at Colombo also give much attention to such matters and assume a sympathetic attitude toward Government scientific work, in refreshing contrast to many of the newspapers in this country. An attractive plot at Peradeniya is the Kitchen Garden, in which are assembled such ‘‘vegetables” as will grow in that hot, moist climate. Many of our common vegetables do well and can be had at all seasons, for example, beans, beets, peas, celery, lettuce, and cress. Potatoes are generally small and poor. Sweet corn will grow in Ceylon, but has not thus far come into use. Of tropical vegetables various ‘“‘ yams” are much used, particularly by the natives. The word ‘‘yam” is applied to tubers 252 \ } BN) i = i i" meat 7 ieee oi is hi ei (SEPTEMBER, 1911 1 and thickened roots of many Stacey species of plants. Eggplants, different from ours in the temperate zone, are cultivated, also certain plants used for ‘‘ greens.” Breadfruit trees produce the large heavy fruits of that name, but these would properly be classified among — vegetables. Breadfruit is not much used by the British in Ceylon, who, in fact, eat chiefly the same things that they are accustomed to eat at home on their own tight little island. Thus far we have been considering the attractions of the Peradeniya Gardens to the casual visitor. To the botanist they are even more interesting. Hvery facility is offered by the Director of the Gardens for investigation by visiting men of science. There is a good her- barium in charge of competent Curators and a working library of botanical books and periodicals. Good laboratory facilities are also offered. Although the | laboratory for visitors is not fully equipped with physiological apparatus, there are the usual necessaries, and it is easy to obtain all ordinary supplies at Kandy or Colombo. Native joiners, tinsmiths and metal-workers can be secured at very low rates to make arti- — cles needed. Photographic materials may be obtained at Kandy, only three miles away, and skilled photographers may be engaged to develop negatives or do other photographic work such as makin lantern slides. Opportunities for securing museum material are excellent. Collections of tropical woods properly named are pre- pared to order by dealers in Kandy. Plant material may be collected from the garden and preserved in formal- dehyde oralcohol. Herbarium specimens from the garden can be collected and dried, but the botanist will need to remember that nothing short of the most thorough drying will suffice. It will also be necessary to use a liberal amount of napthalene scattered through the dry specimens at all times. A native plant collector is detailed by the Direc- tor of the Gardens to assist visiting botanists in getting material from either the garden or the jungle. This man is well acquainted with nearly all of the — species in the garden or growing in the © vicinity, and can usually tell the scienti- fic name offhand, although sometimes — he needs to refer to the herbarium. At — the laboratory native assistants are ~ provided who clean up apparatus and ~ glassware and make themselves gener- — ally useful. ae One of the most interesting things — about Ceylon is the way in which the — jungle comes tothe very door of civili- - : J ef co 2 pat, SECT ON Siege 2 a oy 2 meee a 4 - Se on ree Oe cl ge a = ar ¥ sD Ae Se ont ee _ reached, zation. SePTremMBeR, 1911.) In our own country we do not find ‘‘ backwoods” close to cities and towns, but must travel along way from Boston or New York to find the primeval forest. Ceylon, however, like other tropical countries, furnishes examples of jungle in close proximity to the large towns. Indeed, everywhere through- out the island the forest: is easily There is no half-way land in Ceylon. That which is needed for roads, gardens or fields is well cared for; other land grows up quickly to jungle. Old fields, abandoned a few years, soon ' become a dense thicket and later a forest. This is well seen at Anuradhapura, one ' of the ruined cities in the north-central part of the island. Here, the Govern- ment Archzeologists, as they find various parts of buildings such as columns and arches, set them up in place; but some- - times they neglect to clear out the trees - for a sufficient distance andtheir ‘“‘ finds ” once a patch of jungle. trees nor rendered -Interlacing stems of climbing plants. It more become overturned by growing roots or the stems of gigantic climbers. So, where jungle is the rule, and clear- ings have to be protected, it is natural that the botanical gardens should have This is situated in the Experiment Station grounds, but easily reached by the visitor. Here may be seen the native trees of the region in their natural condition, and the visitor ‘may get some idea of tropical luxuriance in the large number of species present oneven a small tract of ground. It must be said, however, that a visit to this bit of jungle would be, to many visitors, a disappointment, for itis not filled with air plants hanging from the impenetrable by is, however, much easier to travel through than the jungles at sea level in districts of great heat and humidity. ’ The botanist who is interested in ecology—the relation of the plant to its environment—is often on the lookout for field and roadside weeds. In temperate regions, particularly in the western United States, roadside weeds make a constant and striking feature of the landscape. This is nut the case, as a rule, in the tropics. Indeed, there are not only rather tew weeds, but few flower- ing herbs of any kind. The tropics are a region of big things and the her- _ baceous plarts make little impression on the visitor. At the Peradeniya Garden, the writer noted a small area of perhaps alf an acre that had been neglected for atime. Here, although there were many _ tree seedings started, there was a fairly good patch of weeds—enough to make a - lonely American feel quite at home, Miscellaneous: These weeds were chiefly Lantanas and some of our American composites, parti- cularly the fleabane Hrigeron and also Cony2a. i It would be difficult to find elsewhere in the world an area the size of Ceylon, | or even much larger, with so many different vegetation regions. The differ- ences in these regiuns are brought about largely by the winds which deter- mine the distribution of rainfall and by altitude with consequent temperature changes. The wet weather comes with the rains from two different directions. The north-east monsoon commences in October and brings heavy rains through- out the higher parts of the island and in the lowland country of the north-east. A series of rains continues through November and December, with a rather light rainfall during January, February and Mareh. In April the wind changes to south-west and there is more rain, with June especially wet. From then until October the rainfall is again lighter. It will be seen then, that in the highlands itis always moist, but that there are certain districts which have a rather pronounced dry season. The driest parts of the island are in the north and the south or north-west and south-east, in other words, in those parts placed as outlying districts at right angles to the directions of both monsoons. The climate at Peradeniya is such that the botanist can live there in comfort and work regularly. Itis a good place to begin the study of tropical plant life, as it is not extreme in either rainfall or temperature. From Peradeniya it is easy to reach the various parts of the island with their remarkably different floras. Travelling is not expensive, and as English is the regular commercial language it is easy to get around. . Although the different plant form- uations of Ceylon are almost without num- ber, yet a rough classification may be made as follows: (1) lowland evergreen rain forest; (2) upland evergreen rain forest; (8) mountain evergreen rain forest; (4) monsoon forest (half deci- duous). There is no plain or prairie of any extent. Our first named formation is in the south-western part of the island extending from Galle to Colombo and inland for twenty to fifty miles. Pera- deniyais situated in the upland ever- green rain forest. Nuwara Eliya and Hakgala (about 6,000 feet altitude) may be taken as examples of our third region. These points are easily reached from Peradeniya by rail, the trip taking about half a day. Above these points Miscellaneous: the mountains rise 2,000 or 38,000 feet higher, but there is no true alpine veget- ation anywhere in Ceylon. At Nuwara Eliya the general aspect of vegetation is much like that of temperate America or Europe. The treesare much stouter® than those of lower altitudes and not so tall. In these mountain highlands in addition to forest there is a certain amount of ‘‘ open country,” the patanas. These are expanses of grassiand on _ hill- sides and rolling ground. The monsoon forest occurs in the drier regions of the island in the north-west and south-east. Here there are no very tall trees as com- pared with those of the rain forest, and many of them are short and scrubby— very much branched after the manner of dry-country piants the world over. A considerable number are deciduous, losing their leaves in the hotter and drier months of spring to put them on again in the period of the monsoon or rain-bearing winds. In the hot, moist lowlands of the south-west part of the island a typical strand flora may be seen. There are mangrove swamps and thickets of Nipa palm. Itis in such very hot districts that rubber is grown and the coconut _ flourishes also. The drier regions have usually What would bea fair allowance of rain if in the temperate zone, but the tropical heat causes such rapid evapor- ation that the fifty inches of annual rainfall at Anuradhapura is not suffi- cient to grow crops without irrigation. Here then is a truly arid district. Farther north at Jatina it is still drier, so that almost desert conditions prevail at least for a part of the year. As these dry regions can be visited easily at all times of year they make a very attrac- tive feature of the island from the stand- point of the botanist. They are especi- ally interesting to the American student familiar with the arid conditions of the west. In America all arid lands are practically treeless, but in Ceylon the forest is the natural plant formation even in dry areas. With all of the different floras to be seen in the various parts of the Island a botanist may get a good idea of the tropical world in a short time and with slight expense. The Director of the Gardens and his staff are anxious to have scientific visitors, not only botan- ists, but zoologists and geologists as well. - Two rooms at the Government Rest- house (a kind of hotel) are reserved for scientific visitors, and no charge is made for lodging, although, of course, table board must be paid for. The cost of living will be found to be not more than in other tropical countries with fewer advantages for study (Saoraxsen, i0h Ceylon has never attracted a great number of students, but a considerable amount of valuable work has been done there. Haeckel certainly obtained many ~~ of his philosophical ideas of the plant ~— and animal worlds during his visit to the island. Modern science and philo- — sophy owe much to the influence of Ceylon on his writings. But Haeckel’s zoological collections were also valuable, ~ and the collections of others at later times have added much to the world’s store of knowledge in regard to tropical life. On the side of botany probably the name which is oftenest associated with Ceylon is that of the late H.’ Marshall Ward, who as a young man spent two years on the island studying the coffee disease. Although he worked out the etiology of the disease and the life-history of the parasite, he was un- able to devise a method of prevention. Henry Trimen, who was Director of the Gardens at Peradeniya for sixteen years, published the ‘‘ Flora of Ceylon,” which was completed by Sir Joseph Hooker in 1900, after the death of Trimen. It is interesting to note that Hooker had himself collected plants in Ceylon fifty- three years before. Of recent public- ations the work of Mr. Willis, the Direc- tor, on a curious family of plants, the ~ Podostomace, is especially noteworthy. An exhaustive study of the trees of the ebony genus has been made by Mr. Herbert Wright. Mr. R. H. Loek has also done some remarkably good work in plant-breeding experiments which deserve special mention. Various students have worked on minor pro-. blems, with results which have been published in both European and Ameri- can journals. In June, 1901, there was begun the publication of the Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya.* This publication is issued at irregular intervals ata nominal price. Itcontains contributions from the Director and — other members of the scientific staff of the Gardens. The West Indies and the Philippines will, no doubt, attract more students of Botany from America than will Ceylon, butina few years no one will claim to be a trained botanist unless he has-had the advantages of study in some tropical laboratory. There is no tropical land which offers better oppor- — “(oA toe *Students interested in knowing more con- ~ cerning the opprtunities for research at Pera- deniya should consult the first number of the Annals in which these opportunities are fully — set forth. An excellent account of the island of Ceylon with a statement of its resources is given in the ‘World’s Fair Handbook of — Ceylon,” prepared for the St. Louis Exposition, . Cee ee - J tunity than Ceylon for botanical study. Nor can one find any tropical country with a more intelligent and progressive opulation, finer cities or more beauti- ul scenery. One will naturally make comparisons between botanical opportunity at Pera- deniya and at Buitenzorg,t in Java. It may be said that the establishment at Buitenzorg is much older and better provided with funds, but that Pera- deniya isa more comfortable place to live, that travelling is much less compli- cated and communication more easy because of the use of English by the natives. In Java one must learn Malay in order to communicate witb servants. On account of the very moist climate, Buiterzorg presents a more luxuriant vegetation, but this very great moisture makes work harder, and in the after- noons itis practically impossible to do any kind of study in the garden on account of rain. To many people the large number of visitors in the Buiten- zorg gardens seems a detriment. The place is too much “civilized.” At Pera- deniya, on the other hand, the number of casual visitors is rather small, and they donot embarrass. the student by their presence or their questions. It will be seen that itis impossible to say which of the two places will be better for the student. Something depends on the kind of work he wishes to do, and very much depends on his work tem- perament. Infact, both gardens should be visited, and the length of time spent in each be determined by conditions as they arise. MOSQUITOES AND MALARIA. By EK. E. GREEN. The mythical association of Malaria with a_ subtle miasma liberated by newly turned soil dies hard. Some recent correspondence in a local news- ee paper shows how strongly rooted is this . fever, old exploded theory. It would not be of much importance did it not distract attention from what has been amply proved to. be the true causs of malarial and encourage neglect of the proper precautions. ‘To one who has 4 seriously studied the evidence, no doubt of the correctness of the conclusions is possible. To quote from one of the E Royal Botanic Gardens Circulars (‘* Mos- na - quitoes and Malaria,” Vol. I., No. 25):— “It would be difficult to name any biological discovery that has been - - +See an article by the present writer in this ‘Magazine for November, 1905. SEPTEMBER, 1911] 2: 5 Miscellaneous, worked out more carefully and patiently to its conclusion. The development of this microscopic blood-parasite has been traced,—stage by stage, first in the blood of man, then through the stomach and tissues of the mosquito, till it reaches such a position that it must inevitably enter the human system when next the mosquito takes its draft of human blood.” ‘“*Negative proof of the correctness of the mosquito theory of infection is afforded by the fact that Doctors Sam- bon and Low lived a whole summer in the deadliest part of the Roman Cam- pagna, escaping infection by retiring each night into a mosquito-proof hut. Celli made practical experiments on rail- road employés in Italy. Alkali .. A chemical substance pe with active pro- By perties opposed tu > oan those of an acid a _ Alkaloids .. A group of chemical Allseed | i - Allheal (West z Ind Ind. Alligator apple Alligator pear ' Alligator wood (W. Ind.) ie 30 substances, such as strychnine, phine, &c. mor- ... Miecromeria obovata. .. Anona palustris ... Persea gratissima ... Guarea trichilioides ... Polycarpon - Alluvial Mae Miscellaneous. ... Pimenta officinalis Deposited by water | Terminalia Catappa ... Canarium commune Allspice Almond, country Almond, Java Almond-tree (W. Ind.) .. Terminalia Catappa | Aloes .. Aloe, many species Aloe wood .. Cordia sebestana Aloes-wood .. Aquilaria Agallocha _ Alpaca .. A breed of the llama of S. America Alsi (Ind.) ... Linseed Alsike (clover) ... Trifolium Alternate (leaves) One at each joint Alu (Ind.) ... Potato Am (Ind.) ... Mango Aman ... Winter crop of rice (Bengal) Ambasi hemp _... Hibiscus cannabinus Amboyna wood... Pterospermum _indi- cum Amelonado ... A variety of cacao American aloe ... Agave americana American Ebony Brya Ebenus American Elemi Bursera gummifera American Mastic Schinus molle Amorphous ... Without definite form Amphitropous ... Turning both ways from the stalk Amplexicaul _ ... Clasping the stem Ampulliform — ... Flask-shaped Amunam -.. 6 bushels (Colombo) or 43 (Kandy), also ex- tent of land sown by this Analysis _... Determination of con- stituent parts Ananas ... Pine-apple Anastomosing ... Uniting laterally Anatropous’ ... Turned backwards in a U shape from end of stalk Anchovy pear ... Grias cauliflora Andiroba ... Carapa procera and C. guianensis Androecium .... The stamens Androgynous ... Maleand female flowers separate, tut in one inflorescence Anemometer... Measurer of wind-force Anemophily _ ... Pollination by wind Angeleen tree (W. Ind.) Angely wood Angico gum .. Andira inermis ee, Artocarpus hirsuta ... Piptadenia rigida Angostura bark ... Cusparia febrifuga Anicut dam or weir in a ; stream Anil (Ind.) ... Indigo Anime resin Anise, star Anisophylly Anili (Ind.) Annatto Se Hymenzea Courbaril --» Licium anisatum ... Leaves at a joint un- equal ... Tamarind ... Bixa Orellana ~~ \ Miscellaneous. es The rings ot growth that show in most timber, one being formed every year in temperate climates Annual rings Annular .. Ring-shaped Annulate .. Marked with rings Anopheles . The fever carrying mosquito, marked by having the trunk in a line with the body when sucking Antenns .. Heelers Anterior .. The front side: in a flower often the lower side Anteroposte- rior .-- Line from front to back Anther ... Che pollen-receptacle of a stamen Anthocarp .. Fruit enclosed in per- sistent calyx Anthrax ... Splenic fever Anticous ... On the anterior side Antidote Cocoon (W. Ind.) ... Hevillea Cordifolia Antipetalous —... Opposite the petals Anutisepalous’ ... Opposite the sepals Antiseptic .. Preventing growth of germs Apetalous .. Without petals Aphides ... Plant lice; green flies Apieulus A ey point at the en Apiary ... Bee-hive or hives Apiculate .. With apiculus Apiculture ... Bee-culture Apocarpous- ... Carpels not united Apogamous .. Omitting the sexual process Apple, alligator... Anona palustris , custard ... Anona squamosa Apple, elephant... Feronia Elephantum Soh oy pe Aberia caffra Apple, love .-- Tomato » » malay Eugenia malaccensis Apple, pine .. Ananas sativus + » rose Eugenia malaccensis Apple, star ...Chrysophyllum Cainito , sugar * Anona squamosa Apple, thorn... Datura Stramonium » » wood Feronia Hlephantum Approximate... Close together Apricot, San ; Domingo ... Mammea americana Arabian coffee ... Coffea arabica ~ Arable ... Ready for ploughing : usually ploughed ... Cajanus indicus .. Callitris quadrivalvis Arahar (Ind.) Arar wood Arand (Ind.) ... Castor oil Arborescent .. Tree-like Arboretum .-- Collection of tr ees Arboriculture ... Tree-culture Arbourvine, Spanish (Ind.)... Ipomoea tuberosa O58 Artichoke, Globe ... Cynara scolymus ~ a Artichoke, ‘ ~ Jerusalem ... Helianthus. tuberosus Articulated __... Jointed JF Artificial M4 manure | ... A manure artificially — EAs br ye F SAN Arbor vite .. Thuja ocdidantalieet r Archzean (rock) ... Primitive; pre-fossi- 4 t liferous ee tly - Are ... 100 square meters a Areea nut ... Areca Catechu j ‘Areolate .. Marked with little areas 3 Argillaceous .. Clayey ae. Argum . Argania sideromenen # Aril . A growth surround- ~ ing the seed, and — not part. of thefruit wall, as in Mangos- teen (the soe . part) } a Arisi (Tam.) .. Rice ; Aristate .. Awned ; provided with a bristle ie Aristulate .. Diminutive of aristate _ Arnotto ... Bixa Orellana Arrack .. Spirit distilled from fermented palm toddy Arrested ts Checked in growth Arrowroot .. Maranta arundinacea Arrowroot, Brazilian .. Manihot utilissima Arrowroot, Hast \ Indian ... Curcuma angustifolia; Tacea pinnatifida 2 Arrowroot, West Indian ! Manante arundinacea Artesian (well) . .One sunk in a place ~ where a clayey stra- tum underlies ina bow] form a porous layer, so that the ~ water rises from a considerable depth. compounded of che- mical substances Artillery plant ... Pilea muscosa 4 Arum-lily ... Richardia africana — Ascending .. Bending upwards ats outer end. ; Ascigerous .. Bearing asci 4 Ascospore .. The spore of an ascus — Ascus .. Spore chamber of an Ascomycete fungus 3 Aseptic ... Free from living infec- tive Been &e. Me Asexual . Sexles ha Ash (in analysis) What i is leftaft r care: S ful (enclosed) com-— bustion of the si stance analysed ... A variety of Keypt in cotton ‘ oe Benincasa cerifera ue 5 hat Ashmouni Ash-pumpkin _ SEPTEMBER, 1911.) _ Asparagus ma . an . Ind.) .. Dolichos sesquipedalis Asperous .. Rough Assai palm ‘4 ... Euterpe edulis Assam silk . Hri silk Assam tea Assimilation .. A variety of tea . Working up of the simple food mate- rials taken in by Pea root and leaves, into BEL HEN the complex food of the plant Asweddumize ... Convert into paddy. fields ... Not symmetrical when divided by a line through the centre ... Nipa fruticans leaves made intoa cadjan .. Return to an ancestral Asymmetric Atap Atavism j ; type Atlas moth .. A silk-making moth; silk valueless com- mercially ... Beside stakes set out at regular intervals ... Tapering At stake Attenuate _ Aubergine .- Brinjal ‘Auricle ... An ear-like lobe at base of a leaf Aus . Spring crop of rice : (Bengal) Austial .. Southern Australian— Blackwood... Acacia melonoxylon Chestnut .. Castanospermum aus- t trale Currant .- Leucopogon Avocado pear Persea gratissima Awn .. A bristle-like out- growthin the flowers of grasses, &c. ... The angle between a leaf and the stem Axile .. Of stem nature Axillary .. Inan axil.- xis .. Stem ... Kupatorium Ayapana. .. A head carpenter ‘Baas (boss) Babul ... Acacia arabica Baccate . Berried per or s button x nd,) .. Gomphrena globosa ! es . Plants of excessive 5 minuteness, which cause fermenta- tions, diseases, de- cay, ete., in animal a matter. _ Bacteroids »-The organisms that grow in the root tubercles of Legu- oe minos:e 2S Beinn a (W. ud.) | sae Brinjal, Solanum Me- longena 209 Miscellaneous. Bael Baffle-plate eels Marmelos. . A plate in an appar- atus for smoking ete., made to cause the current to turn another way .. Refuse cane, after erushing for sugar. ... (family Psychidee). A caterpillar that lives inside a case of sticks, &c, that it makes about itself Attalea gummifera Bagasse Bag worm Bahia piassaba... Bahama _ grass (W. Ind.) .. Arugam-pillu, Cynodon Dactylon , Bahamashemp ... Agave rigida, variety Baigan ... Brinjal Bajri Mopatraali Millet, Penni- setum typhoideum Balata ... Dried latex of Mimu- sops Balata Balata tree t (W. Ind.) ..- Bumelia. Bale .. A compressed bundle of cotton cr fibre Balsa ... Ochroma Lagopus Balsam ... A flindresin Balsam ... Impatiens Balsam apple (W. Ind.) ... Momordica Balsamina Balsam, broad- leaved(W. Ind.) Oreopanax capitatum Balsam of Copaiba ... Copaifera, several species Balsam fig (W. Ind.) .. Clusia rosea Balsam, gurjun... Dipterocarpus, several species Balsam of Peru... Toluifera Pereirze Balsam of Tama- coari Balsam of Tolu .. Balsam tree, yellow(W. ‘Ind. ) Croton flavens Balsam (W. Ind. ? Clusia rosea . Caraipa, several species . Toluifera punctata Bamboo - . A giant grass, belong- ing to the genera Bambusa, oo and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—September, 1911. advantage of saving the superintendent’s time, if, as in my case, he has to do all the dosing him- self having no dispenser or assistant; and also it ensures the medicine being taken, coolies other- wise, being given it\at muster, take it to the lines and there.often do not avail themselves of it PRECAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED. To conclude these sketchy remarks which, I hope, will be of interest to some and possibly o assistance, too, I give thefollowing ‘tips’ as the results of my ownexpenience and as advice to those who do not already know of ’em. Live awav from the riverside, out of the mist if possible and, if a European, sleep with windows shut at certain times of year. Avoid going out in the sun after 10 or ll a.m. and before 3 p.m. Be careful about what you drink and ‘‘look after yourself ” in the way of food. If in a low lying part carry an umbrella always in additior to a topee (if a European.) Whether you have ac- tually had fever or not, take 8 grns. quinine once a week regularly from April to end June. Sleep off the ground and take occasional opening doses. Do not bathe in cold water. Lastly, and most important, do what you can to keep your- self from thinking too much about it, whether you. have fever or not. Keep your spirits up, but not by pouring spirits down, The publication of the above brought us the following useful contribution. Chills and Resultant Faver. An CrEyLton Lapy’s VALUABLE HINTS. Dear Sir,—I read with great appreciation the article on ‘* Fever ” by a Peermade planter, which appeared in your valuable paper last week, and. also the letters it evoked. But it seemed to me that the whole reliance was placed on drugs, and that, perhaps, a few supplementary words on ¢reatment and diet might not be superfluous. For myself 1 abjure drugs as far as possible, ana though it may not perhaps be possible to do much tor coolies in the way of treatment en masse, they might be en- lightened in very few words as tothe general lines to be followed when illness sets in, Cotp Stage: Go to bed and cover with blankets Hot drinks of rice cungy water Kat nothing Hot bottle to feet A little castor oil. Hot Stace: Sip cool drinks of cungy water Sponge face and hands i Keep still in bed. Moreover there are the masters themselves, the planters, toconsider, and many of them suddenly attacked by illness do not recognise which symptoms are serious, or why, and are utterly at seaas to whatshould be done, Last week a learned Judge even said in my presence :—‘' | really cannot see how itis a chill works such harm, It certainly often has serious consequences, but lam blest if I can tell how if acts on one.” Well,—This is one of the things that are often ‘hidden from the wise and pradent,” but as , Thus: 271 it is revealed unto this Babe I will—if he and others will condescend to listen for a few mo- ments—try to make the reason very clear, In every living organism there must of ne- cessity be waste constantly forming. This waste must positively be got rid of and pass out of the system as fast as formed if one would keep in health. This waste or impurity is caused ina variety of ways: partly from the unassimilated debris of the’ food we eat, partly from the attri- tion of the muscles when in use, partly the im- purities from the air we breathe—in fact every cellular tissue is constantly receiving new roatter and depositing old waste substances, These waste matters must be got rid of daily by various organs which we may cali the organs ot elimination. Chief of these are the skin, the liver, the kidneys and the intestines. As much as twoand-a-half to three pints of waste matter will exude in perspiration con- scious or unconscious, by the skin, during the 24 hours. The liver deals with a huge mass of carbona- ceous matter which is separats from. the blood, and if the action of the liver cease only for a day the yellow skin alone shows the retention of bilious matter. The kidneys are the blood-filters, and by them another two and-a-halfto three pints of waste vitrogenous matter, salts and minerals should be separated from the blood in the 24 hours. These poisons if retained, poison the blood to putrefaction, and paralyse the brain. Of all ex- cretions this is the most important t» observe, as it 1s deleterions when suppressed and with so much quicker effect than that of the others. Now suppose you get a chill, perhaps you travel up from the plains to the hills without changing into thick underclothing, as weli as warm outer wraps, or you get a drenching, or get cold after tennis or other games, or inhale a noxious germ when weary, worried, or hungry, and the vitality is too depressed to deal with it. Result : The skin is congested, the millions of pores are constricted by the action of the cold, and all the waste that should pass off by it is thrown in upon the internal organs. More- over the blood breathes by the skin and thus oxygenation is checked and waste settles in the air passages of the iungs and causes cough. Generally the chill affects also the liver and kidneys, congesting them and thus the blood speedily becomes full of waste matter more than the organs can deal with. Then the kidneys become clogged and their secretion is diminished oralmost ceases, just as when a filter is clogged and requires thorough cleansing Result: headache, backache, violent shivering, sickness or nausea. The victim is in abject misery, and usually has no difficulty in giving adeqnatea expression to it in making others know it too, and share his misery, as the poisons working in his blood make him at this stage acutely irritable. If the system is notable to help itself and this state of things is not soon relivved it may in a day or two be followed by drowsiness, coma, and death. A weak heart is not able to cope 272 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist It is Wrong To plant the new MANIHOT varieties Dichotoma and Piawiensis Ule on humid soil. ‘Chey want rather dry ground to develop into full strength. Another point to be taken into serious consideration is that both varieties can also be cultivated on land not fit for other kinds of Rubber Trees or Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Cotton, &e. Anearly and large output of rubber of these new varieties is their most important quality, and we strongly recommend a trial sowing; we supply 10 lbs. (about 3,700 seeds; by parcel post (post free) to all countries on receipt of £3. Bags containing 135 lbs. at the rate of 3/6 per lb. delivered in Hamburg. Pleass state full postal address when ordering. The Seeds are Reliable. They are harvested from indigenous trees each season and have always given the fullest satisfaction to our clients. Detailed information for the cultivation of bath sorts Dicho- toma for clay soil; Piauiensis for sandy soil—on application. Gevekoht & Wedekind Hamburg 1. Telegraphic-Address : ‘“‘Gevekind Hamburg.” a A. B. C. Code Sth Edition. - with the added burden combined with lack of a barley. Putin quart jug. Pour on a oxygen, &c., and another case of ‘“‘heart failure ” Some is recorded, Then how must we deal with a condition which is ushered in by acute shivering and aches: suppression, nausea or vomiting or scanty action of the functions. The first thing to do is to restore the action of the skin and other organs of elimination.— How? 1. The patient must at once go to bed and stay there till his condition changes for the better. Cover warmly, with blankets. 2. Eat nothing. Nature itself teaches this by taking away your appetite till the accum- ulations of waste have been got rid ef; because, of course, eating would only . add to the waste. If a foolish friend persists in feeding you, nature becomes furious in revolt and rejects the offend- ing matter by setting up vomiting. 3. Apply hot water bags or bottles to the feet and sides. Lf you have no rubber water, begs fill ordinary bottles with hot water cork securely and fasten up in a sock or stocking with a safety pin. 4. Sip hot bland drinks, such as milk- and-barley water, or barley water alone. Milk alone is too strong and apt to curdle. To. make barley water, ,wash @ table spoonful of pear! guart of boiling water. Infuse. prefer it boiled for five minutes. Every patient with chill should drink a quan. tity of this to wash out the clogged-up kidneys. Touch no cold drinks till the skin begins to act, or as loug as the patient is cold and congested, Hot tea if desired. No beef tea at present. It makes too much waste. Hot blan drinks. , 5. No Atoonot. Nota drop. lt tends to harden the tissues and increase con- gestion. 6. Sleep. 7. Sleep. 8. Sleep. 9.—If the head is very bad, use smelling salts ; or kind a dry handkerchief sprinkled with Eau-de-Uologne round. Nothing damp till the cold stage is over. 10. No talking. il. No visitors. 12. Let the patient alone as much as possible when made comfortable. This congestion stage generally lasts two to three days in favourable cases and cannot be hurried. Towards evening generally the patient becomes hot and restless. Then sponge face and hands with warm water, and give cold drinks if and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—September, 1911. he desires; cold barley water with lemon and a little sugar. Some one should certainly be in attendance the first 2 nights, and see that at least once in the night the patient’s hot bottles are refilled and he be given a hot drink and made comfortable. This can often be done without disturbing him. At 3 to 4 a.m. the vitality is at the lowest and also from this time to dawn is the coldest part of the night. A patient has nothing to do but to sip drinks and sleep. Properly treated, on the 2nd or 3rd evening the crisis should come, that is he should wake bathed in profuse perspiration, with head relieved and other functions acting, Now be extra careful that he gets no cold again. He is not to lift his head or put even an arm out till he has had a cup of (1) hot milk, or (2) hot tua made with milk (3) hot chicken broth. —s ¥ : The perspiration shows the skin is doing its work again, and one has to be most careful not to check it, for the patient is still very weak. Having drunk the hot milk and rested for an hour he may be sponged with warm water from head to foot én a blanket. “Method.—Attendant must spread a blanket on edge of the bed, and tell the patient to roll himself upon it. Then cover him at once with the other half of the blanket. Divest him of his damp perspiry garments, and putting the * sponge underneath the blanket ru» him down erpialy alimbatatime. Dry thoroughly and dress in warm new pyjamas. Bundle blankets round him and change the sheets quickly. Get him back to bed quick’y and put a hot bottle to his feet. One more drink of hot chicken broth and milk, and he will fall asleep and probably sleep 12 hours waking well, but weak, He requires nourishment, but not ordinary diet for several more days, However, the following dishes may be given if there is no relapse. ; : 1, A beaten up egg, flavoured with vanilla and sugar, and mixed with milk. 2, Fish very lightly fricasseed in milk, or boiled with parsley sauce, 3. Onions stewed in milk, f 4. Vegetable marrow, stewed in milk and parsley. 5- Savoury baked custard. (If sweets are dis- liked, the custard may be made as usual, seasoned with salt, pepper and a sprink- ling of, powdered cheese.) Omelet . Sago jelly with custard. 8. Cream soup (milk thickened with yolk of egg, salt, pepper, cheese) with fried croutons. All these dishes are nourishing, but make very little demand on the digestion, and leave very little waste for the enfeebled organs to deal with. GENERAL KEMARKS ON ILLNESS AND Norsina. It is to be remembered that almost every illness begins in the same way, i,e., with con- 33 Se 273 gestion, or failure in some way of the organs of elimination to do their work properly. Therefore, the treatment above described ap- plies to the initial stages of almost every case of fever, malaria, chills and general sickness. This should not be taken that it should super- sede the Doctor, but only if he is not at hand, or to go on with while waiting for him. Those attending on the sick are sometimes very thoughtless in the little things for the pati- ent’s comfort. Always a little table with a hand bell should be beside him, Always every particle of food or drink should be covered with paper or muslin, if obliged to be left in the room. Always have plenty of hot water going. Itis misery to have to wait for things. Firstly, finally and chiefly, every bungalow ought to have a feeding cup. Really anyone who takes drink of any sort in a long soda tumbler to a patient who is helpless in bed ought to be slapned / ust try it for yourself! Keep the head on the pillow and see if you can drink a drop without spilling it on the bedclothes and down your neck! And why should a patient have to lift his head and untuck the clothes and get chilled again? Ifthere is no feeding cup, give the lowest cup or shortest little basin youcan possibly get. Buta feeding cup costs only 6d. to 1s., at ony of the cash chemists in England. For 5s. each lonely man could pros vide himself with a capital sick-room-outfit and it would be well worth while. Remember fever only means that the system cannot get rid of its rubbish by normal means, so it tries to burn them up!! All very well, but if the temperature goes too high it burns some of the good tissues as well as the rubbish. A clinical thermometer is a necessity. There are many more remedial treatments I could name, but they require too much care. What I have here prescribed is so simple that the average ‘‘wayfaring fool, though a man need not err therein ” | I wish Sir Allan Perry and Mr John Har- ward would ask me to write Juvenile books on Hygiene for his Educational Department!—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, NURSE CON AMORE, We are indebted for the following to a Straite contemporary who heads it ‘The Malaria Scourge.” ORGANISED ACTION RY SINGAPORE AUTHORITIES. It would appear that, at long last, the Govern- ment and Municipality of Singapore have been moved to take some definite action to combat the scourge of malaria on the island. No public announcement has yet been made on the subject, butthe contemplation of the scheme has gone sufficiently far to justify the expec- tation that it will come to something. There is, we understand, nothing more in the scheme than has been urged upon the autho- rities time and again in various ways—by the medical faculty, by the layman writer in the press and by the forcible example of many other cities in the east, Itis proposed to ‘establish 274 2 Malaria Board, to be composed, presumably, of Government aud Municipal medical officials, armed with executive powers and with penal by-laws to strengthen its hands. These by- laws will enforce certain responsibilities on the public and the board will see that they are borne dutifully. Although the details are not decided yet, there is reason to believe that the line of conduct of the campaign will coincide, toa large extent, with the recommendations madein February, 1910, by Dr. Middleton be- fore the Municipal Commission of Enquiry. these recommendations were summarised by Mr Roland Braddell in his interesting letter on malaria in the columns of the Straits Times of August 12th, as follows :— 1. Survey of all ponds, swamps, ditches and pools for the presence of malaria. 2. Filling up, draining and_ brick-lining where necessary—lists of earth drains. 3. Oiling where more permanent measures cannot be carried out. 4, Repair of rain gustane: 5. Screening of all cisterns, tanks, barrels, jars and other receptacles in and about houses or periodical emptying of same. 6. Collection and disposal of all broken bot- tles, pots, jars, old tin cans, etc., in or about houses. 7. The opening of depdts in different parts of the town where quinine could be distributed free -to suitable cases and under proper precautions, 8. The presence of larvae in any barre!, tank, cistern, jar, etc., to be considered an offence. 9. Drawing up regulations embodying 5, 6 and 8. 10. Distribution of leaflets in different langu- ages explaining reasons-for action taken aud directions to be followed, advising use of mos- quite curtains. 11. Provision of a staff to carry on this work. So far, the scheme is still under consideration. It has, we believe, been presented in draft form to the Government, which, with implied ap- proval, has passed it over to the Municipal Com- missioners for their contemplation and amend- ment or approval. Some definite pronounce- ment on the matter shouid be made shortly.— Straits Times, Aug, 24. COPRA TRADE IN THE PHILIPPINES. A BOOM IN COCONUT PLANTING. The Philippine Islands shipped abroad 116,374 metric tons of copra inthe calendar year 1910, and the average price for the year was about 34 cents. gold per lb., says an American Consular report. The price increased during the year from about 3 cents. to about 4 cents. gold per Jb, in the last quarter. The steady growth of the trade is indicated by the fact that shipments in- creased from 168,473,499 Ilb., valued at $5,461,680 in 1908 to 232,728,116 1b., valued at $6,657,740 in 1909, and to 254,156,982 Ib., va'ued at $9,153,951 in 1910 (fiscal years in each caso), and that there was anincrease from 113,643 metric tons in the fiscal year to 116,374 metric tons in the calendar year of 1910. Because of tho high price, due chiefly to the extraordinary demand for vege- table oils, and because of the strong demand ‘generally, there is something of j The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist. 4 BOOM IN THE COCONUT BUSINESS IN THE ISLANDS, and the increase in trade is having a marked effect, not only on the islands themselves, but upon shipping in the Far East and other lines of business, Inthe Philippines the export of copra is now the second largest element in the foreign trade, comprising almost a fourth (23 pen cent) of the whole, and being exceeded only y hemp. J COCONUT PLANTING is being carried on more extensively than ever before. Six years agothere was a period of high prices, during which time. extensive \plantimgs were made, and these trees will come into pro- duction this year. Indications are that the ex- port of the product during 1911 will exceed all previous years in volume, while, owing to the shortage of other oil-producing crops, the pre- vailing high prices may continue for some time. Naturaly, such conditions are leading to a gen- eral expansion of business in all lines connected with coconut planting and plantation supplies. Exports of copra from the Philippines to the United States have more than kept pace with the increased imports into the latter country, due to the demand for coconut oil. The total imports of copra into the United States during the fiscal years 1908,1909 and 1910 were $481,232, $666,820, and $762,560 res- pectively, and the imports thereof from the Philippines were $213,999, $273,497, and $416,074 respectively. The increase inimports of copra - into the United States during the three years was about 58 per cent., while the increase in imports from the Philippines are about 90 per cent. Nevertheless, most of the product went to France, mostly to Marseilles, where the great coconut-oil factories are largely dependent uponthe Philippines for their copra supplies. France took $6,114,324 worth of the product in the last fiscal year. Germany, particularly Mannheim, takes an increasing quantity, while Spain maintains a trade long established. THE TEXTILE FIBRE INDUSTRY OF BRAZIL. With the world’s source of cotton supply in the main limited to the United States, and in view of the reputed failures to develop the cotton-growing industry in India and Africa on a very large scale, it would seem that Brazil will, within the next generation, witness an extension of its -cotton indus- try, and-when such a time comes its cotton- bearing trees will have their share of attention in this respect, There are indigenous to Brazil, and growing wildin certains region, two well- known species of trees which are of interest to the commercial world because of their possibili- ties as producers of cotton fibre. Not the least remarkable feature about these treesis their occurrence in frecisely those regions where it has seemed to be impossible, or at least diffi- cult, to grow ordinary cotton. No other coun- try in the world possesses so large: an area of land which may be utilised for the growing of cotton as does Brazil, and that in other areas it is possible to cultivate trees for the production ef cotton tibres must sppea! to the textile-pro- | and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—September, 1911, ducing world as indicating that Brazil must be reckoned with as afuture source of the world’s cotton supply. The United States Consul at Rio de Janeiro says that one of these trees is called ‘ Barraguda,’ from its being barrol-shaped, after the peculiar trunk which is its characteris- tic. The tree grows from twenty-five to thirty- five feet in height, tapering from the great bulge in the trunk to a very slender one, from which branches form about twelve feet above the ground. The trunk is entirely covered with hard and sharp thorns. The pods in which the cotton grows are from five to eight inches long, and, two tofour inches in diameter.* The fibre is coarse and white, and adheres closely to the seeds, which are somewhat smaller than peas. Itisa long and strong fibre and while too coarse for use in textiles of any degree of fineness, it would, itis said, lend itself to the fabrication of blankets, cotton twine, and a variety of other materials. The habitst of this tree is in central and southern Bahia, and it growsto a lesser extent in the State of Pernambuco. The uplands on which it svems to flourish are from a thousand to sixteen hundred feet above sea-level, where thereis a decided chill in the airduring certain months of the year. The cther tree produces a much finer cotton, of a brownish colour, exceedingly light, but not long enough to spin well, and _ re- sembles eider-down,. The pods in which it grows are about ten inches long and one inch- and-a-halfindiameter before bursting. When the pod bursts and the ripe cotton comes out, the pod takeson a rotund shape eight to ten inches in diameter. The fibre adheres loosely to the seeds, most of which fall out by merely shaking the pod, and is so Jight and fluffy that one can blow almost the entire contents of a pod free fromthe outer enclosure or hull, JUcca- sionally this cotton is used in pillows, and when properly prepared is said to be as soft and downy as the lightest and best feathers, showing no tendency to harden with use. The inner bark of this cotton tree is utilised by the in- habitants for many purposes. 1t is a remark- ably strong fibre, and a strip half an inch in width will, without any preparation, sustain a weight of fifty toa hundred pounds. The tree has its habitat in central Bahia and northern Minas Geraes, being most abundant inthe latter State, and is called “imbirussu,” being a name of Indian origin, probably given to it because of its peculiar and characteristic bark, The cor- rugations of the bark form diamond-shaped patches, the inner parts of which havea bright greenish-red and glossy surface. Both of these trees are hardy and long-lived, seventy-five to one hundred years being apparently a fair aver- age for the period during which they bear cotton fibre, while the common cotton-plant©*vars- in many parts of Brazil for fifteen to tweuty-tive years without any attention whatever.—Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Aug. 11. [* Thig must be alliedto the ‘Cotton tree ” (Bombax Malabaricum) of Ceylon, giving the ‘* Kapok ” or mattress stuffing cotton, We see thatthe Tropical American species was called by Linnsus ‘* B. Csiba,’—Ev,C.0.) 275 KAPOK AND ITS CULTIVATION. Kapok is a fine fibrous material, somewhat resembling cotton, but weaker and more lus- trous, derived from the tree known as Eriden- dron anfractuosum, which occurs in the Dutch Kast Indies, Ludia, Ceylon, tropical Africa, the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America. The fibres arise from the inner wall of the capsule and surround the seeds. The kapok tree grows at the sea-level and up to an altitude of 3,000 or even 4,0/0 feet, but gives the best yield and quality of fibre when situated at less than 1,000 feet above the sea. It is said to flourish best on a porous, sandy- clay soil. in a climate with a dry east monsoon, and to be capable of withstanding heavy rains and resisting long periods of drought, The propagation of the tree can be easily effected by means of either cuttings or seed. In the latter case the seed is sown in nurserios, and is only lightly covered with earth. If the soil is poor, it 1s recommended that stable manure should be applied about ten days before sowing. The seed should be planted in rows at a dis- tance of 10 to 12inches. When the young plants are about 5 or 6 inches high they should be no longer shaded but exposed to the sun. If the plants do not obtain plenty of sunshine, they grow thin and lanky. The seedlings are planted out when from eight to twelve months old. In Java, kapok trees are commonly planted about 12 to 15 feet apart along the roads in the coffee and cocoa plantations. When the trees are grown in special plantations, they should be placed ebout 18 feet apart (about 144 trees to the acre), for if planted more closely they soon interfere with one another. The trees com- monly attain a height of 30 feet, but sometimes grow to 50 feet or even more. Before transplanting, it is advisable to strip off all the leaves and to cut the stem down to a height of 14 to 2 feet. and also to cut the chief roots so as to make stumps of them. [f the top is not cut it will usually die down to the ground. The trees eubsequently require very little attention, but the soil must be kept free from weeds. During the early years of growth other plants can be cultivated between the young trees. In Java it is a common practice to grow pepper in this way, but it should not be planted before. the kapok trees are three or four years old, The trees begin to bear in the third or forth year, but sometimes not till later. The crop is never very large until the sixth year. A large tree brings 1.000 to 1,500 fruits to maturity per annum, each of which contains about 07 tc 1°2 grams of dry fibre. Hence, on an average, a well developed tree may be expected to give an annual yield of § to 13 kilograms (or about 14 to 22 lb.) of clean fibre. The tree flowers in April or May, and the fruits mature at the end of October or in November: As the fruit ripens it becomes yellowish-brown and then begins to upen. As soon as this point is reached, the fruits are gathered by moaans of long bamboo poles bearing small hooks at the upper.ends. They are then lefton aclean floor, preferably of coment, and 276 exposed to the sun in order that they may ripen completely and open fully. The fibre and seeds are picked out of the capsules by women and children and are dried in the sun for some days. The seeds are usually removed from the fibre by beating with sticks or by means of a simple machine. A special form of gin, resembling a cotton gin, has been recommended for the pur- pose, but it must be remembered that in most cases the kapok is only a subsidiary product and produced in small quantities, so that the provi- sion of expensive machinery would not be re- munerative. The kapok is packed in bales by means of hydraulic or hand presses, but must not be com- pressed too severely or its resilience will be impaired and its value consequently diminished. Each bale weighs about 80lb. The number of bales exported from Java in recent years is as follows ; 1907, 92,874 ; 1908, 109,852 ; 1909, 87,685. The value of the total imports of kapok into the United Kingdom amounted to £23,752 in 1908, and to £27,645 in 1909. The market price of kapok has advanced dur- ing the last few months from 7d to about 9d per lb., and it is therefore possible that the collec- tion and preparation of this fibre for export would prove a remunerative iudustry in certain British Colonies and Dependencies.—Jmperial Institute, Bulletin, No. 2, 1911. TEA IN CHINA IN THE 17TH CENTURY: A Jxsurt’s BooK—TRANSLATED IN 1698. We are much obliged to Mr. McEwan (of Messrs. McMeekin & Co. of Lime Street)—a well- known authority on tea—for the extracts he sends from the interesting old book of a Jesuit priest, who must have been a Missionary in China and Siam, about the middle of the 16th century. The oldest book on tea in our hands is one pub- lished in London in 1799—an illustrated folio entitled ‘‘ fhe Natural History of the Tea-tree with observations on the Medical Qualities of Tea and on the effects of Tea-Drinking—a new edition—by John Coakley Lettsom, mM. D. But the Preface refers to ‘‘an inaugural disser- tation ” on the virtues of tea printed in 1769 and in 1772 a first edition of the volume given in 1799. It seems that Sir George Staunton’s Embassy to China, some time before, attracted notice to the tea trade and he had a table com- piled (now before us) giving ‘‘an Account of the Quotations of Tea exported from China to English and Foreign ships in each year from 1776 to 1795 distinguishing each year.” The quantity was :— 12,841,500 lb. in foreign ships in 1776 3,402,415 |b. in English __,, is and 5,577,200 lb. (foreign) in 1783 against 23,733,810 |b. (in English ships) in 1783. London, July 28th, 1911. Dear Si1r,—There was recently placed in my hands a quaint and interesting old book pub- lished in London in 1698, and stated to be a second edition of a translation from the French. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist There is nothing to indicate when the first edi- tion, or the French original, were published, I enclose a typewritten copy of the tigle page and of various extracts bearing on the subject of Tea. The interest of these lies in the fact that Ihave been unable to trace that they have been reproduced in any modern writing dealing with the subject of Tea, and that they are of earlier date than the well-known quotations so fre- quently made use of. The archaic spelling has been reproduced. Iam sending you the extracts that you may reproduce anything you like from them.—I am, yours faithfully, JOHN McEWAN. MEMOIRS AND OBSERVATIONS, Topographical, Natural, Physical, Civil, Mathematical and Mechanical, _ Ecclesiastical, Made in a late JOURNEY through the EMPIRE oF CHINA And published in several letters. Particularly upon the Chinese Pottery and Varnishing ; the Silk and other Manufactures ; the Pearl Fishing ; the History of Plants and Animals ; with a description of their Cities and Public Works ; Number of People, their Lan- guage, Manners and Commerce; their Habits, Ciconomy, and Government. The Philosophy of Confucius. The State of Christianity, and many other Curious and Useful Remarks, By Louis Lz Comtn, Jesuit, Confessor to the Duchess of Burgundy, one of the Royal Mathematicians, and lately Missio- nary into the Eastern Countries. Translated from the Paris Edition, and illus- trated with Figures. The Second Edition very much corrected, with the Addition of a Map of China, and a Table. London : Printed for Benj. Tooke, and are to be sold by Geo. Huddleston at the Black-moor’s Head, near Exeter-Exchange in the Strand. 1698. There is to be seen in China abundance of other Rivers less Famous, but yet more Commo- dious for Commerce and Trade, 4 Since they afford nothing uncommon, it would be to abuse your Patience, Sir, to descend to the Particulars. As to what concerns Foun- tains, it were to be wisht there were more of them, and better. ‘Tis certain that their usual Waters are not good, which, perhaps, hath obliged the Inhabitants, especially. in the Southern Provinces, to drink it always warm ; but because warm Water is unpalatable and nauseous, they bethought themselves of putting some Lepres of a Tree to it, ,to give it a Gusto. Those of Tea seemed to be the best, and so they frequently made use of it. It may be also that God Almighty, whose Pro- vidence hath so universally provided for the Wants of His People, and if.I may be:bold tosay it, for their Delight and Pleasure, would not deprive China of that which is necessary to Life ; so that for. to Supply the Defect of the Wells and Fountains, which the Nature of the Ground and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—September, 1911. hath made everywhere salt and brackish. He hath been pleased to produce that Species of a particular Tree in aboundance, whose Leaves serve not only tp purge the Waters from their noxious Qualities, but also to make them whole- some and pleasant. Awongst these Simples there are two that I may speak of before hand: The first is the Leaf of Thee, as they call it in China. (Thee is a cor- rupt word of the Province of Hokien, it must be called Tcha, this is the term of the Mandarin Language.) They are much divided in their . Opinions touching the Properties they ascribe to _ it. Some do maintain that it hath admirable ones; others, that itis but a fancy and meer whim of the Europeans, that are alwaysin love with Novelties,and put a value upon that which they do not understand : in that, asin all other things where Men do not agree, I think we ought to take the middle path. In China they are subject neither to Gout, Sciatica, nor Stone; and many imagine, that Thee preserves them against all these Distem- pers. The Tartars that feed upon raw Flesh, fall sick,aud suffer continual Indigestions so soon as ever they give over drinking of it; and that they may have plenty of it, thoy bargain to fur- nish the Emperor with almost all the Horses that serve toremount his Cavalry. When any oneistroubled with a Vertigo that over char- gesthe Brain, he finds himself oxtreamly re- lieved so soon as he accustoms himself to Thee, In France there are abuudance of People that. find it good for the Gravel, Crudities, Head- aches; nay, some preteud to have been Cured of the Gout by it, almost miraculously ; 80 quick and sensible has been its effect. All this proves that Thee is no Chimera, and Con- ceit. Nay, some after drinking of it sleep the better, which argues that it 18 not proper to suppress Fumes. Some there be who never take it after Meales, without Experiencing mischievous Effects; their Digestion is inter- rupted and disturbed; and they tind a long time after Crudities, and a troublesome Repletion. Others find no benefit by it neither in Gout nor Sciatica, A great many say that it dries, makes lean, avd. that it obstructs and that if there be any good qualities in it, the most part of other leaves would in a manner produce the same effect, These Experiments evince that its Vertue is not so universal as People imagine. So that in my opinion, one should speak moderately of it, both as to its good and bad qualities. Perhaps warm Water alone is a good Medicine against destempers, the cure of which they attribute to Thee. And there are several People that are exempt from many In- conveniences because they are used to drink warm Liquors. Nevertheless it is certain, that Thee is of acorrosive nature, for it ettenuates hard Victuals wherewith itis boiled, and con- sequently is proper for digestion, thatis to say for dissolution ; which also proves that it resists Obstructions, and that Liquors impregnated with its Particles and Salts, carry off, and more easily separate whatsoever adheres to the Tunicles of the Vessels. | This very quality is proper -(o consume superfluous Humors, to put 277 into motion those that stagnate and corrupt, to evacuate. others, that cause the Gout and Sciatica. Sothat Thee, with caution, isa very good Remedy, altho’ it be not so effectual, nor universal, but that the temperament of certain Persons, the heighth of the Distemper, together with certain occult Dispositions, may many times retard the Hffect, or even frustrate its Virtue, To use it with benefit, it is requisite to know it, for there is more than one sort ot it. That of the Province of Xensi is course, harsh, and un- pleasant. The Tartars drink of it: There is necessary to thema stronger Menstrum than to the Chinese, because they feed on raw Flesh. It is exceeding cheap in the Country, a pound of it will cost three Pence. Inthis same province there is found a particular Species of it, more re- sembling Moss, than the Leaves of a Tree ; and they pretend that the oldest is of excellent use in acute Distempers. They likewise Administer to sick People a third sort, whose Leaves are very long and thick, and its goodness increases in proportion toits being kept ; but that is not the Thee in use, That which they commonly drink in China, hath no particular Name, because it is gather’d anywhere in different Territories and Soils. It is good, the infusionis reddish, the Taste faint and somewhat bitter: the People use it indif- ferently at all hours of the day, and it is their most usual drink. But Persons of Quality use two other kinds that are in request in China. The first is called Thee Soumlo; it is the name of the Place where it is gathered ; the Leaves are somewhat long, the Infusion clear and green when it is fresh, the Taste pleasant ; it smells, as they say in France, a little of Violets, but this Taste is not natural; and the Chinese have often assured me, that to be good, it ought to have no Taste at all. Thisis that they commonly present at Visits; butit is exceeding corrosive; perhaps the Sugar they mix with it here corrects its Acrimony; but in China, where it is drunk pure, too great a use of it would be apt to spoil the Stomach. The second kind is called Thee Voiii; the Leaves that are little, and enclining to black, tinge the Water witha yellow Colour. The Taste is delicious, and even the weakest Stomach always agrees with it. In winter it is to be used temperately, but in Summer. one cannot drink too much, It is especially good in Sweating, alter Travelling, Running, or any other violent Exercise. They give of it also to sick People; and those who have any care of their Health, drink no other. When-[ was at Siam, I heard them often talk of the Flower of Thee, of Im- perial Thee, and of several other sorts of hee, the price of which was yet more extraordinary, than the Properties they ascribe to it; but in China [ heard no such thing. Generally speaking, that the ‘Thee may prove excellent, it ought to be gathered early, when the Lgaves are yet small, tender ahd juicy. They begin commonly to gather it in the Months of March and April, according as the Season is forward; they afterward expose them to the steam of boiling Water to soften them again; so soon as they are psnetrated by it, they draw 278: them over Copper-plates kept on the fire, which dries them by degrees, till they grow brown, and rowl up of themselves in that manner we see them. If the Chinese were not such great Cheats, their Thee would be better ; but they often-times mix other Herbs with it, to swell the size at a small charge, and so get more money by it; so that it is a rare thing to meet with any purely without mixture. It commonly grows in valleys, and at the foot of mountains ; the choicest grows in stony soils; that whichis planted in light grounds holds the second rank. The least valuable of all is found in yellow earth ; but in what place soever it is cultivated care must be taken to expose it to the South ; it gets more strength by that, and bears three years after being sowen. Its root resem- bles that of a peach tree, and its flowers re- semble white wild roses. The trees grow of all sizes, from two foot to a hundred, and come are to be met with that two men can scarce grasp in their arms; this is what the Chinese Heibal relates. But from my own Observation I can give you the following account Entring upon the Province of Fokien, they first made me observe Thee upon the declining of a little Hill; it was not above five or six foot high, several Stalks, each of which was an inch thick, joyned together, and divided at the top into a many small Branches, composed a kind of Cluster, much what like our Myrtle. The Trunk, tho’ seemingly dry, yet bore very green Bran- chesand Leaves. These Leaves were drawn out in length at the point, pretty strait, an inch, or an inch and a half long, and indented in their whole Circumference. The oldest seemed some- what white without, they were hard, brittle, and bitter. The new ones, on the contrary, were soft, plyable, reddish, smooth, transparent, and pretty sweet to the Taste, especialiy after they had been a little chewed. It being the Month of September, 1 found three sorts of Fruit. In the new Branches there were little slimy Pease, green without, and full of yellow Grains within. In others, the Fruit is as big as Beans, but of different Figures; some round, containing a Pea; others drawn out in length, that contained two; some others ofa Triangular Figure, bore three, very like to those that bear the Tallow-grain, so famous in China. The first Membrane or Skin wherein. these Grains are infolded, is green, very thick, and somewhateven. The second is white, and thin- ner; under which a third very fine Pellicle covers a kind of Gland, or small Nut perfectly round, that sticks to the Bark by.a little Fibre, from whence it derives its nourishment. When this Fruit is young, it hath bitterness in it; but @ day or two after it has been gathered, it with- ers, grows long and yellow, and wrinkles like an old Hazel-Nut; at length it becomes unctivus and very bitter. Bosides that, [ found a third sort of hard, old Fruits, the first Skin of which, between open and shut, shewed within a hard bark, brittle, and altogether resembling that of a Chesnut. After I had broken it, scarce did I find any sign of Fruit, so dry and flat was it grown. In.some others the same Fruit was pul- verized in others was found a little Nut quite dried up, aud covered with its first Pellicle. The Supplement to the Tropical Agricultwrist Amongst these Fruits,a great number of them have no Germ or Bud, which they call Females ; those that have any may be sown, and produce Trees: but the Chinese do commonly make use of Grasss to plant. The better to understand the nature of this Tree, [ had the Curiosity to taste the Bark of the Trunk and Branches. I chiewed likewise some of the Wood and Fibres; both of them seemed to me not at all bitter, so far from it, they left a relish sweet like that of Liquorish, which yet one does not taste till some time after the chewing.’ Altho’ this. particu- Jar Account may displease those that are not concerned in the knowledge of Plants, yet I am sure that the more curious could with a more nice and exact Account, as to the delicate mix- ture of Colours in the Flower, the orderly dis- position of their Fibres, the conformation of the small Branches and Koots, and a thousond other particulars relating tothe Anatomy of them; but that is the business of time and leisure: I had but a quarter of an hour to examine the Tree of which I hav, the honour to write to you. COCONUTS IN THE PHILIPPINES. A great many coconut trees have been planted the last few years because of the advancing price of and seemingly assured market for copra and the lower prices prevailing for hemp, So far cor- respondents have reported the total number of trees only, without separating those in bearing and those which have not yet come into bearing. It is roughly estimated that about 22,000,000 coconut trees are now in bearing. Correspond- ents have in large part failed to fully understand the data desired as to coconut productions, so the following figures are an estimate based on insufficient information. Formerly trees were planted much nearer together than at present, it having been demonstrated that trees planted at intervals of 74 meters or even more give much better results than those planted closer together. It is because of the wide differences in the den: sity of growth and irregularity of the surfaces they occupy that coconut trees are reported by number instead of the hectares they cover. TREES. —32, 838,544. Nuts GATHERED, —937, 927,927. Nuts ConsuMED FoR Foop.—311,609, 148. Coprra.—Kilos—125, 140,822. O1L.—Liters—6,993,513. TuBa.—174,483, 484. —Philippine Agricultural Review for July. CEARA RUBBER. Ceara rubber is being successfully cultivated about six miles from Bangalore, where just above a large natural reservoir, 16,000 plants have reached the tapping stage over an aréa of 320 acres. It,is interplanted with mango. The ages of the plants vary somewhat, because they were put down a-cording to the personal convens ience of the owner, who is a European coffee planter residing about 200 miles off. He’ first planted Ueara in 1907, so that the oldest trees are from 20 to 23 in. in girth. An experimental tap- ping shows that the. liquid flows freely. No disease has been located. and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Soeiety.—September, 1911. INDIGO AND INDIGO PROSPECTS. THE OvuTLOOK FoR AN INDIAN INDUSTRY wHIoH, DespitE SYNTHETIC COMPETITION, IS SAID To Possess POSSIBILITIES. The virtual effacement of the Indian indigo industry some ten years ago constitutes one of the tragedies of commerce. The cultivation of the indigo plant and the subsequent extrac- tion of the dye of that name had been for cen- turies one of the standard industries of India. To the cultivation and treatment of the plant — British commercial enterprise took very kindly early in the last century, and for years par- ticipation in the industry was almost synony- mous with a justifiable claim to fortune, or even to great wealth. During the latter quarter of the nineteenth century, it is true, the mono- poly which India had held asthe main source of the world’s supply of indgo-dye had been challenged by planters in the Dutch colonies, and these, calling to their aid the assistance of skilled scientists, were obviously working along lines which were calculated to make their com- petition with the Indian producer effective. The staggering blow to the Indian Industry, however, was not to be administered by the Dutch planter, but by the German chemist. The possibility of obtaining an indigo dye from the main by-product resulting from the manu- facture of coal-gas had been proved fully thirty years before a serious attempt was made tv deal with this discovery on strictly commercial Jines. Experimental production of synthetic indigo- dye on a more or less commercial scale had to be conducted, however, over a fairly lengthy term of years before it could be said that in matter of price the artificial product could com- pete with the natural, Although it was gene- rally admitted that this reduction was merely a matter of time, it would appear that the Indian indigo planters declined to look upon the challenge before them as serious. They, at at any rate. took no steps to improve the quality of the natural product for which their plantations and their factories was responsible, and made no attempt to restrict cost of pro- duction, so that when competition from a com- paratively cheaply-obtained synthetic indigo actually commenced they would be able to carry on a contest on fairly equal terms. Just ten years ago Professor Meldola, ina lecture on the synthesis of indigo, delivered at the Society of Arts, after, it may be mentioned, theartificial product had achieved what was regarded asa phenomenal success, dealt with this very laxity on the part of those interested in the Indian _industry. Holding out to the Indian planters no hope that they could meet successfully the competition of the German factory, but at the same time declining to describe their cause as a forlorn one, the Professor said the planters had allowed twenty years’ activity on the part of the chemists to pass by with apathy and indif- ference, only condescending to turn to the expert for assistance and guidance at the eleventh hour. Earty Errorts at IMPROVEMENT. The speaker, indeed, drew a very dark pic- ture of the then position of the Indian indigo industry and its prospects, and incidentally 270 dealt with the more capable efforts which had been made by the Dutch East Indian planters not only to improve their indigo product in competition with that of India, but to put themselves ina better position to combat the commercial advent of the German factory. The Indian planter found himself face to face with competition which could ignore climatic con- ditions in the matter of production, and was in a position to offer the user of the dye a commodity which gave guaranteed results. Here in only two of the many points naturally associated with production he was beaten, in Mr. Roosevelt’s phrase, toa frazzle, and the dawn of the present century might bo taken as indicating that, so far as indigo-dye went, India was no longer a factor of any importance what- soever. The valuejof the exports of the commod- ity from India fell from millions sterling per annum to about half-a-million sterling, and, to all appearances, what still survived of a ounce prosperous industry would in time die with the deaths of the few surviving conservative users of natural indigo left in Europe. The Indian Gov- ernment, however, rendered what can only be described as belated and somewhat parsimo- nious aid to those planters who clung on to the cultivation of the indigo plant and the prepara- tion of the dye therefrom. Experiments were initiated for the cultivation of what is known as the Java or Natal indigo plant, and some earlier results achieved gave considerable ground for hoping a revival of the industry in India by this means was possible. It was claimed, and, perhaps, with justice, so far as the Dutch colo- Dies are concerned, that this Java plant gave an increased yield of indigo, which was obtained at a cost no greater than was entailed in the cultivation of the indigenous plant. This claim seems to have been made good so far as some of the Indian plantings of the Java variety were concerned, but troubles with disease, which are only too frequently associated with the cultivation of any non-indigenous agricul- tural growth under tropical climatic condi- tions, considerably damped the earlier en- thusissm among some of the remaining planters, while the success which has attended the pro- duction of an Indian-Java hybrid plant has not been overwhelming. It is probable, however, that some of these adverse judgments passed on the Java variety have been over-nasty, and that time will show ways not only of successfully combating the tendency to disease already noted but of making more of this particular plant in the future. The actual cultivation of the Java variety would appear to be more economical, in- asmuch as sowing each year, as is the case with Indian indigo, is unnecessary. At least two years’ crops can be obtained from the roots, or four crops in all, and, as the branches are longer and the number of leaves larger, the advantages of cultivating the Java variety, given, of course, the yield of indigo in the matter of quality is equally good when compared with that trom the indigenous plant, would seem fairly obvious. ImpRovED Propuction MrrTHobs : REDUCED More important, however, to the future of the Indian indigo industry was the necessity of speedily arriving at improved methods of dye- 280 production and the achievement of economies in the cost of this production. Under the sgis of the India Government, Mr W Popplewell Bloxam carried out a series of researches in connection with the scientific production of natural indigo at the University of Leeds during the years 1905-7, the work being acontinuation of certain investigations which he had commenced in [ndia, One of the principal trade objections to natural indigo had been the uncertainty of the results obtainable from the use of the dye. This was in a large measure due to the rule-of-thumb methods tollowed by the majority of the Indian factories in the production of the commoility, and these discrepancies in the results the dye not infrequently gave afforded the synthetic product one of its main claims for considera- tion at the hands of the dyers. It was pos- sible, when the synthetic indigo was finally launched as a commercial product, to guarantee to the user certain results, and to guarantee these results practically in perpetuity, Natural indigo, on the other hand, presents an ever- recurring series of problems in the matter of result to even the most expert dyers, since non- standardisation in production, combined, pos- sibly, with climatic influences at the time of the actual making of the dye, introduced from the standpoint of the consumer perpetual un- certainties which did not make for economy or efficiency, At this juncture it is only neces- sary to state that the result of Mr. Popplewell Bloxam’s long series of investigations was inter aha, the discovery of a method of standardising natural indigo, which, if it does not place it in this matter on an exact par with the synthetic product, has gone very far towards guaranteeing the consumer against the inequali- ties of which he had good cause to complain in the old indigo days. The most skilful laboratory work in connection with any industry, however, merely represents so much wasted time, unless the results which the scientist gains are properly utilised by the manufacturer on whose behalf the experimental investigations were undertaken. The Indian indigo planter in these latter years, for somewhat obvious reasons, was slow to introduce new methods either in his fields or his factory, but, having convinced himself as to the advantages of sug- gestions for improvement of his outturn, such as those Mr, Popplewell Bloxham has put forward, he has adopted these either wholly or in fart to anything but his detriment or the yuality of the commodity he is now placing on the market. Natourat VERSUS SYNTHETIC INDIGO. When we come to consider the prospects of the Indian indigo industry the first question which naturally arises is whether this product can hope to compete in the future with that of the German factory. Assuming all that is claimed for natural indigo is correct--namely, that as a dye it is superior to the synthetic product, and that when used it not only thoroughly dyes the cloth but improves its quality—the point at once arises, and claims consideration, as to whether the majority of the users of indigo dye will find it to their advantage to recognise :uch claims as against those gene- rally admitted as perfectly valid, put forward on behalf of the artificial dye. A recent inquiry The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist ° into the matter of cost showed that the best synthetic indigo dye works out at about one- farthing per yard of dyed cloth cheaper than the best indigo dye, but this advantage might be offset, in the opinion of many, by the other advantages which are claimed for the natural product. If it were possible, then, for the cost of the two processes to be brought to a level, could natural indigo hope to regain in part, at any rate, its old popularity, always bearing in mind that the product as now marketed is to a large extent standardised, and that it only wants an increase in the demand to carry im- provements in this connection still further ? The cost of synthetic indigo, however, is governed at present by the demand for it. Production has never been allowed. of recent years to so exceed demand as to materially affect the selling price, but this does not mean that it could not be sold, still at avery hand- some profit to the producers, at. very much lower prices than those wiiich at present ob- tain, It therefore becomes a question in con- sidering competition between the synthetic and the natural products as to whether the latter can be produced to sell ata profit at a price lower than it would pay to market the former, It is claimed by some Indian producers that this can be done, and if they are able to make good their claim they have the ball once more at their feet. We must be put in posses- sion, however, of evidence further divorced from hearsay than that which is at present available, before it is possible to seriously discuss this point, but the mere fact that the statement has gained circulation in some business quarters, as well as a certain amount of credence on the part of men who are competent to decide as to its possible accuracy, leaves us desirous of hearing further and fuller details atthe earliest possible moment. THIs SEASON’S CROP AND PROSPRCTS.. The statement may have originated in the known fact that this season’s indigo crop is the best that has been known for the past six years. It is estimated that the outturn will range be- tween 7,000 and 8,000 chests (of from 250 to 3001b. each)—a paltry total, no doubt, compared with the annual exports of between 35,000 and 40,000 chests which not so very long ago India was in the habit of shipping each indigo season to Europe, but better, as we have just stated, tban the amounts marketed during the preced- ing five years. In the immediate past all the natural indigo produced in the Middle East has found a fairly ready market at prices ranging from 2s 6d to 3s 10d per lb., with, say, an aver- age price of 38 per lb, At this average it paid the planter very well to produce indigo, and now that production costs have undergone an all-round reduction, while the quality of the commodity has undergone an all-round improve- ment, it is possible that in the future still better profits can be looked for by the producers A good deal depends, however, upon the de- mand which will be shown for the increased . production ofthe present year. Circumstances- as at present seen do not point to the prospec- tive increase in the supply adversely affecting the price, but substantial increases in the out- turns for subsequent years might easily do s0, utless, of course; it can be shown that the In- ¢ Sat ory ens (BUTTERFLY BRAND) Of all Retailers. INSIST UPON Poy 3. As supplied to His Majesty's Sailors all over the world. All true, full cream, and delicious. Wholesale: Miller & Co. of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—September, 1911, 281 eM YA eR dian planter can successfully compete in the matter of production cost with the German factory. It may be possible to carry improve- ments inthe production of natural indigo much further than merely standardising the quality of the product and reducing the costs of opera- tions in the fields and the factories. Butto ask the planter in India to face such improvement charges when the results obtainable are admit- tedly problematical would be to ask too much of human nature. Indigo cultivation, however, is of considerable importance to India, apart altogether from the question of the planter’s profits or losses, and, that being so, the Indian Government might with advantage undertake the investigation, on behalf of the community at large, into anyclaimsof improved processes connected with the production of natural indigo. So far as we can gather, very little has been done in this direction since the Indian Govern- ment met the cost of the lengthy researches carried out by Mr. Popplewell Boxham, the authorities, the conclusions of this investiga- tion having been published and circulated, ap- apparently considering that they had amply fulfilled their duties to this particular planting community. What appears tobe wanted is the systematic scientific investigation of all reason- able claims to improvement in the preparation of the product once the plant has been cut for the steeping vats. Improvements in this direc- tion would very soon reflect upon the acreages under indigo in India and increased cultivation could only mean the increased, or rather the renewed, prosperity ofthe industry.—Financier. 36 SYNTHETIC INDIGO. (To the Editor of The Financier.) Your article on synthetic rubber in today’s Financier corroborates all I have been saying for more than 16 years about the chemical synthetic indigotine. Now that I have this corroboration, may I ask that the whole subject of synthetic indigo may be again considered without undue awe and respect for the learned scientific chemist’s opinion ? I belong to the class of men part of whose business it is to buy dyes and dyers’ services, and I have never found myself going against the skilled judgment of the largest responsible buyers of dyes, The chemists base their valua- tion of indiga not on a common-sense dye test but on some volumetric analysis, after first treating it with 74 times its own weight of the strongest corrosive acid known to science, Every dyer knows that treatment with 10 times its weight of this acid totally changes indigo into an altogether different dye of the most fugitive nature, called ‘Saxony Blue,” or ‘“Indizo Extract,” India used to grow £5,000,000 worth of indigo a year, but, thanks to the chemical raid, they only made £250,000 worth last year; and yet it is by far the fastest known dye, and, if you kuow how to use it, one of the cheapest! ALEX, W. PLayNe. 9. Stanley Street, Bedford, August 10th. —Financier, Aug, 12. 282 UTILIZATION OF THE PAPAYA. The Papaya, a native of the Caribbean region, the Gulf of Mexco, and South America, was in- treduced into India in 1611, and has been under cultivation here ever since. ‘he plant and its culture have also extended throughout the east- ern and western tropics; so that, few of the likely regions for its cultivation, throughout the warm parts of the globe, are without at least some payaya trees. Though at so distant a date in the history of its cultivation, a description of the plant and its valuable products might seem to be somewhat late and superfluous, the growing importance of some of the latter may be urged in favour of bringing the facts that are known about them to notice again. Of these, the most generally accepted is the ability of the species to grow in localities, under varied conditions of climate and_ soil, in all the warm parts of the globe. The papaya, however, is seen to thrive only in those regions within the tropics, where the heat and garish light of the sun are mellowed by heavy and constant rain. The phenomenon, frequently exhibited there, of showers of rain falling through sheets of bright sunshine is indi- cative of the climatic conditions that favour the most economically-successful growth of the plant. Like the eminently tropical species it is, it delights to live in the vapour-bath of a moist and a perennial heat. Accordingly, it flourishes only within the zone of perpetual shower and sunshine in select localities that lie between the isotherms of 77 degrees, Fahrenheit. Outside of the limits of its indigenous distribution, typi- fied, perhaps, by the verdant Antilles the papaya grows to the greatest perfection on the Malay Peninsula and the Eastern Archipelagoes. Three other oriental regions deserve to be mentioned among those in which the plant has, so far, met with factors resembling those that obtain in the sunny lands of its home in the West, viz., Assam, Ceylon, and the Malabar Coast. In the majority of the other lands of its adoption, the unsuit- ability of the factors to which it is exposed is frequently revealed by a tendency to branch and the excess of male over female trees, The relat- ively small yield of latex (milk) from the fruits and the shortness in the duration of itsflow may also be taken as due to the action of factors foreign to itandits wants. As regards soil, too, preference is shown for suchas are rich, mellow, and free; while, for the highest success in its cultivation, the presence in the soil of organic remains is essential, because it is indicated. The ability of the plant to recuperate from the effects of tapping its fruits for the milk is regulated by the fertility of the soil and the amount and frequency of the rain it receives. The demand made on the factors of fertility cannot, however. be regarded as ex- cessive ; for, though it is great, the life of the plant is generally brief enough to produce a dis- continuity in the strain of requirement. The most useful and valuable product of the papaya is its large and luscious, melon-like fruit; but, though this, as a fruit, is admitted to be both wholesome, nutritious, and most satisfying, it is the milky sap of the unripe fruit that is prized the most at the present The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist time. Though this milky sap is contained in the tissues of every part of the papaya plant and trickles out from the slightest bruise or injury to any of them, the readiest and the freest flow results from the scarification of the unripe fruit. whilst it is still attached to the tree. In it, the vessels containing the milk occur in abundance beneath the skin and as this is thin, it usually suffices to lightly score it with a knife-point to intercgpt and liberate the milk. The milk, as it flows out, may be received or collected by letting it drop on to plates of glass, porcelain, or other hard, smooth-surfaced material which is non-absorbent and non-metallic. Vhe layer of milk received on the plate must then be air- dried in a cool place, When dry, it is a flaky substance which, being scrapped up from the plate, is usually mixed with twice its bulk of rectified spirit, filtered, dried, and stored in air- tight stoppered bottles. In this condition, or after further refinemeut, the dried milk is known as papain, a substance which is believed to be of the greatest use in the treatment of dyspepsia, that common, yet least defined of diseases which does not kill so often as it makes its victims “drag, at every step, a lingering pain.” for many days. Papain is, frequently, also known under the name of vegetable pep- sin, to distinguish it from animal pepsin, the prepared gastric coating of the pig. Papain, how- ever, differs from the latter in the following most interesting particulars :—(1). It is active in acid, neutral, or alkaline solutions, so that, it can be mixed with other ferments na solution of any reaction ; (2) Whilstit is active in neutral solutions, its activity is enhanced by rendering such solutions acid and, if these, in turn, be made alkaline the ferment continues to be ac- tive still : in other words, it is practically active under all reactions and conditions; (3). It is able to actthrough a wide range of temperature; for, beginning to act atabout50 degrees, Fah- renheit, its activity rises with the rise in tem- perature, reaches its maximum at 160 degrees, Fahrenheit, and is not destroyed, at slight ex- posures, even at the boiling-point itself. The yield of the inspissated papain is about 25 per cent. (by weight) of the fresh milk. The milk is most abundant in first fruits, vigorous trees, and after rain. Under favourable conditions of climate and soil, a single fruit may yield as much as 100 grammes of the fresh milk; while, under adverse ones, it often requires the latex of 50, or more, trees to yield a pound-weightlof the dried material. [In consonance with the gene- ral truth that the study of the utilization ofa product can be made to advantage only in the regions of its natural production, the uses of the fruit of the papaya tree are found to be most extensive and complete among the Caribs, the natives of the West indies and the descendants of the Latin Nations who inhabit the countries of the continent lying to the west, With them, the fruit, long before the virtues of the papain it contains were known to the world, was used, asit continues to be, as an important article of daily consumption. The ripe fruitis largely eaten, as such, or after it has been stewed in sugar and flavoured with lime or lemon-juice. This isits chief application elsewhere, too, though the stew and the acid-flavouring are rare, and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultual Society.—September, 1911, u ‘TABLOID’ «= MEDICAL OUTFITS & ‘TABLOID’ MEDICINE CASE No. 258 (The Settler’s) Fitted with the world-famed ‘TaBLotn’ Brand MEDICINES, BANDAGES, etc. The medicines are They are prepared in accurate doses ready for dispensing perfectly reliable in hot or damp climates. er S : Ficoll i uy : , : a i | | | i a i Lt ae Measurements: 8} xX 44 X 5} in. [Beanie FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURISTS NEW YORK MONTREAL MILAN SHANGHAI 42% 293 [\eaL ron tropical and are quite palatable, case (black japanned). ‘Tabloid’ Medical Equipments are obtainable at the principal pharmacies in all countries BURROUGHS WELLCOME & CO., In climate-proof metal Price in London 28/0 LONDON SYDNEY CAPE TOWN BUENOS AIRES ; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Salt improves the flavour of the ripe fruit which, with its aid, combined with careful boiling down in sugar and candying, is converted into pre- serves resembling lemon peel or citron glace. Besides these and other ‘‘ excellent preserves,” the pulp of the ripe fruit is used, in the West, in the preparation of syrups, wines, and elixirs of reputed value in the treatment of affections of the fungs, bowers, and nervous system. But the use of the ripe fruit as askin-soap and a favoured cosmetic by young and old seems to be still confined to the ‘aribs whose soft and sup- ple clear complexions, so greatly and so justly admired, are said to be due to the action of the juice in levelling the asperities or harshness of the skin. Again its reputation, in the form of a poultice, as a cleanser of ulcers, sores, and yaws is unheard of beyond its home; while a similar use of the unripe fruit in the treatment of warts, eczema, and the like is also unknown except there. But, perhaps, the most remarkable use to which the unripe fruit is applied in the West is as a dispeller of the discomfort of surfeit. It is a well-known fact that the descendants of the Spaniards, Portuguese, and other nations, who form the bulk of the populations that reside in Mexico and the countries to the south are much addicted to a meat diet. It is frequently asserted that some of these peoples consume raw meat in large quantities, and that, to relieve the un- comfortable distension of the stomach that fol- lows its liberal use, slices of the fresh fruit are either rubbed over the meat before itis con> sumed or eaten with orimmediately after it. The commoner practice of rendering meat, which is uneatably tough, into a reasonably soft and juicy condition by boiling it down with slices of the green fruit 1s already known to Indian cooks, But the statement that the wrapping of such meat in the leaves or the mere hanging of it in the crowns of the trees has the effect of soften- ing its fibres to mellowness requizes to be recei- ved ‘ona pair of scales.’ Not so, however, the alleged application of the green leaves and fruits for the removal of clothes’ stains or the clean- sing and. restoration of worn-out biack gar- ments in water in which the leaves have been steeped. But, perhaps, the commonest local applications of the fruit, in its mature yet un- ripe condition, are its pickling in vinegar, plain or spiced, and its service as a salad with cucum- ber, or, after being boiled, as a vegetable. The small black, rugose seeds of the ripe fruit, so re- miniscent of radish and watet-cress, are aro- matic, mildly pungent, and piquant. In the West Indies they are eaten asa celicacy, plain or a8 a vinegared condiment ; they are admin- istered to quench the thirst of fever; and are, generally, believed to be possessed of carmin- ative, anthelmintic, and other therapeutic virtue. The fibrous material in the bark of the stem is said to be spun into rope, in the West: while, the radish-like roots are reputed to be anervine tonic and stimulant, A. M. 8, —Capital, Sept. 7. 284 NOTES FROM THE COCONUT DISTRICT.—N.W.P. Marawila, September 6th, We are still without any rain, and the outlook issorious. September is generally a wet month, but so far, we have been tantalised with heavy rain clouds that are being attracted by the mountain ranges inland and with distant thunder. The canal is very low, and boats find it very difficult to negotiate it. Boat-bire to Colombo has risen from R45 to R75. Though situated on the banks of the canal, the local desiccating mill has not sufficient water to work full time. Fibre mills experience an in- sufficiency of water for steeping husks. Wells and tanks are remaining dry. i have not met with one cultivated paddy field. The range of fields in Madampe of about 2,000 acres in extent is uncultivated. The rainfall for August was °35 of an inch and for July ‘96 of aninch. Tothe end of June was 16'l4 inches. Farther north at Puttalam, the rainfall to the end of August was less than 6 inches, The only hope for coconut planters under such adverse meteorological conditions is, to thoroughly cultivate their soils. The benefits of this are apparent even where the soil is sandy. Where the soil is cultivated, the trees are weathering the drought bravely, while trees on neglected lands adjoining are suffering badly. Catch-water drains and the cultivation of the soil should become general in hard soils to overcome the effects of drought. In this connection, I may mention that Mr. Wallace Westland, scion of a good stock, whose name has been a household word upcountry for over a quarter of a certury, has returned from Papua, where he is the Manager of Rubber and Coconut Estates, He very courteously sent me a photograph of a single furrow disc plough (24” disc) driven by a West New Guinea native and drawn by a team of 3 small mulés. The land being ploughed is under coconuts two years old and much over-grown with grass. The plough isa ‘‘Massy Harris,” and is said to be domg good work. These should be very useful on coconut estates. Will not some enterprising firms import a few as samples and give demon- strations of their work, through the Agricul- tural Society ?—Cor. CARNAUBA WAX which can be ised in the place of beeswax, is exported from Ceara and the northern ports, where itis also utilised in the manutacture of candles. The leaves of the Carnaubeira tree are dried in the sun and the powder beaten out. Several processes are used in the manufacture of the wax. Thecrop lastsfrom September to March, the leaves being cut at intervals during that period.— British and Colonial Druggist, Aug. 11. [The Carnauba Wax palm has been tried in Ceylon on a commercial scale but with- out success,—Ep. (.0.] 5 Q- The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist CULTIVATION OF FLOWERS ON FRENCH RIVIERA. The exports of flowers from the French Riviera has of late years assumed proportions not con- templated even ten years ago. The value of the cut flowers sent away annually from the “ Céte d’Azur” may be roughly estimated at fifty mil- Jions of frances (two millions sterling). Amongst the principal flowers grown for exportin this region, which comprises Grasse, Nice, and Can- nes, the carnation takes a prominent place, Of late years a demand has arisen for a strong, rigid, stalked variety, a tiges de fer, in place of the old-fashioned kinds with more pliant stems formerly grown. This condition has been met by the introduction of American varieties of the plant, It has been found by careful analysis that the flower stems of these new varieties con- tain not only a larger percentage of dry sub- stances—nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash —than those with less rigid stems, but that they absorb a greater amount of nourishment from the soil. These facts should not be lost sight of in the cultivation of the flower, and in the use of suitable manures.—Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Aug. 11. DRY FARMING. In the inhospitable, semi-arid regions of the globe, where the rainfall is usually below the normal, the sum of the operations forming the practice of growing field-crops without irriga- tion has come to be known as Dry Farming. This expression had its origin in America over the Great Plain or Dry Belt on which dry farming is now extensively practised. Some of the chief centres cf the industry in Ame- rica are Kansas, Montana, Oregon, Washing- ton, Wyoming, and Oklahoma; while, else- where in the world, it is coming into vogue in Canada, Australia, South Africa and India, Thousands of acres of arid waste-land in the south-eastern part of the State of Wyoming have already been reclaimed from desert con- ditions by the application te them of methods of dry farming ; while, in Oklahoma, it has been successfully demonstrated that varieties of Juar (Sorghum vulgare) can be grown with- out rain and made to yield crops of even 35 bushels of grain on the acre. Some of the other commoner cereal crops there are Oats, with a yield of 36 ; Spring Wheat, with 27, Rye, with 18; and Barley, with 46 bushels per acre: a bushel of the oats weighed 46 pounds and one of the wheat 60 pounds. These and other interesting factsare, doubt- less, of great importance to India where the major portion of the cultivable land is exposed to conditions of chronic drought. To those engagedin the agriculture of the country, or compacted, to pulverise and firm its surface. This firming is immediately followed by harrow- ing,—the ploughing, firming, and harrowing being conducted, if possible and preferably, on the same day. In some districts, adisc-harrow and Magazine of the Ceyton A gricultural Society.—September, 1911. ing, or two, is made to precede the early ploughing. In localities of unevenly-distributed rainfall, elaborate terracing or building is un- dertaken to prevent loss of water by its running off the surface; and any streams that form are made to follow sinuous courses over the field so that absorption may be as complete as possible. As soon after the stoppage of a shower of rain as will permit of the soil being worked with ease, its surface is thoroughly stirred with “cultivators” (harrows with wheels) and the resultant mulch _ thereafter main- tained by the soil being stirred as often as it rains or whenever its surfaceis found to be- come compact, Level cultivation, and the for- mation and maintenance throughout the life and growth of the crop, of a fine top-surface are the aims of the farmer. The seeds, which are drilled in, are sown sparsely and deep— often three or four inches below the surface of the soil. he landis harrowed after it is sown, and, if there be danger of drying, rolled after the harrowing. Even a quarter cf an inch of rainfall exerts a beneficent effect upon the growth of a crop. The lower the rainfall, the smaller the seed-rate,—the - generally sparse sowing resulting in a relatively small seed-rate per acre, e.g., half a bushel of wheat seed is said to be more than enough to sow one acre. Moreover, the farther apart the plants stand on the field, the greater are the facilities afforded for inter-cultivation. Though large yields are sometimes obtained, they cannot, as arule, in fairness to the prac- tice, be reasonably expected to result from such farming. The object is rather to produce some- thing where nothing else naturally grew before, * half alcaf” being, particularly in the desert, infinitely better than ‘no bread” atall. The yield of wheat is about 15 bushels, and that of lucerne 2 tons peracre, ‘he usual crops are the Darum wheats (hard Maccaroni wheats), Spelt wheat, oats, barley; millets, and sorghum (e. g., Fodder Cane, KaftirCorn, Milo Maize, Dourra), and the chief leguminous crop is lucerne, Dry farming implies the presence of cheap labour or the application of labour-saving de- vices and machinery. Itcan be practised to the highest advantage only on large areas of very cheap land. The utmost economy in seed and culture has to be exercised forits success. The conditions, natural and economic, that prevail over extensive areasin Indiaand Burma appear to befavourable for dry-land farming. But its introduction must, for the present, at any rate, be confined to cautious experimentation ; for, in tropical and sub-tropical countries, generally, there is danger of excessive tillage depleting fertility of the soil from the fact that its activi- ties continue unchecked throughout the year. And, for the rest, it might, perhaps, be well also to remember the fact that ‘in farming, just as much as in religion, salvation is worked out through personal effort, illumined by much per- sonal knowledge, and directed according to the laws which govern the specialities of the sub- ject investigated. A. M. 8, —Capital, Aug. 10, 285 GASTOR OIL SEEDS. THEIR CULTIVATION, PRODUCTION, PREPARATION AND UTILISATION. [At present there is some enquiry about Cas- tor Oil Seed, and many interested in the sub- ject both here and abroad, have been asking for full information about their cultivation ; —land, suitable varieties, yield per acre, pera centage of oil, etc.] The following treatise is taken from the ‘Bulletin of the Imperial Institute” and we add same number of our own. The castor plant known botanically as Ricinus communis is widely distributed throughout the tropics, There are numerous varieties of cas- tor plants, some of which have been considered distinct species by botanists, but are now generally believed to be cultivated or geogra- phical forms of one variable and widely dis- tributed species. The castor plant is largely grown in India, Java, Brazil, the United States and Italy, and occurs wild or in a state of semi-cultivation in most tropical and sub-tropical countries. The economic importance of the plant depends chiefly on the seeds, which yield a valuable oil that is used in medicine and for numerous industrial purposes. In India the leaves are also of value, being used as fodder for cattle, and in Assam and other countries as food for the Eri silk-worm, In tropical countries the castor plant reaches dimensions of a small tree, and may attain a height of from 20 to 30 feet, or more, with a stout truvk and branches. In other climates it becomes a shrub or bush, 8 to 12 feet high, and in localities where frosts occur it is a herbaceous perennial. Under cultivation in warm-temperate climates it is usually treated as an annual. Owing to its decorative value, it is frequently cultivated under the name of ‘‘ Palma Christi,” and sold in pots for ornamental purposes. The seeds vary much in colour, size and shape; they are usually oval, flattened on one side, and of a mottled grey colour with a conspicuous white caruncle at the hilum end. When ripe, the capsules of scme varieties dehisce and scatter the seeds a considerable distance. This peculiarity pro- bably accounts for the wide distribution of the plant in countries, such as Brazil, to which it is not native. The method of seed-dispersal should be borne in mind by the cultivator, as seed is liable to be lost it the capsules are allowed to remain too long on the plants. For practical purposes the numerous forms of the castor plant may be grouped into two classes, the large-seeded and the small-seeded kinds. The former are the more prolific in yield of seeds, and the oil obtained from them is suitable for lubricating and _in- dustrial purposes; the small-seeded varie- ties yield a finer oil, that is preferred for use in medicine, CLIMATE AND SOIL. Asa rough guide to the climatic conditions necessary for the production of castor seed it may be stated that where maize can be grown and ripened ,the castor plant may be expected 286 The Supplement.to the Tropical Agriculturist to succeed, Itis sensitive to frost, and is there- fore only adapted to warm climates or to countries where the summers are suftciently long to mature the seeds. The plant requires a fair amount of moisture, and rainfall after sow- ing is essential to ensure good germination ; but after the root-system has developed, less moisture is needed, and in the tropics its culti- renee seems to be restricted by excessive rain- ‘fall. The soil best suited to the castor plant is a good, well-drained, sandy or clayey loam, or any land that produces good corn. Very loose sandy soils or heavy clays are alike unsuitable. In India red soils situated at the foot of hills are specialiy chosen. These are poor in organic matter and require to be enriched with farm- yard manure. The plant is also commonly grown in isolated patches on land surrounding dwellings, or along the tops of high mud banks that surround orchards and vegetable gardens. CULTIVATION, The land destined fora crop of castor seed requires good preparatory cultivation before sow- ing takes place. Owing to its well-developed root-system the castor pliant demands a deep- rooting medium. Deep ploughing and harrow- ing are therefore essential. The castor plant soon exhausts the soil, and if fresh land is not available for the crop natural or artificial manures are soon necessary to keep up the supply of available nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid. One of the most valuable manures for this purpose is the residual cake, left after the expression of oil from the seed. The empty capsules, shells, leaves and stems of the plant should be returned to the soil, In India farmyard manure is commonly employed, or when this is not available silt is used. The castor plant is how- ever, seldom grown as a pure crop in India, but is generally used as a border to cotton or sugar fields or mixed with potatoes, cereals or some leguminous crop, hence soil exhaustion is less rapid than would otherwise be the case were pure crops grown. Pure crops should not be taken from the same land more than once in five to six years. Before the seeds are sown it is advisable to pour warm water over them and aliow them to steep, without further heating, for about 24 hours, This treatmeut softens the hard seed-coat. and tends to ensure quick and uni- form germinatiov. The large seeded kinds may be planted closer: about 3 feet between the rows and 18 inches from the plant being the usual spacin in. India. Ti planted too thickly the plants tend to de- velop tall stems and few branches, but if ample space is allowed so that air and light are admitted, free branching takes place and more flowers and seed are in conse- quence produced. In order to secure a good ‘‘stand” it is advis- able to placefrom 2 to 4 seeds in each little mound along the rows, the seeds being about 6 inches apart, or they may be dropped in the furrow made by the plough, and covered by the plough following, or dibbled in by hand. After germination has taken place and the seedling plants are from 6 to 8 inches high, they should be thinned out, the weakly plants in each mound being removed and the most vigorous specimen left to develop. About 10 lb of seed of the large-seeded. varie- ties are required to plant an acre, and about 14 lb in the case of the small-seeded. The best time to sow the seed is at the commence- ment of the rainy season. (Here March and April and August and September.) In India the large seeded kinds are generally grown during the monsoon rainfall, and are. usually confined to small patches in house gardens. The small- seeded kinds are generally grown as field crops at the endof the monsoon season, and at the commencement of the cold weather. After the plants have been thinned out, the land between the rows should be ploughed or hoed occasionally to keep down weeds and to conserve soil moisture. It is also advisable to slightly mould up the plants by drawing the soil up round the stems to prevent moisture collect- ing at the base. When the plants have attained a height of about 2 feet, further working of the soil is unnecessary, as the plants will then be of sufficient size to shade the ground and strong enough to outgrow weeds. It sometimes happens that the plants grow too vigorously, and then long shoots are pro- duced but few flowers are formed. When this takes place pruning should be resorted to; the long shoots sbould be topped to induce branching and the formation of flowers, and thereby increase the production of seed. The crop is also easier to collect from dwart plants than from tall specimens. HARVESTING. The capsules of the small-seeded varieties begin to ripen in from 4 to 5 months from the time of sowing, and those of the large-seeded kinds in from 7 to 10 months, according to variety and the prevailing climatic conditions. When ripe the capsules become hard and brown, and spread ont somewhat on the stalk on which they are borne. At this stage the spikes should be removed from the plant by cutting. This shculd be done rapidly as soon as the capsules show signs of ripening, as if left too long on the plant they are likely to dehisce and scatter the seed, When the collecting has once commenced the whole crop should: be looked over about once a week. Owing to the irregular ripening of the crop, the harvest- ing 1s a somewhat tedious process, but as the work involved in not laborious, it can be done by women and children. In the United States au endeavour has been made to. produce a type of plant which ripens the capsules in any one cluster at the same time. The work of harvesting such plants is considerably lessen- ed, and there is a smaller loss of seed. The col- lected capsules should be placed in bags or in a box-waggon, and conveyed from the field toa drying shed or barn. Where buildings are not available for their reception, a drying floor in the open may be easily made by sweeping clean a piece of firm, level ground, and enclosing it with boards or skeet iron from 4 to 6 feet high, to prevent the seeds being scattered and lost when the capsules open. Provision against rain must also be made if an open-air drying ground is used, The capsules should be spread on the res and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultiral Society.—September, 1911, floor, exposed to the sun andair, and occa- siovally tarned over, Jn less than a week most of them will have opened and shed their seed. The empty tusks should then be removed and the seeds swept together and collected. The pieces of husk and other debris with which they are mixed should be removed by winnowing, either by hand or by passing the seeds through a fanning machine. In some varieties the capsules do not readily open, and it is then advisable to beat them. or wooden rollers can be drawn over them by a pony whose hoofs are protected by boing added with flannel or sacking. In some parts of India the capsules are stacked in heaps in a building, and covered with straw and weighted. After about a week the outer husk is soft and rottev. They are then exposed to the sun, and beaten to free the secds. Another process sometimes adopted is to bury the capsules until the outer husk has decayed and set free the seed, The seed should be stored in a dry place until sold or pressed for oil. In countries where the castor plant 1s not systematically cultivated (as in Jamaica), but where it grows wild or semi-cultivated, and in places where labour is cheap, the collection and preparation otf seeds on the lines indicated above should be encouraged. The numerous uses to which castor oil is now applied ensures a ready sale for the castor seed, and the present market value of the latter provides, as a rule, ample remuneration for the labour involved. In India, when grown as a mixed crop, the yield of seed per acre is about 250 lb., and when grown as a pure crop is from 500 lb. to 900 lb. peracre. The yield of individual plants grown together as a single crop is much less than that of well-developed, freely-branched plants that have grown singly or in isolated clumps. As much as 20 1b. of seed per plant has been sometimes gathered from these In the United States the yield is said to be from 900 lb. to 1,350 lb. per acre when grown on suitable soil and with good cultivation. In Brazil it is culculated that in the castor plan- tations vach plant yields from 4°5 Ib. to 11°25 lb. of seed. The same can be said of Jamaica as of Brazil:—The castor plant grows here rapidly from the seaside to over 3,000 ft., flourishing in the very driest spots, indeed, is seems to. pre- fer a medium dry locality here. There are no regular cultivations here, but in almost every plot of land in the Island, in house yards, in the corner of cultivations, there are castor plants, and wherever the castor tree has once grown the moment land is cleared or burned up come numerous small plants Although the making of castor oi! isa small home industry in which any housewife could makea little money thereis not enough pro- duced in the Island to supply our wants anda considerable quantity isimported, mostly from India. Castor oil is used in the country for lubricating sugar mills, oiling boots and harness and in sroall quantities as medicine for man and beast. Our soils are very much superior to the or- dinary ruu of soils in India and the remarks about manuring in the above would not apply 287 for many years here. We would not require to use our best soils for growing castor oil, but there are many uncultivated lands inthe drier parts which could be used profitably for the growing ct this product; lands that are fairly level sothat they can be ploughed are prefer- able and this would make cultivation so much cheaper. We have many varieties of seeds here, differ- ent sizes, different colours, different rates of erowth, but have, unfortunateiy, no reliable data as to the average yield of the different kinds per acre, or the comparative yields of oil from the different varieties, There are, how- ever, experiments being carried out in nearly every parish of the Island now on behalf ot a company and we hops that useful data may result from these experiments. The commercial value of castor seeds at present is about £12 5s per ton and a yield of a ton per acre would only be a fair return. The yield of oil varies very much, The yield of oil should not be less than 40 per cent. if the proper kinds of seeds are planted, and there are some varieties which will give 50 per cent. Lt has not been discovered yet whether the varieties rich in oil give as large a yield asthe varieties which are poor in oil; naturally the contents of oil has a great deal to do with fixing the price. Lt will be important to know this. PRODUCTION OF CASTOR SEED. {ndia is the principal producing country, and the bulk of the supply of castor seed that enters international trade is drawn from this source. The Indian exports of castor oil also exceed those of any other country. Although the actual production ofthis crop is not shown in statistical returns for India, the following tables snowing the amounts exported will indicate the magnitude of the trade in this commodity, The quantities of castor seed exported from India to the principal consuming countries dur- ing 1908-1909, year for which figures are available have been as follows :— United Kingdom, 896,789 cwt.,; France, 333,959 ewt.; Belyium, 207,093 ewt. ; [taly, 176.223 cwt. ; Germany, 109,603 cwt.—Total exports, 1,650,466. The quantities of castor oil exported for the same period have been as follows :— United Kingdom, 151,308 galls,; Ceylon, 63,980 galls.; Straits Settlements, 176,824 galls. ; Hongkong, 13,533 galls.; Cape Colony, 9069 galls.; Natal, 73,690 galls.; Mauritius and De- pendencies, 82,414 galls,; New Zealand, 166,718 galls.; Australian Commonwealth, 352,841 galls.; Foreign countries, 23,275 galls.—Total exports, 1,099,967 galls. The imports of castor seed are not shown separately in the trade returns of the United Kingdom, but the imports of castor oil during the period 1905-9 have been as follows :— Belgium, 9,847 ewts.; France, 6,756 cwts.; Italy, 2,388 cwts.; other foreign countries, 1,258 cwts.; British India, 12,494 ewt. After the United Kingdom, the United States is perhapsthe largest consumer, part of the de- mand being met by the home produce, and part by imported material. The cultivation of castor seed in the United States is confined chiefly to a few districts in Oklahoma, Hastern Kansas, Western Missouri and South-west Illinois, The 288 amount of the annual crop isnot given 1n the re- turns, but it is estimated to be under 100,000 bushels. The imports of castor seed to the United States in the fiscal year 1908-9 amounted to 613,708 bushels, and of castor oil for the same period to 6,846 gallons. These were de- rived chiefly from India, but seed was also im- ported from Brazil, Although net native to Brazil the castor plant finds in that country a suitable soil and climate, and has become naturalised to a large extent. The consumption of castor oil in Brazil is large, aud there area number of castor-oil factories mainly in the State of Pernambuco. ' It will be seen from the foregoing informa- tion that, whilst there is a very large de- mand for castor seed and castor oil, this de- mand is met from comparatively few sources, and that many of the importing countries are in a position, as regards climate, to produce all the castor seed they require, This aspect of the question har been seriously con- sidered in recent years, in Australia and certain of the South African States, but, so far as is known at present, but little has been done to establish au industry in either of these countries. The manufacture of cactor oil in the United Kingdom has been established comparatively recently, and this has given a further incentive to the production of castor seed in various Bri- tish tropical and subtropical colonies. For these reasons a large number of inquiries had been received at the Imporial Institute in recent years, on the ove hand from manufacturers de- siring new sources of supply of castor seed, and on the other from planters in the colonies de- sirous of undertaking the production of this seed. PREPARATION OF CasToR OIL. Large quantities of castor 011 are prepared in India by crude native methods of expression as welljas by modern machinery. In the United Kingdom the greater part of the castor seed im- ported is crushed at Hull, and in France at Marseilles, the methods of obtaining the oil being similar to those employed for other oil seeds. For the finer grades of castor oil, such as that required for medicinal use, selected seed is taken, the husk, which is devoid of oil and comprises about 20 percent of the weight of the seed, is removed, and the soft kernels are expressed in the cold ; by this means an almost colourless oil is obtained, which is free from the poisonous principle, ricin, present in the seeds. This is termed ‘cold drawn” oil. The remaining cake is then broken up and pressed a second, or even a third time, when it yields an inferior oil of yellowish or brownish colour unfit for medic- inal use. The last traces of oil can be ex- tracted by solvents, carbon disulphide or alcohol being used instead of light petroleum on ac- count of the insolubility of castor oil in light petroleum. Inferior seed is hot pressed directly or is ex- tracted by solvents alone, After expression the oil is refined by steaming, which causes coagu- lation of albuminous matter and renders inert the fat-splitting enzyme which, if left in the oil, would cause it torapidly turn rancid. Castor seed of commerce contains from 46 to 53 per cent of oil, and Lewkowitsch states that The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist on a manufacturing scale about 40 per cent is obtained by expression, the first pressing yield- ing about 33 per cnt. Uses oF Castor OIL, The pure ‘‘cold drawn” oil is largely em- ployed in medicine as a purgative, its action being due to the ricinoleic acid. Numer- ous dry preparations are now made in which the taste of the oil is marked by various means. In one method (German Patent 150,554) the oil is mixed with milk sugar; whilst another pre- paration is manufactured by emulsifying the oil with gum arabic and treating with magnesia and lecithin. Castor oil is largely employed as a lubricant in India, but is rather too viscous to be used in this way in cold climates, although it is used for marine engines and for internal combustion (petrol) engines. It is employed for dressing leather belting aud for ‘‘fat liquoring” in the leather industry. An important application isin the manufac- ture of ‘‘turkey red” oil, largely used in alizarin dyeing. This is prepared by treating the oil with concentrated sulphuric acid at a temperature below 35 deg. C. This ‘‘sulphon- ated” oil is washed, and ammonia or soda added until a sample of the liquid gives a clear solution in water. The use of turxey-red oil improves the lustre of the dye, but the reason for this action is not clearly understood. Castor oil is insoluble in light petroleum or hydrocarbon (mineral) oils, but by heating to about 300 deg. C. for several hours, either at atmospheric pressure or under increased pres- sure, the oil polymerises and becomes soluble in hydrocarbon oils, and can then be used for making compound Ivbricating oils. Castor oil 1s also employed in the manutacture of so-called ‘rubber substitutes.’ These are prepared by treating the oil with sulphur at an elevated temperature, or by treating a solution ofthe oil with sulphur chloride at ordinary tem- peratures. The ‘soda soap’ of castor oil re- requires large quantites of brine for soapmaking to any extent ; it has, however. the property of imparting transparency to soaps, and is con- sequently employed in the manufacture of trans- parent soaps. A less important use of castor oil is the pro- duction of ‘cognac’ oil, For this purpose castor oil is subwitted to dry distillation, when a mix- ture of cenanthaldehyde and undecylenic acid, constituting the ‘cognac oil,’ pass over, a bulky rubber-l:ke mass remaining in the retort. Castor cake or meal is largely employed asa manure, the large quantities produced in Mar. seilles being employed by growers of early vegetables, In India the residue from the native method of preparing the oil, castor ‘ pomace’ containsa higher percentage of oil than that produced by expression in hydraulic machinery or by extrac- tion with solvents, and is employed largely in India for manuring, and to a smaller extent for stuffing the soles of native made shoes, for caulk: ing timber, as fuel, and for making illumivating gas.—The Journal of the Jumaica Agricultural Sociely.—July, 1911, TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST MAGAZINE OF THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. “a ie , oat ee dat ta nage Vou. XXXVII, COLOMBO, OCTOBER 15ra, 1911, No. 4&. THE ALL-ISLAND AGRICUL- TURAL SHOW. We would direct attention to the advertisements that have been issued about this Show, to be held in Colombo in June or July of next year. It is time that people who propose to exhibit began to prepare, to think over what they intend to show, to get seeds, and otherwise get ready for the event. This is to be a large Show of a kind which has not been held in Ceylon for many years, and of which only the Nuwara Eliya Show, perhaps, gives any idea. Exhibits,; therefore, will require to be unusually good to stand much chance of winning prizes. This is not said to discourage exhi- bitors of poorer specimens—far from it. Every one should do his best to turn out the very finest thing of the kind that he wishes to exhibit. and if it seem really good and satisfactory, send it in, not say that so-and-so will have much better, and that therefore competition is useless. Exhibitors should take special care, if they live at a distance from Colombo, to see that their exhibits are suitably packed to prevent any deterioration upon the journey. A little trouble and expense over the packing will be well repaid by the much better appearance of the exhibits when it comes to judging. The Show cannot be a success with- out the expenditure of a considerable amount of money, and we would appeal to all, who can afford, to subscribe liber- ally towards the expenses. Evena rupee helps, and it might be worth the while of the Committee to consider whether a donor of one rupee might not be allowed a certain amount—say 50 cents worth—of free admission. THE PHILIPPINES AND RUBBER. (From the Movin Bulletin.) Statistics go toshow that the United States purchased from abroad in 1910 about $106,860,000 worth of raw rubber, more indeed than the aggregate used by any two countries in the world. Of this amount the Philippines are not credited with producing any part, the supply being secured from the Congo, South America and Malaysia. The United States went outside her own territory to purchase, while hundreds of thousands of acres of rubber lands in the Philip- pines are lying idle. It would appear that the American manufacturers not only prefer purchas- ing their supply from foreign countries, but are willing to pay the export duty added by the rubber-producing coun- tries, while Philippine rubber could be secured without this addition to first cost. Every rubber-producing country collects an export tax on the product except the Philippine Islands. If there be any doubt as to the quality of -Philippine grown rubber, there is plenty of evidence to prove that no better product is grown anywhere in the world. The report of an expert in Hamburg on a small shipment of rubber grown by the Basilan Plantation Company, and forwarded by Messrs. Behn Meyer & Co., under date of January 11, 1911, says :— ‘«The sheets were thin, medium colour- ed, transparent and of very good quality. It has good nerve, and is well prepared. Such rubber will always find a good sale here. “‘The price of fine hard Brazilian para is five shillings two pence per pound to-day, and I appraise this Philippine Sen at 11'50 marks to 11'70 marks per ilo.” So much for quality. The Basilan plantation is near Isabela, Moro pro- vince, and is the most advanced of all rubber plantations in the Philppines. Two shipments have already been made, and the quantity will increase as the trees mature. Japanese capitalists have been pur- chasing large tracts of land in Malaysia, and the Japanese manufacturer is mak- ing headway in putting the finished product on the market. The represent- ative of the Goodyear Company compli- mented the Japanese last year on their splendid exhibit of rubber goods at the exposition at Kobe. Why have the Japanese passed up the Philippines and taken up land in Malaysia, and why are Wwe so ignored by the American manu- facturer and capitalist who are also peporing interested in Malaysia rubber ands ? There is something wrong somewhere. We have the soil, the climate and the labour. We have no export duty and the quality of rubber is as good as any pro- duced, but we remain non-producers. It is not improbable that we have not given the widest publicity to the advant- ages offered by the Philippines to the y prospective rubber grower. That we should be ignored were the truth about the islands made known generally in z commercial centres in the United States i, and Europe, we do not believe. That the a : A United States should spend $106,860,000 abroad for a_ product, the whole of which can be supplied from American | territory seems very improbable, 3 nevertheless it is true. J € We believe this subject should be P given special attention by the Merchants’ ; Association. Rubber Manufacturers in 2 the United States and Europe, capital- ' ists interested in the growing and manufacture of rubber should be fur- | nished with all the data available in ~ some attractive form. We must spread 4 our rubber gospel where it will do the 4 most good. A competent publicity man b should be put on the job and sent amonf the Philippines to preach Philip- pine rubber. Our sloganin the United States should be ‘‘We need that — $106,860,000 rubber money to swell our annual receipts, and we will not be happy until we get it.” BRITISH GUIANA AND INDIA- RUBBER. By THE EDITOR OF “ THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD.” Saal | f - ——_——— aM (From the India Rubber World, Vol. XLIV., No. 4, July 1, 1911.) hs m4 ed f < SECOND LETTER. ia a ” -Again the Climate.—A Boston Boy Planter.—The Bete Rouge,—Getting — acquainted with the Sapium Jenman’s Description of the Tree.—Sapium Plant- ations.—The Macwarrieballi.—Brittle Balata.—Balata back in 1883.—Notes on — Balata Gathering._Some Balata Statis- tics. , f ‘es Speaking again of the climate of — British Guiana, I waut to affirm that of all the tropical countries I have visited iF. - . 0 i a K 3 “vs — eee = gi Soe Saegle ik a f ~ withal. ing This youngster found I got the liveliest specimens. it comes nearest to being my ideal. Not in Georgetown nor onthe coast. It is a trifle too sticky there, but healthy But 40 or 50 miles inland it is just what one’who love tropical warmth in midday and coo! nights would desire. Imet a young American in George- town on the oveasion of my last visit who is well known to many in the rubber trade. Heit was who once crossed the Andes and came down over the falls of the Madeira with a lot of rubber for the _ Safety Insulated Wire and Cable Co. He had become a resident of British Guiana, having purchased an island not far from Georgetown, and was engaged in plant- Hevea. He was tapping wild Sapitums that he found on his land, shipping the rubber in and gettinga very good price for it. His backers were ~ a couple of rubber manufacturers in the United States, who, although not big factors, were enterprising enough to wish to be sure of theirown source of supply. The young American was living in a little cabin that he had erected on the island and hiringa few men, and for the amount of money that he had to spend doing a lot of work. His * seed supply he secured in a very shrewd way: Most cf the planters have to send tothe Far Hast, and there are lots ot *‘failures to germinate” iu the seed. in Trinidad a small estate with a few old Heveas on it. Heinduced a friend to buy it, and the trees furnish all of the seed he can com- _ fortably take care of. He was in excellent health with the 5 exception of “hives,” as he explained. - Visitors to the Guianas and Brazil, if they stray outside of the cities, are apt to suffer from mild attacks of “ hives.” At least that is what they confide to some friend after a period of energetic and unavailing scratching. The fact is, ‘they have annexed asmall red bug, the bete rouge, that burrows beneath the skin and is troublesome if not eliminated. Alcohol will do it, one or two applica- tions being sufficient usually. As a preventive many soap their legs and come off scot free. And others, parti- cularly those who are used to tropical pests, pay no attention atalltothem. I - collected some in all of the places that I visited, but it was in British Guiana that i They settle behind the knees and about the _waist and are energetic at nightfall. I was out of alcohol, and so I used a lini- Ing until ment that one of the planters had in stock, It killed the parasites promptly, ut it didn’t stop there. It searched me through and through, penetrating, burn- it finally exhausted itself, 291 Saps and Exudations. except for the smell it left behind. It was fine, one felt so warm and comfort- able when the ache stopped. I was therefore able as an expert on tropical itches to diagnose my friend’s ailment and prescribe a remedy, not the lini- ment, however. Speaking of trees indigenous to British Guiana, that is, rubber trees, the Sapiwm Jenmani, called by the natives Touck- pong, seems the most valuable. I had _ often wondered why Professor Harrison and the very alert and scholarly Assist- . ant Director of Science and Agriculture, F, A. Stockdale, paid so much atten- tion to it. Nor was I enlightened when I saw the specimen planted by Jenman on the Botanical Gardens. It looked so scraggy and sickly and was such a pitiful object. But when Il sawa wild specimen, in soil adapted for it, a fine straight forest tree at least three feet in diameter, I began a revision of my prior prejudices. Then, too, it de- velops that it is one of those trees that can be tapped far up on the trunk, and the latex coagulates on the tree forming a very high-grade scrap. The depart- ment had some of the rubber valued some three years ago, and the price put upon it was $1:07 and plantation at $1°16, The Imperial Institute analyzed the samples and they contained 9377 per eent. of rubber with a resin content of only 1:8 per cent. In 1909-10 the colony shipped 6,369 pounds of rubber, most of which was in scrap form, and doubtless Sapium rubber. It was not all care- fully collected, however, and it brought about $3,250. Jenman it was, who back in 1883, first really brought the rubber to the atten- tion of the world. He journeyed far into the forest, found the trees which at first ha thought belonged to the Ficus family. What he wrote of it is most iuteresting. In part it is as follows :— “The trees were Jarge individuals, four or five feet in diameter of trunk, and 120 or more feet high. Their trunks were long, straight and unbranched for 60 or 70 feet from the ground. The lowest six feet of one had been scarred, and from the scars the milk had run and was dried in tears or strings several inches long on the bark. Most of the congealed rubber was, however, con- tained in the fissures made by the cutlass cuts, from which places it was rather hard to extract it, because of the tenacity with which it held to the inner bark trom which it had oozed. I gathered and made a ball, following the Indian plan of winding it up like twine of what was onthe trunk, They score Gums, Resins, the trunk and then leave it, the milk _ oozes from the wounds, trickles down the bark and coagulates and_ becomes dry inafewdays. My guide said it took three days to dry, but I should have supposed a shorter time might accom- plish the change, the little rivulets are so very thin. That which was in the old cuts—cuts probably a year or more old—had turned black, but that in those recently made was nearly milk-white. The Indian boys, who are perhaps accustomed to play with the balls, as I noticed from several which they brought me, never make them large, they strip the dry-strings very dexter- ously from the bark, taking good care to extract the larger portion to which I have alluded as partly concealed in the incisions, and stretching it with a good deal of tension, wind it up. These balls have wonderful elasticity and bound with very little impulsion several feet of the ground. The rubber, too, seems exceedingly tenacious and strong.... This method of gathering is very econ- omical of time, for it saves the tedious operation of catching the milk in a vessel as it issues from the wound, which is the most bothersome of all the operations. The principal objection to itis, that the rubber becomes soiled by the dirt adhering to the bark, a little of which it retains, and no doubt this would deteriorate its market value; but this depreciation might be reduced toa minimum by carefully brushing the surface down prior to commencing collecting operations. Rubber, which has foreign matter incorporated with it, is classed under the term negrohead in the market, though its value depends on the measure of its freedom from dirt or other substance having regard, of course, to the quality of the rubber itself when clean. ae Iregard the discovery of this tree of great interest and prob- able importance, attaining, as it does, such avast size and producing a material of apparently excellent quality. The Indians know it under two names, the Carabasi calling it Touckpong, and the Arawacks Cumakaballi. Noble in all its proportions, spreading and lifting its massive head above its neighbour’s, it is one of the largest trees of the forest, and has a wide and general distribution over the deep belt of low country in the colony.” In 1905 considerable plantations of the Sapium Jenmani had been established in the north-west district of British Guiana, and there is no reason why they should not besuccessful. Asarule, the planting of this species has _ been encouraged when the trees are found wild, and where they appear to thrive 292 “| arn UY ss, TAC a [OctossR, 1911. the best. The plantersarealsothusable — ‘to secure a good seed supply close at hand. Numbers of plantations are to be found in the country of Berbice, on the Demerara river, on the lower reaches of the Kssequibo river. The Government g is also carrying on experiments in tap- ping on its forest reserve at the mouth =i of Bonasika Creek that will soon tell the j whole story of the yield by a variety of 4 methods. In addition to this at all of its experiment stations, in the. north-- J west district at Issororo, at Onderneem- a ing, Christianberg and Pomeroon, the Government has been planting Sapium, 4 and carefully tabulating every tact regarding its growth, etc. 4 Very little interest seems to be taken in Castilloa in the colony. A few plant- ations have scattering trees, and they are to be found in the Botanic Gardens, : of course. But, as for any extensive — planting or any likelihood of it, that is Be a vain hope. The planters are notin a favcur of it, and. the Government experts do not advise it. Speaking again of that indefatigable . traveller, the late G. S. Jenman, he believed thatin the Forsteronia gracilis, which he found in abundance, he had discovered another valuable source of rubber.. He was camping far upon the Demerara river at Malili, some 200 miles from Georgetown when, in one of his forest excursions, he cut deep into a festoon of bush rope, and was surprised at the quantity of latex that gushed out. Hecut down forest giants to get at the whole vine, spent days in collect- ing latex andin trying to ccagulate it, and finally sent rubber, flowers, leaves, etc., to Kew for identification and valu- ing. His report, which covers pages, is full) of enthusiasm and interest. The Indians called the vine Macwarrieballi, and the botanists at Kew said it was Forsteronia gracilis. The experts at Silver-town, to whom the rubber was submitted, said it was too sticky and soft to be valuable. That, however, — was in 1888, when they would have turned down guayule, for example, and many other lesser rubbers, as indeed, would any rubber manufacturer of that period. Perhaps, therefore, it may yet appear on the market. Speaking of the lesser rubbers, and — before beginning on the balata of which ~ the colony ships large quantities, 1 want. — to refer again to what is commonly ~ known as brittle balata from the — Aumiria floribunda, Ifitis as abund- — ant assome think, and can be cheaply ‘gathered, it should have a place. A British Guianian sent me a sample : | 4 4 4 } 4 : 4 tae | yh haa er NA A T oA ‘ Get Te ‘ um ~ OcTosER, 1911.) 993 He had an exaggerated idea of its value, however. The samples are before me asl write. They are plastic, brownish in colour, and very dense, and show but little elasticity. They look very much like a low-grade gutta. Iso wrote him, and his reply is certainly optimistic. I append it as it has a certain value. ‘*Your letter of recent date received to-day, and I most certainly do rot agree with your deductions. Brittle balata, or as it is sometimes called bastard balata, is altogether different from the recognized balata of commerce. Brittle balata is, in my long axzd experienced opinion, a caoutchouc, whereas the balata of commerce isa gum. My sam- ples are from the milk or latex of caoutchoue trees which grow in enor- mous numbers throughout the whole of tropical and subtropical America, hence the rubbers from them can be regularly shipped in enormous quantities. ‘“IT send you five samples made from “caoutchoues selected from our forest trees by very experienced bleeders. These five samples are the same as sent to Europe, and which have been well received, and have been valued at prices that will, I think, satifactorily recoup us. ‘*T believe we have an assured trade with both England and Germany, and perhaps also with Denmark, so I cannot see how we should fail with America, as your letter so manifestly indicates. * As before stated, these caoutchoucs can be easily obtained from trees that are enormously abundant, so that the rubbers from them should naturally be supplied at a lower price than the gener- ality of such articles are. Therefore, we can ship to America if only the prices will allow us, and if only we can find trustworthy people to ship to, because it is we alone who are shipping, and it is we alone who are to be afterwards paid for articles that oniy the market requires, therefore we wish to know the present approximate market price ot the samples sent you. “Although the enclosed samples are small, they are quite large enough for any real expert or for any capable manu- ftacturer to judge by. ** As soon as our new factory is started, we hope to turn out a very large supply and later on we may have to establish _ branches in Trinidad, Brazil and Vene- zuela.” Back in 1883 and again in 1885 Jenman sent in a voluminous report concerning the ‘‘ gutta” trees in the colony. It was characterised by the direct style that all his communications show, and in _ pite of the fact that it was published Saps and Exudations. as a dignified Government utterance, is fascinating reading. He briefly sketches the Indians and the bush negros, and an enthusiastic botanist, recognized and noted hundreds of tropical trees, vines and plants, as he journeyed into the forest in his search for the “ bully” tree. Bits of tropical experience crop up, as for example, the presence on the Savannahs of weree-weree fly that just as soon as the perspiration starts swarm over the face and creep into the eyes. The engineers on the Madeira-Mamore Railway know all about them, and it may comfort them to know that Jenman, ‘ twenty-six years ago, spoke of them only as a trifling annoyance, as he did also of the Cabowroo (known in Central Amer- icaas the Rodador). His examination of the balata bark was very thorough and so understandable that it is worth quot- ing verbatim. “If a piece of partly dry bark be examined it presents (without going out into the details of structure) three pri- mary layers. The outer layer is dark brown, hard and dry; the next, which is usually much thicker, is rather spongy in tissue and lactiferous and of a reddish raw beef colour; the inner one is thin, more ligneous, a brown wood colour and with fewer lactiferous vessels. The outer layer is subdivided into several very tkin layers. They are of two kinds, and differ much in the density of their cells. They alternate a dark brown and pale gray. In young trees there are few, but they increase with age. I have counted as many as twelve of each kind in the bark of a large tree. The second primary layer is that which yields the balata milk, though the inner, more ligneous layer is not devoid of it. These two layers are homogeneous and adherent to the wood until it is dry. The longi- tudinal fissures, which I have mentioned as a prominent external characteristic of the bark, are not absolute divisions of the cortical tissue (or at least they only become so eventually as the layers peel off), for where they occur the outer layer dipsinto the thick lactiferous layer and so preserves its continuity. The thin layers of the external primary layer crack transversely in pieces an inch or two long, and by lateral contrac- tion eventually scale off.” He had received a long letter from Sir Everard im Thurn, who had penetrated to\ many remote places in the colony, in which it was stated that many of the balata gatherers cut the tree down to extract the milk. Jenman, as servant of the Government, was anxious to protect the property of the Crown, and hunted industriously for such Gums, Resins, i i eke le 8 Ra. a ae a gee DJ. was a wr eee Pd i of its inhabitants. _ does not abate, although their numbers the late Agent, as well < fet as 1888 was a military officer, Capt. W. Timbrace, on a salary of £250, and the Capt., E. Macpherson, apparently in addition to their military duties and pay. In his Eleven ‘years in Ceylon, Forbes who visited the station, records: -— **Kurunegala is one of those places which lie on the track of elephants in passing across country, and although no obvious reason can be seen to justify this pre- ference of this particular line, yet they adhere toit with uncommon perseverance, ‘the formation of seven or eight roads con- verging at this place, which owes its existence of late years to the military station and headquarters of the revenue and judicial officers of the district being . established here, is insufficient to induce the elephants to abandontheir former ~ route, and they continue to pass through this large village to the great annoyance Their pertinacity have been considerably diminished, for i as his pre- decessors, was a keen shot and a success- fulone. Hekilled nine in one afternoon, _ the greatest number known to have _ heen bagged by a single sportsman,” 309° Edible Products. I find the name of Dr. Luke Kelly as stationed here in 1835 as. Assistant Colonial Surgeon; he was one of those medical men brought out by Government to strengthen the civil side of the ‘Vaccine EHstablishment” as it was called, which was under the control of the Military Principal Medical Officer (Dr. Foster). He was the father of Mr. Lilly Kelly, well known of late years as an estate proprietor and planters’ member of Council in the nineties. Another was Dr. Grant who was stationed at Ratnapura, and the third was Mr. Christopher Elliot who was stationed at Badulla. The latter resign- ed after a short service, but the other twe were subsequently transferred to the Army Medical Service. In 1888 a regular civilian was appointed to Kurunegala as Assistant Agent and District Judge, but the Seven Korales re- mained under the control of the Cclombo Government Agent until 1845, when the districts of Kurunegala, Puttalam and Chilaw were separated to form the North-Western Province. The Agent was, however, located at Puttalam, salt beirg evidently of more importance than paddy or population, until June, 1856, when the headquarters of the Provinze were moved to Kurunegala—the capital of all Ceylon during the time of the four kings who succeeded Prakramabahu III, About this province the information I have been able to gather is very meagre. Pridham’s enquiries went to show that the northern portion of Wanni Hat Pattu was, about 1845, ‘little better than a desert from the ruined state of most of its numerous tanks.” To the Devonshire Rectory I am again indebted for reliable statistics, as the worthy Rector’s Colonial life in- cluded two years (1854-6) of service as Assistant Agent of Kurunegala. His re- port for 1855 is most interesting reading, and in the body reference is made to a complete return of the paddy land in each village and other cognate inform- ation, which would be most useful for my present purpose; but alas ! though there are copies of several other returns, this one is missing. But luckily there are figures in the report itself which show that the area cultivated for both Maha and Yala of the five years between 1850 and 1855, ranged from 2,173 amunams (including 701 for Yala) to 5,469 (in 1855, including only 67 for Yala) ; and the average was 3,000 amunams, say 9,000 acres at most, inclusive of 771 amunams (say 2,300 acres) for Yala alone, The revenue for 1855 was £5,611, and making allowance for a probable increase in the price of paddy, owing to short Hdible“Prodhiets, ‘crops for the previous two years, and also for the exempted lands of temples and headmen which did not contribute to the above sum, the crops were certain- ly three-fourths and may have reached a million of bushels; a result, doubtless, due to the plentiful rainfall of the last quarter of the previous year, which I found by an old copy of Ferguson’s Directory (the Rector’s property) was 87 inches with good S.W. and N.E. monsoons, while the failures of both the little and big S.W. monsoons of 1855 fully account for the very small culti- vation (150 amunams) for Yala. In parting with this district it will be of interest to give a derivation of the: ' name Kurunegala, for which [ am in- debted to Mr. Mooyaart, and which I do not remember having ever heard while in Ceylon, and which does not form one of the several given by Pridham. It is QAwd moagnasd Sy ons 2d1.10E 2© Soe, which may be translated—‘ ‘from a race of dwarfish people came the name -Kurunegala.” To Uva came Capt. Rogers of the Ceylon Rifles on_ being relieved at Aliport by Mr. C, P. Layard, and acted as Assistant Agent (on a salary of £350 in addition, 1 presume, to his military pay as Commandant), and also discharged the judicial duties on another £135 until relieved by the appointment of W. G. Forbes at end of 1842, but continued to be Assistant Agent until his death in 1845. Associated with him I find as Assistant Colonial Surgeon Mr. Christopher Hlliott, “father of the writer, who, finding the duties uncongenial, resigned and went to Colombo, and continued the practice of his profession and journalism, until BD ported Principal Civil Medical Officer in 5 From the Uva Manual (White’s) and from a report by Mr. John Bailey in 1856 . (published in the Sessiouval Papers) I _gather the following facts: Previous to -1882 the grain revenue of Baduila amount- ed to only £589. The Commutation system was early introduced into this Division, and the revenue increased from £858 to over £1,080. With regard to this Turnour wrote to Rogers in 1886 that ‘the rate in Bintenne was too high, and Walapone was too low, but it was done advisedly owing to inaccessibility and ‘poor soil. He further urged on his Asssistant not to attempt to enforce the new Commutation, unless convinced of ‘dts moderation. Under such sensible and considerate instructions, Rogers carried out afresh settlement in Badulla for 21 years} based on the value of paddy adopt- ed for the previous assessment, 4 to 12 pence per bushel. In after years Bailey, 810 during the four years (1846-9) of nearly when Assistant Agent, expressed regret that the possibility of an increase in the — value of Paddy consequent on the deve- lopment of the District hadi been over- looked, and that the-agreement was for — such a long period. Other settlements tor the Aliport — Division had been carried out for shorter — periods, generally four years taking the : value of paddy at the old prices. Sothe — Badulla people got off very cheaply, especially in the more remote portions of Uva. But when these old settlements ¢ expired, there was a heavy advance which will be noticed elsewhere, but no substantial addition was made till 1864. The total paddy land in 1854 in Uva is reported to have been 38,000 acres, of which say 7,800 was exempted from tax- ation as property of temples and-head- men, and 2,400 were waste. Concurrently, with the introduction of the new commutation, there was certain- ly an increase of the grain revenue from £25,000 (the average of the five years prior to 1880) to £35,340 (average 1833-8) ; while the average of the next five were £36,677. But though the condition: of the cultivator was undoubtedly ameli- orated by the considerate assessments, especially in the Kandyan districts, there was on the other hand a steady disorgan- isation of the old communal co-oper- ation so essential in paddy cultivation, consequent on the unrestricted abolition of rajakariya. There were these who noted the:adverse effect of this measure, but these were more immediately appar- _ ent in the deterioration of the thorough- _ fares of the island, and then led to propo- salsfor a modified substitute. applicable to the upkeep of roads only, for which funds from the general revenue werenot available, as the financial condition of the — Colony in the forties was far from satis- _ factory. The revenue which had risen — from about £285,000 in 1826 toover £487,000 in 1838 fell to £322,369 in 1842, and the expenditure had exceeded. the income by £95,600 in the six years 1837-42. * Fortunately about this time European — capitalists interested in the cultivation — of sugar and coffee appeared on the scene and created a demand for land, the upset price of which was raised — (June, 1845) from five shillings to one — pound per acre. This added consider- — ably during the next two years to the revenue, which rose to over £454,000; but as sugar proved a failure and coftee did not at first prove a success, the revenue again proved insufficient, and there »was an excess of : expenditure — —" £136,000, oy a: : ni OcronmR,1911;}: Q, a: ak ~ Sir). Emerson Tennent,» who I believe was. considered a financial expert, was - appointed Colonial Secretary and arrived in the island in November, 1845. The condition of the finances of course occu- pied;his.early attention, and in October, 1846, was published his report on. the a Colonial revenue, with suggestions for securing an increase therein. Concurrently Mr, Philip Wodehouse, Government Agent ot the Western Pro- vince, made the proposal that every male inhabitant of the island between tie ages of 18 and 55 years should be declared liable to contribute six days’ labour, free _of payment to the formation and upkeep -of the-:roads ofthe island, with the option of commuting the liability to a money payment. Sir Emerson Tennent _ desired that a portion of this labour - should be applied: to the repair of tanks, but this was vetoed by the Secretary ot State, and the Ordinance as finally passed in 1848 restricted the application of the labour to roads, In his financial report Sir E. Tennent gave figures of the revenue from paddy _ and. fine grain, and pointed out that while the cultivation of every other ie : e} y description of produce. has been making advances, the production of corn is abso- lutely stationary:” This he attributed to the renter and thefarming system, and suggested. the substitution of a general land:.tax.in lieu of this and other imyposts which he thought it desirable to abolish. Nothing came, fortunately, of this pro- posal, but in the inference he drew from a comparison. of thé year’s revenue figures, he much understated the case, as he did not take into consideration the increase in the price of paddy in the period reviewed. It would have been more satisfactory to base an enquiry as tothe extent of this retrogression by reference to the Agricultural returns in the Blue Books of the period, but they are not available. They had been removed from the Library ofthe Colonial Office in London to the - Public Records Office, but on applying t _ there they could not be found. consequently obliged to deduce the am probable production of the period from _ the available data in my possession, - chiefly the actual recoveries on account 7 of the Government share and the current prices of paddy. fi On these points the records show that . (a) Theannual average revenue from _ paddy was as follows :— _ Prior to 1830 (say) £25,000 From 1833-8 £35,340 From 1839-44 wes £36,677 From 1845-56 Ae £39,700 Sli ft Edivle Producte. : (6) The average price of paddy per bushel for the whole island was equi- valent in the thirties to about 40 cents of a rupee present currency, but had riseu to at least 45cents by 1844; was over 55 cents in the early fifties; and 75 cents by 1858. At the same time due allowance has to be made for the fact that the voluntary commutation of the Central Province and Badulla, etc., remained at the low value for paddy fixed in the thirties until after 185. From the foregoing dataand other collateral information scattered through the papers at my disposal, [am inclined to estimate the annual average produc- tion of paddy in the island up to 1855 as follows :— Prior to 1830 say 3} millions of bushels, Between 1833-9 9 44 ” ” ” Between 1840-5 we ” y ” Between 1846-55 35 3 ” 13 ” The provision of what was henceforth known as ‘‘ Ordinance labour” remedied the loss entailed on road making by the abolition of rajakariya, but no similar provision was made ia the interests of agriculture, and consequently tanks and other werks of irrigation were neglected ° and change and decay was all round.: Chief amongst these losses was the des- truction of the great Urubokkadam erected by the Dutch, and which was destroyed in 1837, owing to the silting up of the canal intended to carry off the impounded water to the Giruwa_ Pattu, a work which had been formerly done by rajakarvya, but no provision was made. for this work of necessity on its abolition. Another serious loss was the destruction of the Kirema dam (which had been restored by Sir Edward Barnes in 1828), from similar negligence. Inthe Batti- coloa District the Dutch had constructed large works, which had (Mr. Birch reported in 1856) *‘ been kept in perfect order till the abolition of compulsory labour prevented the people being called out, and though once or twice tempor- arily repaired by a few enterprising cultivators, had at last fallen into perfect decay and are now utterly useless.” He estimated that consequent on this an, extent of over 60,000 acres had been abandoned. It is not necessary to quote fuller details, it was the same everywhere. The Secretary of State had intimated his readiness to authorise outlay in irri- gation works from the: general revenue in return for taxation on the fields bene- - fited. But there were no funds avail- able, and the other measures enacted : with a view of increasing. the revenue Edible Products. gave rise to so much trouble that a period of inaction ensued. Agricultural interests had consequently to drift until the advent of Sir Henry Ward as Governor in 1855—and a wave of general prosperity setin, as shown by. the Re- venue of the island exceeding £500,000 for the first time (1856). (To be continued.) ESTIMATED WORLD SUGAR INDUSTRY. SUGAR-CANE CROPS OF THE WORLD SHow DECIDED VARIATIONS FROM FIGURES BY FOoR- EIGN EXPERTS. (From the Manila Bulletin.) Willet & Gray’s estimate of the 1910-11 sugar-cane crops of the world shows some decided variations in the totals for the chief producing countries from figures previously published by foreign trade experts, (See Daily Con- sular and Trade Reports for December 7, 1910.) The foreign December estimates gave the 1910-11 season’s world crop as 8,519,000 tons; the June Willett & Gray estimate places it at 8,445,178. While less than the toreign total for 1910-11 this latter figure is aninecrease of 119,661 tons over the American firm’s statistics of the 1909-10 cane crops. The later American estimate places British India’s 1910-11 yield at 76,400 tons more tkan the earlier foreign calculations; Cuba’s at 250,000 tons less; Java’s at 20,900 tons less ; Mexico’s at 15,000 tons in excess of the previous figures. The estimated production in the world’s cane-growing centre, according to Willett & Gray. and the increase or decrease as compared with the firm’s statistics of the 1909-10 crop are as follows, in tons: Louisiana, 300,000 (—25,0C0); Texas, 11,000 (plus 1,000); Porto Rico, 295,000 (—18,000); Hawaiian Islands, 485,000 (plus 22,387); Cuba, 1,600.000 (—204,349); Trinidal [exports], 40,000 (—4,139) ; Barbados [exports] 35,000 (—1,389); Jamaica [exports], 12,000; Antigua and St Kitts, 18,000 (—2,000); Martinique [exports], 39,000 (—950); Guadeloupe, 40,000 (8,000); Dutch West Indies, 15,000; San Domingo and Haiti, 85,000 [—8,003]; Lesser Antilles, not nam- ed above, 8,000 (this estimate being in strong contrast to the 45,000 tons credit- ed to these islands in the foreign December report); Mexico, 150,000 (plus 2,095); Guatemala, 7,500 (plus 390); San Salvador, 6,500 (plus 144); Nicaragua, 4,500 (plus 1,020) Costa Rica, 2,500 (plus 255); Demerara [exports], 100,000 (—1,848); Surinam, 138,000 (plus 945); Venezuela, S12 3,000; Peru, 150,000; Argentina. 147,678 (plus 34,004) ; Brazil, 310,000 (plus 57,000) ; British India, 2,226,400 (plus 99,800) ; Java, 1,229,100 (plus 28,482)—the estimate of Java's harvest for the 1911-12 season be- ing 1,230,000 tons; Formosa, 267,000 (plus 62,000); Philippine Islands, 160,000 (plus 33,146); Queensland, 207,000 (plus 72,416); New South Wales, 18,000 (plus 3,250) ; Fiji Islands [exports], 69,000 (plus 100); Egypt), 45,000; Mauritius, 210,000 (—834,598]—the estimate of the Mauritius crop for the 1911-12 season being 240,000 tons; Reunion, 36,000; Natal, 76,000 (plus 14,000); Spain, 24,000 (plus 967), ‘ F. O, Licht calculated the European ~ beet-sugar crop for 1910-11 at 8,127,000 — tons; Willett & Gray place that season’s American beet-sugar crop at 455,220 tons; giving a total for cane and beet-sugar of 17,027,898 tons, or an estimated increase ot 2,113,286 tons in the world’s production over the 1909-10 season. | RICK AS A MUSCLE BUILDER... A recent editorial in the Lancet-Clinic points out that the defeat of Russia by Japan drew the attention of the whole world to the power of endurance, exhi- bited by the Japanese, and that much surprise was expressed that a rice-eating nation should develop such remarkable physical power, says the Japan Adver- tiser. In the United states, as well as in Europe, rice has usually been considered an inferior food owing to the excess of starch in its composition, and this is undoubtedly true of the riceas we meet with it. But this defect in the grain is the result of the removal of nutrient matter for the purpose of making the — rice more presentable for the market by __ what is known as the polishirg process. Not only is the outer husk taken off but what is called the rice meal, which envelops the inner kernel, is also brushed away, although it is highly nutritious, being the ‘albuminous’ portion of the grain. It is, however, an uxattractive brown in colour. This rice meal is exported to Europe by rice-growing countries, and in England it is made into what is — named oil cake with which cattle are fattened. Chemical analysis of rice meal shows that it contains about 12) per cent. of albuminoids and 44 per cen of phosphoric acid, and the former appears to be easily digested by the human system. - ee As the Japanese, in common with the other rice-eating nations, do not polish — the grain, they retain a large proportio: of nutriment and flavour to which virtu Ocrozsr, 1911.] ally all Americans and Europeans are absolute strangers. THE AVOCADO IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 4 By F. W. PorEnos, aa f Pasadena, California. mS: (From the Pomona Journal of Economic Botany, Vol. I., No. 1, February, 1911 ) That the avocado will succeed in Southern California has been proved conclusively by the seedlings planted fifteen to twenty-five years ago which are now bearing, and by more recent experiments with budded trees; and the establishment of an avocado in- dustry in the immediate future is assured. As to whether we shall proceed at once to the production of the best fruits, or whether the loss of much money and time with the incidental disappoint- - ment toall concerned shall be caused by the planting of inferior varieties is the vital question at thismoment. It is to the solution of this problem that the earnest endeavour and careful efforts of all our nurserymen should be directed, and it is in the hope that some help may be given in eliminating wasteful efforts that this article is written. For centuries the avocado has been grown in Mexico: and other tropical countries, propagated only by seed. Like other fruit trees grown from seed, it comes truein but a very small per- centage of cases. This has led to the existence of a wide range ot varieties. All avocados so far fruited in California are these mere chance seedlings, most of them of indifferent value and not worth propagation on an extensive scale. There are many varieties of good size and flavour, fruiting in Mexicoand other parts of the tropics which will doubtless is, succeed here as well as the smaller and a. inferior ones. Some of these Mexican _ varieties are of such superior quality as to leave nothing to be desired. ' Itis therefore manifestly the part of wisdom for California planters of this fruit to proceed with intelligence and accept nothing but the best. Attracted by the prospective large returns some investments of a doubtful character are already being made. There is really no excuse for this. Investigation and care will lead any onein the right path. There will be no - demand for seedling or inferior fruits once a superior avocado is to be found plentifully in our markets. Nor need _tnere be delay or groping in the dark 40 ; res Faas ef ae =e : E ; ar. \ 313 fidible Products, for these superior varieties. At our very door lies a boundless experimental garden in which for centuries the avocado has been grown, where countless varieties have originated, and where now are growing hundreds of thousands of trees from among which we have only to select the best. By taking advantage of this oppor- tunity California can obtain in a com- paratively short time the choicest varieties, which it would take years of time and a large expenditure of money to produce by the ordinary methods of plant breeding carried on here. The results presented in this pre- liminary paper on this subject have been worked up in the _ Biological Laboratory of Pomona College, and ack uvenIbde lek ts are here made for the facilities placed at my _ disposal there and the constant and kindly assist- ance extended to me. TYPES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. Broadly speaking, the avocados which have fruited here so tar may be divided into two classes: those of Mexican origin, which include all the smooth and thin skinned varieties, and those of Guatemalan origin, which are easily distinguished by their very thick skins and rough exterior. This is not saying, of course, that all avocados can be divided into these two classes. Of the Mexican type many trees may be found scattered all over the southern end of the State, most of which have been grown from seed obtained from Monterey and other points in northern Mexico. The famous Chappelow tree is the oldest and best known of the lot. Most of the Mexican varieties produce fruits of small size, dark purple in colour, but of good quality, and are preferred by many tothe large green fruits, it being the belief that they are richer and of better flavour than the larger varieties. They are also somewhat hardier than the larger varieties, and probably wiil be valuable in locations where the latter would not thrive. For home use these varieties will always be desirable, but as a commercial fruit they are out of the question alto- gether. They are too thin skinned to stand shipment, and would probably not take at allin American markets in com- petition with the larger thick’ skinned fruits. A few varieties of Mexican origin and green in colour are now grown here which are larger than the purple varie- ties, but these also are thin skinned and Edible Products. of little more value commercially than the purple ones, although the quality is all that cculd be desired in some cases. To be profitable commercially, the fruit will have to be thick and tough skinned, so as to stand shipment, and as yet no Mexican variety which has fruited here has this quality. Outside of the Mexican varieties the only other type known to have success- fully fruited here is the Guatemalan. The trees of this type are probably all descendants of the old Miller tree, the seed of which was brought from Guate- mala and planted at Hollywood over twenty-five years ago. Numerous seed- lings have been grown from this tree, several of which are now bearing. The Walker tree is the best known of these, and is the most prolific tree known here, its crop every year running into the thousands. From the behaviour of these trees it seems certain that this type is admirably adapted to this cli- mate, a fact of the greatest importance to the future of the industry here. In his bulletin on the avocado, Collins speaks of the avocados of Guatemala as forming a very distinct group, the most peculiar characteristic of which is the unusual thickness and toughness of the skin, and he considers them the most promising of all the types from a com- mercial standpoint. It is particularly fortunate, then, that this type has been tested here and its adaptability proved, for the way has been paved for the intro- duction of numerous forms of the type with practical assurance of _ success. Another noteworthy point in regard to this type is the fact that all of the local trees are spring bearers, this point alone making them ot great value. Being spring bearers their blooming season is considerably later than the fall bearing Mexican sorts, so that the danger of the crop being destroyed by late frosts is almost eliminated. Already we have several varieties of this type that are well worth growing, of which the Lyon is the most promising, it being the finest avocado yet produced in California, of good size and excellent quality. This variety has just come into bearing, and therefore is little known as yet, but its prolificacy and good qualities promise to place it in the lead of the local varieties. The trees of the Guatemalan type are easily distinguished from those of the Mexican type, because more spreading, particularly when young, and the leaves are more lanceolate. It has been the general impression that the South American type which is grown in Florida would not succeed here, but this remains to be proved. 314 summer -can be taken out and planted in pots. é (OcToBER, / > Budded trees ot many Florida varieties — are being tested in Southern California, — and the Bureau of Plant Industry ex- pects to send out a large number for this spring for trial. One large tree at Sherman which was worked over to the Trapp variety flowered this year for the first time, and numerous other trees are becoming old enough to bear, and will be watched with interest for the next few years. This type is certainly more tender than the Mexican, butthe past few winters have shown that some varieties at least will stand our average winter temperature without injury. Future experience will likely confirm the present belief that this type will succeed in many locations here. ae Numerous’ seedlings of MHawaiian,— Cuban, and West Indian varieties have been grown, but as yet these have not come into bearing. Budded trees will have to be tested before anything definite can be said of their adaptability. It has been stated that the avocado would not succeed in the hot and dry interior parts of California, Trees are known to have grown without injury as far into the interior as Redlands and Riverside, and have fruited heavily at Pomona and San Fernando, and should be tried at Imperial. PROPAGATION. By Seed. This is the simplest method, - and the one most practised in California up to the present time. The seeds of — most varieties are obtainable during late and autumn, and should be planted as soon after removal from the fruit as possible. It has been found to hasten germination greatly if the seeds are buried in moist sand or sawdust for a period of two to four weeks before planting. During this time they should be occasionally examined, and when they show signs of germinating they After this treatment they will start to grow very promptly, andithastheadded advantage that only seeds that are sure ~ to grow are planted, and no labour is wasted. For most seeds a four inch pot ~ is large enough. The seeds should be placed in the pot pointed end up,orin ~ the case of the round seeded varieties, — the end toward the stem of thefruit, — and about one-fourth of the seed left — exposed above the surface of the soil. A good rich soil is essential to the best development of the young plant, an should be kept thoroughly moist, b care should be exercised to avoid sta: ing water in the pots, as this is fatal either the seed or the young tree. Wh the young trees should ‘be grown in -young wood warm situation, the direct rays of the sun should be avoided. It the seeds have not been buried in moist sand before planting they will often be slow in germinating, especially if not grown under glass. Many of the’seeds planted in the fall ina lath house do not come up until the following spring. After the young trees have made a growth of eight to twelve inches, they should be shifted into larger pots or cans, if it is desired to carry them on this way, or set out in the nursery to be grown until of suitable size to bud. By Budding. It is only during the past season or two that much attention has been given to budding the avocado in California, although previously a few nursery-men most interested in this truit had tried it. Having no experience of their own in the budding of this parti- cular tree, most of those who have budded during the past year or two have simply applied the methods they would use for citrus fruits, while a few others have followed the instruction given in various publications by those who have experi- mented in Florida. In all cases the - results have proved the budding of this fruit to be no more difficult than that of the citrus fruits, and when a little more experience has been acquired the operation will be performed with as much assurance of success as with the orange. For; commercial purposes plants are grown in pots until about twelve inches high, when they are set out in nursery rows three and one-half to four feet __ apart, and fourteen inches apart in the rows. Here they are grown and budded and allowed to remain until of saleable size, when the trees are balled, or trans- planted into pots, and allowed to become ‘established before being sold. The method of budding is practically the same as used for the orange. In regard to such points as the best size of _ stock and bud and season for carrying on the work, there has, however, been some uncertainty. Experiments have been carried out locally on stocks ranging in diameter __ from about one-fourth of an inch to over one inch, with budwood of all sizes, from the young and tender tops to well- matured wood of the previous season’s growth. Results led to the conclusion that forsmall stocks, such as will be obtained during the first summer’s growth of the seedling tree, buds from of the current. season’s growth are the only ones which will give good results. On older trees, mainly two-year-olds, the buds from older wood seem to take better, but are | _ liable to drop after leaving a blind bud, rd a 315 Edible Products. The experience of P. J. Wester, in charge of the avocado investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry, is un- questionably the most valuable to be had on this subject. Under date of January 4, 1911, he writes me as follows: “In 19061 published an article in the Florida Agriculturist that has been re- produced in many papers, but which does not now wholly represent my views on the subject, The stock should be the size ofa lead pencil, in vigorous grow- ing condition with sap flowing freely, and young budwood, i.é., that from the current year’s growth, with well developed buds, used. Do not use old and hard budwood, as such buds after taking frequently drop. Cut the buds large, and cover entirely with waxed tape. The last point may not be so im- portant in California’s dry ciimate. Continued experimentation since I wrote the above mentioned paper shows that budding may be practised any month of the year, provided the stock is in condition, though for nursery practice I would not bud in August, September, October or November.” Regarding the best season to bud, it seems tobe the consensus of opinion here that October and November, which are mentioned by Mr. Wester as undesir- able months, are as good a season as any, if not the best of the whole year. This is probably owing to the climatic conditions of Southern California being different from those of Florida. Three weeks afterinsertion the buds will have taken and the trees should be lopped back to several inches above the bud. The buds will then start into growth, and when a growth of eight to twelve inches has been made the stock may be trimmed back to the bud. Edgar Harman, of Sherman, has done considerable experimental budding, and what he says will be of value to those contemplating doing this work. The seeds are started under glass, and as soon as the plants are two inches high they are set in pots and placed in a protected place in the open. When they have grown to the diameter of three-eighths to one-half of an inch they are budded. Mr. Harman considers that this oper- ation can be performed successfully any month of the year except July and August. Young and tender budwood is used, and the buds cut from three-fourths to one inch long. Waxed cloth is used for wrapping, and the buds are not wrapped very tightly, As soon as the buds swell, which should be in about three weeks, the top of the stock is lopped over at about the fourth leaf above the bud, and alittle later on itis Edible Products, cut clear off. When the bud has started into growth the top is cut back to a level with the bud. The sap must be flowing freely at the time of budding to insure success. C. P. Taft of Orange has probably had more experience in growing and budding the avocado than any other person in California. He says: ‘lam inclined to regard the months of October and November as the best for budding, though I think there is a short period in the spring when considerable success can be had. The buds I put in my three- year-old orchard last fall have done well and are making a fine growth. About 25 %Zof the buds on stocks in cans succeeded. Those put in during the warm summer mcnths were ar almost total failure.” In April, 1909, D. W. Coolidge of Pasadena budded about 150 two year-old seedlings growing in the open ground at Hollywood. The buds were taken from well-matured wood of the previous year’s growth, and waxed cloth was used for wrapping. Fully 90 % of these buds toox, but quite a number dropped their buds. after havingtaken. However, fully 75 % of the buds inserted developed into trees. Mr. Coolidge has made several attempts to bud stock grown in cans, but with no success, probably because trees thus grown are not sufficiently vigorous. William Chappelow of Monrovia, owner of the original chappelow tree, states that he proceeds exactly as in budding citrus fruits, and has budded at all seasons of the year with about equal success. Large avocado trees which are unpro- ductive should be cut back and budded over to some good variety. The method is simple, and as described has been practised very successfully by Mr. Harman. The large limbs are all cut back close to the trunk, and the cut ends covered with white lead to prevent bleeding. In a short time numerous sprouts will make their appearance; all ot these should be cut off, but three or four of the most promising selected on different sides of the tree so as to form a good head. In ashort time they will be large enough to bud, and should be budded in the same way as small seed- lings. The wraps must be loosened every four or five days, as the sprouts makea very rapid growth. After the buds have madea growth of several inches the stocks may be cut back and the buds allowed to develop into the new tree. In two years’ time a good-sized head will be obtained, * 36 =f TOR, PUNY AN _ The best material for budding tape is cheap cotton cloth which will tear easily. The method of preparing it is described by Mr. Wester as follows :— ‘Rip up the cloth in strips of desired __ widths, say six inches, and roll these tightly on stout iron wire as long as the width of the strips. Several strips may be rolled on until the roll is one iach in diameter; tie a string around the roll at each end to prevent unrolling while being boiled in the wax. A good wax is made by boiling together two pounds bees wax, two pounds rosir, and half a pound of good lard; when in boiling Mg state put in the rolls of cloth and let — them remain for fifteen minutes, when they are taken out and cooled before being stored away. The iron wire is more desirable than sticks of wood, as the weight of the wire will keep the roll below the surface of the buviling mass, Another advantage in using the wire is, that if the sticks are not quite | dry, the water, as it is convarted into steam, will cause the contents. to boil over. Inarching has never been practised in California, but J. L. Hickson, of Miami, Florida, alarge and successful grower of the avocado, states that he propagates entirely by this method, as he considers it produces astronger and better growth than budding. However this may be, — the method is slow and laborious, and trees cannot be produced in sufficient quantities to make it commercially — practicable here, : Grafting has been performed success- fully in a few instances, but has not been attempted to any great extent as yet. Cuttings have been very successfully — rooted by being placed in clear sand in a lath house, but it is doubtful if this _ method of propagation produces as strong a plant as the others. ORCHARD PLANTINGS. ata It is only within the last year or twO that orchard plantings of the avocado ~ have been made in Southern California, — and then only in very small acreages, but the next few years will see the terri tory devoted to the culture of this frui on a commercial scale greatly increased. — The trees may be planted at the same S distance apart as orange trees, or if space is available at a somewhat greater _ distance. Budding seems to dwarf the ~ tree, and budded trees will require — much less room than seedlings. In either y event the trees should not be allowed — to grow to an unlimited size, but shou be pruned like deciduous fruits, allo ing only the strongest branches = ¢ i OcrosHR, 1911.) - develop and form the head of the tree, ~ andall weak and undesirable growths cut out each year. The top should be kept cut back to facilitate picking the fruit, and not allowed to grow to _an unlimited height as has been done 4 with all the seedlings grown here, | Transplanting should be done in early spring before the trees have started into new growth. During the first year or twce of its - growth, the tree is more tender than Bs when larger, and in locations subject to heavy frosts should be protected during the winter by some covering, Palm leaves are used for this purpose it they can be obtained in sufficient a quantities, or a frame can be construct- - edof lath and covered with burlap or e cheese-cloth. The danger from frost, however, lies not so much in the possi- . bility of injury to the trees themselves, as in the destruction of the crop through freezing of blossoms .of early flowering varieties. To avoid this, late blooming varieties may be planted, such as those of the Guatemalan type, which bloom so } d -- latein the spring as practically to eli- - minate danger from this source. It is i only occasionally that the Mexican __ varieties are caught, but asthe crop is "practically certain to be lost, if a very q 3 heavy frost occurs during the blooming season, the only safe way will be to plant ‘late blooming. varieties. The tree requires about the same irri- gation asthe orange. Insufficient irri- gation will result in small fruit. In selecting varieties for planting on a commercial scale, there are a number of points which should be kept in mind. Fruits which ripen during midwinter - will command the highest prices in the - markets, and there will probably be the greatest demand for avocados at this season of the year. As tosize of fruit, _ there is no advantage in having the very largest. While a two pound avocado is a regal fruit, for practical purposes one of half that size is better. Quality should be one of the most important factorsin choosing a commercial fruit, - andother desirable’ points are prolific- ness, a smooth thick and heavy skin which will stand shipment, good keep- ing qualities, and a small seed, com- pletely filling the cavity, as a loose seed pounds the walls in transit, causing early decay. We must, however, have still smaller varieties for cheaper trade, Ses Wei sat ied a> ea See fe = a ae ae ‘ 317 Edible Products. and summer varieties for local consump- tion, and we already have a good assort- ment of varieties to choose from for these purposes. THE FUTURE OF THE AVOCADO IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. It may seema strong statement to say that within the next quarter of a century the avocado will rank with the orange as a commercial fruit in Southern California. But there isa strong foun- dation of fact underlying this statement, and the reasons seem sufficient indeed to warrant the belief that it may become even more important. First, the adaptability of the avocado to this climate has been proved beyond the possibility of a doubt. There are one hundred or more trees now in bear- ing, ranging in age from three to twenty- five years, scattered over the southern end of the State from the cool sea coast to the hot and dry interior. These trees embrace a number of widely different types, sizes and characters of fruits. This test of adaptability ought to be sufficient to satisfy the most sceptical. Second, the food value of the fruit is the main basis for the above statement. It presents in a most easily digested and assimilated formas high as 12 to 18% of fat, which places the fruit in a class with the staple fuod products, instead of being a mere luxury as is the case with many fruits. The taste for the avocado is not always acquired upon first trial, but a few repetitions are usually sufficient ts make any one ex- tremely fond of it. The price is now prohibitive to most, and only a few have had opportunity to acquire the taste, but as the production becomes greater and the price lower, an almost unlimited demand will be created throughout the whole country. It is, of course, universally known as one of the most important staple fruits throughout the tropics and sub-tropics of the world. Culture of the fruit in this country will be restricted to limited areas in Florida and Southern California, and consequently the danger of overproduc- tion will be practically eliminated. As rapidly as price and production permit, the avocado will become an important and indispensable part of the daily food of the majority of the people of the United States. Plant Sanitation. BOOK-NOTICK. - INSECTICIDES. By H. MAXWELL-LEFROY, M.A,, F.L.S., F.Z.S., Imperial - Entomologist. Office of Government Printer, Calcutta. Price 12 annas or Is. 2 This useful circular is issued as ‘Bulletin No. 23’ of the Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. Its sub-title is ‘* Mixtures and Recipes for Use against Insects in the Field, the Orchard, the Garden and the House.” The author expressly excludes the discussion of in- secticides and methods employed against pests of plantation crops, as these have been dealt with elsewhere, but he deseribes succinctly the most approved remedies for the common pests of every- day life in the Kast. The bulletin is brief, but to the point. It consists of 22 pages and half as many well executed plates, the latter illustrating various forms and parts of spraying machines. The following selections from the sectional headings will give an idea of the comprehensiveness of the work :—‘‘ Insecticides on Field Crops,” “Insecticides for Fruit Trees”; ‘‘In- secticides in the Garden”; ‘‘Soil Insect- icides”; ‘‘Insecticides in the House” (treating of Clothes, Moths, Cockroaches, Fish-insects, Fleas and Mosquitoes), etc. From this it may be judged that Mr. Lefroy’s little book should find a place in every household, and be on hand for ready reference. A commendable feature of the work is that preference is given—in every case— to the simplest and least expensive remedies, Of the numerous proprietory insecticides that are constantly being launched upon the market, the author remarks that ‘‘not one of them is equal to the simple preparations here described, and we have yet to find any reliable ‘patent’ iasecticide whose price and efficacy bring it within the range of the ordinary ones we use and recommend.” The present writer can speak feelingly of the time wasted upon the testing of numerous samples (large and small), at the urgent request of the inventors or their agents, all of which owe their pro- perties to some simple ingredient— usually soap cr petroleum—which can be obtained for a fraction of the cost of the patent mixture. The author gives a catalogue of articles, to be purchased locally or made up from easily pro- curable ingredients, which will meet with nearly every requirement. The list includes :— 318 PLANT SANITATION. — ‘ , Breet Lead Chromate, for biting insects on field crops : 4 Naphthalin Emulsion, for, the veget- able garden : ee Crude Oil Emulsion, for sucking insects : Book Solution, for the preservation of _ bindings: Pyrethrum Powder, for vermin: i and such simple ingredients as Rosin, Soda, Sanitary Fluid or Phenyl], Arsenie, Citronella Oil, Copper Sulphate, Lime, Borax, Naphthalin, and Soap. ; Lead Chromate is an insecticide in- troduced by Mr. Lefroy to take the place of the better known but more dangerous arsenical compounds. After exhaustive tests he pronounces it to be a perfect substitute for arsenical poisons. Its conspicuous yellow colour makes it easily seen on the plants and isa safe- guard against accident. Naphthalin emulsion is, I believe, a — novelty. It has been evolved to meet the need fora rapid but evanescent in- secticide, and is employed more especi- ally for such vegetables as ‘‘ well-formed cabbages or lettuce which, will soon be cut.” Itis described as ‘an insecticide that should bein every garden, as itis extremely effective for a short time and leaves no trace on the plant by next day.” The formula for the preparation of the emulsion is as follows :—“ Dissolve 6 oz. concentrated size in 4 gallon of hot water, and add 1 lb. soft soap. Dissolve, _ in two gallons of kerosene as much naphthalin asit willabsorb; atordinary temperatures about 2 lbs. 12 oz is taken up; by warming carefullyinthe open over a small fire, 8 lbs. of napthalin ~ will dissolve. Add the napthalin solu- tion to the hot size-soap solution, add — + gallon of water and churn or agitate __ with a syringe or sprayer.” — 5 Z Crude Oil Emulsion is employed as the stock contact poison against sucking insects (Scale-bugs, Aphides, ete.), but— according tothe author—may be replaced __ to advantage by ‘ Virmisapon’—an in- secticide made locally in accordance with Mr. Lefroy’s suggestions and advice, — and placed on the Indian market to supply the demand for a cheap and ~ effective ready-made remedy. as The author draws attention to the use — of deterrents, where the employment ~ of an actual insecticide is impracticable — or inadvisable. The object of a ‘deter- rent’ is to render the plant unpalatable. — It may be of considerable service i preventing the spread of a localized hehe OoroBER, 1911.] _ pest. This principle may be applied to tea cultivation; for instance, where a small area of tea is infested by a swarm S of caterpillars, the pest may often be isolated and the surrounding busbes protected by spraying ‘the latter with a deterrent—of which the well-known fungicide ‘Bordeaux Mixture’ is per- haps the most effective and convenient. I believe it is a tact that Bordeaux Mix- ture first came into use as a deterrent pure and simple. It was. employed _ to spray grapes growing along the roadsides in the vineyards of Bor- deaux; to prevent petty thefts of the fruit. 1t was subsequently observed that these roadside plants remained markedly immune to fungus pests that prevailed in other parts of the vine- - yards, so leading to the discovery of its fungicidal properties. fs Amongst insect pests of the house, Mr. Lefroy alludes to the annoying habit of certain wasps that amuse themselves by plugging key holes with their mud cells. = He recommends the device suggested by a correspondent, which is described in his own words :—‘‘ My bungalow seem- ed to be the rendezvous of all the bees, wasps and stinging flies of the station. Prominent amongst these creatures was one robed in a kind of metallic blue and with a figure like a hubble-bubble; this waspish lady would go round the ‘bungalow daily and block up all the -key-holes in my furniture, no matter how often I cleared these out, Mrs. Wasp would block them up again and put a white seal on them to let me know — that it was she who did this, Things _got so bad that I tried an experiment, which for the last twenty years has proved most successful. I simply cut a small block of wood, 8” x 4” x 3’, and in this I bored 2 dozen holes 23” deep by 4” ‘diameter. In each of these holes I put ~~ an empty Carter’s Little Liver Pill bottle and hung the block of wood on a nail on the wall just in front of my writing table where I can see it. Result: for twenty years the key-holes of my fur- thd, niture have never once been blocked. i For twenty years, in spite of my being transferred from and to different sta- tions, my two dozen bottles have had tenants; sometimes it is bees, sometimes wasps; they arrive, look over the estab- lishment, select an empty compartment, SY eo TS e SES de aN eA 319 Plant Sanitation. stoek it with provisions, which are sometimes small spiders, sometimes cater- pillars, as the case may be, seal up the bottle and leave nature to do the rest.” Borax, either dusted into corners, or mixed with syrup and smeared on pieces of tin, is recommended as an infallible cure for Cockroaches; and there is a useful recipe for a mixture to preserve the covers of books from the ravages of the same objectionable insect. I may ~ mention that this mixture has been in use for some years in the library of the Royal Botanic Gardens, where it has proved itself a most efficient deterrent. The author has prescribed for nearly all the petty plagues of daily experience, but there are two notable exceptions. He does not touch upon the important question of the prevention of the abomin- able house fly—now recognized as one of the principal conveyers of the germs of Typhoid and many other serious intestinal diseases. Nor does he give us any suggestions for the mitigation of the recurrent plague of ‘ eye-flies.’ Tape soaked in a saturated solution of Corrosive Suhlimate is reeommended as an efficient barrier against the passage of ants. We are told that it ‘‘ tacked or tied round legs of tables, along edges of shelves, ete., ants will not cross it.” This may be effective against certain species, but it has proved absolutely use- less againsta tiny ant that infests my laboratory. They will cross the medi- cated tape without hesitation and— apparently—with impunity. Ihave seen a procession of this particular species traverse a freshly laid trail of the solu- tion almost before it was dry. Nor have I been more successful, after repeated experiment, with the ingenious mosquito trap devised by Mr. Lefroy and described in this bulletin. I have followed the printed instructions to the letter, but not one single mosquito have I yet succeeded in inveigling into the trap, though they have indicated their presencein their usual irritating manner. I have, however, no hesitation in re- commending Mr. Gefroy’s booklet as an ind eae adjunet to every house- old. E. ERNEST GREEN. INDIAN ADVOCACY OF CO-OPER- ATIVE CREDIT. (Fron the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. XXXVI., March 1, 1911, No. 3.) The admirable speech delivered by Mr. Saroda Charan Mitter at the Midnapore Co-operative Conference is noteworthy for several reasons. This is the first occasion on which an Indian leader of eminence has identified himself whole- heartedly with the co-operative move- ment. What has caused the indifference which has hitherto prevailed among the educated classes in regard to so benefi- cent a reform has not yet been explained. But it is a melancholy fact that Indian journals have either ignored the Co-oper- ative Credit Societies, or have damned them with faint praise, and that the abundant oratory of the period since the movement began contains scarcely a reference to institutions which, if ade- quately supported, are destined to work a mighty change in Indian Agriculture and industries. Mr. Saroda Charan Mitter’s address marks, we hope, the beginning of a new epoch ib which public men in this country will recognise the great possibilities of co-operation and exert all their influence in its favour. Not only, however, was the speecha pioneer deliverance, but it was a very careful and sagacious statement of the conditions which render a system of Co-operative Credit so thoroughly suit- able to the peculiar needs of India. Mr. Mitter was not content to give the movement his blessing in a series of platitudes which are easy to string together, but which give neither light nor leading. He has set out plainly the complete problem which has tobe solved, and seldom has the pitiable indebtedness of the Indian Agriculturist been more clearly described and analysed. The first conclusion which emerges from a study. of the facts is that no mere personal benevolence on the part of the land- owner, or any philanthropist will be of real assistance to the ryot. ‘My own experience,” says Mr. Mitter, ‘‘in money- lending to cultivators in a small scale has shown the utter futility of alow rate of interest.” We may add that thistestimony can be supported by many who have made a similiar experiment. The explanation is that the indebted classes among the cultivators are so far demoralised by their chronic insolvency that facilities for obtaining money ata cheap rate are merely inducements to fresh extravagance. This proposition is ‘Co-operative Credit Society is invalu- true in regard to the agricultural popu- lation of every European country, and involves no special discredit tothe Indian cultivators. The lesson to be learned is, in the words of Sir F. A. Nicholson, that “it is useless, however amiable, to be- lieve that the ryot is only thirsting for capital in order to invest it at once in the improvement and development of — his estate; that the influx of cheap capital is all that is wanted to, enable him to wipe off his old debts in order to start forthwith on self-denying career of productivity.” Something other than cueap money is needed. The peasant requires to be brought into an organis- ation in which he can obtain credit under restrictions that will stimulate not to incur. As Mr. Saroda Charan Mitter puts the case, ‘‘ without checks against improvidence and waste, without moral and social safeguards against dispropor- tionate marriage and funeral expenses, against luxuries in imitation of the costumes and manners of thefashionable _ world, and without the acquisiticn of the habit of thrift, we cannot expect improvement in the economie cundition of the people.” Itisas ameansof supply- — ing these checks and safeguards thatthe able. Ina society of this kind aryot obtains a loan on the security of the — unlimited liability of all its members, and, if they realise their position, they will be careful to see that he is a trust- — worthy person, and to use their influence — notin favour of extravagant expenses va on his part but against them. Itiseasy — to see that an institution conducted on these lines is a school of thrift anda ~ powerful promoter of socialreform, But _ it is equally evident that, without the guidance of someone who understands the principlesof co-operation, and who posses ses some standing in the community, the tomary extravaganceand gradually work ~ their way out of indebtedness, butif they are left to themselves social pressure will’ ~ be irresistible. Hence it is that the Co-operative Credit movement calls ££ the assistance of educated men whe fe concern for the welfare of the mass Officials can provede the framework of — an organisation and help by their supervision. But the guidance of int vidual societies is a work which cannot undertake, and in which the intervention would be detrime Mr, Saroda Charan Mitter truly that “in the operation of the prin mr x mh ¥ a AY, we i; f| 5 Su, ew CE? 4 a ; a -inerease of 39 societies, We _ Presidency proper. - registered 4 of self-help the less of official assistance and intervention the better. The desire and active steps for national improve- ‘ment must come from within to be most effective, Holding this view. he appeals to the educated classes for their assist- ance. The various Governments have frequently made this appeal in vain. But now that it comes froma leading member of the educated classes, whose distinguished legal career is a sufficient guarantee that the reform which he ~ advocates is genuine and practicable, we may surely accept that there will be a wide and efficient response. Without the help of the educated there is little hope that the masses can ever be delivered from the grip of usury. What outlook has any industry which is financed by money-lenders who have only a small capital, and who arecom- pelled to insure themselves against loss by charging heavy rates of interest? Unfortunately exorbitant usury is not the only drawback ‘of this system. So completely are the ryots in the hand of the mahajans, that in some industries the usurers can control absolutely the price which the cultivators receive for their produce. The ryots are thus hemmed in without a chance of escape. Only co-operative credit can deliver them, and Mr. Saroda Charan Mitter _ has rendered a great service by impress- ing this fact upon the educated commu- nity. i CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT. (From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. XXXVI., No. 3, March 1, 1911.) . STRADY PROGRESS MADE. A Government Resolution passed cn the annual report on the working of co- operative credit societies in the Bombay Presidency, including Sind, for the year 1909-10, was issued in Thursday’s Govern- ment Gazette. It runs:—The report, which covers a period of nine months only, shows that steady progress con- tinues to be made in the Presidency proper in establishing new co-operative credit societies and in developing those already in existence. It recordsa net bringing the total number upto 208., Notable pro- gress was again made in the Northern - Division where 21 of the new societies are located, and Government are grati- fied to observe that there is now at least “One society in every district of the Out. of the 208 f societies 185 are in actual working operation, an increase of 59 Over the previous year. Tho statistics 321 Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. show that the movement is gaining in strength in other respects. Thus the average membership of urban societies, including the ‘‘Centrals,” has increased from 80 to 101, and of rurals from 59 to 65, while the average reserve fund has risen from Rs.156 to Rs.225 in the one case, and from Rs.151 to Rs.177 in the other. The total working capital of all classes of societies has increased from Rs,5,62,456 to Rs.8,28,816, and the growth of co-operative credit, if slow, is illus- trated by e increased attraction of outside capital which constituted 8 per cent. of the total as against 6 per cent. last year, while the proportion in the shape of loans from Government fell from 22 to 20 per cent. Urban societies continue to show most success in raising capital from outside sources, and at the close of the year 12 per cent. of their working capital was of this class. In the case of rural societies the percentage of outside rose from less than 3 to a little over 4. STATISFACTORY EHBATURE. Pending the institution of a Central Bank, supported by a Government guarantee, the scheme of which has not yet been finally approved, the societies have to depend on a very casual and restricted supply of outside capital, but in this connection the growth of the “Central” societies which lent Rs. 48,000 during the year to 30 societies is a very satisfactory feature of develop- ment. Generally, societies are becoming more highly organised as well as advanc- ing in numbers, membership and funds. This is indicated, among other things, by the increasing interest and import- ance of the annual reports of individual societies, the development of branch societies, the growth of current account and the beginnings of private audit and of society libraries. The great number of Conferences and their proved useful- ness are evidence of the intelligent enthusiasm which has been aroused in the participators in the movement. So far there has been no failure of a kind to cause even a local set-back. During the year under’ report one society only worked at a trifling loss, while on the other hand there is found such an example of conspicuous success as the Southern Maratha Society with a membership of nearly 1,400 and a work- ing capital approaching 13 lakhs. OF special societies those in connection with the weaving and leather making industries are now receiving special attention. There are at present six societies for weavers, as against four at the end of the previous year, together Agricultural Finance & Co-operation, with a weaving institute at Betgeri- Gadag. It was anticipated that progress in strengthening the economic position of the weavers by including them to co- operate would be slow, and important results could not be expected for some time to come. Government will con- tinue to watch closely the progress made. The increase from 7 to 10 in the number of leather workers’ societies is satisfactory in view of the recommend- ation subsequently made by Mr. Guthrie, on whose special survey of the industry Government have recently issued orders thac the local leather workers should be helped wherever possible by the form- ation of co-operative credit societies. GRAIN BANKS. The Registrar has given some interest- ing details regarding grain banks, in which it appears that little progress has been made. The matter is one which should continue to receive attention and to be dealt with in the annual report. During the year the amount loaned for redemption of old debts was Rs. 40,000 or 8 per cent. of the total amount given out on loans to members. These are double the previous year’s figures, but represent an insignificant contri- bution to the solution of a vast prac- tical problem. No widespread improve- ment can be expected until societies are much more numerous than at present and have the support of a Central Bank. In the meantime it is most gratifying to observe the success obtained in Mandvi Taluka which has proved an unexpect- edly favourable field for work in this direction. The single registered society in Sind continued to extend in resources and activity, and has succeeded in attracting money from local capitalists. With the registration of two more societies since the close of the year and the contem- plated establishment of two or three more, it would seem that the co-operative movement is at length likely to make some progress in the province. MIDNAPORE CO-OPERATIVE CONFERENCE. (From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. XXXVI., No. 8, March 1, 1911.) Mr. SARODA CHARAN MITTER’S VIEWS. The Midnapore District Co-operative Credit Conference began on the after- noon of January 29. There was a large attendance of local and _ non-official delegates, and Messrs. Buchan, Regis- trar, and J, Mitra, Assistant Registrar, 322 - died a natural death. The new stage of ee ee ee wy pevte 8 Me # tala 0, bs Ss } “pOctopan HALE ’ Co-operative Credit Societies, Bengal, were also present. Mr.W.A. Marr, C.S., Collector of the District opened the pro- ceedings and congratulated the pro- moters on their success, and gave his experience of what he had seen in’ the interior of the district. Mr. Saroda Charan Mitter was elected President. He said :— : We have met here to compare the amount of work done and progress made during the last year by each of the Co-operative Credit Societies in the dis- trict, to provide for the maintenance of uniformity in their working, and for raising their general level by common counsel. The object of this Conference is, therefore, very important, and your — deliberations ought to be useful, not . only as a means of giving impetus to the material progress of the district, but also of other districts in Bengal. Midnapore has, as it appears from. your reports, — done excellent work under the fostering care of the Registrar and AssistantRegis- _ trar of Co-operative Credit Societies in) ~ Bengaland of public-spirited volunteers, and it ought to bea type for other dis- — tricts to follow. The village communi- ties so useful at one stage of civilisation did very good work, and now they have things requires an organisation of a different kind and of a wider scope. The ideas that dominated village units in days gone by have ceased to have — vitality, and new ideas of brotherhood ~ must replace them, working ina new ~— groove. INDEBTEDNESS OF ARTISANS. Ina country mainly agricultural, as — India is, the economic problem most difficult of solution is: How to remove — the general indebtedness of the artisans and the agricultural population. Their — poverty is well known and its causes are — various, although itis generally ascribed — to the conduct of usurious money- — lenders; but the present condition of — India is not without a parallel in the — history of other countries. How d the masses in these countries, heavi burdened with debt, save themselv from the condition of perpetual pau-— perism and became prosperous artisans and peasants, the pride of their roche tive countries ? The usury laws coul were eva Shae it was not expected that the repeal w better the pecuniary condition of borrowers. The repeal brought in worse evils, as I have repeatedly poin ~ . en sf x, * P : - _—ryots ‘Octormr, 1911.) _ nite out. The Deccan Agriculturist Relief Act with its rules against usurious rates of interest has not, however, done much ‘good to the Bombay Presidency. The rules of equity against unconscionable bargains have not also in other Presi- dencies done much in the way of relief against mahajans and sowcars. Advan- ces from Government treasuries in the shape of taccavi have not only failed to relieve distress, but they had in many instances a positive demoralising effect. The Public Loan offices started in the different districts are not much better than mahajans so far as the industrial and agricultural populations are con- cerned. Their demoralising has con- _. tinued uninterrupted. The history of the economic progress of Germany, Austria and Italy demon- strates the futulity of ordinary banks or Government advances in improving the condition of the masses by relieving them from permanent indebtedness. Ifamere low rate of interest were a sufficient basis of improvement in the condition of the in any country, philanthropic advances would have been of consider- able benefit ; but experience has shown that such advances have generally a demoralising effect. My own experience in money-lending to cultivators on a small scale has shown in the utter futility of a low rate of interest. Causes _ other than usurious rates of interest are at work in the cases of uneducated and In many cases the reckless people. mere facility in obtaining loans at low: rates of interest hasa degenerating in- fluence on the debtors. Without check against improvidence and waste, with- _ out moral and social safeguards against disproportionate marriage and funeral expenses, against luxuries in imitation of the costumes and manners of the fashionable world, and without acquisi- tion of the habit of thrift, we cannot expect improvement in the economic condition of a people. If each member of the society is security for the debts of the other members, the liability being unlimited, he would-not, onthe death of a parent of one of them, incite extravagant expenses by borrowing; he would, on the other hand, check waste of money by his neighbour, for his own sake, if not for the sake of his neighbour himself. Thus each would be -acheck string of the other members of the society. There must be means of creating habits of economy and of im- proving morality before we can expect permanent. good of not only the agricultural classes but also of the indus- trial population, ~ 3238 =Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. _ Caste AND SocroLoay. It has been said that the caste system divided the Hindu population into water- tight compartments, and it is sometimes thought that caste prejudices constitute a insuperable bar to the formation of People’s Banks on co-operative principles, The evils of the caste system have been overstated by social reformers fond of the European social system ; but asa matter of fact, social relations between the different castes in rural areas were very friendly, and associations, except as to inter-marriage and inter-dining were never prohibited. Persons of different castes mixed freely with each other, and no difference attended business relations merely on account of caste. But with the advanced culture of the higher classes and the un- changed primitive intellectual con- ditions of the masses, the friendly relations between the higher and lower caste is fast disappearing. The age ofa person, whatever his caste is, commanded respect, and he would be addressed as an elder brother or a paternal nncle or grand-uncle by even a person of a superior caste, but theold feeling of respect, of brotherhood, and equality and of affection is not now as apparent as one would wish. If the old state of feelings had lasted with the advance of psychological ideas of equality and brctherhood of men and with apparent but not real social progress, the caste system would not have been considered an unmixed social evil. With, however, the advance of present intellectual and_ sociological ideas and the existence of the caste system, which has taken too deep a root in Indian soil to be easily removed, some time of unity besides the old village community system is necessary to unite apparently discordant units. Petty quarrels and jealousy giving rise to faction and leading to ruinous litigation ought to abate if the solidarity of the people be desirable, Co-operative Banks and co-operative sales and purchases may afford a common platform for better and more friendly understanding of each other’s interests. India in its present state is best suited for the success of the operation of co-operative principles, and in the words of Mr. Henny Wolff, the greatest English authority on co- operative credit principles:—‘‘Of all countries, in the old world and the new, there seems none so specially marked out for the’ practice of co-operative credit as India.” The success also has been, according to the same authority, phenomenal. But the decay of com- mercial ideas in village units, added tq } Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. 324 the unabated rigidity of caste prejudices, require rapid extension of co-operative credit principles and practice, not only for the benefit of the agricultural popu- lations, but the sociological advance of all classes, not excepting the depressed classes of Hindus. Kach village, if suffi- ciently large, and each group of small villages throughout the length and breadth of India should have a People’s Credit Society with a Central Peuple’s Bank for each group of such societies. CREDIT SOCIETIES AND NATIONAL ADVANCEMENT. Who, however, are to take active interest in the formation of other Co- operative Credit Societies? The masses in all parts of the country are ignorant and illiterate, and sufficient efforts a1enot being made to spread education among them. The index of national progress and national prosperity is improved agriculture and industry, and a thriving peasantry is an essential element of progress. The general public, especially the higher and literate classes, are deeply interested in national advance- ment. Philanthropists and public-spirit- ed men should, with all earnestness, come forward to reform the agricultural and labouring classes, to elevate their social and moral status and lead them in the ways of improvement. Thus only will they effectually minister to the solid and permanent weltare of India. The present situation is highly depressing ; and although the extension of Co-oper- ative Credit Societies may be the panacea for all evils, it must be admitted to be one of the most powertul agents for nationalimprovement. The progress already made in the establishment of People’s Banks and Co-operative Societies is mainly due to volunteer work, but the educated classes must more largely interest themselves in the extension of the principles of co-operation and self- help. Much has been done by the Regis- trars of Co-operative Societies and their able assistants. Our hearty thanks are due to my friends, Messrs. Gourlay, Buchan and J. Mitra in Bengal, and Mr. K. C. Dein Easterh Bengal and Assam, and we expect greater as wellas conti- nuous help from them and their succes- sors (changes are so constant in the ser- vice). The chief executive officers of the districts also deserve our warmest thanks for the interest they have always evinced, but more volunteer work trom Indians themselves is absolutely needed. In the operation of principles of self- help, the less of official assistance and intervention, the better. The desire and active step for national improve- went must come from within to be most AT Pee s . eatibaig) {OcropsrR, 191 : , bee / effective. I earnestly request my edu- cated Indian brothers to come forward as a “salvation army ” for forming more ~ associations for co-operative credit and self-help. ‘‘It is self-help,” said the great William Gladstone, ‘‘ which makes the man,and man making is the aim which the Almighty has everywhere impressed upon creation.” We must train the people to trust each other and train them to be thrifty. “It is thrift by which self-help for the masses depend- ent upon labour is principally made effective. In them thrift is the symbol and the instrument of independence and liberty, indispensable conditions of per- manent good.” The educated classes must work to create habits of self-help and thrift in them and feelings of mnie confidence and trust and mutual elp. Credit Societies, however, should’ be cautiously extended. The present Act of the India Council of 1904 is restrictive, but it has borne abundant fruit. The Act now requires amendment, as the time has come tor rapid expansion of Co-operative Banks; but the people . require preliminary education, and they should be made to understand their use before they became a society. I am always afraid of beginning with a flash, because a flash generally ends in smoke. I wish to be sure. 1 wish to have solid foundtion, notwithstanding that we may be slow. Volunteer workers should always be careful, and the princi- ples of co-operative credit as enunciated by great masters of this department of | political economy, Schulze, Delittzsch, Raiffeisen, and Wolff, should always be kept in view.~ Small beginnings in each district will serve as sufficient lessons. THE INCUBUS OF USURIOUS INTEREST. The initial difficulty inthe formation of associations is the almost inextricable indebtedness of those very persons to relieve whom should be its first endea- — vour. The incubus of debt, consisting mainly of usurious interest and com- pound interest which swell the burden in geometrical progression, is not unfrequ- ently too heavy to remove, and persons with such burdens on themare generally __ the most troublesome members. The greatest caution is necessary in dealing — with persons who are practically the ~ slaves of mahajans. The money-lender ~ is generally a Shylock, and mercy is a rare element in his mental const an a The present India Act for the relief of — insolvent debtors is not available to — those whose debts are less than Rs.500, and very few of the ryots or labourers — can obtain protection under the — t uf - p i. ki “ ’ i f ~ { ay - There is also no provision in the regul- ation districts of Bengal, like those in the Sonthal Paragannas or the Chota Nag- pore Division for reduction of debts. For the greater expansion and successful practice of co-operative principles, we may fairly ask the Government to legis- late on these matters. Until, however, the Legislature intervenes, the formation of fresh associations should be under- taken only where poverty may be relieved with substantial loss of more solvent members. One word more. If co-operative credit societies have to meet all the require- ments of the agricultural or the labour- ing population and become sources of national benefit, they must not be lett to act each one wholly by itself. The principle of co-operation should extend from individuals to societies. There should be concerted and united action, and common counsel and common con- trol are essential features. Mutual assist- ance would necessarily follow common business; continued action among credit societies requiring the formation of unions and central banks, and at present there are a tew unions in Bengal. With the increase of societies unions should also increase. NEED OF MUTUAL CO-OPERATION. The principles and practices of econ- omic co-operation may be extended from -eredit and banking to stores, sales, and purchases. When Raiffeisen first declar- ed war in Germany against usury, he started a co-operative bakery. For the small fund he had to face much difficulty. When, however, it became a success, the principle was rapidly extended to pur- chase and other industries. ‘‘ At the present time not a day passes in Germany without notices coming of the establish- ment of one, two or more societies.” The practice is not new to India which has reached a high stage of civilisation, but stimulus to revise and introduction of advanced economic principles are needed. The introduction of improved elements of tillage and irrigation, the cultivation of new crops, and the importation of better seeds require mutual co-operation. The situation of our cultivators with respect to grain dealers or aratdars, who 325 Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. are also money-lenders, is so highly depressing, that to move in a better groove is practically impossible. I have noticed a curious fact at the Sheoraphuli Hat, which is a large and important market on the river side in the district of Hooghly. That market commands the price of potato, and potato-buyers are mostly Hast Bengal mahajans who have formed a clique. The aratdars sell oil-cakes and other commodities on credit, and necessarily at exorbitant prices to the producers, and when the latter bring their produce (potato or jute) to the market, they have to place their bags in charge of their respective aratdars. The mahajans and aratdars are either the same or have mutual obligations, and as soon as the bags are stalled they are weighed and sent by boat at once to jute mills or to Calcutta. This is done in the morning, and in the afternoon the mahajans and aratdars hold a meeting and they fix the prica of the commodities. The producers have no voice and have to accept what price the aratdars and mahajans have agreed to. The prices are not fixed on economic principles of demand and supply, but quite arbitrarily. The prices often ab- normally vary from Calcutta or jute mill prices. The number of intermediaries between the producer and the consumers are too many to the loss of both. Co-oper- ative sale with the help of co-operative credit banks would in all probability extricate the producers from the clutches of mahajans and aratdars. I have care- fully read the proceedirgs of your last Conference, and I congratulate you for the good work you have done in this important department of economic pro- gress. Your banks, urban and rural, showed successful working. The gra- dual development has been steady and affords indication ot prosperity in the near future. Yours is a mainly agri- cultural district, and so far as a stranger may see, it compares favourably with most of the adjoining districts. You have a fertile field for the successful practice of comparative principles by establishment in sufficient numbers of people’s banks, co-operative stores, societies for co-operative purchases and sales and of unions and central banks. Nips). ane MISGELLANEOUS. PERADENIYA EXPERIMENT STATION. Minutes of a meeting of the Committee of Agricultural Experiments held at the Experiment Station, Peradeniya, on 7th September, 1911. Present :—The Director, R.B. Gardens, the Hon’ble the Government Agent, C.P., the Assistant Director, the Government Entomologist, Messrs. H. F. Laycock, H. Inglis, and the Secretary. Resolved :— (1) That the figures of the soil wash plots to date be not published. ' (2) That an experiment re the cost of decorticating rubber seed he carried out. That steps be taken to ascertain the cost’ of a _ decorticating machine. That members of the Committe be requested to be more expeditious in the passing on of Circular Notices. ! That Messrs. Beachcroft and Tisdall be approached as to their willingness to act on the Com- mittee vice Messrs. Turner and Anderson resigned. J. A. HOLMES, Secretary C, A. K., and Superintendent, EH. S. P. Peradeniya, 9th September, 1911. (3) (4) (5) PROGRESS REPORT ON HXPERIMENT STATION, FROM 138TH JULY TO 7TH SEPTEMBER, 1911. Tra.—All the recently pruned plots are now in bearing. The Manipuri Indigenous is still yield- ing heavily ; the 5 acres which have now been running for 2 years having given 2,108 lbs. of green leaf in August. Cacao.—Canker has been very pre- valent along the river; cutting and two sprayings have been carried out at a cost of Rs.1:02 per acre for spraying, | and canker Rs.1°27. There is at present the promise of a very fair crop. Coconuts.—The coconut experiments are being continued, 30 gallons of oil being extracted in July. RuUBBER.—FPara. A large quantity of seed has been- gathered for the purpose of making oil; the cost is something under $acent a pound; the weight of 1,000 seeds was found to he 7 lbs. e “was experienced owing to the pre- 5 ae ‘, +S VAT Vin ye A ‘ Seas fps Bh, RS , ah AP) 1% ty [Octo Sint ea ’ f Serta as Ceara and Dichotoma are being tapped, _ but the yields are indifferent. : Funtumia is seeding for the first time. Pappy.—The paddy field is being pre- pared for the current crop; some delay valence of fever amongst the Sinhalese, GREEN MANURES.—The following green ~ manures have been cut yielding as below - for 1/100 of an acre :— Plant. Yield. Leuczena glauca 164 lbs Tephrosia candida be 184 | do Hookeriana ... iS 88 Cajanus indicus _The plot of Cassia mimisoides was tipped, as if cut low it dries. OIL GRASSES.—Cymbopogon wpolyneu- ros has been distilled, the oil being destined for the Imperial Institute. GENERAL.—Ploughing and the _ re- moval of stumps is being carried on in the cleared cacao land. The barbed wire: fence: lias nose teeta completed round the inside boundary. Half an acre of castor has been sown to obtain a supply of seed. | DEDIGAMA MARKET SHOW. 19th August, 1911, A series of market shows, which are becoming such popular institutioons, — were arranged by the Assistant Govern- ment Agent of Kegalla, butit was feared that they would have to be abandoned owing to the unusual drought that prevailed during the early part of the year, and to the severe outbreak of fever in the District. The first of these, how- — ever, came off at Dedigama, in Beligal Korale, onthe 19th August, and, judging — from results, the success of thisShow — was an ample reward for the trouble taken over it. Some time before the © Show a quantity of selected vegetable — seeds were distributed free of costamong bona fide village cultivators. Re The Show was held in the Gansabawa — Court at Dedigama, and was opened by the Assistant Government Agent, who also distributed the awards, which were — all in cash, ; a The Ratemahatmaya of the Dia the Kachcheri Mudaliyar and a large number of headmen were present — throughout the proceedings. The attend- — ance of villagers was notas large as it — ought to have been, but this is probably due to the prevalence of sickness as well { JoTORER, 1911.) i as, to some Satoh: to the novelty of the Show which was the first of its kind to be held in the Korale. Vegetables.—The collection of veget- ables representing all sections in the Catalogue was satisfactory, especially the pumpkins, cucumbers, brinjals, capsicums, beans and gourds. Fruits.—This class was rather poor, as 4 the season for fruit was a bad one, but ig the oranges, heennarams, plantains and 4 limes were good. Miscellaneows.—There were several sections under this class, all of which were well represented. Coconut, Bi ‘Coconut Oil, Copra, Betel, Sugarcane, a] Cassava, Paddy and Dry Grains deserve ~~ mention. ; 4 Inthe Industrial class were exhibited ‘a ; pots and pans, bricks and tiles, iron work, -_ rattan baskets, excellent specimens of brass work, skilfully woven mats, lace E and native Agricultural implements. School Garden EHxhibits made a brave a Show. Weragala came first witha fine lot of pineapples, guava, onion, and ae” varieties of vegetables, as well as flowers. _ Kotapola was second ‘best. The Dedigama Girls’ School also sent a collection of School Garden products and was awarded a prize. At the termination of the Show a sale was held, with the assistance of the Kachcheri Mudaliyar and _ the Ratemahatmaya. Some of the exhibits fetched good prices. N. WICKREMARATNE, Agricultura] Instructor. A DICTIONARY OF TERMS USED _ IN AGRICULTURE, BOTANY, ; CHEMISTRY, AND ALLIED SCIENCHS : FoR THE USE OF PLANTERS AND OTHERS. By J. C. Wiis AND M. WILLIS. (Continued from page 261.) Biometry .. Systematic measure- ment of living things for the study of variation Bipinnate ... [Twice pinnate Bird pepper... Capsicum minimum _ Birth wort ... Aristolochia Biscuit .. A dried circular sheet oA of rubber Biseriate .-- In two rows Bisexual ... Containing both sexes _ Bissy nuts .. Cola nuts Bitch Wood _(W. Ind.) .. Lonchocarpus 327 Miscellaneous. Bitter ash | (W. Ind.) .. Pierzena excelsa - Bitter oil ..Calophyllum Inophyl- lum Bitter orange ... Seville orange Bitter wood (W. Ind.) .. Picramna, Simaruba, Trichilia, Xylopia Bivoltine Producing two gener ations a year Black beadshrub (W. Ind.) .. Pithecolobium Unguis- cati Blackberry .. Rubus Black boy ... Xanthorrhea hastilis Black butt .. Kucalyptus pilularis, ete. Black Cumin... Nigella sativa Black dammar ... Canarium Black gram .. Phaseolus Mungo, var. radiatus Black grab .. Cutworm ... Acacia decurrens .. Acacia melanoxylon; Dalbergia latifolia ... Utricularia . Running of latex or sap from a wound Black wattle Black wood Bladder wort Bleeding Bleeding heart (W. Ind.) ... Colocasia antiquorum Blimbi, Blim- bing .. Averrhoa Bilimbi Blinding tree ... Excoecaria Agallocha Blister blight(tea) Exobasidium vexans Blood berry (Rivina) ... Rivina humilis Blood flower (W. Ind.) ... Asclepias curassavica Blood meal ... Dried and powdered blood Blood wood .. Kucalyptus corymbosa Blood wood (W. Ind.) ... Laplacea Blood wood (W. Ind.) ... Lagerstroemia Flos- Reginze Blood wood (Jamaica) . Gordonia, Hematoxylon Blue bell .. Campanula rotundi- folia Blue gum .. Hucalyptus Globulus Blue stone Hee vitriol oO Body (tea) yi Copper pupae ... Ficus religiosa .. Capacity for making much tea (liquid) with little solid. Boga or bogga medeloa ... Tephrosia candida Bois fidele .. Fiddle-wood, Citha- rexylum Bois immortelle... Hrythrina umbrosa Bold (of Cacao beans) . Kully grown and well developed Bole .. Straight main trunk Miscellaneous. Boll Boll-worm Bombay-aloe -hemp Bone meal Bor (ind.) Bordeaux Mix- ture 328 .. Pod of cotton ... Caterpillars tunne)ling into cotton bolls .. Agave .. Crotalaria, Agave .. Crushed and powdered bones .. Kieus Elastica .. Amixture fcrspraying made up of water 50 gallons, Copper sul- phate 6 lbs., Lime 4 lbs. Borneo camphor.. Dryobalanops aroma- Borneo rubber ... Boro Botryose Bottle-brush Bottle gourd Bottle tree Brab (Ind.) Bracelet wood Bracken Bract Bracteate Bracteiform _Bracteole Bractlet Brake Bran Brazil cherry Brazil nut Brazil wood root tica Willughbeia Rice-crop reaped spring (Bengal) in ... Racemose ... Callistemon ... Lagenaria ... Baobab ... Palmyra palm ... dacquinia armillaris .. Pteris Aquilina .. The leaf in whose axil a flower arises .- With bracts .. Bract-like ..A leaf on the flower- stalk, between bract and flcwer ... Bracteole .. Bracken ... The outer skin of the_ grain of wheat, &c. .. Hugenia Michelii, ete. .. Bertholletia Excelsa ...Caesalpinia sappan, ete. Brazilian arrow- .. Manihot utilissima Brazilian nutmeg Cryptocarya moschata Breadfruit bar Bread nut Break Brick tea Brinjal, egg- fruit Broad bean Broadcast Bows ing) Brocole Broodiness Brown blight n bug .. Tea compressed .. Artocarpus incisa Breadfruit, Nico- .-- Pandanus Leram .. Brosimum Alicastram . A lot of tea made at the same time into bricks, for sale in Tibet, Russia, &c. .. Solanum Melongena .. Vicia Faba .. By hand A eae of eaibags, Brassica oleracea .. Desire to sit . A fungus disease of tea leaves : .. Lecanium hemispheri- cum { ap Inserting a ‘ad at al eut*® adn ‘in‘é,the bark of a stem, so as to cause it to grow there © Budding / Bud rot .. A fungus disease of ~ coconut palm buds Bud scale . A leaf in outer part of a bud, reduced ,to a scale i ( Butfalo ... Bos Bubalus 5 ere Bulb .. A short stout shoot, made up of swollen leaves (é.g., ee Bulbil ... A little bulb Bullate ... Puckered Bulk - To mix together, to cause uniformity Bulrush Millet ... Pennisetum typhoi- deum Bullock’s heart... Anona reticulata Bully tree .. Bumelia nigra Bund ..An earthwork em- bankment .. A layer of hard tissue — surrounding a vas- cular bundle in a stem Bundle sheath Burmese varnish tree ... Melanorrhea usitata Burn nose ... (Jamaica) Daphne tini- ~ folia Burr . A fruit with densely _ prickly outside Butter cup .. Ranunculus Butter tree .. Bassia or Pentadesma butyracea By-product .. A product ineident- ally made in the ma- nufacture of some- thing else Cabbage . Brassica oleracea Onbbeee (coconut) The bud at tip of stem ~ — canbage palm ...Oreodoxa oleracea = Caca . Theobroma Cacao “ae Cacoeii (CW. India) peat scandens a Cactus A fleshy plant, belong- ing to the order “a Cactacese Cadena de Amor penta ao) Lepto- (Phil. Is.) Caducous ae Falling early Cadjan .. A woven coconut leaf, used as a water- shedding covering Caffein ... The alkaloid of coffee Caingin ... Chena Cake ... The refuse aftercrash- ing oil out of seed Calabacillo— .. A variety of cacao Calabar-bean ... Physostigma veneno sum i Calabash Tree ... Crescentia Cujete ; : i Calabash cucum- he ber . Lagenaria vulgaris — Calambach wood.. Aqntete Senlloviay Me ; ' OcroBER, 1911.) — ~ Caleareous .. Chalky Calisaya .. A species of Cinchona Callus .. A hardening, produced round a wound Caltrops .. Tribulus terrestris _Calumba - .. Jateorrhiza palmata ; \ (false) Coscinium fenestratum Calyptrate .. Witha detachable cap Calyptriform ... Cap-formed Calyx .. The outer, usually green, envelopes of leaves round a flower .. Lhe coherent part of the calyx . The growing layer in a stem, which makes new wood within, new bark without Camote (Phil. is) Sweet potato Calyx tube Cambium Campauulate ... Bell-shaped Camphor .. An aromatic sub- stance, produced from Cinnamomum i Camphora, &e. Campong .. A garden or compound ~Campylotropons Bentinoa U shape Canceliate ..- Latticed. Candle-nut .. Aleurites triloba Candle-tree ... Parmentiera cerifera Candy .-. 900 Ibs, ... Saccharum officinarum .. Canella alba .. Any disease causing an appearanee like decay on the surface Pe aakon- balltree Couroupita guianensis Cane-sugar Canella-bark Canker Cantaloupe . Melon _ Caoutchouc .. India-rubber Cape ae Physalis peruviana aper .. Bud of capparis spinosa Capillarity .. Movement of fluid through minute , (hairlike) openings, in soil ete, _ Capillary .. Hair-like Capillary attr ac- tion .. Attraction of substan- ces at very close range, when mois- 7 ture comes between _ Capitate ... Head-like _ Capitellate -- Diminutive of the last Capitulum .. Head of flowers Caprification .., coon of the fig . A dry, opening fruit of 2 Capsule mt several carpels "Carabao(Phil. Is.) Buffalo oe aracas ae Caramba, Caram- a . A variety of cacao bola - Averrhoa Carambola Carandas .. Carissa Carandas Caravonica .. A variety of cotton araway -.. Seed of Carum carvi of the two - 329 Carbohydrate mi Cardamonis Miscellaneous. A compound of carbon, hydrogen, and ox- ygen, the latter two in the proportions to form water. .. Fruit of Elettaria Car- damomum Caricature plant Graptophyllum hor- Carina Carnauba Carob-tree Carpel Carpophore Carpophyll Carrot Carrot (Peru- vian) Cartagena bark ... A small hard aril. ... The chief proteid of Caruncle Casein Cashew Cassareep Cassava Cassie flower ... ... Ricinus communis ... AD enzyme .. Acrop grown between Castor oil Catalase Catch erop Catechu Catkin Catty Caucho Caudex Caudicle (or- chids) Caulescent Cauliflower Cauline Ceara rubber ... Cedar (of S. India) Ceiba . Celery Cell Cellulose tense ... A keel .. Copernicia cerifera .. Ceratonia siliqua .. One of the ovule-bearing leaves of the flower. .. Portion of receptacle bearing carpels ... Carpel ..-» Daucus Carota .. Arracacia xanthorhiza. Cinchona cordifolia milk, and the main constituent of cheese. ... Anacardium occidentale ... The poisonous juice of cassava evaporated toasyrup, and thus rendered harmless -- Manihot utilissima, ete. Acacia Farnesiana the lines of another which is yet in an early stage ... Acacia Catechu .. A dangling spike ... 1? lbs. (100 catties=1 pikul) .. Caoutechouc : Castilloa . A trunk or stock .. The tail of a pollen-mass .. With obvious stem ... Brassica oleracea, var. ... Upon the stem Manihot Glaziovii ... Cedrela Toona ... Hriodendron anfrac- tuosum .. Apium graveolens . A cavity ; or one of the minute units of which a plant or — animal is built up -. The carbohydrate of which the bulk of the firm tissue of a plant is composed Miscellaneous, Centimeter Centrifugal Centripetal Century plant Cereal Cernuous Cestode Ceylon oak Chalaza Chana (Ind.) haras Chartaceous Chaulmoogra Chaval (Ind.) Chaw stick... Chayote Chay-root Check-roll Cheddi Chekku Chena Chena (Ind.) Cherimoyer Cherry Ohare (Barba- does) Cherry bean . Cherry (in cof- fee) . Chestnut (Aus- tralian or Moreton Bay)... ; 330 Castanospermum aus- | trale Chestnut (Pahito) Inocarpus edulis Chestnut (water) Trapa Chetty Chickling- vetch.. Chiku (Malay) .. Chilly China tea Chinese nut Chinese olive Chips Chlorophyll Chocho Chocolate Choki Chola (Ind.) Cholam Christophine (W. Ind.) Chrysalis .. The .. A money-lending caste Lathyrus sativus . Sapodilla ... Capsicum annu ... A variety of tea .. Arachis hypogeea ... Canarium commune ... The inferior quality of cinnamon bark green colouring matter of plants .. Sechium edule Cacao cA log drawn over the ground by bullocks .. Vigna Catjang ... Guinea Corn Chowlee (Ind.) ... .« Chocho .. Stage intermediate be- Vigna Catjang tween caterpillar and moth in butter- flies and moths .. thy of a meter Chua (Ind.) .. Away fromthe centre Chula .- Towards the centre ... Agave Americana Chunam (Ind.)... .. A grass with seed fit are to eat iliate .. Nodding Ciliolate ... Lape worm Cinchona ... Schleichera trijuga .. The end of the ovule next the stalk .. Cicer Arietinum Cinchonidine ..- The resin of hemp .. Of papery texture Cinnamon .. Gynocardia odorata or Taraktogenos Kurzii .. Rice Pie Gouania domingensis Cree BS + Chocho Cirrhiferous ... Oldenlandia umbellata Cinch .-- Roll of coolies at work Gitral ats june le sere .. Oil-mi B .. Cutting of forest or Citronella scrub, burning off, and cultivating a crop or two Cladode ... Panicum miliaceum ¢ .. Anona Cherimolia pee ae .. Prunus Cerasus Clasecal ... Malpighia glabra, ete. 5 .. Vigna sinensis Clay . The berry (with the fleshy coat attached) Glavine Clearing nut Cleft Cleistogamous (flower) Clove Cluster bean Coagulate Cob ‘Coca Cocaine Coccidsze Cocoon Cocculus indi- cus Coccus Cochineal Cockspur mHOTR Acacia eburnea Cocoa ba Amarantus panicula “3 ... Charcoal stove for ary .. An alkaloid from Cin-— ... Cinnamomum ... Coiled up in bud ,.. Tendril bearing ... A tendril ; ... An alcohol of citronella .. Oil distilled ... Club-shaped | eR. .. Dimunitive of clavate ... With a narrow project- .. A stiff soil, .. Rubbing wet cacao ... Strychnos potatorum — ... Cut half-way down .. One that does not open a ... Hugenia caryophyllata — he .. Cyamopsis psoralioides — a .. Cause to run together Coarse plucking p . Stout axis on which ..- Hrythroxylon coca’ ... The alkaloid of coca .. Scale-insects Ne .. Outer envelopes formed .. The dye ot Coceus — d ing. tea Lime cement ... Fine hair along an Ne nig .-- With cilia En: ... With little cilia i .. A genus of Rubiacess, notable for barks containing quinine, — cinchonidine, &e. chona bark zeylan- icum (wild Ceylon) Litsea zeylanica Splitting off a lid oil a from the — grass Cymbopogon Nardus | .. A stem flattened out to — . resemble a leaf ing part : containing alarge percentage — of extremely finely- — divided matter beans with clay Plucking the bud and three or more leaves grains of Indian corn grow 2 round the pupa in insects .. Anamirta Cocculus fruits breaks up ‘withou ; opening “a (scale insect) . Cheobroma Gaeaog 5 OBER, 1911.) _ The expressed oil of cacao seeds . The husks of cacao seeds @ocoa butter. .., Cocoa nibs - Coconut .. Cocos nucifera » water ... Nipa fruticans Coconut ewe : Black « Oryctes rhinoceros Red .. Rhyncophorus ferru- gineus Cocoplum .. Chrysobalanus Isaco Coffee leaf dis- ‘ease ... Hemileia vastatrix Coffee , Arabian Coffea Arabica a; » Liberian Coffea liber- . ica, &e. ~ Cogon (Phil. Is.) Uluk, Imperata arun- dinacea - Cohune palm ... Attalea funifera Cohesion .. Union of parts of the ian same nature, é.g., ig petals .. Coconut fibre .. Cola acuminata, &c .. Drawn by crushing in the cold .. Storage in chilled air .. Beetles, &e ..The junction of root nag and stem ~~ Collar pruning... Pruning at the collar Be ena (bun- Coir — Cola Cold drawn ; Cold storage ~ Coleoptera Collar .-One with wood and bast side by side .. A substance which will not diffuse through a membrane Colloid _ Colocynth A Gisralins Colocynthis ~ Column (Or- — chids, &ec) ... A central mass in the flower, made up of stamens, style, &c. Coma .. A tuft of hairs oat Commensalism Living together for mutual benefit .. Face by which carpels cohere Complicate .. Folded on itself Compost .. A mixture of manures - Compound leaf Of several leaflets qs _ Condenser A cooler to condense the vapour that is being distilled " Conduplicate ... Folded lengthwise ‘Conessibark ... Holarrhena dysenterica Commissure i a Confervoid ..In the form of filmy threads ae ~ Confluent .. Blending _ Conglomerate .. . Sedimentary rock yy 4 largely composed cam of pebbles ~* .. A coarse tea ... Branches bearing asex- ual spores w ¢ _Congou Conidia e i Conifers @ a Wicewater re ape Yews, Cypresses, | eae } f 331 Miscellaneous. Connate . «. United Connective .. The part of the stalk uniting the lobes of an anther Connivent ... Converging Contagious ... Communicated by con- tact Contorted ... Twisted .. A plot to which noth- Control plot ing is done, to com- pare with plots treat- ed in various ways Convolute ... Twisted Cooly j man on daily pay Co-operative Credit Society A society in which all the members contribute, and which makes loans to its own members only Copa), Indian ... Vateria indica Copious braneh- ing, &c .. Abundant Coppice .. Tocut down nearly to the ground, so that ° a tuft of stems arises instead of one Copra .. Dried coconut kernel ., Attalea funifera ... Jubza spectabilis. Coquilla nut Coquito nut Coral tree .. Hrythrina Cordate .. Heart-shaped Coriaceous .. Leathery Coriander ... Coriandrum sativum Cork .. The waterproof outer bark, especially well developed in the ** cork” tree The cambium which forms the cork in the outer part of the bark Cork cambium.... Cork wood ».» Ochroma lagopus Corm .. A swollen stem as in i Crocus Corn, Indian ... Maize Corn, broom or guinea ... Sorghum vulgare Corolla .. The inner row of leaves of a flower usually brightly coloured Corolline — .. OF corolla nature: at- tached to corolla Coromandel i wood .. Calamander Corona . An outgrowth of corolla or stamens, forming a kind of crown in the flower OCoroy ... Albizzia odoratissima Corpuscle ... A small body Cortex ... Outer tissue of a green stem, My He tl yl a ee ee fs a F ? Mia A A He Ee ial “DAS Se el Miscellaneous. 3320 [Octo Bie: } Cupular - .. OF one form © ae “ie ie adv vereeai Guan g ... Preparing for Paeeee in with all the powers BNE : hav be) Bech coming to one level, ven as in Candy tuft cecunT ae after pack- — Cost nae Cele aa Curry leaf Mapes Keenigii osta 006 } : y Acs cee aap dampness Guepdate 0-Wien omega Beate ioe WE Aonnononin grandis Custard apple .. . Anona leet a Cotyledon . A seed leaf | “ake Cutch A “acne ae . ae Sei eat Wee: Eo Cutting .. A piece of a plant re- ofA a: plough that. moved, large enough makes rhe: vertical Bo grow when plant- cut of the furrow : Mi Country almond Terminalia celappe Cutworm ... Caterpillars of Agrotis Courbaril .. Hymeneea Courbari | BP. x Cow-age or-itel Mucuna prurieas Cyanamide Bt oa pe igs Cow-pea .. Vigna, sinensis Ca CN? Taade by Cowrie pine “Garay australis passing eee TB Crab oil .. Carapa guianensis Ov eee calcium Crabseye f . Abrus pecatorius on e ‘ Cream fruit -.. Roupellia grata Cymbiform .. Boat-s ae Hl Creat Seen pani- Cyme i An 1nflgre ee eae cu Creeper, Canary Propo peregri- the you er Crenate With 7 EGemIEA teeth andy sharp notches’ \o- stolith ft Al Fat of substance between ee é y secreted i ie cell : Crenulate .. Dimunitive of las Dad .. Erythrina lithosperma Creosote san Praniteeee cate by Daley trae x Montane? Sipinnabyade F ig ajanus indicu la C .. A form of dry rubber Dal TERS Agathis, &e. F oth due to its passing Deer, white.. Vateria indica ‘i a through a machine Damping off .A fungus disease of. a Cretaceous . Chalky — me seedlings caused by Gene 8 i a vat ne BE GArAG 1 a Pythium i Criollo - AA Var * Damson plum AS 5 Giddabred . A cross cotdenale Daw Tis) ... Chrysophyllum Cainito Crown bark .. Cinchona officinalis Danchi (Ind.) ... Sesbaria aculeata Crown palm... Maximiliana nae Dangar .. Rice 2 o Crustaceous ae aE aA plant, Deal i Whos of pine and con1- Cryptogam 5 non- ers a ogi; fernioy suneus Decean hemp ... Hibiscus cannabinus Cubebs t -- Piper cabeba Deciduous ss Gane arte : 3 Cubic centi- i- Declinate Bent down or forwar meter fe 1» The exbs ef Tuco Decomposition “Breaking into sim-_ pler substances Cucullate .. Hooded, cowled) mposed_.... Several times eee Cucumber ite ai nsbera dae ee enaria Hs eee ee .. Remove the shell ae ates ri N ienteatie stem of « Decumbent _ ... Bending opwards aaa } a prostrate base oh et : rrent(leaf)... Running down along TN a at neers cael en “ae de the stem a pet : ented ee Bead ae right anvu : Culture system... cf. ee pint Decussate — Lae one pair BE. god an W. the next Cumari (S. W. Defecating ... Purifying sugar juice dia . Chena i .. Ending at a definite Gone “Pennisetum typhoideum Definite a re ee Cumquat oe japon ae Deflexed Bent sharply out Cundeamor ihe BEE Came ee i a Aes Cuneate foliate ... Remove the leaves | Cuneiform _«.. Wedge-shaped aS 6 ine 333 -Ocroper, 1911.) _ Degum _,. Remove the gum Disarticulated - Dehiscent ... Opening at Disbudding Deliquescent ...Gradually liquefying ; by absorbing mois- iy. ture; stem breaking Disc ge up into branches .. ZS -shaped . ~ Deltoid Denitrification on Decomposition of ni- Disc-harrow \ trates, &c. in the soil, with evolution of free nitrogen Miscellaneous, .. Separated at a point ve Removal of somejbuds to allow others to grow .. An expansion in the flower above the ca- lyx .. A harrow made of re- volving dises on a bar, and set at an angle to the direc- Deniya ... A level expanse ‘ tion of progression Dentate ... Sharply toothed ‘Disciform ... Disc-shaped -_ Denticulate ... Dimunitive of last Discoid .. Disc-like - Denudation .. Washing away of su- Dissepiment ... Septum or partition a perficial layers Distal ... Murthest from axis ) De-oxidation ... Removal of oxygen Distichous. .. In two ranks iy Depressed ’,.. Prassed down Dita bark ... Alstonia scholaris Desi (Ind.) ... Nicotiana Tabacum Divaricate ... Very divergent ‘: Desiccated Coco- y Diveli (Ind.) ... Castor oil a nut ... Coconut kernel, with Divi divi ... Ceesalpinia coriaria “i part of the oil ex- Dolabriform ... Hatchet-shaped < pressed, sliced and Dolomite . A “limestone” com- dried ; posed of calcium and -__Desiccator ... Drying machine magnesium carbon- ~~ Devil nettle ... Laportea crenulata ates Ss Dextrin _.. A productformeddur- Dominant (in ey A" ing the action of breeding) .. Applied to a character ' i diastase upon starch in which the first me Dhaincha (Ind.) or ; cross resembles one ~ _-Dhainchi ... sesbania aculeata parent Dhak (Ind.) __ ... Butea frondosa Doob Grass ... Cynodon Dactylon -__ Dhal (Ind.) ... Cajanus indicus Doorwa (Ind.) ... Cynodon Dactylon Dhan (Ind.) ... Rice, Dorsal .. Rear side of flower, — Dhania (Ind.) _ ... Coriander 7h el next axis from which —Dhaura_ ... Anogeissus latifolia it is a branch a Dhunchi (Ind.) ... Sesbania aculeata Dorsifixed(anther) Joined to stalk by ___~ Dhurra (Egypt) ... Millet whole length _ Diadelphous _ ... In two bundles Double flower .. Flower with stamens Diagnosis ... Determination of com- changed to petals ee plaint - Dressing .. Sprinkling over the _ Diaphragm ... A dividing membrane surface - Diastase .. An enzyme that con- )pyill ... Machine for sowing i ae verts starch to sugar seeds or laying ma- _ Dibble ..A pointed piece of ‘ nure at regular dis- * wood for making tances tH ’ holes in the ground rip tin _... A tin for causing a drip og Dichlamydeous... With two coverings, of water into a cut fe ‘ _ _ calyx and corolla upon a rubber-tree te Dichotomous ... Saati into two Drip-tip Hy Alorg sharply pointed aie y eaf-apex he Dicotyledon _... Pent pee two seed Dramiatiek Moringa ptery gosperma ae Didymous eg cinhed Drupe ... A fleshy fruit, with a - Didynamous __... Two longer than the hgh band covering round Aone Ak? e seed, as in cherry ~_ Die-back ..Gloesporium sp., fol Dry farming ... Farming in very dry Aa ; lowed by Botryo- regions, whee the a diplodia elasticze rainfall is worked Diffuse ... Loosely spreading into the soil by — Digitate » ... Like the fingers of a ks immediate tillage oe hand Dery grains ... Grains cultivated Dilated ... Hxpanded at the end without irrigation ~ __— Dimidiate ... Halved Dry rot ... A disease due to the _ Dimorphic, Dimor- fungus Merulius be phous ... Of two torms : lachrymans -__ Dioecious «. Male and female on Diffin bean +» Lima bean _ ae separate plants Durian »»» Durio zibethinus Miscellaneous. ORTENTAL VERSUS OCCIDENTAL LABOUR. Western conception of whatis referr- ed to as the “cheap” labour of the East is being slowly but surely revised. Con- gressman Redfield, of New York, who recently visited the Philippines and other eastern centres, upon his return to Washington, participated in the debate on the _ revision of the wool schedule, refuting the argument cf the old guard of the republican party that its reduction would expose the wool industry to the menace of the product of cheap labour from abroad. He claimed that the so-called ‘‘ cheap” labour was more expensive than the highest paid labour of America. The Saturday Evening Post gives the follow- ing on his speech :— “Congressman Redfield, of New York, has been engaged in manufacturing for many years and has traveiled much abroad, selling American manufactures. In‘a speech on the bill to reduce wool duties he gave a number of his own personal experiences. The following are samples: ‘“Wages in a Japanese locomotive plant were only one-fifth of the Ameri- can scale; but comparison of the cost sheets showed that “‘ the labour-cost for locomotives on the same specifications was three and a' half times greater in the Japanese shop than in the American shop.” ‘“«T saw them driving piles in Japan— twenty women, each with a rope, lifted the pile ; they were paid twenty cents a day in our money.” Yet it cost four times as much to drive those piles as it would have cost in New York, “T wasin a brickyard at Singapore. Their rate of pay was thirty-five cents a day in our money.” Buta comparison of the books at that Singapore brick- yard and at one in an Eastern city of the United States showed that the labour- cost in America was no higher than in China. ‘“*The debate on the wool bill is em- bellished with long tables showing wages paid in American mills and those paid in foreign mills; butevery school- boy should know by this time that a comparison of wage scales means nothing. The cost of production may be less with the highest-priced labour than with the cheapest labour.” Mr. Redfield expressed his opinion on Oriental labour as he found it. It had not been developed. Indeed, it might be said that from a western viewpoint, Pal WA Eien 1 i he Sa mY < ¥ ‘ ? ager Lan ‘[Ocror: the labour he referred to simply -repre- — sented material out of which the real © labourer might be moulded. Labour in the Hast has, generally; the same — status it had centuries ago. Bes It is the same half-starved, undevelop- ~ ed, neglected and oppreseed labour. ~ Where an effort has been made to ~ develop it by proper supervisicn, with proper food and clothing, it has not’ been a disappointment. By giving the eastern labourer a chance he has been found to increase his earning power as a producer. This has been demonstrated in the Philippines and Hawaii among Malay labourers, “ But Mr. Redfield would have found where the developed labourer was em- ployed, that the increased wages paid were in direct ratio to his increased capacity to produce, and confirms the Congressman’s claim that labour cost measured by efficiency is about the same the world over. : AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS. (From the Indian. A griculturist, Vol. XXXVI., No. 3, March 1, 1911.) (A paper read by Mr. P. N. Banerji at a meeting of the Zemindars and Khand- salis Association, Bareilly, presided over by Mr. P. A. Allen, I. C, S,, Collector.) I believe it was Lord Rosebery, who in one of his brilliant and humorous speeches, said, ‘‘It is one of the ironies” of the world in which we live that — public men are called upon to perform — every kind of duty, even those for which they are least qualified.” Ihave not the least doubt that I know lessof the subject which we are here to dis- cuss than anybody in this hall, It may be asked then why I am here, «I am here, gentlemen, in obedience to a man- date of our esteemed President. I accepted this mandate from a sense of duty that perhaps some good will result by bringing to your notice a few facts concerning certain aspects of our pre=— sent-day agricultural and industrial pro- _ blems. =! “yt Sir, this association was ushered into — existence under your patronage, about two years ago; at least I for one was optimistic enough to expect some goo result out of its existence. It is to early yet to make any stock of its work but Iam sure as time goes on we sha better be able to justify our existen and to show some tangible results, — fone” im ee 3 = 3 —OcrorsR, 1911.) - Our association is principally con- ~ eerned with the Khundsal or Sugar industry. You are aware that this is the chief industry of our district. I remember that about 20 or 25 years ago this industry was in a prosperous and flourishing condition. What is its condition now? I think I shall be quite justified in describing its condition as moribund. Iamafraid it is almost at its last gasp, and why? You remember - that atone time we used not only to make our own cloth, but we also export- edit to foreign countries. That trade, the cottage loom trade, was killed by power looms, By thesame process our sugar industry, which is nothing but a cottage industry, is being gradully but surely killed by the factory power. The inevitable result has been averted on account of the orthodoxy of our people. But we cannot hold on indefinitely, and so it is vanishing. With all the resources of our country we are unable to compete with foreign sugar. The other day I was reading an excellent article in one of the leading Anglo-Indian papers on this subject. The writer who seems to be an expert, in the course of the article said: “There isno reason why India should not grow all the sugar she requires and have quite a solid margin to spare for export. With improved solid methods of cultivation, selected cane and up-to-date mills, the final goal seems well within reach, but perhaps things will go on in the old, old way, till some sugar expert takes the matter in hand, erect a ceatral factory in a good ~ eane-growing locality, and sees that the canes are planted around the factory or _ within easy reach of it by light Railway or Tramway.” I am sure you will excuse this long extract, but I really think the writer put ina nut-shell the whole question. What are our difficulties ? 1. The methods of cultivation are defective. 2. The canes are should be, 3. The mills are not up-to-date. The question of a great central factory we may well keep out of viewat present. But can we not do something to improve not what they the other things? We have a large Net number of people here in our city and also in the district, men cf wealth and intelligence who have been in this trade fora long time, and cannot they be _ persuaded to take the initiative in this matter, if for nothing else at least for self-preservation, The Indian canes at the best are not nearly as good as they 885 Miscellaneous. might be. The whole system is faulty from beginning to end, and will have to be altered. It can certainly be altered for the better, as witness the vast strides in sugar production in Java, Formosa and the West Indies. Since the introduction of the central factory system, Java, Mauritius and the West Indies indent labour from India, and still they beat us with one of the weapons we ourselves place in their hands. Now we are importing sugar, mind the absurdity of the whole thing. India, which ought to be one of the greatest sugar-producing countries, is importing sugar to the extent of eleven and a half crores of rupees every year. This vast sum by a little judicious manipulation of existing methods could be kept in the country instead of being paid away mostly to Java. The Indian cultivators, I admit, are very conservative, but they are not fools. If you can bring it home to them that their system of cane cultiv- ation is faulty, and that the canes are not good, place within their reach better and selected canes and give them better mills, they sill give up the old methods and adopt yours. Cannot one of our wealthy Khundsalis be persuaded to start an agricultural experimental farm. Show the agriculturist how to manure the land first, what cane to plant, and then get some improved mills and de- monstrate to them how todo this busi- ness from start to finish. While doing this, you can also show them how to improve their grain cultivation, place within their reach better seed, and de- monstrate the result by doing things yourselves in your experimental farm. Just consider what immense improve- ment has been made in America in this direction, Follow in their footsteps and prove to your tenants that they could alsodothe same with benefit to them- selves and with increased profit to your- selves. I say with great regret, but nevertheless it is true, that our Zemin- dars have not done their duty to their peasantry. It is their duty only to collect their rents by all manner of means, and spend the same on themselves to live luxurious lives? Complain of the assesment, and do nothing whatever to improve the condition of the peasantry ? There is universal complaint that the land is being impoverished by over cultiv- ation. There is also a general complaint of the impoverishment and deterioration of the cattle of the country. Unfortun- ately many of our Zemindars think that if they can keep themselves in the good graces of the circle inspector and the Tahsildar, keep the mighty Patwari Miscellaneous. Khus, and make a round of salams to the Bara and Chhota sahibs, they have done their duty and the Sirkar is pleased. I donotask them to give up their present occupation which perhaps is a pleasant and profitable pastime, . but please do not make that the be-all and end-all of your existence. I can assure you that the Sirkar will be more pleased and appreciate your work if it finds that the Zemindars take real interest in their peasantry by helping them in improving their land, the quality of their grain and the condition of their cattle. Some of our Zemindars with this object can send their sons or other re- lations to some Agricultural College, say to Cawnpore, to learn the improved methods of cultivation and their allied subjects, and after learning all they have to learn, return to their homes and give their tenants the benefits of their edu- cation. Another thing which is a dis- grace to our country is the hopeless indebtedness of the peasantry. For this the peasant is toa certain extent to be blamed, but poor man, he is left to him- self without anyone to help him, and he gets more and more into the clutches of the money-lender. Why cannot the system of the agricultural banks be in- troduced here with profit tu the Zemin- dar and to the salvation of the peasan- try. Iam glad to notice that this has been started in several places with marked: success. In this connection allow me to read to you an extract from the ‘ Statement” exhibiting the moral and practical progress and condi- tion of India during the year 1908-1909 :— ‘““The movement has almost everywhere passed out of the experimental! stage; a large number of the Societies are firmly established ona self-supporting basis, and they are winning more and more the ap- preciation and confidence of the people. Loans are well and punctually repaid. It is noteworthy that in spite of the large increase in working capital the amount lent by the State is but little larger than the previous year.” Our association can do something in this direction and show how it can be done, and save the tenants from the hands of the money-lenders. Then another thing that you can dois to give some sort of primary education to your tenants. Begin in a small scale, say with at least one school in every village where there is none. Teach them reading and writing and to keep accounts, and also something about elementary sanitation and other useful subjects. Perhaps night schools would be more welcome than day schools. But these are matters of detail which you could decide for yourselves. What I wish you 336 _year, as also soap, glassware, earthen- -thus be solved. You cannot, and you to dois to realise your responsibilities, improve the condition of the peasantry, — treat them with kindness, and you will reap a rich harvest for yourselves. I — would like in this connection to bring to _ your notice some of the industries which could be profitably taken in hand by our monied men. You must have noticed that some of the butchers of our town have built palatial buildings, and have within acomparatively short time become wealthy by exporting raw hides. ~ I do not ask every one of you to follow théir example. But certainly a factory can be opened here to tan these raw hides instead of exporting them in their raw state of the value of 10crores of rupees every year. Wenotounly do this, but to oblige the foreigner we export tanning materials so that he may tan the hides and send them back to us in the shape of leather and manufactured goods. I wassurprised, Sir, when I read that India of all countries where wood of all sorts is plentiful should pay 38 lakhs every year for tea chests to ex- port the tea which we growin this country. How is it that we cannot make our chests in the country and save ' this money? Cannot we in Bareilly start some industry to supply sheets to the exporters of tea? Then we import matches to the value of 82 lakhs every ware, not to speak of other articles. We pay every year something like 40 to 50 erores of rupees for articles which could easily be manufactured in this country. Just think how our country would be enriched if we could keep ~ all this money in the country. This will give employment to thousands of our young men who do not know what to do after finishing their edu- cation. The problem of our boys will ought not to, expect that the Govern- ment will be able to provide all your sons and your nephews with suitable appointments. With all the desire to help you, the Government is helpless as the appointments are limited but the number of candidates are many. The professions are already over-crowded. Moreover, it is not given toevery oneto ~~ win the prizes of the professions. So instead of crowding the ranks of the candidates for Government employment — and the professions, our young men will find other lucrative careers opeued for them. Nonation has been made self- — contained and self-respecting whose educated young men look only to Government for employment and crowd ay. the ranks of the professions, and in- crease the number of grumblers and dis- ~h fey BG Mes Pe Ne Qorosar, 191.) eontents. Look how we grumble that - wedo not get good milk, good butter and good ghee. Whose fault is this? Do we doanything to remove the com- plaints? Those of our young men who fail year after year to pass the Univer- sity examination may surely employ their misdirected energies into better use by joining some technical or agricul- tural seminary and carve outa career, honourable to themselves and profitable to the country. The more such avenues of work are widened you will find more amity between the two great communri-. ties of this country who now fight for the loaves and fishes of office. Gentlemen, it is my firm belief that the salvation ot our country will not take place till we have thoroughly improved our agricul- tural and industrial condition and ele- vated the position of our rural popu- lation. Mr. Chairman, these are some of the problems with which we are con- fronted at the present time. We have ' reached a stage in our progress’ as a people which can well be described as a parting of the ways. We cannot stop giving education to our people. It is ‘the birth-right of every child to be educated. Bat we must put our educa- tional system on a more sound and prac- tical basis, We must direct our atten- tion more and more to scientific and technical education side by side with the education our boys are now receiv- ing. ‘The world is moving ouward, we cannot afford to stand still, stagnate and die. Ihave placed before you some suggestions. I feel they are not ade- quate. But let us face our difficulties squarely and find out solutions. Our attitude of drifting on will not help us. So let us be up and: doing and move on- ward till the goal\is reached. FLIES AS DISEASE CARRIERS. (From the Veterinary: News, Vol. VIII., No. 399, August 26, 1911.) In the third report to the Local Government Board on flies as carriers of infection, issued in August, 1910, Dr. Monckton Copeman stated that it was proposed to devote special attention to the elucidation of the question as to the range of flight of flies both in horizontal and vertical directions. In this connec- tion he said that arrangements had been completed at Cambridge for the location ‘of anumber of stations at which fly- traps of various kinds could be installed. The flies trapped at the various stations would be examined and counted with special reference to ‘‘marked” indivi- duals. In this way some definite idea a) 837 Miscellaneous, could be formed as.to the distance a fly can travel, and as toits rate of travel. Unfortunately, ‘circumstances arose which prevented these experiments being carried outin Cambridge, but an oppor- tunity arose of conducting them on somewhat modified lines in the neigh- bourhood of Norwich. In July, 1010, there was an unpre- cedented plague of flies in Postwick, a small village some five miles from Norwich. Within about half a mile of the village, and with the river Yare intervening, is situated the Norwich sewage farm, on which the house refuse from that city is deposited, being brought down the river by barges. Upon investigating the circumstances, Dr. Copeman, who was accompanied by Mr. F, M. Howlett, B.A., F.E.S., and Mr. Gordon Merriman came to the con- clusion that there was in the village no unusual accumulations of manure or other fermenting refuse affording special Opportunity for the breeding of house- flies in such large numbers as were found to be present. Attention was then drawn to the refuse heap on the Norwich sewage farm, where it was found that fermentation was still actively going on, the new portions steaming vigorously when the top layer was disturbed— altogether an ideal breeding place for house-flies. Near to the refuse heap was a workman’s hut heated hy a stove which was kept continuously burning day and night. Into this hut the flies swarmed incessantly, and four lots were caught at_ intervals of a monthin July, August, September, and October. The first lot were sent for identification to Mr, EK. E. Austen, F.z.S., of the Natural History Museum. The majority of them were found to be the common house-fiy (Alusca domestica), The flies caught in August were marked by shaking the net in which they were caught in a stout paper bag containing a small quantity. of finely-powdered coloured chalk, using asarule adifferent colour ineach of four days, yellow and red being found to be the best colours. After having been marked, the flies were liberated. About 3,000: were set free on August 20, and on the following day one was observed 400 yards distant, and one in Postwick Church over 1,000 yards away, andon August 22 one was seen 1,000 yards from the refuse tip. On August 21, 1,000 were liberated, and of these five were caught on the two succeeding days at distances varying from 800 yards to1,408 yards, About 2,000 were set free on August 22, of which number fifty were caught up to August 26 at spots also varying Miscellaneous, in distances from the tip cf 800 yards to 1,408 yards. In one instance a marked fly was caught 800 yards from the point of uperapn 35 minutes after it had been set free. To the report from which we have quoted the above interesting and highly instructive facts, Dr. G. S. Graham- Smith contributes an account of observ- ations which he has made on the ways in whieh artificially infected flies carry and distribute pathogenic and other bacteria. The experiments which he carried out demonstrate definitely that artificially infected flies, both house-flies and blow-flies, are capable of infecting fluids, such as milk and syrup, on which they feed and into which they fall. ‘‘In the case of the house-fly, infected with certain micro-organisms (B. pro- digiosus and 8B, anthracis), gross in- fection may be produced in milk for at least three days, and a smaller degree of infection for six to nine days, or even longer. Blow-flies produce gross in- fection for six to nine days, with non- spore-bearing micro-organisms (B. pro- digious and B. pyocyaneus), and some degree of infection for three or four weeks.” Dr. Graham-Smith considers it probable, at any rate in the later stages, that infection is mainly due either to direct infection with the crop contents vomited through the proboscis, or to indirect infection by means of the limbs which have been reinfected with vomited material during the process of cleaning them. SNAKE-BITE AND ITS TREATMENT. (From the Queensland Agricultural Journal, Vol. XXVI., Part 3, March, 1911.) So many cases of snake-bite have oc- curred during the last two months, two being fatal, that we think it advisable to republish an article on this subject which appeared in the December issue of this Journal, 1905, entitled ‘‘ Snake-bite and its Treatment.” A. correspondent has written suggest- ing that, in the interests of miners, some information should be given in the Journal concerning snake-bites and the ‘best known methods of treating them. It isan undoubted fact that men engaged - in mining and ia prospecting run great risk from snakes, both on the surface and in abandoned shafts, which often have to be re-opened; and, as such men are generally far removed from medical aid, it is well that they should know the best thing to do when anyone iis bitten, and that the means to be adopted should be / a \ { . ef ear ‘as clearly and widely made known CE ae ve Ey “6 ae Ricoh ae ‘TOBER, 1§ possible. Unfortunately, as far as inter- nal remedies are concerned, investi- — gations by competent authorities go to prove, as will be more fully explained later on, that to be armed with a reliable antidote is not nearly such a simple matter as the correspondent mentioned seems to think. He kas been informed that the poison of the deaf adder acts on the nerves, while that of the black, brown, ard other venomous snake acts on the blood; and suggests that the miner be made familiar with a specific — for each class of bite of such a nature | that he could be provided with it, and ready fo. any emergency. Dr. A. Muller, however, in his work on “ Snake Poison: Its Action and its Antidote,” came to the conclusion, after full investigation and experiment, that all saake venom is anerve poison; but Professor Martin, who, when in Australia, also made a study of the subject, seems to draw some distinction, inasmuch as he refers to the futility of the generally accepted remedies to prevent the clotting of blood caused by all Australian snake poisons except that of the deaf adder. Dr. Muller advocated the strychnine cure as a remedy in all cases of snake- bite ; but, as he admits that it may be — necessary at some stage of the treat- ment to administer strychnine in doses which, in the absence of the snake poi- © son, would be fatal, it will be seen how — dangerous it might be to try such a remedy without professional aid, even if later investigations had not consider- ably discredited—as indeed they have— this form of remedy, As to having the right antidote available, it is true that anti-venomous serum has been mention- ed in this connection, but as one must apply the right antidote to the right — snake, this remedy is hardly practical under ordinary conditions. : How To DISTINGUISH NON-VENOMOUS FROM VENOMOUS SNAKES. here In eases of snake-bite, it is, of course, — very important to determine whether the reptile inflicting the injury is venom- Ba ous or not. Many persons have under- gone much pain and often risk from heroic treatment for bites which they —_ have supposed to be those of venomous — snakes, but which a kuowledge of the ~~ external characters of the different’ species wonld have shown to have been — perfectly harmless. Indeed, itis believ- __ ed that not a few persons bitten by — harmless snakes have beeuw killed either by fright or the treatment to which — they have been subjected; whilemany records of recovery under certain treat- __ ment are unreliable on account of the 7 ? heen 2 mgs 4 y Cah y “4 Pr f doubt existing as to whether the reptiles inflicting the bites were really venomous. _ Asamatter of fact, far more of the Australian snakes are non-venomous than is generally supposed. The late ‘Dr. Krefft, for many years Curator of the Australian Museum, Sydney, and a recognised authority on Australian snakes, describes twenty-one innocuous and forty-two venomous snakes of this country; but of the latter, he says, not more than five species are- dangerous to man or the larger animals, ~- and these retire underground for nearly five months of tbe year. The four Queensland snakes which are mostly to be dreaded are the deaf adder, the black snake, the brown snake, and the tiger snake. To the miner, prospector, and ordinary bushman, many opportunities are afforded of examining dead snakes; and, with a little observation and study, he might soon be able to tell at a glance the poisonous from the harmless _-species. In the first place, on opening the mouth of a non-venomous snake, a row of small teeth will be seen along each jaw, and when such a snake bites he leaves two rows of small 4 punctures, thus— ; In the venomons snake these small teeth are rudimentary, and leave no marks; but towards the outer edge of the upper jaw there are two fangs, and the punctures left by the bite from these are two in number, thus—.. These fangs which are the means by which the poison is conveyed from the snake to the person bitten, are not always in a state of projection, and it may be necessary to press the gum down with astick or penknife before they can be seen; but this should be ’ done with caution, and when itis certain the snake is dead. Sometimes, however, the punctures are not sufficiently distinct for them to be accepted as a reliable guide; but where the snake is seen there are other characteristics which will assist in the identification. According to Dr. Krefft, the gape of the mouth of the non-venomous Australian snake is usually curved upwards; while in the venomous it forms a_ straight line. Again, an important distinction is.to be found in the labial (lip) scales. Dr. - Krefft says that of the labials there are seven or more in non-venomous snakes, while in the venomous ‘‘there are ' generally only six (we may say always six—never more). Headds that “it may safely be asserted that by these shields 4 Miscellaneous. alone can the harmless or venomous character of snakes be ascertained. This rule does not apply to sea snakes, nor to blind snakes ot the family Typhlopide, but to Australian venomous and innocuous colubrine snakes only.” Another distinctive maxk is that in the non-venomous snake there is a loreal scale, which is absent in nearly all Australian snakes. This loreal scale is a supplementary scale which, in the non-venomous snake, is to be found on the cheek between a labial scale below and atrontal scale above, and between the ocular and nasal scales. In the venomous snake these four scales—the labial, frontal, ocular, and nasal—all unite at one point, and are not separated from each other, as in the harmless snake by the loreal scale. The head and mouth characteristics which distinguish the two classes of reptiles can be seen at a glance from the accompanying reproduction of ex- cellent photographs taken from Nature by Dr. John Thomson, of Brisbane, who isa keen student of this subject, and> who kindly placed his pictures and other useful intormation readily at our dis- posal for the purpose of this article.* Dr. Thomson also has in his possession a diagram (in the shape of Fig. 2%) showing, in such a way that ‘‘he who runs may read,” the chief distinguishing features between the venomous and harmless snake. This diagram, which was originally prepared to illustrate a lecture, should be cut out, and kept by persons in the bush in some place where it may be readily and often seen, so that its pot may become impressed on the mind. : To DISTINGUISH VENOMOUS FROM NON: VENOMOUS SNAKES BY HEAD CHARAC- TERISTICS (KREFFT). Non-venomous: Gape of mouth, curved up- wards Labial scales, Venomous. Gape of mouth, straight Labial scales, six seven or more Loreal scales, absent Loreal scales, present Bite marks . , Bite marks bis Dr. Krefft states that an Australian snake that is not thicker than a man’s little finger, whatever may be its length, cannot by its bite endanger the life of an adult human being. It may be added that the true fresh water snake is always harmless, while the saltwater or sea snakes are always poisonous. Few of the tree snakes are venomous ; while the carpet snake and the so-called “ green snakes” are innocuous. Very often a thick woollen sock or stocking will pre- vent injury from the bite of a snake, as * Not reproduced, Miscellaneous. the fang may not penetrate sufficiently far for the poison which passes down its groove to be injected beneath the skin. There is a very widely accepted belief that the deaf adder inilicts injury by a sting from its tail, but this is not the case, _The general symptoms exhibited by persons bitten by a venomous snake are: Great anxiety, depression and postra- tion, feeble and intermitting pulse, pro- fuse cold sweats, vomiting, hurried respi- ration, indistinct speech, dilation of the pupil of the eye, drowsiness, and finally, in tatal cases, unconsciousness and con- vulsions, TREATMENT OF SNAKE-BITE. Professor Martin, late of the Mel- bourne University, who some time ago was appointed Director of the Lister School ot Preventive Medicine in London, before leaving Melbourne, delivered a lecture embodying the results of several years of research into Australian snake poisons.’ The results of his investigations are somewhat dis- appointing as far as the generally accept- ed remedies are concerned. He says, th: 5 for all snakes except the deaf adder the only remedy that is ot the slightest use is the ligature, applied immediately. He adds— “If the bite be on the tip of the finger, the ligature may be tied round the base of the finger, if done instantly. If not, we must go higher. Itis no use tying anything round the wrist or fore- arm, nor round the leg below the knee, for in these places the limb consists of two bones, and the circulation cannot be stopped by aband of any sort. We must go above the elbow orabove the knee, where there is only a single bone. The ligature must be tied as tight as possible—twisted tight with a stick—for no blood must pass. In half an hour’s time the ligature may be removed, ‘All the usual remedies, such as ammonia, strychnine, and chloride of lime injections, whisky, and-exercise, are powerless to check the clotting of blood caused by all Australian snake poisons except the deaf adder. Cutting out the piece and gashing the limb to make it bleed is equally futile. Anti- venomous serum is a remedy, but hardly a practical one, as you must apply the right antidote to the right snake.” Other authorities do not go so far as Professor Martin with regard to scari- fying the wound and administering stimulants, and, sofaras they are not likely to be injurious, these means will probably continue to be followed as 340 _ bitten by cobras or tic-polangas whe \ : t ahs PAT extra precautions. Dr. J. Ashburton — tage Thompson, Chief Medical Officer of the = Government Health Department of — New South Wales, bas issued specific directions for snake-bite treatment. He oe first advices the use of the ligature, _ which is to be loosened for five minutes after the first half-hour; then tied and _ screwed up again. At -the end of the second half-hour the ligature may be removed altogether. Dr. Thompson, in continuing his directions, says :— ‘‘In places where a ligature cannot be tied, as on the neck or face, pinch up the bitten part between the finger and thumb, and cut it out. In any case the bitten part should be cut. into by numerous little cuts over and around the bite, for about 14 inches round, and sucked by the mouth freely | and perseveringly ; and this can be done without danger by any person. Stimu- lants, such as brandy, whisky, gin, rum, in small quantities at a time (a few tea- spoonfuls), or strong tea or coffee or Wine, may be given if the patient be faint.” | The removal of the ligature as describ- ed is a very necessary precaution, for at least cne case has occurred in Queens- land where, through keeping it on too long, mortification set in, and amputa- tion of the arm had to be resorted to. Protessor Krefft, in his work previous- ly referred to, says :—‘‘ The whole treat- ment resolves itself into this: Suck the wound, if possible, at once; apply a - ligature; lacerate the punctures, and wash the part with water or urine; keep moving, and do not despond, Half the | number of fatal cases have resultedfrom ~ fear, many persons having died simply because they lost heart, did not attempt to tie a ligature, or were atraid to lacer- ate the wound and suck it.” A Croydon paper some time ago pub- lished particulars of a case in whicha ~ cure had been effected by rubbing vinegar into the wound; but in this case the ligature was first applied and the ~ snakes, ae Mr. John Wilson, Brisbane, says that in Ceylon he was very successful in saving the lives of coolies who wel picking coffee, As soon as a man was bitten, a ligature was put on above the — wound, then a pin was pushed through oe — SCOVELL’S ESTATE, BANGALORE: GENERAL VIEW. Vide Page 341, ge mlehiddeee het ‘drawn tight. - Ocrowmr, 1911.) the skin, a piece of twine was twisted round the projecting part of the pin and This raised the bitten part, which was cut off with a sharp knife. The vinegar cure is described in the Queeensland Agricultural Journal in the issues of January, 1903, January, 1904, and February, 1905. Three authen- ticated cases of cure of snake-bite by the vinegar treatment have been reported to us since the first article appeared in the Journal.—ED. “ Q.A.J.” SCOVELL’S ESTATE, BANGALORE. (Illustrated.) The practical solution of the problem whether English fruit could be success- fully grown in the tropics is one which calls fora good deal of enterprise. In Ceylon we find grapes growing in Jaffna, peaches in Haputale, and pears and plums in Nuwara Eliya; while in Ban- galore most varieties of English fruit are found to thrive. But,so far as we know, no serious attempt ona commer- cial scale has been made to raise such fruit under the most favourable condi- tions for their growth, and under the supervision of thoroughly qualified practical experts. We have heard of more than one Company or Syndicate started under apparently happy aus- pices, but in the end invariably lan- guishing for the want vf a proper water supply, for the lack of funds, fcr the need of a reliable expert, or some such reason. “Scovell’s Hstate” is rather a misleading designation for what is in reality a fruit farm situated 6 or 7 miles away from Bangalore Canton- ment. The farm is about a hundred acres in extent, and during the last two years has been gradually planted up with different varieties of fruit-trees imported from Australia—such as oranges, grapes, apples, peaches, peas, apricots, &c. In such a venture the two important elements are the selection of the site and the proper equipment of the farm. In both these respects Scovell’s Estate has been most fortunate. As regards situation the place is a veritable ‘‘ happy- valley,’ provided with an_ unfailing water supply, which is so utilised as to bring the entire area under a perfect scheme of irrigation. This excellent arrangement, though it has involved considerable expense, places the farm -at an immense advantage. _ The plantation itself is under the immediate supervision of a fruit expert o£ considerable practical experience, 341 . Miscellaneous. who is convinced that it is possible to arrest the tendency in tropical veget- ation to grow continuously, and to induce a dormant condition so essential for the formation of fruit buds, I had the privilege of visiting Scovell’s Estate on the 17th of September last, and of being shown over the property by Mr. Scovell and his Manager, Mr. Meredith, both of whom seem to be quite satisfied with the prospects. If their anticipations are realised, there should bea great future for the cultiv- ation of English fruit in Southern India, provided the same business acumen is available for selection and equipment; for with cheap labour and good prices in the Hast, there is no reason why the output should not successfully compete with the produce of Australia and other parts of the world. The Farm is well worth a visit, and the best time for seeing it is about April, when most of the fruit under cultivation should be in season. C. DRIEBERG. Colombo, October 4th, 1911. RIVALRY BETWEEN PANAMA AND SUEZ. RATES WILL BE SLASHED IN A WAR FOR THE WORLD'S COMMERCE BETWEEN THE Two DITCHES. With the opening of Panama Canal there will bea slash in the rates in a war for the commerce of the world. According to latest advices the United States Government is preparing to begin business with a cut in the rates of 100 per cent. below the tolls charged by the Suez Canal. An interesting article on the coming war for the commerce of the world appears in the Minneapolis Journal, and is of special interest at this time. The article follows :-- Competition between the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal is expected as soon as the former waterway is open to commerce. The United States Govern- ‘ment realizes this, andis preparing for it. Itis the intention, if Congress sanc- tions the step, to begin business at Panama at once with a cut of practically 100 per cent. below the tolls charged by the Suez Canal. “That the Suez Canal will meet the cut is not doubted, That canal is own- ed by a private corporation, and with- out competition, it has been earning a gross revenue .of upward of $20,000,000 a Miscellaneous. year. But if the Panama Canal. takes away any material share of the Suez business, Colonel Goethals has assured President Taft that the Suez Canal can come down to the proposed Panama rates and still declare dividends of reasonable size. - The idea of competition between canals on opposite sides of the Atlantic ocean may seem rather far-fetched, but the canal authorities of the United States Government explain it in a rational way. They say the North Atlantic is the harbour of the world’s wholesale and manufacturing trade. The principal business of the world centres around the shores of that sea. The principal trade of the world runs into and out of tke North Atlantic. That is where all the rest of the world comes for its goods, and it is the clear- ing-house through which it does its business and finances its operations. Heretofore there has been but one chief gateway out of this centre of trade—that to the eastward through the the Suez Canal. But now there isto be a gateway to the westwerd as well through the Panama Canal. Hence the competition between the two gates must follow on all trade between North Atlantic perts and the other side of the world. The question of which will get the greater share of it is one solely of dollars and cents. Colonel Goethals, the builder of the Panama Canal, who expects to throw it open to commerce in less than two years, has explained all this to President Taft during his present visit to Washington. It will not be a matter of sentiment, but purely one of which canal and which route will enable the ships to deliver their cargoes at the lesser expense, The Suez Canal at present charges a toll of about $1:70 per net registered ton American money and American measure. From the attitude of both the Presi- dent and of Colonel Goethals, it is in- ferred that they will advocate a charge at Panama of not more than $1 per net registered ton, and possibly less than that- What they would like to have Congress do is to give the President authority to fix the rate at anything between 50 cents and $1°50 a ton, so that he may be able to decide upon a figure finally that wiil permit the Panama Canal fully to meet its operating expenses, there being no evidence of in- tention to try to make money out of it. Of course, these rates refer to world traffic, and not to American ships, as the right is always retained to let Amer- ican vessels use the canal toll free if that shall be deemed best. “4 mis ae L oN |. he [Octosmr, 1911 OF THE LAND SETTLEMENT SCHEME IN ST. VINCENT, — By W. N. SAnps, se taae Agricultural Superintendent, St. Vincent. F (From the West India Bullelin, Vol. XI., No. 3, 1911.) ; The Land Settlement Scheme of St. Vincent is probably the largest and most comprehensive of its kind yet’ attempted in any of the British West Indian Colonies, so that an account of the working of it during the past ten years, more particularly from an agri- cultural standpoint, may be of interest. The scheme owes its existence to the ~ West Indian Royal Commission of 1897. The Royal Commission, after going very fully into the condition of the peasantry of St. Vincent, reported as follows, in paragraphs 3874-8 of their report :— 374. We have already madea general recommendation that the settlement of the Creole population of the West Indies — as cultivating proprietors should be recognized as the settled policy of the Government of the different Colonies, and we see no reason to depart from that policy inthe case of St. Vincent. On the contrary, it seems to us that, whether the sugar industry is maintain- ed or disappears, itis absolutely essen- tial in the interest of the native popu- lation that their settlement of the land should be facilitated; in no other way does it seem to us to be possible to maintain even the most moderate degree of prosperity in St. Vincent. : 375. At the same time the question is surrounded with special difficulties in the case of this island, There is, no © doubt, a large extent of Crown land, but — this land is situated in the centre of the ‘ island, at a considerable elevation, re- — mote from the markets, and is unpro- vided with roads. A great deal of the land consists of steep slopes difficult to cultivate, and liable to suffer from heavy rains and floods. a5 376. The attempts that have been made in recent years tosettlecultivators on the Crown lands have not sofar met with much _ success. ) = e . ° . op Ss 2 Q 8 ae 2 oy = ae 2 cele | eile e|2|s|2/3 Ste nh Seni eae BS) ie fice |. leek == i oN a Got t= ae ty Num-] Bas- bran- | bags.| bags. |Bags.|Brls. | ber. |kets.| lb. |ches. doz, §., 1905-6. Quantity |9,554 2,551 11,735 | 1504) 7,334/9,918 (88,789] 2,087) 1,550) 442) 3,220) 2,288! 768 Value £ {1,949 708 hes ent 687|2,445 378 104 76 11 888} 1,538) 384 | 9,168 1906-7. Quantity |5,5603| 2,5572 |1,8563| 77 | 8,605/7,6844|64,478| 2,160) 2,064| 1,122] 2,891] 2,186] 468 Value € /1,118 705 iy ar 650)1,929 286 107; 105 28| 824) 2,186) 236 | 8,174 1907-8. : Quantity 4,803 | 1,719 |1,0353) 186 | 8,346|6'360 |40,764| 1,088] 1,527] 1,794| 2,451] 1,575] 601 Value £ 11,044 507 Nis 5H 521/1,589 174 57 77 49) 678 1,569! 296 | 6,561 1908-9, : : Quantity 6,418 | 2,320 |1,232 { 1213|13,878|8,869 |76,271] 1,858] 1,814] 3,192] 1,973) 1,573] 524 Value £ 11,361 613 ee Ny 423)1,740 328 98 8 73| 525) 1,564) 211 | 7,024 Quantity 5,1992 etek 1,9093} 1094) 8,308/5,8153/47,900) 572) 2,360) 4,170) 2,437) 1,563) 638 i 5 casks Value £ 1,070 671 673)1,480 229 29). 117) 104; 676) 1,563) 319 | 6,931 By far the largest acreage is cultivated in ground provisions, but’a fairly large area is planted in cassava for making farine and cassava starch. Among other crops are Indian corn, pigeon peas and ground nuts. It is a fortunate circum- stance that the small holders have found a ready market for their surplus produce in Trinidad, Grenada and some of the Grenadines. In Trinidad, also, there is a good market for small stock and poultry, while Barbados takes a large number of cattle in each season. These intercolonial markets are within easy sailing distance of St. Vincent. It is undoubtedly due in no small measure to the fact that the small holders have 44 been able to dispose of large quantities of ground provisions and other produce and stock at fair prices in these inter- colonial markets, that the scheme has proved a success. Had there been no such outlet, it is likely that a large number of them would have had to eke out a hand to mouth existence, and besides, would not have been able to pay for their lands. There is, however, much room for improvement in the methods of shipment to, and the dis- posal of produce and stock in, other islands. Thesmall holders often have to place their shipments in the hands of the captains or stevedores of the sloops and schooners plying between the islands. Miscellaneous. Some of these men do not always deal fairly with the people, and it is no un- common thing for sums to be paid which are far below thoseactually realized. It should be possible to put this intercolo- nial trade on a better footing, provided that the small holders could be got to work together on co-operative lines. At the present time, however, the cultiv- ation of cotton is being rapidly extended, which circumstance, with the possible increase, also, of arrowroot planting will no doubt lead to a reduction in the area cultivated in ground provision crops. With a smaller output and an increase in the local demand, it appears unlikely that those who continue to grow ground provisions will have to rely so much on the intercolonial markets in order to dispose of their crops at a profit. Arrowroot is another product which is produced on a fairly large scale on some estates, more particularly New Adelphi and Park Hill, and is shipped to neighbouring colonies. At New Adelphi the Government has erected a central arrowroot mill to assist the growers there, but on several of the other estates there are small mills owned and worked by the holders themselves. The arrow- root industry has for many years been in a depressed condition; so much so, that neither the estate owners nor the peasantry of the island have been able to obtain paying prices for the starch, but recently an Arrowroot Growers’ and Exporters’ Association had been formed, to which nearly all the owners of pri- vate estates belong. The memoers of the Association have agreed not to sell arrcwroot in the United Kingdom below 2d. per lb.—a figure which allows a fair profit to be made. One result of this is that the price now being obtained for arrowroot in the intercolonial markets is higher than the average price previ- ously realized. Taken altogether, the outlook for arrowroot at the present time is much brighter, and it appears likely that its production will prove more remunerative in future than it has been for several years past. Sugar-cane is grown chiefly at New Adelphi; here a sugar mill is also main- tained by the Government. A small charge of 2s. per barrel of sugar and 1d. per gallon of syrup is made to the people for the use and upkeep of the works. These comprise an old muscovado sugar plant, and the loss of sugar through defective crushing of the cane, and in the handling of the juice is consider- able; still, the system of manufacture is one which the small holders under- stand fairly well. It is doubtful the 346 industry has proved very remunerative, however during the past three or four years owing to the extension of cotton planting throughout the island, and — the ccnsequent reduction in the acreage planted in sngar-cane. The producers at New Adelphi have been able _ to dispose of their sugar and syrup, locally, - at fairly good prices. From the time the scheme was started it was thought desirable to encourage the small growers to establish per- manent crops on portions of their lands in order that they might not have to depend so much on ground provision crops, sugar and arrowroot, and with this object in view, as has been men- tioned before, a large number of cacao — and other plants, but chiefly cacao, have been annually raised by the Agricultural Department and distributed free to them. In order to ascertain the progress made, and to inspect the condition of the permanent economic plants cultiv- ated, the Agricultural Superintendent made a complete tour through the dis- tricts toward the end of 1906, and the following extracts are taken from a report submitted by him to the Adminis- trator :— The chief permanent plant cultivated is cacao. Other permanent types grown in small numbers are coffee, nutmegs. coconuts, and cinnamon, but they do not form an important feature, and the produce is’ practically all consumed — locally. When the estates were acquired by the Government, a number of established cacao trees were already growing on them, more particularly on those in the Linley and Cumberland Valleys. The total number of trees was probably about 6,250, but many were in an unsatis- factory condition. Since 1900, the Impe- rial Department of Agriculture has encouraged the planting of cacao in places where it was thought it would do well. The Agricultural Instructor has selected suitable lands, and the small holders have planted them up according ~ to instructions given. a The Agricultural Department's nur- — series for raising cacao and other plants were situated at the Botanic Station and the Georgetown Experiment Sta- tion. Besides, small nurseries have been — formed in the Linley and Cumberland Valleys for raising plants for the small holdings there. The latter were main- tained from Land Settlement funds. — fu addy to the plants raised by the epartment, a good many have bea 4 raised by the small holders themselves and planted out on their lands. a y ies oF * CI nae i eB AR — ey eae f = —s- = Wd ae Pea te een Te oes f Py yy ~ See = >) it eee ras Sea ; “ ey ~ ae Asaresult of the tour of inspection, it is estimated that the number of cacao trees and plants now growing on the estates in good or fair condition is fully 60,000, the larger portion of course being young plants. The total amount of cacao produced at the present time on each estate has been carefully estimated with the following results :— Number > % of bags Kstate. of cacao i produced, Linley Valley estates is 30 Cumberland Valley estates ... 15 Clare Valley and Questelles... _ Richmond Hill . 34 _ Park Hill nce cbr 3 New Adelphi Ay ae 4 Total vos B2E-583 It will be observed that the total esti- mated output of cacao is from 52-535 bags. With. the exception of Clare Valley and Questelles, a progressive annual increase in yield is to be looked for from now onwards. The area of the small holdings varies from 1 acre to 7$ acres. The number occupied at the end of the year was 584. Cacao-planting has been attempted on portions of no lesss than 369 with vary- ing success. Some of the people have put in just a few plants and others a considerable number. In order that an idea may be formed of the progress, or otherwise, made on the estate, a brief summary of each has been worked out. The condition of the trees and plants has been classed under three heads as follows :— ‘Improved’ means that the trees are making good progress, are well cared for, and that in most cases the cultiv- tion has been extended. ‘Fair’ means that there is in the cultiv- ation approximately the same number of trees as in 19U4 when the census was taken, and that they are not making much progress. ‘Poor’ means that the treesare in poor condition through being planted in un- eavourable situations or not well cared or. - - The numbers in the summary are based on the figures given in 1904, as no later census has heen taken, 347 Miscellaneous. GENERAL SUMMARY REGARDING ALL THE LAND SETTLEMENT ESTATES. No. of No. of No, of cacao cacao cacao Estate, plants plants plants improved, fair. poor. Park Hill ad 2,180 2,616 1,074 New Adelphi ob 2,793 1,784 961 Richmond Hill oe 3,475 698 1,014 Clare Valley and Questelles.. 3,422 875 2,164 Cumberland Valley estate ... 9,437 3,026 6,147 Linley Valley estates 16,465 4,873 8,976 Total 36,402 13,272 20,436 The total number of plants in an ‘improved’ and ‘fair’ condition on all the estates, as shown in the list, is 49,674 as against 20,486‘ poor.’ In proportion to the total number of plants growing Park Hill and New Adelphi show the best record of progress, although estates such as Rosebank and Belmont in the Linley Valley group would show a still better record if taken separately. The progress made with the planting of permanent economic plants during the past few years has been consider- able, notwithstanding that at the outset many difficulties were experienced. Since 1906 work has been continued on much the same lines, and it is estimated that the quantity of cacao now produced annually is nearly double of that grown in 1906. The chief increases in yield have been obtained in the Linley Valley and at Park Hill; here there are some excellent cultivations giving satisfactory returns; on all the estates, however, with the exception of Olare Valley- Questelles, fair progress has been made. The following table shows the number of economic plants raised and distributed by the Agricultural Department free to small holders during the past ten years :— Economic plants Year. distributed. 1900 : 5,660 1901 7,679 1902-3 402* 1903-4 5,825 1904-5 15,424 1905-6 11,770 1906-7 6,209 1907-8 3,020 1908-9 4,521 1909-10 3,804 Total an Ae Of the above total, no less were cacao plants. With seed of good types of cacao now available on all the estates, small holders are able toraise their cwn plants, so that it has not been found necessary to continue the maintenance of nurseries ey 63,919 than 53,000 * Year of eruption of Soufriere. Miscellaneous, at Georgetown and the Linley and Cumberland Valleys; the nursery at the Botanic Station has, however, been maintained. The Agricultural Instructor has con- tinued closely to watch the cultivations and give advice and instruction to the growers in regard to manuring, pruning and other matters, and his assistance is now much appreciated. The progress made cultivation may be said to have been somewhat slow; still it should be mentioned that, under local con- ditions, cacao is rather a_ difficult crop to grow. The soils are, asa rule, too light and shallow, and it is only in sheltered places where there is a good depth of rich soil, and the rainfall is not excessive, that cacao thrives. Again, the small holders lack capital, and there have been no means by which they could obtain loans ata low rate of inter- est to establish cultivations; besides, they have not forgotten the disastrous hurricaneof 1898, which destroyed nearly all the cacao plantations in the island. Under these circumstances, it is not to be expected that many of them, even it they had the money, would care to incur the expense and take the risk of planting, on any considerable scale, a crop which takes about seven years to 1each a paying stage, since they are able to raise crops which give aquicker and more certain return on their outlay and for their labour. From the experience gained, it is not considered desirable that the Agricul- tural Department should insist on any large extension of cacao planting, but should rather endeavour to induce the small holders to practise more intensive methods of cultivation of the plots that are already established and are promis- ing well. Excellent progress has been made with the cultivation of Sea Island cotton as an annual crop at Clare Valley-Questelles and parts of the Linley Valley and Richmond Hill estates. On these estates there are open lands near the coast, Unfortunately, the lands of the other estates are not suitable for cotton cultiv- ation, so that the area available is limited. Although the industry was introduced in 1903, it was not until 1906 that a serious attempt at cotton-planting was made by the small holders. In that year 48 acres was planted, but since there has been a progressive annual increase in the area cultivated, which during the present season has reached 290 acres. Of this total, Clare Valley-Questelles with cacao 348 is represented by no less than 236 acres, _ ? and itis on this estate, therefore, that most progress has been made. . ; The details for the several years are as follows :— Wer BAN) Area of cotton planted, Season. Clare Valley-Questelles. cres, 1906-7 14 1907-8 50 1908-9 964 1909-10 151 1910-11 236 The yield per acre for each season has been satisfactory. This is in no small measure due to the advice and instruc- tions givenby the Agricultural Instructor in regard to the crop. 1 It is estimated that the value of the present season’s cotton crop grown on the Land Settlement estates will exceed £2,000, or an all-round gross value of over £10 per acre. During the last season the Govern- ment inaugurated a system ~whereby seed-cotton is purchased from small growers throughout the Colony on a profit-sharing or co-operative basis at the Government Cotton Ginnery. This has had an excellent effect, for besides ensuring that growers geta fair market price for their cotton, it induces them to put forth their best efforts in the cultivation of their lands, and has led to an extension of cotton-planting. = The system of purchasing cotton may be briefly described as follows :— Seed-cotton brought for sale is first of © all graded, and then a price is paid which is equal to one-fifth of the esti- mated value of the lint, less 2c. per lb. to cover freight ard other charges. For instance, if the market value of first grade white lint is 37c. per lb., the price paid for seed-cotton is 7c. per lb. The seed is not returned to the grower, but retained tocover the cost of ginning and baling the lint; but should the proceeds of the sale of the seed exceed le. per lb., the amount of the excess isadded to the bonus distributed at the end of the season. The bonus distributed has been e caval to four-fifths of the net profits made. | This is calculated on a percentage basis on the amount paid on account to the growers. For example, if £1,800 is paid on account for seed-cotton, and at the end of the season it is found that the net profit made by the sale of lint and seed is £450, the amount available for distribution would be £360, which is equal to a bonus of 20 percent, or 4s. ~~ for every worth 4, quantity of seed-cotton sold ~ ) ‘4 Ss — OcrosER, 1911,) ~ The successful results already obtained under this system by the peasantry have ensured that a much larger acreage will be planted in cotton on the Land Settlement estates during the coming season, Besides dealing with questions con- cerning the best manner of growing and handling different crops, the question of maintaining the fertility of the lands of the small holdings has received, and continues to receive, a good deal of attention on the part of the Officers of the Agricultural Department, and it is gratifying to note that very satisfactory progress has been made. The small holders have had to be con- stantly instructed in the making of drains to prevent washing, the formation of compost heaps and manure pens, the growing of leguminous and other plants for green dressing purposes the utili- zation of grass and bush as a mulch for permanent crops and for arrowroot, the rotation of crops, and in pasture follow- ing. Further, in order to prevent waste ot valuable organic matter, the burning of bush, except with the permission of the Agricultural Instructor, has been strictly prohibited. Although a large measure of success has attended the efforts made with Land Settlement at St. Vincent, and most of the difficulties which presented. them- selves at the outset have been surmount- ed still, when looked at to-day in the light of past experience, the scheme appears to be somewhat incomplete. Had it been possible to arrange agencies for the disposal, on co-operative lines, of the _. produce and stock of the small holders, involve, and to form co-operative credit banks on the Raiffeisen system on the different estates, the scheme might have proved an even greater success. In most countries where plans for the settlement of the people of the land are being carried out, these matters have received a great deal of attention; but whether success would have attended local efforts in this direction at the com- mencement of the scheme it is not possible to say, as the circumstances of the small holders now are quite different trom those of ten years ago. During the past two years, as was previously mentioned, the Government has successfully introduced a system for the purchase of cotton on a _ profit- sharing basis, but it is questionable if it would be wise to extend the system further so as to include other products, owing to the large amount of extra work and responsibility that it would It should rather be left to the 349 Miscellaneous. people themselves to form co-operative agencies for the purchase and sale of their produce, the Government of course giving all possible help and encourage- ment. At the present time agencies might be started for dealing with such products as cacao, arrowroot, cassava starch and ground nuts. A few months ago, a small number of the better class of small holders at Clare Valley-Questelles formed an agricultural credit bank, and suitable rules embody- ing some of the best features of the Raiffeisen system were drawnup. The Government, in order to start the bank on a sound business footing, made a loan of £25 at 5 per cent. interest per annum. Should this pioneer bank prove a success it is likely that others will be started in different districts on similar lines. It will be seen that serious efforts have recently been undertaken to make the scheme more complete, and itis hoped that success will attend them. CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, PROGRESS REPORT LVI.} MEMBERSHIP. Since the meeting of the Board held on 14th August, the following have become members of the Society :—C, J. Owen, W. G. Bayley, William Gibson, H. Wol- tersdorf, HK. G. Adamaly & Co., P. Alfred L. Dias, Henry A. Perera Mudaliyar, Camora Municipal (Margoa), H. A. McMillan, Bosanquet & Co., J. D. Finch Noyes, A. H. Taylor and Seep Review, CACAO. 5 A Manual on the Cultivation and Curing of Cacao by J. H. Hart, late Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Trinidad. London, Duckworth, 1911, 307 pp. The name of Hart will always be closely associated with Cacao cultivation in the West Indies. By asad stroke of fate the author of this book did not survive to see its publication, Mr. Hart. after retiring from Government service in 1908, died in Trinidad on February 18th, 1911, at the age of sixty-four, and his loss will be deeply felt wherever agriculture is pursued in the tropics. The work now before us makes a great advance both in style and contents over the paper covered volume published in 1892, of which we believe it represents the third edition, and we have no hesitation in recording our opinion that the book islikely to become, and to remain for many years, the standard work upon the subject of Cacao. The book deals successively and at length with the botany and nomenclature of cacao, with the operations of planting and cultivation, and with the nature and treatment of diseases both of animal and of vegetable origin. The processes of harvesting, fermenting and drying are dealt with in considerable detail, whilst later chapters discuss questions of yield and price, food value and manu- facture—in fact no branch of the subjects is any way neglected. The methods of curing in vogue in Trinidad differ considerably from those employed in Ceylon, the process of clay- ing, for example, being one which is not very likely to find favour in this country, But the best methods of estate treat- ment and cultivation are probably much the same all the world over, and in this connection we would specially commend to Ceylon readers the twelve pages which deal with ‘‘ manuring,” and which contain in our opinion an admirable epitome of this difficult subject. Mr. Hart’s views on manuring are the result of long continued experience of practical work upon actual cacao estates, his con- clusions are remarkably confirmed by the result of scientific experiments carried out during the past nine years at Peradeniya. ‘Let us premise,” writes Hart, “ that a tree in good health needs no manure. Such a tree is doing its work well, and to the fullest extent, and therefore to feed it with manure would be like over- feeding a horse, and it would just as diseases, ie varieties of fungal disease, but he is not — quite up to date, asno mention ismade quickly get out of condition.” again, ‘‘The application of manures to trees in good health and in average bearing would tend to encour- age rank and sappy growth which would be non-productive and loss of crop would result.” Manures may, however, be employed with advantage to bring back- ward trees into bearing, or to enable a tree which has set a heavy crop to bring that crop to maturity. | , The practise of deep forkirg, and even that of digging manures into the ground is unhesitatingly condemned. ‘To dig deeply about the roots of a surface feeding plant for the purpose of apply- ing manure would be absolutely absurd, as we should thereby destioy the very organs or mouths, which are needed to take up the plant food presented to them, and are situated in the proper place to carry out the process to the best advantage.” ‘‘The writer has seen the practise carried out with dire effect more than once in Trinidad, and it is quite certain that, although it may be carried out with considerable safety in a tem- perate climate, when trees are at rest, it is fraught with the greatest danger in the tropics.” ‘‘The destruction of roots which the operation of burying manure occasions, would, in most cases, 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 again, ‘‘ The cacao tree, although it ‘likes a deep rich soil, is also a surface- feeding plant, and the ground around the trees cannot be forked or dug with impunity, tor, although the tree will stand considerable hardship, it is never- theless materially injured when the roots are mutilated.” The best kind of manure for cacao, according to Hart is dung, and it should _be applied superficially in the form ofa mulch. Any kind of a mulch is bene- ficial, and it would appear as if the surface feeding roots are specially sen- sitive and require special protection, so that any removal of the natural surface - mulch of leaves which covers the ground of all good cacao estates would be highly injurious. [tis clearly impossible for us in the — n short space at our disposal to deal with all the chapters of this interesting book — at the length which we have accorded to the chapter onmanucing. As regards Hart enumerates eighteen And . strong ae ee —_—- ya Sas Sa oe = RO ER Ge eee RT ey Ba a res ~ and to be cultivated. in Ceylon. Octormr, 1911.) of Rorer’s work, actually carried out in ' Trinidad, which establishes the identity of stem and a pod canker, and attributes both to the agency of Phytophthora, a ‘result recently confirmed by Petch in Ceylon. As regards the varieties of cacao, _Hart’s classification differs little from that of Sir Daniel Morris which was adopted by the reviewer in a circular published in 1904. The Old Red variety of Ceylon appears to agree most nearly with the Venezuela Criollo of Hart’s | classification, whilst the types figured of Trinidad Forastero Veraguso and Foras- tero Amelonado can be closely matched by two of the most prominent varieties of cacao growing on the Experiment Station, Peradeniya. Our experience does not support Hart’s view as to the constant inter-crossing of cacao varie- ties. There are now growing on the Experiment Station two acres, one of Green Nicaraguan Criollo and one of a red form of the same variety. Practi- 359 Miscellaneous. parental pods, although the trees from which the seeds were taken grewin a mingled group,red and green alternately. We have omitted to refer to an import- ant matter in connection with cultiv- ation upon which the author’s views have changed since the early days of his expe- rience with cacao. Formerly Hart was opposed to the use of any kind of shade, but more recently he has come tothe conclusion that the correct amount of shade is a matter of the greatest import- ance. This is certainly the case in Ceylon where proper attention to the growth of shade trees is one of the lead- ing factors of successin cacao cultiv- ation. In Trinidad two species of Ery- thrina are used for this purpose— relations of the dadap which plays such an important part on Ceylon Cacao estates. For further points of interest we must refer the reader to the book itself, which is one that should find a place on the cally all the trees on both plots have shelves of every up-to-date cacao preserved the precise colours of the planter. R, H. LOCK. Gorrespondence. “COW” TREE OF CEYLON AND PAPAYA. Gdefogguritb S. R. T,, Valavnur, 10th September, 1911. Sir,—I request that you will be good enough to let me know in detail about the milk-yielding treeGymnema Lactiferum, which is reported to yield milk aon co M; wish to cultivate the same, and so I earnestly request of you to give me full inform- “ation on the subject at your earliest convenience, and oblige. I further request that you will be good enough to let me know also about the cultivation of papaw or Papaya. Its juice when manufactured finds a ready market, and it is used for digestion. A friend of mine told me that I can get the information from you, and so have to trouble you.—Y ours sincerely, -N. R. RANGACHARI, [We are afraid our correspondent has been misled. Here is what Trimen says about the Gymnema :— G.Lactiferum, Kurunnan S. and T. This is the Cow Plant of Ceylon, of which so many fables have been written (Tennent, Ceylon 1, 101, foot note) based on the erroneous description of Hermann that its milky latex is a substitute of the milk of the cow. The leaves are believed to increase the secretion of milk (in animals). 7 As regards papaw, we quote from the U. S. Consular reports for June :— ‘* Papaw juice is extracted from the fruit of the papaw tree, which grows rapidly, attaining its full bearing capacity in a year. It produces from forty to fifty papaws ofadark green colour, ripening to deep yellow, in shape resembling a squash. A_ very light superficial incision is made in the fruit, from which exudes a clear water-like juice, which on exposure to the air becomes opaque. As it drips from the fruit itis received in a_ por- celain-line receptacle. As itis very cor- rosive, metal receptacles would injure its appearance and qualities. It possesses great digestive virtues, and the refined article is considered superior to all animal pepsins. After the desired quantity has been collected, the juice is placed in shallow porcelain or glass-lined pans and allow- ed to evaporate. While this is not a very delicate or difficult operation, it requires considerable attention, so that the juice will dry uniformly and the product be white and well granulated. In its granulated state it is shipped to the United States, undergoes a _ refining process, and is sold as the papaw of commerce for medicinal purposes. The ripe papaw is palatable and an excellent aid to digestion. Meat wrap- ped in papaw leaves for a short time becomes quite tender without any impairment in appearance or taste, In extracting the juice the hands should be protected by rubber gloves, as in its crude state it attacks the tissues. An average tree will produce about 4 lb. of the granulated juice. 1t sells in the United States for from 4 to 6 dollars per lb, in the crude state.” ] MARKET RATES FOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS. — 1 (From Lewis & Peat?s Monthly Prices Current, London, 19th July, 1911,) : ‘ A ct » QUALITY. (QUOTATIONS QUALITY. QUOTATIONS. \ ALOES, Socotrine cwt.|Fair to fine +1708 @ 758 INDIARUBBER.(Contd.) \ 4 Zanzibar & Hepatic ,, |Common to good --/40s a 72s 6d Borneo Common to good is9da2s8d ABROWROOT (Natal) ib.|Fair to fine ..|8d a 9d Java Goodtofinered _—g- 28 10d a BEES’ WAX, crt Penang _ Low white to prime red|is gd a 2s 6d y Zanzibar Yellow __,, |Slightly drossy to fair .. |¥615s a £617s 6d| Mozambique Fair to fine red ball .../3s 6d a4s 2d Bombay bleached __,, |Fair to good £710s a £7 15s Sausage, fair to good ..135 6d a 4s ld * unbleached ,, |Dark to good genuine ../e. 143 a £6 736d Nyassaland Fair to fine ball 83 4d a 38 11d Madagascar », Dark to good palish | 26 10s a £7 Madagascar Fr to fine pinky & white/gs a 33 4d OAMPHOR, Japan __;, |Retined is 53d a 1s 8d Majunga & blk coated ..|23 1d a 286d China ,, |Fair average quality .../155s : Niggers, low to good ..|8d a 23 10d A CARDAMOMS, Tuticorin|Good to fine bold 5 4da 2s 8d New Guinea Ordinary to fine ball ..jas6da3s6d Middling lean 1s l0da 2s 1d (NDIGO, E,I. Bengal |Shipping mid to gd violetigs vd a 35 8d ; Malabar, Tellicherry | Good to fine bold .. [23 zd a 2s 8d Consuming mid. to gd.!23gd a 3s 1d ; Calicut Brownish .-/lg 8d a Ys 2d Ordinary to middling |2s 5d a 238d Mangalore ,, |Med brown to fair bold|2s 3da 3s 2U Oudes Middlingto fine 956d 4 2/8nom, Ceylon, Mysore _,, |Small fair to fine plump |is 8d a 3. Mid. to good Kurpah {9g 2d a, 2s 6d Malabar... |Fair to good » |ls 8d a 1s 10d Low to ordinary Isé6da2s ° Seeds, E.I,& Ceylon ,, |Fair to good . lis lid a 2s Mid. to fine Madras [None here Ceylon Long Wild ,, |Shelly to good .léd a 1s 6d MACE, Bombay & Penang|Pale reddish to fine |$s3da 286d CASTOR OIL, Calcutta,, |Good 2nds . (hd a 38d per Ib. Ordinary to fair 4 CHILLIES, Zanzibar cwt.|Dull to tine bright .|4us a 408 Java oh », Zood pale Bombay Wild CINCHONA BARK.—Ib.|Crown, Renewed 38d a 7d MYRABOLANES, — cwt|UG and Coconada Ceylon Org. Stem |2d a 6d Bombay , |Jubblepore Red Org. Stem {13d a 4id Bhimlies Renewed 3d a Sid Rhajpore, &c. F Root ldda ad Bengal », [Calcutta CINNAMON,Ceylon 1sts|Good to fine quill 64d ais 5d NUTMEGS— . |64’s to 57’s per Ib, Bade NM, a 53d a 1s 4d Singapore & Penang ,, sue 3rds ’ , 5d a 1s S atthe pea E aban oad NUTS, ARECA _ cwt,|Ordinary to fair fresh Chips, &c,.|Fair to fine bold zida 3d NUX VOMICA, Cochin /Ordinary to good CLOVES, Penang b.|Dull to fine bright pkd.|/1ida 1s 2d per ewt. Bengal ” ” Amboyna .{Dull to fine 9d a 10d Madras |_ 1: ” Ceylon - 3 ” 9d a 10d OIL OF ANISEED _ ,, |Fair merchantable | Zanzibar Fair and fine bright |sd a 8}d CASSIA ,, According to analysis Stems .|Fair 3d LEMONGRASS ,», {Good flavour & colour COFFEE NUTMEG », |Dingy to white Ceylon Plantation cwt.|Medium to bold 70s a 113s CINNAMON ,». |Ordinary to fair sweet Native Good ordinary CITRON ELLE ., [Bright & good flavour Liberian », |Fair to bold 62s a 6838 ORCHELLA WEED—ewt|_ . COCOA, Ceylon Plant. ,, |Special Marks 75s a 85s 6d Ceylon » [Fair ” Ked to good 658 a 733 Madagascar », |Fair “ Native Estate 5, (Ordinary to red 438 a 643 PEPPER — (Black) Ib. Java and Celebes ,, |Small to good red 25s a 778 Alleppy & Tellicherry|Fair oo [5H COLOMBO KUOT ,, |Middling to good 1s 6d a 15s Ceylon ,, 4, |_9, Lo fine bold heavy .. CROTON SEEDS,sift. cwt.|Dull to fair 473 6d a 558 Singapore .. [Fair see Me ae CUBEBS a » |Ord. stalky to good 190s a. 20Us Acheen & W. C. Penang|Dull to fine one 5 GINGER, Bengal, rough,, |Fair 358 nom, (White) Singapore ,, {Fair to fine ae » Calicut, Cut A,, |Smallto fine bold 80s a 85s Siam », |Fair see B »» |Small and medium 160s a 70s Penang ’ Fair oe tee .- Cochin Rough ,, |Common to fine bold |40s a 42s td Muntok », [Hair . ten Small and D’s 40s KHUBABB, Shenzi ..|Ordinary to good he Unsplit 36s Canton _.,|Ordinaryto good : High Dried. .|Fair to fine flat Dark to fair round Fair to fine wv Japan mn @UM AMMONIACUM ,, Ord. blocky to fair clean|40s a 67s 6d ANIMI, Zanzibar Pale and amber, str. srts |£15 a £16 és cc} little red|£12 a £14 Bean and Pea size ditto/75s a £12 10s lair to good red sorts Med. & bold glassy sorts|/£5a £7 Fair to good palish .../£4a£8 15s sal jt ese Rred. ...|£4 a £7 LOs Ordinary to good pale|25s a 32s 6d nom. SAGO, Pearl, large te ain ng medium small ” one ewt, Ib. SEEDLAC Madagascar SENNA, Tinnevelly 4BABIC EH. I. & Aden ” Turkey sorts ,, 47s 6d a 60s SHELLS, M. o’PEARL—|_ Ghatti », [Sorts to fine pale .,.|20s a 42s 6d nom Egyptian cwt.|Small to bold Kurrachee »» |Beddish to good pale ..,.|20s a 30s 3 b ‘9 ” ” ia Madras » |Dark to fine pale _ ...|158 a 25s ae Ay |e ” f ASSAFCETIDA » |Clean fr. to gd. almonds|£18 10d a £21 6d », |Fair to good +-/£8 58 a s214 12/6 com. stony to good block|258 a £15s Banda ,, |Sorts ...[218 6d a 298 6d KINO Fair to fine bright 9d als LAMARINDS, Calcutta.,,|Mid.to fine bl’k not stony/i0s a 12s pa MYRRH, Aden sorts cwt |Middling to good 55s. a 60s per cwt. Madras |Stony and inferior --/48.a 55 — ; ' Somali ,, 2 ls 50s a, 62s 6d TOR LOISESHELL— OLIBAN UM, drop ” \Good to fine white [45s a 50s Zanzibar, & Bombay Ib. |Small to bold i Middling to fair 35s a 40s Pickings pickings ,, |Low to good pale 12s 6d a 27s6d |TURMERIC, Bengal ewt.}Fair pie siftings ,, |Slightly foul to fine 20g a 22s 6a Madras ,, |Finger fair to rine bold {NDIA RUBBER Ib. (|Fine Para bis. & sheets|5s 5d Do. ,, bs [b . 9 Ceara ” ” 5s Cochin ” . ibe ae Ceylon, Straits, Crepe ordinary to fine. .|58 3d a5s 7d lbs 48" Malay Straits, etc. Fine Block _ (08 74. ; VANILLOES— tb, ay 4 a¢ Scrap fair to fine ..|49 4d a 48 8d Mauritius... Ists|Gd crystallized 34 a8$injl4sa 193 Assam Plantation .|48 2d Madagascar .,.} 2nds|Foxy & reddish 34a ,, (138 a 163 64 Fair Il to ord, red No. 1/38 a 3d 6d Seychelles. 3rds|Lean and inferior .. [128 6d a 13s Rangoon re mn 2s 6d a 3d VERMILLION .. Fine, pure, bright ay ‘ WAX, Japan, squares Good white hard THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE Tropical Agriculturist and Magazine of the 6. A. 8. ComMPiLED AND EpitED sy A. M. & J. FERGUSON. it No. 4.] OCTOBER, 1911. [Vol. IX. COCONUT PALM CULTIVATION AND PRODUCTION IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND iN CEYLON. The Philippine islands and islets, 3,141 in number, including the Sulu islands, have a total area of 127,853 square miles, against 25,331 for Ceylon, and a population not less than 8,200,000 (the Census of 19038 gave 7,635,426) against 4,105,553 found for this island in the Census of last March. Another comparison is between the Capitals: Manila having a population of 219,941 (in 1903) and Colombo having 211,284 this year. There are, however, about 25,000 ‘t Americans and Europeans’ in the Philippines and only 7,625 ‘* Huropeaus” (foreigners) inCeylon. Once more, the total Revenue ot the Philippines seems to exceed £4,500,000 sterling and that of Ceylon reaching to above 3 millions; while in Trade (Exports and Imports) the Philippines aggregate a value of about £17 millions sterling and Ceylon approximates to (if it does not exceed) 20 mil- lions sterling per annum. So far, by way of an introduction to our notice of the Coconut Palm industry, and information which came before us the other day from the Far Eastern Archi- pelago, If the ‘‘ Philippine Agricultural Review ” tor July can be trusted—and no doubt the American authorities have, by this time, taken care to provide official statistics, as approximately cor- rect as is possibie, in reference to a leading agri- cultural industry, —we must revise and enlarge our estimate of the cultivation of the Coconut Palm and its products in the Philippine islands. So also must the compilers of the ‘‘ Statesman’s Year-Book ” take steps to get the chapter on this tropical Dependency of the United States written up to date by a responsible official or resident in Manila. in their edition for this year, the Philippines’ exports of Copra for 1910 are given at a value of 9,153,951 dollars; but the actual quantities, and destinations, of the exports 46 should be got and given ; and if 125,140,822 kilo- grammes of copra are produced and made in one year (1910?) and exported we suppose, that would be over 120,000 tons, worth over £2,000,000 sterling (2—or equivalent of the figures in dollars ?). It will be interesting to compare the latest ‘‘ Philippine” figures with those we compiled a few years ago for the ‘*Coconut Planters’ Manual” :— In Phitippines* In Ceylon +. Total No, of Palms or trees 32,838,544 (bearing trees 22,000,000) Acres cultivated’ (not given) Nuts gathered... 937,927,927 Consumed _ for food ... 311,609,148 60,000,000 750,000 acres 1,200,000, 000 700,000,000 Export. 125,140,822 kilos or 2,458,123 cwt, 766,906 cwt.§ Copra t Oil t 6,993,513 liters or about 1,748,378 gallons or about 940,000 ewt. 616,377 owt. 9 Tuba (2) 174,483,484 ee Desiccated coco- : nut — 27,201,074 lb. Coconut Poonac ——= 309,589 cwt. Nuts (Exported) —— 16,114,088 num- ber || * Taken from ‘Philippine Agricultural Re- view ” for July 1911. + An estimate mainly (save in figures of actual exports)—framed some years back. +t Not clear if all these figures represent ex- ports only? If so the trade has increased enormously: in 1899 the Philippines exported 35,000 tons copra (122,906 tons given above), 500 tons coconut oil and 8 million nuts, § 772,032 in 1909. | 670,121 in 1908. . {| 21,188,692 in 1908, 362 It is clear from the above, that if the Philip- pines’ figures for ‘‘copra’ and ‘‘ oil” mean exports, Ceylon is much out-distanced in respect of these two products. But allowance may be made for our exports of ‘‘desiccated” and ordinary nuts—although ‘‘ poonac” being the refuse of the kernel after oil 1s expressed, does not count—that is, if the Americans do not manufacture the one (‘* desiccated ”) or ship the other (coconuts) from Manila? What ‘‘ Tuba” can be, we cannot tell—is there any one here able tc enlighten us, and if not, perhaps our Manila correspondent (an old Ceylon resi¢ent) can help us, It wiil be remarked that there ig, apparently, a greater crop of nuts in proportion to coco- palms (in bearing) in the Philippines than in Ceylon. Kar richer (volcanic) soil, we should say, may account tor this, and possibly more regular planting during the first twelve years anc cultivation of the older trees in that period of American occupation of the islands. In Ceylon, the bulk of the Sinhalese who own coconut gardens or topes, pay little attention to their palms save to gather the nuts which, pro- bably, average 15 to 20 a year per palm in place of double or treble that number which might be got if due cultivation and manuring were attended to. From the estimates of the crops given, 311} million nuts are said to be used for “food’”’ in the Philippines out of 938 millions gathered, leaving 6164 million nuts for export in copra and oil (?); while in Ceylon 700 mil- lions are counted for “food” and 500 millions equalthe export. The rules Jaid down (from long experience) in Ceylon, indicate 40 full grown coconuts from an average good palm being required to give one gallon of oil, 124 of which (or say 500 nuts) equal acwét.; while copra re- quires 170 to 200 nuts to acwt.; and 3 nuts are usually reckoned to every ‘‘lb.” of ‘‘ desiccated ” product. Apply these rules or requirements to the Ceylon Exports indifferent productsin 1910 and we wake out that 540 millionsof average nuts would be equivalent to the total ; butin the case of the Philippines we find (by our Ceylon rules) that 870 (in place of the 640) millions of nuts, would be required to give the copra and oil figured apart from the ‘* Tuba,” One explanation to reconcile the difference might be found if ths Ceylon nuts are smaller ; but we cannot think it is the fact, and we would ask our Manila corre- spondent to give us his opinion on this point and to send us any fuller local reports or statis- tics on agricultural production and exports for the Philippine islands, Since writing the above we find that Tuba is a beverage and a recent Philippine publica— . tion contains the following reference toit :—‘‘The production of tuba, or palm wine, in certain cases, may be more remunerative and probably not more injurious to the trees, than the production of copra. Itis possible that the maturing of nuts draws upon the vitality of the young tree more severely than would the loss of the sap (tuba) from the flower buds.” ‘I'he production in the Philippines in 1910 was 174,482,484 litres or nearly 39 million gallons. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist NOTES FROM THE COCONUT DiSs- TRICT, N.-W, P,; GEYLON. Marawila, Sept. 21st. The Surveyor-General’s Chart shews ABSENCE OF RAIN only along a narrow strip of the North- Western littoral. Whilethe whole island has had rain and deluges, we have not had even one slight shower. The croaking of frogs and the activity of white ants betokened rain for a long while, but so far, the signs of rain have not been realised. The supply of water for domestic purposes has been gradually de- creasing till we are reaching famine level, The decrease in the;number of PADDA BOATS for the transport of produce is unaccountable, unless the boats have gone onthe Kelani and Kalu Gangas. I thought the rise in boat-hire might have been due to the low water in the canal. The water in the canal has risen somewhat and so has boat-hire. Whereas Ks.40 to Rs.45 was the standard rate, Rs.100is now asked as boat-hire to Colombo. I have had the honour and the great pleasure of a visit from MR. WALLACE R. WESTLAND, Manager of the Papua Rubber Plantation Co., Ltd. Though the Company is a Rubber Com- pany, yet coconuts are planted largely. Their cultivation will be extended, while that of rub- ber will stop. The growth of the COCONUT PLANT IN NEW GUINEA is equal to the best Ihave seen inthe Island, judging by the photographs! wasshown, The eoil is chiefly volcanic and sandy and is ex- tremely rich, judging not only by the growth of the coconut plants, but also by the under- growth, which isheavy and very thick. Sisal hemp, too, is grown on the plautation, which is 5,000 acres in extent. The rainfall varies from 40 te 150 inches on different parts of the plantation. The labour is native and is indentured. It costs £2 to bring a ccoly to the estate. The pampering he receives when there, Mr. Westland detailed recently in your columns. Owing to the want of labour, almost every agricultural operation is me- chanical. The land is not heavily timbered. The trees are felled and the stumps are grubbed with the ‘‘ Devil stump puller,” with which the biggest stumps are pulled out by two coolies. If the trees be hard wood, they are sawn into the required lengths to be sold or used for piles for buildings on the estates. As in the Straits, all the buildings are on piles. But not for the same reason. The land is not low-lying and drained. The inferior timber trees are sawn into lengths and heaped up by mules with chains and hooks and burnt. All branches are cut into lengths and are taken in the Company’s boats to town, when going for stores, and are sold there. The pro- ceeds cover the cost of opening the land. The ie and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultual Society.—October, 1911, Company has a fleet of motor and steam boats and small schooners and quite respectable jetties on the plantation. The agricultural animals are chiefly mules, imported from Aus- tralia and are about 14 hands high. After the trees on the land to be planted are felled and the stumps pulled out, the undergrowth is mowed with an animal power MOWER and burnt. Holes are dug by coolies and they are. filled with plough and rake drawn by mules. If ne- cessary, the mouths of the holes are trimmed by coolies. Thereafter, all the operations. are me- chanical and up to-date. The soil is thoroughly cultivated and kept in a proper state of tiltb. Writing to me originally, Mr. Westland stated : ‘*Tt may interest you to know that on one of our experimental estates, the coconuts looked yel- low, stunted and showed very poor growth for their age. The entire estate was thoroughly loughed twice, once up and once across the ines. The result has more than justified the expense. The coconuts now are green, vigorous, and have made astonishingly rapid growth in the short time that has elapsed.” I commend this experience to all coconut planters in Ceylon. For experimental purposes, different kinds of LEGUMINOUS SHRUBS are grown on different plantations and turned into the soil. Mark the method of doing so. A wide furrow is made with the plough. A mower follows and _ cuts down the shrubs adjoining the furrow. A mule rake fills the furrow with these. The plough on its return journey fills up the furrow and covers up the leguminous plants. Tho process goes on till the whole land is ploughed and the leguminous plants are buried. This is very far in advance of anything we have reached. Neces- sity is said to be the mother of invention. In Papua, necessity (the want of labour), has taught agriculturists to adapt methods of culti- eee which are well nigh perfect. e PLOUGH used being the disc, the danger of its being wrecked by coming in contact with roots and stumps is obviated. The disc jumps over every obstacle. Mr. Westland says that he has tried almost every kind of plough, but for effective work, nothiug can come near the disc. I again appeal to engineering firms tv import a few ‘* Massy-Harris” disc ploughs and to the Agri- cultural Society to give demonstrations of their work. One of the MEANS OF TRANSPORT on this Papuan Estate is with sledges, where the sand is heavy. i told Mr. West- land that it was a strange circumstance that this idea occurred to Mr. C R Cumber- land. When be was A,G.A. of Chilaw, he asked me whetherI did not think that it sledge-like contrivances took the place of cart wheels, draught on the estate [ am in charge of, would be easier. I thought that the revolu- tion of wheels made traction easier than rigid sledges, He was certain his idea was good and intended to experiment with sledges, on the sea 363 shore at Chilaw. Before he could put his idea into operation, he was transferred elsewhere. {n the old coffee days, Mr. Westland, senior, and Mr. W H Wright, the veteran planter of Mirigama, were both at Haputale and must have known each other very well. The latter will be interested to know that Mr. Westland junior, met his son early this year. He had just returned from aholiday trip to Australia and wassaid to have been in excellent health. He is doing very well in Papua. At the time the STEAM DIGGER was introduced to the C.T. Plantation Oo.’s Joconut Estates, after examination of its work, I was of opinion that a steam plough would be preferable toit. That is a plough drawn by a steam traction engine. I placed my views before my employers, but they were not acted upon. Mr Wernham from the Solomon Islands called on me and in conversation said hs had a steam plough on Messrs. Lever Bros.’ Coconut Estates, which could plough 20-30 acresa day. Mr West- Jand says he uses a steam plough and one of the Directors of his Company in Australia has a motor plough which draws a string of ploughs with a harrow behind. The work of ploughing and harrowing is done in one operation. —Cor. HECENT EXPERIMENTS ON TEA IN JAVA. By A. Gorpon Howitt, B. Sc. (BERLIN.) It is now generally admitted that the only practicable method ot ascertaining the proper cultivation and manuring of sub-tropical and tropical economic plants is by carefully conduc- ted experiments. At one time it was believed that the analysis (chemical and physical) of a soil was necessary as a preliminary to actual experimen- tal work, but this rather expensive process is obviously of little value, since in the first place itis dificult to obtain a sample of soil which may be taken as an average of any plantation, and, secondly, the results so obtained —that is, the percentages of the plant foods, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, determined by usipg a1 per cent solution of citric acid—give no direct clue to the possibilities of that soil, and to the availability of the plant foods therein. Look- ing over a large number of analyses of typical soils from gravels up to heavy clays, one is struck with the small variations in the percentages of the essential plant foods, and these small varia- tions do not coincide with the great differences which actually exist in the fertility of the differ- ent classes of soils. Noteworthy, also, is the fact that even the percentages for the poorest soils show, when calculated per acre, a quantity of plant food which is far more than is required by ordinary crops. For instance, chemists tell us that, if the percentage of potash found by a 1 per cent solution of citric acid 1s above ‘U1 percent. then there is sufficient potach in the so1!, and the application of soluble potash manures is un- necessary. In giving this statement they over- look not only the many other factors which make up the fertility of a soil,but also the ‘‘rang- ing” powers of the roots of the various GrOps, 364 e.g., the deep roots of wheat as compared with the shallow roots of barley. Let us examine what ‘01 per cent potash really means, The ap- parent density of average soils isa little over 1, and taking the weight of a cubic foot of water at 62°51b., the weight of soil, calculated to a depth of 1 foot, gives roughly, 3,000,000 lb. per acre. Now ‘01 of this is equal to 300 lb. per acre, and even this is a considerable amount, or as much as would be contained in fully 5 cwt. of muriate of potash. Yet experiments have proved over and over again that the addition of, say, 1 to2 cwt. of soluble potash manures to these soils, together with nitrogenous and phosphatic manures, has given not only an in- crease, but a profitable increase, over the un- manured and incompletely-manured plots. To sum up the matter in characteristic American terseness, much of the natural potash in soils is ‘*just about as soluble as window-glass,” and so to secure a vigorous start for the young seedlings there must be present in the soil readily available supplies of all the essential pint foods, including potash, Planters are eginning to recognise this from actual experi- ence, with the result that complete, well- balanced manures, containing nitrogen, phos- phate, and potash, are being more and more used every year. Recent confirmation of this is given in the experiments conducted by Mr. R. von Nord- heim, on tea plantations in Java. These experiments were introduced in 1907, and the plots, four in number, were carefully chosen to ensure that they were all on the same _ level, and that the soil by previous results, was prac- tically uniform. The area in eachcase was, approximately, one bouw, equal to 1? acres, though the main point governing the area of each plot was the number of bushes, which was 6,000. The scheme of manuring of the four plots was as follows: 1, Unmanured (0) ; 2. 2 kg. crotolaria leaves, as green manuring per bush (nitrogen); 3, green manuring asin 2, with 20 grams 40 per cent superphosphate (nitrogen and phosphate); 4, manuring as in 3, with 30 grams 50 per cent muriate of potash (nitrogen, phosphate, and potash). The crotolaria leaves, which, on analysis, showed # per cent nitrogen, and from one-fifth to one-tenth percent of phosphate and potash to- gether, were chopped up, aud well mulched into the soil, whilst the artificial manures were dis- tributed evenly around each bush, ina circle about 15 fewtfrom the stem. The cultivation received by each plot wasthe same, and the results from December, 1907, to Nvovember, 1909, was as follows : Green Manur- Unmanured, ing only. 1st 2nd Ist 2nd quality quality quality quality é Ib. lb. Ib. Ib From December, 1°07, to Novembr, 1909, Green Leaves an 1,544 6,148 1,604 6,279 Dry tea for two years’ harvest bah 1,789 1,633 Increase over unmanured i 44 Value of increase at 9d ‘per lb, ~ 33s, The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist Green Manur- ing with Phos» Green manur- ing with Phos- phate. phate & Potasb. 1st 2nd Ist 2nd ical mb ma Da A=} a a=) = 2 a a ) 1b. Ib. ib, Ib. From December, 1907, to November, 1909, \Green Leaves 1513 6216 1671 6810 Dry tea for two years’ harvest 1797 1972 Increase over un- . manured 8 183 Vaiue of increase at 9d per lb. ; 6s 137s 3d In order to make sure that such a favour- able result to the application of a complete, well-balanced manure was no chance result, another set of experiments on younger tea was commenced in April, 1909, with the only difference that the number of bushes was 3,000, and the area accordingly of each plot was 4 bouw, or seven-eighths of an acre. In this ex- periment, also, the artificial manures were’ not distributed in a circle round the bushes, but were distributed over the crotalaria leaves, and mulched into the soilon the upper side of each bush. The manures, which need not be quoted, were just half the quantities used in the former experiment, and the re- sults from April, 1909, to December, 1919, were as follows :— Green manur- Unmanured. ing only. 1st 2nd 1st 2nd > b> Bm ca e =) = = aS ce 3 3 3 3 ] 3 a I a a Ib lb. Ib. Ib. From April, 1909, to De- cember, 1910, Green Leaves 750 5618 766 6039 Dry tea for 20 month’s harvest 1449 1550 Dry tea for one years’ harvest 869 930 Increase over un- manured a. 41 Value of increase at. 9a per lb, 45s 9d Green manur- Green Manur- ing with Phos- ing with Phos- phate. phate & Potash, Ist 2nd ist 2nd leben tle seers = = Ss 5 =) lb. lb. lb 1b. From April, 1909, to De- cember, 1910, Green Leaves 706 5538 7389 6536 Dry tea for 20 months’ harvest . 1424 1663 Dry tea for one year’s harvest 854 998 Decrease of Increase over un- manured 15 129 Value of increase at 9d per.lb. Loss 96s 9d Commenting on these results, Mr. Nordheim states that as these experiments were carefully conducted under the supervision of European planters, one may safely conclude that the two essential plant foods in this plantation are nitrogen and potash, for from both experiments the addition of superphosphate diminished rather than increased the yields. One has abundant proof, however, of the advantage of and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Socrety,— October, 1911, the application of artificial manures, in addi- tion to green manuring, and itis shown here, as has been found in English agriculture, where stable manure comes into question, that it is more economical to apply 9 medium quantity of stable manure, and to supplement this with artificial manures. It isa common belief that increase in quan- tity is gained at the expense of quality, and to ascertain whether any truth lay in this state- ment, Mr. Nordheim sent samples of the tea from each plot to the Tea Expert Bureau, Bandoeng. These samples were only distin- — guished by numbers, and in this way the tea expert had noideaas to the purpose for which this test was required. Taking as a standard for comparison the best quality Assam tea, the report of the specialist was as follows :— 1, (Fully manured plot.) Best quality, fine aroma, of great strength, and fine, clear infusion. 2. (Without potash.) Inferior quality, not the same strength, placed in Class 2. 3. (Green manuting only.) Still inferior to No. 2. 4. (Unmanured.) Very inferior quality. From the second experiment, samples were also sent to the tea expert, and the results corroborate the above statement, except that the sample from the “‘unmanured plot” proved to be of better quality than the ‘without potash ” and “green manuring only” samples, Here, then, we have convincing proof of the ‘value of potash manures to tea plantations. In this case, the addition of potash manures has given not only a profitable increase, but, at the same time, has produced a first-class quality of leaf, which is bound to command always the top price in the market. Planters are beginning to realise the benefits due to the application of artificial manure, and especially potash manure, but there are still many who adhere to the ‘‘rule of thumb” and haphazard methods of cultivation and manuring, and to them we commend the perusal of these results, so as to convince them that it pays, and pays well, to adopt the more modern methods of tropical agriculture.—H. & C. Mail, Sept. 1. THE F.M.S. IN 1910. THE CHIEF SECRETAKY’S SURVEY OF THE YHAR. AGRICULTURAL FIGURES. The agricultural acreage, and including padi or horticulture, is placed at 396,259 acres, an increase of 42,870 acres over the previous year. The following return gives the principal acre- ages planted for the past five years. Coconuts. Rubber. Coffee. 1906 105,000 99,230 9,708 1907 112,560 126 235 10,833 1908 118,697 168,048 8,431 1909 123,815 196,953 5,885 1910 130,344 245,774 6,468 The following return shows the enormous in- crease in the rubber industry, ' 865 RUBBER STATISTICS, 1909 AND 1910, 1909. 1910. No. of estates 377 435 Acreage in possession 500,431 579,598 Acreage planted to December 31st 195,953 245,774 Exported, lb. 6,087,815 12,212,526 Value, exports $14,455,982 $38,466, 140 Price of rubber per lb. 5/02 to 9/84 4/0 to 11/104 The system adopted by some estates of srow- ing catch-crops for four to five years with the object of obtaining revenue whilst the rubber is not in the producing stage materially re- tards the growth of the rubber and is con- demned by the Director of Agriculture; as pointed out by him, unless the stumps are afterwards removed at considerable expense, they are reservoirs for root disease. He advo- cates clean weeding, but when labour is in- sufficient for this he considers a cover crop may be used: experiments are being made by the department in this direction with the object of ascertaining the most serviceable crop. Of a total area of 27,750 square miles the area of reserve forests is represented by an area of 1,008 square miles: during the year under re- port 259 square miles were added to the reserve. Further areas amounting to 167 square miles were proposed as reserved but not finally gazetted; also a large camphor forest in the Rumpin district of over 100 square miles was explored and partly demarcated. THE PRESENT HIGH PRICE OF COFFEE. The older generation of planters and merchants look upon coffee in the light of a discarded lover, grown old and wrinkled and sadly changed from the days of her young and joyous youth. They occasionally hear of her, some meet her at rare intervals while a very small minority even yet cling to the old allegi- ance forgetting the horror of the past in the thought that io the days of her first youth be- fore the dread malady overtook her she was a good and generous friend. Coffee has become of sosmall account in Ceylon that we need say no more than refer to the year 1875 when 873,654 ewt. of plantation and 114,674 of native ccffee were exported from Ceylon—or better still to 1870 which gave a total of 1,913,904 cwt. of both kinds of which 885,728 cwt, of ‘‘ planta- tion” kind was gathered from 160,000 acres in full bearing and 25,000 acers of young coffee. Now there are, approximately, but 900 acres (Arabian and Liberian) and the 1909-1910 export of both kinds was only 1,329 cwt. When we read, therefore, of high prices ruling elsewhere for the product we are bound to feel, if not a pang of jealousy, a feeling of keen regret at what might have been. That prices are rising there can be no doubt. The price of the standard quality of coffee in New York, ‘‘ No. 7 quality Rio,” for instance, was 10:09 cents on the 28th June last, and, except during a few weeks in December and January last, it was the highest that had been recorded within the last 366 decade. A primary cause for this is that the world’s visible supply of coffee on the 30th June last, 11,085,000 bags, was considerably lower than it had been since August, 1906. The deliveries of coffee, both in Europe and the United States last season, were somewhat below the average for the last five years, but this cannot be ascribed altogether to a falling- offin consumption, since the stocks in both countries at the end of Jnne last were consider- ably smaller than they had been at any time during the last five years. But the figures which will probably most interest the older planters are the estimates of the current season’s coffee crop in all the coffee producing countries of the world, which have been tabulated with the greatest care by four firms of leading Kotter- dam coffee-brokers, viz, Messrs. Duuring and Zoon, Dalen and Plemp, Kolff and Witkamp; and Leonard, Jacobson and Zonen. Side by side with these figures we give in the following table the actual yields, in bags of 60 kilos each, obtained in each of these different countries in the two previous seasons, z.e., the twelve months ending the 30th June, 1910, and 1911:— 1911-12. 1910-11. 1911-12. (Estimates.) (Actual.) (Actual. Rio and Santos 13,500,000 10,548,000 14,944,000 Bahia & Victoria 470,000 350,000 409,000 Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, New Granada, Central America 1,650,000 1,750,000 1,523,000 Laguayra, P. Ca- : belio, Mara- caibo. 1,000,000 950,000 1,070,000 Cuba, Porto Rico, and British West Indies h 180,000 150,000 230,000 Hayti .. 400,000 . 350,000 451,000 Java, Government and Private... 330,000 200,000 +~=—-:127,000 Padang 50,000 40,000 59,000 Menado, Macassar, Timor, etc. ... 18,000 20,000 13,000 British Kast Indies and Manilla... 175,000 120,000 — 207,000 Africa, Mocha, etc. 160,000 150,000 142,000 Total ... 17,933,000 14,628,000 19,175,000 If this estimate proves nearly correct, and the deliveries in Europe and the United States remain as last year, viz., 17,663,000 bags, it is evident that the statistical position of coffee at the end of this season will remain very much as it was at its commencement. On the other hand, if the crops turn out as estimated, and the deliveries equal those of two years ago, viz.. 18,824,000 bags, the world’s visible supply of coffee will be reduced and prices will probably increase. Lt is noteworthy that in the record year, 1995-07, when over 20,000,000 bags of coffee were shipped from Brazil alone, the total production in the word amounted to 24,020,000 bags and the deliveries in Europe and America to only 17,677,000 bags, The price of No. 7 quality Rio in New York varied during that season between 5°20 and 6°95 cents per Ib., or about half what it is at present, The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist WHITE-ANT-PROOF TIMBER. THE CYPRESS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. INTERESTING PARTICULARS, A Perth (W. A.) correspondent writes :—In tropical countries the depredations of the white- ant are as familiar to most people as anything possibly could be, Large sums of money have been allocated in various Eastern dependencies of the Empire to stimulate research work which may result in an exterminator of the dread ther- mites being formed. So far, however, success has not been recorded. There are palliatives, but at best these are mere stop gaps. A timber able to resist white-ants has long been wanted, and now it appears to have been found in the preat north-west of this State. So important is the subject that no excuse is necessary for detailing the virtues of the Cypress pine, for such is the name given-to thetree which produces this extra- ordinary wood. Mr.C. Young has lately reached Perth from the north-west, where he located a belt of Cypress pine. Tasked Mr. Young to tell me all about it, and his reply was :— “The timber growing on my land is what is generally known as Cypress Pine (Calistris Ro- busta) and grows, in many instances, to a height of 80 feet acd upwards, witha diameter of 2 feet. The area is situated 40 miles trom the Port of Wyndham, the most northerly port of Western Australia, The western boundary of the area is only some ten miles from a navigable arm (that is up to ten feet of the dead low tide) of the Cambridge Gulf. The grain of the timber is very close and works up to some satinlike polish; one of its several features is that it does not warp, twist or shrink in the process of drying or seasoning. It is not only white- ant proof, but is the most valuable timber known for use in the construction of jet- ties and wharves where the teredo plays such havoc with other woods. I have long resided in the north-west of the State, and the white-ants there are as plentiful as anywhere in India, Ceylon, or the Straits, and I can emphasize strongly the imperviousness of the Cypress pine to the thermites. Many of the telegraph poles used in the northern territory between Port Darwin and Pive Creek are of Cypress pine, and have been erected thirty- nine years ago and are sound as a kell today. In white-ant infested countries, the Cypress pine is of unique value for railway sleepers. There is, of course, its value in the manufacture of furniture and internal decorative work of houses. It lends itself in both cases to as- tonishingly beautiful results. ‘There is no fear of the timber being exhausted. On the area referred to alone I[ estimate the present cutting capacity at 300,000 loads of 600 feet per load. © Unlike most forest areas the cutting of the already marketable timber would not mean the extinction of the forest. Millions of young pines in all stages of growth are there to take the place of those cut. The Cypress pine only grows iu its natural state in the white-ant infested area. The pine forests are found over an enormous territory of the north of Austra- lia, but at present, owing to inaccessibility, and Magazine of the Ceyton Agricultural Society.—October, 1911. many of these forests little value.” ‘‘How,” I enquired, ‘‘about the forest in the Cambridge Gulf?” “This is the best located so far as accessi- bility to the markets of the world is concerned. It is only ten miles from navigable water.” ‘* What would you do to ship it, either cut or in logs, to Ceylon or India ?” ‘‘The easiest way would be by means of chartered sailing vessels of light draught. It are commercially of might be more advantageous to ship the timber - in logs, so they could be cut at port of destina- tion according to local requirements. For con- structional purposes, in connection with houses, stores, factories, etc., in tropical coun- tries, the timber has, in my opinion, no equal and [ understand that at Port Darwin there are many buildings which were erected of this timber many years ago and are still in a solid state.”—-S. C. M, Post, Sept. 12. THE DISTILLATION OF ORANGE FLOWERS AT GRASSE. (Oranges grow freely in Ceylon both in the lowcountry and upcountry up to 5,000 feet above sea—can nothing be done in distiliatior of flowers as in the Riviera >—A. M. & J. F.] The distillation of orange flowers on the French Riviera, and particularly in the district surround- ing Grasse, is a very important industry. Here 3,000 tons of these flowers are produced annually, not including the leaves and even the young fruit of the orange, which is also utilised for making the essential oi], so valuable in the manufacture ot perfumes. The best quality of oil, called néroli, is obtained from the flowers of the wild, or bitter orange tree, locally termed bigarader. The flowers of the sweet orange are not so productive, and yield a quality known as neroli doux, which is inferior to the other. A still more inferior quality is obtained from the brouwts (the leaves and newly-formed fruit), this quality is called petit grain, The flowers are gathered during the month of May. For their distillation an ordinary still may be used, bat a special apparatus is preferable. These are of smaller size at bottom than those employed for distilling spirits, and somewhat higher ; a grating is also provided, so that the flowers and leaves are not in direct contact with the fire. An ordinary-sized still should contain about 40 kilogrammes of flowers (88 lb.), and be- tween 50 and 60 litres (11 and 13 gallons) of water. This should yield from 30 to 40 litres (6 to 8 gal- Jons) of liquid. The products of distillation pass from the still into a receiver, so arranged that the condensed liquid always remains at the same level in it, the water is drawn off from the bottom by a bent tube, whilst the globules of essential oil that float on the surface are collected at the top of the vessel. The oil, though not very soluble in water, is sufficient to impartits perfume to it, and is sold as eau de fleur d'oranger, whilst that ob- tained from the distillation of the leaves is termed eau de broute. A kilogramme of orange flowers 367 yields, on the average, 2 grammes (30°86 grains) of neroli, worth from 500 to 1,000 frances per kilo (£9 Is 7d to £18 3s 2d per lb.) The orange- flower water is sold, on the average, at 25 cen- times per litre (about 24d per quart). The leaves yield about 14 grammes per kilo of petit grain, worth about one-tenth the price of the neroli. The quantity of flowers furnished by each tree varies considerably, and depends on age, vigour of growth, situation, soil and other circumstan- ces, A well-kept garden vear Grasse, with trees, half of which were forty years and the other half twenty-two years old, has produced as much as 2,800 kilogrammes (about ¥ tons 15 cwt.) in a single year. The cost of planting a hectare of orange trees is estimated at 4,000 francs, or about £65 per acre.—Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. ; NUTS. A correspondent sends us the following com- munication : “In your issue of 5th instant you mention a coconut tree in Batu with 300 nuts on it. This is without doubt a goodly number for one tree. Will they all come to maturity P I have picked 303 nuts off one tree in Ceylon. But you speak of favoured coast districts and say that coconut palms do not produce enough nuts inland to make coconut planting a »rofitable industry. Has coconut planting been tried inland in Malaya? I guess not. I have seen native trees, uncultivated, bearing well in parts of this district. In Ceylon it has long been admitted that coconuts do just as well inland as on the coast. The great set-back to inland planting is the costly freight to a shipping port, copra and fibre being bulky rather than weighty. Givena free soil and a fair rainfall coconuts will grow well anywhere in the tropics. The ancient idea of sea-breezes is exploded.—Matay Mail, Sept. 13. RUBBER STATISTICS. THE WoRLD’s PRoDUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. According to the customary statistics pre- pared by the firmof Hecht for the year ended with June 30th, the total production of rubber throughout the world amounted to 79,305 tons in 1910-11, as compared with 76,553 tons inthe twelve months which closed with June 30th, 1910, being an increase of 2,752 tons. On the other hand, the world’s consumption is returned at 74,082 tons in 1910-11, as against 76,026 tons in the preceding year, being a reduction of 1,944 tons. The harvest of Para qualities comprised 33,480 tons of the world’s total production in 1910-11, as contrasted with 38,996 tons in 1909- 10, and the consumption with 33,921 tons and 39,363 tons in the two years respectively. Tho arrivals of rubber in Europe amounted to 45,085 tons in 1910-11, as against 44,336 tons in the previous year, or an adv.ince of 749 tons, but the arrivals inthe United States experienced a diminution of 2,433 tons. The stocks through- out the world are stated to have reached 12,563 tons on June 30th, 1911, as compared with 6,998 368 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist It is Wrong To plant the new MANIHOT varieties Dichotoma and Piausensis Ule on humid soil, ‘They want rather dry ground to develop into full strength. Another point to be taken into serious consideration is that both varieties can also be cultivated on land not fit for other kinds of Rubber Trees or Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Cotton, &c. Anearly and large output of rubber of these new varieties is their most important quality, and we strongly recommend a trial sowing; we supply 10 lbs. (about 3,700 seeds; by parcel post (post free) to all countries on receipt of £3. Bags containing 135 lbs. at the rate of 3/6 per lb. delivered in Hamburg, Please state full postal address when ordering. The Seeds are Reliable. They are harvested from indigenous trees each season and have always given the fullest satisfaction to our clients. Detailed information for the cultivation of both sorts Dicho- toma for clay soil ; Piauiensis for sandy soii—on application. Gevekoht & Wedekind Telegraphic-Address : “‘Gevekind Hamburg.” A. B. C. Code 6th Edition. Be Hamburg 1. tons inthe preceding year, being an augmenta- tion of 5,565 tons, In the case of Europe alone the stocks arereturned at 6,554 tons, or 1,447 tons in excess of 1909-10, and those in the United States aiso advanced from 228 tons in the latter year to 589 tons on June 30th, 1911. The statistics further show that the price of fine Para, which amounted to 10s. per lb. at the beginning of July, 1910, had fallen to 48 10d. by the middle of January, aud to 3s. lld. by the end of May recovering to 48, 1d. at the close of June. Since then the price has been fairly stable, and has experienced anincrease to 4s. 7d. —Financier, Aug. 19. PALM OIL IN WEST AFRIGA. [By A. P. CHALKLEY, B.Sc, (London), &c., in the Financial News.) It is a trite saying that the speculating and investing public must always have some com- modity to boom, and a good deal of discussion is now prevalent in financial circles as to the direc- tion which the next move is likely to take. A large amount of interest is being centred by those acquainted with the matter in the products of the West Coast of Africa, and it seems very probable that the forthcoming autumn will wit- ness remarkable developments in this part of the world, The possibilities of the oil palm, which is so widely distributed in Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Cameroons, have as yet been but faintly grasped by most people; but when the subject is thoroughly understood it is likely that the public will be very anxious to provide capital for schemes to promote the palm oil industry. The palm tree is indigenous, and no special attention 1s needed for its cultivation ; it reaches maturity after seven or eight years, and there- after produces its fruit with unvarying regularity for an indefinite period, estimated at well over fifty years, and by some observers at one hundred years. The production of palm oil from the fruit is now practically entirely in the hands of the natives, who empioy the most antiquated and wasteful methods, and yet are able to dispose of all the oil they collect on most profitable terms. The fruit grows in buuches—the yield of each tree being from five to ten bunches—and. they are stripped of their fruit, which is thrown into pits, and the oil collected by washing off with hot water. The nuts which then remain after the palm are thus abstracted from the covering (or pericarp) are picked out and cracked singly by the women between two stones, yielding the palm kernels, which are shipped in bulk to Europe for the palm kernel oil to be ex- tracted. These means are obviously not economical, and have only been retained because suitable machi- nery for she extraction of the oil on the spot has fy I if e ? und Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—October, 1911, not long been available ; but now that such ma- chinery has been successfully designed and con- structed, capable of extracting up to 99 per cent of the available oil, as against 30-40 per cent. by the native methods, it 1s obvious that develop- ments may be expected in the very near future, The imports of palm oil and palm kernels into Europe are steadily rising, and the prices are very well maintained, showing, if anything, a tendency to rise. Palm oil is one of the chief constituents used in the manufacture of soap, and as showing the importance which the large firms attach to it, Messrs. Lever Brothers have ac- quired a lease of oil-palm land of very con- siderable extent in West Africa, where the industry will be developed to meet their own individual requirements. In addition to its employment for soap making, an enormous amouut of palm oil is supplied to all the railway companies of the world, who use it almost exclusively for the axle-boxes of carriages. As indicating the continued progress which is being made in the production of palm oil, it may be mentioned that in 1900 about 50,000 tons were exported from Lagos, while in 1909 this had risen to nearly 100,000 tons. The normal selling price of palm oil may be taken as £30 per ton, which figure is, however, frequently exceeded, and the point immediately to be considered is the price at which the oil can be delivered to England and other European countries by ex- tracting it on the spot with modern machinery. It is a question if the palm oil alone should be extracted and the kernels sent home in bulk, or whether the kernel oil should also be obtained. Probably, since the machinery is available, it is a better proposition to extract both the palm and the kernel oil on the spot, and also manu- facture the meal from the refuse, and export all to Europe, the meal being quite a valuable pro- duct and worth about £4 per ton. Reckonirg on the latter course of procedure being adopted, it is estimated that the oil can be delivered to the buyer in Europe at a cost of £13 to £15 per ton, including absolutely all charges, leaving a net profit of something in the neighbourhood of £15 per ton, this estimate being on the basis of a moderate output per annum, say, 2,000 tons. It is not difficult to understand that thie estimate of cost of production and delivery in Europe is a very conservative one, when it is re- membered that an enormous and most profitable trade is now carried on in palm oil and kernels, in spite of the fact that the methods employed are very slow and relatively expensive. The cost of collecting the fruit from the trees is ex- tremely small, owing to the cheapness of labour, and as the performance of the machines can be guaranteed with safety, and the cost of transport to Europe is a known quantity, there is in re- ality very litt!e in the nature of a speculation in the matter. The only possibility of a diminution in the protits below an exceptionally high figure would be the opening out of too many estates, with a consequent over-production and lowering of the selling prices. Hven this, however, is doubtful, and would in any case take many years by which time the iuvestors in the earlier com- panies would probably have regained their money many times over. 47 369 It is generally reckoned by authorities who have had long experience in the palm-oil in- dustry that an acre of average palm-bearing land produces sufficient fruit to give a yield of about 12 cwt. of oil per annum; so that from an estate a square mile in extent nearly 400 tons of palm oil could be produced. In actual estim- ates it is safer to reckon on a smaller quantity than this ; but the figure is sufficient to show that the amount of ground necessary to be ac- quired is relatively small for a reasonable out- put of palm oil, and the price at which land in the palm district can now be obtained is com- paratively low. There is little doubt that the next six months will see the establishment of several palm oil producing companies, and, pro- vided reasonable care has been exercised by the promoters, the prospects are excellent. The chief point into which the investor should in- qttire is the question of transport facilities from the factory to the coast, and, so long as there is no difficulty or heavy cost of labour involved in this matter, there 1s very little to be feared, provided the company is in the hands of sound and business-like people. RAT DESTRUCTION IN JAVA. M. D. Kruyff, of the Agricultural Bureau of of the Dutch Indies, Buitenzorg, Java, has published an interesting article on the destruc- tion of rats. All visible rat holes were first stopped with earth to ascertain which were inhabited, for the inhabited holes were found re-opened on the following day. Half-a-spoon- ful of carbon bisulphide was poured in each of these holes, and after waiting a few seconds to allow the liquid to evaporate the mixture of vapour and alr was ignited. The result wasa small explosion, which filled the hole with poisonous gases, and killed all the rats almost instantly. A pound of bisulphide is sufficient for more than 200 rats holes; 131 dead rats were found in 43 holes which were opened after the operation, A FREAK PLANTAIN BUNCH. A plantain tree grown in the vicinity of Colombo has produced a record bunch of fruit, The tree itselfis of the average size but the bunch of fruitis quite nine feet or more in length aud resembles in shape the trunk of an elephant, The fruit cluster so thickly that the combs are hardly distinguishable, and the total number of plaintains must be athousand or more. The length of the fruit at the head of the bunch is about 34 inches while the diminutive ones at the bottom are barely an inch long. The bunch is not mature yet and the flower is still on; the tree appears to have been cut in too great a hurry— due no doubt to the impatience of the native who is now exhibiting it somewhere in Maradana at the rate of 5 cts. per head. The owner avers the young tree was brought to Ceylon from the Far East but to all appearance it is a freak growth of the ordinary variety ‘‘ Musa Sapientum,” 370 OUR PALM PRODUCTS FOR THIRD QUARTER, 1911. The quarter has been a very remarkable one in that a very sharp rise took place under all headings and particularly in copra, The drought has been very severe over the period now under review. It was about the worst ever experienced over our nut zone. The dry cycle, now in its sixth year, is—let us hope—near its end. It is sad to see how our palms have suffered, parti_ cularly North of Colombo. The South, Matara to Kalutara and Colombo, has been more fortu- nate, Ithas had a refreshing showers now and then, which the North-West coast entirely mis- sed. It is simply wonderful how the coconuts came rolling in at mills, and copra sheds, not- withstanding the terrible drought, with less than half our usual rainfall for the year. But the drought has made itself felt in other fashion. Several mills had to stop work, both fibre and desiccating, for want of water. The former were refusing splendid offers, their mattress fibre being as high as Ks.!4°75 to Rs.5 per ewt.in Colombo, The like of this was, we fancy, never known before in the history of the Product. Oi.—This has been in good demand during the quarter and prices quite up to the bost of last year, reaching Rs.600 per ton f,o.b. Colombo. We sent away to end of quarter or say 2nd inst. only 325,195 cwt., against same date in 1910 no less than 448,301 cwt., the falling-off being caused no doubt by the demand being easier during Ist and 2nd quarters, and besides copra-drying went slow over the same period owing to nuts being dearer. Corra.—The year, that is to end June, was a bad one for copra-drying, nuts being very high while copra went down to about Rs. 67, at which price the men could not secure a nut-. supply at a sufficiently low price. During August copra took a sudden turn upwards when mills were practically deserted by nut- contractors who rushed off to dry copra as fast as they could, while mills were forced to go slow as they could not compete with the copra men ; the price of copra reached Rs. 93°25, or 25 cts. per candy less than the record price it went to last year. People who should know seem to think that copra, before the end of the year, will reach the round Rs. 100 per candy, and if one can judge by the great scarcity of nuts on the trees just now, it would look as if these prophets, mostiy old experienced natives; are likely to be right. At date we have The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist only shipped 472,589 cwt, against 562,214 ewt. last year at same date. DesiccateD Nut.—How very different the figures for this are! If thisis to be anything like last year’s 3rd quarter, it looks as if we are to ship a record crop this year of nearly 30,000,000 lb. against some 13,000,000 \b. ten years ago. A cheap sugar year isa good year for this product, as manufacturing is seen to go on with increased vigour. While nuts ranged from Rs. 52 to Rs. 60 per 1,000 during the quarter, the demand was fair and prices for the ordinary assortment ranged from 22 cts. to 254 cts. per Ib. Colombo delivery, fancy grades being about 2 cts. per lb. over the above. Poonac.—We have to record a great falling off in this, the actual Sgures being 120,720 cwt. against 211,669 cwt. in 1910. No doubt the greater demand locally for this as cattle food, owing to the great scarcity and to the famine price of paddy straw, has raised the price be- yond the limit cf home and continental buyers. What with great scarcity of water. and high prices of straw and poonac, the poor cart bulls have had a bad time of it all over the low- country, not only over the quarter under notice, but through the whole year. Coconuts IN SHELL.—The export of these has been going on very briskly, the total shipped to date being very little under last year, the figures being 12,118,226 nuts, against 12,265,819 in 1910, the U.K. as usual taking the greater number. There is @ terrible falling off in the quality of the kernol reported from all sides, this year, owing to over six consecutive years of half rainfall. In many cases the nuts have hardly any water in them, and it is taking nearly 34 to makea pound of desiccated, while as many as 1,600 are required to make a candy of copra whereas formerly it was a common thing to got a candy of copra from 1,000 to 1,100 nuts, Frsre anp YARN.—There is a small increase in yarn over last year at date, as also in fibre, notwithstanding the great scarcity of water at miles for retting. The high price of mattress fibre sent up the price of their raw material, the husk going to R2-50 and R3:0 per 1,000 for a time at some mills. Taking it all round, the coconut enterprise was, we think, in a better position during the past quarter. True, a few of our estate proprietors have Jost their heads with the high prices nuts and lands are fetching, while many of our trees lost their heads by the drought; but it is marvellous to see how they go on cropping in the face of the six continu- ous dry years. and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Octover, 1911, COCONUT PROSPECTS. There is a belief (which may be well founded) that in the immediate future we are to witness a promotion ‘‘boom” in connection. with the coconut palm. During the past year or two the products of this tree have commended very high and very profitable prices. Copra, for example, has been sold consistently for many months past at levels which are not calculated to leave the producers of the cocouuts in a state of abject poverty ; indeed, we might assert, with- out fear of any charge of exaggeration, that tho profits attaching to such sales have been the reverse of meagre. Itis now a common-place among an investing public having substantial amounts embarked in Middle Hast rubber pro- positions to hear at almost every turn the coco- “nut tree described as the Consols of this parti- cular portion of the earth. And in a very large measure this is true. What this tree does not represent to a certain portion of humanity it is difficulty to say; onthe other hand, what the cultivation may mean to the British investor involves a consideration of possibilities on an entirely different basis. In the first place, a public, asked to support coconut propositions in the form of joint-stock companies, have got to differentiate, and that vory clearly, between such proposals and those which involve the cultivation of rubber. At first sight this asser- tion may appear unnecessary, but closer con- sideration of the very best of coconut proposi- tions—in the Middle East, at any rate—will prove the essentiality of our attitude in this matter. Coconuts embody a peculiarly native investment; rubber never did, and, generally speaking, never will. Coconuts, if not exactly indigenous to the Middle East, have beenaculti- vation, from the purely native standpoint, for centuries past; rubberisa cultivation of yes- terday. A tropical agricultural condition within the zone inferred by this statement admits of the growth of the coconut palm; until Euro- pean enterprise indicated possibilities other- ‘wise, the cultivation of rubber was regarded as next to the absurd. Wo, ‘the aliens, have shown the commercial potentialities of the lat- ter ; we must exercise the utmost care that we do not over-emphasise the possibilities of the former cultivation. In putting the matter thus bluatly we are in no way deprecating the commercial prospects of the coconut palm grown under plantation con- ditions. It has been shown in the immediate past that this cultivation can be made profitable from the standpoint of the average investor, but no investor in projects associated with such an agricultural business must look for returns equivalent to those obtained by some of tho older rubber plantations in the Middle East. It has been put tous by men well qualified to form and hold opinions in this connection, that 10 to 15 per cent. is the best that the investor may reasonably expect from any Middle Hast coconut plantation. Accepting this statement as savouring of conservatism, we might allow an ultimate and a steady 20 per cent. to be the return upon a carefully-capitalised investment of this character, The profits, naturally, are not 371 dependent upon the mere sale of the coco- nuts a well-planted property may be expected to produce at the end of seven or eight years. They are the outcome of the sale of copra made, of course, from the nuts obtained from the trees. Some months ago we pointed out that a good maize year in the United States meant a very considerable difference in the selling price of this commodity. The statement wae regarded by some of our readers as cryptic ; but it was notin reality so. Until recent years the consuming utiliser of fats depended upon the animal product for his main source of supply of the commodity essential to his purpose ; within recent times the comparative scarceness of such supplies necessitated application to other, in this particular case to vegetable, sources. To go no turther than the soapmaker, we have in this business a very important source of demand for fats. Failing animal supplies, he turns, as is only natural, to vegetable, andin the main product of the coconut—uamely, copra— he finds exactly what he wants. The rising price of copra during the past few years merely reflects the growing demand from this and other utilisers of cils in the course of their business, while the absence of animal fats as sources of initial supply tor the manufacture of artificial butters has tended to accentuate the improvement in the selling price of this parti- cular commodity. So far as we can see, there is no reasonable prospect of a substantial im- provement in the supplies of purely animal fats in the nearfuture, In point of fact, we should oe inclined to say that the reverse is likely to prove the case. This does not, however, warrant us, or any- body else, presupposing that every coconut pro- position which may come betore the public, as come they will, is worthy of the investor’s con- sideration. Just as has been amply proved the case in connection with rubber propositions, we are bound to Gnd coconut propositions other than Mid-Eastern appealing to the public for support on tigures based upon what may be done in Ceylon and Malaya with this particular culti- vation. The best of the Middle East coconut companies have been launched iree of all pre- tence as to absurd possibilities ; the best of the non-Middle Hast that have come under our notice up to the present can make no such claim, There are bound to be Middle Hast absurdities in this particular connection, just as there were absurdities associated with rubber cultivation. To say that no coconut plantation outside the Middle Hast can pay, or could be honestly con- ducted, would be foolish to a degree. To assume, at the same time, that the majority of such pro- positions want the most careful consideration at the hands of potential investors is not going beyond the regions of cold common-sense, What the public have got to understand and appreciate in the matter of coconut promotions is that at best they are out to obtain an interest in a really remunetrative investment and at worst they are likely to be no more badly lett thaa a good many were who insisted upon purchasing shares’ in what to the same individual was an obviously undesirable Middle Hast rubber pro« mation ~Linancier, : 372 SMOKING OF RUBBER. DUTCH EXPERT'S OPINIONS ON THE METHODS ADOPTED. The smoking of rubber quite recontly came up for discussion at a congress of rubber plan- ters held at Bandoeng (Java). During the de- bate it was clear that nobody had much experi- ence about the matter, and it might, therefore, be of interest to hear what Dr. K Goeter writes. The following is taken from the Sumatra Post: As is well-known, says the doctor, Para rubber is obtained in a different way to planta- tion rubber. Then follows a description of the method adopted in Brazil for the preparation of rubber. The writer proceeds: It is, however, most noticeable, and according to the experi- ences of Trillat and other investigators, that wood smoke contains another substance (besides creosote) having strong conserving properties, namely, formaldehyde which dissoived in water is the formaline or formol of commerce. It was, therefore, thought probable that this stuff would be found in small quantities in smoked rubber. This was indeed found to be so. With the help of various sensitive reactions, I could undoubt- edly show the presence of formaldehyde in smoked rubber sheets, so that by reason of this result it may be taken that the conserving work of smoke on rubber must at least be partly attributed to the presence of formaldehyde in the smoke. In the development ot smoke it would be well to bear this in mind, by endeav- ouring to get a smoke that is as rich as possible in formaldehyde. QUALITY OF THE SMOKE, Now it has been found that organic sub- stances, for instance, sugar, will through in- complete combustion, produce more formal- dehyde, when they are placed in contact witha metal, such as iron, will give a smoke with a higher percentage of formaldehyde than when that contact with a metal does not exist. This seems to me iraportant enough to revert to the subject again by and by. First I shall parti- cularly direct attention to the fact that smoke is caused by incomplete combustion, in other words by a limited supply of air. On this point it has appeared to me that, in practice, the air is not sufficiently impeded. The wood must smoulder, therefore it must burn without flame and this is only attained by limiting the admis- sion of air. If there is too much air, less smoke is obtained and more fuel is used up; so that it is less economical from two points of view. It was tried to remedy this by making the fuel wet, but this was a wrong procedure because it brought more vapour {aqueous) into the smoking room. As a result of that the rubber took necessarily a longer time to dry. Besides under these circumstances, more tarry pro- ducts were developed through which one ran the risk of getting a foul tarry deposit form- icg on the rubber that would spoil the outward appearance and so the quality of the rubber. Finally, it might be well also for plan- ters to bear in mind that in smoke, a poisonous gas, the well-known carbonic oxide is formed, of which the relative quantity increases under the last-named conditions, From a hygienic The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist point of view the health of the coolies workin continually in an atmosphere of smoke Bhouid be considered. Yet for a uniform smoking it cannot be avoided that the hanging sheets of rubber have to be regularly turned about. In any case proper ventilation should be seen to by having the windows wide open. Mr. Ripiey’s Houses. Whether smoking has a direct influence on the physical properties, for instance, on the elasticity of the product, I should not dare at present to decide. As a fact, it can only be said now that smoked rubber keeps better and is not so liable to mould as unsmoked rubber. As a rule a higher price is paid for smoked rubber on this account. As to how smoking should be done, opinions differ. Mr Ridley, Director of the Botanical Gardens in Singapore, gives his experiences on this point in the Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits from which I take the following (here follows a description of Mr Ridley’s process, noting in particular that he used a wooden house with an attap roof.) Then the doctor continues :— The vapour and the tarry substances of the smoke are practically fully absorbed by the woodwook and the attap, so that the rubber is not covered with a toul damp _ substance. Compared with this, the experiences of others using a stone house with a galvanized iron roof and into which the smoke is led from with- out, were less favourable. In this case there was a deposit of tarry substances on the floor and évery part of the building and even on the rubber. This trouble does not occur in a wooden house; although the woodwork becomes dark-brown and even black by the precipita- tions from the smoke, the rubber remains dry under these circumstances and of good colour, No other ventilation than through the crevices is necessary. Only when men have to go into the smoking room care should be taken to throw the windows open. Generally the door is left open but as this is at the lowest end of the building, the draught drives the smoke through the rubber to the higher end of the building. Coconut husks may be used as fuel instead of wood, but coconut husk and also saw- dust produce sparks which fly up and deposit themselves on the rubber as bits of wood charcoal, Experiment for improving the smo- king process by the addition of creosote had not the desired favourable result. The writer con- cludes his article with a word of praise for Mr, Ridley’s wooden house, SISAL GULTIVATION IN FIJI. Captain D Calder’s sisal plantation at Vesari is at present looking remarkably well, a good proportion of the plants having arrived at the mature stage at which the leavesare milled. The necessary machinery has been imported, and it will not be long until the mill isin running order. Apparently it will not be long ere a shipment of fibre will be made, thus establishing a new in- dustry in Fiji. The Government is offering a bonus of £500 forthe first ten tons grown and exported, and it looksas though Captain Calder will enjoy the distinction of drawing the bonus, —Lige Times, Aug, 31, and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Socvety.—October, 1911. PEAT UTILIZATION IN GERMANY. Efforts are being made in Germany to improve the cultivation of marshes and moorland. Tho success attained in this direction in the Nether- lands bas attracted attention in Germany, par- ticularly since Dutch gardeners and_ truck farmers have predicted that, were the marshes of Prussia cultivated like those of Holland, the German canned fruit and vegetable industry would conquer the markets of the world. The German marsh and moorlands cover an area of above five million acres. The largest districts by far are in Prussia, especially in the provinces of Hanover and Schleswig-Holstein, and also in Pomerania, Brandenburg, Posen, and Ust- Preussen, The best quality of peat from Ger- man soil, so called air-dry peat, contains about 45 per cent of carbon according to the American Consul at Stettin, 1°5 per cent of hydrogen, 28°5 per cent of chemically bound water, 25 per cent of hygroscopic water, and small amounts of nitrogen. The annual production of peat in the Empire amounts to about 11 million tons. Re- garding the heating qualities of the best peat, it has been established that the average peat is equal to dry beechwood at similar weight and equal to coal of half the weight. There is avast difference, however, in heating power between the different grades of peat at equal weights. If the ash exceeds 25 per cent the peat isdeemed not adapted for fuel pur- poses.' The percentage of ash can vary from one- half of 1 per cent. to 50 per cent. The industrial utilisation of peat for lighting purposes has been attempted for many years in Germany, but as yet there has been no satisfactory solution of the problem of how to produce power-gas from peat more cheaply than from coal. In conjunc- tion therewith the generation of ammonia and of electricity has been attracting much attention in scientific quarters, and at the last annual con- vention of German scientists and physicians this problem was discussed as a result of new views anD investigations presented by Dr. Caro, of Berlin. In collaboration with Professor Frank, of Charlottenburg, Dr. Caro discovered a me- thod for the economic utilisation of peat which he claims avoids former mistakes, and which he described as follows. The generator consists ot shaft-iike ovens, where the burning of the peat is conducted in a way admitting limited quan- tities of air. Thus also, a dry peat in pieces can be treated, and produces a gas strongly impreg- nated with tar fumes, which gas, after purifica- tion from tar, will furnish a useful heating and power gas. The inventor found that if the gasification process is properly conducted, peat containing as muchas 60 per cent. of water could be used. Peat having a percentage of water above 60 could be dried down to this figure by storage in the openair. This process. Dr. Caro asserts, permits the manufacture of a peed heating gas during the entire year, and e claims that it can be used in connection with the generation of electricity. In view of the absence of constant water-power in Germany, he thinks that the invention will cheapen the cost of generating current. Another result of the discovery is the extraction of nitrogen by this process, 85 per cont, of this element contained 378 in the peat being recovered therefrom. This nitrogen can be converted into ammonia by the introduction of steam. The method admits of the production of ammonium sulphate, and thus furnishes agriculture with a valuable fertiliser. The Prussian Minister of Agriculture is now engaged in preparing a comprehensive law giving the Government extensive power to stimulate by direct financial assistance, as well as bythe use ofall available governmental faci- lities in the broadest application, all efforts for the cultivation of the German marshes and moors, although 90 per cent. of the Prussian high moorlands are in private hands.—Royal Sociely of Arts Journal, Sept. 8. [Can anything be done to utilise Peat depo- sits in Ceylon ?—A. M. & J. F.] THE MARSEILLES PEANUT-OIL INDUSTRY. Peanut oil ranks next to olive oil in popular favour, being generally preferred in France to cotton oil. Itis highly rated as a salad anda cooking oil, and is used extensively in the manu- facture of margarine and by sardine packers. It is frequently mixed with olive and other vege- table oils. The industrial grades ubtained from the Indian nuts, and the second pressings of the African varieties, are consumed mainly by the soap-making industry, but a certain“ proportion is also employed for illuminating and lubricating purposes, The Marseilles mills produced in 1910, 170,000 tons of peanut-oil cake. The cake is used for cattle feeding. About 80,000 tons are exported annually, chiefly to Germany and Scandinavia. Peanuts in’ the shell are never ground whole in the Marseilles mills. On the contrary, expression of the oil is almost invariably preceded by a careful prepara- tion of the nuts, particularly in the case of edible oil. The peanuts are crushed only after having been cleaned and decorticated, and after every effort has been made to remove enirely the germs and the red skin covering the kernels. All these operations are done by machinery. According to the United States Consul-General at Marseilles, the peanuts andergo a preliminary cleaning in a rotary sieve; they are afterwards brought by a liftto the decorticating machine and passed through grooved rollers so adjusted as to husk the nuts without crushing the kernels. The separation of the husks and kernels is effected by ventilation. Thegerms, sprouts and red skin still adhering to the kernels after the husking process, are stripped off by friction against the coarse-wired meshes of a rapidly oscillating sieve the operation being completed by a ventilator connected with the apparatus. It is extremely difficult, however, to detach the red cuticle en- tirely from the kernels, ard in the case of new crop nuts it is said to be a practical impossibi- lity. After the kernels have been cleaned, they are ground by a crusher provided with two pairs of rollers. The mass emerging from the rollers falls into a “sasseur;” or sifter, which separates the coarse from the fine meal, the re- maining stones and other foreign substances having heen eliminated by an aspirator, The 374 meal is then put into hair bags and subjected to hydraulic pressure, from twelve to fifteen bags separated by metal plates being pressed at the same time. A bag contains about ten kilo- grammes (twenty-two pounds) of meal. The first pressing, which furnishes the high-grade oil, is made without heating the meal. This pressing lasts usually about one hour. forthe sécond pressing the bags are generally emptied, the meal reground, and brought to a temperature of ‘86 deg, to 122 deg. Fahrenheit, according to the quality and condition of the nuts. The same amount of pressure is applied as for the first pressing, and the same press may be used, A smaller yield but a finer grade of oil results from the second pressing when the supplementary grinding of the meal is dispensed with. In some mills a third pressure is applied, but this is an unusual practice. The yield of oil varies with the origin and condition of the nuts. The Senegal peanuts in the shell yield about 33 per cent. of their gross weight, the Gambia peanuts 314 to 32 per cent. Both of these varieties yield from 21 to 23 per cent. on the first pressing, and 10 to 11 per cent. on the second pressing. The average oil yield of the shelled peanuts is about 39 per cent. for the Indian nuts, and 42 per cent. for the Mozambique. After running from the presses peanut oil does not need refining, but is simply filtered. It is then fit for consumption as salad oil. Bleaching is resorted to only in order to produce the white oil required in the manufacture of margarine.—Royal Society of Arts Journal, Sept. 8, THE PEA-NUT. The valuable paper in the Journal of this date on the ‘Pea-nut’ industry of Marseilles, is defective for its many Anglo-Indian readers in not stating that the ‘Pea-nut’ is their ‘ Karth-nut,’ ‘Ground-nut,’ and ‘ Manilla’ gram [‘ gram ’=Cicer arietinum, the * Chick-pea’], the Arachis hypogea of Linneus, known to the natives of India by the names of mung-phali [‘Phaseolus Mungo-fruit’], bhui-chana[‘ Karth- gram'], chini-badam [‘Chinese-almond’], and vilati-mung [‘Foreign-mung’] etc., etc.; this leguminous plant, although now cultivated over all India and the East Indies, from Abyssinia to China, being a native of South America ; and one of the numerous economic plants of that continent introduced, through the inter- mediation of the formerly puissant Portuguese into Africa and Asia ; oneof the greatest services rendered by any nation to humanity at large, but for which they never get any credit in the standard histories of Portugal. For tastefulness the ‘ Earth-nut,’ or ‘Pea-nut,’ may be classed with the ‘Cashew-nut,’ and the ‘Pistachio-nut,’ the Pistache de terre of the French; but all three are most indigestible. The oil, in salads, is a good enough substitute for olive oil ; but both olive oil and ‘Pea-nut’ oil are inferior in delicacy of smell and taste to almond oil; while almond oil itself yields the palm for purity of savour to Sesamum oil, the product of Sesamum orientale, or indicum, of Linneus—the ¢i/a, that is ‘the oil,’ par cas The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist cellenee, of India; which from the first dawnings of human history in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Nile [Semitic sim-sim, Hebrew semen=‘oil’ generally, Arabic al-jul-jul- an, our ‘Gingelly,’ etc.], has been used through- out the Hast for food, both in the grain and the oil pressed from it, and the oil also for light- ing purposes : this latter use of it having given rise to the phrase :—‘ Open Sesame !’—meaning, simply, as we should say, ‘Strike a light,’ ‘Bring acandle,’ ‘Open up the darkness,’ ‘Open Wheat !’ ‘Open Rye !' ‘Open Barley !’ were of no avail, and only when Kasim cried ‘Open Sesame !’ was the treasurer in ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves ’ revealed. I was the first to point this out in the first edition of my official ‘ Cata- logue of the Economic Botanical Products‘ of the Government Central Museum, afterwards [1857-8] enlarged into the Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay. Cotton and Sesamum are the two most reliable crops in all India; and the proverb rans throughout Southern India :— ‘When a failure [of the harvest]is feared, at once sow Sesamum.’ Along the Concans coast of Western India the household illuminant used by the fisher-folk is a fish through which a wick is drawn, and as re- quired, lighted ; auditis remarkable that the brazen lamps used in the temples of the Concans and up, over the ghats, in the valleys on their Deccan slopes, is formed ou the longitudiual section of a fish, head and tail. and all, with a cup-like hollow, below its belly to serve as a pedestal, and hold the oil, the wick being drawn out into its head. September &th, L911. GEORGE BrrpDwooD. —Royal Seciety of Arts Journal, Sept. 15. WHITE PEPPER. According to a contemporary, the use of pepper was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as early as the time of Alexander the Great, being a staple article of commerce in the early trade between Europe and India before the days of cotton, tea, and sugar. Its excessive cost issaidto have been one of the inducements which led the early Portuguese navigators to seek a sea route to India. Pepper is entirely tropical in its requirements and seems to thrive best in a moist, hot climate with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches and a soilrich in leat mould. The plant grows some twenty feet in height, but in cultivation 1s usually restricted to ten or twelve feet. The leaves are glossy, hroadly ovate, with five to seven herves, and grow opposite and alternate to a pendulous spike five to eight inches long, containing twenty to thirty white flowers that ripen into a one-seeded fruit with a fleshy ex- terior. This fleshy berry, covering a soft stone, is about the sizeof a pea and is at first green, but in ripening turns red and then yellow. The berry contains a resin, to which it owes its hot, pungent taste, anda volatile oil that gives off an aromatic scent. The white pepper is the black pepper decor- ticated by maceration andrubbing. ‘The plant produces fruit in three years, and is probably at its heat forthe next seven or eight years, A on —— and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—October, 1911. single palm or tree sometimes supports eight to twelve vines, giving an average annual yield in good seasons of about 1,000 berry spikes to the vines or one palm. These spikes or clusters of berries vary in size, but 1,000 should yield on ar average five pounds of dried pepper. An acre is reckoned to bear 2,500 plants, to cost about 20 dollars in outlay, and to yield a product of 400 do lars when in its best condition. The flowers appear in July and August, and the berries about seven months Jater. The ber- ries may or may not be sorted as they are plucked. If they are sorted, those fully ripe are separated. These are soaked in water for seven or eight days, or heaped so that the pulp for- ments, and arethen rubbed by hand or on a coarse cloth, if the quantityis small, or tram- pled under foot if the quantity is large. The pulp is thus rubbed offthe inner stone. This stone furnishesthe white pepper of commerce. The pulp is completely removed by washing in baskets in running water. The pepper is then dried by exposure to the sun for about a week. This has also a bleaching effect, and the pepper becomes pale grey or pale drab in colour. It can be bleached whiter by a chemical agency.—G‘ro- cers’ Jour nal, Sept. 23. HENEQUEN AND BANANA GULTIVA- TION §N MEXICO. The State of Colima is peculiarly adapted for the henequen plant (aqava rigida elongata), which produces the sisal hemp of commerce. The foothills are generally barren of timber, and are often covered with grass, the soil being thin and sometimes rocky, but the climate and all the conditions are perfect for the cultivation of this plant. There is little labour in growing henequen, or in harvesting the crop, and the machinery necessary for the separation of the fibre from the Jeaves is cheap, and can be worked by the natives. [t has been customary in Mexico tu cultivate henequen without regard to the number of plants to an acre or to their position, The United States Consul at Manzanillo says that sometimes as many as fifteen hundred are put on an acre of land, The plan usually adop- ted. is to plough and prepare about ten acres of level land, to be used as a nursery, in which the small plants are set six inches apart in rows two feet apart. In this manner, while the larger field is being prepared the young plants acquire @ vigorous growth, As the fields are planted, the stock from the nursery is replaced until the first ones set out produce suckers, which may be taken up and left inthe sun for two or three weeks, as this makes them better and stronger. Plants in the field are set six feet apart in rows nine feet apart. During the first two years, if the ground isnot too rocky, itis planted with maize or beans. After this the henequen re- quires air and sunshine, and needs no care or cultivation. When the plant commences to mature (fourth year), the leaves can be cut at any time during the dry season, and every twelve months thereafter. During the first four or five years the plant will proituce from fifty to sixty ‘ suckers,’ which may be used for trans- planting. The net profit from the production 375 and sale of sisal fibre is said to be from £20 to £33 ner acre. As the henequen plant jlives and produces for fifteen or twenty years, without being transplanted, and is vot attacked by in- sects Cr _,sease, and requires little expense for warvesting, it possesses a great advantage over crops which have to be planted each year. In many Gistricts of the State of Colima irrigat- ion 1s not necessary, and banana bulbs may be set out abany time of the year. The native banana (manzana) will not bear transportation for any distance, and for this reason the Gover- nor of Colima appointed a comission to inspect the ‘Roatan’ variety, which is grown in the State of Tabasco. The commission returned with 25,060 bulbs, which were distributed amongst the farmers. The ‘ Roatan’ banana is of good size, has a thick skin, fine texture, and is free from fibre and lumps, and has found favour inthe American markets. The soil in which the banana is planted should be a sandy loam, and when ploughed and_harrowed the ground is measured in squares of three metres (metre=39'3 inches), which gives about four hundred plants to the acre. When the sprouts reach the height of one foot they may be transplanted. When the land is marked into squares, a hole three feet square and three feet deep is made, the plant being placed in the cen- tre. Thereason the bulb is planted at this deptk is because of the accumulation of leaves and debris which form a fertiliser, and also re- tain the moisture. The land being set with bananas, may be planted with maize or beans, thus reducing the cost of cultivation tho first year. It requires twelve months for a stock to mature and produce a bunch of fruit from the bulb, During the growth ofthe first stock there will come several shoots, the largest one being allowed to stand, while the others are taken up and replanted. The stock left will attain suffi- cient growth to produce one bunch of bananas in four mouths, or three bunches from one plant or 1,900 bunches per acre annually. Planters receive tenpence per bunch at the plantation, and as the cost of production is £10 per acre, very satisfactory profits are realised. A very fine fibre 1s extracted from the banana stock, which is used in the manufacture of hammocks. —Journal of the seoyal Society of Arts, Aug, 25. GAMPHOR PRODUCTION IN BURMA, The camphor tree, principally the B/umea bal- samifera, seeras to be indigenous to certain parts of Burma, and the experiments conducted by the Forest Department to cultivate the Cin- namomum camphora show that this tree can be successfully grown in the Upper Chindwin, Myitkyina, and Bhamo districts, as also at Momeik, while in Maymyo the tree is said to flourish. The experiments of the past few years go to show that it can be successfully grown in Upper Burma, and the species is also expected to do well at suitable elevation in the Shan States. There is, therefore, according to the American Consul-General at Calcutta, a fair possibility of a camphor plantation on a large scale in Burma oroving successful and profit- able, and there is no reason, it is said, why a 376 camphor industry should not be started in the province. The question of camphor distillation in Burma was recently considered by the Forest Department. The first point was to design an experimental still of sufficient capacity to see if camphor could be manufactured on a commer- cial scale from the Blumea balsamifern; the next puviné required a chemical investigation to deterimine the percentage of essential oil in the fresh green plant, and compare it with the per- centage obtained from the plant ia its dry state. These analytical determinations were made with the plants growing in the Toungoo and Katha forest divisions, and the results show that the branches and leaves of the Blumea balsamifera cau be profitably distilled for the extraction of the oil and camphor. In North Hsenwi the leaves and thinner twigs are gathered, though mature leaves are preferred, and placed in a bamboo basket, which is put into a large pot containing water, but not touching the water, and on top of the basket a chatty (vessel) of cold water is placed, Fire is then applied. The steam from the water in the large pot passes through the basked, and the cold water on top, which is frequently changed, acts as a conden- ser. Inatew hours the operation is completed, and on the leayes being removed the camphor is found adhering to the sides of the basket. It is then scraped off and placed in bamboo tubes. The yield varies according to the quality of leaves used in the operation. The camphor finds a ready market locally, as it is largely used as a medicine. The trade is insignificant, as the people extract the camphor only when they have nothing else todo. In Kengtung, on the other hand, a considerable export trade exists with the southern Shan States.—Journat of the Royal Society of 4rts, August 25, TOBACCO, COTTON, AND CASTOR OIL CULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA, l-have received a copy of the Journal of the Royat Society of Arts of March 13th, 1896, con- taining an article by Mr C Tripp on the cultiva- tion of tobacco in Sumatra, which proves most interesting and instructive, and contains invalu- able information. Unhappily, our Government does not sufii- ciently encourage farmers to depart from their old-fashioned ways of agricuiture, nor is instilled into them the spirit of venture into new methods of farming to move with the times. This by no means implies that the Government must spoon- feed the agricultural community, but it might to advantage impart knowledge by means of lectures and practical proof, and so educate a most conservative people, how to depart from the ways of their forefathers. A few years since, todacco culture in the Transvaal and in the Orange Free State appealed to me, and [ decided to experiment locally. I gathered advice as to the suitability of certain soil on the Sunday River, and of the climate, and the difficulty of securing skilled labour was eventually overcome. The size of the plants and ofthe leaves, and the quality of the tcbacco, proved highly satisfactory, and the aroma and flavour were excellent. The following year I extended operations to prove the profits of tobacco culture, with the The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist result that the demand for the local-grown to- bacco exceeded far the supply. Many farmers came to view the fields, and a number of them are planting this season, which is encouraging. Iam now experimenting with Turkish cigar var- iety and Brazilian tobaccos. Unfortunately, howeyer, skilled labour is wanting, which is pro- vinga drawback and hardship. Fermentation and the curing of the leaves are imperfectly understood, and our workmen cannot grasp that successful culture lies in such apparently small matters as weeding and in the keeping of the soil loose, topping carefully and systematically, and in the gathering ot the leaves separately (and ripe leaves ouly), and carefully conveying them to the drying sheds, Cotton CutturE.—Last year I planted the following kinds of cotton—Barbadoes, St. Vin- cent, Egyptian Abbassi. and American Rattler. The plants grew well and the bolle, with a fine fibre lint, were large and well developed, Cotton cultivation should be encouraged, and it is plea- sing to find that the East London Chamber of Commerce is taking the matter in hand. Castor O1n.—On the mines and elsewhere in the Union there is practically an unlimited de- mand for castor oil. To experiment with the cultivation of the castor bean followed naturally, and [ planted the Italian and the colonial kinds. Both grew well and yielded beyond expecta- tions. Under irrigation 1] feel sure nothing more profitable can be cultivated, but as such lands are limited and largely required for lucerne and cereal cultivation 1 experimented under condi- tions approaching those of dry lands with satis- factory results. Ifdry, the first season might prove trying, but even under adverse conditions, its cultivation will pay from the first year ; and as the castor plant or tree is perennial, unless too much exposed the first year or two to frost, I must strenuously advocate its cultiva- tion on dry lands, that is, ground lying idle and useless at present, of which there are millious of acres, I also planted a variety which attains a height of upwards of ten feet with wide- spreading branches, strong enough to support a man’s weight. It is, therefore, not difficult to grasp the rich harvest obtainable therefrom. Still our farmers shrug their shoulders and smile when urged to grow the castor bean. Yet ere very many more years have passed the castor bean, like lucerne, against which farmers exhibited bitter dislike, will grow extensively, and provea profitable branch of South African agriculture. P. J. Fourigz. Jansenville, August 5th, 1911. —Jourant of the Royal Society of Arts, Aug. 25. TEA: HIGH PRICES. It is satisfactory to see an average of Is a Ib. in Mincing Lane for Ceylon tea and ‘‘ Diyanila- kelle” has to be congratulated ; but what is that compared to an average of 2s 10d paid for ‘* Jung- pana” teas—we suppose from Darjeeling—in the jatest London sales. Calcutta exchanges contain accounts of the sale of two choice lots of Indian tea in Mincing Lane at the mid-September Auction, both being secured by Messrs. Harri- sons and Crosfield. The first bid was 48 a pound in Bond, the final price reached 5s 1ld ex duty. The second lot was 5s 3d duty paid. Pi » TEN oe C@ p > BRAND) RUBBER PROSPECTS. (Lockwood’s London Letter, Sept. 16 ) After a little set-back, the effect of which was emphasised by some profit taking on top of the recent rise the Rubber share market appears definitely to have settled down to a more hopeful frame of mind. Transactions in this section, though still modest in volume, are more important than the recorded price- changes would appear to indicate, and dealers report that there is a constant stream of quiet investment business on account of shrewd people who recognise the strong technical posi- tion of the commodity and are convinced that another general forward movement of prices cannot much longer be delayed. So far, the buying that has been in progress has been confined mainly to the leading issues. Sept. 20th.~Without the Rubber Share Market the Stock Exchange would indeed be inthe dumps, While foreign scares and home strikes have badly affected values in all other directions, the rubber share market has been steady to good, and one does not look in vain for favourable factors which are responsible for this condition. A feature of the past week has been the Jarge number of small buying orders from the provinces and elsewhere— orders devuted, for the most part, to high- class shares of the type that will be entering the tanks of the big producers during the next twelve months or two years. Evidently, investors are beginning to realize that there is a permanence, after all, about the Rubber 48 and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—October, 1911, 8 ALWAYS INSIST ON & (GREEN BUTTERFLY Absolutely pure, not sweetened, not condensed—just pure fresh mill, mechanically cleaned and sterilized. A lady, well known in India, writes :—‘‘Ishould like to mention to you that I have made five voyages to India and back with babies, using many kinds of tinned milk, and they all disagreed with them. Since your milk was recommended to me I have made three voyages with young children and babies, and the difference has been extraordinary. The children, so far from getting thin and pale and ill, have flourished, and the terrors of boardship with babies have vanished for me, many people, and in two cases by giving some of my own supply have - helped to save babies’ lives. I am now going out again, so please send me Bs a case of forty-eight tins of your natural milk—‘Green Butterfly ’ Brand.”’ Of all Retailers. Wholesale: Miller & Co., Colombo. BY) FUSSELL &Co., Lid., LON ~s ~1 LES T have recommended it to ON and NORWAY Plantation JIadustry. Uhe older producing companies continue to pay out satisfactory dividends with a comforting persistence, and the younger companies show signs of emulating their elders in the very near future, The Linggi Company has declared its second interim divi- dend of 43? per cent, and the Selangor Com- pany announces a distribution of a second 6243 per cent; while the growing outputs from the younger plantation companies justify ex- pectatione of early initial distributions from theom.—Zorn and Leigh Hunt. ““INTENSIVE GARDENING.’’ October 7th, Sir,—Who can tell us exactly what “ in- tensive’ gardening means—especially as ap- plied to the tropics? There is a good deal of talk about it in England, not so much culti- vating under glass; but in the new French mode—whatever that means? The word “ in- tensive” does not once appear in the index to Maemillan’s ‘* Handbook of Tropical Gardening and Planting.”—Yours, &c., ECONOMICAL HOUSEKEEPER, Oct. 13th, Siz,—In ‘‘Intensive” gardening, plants are grown under glasses, a bell-shaped glass over each plant, Rows of them can be seen in gardens where this method is used. I send this as 1 saw the question asked by a corres- pondent in your paper. LETTUCE, 378 LATEX AND ITS RELATION TO THE LIFE OF THE PARENT PLANT. There are present in many plants chemical substances which, although recognised as pro- ducts of activity of the living ceil, neither in their exact mode of formation nor in their full significance are clearly understood, Among such substances are the alkaloids, glucosides, colour- ing matters, ethereal oils, resins and caout- chouc or india rubber. Many of these products are of some considerable economic importance. The alkaloids include strychnine, quinine, mor- phine and other drugs and violent poisons. Of the giucosides, which are compounds of sugars with various substances, some too are poisonous, yielding on decomposition prussic acid. The Lima bean or Java bean contains such a glucoside ; and when it is growing wild the per- centage of prussic acid in the stems and leaves may be sufficiently high to be fatal to animals which feed on it. There is good reason to believe that such a glucoside occurs in the shoots of the Para rubber ; and an example of its poisonous properties occurred several years ago, when some Para rubber trees growing 1n the garden of the Residency in Taiping were felled because they had proved poisonous to horses. The presence of such poisonous substances in plants serves no doubt to check the ravages of animals ; buf this can scarcely be regarded as a primary function. The colouring matters in plants serve to attract insects, whose association with plants is frequently beneficial. The ethereal oils and resigns are recognised as products of excretion. But the significances of the relation of these bodies to the economy of the parent is not clear. The significance of the presence of caout- chouc in plants is, perhaps, still less clearly understood. Caoutchouc occurs in the latex of plants of different natural orders, among which are the Huphorbiacee, including Manihot, ’ Ceara, and Hevea, Para rubber, the Urticacee, containing Ficws, Rambong, and Castitloa, and the Apocynacee of which Willughbeia and Leuconotis, Borneo rubbers, are members, along with the various natural orders which contain numerous species yielding so-called ‘‘ gutta- percha.” Latex is the name given to a fluid which is either watery or viscous, colourless, white, yellow, orange or red, and is contained in specialised cells, called latex tubes. The cow tree of Venezuela (Galactodendron utile) yields a sweet milk of good flavour; the dried latex of the Poppy (Papaver somniferum) is the opium of commerce; the milky Agarics, fungi of the mushrooms type, yield white, orange or red latex ; and many other species occur which are of interest or of economic importance. Latex is an emulsion of various substances in a water-basis; these are resins, caoutchouc of different kinds, oils, tannins, proteids, sugars, starch, alkaloids, ferments and scalts. The tubesin which the latex occurs are divided into The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist two classes according to their mode of origin, viz. —laticiferous vessels and laticiferous cells; the former arise by the fusion of independent cells, this class including Manihot and Hevea, while the latter originate by the growth of special cells which are said by some to be differenti- ated in the undeveloped embryo of the seed. These tubes, when fully formed, are living cells connected by branches and frequently for- ming a close network ; they occur in all parts of the plant. The tubes, when present, are associated in the stems and leaves of plants with those special tissues to which the function of con- ducting plastic food-ma‘erial is ascribed. And this close association, coupled with the rich- ness of the latex in food substances, such as proteid, starch and sugar, suggests at once that the latex tubes function asa conducting system by means of which food material is conveyed from one part of the plant to another. There is other evidence in support of this suggestion. For example, where latex tubes occur, those particular tissues which are normally concerned with the conduction of so-called elaborated foud- materia! are deficient and ave frequently badly developed. Again, in Huphorbia, as the young plant commences to develop in the seed the latex becomes poorer; when it has germinated the latex grows richer. And abnormal condi- tions which stop certain of the life-processes, notably that of assimilation, make the latex poor. Assuming, then, that the tubes serve to conduct food-material in the plant, the ques- tion arises ‘‘ Is the latex a-tually in circulation in the plant ?” That it isco there is no doubt, since Schwendener has actually seen it in trans- parent seedlings of Chetidonium. From this evidence we conclude that latex bears some actual relation to the economy of the parent, and this relation must be the conduction of plastic food-material. When, by some inter- ference with the normal life-processes of the plant, the latex becomes poor, on the resump- tion of the normal condition it becomes again rich, and the richness in food material has been found to commence in the leaves and to extend to the roots, We can have no stronger corro- horative evidence than this of the supposition that the latex tubes area path by which food- matorial is conveyed inthe plant. We, there- fore, conclude in the light of modern concep- tions of the nutrition of plants that the laticife- rous system in plants serves’ the purpose of conducting plastic food material. In addition, however, to containing food sub- stances the latex contains bodies which are re- garded as ‘‘ excretory substances,” The plant has no means by which it can excrete its useless products outwardly; and the excretory sub- stances are stored in different parts of the plant body. Such substances are regarded as ‘ end- products ” in the metabolism of the cell and are incapable of being utilised for purposes of nutrition. The resins, gum-resins and gum- mucileges are recognised as excretory products. Such substances are known to occur in latex; the latex tubes are, therefore, regarded as serving the function of excretion. The caou- 7 and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—October,” 1911. For Use in ‘TABLOID’ FIRST-AID BRAND Trappe MARK Outfits ranging frompocket First-Aid “= (as tllustrated) to equipments =e for large estates, mines, LH 292 879 Emergencies No. 710 ‘TAsLorpb ’ Firsv-Aip Ideal for Can be constantly carried in pocket, saddle-bag, etc. In scarlet enamelled metal. Price in London 2/@ individual use. BS Obtainable at the principal pharmacies in all countries BURROUGHS WELLCOME & Co., LONDON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED tchouc in all probability does not exist as schu in the latex, but is produced during coagulation from simpler bodies similarly constituted chemically. It isitselfa compound of carbon and hydrogen and is chemically comparatively inactive. There is, therefore, some probability that it is an end-product and incapable of being further utilised by the parent. Much more re- quires to be learnt, however, concerning the changes which occur in latex in different parts of the plant and under different conditions, be- fore any accurate conclusions can be arrived at as to the significance of the presence of caoutchouc. Enzymes have been demonstrated in the latex of some plants. Ficus carica and carica papaya (papaw) contain peptonising enzymes. ‘The presence of an oxidase has been demonstrated in the latex of Hevea; the occurrence of black latex is ascribed to this enzyme. The presence of enzymes is significant of the occurrence of active changes in the latex. In addition to the abovementioned func- tions of latex two others occur, viz.—the sealing of wounds and the protection of the plants from ‘animals. Latex containing caou- tchouc coagulates quickly, and the coagulated mass serves to seal wounds more or _ less effectively. In seme plants the latex tubes branch close to the surface and thus facili- tate the sealing of wounds by the juice, In other plants hairs containing latex are present on the floral bracts and are thus regarded as servlpg to protect the flowers from animals ; while the occurrence of poisonous substances in latex is no doubt an efficient means of protection against certain animals, Itis not uncommon to find insects in the neighbourhood of Hevea plantations bearing masses of coagulated latex on all parts of their bodies in such quantity as to considerably hinder their movement; and it is believed that the insect pests of Hevea would cause considerably greater Jamage, were it not for the protection offered by the latex. The occurrence of these two functions of latex isclear; but, they are in all probability not primary functions and can only be regarded as incidental. With regard to the two first named functions, the one cf conducting food-material and theother ofreceiving products of excretion, it is uncertain as to which wasthe primary one. The relation of latex to the life of the parent possesses for more than mere scientific interest. The recognition of the laticiferous tubes as a means of conducting plastic food material is of itself of primary importance, inasmuch as such problems of practical importance as tapping, systems of tapping, bark renewal, etc., are closaly connected with it, whilo an accurate knowledge ot the significance and mode of formation of caoutchouc must be of considerable value to the practical cultivator. KeritH BANCROFT, B.A. —Straits Agricultural Bulletin for Sept., 1911, 380. A NEW CAFFEIN-FREE COFFEE. IN THIS PRocESS GERMINATION OF THE BEAN TAKES PLACE AND THE CAFFEIN 18 EXTRACTED WitHout THE USE oF CHEMICALS, A new caffein-free coffee is being introduced to the trade by the Hiibner Health Coffee Com- pany, 65 Front street, New York. This product is covered by a patent, dated January 25, 1910, issued to Robert Hiibner, and, according to the manufacturer, is the result of over forty years spent in the study of coffee. The natural process of germination is used in extracting the caftein and no chemicals are ap- plied. 1t is said between 80 and 90 per cent of the caffein is extracted in this way. The small percentage remaining is not soluble. STATEMENT BY THE [NVENTOR. Dr. Robert Hiibner has prepared for us the following statement concerning this new caffein- free coftee : ‘‘The extraction of the caffein takes place simply by the action of water on the coffee bean, without employing benzol, alcohol, chJoroform, carbon disulphid, acetic ether or any other che- mical, “ By the action of the water on thecoffee beans not only the caffein is extracted but also the sur- plus of the acids as well as aldehydes and other substances which form in roasting the furfur alcohol. ‘A decoction of this coffee can be used by persons who are not able to drink untreated coffee. Such persons have been known to sleep soundly after it. “The lowered percentage of furfur alcohol is a further advantage possessed by this coffee, Fur- fur alcohol is just as detrimental to health as caffein, and both in conjunction are even strong- er in action by supporting the effectiveness of each other. The extremely low percentage of caffein as well as the low percentage of furfur alcohol in this coffee precludes the possibility of its use causing any nervous trouble or distur- bance. There are many people who might be able to withstand the action of caffein in coffee, but they cannot drink untreated coffee because, as they say, it causes sour stomach or heartburn. This health coffee, with no surplus of acids, because they are largely removed in the extrac- tion process, will not cause any such disagree- able sensations.” Tut Patent CLaiMs. According to the patent papers the method of extracting the caffem in the Hiibner process is as follows : “The raw coffee beans are distributed over the surface of a shallow dish or pan and covered with water having a temperature of approxi- mately 15 degrees centigrade. There should be sufficient water to cover the beans and maintain them covered during the time they are immersed and absorbing water. The beans should remain immersed until they have doubled in size, or otherwise have absorbed ajl the water which they wil take up. Thetime of immersion will therefore vary between twelve and twenty-four hours, depending upon the quality, condition of ripeness and age of the bean. If the beans are old or dirty, or mixed with other substances, it may ke The Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist necessary to change the water a number of times. After the beans have swollen to double their size and the water or waters used inthe preliminary treatment above described removed, they are again immersed in water under the same con- ditions and at the same temperature, and al- ‘lowed to remain immersed until partial ger- mination bas been accomplished, or, in other words, until, by chemical tests, the presence of maltose can be detected.” The patent specifications say that the ele- mentary principle evolved in the process con- sists in primarily affecting a limited germina- tion of the coffee bean, which acts to break down the normal union of the combined mate- rials in the bean so that they may be extracted by water. As soon as the presence of maltose is detected the beans are washed with water at a tempera- ture of from 50 to 60 degrees centigrade, which stops germination, The washing is continued until the gum-like coating of the beans (caffe- tannic acid) and most of the remaining caffein is washed away. The beans are then dried in thin layers ou pans by passing a current of hot alr over them. From the watery solution obtained in the treatment of the beans caffetanic acid, caffeic acid, salts, etc., are precipitated by the addi- tion of some basic material, such as sodium, potassium or calcium. ‘‘ The watery extract, from which the precipitated matters have been removed, is then cuncentrated and the caffein separated therefrom by the employment of chloroform or other readily volatizable subs- tance, and subsequently the chloroform or other volatizable substance removed by subjecting it to the action of a jet of steam. The removed precipitated matters, z.e, the caffetannic acid, caffeic acid, organic coloring matter, salts, etc., may be again made into a solution with water and, if desired, re-embodied in the coffee beans by any suitable process, after whichthe beans are again dried.” The specifications claim a new process of re- moving caffein from green c ffee beans . by osmotic action ; also as a new article of manu- facture, green coffee beans having their cellular structure altered by limited germination (par- tially converted into maltose), and from which the major portion of the normally contained caffein has been removed.—Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, for September, 1911. TOMATO-SEED OIL. The manufacture of an oil from tomato seed is an industry of quite recent date in Italy, where the growing and preserving of tomatoes is carried on extensively in many paits of the country. In he province of Parma alone, upwards of 84,000 tons of this fruit are packed every season. The utilisation of the seed, which forms so large a percentage of the waste in the procese of pack- ing, and which was formerly thrown away, must now add considerablyto the profits ofthe packer. This oil somewhat resembles that of cotton seed in its properties, and itis beginning to be in steady demand for soap-making.—Royal Society of Arts Journal, August 25, & and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Sociely.— October, 1911, PARA RUBBER IN BURMA. ITS PROGRESS. Since the introduction of Para rubber into Burma, some fifteen or twenty years ago, the cultivation has extended from Mergui, in the south, to Bhamo and Myitkyina in the extreme north, and today there are several thousand acres under cultivation, and the area is rapidly increasing, labour being cheap. In Bhamo, Mr Kohu has a small plantation, the trees being about fifteen years old, Here the results have been most favourable; so much so, that last year the rubber from this plantation, because of its texture and quality, brought 1s. 3d. more per pound than was paid for any other Plantation rubber placed upon the London market during the season. The seeds, too, from this planta- tion, of which about 90 per cent. germinate, produce, strong, healthy plants, equal, if not superior, to those obtained from Ceylon seed, the Jatter very often producing twisted plants which is in no way dve to the position in which the seeds are planted. In the Myitkynia Dis- trict, Mr K Young has 2,400 acres, of which up to date it has only been possible to plant 500 acres, but the trees, some of which are now nearly three years old, are all, doing well. About six years ago, in Myitkyina town, some trees were planted as an experiment in the Forest compound. This year, these trees were tapped, and though the method of tapping was most primitive, the results obtained were excellent both as to quality and quantity. Further south in Tounghoo, Shwegyin and the vicinity of Rangoon and Amherst there are large planta- tions all of which are doing well, thereby going to prove that the whole of Burma (with perhaps the exception of the dry zone round about Pokokhu, Myingyan, Sagaing, Shwebo, etc.) is pre-eminently suitable for the cultivation of Para. As a matter of fact, even in the dry zone the soil compares very favourably with that in some parts of Ceylon which pro- duces rubber, The Government of Burma are only too will- ing to help bona fide planters. Such may have for the asking, in any District which has been de- clared by the Government as a rubber producing tract, 1,200 acres exempt from taxation for a period of from eight to twelve years, on alease- hold for thirty years, with the option of renewal for another twenty years. At the end of the eight or twelve year period, as the case may be, the land is taxed at the paddy rate assessment, which in no case exceeds Rs. 1-8 per acre. Itis true that in consequence of large Companies being formed for the purpose of rubber cultiva- tion, Government have in view the revision of the foregoing concessions, but the revision will only be nominal, after all, and will only affect certain Districts. The soil of Burma is as rich as any in the world, being a sandy loam in some parts and a volcanic ash in others The moun- tain ranges trend in such a direction that the South West Monsoonsweeps right up the valleys without hindrance, thereby ensuring an equal distribution of moisture. Thus, from a climatic point. of view there is little to be desired, So 381 far, the only pests which have attacked rubber have been white ants, male crickets, pig, deer, and sambhur, which Jatter are a nuisance in the north, The two first mentioned are easily got rid of by using kerosene oil emulsion of sulphuric acid, the method being to inject it into their nests or holes. As for the game pest, after bar- bed wire fencing. a man with a gun is very effec- tive, besides it keeps. the pot boiling, a thing much to be desired in a land where markets are few and far between.—M. Mail, Oct. 12 | ‘NEW RUBBER DRYING METHODS. ParaDisE Factory at KAsJANG DESCRIBED. According to the latest issue of ‘‘ Grenier’s Rubber News” the Paradise estate at Kajang, Selangor, has erected a factory in which the drying of rubber will probably mark a new era in the local manufacture of rubber. The factory is a substantial two-stureyed building of brick- work, withan iron roof. When it became neces- sary to build a factory on the above-named estate Mr. E. V. Carey, with characteristic up- to-dateness, decided to adopt a method of drying rubber by hot air forced through the rubber by mechanical power, the obvious advantage of this method being that the rabber will be dried probably in a tenth of the time taken by the ordinary methods. If the Paradise method proves success as far as the quality of the dried rubber is concerned it will be obvious from the financial point of view that the departure will come as a boon. The main plan of the Paradise factory comprises a washing and drying house, 70 feet by 35 feet, packing room 24 feet by 35 feet and an engine room 50 feet by 21 teet—all on the ground floor. The upper floor holds three airtight cubicles, each of these measuring 50 feet by 12 feet, for the drying of crepe. On one side of the washing and drying house on the ground floor are four of Shaw’s washing machines, and on the other are six patent, rubber driers, each chamber of which contains 24 trays, on which the rubber is placed, hot air being forced through from a fur- nace outside the building by fans. ‘There is also a large furnace serving to distribute hot air into the cubicles on the upper floor by means of pipes, which are carried on that floor to the cubicles and which are perforated at certain in- tervals so as to distribute the air as evenly as possible, The method adopted on the ground floor of drying by chambers has already been tried with great success in Ceylon for drying rubber, The method of drying in cubicles adopted on the upper floor of the Paradise factory has al- ready been tried with great success for the dry- ing of cocoa in Ceylon, but has not been previ- ously tried for rubber. If the combined systems, chambers and cubicles as introduced on Para- cise, prove a success it is estimated that as much as 1,000 Ib of rubber could be dried in a day of ten hours. It remains to be proved what parti- cular form of rubber will lend itself to this me- thod of drying. 382 RUBBER IN JAVA. There is published in ‘‘Grenier’s Rubber News” of July 8, an interview with Mr.G. A. Wilmot, manager of Kalimenger Estate, Djeroc- keigi, Java, who was ona visit to the F. M.S. Mr. Wilmot thinks the somewhat backward growth of a great deal of Java rubber is due to the fact that of the 60,000 acres under rubber in Java, a large majority of the estates are interplanted with coffee. He, however, thought that where the rubber was grown by itself it showed as favourable a growth as obtaining in other parts of the Middle East, and he auticipated that the Bandjar district, where a number of rubber estates are coming on well, should ere long makea reputation for itself. Mr, Wilmot reierred to the practice in Java of having honeycombed terraces and water- holing on the slopes, and of deep draining, owing to many of the estates being on the edge of morasses, on the flat. He also stated that on the slopes they dig a small trench about 6 it. in front of a line of rubber trees, The put into this trench the seeds of the Kemalndinan legume. As these grow up they prevent wash from the terraces, while the nitrogen they con- tain contributes to the nutriment of the trees. MOSQUITOES. “The Reduction of Domestic Mosquitoes: ’ By KE. H. Ross, Murray, 5s, deals primarily with the removal of the causes of tropical disease, Mr. E. H. Ross, the pioneer exponent (in Egypt) of his brother's great discovery, is one of the authorities of note. Mr. Ross’s book is, as it were, an admirable enlargement of the Mosquito Brigade Handbook published some years ago by his brother. It is much bigger than that little book, and no less practical ; it is throughout beautiful with a vehement enthusiasm which one has come to associate with the name of Ross; and, better still, it brings the subject home by a most interest- ing study of the life of afemale mosquito. It tells not only what the mosquito is and does, and how it lives, but also how it may be checked. how attacked, and what the cost will be, and what the opposition, and the results in terms of human prosperity. A book like this book of Mr. Ross’s should be issued broadcast to every official in all our tropical dependencies ; for though the glory of the discovery of the part played by the mosquito in the spreading of disease is due to Englishmen, our application of the dis- covery to life has been done, on the whole, in a niggardly, stupid, pig-headed, narrow, un- enlightened way. When it bas been well done, it has been, as a rule, more by private enter- prise—the enterprise of men like Mr. Ross— than by an enlightened intelligence in our State officials, A Deapty DIsEAse. The national slowness has its merits and its uses, but national apathy is a deadly disease. During all those ten yearsof ‘thought ” human beings have died in India of mosquito-borne disease at the rate of about two a minute. Five or six a second would perhaps not be an The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist excessive estimate for the number of those in- fected by mosquitoes during that time. The ‘ consideration ” of those responsible may well be serious ; even a Napoleon has fewer ghosts to haunt him. Mr. Ross does not ask for a despotism to bother peuple who only want, asthe phrase goes, ‘“‘to be let alone.’ He pleads for an intelligent administration interested in human health. He has had experience of an admicistration so little interested in public health that, as he says, ‘‘we” (the mosquito destroyers) ‘‘ were forced to employ every in- genuity to gain our object,’' the object often being the suppression of burst cesspools in people’s cellars, and the filling up of open stink- ing cesspools owned by the Government. Still as he says, the difficulties can be surmounted, and ‘‘popular administration does more for the community than despotism.” THE RUBBER EXHIBITION AND AFTER. (By James Ryan.) ‘‘ Of rubber young and rubber old, ““Ofrubber hot and rubber cold, ‘“ Of rubber tender, rubber touch, ‘* Praised be the Lord! we’ve had enough !” Old Grace (slightly altered.) Now that the Exhibition at Islington is over it is perhaps possible to co-ordinate a few ideas out of the chaos of mixed impressions that so colossal a show tended to produce in one’s mind. Thirty-three (or was it 34?) countries or Governments made the bravest show of their best and innumerable manufactures, not only of rubber goods but of machinery and allied articles, which filled a wilderness of space with kaleidescopic samples, wonderful photographs, weird slices of savagery whirring machinery and complicated cutlery. PLANTATION RUBBER. : Qut of it all Ceylon and Malaya came out with the honours of war. Their exhibits lacked the picturesque savagery and the artistic setting of the Congo pavilion and the Brennus-like tonnage that Brazil dumped into the scale, but they were put inaneat setting and showed the commercial superiority of British plantation- grown rubber in a marked way, while any visitor in search of information was ‘‘ coached ” on the spot by experts such as Mr Bamber, Dr. Petch, Messrs. Baines, Golledge, Ingleby, &c., who spent hours daily in what was at times (with the thermometer trembling on the verge of the nineties) anything buta light task. They often had, too, to ‘‘suffer fools gladly” with but rare interludes of compensating humour, as in the case of one gentleman,who, at the conclusion of a half-hour’s demonstration of ‘‘Hevea from the V cut to the Venesta,” wanted to know: ‘“ Have you ever any diffi- culty in coaaglutinating your latex?” raibte From the Congo, perhaps, we might pick up one tip for the future, and that is to copy the beautiful little series of cut-out sceues repre- senting :— 1, The Virgin Judge 2, The New Clearing ° 3. The year-old planting and Kajan Bungalow 4, Rubber in Tap. and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—October, 1911. These might easily be reproduced in the Colombo Museum or, better still, in the Arcade or one of the Colombo hotels. RussBes PAVEMENT. Much interest was shown in the exhibits ot Rubber Pavement, but it must be stated frankly that we are a long way off seeing this in general use even were rubber to go to 2s 6d per Ib. As far as the unbiassed critic can judge it is hope- less, when wet, as far as horse traftic is concerned and not at all easy to steer a motor over under the same conditions without considerable danger of side slip. In any place also where oil or petrol is likely to be split rubber pavement is clearly impossible. Under cover, however, and in such places as Railway waiting-rooms, vestibules and passages where people coming in from without with muddy boats and where luggage is noisily dumped, a rubber pavement is the ideal flooring. It has been in use for some time at the North British Station Hotel, Union Street, Glasgow, and is there an established success, It should not be beyond the resources of the Ceylon Government to lay a small experimental patch at the Colombo jetty, at Maradana station, and at Nanuoya. I am quite sure that manu- facturers would be only too willing to co-operate by placing their goods on view at the nar- rowest margin of profit—where the ultimate advertisement would be so directly to their ad- vantage. Failing Government initiative (and in these cases the attitude of the Ceylon Government has been compared aptly to that of the Griffin on the west front of Amiens Cathedral which stoppeth up one ear with its tail, while it buries the other in the mua) the Planters’ Association might take at least the pour parlers in hand. SYNTHETIC KUBBER. So far as practical demonstration is concerned this remains exactly as it was two—nay—ten years ago. There was on show a row of bottles of volatile, translucent, evil-smelling fluids of a bepziney, turpentiney type, a half-dozen or so of photographic developing dishes with what looked like American chowing gums in various stages of mastication, some 24 ounces of inferior-looking rubber which speedily gave way under the per- petual pulling about, and that wasall! State- ments were made that the rubber could be made for 6d to 8d per lb. from starch, sugar or sawdust, but there was not one tittle of evidence to go before a jury beyond the mere ipse dixit of the puppet who was in charge of the stall, A prac- tical demonstration was given which produced, in the course of some 3 or 4 days, about a couple of pounds of the inferior rubber alluded to, but I have heard of no valuation of the resulting product, either raw or vulcanised. No! as faras synthetic rubberis concerned the Ceylon Rubber Planter can goto sleep for a year or two yet without risk of his slumber being disturbed by the synthetic nightmare. It must also be re- membered that it would take many years of cau- tious practical experimenting before a manufac- ‘turer would dare to apply this new product to any major work, such as a deep-sea cable or 4 largo generating plant. The slightest rise in price of turpentine, the fall of real rubber to 2s e 383 6d per !b., heavy capital expenditure on machi- nery, danger from fire in the pruducing factory —factors of this kind are all dead against that alnaschar-like visions of the logroller of synthetic rubber, VULCANISATION OF RUBBER ON THE ESTATE, There are, however, not wanting signs that at some not distant date something may be done to vulcanise rubber before shipment from Ceylon and Malaya. The process is so exces- sively simple, and it so effectively prevents the daily alteration in quality and appearance of unvule inised rubber of all grades (except block or very thick sheet) which now occvrs, that it only requires a steady and continuous effort on the other side of the water to ensure a steady London demand. Out and out the best sample of rubber in the show was a vulcanised piece of thin sheet from Gikiyanakande. This was vul- canised in England, but it remained unaltered throughout the three weeks it was on show while unvulecanised estate samples were altering from day to-day under the influence of heat, light, oxygenation and enzymes. Even in the case of Block rubber strive of discolouration would appear, showing molecular changes even i the heart of the component sheets of the block. A PrRactTicaAL PROOF. When I was in Bombay a couple of years agoa steamship owner told me that he had had some honeycomb rubber ma“s and staircase flutings made from estate rubber vulcanised in Singa- pore, and that the articles produced were no dearer than, and lasted three times as long as, the British-made article. However much such a statement may need to be discounted, it opens up a vista of possibility which would justify as much expenditure as we Ceylon Planters spend on pushing Ceylon tea in America and elsewhere, PacKAGEs. In the matter of packages it was a case of ‘‘Hiclipse first and the rest nowhere” as there was nothing to compete with the ‘ Venesta” packages. ‘he perfectly smooth interior of the birchwood veneer adapts them specially for use for packing rubber. I presume that by this time all Rubber planters are aware that it is the inside of the rubber package that requires the most careful planing as any splinters or roughtags become incorporated with the surface of the rub- ber, are exceedingly difficuit to remove and (if present) may cause a considerable loss in price. All thisis obviated by the ‘‘Venesta.” In the case of tea whero freizhts are low may planters have failed to find that the saving in freight on Venestas pays for the extra cost over the ‘Momi’ or the country package, but where (as in an account sale before me while [ write) freight from Port Swettenham amounts to 75s per ton, and the Port rate, &., to 37s 6d, a saving of 10 per cent on 112s 6d per shipping ton is a tactor not to be neglected. There are still complaints that the ‘‘Venestas” are difficult to cooper up again when once opened, but in the case of rub- ber this is obviously of far less importance than with tea. There is, perhaps, more validity in the complaint that the batten round the inside rim of the ‘‘Venesta” makes it difficult to turn out 884 the contents. Rubber has a curious knack of shrinking en voyage and moulds itself surpris- ingly to fit any ledge or projection in the package. TACKINESS. The enzyme of tackiness appears to flourish in the air space left by the shrinkage of rubber in the package. It might be worth while (where this is known to occur frequently) to paint the inside of the package with a 10 per cent. solution of formaline. Personally I should be tempted to spray all crepe especially with a solution of formaline not less than 2 per cent and not more than 5 per cent., but the manufacturers are so suspicious of any innovation that such a course is at present out of the question. CHEMISTRY. Very little progress has recently been made in this department. The various committees ap- pointed at the Exhibition of 1909 frankly re- ported that they had no completed results to Jay before the Conference. One of the manufac- turers, who was mainly interested in the electri- cal applications of rubber, said that he objected to the presence of acetic acid in rubber as this made it useless for his purpose. It was pointed out that it was impossible by even prolonged washing to remove all acetatesas they were incorporated with the albuminates in the latex and were insoluble. It afterwards became evi- dent, however, that the objection was to FREE acid in the interstices of crepe, or even more sa to “block” made from crepe containing free acetic acid. It is therefore VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PLANTER that all free acid should be wrshed out of therubber at as early a stage as pussible. Free acid can be easily detected in an instant by the use of BLUE LITMUS PAPER a chemical of trivial cost. Pure WATER ON ESTATES. it is increasingly evident that very preat im- portance should be paid to the water supply of the rubber factory. In wet weather especially every trace of sand or matter in suspension should be removed. A case in which purity of water supply directed expert attention to the sample was that of Nikakctuwa estate, which from this cause was of stand-out quality. Dust. This should be avoided as much as possible especially in the coagulating room, which should be kept as clean as the best managed dairy. Wire blinds should cover the windows. ErreEcts or LIGHTS ON RUBBER. There is an increasing balance of evidence to show that coagulation is more satisfactory in the dark or in a very dim light. External Venetian jalousies would effect this manipulated from within. COOLNESS WHILE COAGULATING. Except in the case of coagulating by steam or smoke it appears that coagulating is most successful in a cool temperature. 60 degrees Fahrenheit is, perhaps, ideal, but this is rarely ‘ possible without ice in the low-country. By The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist the use of fans and wetted tats, however, a certain measure of coolness is always obtainable, DryiInc Rooms AnD Vacuum DRIERS. A large number of the biggest producers of rubber, especially in Malaya appear to be pre- judiced against the use of Vacuum Driers. Be this as it may, there appears to be little doubt that the best rubber is produced at a tempera- ture of 150 degrees Fahrenheit in a free current of airat the normal atmospheric pressure. It is difficult to see how the vaccuum could have any injurious effect, but perhaps it is that errors of manipulation are difficult to detect in in drie1s used when the superintendent is not actually present, CHEMICAL TESTS FOR RUBBER. The brokers appear to value rubber entirely by the old rule of thumb methods with which we were made familiar at Peradeniya in 1906. The great drawkack to testing raw rubber even chemically seems to be that two samples of rubber (giving identical results when tested chemically and by the usual tests for breaking strain, resilience, &c.) behave quite differently when vulcanised. Resin, for example, is looked on askance by many buyers, but actual tests have proved that rubber containing 8 per cent. of resin has incer- tain cases given tip-top results from the manu- facturers’ point of view. The finest hard para often contains quite high percentages of resin compared with ordinary plantation, OVER-ROLLING. There appears occasionally (not as a rule, how- ever) to be a certain amount of injury done to rubber by overworking on the rollers. This is perhaps, most marked in scrap from bark (even live bark, not dead and cankered stuff.) On the other hand, thereis the paradox that dead re- covered rubber which has completely lost. its elasticity is often magically revived by rolling. Summary. I hope that these remarks may prove of some value to those practical planters in Ceylon who were unable to attend the Rubber Exhibition, I think I have said enough to show that an enormous field remains open for investigation. To sum up, I should think--(1) an ample supply of clean water, (2) a cool, dark coagulating room, and (3) a quick cure are the three great deside- rata of rubber manufacture. —‘‘Times of Ceylon.” TEA IN THE CAUGASUS. The heavy snow fall of the past winter in the immediate vicinity of Batoum, combined with the unusually coid weather experienced in December, January and February last, did much injury to tea plantations. A large number of the older tea shrubs had their branches broken off by the weight of snow, and the young plants suffered muchfrom cold. The yield of the 1911 crop is estimated at about 200,000 lb., or about 50,0001b. less than in 1910. The area under tea in the neighbourhood of Batoum is slowly but steadily being extended. A tendency of small farmers to embark in the enterprise is apparent, —Board of Trade Journal, Sept. 28. J. R. -mcnths. TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST MAGAZINE OF THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. Von. XXXVII, COLOMBO, NOVEMBER 15ra, 1911, No. 5. AGRICULTURE AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. The old country has at last awakened to some purpose to the desirability of encouraging scientific research in .con- nection with agriculture, realising, as Canada, Germany, the United States, and other countries have realised, that without progress in the pure sciences that underlie agriculture, progress in agriculture itself must be slow and halting. To leave agriculture to depend upon the general progress of the under. lying sciences is by no means the best way; to provide those sciences with funds and demand special progress in directions that bear upon agriculture is better. And this is what is being done, as will be seen by a perusal of the extract from the Times given below. What the general public, however, requires to learn is that scientific research is slow, and that results must not be expected in a few weeks or This has been the great fault inthe work of a good many Depart- ments of Agriculture, results being hurriedly produced, only to find that they ‘require complete revision or modification in a few years, The experi- ments carried on at Peradeniya with the manuring of Cacao, the results of which will be published almost at once if they are not actually out when this appears, afford a very good case in point. Had we published them some years ago, many meanings might have been put into them which fuller ex- perience shows them incompetent to bear, In this connection we may with advantage quote the presidential address to the agricultural section of the British Association, given a short time ago by Mr. W. Bateson. AGRICULTURAL SECTION. In his address to the agricultural sub-section, Mr. W. Bateson, before dealing with the physiological, patho- logical and genetic aspects, emphasised the wide scope of the applied science of agriculture. He did this in view of the present very remarkable outburst of activity in the promotion of science in its application to agriculture, particularly with the provision on a considerable scale in England for the first time of a national subsidy in the form of the Development Grant, He pointed out the danger uf requiring the issue, as was done under a similar scheme in the United States, of periodi- cal bulletins or reports of progress. If it were true that the public really demanded continual scraps of results, and could not trust the investigators to pursue research in a reasonable way, then the public should be plainly given to understand that the time for 386 inaugurating researches in the public’s name had not arrived. It could not be too widely known that in all sciences, whether pure or applied, research was nearly always a very slow process, un- certain in production, and full of dis- appointments. The research of the present day could aspire no higher than to lay the foundation on which the following generations would build. Both those who were engaged in agri- cultural research, and those who were charged with the supervision and cun- trol of those researches must be pre- pared to exercise a large measure of patience. The applicable science must be created before it could be applied. It was withthe discovery and develop- ment of such science that agricultural research would for long enough best occupy its energies. The man who devoted his life to applied science should | be made to feel that he was in the main stream of scientific progress. To tell him that he must not pursue that inquiry further because he could not foresee a direct and immediate applic- ation ot the knowledge he would acquire was a course detrimental to the real interests of the applied science. There were specific instances where, in other countries, thoroughly competent and zealous investigators had, by the short- sightedness of superior officials, been thus debarred from following to their conclusion researches of great value and novelty. In this country, where the Develop- ment Commission would presumably for many years be the main instigator and controller of agricultural research, the constitution of the advisory board, on which science was largely represent- ed, formed a guarantee that broader counsels would prevail, and it was to be hoped that not merely this incep- tion of the work, but its future admin- istration also would be guided in the same spirit. So long as a train of inquiry continued to extend, and new knowledge was coming in the enterprise would not be in vain, and it would be usually worth while to pursue it. £50,000 A YEAR FOR RESEARCH. The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries have been in communication with the Development Commissioners with a view to the formulation of a scheme for the promotion of agricultural research and local investigations in England and Wales, and the Treasury, on the recom- mendation of the Commissioners, have now sanctioned the allocation of funds to be distributed by the Board in accordance with the general principles per aunum., Z set out below. The total maximum sum which will be expended when the scheme is in full operation will be about £50,000 { The scheme provides for :— 1. A system of agricultural research which will secure for each group of the problems affecting rural industry a_ share of attention roughly proportional to its economic importance. 2. The concentration of the scientific work on each group at one institution or at institutions working in com- bination. : 3. Grants for special investigations for which provision may not otherwise be made. 4. The grant of scholarships witha view to the increase of the number of men fully qualified to undertake agri- cultural research. 5. The carrying out of investigations — into problems of local importance, especially those involving the appli- cation of modern research to local prac- tice, and the provision of scientific advice for farmers on important tech- nical questions. ‘SUBJECTS OF RESEARCH, In making arrangements for the separate investigation, as far as possible, of each group of allied subjects the Com-— missioners and the Board have been impressed with the importance of securing continuity in work which is necessarily of considerable duration, and at the same time of providing staffs of specialists and experts who _ will be permanently engaged on work arising from the investigation of the same group of problems. By this means con- centration and economy of effort will be better secured than it would be ifa number of institutions were dealing at the same time with the same group of problems. p It is neither desirable nor possible to prevent all overlapping or duplication of work, but it is obviously necessary to proceed on a plan by which research) work subsidized from public funds will pot be unnecessarily duplicated. It is — also desirable to arrange that each problem shall be undertaken by the institution best fitted to deal with it, and usually by the institution which has specially devoted its attention to problems of an allied nature. Itis also important to avoid the giving of undue ~ attention to one part of the field of agricultural research, to the exclusion ~ of other parts which are of equalscienti-. fic and economic importance. a _ Novenesr, 1911.) — With these considerations in view, it has been arranged that grants should be made for research in the following groups of subjects :— . Plant Physiology. . Plant Pathology and Mycology. . Plant Breeding. . Fruit Growing, including the practi- cal treatment of plant diseases. . Plant Nutrition and soil Problems. . Animal Nutrition. . Animal Breeding. Auimal Pathology. . Dairying. . Agricultural Zoology. : Heonomics of Agriculture. BOOONHSN wow oo SPECIAL GRANTS FOR RESBARCH. A sum not exceeding £3,000 per annum will be available tor assistance in respect of special investigations for which pro- vision is not-otherwise made. Grants from this fund will be made on the recommendation of the Board’s Advisory Committee on Agricultural Science, who will consider not only whether the proposed investigation is desirable in itself, but whether it could not be better carried out a5 one of the special research institutions referred to above. The grants will be made from year to year, and will be for one year only in each ease, . 387 SCHOLARSHIPS. In order to secure the services of a number of carefully trained men for work in connexion with the scheme, the Board propose in each of the years 1911, 1912, and 1913 to offer 12 scholar- ships, of the value of £150 per annum, tenable for three years. It is proposed that candidates for scholarships should be selected by a special committee re- presenting the institutions under whom the selected candidates will subse- quently work. The award of 12 scholar- ships will be conditional on a sufficient number otf thoroughly suitable candi- dates presenting themselves. LocaL ADVICE AND INVESTIGATIONS. Grants will also be made to certain Universities, University Colleges, and Agricultural Colleges in England and Wales for the purpose of enabling them to supply scientific advice to farmers on important technical questions and to carry out investigations into problems of local interest, which can be more conveniently studied on the spot than at one of the research institutions. By means of these grants itis hoped to provide an expert staff possessing both scientific and practical qualific- ations, who will devote themselves to solving difficult local problems, and in other ways endeavour to secure the application of science to practice. GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS. SOME STRAY NOTES ON SAPIUM. By EDGAR BECKETT. (From the Journal of the Royal Agricul- tural and Commercial Society of British Guiana, Vol. 1, No. 2, July, 1911.) There is not much doubt that there is yet a great amount of information to be gained concerning this genus of our indigenous rubber plants. That there are large numbers of Sapiums to be found growing in our forests, at scattered intervals, is well known, that this tree is also to be found growing vigorously along the Coast lands is alsoa fact, but that we know the nomenclature correctly is probably open to doubt, whilst as to the beha- viour of the tree under tapping oper- atious and of its merits ascompared with Hevea brasiliensis we may quote from Prof. Harrison’s and Mr. Stockdale’s interesting article in the October issue, 1910, of the Journal of the Board of Agriculture. ‘ Without therefore pledg- ing ourselves to any definite state- ment,” they write, “in regard to the relative merits of the Pararubber tree and the indigenous Sapium, we are inclined to the opinion that, whereas the value of Hevea brasiliensis as a rubber-producing tree under cultivation is knownin many countries and under different conditions, that of Sapwm Jenmani has yet to be definitely ascer- tained ; and whereas the growth of Para rubber has been satisfactory in a very large number of different localities in the Colony, cultivators would be wise to choose this variety and to consider Sapium as still being in the experi- mental stage—worthy of trial only ona small scale until more definite inform- ation is available -in regard to the yields of rubber that can be obtained fromit.” In the April number for this year, the Journal contains the follow- ing: ‘Mr. Stockdale reported on the experimental tappings of Sapwum Jen: Gums, Resins, 388 | [NovEMs! R, J 7h J mani at Bonasika. The experiments were not complete, but the result showed that the planting of Sapiwm could not be recommended if Para rubber was available.” But apart from these considerations, mention of a few of the characteristics of the plant may not be out of place at this juncture, when every tongue runs riot with the name of rubber. All Sapium leaves bear the distinct character of two glands on the _ petiole or leaf stalk; in some cases they are very conspicuous, being of considerable length, whilst, in other cases, they are just barely indicated to the naked eye. The margins of the leaves are, some varieties, serrated, and, in _ others, smooth, with a gland ortwo of some prominence. On good authority the writer is informed that both the serrated and smocth margins are to be found on leaves of the same tree. The flowers are very small and are grown on long spikes, the females being atthe bottom and the males at the top, the latter generally being also prcduced in larger numbers than the former. The fruit consists of a small capsule or seed case, not conspicuous at all, and each capsule generally contains three divisions, and, when ripe, splits open, when the seed itself is disclosed, which upon examination is shown to possess a bright arillode, which, in all probability, proves an attraction to birds, insects «nd rodents. The smallsize of these seeds is responsible for the idea that used to prevail amongst the Indians that the tree never produced seed at any time. That there isa considerable variety in shape and size of the leaf can be seen by a glance, and this variability appears to be governed apart from distinction of species, by the age of the tree, the position of the leaves and other conditions. A prominent charac- teristic of one species of Sapium is a distinct hooked. gland at the apex of the leaf, but this distinction is said not to be confined to the species indigenous to this Colony alone, as it is found in many species not indigenous to British Guiana. This tree is known to us generally as Sapium aucuparvum, but according to Mon. Huber is referred to as Sapiwm Helmsleyanum. OF this variety Mr. A. W. Bartlett writes: ‘‘The leaves show very considerable variety as to size and shape both in those occurring in different parts of the same tree, at different ages of the plant and on different individuals.” This may he said with accuracy in relation to other species of Sapium. He continues: ‘‘ Thus the leaves on the lowermost branches of some of the treesare destitute of the hooked apex and end ina long blunt point asin S. Jenmani. Also the leaves of the young plants and of saplings even measuring 15 to 20 feet are invari- ably wanting in the characteristic feature.” It is obviously, therefore, a risky proceeding to attempt to identify any Sapium by examining a few leaves only. Itis generally taken asan accepted fact that most of the Sapiums of the coast region yield no rubber, but only — an ioferior quality of resinous latex, yet on the islands at the mouth of the Kssequebo river, such as Liberty Island, Fort Island, ete., Sapiums are to be found freely growing “ wild,” and they do yield rubber, which is said to be equal to that obtained from the Sapiums of the interior. Furthermore, the name Sapium Jenmani appears to have been applied somewhat hastily to all rubber- yielding Sapiums. The Sapiums grow- ing in these Essequibo islands may not be 8S. Jenmani at all, but probably will have to, in their turn, undergo the ‘‘martyrdom of christening.” As to the other indigenous species, Sapyum big- landulosum is a coast lover, and yields no rubber, while S. paucinervum is found to occur in the Pomeroon and in the North-Western District as well as other portions of the colony, and alsoin all probability furnishes nothing but an. inferior resinous, sticky substance, of no value whatever. a S. Helmsleyanum, to give the so-called S. aucuparium, the name to which M, Huber has referred it,is distributed wide- ly throughout the Colony, and proves very attractive to boys, for it is chiefly to this tree, though other species yielding resinous products are also utilised, that they have resource when they wish to snare birds. Usually the tree is hacked, and as the latex gushes out it is caught on a stick to which has been rolled portions of bread crumbs, moistened with a liberal supply of saliva. The ie whole isthen smeared over the stick and the snare set ‘‘at right angles” toa long bamboo pole which is stuck in the © middle of a pasture or other likely spot. So effective is this snare that frequently the active and sturdy vicious little parroquet, known locally as the Keri- Keri, is firmly entrapped by this adhesive mixture, when it has alighted | S on one of the numerous perches jutting from a bamboo stem. i As to the identity of the tree, afoot- note by Mr. Bartlett, in a paper of his on ~ our local rubber trees, throws consider- able light. ; pa ? _ Novempnr, 1911.) _ It is as follows: ‘In a copy of a paper LThave just received through the kind- ness of Monsieur J. Huber, of the Para Museum, entitled ‘Revue Critique des Especes du genre Sapium,’ I observe that our specimens identified as Sapiwm aucuparium, Jacq., have been referred to a new species S. Aelinsleyanum Huber.” Now Mr. Bartlett quotes Dr. Huber as writing of Para rubber as follows: ‘‘Little of it (Para rubber) is pure Hevea rubber,but usually a mixture of the latices of H. braziliensis and Sapium aucuparium. The rubber of S. aucuparium has never been marked alone, and very little can be said definitely of its value. But when mixed with Hevea latex a rubber is produced not to be distinguished from the sup- posed pure Hevea rubber.” Mr. Bartlett brought forward two theories, in 1907, to reconcile these different experiences as to the Jatex of the so-called local S. aucuparium, viz., either that the species was different, or to quote this authority ‘‘ more than one distinct species have been included ‘under this name.” or that the trees yield- ing resin in this colony on our coastlands were only comparatively young trees. It is a well-known fact, of course, that if we except Hevea brasiliensis, many rubber-producing trees yield, when they are young, poor quality resins rather than caoutchouc. At any rate sufficient has been said to show that itis important that there should be no confusion concerning the identity of this tree. But the question of the resinous quality of the latex furnished by trees known to yield rubber of good quality when they have attained a number of years, brings us to that which natur- ally is now arising. Do the so-called S. Jenmani yield rubber at a sufficiently early stage of growth to make planting _Sapium rubber-growing a commercial undertaking ? Have we to wait for five or fifty years before a product com- paratively richin rubber and poor in resin is obtained? These are questions which we should very much like to see definitely settled, while the provoking variability of the genus itself also pleads for a nomenclature, the definiteness of which may give the answer to many puzzling conditions. As its available characteristics, I may mention that, recently in the North- Western District, I found a Sapium sp. with a twisting, tortuous stem, which was hugging in its vice-like grip one of our native palms, in an embrace which must prove to be one of death, so far as the unfortunate palm is concerned. 389 / Saps and Hxudations. One would have been certain that this cruel habit belonged to a native Ficus, but the leaves. proved the tree to be a Sapium, and one which yielded a thick-creamy latex apparently rich in caoutechoue and quite different from the sticky substance furnished by our Ficus and non-rubber yielding Sapiums. To return to the question of the mixing of latices of S. aucuparium and Hevea brasiliensis, it might prove of interest to carry out some experiments with the mixing of thelatex of Sapium Jenmanit and other’ rubber-yielding Sapiums with that of Hevea brasiliensis. Quite recently the writer was told of a ease where the latex of Hevea brasiliensis was mixed with the thick yellowish latex of one of our indigenous Heveas, (possibly H. confusa), with the result that the product was very favourably reported on it England. In the Aruka valley of the North- Western District exceptionally suited to Sapiwm growing. There the tree makes most amazing growth on the soft pegassy lands of the district. On the other hand this peat soil does not support Hevea brasiliensis satisfactorily, though where it is mixed with the clay sub-soils the growth of this tree is fair, such as on the dams that have bean thrown up when trench digging operations have been carried out. Onthe heavy clays of the coast- lands rubber-yielding Sapiums are, apparently, afailure. They are attack- ed by scale ( Lecaniwm chiefly) and make poor and stunted growth. A noticeable characteristic of some of our Sapiums, frequently even in the case of trees growing in the interior, is the dying back of the topmost branches, As to the product, it has been proved that some of our wild Sapium trees yield a rubber which can command a price, when cleanly prepared, very little below fine hard Para. In the North-Western District consi- derable progress has been made with the planting of Sapium trees, this activity being due chiefly to the pioneer efforts of the late Mr. David Young. As the trees planted by Mr. Young must have, iu many instances, attained some six years, possioly we shall beshortly in a position to know something definite concerning the yields and the quality of the product obtained from trees at ap age when Para rubber is tappable. Until information as to the yield and quality obtained from cultivated Sapiums is forthcoming, there does not appear to be much probability of many more estates undertaking any such cultivation extensively. " the conditions are - Gums, Resins, RUBBER WORLD REMAINS INTERESTING. MILLIONS oF PoUNDS INVESTED AND ALL PayineG Goop DIVIDENDS— ESTIMATE 800 POUNDS TO EVERY ACRE. (From the Manila Bulletin.) That the position in the rubber world is still an interesting one will be readily conceded. Without aspiring to the 1ole of the prophet—a thankiess position and one that we should be loth to assume—those who are well qualified to know look for an average price for plantation rubber for the current year ot probably not inferior to 5s. 6d. per Ib. We need scarcely remark that for the bulk of the producing companies this could not be otherwise than a very satis- factory price, the result of which should be that very good dividends would be earned. On just how much of the forty to fifty millions sterling that has now been embarked in the plantation in- dustry the world over dividends will be paid is beyond usto state. But there will undoubtediy be many companies added to the list of dividend payers, whilst the older ones will have ample balance ot which to dispose. The result is that many shareholders are naturally concerned with the attitude that will be assumed by the Boards of Companies as to the policy of dividends fairly liberally, or of retaining large sums, or of allocating a good slice of profits to the creation of 1eserve funds against the day when the profits cannot in the ordinary nature of things economic, be as large as at present.* In an interesting communication Mr. A. S. Baxendale con- troverts the necessity for the building up of large reserve funds. Shareholders, knowing that they will receive 12 to 15 per cent., with as good security as an investment other than rubber yielding more than 6 per cent. would give, natur- ally object to the earned profits being withheld. Few who know will quarrel with the statement he makes as follows :—All will agree that a reserve fund equivalent to the capital of the company is desirable, not only in rubber, but in all other companies, and a very fair start has already been made by the best companies, but I trust and believe the view that appropriations to reserve should be proportionate to the dividends will not meet with general support, as the only argument in its favour would seem to bethat rubber shares would then afford amore attractive security for those who know nothing about the value of the property of the company. 390 . LC Gira (NoveMBER 19 / ” : The requirements fora reserve fund in 4 arubber venture are not so imperative . as they arein mines and in most in- dustrial enterprises where much more may be lost in bad years than is prob- able would be the case with rubber 4 estates. The best course to assume is probably a medium one. Dividends should be paid on fairly liberal basis, and the individual shareholder can make what provision he himself con- f siders prudent. A’ moderate provision \ to reserve is all that is necessary ; asum sufficient, that is to place the estate in the best fighting position a few years ~ hence to meet the fall, whether it beto - j 2s. 6d. or 1s, 6d. gross selling price. In — f this respect a thoroughly equipped ~— 4 estate, with its buildings and factories all in good order, and its area compact and clean so thatit can produce at the — : lowest rate is likely to fare better — than one of doubleits planted acreage ~ which is not in perfect condition. 4 To achieve this, it does not seem that more than moderate provision need now } 4 be made, whilst a few more acres q can be brought forward and thus reduce a the capital cost per acre as shown by, the balance sheet. To remain in the dividend paying listafew years hence means that up-to-date appliances are absolutely necessary. Present profits can provide these. One statement a recently made is that the smoking pro- cess drives off most of the surplus water, leaving the rubber some 90 per cent, fine, containing alittle more water than the present style of dried sheet does, and therefore according to many authorities, possessing more resiliency than ordinary dried sheet can ever aspire to. Rapidly drying by means of a drying chamber, through which perfectly dry air is drawn by means of a fan (the air rendered anhydrous by some cheap desiccator, such as lime or calcium chloride, &c.) is the only sound method, ~— states one authority. ! We may, perhaps, before closing, eall attention to one or two—shall we say comforting, or optimistic ?—statements — made by Mr. Baxendale in the letter referred to, As regards labour and its increase in cost, suppose, with an in- crease of wages amounting to 383 per cent. on an estate entirely composed of 10 years’ old rubber, the cost of collec- © tion would still be about one-half the cost of collection on the same estate when it was five years old, owing tothe fact that the vield of the older trees is at least four times as great, and, roughly ~ speaking, a coolie can tapas many oldas young trees. An increase of 33 per cent, in wages would be sufficient to attract — Z -Novemner, 1911.) literally tens of thousands of Chinese coolies from other industries to the rubber estates. He goes on to point ont that if we cast aside all ‘‘make believe” and base our figures on actual expe- rience [which shows us that every acre of rubber of nine years of age produces atleast 800 lbs. of rubber,] and if we take the average output of an acre from its tenth till its seventeenth year at 1,000 lbs. a year, we will find that the fair price for an acre of rubber on a -seven years’ purchase basis would be £875, even ifthe average price realised did not exceed 3s.alb. I am convinced that if the world’s supply ot rubber could be suddenly and permanently increased from 85,000 to 200,000 tons in the course of this year, the average price next year would nct be much below 38s. whereas in existing condition, and so long as the supply of rubber is so comparatively insufficient for all needs as to lend itself to manipulation, the sudden disclosure of 10,000 tons of hidden stocks would paralyse the market for months. Mr. Baxendale is referring ouly to properties in the Federated _ Malay States and not even the Province Wellesley or Malacca. If his facts are accurate for that district, we see no reason to doubt that certainly in Sumatra, and possibly in Borneo many ei may be able to do equally as well. : NEW RUBBER ENTERPRISE. COMPANY BEING ORGANIZED IN MANILA TO OPERATE IN -MINDORO— EXPECT TO SECURE AID OF AMERICAN CAPITAL. (Krom the Manila Bulletin.) Another enterprise is being ‘launched in Manila to develope rubber possibilities in the island of Mindoro. 391 Oils and Fats. The enterprise is headed by Manila capitalists, who have already made a good beginning, but expect to secure American capital to aid them in the final success of the undertaking. The company has secured 2,500 acres of excellent land in Mindoro situated on the Paco River and has as a beginning several thousand trees that were planted about three years ago in nursery, but which were never transplanted and have reached a height of from thirty to forty feet, but are stunted to some degree in girth, due to lack of room for greater growth by never having been trans- planted. According to the Bureau of Agricul- ture and rubber experts these trees can be transplanted even at this date and will do well, and they will form a nuc- leus around which the plantation will be installed and developed. The trees in question were planted by Mr. E. C. Hamil, who after planting the nursery left for the gold fields of Paracale and never paid further attention to them until only recently when it was discover- ed that they were valuable, the trees being of the Para rubber quality. The new company is being organized by Manilans, Mr. T. D. Aitken, the well- known attorney being one of the princi- pals in the enterprise. and it is most likely that Messrs. Birkett and Holden will act. as treasurers, It is expected that the organization will be completed within the next few days, and work on the plantation, clear- ing up the land and transplanting the trees will begin immediately. OILS AND FATS. CITRONELLA OIL STANDARD. (From the Chemist and Druggisl, No. 1, 649, Vol. LX XIX., September 2, 1911.) Mr. John C. Umney, F.c.s., in the course of an Editorial or this subject in the ‘‘Perfumery and Essential Oil Re- cord” for August, submits details of the characters and tests for the purity and odour-value of the oil. Mr. EH. J. Parry and the analytical chemists of several of thelargest soap-manutacturers have co-operated with him, and to judge of the accuracy of the assay pro- cess, sealed samples from the same bulk have been examined by himself and each of the analysts. The maximum difference in geraniol from highest to lowest was found not to exceed 0°'5 per cent., which is certainly sufficiently close for all commercial purposes. Critisism and comment upon these charaeters and the tests and their working are invited. K “4 ee ae A Fibres. 892 y (NOVEMBER, 191) They are as follows :— tube. The contents of the flask are 155°C heated to not more eae baat for eater d Se ; 3 twenty minutes, poured into a separat- Sper et sO 0'898 to 0°10 ing funnel, and washed with cold Optical rotation . -7 to -18° Acidity expressed as acetic acid Not above 0:25 per ¢ent. Soluble in 2-3 vols. of 80 per cent. by vol. aleohol, and clear on further addition of thealcohol up to 10 vols, ° Acetylisable consitituents stated as geraniol, at least 58 per cent. Estimation of Geraniol.—Ten.c.c. of the oil with 15 c.c. of acetic anhydride (Note 1) and 1 gram of anhydrous sodium acetate are boiled for two hours under a veflux condenser. The mixture is cooled without removing the flask from the condenser, and about 50 ¢.c. of water is slowly added through the condenser neutral brine (Note 2) until all soluble acid is removed. The washed acetylated product is dried with anhydrous neutral sodium sulphate, and from 2'5 to 5 grams saponified with alcoholic potash in the usual way. uy free acidity is neutral- ised before measuring the volume of decinormal KOH, and saponification is completed by heating on a boiling water- bath for forty-five minutes. The excess of KOH is titrated with decinormal acid. The acetic anhydride should contain at least 95 per cent. of actual anhydride, and be free fiom higier homologues. Water may he used instead of brine, but the latter is to be preferred, as it separates more rapidly from the oil. FIBRES. THE PHILIPPINES BAMBOO. (From the Manila Bulletin.) The Philippines is interested in the development of the manufacture of pulp for parer out of the bamboo, and the following from the Literary Digest on recent developments is worth reading. It will also be noted that no reference is made to the Philippines as a source of bamboo pulp, while Porto Rico and the Panama zone are set forth as the only American territory where bamboo is available. The Digest says :— i Our Vanishing Korests of spruce, cut down to supply the enormous demand for print-paper, may find relief in the discovery of anew source of supply in the tropics. Bamboo pulp is likely to come to the front as a main source of paper stock supply according to an AND THE article contributed to American Forest- — ry (June) by Harry Vincent, who quotes The Worlds Paper Trade Review (London) as his authority. The difficulty heretofore has been in the bleaching, as the colouring matter could not be eliminated except by the expensive causcic-soda process. This has now been obviated. Bamboo has incontestable advantages over other pulp material, A piece of land once established can be cut over annually for an indefinite period, as bamboo in the tropics grows thirty feet or more yearly, As it re- quires but a three-year period to estab- lish a field, no other material can 1 compete with it. The United States has control over large territories in Porto Rico and the Panama Zone most suitable for bamboo cultivation, and a permanent future supply up to millions of tons a year_may be assured, the writer thinks, We read :— “ The advantages of bamboo as a pulp- maker are: (1) It has a good, strong vegetable fibre ; (2) it is in general easily accesible for water transport; (3) it is cheap and easily collected ; (4) it is avail- able in large quantities and abundant within a given area; (5) it is avaiiable for a regular and constant supply, and not subject to violent fluctuations either in quality or price; (6) it admits of — simple and ready treatment, mechanical, chemical, or both, for easy and inexpen- — sive conversion into bleached pulp; (7) land established in bamboo, which will take three years from first planting to reach a height of thirty to forty feet, can then be reaped annually for an indefinite period. j “Ordinary thick walled bamboo which, when given suitable soil and climate, grows with amazing rapidity and yields annually at least forty tons Lean acre, contains fifty per cent. of a very strong yet fine and flexible fibre, easily digested by the ordinary bisulphide process, and by a new method simply and inexpen- sively bleached, yielding when properly treated an excellent pulp, felting readily, — and producing a paper, pliant, resistant and opaque, of enduring colour, thicker than other paper of the same ween : ‘Novewenn, 1911.) / and forming one of the very finest of . materials for writing and printing, and _ of exceptional value for engraving.” Commenting on Mr. Vincent’s article, the editor of American Forestry notes that the proposal to use bamboo for paper is an incident of the search for pulp-material to meet the great and growing demand. He says :— ‘‘The increasing scarcity and cost of spruce has already led to successful experiments with other woods, formerly disregarded, but experimenters are con- tinually looking for material which can 308 Edible Products. be grown more rapidly than trees. The foregoing article suggests a possible pro- mising source of supply, but it must be remembered that bamboo is a tropical product, and that our mills, representing an enormous investment, are in the North. The utilization of bamboo on a large commercial scale would involve a considerable readjustment of the pulp industry, and the solving of many questions, among which that of labour would not be the least. It can, there- fore, hardly be regarded as a possibility of the immediate future, although well worth consideration in connection with an ultimate supply,” EDIBLE PRODUCTS. PADDY CULTIVATION IN CEYLON DURING THE XIXTH CENTURY. By E, Evuiotr. (Continued from page $12.) STATISTICS AND THEIR COMPILATION. The statements of production of Paddy I have so far given, have, in the absence of reliable statistics, been neces- sarily deduced from the only trust- worthy data available, viz., the sums received annually by Government for its share of the crops. But as I now pur- pose basing my conclusions on more exact statistics, both of acreage and production, I will explain how and where I got my figures, and my reasons for thinking they are substantially accur- ate and reliable. The Government Blue Book Agricul- tural Returns, as printed and published, have unfortunately not been free from pipes errors, and consequently they ave been rather indiscriminately con- demned as untrustworthy. This, I have always felt, was too sweeping, and I was sure that, as recently expressed by Mr. Booth, Government Agent, Western Province, ‘‘the returns as compiled by the Headmen though not absolutely accurate, were for the most part probably near the mark.” I was further of opinion that the absurd figures which occasionally disfigured the pub- lished returns were most’ probably attributable to the carelessness of the subsequent clerical compilers in the Kachcheries, and pussibly to printer’s errors, to which undue prominence has been given. 50. Accordingly, some years ago, while in Ceylon, Ihad the Blue Book figures for the acreage and production of Paddy in each district for the twenty-six years, 1866 to 1892, copied on to two big sheets. I was thus able ata glance to compare the figures over the whole period for each and ‘spot’ auy extraordinary figures, and refer to the various Kachcheries for explanation. Curiously enough, I found, I think, only one serious error as regards acreage, where the number of bushels sowing extent in the North-Western Province, as returned by the Headmen, was given instead of the equivalent number of acres it was the Kachcheri Clerk’s duty to have inserted. But the mistakes as regards production were numerous and varied, but easily dis- covered, as the very next column of the Blue Book returns gives the rate of production. This careful scrutiny confirmed the favourable opinion already expressed ; and during a recent visit to London I have personally taken out the details, district by district, from the Blue Books for another sixteen years between 1893 and 1910.. These appear to have been more carefully ccmpiled, but not to be altogether free from some pal- pable errors, attributable to clerks or printers.* ; Thus, figures for Batticaloa crop in 1901, off some 87,000 acres, was printed *Thus the addition or omission of a single cypher in some of the details made a difference of three millions in the aggregate crops of 1882 and 1885, which have long tizured as the maximum and minimum of the decade, and must in future appear as eight millions odd in each year. A similar palpable mistake in the details of the Northern Province for 1888 justified the elision of nearly a million bushels. Edible Products. 153,188 bushels, though the average rate of productions given in the next column disclosed the omission of the figure for millions. It should have been 1,153,188 plus 383,782 in Trincomalie, makiny a total of 1,536,970 for the Eastera Pro- vince. Similarly an absurd crop of over seven millions in Kandy was found to be due to the unfortunate addition of that figure at both ends, instead of in the unit place only, possibly ascribable to the proverbial P.D. As I believe these returns are now checked in the Audit Office, 1 trust some steps will be taken to prevent the pro- mulgation of such absurd and unjusti- fiable mistakes in future, which throw discredit and suggest doubts of the correctness of the whole of the figures. Having cleared away these errors, it remains for me to deal with two other grounds generally advanced for impugn- ing their accuracy, viz., inconsistency with each other and under-estimation, To the formerI would reply that these apparent inconsistencies are really evi- dences of accuracy, and are chiefly attributable to corresponding varia- tions in the rainfall which have been ignored by critics who have nct studied its effect, and bearing ona cultiv- ation so dependent on the water supply, as I will further show a few pages hence. As regards under-estim- ation of production; for purposes of comparison it is a negligible quantity; as it equally affects all the figures, but it is not so great as usually alleged, and which I at one time thought myself. Mr. Lewis states (Wanny Manual) that Mr. Fowler thought the Headmen gave two-thirds the proper estimate. I think this is too much, and probably three- fourths would be nearer the mark. My experience as cultivator has taught me of the very large margins which must be allowed tor contingencies, especially when dealing with large areas, in the wilder parts of the Island. Even at the earliest stages there are enemies to ward against as well ex- pressed in a Tamil Proverb, which may be rendered as follows :— Remember this, when’eer you sow, One for Crab, and one for Crow, One to die, and one to grow. Then there are elephants, pigs, ‘crocodiles, besides vast hordes of birds who alone do immense damage, especi- ally to limited or detached cultivations. I have had Rs.200 worth of Paddy destroyed in a night by a few elephants, 304 _ (ue., fields associated for purposes of in spite of a watcher armed with a gun, and half my first crop off a small area was eaten by birds. Another frequent cause of a low crop return is large sowing, induced by favourable weather in the early stages, especially in the very extensive tracts in Batticaloa. Difficulties arise and delay follows which prevent completion, of the sowing in the proper time. The crop then ‘gets late” and is not ready ~ for reaping with the rest of the tract; and the swarm of birdsin the air con- centrate their depredations on the still tender crop. The communal fence has however been put up round the whole tract at the time fixed, and must be broken up at the time agreed on before- hand (the sticks being required to protect the stacked crop). ordes of cattle thus get admission, and the late crop has to be abandoned unreaped. I have known several hundred acres lost in this way in the extensive vattais, cultivation) in Batticaloa, in some of which over 1,000 acres lie within one ring fence. a I could multiply the circumstances which have to be taken into consider- ation in estimating the crops of large tracts, but what I have said will suffice, I trust, to carry conviction and enlist sympathy. i To resume the examination of the returns. I find that the reported aggregate crop for the whole Island varies in the earlier years from 114 bushels peracre (in 1872) to 184 bushels in 1879, but this rise is accounted for by the fact that the rain- fall in the former year was 64 inches and in the latter 161; while in 1896 (witha — rainfall of 93 inches) it was19 and in 1904 ~— (with 82) it is given at 20% bushels. An addition of 25% to these figures would give more than the 8-fold in an ordinary year which Sir C. P. Layard records to be a fair average in themore favoured Western Province with its equable rainfall. 7 With still more favourable climatic — conditions in the Central Province, I fin the figures to be 214 bushelds per acre — (average of five years 1888-92) and a maxi- ~ mum oO bushels in the Kandy district in 1905. ‘ I have been specially impressed with acreage; aud d crop is obtained off a moderate sowing, or vice — versa, it appears to be fairly stated — without any cooking of the figures. I may add that in such cases a reference J tothe rainfall returns almost invariably bears out the results given. Under these circumstances I think I may claim for the statistics Iam about to deal with, that they are a fair and accurate representation of the progrsss of Paddy cultivation in Cevlon during the last fifty years. As regards the use of the term “acreage” in the~Blue Books and in my returns, a word of explanation is neces- sary. In ordinary parlance and in re- - ference to such crops as Coconuts, Coffee, Tea, ete., it indicates the area planted with these products independent of the number of crops gathered in the year. Butin the Blue Book returns for _ Paddy the practice is different and not always the same. Ag is well hnown, : especially in Matara, a large proportion of the aswedumized or arable area is cropped twice within the twelve months; while in parts of the Western Province three crops are taken off the ) same parcels of land. In Batticalvoa, on the other hand, only a comparatively small proportion (if any) is cultivated twice, and though there are three crops within the year, they are raised on ; different lands. | In the North-Central Province, also, heretofore no land has been cultivated a second time (as recently reported by the Government Agent). Again; in the Western Province figures, the acreage sown with Paddy tor each harvest is added together and the total shown, In 1888 this was 68,000 in the Colombo District, whereas the whole aswedu- mized area is about’ three-fourths _of this. On the other hand, in the Central Province, the area reported as sown never exceeds the arable area, and so I conclude any twice sown land is only taken into account once. - As the extent cultivated a second time within the year is on the increase, especially in the irrigated districts, it is important to get reliable in- _- formation in this respect. The Head- men who prepare the returns in the first instance might be required _ to. - giveit. But whether it is so supplied or not, it is necessary to secure uniform- ity, and therefore desirable that some definite ruling of Government on the point should be promulgated. Mean- while I draw attention to the matter, ‘as agricultural statisticians are ac- customed to deal with acreage as test of progress, and I think it is to this fact may be traced the adverse opinions generally held as to the progress of Paddy cultivation during recent times, and the disappointment that greater 395 ‘Edible Products. extension did not follow on the abolition of the Grain Tax. Some years ago at an Agricultural Exhibition at Matara, when addressing an audience familiar with the subject, I pointed out how the production of Paddy had been doubled in that dis- trict, thanks to Irrigation, with hardly any addition to the arable area, The statement has been, I hear, impugned ; it was true at the time; and though owing to probably incessant cultivation there may have been some falling off, I am glad to find that the average crops are still at least 50 % above what they were in pre-irrigation times, In view of these circumstances it seems to me that the progress and develop- ment of Paddy cultivation in Ceylon must be measured by the increased pro- duction rather than by the additional area brought under cultivation. THE WEATHER AND RAINFALL is another collateral but important sub- ject which calls for attention at this stage. In Rhys David’s translation of the first fifty Jatakas, it is recounted how on one oceasion ‘‘the lion main- tained that the dark half of the moon was cold, while the tiger thought it was cold in the moonlight half, neither seeing until the Bodisat told them, that it was not the moon but the wind which brought the cold.” And so it has been with the discussions over paddy cultivation; some ascribed the slow development to “‘ the apathy of the native,” and others to inferiority of soil, yield, etc. There has been a general idea that water was required in the dry districts and irrigation was necessary, coupled however with doubts ‘‘if it would pay.” But due regard has not been paid tothe rainfall, and especially as, as already stated, much criticism of the reported results ignored its consider- ation. Irrigation has its usefulness un- doubtedly in storing and eking out the rain, but it by no means takes its place, and there is nothing like a _ plentiful fall to produce bumper crops, Soin my opinion no examination or criticism of the returns of paddy cultiv- ation and production is worthy of acceptance which is not accompanied by a careful reference to the concurrent rainfall. Norcan tke ordinary returns in any calendar year be used for this purpose. The true agricultural year in Ceylon is the Sinhalese one, and the corresponding rainfall return should be that for the twelve months ending on the 30th April of each year. This would include two complete monsoons and the climatic influehce which govern the twa Edible Products. big crops known as Maha in the Sinha- lese and Munmari in the Tamil districts (sown in the second half of the previous year and harvested in the early months of the current one), and the Yala (or Karavelama) sown and harvested with- in the first eight months of the calendar year, under which the entire figures for both crops are credited in the Blue Book returns, Unfortunately, I have only access to one rainfall return for a long period, namely, that in Ferguson’s invaluable directory, buc though this is for Colombo alone, it may I think be accept- ed as typical of the weather generally, which prevailed throughout the island in each period ; and as the fall is given by months, I have been able to recast it on the foregoing lines. 1 have also found a return of the early rainfall at Mullaittivu, in the Vanny manual, which will serve to show if the Colombo return is approximately correct for the Eastern side of the Islandin any year. I find, too, from the diagrams attached to Sir J. Keane’s report (LV. 1905) that the average falls during the N.-E. mon- soon at Colombo and Batticaloa are very nearly the same, but a month earlier on the Western coast, the heaviest at Colombo in October, and in November at Batticaloa and Trin- comalie. Working on these lines, I have framed a return showing the total average sown in the whole island in each. year, the gross estimated production of paddy, the rainfall for each agricultural twelve months ending on 80th April and the com- parative strength of each monsoon, as well as the fallin each little monsoon, a governing influence in the cultivation of the later Yala crops in the Sinhalese districts. An examination of the progress and development which this table discloses will be presently discussed, and here I only purpose considering it in reference to the climatic influences which have conduced to this happy result. First, I would point out how it justifies the official returns and accounts for vari- ations in the figures which have been taken as indicating untrustworthiness. Thus a small crop of 1873 is fully accounted for by the very short rainfall (62’), the failure of the S.W.* and a * The abbreviations are to be read as follows :—S.W., South-West monsoon; N.E., North-East monsoon; V.H., very heavy, H., heavy ; G., good; M., moderate; L., light; F., failure ; B.P., Bushels of Paddy. 896 iu the arable area, another gratifying a mK ny 9 He (NovemBER, 1911. TAG } nn moderate N.E. monsoon; while the bumper crop of the seventies was in 1878, when the total fall was 114” with a good S.W. anda V.H., N.E. But though the fall of the next year was still — heavier (151), the monsoon eonditions were somewhat reversed (S.W., V.H. and N.E., M.) Consequently the sow- ing and crop were both extensive and very good in all the Sinhalese districts, except the North-Western and North- Central Provinces, where, and in the Northern and Eastern Provinces there was a reduction of 5(),000 acres in the ex- tent sown; and poor crops in the Tamil districts, but better in the other two pro- vinces, thanks to an early and heavy little monsoon in April, which admitted doubtless of some cultivation for Yala. 1 have found the table most useful in the preparation of this paper, and have myself learnt several lessons from 1t, which though of small use to me now, may prove of value to those now or hereafter entrusted with the care of the interests I have in the past watched and loved so well. 5 Thus it discloses that it is a reasonable a and seasonable and not a “ ranting tant- ing” fall (such as the proverbial Scotch Divine deprecated) of over 100 inches, which produces the best crops ; and that these were not always got off the most extensive sowings. For instance, the largest crop of the eighties (just under ten millions B.P.) were got off a sowing of 585,000 acres, with a rainfall of 90’ (S.W., V.H. and N.E., H.,) while in 1887 a fall of 103 inches (S.W., G. and N. K., M.) only secured a crop of 8 millions. Making every allowaace for the increase fact disclosed by this table is that the cultivation of paddy seems to be getting. less and less dependent on the Clerk of the - Weather, and that irrigation is telling, though of course there are exceptional years when the rainfall is largely deficient or badly distributed. This is especially the case in the Districts largely depend- ent on the N.E. monsoon, and where the chief irrigation works are situated. Thus, in the Eastern Proyince the area cultivated for 1905-6 was over 77,000 acres, only 124% below the maximum (88,000 in 1904) consequent on the heavy rain (253 inches) in September and October, 1905, but the young crops were so largely destroyed by the drought* in the following November, (5 inches — instead of usual 12), and December (0°48 instead of usual 13) that the out- turn was 47 % less. * A considerable area in the Hastern Pro-- vince is cultivated for the Munmari crop — so entirely dependent in the direct rainfall. OT oa t a) Ey aie Pe Seal a ee)". iw ee 397 i ; Novemerr, 1911.) -In this connection I would point out that the big works in Batticaloa South are dependent for their supply on _ streams rising in the Badulla hills, only small feeders of which originate within the zone of 100 inches R. F. I wouid suggest enquiry should be made as to the necessity of reserving any of the forest on the higher hill in this region in the interests of the water supply, as very little of the South-West Monsoon gets into the next zone (of 75 inches), The source of the Magam River which feeds the Tissa Tanks should also be similarly looked to. The subject decidedly calls for con- sideration, for whatever its cause the _ average rainfall has decreased during the last twenty years (subsequent to 1892) as compared with the same period before the abolition of the grain tax. Thus | 1908-01...56 Inches. 1889-92...97 Inches. 1903-07...80 ,, 1883-88...87 ,, --1998-02...80 2 1878-82...98 ,, 1993-97...83 3, 1873-77...76 |. , 304 358 Annual Average 76 against (say) 90. These are of course Colombo figures, and it would be advisable and interest- ing to see if at other stations, especially where the N.K. monsoon is the predom- inant contributor, the results are the same. The last four years of short supply are, however, not unprecedented, as a similar » period of deficiency prevailed from 1872 to 1875, following in both cases a very heavy year 118’ in 1871 and 114” in 1903, I trust that climate, like history, may repeat itself, and that a wet cycle is now in store for the island. I hope that the close connection I have pointed out as existing between cultiv- ation of paddy and the rainfall will prevent a repetition of the mistakes “made by a writer who under the name of ‘‘Speculum” in 1867-8, poked fun at the Government returns. I have gone care- fully into his figures, and find that there was nothing very wrong in those he questioned (except such palpable clerical errors as I have eliminated in the later returns), and that the discrepancies he lays stress on were due to the rain- fall and the increasing crops at Batti- ealoa which he overlooked. But I must admit that the explanations given by the high officials, in Council at that time, ’ exhibit similar ignorance of the true _ causes, and gave ground for further scoffing. Another instance of questioning the correctness of the Government returns Edible Products. based on apparent inconsistencies oceur- red during the discussion which followed the reading of my paper on Paddy Cultiv- ation before the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1885, when one speaker based his remarks on the returns of production for the Battiealoa district having fallen from 24 bushels per acre in 1870 to 17 in 1877, 12 in 1883, and6in 1884, a statement which it is noted ‘raised a laugh. Un- fortunately I was not prepared for an explanation on the spot, but a reference to the rainfall at once supplies the reason, viz., that there was an unusually wet August (1883) nearly 88” at Colombo, and that this induced a very large cultiv- ation—72,649 acres in the Eastern Pro- vince; but it was followed by only a moderate fall in October and a consider- able failure in November and December, and a perfectly dry January. I was relieved at Batticaloa by Mr. Allanson Bailey, and havea perfect recollection of the unusually dry weather at Xmas 1883, Though this permitted us both to come and go by road comfortably, it was undoubtedly the ruination.ot the crops, and quite accounts for the low return in 1884. Coming to later times, I find some . oversights of a similar nature in the reports printed in Sess. Paper VI. of 1408. Thus Mr, Booth was at a loss to explain an increase of 7,342 acres in the Alutkuru Korale of the Colombo dis- trict of figures for 1907 over those given for 1880-1. If he had referred to the weather reports he would have, I think, hit on the truth, viz., that the rainfall in 1880-81 was only 56 inches (for the agri- cultural year), while in 1906-7 though the rainfall was only 65 inches, it was well distributed ; and as the arable area in Alutkuru Korale was so late as 1888, reported to be 9.855 aeres (G.C. returns) a cultivation of 15,334 in 1906-7 points to an extensive second tilling of the same land consequent on a good North-Kast and an early heavy little Monsoon in April, 1907. Atthe same time I would depre- cate comparisons between single years. I could multiply instances, but I thick those given will show thatasin the days of the Liou and Tiger of the Jatakas, a modern friendly Bodisat may still be useful to elucidate such differences of opinion and attribute them to the more probable source. Itrustthatmy efforts in this direction may be found useful as regards paddy, and be generally accepted as more in accordance with modern views, than I fear the original decision of the Bodisat in the case quoted would be considered in these days. (To be continued.) Edible Products. COCONUT GROWING IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. GENERAL STATEMENT. (From the War Department Bureau of Insular Affairs, 1911.) After fifteen years of observation on the ground in the Philippines, I have reached the conclusion that no branch of agriculture there offers such certainty of steady and assured returns from comparatively small investment as does the growing of coconuts, which may be raised to advantage as far north as Pangasinan, La Union and South and North flocos, and flourish in the South- ern Philippines to a degree nowhere excelled and seldom equalled in other countries. I have found it extremely difficult to obtain really reliable information as to cost of production and average annual value of crop. As a rule the Filipino has the vaguest ideas on these subjects; one man will tell you that his trees average ten nuts per year, while another will solemnly assure you that fairly good trees produce three or four hundred. The same lack of accurate knowledge is encountered when one endeavours to ascertain the cost of planting catch crops among the young trees and the presumable profits to be derived theretrom. It has, therefore, taken a very long time to gather the information which follows, but I believe that it is reasonably reliable, and that the conclusions which I draw from it are conservative. THE SELECTION OF SITES FOR COCONUT PLANTATIONS. Soil and climatic conditions in many parts of the Philippines are ideal for coconut production. It should be re- membered that the agricultural methods of the natives have violated every known rule. Seldom has the ground been really properly prepared for plant- ing. The trees invariably stand too thickly. The Filipino cannot rid him- self of the idea that the more seed he sows the greater will be his harvest. This theory, when applied to coconuts, results in the production of tall, spind- ling trees, producing half the number of leaves they ought to have, and bearing nuts sparingly, if atall. Itisa marked case of a hard struggle forexistence, and the trees which lose out are often barren for years before they ultimately die, yet it is usually impossible to convince the owner of a plantation which is suffering from too close planting that he would be much better off were he to cut down las (Novemper, 191 Art half or two-thirds of his trees, selecting for elimination those which produce few or no nuts. , On the existing plantations trees fre- quently stand within ten feet of each other, or less, whereas thirty feet should : be the minimum distance from tree to tree. Asarule, little effort is made to keep the ground under the trees free from brush after they reach the pro- ducing age, and itis by no means un- usual to find forest trees successfully with coconut palms for light and air. Dead leaves are not removed, but are allowed to hang until they fall, and then slowly to rot on the ground. No effort is made to stop the depre- dations of the rhinoceros beetle, which in some regions is fairly abundant. In order to facilitate climbing, notches are carelessly cut into the bark of tender trees, often extending through into the wood. Wherever the lower surface of such, a notch slants inward, water stands in it, and this causes rotting of the wood. The vast majority of native coconut plantations suffer severely and need- lessly from this cause. If those who gather the nuts were provided with the climbers used by linemen in ascending | telegraph poles, they could ‘goup and down the trees easily and safely with- out doing them the slightest injury. If notches must be cut, they should at least have their lower surfaces inclined downward and outward so that water will not stand in them, and great care paouls be taken not to cut through the ark. The present owners of coconut groves often neglect to harvest their nuts, which are allowed to fall and lie around on the ground. It is seldom indeed that effective means are taken to check the depredations of fruit bats, crows and monkeys, or to disturb the rats which not infrequently nest at the bases of the leaves and help themselves to the fruit. There are many very extensive planta- tions which produce no nuts atall, for the reason that their owners prefer to tap — ce the blossom stalk and make from the juice thus obtained a fermented drink Known as “tuba.” _ ’ Only in the rarest instances is any attention paid to seed selection, yet in spite of this carelessness and neglect tbe Philippine Islands produced during the fiscal 231,787,050 pounds of copra, or dried coconut meat. This output excels that 4 of Java, of the Straits Settlements, of — Ceylon, or of the South Sea Islands, and / places the Philippines at the head of competing ~ vear ended June 30, 1909, — some 1,658,724 piculs, or approximately ' NOVEMBER, 1911.] the list of coconut growing countries. In -fact, during the year mentioned the Philippines produced about one-third of the world’s output. A Jarge amount of copra is consumed Jocally. During the year in question 232,728,116 pounds of copra, valued at $6,650,740, and 864 788 gallons of coconut oil, valued at $157,916, were exported. If this result has been obtained under the haphazard methods in vogue what may be anticipated when due care is exercised in selecting suitable land, when it is properly cleared and planted, and when suitable cultivation is conti- nued while the young trees are growing and after they begin to produce? Soil and climatic conditions vary greatly in different parts of the Phi- lippines, and it is important in selecting a site for a plantation to know what to seek and what to avoid. Most author- ities are agreed that a stiff, clayey soil is not favourable to coconut pro- duction, but I have seen perfect trees, bearing one hundred or more splendid nuts each, growing in precisely this kind of soil. It is, of course, possible that there may have been an underlying layer of more friable and permeable soil, but the existence of these magnificent trees growing in clay conclusively demon- strates the fact that it is unsafe to conclude, from apparently unfavourable surface indications, that a given piece of land may not produce coconuts to great advantage. Other authorities inveigh against a very sandy soil as being unsuited to coconut growing, and go so far as to state that every grain of sand in excess of what is required to make the soil fairly permeable to water is a positive detriment, yet the finest coconut trees that I have ever seen stood in pure beach sand, so poor that it would hardly grow either grass or weeds, and so destitute of plant-food that a careful chemical analysis failed to reveal the presence of any at all! Trees growing in sand close to the sea naturally never lack for water, and ‘all authorities are agreed that coconut trees need an abundant supply of water at all times. Itis equally certain that they are prejudiced by the presence, in their immediate vicinity of stagnant water, while in cases where the perma- nent water-table comes very near the surface of the ground their roots spread out just aboveit with the result that they fail to grasp the earth firmly and the trees are readily blown down by _ violent winds. 399 Edible Products. The saying so common among natives of coconut-producing countries that the trees will not flourish unless they can see or hear the waves of the ocean undoubtedly rests on a solid basis of fact. The greater the volume of water which daily flows up through the stem of the tree and evaporates from its leaves, the more rapid and _ vigorous the growth of the tree and the greater its productivity. Evaporation being intimately associated with the free cir- culation of air, it follows that sites which are fully exposed to the prevail- ing winds are best, unless those winds are so violent as to injure the leaves and dislodge the young nuts. Coccnuts should, therefore, never be planted in inclosed and sheltered valleys, but the site selected for a plantation should be along the coast or on some open plain where the circulation of air will be impeded as little as possible. Regions which have especially well-marked wet and dry seasons are not favourable to coconut production, especially if the dry season be of long duration. While coconut trees are seldom killed by such droughts as occur in the Philippines, the production of nuts is often tempor- arily checked by drought in provinces where the dry season is especially long and severe. There are regions in the Philippines where rain usually falls during every month of the year, and they are especi- ally favourable for coconut production. Rain maps of the Philippines, showing for each month of the year the rainfall conditions throughout the Archipelago, so far as they are known, may be seen at the Manila Observatory, and inform- ation relative to the distribution and amount of rainfall in any particular region will be gladly furnished, if avail- able, by Father José Algne,_ the Director of the Weather Bureau. It will be found that there are many re- gions where conditions as_ regards rainfall leave nothing to be desired, While the coconut palm is admirably adapted by nature to resist severe wind storms, and when standing in suitable ground is seldom uprooted by the most violent gales, severe typhoons will some- times blow all of the nuts off trees, at the same time destroying the blossoms, so that the resumption of fruiting will be delayed for a considerable period, while the violent whipping about to which the leaves are subjected in these very severe storms injures them even if it does not serve to detach them from the trees. While typhoons do not prevent the profitable growing of coconuts through- Edible Products. 400 out the Islands, there are extensive regions in Mindanao, Palawan, and the intervening southern islands where these storms are practically unknown, and it is well,in selecting asite fora plant- ation, to eliminate possible loss from this source by first studying the storm maps of the Philippines and selecting a region where typhoons seldom if ever occur. In considering soil conditions, one should remember the old saying that the proof of the pudding is wn the eating. Owing to the haphazard cultivation methods which have been followed, adult trees, demonstrating fully the capabilities of the svil to produce coconuts without cultivation, may be found in the vicinity of almost any available tract of land, and it is safer to consider facts than to be swayed by theories. However, itcan be stated with entire certainty that soil conditions on the numerous flat-topped coral islands rising only ten or fifteen feet above sea level are most satisfactory. On such is- lands the permanent water-table. lies near enough the surface of the ground, so that the roots of coconut trees readily reach it, and the possibility of harm from drought is completely eliminated. The soil is so poorin the food required by ordinary plants and weeds that com- paratively little cultivation is required to keepitclean. Mosquitoes do notexist cn such islands as there is no opportunity for them to breed, and in general health conditions are ideal. Proximity tothe sea insures that free circulation of air which is essential, and incidentally the complete absence of wild hogs does away with the necessity tor fencing. The majority of those islands are uninhab- ited and the absence of human thieves is a factor of no small importance. Insect pests, which are sometimes to be feared on the mainland of the larger islands, are also conspicuous by their - absence, as are monkeys. Cost oF LAND AND AMOUNT OF SUITABLE LAND AVAILABLE FOR COCONUT GROWING. It is sometimes possible to purchase from private persons land suitable for coconut growing, but it will usually be found more advantageous to purchase or lease from the Government, Under the provisions of existing law, an indi- vidual may not purchase more than 16 hectares (40) acres) of public land. A corporation may purchase 1,024 hectares (2,500 aeres), butif authorized to engage in agriculture must, by its charter, be limited to the ownership and co»trol of this amount of land, and persons who 4 by! Whi, 1 fi f Bese (NOVEMBER, , are members of acorporation authorized — to engage in agriculture may not be members of any other corporation so — authorized. The minimum price at which public land may be sold is 10 pesos per hectare ($2:00 per acre). In selling wild public land it is the custom of the Insular Government to charge the minimum — price. Actual title to the land may not pass until after five years of occupation — and cultivation. Payment may be made — as follows: twenty-five per centum at the time the bid is submitted; the balance upon the making of the award; — or it may be paid in one instalment at the expiration of five years from the date of the award. Sums remaining unpaid after the date of the award bear interest at the rate of six percentum per annum from such date until paid, The provisions as to leasing are more satisfactory. Hither an individual ora corporation may lease not to exceed 1,024 hectares (2,500 acres). Leases run for twenty-five years with the right of renewal for an additional twenty-five years. The rental during the first period of twenty-five years may not he less than 10 cents per acre per year, and during the second period of twenty-five years it may not be more than 30 cents per acre per year. The rental is payable annually in advance. There are in the Philippine Islands very extensive areas of unoccupied unclaimed public land suitable for coconut growing. Such land is_ especi- ally abundant in Mindoro, Mindanao, Palawan, and the small islands adjacent to Palawan. Some of the latter offer very many advancages, such as the lack of necessity for feucing against wild hogs; the absence of monkeys; the absence of undesirable human neigh- © bours; freedom from insect pests; free access to all winds; a permeable soil especially suited for coconut growing, — and the presence of the permanent water-table near enough the surtace of the ground to make it certain that there will be no harmful results from drought after the trees are once well established. The chief drawbacks. are isolation and a the absence of fresh water, which is ~ lacking on the smaller islands. Rain — water, sufficient for alldomestic purposes, _ may, however, readily be caught. These islands vary greatly in size. gl >| A number — of them have been already surveyed in connection with work necessary in surveying for several lease applications, — and information as to their whereabouts ~ and extent, and as to the whereabouts of land suitable for coconut growing the larger islands above referred Bnet 8 se special - Novemarr, 1911.) will be gladly given by the Director of Lands, or by the Secretary of the Interior. TAXES. In the provinces organized under the regular provincial government act, taxes on land and improvements thereon (by “improvements” are meant buildings, not growing crops or coconut trees) may not exceed seven-eighths of one per centum per annum, on what is estimated to be the true sale value of the property. In the provinces organized under the provincial government act, namely, the Mountain Province and Nueva Vizcaya in Northern Luzon, Mindoro, Palawan, and Agusan Province in the Island of Mindanao, taxes are one-half of one per centum per annum on the value of all real estate and personal property in excess of $100:00. In the latter provinces, therefore, coco- nut trees are taxable. They are usually appraised at $0°50 to $1':00 each. In the Moro Province the taxes are three-fourths of one per centum per annum on the value of all personal property, and real estate, including improvements thereon. Re-valuations. are made once in five years. It is needless to say that the above remarks apply only to land which is actually owned by individuals and to the improvements thereon. Land which is rented from the Government is not subject to taxation, but the improve- ments on it are. © _Cost oF CLEARING FOREST AND BRUSH LAND. The net cost of clearing forest land (by clearing is meant leaving it ready for planting) will obviously vary with the character of the forest, which may be such as to involve a larger or smaller amount of work in felling and burning trees, stumping, etc., and may give a larger or smaller return from merchant- able timber and firewood. The follow- ing fizures are given by Mr. C. H. Lamb, Superintendent of the Iwahig Penal Colony, and are based on large experi- ence. Mr. Lamb keeps strict account of all labour employed and charges it up at a daily wage of $0°25. Felling trees, up to $4'00 per acre. _ Cutting up trees and burning them, $2:00 to $1600. Stumping, $200 to $30°00. First ploughing, $06°0 to $2-00. Mr. Lamb gives the following as a safe and conservative estimate of the average cost of clearing one acre of land ;— ol 401 Edible Products, Felling trees — My $1°00 Cutting and burning 4:00 Stumping 8:00 Ploughing 2°80 Total $15'80 per acre. Under the most favourable conditions the minimum cost is estimat- ed by him at $5'60 per acre. The above sums represent’ gross expenditure. In some kinds of forest considerable returns may be expected. In Palawan, for instance, Mr. Lamb states that from 10 to 100 logs of good timber, which will net from $20:00 to $200'00, can ordinarily be had from a hectare of land, so that on such land there may bean actual profit from the timber cut, and the net cost should not exceed $8'00 per acre. The following information relative to the clearing of forest land was given by Mr. J. H. Shipley, Manager of the Min- danao Hstates Company plantation at Davao; one man ean clear ‘05 of an acre per day of 12 hours, or an acre in 20 days. At $025 per day this would make the cost of clearing an acre $5:00. Mr, Frederick Lewis, formerly in charge of ahemp plantation in Davao, now Lieutenant-Governor of the Sub- province of Bukidnon, estimates the gross cost of clearing forest land at $15:00 per acre. Governor Monreal of Sorsogon stated that 30 men would clear 250 hectares of land inayear. Estimating the number of working days at 300 and the daily wage at $0'25, this would make the cost of clearing that amount of land $2,250'00, which is equivalent to $3'60 per acre. Mr. Cadwallader of the Cadwallader Lumber Company states that four men with crosscut saws will fell the timber on a quarter of an acre of heavy forest Jjand in a day. With adaily wage of $0°25 this would make the cost of felling trees $4'00 per acre, Sr. Vicente Diaz, formerly Governor of the Province of Leyte, makes the following estimate relative to the cost ot clearing land: 10 men in 2 days will cut the trees and brush on one acre at a cost of $2:00.. After a month one man burns the ground over in one day at a cost of 30:10 per acre. The fire may con- tinue to burn for three or four days. When it has burned out 10 men go in, and while some of them pile the half- burnt wood and clean the land well, others reburn it, at a cost of $1°00, making the total cost $3°10 per acre, fidible Products. Cost oF OLEARING Grass LAND. I have experienced much difficulty in getting reliable figures as to the cost of clearing grass land. I have often been assured that it was not necessary really to clear such land before planting coconuts, and that it would suftics to take up the sod in the immediate vicinity of the trees, but a very serious objection to such procedure is found in the fact that trees planted in this way are exposed to risk of total des- truction by fire. During the dry season cogon grass is highly inflammable, and coconut trees are very readily injured by heat. Furthermore, my own observ- ation is that for at least three years coconut trees seldom do well when planted in grass land which is not thoroughly ploughed. Most of the unforested land suitable for coconut planting in the Philippine Islands is covered either with the tall, coarse grass known as cogon, or with a species of bamboo grass which closely resembles sugar cane in appearance, cogon grass being by far the commoner of the two. In order to clean cogon land the grass must first be thoroughly burned off and the land must then be ploughed and harrowed repeatedly so as to get rid of the roots. If this is not done, the cogon will promptly re-estab- lish itself. If native ploughs and harrows are used, the land must be gone over four times the first year and the minimum cost will be $2:00 peracre. It should be gone over twice during the succeeding year at a minimum cost of $1°00. This cost is based on the employ- ment of one native, with two carabaos, a plough and a harrow for each eight acres of land, the native taking the catch crops which he raises as pay for his work, so that the cost is represented pa the deterioration of animals and ools. Cost AND VALUE OF CATCH CROPS. According to Superintendent C. H. Lamb, planting with corn or rice will cost from $0°80 to $2:00 per acre. In Palawan the minimum returns received from an acre of land is 8 bushels of rice, the average maximum is 20, although 80 is not uncommon. The average value of the unhusked rice is $1'25 per bushel, giving an average return from the rice crop of from $1000 to $25:00 per acre. According to Mr. Lamb three catch crops may advantageously be grown. He recommends first a crop of corn and subsequently two crops of mountain rice, by which time the coconuts will be too large to permit further advant- ageous cultivation of rice or corn. 402 _planting. Neither rice nor corn can bi Fe OIE Ey cee Mies * aad Addy V2): fi " hig iy [N OvENGeed ) The second and third crops may give © a profit, or may only suffice to cover the cost of keeping the land clean and under cultivation, which is necessary in order that the young trees may make their best growth. Itis obvious that as the roots of the coconut trees extend, the amount of ground available for cultiv- ation will become less, while the growing tops will throw a coustantly increasing amount of shade. Sr. Vicente Diaz, formerly Governor of the Province of Leyte, estimates that four men will plant rice or corn on two and a half acres of landin aday. The cost of a bushel of seed, which is sufficient, is $1'25,and the total cost of planting is, therefore, $0'90 per acre. This crop is given one cleaning, which takes 10 men one day, at acost of $2°50. — The harvesting of the rice crop takes 10 men one day, at a cost of $2:50. The crop is estimated at 20 bushels, worth $1'00 per bushe) or $2000. | He estimates the crop of corn at 6 bushels of shelled corn per acre. It is usually worth $1°:00 per bushel or $6:00 per acre. According to Mr. C. H. Lamb, the first year’s catch crop should yield a profit which should gofar toward paying the ~ cost of clearing the land, and the second a and third years should yield catch crops which will at least pay for the cost of cultivating theland. During the fourth, fifth and sixth years, by the end of which time the trees will have begun to bear, it will be necessary to keep the land clean, and there will ‘be no returns from catch crops. He states that the - cost of such clearing will average $2:00 per acre. j Mr. Frederick Lewis estimates the cost per year of, keeping an acre of land — clean at $5:00. 4 Sr. Vicente Diaz estimates thatl0 men _ can clean two and a half acres of ground ~ in one day, at a cost of $1:00 per acre. In general it may be said that where ~ soil conditions are favourablefor catch — crops, actual experience has shown that under good management they can be made to pay approximately the cost of — the plantation up to the time the coconut — trees fruit. RP, Cost OF CLEARING MANGROVE LAND. Special consideration must be given to mangrove land, as the returns from — firewood and tan bark can, according to ~ Mr. C. H. Lamb, invariably be depended — upon to pay the cost of clearing and in grown profitably on this land because of — its character. Tapioca, peanuts, and — ay a : : . " ‘ \ a ag ae. ae ae “2? a / 50 bundles of tan bark in a day. of nuts always fails to ‘sprout, No VEMBER, 1911.) © camotes, or yams, can be grown upon it, but as the soil contains so much salt that ordinary weeds do not spring up within two years after planting, the usual, and _ probably the best, practice is to depend on coconuts alone rather than to attempt to raise catch crops. It must, however; be remembered that coconut trees planted on this land are not likely to produce so heavily as those planted on more suitable soil, and that they are more likely to be uprooted during severe wind storms, as their roots strike the ' permanent water-table near the surface of the ground and will not go below it. Referring in detail to the returns from this land,—one man will ordinarily cut Each bundle is worth $0:10. One man will usually cut one-half cord of wood per day. Deducting the cost of transport- ation, this firewood will net $4'00 to $5:00 per cord on the Manila market. Coconuts planted on mangrove land will, it is said, bear invariably before they reach the age of six years, and while such land can hardly be recom- mended for a coconut plantation, any of it necessarily purchased in connection with other land can be utilized. Cost oF SEED NUTS. Good seed nuts will cost from one to four cents each. Twoand a half cents may be taken as a fair, average cost. Cost OF PLANTING, The nuts should be sprouted in seed- beds before planting, and the net cost of placing them inthe ground, including the cost of care while sprouting, is estimated at from 24 to 5 cents per nut. Under such conditions as prevail in the Philippines, nuts should be planted in straight lines 32 feet from each other in both directions. If planted nearer, the tops of the trees will ultimately overlap. This means 40 nuts to the acre, but as a _ certain ae rar an as a certain additional number will make a weak growth at the start, and it is best to plant only very strong growing nuts, 50 nuts to the acre should be allowed. The cost of planting an acre will, therefore, be approximately as follows :— f 50 seed nuts at 1 to 4 centavos per nut, $0°50 to $2:00. Sprouting and planting 40 nuts at _ from 23 to5 cents per nut, $1°00 to $2'00; making a total of $1:50 to $400 per acre. ANNUAL COST OF CULTIVATION AFTER FRUITING BEGINS. According toa Bureau of Agriculture bulletin on coconut planting, annual 408 Edible Products. ploughing should be continued during the life of the trees. On cogon land two ploughings per year may prove neces- sary. These ploughings should be rela- tively shallow but should be sufficient to turn under any green manures such as leguminous crops which may be grown to enrich the soil. I have seen the value of ploughing quite conclusively demonstrated on the coconut plantation ot Sr. San Augustin, near Calapan, Mindoro. This is one of very few coconut plantations in the Philippine Islands where the trees are set out in straight lines and at proper distances. When I last visited this plantation, I noted that the ground had been ploughed between the trees on one side of the highway, while on the other side there had been no ploughing, but the grass had been kept very short by grazing cattle on it. The trees around which the ground had been ploughed looked decidedly more flourishing and were bearing more heavily than were those where it had not been ploughed. — IMPORTANCE OF EF'ERTILIZATION. Comparatively little attention has thus far been given in the Philippines to the subject of manuring or otherwise fertilizing coconut groves, but enough has been done to show that in this as in other branches of agriculture proper fertilizing pays. The drain on soil fertility for 1,000 nuts, weighing in the aggregate 2,125 pounds, has been found to be as tollows: nitrogen, 8} pounds; potash, 17 pounds; phosphorie acid, 3 pounds. Dead leaves should be burned and the ashes scattered on the ground about the trees. Husks and shells should also be burned and the ashes scattered on the ground unless machinery is available for making coir, in which case it might be more profitable to utilize the husks for this purpose and to buy fertilizer as needed. Stable manures, press-cake, and tankage are all valuable. When none of these are available, one may sow and subsequently plough under peas, beans, or other soil-enriching crops. RATE OF GROWTH AND FRUITING AGB OF CocoNuT TREES. The rate of growth and time before fruiting vary in consonance with the varving conditions of soil and climate. Trees planted near the sea coast in Palawan can be depended upon to fruit before they are six years old. I have seen trees four and one-half years old which were already well loaded with nuts. In many parts of the Islands trees Edible Products, 404 (NoveMBER, 1911. do not fruit until seven years old. At The other trees which were planted — considerable elevations above the sea thirty feet apart, bear from 60 to 120 fruiting may be delayed for tenor more nuts, but those planted only eighteen years, and if one goes high enough the feet apart bear fewer nuts and are ee cease to fruit ai all. eae al aye characterized by long stems. . ifficult to get rea reliable inform- ‘ ation jan uto utha ah of young trees. On October 6th, Bear plantations of Especial interest, therefore, attaches to Kabulbug and Santa Tereza were in-— the following statement furnished by SbPected. The older trees were planted — the Superintendent of the Iwahig Penal 0 1907. Colony, concerning coconuts at various They are entirely free from insects, stations of the Iwahig Penal Colony :— and altos nadaking ote Brow eee : : . . _ they are not flourishing as well as those aE Ga ND Meee ean at Binuan, probably on account of being 2070, the following statement is respect- BiG imland, alas fully submitted : The pipelmterence of vay stems . the 4-year-O - On October 5, 1910, a thorough inspec- half feet; height about 15 feet, and they tion was made of the coconut grove at bear about 15 leaves each. . Binuan, situated on a stretch of black & sand adjoining the Bay, and onlya NUMBER OF NUTS PER TREE PER YHAR, | couple of feet above its level. Theseven According to a Bureau of Agriculture hundred trees comprising the plant- bulletin, an acre of properly planted ation were set out during the rainy coconuts should produce about 2,000 nuts seasons of the years 1907, 1908, and 1909. per year, or 50 nuts per tree. The same Rapidity of growth, vigorous health, authority states that trees which by and freedom from insect attacks is actual count average 50 nuts per tree noticeable in this plantation, per year abound ; that at Sarabaya trees : average 60 nuts per tree per year over ene eatneee He ped Pa pare hundreds of acres, and that this condi- quarters feet in circumference, and have Hon Bete. arenas perie F 9 ) ’ ’ an hbo ge th twenty ee each, anao, and wherever trees are grown on a Bea taee, ro 4 oC ne une Of generous scale. It is further stated that rose trees ts now bearing frutt. ' there are recorded perfectly authentic Those planted in 1908 are on anaverage reports of as many as 128 nuts being © fifteen feet in height, three andone- taken from a single tree in a year. half feet in circumf db a Avoutiten savscteseh: erence an PAE One tree at Zamboanga, the owner Tha ones samoldi clantenave Mintteee claims, never produced less than 200 nuts high and bear about seven leaves each, annually, during a ‘period Gaia as s é RASS This man claimed that his trees aver- and are about eighteen inches in circum- aged him 100 nuts per year, sometimes ference at the ground. falling to 60 and again running as high A few of the trees are planted in the as 1380. Burogky crab gr ound) COREE y one Lieutenant Manuel Fortisch, Philip- DEEN GL EAS) EE SONS ese, although ine Constabulary, reports that at making fair growth, are not as vigorous Ginoog, in Misamis, coconuts do parti- as those along the sunny beach, ; j cularly well, and that a planter there — On the same date the plantation situ- claims 120 nuts per tree per year from — ated on the Tagculasi promontory was _ old, well-established trees, inspected. The five hundred and twenty- Sr. Vicente Diaz states that mature, two trees here vary in age from two to : 5 7 six years. They are entirely free from bearing coconut trees will produce from insect attacks, and the same vigorous an ae HAD ans Der ae with, an ov eee ae healthy growth was observed here as in s : 3 Naan Binuan. Mr. P. J. Moore, who is very familiar — Th li SSE : with conditions in the Moro Province, — 1e soil is mostly of a coralformation, tates that the actual average annual but in some places is gravelly, and in yymber of nuts per tree in the District - other situations of a loamy character. of Zamboanga is approximately 45, This — Notwithstanding this, there is not. includes large numbers of trees which ~ much difference in the growth of the produce no nuts at all on account of trees, if we except a few growing on the being planted too close together. I coral soil near the shore, which seem to would, therefore, seem that an estimate have made more headway than the of 60 nuts per tree per year for a grove — others, in which the trees were set at proper — ele ) 5% ey ie. ad Yes = ie bys _ Novemper, 1911.) distances and properly cultivated would be conservative. HARVESTING NUTS. Nuts when ripe should be carefully harvested. Itis best to cut the stems close to the nuts with a sharp knife or a pair of pruning shears. If uuts are not wanted for seed, they may be allowed to fall to the ground, but if intended for planting they must be care- fully lowered, as otherwise many of them will be so injured by the fall, that they will fail to germinate. Nuts should be harvested every three months, and at this time dead leaves and the surplus clothlike bark which grows about the pases of the leaves should be removed. If it is found that beetles are boriag into the trees to any extent, clean, “ sharp” sand should be freely scattered in the axillee of theleaves, and if any of the large holes made by _ rhinoceros beetles are found, they should be probed with a hooked wire, the beetles removed and the holes then plugged with wood to prevent them from holding moisture and causing decay. METHODS AND CosT OF COPRA MAKING. In the majority of cases the method at present employed in making copra is as follows:—The nuts are husked by the use of a sort of metal spear point fixed to a stick set vertically in the ground. The shells are then cracked in halves with well-directed bolo (working _knife) strokes, and are placed in the sun, concave side up. A less common though perhaps more advantageous proceeding is to halve the unhusked - nuts with a bolo. As the meats begiu to dry they shrink away from the shell and are then read- ily removed. They may be dried in the sun uatil all but about 10 per cent. of the moisture has been driven off. If weather conditions are fay ourable, sun- dried copra is very white and brings a high price, but as coconuts thrive best -- in regions where the rainfall is quite evenly distributed throughout the year, copra is liable to get wet from time to time when drying, and this darkens it. Unfortunately, in many districts, the Filipinos do not care to take the trouble to sun-dry their copra, but place it in bamboo racks under which they build fires. Copra cured in this way is not likely to be anything like so uniformly or so thoroughly dried as that cured in the sun, The smoke turns it dark, and the oil obtained from itcontains a cer- tain amount of creosote. Any person producing copra on a large scale should install an artificial drying plant. ' 40 5 Edible Products. The system employed for drying codfish at Gloucester, Massachusetts, might well be utilized. A good sized heater causes hot water to circulate through a system of pipes on which are placed ‘‘flakes” consisting of rectan- gular wooden frames over which ordin- ary poultry wire is spread. These ‘* flakes” are about 10 feet by 6 feet, and are slid in place from both sides of the system of hot water pipes, the whole system being some 20 feet wide. The hot water pipes are contained ina closed chamber in which «a number of doors are suitably located. Into this chamber air is forced by a large rotary ventilat- ing fan,and the opening or closing of doors causes it to circulate as desired. Copra dried in this way would be snow white, and would bring a peso or two a picul above the regular market price. The expense involved would be small, as dried coconut husks make excellent fuel, and the ashes from the furnace would make good fertilizer for the growing trees. Accurate data as to the cost of harvest- ing nuts and making copra are not available. It is stated that the average operator will husk a thousand nuts per day, and that one man has been known to husk as many as 3,000. The work is hard, however, and $0°50 per day should, there- fore, be allowed as the wage for coconut huskers. A second man should be able to halve, and a third to put in the sun the nuts which the first man husks. I understand that a number of copra making plants in India and Ceylon are now supplied with decorticating. break- ing and drying appliances, which make the cost of producing copra materially less than that involved in the use of hand-labour. ENEMIES CF COCONUTS AND MEANS OF COMBATING THEM. In the Philippines coconut trees are comparatively free from enemies. In some of the sugar-growing regions the rhinoceros beetle, which breeds in the bagass heaps, sometimes causes consider- able losses by boring into the trees, especially if the number of coconut trees is small,so that a large numbers of beetles conceatrate their attacks on individual trees. Other species of beetles, which attack the wood of the trees, have been found, butasarule their depredations are not atall serious. Insects may best beattacked by destroying their breeding places. The spreading of ‘‘sharp,” coarse, clean sand in the axille of the young leaves which are favourite points Edible Products. of attack is said to beuseful. Probing with a stout, hooked wire may be effect- ive in case of the rhinoceros beetle. After all is said and done, clean cultivation is the great remedy for insect pests which are not at all likely to cause serious damage on well-kept plantations. On the mainland of the larger Islands monkeys, crows and fruit bats cause a certain amount of damage by destroying young nuts. Judicious use of a shot-gun will reduce to an unimportant minimum the losses from such sources. Wild hogs are the coconut planter’s most serious enemy. On theislands where they abound nothing will suffice but careful fencing until the trees are at least two years old, after which time they are not liable to injury by bogs. Bud-rot, which causes heavy losses in some coconut-growing countries, is al- most unknown in the Philippines. So far as [am aware, it has developed in ouly one small area in Laguna province. Here it was vigorously attacked and promptly stamped out. PROFITS. With reference to this subject, Supt. C. H. Lamb, of the [wahig Penal Colony, makes the following statement :— The conclusion reached, from the writer’s experience, is that coconut planting fora permanent crop and in- vestment, cannot be equalled by any other known permanent crop, not even rubber. It is superior to rubber in the Island of Palawan. The usual argu- ment advanced to the contrary, places great value upon the fact that Palawan does not have typhoons which would damage the rubber crop—the same fact is of almost equal value to the coconut. The thing which caused the writer to begin the coconut industry before he had data available which would show the cost of planting, was the short time in which the trees reach maturity and begin to bear. Sr. Vicente Diaz states that 240 nuts, more or less, will make a picul (1874 lbs.) of copra. Sr. Palanca of Binuan, Busuanga, gets a picul of copra from 160 to 180 nuts. Mr. P. J. Moore states that in the District of Zamboanga 180 to 220 nuts make a picul of copra. The Bureau of Agriculture Bulletin estimates 2,000 nuts per acre. They should produce copra to the value of at least $50°00. 406 | of a coconut tree is $1°00 per year, . $1. This estimate is for fire-dried and a Mr. J. H. Shipley of the Mindanao a Kstates Company plantation states that at Davao the average value of the crop ‘This would give gross returns of $40 per acre. — One picul of copra from 200 nuts should bea conservative average on a well-kept plantation, and allowing 60 nuts to the tree and 40 trees to the acre, this would give 12 piculs per year, which ~ at $5:00 per picul would give gross returns of $60:00 per acre per year, from which must be deducted the annual cost of cultivating between the trees, © say $5'00 per acre, and the small cost of harvesting the nuts and making the copra. As coconut trees attain great age and have been known to produce when a hundred or more years old, it is evident that a plantation, once well established, should give steady and — large profits for a long period of years. Hon. Manuel Quezon, a native of the Province of Tayabas, who is thoroughly familiar with the coconut industry there, states that the maximum annual profit from a bearing coconut tree is $1°50, and the minimum annual profit is smoked copra, which is an inferior article, and based on giving one-half of the copra from each tree to the man in charge. One individual can care for 1,000 trees, and in order to get his half of the copra he must do this, through- | out the year, cleaning the brush from ~ the ground, removing dead leaves, ete., harvesting ‘the nuts every three months, and drying the copra. During the past year the best sun- dried copra has brought as high as $6:00, and even $7'00 per picul, and the price of copra has held very steady for years, with a slight tendency upward. | ESTIMATED Cost OF ESTABLISHING A 2,500 ACRE COCONUT PLANTATION ON RENTED PUBLIC LAND. The following is a statement of the approximate cost of establishing a 2,500- acre coconut plantation and of the revenues which should be derived there- from at practically the existing market — price of copra. It should be remember- — ed, however, that properly dried copra will unquestionably bring a price mate- — rially in advance of that commanded — by the smoked and imperfectly dried article which at present makes up the — ng bulk of the Philippine product. an This estimate is based on clearing half of the land the first year and half the — second year. 20( acres of land are ~ reserved for buildings and other pur- poses. A more liberal allowance a ui Lm i wt A) eel ee bh ¥ a aM rue We made for the cost of clearing the land _and preparing it for planting than is called for by the estimates herein- before quoted, and as the returns from eatch crops will ‘manifestly depend directly on the character of the soil - selected and on the efficiency of the administration. of the estate, ro allow- ance is made for them. Practical experience has shown that under capable administration, with favourable soil and market conditions. they may be made to pay the cost of clearing and planting the land, and that of keeping it clean during the first two or three years after itis cleared. I am of the opinion that if this is done it is all that can be expected, and I doubt somewhat whether it would be feasible to achieve this result ona coral island. Nevertheless, if I myself were selecting a site for a coconut plantation, I should select one onacoral island which was pretty well isolated in order to avoid . possible danger of insect and other pests. which might result from the fact that neighboring plantations, if any existed, were badly cared for. FIRST YEAR. On Ordinary On a Coral Forest Land. Island. Survey .. $ 250°00 $ 75-00 Rental “3 25600 256°00 Clearing and ploughing 1,250acresat$20peracre 25,000°00 Clearing 1,250 acres at $10 per acre (ploughing not - necessary) Ae B50 12,500°00 Cost of seed be 1,656°25 1,656°25 Planting 33,000 nuts, at $024 each ais 825-00 825°00 Fencing 388 1,000°00 ae Assistant manager’s salary 1,800°00 1,800°00 Assistant manager’s house 1,000,00 1,000-00 Labourer’s quarters. 2,000,00 2,000,00 Storehouse for rice, tools, trade-goods, ete. ine 500°00 = 500°00 Well, tank, pumping en- gine and pipe for water supply BC 600,00 600-00 1 mile of track (rail, 12 lbs. to yd.) ag 76500 765°00 5 cars at $30 each 150°00 ~=150°00 Tools se 50000 500°00 15 draft cattle, at $40 per ; head sia 600°00 600°00 One American or Austra- lian horse va 150°00 150°00 Two native ponies, at $50 each Pat 100°00 100°00 One 30-foot launch, with 10 h.p. petroleum engine... 1,500°00 1,500-00 Launch engineer at $37°50 per month ee 450°00 450°00 Kerosene, engine oil, cotton waste, for launch 200°00 200°00 Totals ves $39, 302'25 $25,627°25 407 Edible Products. Norr.—A launch is estimated for, because unless the plantation is located directly on some inter-island harbour, one will be necessary in keeping up communication between the plantation and the nearest port. A liberal estimate has been made for quarters for men, which would allow of putting up a substantial shed, with galvanizhd iron roof. lt would give the men good quarters, and could later, at small additional expense, be converted into a drying shed, while the iron roof would be useful for catching rain water, especially on coral islands. A good well, with a pump, tank and pipe is essential in order to provide adequate bathing facilities for the assistant manager and men, and water for animals, sprouting nuts, ete. It would probably be necessary to run a smallstore in connection with a plant- ation at which articles of common necessity should be sold at Manila prices, plus 20 per cent. plus cost of trans- portation, but labour should be paid tor in cash and the men left free to trade at the store or not, as they please. From the total should be deducted the receipts from catch crops, if any, and from the sale of timber and firewood, which on forest land might somewhere nearly cover the cost of clearing and planting. Thesandy soil of coral islands will grow pineapples, peanuts, cassava, corn, or yams, butas weeds do not spring up readily on this soil, and as com- paratively little work is required to keep it clean, it might be more desirable not to plant catch crops but to leave all plant food in the soil for the coconut — trees. It will be noted that I have provided for an assistant manager only, It would be necessary to have one competent man constantly onthe ground. There would be necessity for work in other places in connection wlth the purchase and ship- ment of supplies, seed nuts, ete., and the securing of labourers, which should be performed by a manager, and the best way to provide for this unless the owner himself cared to do it, would be to have one thoroughly competent man who would serve as general manager for several plantations, and who would not only perform the work above referred to, but would visit and inspect the plant- ations at frequent intervals. lf the assistant manager proves capable, his salary should be raised $2,000:00 per year until it reaches at least $3,000°00, ; Edible Products. SECOND YEAR, On Ordinary Ona Coral Forest Land. Island. Rental $ 256 $$ 256 Clearing and ploughing acres at $20 per acre1,250 25,000 we Clearing 1,250 acres at ’$10 per acre (ploughing not necessary) 12,500 Cleaning 1,250 acres of land already planted at $10 per acre 12,500 Cleaning 1,250 acres of land already planted at $5 per acre 6,250 Planting le 000 nuts at $024 each 5 825 825 Bones 1,900 $5 40 labourer’s houses at $25 each 1,000 1,000 Assistant manager’s salary 2,000 2,000 Tools 400 400 5 draft cattle at $40 per head 200 200 Launch engineer at $37° 50 per month 450 450 Kerosene, engine oil. cotton waste for launch 200 200 Depreciation on buildings, track and water system (10 %) Cad 451°50 451°50 Depreciation on launch (20%) - 300 300 Totals . $44,582°50 $24,832°50 Norrt.—From the Fatale above given should be deducted the receipts from the sale of catch crops and from the sale of timber and firewood, if any. : THIRD YEAR. ° On Ordinary (na Coral Forest Land. Island. Rental we @ 17256 * $B | 256 Cleaning 2,500 acres of land at $5 per acre 12,500 Cleaning 2,500 acres of land at $2,50 per acre . as 6,250 Assistant manager's salary 2,200 2,200 Tools 250 250 5 draft cattle at $40 per head 200 200 Launch engineer at $37: 50 per month 450 450 Kerosene, engine oil, eotton waste, for launch 200 200 Depreciation on buildings, track and water system 451°50 451°50 Depreciation on launch (20 per cent.) oa 300 300 Totals . $16,807,50 $10,557°50 Note.—From the total should be deducted the value of catch crops, which on forest land should be sufficient to pay the cost of wor the land clean. 408 FOURTH YEAR. On Ordinary Ona Coral — Forest Land, Island. Rental w. @ «©9256 $256 Cleaning 2,500 acres at $5 per acre 12,500 Cleaning 2,500 acres at $2°50 per acre 6,250 Assistant manager’s saialy 2,400 2,400 Tools 200 200 5 draft cattle at $40 per head 200 200 Launch engineer at $37° 50 per month - 450) 450 Kerosene, engine oil cotton waste, for launch 200 200 Depreciation on buildings, track and water system (10 per cent.) - ts 451°50 451°50 Depreciation on launch ‘ (20 per cent.) We 300 300 - $16,957°50 $10,707°50 Norz.—From this year on there will be no catch crops of importance. Totals FIFTH YEAR. hs On Ordinary On a Coral Forest Land, Island. Rental oa G 256 § 256 Cleaning 2,500 acres at $5 per acre 12,500 Cleaning 2,500 acres at $2°50 per acre 6,250 Assistant manager’s salary 2,600 2,600 Tools ae 200 200 5 draft cattle at $40 per ; mr head 200 200 Launch engineer at $37: 50 / , per month 450 450 Kerosene, engine oil, cotton waste, for launch 200 200 4 miles of track 3, 100 3,100 { 4 mile of portable track.... 1,380. 1,380 10 cars at $30 each eM i S00 300 Depreciation on buildings, 4s 1 mile of track, and ei YN water system (10 ¥ ave 451°50 451°50 — Depreciation on launch. 7 et. (20 per cent, ) Ry — 300° 300, Totals Pat 937'50 $15,687 30 ae ee a ee Notrre.—On favourable land some nuts will be & harvested during the fifth year, ‘Novemerr, 1911.] \ “Nore.—The sixth year a half crop of 30 nuts per tree may be estimated. While all the land im the plantation will need to be cleared in the first instance and kept clean thereafter, it will be safe to allow 200 acres for waste land and for that used for buildings, etc., so the crop of nuts for sixth year from 1,150 acres may be estimated at 1,380,000, which should give 6,900 piculs of copra, worth $34,500, less cost of harvesting nuts and making copra. SEVENTH YEAR. On Ordinary Ona Coral ‘Forest Land. Island. Rental eA 256 $ 256 Cleaning 2,500 acres at $5 per acre .. 12,500 Cleaning 2,500 acres a $2°50 per acre ae age 6,250 Assistant manager’ssalary 3,000 3,000 Tools \ 3 200 200 5 draft cattle at $40 per head ey 200 200 ‘Launch engineer at $37-50 _ per month aa 450 450 Kerosene, engine oil, cottou waste, for launch 200 200 - Depreciation on buildings, track and water system (10 per cent.) ; 929°50 929°50 Depreciation on launch (20 per cent.) 300 300 Totals ... $18,035,50 $11,785°50 Norz,—This year a full crop of 2,750,000 nuts may be estimated for 1,150 acres and a half crop of 1,380,000 nuts from the remaining 1,150 acres under cultivation, or 4,140,000 nuts in all, from which 20,700 piculs of copra should be obtained, ‘worth $103,500. 52 - 409 Edible Products, SIXTH YEAR. EIGHTH YEAR. On Ordi 18) Coral Oe Scat Os cre Paot aa Osa Rental .. § 256° § 256 Rental 1 $ 256 $ 256 Cleaning 2,500 acres at $5 Cleaning 2,500 acres at $5 ; per acre «. 12,500 per acre -. 12,500 Cleaning 2,500 acres a Cleaning 2,500 acres at $2°50 per acre ee ie 6,250 $2 50 per acre ue. 4. 6,250 Assistant manager’s salar 2,800 2,800 Assistant manager's salary 3, 000 3,000 Tools a 200 200 Tools ber 200 200 5 draft cattle at $40 per 5 draft cattle at $40 per head Pye at 200 200 head ; ui 200 200 Launch engineer at $37°50 Launch engineer at $37°50 per month idole 450 450 per month 5 aes 450 450 Kerosene, engine oil, Kerosene, engine oil, ; cotton waste, for launch 200 200 cotton waste, for launch 200 200 Depreciation on buildings, Depreciation on buildings, track and water system track and water system (10 per cent.) 4 929°50 — 929'50 (10 per cent.) vee 929°50 — 929°50 Depreciation on launch Depreciation on launc (20 per cent.) as 300 300 (20 per cent.) eae 300 300 Totals $17,83°50 $11,585,50 Totals --+ $18,035°50 $11,785'50 Nozr.—During this year and thereafter a full crop of nuts should be harvested from the entire 2,300 acres, amounting to 5,520,000 nuts, equi- valent to 27,600 piculs of copra, worth $138,000. CONCLUSION. It will be noted that the foregoing estimate is based on clearing half of the ground the first year and half the second. If labourers and funds are available, it would obviously be more advantageous to clear the entire tract the first year, as the period when the first full crop could be anticipated would thus be advanced by one year. On the other hand, if sufficient capital is not available at the outset to dlent so large a tract as the one indicated, a smaller tract of any desired size may be cleared. As the charge for rental of the land is small, there is no considerable pecuniary loss involved in clearing the land quite slowly. That the above estimate as to the returns which may be anticipated is conservative, isshown by the statement of Hon. Manuel Quezon as to the actual returns obtained in the Province of Tayabas under existing unsatisfactory conditions as to planting ard care of trees. He receives half of the price of the copra in return for giving the ground such cleaning as it receives, looking after the trees, harvesting the nuts, and making the copra, The net profit to the owner under this arrange- mentis from $1 to $1°50 per tree, an average of $1:25. On this basis 92,000 trees would give an annual net profit of from $92,000 to $138,000, or an average net profit of $115,000, and it would indeed be remarkable if trees properly set out and cared for in a region well to Edible Products. the south of Tayabas and not subject to the violent wind storms which not infrequently sweep across that province, did not do better than this. It will also be noted that I have not allowed for any returns except from copra. It goes without saying that it would be advantageous to instal a coconut oil mill as soon as the output of nuts in any given region was sufficient to justify it. What appears to bea reasonably conservative estimate of the profits from a coconut oil plant witha capacity of 1,000 piculs a day, running at its full capacity 300 days in the year, shows them tobe approximately 120,000 dollars per year. It would take the copra from eleven 2,500-acre plantations to keep such a will running, but the estimate above referred to is based on the purchase of copra in the open market, and whatever copra was requir- ed in excess of that produced on the plantation or plantations of those interested in the mill ecculd be obtained - in this way. In fact, a mill might at any time be established at Manila or some other port of entry and be vperated ata profit prior to the time when the plantations became productive, so that advantage could be taken of its facilities from the moment nuts were produced. Actual experience has shown that there is a material loss of the oil in copra during Philippine Islands to the United States or to European ports, this loss being due in large measure to the fact that the mould which grows on copra thus shipped decomposes the oil, A food product resembling butter, and used as a substitute for it, is now manu- factured in large quantities from coco- nut oil. An important source of in- creased revenues might unquestionably be found in the manufacture of this product, and of soap, candles, and shredded coconut. Both coconut oil and all other coconut products from the Philippine Islands are, under existing tariff regulations, admitted to the United States free of charge, which would place a factory manufacturing them at a decided ad- vantage over similar factories in other countries so far as concerns the United States market, which is very important. Figures as to the cost of a coconut oil plant of the capacity above mentioned, and as to the profits which may be anticipated therefrom, will be furnished upon application. DEAN C. WORCESTER. 410. its shipment from the. By Victor DESCHAMP, Analyst, Agricultural Laboratory. (From the Journal of the Department of Agriculture of Victoria, Vol. [X., Part9, ' September, 1911.) Despite the tavourable reports pub- lished in numerous scientific and trade publications throughout the world, the cultivation of the Soy Bean has not yet’ — been seriously undertaken in Victoria. Although it is unlikely that the bean can be grown in this State cheaply enough to compete with \the Chinese product, principally on account of the difference in the cost in labour, it should be a remunerative crop. As a fodder crop, asa soil renewer, and as a green manure, it has been successfully grown in countries other than its native habitat and under varying climatic conditions, As there are over 300 known varieties and hybrids, some of these should be suitable for different parts of this State. Economic USES: The home of the Soy Bean is in Manchuria and Japan, and it has been grown there in large quantities for centuries, but untila few years ago no attempt was made to grow it elsewhere on a commercial scale. In the countries named a small part of the oil, 6 to 8 per cent. only, was extracted by primitive presses, and the residual oil cake used asa fertilizer. The Imports of cake to Japan in 1905 were 182,000 tons, while in 1909 the enormous amount of 600,000 tons was exported to Japan alone, showing that its use asa fertiiizeris greatly on the increase, in spite of compecition with artificial fertilizers. The estimated total erop in Manchuria for 1909 was over 1,500,000 tons of shelled beans. The first large cargo of soy beans con- signed to England arrived in Hull in March, 1909, and amounted to 5,200. tons, and before July of the same year, contracts had been made _ for delivery of no less than 200,000 tons, to be utilized for oil extraction and the Pee oe Rod THE SOY BEAN. aS iat s the ~ residual cake for cattle food. According © a to the London ‘Times” of 19th July, 1910, the requirements of the tollowing season in England were estimated at over One million tons, At the minimum price of £6 10s, per ton, this means a business of £6,500,000, but itis doubtful if the beans can be bought'under about £8 per ton, owing to shortage of supply. That an industry of such vast propor- tions should spring up in a few years © “2 ndicates that all the opportunities of | > phosphate. Novemerr, 1911.) commerce are not closed to those who have foresight enough to search for new openings for trade. Food for Human Consumption.—The beans form an important article of diet for the Chinese and Japanese, being used in some form or other at almost every meal, and by all classes of people. They are highly nutritious, containing a large amount of edible oil (15 to 20 per cent. of the seed); they are also very rich in proteids and bone-forming mineral matter-phosphates; potash and lime are present in large amounts. The most abundant salt in the ash is sodium The protein is present in amounts varying from 30 to 42 per cent. of the bean, and is remarkable in that it consists mainly of albumenoids that resemble milk casein in composition and digestibility; in this respect it differs from any other known bean. Soy bean milk and sauce preparations, and also the oil, are very nutritious articles of diet. _ A medical. point of view is given in the Lancet of 21st January last :— On account of the great nutritive value of the Soy Bean, it is well worth medical attention, more particularly for diabetic cases, because of its low proportion of starch. For making bis- cuits, soup powder, infant and other foods, it will be widely used in future when its dietetic value becomes better known. Stock Food (Beans and Cake).—‘‘In England, the bean cake is of even more importance than the oil, representing as -itdoes about 80 per cent. of the raw material. The analysis compares very favourably with best cotton seed cake meal. In 1909, the bean cake was sold at £6 12s. 6d. per ton in London, while cotton seed cake costs £7 10s. to £7 12s. 6d.” —EHconomist. Denmark in 1910 sent large orders to Manchuria as the result of the success attained by feeding the soy cake to . COWS. With regard to its effect on butter, experiments made at the Ciren- cester Royal Agricultural College, Eng- land, show that no particular flavour was detected asa result of feeding soy cake; and that, compared with cotton cake, the yield of butter was slightly more, and no difference was perceived in laxative effects. On feeding the beans themselves to cows, the butter produced was-a trifle soft, but not enough to injure its commercial value, the softness being due probably to the jarge amount of oil contained in the ean, \ 41 _ Edible Products. From 38 to 4 lbs. of soy beans per day added to the usual dairy ration of hay fodder maize is stated to increase the - winter milk yield of the average Kansas cow over 25 per cent. In a series of experiments with pigs in Kansas,—‘‘It was shown that when soy beansare fed with maize, grain, and Kaffir corn for fattening pigs, a saving was made in the amount of feed needed to make 100 lbs, of grain of 18, 24, 31, 33, and 37 per cent., the amount varying in different experi- ments.” Green Fodder.—Upwards of 133 tons of green fodder were obtained per acre at Cheltenham, and 10 tons per acre at Ballarat. These are the only two in- stances in Victoria where records of tonnage per acre were kept. Cows will readily eat this plant after they become accustomed to the taste. Yor green feed, cut when near the full bloom, as at this period the amont of nutrients is much higher than when cut at other stages of growth. When wanted for hay, cut when the pods are about half filled and dry; handle the same as pea hay. No instance of its use in this State as silage is noted, but in the United States it is often ensiled with green maize, making an excellent succulent food, and being an almost balanced ration. Rotation Crop.—In the United States it has been found that the yields of crops of all kinds is increased where they follow soy beans, wheat in large fields showing an increase of 5 bushels per acre over that grown on land alongside that which had not been under beans. Wheat generally follows a nitrogenous crop inthe usual rotation schemes on the continent. Fertilizer.—The conclusions arrived at after hundreds of experiments in other countries is that, if there are no tubercles on the roots, the growing bean does not add fextility to the soil, but simply makes available for other crops the plant food already in the soil. When the plants are inoculated with tubercles, undoubted increase of fertil- ity will resultin the form of ayailable nitrogen to the soil. The large quantities of Soy bean cake exported to Japan for use as a fertilizer (600,000 tons in 1909), without any men- tion being made of Japan’s own quota, speaks for itself, and this in spite of competition with artificial manures, The Japanese recognize the value of organic manures. Australians do not attach enough importance to the value of humus as an element of fertility. There is a Edable Products. marked deficiency of this substance over practically the whole of our con- tinent, and this is due to the character of the vegetation. Our treesare ever- green,and consequently do not shed their leaves. In most other countries the deciduous trees predominate, and a large amount of organic matter in the shape of fallen leaves is added to the soil year by year. This becomes decom- posed into what is called humus, principally by bacterial action, and this substance becomes one of the great sources of nitrogen for the food of plants. A soil well supplied with humus ANALYSIS OF GREEN: Soy BEAN PLANTS. VARIETIES GROWN AT CHELTENHAM HXPERIMENTAL (MaAncan FARM (CUT WHEN SEEDS WERE FORMING | Puant, Pops’ IN THE Pops.) | REMOVED). Ito San. Guelph, Baird Brownie. ane aek CoNSTITUENTS. ——__ __ ENR ee TE SG, PN ag ES : 8 B03 ag an re oo ® 2 (oy 3 >) 2 ‘ on os| Poles] Plas) 2 las) Blasi 2B 63) ft as) Ries) Feo eRe in Aa Bra nr pra ne Moisture ... P5970 ove POL 20 Ee 6OMOL i o..|'60;80;\ 2 ere 580]... Ash 4:02] 9°98] 3°96]10°21] 4°34110°85} 4 36)11°12] 6:43} 15°30 Protein (N x 16525) ie 7°90 | 19°60] 7°54] 19°43 | 6°74) 16°85 | 6:62) 16°89] 8:20 | 19°53 Crude Fibre (Pentosan free) 5°89 | 16°62 | 7°59] 19°56) 7°55)18 88) 5°93] 15°13] 5°22 | 12°43 Nitrogen Free Extract 21°26 | 52°75 | 18°35 | 47°z9 | 20°11 | 50°27 | 21°19 | 54°05 | 21°27 | 50°65 Ether Extract 1°23} 3°05] 1:36] 3°51) 1°26) 3:15} 1:10} 2°81] 0°88) 2°09 Digestible Nutrients. iS S S S Ss 3 3 i 3 3 Digestible Dry Matter 24°98 | 6G 24°06 | og 24°80 | 24°30] 6G 26:04; 62 Protein 5°45) ce | 520! ma | 465) oe | 457) oy | 566) cos . Fibre 241) "SS | BLL} OW | 3:10] O= | 243) ON | 214) Os i Nitrogen Free Extract} 15°52 | 3° |13-40/ 2° | 1468) 2% |15-47| S* |1553| 3° of Ether Extract | 066) 2 | 073) §- | 068| 8-4 | 059) 4 | 048] 87 =) 5 \ 2 =) =] = ==) = = os < < a an amount each year not exceeding 300,000 gross tons, As the duty in the United States on a 96 degree test sugar is $1°68} per 100 lbs., the effect of this law has been to greatly advance the price of the better grades of sugar pro- duced here. While very little has thus far been manufactured that goes above 88 degrees test, this is greatly benefited in price, and the lower grades ranging locally or are marketed in--China for consumption in raw state have partici- pated in some measure in the advantage enjoyed through free access to United States markets, as all of the better grades are removed from competition in supplying this near-by demand. Very little of the low grade sugars go to the United States. For several years past the annual pro- duction of sugar in the Philippines has ranged around from 150 to 175,000 tons. — It is estimated that from 40,000 to 50,000 tons of this was cotusumed in the islands. which has left in the neighbour- hood of 125,000 tons available for export. Prior to the enactment of the Payne- Aldrich Bill the greater part of the sugar exported weat to China, but since that Act went into effect the exports to the United States have increased very mate- rially, and during the fiscal year 1910 ~ 94,000 tons out of a total of 127,000 tons exported went to the United States, while about 30,000 tons went to Hongkong and China proper. For the fiscal year 1911 exports increased to 149,000 tons, nearly seven-eighths of which went to the United States. While there is natur- ally a great benefit derived by reason of the law providing for free entry of Philippine sugar into the United States, the limitation imposed has undoubtedly been a decided hindrance to the develop- ment of the industry. It is true that — the amount fixed is above what the is- lands have ever produced, yet the fact is always present thatit is easily possible to exceed that limit, in which case the ~ surplus product would have to be sold on the basis of the world’s price, and the be expected to invest in theindustryin the Philippines. There are certain ~ sections of the islands that are particu- larly well adapted to the production of sugar, and the industry gives assurance ~ of very substantial profits, but so long as the limitation remains it will prove a great deterrent to the investment) of ’ 7 We Oa ; oa bt NOVEMBER, 1911.) UD SENS GOSS ies Soe iba Bad \ capital in the industry to any consider- able extent. There has been some improvement noticeable in the methods pursued by plarters since a better price was assured them by reason of the availability of the United States markets. Also, there has been onelarge enterprise started that willadd materially to the cuitivated area as well as introduce a new standard of quality and grade of the sugar produced. The methods employed here generally in the cultivation, manufacture and packing of sugar are extremely primitive and will admit of very material im- provement. In preparing the soil for cultivation a plough is used that over- ‘turns the earth to a depth of only 4 to 6 inches, whereas modern methods require at least 18 inches to 2 feet of ploughing. Rows are planted very close together, which do not permit of good cultiv- ation, and the mills are as a rule ofan obsolete type, recovering from the grinding of the cane an average of not more than 65% of the juice content, and it sometimes goes as low as_ 50%. Modern mills extract 94 to 99 % of the juice contained inthe cane. The residue from the cane after crushing has to be dried forsome time in the sun before it ean be burned. In modern mills itis practically dry as it leaves the rollers and is conveyed automatically to the furnaces where it furnishes all neces- sary tuel, Itcan readily be seen that an immense saving is possible with modern methods substituted for those 425 | Miscellaneous Products, now in use, but modern sugar mills are expensive affairs and are beyond the reach of theaverage planter. The natur- al solution of existing difficulties would appear to be central that has develop- ed so larg ely in the industry in Porto Rico and Cuba. The shortness of the cutting season in the Philippines, how- ever, renders it difficult to obtain capital for a large mill of this kind, for the reason that it would be next to impossible to obtain the co-cperation of enough planters in any one neighbour- hood to insure a continuous supply of cane during the 100 to 120 days that a mill can be operated. The sugar industry in the Philippines requires large capital, but the returns that may be counted upon with assur- ance are so great that it should invite the attention of investors who are con- versant with it. Thecane will mature here in from 12to 15 months, while 20 months and upwards are necessary to its growth in Hawaii. There is reason- ably sure rainfall on which the Filipino always depends, but irrigation would doubtless increase the, production and improve the cane when grown. Scienti- fic fertilization is practically unknown in the islands, but the use of fertilizers and more care given to the cultivation of the cane would insure a much greater yield. The industry awaits the appli- cation of proper methods, and that it has not received from American capital the attention that it merits would appear to be a reflection on the far- sightedness of those who control that capital. MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS. THE LAC INDUSTRY. (From the Indian Agriculturst, Vol. XXXVI, No. 3, March 1, 1911.) Part III, Vol. I, of the Indian Forest Memoirs is devoted to a note on the lac - insect, its life history, propagation, and collection, by Mr. EK. P. Stebbiag, De- puty Conservator of Forests, Bengal Division. The present memoir is a revi- sion and enlargement of amonograph on the lac insect published in 1908, which is now out of print. The necessity for the new edition has arisen from the - great impetus which the cultivation has received owing to the largely increased demand for lac. This increased demand is mainly attributable to export influ- ence, as though lac enters very largely 54 into the agricultural, commercial, artis- tic, manufacturing and domestic affairs of the people of India, it was not till shellac, which is the manufactured form of lac, came to be largely used in elec- trical work, the manufacture of gramo- phone records, as a stiffening material for hats, as an ingredient in lithogra- phic ink, and as sealing wax, in Europe and America, that the question of the supply of lac assumed a position of importance. Concurrently with this enlargement of its use, the quantities of lac exported by sea to foreign countries enormously increased. Cal- cutta is the principal exporting centre, and the amount sent out from that port increased from 82,038 cwts. in 1878-9 to 102,686 ecwts. in 1888-9, to 178,722 ewts. in 1898-9, and to 377,317 cwts. in 1908-9. Miscellaneous Products. This change means a vastly increased production, but with this increased pro- duction has come a diminution in price, so that shellac which in 1907-8 was valued at Rs.112 per cwt., in 1908-9 fetched only Ks.73 per cwt. Thus it would appear that the production of lac has caught up to the demand, and that any increase in production to be profitable must be accompanied by a decrease in the cost of production. Mr. Stebbing’s note would appear to have been compiled before this change of price declared itself, as the author says that “the question of lac cultivation has once again come tothe front owing to the remarkable increase in the price of the article, a rise in price which has been a natural concomitant of a de- mand exceeding the supply, attribut- able to the extensive use of shellac in electrical work and in the manufacture of gramaphone records. As far as can at present be judged there appears ac- cordingly no reason why the demand for the product should not continue to increase, and this probability would seem to eall for prompt and urgent action, both on the part of those already interested in the cultivation,and of those who, by introducing it into areas in which it is at present unknown, can thus improve the pecuniary value of the lands and add to the prosperity of the ryot.” But if the supply of lac has now caught up with the demand, any steps taken to increase its area of production are hard- ly likely to be attended with a large pecuniary return. Mr. Stebbing’s note is of the greatest interest and value as a complete study of an important natural industry. The illustrations of the lac insect, and of the insects which are injurious to the lac insect, are exceedingly good, and the whole subject has. been treated in a clear and methodical way. The author describes the origin and nature of lac, which as is well-known is a resinous incrustation excreted by an insect, and the history and tke growth of the industry. He then describes the insect and its life history, the food on which it lives, and its enemies. He goes on to show how widely the Jac insect is distributed throughout the Indian con- tinent, and the variety of different trees on which it exists. A peculiarity of this distribution is that whereas the insect flourishes best on one or more species of tree in one locality, in a different part of the country it will be found to thrive best on other species, even though the trees upon which it does best in the former area may be present in the latter. The author has investigated the distri- 426 [NOVEMBER, 19 1. bution of the insect in the various pre- sidencies and provinces of India, and indicates the trees upon which it thrives — best in different localities. After this the method of cultivation and propa- gation is considered. Native methods of cultivation and collection are ex- tremely careless and slovenly, and the cultivation and propagation of the insect on scientific lines has been receiving considerable attention. The insects swarm in February and in the last week of June, the lac being collected during June and from the middle of December to the middle of January, before swarm- ing takes place. About 10 per cent. of the crop is kept as seedlac, special trees being reserved ora portion of the crop being Jeft on each tree. When swarm- irg time approaches the twigs covered with lac are loosely wrapped in rice straw and are tied on to other uninfect-- ed branches. This provision of bridges to enable the swarming larve to reach unincrusted branches is of the utmost importance. Nature’s method to ensure the continuance of the species has been the production of a very large number of offspring owing to the certainty of large numbers perishing in the effort to a reach suitable feeding places, and man . by assisting this operation turns to his . own advantage this great profusion of offspring. The author describes the col- lection of lac, its preparation for sale, its treatment in the factory, and the manu- facture of shellac; lastly, he shows that ~ both in the cultivation and the collec- tion of the lac large improvements are possible. ; DEVELOPMENT OF BEJUCO i INDUSTRY. | WILL IN TIME DEVELOP GREAT VALUE FoR ExPoRT—ABUNDANCE AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT ISLANDS. - (From the Manila Bulletin.) Bejuco is'beginning to enter into the export trade of the Philippines and promises in time to develop a great value for export, while at the same time there are numerous uses tc which bejuco is put in the local market. . The bejuco industry is given notice in “ Reciprocity and the Philippines,” by Mr. Harold M. Pitt, as follows :— Az Among the natural products of ‘thes a Philippines that are beginning to enter ~ into the islands is Bejuco, a vine com- — monly known as rattan, which flourishes — in most of the forests of thearchipelago, _ and often grows to be from 600 to 700 feet long. This vine is split into narr ‘ ote at el ESS GRR miami Sey alan Nest ir as f Novemeer, 1911.) strips, and the product, bejuco, is used in agreat many ways by the natives. It is very tough and’ serves as a sub- stitute’ for various forms of cane in the manutacture of furniture, in the place of nails for binding together the timbers of houses, and for fastening the timbers of bridges and other forms of construc- 427 Plant Sanitation. tion. It also takes the place of rope and twine in all of the uses to which those articles are put. There is an abundance available and it can be gathered at small cost. It is a product that will in time develop a great value for export, as well as con- tinuing in general use by the Filipinos. PLANT SANITATION. MYCOLOGY IN RELATION TO ADMINISTRATION. (From the Lowisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, Vol. XLVII., No. 4, ie oped 19 11.) The systematic study of the disease of plants and its application to general agriculture has developed almost entirely within the last sixty years. Although the existence of varions fungi has been recognized for many centuries, yet little if anything was known of their real nature until the middle of last century. Their life histories were almost entirely unstudied, and many of them were be- lieved to be abnormal developments of the leaves and other parts of flowering plants. Under such circumstances it was only natural that nothing should be known of their connection with plant diseases, and the latter were generally attributed to bad soil con- ditions, the occurrence of excessive rains or drought. and similar factors. In some instances, where large insects, such as the larvze of beetles, or of moths and butterflies, were tound in considerable numbers in connection with disease, it was realised that these were the cause, while in others, when the disease was of a violently epidemic nature, it was usually said that the plants were destroyed by a blight. Instances of this ‘are the blights reported at various times on cacao in Trinidad, and they are said to have destroyed the eoco-nut palm in Antigua. The use of the term “blight,” referring as it does only to the general appearance of the affected plants, shows clearly the complete lack of information that existed among planters and farmers asto the real cause of the appearance. This lack of information continued even up to very recent times; while the confusion between -insects and fungi, _ which occurred among eminent scientific menas lateas the forties of the last century, may be found among planters atthe present day, There is, however, much excuse for this,as no means were in existence until comparatively very recent years, for rendering available to the practical man, to whom it was of so much importance, the information that was being rapidly accumulated by scientific investigators. The real recognition of the important part played by fungi in connection with plant disease dates from the publication in 1866 of De Bary’s book on the com- parative morphology and physiology of the fuugi, in which details of life-history and parasitism in the case of many forms are clearly set forth. This gavea great stimulus to many investigators, so that during the subsequent thirty years an immense mass of information was accu- mulated both in connection with the life-histories and pathological import- ance of many species, and with their systematic classification and the nature of their reproductive arrangements. It should, however, be borne in mind that practically the whole of the work was carried out by private individuals, either working in their own laboratories or in thcse of various universities and academic institutions throughout the world. As a consequence of this, the information obtained was only available through the medium of the more advanced teaching establishments or of the universities, to those engaged in the study of Natural Science, and its im- portance from a much wider agricultural point of view was not fully recognized. Along with this development in the kuowledge of their parasites went a very rapid increase in the understanding of the nature of plants themselves, so that by about the year 1880 there was accumulated large stores of knowledge available for the right direction of a campaign against plant diseases, Once the information had _ been obtained, the next step from the agri- cultural standpoint was to render it useful to the planting community. This was done by the recognition by Govern- ments of the importance of the work that could be performed. In England such recognition consisted for a long time of the employment of a Plant Sanitation. research Mycologist onthe Staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. One of the first countries in which prominence was given by the Government to the ractical application of mycological nowledge would appear to have been the United States. For the last thirty years this country has been employing an ever-increasing number of plant pathologists in connection with the Department of Agriculture of the Federal Government ; while at the pre- sent time almost every State Experi- ment Station, supported largely from the funds of that State, has one or more Mycologists on its staff. When the Imperial Department of Agriculture was founded in 1898, it soon became evident that officers capable of dealing withthe pests and diseases of plants were urgently needed, and this was well emphasized by the prevalent diseases of the sugar-cane. About the same time it became hecessary to ap- point a Mycologist on the Staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya in Ceylon, and at the present time almost every Government Department of Agri- culture in the British Kmpire employs one or more such officers. In India, not only is there an Imperial Mycologist to the Government of India, aided by an assistant Mycologist and several research students, but one at least of the Presi- dencies, Madras, has its own officer. Instances of the employment of Govern- ment Mycologists could be added from all parts of the world. These Departments of Agriculture bring about the dissemination of what is known in connection with fungi in twe ways. They work directly through the association with planters of the scientific officers on their staffs, and in- directly by means of the publications ; while at the same time, owing to their connection with the Government, they are able to introduce the teaching of the requisite scientific knowledge into the curricula of the schools, This last point serves to emphasize the importance that attaches to the connection of scientific knowledge with so thorough an instru- ment for inducing its spread as is pro- vided in the form of the various Govern- ments. Further valuable assistance in the protection of plants from disease is rendered by Governments through the legislation which they are empowered to enact. Such legislation can prevent the importation, into any given country, of diseases likely to cause serious damage to its crops. At the same time it can enforée, it necessary, the adoption of adequate measures for gliminating or 498 1A ¥. as he oa Pak . (NovEMBER, jolt. eS / ) Ln eradicating the more serious diseases’ which do exist. In both these cases the technical knowledge of the sctentist is necessary, though this alone is power- less without the aid of the Government machinery for enforcing the necessary measures, and without the general. appreciation of the reasonableness and — wisdom of the measures on the part of the community. The recognition of the importance of mycology on the part of Governments has been followed by similar recognition ou that of the general public. As a consequence of this, there exist to-day several associations of planters, and more than one private company engaged in agriculture, who maintain a scientific staff, including a plant pathologist, at’ their own expense. The Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Associations may be cited as an instance of this. Moreover, the tendency on the part of private com- panies to empluy their own Mycologist is distinctly increasing. This tendency, although a step in the right direction, is not to be advocated without quali- fication. There is considerable proba- bility that the money necessary would be much better spent in contributing to the maintenance of a large number of such officers on the staffs of the various Government Departments. There are several reasons for this. Inthe first place, itis far easier to work ina large and properly-equipped central labor-_ atory than in small isolated ones. At the same time the work receives material assistance from the concentration of effort, the free access to literature from all parts of the world. containing inform- ation on mycological subjects, and the sympathetic intercourse between men engaged in similar study, all of which are only obtainable at a central labor- atory. 5 The increasing demand for plant pathologists makes it important that ~ some sufficient means should be found for supplying properly trained men, and in this it would be of great assistance if the universities would provide adequate courses of instruction, not only in the — methods of mycology and in those ofits __ application, but also in general tropical agriculture. The demand for such men will, incourse of time, become limited, but it will always be constant. Such a — training might with advantage be follow- ed by a year’s research work at the © laboratory of one of the tropical Depart- ments of Agriculture. Facilities for _ this exist at Pusa, in India, and also in Ceylon and Java for the Hast, and 1 the Imperial Department of Agricul tu for the West. - ht WN OVEMBER, 1911.) Although very rapid progress has been made in recent years, both in the actual knowledge of plant diseases, and in the recognition by the world at large, and by Governments in particular, of the importance of this, yet much more work must be done, and many more men must be employed, before the full advantage of the scientific knowledge which is even now available can be _obtained by agricultural communities. THE CONTROL OF SCALE INSECTS IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES BY MEANS OF FUNGOID PARASITES. By F. W. SoutH, B.A. (Cantab.), Mycologist of the Staff of the Imperial epartment of Agriculture for the West Indies, Part TI. GENERAL ACCOUNT. Gam the West udian Bulletin, Vol. XL, No. 1, 1910.) INTRODUCTION. It has been recognized for a com- paratively long time, that different species of fungi are able to attack the bodies of various living insects and eventually cause their death; but the epidemic nature of this attack, that is the hundreds of thousands of individuals that. may be destroyed by the fungus, together with its economic importance, whether beneficial or the reverse, has only been recognized within the last forty years. Indeed, the use of these parasites in the control of various pests is of even more recent date, and cannot yet be said to have attained the greatest application of which it is capable. In fact, it is only within the last two years that the subject has received in the West Indies the attention of which it is worthy, and it may be directly stated, that the results of the observations and experiments conducted during that time offer every prospect of success in con- trolling scale insect attacks by means of theic fungoid parasites. The first important step in the recognition of the effect of vegetable parasites of insects on an economic scale was the discovery of the bacterial disease of silk worms by Pasteur in 1870. The disease had occasioned considerable loss to the silk industry in France, but the recognition of its cause led tc the sugges- tion of measures by which it could be prevented satisfactorily. During the last twenty-seven years, in the United States gf America, a consider- r ' t, 429 Plant Sanitation. able amount of work has been carried on having a directly opposite object, namely, the reduction of the numbers of various-insect pests by means of their vegetable parasites, both bacterial and fungoid. This work has, on the whole, met with a fair measure of success, more especially in the damper and milder climates of the more southern States. Among the insects experimented upon may be mentioned the cabbage cater- pillar, the chinch bug, the grasshopper, and various species of scale insects. The scale insects, by virtue of their stationary habit, are particularly liable to attack by fungi whose hyphee can grow under their scales and destroy their bodies. The usefulness, from an economic point of view, of the fungi attacking these insects has been ex- ploited to the greatest extent in the State of Florida where Professor Rolts, of the State Experiment Station, first demonstrated in 1897 the practical application of the red-headed fungus in the control of the San José scale. Subsequent work by various members of the Experiment Station staff has added very largely to our knowledge of such fungi, and of the conditions under which they may he successfully employed. More recently, information as to the occurrence and distribution of the fungoid parasites of various scale insects has been forthcoming from different parts of the world, including Cuba, Porto Rico, Martinique, Ceylon, South Africa and Australia. During the last year information with regard to the distribution and effect- iveness of these fungi in the various West Indian Islands has been collected by the officers of the Imperial Depart- ment of Agriculture, and the results, though at present far from complete, are embodied in this article, which is intended asa preliminary discussion of the question, and an indication of the lines aleng which it is hoped subsequent work will be conducted. The fungi at present known to occur in these islands are: The red-headed fungus, Spheros- tilbe coccophila, Tul.; the white-headed fungus, Ophionectria coccicola, K. and K.; the black fungus, Myriangiwm Duricei, Mont.; the shield scale fungus, probably Cephalosporium lecanii, Zim- mermann. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE KUNGI FOUND IN THE WHST INDIES. The following is a brief account of the more superficial characters of these fungi; the fuller and more technical description of them will be found in the last part of this article, Plant Sanitation. Red-headed Fungus.—This most com- monly appears as a small, conical, or club-shaped outgrowth from the scale attacked; it is usually inclined at an obtuse angle to the surface of the scale, andisfrom 1, to inch or 4 to 3 milli- metres in length. The end of each out- growth is bright-red in colour and some- what horny in consistency. This is supported on a delicate, pinkish, velvety base, As many as five or six of these outgrowths, or sporodochia, may arise from a single scale. They are borne on an interwoven mass of the fungal hyphe, known as a stroma, which fills the space once occupied by the body of the dead scale insect. Another form of fructification may also be produced by the fungus. This consists of more or less spherical, smooth, bright-red perithecia, which are usually borne in groups of four or fiveon the same stroma as the other fruiting form. It must be re- membered that the hyphz of this tungus are colourlesss and fine, and that, con- sequently, when the fungusis not pro- ducing either of the forms of fructific- ation described above, it is very hard to see, and may be present in large quan- tities and doing most effective work, although entirely invisible to the naked eye. Practically the only indication of its presence in this stage, visible with- out a microscope, is the large number of dead scale insects to be found on the host plant. White-headed Fungus,—This also has two forms of fructification, both pro- duced, as in the case of the red-headed fungus, on a stroma occupying the body cavity, and also frequently covering the body of the scale insect. The stroma is white or cream-coloured, and gives rise to a small, brown, cylindrical outgrowth about 4 millimetre long. When this becomes mature, it turns white at the top, owing to the formation of 2 more or less conical head of white spores. The second stage consists of numerous, more or less spherical, smooth perithecia, of a coffee colour, which occur in groups on the stroma. Owing to the scattering of the conidia over the stroma, the fungus frequently appears white or grey in colour. Black Fungus.—This appears as irre- gular, smooth, coal-black lumps on stems and branches of trees infected with scale insects; it rarely occurs on the leaves. The major portion of the black stroma is of a brittle nature, somewhat like charcoal, and the stroma, as a whole, is of a definite appearance. These characters serve to distinguish it from black blight to which, however, it 430 bears in reality but little resemblance. — At it yee [Novemsnr, i911 Aiet Y - This fungus also consists of fine, nearly colourless hyphe in its early vegetative stages, and probably kills many more scales than those on which its stroma — actually appears. While useful on the™ stems and branches, this fungus is more disfiguring than the scales themselves when it occurs on the fruit. No instance of its occurrence there is, how- ever, recorded at present in these is- lands, though it has been known to oceur on fruit in Cuba. Shield Scale Fungus.—This differs very considerably in appearance from any of the other three, its characters being more those of a mould. In the early stages it kills the insects without any outward appearance of its presence such as would be visible to the naked eye. But when the scale is dead a white or slightly buff coloured fringe, often of a rather waxy appearance, grows out from beneath it over the surface of the leaf. The scale itself often becomes brown in colour and of a papery consis- tency, thatis, if it is one of the soft shield scales. At an even later stage the whole surface of the scale insect becomes covered with a slightly buff- coloured coating of the fungus hyphe, and this often has a very powdery surface owing to the presence of very numerous heads of spores. The appear- ance is most characteristic, and when once seen cannot easily be mistaken. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FUNGI. In treating of the red-headed fungus on the San José scale in Florida, . Pro- fessor Rolfs remarks that the ordinary observer would overlook. it altogether. This would hardly happen inthe West — Indies in places where the fungusis ~ really active, and producing numerous fructifications, as the result is to give a quite definite pink appearance to the parts affected, even when they are viewed from a short distance. The above effect has been seen by theauthor on lime tree stems in Dominica; it is also mentioned by the Imperial Commis- ~ sioner of Agriculture as having been ~~ even more noticeable in the case ofa — specimen of Castilloa elustica at the Agricultural School, St. Lucia, on whic . numerous parasitized scales occurred. These instances serve as an illustration of the effectiveness of this parasite under favourable conditions. Indealipng with this point in his paper on‘Fungi — Parasitic upon Aleyrodes Citri,’ Pro- fessor Fawcett of the Florida State Experiment Station remarks :— “The effective work of this fungus — (the red-headed fungus), and of two ~ oe h, I Ki mle Novemnrr, 1911.) : others, Ophionectria coccicola, HK. and E., and Myriangium Duriaci, Mont., upon the orange scales, is readily shown by spraying an orange tree very tho- roughly with Bordeaux mixture. During the summer and fall of 1907, the author 4 sprayed a number of trees with Bordeaux mixture for another purpose. The trees were sprayed very thoroughly, once in May, once in July, and oncein Septem- ber. Before the first spraying the trees : were practically unhurt by Mytilaspis "4 citricola, only afew individuals of the 4 scale being found on any parts of the trees. After the first spraying, this scale insect began to spread, and in- creased slowly in numbers until Novem- y ber, when the trees were badly attacked by the scale. Other trees, near by that had received no spray, were as free from scale as at the first. The fungicide had evidently destroyed, on the sprayed trees, the fungi that had been all along working upon the unsprayed trees.” Another instance illustrating the same thing is that afforded by Dominica. In this island there has been no serious trouble from scale insects since the year 1903, which succeeded the drought in } 1902. Observations on material from ‘ the island show that this is to a hs considerable extent due to the luxurious ; growths of parasitic fungi, which have y kept the scales in check for seven conse- a cutive years. a In their paper On ‘ Insects and Diseases , of the Orange,’ Cookand Horne remark q that the black fungus (Myriangium 7 Durie) has less effect on the orange ‘7 snow scale (Chionaspis citri) in Cuba . than any of the other fungi found there 5 have on the insects which they attack, In Dominica, however, it would appeax i to be more effective, for this scale prac- * tically never assumes sericus proportions in that island, and could only be said to be of secondary importance in the serious outbreak of scale insects that tes occurred in 1908. The black fungus is _ . very common on this scale, and probably hh: is responsible to avery large extent for s keeping it under control. The same _ - fungus occurs very commonly on this i scale in Montserrat. In this island the ee snow scale was avery serious pest in the z dry year 1903, but has never assumed serious proportions since, except in iso- lated instances where trees were suffer- ing from drought. This indicates that ‘there also the black fungus is an effi- af cient check on this seale. The white- x headed and the shield scale fungi 4 (Ophionectria coccicola and Cephatlos- ‘x porium lecanit) are equally effective, as " far as present observations show; but as the first only occurs in Dominica, it is 431 Plant Sanitation. not possible to state how useful it would be under the drier conditions expe- rienced in some of the other islands. Experiments will, however, be made to introduce it more generally, asit is almost the most vigorous of these fungi when under favourable conditions, METHODS OF HMPLOYING THE FUNGI. In some districts, where the general conditions are favourable to _ their growth, the parasites of certain species of insects exist naturally in large num- bers. These parasites are responsible, under normal conditions, for the com- parative rarity of these species in those districts. Such districts are usually :poken of as being unsuited to the spe- cies—a phrase which simply means that, in the battle between the host and the parasite, the natural conditions favour the parasite, and the numbers of the host are consequently kept at a minimum, Man’s work in making use of these para- sites is of two kinds: firstly, to introduce the parasite into districts in which the conditions are favourable to its growth, but in which it has not previously been known to occur; and secondly, to pro- duce, where possible, by artificial means, conditions which are favourable to the parasites in districts where the condi- tions in general are not favourable. Some methods of achieving both of these objects will now be dealt with. Three methods of introducing these fungiinto fields where they have not previously been known to exist have been found to be successful in Florida, according to Dr. HK. W. Berger of the State Experiment Station; but time has not yet permitted of any very definite observations on their effectiveness in the West Indies. The first method consists of spraying the spores and portions of the mycelium of the fungi on to the trees which it is intended to infect. Kor this purpose, leaves well infected with the fungus should be stirred up for ten to fifteen minutes in water; there should be about forty fructifications of the fungus, or more, to each pint of water. The mix- ture should then be strained through a fine wire mesh, or a coarse muslin, and sprayed on to the trees. The author referred to above recommends that an iron sprayer or atomizer should be used for this purpose, or if the operation is to be conducted on a large scale, a com- pressed air sprayer with a galvanized iron receptacle. It seems, however, that if the liquid to be employed is carried in a galvanized iron bucket aud notina brass or copper receptacle, a brass syringe might be used with perfect Plant Sanitation. safety, provided it is emptied as soon as it has been filled and had not previously been employed for fungicides. The spray should be as fine as possible, as the trees should be sprinkled only, not soaked, any water that runs off representing a direct loss of spores. If the above pre- cautions are carefully attended to, it is usually found that this method of arti- ficial infection is the most successful of the three. The fungus material for mixing with water may also be taken from pure cultures; purely technical methods are required to obtain these, but when once obtained they could be kept constantly in stock in the Labor- atory of this Department and distributed as required, thus enabling experiments to be carried on at those seasons of the year when fructifications of the fungi are not easily procurable in the field, When it is intended to infect only one or two trees for experimental purposes, it may he found that a large glass syringe with as fine a delivery nozzle as possible is a good instrument for spray- ing the trees. This method may be employed for all the species of fungi found in the West Indies, with the exception of the black fungus (Myriangium Duricei). whose spores are formed in sucha way that they would not necessarily be liberated when portions of it are shaken with water. The second method, which is applicable to all the fungi, consists in tying infected material into trees which itis desired to intect, This should be done in such a manner that the fructifi- cations of the fungi come into as close proximity to healthy scale insects as possible. This method, according to Dr. K. W. Berger, ranks second in order of efficiency in Florida, and should certain- ly yield successful results here. The third method has not proved as successful as the other two, and has the additional disadvantage of being considerably more expensive in applica- tion. It consists in planting among the trees to be infected, small trees whose foliage is well infected with various parasitic scale fungi, so that the leaves of the small trees come into contact | with those of the larger ones. If neces- sary such trees may be planted in pots or tubs and raised on platforms. ‘This method has the disadvantage of not spreading the fungus as effectively over a wide area as in the other cases, and involves certain difficulties in water- ing in order to prevent the small trees from dropping their leaves. The tying method is the one that com- mends itself as that most likely to be succesful here on account of the general 482 Mia. Y RL 3 | (Nowmn HR, 18 : : oe conditions that prevail on estates; 3 though spraying with spores will one oe ably also prove useful, especially for a small number of trees. In order to have a ready supply of these fungi always available, it is advis- able, as far as_ possible, for every manager or planter, especially on lime estates, to be acquainted with some place where he can be certain of obtain- ing one or more of them. For this pur- pose, he should watch some particular tree known to be well infested, and~ ~ when he notices that the scales are — nearly all killed, should transfer the fungi to a neighbouring tree where there are scale insects in considerable numbers. With regard to the artificial form- ation of conditions suitable to these fungi in localities where they are natur- ally unfavourable, there are two courses which may be followed. The main difficulties which have to be overcome are the effects of a bad drought, especi- ally in thedry season, and those of wind. In most of the islands, with the poss sible exception of Barbados and Antigua, the general conditions in the wet season are sufficiently favourable. to permit of the fungi making good growth. Con- sequently, the only period when arti- ficial help is necessary is during the dry season ; it will probably be found that spraying one or two trees with clean water, once or twice a week, would enable the fungi to tide over the unfavourable conditions, and so afford a starting point from which they could — spread again in the wet season. The other method, which is especially applic- able in windy places, or in localities where the wet season is not usually sufficiently well marked to ensure the spread of the fungi, is to allow the trees _ attacked by scale insects to become — “it covered with a fairly thick growth of Bengal beans (Mucuna pruriens, var.) This method is particularly applicable to lime trees. It has been definitely — proved, in Montserrat, that the cover- ing of beans helps to clear the trees of scale insects; evidence too, from other places, tends to support this, and to eS show that some fung?, at any rate,are more numerous in the damp sheltered — conditions under the beans than is the case outside. 1t is possible that some other factor or factors due to the beans, which are as yet undetermined, also” weaken the scale insect attack. It may be of interest to note in passing, that the Bengal beans encourage the presence of insect parasites of the scales as wel as of the fungoid parasites as eS afford shelter from the wine: NovemsBer, 1911.) f ut POSSIBLE RELATION BETWEEN Host AND PARASITE. When looking for parasitic fungi, with the possible exception of the black fun- gus (Myriangium Durici), it must be remembered that the fructifications, by which alone they are made easily visible, cannot be expected to be present in any given locality at all times of the year. They come and goaccording to the stage in its life-history that the fungus has reached at the time. As an illustration of this, the following observations in Dominica during 19099 may be cited. The fructifications of the red-headed fungus (Spheerostilbe coccophila) were observed at the Agricultural School in May, but had disappeared ac the begin- ving of June; they did not re-appear until November. These facts should be con- sidered in connection with the following observations made in Montserrat :— One field was visited by Mr. H. A. Ballou, the Entomologist to this Depart- ment, and by the author on March 9, 1910. The field had suffered from attack by the purple scale (Mytilaspis citricola) during the preceding twelve months, and had been put under Bengal beans which had been cutlasseda month pre- viously. The trees had recovered from the scale insect attack, but practically no red-headed fungus was observable, although it had been seen a month before in large quantities by two reliable observers. On the next field to leeward, however, fructifications of this fungus, both conidial and _ perithecial, were present inlarge numbers, The attack of the insects had reached this field some- what later than the previous one, as the insects travelled with the wind, aud consequently the fungus was still visible, asit also had started its life- eycle ata somewhat later date than in the first field. The presence of the perithecia, which probably constitutes the last stage in the life-history, would appear to indicate that the fungus was about to disappear from the second field also. Both of the instances just cited tend to show that the fungus has a definite life-period which must be in- fluenced to some extent by the amount of food-supply available. It should also be borne in mind that the scale insects themselves have a definite life-period, though details with regard to this are at present wanting in the West Indies. It is probable that the season of greatest abundance of these insects falls between approximately the same dates each year, and the same would also be true of the season of least abundance. The sequence of events would appear to be somewhat as follows :—The spores of the 55 433 Plant Sanitation, fungus are blown onto a tree where numerous young scale insects are present; they germinate if the conditions are not too dry ; the germ tubes penetrate the bodies of some of the young scales by growing in under the scale itself, and once established, the fungus spreads rapidly. After vigorous vegetative growth, during which the only sign of the existence of the fungus is the number of dead insects present, the focd- supply , becomes exhausted, and the fungus produces fructification and is then visible. Finally, the fructifications and most of the dead scales are washed off the tree by rain and disappear, leav- ing the tree clean with the exception of spores of the fungus caught in the bark, a small residue of dead scales that have not been removed, and afew healthy scales that have not been infected by the fungus. If theseale insects re-infect the tree, either owing to the increase of the original survivors, or to infection trom an outside source the spores germinate again, or re-infection takes place from outside, and as the scales become fairly numerous, the life-story of host aud parasite is repeated. There are thus probably two periods when the fungus is not visible: one when it is making much vegetative growth, scale insects being numerous, the other when. it has disappeared owing to the absence of a sufficient food-supply ; under the latter circumstance, very little fungus is present at all on the tree. How far the life-period of the fungus is affected by external conditions remains to be seen; probably moisture has an effect on the rate of growth during the period of vegetativeactivity. The relationship of the fungus life-period to that of the host also requires investigation, but for this, the life-period of the scale insects, that is the time occupied from one brood to the next, must first be carefully determined. In any case, it seems that the food-supply, as afforded by the insects, cannot be expected to be entirely continuous. Green, in his book on the Coccide of Ceylon, remarks on the periodicity of the appearance of the green shield scale (Lecanium viride), and says that thisis apparently connected with weather conditions, extremes of rain or of drought being alike unfavour- able. Moreover, when the numbers of live scales are decreasing, the shield scale fungus is always found to be present and may killas many as 90 per cent. of these insects. The above suggestions are put for- ward in a purely tentative manner, as the evidence on which they are based is insufficient to permit of any Plant Sanitation. definite conclusions. They may, how- ever, be useful as suggesting lines of work for future investigation. The matter is one of someimportance locally, as fructifications are often wanted for purposes of spreading the fungus, and, as has been noted, they cannot always be found. When this is due to the greater vegetative activity of the fungus, it might be spread with equal effect by using branches of trees on which fructifications of the fungus had formerly.been observed, but from which they had subsequently disappeared. The mycelium of the fungus would then be present. But when the absence of the fructification is due to the disappear- ance of the fungus owing to want of food, such material would be nearly use- less for infection purposes. In this case the scale insects themselves would prob- ably bs far from numerous, and those present would be mainly dead, unless the tree had oeen reintected with insects while the tungus had not had time to obtain a hold. EFFECTS OF CLIMATE. The general climatic factors which may have an influence on the effective- ness of these fungi are three, namely, Temperature, Wind and Moisture. Temperature.—The four species of fungi known in the West Indies all belong naturally to the tropical or sub- tropical regions, and consequently can- not be expected to flourish in colder parts of the world. This expectation has been fully borne out in the case of the red-headed fungus (Spherostilbe coccophila). Severalattempts have been made to introduce it into the more northern of the United States and into Canada, but it has never been suffi- ciently vigorous under the colder condi- tions to be of any economic importance in controlling insect pests. Wind.—Parasitic fungi are never so effective in windy situations as in sheltered ones. In fact, they are rarely found in places where they are exposed to any severe winds, This is probably mainly due to the drying effects of the wind. The shield scale fungus (Cephalo- sporium lecanii) has been found by Mrs. atterson in St. Vincent attacking the mango shield scale (Lecanium mangi- fere), which was growing ona tree ina very windy place, but the fungus was not of luxuriant growth and did not appear to be nearly as effective as it is in calmer places. Moisture.—This is the most important factor influencing the growth of these fungi—a fact which is clearly illustiated by the relative effectiveness of the A IAA VD (Novemssr, 1911. fungi in the different’ islands. The parasites are very plentiful in Dominica, where the rainfall varies on some estates from 100 to 150° inches ina year, andinSt. Lueia, where there is almost as heavy a rainfall, atany rate in some districts. As already stated, since the year 1908, there has not been a single outbreak of scale insects of any really serious dimensions in Dominica. Dr. K. W. Berger remarks that under natural conditions, fungi were able to~ control the attacks of white fly once every three years. It would seem, how- ever, that in Dominica the scale insects, are kept in check much more effectively than this. On the other hand, in Anti- gua aud Barbados, and possibly even St. Vincent, they are not nearly as effective. In the former case this is probably owing to drought; in the latter, the causes would appear to be more complicated, as the island is not excessively deficientin rainfall. In fact, at one time citrus trees could be grown there with success, though now, more especially since the eruption in 1902, they are persistently destroyed by the attacks of scale insects. The actual © reasons for this require further investi- © gation, as at least three species of para- sitic fungi are known to be preseut on seale insects in the island. 4 A good instance of the effect of drought is furnished by the outbreak of scale insects in Montserrat and Dominica already referred to, which took place in 1903. It was found that while both the white and purple scales (Chio- ~ naspis citri and Mytilaspis citricola) were present in both islands, the greater part of the damage in Montserrat was due to the white seale (Chionaspis citri), while in Dominica, which even in a dry season is damper, the purple scale (Mytilaspis citricola) was more serious. It has since been found that under nor- mal conditions the black fungus (AZyri- © angium Durer) acts as an_ efficient check on the white scale in both islands, while observations show that in Mont- serrat this scale never becomes serious unless the tree is suffering from drought, This would appear to indicate that, in 1903. the drought in Montserrat was so severe as to check the black fungus and thus enable the white scale to become numerous. In Dominica the drought was not so severe as completely to check this fungus, though the more delicate red and white-headed fungus parasites of the purple scale (Spheros- — tilbe coccophila and Ophionectria cocci- cola) were rendered ineffective. These observations would appear, then, to — bring out two points. Firstly, the effect ' Novemeer, 1911.] of drought on the fungi, as already indi- cated; and secondly, the fact that the black fungus is hardier in this respect than the other species. The second of these conclusions, however, must be tested by future observations before it ean be definitely accepted, as there are no records of the relative abundance of the fungus in these two islands during the year under consideration. The outbreak of scale insects in Dominica in 1903 presents some further features of interest in connexion with the effect of external conditions on the parasites of these insects. In 1902 the season was dry, the yield of fruit from the lime trees, which were those princi- pally attacked, was very heavy, and the island was covered with dust from the eruption of Mont Telee. During the ensuing dry season at the beginning of 1903 the trees were badly attacked by scale insects, which, however, rapid- ly disappeared again in the subsequent normal years 1904 and 1905. It is of course clear that the trees had been weakened by the heavy crups, combined with the general unfavourable condi- tions in 1902; but it is also fairly certain that the spread of the scale insects was largely due either to the absence of the parasites by which they had formerly been controlled, or at any rate to the check that the parasites had received through want of moisture, together with the effects of the voleanic ash, in see and the succeeding dry season in by} ry 4 The idea that the reduction of the parasites was the factor mainly respon- sible for the outbreak of this scale insect attack is supported by the gra- dual return to the normal conditions which occurred during the years 1904 and 1905, and by the absence of any serious subsequent attacks. Moreover, the outbreaks cannot be explained as due to the introduction of new species - of scale insects, as the scales concerned, mainly the purple and the white scales (Mytilaspis citricola and Chionaspis citri) were both reported by Professor Riley as being present in the island in 1894. It should also be mentioned that on some estates extensive spray- ing Operations were carried on chiefly with kerosene emulsion and rosin com- pound. The trees of such _ estates recovered much more quickly than those which were not treated, and it seems likely that in certain cases, at any rate, the complete loss of any trees was prevented. It should be noted, further, that the solutions used were those least likely to have any harmful effect on parasitic fungi of the scales, 485 Plant Sanitation. and that they probably were of actual assistance by checking those insects sufficiently to enable the parasites to regain their former supremacy. As the effect of volcanic ash has been mentioned, it may be worthy of record that there seems to bea fairly general belief among planters throughout the islands, to the effect that black blight, and therefore probably scale insects, have been more common since the big erupticns in Martinique and St. Vincent in 1902. This may possibly be due to the effect of the ash on the parasites of the scales. While it might be so in the case of the delicate insect para- sites, it is not an easy matter to account for the effect on the fungi. In any case this would seem to be an illustration of the great increase in numbers of an insect, owing to the fact that the natural contrel exerted by its parasites had been removed, or seriously checked. The scale insects may themselves have been greatly reduced in numbers, but the much larger destruction of the more fragile parasites provided an opportunity for their almost unre- strained natural increase. As there is little doubt that the survival of the parasites occurred to some extent, it is fairly certain that they will ultim- ately reach such numbers as to be capahle of exerting the same control as existed before the volcanic eruptions. THE HFFECT OF SCALE INSECT PARA- SITES ON THE PRESENCE OF BLACK BLIGHT. As a result of enquiries made in all the islands, it has been shown fairly definitely, that black blight fungi (Capnodium and Meliola sp.), but especi- ally Capnodium mangiferc, are never found on trees where they are notin some way or other associated with the presence of one or more species of scale insects. The commonest insects in this connection are the green scale (Leca- nium viride), and the mango shield scale (L. Muangiferce). Consequently, the re- duction of the scale insects by means of their parasites should be attended by a lessening of the amount of black blight, and where a tree is successfully cleared of insects, the blight should also disappear. Experiments with a view to controlling black blight in this way have been suggested for trial in Grenada, an island in which there is a very large amount of this disease. On the other hand, the author has seen a species of black blight fungus on a palm at the Botanic Station at St. Lucia, distributed in such a way under the inflorescences as to lead to the suspicion Plant Sanitation. that the fungus was living on the nectar falling upon the leaves from the flowers. This idea was supported by the fact that there were very few scale insects present on the leaves. Mr. Moore, the Agricultural Superintendent in St. Lucia, who first observed this suggested that possibly the same thing was true in the case of the mango, and if so, removal of the scale insects would not have the effect of removing the blight until after the flowering season in the case of the trees mentioned. These points, how- ever, all require further investigation, and at any rate, the question of the prevention of black blight is somewhat of a side issue. COMPARISON OF ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL METHODS OF CONTROLLING SCALE INSECTS. Before proceeding to the next division of the subject, it may be advisable to add that Hume in his book on Citrus Fruits and their Culture, rémarks that the effect of attempting to combine the artificial control of scale insects (by means of various sprays and by fumigation) with the natural control (by means of parasites), only results in producing the bad effects of both methods; and it seems at present that the natural means of control is undoubt- edly the one most suited to the con- ditions in the majority of the West Indian Islands. The reasons for this are of two kinds. In the first place, the natural method of control expensive to institute as the artificial method, involving as it does no outlay on spraying pumps and materials, and but comparatively little labour, Fur- ther, it does not necessitate periodically recurring outlays for the repetition of the treatment, since once established, the only cost involved, that of reintro- ducing the parasites where this is neces- sary by means of one of the methods already described, and of replanting Bengal beans (Mucuna pruriens, var.) in places where their use is advisable, is of very minor importance when compared with the expense incurred in extensive spraying operations, which may have to be repeated two or three times ina year. In the case of limes, moreover, the value of the crop is small compared with that of the more specialized forms of citrus fruits, such as oranges, so that it does not permit expensive spraying operations to be con- ducted with profit. Cost is an evea more important factor in the case of tield fumi- gation on account of the heavy outlay involved in buying tents, Secondly, on many estates in the West Indies, tne nature of the ground, its roughness and 436 is not so - -(Novempsr, 1911. — et § > slope, difficulties of obtaining water, of — procuring sufficiently skilled labour, and — similar factors render spraying on a large scale impossible from a practical point of view. These same factors, more especially that of obtaining sufficiently skilled labour, also prevent, to an even greater extent, the use of fumigation. Experience in Montserrat, where the scale insects are always liable to cause serious trouble, has shown that witha little assistance, more especially in dry seasons, the natural enemies are just able to keep the insects in check. Recent investigations by the Hntomo- logist of the Department, Mr. H, A. Ballou, and by the author have shown that numerous parasitic species of both insects and fungi are present, and possibly the control effect is due more to the number of species than to the number of individuals of thuse species. Mr. Driver and his colleagues are of the opinion that spraying methods are not of much use; and moreover, trees examined showed clearly that where sprays had been employed, the natural enemies of the scales had received a decided check. This was well illustrated in One particular case. In acertain field a belt of trees had been sprayed: about twelve months before they were ex- amined, while the remainder were left unsprayed. On the unsprayed portion the red-headed fungus (Spherostilbe coccophila) was abundant on the white and purple seales (Chionaspis citri and Mytilasprs citricola,), but on the sprayed portion only afew fructifications were found. This observation certainly sup- ports the statement by Hume referred to above. The following isa short abstract of a letter written by Mr. P. Foster Huggins tc the St. Vincent Sentry of April 8, 1910, that contains some points of interest in this connection :— The frequent appearance of black | blight in St. Vincent is associated with — scale insects which infest either the plants which exhibit the blight or over- . hanging trees. The author found that iudividual effort to control the scales by artificial means was useless, as, even ~ when the trees were cleared, they rapidly became reinfested from surround- ing vegetation on which the scales abounded. He lost hundreds of grown ~ orange and other trees owing to the prevalence of the scales, but recently % some of the remaining trees have shown — signs of improvement. This has been — due to the presence of asmallredfungus on the scales (undoubtedly Spherostilbe coccophila), which attacked the mussel — scale (Mytilaspis citricola), the white — —- Novemeprn, 1912.) scale (Ch'onaspis citri), and the red scale (A spidiotus sp.), though the star scale (Vinsonia stellafera) was un- affected. Experiments in transferring the fungus from’ tree to tree were successful whenever the weather was wet, and the author now has hopes, not only of keeping his trees alive, but of getting them into a good condition for cropping. On the other hand, under exceptional circumstances. such as a serious epidemic of scale insects in a dry season, it is probable that the judicious use of in- secticides suchas whale-oil soap com- pound, kerosene emulsion. or rosin compound would prove of the utmost value. Not only would such spraying mixtures prevent the immediate in- fliction of excessive damage on the trees, but they would as already pointed out, enable the natural enemies to regain their position in a shorter time. Dr. Berger in a short article ‘Citrus Scales and Whitefly ’ contained inthe Florida Agriculturist for March, 1910, supports this view, but insists on the avoidance for this purpose of any insecticides containing sulphur or possessing any tungicidal ingredients. When considering this point it ‘must, however, be borne in mind that, in addition to the four species of fungi, there are also several species of insects which live on scale insects. Among these is a_ small hymenopterous species which lives as an internal parasite on the purple scale (Uytilaspis citricola), Such delicate insects, and especially that just referred to would almost certainly be destroyed by insecticides, and the proportion of them thus killed would be even greater than that of their hosts. Thus it would probably be found after employing insecticides, that parasitism by these insects would not be as common as before. Asa result of these arguments it will be evident that, even in serious cases, insecticides should only be used as a last resource, once it has been determined that the natural means of 437 Plant Santiation. control is that most suited to ordinary conditions. SUMMARY. (1) Four species of fungoid parasites occur on scale insects in the Lesser Antilles, namely : Cepha- losperium lecanti, Myriangium Duricei, Ophionectria coccicola, Spherostilbe coccophila. (2) These may artificially spread either by the spore-spraying ‘method, or the tying-in method. (8) The fungi are most effective in the islands of Dominica and Montserrat upon the scale insects attacking limes, but are also of general importance in all the islands. (4) The use of Bengal beans as a cover to trees, more especially lime trees, serves to protect them from attacks of scale insects, probably by encouraging the natural enemies. (5) he factors which affect the use- fulness of these: fungi are temperature, wind and moisture ; of these the last two are the most important locally. (6) The natural means of controlling scale insects is that most suited to circumstances here, both owing to the general conditions and tc the much smaller expense involved. Under the exceptional circumstances of an_ epidemic, the use of non-fungicidal sprays may be found advisable. In conclusion, the thanks of the Department and of the writer are due to Protessor H. S. Fawcett, M.a., of the Florida State Experiment Station, for much valuable assistance and inform- ation; to Dr. H. T. Fernald, ph.p., of the Agricultural Experimental Station, Massachusetts, Mr. J. H. Hart, F.L.S., of Trinidad, and Mr. R. H. Compton, B.A., of Gonville and Caius College; Cam- bridge, for assistance in obtaining publications, and in other ways. SCIENTIFIG AGRICULTURE, | eer THE EFFECT OF THE SUN IN THE TROPICS ON ANIMALS AND MAN. By Hans ARON, | , Professor of Physiology in the University of Manila. (Berlin klin. Woch., June 9, 1911.) (From the Veterinary News, No. 403, Vol. VIII., September 23, 1911.) The rays emitted by the sun may be divided into three groups: (a) The ultra- red or heat rays; (b) the visible or light rays; (c) the ultra-violet or actinic rays. Freer, Bacon, and Gibbs have investi- gated the solar spectrum in Manila, and find that its range on the ultra-violet side is not greater thanin Northern regions, but its chemical activity in July as gauged by its action on oxalic acid and uranyl nitrate is from five to twenty times greater than in Chicago. | Many observers have ascribed the peculiar effects of the tropical sun to the action of the actinic and light rays on the human body. The negative results of the experiments on the American troops in Manila with orange- red coloured clothing as wellas numer- ous observations made in the Tropics by Aron have convinced him that the actinic theory cannot be maintained. In order to determine the effect of the sun’s heat rays in Manila, Aron made a number of experiments, some of which are quoted below. One thermometer. was placed in the rectum of a dead dog, and another under its skin, and the body suspended in the sun. The thermometer placed under the skin very soon registered a temperature of 46°C., while the one in the rectum showed a gradual rise due to absorption of heat. A living body absorbs heat in the same way, but arise in the body temperature is prevented by the physiological mechanism for increas- ing the loss of heat. A dog kept exposed to tropical sun- shine soon suffers from acute discomfort, and its rectal temperature is found to rise from 38°C. to 39°C.;a thermometer placed under its skin, however, shows a rise to 40°C. or higher. Rabbits placed under similar conditions show a greater rise of temperature, the ther- mometer placed under the skin record- ing as much as 46C., but when these, temperatures are reached the animals soon die. -pyrexia is shown by the following experi- morning till night without any rise of © ‘signs of interference with its health. — 1 The most instructive experiments were those conducted on, monkeys (Macacus philip., Geoff.). When a strong and healthy monkey is placed, so that it is continuously exposed to the sunshine, its temperature rapidly rises, and seventy to eighty minutes’ exposure, even between 8 and 9 a.m. in December or January, is sufficient to kill it. If protected from the direct rays of the sun it can be kept in the same place for any length of time without suffering any injury. Normally the rectal temperature of the monkey is 0'5° to1°C. higher than its subcutaneous temperature. When exposed to the sun’s -rays the body temperature rapidly rises, but the sub- cutaneous temperature isalways 1° to 2°C. above that of the rectum. The immediate effect of shaving a monkey is to reduce its temperature generally, but the effect is more marked on the subcutaneous temperature. When shaved monkeys were exposed to direct rays of the sun, the rise in temperature and subsequent death took place more rapidly than in similar animals whose hair had not been removed. That the animals exposed to the sun’s rays died as a direct result of hyper- ments. Monkeys were exposed to the sun's rays as in the previous experi- ments, but by means of fans a strong current of air was directed on to the — animal’s body. In spite of several hours’ exposure under these conditions — the rise in body temperature was only slight, and the animals remained healthy. A control animal exposed within a few yards of the first one, but — not artificially cooled. died of hyper- pyrexia in fifty-eight minutes. In another experiment the body of a monkey was placed in a wooden box with perforated walls, which was again placed inside a larger one, leaving an airspace between the two, so that its head was ex- — posed to the sun’s rays, butits body was thoroughly protected by the ventilated air space and walls of the boxes. The — monkey was kept in this position and exposed to the sun’s rays from early e body temperature taking place, orany ~ The same animal was exposed under — similar conditions to direct sun’s rays for altogether fifty-four hours withina — period of twelve days, and apparently — suffered no damage. During this period — L , - Ls ey 3 _ Novemesr, 1911.] temperatures taken in the hair on the animal’s head were frequently found to register as high as 47°C. Some observations were then made as to the effect of sun’s rays on the human skin. White and dark brown skins were selected and their normal tem- perature carefully determined; thls varied between 82'5G. and 33°5°C. There was no constant difference between the two colours. When exposed to the sun the skin temperatures rapidly rose to 865°C. or 387°C.; on continuing the ex- posure there was no further rise of tem- “perature, but on the contrary a gradual fall of 0:5°C. to 1°C. was observed. The fall usually began with the appearance of diaphoresis. The fall was more rapid and greater when active exercise was being taken, and there was copious perspiration. If the man had _ been working hard and perspiring freely before being exposed to the sun’s rays there was only a slight rise of the skin temperature. Dark skins did not, so far as the experiment went, show quite so 489 Agricultural Education. much rise of temperature as white ones, A possible explanation may be that the dark skin absorbs more heat rays at first, but in consequence the sweat glands come into action sooner, and so prevent the temperature from rising as high as in the case of white skins. Although the effect of the sun’s heat on the human body is neutralized by physiological action, this makes certain demands on the human organism. This is shown by one set ot observations, in which persons lightly clad were kept at rest but exposed to the sun’s rays; the result of this exposure was to increase the pulse-rate by 8 to 12 beats, and the volume of respiration by 23 per cent. Under similar conditions a Philippine weighing 57 kg. lost weight to the extent of 280 grm. in one hour, although no allowance was made for the perspir- ation absorbed by, his clothes. When active exercise is being taken the heat produced by muscular action added to that absorbed from the sun’s rays may produce a condition of collapse. AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. FARMERS’ CO-OPERATIVE DEMON- STRATION WORK IN ITS RELA- TION TO RURAL IMPROVEMENT. By S!“A, KNAPP, Special Agent in Charge of Farmers’ Co operative Demonstration Work. INTRODUCTION. The aim of the Farmers’ Co-operative Demonstration Work is to place a practical object lesson before the farm masses, illustrating the best and most profitable methods of producing the standard farm crops, and to secure such active participation in the demon- strations as to prove that the average farmer can produce better results. This work also shows that there is no necessity for the general deterioration of farms and the too common poverty of the rural masses. ~When these facts have. been demonstrated, the first step in the improvement of rural conditions has been taken. Tuer NECESSITY FoR IMPROVED RURAL CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTH. Every substantial advance in the progress of human society costs money and must be maintained by an increased /earning capacity of the masses. Hood and clothing are the first requirements. If the earning capacity of a people is only sufficient to supply these, progress is blocked and it is useless to insist upon better houses, more home comforts, schools, or any upward step. The problem is, Are the rural masses un- willing to provide the betterments whicha progressive civilization in the country demands—comfortable houses with improved home and farm equip- ment, good schools and more months of schooling, better highways, rural free delivery, telephones, etc.—or do they ‘lack the means ? Upon the answer depends the proper remedy for existing conditions. If unable, steps should be taken to increase the earning capacity of the rural toilers ; if able, but unwilling, the rural pride should be aroused and the force of public opinion, and even law, brought to bear. Nearly every man, even among the poorest; will clothe his family better, improve his home, and add conveniences if he earns more. In the course of social investigations in rural districts for many years the writer noticed that invariably better clothing and more comfortable homes result from increased earnings. Go into a thousand villages in the South ard ask the merchants if the poorest coloured men would buy better clothes if they had the money. ‘The answeris: ‘They will buy everything Agricultural Education. in sightclothing, watches, buggies, etc.” Their expenditure may not be judicious, but it shows a desire to spend money to increase their comforts. Hx- perience will correct the errors. The farmer is necessarily conserv- ative, but offer him a genuine thing and prove it and noone is more respon- sive. He will not accept what has not been fully tested, and he must see it to believe, because he has been frequently deceived. He wants all that the best civilization can give him if he can get it. Increase the net income of the average farmer and the wages of the rural toiler, and the first step necessary to the up- lift of the rural masses will have been taken. The following results will be brought about as rapidly as time will permit: (1) The emancipation of the farmer from the bondage of debt. (2) The ownership of more and better tools, teams, and stock on the farm. (3) The improvement of the land. (4) Better rural school buildings and more months of schocling. (5) Better highways, rural-mail deli- very, and telephone service. (6) Contentment with the life of a farmer, In the Southern States, in every township and in nearly every neigh- bourhood, there are a few who are able to support a better civilization than the one in which they live. Finding that it is difficult to obtain what they require they move to a town or city. Such removal to secure better social, religious, or educaticnal advantages are matters of common occurrence. But, after all, this class forms the minority, and it is the condition of the great majority which must be considered. Most people agree that rural conditions should be improved. The farmer believes it as strongly as anyone. The problem is to know where to begin. Shall we trust the people and commence by in- creasing their resources, or shall our efforts be directed to improving farm dwellings and home conditions, the con- struction of better highways, or the introduction of the telephone, the rural free delivery of mails, the community library, and improved social and reli- gious privileges ? Evidently the answer depends upon the degree of advancement of rural communities. The remedy that would help one might be utterly inapplicable to another. For example, if it were found that the average farmer in a rural township lived in a house valued at 440 about $100, without any barn or garden (not a mere patch of green, but a vee ‘1 tilled plot that furnished in the South ~ sifficient tubers, roots, legumes, melons, | Ng q and fruit in their season for the family) — and without a cow, a pasture, and a sufficient supply of poultry, and if it were also found that a majority of the — tillers of the soil were unable to read acd were heavily involved in debt, it would be the height of folly to commence , 3 the rural uplift by establishing a public ¢ library or even a school. The rural toilers must first be properly nourished, h clothed, and housed; it is the order of greatest necessity. The money to do this cannot be given to them, and if © it were there would be no uplift. They ; must be shown how toearnit by a better =~ tillage of the soil and how to husband ~ their earnings by greater thrift. Low — wages, a small amount of work accom- plished in a day, and an uneconomic use © of resources are features of any civili- zation marked by a low earning capacity. No mistake is made more frequently than to assume that low wages area result of oppression. As a rule, the wages are determined by the accomplish- ment. In India it requires from fourteen | to twenty-four servants to dothe work ~~ of a smal] household, where anin some portions of the United States two would do it better. Upon a farm one man in the United — States with a good team and modern — machinery can do the work that fifty to ~ one hundred men doin many oriental countries. Consequently, when the lat- = ter are paid 5 to 10 cents a day they are ul paid up to their earning capacity, a — capacity that is insufficient to sustaina high civilization. bi Asa preliminary step, then, in this inquiry, let us determine the present — status of the rural South with ie, ‘a to the following items :— ~ ; (1) The earning capacity of the aver- — age farm worker in the South. (2) The average number of acres in each State worked by one man. (83) Tke character and value otf they f buildings. (4) The value of implements and tah on the average farm in each State, (5) The number of horses or mules sa used for each farm labourer, — (6) The average number of milch cows: > on each farm. (7) The average value of pogltey, ee each farm, (8) The percentage of firms ‘in e: State worked by tenants. The following tables present th 38 facts in compact form for the vari 1S parts of the United States:— rw Ps oe i * ! , Ps _ Novemeer, 1911.) 441 Agricultural Education. 4 : Table I. i FARM CONDITIONS IN NoRTH ATLANTIC DIVISION OF THE UNITED STATES. Annual in-Number of} Value of |Value of im-/Number of|Number of|Value of| Percentage of STATE. come of acres buildings |plements andj horses to |milch cows| poultry\farms worked each farm|worked by} on each machinery on| each farm| to each jon each|by tenants in worker, | one man. farm, each farm. | labourer. farm. farm. | each State, $ $ $ $ Connecticut 857°78 24 1,469°55| 189°98 1:2 6 28 129 , Maine 266°50 29 655'08 | 109°51 1°425 3'5 15'8 4:7 Massachusetts. ...| 404°49 19 1,629°29 | 180°37 1:15 65 33'3 96 New Hampshire ...| 301-21 28 983'62|} 136°90 1°467 51 20 Mes New Jersey .| 3856:09 28 1,528°11 186°81 1°45 5'8 42 29'9 S New York 296°25 41 1,189°48 180°53 17 76 2°4 28'9 Pennsylvania ,..| 26115) 39 1,173°34| 166°98 1:9 47 21°3 26 Rhode Island .-.| 363°69 17 1,687:13 | 205:06 1 58 6:3 20°1 Vermont SMe Oa OL 43 877'87° 17061 175) 9:2 147 14:5 ‘ Table II. : Farm CONDITIONS IN NoRTH CENTRAL DIVISION OF THE UNITED STATES, Illinois 425°13 60 75449 184'20 Bie, 4°35 26 89°3 Iowa 611°11 80 81887 196'55 3'9 6°8 30°5 34:9 Indiana 316°70 48 454°86 73°99 2°4 2°967 | 20:2 28°6 Kansas 461°40 92 489°32, 122°12 4:06 45 28 85'2 _ Michigan ...| 289°64 38 571°69 108-26 1°95 32 14°5 159 Minnesota «| 465°385 WA 542°10 141°'11 2°8 5'4 16 173 Missouri ..-) 209°47 49 401°05 80°45 2°713 3:2 21°5 30°5 ‘Nebraska 554°78 98 586'01 164:11 4°567 4°8 21°8 36'9 North Dakota 755'62| 134 426:00 238'84 5°125 3'6 13 85 Ohio 812'°58 46 602°88 97°60 2°1338 3:3 19'°8 27°4 South Dakota 605'69 |} 186 412:03 20314 59 61 20 21'8 Wisconsin 349'49 42 —\ 683:2t 122°77 2°125 6'4 ~ | 154 13°'5 Z Table ITI. FarRM CONDITIONS IN SOUTH CENTRAL DIVISION OF THE UNITED STATES, Alabama |...) 148°98 16 95°56 23°40 0 675 1°8 7°36 By (Or) g Arkansas ...| 169°60 20 11418 32°29 1:25 2°47 9:18 45'4 . Indian Territory...) 22°94 Bo ~-102°35 54°50 3 3°5 12°45 74°9 : Kentucky 192°57 B38, cles 214-05. 11138322 16 19 =| 128 82'8 Louisiana 216°47 16 13010 | 21:28 1:16 2°85 | 11°8 58 ‘Mississippi 168°33 15 102°48 | 26°51 9 21 88 62:4 Oklahoma 458°93 58 13445 8817 | 3:8 3°5 15'8 21 . Tennessee 170'91 24 | 18164 42°85 15 1:8 ll 40°6 Texas 3805'63 30. =|. «:172:66 | 52-01 » 2:8 33 11'8 49°7 Table IV. FARM CONDITIONS IN SouTH ATLANTIC DIVISION OF THE UNITED STATES. { vs Delaware ...| 286°07| 39 940°56 | 178°86 1°8z 43 | 38:4 50°3 District of Colum- bia z nee 4 6,493-62 503°47 BL ee. 4. 43.1 Florida 119:72 17 175'87 30°43 ‘63 3°7 11°2 26'5 Georgia 158°69 20 115°58 24:93 “64 1:9 75 59°9 Maryland 243°85 37 800°16 112:08 1:74 4: 27°4 33°6 North Carolina 146'75 18 184°25 23°24 63 16 T3 41°4 South Carolina 144°46 14 101°17 23°54 5) 15 6:7 61°1 4 Virginia ...| 191°05 33 219°11 29°81 114 1:2 12:2 80°7 West Virginia ...| 180:00 30 289°25 83:94 1:3 25 11°3 21°8 56 : q i ib — / Agricultural Education, 442 [Novemsgr, 191 It will be noted that the average value of farm buildings and farm machinery for each farm as given in these tables for each State differs from that given by the census of 1900. The explanation is that in the census enumerations the value of the buildings on a single farm, whether large or small, is given inone sum, and does not therefore tell how the labourer is housed, for in this sum may be included the value of 40 or 50 houses, as is gener- ally the case on very large farms, especi- ally in the South. The same rule applies to implements. For our purpose the average of buildings and implements on the smaller farms was taken, so as to determine how oue family lives and what implements it uses; butin every State enough farms were included in the esti- mates to make a majority of the farms of that State. It should be borne in mind that these tables represent conditions in 1900. Since that, time rural prosperity has been greater than in any former period of American history. Undoubtedly the next census will show marked improve- ments. Tables I toIV show the value of the buildings on each farm worked by one family ; the value of the implements and . farm machinery ; the value of the poultry and the average number of cows to the farm;the number of horses (or mules) tor each labourer ; the number of acres each labourer tills and the amount he produces annually in value, and the percentage of farms worked by tenants in each State. These tables show the condition of the housing of families and stock in the Southern States, the farm equipment provided to do the woxk, the amount of work accomplished, and the annual earnings, which fully accounts for the condition of schools, roads, and churches in the country. The average income is scarcely sufficient to maintain the civilization now existing, ignoring progress, and these facts do not present the whole truth of the situation. Quite a percentage of the small farmers still owe on their farms. Prior to 1905 the percentage of these in somé States amounted to three-fourths of the whole; since that date tiere has been consider- able decrease. Nearly all the tenant farmers of the South and a large proportion of the farm owners have been working their lands by securing annually advances from the merchants, thus paying from 20 to 75 per cent. more for their supplies than under a cash system. This situation is rapidly improving. SomE REFORMS NEEDED IN RURAL LIFR. For the improvement of rural life many things are needed :— (1.) The improvement of country schools, or, rather, the establishing of real schools for the country. Many leading educators believe that the coun- try school has yet to be conceived and established. It has been said with great force that ‘‘ the existing country schools are but poorly equipped city schools located in the country.” (2.) County or district agricultural schools, in which the main work shall be to impart knowledge that tends to make the successful farmer and the good citizen, and to give a training to youth adapted to rural life, in sympathy with toil and in love with the farm. ° — . Several States have taken the initi- ative in establishing such schools. Itis believed by theirfriends, and hoped by all that they may lead toa solution of the problem of the best education for rural life. (3.) It is also desirable that text-books in country schools shall have for illustra- tive material incidents and experiences drawn mainly from rural life instead of from commerce, politics, diplomacy, and war. (4.) 1 will doubtless be found advant- ageous at times to co-operate in buying and selling, in borrowing money, ete. (5.) The proper valuation of property — asa basis of taxation to establish and maintain rural betterments should be considered. All the improvements required in rural life we see and realize. The pur- pose of this publication, however, is to call attention to a reform which is fundamental to all these things, and | which must necessarily precede them, logically and chronologically. THE REMEDY OFFERED BY THE FARM- ERS’ CO-OPERATIVE DEMONSTRATION WoRK, What primary remedy for the im- provement of rural conditions ought a republic to propose where all the adult male citizens are expected to exercise ~ through the ballot the functionsof a ~~ ruler? Evidently it should be onethat ean directly and immediately benefit all _ the people. More than nine-tenths of the rural population of the South are limited by their conditions to an educa- — tion provided by thecountry district school. What help canbe giventhem ~ that will be immediate and will benefit both parents and children? It mustbe such that it will reach the farm and ~ ‘ Pigs -searcely been affected. 7 aS NOVEMBER, 1911.) appeal to the interests of the farmer. It must find the man and not compel the man to find it. It must be a home remedy. The only remedy that can be success- fully applied to help all the rural people, one that will be effective and immediate, _is to increase the net earnings of farmers and farm labourers. The paramount issue now is how most wisely and effectively to aid all the rural people. If each farmer is shown how to produce twice as much to the acre as he now produces and at less cost, it will bea profit in which all rural classes will share, and will be the basis of the greatest reform ever known to rural life. How can the knowledge of better agricultural methods be conveyed to the masses ina way so effective that the methods will be accepted and their practice become common? For many years the United States Department of Agriculture, the agricultural colleges, experiment stations, the agricultural press, the farmers’ institutes, and the National and State bulletins upon agri- culture have thrown light upon almost every topic relating to the farm. These have been of great assistance to farmers who are alert and progressive, but the — masses, especially in the South, have There came a time under cotton-boll weevil conditions when it was found necessary to reach and influence the poorer class. The co-operative demonstration plan was then tested. The Farmers’ Co-operative Demon- stration Work aims at several things :— (1) To reform agriculture and make it an occupation of proflt and pleasure. (2) To improve rural conditions. (8) To broaden and enrich rural life. (4) To make the farm attractive and country residence desirable. ORGANIZATION OF THIS SPECIAL WORK. As organized under the Bureau of Plant Industry the working forces of the Farmers’ Co-operative Demonstra- tion Work consist now of one Director with assistants, 16 State agents, and 188 district and local agents. Local agents must be practical farmers and thoroughly instructed in their duties by the State and district agents. Semi- ‘annually State meetings of agents are called for instruction, at which the director or an assistant from Washington is present. Weekly reports showing work accomplished each day are made by all agents to the director. The campaigns for the ensuing year are planned in September, and active Y 443 Agricultural Education. work commences iu October by calling public meetings in every district to be worked, at which is shown the great advantage to all the people of increasing the crop yield two, three or four fold, and it is made clear that this can be done by adopting better methods. Incountry villages the banker, the merchant, and the editor join with the leading farmers of the section in indorsing the progressive plans of the demonstration work; farmers agree to follow instruc- tions, and demonstration plots of one or more acres are located suas to place a sample of the best farming in each neighbourhood of a county or district. There must be enough of these to allow every farmer to see one or more during the crop-growing period. The necessary work on the plot must be done by the farmer and not by a Government agent, because the whole object lesson is there- by brought closer to the people. The demonstrating farmer understands it better because he does the work, and his neighbours believe that what he has done they can do. INSTRUCTION OF THE FARMER. Each month during the season instruc: tions are sent to every demonstrator and co-operator. clearly outlining the plan for managing the crop. In addition, a local agent is expected to call on each demonstrating farmer monthly and explain anything not understood in the instructions. FIELD SCHOOLS. Previous notice by letter is given to all the co-operating farmers (such as are instructed in the work and agree to follow instructions) ina neighbourhood to meet the agent onacertain date ata given demonstration farm, where the crop and plans are thoroughly discussed. This is called a ‘‘field school,” and has been marvellously effective in arousing local interest. Atsuch meetings and on all occasions where the agents meet farmers, the following fundamental requirements for good farming are dis- cussed by the aid of notes sent out from the central office. (1) Prepare a deep and thoroughly pulverized seed bed, well drained ; break in the fall to the depth of 8, 10, or 12 inches, according to thesoils, with im- plements that will not bring too much of the subsoil to the surface. The foregoing depths should be reached gradually. (2) Use seed of the best variety, intelligently selected and _ carefully stored. | (8) In cultivated ercps give the rows and the plants in the rows a space suited to the plant, the soil, and the climate, Agricultural Education. (4) Use intensive tillage during the growing period of the crops. (5) Securea high content of humus in the soil by the use of legumes, barnyard manure, farm, refuse, and commercial fertilizers. (6) Carry out a systematic crop rotation with a winter cover crop. (7) Accomplish more work in a day : by using more horsepower and _ better implements. (8) Inerease the farm stock to the extent of utilizing al] the waste pro- ducts and idle Jands of the farm. (9) Produce all the food required for the men and animals on the farm. (10) Keep an account of each farm product, inorder to know from which the gain or loss arises. In the course of these discussions it has often developed that the majority of small farmers had never fully complied with any of these rules. They thought they knew all about farming, and charged their small product and failures to the seasons or the land. One farmer at a public meeting in Alabama this year expressed his views as follows :—‘‘ I was born in a cotton field and have worked cotton on my farm for more than forty years. I thought no one could tell me anything about raising cotton. I had usually raised one-half a bale on my thin soil, and 1 thought that was all the cotton there was in it in one season. The demonstration agent came along and wanted me to try his plan on twoacres. Not to be contrary, I agreed, but I did not believe what he told me. However, I tried my best to doas he said, and at the end of the yearlI hada bale and a half to the acre on the two acres worked his way,and a little over a third of a bale on the land worked my way. You could have knocked me down with afeather. This year Ihave a bale and a half to the acre on my whcle farm. If youdo not believe it, I invite you to godown and see. Yes, sir; as a good cotton planter I am just one year old.” These field schools are bringing about a revolution, A meeting of a township called at a home to discuss a field crop and to inspect and compare home con- ditions cannot fail to place local public opinion upon a higher level, and that is the principal opinion to be considered in influencing the farmer, Instead of expending time and force in moulding State, city, and county influ- ences which have but slight practical — results in changing rural conditions, the Farmers’ Co-operative Demonstra- —_ t 444 - tion Work makes a direct attack on the men who should reform. It reaches” them in a practical way and establishes b, a different local standard of excellence for farming and for living. | [ The initial move is an aroused public — sentiment in favour of doing better. E INSTRUCTION CONFINED TO A FEW : ESSENTIAL SUBJECTS. { It is of the greatest importance to ' confine the work to afew standard crops — and the instruction to the basic methods : and principles which stand for the best 4 results, and to repeat this line of instruc- : tion on every occasion until every farmer works according to some system and knows the methods that make for success instead of charging failure to the moon, to the season, to the soil, or to bad luck. It requires several years to so impress these teachings upon the masses, even when supported by demon- stration, that they become the general custom of the country. The first year a few try the plan on small areas; the — second year these greatly enlarge the area,and some of their neighbours follow their example; the third year possibly 40 or 50 per cent. adopt some of the methods, and so work progresses by the force of demonstration and _ public Opinion until its general adoption is secured. No one is asked to believe anything not clearly proved. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE WORK. In most of the Southern States the average farmer works with one mule. The cultivation of cotton and corn is a slow process; too much of it is done with the hoe. : Tio remedy this, resort is had to demonstration. The agent in some cases drives a team of strong mules or horses hitched to a waggon filled with improved implements. At the field — meetings this team and the improved - implements are used to show how much more and how much better work can be done ina day by having good equip- ment. It is especially emphasized that cotton and corn should be grown with- out using the hoe, thus saving one-third — the expense. It will be noted that the earning capacity of each worker upon ~ a farm is almost directly in proportion ~ to the number of horses or mules forthe use of each, This is startlingly true ~ outside of the rice, sugar-cane, and market-garden districts. In North — Dakota each farm worker has five horses, — cultivates 135 acres,and hasan earning — capacity of $755°62 yearly; in lowa each ~ labourer has four horses, tills 80 acres — of land, and earns 611'11 annually ; to ost % id -Novenssr, 1911.) while in Alabama each farm labourer has three-fifths of a mule, works 15 : acres, and earns $143°98. In the case of tenant farmers the earning capacity (which is the total product of any crop in the State divided by the number of workers) should be divided approxi- mately by two. One of the conditions of securing a greater net income is to stop buying food products and live on what the farm supplies. If greater variety is wanted, produce it. Another condition is to accomplish more in a day. EFFECT oF THE WORK ON THE FARMER. Every step is a revelation and a sur- prise tothe farmer. He sees his name in the country paper as one of the farmers selected by the United States Department of Agriculture to conduct demonstration work; he receives in- structions from Washington ; he begins to be noticed by his fellow-farmers ; his better preparation of the soil pleases him; he is proud of planting the best seed and having the best cultivation. As the crop begins to show vigour and excel- lence his neighbours call attention to it, and finally when the demonstration agent calls a field meeting at his farm, the farmer begins to be impressed not ‘only with the fact that he has a good crop,. but that he is a man of more conse- quence than he thought. This man that was never noticed before has had a i meeting called at his farm ; he concludes that he is a leader in reforms. Immedi- ately the brush begins to disappear from the fence corners and the weeds from the fields; the yard fence is straightened ; whitewash or paint goes on the buildings; the team looks a little better, and the dilapidated harness is renovated. Finally, the crop is made, and a report about it appears in the county papers. It producesasensation. A meeting is called by the neighbours, and the farmer is made chairman; he | receives numerous inquiries about his } crop, and is invited to attehd a meeting ; at the county seat to tell how he did it. He made a great crop, but the man grew faster than the crop. There can be no reform until the man begins to grow. and the only possible way for him to grow is by achievement—doing something of which he is proud. He is a common farmer. What line of ? achievement is open to him but doing better work and _ securing greater results on his own farm? As soon as the man begins to grow he will work for every rural betterment. ‘ 445 Agricultural Education. In the Southern States nearly one- half of thefarms are tilled under the tenant system. In South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana more than 60 per cent. of the farms are worked by tenants. The poor equipment of such farms and the low earning capacity of the tenant appeal strongly for help. The tenant is urged by the demon- stration agent to make a better crop and raise everything necessary for his support. He is shown that as soon as he proves himself to be a progressive and thrifty farmer it will add to his credit. He can then buy upon better terms and will soon owna tarm. The landlord is seen and urged to look more closely after his farm; to improve his farm buildings, because this is necessary to the securing and retention of the best tenants; to furnish better imple- ments or assist his tenant to purchase them ; and to insist that good seed shall be used, and that there shall be better tillage of the crop. Many proprietors take the deepest interest in having their tenants taught better methods. They call meetings and scatter farm _ liter- ature, thus creating a sen timent favour- able to the demonstration work. RuRAL IMPROVEMENT THE NATURAL RESULT OF THIS WORK. The agents of the demonstration work are thoroughly drilled in progressive steps. When the rudiments of good farming are mastered, the farmer secures a greater income for his labour. An im- portant part of this greater net earning capacity is good farm economy and greater thrift. Farm economy dictates the production of the largest crop possible to the acre at the least expen- diture of money and without impairing the productive capacity of the soil. It also includes the planting of crop of the greatest value to the acre, provided the cost of production is not proportionate- ly increased, and it teaches a more economic support of the family, team and stock, which is based upon home production of all the food and forage crops consumed. For the family more use must be made of milk, eggs, the veget- able garden, and fruits; for the stock there should be better pasture and hay, especially the abundant use of legumes. Thrift demand the proper housing of family, teams, and tools, and the more economic expenditure of the greater gains of the farm arising from greater earnings and more economy. The only way to successfully attack such problems is by an example. Agricultural Education. Long-time customs cannot be overcome by writing a book. One might as well write a book to teach better sewing. Poor farming is the natural result of a lot of bad practices and must be treated rather asa defect in art than a lack of intelligence. It is not assumed, nor is it the intention to assert, that agriculture is not one of the greatest of sciences, but at the beginning it must be treated as an art and the best method adopted. Then it is shown that this greater income should be applied to the reduc- tion of debt, the betterment of the family abd the home, and the improvement of rural conditions. Co-operation is then taught in buying and selling, but co- operation is ot little avail in buying if the farmer has no money, and it is im- possible in selling if his crop is mort- gaged for advances. The fundamental basis of the work of the Department of Agriculture is to increase the efficiency of the tarmer. If there is better variety of cotton seed in Georgia or Texas, then the other cotton-producing States should immedi- ately have the benefits. This is pre- cisely such work as the Farmers’ Co- operative Demonstration Work is doing in the South. It has been instrumental in the introduction annually of 100,000 to 500,000 bushels of better cotton seed. This has resulted not only in a large income in yield per acre, but an improve- ment in the staple. These better varieties of cotton seed are of earlier maturity than the old. This cotton is picked on an average six weeks earlier in the fall, which gives the children six weeks more time for school and allows the farmer to prepare his land for the next season’s crop. The old plan was to pick cotton all winter. The loss of cotton and the lowering of the grade by the winter rains made this plan an ecouomic crime, and _ its debar- ring the children from attending school caused it to be a social crime, These old methods will soon be a thing of the past. This is truly a national work, and wherever put in operation with suffi- cient intensity to influence publicopinion these results have rapidly followed:— (1) Increased yield per acre. (2) The purchase of more and better horses or mules. (8) Great increase in the use of better implements. (4) (5) General interest in seed selection and the use of best seed. (6) Home and schoo! improvements, More months of schooling. 446 [(Novempne, 1911, (7) Better highways. > “4 (8) Increase of a healthy social life in the country. : : (9) Intense interest in agriculture. Improved rural conditions already established. } While the State agents of the Far- mers’ Co-operative Demonstration Work were in Washington, September 1, _ 1908, arranging some details of. their work for the year 1908-9, they called upon Secretary Wilson, and in response to inquiries made by him the following facts were brought out :+ Mr. T.O. Sandy, of Burkeville, Va., State agent, reported that the demon- stration work was commenced in Virginia in January, 1907. Up to this time it has been exclusively conducted in the counties south of the James River, where tobacco was the staple cash crop, under the effect of which farms had deteriorated in productive capacity and value until many were on the market a short time sine at $5 to $$ an acre. Most of the hay and corn for the work animals © wasimported. Twohundred and thirty-: two thousand dollars’ worth of hay was imported within a radius of a few miles of Burkeville in one year for home consumption. Theaverage yield of corn was 5to10 bushels anacre. Last year on Mr. Sandy’s demonstration farm the yield was 4 to6 tons of hay, or 75 bushels of corn to the acre. One of the demonstrators raised 85 bushels of corn an acre. The effect of these yields was to increase the number of demonstration farms from twenty- seven last year tonearly twelve hundred this year, and to stop the importation of hay just as fast as lands can be prepared and seeded to grass. Nearly all lands about Burkeville have doubled in value, and some advanced threefold since the demonstration work commenced. As soon as the farmers found they could produce hay: and corn profitably, they wanted to engage in dairying and stock raising so as to use their idle lands. A creamery and an ice plant have been built this season at Burkeville, with the guaranty of a business requiring a thousand cows, the bank there advanc- ing funds to purchase many of the tf cows, while commercial dairies are springing up in improvement of home conditions, be- cause the estimate of farm life has — changed. It had been thought that farming in Virginia could not be made profitable. adjoining counties. This has had an immediate effect onthe Many farmers moved away ~ : and nearly all ceased to spend much ~ money in farm improvements, As soon y, ’ NovemBer, 1911.) as they saw the demonstration work they commenced to improve. Eleven farmers in one section put hot-water heating and sanitary closets into their houses the past season. Mr. W. F. Proctor, of Tyler, Tex., in charge of the demonstration work in eastern Texas, said that his territory includes about sixty counties—all in- fested with the boll weevil. The soil is mainly a sandy loam, well drained and well wooded, making an idea! section for the hibernation of the weevil. The weevil has caused such loss of cotton in Harrison County, Tex., that the crop in 1906 was less than one-fourth the normal quantity. Cotton being the principal cash crop, general depression followed; some farms were abandoned and a general abandonment by tenants was threatened. An appeal was made to establish the Farmers’ Oo-operative Demonstration Work in_ Harrison County in an intensive way. The people were asked to raise money for improved seed. They raised $1,000, and later in- creased the amount to $1,700. Anagent was sent to the county, and 300 demon- stration farms were established. Last year, though exceedingly unfavourable for eotton, the increased yield over 1906 was 8,500 bales, and this year under the general adoption of the system the Increase is over 16,000 bales, or a gain of $748,000 in value, including seed, for the year in one county. At Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, there has been a similar experience this season. The county agent, Mr. W. L. Bryson, located demonstration farms along the main highways leading to Sulphur Springs for4or5 miles out, so that every farmer entering the city could not tail to observe them. Promi- nent citizens estimated the value of his ’ work this year at $250,000 for the county. This better financial condition resulted in many improvements in homes and schools. All present agreed in stating that the Farmers’ Co-operative Demonstration Work was readily accepted by the farm- ers and aroused among them intense interest in agriculture, especially where field schools were held and the plan of the boys’ corn and cotton clubs was carried out. The agents emphasize the great gains in crops under the system of farming taught in the demonstration work, and state that the immediate effect of these increased earnings is to better the con- ditions of the farm and of rural life generally, particular stress being laid upon the following :— 447 - | Agricultural Education. (1) Better seed and some plan for rotation of crops. (2) Better teams and implements. (3) Reduction ot debts. (4) Ownership:of land. (5) Improvement of home—more com- fortable and neater clothing; more fruit; farm canning outfits in many cases, ete, (6) More months of schooling. (7) General co-operation in improve- ment of farm stock, ete. Instances were cited where a single demonstration showed the farmers in the Yazoo Delta how they would in- crease their yield of corn from 14 to 70 bushels an acre without additional expense, and where asingle small farmer saved $500 last year in commercial fertilizers from information derived from an agent in the demonstration work. Many farmers are now working cotton without the use of the hoe or plough. Mr. Bamberg brought out this fact clearly and showed its great economic importance. Mr. Savely called attention to the fact of field schools, stating that they were very influential in promoting home improvements, and that such schools were occasionally held on farms of coloured men as well as white. Mr. R. 8. Wilson gave an illustration of the rapidity with which practical information along agricultural lines spreads throughadistrict, As the result of ten months’ work in Congressman Hobson’s district, a majority of the farmers were tilling their lands better; they were raising more curn and forage crops, and many had adopted the Depart- ment plan of seed selection. _ Mr. J. L, Quicksall spoke of the great Improvement in agriculture and the betterment of rural conditions in Central Texas since the demonstration work commenced. Dr. S.. A. Knapp stated that the southern people were awake. In a number of States the patriotic women are forming rural improvement. clubs for the betterment of home conditions. In North Carolina they put a model kitchen on acarand sent it about the State. Congressmen are interested and are calling tor agricultural speakers. It has been the general custom of southern farmers, whether in cotton, sugar, rice, or tobacco districts, to depend on one cash crop and buy their supplies of food and clothing with the proceeds. This is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. All of our agents urge the production Agricultural Education. upon the farm of all home supplies possible. The result is that the money which formerly went for current debts now goes into home improvements, better clothing, better stock, and more schooling. The earlier maturing cotton introduced and made common by our agents allows six weeks more schooling annually for the children. Rural im- provement requires considerable ex- penditure of money, which must be provided by the farmers through an increase in the products of the farm with a decrease in their cost. A large number of inquiries were sent out to ascertain the present conditions in the South and the effect of the Farmers’ Co-operative Demonstration Work. The reports all show great im- provement in rural conditions. Without exception they fully corro- borate the claim made for the Farmers’ Co-operative Demonstration Work. Out of the hundreds of replies received, the following from a live worker in Texas is presented as typical in showing the general tenor of the reports made :— Giddings, Tex., September 21, 1908. Dear Sir,—Growing out of my efforts and the example and the moral support of the business men, thirty cream separators have been boughs by the farmers around here. Over $2,000 has been invested in good milch stock (one $400 bull from another part of the State has been shipped into the country), and about $500 worth of cream per month finds its way to the creameries. People all over the country are planting winter forage crops and besieging me for all kinds of information. Every one of these people is securing some good pigs to dispose of the milk. Two business men have volunteered to put ina creamery just as soon as there is cream enough to justify it. They would do it now if I'd Jet them, but itis best to waita while. Prior to March 1 of this year there was nota separator in this county. A majority of our German farmers are very thrifty and have agood garden. All lands in this section are fenced. Possi- bly one-half of 1 per cent. have log pastures of any size. Corn is selling on the streets at from 40 to 50 cents per bushel, and hay from $5 to $10 per ton, with plenty offering. People tell me that $20 for hay and 75 cents for corn have been ruling prices until this year, but the excellent season accounts for this almost if not as much as the improved methods. Regular 448 ry ; a fh Se rt , pe NG | >» Le s [NovEMBER, 191]. ~ 1 he - articles on corn and feed crops were — supplied the papers during seed time, — and hundreds of people are cashing this advice now. Quite a few have added to their team force and equip- ments, bought additional lands, etc., this year, but prior to 1908 there was not enough work in any one community to tell any decided effects. Perhaps there has been more good accomplished for the schools than any other outside item. Through addresses to summer normals and teachers’ in- stitutes and through direct contact with echools, a general awakening is notice- able among our county people. Prob- ably not arural school in the county of Lee but will increase the salary, add to the equipment, or lengthen the school term. This may be attributed to a combination of causes. We come in for our share. One thousand homes in Lee and Washington counties will be in- vaded this winter by bulletins and circulars, for which the teachers are asking as aids to the teaching of agri- culture, which from now on is made mandatory in Texas. Milam, William- son, Fayette, Burleson, and Bastrop counties will all ask for these bulletins for their pupils in agriculture. Two German coach stallions, costing $3,000 each, and one Biltmore Jersey bull, costing $400, have been added to Lee County’s list, and two stock com- panies about completed will soon send a buyer to Kentucky or Tennessee for two standard-bred $500 horses. Over 31,500 worth of milch cows have been bought, most of them from beyond the ~— county by farmers establishing dairy herds. Any milch cow having any milking qualities brings a good price here now. I had the pleasure of organizing and conducting a school of farmers—men and women—in the art of canning corn and such vegetables as are difficult to keep. — One such class was at Dime Box, in the _ extreme western part of the county. a Much interest was manifested, and it took only four days of my time. © These are, as briefly as I can state them, the kindred but indirect results — we have obtained in this county. The ~ other counties we have worked show ~ signs of: improvement, but not so — marked. o. I have no further comment. This is — a faithful recital of existing facts which speak for themselves. Ww Respectfully yours, W. W. CAMPBELL, — yf Novemper, 1911.] BETTER CONDITIONS AMONG THE COLOURED PEOPLE. It was mainly through’ the influence of Dr. H. B. Fissell, President, Hampton Institute, Virginia, and Dr. Booker T. Washington, President, Tuskegee Insti- tute, Alabama, that demonstration work ~ was inaugurated for the coloured, Where large sections of country are tilled mainly by coloured farmers own- ing their lands, it seemed advisable to appoint coloured agents. In Virginia there are four, in Alabama iwo, and in Mississippi one. In all other cases the white agents look after the coloured farmers, and do it faithfully. In the main the .coloured farmers res- pond as readily to the demonstration work as do the whites. In Alabama and Mississippi the coloured agents are graduates of the Tuskegee Institute; in Virginia they are mainly graduates or have attended the Hampton Institute. Tn an article in the World’s Work for July, 1908, entitled ‘‘ Teaching a Man his Job,” Booker T. Washington stated : “If I were to name a single instance of this new policy of taking education to the man on the job, an instance which seems to me more thorough-going and more truitful of good than any other of which I know, I shouid refer to the work that the General Education Board is doing in conjunction with the Agri- cultural Department of Washington, in order to instruct the farmers of the ‘South, by practical demonstrations on their own farms, in the newer and “better methods of cultivating the soil. No other single agency, I am sure, is destined to do more in the task of creating the New South.” The following Report, selected from a large number, isa faithful presentation of the work accomplished among the coloured people :— Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, September 28, 1908. Dear Sir,—(1) The demonstration work is advancing very rapidly. I feel safe in saying that 45 per cent. is the minimum of the farmers who have adopted the intensive method of farming in my territory. (2.) The farmers in my territory have come into possession of better breeds of hogs, a better breed of cows, and also for the past two years they have raised more chickens than ever before. I am sure in saying that prior to the intro- . duction of the demonstration work only ‘25 per cent. of tarmers practised the above, and now 85 per cent. is the lowest, 57 449 Agricultural Education. (3.) The Jesup agricultural wagon (a team and wagon donated by Hon. Morris K. Jessup, of New York, for this work) has played a prominent part in the demonstration work. I fitted up the wagon with a _ portable garden and drove to various meeting places, as indi- cated on demonstration map, and here gave concrete illustrations of how gardens should be made. A storekeeper informed me the other day that he sold more vegetables for eating pur- poses, such as cabbage, potatoes, peas, onions, ete., in three months last year than he has sold during all of 1908. This is due to the fact that in every meeting the farmers are urged to make better gardens, (4.) In my territory the percentage of pasturing is very low, since farmers generally let their stock run out after the crops are gathered and ‘“‘tie them up” while the crops are being made. Prior to the beginning of the demon- stration work there were about 10 per cent. of pastures. There are now 12 per cent. (5.) The farmers in my territory are just beginning to leave the old rut of buying corn and hay to tide them over the cultivation period of their crops. Prior to the introduction of the demon- stration work the average of the farm- ers who raised enough corn to last them through the season was as low as 7 per cent.; now itis about 12. (6.) The small farmers are showing a marked improvement in the matter of getting out of debt. A farmer living at Tuskegee, Alabama, tells me that last year was the first time he wag ever gotten out of the debt, and says it is due to the fact that he attended the farmer’s meetings; and another, at Notasulga, Alabama, sold enough butter, eggs, and vegetables to buy the necessary things from the store, thereby saving the high price charged for advancement, About 10 per cent. of the farmers are out of debt. (7.) The increase of teams has not been so perceptible, for as a general rule the small farmer tries to keep a pretty good mule or horse, even at the expense of some other very important phase of farm management. But with reference to tools and farm machinery the work has accomplished great results—an increase of at least 28 per cent. (8.) The rural school condition in my territory has been greatly improved, yet I find that the schools which I touch directly are some better than the average to begin with. The early varie- ties of cotton have aroused great enthu- Miscellaneous. siasm ; the people all over my territory have been and are now clamouring for new seed. Messrs. HE. W. and: B. W. Washington, of Cross Keys, Ala. (both demonstrators), had picked over twenty bales of cotton by September 7 from seed introduced by the Department. Mr. Jackson Donner, of Warriorstand, Ala., informs me that every man in his com- mupity is trying to buy, borrow, or beg cotton of him. : (9.) Ihave given considerable time to the matter of encouraging the people to improve their live stock sinceI have been doing the demonstration work. 1 constructed a crateon the Jesup agri- cultural wagon for the purpose of carry- ing the best breeds of live stock, such as Berkshire and Poland China pigs and Jersey and Shorthorn calves to the farmers’ meetings, and showing them just how they could improve their herds. Iam glad tu say that the farmers have purchased better live stock, especially Berkshire hogs, from the Tuskegee Insti- tute and other places. (10.) The farmers are canning a large quantity of fruit and vegetables. At the most of our farmers’ meetings we lave had exhibits of home-canned veget- ables and fruits. The increase is about 40 per cent. 450 BOWS they ly ie [NovEMEER, Ties Aa (11.) In our community meetings we Me have what is known as the inspecting Committee who go around and Griticise the homes in general. In this way we keep the subject of applying whitewash and paint ever before the farmers. who . are now building better houses and applying more paint and whitewash than I have ever known them to do before. _ (12.) The effect of bettering the high- ways and the construction of telephones is not very appreciable as yet, but in my territory there have been more mail boxes put up within the past two years than ever before. A great many farmers put them up purposely to receive the mail from the Department, ; (13.) The degree in which the tenants have been purchasing farms‘is capable — of being perceived. 1 recall to mind instances while travelling where there was no demonstration work where tenants sought information as to the possibility of buying farms within the bounds of my territory, in order that they might have the advantage of the agricultural instruction furnished by the Department. T. M. CAMPBELL, District Agent. ’ MISCELLANEOUS, CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Agriculture, held at the Council Cham- ber at 12 noon on Monday, the 16th October, 1911, The Hon’ble the Acting Colonial Secret- ary presided. The following members were present :— The Hon’ble Mr. Bernard Senior, The Hon'ble Mr. C. T. D. Vigors, Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike. Dr. J. C. Willis, Dr. R. H. Lock, Dr. H. M. Fernando, Messrs. H. F. Macmillan, R. S. Templeton, John Ferguson, G. W. Sturgess, G. Harbord, Tudor Rajapakse Mudaliyar, F.. L. Daniel, and L. W. A. de Soysa. The minutes of the meeting held on the 14th August were read and confirmed. Progress Report No. 56 was duly adopted. Statements of expenditure for August and September, 1911, were tabled. A Report by the Chairman of the Tobacco Committee, together with the Resolution adopted at the last meéting / of the Committee, and other connected papers (previously circulated) were sub- mitted by Dr. Willis, who summed up the situation ina speech. A discussion ensued in which the Chairman, Dr. Willis, Mr. John Ferguson, Dr. nando, Mr. Senior and Dr, Lock took part. ; Dr. Willis submitted the following Resolutions :— (a) “‘That this Committee does not consider it advisable to continue the Tobacco experiment upon the same lines as hitherto, viz., upon a commercial basis, as as it is of opinion that financi- ally such an experiment must end in fail- ure, owing to the high cost of growing the tobacco and the low price realised from the sale thereof. The Committee consider that such an undertaking is altogether too large for the Agricultural Society, having in view the amount of Ma funds at its disposal.” (b) “The Committee, however, are of opinion that it will bea‘ pity to cease the experiment in Tobacco growingin~ | Fer- | hd or ‘ on, U 8 eet 7 8 Novenesr, 1911.) We the Colony, and ‘express the hope that the experiment willbe taken up by Government through the new Agricul- tural Department on scientific lines, ~ and that a tobacco expert be appoint- ed for a term of years with a view to as- certaining the best kinds of tobacco for Ceylon to produce, the various kinds of tobacco which can be grown profitably in the Island, and the districts in which such can be grown. Also, that the “Tobaeco Expert. should train a few officers in scientific tobacco cultivation, so that, on the completion of his agree- ment with the Government, these officers may be in a position to carry on the cultivation upon a commercial basis, and also act as Instructors in the future.” The resolutions were adopted. The Chairman enquired as to the cir- cumstances under which Mr, Cowan was given notice. Dr. Willis and Mr. Senior explained that this action was taken in the interest of the Society subject to the approval of the Board, inasmuch as the experiment had been concluded, and there was no object in retaining ~ Mr. Cowan’s services. The Chairman then put the question .to the meeting whether the action of the Tobacco Committee in giving notice to Mr. Cowan was confirmed, and declared that the confirmation was unanimous. Dr. Willis referred to certain pro- > posals submitted by Mr. Harbord, Super- a a intendent of the Hxperiment Station, in connection with the tobacco experi- ment. He announced that the Tobacco Committee were not in favour of these proposals, and moved that they should not be accepted. The motion was carried. Mr. H. F. Maemillan, Curator, Royal Botanic’ Gardens, Peradeniya, read his paper on “Fruits Worth Growing in Ceylon,” for which he was accorded a vote of thanks. ” C. DRIEBERG. Secretary, C,A.S. Colombo, 16th October, 1911. — 451. Miscellaneous. TOBACCO (FOR THE EUROPEAN MARKET) IN CEYLON. THE EXPERIMENT AT MAHA ILUPPALAMA, REPORT BY J. VAN LEENHOFF, e Chief of Tobacco Division of the Transvaal ; Lat late Government Tobacco Expert of Porto Rico and of the U.S.A. Department of Agriculture, -. Washington, D.C. Holder of certificate of the “Ecole d’ application des Tabacs,” Paris, and of the Imperial Tobacco Manufactures, Strasburg, Germany. Reported on Tobacco. Industries of Cuba, Rhodesia, Orange River Colony, and Mauritius. Introduction. I was informed ina letter from the Secretary of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, dated March 21, that the Tobacco Committee of this Society re- quested meto make a report on the present tobacco experiments on the Maha Iluppalama Experiment Station, and that the Ceylon Government ap- pointed me to visit and report on the Jaffna, Trincomalee, and Dumbara Districts with regard to the tobacco in- dustry generally, and to offer advice on lines of possible improvement. Up to the present I finished my in- vestigations in the Trincomalee and Jaffna Districts; but asit was desired thatthe report on the experiments at the Experiment Station should be pre- pared as early as possible, a separate report on these experiments is given herewith—the general one to be prepared some months later. This report is somewhat hastily pre- pared, and I shall therefore be glad to explain in person any points on which I may have omitted to touch, if request- ed to do so. : Visil to the Maha Iluppalama Station, _I visited the Maha Iluppalama Sta- tion twice, 7.e., once officially on behalf of the Society on April 9, and once as_a private visitor in the middle of February. _To the Officer in Charge of the Sta- tion (Mr. G, Harbord) and to the Tobacco Officer (Mr. Cowan) my intended visit on April 9 had been duly aunounced by the Society, and these gentlemen were requested to meet me at the Experiment Station so as to show me the crops, plantations, and everything connected with the work. On my arrival at the station (from Jaffna via Anuradhapura) I had not the pleasure, however, of making Mr. Cowan’s acquaintance ; but Mr. Harbord was present. showed me round, and gave me all information I Miscellaneous. es, required, to enable me to judge the work and conditions, for which my most cordial thanks are due him. I went carefully over the non-irrigable and irrigable tobacco land, seed-beds, tobacco fields, sheds, and last, but not the least, studied carefully the quality of the leaf of last year’s crop. Notes were made of the rainfall returns, of which copy is annexed. The area under cultivation was estimated, the condition of the crop in the field and quality of soils were noted; the tobacco piles and the sorting of leaf were observed, and samples of different grades were taken for further investigation purposes, if required; photographs were taken of the two fields and the tobacco shed, which will help the Committee in form- ing an idea of the _ present actual condition. Opinion on Field Work, Non-irrigable Land.—On the non- irrigable land it was intended (according to information received on my first visit) to plant an area of about 20 acres. On my second visit, however, I did uot tind more than about an acre planted, and in a very bad condition, as may be seen from the photograph “A,” owing to want of rain perhaps. The plants on the photograph are more than two months old. The soil on this portion is a red loamy soil with asmall amount of sand, which looks to be an excellent soil for tobacco culture, provided the chemical composition is such that a good burning power can be expected. How- ever, if the chosen planting season is altogether wrong (as has been apparently the case in the present experiments), no good results can be expected. The rainfall returns and the character of the soil indicate clearly that, if a fast- growing tobacco crop is our aim, a little over two inches of monthly rainfall (as is the average during six years in January, February, and March) is far too low for the conditions. If therefore the planting had been started towards the beginning of, or probably about the middle of, November and finished by the end of December or thereabout, an excellent crop could have been expected, although nothing can he said as to what kind, variety, or type of tobacco would show the best results. The most im- portant experiment necessary to answer this question has not been carried out, which would have undoubtedly given useful information. I quite admit that, if the so-called “dry land farming” principle with constant cultivation had been applied on this plot, instead of simply following ¢ 452 ! | ee “ys ‘ f > - | meee (Novinisie oles exactly the Sumatra (where conditions — are totally different) way of field treat- ment, a much better crop would have - been produced, and, in addition, by | using self-bred seed, which have shown ~ adaptability to the local conditions, great improvement could have been effected. Irrigable Land.—With regard to the — wrigable tobacco field, witha gravelly gray loamy soil, I only found about two acres planted out, the plants doing very badly indeed for the same reason as before stated. The effect of shade was clearly shown in plants growing under the shade of trees doing much better than their fellows; they were, however, not free from the effects of the conditions above indicated. The same remarks apply to this plot as that which is non-irrigable. The effect of shade is mentioned to indicate the expected improvement for cigar wrapper leaf by planting in rainy ~ or cloudy season; this also promotes quicker growth, and result in top leaves giving shade to lower leaves. Shade makes the leaf finer, rib thinner, and colour lighter. {is Seedlings.—During my first visit I _ observed the seedlings in the seed-beds and noted that they were sown much too thickly, and in consequence were — long-stemmed with undeveloped root system, and were already too large for transplanting purposes. It is a well- known fact that such seedlings have not much resisting power to withstand the shock of transplanting, and are much more liable to disease and insect attacks. To this and the ravages done by the tobacco stem borer is due the great loss of plants in this field. Thinner sowing, transplanting at earlier stage, and s covering in the seed-bed with muslin — cloth would have prevented this loss (see my Farmers’ Bulletin No. 71, Tobacco Seed-beds). The muslin cloth covering is used to prevent the moth of the borer depositing its eggs on the foliage of the seedlings which are — carried with them to the field at trans- / planting time. of re Resuming the fieid work, it. can be said that— Be (a) The planting season was probably wrongly chosen ; (b) When attempts were made to grow tobacco out of season, more — or less ‘dry land farming” — principles should be applied in- stead of simply imitating work ~ as is done in other countries — where conditions are totally — different ; / a a pz + \. i ; oN Novemerr, 19 _(c) Production of seedlings were bad; ‘d) Seed used was not bred for the — purpose ;| - (€) No proper manuring appears to have been applied having regard to the bad burning qualities of last year’s tobacco crop. Tobacco Shed.—With regard to the * shed (of which I also enclose copy of photograph), my opinion is that for an experimental crop, and also fora plant- ation on a small scale, in general, much smaller sheds are required. Sheds should be of such a size that they can be filled with the harvested crop in one or a few days only, so that the curing can ‘be uniformly done and the leaf treated. . In a dry atmosphere the sheds should: be practically hermetically tight, but pro- vided with shutters so as tocontrol air humidity inside the shed almost at will, by opening and closing the shutters when required. In the first stage, for instance, the drying process should be _ slow, the ventilators should be hermeti- cally closed in the daytime, and some- what opened at night. After the required colour is obtained, ventilation could go on quicker so as to simply dry the leaf. Some idea of the prucess is given on pages 27, 38, 39, and 70 in Porto Rico Bulletin of my tobacco investi- gations in 1903-04 there. An ideaisalso given of the fermentiag question on ‘pages 41-44 of the same Bulletin, and both subjects are also discussed in the ‘“©Transvaal Journal of Agriculture ” for October, 1906, No. 17. Opinion on the Fermented Tobacco Leaf. The leaf tobacco in bulk was care- fully studied twice, and my conclusion is that the tobacco, as was to be expected, is not a success, for the following reasons :— . (1) The burning power is very bad. Samples were taken of almost all grades, match lighted, and the leaf carefully dried first before bringing the leaf to the flame. In almost all cases the leaf flamed and coaled, and in no case was there a sign of good fire-holding capacity in the leaf. For cigar tobacco, especi- ally cigar. wrapper tobacco, a freely burning capacity is required. (2) With regard to colour and size of leat, I roughly estimated that only 20 per cent. (mostly consisting of bottom leaf only) would be suitable for ordinary cigar wrapper purposes, if the bad burning is into taken into consideration and if the elasticity of leaf is sufficient. The latter point was not tested, the tobacco not being in ‘‘condition.” As to price, that also depends how the cigars 453 Miscellaneous. work out, taking into consideration how many cigars can be wrapped cut of a pound weight. (8) The flavour of the leaf is more or less “raw” for want of fermentation, and this is specially the case with the top leaves and large part of middle leaf. About 80 per cent. of the tobacco I consider to be unsuitable for cigar wrapper purpose—+1.e., for the Huropean market (as | am informed) it was intended for. (4) While only attempting to keep light colours in the fermenting process, the tobacco which might have been suitable for filler tobacco has been sacrificed ; as for filler tobacco ferment- ation, the highest temperature should in some cases be raised to about 80° so as to develop flavour and aroma. Fermentation also improves burning capacity. As will be seen in the records of temperature kept at the Hxperiment Station, the maximum was only 44° in one case. Considering this tobacco, the . temperature should gradually have been raised up to about 55° for wrapper and about 80° for filler purposes, which could have been done if sufficient precautions were taken. For the bottom leaves, however, a temperature of about 40° to 44° is considered to be sufficient. If sorting, for instance, in three qualities, t.e., dry, medium, and fat, is undertaken before fermentation, or more simply bottom, middle, and top leaves kept quite separate in the fer- mentation, each kind could have been fermented to its best advantage. Un- necessary handling of leaf must be prevented, as I found a rather large percentage of broken leaf, and there- fore loss of moisture should be prevented as much as possible. Suggestions. ‘Report on the Haperiment.—From the report at the end of February on this tobacco, I notice that it was the inten- tion to send some sample bales of this tobacco abroad; therefore I strongly suggest that this should not be done, as it willresult in spoiling the reputation . of Ceylon-grown tobacco for the future. Being produced at the Ceylon Govern- ment Hxperiment Station, the market will, of course, draw the conclusion that this is one of the best kinds of tobacco Ceylon is able to produce; and the tobacco being not a fair sample at all of what Ceylon is capable to produce, it would certainly spoil the reputation of Ceylon as a tobacco-producing country, which should be avoided at any cost. Miscellaneous. Afterwards capital will not Jikely to be found for. the Ceylon tobacco industry, which would certiinly be a great pity. We should first be convinced ourselves of having produced a good leaf before thinking about exporting sample bales to open markets, especially when of inferior quality, and the cost of produc- tion higher than any country we know of (owing to cost of irrigation in case of planting in dry season). In the same report it was said that the Committee decided to make two kinds of cigars out of the tobacco on hand. If the leaf itself is not of a sufficient quality, what will be the finished article of the cigar wholly made of that one kind of tobacco ? In my opinion the expenditure is not warranted, as there is no object gained in making cigars out of the leaf in hand. If these cigars are not appreciated (very likely) there is no proof that cigar tobacco cannot be produced ; and even if there is an appreciation, would that indicate that we are on the right road of growing the best kind of tobacco, the best variety of seed, applying best method—or what ? In the same report it was said that the area to be planted would be 50 acres. During the interval of my two visits, however, #.e., about six weeks, I noticed only about two acres planted. I also found the following statement in the report :— ** About 15 to 20 acres near the bun- galow are not irrigable, so this will afford a test as to whether tobacco can be grown there without irrigation.” My first impression, which I still hold, is that in Ceylon tobacco is over- a8 irrigated; but is the above test a fair one, if it is undertaken during the driest part of the year andthe soil not properly prepared and cultivated for the purpose in view? The tobacco industry being so speci- alized; with such large number of branches and sub-branches, that no quick {and good results can be expect- ed if work of tobacco investigation is not undertaken by a tobacco expert, thoroughly trained for the work of tobacco investigation. Besides having gone through a course of agricultural and analytical chemistry and made scientific tobacco field work, curing aud further preparation for differert mar- kets his speciality, he must have a practical experience of curing and manu- facturing cigar, cigarette, and pipe al \ tobacco, so as to enable him ; judge of leaf tobacco. He also should have wide experience of other tobacco- producing countries, so as to be able to conclude in a minimum time which kinds of tobacco have the best chances for suecess in Ceylon. His first work should consist of acquiring knowledge of local conditions and organizing the Government and Society’s Tobacco In- vestigation work and conducting the most important experiments in several localities at the same time. It would be important that a some- what complete Tobacco Bulletin should be published for CeyJon, containing (1) description of soils and climate and present methods of Ceylon tobacco cul- ture; (2) discussion of possible kinds of tobacco varieties and types to be tested in the different districts or localities, which are promising for tobacco culture ; and (8) suggestions for improvement. During the season pamphlets should be published so as to enlighten present planters on points on which immediate improvement can be made. After it has been found out which kind of tobacco will give best commercial results, the tobacco culture should gradually be improved by reducing cost of produc- tion, @.e., increasing yield per acre and improving quality of leaf for the different purposes in view, and some scheme of co-operation should be worked out to handle the crops of the small planters to the best advantage. With an annual vote of say 30,000 to 40,000 ~ Rupees for about three years, I consider the tobacco work can be put on a sound footing. As the estimated expenditure of the present crop produced at the Experi- ment Station at Maha Iluppalama is about Rs.15,000 to Rs.16,000, J strongly recommend that the work should be stopped at once, as no information can be obtained by the present method of tobacco experimenting. = ' As has already been said, the above report is hastily prepared, and person- — ally I am fully convinced that some points could have been discussed more in detail, and that there is a likelihood that such points on which your Com- mittee might wish further information. have been omitted. I shall therefore only be too glad to reply to any ques- tions to my utmost power. \ J. vaN LEENHOFF, — oy Colombo, April 12; 1911. to be a if cs NOVEMBER, 1911.] Vie - AVERAGE MONTHLY RAINFALL ie eae RETURNS. i Six Years. 37 Years. Maha [luppalama Trincomalee. Experiment ~ ¢ Station. ' January 5°76 2°88 February 2°27 2°25 March 1°50 2°60 April 2:20 6:38 May 2°40 2:19 June 1:28 1:19 July 2°19 2:36 August w. 4°20 2'50 September... 4°63 2°64 October... 7'96 11°51 November ... 14:10 9°53 December ... 14°40 765 - MONTHLY STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE. fy 1910. Rs. ec. Rs. January 821 90 February 482 45 March 499 39 April 1,769 24 May 1,223 98 June ile 1,688 28 July — ia W223 August a3 1,819 59 September ... 1,410 34 October oa 1,888 80 November . 1,190 11 December ... 1,610 44 ——— 14,077 55 1911. January oak 1,610 30 February ... 1,188 79 2,744 09 This does not include use of land, buildings, and staff of the Station. TEMPERATURES OF JAVA AND SUMATRA TOBACCO UNDER FERMENTATION. First Bulk. 1910. : ‘ September23 ... 364 August 25 31) 4 24... 37 96 35 oy eheObs 6.) 37 a eT 28 Gt OREN (SD a Pie ten 08) i 29) 10.. /32 ave 29°, 80. GL eaO Di a 84. % 30s EOS October eens) 5 Bots 31 28 ® De anEey| September1 32 i 31... 38 ti 2 34 x BA. 780 ae Ae 4 Bt sk ey 4... 35 is 6... 39% , Bs 5.8 beet. 74.0) 140 3 6% 4 NOB a Stra , 7, Wee ‘i 13°... 27 Hah G14) HA 8G is 14 31 ai ie Yb ‘: 15 32 iy 5 18... et Bel i, 16...) 33 6) SN if Wyp bese p90... eg ‘ 18 \b0/'38 ed 21 nae t 19s 3h Pe 22 88 ‘a 20 34 ‘ R,. A, ae mt * Tobacco re-stapled, 455 Miscellaneous. Second Bulk. 1910. y, fo} October 22 ... 25 November 14 40) Dein. 200 A ite eae fs 24 33 Aho Tg 30 i, 25 36 A Tas) 32 iP 26 39 sate 180 34 es 27 40 vite 2t 354 t 28 42 Mr PLSTLOD 37 Sh DO a AD, ‘a Qe 38 November 2* ... 25 ‘i 24 39 ae Bt teh eB si bor oS* 27 i Ayres (30 Vay 1189) 31 ve 5 33 AD MNaO 35 ie 6 36 December 1 39 9 Tevhas 40 He 2} 43 A 8 4l a 3 44 “7 ON 4] YK, 4 44 Mt TOW Cut a 5 44 i ll 41 is 6 43 Aiea dD 4] vs 7 43 \s 13 41 REPURT BY MR. E. COWAN, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE HXPERIMENT. 1 have the honour to send you my report on the Tobacco Experiment. In all 20 acres of tobacco were planted from imported Java and Sumatra seed, which realised a crop of 6,700 lb. dry tobacco, or 335 lb. per acre, at a cost of Rs.16,604'17; of this Rs.5,210 was salaries and travelling expenses, which for theacreage planted is heavy, as the same salary would have been sufficient for double the acreage. From this sum must be deducted a sum of Rs.1,759'45 for work done for the 1911 planting, as the whole of the land has been dug over and is ready for planting; and also ic must be remembered that the drying sheds were built tolast three years, so that the total expended on these, Rs.2,239'94, must be divided and Rs.1,393:28 deducted from the cost of the 1910 experiment, which includes Rs.600 for a.wire fence which, as it isa permanent one, should not be charged to Tobacco. This brings the actual ex- penditure down to Rs.7,141°25, which is divided as follows :— Drying Sheds 746°64 anure 323°00 ~ Clearing by Contract 487°84 Railway warrants 10! 00 Sundries, Thermometers, Strings, etc. 314°75 Cooly wages, including picking, culti- vating, planting, sorting, ferment- ing 5,169°02=7,141°25 In reviewing the experiment it must be taken into consideration that the work was all new to everyone except myself. Coolies had to be taught, and were therefore slower, and so work ‘vas more expensive than it would have been it they had been trained to the Tobacco work, and my best thanks are due to the Superintendent, Maha-iluppalama, for * Tobacco re-stapled. Miscellaneous. the very great help he has been through- out the experiment. The weather was not all it might be, as the first planting never came on owing to the drought, and the last planting, a great deal of it, was killed by too much flooding of the land ; but the greater portion of the Tobacco was very fine, good strong trees and fine quality equalin my opinion not to the best Sumatra tobacco, but certainly to the average Sumatraleaf. The ferment- ing was the trouble, asI told the Com- mittee it would be, as there was not the bulk to produce the heat required to thoroughly ferment the leaf out, and without sufficient bulk this cannot be done, and that the first shipment was not fermented out, is shown by the cable received from Bremen saying tobacco was spoilt on the journey, which means it had lost some of its colour. This was what I was afraid of, and I told the Committee at the time it would do so. With regard to Mr. VanLeenhoff’s report, I do nvt wish to say anything except that I donotagree with him. He reported ou a scientific basis, and disagreed with my methods because they were based on the Sumatra manner of planting; but it must be remembered that the Sumatra methods are the ones that I know, and the ones which we agreed were to be tried, and that the experiment was nota scientific one for the object of research, but a purely commercial one to find out if tobacco could be grown in Ceylon which would command a marketin Europe, and this, I maintain has been done, not, I admit as yet at a remunerative price, but still, although the 3,000 lb. which have been despatched were admitedly spoilt on the journey, yet it has fetched a price, and the buyers are willing to take all we can send them, showing that they, at any rate, see some profit init. Weare told ‘when the experiment was first mooted that for two years at least we must be prepared to loose our money, as the European market would boycott the Tobacco, and until we found out a market there would be no money init, but I maintain, that the experiment of 1910 has been successful in this, that we have proved that Tobacco can be grown in Ceylon which will command a market in Europe, and I consider myself that, given a bigger acreage, say 50 acres, there will be no difficulty in getting bulk enough to thoruughly ferment the Tobacco out. I particularly wish to point out that no true experiment can be expected to realise all the required results at the first attempt; if it did, it could not bs correctly called an experiment. In 456 oh growing Tobacco not for a scientific purpose, but fora commercial purpose, — I contend that to be of any value the — process must be continued until we arrive at perfection as required by the particular market we are trying to secure. Our first attempt has not been so successful as we might wish perhaps, but this we never have expected, nor have we ever led anyone to believe that — we expected an unqualified success. In the light of our present experience we shall now be in a position to retrieve some of our errors, and, with a fair share of luck as regards weather to make any future experiment more of a success, I must, however, differ from Mr. VanLeen- hoff in his views that the experiment is altogether a failure, for the simple reason that he criticises the experiment from a different point of view altogther to that for which it was intended. | I would point out that all land, sheds, — etc., are ready, if it is decided to con- tinue the experiment, and that cigars are being made at Maha-iluppalama. EKDWARD COWAN. RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE TOBACCO COMMITTEE. Minutes of a Meeting of the Tobacco Committee—called at short notice to report on Mr. Cowan’s Memorandum on the Society’s Tobacco Experiment at Maka Iluppalama and submit a definite recommendation as to the advisability of continuing or discontinuing it—held at the office of the Colonial Treasurer on Wednesday, August 16, at 2 p.m. Present.—Dr. Willis (in the Chair), the Hon. Mr. Bernard Senior, Dr. H. M. Fernando, and Mr. C.. Drieberg. The following resolution was adopted : —‘‘ That this Committee does not con- sider it advisable tobacco experiment upon the same lines as hitherto, viz., upon a commercial — basis, -as it is of opinion that financially such an experiment must end in failure, owing to the high cost of growing the \ to continue the — tobacco and the low price realized from — the sale thereof. ah E ““The Committee consider that such an undertaking is altogether too large for the Agricultural Society, having in view the amount of funds at its disposal. ‘ mustard genus . Bent sharply, like a knee ... Oil of (Cymbopogon Martini ... Sprout, begin to grow (of seeds). Gutta (percha)- descent to a river ; mountain pass ... Boiled butter .. Young cucumber | ... Dendrocalamus gigan- teus ... With projecting broad pouch .. Sesamum indicum ... Zingiber officinale ... Sesamum indicum ... Machine’ to separate the seeds from the cotton fibre .. To take off a complete ring of bar .. Without hairs ..- Almost hairless — ... Hairless ... Organ secreting fluid .. Becoming sea-green, or more or less green sea- .. With waxy, bloom, or sea green .. Almost spherical .. Provided with curious barbed hairs .. Substance giving rise to glucose on decom- position ... Glume-like i ... Sealy leaves pretecting flowers of grasses and sedges .The nitrogenous por- — tion of wheat, &c rock with the materials arranged parallel layers .. Psophocarpus tetrago- nolobus .. Out-house Ceesalpizia pulcherrima Tea made from leaf buds .. Arenga saccharifera . See Watt and Mann, Pests and Blights of the Tea Plant, p. 344 CGus fi the cabbage-turnip- | in fairly Oh Ne te ee Novewser, 1911, ae S Gonidiospore ... Asexually Saad spore of fungi Goradu .. Yam. Gordon plant... Huryale ferox Gormandiser Sucker Gourd .. Cucurbita maxima ~ Gourmands ... Suckers Gow ... 4 miles Goyiya . Peasant proprietor Grade .. A particular quality Grafting .. Inserting a short Grains of pate dise Gramme Granadilla Granular,Granu- late Granulator Grass cloth Great Millet Green bug Green fly Green heart Green manute ... Grey blight Ground nut Grubber Grugru palm Guaco Guano Guarana Guava Guayule Guinea corn Guinea grass Guinea yam Gulab (Hind.) Gum Gummosis branch of one plant into a slit cut for it in another, so that the two shall grow together . Amomum Melegueta . A metric weight = 155 grains .. Passiflora quadrangu- laris .. Composed of grains .. Machine for powdering .. Ramie, Boehmeria nivea .. Sorghum vulgare .. Lecarium viride (some- times also the stink- bug Nezara viridula) ... Aphides- ... Nicandra Rodicei Manure formed from green plants belong- ‘ ing to the natural order Leguminosse .. Blight of tea, charac- terised by grey patches on theleaves .. Arachis hypogaea .. Cultivator ... Acrocomia fusiformis .. Mikania guaco ..Manure from excre- ment of sea birds .. Paullinia Cupana .. Psidium guajava, &c, .. Parthenium argenta- tum .. Sorghum vulgare .. Panicum maximum .. Dioscorea aculeata ... Rose .. Substance formed by disintegration of parts of a_ plant, swelling and often dissolving in water, and insoluble in al- cohol or ether ° ... A disease characterised by the formation of a gummy excretion my: 4 468 Gum resin Gum-tree Gumuti Gunny bag Gunpowder Gutta percha Gynoecium Gynophore Habitat Hal Halfspiral Hard fine Haricot bean Hashish Hastate Haulm Head Heart-wood Hectare Helicoid Helopeltis Hemileia Hemp Hemp, Ambari i or Deccan ... Nyssa, bi Collection of ... Curved ... Hibiscus Miscellaneous. .. Substances formed by secretion or disin- tegration in plants and consisting of a mixture of gum and resin (West Ind. Sapium) .. Arenga saccharifera -- Bag made of jute fibre .. A grade of green tea Gur, gul (Ind.) ... Jaggery .. Substance derived from the latex of Sapo- . tacezse, harder than rubber when eool, not extensible, and softening with heat. Obtained from Di- chopsis, Mimusops, Palaquium, Payena, ete. ... The carpels, considered together .. Elongated portion of receptacle bearing the carpels .. Situation inhabited by, and plant suitable to, a ... A plough .. Method of tapping rub- ber by cutting spirals that only go half round the tree .. The best quality of Para rubber .. See French bean . An intoxieating liquor made from hemp, Cannabis sativa .. With two pointed lobes sticking out hori- zontally at the base Stem sessile flowers on a@ com- mon receptacle, as in daisy .. Older wood no longer used for passage of sap, and often col- oured .. 100 metres square, ap- proximately 2:45 acres like a_ snail’s shell ... Mosquito blight (pest of tea and cacao) ... Coffee leaf disease .. Cannabis sativa cannabinus Hemp, Bombay.. Crotalaria juncea (Continued.) 464 MARKET RATES FOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS. Mad (From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current, London, 13th September, 1911.) yi ALOES, Socotrine cwt, Zanzibar & Hepatic ,, ARROWRKOOT (Natal) Ib. BEES’ WAX, cwt. Zanzibar Yellow _ ,, East Indian, bleached ,, AA “unbleached ,, Madagascar CAMPHOR, Japan China Pf CaRDAMOMsS, Tuticorin Malabar, Tellioh ery alicut Mangalove i Ceylon, Mysore i Malabar is Seeds, E. I, & Ceylon QUALITY. Fair to fine Common to good Fair to fine Slightly drossy to Fair to good Dark to good genuine . fzir..: ‘vark to good palish Retined Fair BN erage quali Gocd to fine bold Middling lean Goo | to fine bold Brownish Med brown to fai ty QUOTATIONS. ‘708 a 75s 40s a 72s 6d -|8d a 9d £612s 6d a £6 15s) £712/6a £7 17s 6d) IRE 168 a £6 7s¢d £6 10s a £6178 6d isf$da ised 150s nom. 2s 6da-s lod 2sa .s 3d -|2s 4d a 2s 10d r bold Sm Ii fair to fine plnmp Fair to good Is 10d a 2s 2d 2s da 3s 4d 1s 10d a 3s 4d ls 8da 1s 10d » |Fair to good -- [281d a2s 3d Ceylon Long Wild ,, |Shelly to good -|6d a ls 6d CAS'LUR OIL, Calcutta,, |Good 2nds - [33d a 38d CHILLIES, Zanzibar cwt.|Dull to hue bright ..14Us a 45s CINCHONA BARK.—1b.|Crown, Renewed 38da7d Ceylon Org. Stem (|2d aéd Rea Org. Stem /1jd a 43d Renewed 3d a 54d Root lgda 4d CINNAMON,Ceylon Ilsts}Good to fine quill 63d als 5d per lb, 2nds i % 5id als 4d 3rds A bd a 1s 4ths H % aida sid Chips, &c..|Fair to fine bold 23a a 3d CL: VES, Penang lb.|Dull to fine bright pkd.|1.da 1s 2d Amboyna --|Dull to fine 9d a 10d Ceylon ° ‘ ” 9d a 10d Zanzibar Fair and fine bright 8d a 84d Stems Fair 3d COFFEE Ceylon Plantation cwt.|Medium to bold 70s a 113s Native Good ordinary Liberian » |Fair to bold 62s a 68s CUCOA, Ceylon Plant. ,, |Special Marks 75s a 85s 6d Red to good 65s a 738 Native Estate »» |Ordinary to red 48s a 648 Java and Celebes ,, |Small to good red 25s a 7738 COLOMSKO KOUT Middling to good 12s al7s CKOTON SEEDS, sift. ewt. Dull to fair 7us a 753 CUBEBS Ord. stalky to good 160s a 170s GINGER, Bengal, ‘rough,, Fair 358 nom. Calicut, ab A,, |Small to fine bold 80s a 85s » |Small and medium 60s a 70s Cochin Redan », (Common to fine bold |40s a 46s Small and D’s 40s Japan 30M AMMONIACUM ANIMI, Zanzibar Madagascar aAKABIC E.I, & Aden Turkey sorts Ghatti Kurrachee Madras ASSAFQTIDA KINO MYRRH, Aden sorts cwt Somali OLIBAN UM, drop pickings siftings {NDIA RUKBEK ” ” ” 2 lb. Ceylon, Straits, Malay Straits, etc. Assam Rangoon Reddish to good Middling to fair Slightly foul to » Ceara Sorts to fine pale ale Dark to fine pale Clean fr. to gd. almonds com. stony to good block Fair to tine bright Middling to good Good to tine white Low to good pale fine Fine Para bis, & sheets ” Crepe ordinary to fine.. Fair Il to ord. red No. 1 ” 37s Ord. blocky to fair clean|40s a 67s 6d Pale and amber, str. srts |£15 a £16 little red/£12 a £14 Bean and Pea size ditto|75s a £12 10s lair to good red sorts Med. & bold glassy sorts|£5a £7 Fair to good palish red Ordinary to good pale 30s a 37s 6d nom; £7 a £10 .|£4 a £8 15s .|£4a £7 LOs 49s a 65s ..|21/6a 42s 6d nom, ..(208 a35s ” 20s a 32s 6d. ,, £18 10sa £21 5s 258 a £15 9dails 55s a 603s 50s a 62s 6d 45s a 50s 35s a 40s 12s 6d a 27s 6d 2Us a 22s 6d 58 4d 6s Ee 8d a 5s 6d 6d 5 ie 4d a 4s 7d .|4s 2d 38s a 2d 9d 2s oda3ds / INDIARUBBER.(Contd. ) Borneo Common to good 1s 9d a 289d Java Good to fine red *2|2s 9d a 3s Penang Low white to prime redjjg gd a vs 6d Mozambique Fair to fine red ball _ .../35 6d a.4s 2d Sausage, fair to good ..'45 6d a 4s 1d Nyassaland Fair to fine ball ++-/33 4d a 3s 11d Madagascar Fr to fine pinky & whitelg, a 35 4d New Guinea (NDIGO, E.I. Bengal WACK, Bombay & Penang per lb Java Bombay MY RABOLANES, Bombay Bengal NUTMEGS— cwt|UG and Coconada ” Singapore & Penang ,, 33 NUTS, ARECA ewt. NUX VOM ICA, Cochin per cwt. OIL oe ANISEED CINNAMON CITRON ELLE ORCHELLA WEED—ewt Ceylon Madagascar PEPPHR—(Black) Ceylon ,, Singapore Acheen & W. C. Penang (White) Pingapore Siam Penang Muntok KHU BABB, Shenzi Canton High Dried.. SAGO, Pearl, large medium small SEEDLAC ewt, Ordinary to gd. Lae 52s 6d a 728 6d SENNA, Tinnevelly 1b,|Good to fine bold green|5d a7d Fair greenish 22d a 42d Commonspeckyand small|isda 24d LLS, M. o’PEARL— ra Egyptian cwt.|Small to bold Bombay ” ” ” Mergui a ” ” Manilla », |Fair to good Banda sorts -]21s 6d a 2us 6d - SGeR ane at Calcutta...,|Mid. to fine b’k not stony|10s a 12s [nom. cwt. Madras |Stony and inferior Se 4s a 58 > TOR. TOISESHELL— Zanzibar, & Bombay lb. |Small to bold. eee eee RIC, Bengal cwt.|Fair S Bea iadeas ,, |Finger fair to fine bold 233 a 258 Do. ,, |\Bulbs tomght 18s Cochin __,, |Finger Bulbs . ILLOES— Ib. Biase tia: 48 ists|Gd crystallized 3: ee injl4sa19s Madagascar ... + 2nds|Foxy & reddish 34 a ,, 138 a 16s 6d Seychelles ...J 3rds}Lean and inferior oo |128 6d a 133. VERMILLION .. Fine, pure, bright WAX, Japan, squares Good white hard’ vrengel dras ” Ib. Alleppy «& Tellicherry ” ” » ” ” _ |Fair to fine ..|Ordinary to good .|Ordinaryto good QUALITY. QUOTATIONS pa Majunga & blk coated ../2s 1d a 2s6d Niggers, low to good ..|sq a.2310d Ordinary to fine ball ..los 6d a 3s 6d Shipping mid to ed violeti3s 2d a 338d Consuming mid. to gd.loged a 3s 1d Ordinary to middling |2s 5d a 258d Oudes Middlingto fine 2g 6d 22/8 nom. Mid. to good Ku pah {25 2d a, 28 6d Low to odinary ls 6d a 2s Mid. to fine Madras None here Pale reddish to fine |95 3d a 2s 6a Ordinary to fair », good pale Wild Jubblepore Bhimlies Rhajpore, &c. Calcutta 64’s to 57’s 80’s 110’s Ordinary to fair fresh Ordinary to good ” ” ” ” Fair merchantable According to analysis Good flavour & colour Dingy to white Ordinary to fair sweet Bright & good flavour 53 cf 3s 4d a 3s 7d d 44 14d a 13d %dals 4d Fair Fair Fair woe 5 ,, to fine bold heavy .. Fair ab Dull to fine Fair to fine Fair Fair Fair Fair to tine flat Dark to fair round ” ” 14s a 15s THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE Tropical Agricu turist and Magazine of the G. A. 8. ComPILED AND EpitTEep sy A. M. & J. FERGUSON. No. 5.] NOVEMBER, 1911. [Vol. IX. AN IMPROVED ‘‘ HATMAKING’”’ INDUSTRY FOR THE SINHALESE. A good many years ago a Sydney merchant, seeing the ‘‘fishermen big straw hat” made and ‘sold by Sinhalese women from Cotta, was so taken with them, that he left 30 sovereigns (£30 sterling) to get a consignment shipped to his firm for distribution to retailers, to shep- herds and cattlemen in ‘“‘the bush”! This was a Godsend to poor people in Cotta in a year of poor crops and dear rice. The Church Mis- sionary, who took charge, had enough for a number of families for months! The hats were duly shipped and distributed and sold; but there were no repeat orders and so the Cotta hats evidently did not suit Australian shepherds. But cannot the Sinhalese villagers do something better? Here is a note and extract from our correspondent in the Philippines :— “This may be interesting for the 7.4. You have pro- bably got the same palm in Ceylon, that is used here, and might start a new industry in Ceylon. “If you send a reporter here in February for the Carnival, he will see native girls making hats in the Carnival grounds, I think the Carnival Association pays the hotel expenses of Pressmen from other countries.” The extract is from a Manila paper :— HatMAKING IS GROWING INDUSTRY. EXPORTS OF HATS TO THE UNITED STATES SHOW BIG INCREASE, A new industry, of which little is known outside of com” mercial circles, is growing in the Philippines in the making of what are commonly termed bamboo hats. The customs export figures for the fiscal year of 1911 show an increase of over sixty per cent to the United States alone, but with a small increase of ten per cent in the revenue. Members of the local hat exporting firms state that the reason for the small increase in revenue compared with the large increase in the quantity exported to the States, is the lack of increased production of the tiner grades for which experts are necessary, The coarser grades are in great demand among the work- ing class, farmers, and the negroes of southern states owing to their cheapness, their selling price being about twenty 59 five cents gold, and the Filipino workmen, recognising that they can make as much revenue from the cheaper hats, very seldom try to become experts in weaving the finer grades, The chief article found in the local houses is called the kalasiao or pototan. It receives its name from the locali- ties in which it is manufactured, Kalasiao, Pangasinan, and Potoltan, Iloilo province. The fibre used is taken from the unopened leaf of the buri palm from which four different kinds of hats are produced, and is generally shaped over cardboard in the form of an ordinary straw hat, It is finished with two coats of a rice paste which gives it the pure white appearance. The other two fibres from the buri palm are that taken from the leaf, making what is termed the buri hat, one of the cheapest, and that extracted from the inside or pith of the stem of the palm leaf from which is woven the buntal hat, Many other grades of hats are made from the fibre of the buri palm in various sections of the islands from which they receive their names, but cor- rect classification is difficult as each hat-exporting firm has its own standard of classification. The bamboo hatcalled Baliwag or Pulilan is made in the towns of those names from bamboo splits and its cheapness makes it the chief export hat of the Philip- pines. These hats can be made within a few hours, but the finer grades, such asthe large merry widow hats of the finest quality, consume several weeksin weaving, and bring an export price of $2 although when sold in the States the prices range from $10 to $50 and sometimes more. However the Philippine market supplies very few of these hats compared with the cheaper grades, The export figures for the past fiscal year showed the quantity shipped from the islands to be 1,025,596 as against 621,475 exported last year while the increase in revenue was $17,638 gould, Of this amount over 700,000 hats were ox- ported by Germann and Company, who are the leading exporters in the islands, while the remainder was divided between Manila Commercial Company, Fussell and Com- pany, Max L. Tornow and Company, and several smaller exporters who sell in small lots. Each firm has an expert for this department who is re- quired to make a special study of the hat industry for a number of years before he is considered competent to judge between the different grades. The Bureau of Education and the Bureau of Science are both working to bring the importance of this industry be- fore the Filipino population, by issuing pamphlets on the different phases of the subject, and the bureau of education is establishing schools throughout the islands for the pur-= pose of teaching the Filipinos the art of weaving straws and braids, 466 As to the palm mentioned and the industry we referred to the Secretary to the Agricultural Society, and Mr Drieberg writes :— ‘““The Buri palm about which you enquire is Corypha Elata very closely related to our talipot (C. umbra- culifera) which I have no doubt can be employed ex- actly in the same way-if we only knew the art of hat making. Iam returning the cutting, which does not give very much information, and am thinking of writing a paper on the subject for the Board when I can spare the time, as-I have collected a good deal of material about it. It has struck me that it would be an ex- cellentt hing if we could persuade the Philippine Govern- ment or some enterprising person out in Manila to under- take tosend us an exhibit of hats and hat-making materials for the All-Ceylon Exhibition 1912. If the exhibits could come in charge of a skilled hat maker who could show how it done, there will be much for Ceylon to learn from such a display. I should fancy there will be a good sale for hats and other articles if a collection is sent out.” Our Philippines’ correspondent will be asked as to the proposal now made and whether sample hats and a worker can be got for Ceylon. ‘‘FINANCIER’S”’ SPECIAL RUBBER COMMISSIONER IN CEYLON. A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF HIS EASTERN TCUR. Mr. E. L. Killick, the Special Commissioner of ‘‘The Financier,” who has been inspecting the rubber plantations of the East, in the in- terests of his journal and is now on his way home in a hurried conversation with our re- preventative said that he has been in all the Federated Malay States, Sumatra, Java, Dutch Borneo, and the Rhio Archipelago. EXAGGERATED ESTIMATES. He has found that the future outputs of plantations have been greatly exaggerated by all estimate coinpilers. He considered it would be found that the big estimates they had worked up to for a single year would not be maintained indefinitely aud regularly. There was a figure which might be kept pretty con- stant, but it was unquestionably lower that had been estimated. For this reason, he did not see how rubber could fail to keep at a very profitable figure for a good many years to come. LITTLE THE MATTER IN THE INDUSTRY. There was certainly very little the matter with the industry. He had found nothing alarming in the way of disease anywhere. There was plenty of disease about, but it was being kept under. It didnot seem likely to devas- tate whole areas, or anything approaching that kind of thing. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist CASTILLOA A FAILURE, The Castilloa rubber, which the Americans had expected a great deal from, he thought, would very shortly be shown to be practically a failure. There was quitea lot in Java and in- variably it was unsatisfactory. There was diffi- culty in tapping, and a poor yield at that, and both Ceara and Ficus elastica were superior. In THE RHIO ARCHIPELAGO. There was a lot of rubber on some of the islands in the Rhio Archipelago. It‘has all Hevea, and growing well. The labour was Javanese indentured, and something about it was that the labourers could not bolt from the small islands. Java UNSATISFACTORY. Generally speaking rubber was growing well everywhere he had been, especially in Negri Sembilan and Selangor, where the growth was extraordinary. In Sumatra there were some very fine trees indeed, but Java did not compare at all with these places. There were one or two good places in Java, butasa general rule Java rubber would not do much, except in a fewisol- ated cases. CEYLON TO THE FORE. Ceylon, in some points, such as management, organisation, and cultivation, compares very well with all other places, and the cost of pro- duction in Ceylon will always be low in compari- son with a good many places. As for finished rubber, Mr Killick has seen nothing better any- where than that from Ceylon’s crack estates such as St. George's, Gikiyanakande, and Hanwella. Ceylon rubber was as good as any, he was quite satisfied of that. THe Drovent. The drought had played havoc with outputs in the Straits, and estimates would look silly, especialiy on the flat land, but that was noth- ing to be alarmed about, It was phenomenal. It might be good for the trees, and act asa sort of stimulant, making them yield better when the rain came. 1 HicH STANDARD AND TAPPING. One thing he has been impressed with is the very high standard to which tapping has been brought, He thought that in future, as a re- sult of the drought, planters would tap more carefully, and be more cautious in their esti- mates. He thought that in time there would be, practically a revolution in the curing of rubber, for the last word did not seem to have been by any means reached, and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—November, 1911. RUBBER IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES. A FEW PARTICULARS, From numerous references to the resources of the Congo and Bolivia some interesting parti- culars are to be learned. In the Congo, during 1910, twelve large rubber plantations wee either newly created or developed, and the ex- perimental cultivation of the Hevea Brasiliensis, Funtumia Elastica, and Manihot Glaziovii species is being continued on a much enlarged scale on the plantations already in existence, and extensive new areas are about to be brought under cultivation. A number of the larger plantations are being devoted to the exclusive cultivation of Hevea, some 1,000 hectares having been planted. Funtumia Elastica, however, is the most common, and numbers some 3,461,000 trees, of which the greater part are reported to be thriving satisfactorily. The older trees, of seven to nine years, that have heen tapped, have yielded a rubber of good quality that com- manded a price in the Antwerp market ranging between 17f. and 20f. per kilo (Rs. 406 to Rs. 5:44 per lb.) The present yield of the six year old trees is said to be 100 grammes, which would represent a return of 137°75 1b, per hectare of 625 trees, Hevea is regarded by Government as a most promising plant, adaptable to the climatic conditions and inferiority of soil, Thirty thousand trees have been planted by Government, and seven extensive areas in the Bangala and Equator districts are to be brought under cultivation. All the available seeds in the Congo having been used up, further quan- tities are being imported from Ceylon, Consider- able impetus is being given to the cultivation of Manihot Glaziovii, as, experimentally pro- duced in the Congo, it has fetched 23f. per kilo in Antwerp, on account of its excellent quality. Experiments are also in progress with Castilloa, various Manihot and Ficus, and Euphorbia. Attention will also be given to the old rubber lianas, of which some 11,000,000 are known to exist. It is proposed to conduct the in- dustry on scientific lines, such as those obtain- ing in Malaysia, particular attention being paid to the process of coagulation, washing and drying, for which the most approved plant will be acquired. Wild rubber is becoming scarce, or is in places difficult of access and unprofit- able. In Bolivia, the annual export value of rubber is estimated at 4,000,000 dollars. The exploita- tion of the rubber lands is regulated by law through an annual export tax. The principal areas hie in the north-east, near the Peruvian boundary ; in the east, in the Province of Santa Cruz; and in the Acre and Beni territory, which is exceptionally rich in its yield. Two varieties of rubber plant are found in the dis- trict, the caucho, which has to be cut down in order to extract the sap, and the Hevea, which is merely tapped. In some cases the trees are tapped for a period of two years, and are then rested for a similar term. Other rubber trees are tapped for six years at a time, and then left untouched for a like period. The trees selected 467 for tapping in this section are usually from 30 to 40 years of age, and are expected to yield for 20 years, after which they become useless. In Panama, the soil is of marked fertility, and the climatic conditions of induce a luxu- riant growth of tropical vegetation. Govern- ment is interesting itself in promoting the cultivation of coffee, cacao, coconuts, rubber, vanilla, and sugar-cane. Rubber is au export, the output coming from trees scattered natural in the forests. Coconuts form one of the staple exports, over 150,000 dollars worth being sent in 1910 to the United States, ORANGES AND LEMON TREES PLAN- TED AMONG COCONUT PALMS. Mexico, 4 de Setiembre de 1911. Mess Tropical Agriculturist, Colombo, Ceilan. Dear Sirs,—We write to ask your opinion, on the following point :— Would there be any objection to planting orange and lemon trees in between our coconut plantings. We plant our trees at 28 feet apart, on the triangle system. Awaiting the favour of a reply, we are, yours very truly, GRAVES Y GRAVES CIA, A. R. Moree, Gerente. We have had the above question placed before an experienced coconut planter and his answer is ‘*I would recommend planting Orange or Lemon in the centre of four trees. Plant on'y one plant Quincunx—which will not do any harm to the coconut trees.” Another planter writes, Oct. 25th. Dear Sir,—I regret I cannot give an opinion, based on practical experience, as to whether oranges and lemon trees would be a success planted among coconut palms placed 28 ft. apart on the triangle system. if the oranges and lemon trees are put out in the field at the same time as the coconuts they would,I think, grow well together for some years but when the roots of the coconuts spread out and form a network in the soil the oranges will probably fall offin productiveness. MacMillan in his hand-book of ‘‘ Tropical Gardening” says with regard to the orange the distance for planting apart should be not less than 15 by 15 feet or 193 trees to the acre. In my opiuion grafts would be best.—Yours faith- fully, COCONUT PLANTER. [Much will depend on the quality of the soil and the climate as regards a well-distributed copious rainfall—A, M. & J, F.] 468 RUBBER AND GUTTA PERCHA AND ‘THE TERPENES.”’ ‘A CHAPTER IN MODERN CHEMISTRY.” Sir William A, Tilden is, if we are not mis- taken, about the oldest Chemist in England and the gentleman who, a few years ago when the British Association met at York, was good enough to forward a message to the RubberPlan- ters of Ceylon, Theoccasion and the message re- quire explanation. In the Chemical Section of the Association, a paperon Synthetic Rubber was read and discussed at length, chiefly by young Chemists who seemed to be sanguine of being ablevery soon to turn out a good artificial rubber and prove ita commercial success, There was one senior member of keen intellectual fea- tures,grave and silent during the discussion, and, enquiring about his personality, we were told that was ‘' Tilden,’’ the oldest if not the ablest Chemist in England. Plucking up courage, we ventured, as the sitting ended, to make an introduction, how we were from Ceylon and to many of its planters we were afraid the views just expressed of an expectation of a cheap useful synthetic rubber, would spell great loss if not ruin, would hekindly say if he agreed with the sanguine opinions of his younger brethren. The purport of the answer (and message) of Mr. (now Sir W. A.) Tilden (given to Mr. J Ferguson) can be indicated in this way :—Tell your friends in Ceylon that if 1 were a young man and a planter in your island that I would not hesitate to plant as many Rubber trees as I could manage without troubling myself about the laboratory experiments of the gentle- men who have spoken towards a synthetic rubber. That sucha rubber might be managed to a useful degree, was quite possible in time; but whether the result could ever compete with the natural product in quality or prices was a different matter altogether. Evidently, some years ago—and no doubt still—Mr. now Sir William A. Tilden was not sanguine at all on the point. This little bit of experience at York in August, 1906, makes anything that falls from the pen of the veteran Chemist of much interest and in Murray’s ‘‘ Science Progress ” we have a paper of his entitled ‘‘ The Chemical History of the Terpenes,” in which we find a few passages which bear on ‘*synthetic rubber.” First of all, Sir William opens his article as follows :— The hydrocarbons known as the terpenes have long attracted the attention of chemists, on account of their wide diffusion in the vege- table kingdom and their frequent association with the odorous principles of plants, though it is only during the last thirty to forty years that systematic research has been rewarded with such a measure of success that it can be said that the properties and chemical constitution of all the more important members of the group are now as well understood as those of any group of carbon compounds. The terpenes are highly interesting from two distinct points of view. As already mentioned they areimportant for commercial reasons not SYNTHETIC The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist only on account of the use of some of them as solvents, especially the oils of. turpentine in varnishes and pajnts, but they are characteristic and often predominant constituents of many essential oils used in medicine and _ perfumery. They have also been made the starting-point for the manufacture of certain substances—cam- phor and terpineol, for example, which are extensively used for such purposes. But the history of theinvestigations by which the chemical constitution of many of the ter- penes has at last been elucidated is specially interesting to the scientific chemist on account of the nature of the problems to be solved, the peculiar elusive transformations of the hydro- carbons and their derivatives and the ultimate success of these investigations, which provides a triumphant vindication of the principles which underlie modern synthetical chemistry. These principles concern not only the student of “organic” chemistry, for they are necessarily involved in general conceptions regarding the constitution of matter. And after some fourteen pages mainly filled with technical details, we come upon the following :— Isoprene heated alone in a sealed tube is con- verted into dipentene mixed with viscous pro- ducts of its polymerisation. Butif it iskept for some months or years under conditions which, except exclusion of air, have not been exactly determined, it passes spontaneously into a syrupy liquid which gradually deposits solid masses of rubber. Rubber is also formed when isoprene is heated with small quantities of acetic and other acids. This observation, made more than twenty years ago, has led to various at- tempts to employ isoprene as a practical source of rubber on a manufacturing scale, When rubber or gutta-percha is destructively distilled it yields a mixture of hydrocarbons from which can be separated as chief products, isop- rene and dipentene, originally called, caoutchine. It would appear from this that rubber is a com- pound, the formula of which is either (C10Hi6)n or (C5 Hg )n, From the direct conversion of isoprene into rubber the latter formula seems the more probable, especially as the temperature at which rubber decomposes is much below that at which depentene is broken down under the influence of heat. Indeed, it seems not impro- bable that the dipentene which accompanies isoprene in the distillation of rubber is a secon- dary result of the polymerisation of isoprene by heat. The condensation of isoprene into dipen- tene is easily represented as in the following for- mula where §wo molecules of isoperne are united by the dotted lines, the valencies adjusting themselves but without further change: * * * To represent the condensation of isoprene into caoutchouc, Harries assumes the formation of an octadiene as the first product of the union of two molecules of isoprene, rubber consisting of multiples of this or (C1oHie)n. * * * Caoutchouc is a colloid of very high molecular weight and if it is assumed to be made upofa number of such groups united together, it is difficult to explain why rubber should break and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—November, 1911. down so easily in groups of C5Hg and why its combining capacity is represented by four atoms of bromine for every ten atoms of carbon. Thiele’s theory of partial valencies has been invoked by way of explanation but this is itself a subject of extremely doubtful character. Other formule have been suggested but the whole question is one which requires much fur- ther investigation. Finally, it may be remarked that the terpenes and their derivatives afford many examples of optically active compounds which, however, do not owe their activity to the presence of one or more asymmetric carbon atoms but rather to the asymmetry of the molecule as a whole. This phenomenon, however, is not peculiar to the terpenes and the question is too large for discus- sion on this occasion, RUBBER EXHIBITION IN AMERICA. October 10th, 1911. Dear S1r,—I extract the following from the India Rubber World of New York, in case it does not come your way. )think it is worthy of a place in your columns :— “At no time in the history of the rubber trade could rubber manufacturers view a 50 per cent export duty on Brazilian rubber, and a restriction of the Acre product with greater calmness. Factory stocks have accumulated, reclaimed rubber is understood and manufac- tured on a greatly increased scale here and abroad, plastics, such as mineral rubber, ace utilized the world over, and plantation receipts are constantly growing. ‘¢1f Brazil does as she plans, as she certainly has every right to do, rubber will undoubtedly be higher for atime. The result, however, will be a tremendous increase in planting, a further exploitation of the lesser rubber producers, the substitution of many plastics for rubber where- ever it is possible, and the final disappearance from the market of all wild rubber, the cost of collection of which is above 5) cents a pound.” Since my stay in the United States, I find that plain rubber is coming into continued favour with the manufacturers in this country. The only thing is, they do not know enough about it. I have now arranged to hold an International Rubber and Allied Trades Exhibition under the auspices of the International Exposition Com pany, a body incorporated under the laws of the United States. Their building in the New Grand Central Palace, 46th to 47th Street and Lexing- ton Avenue, New York City, is one of the most palatial buildings in the world. The dates arranged are the 23rd of September, 1912, to October 3rd, 1912, and a very influential committee is now being formed, and my friend, Mr Honry C Pearson, the Editor of the ‘‘India Rubber World,” will bethe active Vice-Presi- dent of the undertaking. Full particulars will be sent you in due course, and I trust the ex- position will have your kind support.—Yours very truly, A. STAINES MANDERS, Organising Manager. 75, Chancery Lane, London, W.C. 469 SILK COTTON OR KAPOK. The following particulars concerning the silk- cotton tree and the fibre and its uses are taken from the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, Vol. LX (1911), p. 121. Kapok is a fine fibrous material, somewhat re- sembling cotton, but weaker and more lustrous, derived from the tree known as Eriodendron anfractuosum which occurs in the Dutch Hast Indies, India, Ceylon, tropical Africa, the West Indies, Mexico andCentral America. The fibres arise from the inner wall of the capsule and surround the seeds. The kapok tree grows at the sea-level and up to an altitude of 3,000 or even 4,000 feet, but gives the best yield and quality of fibre when ° situated at lessthan 1,C00 feet above the sea. It is said to flourish best on a porous, sandy clay soil, in a climate with a dry. east monsoon, and to be capable of withstanding heavy rains and resisting long periods of drought. The propagation of the tree can be easily effected by means of either cuttings or seed. In the latter case the seed issown in nurseries, and is only lightly covered with earth. If the soil is poor, it is recommended that stable manure should be applied about ten days before sow- ing. The seed should be planted in rows ata distance of 10 to 12 inches. When the young plants are about 5 or 6 inches high they should be no longer shaded but exposed to the sun. If the plants do not obtain plenty of sunshine, they grow thin and lanky. The seedlings are planted out when from eight to twelve months old. In Java, kapok trees are commonly plan- ted about 12 to 15 feet apart along the roads in the coffee and cacao plantations. When the trees are grownin special plantations, they should be placed about 18 feet apart (about 144 trees to the acre), for if planted more closely they soon interfere with one another. The trees commonly attain a height of 30 feet, but some- times grow to 50 feet or even more, Before transplanting, it is advisable to strip off all the leaves and to cut the stem down toa height of 14 to2 feet, and also to cut the chief roots so as to make stumps of them, If the top is not cut it will usually die down to the ground: The trees subsequently require very little atten- tion, but the soil must be kept free from weeds, During the early years of growth other plants can be cultivated between the young trees, In Java it is a common practice to grow pepper in this way, but it should not be planted before the kapok trees are three or four years old. The trees begin to bear in the third or fourth yoar, but sometimes not till later: The crop is never very large until the sixth year. A large tree brings 1,000 to 1.500 fruits to maturity per annum, each of which contains about 0°7 to'1°2 grammes of dry fibre. Hence, on an average a well-developed tree may be expected to give an annual yield of ¢ to 14 kilogramme (or about 14 to 23 lb.) of clean fibre. The tree flowers in April or May, and the fruits mature atthe end of October or in November. As the fruit ripens it becomes yel- lowish-brown and then begins to open. As soon as this point is reached, the fruits are gathered by means of long bamboo poles bearing small hooks at the upper ends, They are then 470 left on’a clean floor, preferably of cement, and exposed to the sun in order that they may ripen completely and open fully. The fibre and seeds are picked out of the capsules by women and children and dried in the sun for some days. The seeds are usually removed from the fibre by beating with sticks, or by means of a simple machine. I may add that this implement was recom- mended to me by the Secretary of the Agricul- tural Society on my enquiring of him whether he knew of any implement that would level and clear off the grass on the surface of ploughed land. He would, I dare say, be able to give better particulars on the subject than I. The Harrow consists of twenty one triangular links of round wrought steel with teeth bent downward horizontally and adjusted in a triangular form in sections. The Harrow could be adjusted by the removal of a whole row of links or two so as to reduce the size to suit the cattle being used. In its full size itis rather heavy fora pair of buffaloes. By the removal of the last row of links, I worked it with a pair of buffaloes, and three acres of land were harrowed in a day. Reducing the size yet more [ have even used a pair of country bulls in it. The grass is rooted out,and the ground is thoroughly levelled which is not otherwise the case with the usual local processes. It besides answers very well for the second ploughing. Two men should be employed in its vorking —one for driving the pair of animals, and ono for removing the accumulations by raising it side-wise and also for guiding it over ridges. By the employing of a third man this last could be more effectually and easily done, A support should also be used to press it down at times when the rows of links. protrude upwards. The results are admirable and very satis- factory, for I find that the paddy plants ina harrowed area look very verdant and fresh. The soil is evenly levelled and broken up and the removal of weeds greatly facilitated by this Harrow. This implement could be used on soft’ as well as on hard land.—I am, Yours faithfully, J. B, RATNAYAKE, 478. WORLD’S VISIBLE SUPPLY OF RUBBER. SATISFACTORY PosiTION. Mr H V E Lorgworthy, of 9, Mincing-lane, E.C., reports, under date of October 5th as fol- lows :—The world’s visible supply of Para and Caucho en October Ist was 6,328 tons, against 4,721 tons on the same date last year; thus the world’s visible supply is now only 1,607 tons in excess of that of last year, whereas on May lst the world’s visible supply was showing an in- crease over the previous year on the same date of 7,569 tons, Another feature of interest are the deliveries for the month of September of Para and Caucho at Liverpool. [he imports are given as 866 tons, whereas the deliveries are 1,953 tons. The figures for the whole of England for the month of September show that we imported 2,901 tons whereas the deliveries were 3,888 tons, and the stock on lst instant was 3,920 tons, against 4,660 tons last year. AMERICAN MARKET ADVICES do not indicate any recovery in the demand for the raw commodity, which is still very slack, although it is thought possible that prices may be marked higher. The manufacturers of motor vans and lorries are combining in several instances, so that savings in expenses may im- prove the position of the respective companies. The tyre trade is reported as being still very good, with all factories running at full time. The usual monthly statistics issued by the Gov- ernment Bureau of Commerce at Washington show that the INCREASE IN THE EXPORTATION OF MOTORS OF AMERICAN MANUFACTURE has been almost as rapid as the growth in their use in the United States. The total value of automobiles and parts thereof exported in 1901, only a decade ago, was less than $1,000,000 ; in 1902 it passed the $1,000,000 line; in 1903 it was more than $1,500,000; in 1905 $2,500,000 ; in 1906 $4,500,000; in 1907. $5,750,000; in 1909 $7,750,000; aud in 1910 $13,000,000. For the seven months of the year for which export statis- tics are available, over $9,000,000 worth of auto- mobiles were exported, $2,000,000 worth of parts thereof, other than tyres, and $1,500,000 worth of tyres, making the aggregate for the seven months $12,500,000. Should the exports con- tinue at the same rate during the five remaining months of the year, the total would cross the $20,000,000 line.—F, Times, Oct. 3. In view of the more irregular market ruling for the standard commodity, we give the follow- ing figures, showing the statistical position at October Ist, for which we are indebted to Messrs Lewis and Peat,:— Tons. Increase in receipts during September, 1911. against September, 1910 ih Decrease in receipts —July-September, 1911, Para sorts against last year ae Increase in deliveries—September, 1911, against September, 1910 ve, 1,070 Increase in visible supply Para kinds, . against October ist last year 2,487 Decrease in stock, London and Liverpool, September 30th, 1911, against stock 30th September, 1910, all sorts eo 293 —Ibid., Oct, 5. The Supplement to. the Tropical: Agriculturist.. CEYLON AND MALAYA: KUBBER ) EXHIBITS. SomE Expzrrr CRITICISM. The following criticisms'on the Ceylon and: Malayan Exhibits at thé Rubber Exhibition in London, have been written by Messrs Lewis and Peat. “We feel,” say Messrs. Lewis and Peat, of Mincing Lane, “we must begin this little criticism by congratulating planters on the excellent quality and condition of practically all the samples sent in for exhibition. The im- provement in the preparation against.the !ast exhibition is the most striking feature. The. bulk of the samples of Hevea shown were in blanket crepe form, and nearly all were well nigh perfect. Weare still of the opinion as expressed in our Details for Planters, published: in January, that the two best forms’ of prepar- ation most suitable for the market and the most readily saleable are blanket crepe ‘and smoked sheet, and at this Exhibition prac- tically all the Estates, both in Ceylon and Malaya, sent most excellent exhibits prepared in either or both of these two ways, Colour is not of such importance as formerly in 1st latex rubber, but oil stainsand any admixture of scrap, cupwashings or ;lower grades.is very strongly objected to. Also scrap and bark or shavings rubber must be kept separate and all madeinto thick gristly crepe. “We cannotsay much yet about smoked creps, as comparatively little has been sent so far, but this grade is shortly to be admissible on Ist latex contracts and is fetching very similar pricesas unsmoked crepe orsheets at auction. Up to now the parcels sent have been inclined to be sticky, especially when crepe is thin, and care must be takento make the smoked, when, it is finished, quite as thick as the unsmoked. ‘Owing to the much larger quantity of smoked sheet coming to the market the pre- mium ruling until quite recently has practically disappeared, but the grade is as popular as ever, and as readily saleable as any other make offered. The use of heavily ribbed rollers has done a great deal to improve the condition and we see very little mouldy now and prac- tically no stuck and heated smoked sheets, ‘‘Scrap in good gristly blanket form is in great demand, and fetches much better prices than in the loose form.” £1,000,000 RUBBER AT AUCTIONS. In Lonpon IN E1cut WEEKS. At the public auction sales of plantation rubber, one broker succeeded in clearing off 200 lots in fifty minutes, which is probably a record. The Vallambrosa Company has sold at this sale about eight tons, of the estimated total value of £4,250. Since the Ist September to date, according to a computation made in the ‘ Lane,’ 1,600 tons of plantation rubber have been sold in that centre, amountiug in value to about £1,000,000, which will revert to the various Eastern plantation companies, It is also stated that manufacturers generally are now taking this description of the commodity, and as will be seen above are paying higher for it than for Brazilian Para—f. Times, Oct, 19, and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—November, 1911. THE RUBBER MARKET. Mr. JosEpH FRASER’s VIEWS. Mr. Joseph Fraser, the well-known V, A.and rubber expert, seen by our representative on his arrival from home said that the Rubber Ex- hibition was a very good one, and, as far as he could tell, decidedly better than the one be- fore, although he had not seen that one, It should have a good effect on the industry as far as Ceylon was concerned. Quality oF CryLton RUBBER. Asked as to the complaints about the quality of Ceylon rubber, Mr. Fraser said there were certain complaints with regard to Ceylon rub- ber not being sufficiently dry, and he was of opinion that more attention should be paid to drying in Ceylon. Complaints as to quality were often caused by the fact that many samples of small estates appeared in the market. The manufacturer found it difficult when there was such a variety of small lots. It was not that the rubber was bad, but that there was such a variety. There were few, if any, complaints against the large estates, so faras he could make out. Uniformity would come when the estates were large enough. The manufacturers he had met told him that they were prepared to take as much of the class of rubber that came from the large estates as they could get. Ceylon rubber was certainly not compared at a dis- advantage with that from the Straits. Tae Home Marker. Speaking of the rubber market at home, Mr, Fraser said it was quite satisfactory, the price being at from 4s 6d to 48 10da pound. He thought there would be a gradual fall in price, not a rapidone. It would be some considerable time before the price went under 3sa pound. Un- der any particular stress it might go under, but the fall would be only temporary. He did not con- sider there was any danger of overproduction for some considerable time, because as the price fell the product would be more used. For that reason, last year’s high prices did more harm than good, for in some cases manufacturers had to close down for certain classes of goods. Tae Lasour PROBLEM. Referring to labour, Mr Fraser said he fully agreed with the attitude of the Observer that coolies should be landed free of debt. Advances, in perhaps the majority of cases, were quite illegitimate, and should never have been allowed to reach their present figure. Amounts given as bonuses to the kangani should have been wiped off at the time, and nothing but what the cooly actualiy owed to thy kangani himself should be allowed to be put as a debt against:his name. "479 CULTURAL DIRECTIONS FOR PAPAYA. By P. J. Wester, Horticuntourist. The Philippines Bureau of Agriculture has issued the following directions for growing Pap- pawswhich should prove of interest and be useful to Ceylon residents. There are not nearly enough papaws grown in Ceylon. Szep Brp.—The seed bed should be prepared by thoroughly pulverizing the soil by spading or hoeing the ground well, and the clearing away of all weeds and trash. Sow the seed thinly, about 1 to 2 centimeters apart, and cover the seed not more than 1 centimeter with soil, then water the bed thoroughly. In the dry season it is well to make the seed bed where it is shaded from the hot midday rays of the sun, under a tree ; or, it may be shaded by the orection of a small bamboo frame on the top of which are placed grass or palm leaves. If the seed is planted during the rainy season a shed of palm leaves should always be put up over the seed bed to protect the seed from being washed out and the plants from being beaten down by the heavy raing. TRANSPLANTING.—When the plants have at- tained a height of about 7 to 10 centimeters, they are ready to be transplanted to the place where they are intended to grow. Unless the trausplanting has been preceded by a good rain, the plants should be thoroughly watered before they are removed from the seed bed. In order to reduce the evaporation of water from the plants until they are well estab- lished in their new quarters, about three-fourths of the leafblades should be trimmed off, In transplanting, take up the plants with so large a ball of earth that as few roots are cut or disturbed as possible. Do notset out the young plant deeper in the new place than it grew in the nursery ; firm the soil well around the roots, making a slight depression around the plant ; water thoroughly. In order to protect the tender plant from the sun until it is established, it is well to place around it a few leafy twigs at the timeof plant- ing. It is well to set out three plants to each and ‘as the plants grow up and fruit, to dig out the males or the two poorest fruiting plants. If the plants can not be set out in the field at the time indicated, transplantthem from theseed bed to a nursery, setting out the plants about 20 to 30 centimeters apart in rows a meter apart, or more, to suit the convenience of the planter. While the best plan is toset out the plants in the field before they are more than 30 centime- ters tall, the plants may be transplanted to the field from the nursery with safety after they are more than 1.5 meters high, provided that all ex- cept young and tender leafblades are removed, leaving the entire petiole, or teafstalk, attached to the plant ; if the petiole be cut close to the main stem, decay rapidly enters it.’ If the en- tire petiole is left it withers and drops and a goed leaf scar has formed before the fungi have ad time'to work their way from the petiole into the stem of the plant. TREATMENT OF OLD Puants.—When a plant has grown so tall that it is difficult to gather the fruit, which also at this time grows small, cut off the trunk about 75 centimeters above the , 480 ground. A numberof buds will then sprout, from thestump,and will form several trunks that will bear fruit like the mother plant in a short time. These sprouts, except two or three should be cut off, for if all are permitted to grow the fruit produced will be smali. SEED SELECTION.—Seed should be saved from the best fruits only. By this is meant not so much a large fruit as one that is sweet and well flavored, with a small seed cavity and few seeds; oblong fruit should be preferred, to roundish ones in saving seed, as they grow on plants having both stamens and pistils in the same flower and these being, very largely, self-polli- nated, the seeds produced from such flowers are more likely to reproduce their kind than the seed from roundish, melonshaped fruits, which mostly grow on female plants. All male plants should be destroyed wherever they appear, as not only are they unproduc- tive but by their pollen being carried to the fruiting plants they tend to produce degenerate plants when these are grown from the ceed produced on plants growing in the vicinity of the male plants. There is no need to foar that the other plants will not fruit if the male papayas are destroyed, for the reason that there are always plants about having perfect flowers and which provide sufficient pollen for the fructification of the female plants. This applies particularly to the Hawaiian pepaya. GENERAL Réemarks.—The papaya is very impatient of water standing around the roots and should be planted only on well-drained land; being easily injured by strong winds, it should be planted in sheltered situations. Keep tho land clean of weeds and the plants well mulched. MR. W. WICHERLEY ON THE VALUATION OF COCONUT ESTATES. Sir,—In view of the present undoubted acti- vity both in trade and company promoting circles with respect to the copra industry, it may not be out of the place to submita few salient facts regarding output and values of average coconut estates such as would appeal to the British investor. Primarily it must be borne in mind that the majority of these pro- perties are native owned, and for the most part grossly neglected as regards cultivation, and wastefully managed into the bargain. A full-bearing tree will yield 40 to 60 nuts for copra per annum in six pickings, and 4,000 to 5,000 nuts are required tu make one ton of copra. Malabar and Ceylon copra fetches £3 to £4 per ton more than the kiln-dried copra of Malaya and the Pacific Islands. One hundredweight of copra will give68 lb. of oil and 44 lb. of “poonac” or cattle cake. The husks taken from the nut intended for copra are utilised for making fibre (coir) and 1,000 husks will produce 1 cwt. of bristle fibre and 5cwt. of mattress. As regards the other utilities to which the tree lends itself, such as the making of ‘‘ toddy,” &c., these have little concern for the European investor. ‘* Poonac,” which, 28 already stated, is the residue ‘‘cake” after the oil has been expressed from the copra, isa valuable cattle food, much The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist superior either to linseed or cotton, cake, as the following analysis will show :— Carbo- Albu- Food. hydrates. minoids, Fats. Water Coconut cake 46°60 18°11 11,21 9°7 Linseed 27°10 24°17 85 12°17 Cotton cake 14°3 171 5°21 11°2 Valuations of coconut estates based on the per capita value of each tree are fallacious and utterly worthless from an investor’s point of view, Inasmuch as no two trees will yield alike, neither are they by themselves insurable against disease, pests, storms and other risks always associated with tropical agriculture. One of the recognised systems (and perhaps the best) is to take a qualified expert’s report on the property as a whole, and then to dissect the certified ‘“‘counts’’ of nuts for each of the six picking periods over the previous four years, carefully noting the picking of the fifth period, as this should always give the largest proportion (20 per cent. to 25 percent.) of the total yield, Where these records are not available—which is very often the case with native-owned pro- perties —the safest plan is to take an average of 20 to 45 per tree (according to their condition and age) and divide the total into thousands, multiply that amount by three, and in this manner we get approximately the net annual in- como from the estate. Thus, suppose a_ property contains 500 acres of fully-bearing palms, planted 60 to the acre, the census (supposing there are no vacancies) will give 500 by 60 equals 30,000 trees. At 40 nuts per tree the yield will be 30,000 by 40 equals 1,200,000. Multiply 1,200 by 3 we get net income £3,600, which at twelve years’ pur- chase gives a value of £45,200. Deductions are made (1) inthe case of leaseholds, (2) where buildings, plant, &c., arein a state ot disrepair ordo not exist, and (3) where there are evi- dences of neglect in present cultivation. The balance will then represent the full value of a native-owned coconut estate.—I am, &c., W. WICHERLEY. 22, Limes-grove, Lewisham, 8.E, —F. Times, Oct. 21. BANANA WINE has, according to the Siecle, been successfully manufactured at Saigon,in Cochin China, by two Frenchmen, M. M. Guerin and d’Heéarille, The product is obtained by the fermentation of the banana juice with yeast made from the fruit. The liquor, besides being much cheaper than ordinary spirit, is said to have a delicious perfume.—¥. Mail, Nov. 3. THE QUEENSLAND NUT. Considerable interest attaches to the news that Americans are planting the ‘‘Qeenslandnvt” in great quantity in California. The American Government recently obtained 20,000 nuts from Queensland for this purpose. The ‘ Queensland nut ” is closely allied to, if not: identical with, the candle nut (Macadamia Ternifolila), and is one of the most nutritivenuts in the world. It has avery hard and thick shell, aud in planting operations selectionis employed by choosing the nuts for seeds with comparatively thin shells,— Ff. Times,,Oct. 13. d and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—November, 1911, ‘TABLOID’ MEDICINE CASE No. 258 (The Settler’s) (Hrace yee Mi « waNo: is raBLOIO ot \-7ABLOID” \) sera Fitted with the world-famed ‘TABLOID’ Brand MEDICINES, BANDAGEs, etc. The medicines are perfectly reliable in hot or damp climates. They are prepared in accurate doses ready for dispensing ee and are quite palatable. In climate-proof metal ° i l iy case (black japanned), * si | Measurements: 84 x 4} X 52 in, BURROUGHS WELLCO NEW YORK MONTREAL MILAN SHANGHAI xx 293 | IDEAL «+; FOR.) TROPLCAL, .AGRICULTURISTS | Price in London 28/0 ‘Tabloid’ Medical Equipments are obtainable at the principal pharmacies in all countries ME & CoO., LONDON SYDNEY CAPE TOWN BUENOS AIRES ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE FRUIT INDUSTRY OF CUBA. Cuba has a wide range of fruit, some of which are very strange tothe foreigner. The plum (ciruela) grows directly from the branches of the tree with no stems. The fruit is somewhat astringent, which however is not disagreeable when one is accustomed to it. The mango per- tains to the peach family, the trees grow to a large size and bear a fruit which has a shape similar to a peach but is more oblong. The peel is smooth and thick and is easily removed. The fruit has a large seed covered with a fibrous growth which threads itself through the meat, is very luscious and very much prized, but many persons do not like it because of the slight taste of turpentine in it. The aguacate, or alligator pear, grows to perfection, and is used for salads. In size and shape it is not unlike a large pear. The sugar apple is very sweet, with mealy sugary interior. The sour sop (guanabana) is of the same family as the sugar apple. It is used largely in the prepara- tion of refreshing drinks, in ices and ice-cream. The sapodilla (zapote) is a flat round fruit, about the size of a golf ball, and in colour resembles an Irish potato. There are several varieties of this fruit. The caimito is a com- bination of the plum and the fig. Some caimitos are green, and others have a purple exterior, They are very palatable, and are filled with a soft jelly-like substance with an agreeable juice. The mamoncillo is a small 61 round, green or russet fruit about the size of a large marble, filled with a very acid juice. It has very little meat, as the large seed leaves little room for the juice and the yellowish meat which surrounds it. This fruit makes a delicious drink. The guava is used for making excep- tionally fine jellies, marmalades and preserves. Tho peel is occasionally used in a home-made brew of beer. Guavas grow in great abundance throughout Cuba on bushes and small sized trees. The mamey Colorado grows on large trees, and is a fruit resembling a russet apple in colour and about the size and shape of an ostrich egg. The fig grows well in Cuba, the black green and Symrna varieties all thrive, but, according toa recent report of the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture, no effort has been made to cultivate them since the retirement of the Spanish Government. Before that time the cultivation of this fruit was prohibited, except one tree which was allowed to each family. This was said to have been done to protect the home (Spanish) industry. The same law also existed against the cultivation of grapes during the Spanish sovereignty. There are, however, old grape vines in Cuba which have never had any cultivation, but which are prolific bearers of excellent fruit and thus show what an opportunity awaits those who will engage in the intelligent cultivation of the grape in Cuba. In connection with this it may be said that there is probably no country in the world which consumes so much 482 wine per capita and produces less. Pineapples and oranges are grown in Cuba. As regards the latter, the fruit is very fine, and when the young groves now coming into bearing more fully develop, Cuba will make a strong bid for a high place in the fruit market of the world. Bananas grow to perfection, particularly in the eastern part of the island, where large banana plantations are under cultivation, more than 99 per cent of the production going to the United States, In addition to tha banana which is eaten as a fruit, there is another variety known as plantain, which is used for cooking purposes. Green plantains when cut thin and fried are much appreciated in Cuba, and are said to be far more nutritious than potatoes, They are also used in soups and stews, andare baked and preparedin many ways. —Journal of the Royw Society of Arts, Sept. 29. GINNAMON AND CASSIA. With the extension of rubber and coconut cultivation in Ceylon, owners of cinnamon plan- tations in suitable localities have found it to ad- vantage to root out cinnamon and plant either rubber or coconuts, it hardly pays the cinnamon pJanter to continue cultivation of the product at existing prices, and a good many of them have substituted the more remunerative products for the spice, This is especially noticeable, says the “Storekeeper,” in the Southern province, where rubber is replacing cinnamon, and in the Negombo district, where coconut cultivation is being extended. Asa result of all this there is a scarcity of cinnamon in the market just now. To make good the deficiency in the European market, cassia bark, imported from China, is being used asa substitute for cinnamon. I[t is not improbable that it will swamp the cinnamon trade completely if the cultivation of cinnamon is not encouraged. A rough estimate places the acreage of cinnamon cultivation in the island of Ceylon at 45,000 acres. The total exports of this product for 1910 amounted to 6,286,060 lb. —Ma- gazine of Commerce and British Exporter, for Oct. SUGAR, TEA AND COFFEE. Some Government statistics which have ap- peared recently throw light upon British tastes, and the extraordinary capacity of British sto- machs in certain directions. Thus the amount of sugar we eat in one form or another is astoun- ding. We import more than one-tenth of the world’s production, which was estimated at i5t million tons in 1910. Of the total product, more than half (8,600,000 tons) was cane sugar, and the rest beet. Of beat sugar, Germany produced two million tons last year, and it 1s the semi-failure of the German crop that is mainly responsible for the sharp rise in prices. How serious this rise has been I may illustrate from the fact that it costs a laborer with sixteen shillings a week and a large family an additional sixpence a week! With sugar we naturaily asscciate tea, and here again our consumption is enormous, amounting in 1910 to nearly 287 million lb. But why is coffee (the national drink of the United States) of so little account here ? Our consumption of coffee last year was only just over 29 million lb., about one-tenth that of tea.—LUCELLUM. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist RUBBER FUTURE DELIVERY DEALINGS. GUARANTEED SPECULATIVE CONTRACTS. We understand that before long the London Produce Clearing House will be prepared to accept terminal contracts for hard Para and Plantation rubber. All contracts put through the institution are guaranteed by it in the same manner as are the speculative dealings in sugar and coffee, all of which are passed through the London Produce Clearing House. {The London Produce Clearing House, Ltd., has offices at 21, Mincing Lane, and was registered in February, 1888, with the object of ‘‘ placing on a secure basis by a system of deposits the deal- ing in produce for future delivery.” The authorised capital is one million in £10 shares, and has paid large dividends from the com- mencement. It will be called to mind that we have persistently advocated reforms in the method of rubber dealing as carried on in Min. cing Lane hitherto with the long-drawn out public auctions and resolutions and private dealing. ]—F. Times, Oct. ‘9, PosITION OF THE LONDON PRODUCE Crearina House. While particulars of the scheme which has been put forward for the extension of the busi- ness of the London Produce Clearing House to include dealings in rubber have not yet been completed, the matter is actively in train, and it is probable that full details of the pro- posals and terms upou which the business 1s to be conducted will be settled within a few days. Itis probable that some variation from the rules which govern the contracts for future delivery of sugar and coffee will be made in case of rubber, but the net effect—namely, that the due fulfilment of the contracts will be guaranteed by the Clearing House—will be the same. The London Produce Clearing House, Ltd., might more properly be termed an insurance or guarantee company rather than a Clearing House, and it fills a very important and useful position, especially as regards dealings for tuture delivery in sugar and coffee. It guaran- tees the due fulfilment of the contracts made between its members and, broadly, the pro- cedures, without the technicalities, is as follows: —One member of the Clearing House sells to another member of the Clearing House, say, sugar for delivery in May. Before this contract is considered to be completed by the rules under which the sale and purchase are made, each party has to make a deposit with the Clearing House according to the amount in- volved, and thereupon the Clearing House guarantees the contract The deposit is used by the Clearing House for settling differences which may occur owing to the fluctuations day by day in the price of sugar, much in the same way that differences are paid on the Stock Ex- change at each Settlement when stock is carried over, except that in the case of the Produce Clearing House ‘‘ differences” have to be settled each day, and their payment is guaran- teed by the Clearing House, whereas no and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— November, 1911. guarantee is given by the Stock Exchange, and differences are paid at the fortnightly Settle- merts. Should the margin or deposit held by the Olearing House become exhausted, owing to a continued rise or fall in the price of sugar, the Clearing House would at once demand a further deposit from either the buyer or the seller, as the case might be. By these methods of daily settlement of differences, supervised by the Clearing House, the p sition is regulated, and it has been stated at meetings of the Clearing House that during the twenty-three years it has been established the Company has never made a loss, the additional deposits having always been forthcoming when required. Questions of interest and fees for arbitration on quality of sugar or coffee delivered areincluded iu the rules of the Clearing House. The London Produce Clearing House, Ltd., has had a very successful career, and its business has, we are informed, shown further very con- siderable development during the current year. Its coffee business to date has been double what it was for tbe corresponding period of last year, owing tothe risein price of that commodity. For the whole of 1910 the contracts regie- tered by the Company in Santos coffee covered 2,622,250 bags. The Company’s sugar turnover up tothe end of September had rea- ched the enormous total of 31,473,500 bags, or over 100,000 bags more than forthe whole of 1910. Here, again, the fluctuations in prices has led to increased business in ‘‘futures.” This year alsothe Company has extended its opera- tions to pepper, which, however, is, of course, only a small item compared with the coffee and sugar business. The important international relations which it enjoys has had a great deal to do with the development of the Company’s business in sugar, and it is quite possible that these will aid it inthe proposed extension of its business to rubber. — Financial Times, Oct. 20 GUARANTEED CoNtTRACT Business To Starr Next Monta. With regard to the proposed extension of the business of guaranteeing terminal contracts in produce carried on by the London Produce Clearing House so as to include rubber, the first intimation of which we were able to give in our issue of 19th instant, we understand that it has now been definitely decided to make a com- mencement with the new business early in No- vember. A circular setting forth the terms upon which the business will be conducted will be issued next week by the London Produce Clear- ing House. There appears to be a considerable demand here for facilities to enter into guaranteed ter- minal contracts in rubber, but the London mar- ket is not yet properly organised for this busi- ness, so that, we are given to understand, in the meantime, and in order to avoid any delay in making a commencement, the Antwerp rules are to be taken as the basis for operations. Wemay point out that a complete organisation exists in Antwerp for guaranteed terminal contracts in rubber.— Financial Times, Oct. 27, 483 AMENDED RULES GOVERNING CON- TRACTS FOR PLANTATION RUBBER. The following rules and regulations governing contracts for plantation rubber sold under the General Produce Brokers’ Association of London Rubber Rules were agreed to at a meeting _of the trade at the Commercial Sale Rooms, Min- cing Lane, on Tuesday. Prompt.—Prompt Saturday fortnight from date of sale or tender. Sales or tenders dated on Saturday to be prompt that day fortnight. Draft 4 per cent. Discount 2} per cent. In- terest at 5 per cent per annum on all pre-pay- ments. The goods are at the risk of sellers (to the amount of the contract value only) until the prompt day, or delivery of the rubber from the warehouse before that day. Weighing.—Weighing at the option of the seller at any time between the Wednesday week preceding prompt and the Thursday before prompt day, both days inclusive, Clause I.—In contracts of five tons or over buyers shall have the option of rejecting any tender of less thanzme ton, and in contracts of under five tons any tender of less than halfton, except in each case in completion of a contract. When sold for month!y deliveries or ship- ment each month or specified part of a month’s delivery or shipment to be treated as a sepa- rate contract.. Clause II.—On contracts for rubber sold under the standard description of ‘‘first Latex Hevea Brasiliensis Plantation Rubber of fair average quality in sheet and/or biscuit and/or crepe form as at present prepared” for future deli- very, the rubber, when tendered, must be ready for delivery in sound order and condition at one of the customary docks or wharves. The tender to be received by the first buyer before 3-30 o’clock (11-30 o’clock on Saturdays), not later than the fifth working day before the end of the period of delivery (excepting ouly in the case hereafter mentioned), aud the first and eachsubsequent buyer must pass same on with due despatch, but in any case within 14 hours of receipt (tenders received between 12-30 and 1-30 must be received by the next buyer before 3 p.m.) but in nocase later than 5 o’clock on the last working day of the period of delivery (1 p.m. on Saturdays). For the purpose of this clause a day is to be taken as commencing at 10 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. (Saturdays 1 p.m.) and for the purpose of this rule the buyer shall be represented by the selling broker. For any tender received after 1 p.m. on Satur- days the prompt to be exact 14 days from the following Monday, and during further circula- tion of the tender prompt to be exact 14 days from the date of such subsequent tender is received, but weighing in all cases to take place as ‘from original tender date. All first tenders must have a time form attached which must be passed on with all subsequent tenders, the time of receipt being marked by each person receiving it. If any intermediate buyer divides a tender he must make out duplicates of time form and pass on a copy with each part of the divided tender, Any party failing to re-tender within the times specified as above becomes a first seller, 484 All rubber before being tendered must have been passed by the Arbitration Committee, and the award will remain in force for three months provided the cases have been left intact at the original public warehouse. Samples to be arbi- trated upon must be freshly drawn dock or wharf samples, and delivered intact to the first selling broker, but in the case of any lot which has been included in the last public sale pre- ceding the date of tender the dock or wharf samples shown at that time shall be sufficient if reasonably intact. These samples must be sent to the Arbitration Committee not later than 120’clock on the eighth working day before the end of the period of delivery, with liberty to the seller to make one replacement of any quantity rejected by the Committee within two days of receiving notice of rejection (provided that in the opinion of the Cominittee the samples submitted to them was abona fide submission for tendering) and notwithstanding that by reason of such rejection and replacement the seller would, but for this provision, be out of time to make his tender. Tenders to be good must contain the following information :— Date of contract and price. Date of original tender. Marks and numbers of packages with approxi- mate weights. 4 Ship’s name and dock’or wharf where rubber is lying. Weight of samples, Reference number of award and date when passed by the Arbitration Committee. First selling broker's name at whose office the samples are lying, Description of rubber. Date of prompt. Rubber to be tenderable in the original cases bearing its original shipping marks as shipped from the place of production. The stipulations in this rule shall be deemed to be of the essence of the contract. Clause II].—An Arbitration Committee com- posed of six.brokers and/or associates, members of the General Produce Brokers’ Association of London, shall be appointed annually by the trade to dea] with all disputes; three to form a quorum, with power to the parties in dispute to appeal to the Committee of the General Produce Brokers’ Association of London, according to their Rules: Clause 1V.—When a parcel of rubber is sold under the standard description of ‘‘ first Latex Hevea Brasiliensis Plantation Rubber of fair average quality, in sheet and/or biscuit and/or crepe form as at present prepared’ for a special shipment or for shipment by a specified steamer, aud found inferior, or if any portion tendered be found inferior, buyers shall have the option of rejection, and the quantity so rejec- ted, whether the whole or any portion, shall not constitute a delivery on the contract, but should the time for delivery have expired. the seller shall be allowed three clear working days to replace the quantity rejected (provided that the delivery of such quantity was in the opinion of the arbitrators a bona fide tender), otherwise Clause IX. (f) of the Kules of the General Pro- duce Brokers’ Association of London to apply. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist Clause V.—When a parcel of rubber is sold with a guarantee of quality other than as specified in Clauses II. and LV., fora specified shipment or delivery, or for shipment by a specified steamer, and found inferior, or if any portion tendered be found inferior, the buyer must accept the same with an allow- ance, provided such allowance in the opinion of the arbitrators be not more than 2d, (two pence) per lb. or otherwise as may be Specified in the contract, but should the parcel, or any portion tendered, be rejected, the seller to have tke option (provided that 1t was in the opinion of the arbitrators a bona fide tender) of substi- tuting guaranteed quality on the spot, to fulfil his contract within three (3) clear working days, or the expiration of time for delivery as the case may be, otherwise Clause IX. (f) of the Rules of the General Produce Brokers’ Associa- tion of London to apply. VUlause VI.—Any claims under these clauses (and a copy of the objections must be sent to the parties interested) must be made by the last buyer to the first selling broker within (3) three clear working days of the last buyer receiving tender, and the first seller shall consider this as being in time, providing tenders have been passed on without undue delay. Clause VII.—Delivery Weight.—Final deli- very on any delivery or shipment contract to be within 50 1b. of the weight contracted for, Clause VIII.—In the event of there being more than one contract subsisting between the same patties which shall be closed in pursu- ance of Clause XI. of the conditions of sale of the General Produce Brokers’ Association of London, an account shall be taken of what is due from the one party to the other in respect of such contracts, and the sum due from the one party shall be set off against any sum due from the other party, and the balance of the account and no more shall be claimed or paid on either side respectively. Clause 1X,—The selling or buying broker guarantees the solvency of his principals in all contracts for rubber unless otherwise. specified in the contract.—India Rubber Journal, Oct, 14. THE SOIL AND THE PLANT. Dr. E. J. Russell, of Rothamsted Experi- mental Stating, has a paper in ‘‘Science Pro- gress ” reviewing some recent American hypo- theses which seem to upset several established points as to soil. Dr Russell, after a. careful examination, arrives at the following conclusion which indicates the differences as well :— The outstanding differences between Whit- ney’s hypotheses and those more generally accep- ted may therefore be reduced to three ; (1) Whitney supposes all soils to be chemi- cally alike in that all are made up of the same rock material ; consequently the soil solution is the same in allcases. Other chemists, on the other hand, consider that the soil is more com- plex, containing colloidal decomposition pro- ducts and a solution which not only differs in composition in different soils but also shows _ local variations in composition in different parts of the same soil, and Magazine of the.Ceylon. Agricultural Society.—November, 1911. (2) He further supposes that variations in concentration of the soil solution have no effect on the rate of growth of plants and that in con- sequence all soilsare equally rich in plant food ; added fertilisers owe their value to other than nutritive effects. j (3) He considers that infertility must there- fore be due to other causes than lack of nutritive compounds ; dismissing considerations of natri- tion altogether, he supposes instead that infer- tility arises from the presence of toxic organic compounds, some of which at any rate may be plant excretions. We, on the otherhand, attach great importance to the nutritive functions of soil constituentsand of added fertilisers; while some of us agree that part of the infertility of ‘‘sour”’ soils may be due to toxic substances (and apparently the soils examined by Whitney and his colleagues were “ sour” soils), we can- not accept the view that} plants excrete toxic substances, There is no doubt that the work of the Soil Bureau has suffered from leaving out of consider- ation all biological changes going cn in the soil. The decomposition by micro-organisms of the residues of previous generations of plants gives rise beyond doubtto quantities of plant food, yet the tunction of this nutrient material is never considered ; instead, attention is concentrated on possible toxic substances to the exclusion of useful substances. Thus the field of view is un- duly restricted. The investigations have, however, served a very useful purpose in stimulating inquiry and they have brought home the fact that the rela- tionships between soils and plantsare complex, it is no longer possible to take the old narrow view that the soil simply supplies food to the plant; the earlier papers compelled recognition of the fact that the size of the soil particles which regulate the water and air supply is more important than their chemicalcomposition, and consequently that mechanical analysis is more useful than chemical analysis in characterising soils ; the later papers direct attention to possi- ble toxins of which we may have some in our own “sour” soils. _Wecan find much to criticise in. the details of the experiments and still more in the conclusions drawn from them ; nat infre- quently the facts themselves are in dispute. Above all we should like to'see a re-examination of the fundamental positions based on definite crucial experiments and consideration of alter- native hypotheses, But, whether further work support their hypotheses or not, Whitney, Cam- eron, Schreiner and their colleagues have made agricultural chemists re-examine their ideas on the soil, and such a reconsideration must in the end advance the subject, however troublesome ‘or ‘superfluous it may at the time appear, iS THE BANANA SEEDLESS. 1 read the article under ‘“ Acclimatisation,” by Frederick Boyle, in the Field of Aug. 19th, 1911, in which he says:—‘ All wild varieties of plantain or banana have a great stone with a kernel, , But in the cultivated form there is no stone ; only a few black specks remain for a testimony. The!seed has vanished,” When tea planting in Assam I frequently came across 485 the wild plantain in the jungle-when shooting. These bore small bunches—tive or six ta a bunch —of small red fruit, but I never noticed either stone or seed in them. Oa the other hand, there was a large variety, about 8 in. long by quite 3 in. in diameter, much esteemed and cultivated by the natives, which were full of seeds about the size of a pea, but rough in shape, more like a mangei seed, and for this reason not used by the Huropeans, though of good flavour, but rather slimy in texture.—Assam, [Thereare at least twenty species of Musa, and they are all ‘supposed to be natives of the Old World tropics. One of these, viz., I. sapientum, is represented in all tropical countries by cultivated varieties, all of which, so far as is known, are seedless. These varieties bear the same relationship to the type as the cultivated varieties of apples bear to the wild crab (Pyrus malus). The wild form or type of 4. sdpientum is said to produce seeds, but we have never seen one. Should avy of our readers have an edible fruited banana which produces seeds we would lke to receive asample of the fruit. The Chinese banana (iM. cavendishiz), known as the Canary banana, 1s.not known to produce seeds.—EpD.]—Field. Sept. 23. I notice in last week’s Field under the above heading that seedsare rarely met with in banana fruits. When I was staying in Ceylon, at Ban- darawela, in 1906, | found three seeds, in diffe- rent bananas; they were oval, black and not so large as a sweet pea seed. The banana were the small. yellow kind, and much nicerto eat than the large ones. I planted the seeds;which I returned home, but unfortunately they did not grow.—T. W. RussELt,—Ibid., Sept. 30. TEA AND COPRA TRADE OF ODESSA. Mr Consul-General C 8. Smith, reporting on Odessa for 1910, says :—The quantities of Colo- nial products imported were about the same as in 1909, Prices were in general steady, except for coffee, of which the price rose considerably on account ofthe failure of the Brazilian harvest. Coffee came mostly from Hamburg. The finer kinds are little drunk. The cheaper kinds are most asked for ; they are also replaced by cheap substitutes. Tea comes by sea from Calcutta and Colombo houses. It mostly goes in bond to Moscow. Of the copra imported itis probable that about 25,000 tons were sold in Odessa. The copra trade used formerly to be in the hands of a tew large import firms with houses in Singapore and London which were represented at Udessa by agents of high standing. The business has now passed into the hands of produce brokers in London. The oil crushers in Odessa agreed amongst themselves at the beginning of 1910 only to sign contracts containing the following clause :—‘Shipment by first steamer in (term of shipment) under through bill of lading direct or indirect for Odessa, but should the steamer be lost homewards before reaching Singapore, or arrive there later, in such event the copra to be shipped by first steamer available, provided the coprais shipped not iater than 15 days after term of contract, inthe latter case an allow- ance,of 2s,6d, per ton to be paid to buyers,” —Financier, Oct, 5. 486 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist EUROPEAN FRUITS IN THE TROPICS. The last number of the Tropical Agriculturis! contained an account of a visit paid by the Sec- retary of the Ceylon Agricultural Society toa fruit farm in Bangalore, where over a hundred acres of different kinds of European fruits, consisting of apples, grapes, plums, peas, &c., are being grown ona commercial scale, with a view to supplying the Eastern market. From all that can be gathered, the prospects are promis- sing and the success of the undertaking is likely to exert an important influence on the condi- tions under which attempts are being made to grow English fruit in the tropics. Hitherto efforts at growing European fruits in Ceylon would appear to have been carried on— if not exactly ina half-hearted way—under cir- cumstances which were hardly calculated to provide an efficient test. So far we have had amongst us, only one individual (whose skill as a horticulturist is un- fortunately lost to the island) who had any pretensions to a practical kuowledge of fruit- growing as carried on in temperate climes, and that was the late Curator of Hakgala Gar- dens, Mr. J. K. Nock, sr. The work which Mr. Nock has done inthe way of introducing and acclimatising new varieties of fruits and vegetables will always stand to his credit. With his English and West Indian experience, the late Curator brought his valuable technical knowledge into requisition tor the benefit of this Island which will always recall his genial personality with kind thoughts, and his ready willingness to help the amateur with gratitude. Ceylon has, however, never been witness to such enterprise as characterises the venture referred to above, That venture would appear tohave been begun under peculiarly happy auspices, and carried on under the supervision of particularly shrewd business men. Given a careful selection of site,an unfailing water supply, ample funds, and skilled management, the experiment in the cultivation of any crop with the smallest chances of turning out a success is hardly likely to fail except to some unexpected and unavoidable misfortune. It has to be remembered, however, that there is agreat difference between the climate of South India and that of Ceylon, for while the hillcountry of the former has a comparatively dry climate that of the latter is notoriously wet. Taking Bangalore, with an elevation of some 3,000 ft. and a rainfall of some 30 inches, we find that a good many English fruit have been grown with comparative success; while the same fruits do not thrive at the higher elevation of Nuwara Eliya owing to its humid atmosphere, But there are probably more likely places (in parts of Uva, for instance, and in Hewahetta) that have not been given the opportunity of proving their suitability. We have heard of figs fruiting in the Matale district and excellent grapes being produ- ced in Hangurankette, facts which go to indicate that given enterprise, business acumen, technical skill and capital, it isnot impossible that tem- perate fruits could be successfully raised in the Island with its variety.of climatic conditions. The most important desideratum in any venture of this kind is undoubtedly a thoroughly qualified fruit expert—one who not only knows the practical details of his art but the principles that underlie them, and could apply the latter to the varying conditions of a tropical or semi- tropical country, that could so to speak, make his plants adapt themselves to the locality in which they are being grown. One of the chief obstacles in growing temperate plants in the tropicsis to induce what is known as the dormant conditions corresponding to the period of wintering. If, as we understand, it is pos- sible to overcome this difficulty, then the pros- pect of raising English fruit must be looked upon as hopeful. As regards financial considerations we have the advantage of such fruit-growing countries as the Australian States and Califor- nia, inasmuch as while labour is infinitely cheaper, there is always a ready market and good prices for English fruit i in the tropics. THE WILD POTATO OF CHILI. Some excellent results have been obtained by Professor Heckel in the experimental cultiv- ation of the Solanum magtia, or wild potato of ° Chili, at Saint Jerome, near Marseilles. In a communication to the Academie des Sciences, the professor states that each plant produced on the average two kilogs (nearly 44 lbs.) of tubers, which are ofa violet colour. The aver- age weight of each tnber was 350 to 380 gram- mes (12 to 134 ounces). The wild potato under cultivation is very hardy, and less liable to cryptogamous diseases than the common variety grown in Europe. Specimens of every known variety of the wild potato found growing in South America, both on the sea coast as well as at high altitudes in the Andes, have been obtained for further experiments. [The Agricultural Society should te seed, —Ep, C.0.] - and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—November, 1911, NYASALAND’S PRODUCTS: TEA AND RUBBER. Cotton aNnp Tospacco LeEapInG: ‘‘ THE Bzst UPLAND STAPLE IN THE Wor.Lp.” The report on the Blue-book of Nyasaland Protectorate for 1910-11 says :— A general review of the agricultural situation shows that the past year has been most success- ful, as evinced by the largely increased export of agricultural produce, the general prosperity of planters, and the keen demand for agricul- tural Jand within transportable distance from the railway. The forward mouvement reported last year has continued. Cotton and tobacco may now be considered as the principal cultiva- tions of the Protectorate, and as likely to in- crease if transport facilities are extended, Coffee is still boing discarded in favour of cotton and tobacco, the total acreage of this crop for the year under review being only 5,6294. The season, although favourable for cotton and tobacco, was unfavourable for coffee, with the result that the total export for the past year amounted to no more than 334,161 |b., as against 748,410 lb. in the previous season. The year under review was the _ best cotton season which the Protectorate has experienced, cotton ripening late into the season, and on many estates producing the heaviest crop that has been reaped since its introduction as a European cultivation. The European acreage iucreased from 8,975 in the previous year to 12,752 for the year under re- view, whilst the crop at present being harvested covers over 23,000 acres. The exported crop, in bales of 400 lb. for 1909-10 amounted to 2,147, and for the year under review to 4,342, showing an increase of over 100 per cent. ina single sea- son. A gratifying feature is the increased in- terest which planters are now taking in seed selection. The results of the experiments carried out on the Government agricultural stations show ithe great advantage and profit of such work as is being undertaken there, Goop Quatiry Corton. The quality of the staple has been maintained, and the first-class cotton of the Protectorate shows such improvement that its valuation fluctuates more with the Egyptian crop than with the American crop asin the past. The large Egyptian crop last season made prices a little lower than in the previous season, but the top price of the season—viz., 1s per Jb—shows that Nyasaland Upland still main- tains its position as the highest-priced Upland cotton in the world. This excellent variety is be- coming thoroughly acclimatised, and its success in West Africa and Rhodesia indicates that it will become in time the most extensively-grown variety in the new cotton fields of Africa. Its special quality is its wonderfn!l adaptability to ele- vations of from 1,000 to 3,000 ft., its high degree of immunity from bacterial blight andits hardiness. The Egyptian crop on the lower river was more successful than in the previous year, as planters now understand that it is useless to attempt to grow Egyptian cotton except on the best-drained parts of plantations at elevations under 1,000 ft. 487 The naive cotton crop has risen from 220 tons to 692 tons. In several districts this in- dustry has now becomo so thoroughly estab- lished as to admit of the withdrawal of the hut tax rebate which was allowed as an incentive to native cultivators ,when the enterprise was firot introduced. The experiment of encouraging natives to apply themselves to this cultivation has proved a remarkable success in every way. Itis worthy of note that some of the native cotton from Mlanje district has sold for as much as ls. per lb. Tra PLANTATIONS. A large increase in the acreage of tea plan- tations has to be recorded, viz., from 518 to 1,037 acres. The export of tea was 42,042 lb. as against 34,601 lb. The area of tea actually in bearing, however, is still relatively small, the crop being one which requires several years to arrive at the productive stage. The success of this industry has attracted much atte..tion and interest, with the result that improved machinery for the treatment of the crop bas been imported, and considerable com- petition has arisen for land in the tea-growing protions of Mlanje district. The tobacco season has been satisfactory, although not quite so good as last year. The ac- reage under this crop is 3,274, while the export of tobacco for the year under review amounts to 1,704,637 Ib. as ccmpared with 1,084,757 lb. in the previous year. RUBBER, The acreage under rubber is still increasing (present acreage, 9,0724), and, although no es- tates are in full bearing, rubber promises well in Mlanje, West Shire, and parts of the Shire highlands. It is now proved, however, that rubber cannot be profitably cultivated in all parts of the Protectorate. Para rubber in the West Nyasa district. still continues to show much promise, and the acreage under this crop has been increased to 7264 acres in the past year. The exploitation of Landolphia parvifolia has been carefully conducted by the African Lakes Corporation, Limited. The value of this product is satisfactory—viz., 3s 9d to 4s 4d, with fine white Para quoted at 5s 24d. Good prices have led to a large increase in the export of rubber, extracted principally from wild vines, The total quantity exported durin the year under review amounts to 59,471 lb. —Financier, Oct. 28. CHINESE TEA-SEED OIL. Tea-seed oil is the name; applied to an oil expressed from the seed of the Camellia Sasan- qua. This is not the tea-tree (Camellia Thea), nor can its leaves be used. It grows principally in Honan, but is found wherever the wood-oil tree grows. The seeds are gathered in October and the extracted oil usually reaches the market in Hankow about the middle of winter. It is used by the Chinese as a cooking oil, and costs in the market from thirty-one shillings to thirty- three shillings per picul of 1334 pounds. MHan- kow’s exports of this oil to toreign countries and Chinese ports inj1909 were valued at £6,500, and during 1910 at £17,300. 488 THIRD The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist INTERNATIONAL RUBBER AND ALLIED TRADES EXPOSITION. New Yorn City, SEPTEMBER 23RD To OcroBER 3RD, 1912. JeGRAND CENTRAL PALACE 2 NEW YORK. CITY The above illustrates the New Grand Central Palace, 46th to 47th Street and Lexington Ave- nue, New York City, where Mr. Staines Man- ders has arranged for the Third International Rubber and Allied Trades Exposition, from September, 23rd to October 3rd, 1912. GROWTH IN GiIRTH OF TREES. The following table is from figures supplied by Mr Ridley, the Director of the Botanic Gar- dens, Singapore. It shows the growth in girth, at 3 feet from the base, that may be expected from a fairly and treated rubber tree. The first two years’ growth is very variable, During the next three years the girth should increase 6 in. every year. From the fifth to the 15th year the increase should be 314 in. annually, and from then on to the 20th year 2‘3 in. Close planting will’ reduce: ‘this increase materially after the 10th year, and probably before that. Too closely planted trees sooner or later cease to show any material increaso. The: figures are for trees grown in good soil without manuring and with wide planting for example, 20 by 20 feet, An individual tree Mr Ridley has measured shows at'l4 years a girth of 791n, (thisin the forest among other trees) ; another tree 32 years old is'now 124 in. in girth. A rubber tree should be: ready foritapping in its fourth or fifth year, according to the conditions. under. which itis growing :— — inches | 11th year 1st year 60 inches 66 2nd do 8 do 12th do do 8rd do 14 do 13th do 72 do 4th do 20 do 14th do 78 do 5th do 24 do 15th do 80 do 6th do 30 do 16th do 82 do 7th do 36 do 17th do 6&4 do 8th do 42 do 18th do 86 do 9th do 48 do 19th do 88 do 10th do 64 do 20th do 90 do —F. Times, Nov. 1. THE PRIZES OF PHACE. While Italy as a nation is busily pursuing the fruits of war, Turin is distributing the laurels of of peace. The awards at the Interna- tional Exhibition have just been announced, and they indicate that the very high standard attained by English exhibits has not gone un- regarded. One firm alone, Messrs. Burroughs Wellcome & Co., the manufacturing chemists. has securod no less than thirteen awards, con- sisting of eight grand prizes, two.diplomas of honour, and three gold medals. This probably constitutes.a world’s record in awards received by a single firm at an exhibition open to all nations, 7 ‘ Hb . t 4 a = . _ E v ¥ 7 Pik 7 o,348 ae won oa _ se : ee r : ' ee Che me eet Lge bee ve ; - t i ie 3 ia ro es ' : toned tf Lis A ees a | i eak { a) 2 8 " Pa 7 ‘ ' 1 7 , . : ‘ os 4 , ‘ ae hed . ts a : : ° P ff 7 tt 5 4 Fi Peay ee i a a ian a . ” . J ' i A i 2 v 7 res * ‘ : ! ee ah, 4 « * 1% ¢ a Ra . : B ; ees ‘ a 2 No * : © { S or ‘ Fi ' H t u HE. ry if f a. 1% Ps ip = 7 on 7 « t eta é 3 ry a . - i . . . i a + 1 , : a } a 4 : - : m4 4, ¢ = 2 ; : “ « ra H i i 22 ' ue : : : : t = . . : : ar a | ¢ hi 3 7 bi * ; ia « * . 4 i ." . : = i cy £4 4 4 . Prears! . : fines ad Bs A ‘ ior iy [a3 a Chak we td F vt 5 ay ‘ . 3 syne hd s fs ' ' e+ ? . ba 7 ” 1 ro ' , yf Fee , ‘ ¢ ; : Pa i a0 a é 7 oy ac , ' va aig, A : : A : X 78 pe Nea a : t ; od ir : aes ae a ‘ rey aw fee ys EV bot Me Rte a FICUS STIPULATA. Ficus stipulata, better known horticulturally as fF. repens (sometimes called ‘‘Mauritius Ivy”), is perhaps the best substitute we have in the tropics for the English ivy, which forms so delightful an adornment to gardens and country houses in Europe and other cool countries. In the tropics, where the ivy does not flourish, the want of a good wall creeper is often felt. Few walls, either of bungalows, estate buildings, churches, &c., which would not be greatly improved in appearance by tie growth of a suitable creeper. This want is suitably supplied by the plant Ficus repens, as may be seen in the accompanying illustration, better perhaps than by any other tropical plant known. The plant thrives equally well at all elevations, from sea-level to 6,000 feet,—an uncommon quality which specially commends it to favour. It is easily propygated from small cuttings of the rooting stems, and these have only to be inserted in ordinary light soil where they are intended to grow permanently. Thisshould be done in wet weather, other- wise the cuttings must be kept shaded and watered frequently uctil they strike root, which may be known by the appearance of fresh growth. Ina short time it spreads over the available surface, and it may be said to be seen atits best just before it completely covers the wall. Afterwards it should be occasionally trimmed with a hedge shears, clipping off any straggling ends of branches, &e. This plant is remarkable from the fact that although a perfect creeper, it belongs to a genus which is usually characterized by large trees or shrubs. Familiar examples of the family are the Fig (Ficus carica), the Banyan, and the Rambong rubber trees—ficus bengalensis and Ficus elastica respactively. Ficus repens occasionally bears an abundance of fig-like hard green fruits, which are not.edible. The plant is considered to be a native of China and Japan, but is very similar to, if not identical with, Ficus Thwaitesii of Ceylon. H. &. MACMILLAN. pie Ss dial TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST MAGAZINE OF THE CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. Von. XXXVII, COLOMBO, DECEMBER 1d5rzx, 1911, No. 6. With this number the period during which the present writer has edited this journal comes to an end, and he has to express his grateful thanks for the hearing that he has received even when advancing opinions contrary to those of most of his readers. He gives up his connection with the local Agricultural Society with regret. The Society is doing good work for the people of Ceylon, even though the shortly approaching agricultural millen- nium, which was hailed upon its first foundation, has not yet made its ap- pearance. A source of great satisfaction to the writer is that the move for which he began to agitate as soon as the Society was formed has now become an accom- plished fact, inso far as the Ordinance allowing for the establishment of Credit ‘Societies has become law. Until the villager is freed or nearly freed from the clutches of debt he cannot progress in agriculture proper, and the only way in which as yet this freedom has been found is by means of the Credit Societies so successful in Europe and elsewbere. Agitation for such societies was begun at about the same time in India as in Ceylon, but more quickly came to fruition, and now these societies are spreading wonderfully there and making a great difference in local affairs. So much have they grown and so far taken hold of the villager that the local money lenders are showing a desire to invest their money in them, Once let these societies make a good start in Ceylon, and set to work a young and energetic organizer who shall devote his time to working them up, and a change will have to be recorded in local agriculture. Until that happy period dawns, progress must be confined to those who have money, and they will steadily go further and further ahead of the poorer goiyas, a result not to be desired in a well- governed country. All classes should progress equally, and while the capital- ist is progressing in agricultural methods, the poorer man should at any rate be progressing upwards to that point where he too may begin to do so. : ES) a GUMS, RESINS, SAPS AND EXUDATIONS, —_—™ hoa , “PARA VERSUS CEYLON.” (From the India Rubber World, Vol. XLIV., No. 6, September 1, 1911.) One Of the principal factors in estimat- ing the future of rubber is the prospect- ive increase in the Oriental supply. In his interesting review of the subject (in the Portuguese language), ‘Para versus Ceylao,”’ Senhor J. A. Mendes, of Para, has grouped a number of statistical returns, extending the scope of his observations so as to include the Asiatic yield in general. WORLD'S PRODUCTION AND CONSUMP- TION. Taking the natural starting point, the record of the world’s production and consumption during the five years preceding 1910, the following result is shown :— Production. Consumption. Tons. Tons. 1905 69.507 65,727 1905 67,918 71,671 1907 68.646 64,628 1408 67,031 67.081 1909 69,3872 70,075 Production and consumption thus kept on about a level during this quinquen- nial period. Calling the annual production for 1909, 70,000 tons, its sources are shown to be approximately :— Tons. South America co 40,000 Central America, ete. ee 12,800 ,Ceylon, Malay States, ete.... -6,500 Africa gee 10,700 Total tons 70,000 While a normal or moderate degree of increase might be witnessed trom other sources, Sevhor Mendes gives promin- ence to that anticipated from Asia. ASIATIC EXPORTS OF RUBBER. Although the 1909 amount quoted is somewhat less than that already shown in the general summary, the general statistical bearing ot the figures below is not affected, asembracing the aggregate exports of rubber from Ceylon, Malay States, Sumatra, Java, India, etc. Tons 1905 145 1906 510 1907 Ae Me, 1,010 1908 ie de 1,800 1909 3,600 1910 (estimated) ... 8,000 of view, mcre recent years is the direct result of the development of planting. This view of the case is supported by the state- ment that there are now in the Malay States and Ceylon over 600,000 acres, planted with more than 21,000,000 Hevea trees, almost in a productive condition to the relative maturity of part of which is due the augmented figure of rubber exports, FUTURE OF THE ASIATIC RUBBER SUPPLY. Passing from the field of statistical record to that of estimate, it is not surprising to find divergence of views as to the inerease to be looked for within the next four or five years in Asiatie exports, while the general prospect of a larger Hastern yield dues not seem to have been questioned. Two pertinent estimates are quoted in this connection to Senhor Mendes, that of Mr. Ruther- - ford (a gentleman largely interested in EKistern plantations) being to the following effect :— Tons. 1911 8,100 1912 12,100 1913 17.040 1914 22,670 1915 27.200 30,620 Far in excess of these figures is the anticipation expressed by Sir John An- derson (when High Commissioner of the Federated Malay States), that by 1916 the Asiatic production would amount to. 70,000 tons; that being, it will be noticed, just the amount of the world’s yield in 1909. Applying the last-named estimate to aforecast of the year 1915-1916, and contrasting the result thus anticipated, with the record for 19(9, the following comparison is established :— Production. Estimate. 1909 tons. 19 151/916 tons. South America 40.000 43,780 Orient Ba 6,500 71,940 Africa, Central America, ete. 23,500 26,522 Total tons 70.000 142,242 Estimated increase of product 72,242 tons. COMPARISON OF BRAZILIAN AND ASIATIC QUALITIES, While the question at issue has been mainly treated from a statistical point an interesting and lengthy — quotation from a recent article in the “ Bulletin de lV’ Association des Plan-— me ‘Deceeer, 1911.) teurs de Caoutchoue,” gives impartial prominence to a comparison drawn be- tween the two classes of rubber. It points out that there is no chemical reason for preferring one or the other; both being of the same botanical family and pro- duced under climatic conditions of a similar character. Moreover, it is added, there is no more difference between them than may be found between the product of different xegions of the same country, On the other hand, Senhor Mendes, while giving impartial prominence to the foregoing extract, urges the uniform character of the Para article and the confidence in its use, which manufac- turers feel after lcng years of experience. _ Reference is likewise made to the fluctu- ations which had up to the time of Writing occurred in the relative values of the two descriptions. These differ- ences have, however, been more or less adjusted by later market develupments. Hence the statistical aspect of the case, apart from that of quality, calls for the prominent attention it has received. THE QUESTION OF CONSUMPTION. From figures already quoted, it will be seen that consumption in 190) was 70,075 tons, as against production 69,372 tous. Whether the surplus to be figured upon is 70,000 tons or a smaller amount at this point, the question of consump! ion natur- ally arises and has been dealt with by Senhor Mendes. Taking for the future the basis of a 5 per cent. yearly advance on rate for 1909, he estimates consump- tion on the following scale :— Tons. 1909 70,075 ~ 1910 73,573 LYLL 77,258 1912 81,121 1913 85,177 1914 89,436 1915 Uo ah 93,908 Deducting from the estimated produc- tion 142,242 tons, the estimated consump- tion 93,908 tons, there would still remain in 1915 and 1916 a surplus production of 48,334 tons, should Sir Johu Anderson’s anlicipations be realized, or of 12,C64 tons on the kasis of Mr. Rutherford’s predictions. The Asiatic supply is couse- quently the dominant factor in the situation. ESTIMATED DECREASE IN AMAZONIAN PRODUCTION. Of more immediate interest is the estimate by Senhor Mendes of the general result for the year 1910 and 1911, shown as follows in almost the last page of his work: — 491 Saps and Exudations. 1909-1910. 1910-1911. Tons. Tons. World’s production ... 70,000 70,000 | Increase from the East 4,000 74,000 Decrease from the Ama- zon (10% of 1906 amouut as) 3,918 70,000 70,087 Consumption ... 70,000 73,500 Shortage in produc- tion estimated 1910- 1911 nee i 3,413 Against this shortage would come the excess in Para stock, which was on January 1, 1911, 5.852 tons as compared witb 3,278 tons a year earlier. EFFECT OF ASIATIC INCREASE UPON BRAZILIAN RUBBER. With reference to general prospects of the Brazilian product, it is remarked that the rubber from some seringaes or plantations may be exported at a profit, Owing toits special quality, while the contrary may be the case with that from other locations, where labour is searce aud dear, should values decline through Asiatic competition, or should there be a reduction in demand con- currently with a large and increasing supply of the article. In these last ex- pressions, Senhor Mendes has answered the question propounded by bimself, of the probable ocurecome of present deve- lopments in the Ovient. The final result will be decided by consumption. BRITISH GUIANA AND INDIA- RUBBER. By THE EpiTor ‘‘or THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD.” (From the India Rubber World, Vol. XLIV., No. 5, August 1, 1911.) THIRD LETTER, Population of British Guiana.—Coolies, —The “Sea Devil” and the Hoatzin.— Gold and Diamonds.—The ‘*‘ Deadly Ciimate,”—Snake Stories.—Early Plant- ings of Hevea.—Experimental Plantings by the Avricultural Department.—Rain- fall.—Shipping Rubber.— Packing Seeds. —The Balata Syndicate. Considering its area British Guiana is very sparsely populated. The latest census record is about 300,000 souls, one- third of them East Indian Coolies. There are but two cities of note, Geurge- town and New Amsterdam. Thecountry Gums, Resins, is really new and so full of opportunities that one wonders at the way the world has passed it by. The coolies who are brought in as labourers on the large estate are good workers and very tract- able and polite, The stranger passing through the coolie quarters of George- town is quite likely to be greeted with: ‘Salaam Papa”—nota claim of blood relationship, but just their deferential way of saying ‘‘ good day.” Their women are slender, black eyed, well-mannered and gorgeously dressed. For example, one wore a scarlet hat, pale pink waist, deep pink belt, white skirt, green scarf, brown — stockings, black shoes. A ‘‘ real lady,” dressed just like the European as she firmly believed. The other labourersare native and West Indian negroes, and they area uniformly capable, willing lot of men. Like Northern Brazil, British Guiana has the jaguar, the tapir and _ the manatee, it has the great bird eating spiders, its big rivers swarm with fish, its forests with game, its jungles with snakes, great and smali. It also has strange creatures of its own. It was on a Guiana river that one night I heard a “‘sea devil” crash down on the surface of the water, and thereafter listened to tales of its enormous size, of its habit of enwrapping divers in its great side fins and feeding on them as they drowned. Then there is the Hoatzin, earth’s only known link between bird and reptile—a bird whose young are hatched out four-footed, but who turn into bipeds, their forelegs shedding claws and sprouting feathers as they mature. There are the gold fields, the diamond fields, and the great unexplored reaches of forest and savannah that are full of fascination—a paradise for hunter, botanist, naturalist and yes health seeker. There has been no yellow fever since 1881, and then it was brought in from another country. There is malaria, but one need not acquire it, if eareful, and this I would affirm even to the distinguished lecturer, -who addressing a New York audience on Brazil and the Guianas. summarized the latter country thus: ‘‘Along here we pass the country known as British Guiana, which has a climate so hot and deadly, that no white man can live there.” As I pen these lines in New York the thermometer stands at 104 degs, Fahr., with hundreds of deaths and. prostrations. Personally I yearn for the safe warmth. the cool nights and the gentle healthful climate of Guiana, Speaking ot snakes there are many in the Guianas, and most of the planters can show the visitor some very sizable 492 skins. I could not, however, learn of any white man who had perished from snake bite. The Government keeps a careful record of all deaths, even of — the negroes who go far into thein- ~ terior to labour atthe gold diggings. - In looking over the records for a number of years, 1 found but one case’ of death by snake bite. Curiously enough the — most frequent cause of death among those men seemed to be ‘‘accidental ~~ drowning.” : To even see a snake one usually hasto hunt for it. It is easy to find snake i stories, however, and those told by the ~ whites are only a bit less imaginative = than those of the blacks. A friend of mine, Wilfred Joubert, who has y done the Guianas as thoroughly as P any one, lay in his hammock in the bush ~ one night and listened to the following story which is typical. The teller was a big-eyed Guiana negro. His audience a Heuelinns sy believing crowd of his own colour. ‘“Yo know Massa Johnson, we a go ride one marnin top he horse en he tenk ~— he go Berbice, but he see one big ting across he path dat he no ken go. He look en he look and he see a one big snake! A true, a snake belly a so big a horse nocan leap em, and he ,sit on he horse all day till 4 o'clock ana snake no pass yet so den he turn back and he get he people for come and look, but when we get back a snake a gone.” Those who believe that any tree - flourishes best in its own home, or at least in a country that has the same sort of climate and soil should approve of British Guiana for the Hevea brasi- liensis. It is Northern Brazil over again. — Humid, tropical, with a long and short wet season with a coastal soil really brought down by the Amazon with fauna and flora almost identical, it it— is not the home of the Para rubber tree, it certainly is next door it. It was fully sixteen years ago that the first seeds of Hevea brasiliensis were brought into British Guiana, and later F plants from the first lot of seeds were —— sent to different parts of the Colony. The result is that there are a few old trees in existence there. About six years ago the Botanic Gardens in Georgetown began in earnest to import seeds, and up to the present time have raised and sold to planters nearly 200,000 plants of this species. ; ie In addition to this very important — distribution, land has been cleared and ; planted at the-Government Experiment Stations at Christianburg, Bonasika, Onderneemig, Pomeroon and Issororo, — ee a ee ee ee ee / ; Ducemper, 1911.) These p : é ‘thousand trees, in every variety of soil. plantings represent several A earetul record of growth is kept and the future planter will thus have a remarkable fund of exact information to draw from before selecting land and putting in seed. The Department of Agriculture is nothing if not thorough, and it has not only planted Para rubber at its own stations, but at the stations of the Department of Lands and Mines as well, To-day, therefore, at Turmaturmai, Itaki, Arrawak-Matope, Arakka and Towakaima Para trees are growing, and ‘it has been established that the upper reaches of the great rivers and the interior forest land are well adapted for Para cultivation. Planters have also taken, of late, con- siderable interest in Para planting. On the sugar estates many experiments have been tried, and on the higher reaches the trees are doing very well. Already one estate on the Demerara river has produced Para at the rate of 3 lbs. per tree, tapping only three months of the year. The coagulating method is a compro- mise between that in usein the Middle East and in Brazil. It consists in coagul- ating by acetic acid and then smoking, only instead of the Urucuri palm nut they use the fruit of the Cokerite palm. The department estimates that about 1,000 acres are now planted to Hevea bi asiliensis, and this area is very rapidly being increased. They estimate also for drained lands a cost of about $70 per acre for the first year and thereafter $25 per year for upkeep. On higher land the initial cost is $48 per acre. The rainfall in the colony is all that _ could be desired for rubber planting, and one can get it in almost any quantity desired and well distributed. It varies from 92 inches on the Essiquibo river to 268 inches in the North-West District. The shipping of rubber from British Guiana is surrounded by a certain amount of red tape that makes some of the new arrivals rather restive. The course of producer is about this. The shipper goes to the Custom House and gets a supervisor to weigh the lot. Receiving a memo of the weight he pro- ceeds to the Lands and Mines Office to get permission to release the rubber and also to secure a royalty blank. Then follows a visit to the Treasury Depart- ment to pay the royalty. The receipt for payment is then taken back to the Oustom House for endorsement. Then come babe a i bills which must be officially signed, After this is the secur- 498 * _the steamship company. ‘and Saps and Exudatwons. ing of the consular invoice and the submission of all of the documents of Then follows the wait untilthe cargo is discharged before the bill of lading is sigred, and then the rush to mail it by the same steamer that carries the rubber. is true that few errors occur, and the duty onrubber is very low, only two cents per pound, butif one official could be empowered to do all of the signing, the steamship companies would unbend a bit, it would greatly facilitate matters and be much appreciated by rubber exporters. Professor Harrison told me of a very amusing instance of planters’ generosity in the Middle Hast, He had sent for some Hevea seeds, giving the most minute directions as to their packing and shipment. For example, he speci- fied a parcel’s post package of eleven pounds, containing 50U seeds not closely packed with just a little ventilation. ete. The shipper, however, found that the postal cost for 800 seeds would be just the same, so he put in the extra 800, soldered them up tight to _ prevent “shucking”? and sent them along. OF course they fermented, and when they were Opened drove everybody away by their fearful stench. I forgot to mention in writing of the Sapium Jenmani, that Professor Harri- son in experimenting finds that the latex develops resin whenthe tree is tapped continuously. The first and second tapping give excellent rubber, the third is slightly sticky, whiJe the fourth and fifth are decidedly resinous. Reterring again to balata, the whole business has been beautifully system- atized since the formation in 1910 of the Consolidated Rubber and Balata Estates, Limited. This Company acquired 387 balata licenses and has greatly increased the output. There are some half-dozen lesser companies operating in balata, and about twenty that are really planting Para rubber, with prospects of a great many more in the near future, THE RUBBER INDUSTRY AND THE EXHIBITION, A RECORD OF WONDERFUL PROGRESS. (From the Indian Trade Journal, Vol. XXII., No, 278, July 27, 1911.) Surely it seldom falls to the lot ofa writer to discuss within the brief period of three years two more interesting exhibitions than those devoted to the use and growth of rubber in all its phases at Olympia in 1908 and at Isling- Gums, Resins, ton in 1911. The first International Rubber Exhibition was in many ways unique in character, and served as, an introduction to the public of this coun- try of one of the most remarkable veget- able productsin the world. It is true that a rubber exhibition had already been held in Ceylon in 1906 under the auspices of Sir Henry A. Blake, the then Governor, with very important results, but it may well be affirmed that the dis- play over which he presided at Olympia: three years ago came asa surprise to all but the very few interested in rubber, either as merchants, planters, or manu- facturers. We ventured to express our wonder, after a careful tour through the Exhibition of 1908, how it was that man- kind in the past had ever been able tu exist without India-rubber, and _ the more we reflect upon this question, and see all the varied and useful manufac- tures brought together on this second occasion, the more firmly do we feel convinced that ‘‘life without ‘rubber’ would indeed bea blank,” at any rate ina civilized community. It seems a far cry from the rude elastic “cum ball” of the Indians in Haiti, at the time of first landing of Columbus, to the gaily-painted toy in our English nurseries, but within this compass we have the whole range of the history of india-rubber brcugbt vividly before us. Many notable inventions had to be perfected before the crude rubber of the savage became transformed into the vuleanized substance used for our modern playthings, and these evolutions are fully elucidated at the present Ex- hibition. It may confidently be claimed that the entire industrial development of the use of india-rubber has become possible throngh the invention of Good- year in the United States in 1839 and of Hancock in this country in 1844. The discoveries of these two men were appar- ently quite independent, but they enabled rubber, treated with sulphur, | to beemployed for a wide range of use- — ful purposes, and practically laid the foundation for the whole modern system of using this material. We find, moreover, that within the_ brief period of a decade mighty changes have been effected in the sources of our rubber supplies andin the methods of preparing the raw substance for use, eultivated rubber threatening to take the place of the wild forest trees former- ly employed. Only a few months before the opening of the previous exhibi- tion of London the rubber trade expe- ‘yienced one of the most severe crises ‘ever known in its history, and the value of the best rubber from the Amazon 494 [Dace district was reduced by approximately 50 per cent. This was said to be caused by financial depression in the United States of America, which country was always a large buyer of the raw mate- rial. Then came about the formation of numerous plantation companies in the Straits Settlements, Ceylon, Southern India, and throughout the Middle Hast followed by the truly wonderful ‘‘ rubber boom,” during whick prices of the raw materia] reached five times the value at the period of the former crisis. It can- not be said that the increased price of rubber was responsible for the move- mentin favour of planting the Hevea. Exporters had long prejicted the speedy exhaustion of the South American and African sources of supply, and almost at the same time rumours were rife con- cerning the profitable nature of the yield from rubber plantations. Com- panies tollowed one another in quick succession, in whose prospectuses hopes were held out of wonderful gains to be derived in the not distant future by the judicious rubber planter. Some of theassurances of the company promoter were indeed magnificent, but it soon transpired that profits of 200 and even 800 per cent. were being realiz-d by — those who hid been early in the field in the rubber planting movement. Then the publie *‘féll over one another’ in their eagerness to invest in the new Golconda with the result that estates, good, bad and indifferent, were sold for rubber plantations, many of them at greatly inflated prices. Rubber concerns quickly became fashionable, and there were few among the investing public who failed to secure shares in some ™ company or other—sometimes with dis- astrous results. As Sir Henry Blake truly states in his introduction to the catalogue of the present Exhibition, many millions of pounds have been invested in rubber since 1908, and it is not difficult to believe that the shareholders in the new — companies will be disposed to learn all that they ean about the product upon ‘which they have staked so much wealth, and about the machinery used in its manufacture. In the various collections brought to- gether in the Agricultural Hall it becomes possible to study the behaviour of the latex from the moment it flows from the incision in the tree stem down to the time when, in the form of sheets, | cakes, or blocks, it leaves the plantation for shipment to the manufacturer in some far-off land ; then to trace its con-. version into vulcanized rubber for use j Z gelatinous 4 DECEMBER, 1911] 495 in a thousand different ways; to see the finished article as it issues from the mould or the hydraulic press; and lastly, to study the methods used in testing it andin ascertaining its value forindustrial purposes. The machinery employed in the different stages of the manutacture possess many features of interest, and it will be asource of some surprise to find how widely the growth of rubber has become dispersed in many different quarters of the world, and to study the maps relating to this subject. It will be possible from these maps to obtain some general idea of the distri- bution of the different varieties of trees from which rubber is obtained and to see where each species preponderates. In order to aid the general reader to obtain good information of the present state of the rubber industry, a series of articles by some of the leading experts has been brought together. Thus Dr. Philip Schidrowitz deals with the chemistry of rubber, both raw and vulcanized, and he indicafes the lines on which it has been attempted to produce rubber synthetically by means of isoprene, He also discusses the various uses of waste rubber and the method in which it is prepared for re-manufacture. In connection with the attempt to prepare rubber by chemical means, which has always been held in terrorem over the heads of the rubber planters, it is interesting to note that in the present display some specimens are shown of isoprene derived from starch, sugar and even sawdust. The very volatile liquid thus obtained is then condensed by boiling under pressure for three days, when a certain proportion of material said to be pure ecaoutchouc separates out, and it is claimed that by tkeaddition of enzymes to the substance thus prepared it be- comes possible to manufacture the synthetic rubber there on view, which will, it is said, vuleanize well and possesses all the properiies of the sub- stance prepared from the latex of plants. In an article’ on ‘‘The Rubber Indus- try,’contributed by Mr.Herbert Wright, the question of future supplies of the raw materialis fully investizated. and some account is given of the multi- farious uses to which rubber is now applied. Mr. Wright, who had very large experience on the spot, deals with the new plantations in Malaya and Ceylon and their yielding capacity, and he shows that great changes are imminent in the balance of power in the rubber market. Brazil and Africa, from which such large proportions of rubber have been derived in times past, will ifs Saps and Hyudations: shortly have to yield the premier place to the plantation rubber, while Liver- pool will ere long become a port of secondary importance in the rubber trade as compared with London, which may possibly have to deal with 3,000. tons of rubber monthly in the near future. A correspondent with intimate know- ledge of the Stock Exchange gives his views on the position and prospects of the rubber companies, and takes a hope- ful view of the situation. A valuable article by Professor Robert Wallace deseribes certain of the diseases and pests to which rubber plantations are subject, and his observations deserve careful consideration of the professional rubber planter. It will be seen that most of these foes tothe rubber estate are the outcome of careless clearing. Some interesting and graphic accounts are given of rubher collecting in Brazil and in the Amazon district by an authority who has spent many years. in the country, and who is able to recount from actual experience the difficulties encountered by the Seringueiro and the troubles of the estate owner. On the subject of the new method of obtaining gutta-percha from the leaf instead of the trunk of the Isonandra gutta, sone facts are given on the authwrity of Dr. Tromp de Haas, the able Superintend- ent.of the Government plantations at Tjipetir, in Java. It is claimed that by this plan of making use of the leaves a very much larger quantity of gutta- percha can be secured from each acre of plantation, and that the system is less liable to cause injury to the tree than the former process of tapping. Guayule rubber, obtaired from a smali bush or shrub covering vast areas in- Northern Mexico and Texas, forms the subject of a special article in which a full account is given ot the growth of the Guayule plant and the mode in which the rubber is secreted which differs essentially from that of nearly all other known descriptions of that substance. Special consideration is devoted to the mechanical testing of rubber, to the use of rubber as a mate- rial for street paving, and tomany other matters in relation to this suoject which are now attracting puble attention. A full description has also been prepared of the Exhibition and of the collections brought together by the different rubber-producing countries, with notes on the conferences in which the expert authorities deputed by the various Governments have taken part. A remarkable feature is the extent to which the support of Governments of Gums, Resins, : 406 \ rubber-producing countries has been accorded to this Exhibition, and the large expenditure which has. been undertaken by these Governments in order that the conditiocs surrounding cultivation and preparation of the pro- duct shall be worthily presented, There is also presented the advantage of seeing the exhibits of Brazil and British Malaya, of Ceylon and India, and the Dutch Colonies and other countries side by side, and this has facilitated the work of those who desire to make comparisons of the manner in which the industry is conducted in various parts of the world. In a special article dealing with the Exhibition an account is given of the present position and the prospects of the rubber industry in the old growing districts, and in those territories, many of them within the British Empire, where rubber has only recently been grown. In addition, arrangements have been made for daily demonstrations of various phases of the work, in order that those who are unable to visit rubber- growing countries, or are unacquainted with the details of manufacture, may follow the sequence of the work from the earliest stages until the finished product is ready for the market. The decision to take advantage of the presence in London of a large num- ber of those interested in rubber to hold an International Conference was a wise one. This Conference has been attended by planters, merchants, and manufac- turers, and the opportunity they have afforded for the discussion of questions relating to the treatment of the raw rubber and for the various methods of its preparation for the market cannot fail to produce important results. Itis only by means of meetings of this character, “where all those who are interested in the rubber industry may have an opportunity for a free inter- change of ideas, that real and perman- ent progress can be effected. It is hoped that by these means the value and importance of the display at the Agricultural Hall may be emphasiz- ed, and that the main facts relating to the rubber industry may be brought more prominently to the notice of the public. RUBBER. «. 71) x THe LewA METHOD OF TAPPING CEARA RUBBER, (From the Agricultural Journal of the Mozambique Company, Vol. 1, No. 2, June, 1911.) Very considerable areas have been planted with Ceara rubber (Manihot Glaziovit) in this Territory from time to time. The trees grow well even at Beira in sand, but very little success, if any, has attended the attempts in extraction of the rubber on a commercial scale, although the tree has been in cultivation in this Territory for the last sixteen years. It therefore appeared desirable that aseries of experiments in tapping should be conducted in order to prove, once and for all, whether the Ceara tree can be profitably grown in this country. Accordingly, as mentioned in thelast issue of the Journal, the Mozambique Company has initiated a series of experiments at two of its Ceara plantations, viz., Tambarara and Chibabava. At both these properties different systems of tapping are being followed, in order to decide the method of extraction most suitable to the tree in this country. One of these is known as the Lewa method, which was first. discovered about ten years ago by a planter named Kohlerin German East Africa, and is named after the Lewa plantation near Tanga. As this system has been successfully and almost ex- clusively employed in German Hast Africa for the last ten or eleven years, a description of the method, it is thought, may be of interest to those possessing Ceara plantations in this Territory. The Ceara treeis of a different nature to Para, aud the methods of tapping Para by excision of the bark have not, as arule, been found successful in the ease of Ceara. The Ceara tree has a thinner and softer cortex, and its removal by paring isa more difficult matter and requires very great care in the operation. The knives even in the best condition often tear pieces | of the bark away and leave the wood exposed, damaging the tree. Further, in most parts of Hast Africa the latex does not flowso freely as in certain other countries, and without the use of dilute ammonia only approx- imately 50 % of the latex can be collected in liquid form, in some cases not so — much, the balance coagulating on the tree in the cuts. The Lewa method of incision therefore appears betteradapted to the physical nature of the tree than ~ the various methods of excision followed at al 7 ri tens ie) . Uk oh Rea MGR ZA a i be a oh AA Se ae j. . ‘DECEMBER, 1911.] Sie : with Para. The accompanying shows a young Ceara tree having been tapped by the Lewa method. _ The tree is fit for tapping when tha rough and papery outer bark has been removed. If this hasinot been recently done, the surface may contain dirt con- veyed up the tree by little ants, so itis therefore advisable for the tapper to earry astiff scrubbing-brush for the pur- pose of cleaning the surface. The portion of the tree to be tapped is then painted over witha weak acid solution—either acetic, citric, carbolic or fluoric acid. The juice of citrus fruits, such as limes, lemons or oranges, or seeds of the baobab tree soaked in water will also serve the punpose ; but clean solutions only should e employed and absolute cleanliness practised throughout. In the portion to be tapped almost point-like incisions should be made, and the latex oozes out and flows down and coagulates in thin ribbons onthe bark. (See Illustration.) * These incisions should be made 4 in. apart, as each incision drains the latex from lin. to 2in. in every direction trom the wound. An ordinary pruning knife is suitable, but every care must be taken that the incisions do not reach the cambium layer;a very narrow chisel, or a fiattened bradaw! will also serve the purpose; but it is better to use a knife witha guard to prevent the incisions being made too deep, If the latex does not coagulate quickly the acid solutionis not strong enough. In damp weather the acid will be required to be stronger than in cold weather. The requisite strength will soon be found from experience. Formerly, when the system was first started in German Hast Africa, the rub- ber was rolled off the tree into round balls. It followed, of course, that particles of bark and dirt became mixed with the rubber, and the product was consequently of poor quality. Latterly, however, this method has been improved upon, and instead of rolling the rubber into a ball it is now rolled off from the tree on to a small wooden roller (see wlustration)* in such a way as to form a sheet when cut open from the roller lengthways. The latter method is a great advance on themethod of collect- ingin the form of balls, as the tapper can from time to time dip the roller into a pail of water and wash off particles of bark and dirt, and subsequently put the sheet through a washer. The tapper should be provided with a rough serubbing-brush, acid and a small hand whitewash-brush, for applying the * Not reproduced. . 68 497 ‘until the sheets Saps and Hxudations. acid, a wooden roller about 6 in. long by 2} in. ia diameter, anda _ pail or calabash of clean water. In addition to the tapper it is advisable to havea second boy to follow him to collect the rubber, for if too many trees are tapped at a time the rubber from the first trees will not beso easy to rolloff. When rolling the ribbons off they should be distributed over the roller as evenly as possible. It is desirable that the sheets. should not be too thick, so the rubber should be removed at intervals accord- ing to the desired thickness, The size of the sheets would vary, of course, according to the size of the roller used. It is desirable that the sheets should be of uniform thickness and size, so the rollers should be all the same size. The rubber should not be exposed to light more than is possible, so whenever the roller isnotin use it should be kept ina pail of water, and the sheets that have been collected should also bekept in water and brought infrom the plant- ation twice a day, after the morning and evening tapping, The sheets should then be at once thoroughly washed by passing through a wooden roller or washer. They should be first immersed in hot water at about 170° Fahr. for about 10 or 15 minutes and then taken out and put through the roller. This process should be repeated are perfectly clean. They should then be placed in a wooden tub of water containing 5 % of formalin, and remain there from one to two hours. They are then ready to be laid outin a drying or smoking house. If cleanliness is practised throughout and the rubber thoroughly washed, a good marketable product will be the result. The Ceara tree gives forth its latex more freely at night and in the very early morning, so tapping operations should be commenced asearly in the morning as it is possible to see, and discontinued in sunny. weather in the middleof the day, being resumed again in the afternoon or evening. The Ceara tree takes a period of rest every year in the dry season and losesits leaves; it should then never be tapped. With the Ceara there should be two tapping periods ayear; the first after the rains and the second after the dry season, when the trees have revived and broken into new leaf. In the next issue of the Jowrnal itis proposed to follow up this article with an account of other methods of tapping which are being followed at Tambarara and Chibabava. It is yet too early to give an opinion on the relative merits of the methods under trial, but the Lewa Gums, Resins, method has been dealt with first as being the one which is most likely to suit the physical nature of the Ceara tree, and also for the reason that itis one of the simplest and most inexpensive methods of collection ; consequently it is hoped it may prove to be the best system to follow in this Territory. Itis true that the rubber cannot be prepared quite so clean as that collected in liquid torm and appearing in biscuits, but at the same time the cheaper cost of collec- tion is likely to far more than compen- sate for the higher price the biscuits may realise, and it should also be remembered that it is difficult in this country to collect by any of the inci- sion methods more than 50% of the latex in liquid form. A brief reference to the history of Ceara in German East Africa may be of interest to planters in this Territory, seeing that the rapidly-extending cultiv- ation in that country is due entirely to the discovery and adoption of the Lewa method. Ceara was cultivated , in German East Africa at Tanga and Dar- es-Salaam between the years 1890 and 1900, but the results were very disap- pointing, and its cultivation was about to be given up when Kohler discovered in 1900 the method which has been the subject of this article. This method was generally adopted, and the cultiv- ation of Ceara rapidly increased. In 1902 there were about 300,000 trees planted out; to-day there is said to be over 8,000,000 trees in cultivation. There appears no apparent reason why this method of tapping should not be equally successfully employed in this Territory as it has been in German Kast Africa. NOTES AND COMMENTS. By RupoueH D. ANSTEAD, Planting Expert. (From the Planters’ Chronicle, Vol. VI.; No. 88, September 28, 1911.) Ceara Seed Oil and Poonac.—The following reports or samples of the oil obtained from Ceara seed in Coorg and the residuary poonac have been kindly forwarded by Mr. W. H. Harrison, the Government Agricultural Chemist ati Coimbatore :— ‘“‘Ceara seed oi] was examined and reported upon by Fendler and Kuhn in 1905-06, the results being published in ‘¢Chemische Centralblatt, 1906, Part I., pages 768-769. 498 “From the analytical value obtained, ¥ this oil would appear to be a drying oil, similar in character to candle-nut, saf- flower, Poppy seed, and Niger seed oils, It can therefore be used as a substitute for linseed oil in certain directions, and hence could possibly be used in the manutacture of paints and varnishes. — Other uses would be as a burning oil and the eee of soaps (probably soft soaps). S ‘The taste of the samples forwarded — would probably prevent its use for culin- ary purposes, but this would probably disappear on suitably refining the oil. ‘“‘1f the oil could be produced in a large quantity and ata low cost, the best plan would be to enter into communic- ation with oil merchants at home who would be able to advise if there was any opening for its extended use in the arts and manufactures,” Ceara Seed Poonac :— Per cent. Moisture 10°96 Organic matter 67:05 Sand x 3°95 > Soluble mineral matter 18°04 Total 100:00 Containing Nitrogen 1°72 - 5 Phosphoric Acid (P2O05) 1:96 4 Potash (K> 0)... (19° Remarks.—The cake is of very low nitrogen content, containing only about one-fourth that of ground-nut cake, and one-third that of neem cake, and its market value is therefore proportionate- ly less. It can however be utilized by mixing with other manures rich in Nitrogen, as the organic matter it con- tains will be useful in producing humus.” Hevea Seed Oil and Poonac.—Grenier’s Rubber News of 2nd September contains a letter from Messrs. Walter Graham & Co. of Greenwich, England, stating that undecorticated Hevea seed was found to contain 20% of oil of drying nature which they valued at £28 per ton. The residual poonac had the following analysis :— Moisture 11°52 Oil 6:08 Albuminoids Ba 15°31 Carbohydrates, w&e.... 31°97 Indigestible Fibre 32°54 2-58 * 100-00 2°46 Mineral matter Containing Nitrogen — banana. pas apeiron Bile Pate 5 = : - Decumpmr, 1911.) It will be noted that the samples ‘manufactured by Messrs. Peirce, Leslie & Co. last March gave a bigger yield of oil than this, and a better poonac on analysis. (See P, C., Vol. VI., p. 122.) PLANTER’S PAPERS. V.—HEVEA RUBBER WooD AS FUEL. (From the Planters’ Chronicle, Vol. VI., No, 40, October 7, 1911.) Mr. H. B. Kirk, the manager of Periyar Rubber Estate, has sent the fol- lowing note for publication :— ‘‘ BXPERIMENT OF BURNING CUT RUBBER TREES versus JUNGLE WOOD.” The rubber trees were cut down one month ago, and with dry weather since the wood is fairly dry. The jungle wood is old dry wood. One yard of rub- ber firewood weighed out 863 lbs. against one yard of well-dried jungle wood weight 721 lbs. “The yard of jungle wood lasted eleven hours in my drier, 2.e., for a whole day’s work, while the yard of rubber fuel lasted seven hours only, and we had to use rather over a third of a yard of ~ Ps 499 Fibres. this fuel extra to get through the whole day’s work. The temperature of the drier was kept steady on both days. Therubber fuel makes far more flame, and in consequence burns far quicker with no special extra heating: powers. “The rubber fuel is far easier to cut, and this consideration would make the cost of the two fuels about equal, and there is no doubt that it will be advant- ageous to get rid of all trees which are lying about the ground after thinning out is done, also it may help to solve difficulties over shortage of fuel for a time. ‘During the eleven hours approxi- mately 1,200lbs. of rubber could he dried, with a temperature never exceed- ing 110 degrees.” In his covering letter Mr. Kirk says, “T am personally glad to have found that I can get rid of all the rubber trees eut out and lying about, and getting in the way of tappers, &c, “It is much easier to cut than jungle wood, and requires very little splitting when stoking. I imagine that it con- tains large portion of some sort of resin which makes such a flame. FIBRES. HEMP HOLDS FIRST PLACE. AMONG ISLAND PRopDUCTS—HAs GREATLY INCREASED SINCE AMERICAN OCCUPATION—OFFERS SPLENDID INDUCEMENTS. _ (From the Manilla Bulletin, October 5, 1911.) Manila hemp, known familiarly in the islands as abaca, holds first place among the island products and is an industry that offers splendid inducements. The Philippines have a practical mono- _ poly of the industry, and there is little danger of over-production, as the world’s market seems capable of quickly absorb- ing all that is produced. In “‘ Reciprocity and the Philippines.” by Mr. Harold. Pitt, appears an article on hemp, the exports of that article from the islands and the possib- ilities offered in the cultivation of the same. Mr. Pitt says :— Manila Hemp, known in the Philippine Islands as abaca, is a fibre yielded by a plant similar in appearance to the While this plant has been grown experimentally in many regions, it does not produce a fibre of equality when grown elsewhere than in the Philippines. The first records of an export com: merce for these Islands show that hemp constituted one cf the most important products. In 1854 there was exported 12,000 metric tons of Manila Hemp, the value of which is given at $1,477,999, In that year it constituted over 24 per cent: of the total exports. Reports every year since that period indicate that it has held first place among the list of the Islands’ products, since American occu- pation its importance has increased due to several facts, one being that during the Insurrection here against the United States forces the country was badly demoralized and very little attention was given to the cultivation of agricul- tural products. Hemp grows with prac- tically no attention when it is once planted, and perpetuates itself almost indefinitely. Therefore it was always available, no matter how unfavourable conditions might be for the production of other commodities, As the different ports of the Islands were opened to com: Fibres. merce during the period following’ the Insurrection, large stores of hemp were found in warehouses, and as the world’s. supply had been practically cut off for several years, the price was euhanced materially, and all of the hemp found a ready market at good figures, In some years since 1898 hemp has made up two- thirds of the total of exports. Its chief competitor in the manufac- ture of cordage and twine is. the Mexican Sisal, which comes from the State of Yucatan in Mexico. Although Manila Hemp is the better fibre and is rated by the cordage people at 6°50 as against 5 in. tensile strength for sisal, its quality depends toa con- siderable extent on the care that is given to its preparation. The good fibre comes from the outer husk of the stems that form the stalk, and in order to produce the best grade of hemp this To ALL COUNTRIES. FISCAL YEAR. Tons, Value. 1899 59,840 $ 6,185,293 1900 76,708 11,893,883 1901 412,215 14,458,110 1902 109,968 15,811,316 1903 132,241 21,701,575 1904 131,817 21,794,960 1905 180,621 22,146,241 1906 112,165 19,446,769 1907 114,701 21,085,081 1908 115,829 17,311,808 1909 149,991 15,833,577 1910 , 170,788 17,404,922 Hemp is grown pretty generally throughout the Islands, but thrives best in the central and southern divisions. There are still available abundant areas of land well adapted to its cultivation, and the profit in the industry can be made very large if care be given to the end that the best grade of fibre is pro- duced. As the Philippines have a prac- tical monopoly of the industry there is little danger of over-production, and the world’s market seems capable of quickly absorbing all that is produced, Hemp matures in about thirty months after planting, and there are little shoots called suckers that grow from the roots at the base of the stalk which may be replanted or will mature by themselves when the main stalk is cut down. The only cultivation required is in keeping the soil between the plants in suitable condition. The industry can be carried on in conjunction with the growth of other agricultural products, and is one that offers splendid induce- ments to the individual whocan give his time in addition to the investment of a small amount of capital. 500 he Sid er ieere | : [DEcEMBER, 19. must be quickly stripped and thoroughly i) cleaned. ? A major part of the hemp exported is taken by the United States and Great Britain in almost equal ‘proportions. The market in the United States appears to demand the better grades, and when the quality of the output is uniformly high the largest percentage is found ~ going to that country. When theout- — put is of low quality, the price naturally corresponds, and the English market is fourd more favourable for it. On the whole, there is almost an equal division between the two countries of the hemp Gs exported. : The following table taken from the Report of the Collector of Customs gives the quantity and value of hemp ship- ments and proportion sent to the United States since 1898 :— Percentage To UNITED STATES. of Total exports. Tons. Value. 45‘1 23,066 $ 2,439,169 52°6 25,763 8,446,141 54'6 18,157 2,402,867 58°3 45,526 7,261,459 54:7 71,654 12,314,312 58'8 61,886 10,631,591 59°6 73,851 12,954,515 59°5 62,045 11,168,226 61:7 58,888 11,326,864 } 52°7 48,813 7,684,000 pts 510 79,210 8,584,288 , 48'6 99,3805 16,399,397 my BAMBOO HATS: A GROWING ‘ 4 INDUSTRY. RECEIVED REMARKABLE IMPETUS BY THE PASSAGE OF THE PAYNE- im ALDRICH BILL—OVER : ‘fa 600,000 Ex PORTED. ; (From the Manila Bulletin, September 29, 1911.) A growing. industry and one that promises to experience a steady growth — in the future is the manufacture and ‘* export of bamboo hats, which has received a remarkable impetus since that passage of the Payne-Aldrich Bill providing for the tree admission of these hats into the United States. The following article on bamboo hats — is taken from ‘‘ Reciprocity and the ~ Philippines,” published by Mr. Harold M, Pitt :— Me an a ya Among the lesser industries of the ~ Islands is the manufacture and export of hats made of bamboo. This is ar industry that is carried on in the home 4 ° 7 ‘DECEMBER 1911.) | 501 ; of the natives of certain sections of the islands, and the work is all done by hand, France is the best customer for these hats, and in 1909 took 227,603, valued at $73,327 out of a total exported of 440,842 valued at $142,480. The Payne-Aldrich Bill provided for the free admission of Philippine products into the United States, and opened up a new market there for these hats, and in 1910 there were exported to that country 176,988, where in the preceding year there had been but 12,169. The total exports in 1910 increased to 600,486 hats, value $276,309. Hdible Products, As the hats are very favourably receiv- ed wherever introduced and are com- paratively cheap,tne industry is one that will probably experience a_ steady growth. The material for their manu- facture is found in almost every section. and as the demand increases the in- dustry will doubtless be more generally . introduced among the people, thus add- ing in a substantial way to their earning capacity. The making of these hats does not interfere in any way with the agricultural pursuits of those who are engaged in the work, as the women and children devote their spare time to it. EDIBLE PRODUCTS. PADDY CULTIVATION IN CEYLON DURING THE XIXTH CENTURY. By EH. Evtiort. (Continued from page 397.) Tue THIRD PERIOD, 1857, SAW THE RENAISSANCE OF PADDY CULTI- VATION IN CEYLON. The credit for this is primarily due to one man, John Bailey (son of a former Archdeacon of Colombo), who entered the Civil Service on Ist January, 1848, and becamein March, 1854, Assist- ant Agent of Badulla vice Philip Bray- brooke, appointed Principal Assistant Colonial Secretary. Others, whose names should be men- tioned in this connection, are Woodford Birch and Oswald Brodie, while Adams and Churchill accompanied Bailey in the _ exploration of the Ellehara canal ;* their report of which attracted Sir H. Ward’s * Adams was originally a planter who, in the outbreak of the Rebellion in 1848, rode across ‘ country to Trincomalie with orders for the garrison to march to Kandy. For this service he was appointed to the P. W. Department, and acted as Assistant Agent of Matale and Itinerating Magistrate. He spoke Sinhalese well and was a famous hill climber. Churchill (an Engineer by profession,came out “ to the Survey Department, but resigned and turned planter) was the scientific member of the exploring party. He used in after years to relate the difficulty they had in obtaining local information. One, day they came on and captured two ‘‘wild men,” one of whom was most garrulous, but the other remained silent, and on being pressed as to his companion’s statements, exclaimed ‘‘Gajagal palane boru,” (elephantine rock-splitting lies!” He shortly after joined the P.W.D. and, eventually became ’ Director, attention, but led to no practical results, owing to the absence of population in that part of the island. In 1855 Bailey wrote a most striking and weighty report on the irrigation works of Uva, beginning, ‘‘The present condition may be summed up in a few words. The greater number are utterly ruined and all are dilapidated.” And again, when writing on commutation in 1855, says: ‘‘I have turned my attention much to it and to agricultural matters generally,” and adds with becoming modesty, ‘‘my views may be wrong, and Ido not presume that! have sketched anything new or original. Of course, if my suggestions meet with approval, I shall have the satisfaction of teeling I have contributed to the good of the people over whom I have been placed.” Sentiments that shew the spirit of Tur- nour had descended to him. One of his successors, Mr. Sharpe, calls him ‘‘the originator of almost all that has been done in our time for the regener- ation of Uva.” But he deserves credit for far more than this; for the renais- sance of paddy cultivation throughout the island is due to his familiarity with its wants at the time and his knowledge of Sinhalese modes of working, These eonvinced him that the most pressing want was the restoration of the old communal customs (which had shared the fate of Rajakariya) for securing co-operation in agricultural operations and the maintenance of minor works capable of execution by the cultivators themselves ; as well as the power of the well-disposed majority to coerce the recalcitrant minority when necessary for the purpose through the ancient Gangsabawa or Village Council. The Village Council is a very old East- ern tribunal, and existed throughout Edible Products. Ceylon under the name of Gansabawa when native rule prevailed. In Southern India the corresponding institution was the Punchayat (Council of Five) which continued to be a_ recognised minor tribunal under the British rule, and as late as the sixties, if not still, a record of its cases figured in the publish- ed Judicial statistics. Under the Dutch regiméin the Western maritime districts of Ceylon the institution disappeared, but Pridham states that ‘‘in 1781 a species of deliberate Council composed of the Chiefs of the Mookoowas prevail under the auspices of Mr. Burnand at Batticaloa, and that under its fostering care the progress of the province was rapid, its population doubled, and its produce in grain was quadrupled. On the arrival of the British this institution fell gradually into disuse, when the rapid decline in the industry of the province drew the attention of the authorities to the subject, and Sir Alexander Johnston (Chief Justice 1811-20) prevailed on the Governor to re-establish it. The result was soon again visible, but from some cause the boon was discontinued and the province reverted to its primitive state.” In the Kandyan districts on the other hand “such tribunals for settlement of village disputes” (writes Forbes in his Eleven Years in Ceylon, 1887) ‘‘ had long existed. They were composed of the head of every family residing within its limits, bowever low his rank or small his property. From this tribunal there was an appeal to the District Council (Rata sabé), but in 1828 District Coun- cils only lingered in the remote province of Nuwarakalawiya, and even there were seldom used.” ‘But Brodie, who was Itinerating Magistrate and Assistant Agent of that district (1848-52) in an interesting paper (published in C. B. Rk. A. S. Journal, 1856) gives a detailed account of the agricul- tural customs then prevailing. He des- eribes ‘‘ how each village is settled by a little colony headed by two or more leaders or elders called Gamerala, who had in virtue of this certain privileges and rights.” He then explaing the mode of working the ‘‘ Bethma” system, so as with a limited water supply to ensure the cultivation of contiguous lands, irrespective of the actual proprietor- ship, and so lighten the labour of watching, fencing and irrigation, which would become very harrassing if the cultivated portions of a tract did not adjoin. He adds further: “If a man refuses to give his due share of work or money to the repair of a work, he cannot lead water to his field till he has repaid those who have laboured.” 502 In a letter to his chief (Mr. Dyke) Brodie “largely anticipated the policy ultimately adopted, of compulsion of labour for their own from the cultivators.” In other outlying districts similar customs existed, though their general observance could not be secured, to the great detriment of the industry ; but there was no second opinion in rural native circles of the necessity of providing machinery for securing their specific performance by all. = good Sir Henry Ward’s advent and an early visit to Badulla gave Bailey his chance * and no doubt he pressed his views on the new Governor; whose next stage was Batticaloa, where he met Woodford Birch, equally full of irrigation works and capabilities. It is not surprising. that in H. E.’s minute of that trip Irrigation is written very large; but what was of more importance, he recognised the necessity for some legal measure to enforce the observance of the ancient customs relating’ to paddy cultivation and the maintenance of village works, as well asthe promising ~ field for remunerative outlay on large schemes of irrigation. He further recognised the claim of the paddy cultivator as a large tax- payer for fully half a century to the British Government who alone had got very little back for his money. No question of repayment or interest on outlay kept him from immediately sanc- tioning expenditure on worksin Batti- caloa, and subsequently in the Southern Province at Kirema and Urubokka. He further made a most important con- cession as tothe sale of land suitable for paddy cultivation, allowing it to be paid for in four annual instalments, instead cf within one monthof purchase. He also approved of Crown lands being EK, Pe ee ae | ovens pikes (DECEMBER, 1911. a benevolent given out for cultivation for a share of © the produce, before survey, which enabled many a poor man to take up land, and make money to buy it, even though exposed to the risk of competi- tion at the subsequent sale. By this arrangement Government was no loser, indeed a gainer, as the price eventually secured was as a rule largely in excess of what would have been obtained by immediate payment at waste land rates. All this led in 1856 to the Legislature passing the first Paddy Oultivation Ordinance which empowered the Gover- nor to proclaim irrigation districts, within which owners of paddy lands could make rules embodying the ancient customs; it also provided for the elec- — tion of headmen to carry them out, and / _—, an < ER eR ae eee DECEMBER, 1911.) empowered the Gangsabawa or Village Council to try and punish for breaches of such rules by fine. This measure was readily accepted and acted on in many parts of the island, we - vators, and the Ordinance was especially put in force in all parts of Batticaloa, Trincomalie, Uva, Matale, Matara and Sabaragamuwa districts, and there were further sixty-seven districts proclaimed in the Western, fifty-nine in the North- ‘Western, fourteen in Nuwarakalawiya (then of the Northern Province), and two in Kegalle. The general interest taken by a number of district officers in holding meetings and framing rules, and the operation of the rules themselves, undoubtedly gave a great impetus to the cultivation-of _paddy, but to adequately judge of the benefits which resulted from the import- ant step it is well to notice shortly the condition of the industry during the years immediately preceding 1856, The production of paddy in Ceylon apparent- ly touched bottom in 1849, in which year there was a greatly deficient rainfall and the Revenue fell to Rs. 33,510 (the lowest figure since 1880), though the price of paddy has been rising and was then about 60 cents a bushel, and the equi- valent crop about 2? millions bushels. From this depth there was slow recovery by 1854, when the’ probable crop was 34 million bushels. There was probably some further advance in 1855-6, as the climatic conditions were more favour- able, but unfortunately I have not the figures to continue the comparison; there was, however, a serious outbreak of murrain amongst cattlein 1855, all through the island but especially in the Central Province, which may have affected cultivation. After 1856 the efforts of District officers to give effect to the compulsory co-operation provided by the new mea- ‘sure were heartily seconded by the culti- and as Bailey recorded in reference to Uva, ‘The people are astonished at the abundance of water which has been the consequence of their being legally obliged to do the work necessary to their own interests.” Once more the truth was vindicated of the old proverb that ‘‘ Heaven helps those who help themselves,” as in the (agricultural) years 1857-1858 the rainfall exceeded inches, and the crops secured rose to 4°75 in the former year, while that of 1858 was probably six Note,—The only “moteorological record for this year I van find is publishedin A.S. Journal, which gives the rainfall at Batticotta (Jaffna) , for the firstnine months of the year as 3°46 inches, 4 503 Raible: Producte. million bushels, a record never pre- viously equalled in Ceylon. The fore- going figures have been deduced from the Revenue returns, but the earliest Blue Book returns now available to me, give the crop of 1862 as five million bushels, off an acreage of 578,000, though the rainfall was decidedly moderate, But the most important and visible results were in Batticaloa where Wood- ford Birch’s* energetic administration secured a considerable outlay by Govern- ment in irrigation works and resulted between November, 1857, and May, 1861, in no less than 7,400 acres of new land being taken up for paddy cultivation, while the area actually cropped rose trom 22,638 acres in 1856 to 41,380 in 1867, and the revenue from Rs. 24,000 to Rs. 60,690. Further, the increased tithe on the lands benefitted by the new irrigation works amounted £950 or 5 % on the total sum spent, or 7 % exclusive of the outlay on the toundations of the incompleted Sengapaddi dam which were however. utilised in later times and added to the success. No wonder then that the exports of Batticaioa paddy coastwise to Jaffna amounted in 1866 to 94,000 bushels and reached 105,000 in 1869, besides the quantity converted into rice and sent by tavalam to the Badulla Estates. (In this connection perhaps it’s as well to correct an amusing mistake by Sir John Keane, who, as proof of the present prosperous condition of Batticaloa, states that the importation of 43,000 bushels of rice and 6,000 bushels of paddy in 1869 was for ‘‘the use of the population !” Needless to say it was all sent on to the Badulla Kstates for the Tamil coolies by tavalams, which com- peted successfully even after the cart road was opened as lateas 1890 tosome parts of Madulsima,) Brodie,t (who had already done good * He was acting Assistant Agent at Batticaloa from August, 1658, to May, 1862, but was District Judge for two years before and two years after, so was connected with the district from March, 1856 to September, 1864. + Brodie’s career had a romantic side which deserves record. After serving at Anuradha- pura he went home on leave, married and induced by a rich uncle to proceed to America under promise to make his heir, he resigned the C. C.8. But it was found that to suc- ceed to his relative’s immovable property, Brodie would have to be naturalised. This involved, however, not only taking an oath of allegiance to the United States, but a special abjuration of allegiance to the Queen of Eng- land, ‘Chis latter he refused to do, and on his uncle’s death he only received a moderate settlement in money. Una representation of the circumstances to the Secretary of State, he Edible Products. service in Nuwarakalawiya) early in the fifties as Assistant Agent at Matale (1858-64) co-operated heartily in working the Ordinance. It was under his aus- pices the writer undertook his first essay in irrigation by improving the small tank at Dambulila and providing it with a masonry overtall, which increased the storage considerably. In the Giruwé Pattu benefit accrued from the restoration of the Urubokka and Kirema Dams, for turning the upper waters of the Matara river into the less favoured valleys. These works certainly helped the cultivation as intended, but no separate figures of the increase of revenue in the village served seems to have been published. sae eed ‘ iy DecemBEr, 1911.) of action is more limited ; and the in- crease in the capital value represented by the livestock, by which the risk is increased and becomes less easy for local societies to support. In the article mentioned we find all the insurance conditions of the Swedish Societies and detailed notices of the criteria the most important of them, the ‘*Scandinavian Livestock Insurance So- ciety” adopts in calculating premiums - and settlement of claims. This society has published ixteresting statistics of the mortality of the horses insured ; for example, in the period 1891- 1910, the average death rate of insured horses in Sweden was 2°38 per cent. The data are grouped according to provinces, so as to show the influence of the various conditions of race, climate and agricultural labour. Thus, for ex- ample, in the province of Scania, where economic and meteorologic conditions resemble those of Denmark, the percent- age of deaths is far above the general average for Sweden and_ nearly ap- proaches that revealed by the Danish Insurance Societies (8°02 per cent.) At the end of the article there is an examination of some analogies between human and animal mortality, made with the aid of Danish and Swedish tables, which has great interest: also from a biological point of view, (Summarised from the Bulletin of Eco- nomic and Social Intelligence, Year 11, N. 8, August 3lst, 1911, published by the International Institute of Agriculture.) THE SCOURGE OF THE TROPICS, (From the Tropical Life, Vol. V1I., No. 9, September, 1911.) The depredations of termites in the Tropics and elsewhere are so widely - recognized and their habits and methods of operation have been so_ closely investigated, that little remains to be said on these points. The question of efficient protection, however, is an ever- pressing problem in tropical countries, and many more or less controversial points appear to have arisen in this direction. : For the purpose of preserving wood from the attacks of white ants, numer- ous methods of treatment have been tried, and the reports thereon collected from independent sources appear to be of very varying character. For instance, we learn from an interesting article in the Mindanao Herald (Philippine Isles), for July 22nd last, that from certain official tests, which are now in progress 517 Live Stock. in Formosa, it is tound that woods treated with creosote are wholly free from attack by white ants. On the other hand, it has been long recognized, we understand, by Indian railway engineers, that creosote is of little or no value for protecting sleepers from these insects. Nor does there appear to be any consensus of opinion on the woods which are naturally immune from attack, asin some quarters it is main- tained that termites will attack teak- wood, whereas in others the reverse is reported. In searching for an effective method of treatment, consideration must be given as much to ease of trans- portation and application as to efficiency, particularly in those parts of the Tropics where the resources of civiliz- ation are not always available, Various well-known methods of treatment which may or may not give effective protec- tion from termites are ill-adapted for ‘tropical use, because they necessitate the transportation of the timber to some point where a special plant is available for carrying out the process. The above-mentioned article goes on to emphasize the necessity of a special processing, indicating, that mere paint- ing or dipping only insures a surface penetration. This, however, is a ques- tion which must be governed largely by circumstances. Itis obvious that there are many cases in the Tropics where timber, whether for railway, building, or fencing purposes, cannot be treated with a process involving the use of special plant; and in such cases an efficient preservative solution applied with brushes or sprayers ensures much longer service in comparison with the life of untreated timber and amply justifies the cost of material and Jabour for the purpose. Where the circum- stances allow of immersing the timber in the solution, in an open bath, how- ever rough and ready, a higher degree of impregnation is of course obtained with a corresponding advantage in the life of the timber. Moreover, where large quantities of timber are being handled, the immersion method is certainly quicker and more economical. The degree ot impregnation to be obtained with any preservative solution is not so much dependent on the method of application as on the character of the wood and its condition at the time of treatment. Itis obvious that alength of sapwood immersed inan open bath would absorb a greater quantity of solution than a similar length of heart- wood cut from the same tree and treated under pressure, even though the process was Cariied so far as to.injure the fibres, Scientific Agriculture. Itmay fairly be advocated that any timber which is immersed in an open bath sufficiently to enable it to absorb approximately the maximum quantity of solution which it is capable of taking up by capillary attraction, is sufficiently impregnated for all practical purposes, provided, of course, that such timber is seasoned before treatment. The requirements of an efficient wood preservative in the Tropics may be summarized as follows :— (1) It must absolutely protect the timber from termites and other insects, fungus, and dry rot. (2) It must be easy of application, either by immersion, painting, or spraying, so that woodwork in situ can be treated where necessary. (8) It must be non-corrosive so as not to affect nails, spikes or other metal work brought into contact with it. 518 WY Ji ee ¢ [DacemBe (4) It must be economical and prefer- ably should be prepared in a_ highly concentrated form, capable of dilution ou the spot, to reduce transportation charges to a minimum. (5) It*must not be inflammable, and preferably should be of such a nature as Be Pitt the wood more resistiv o fire. i Doubtless there atives aiming at these requirements at present undergoing exhaustive tests in the Tropics, though up to date no one method appears to have met with general acceptance in all quarters. We notice, however, that the now fairly~ well-known Atlas treatment is gaining general favour in India and other ter- mite infested countries, and appears to fulfil the above-mentioned requirements to a satisfactory degree. } SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. al [This paper, though old, is perhaps worth reproduction, as showing the lines upon which a modern department goes to work to render scientific results available to the practical agriculturist. | THE SCIENTIFIC DIRECTING OF A COUNTRY’S AGRICULTURE. A Paper read before the Australasian Asssociation for the Advancement of Science, by A. N. Pearson. Victo- rian Chemist for Agriculture, etc. One of the expressed objects of associ- ations for the advancement of Science is the popularization of science; to quote the official words, it is ‘‘ to obtain a more general attention to the objects of science, and a removal of any dis- advantages of a public kind which may impede its progress.” My chief object in writing this paper is to give from a scientific platform to the public some explanation of the methods and aims of scientific work in connection with agriculture. I need, therefore, make no apology for commencing this paper with an appeal to the public, to the men of affairs, and to those engaged in the actual practice and business of agriculture. , Permit me, first of all, to remove an ambiguity which may attach to my use of the word agriculture. This word may be used in two senses. In the wider sense it includes all pursuits whose object is to obtain produce from the soil whether that produce be in the form of animals pasturing on the land, or of crops grown in the soil. In a_ narrower sense the word agriculture refers to the growth of crops, and the pasture of animals on cultivated lands, I use the word in its widest sense as referring to all industries which have for their object to make all kinds of ~ land bring forth their produce, both ~ animal and vegetable. yd Iam pvofoundly impressed with the importance of the subject before us. In this country of Australia we are all engaged in the great and historic work of building up a new nation, Itis mere truism to state that the future develop- — ments of this nation, its social evolu- tion, the growth of its intellectual, moral, and spiritual forms, the vigour and activity of all which we call the higher life of a nation, will be deter- mined in an important degree by the nature of the foundations we are now laying. As a determining factor in the growth and life of a nation, it is difficult to over-estimate the importance of its agriculture. Itis the agriculture which feeds the nation. : ; course, everyone will at once see_ this ; the material basis of our life is the food we eat. But in a much wider and higher sense does this statement hold good; more especially in the case of countries such as the Australian colo- nies. Here by far, and away, the principal industries con in raising produce from the soil.. Let~ us as an illustration take the concrete — are many preserv- — In its lowest sense, of _ are thoseconcerned \ ' cultural, Decemper, 1911.) ease of the colony of Victoria in which we are assembled. From Mr, Fenton’s statistical tables we are able to obtain the following figures concerning agri- mining and - manufacturing industries ot the eolony in 1897 :— AGRICULTURAL, x Value. ES Crop s . 6,913,364 ige stock br ought into consumption :— Cattle 219,486 @£5 =£1,097,180 Sheep!1,920,295@£1 = £1,920,295 Pigs and Poultry(?)£ 350, 000 ——— 3,867,4765 Dairy BEG Aube 2,597,361 Wool . 2,882,870 £15,211,070 MINING. Gold eee =6©8,251, 064 Other metals a: 10,337 Building stone, ley: earths, &e. 29,030 : Coal 110,017 - / £+,400,448 MANUFACTURING. Foods, Drinks, &c. No. of Workers Chaff-eutting, &e. 810 Flour, oatmeal, maizena, &e., mills ig 911 Biscuit, jam, &c., factories 1,401 Confectionery and eagar works 908 Bacon-euring and meat. freezing and preserving works ~ oe 2. 603 Butter and cheese fac- tories 1,166 Soap and candleworks ... 487 Brewing, malting, &c, ...) 1,182 Aerated Waloess &e., and ice / 986 Coffee, cocoa, “chicory, mustard i ee 218 Tobacco and cigars 767 Textiles, Dress and Leather Goods, Woolwashing and nine 1,891 Woollen mills ~ 809 Tailoring, dressmaking, un- derclothing, millinery, hats and caps 072 Furs, waterproofs, um- brellas and dyeing 546 Boots and shoes 4,223 _ Saddlery and other leather goods 490 - Rope, mat, sack ‘&e,, works 407 19 Scientific Agriculture, Building Materials, Wood Work, &c. Stone-cutting bricks, lime, cement and ROBeery, 1,414 Saw-mills : 1,131 Saw- moulding, joinery, cabinet-making, &c. 2,239 Bedding, blinds, looking- glasses “as ee 448 Cooperage, dairy imple- ments, au aess Basen) &e. é 5383 Engineering. Meted Work, &ce. Agricultural implements 914 Engines, machinery, iron- founding, toolsand nails 4,615 Railway engines and car- riages, &e. 1,288 Carts, COETINEOe bieyeles, &e. 1,418 Ship and boat repairing and building 182 Sheet-iron, tinning, brass work, &c. oe 897 Workers in gold, &e. 471 Unspecified Bra 178 44,488 ‘- Chemical, Electrical, &c. Gas and coke 668 Hleetric light and appat- atus 178 Chemical, inks, oils, ex- plosives, &c. 657 Glassworks, smelting &e. 445 ‘Bone and manure mills ... 122 Miscellaneous. ' Stationery and paper aa 1,022 Printing a) .. =, 844 Unspecified 1,276 Total number of Workers .»» 52,700 From this list of figures we get the value of produce from the land in 1897 as about 15; millions pounds sterling, whereas the total value of the mining - industries did not amount to 33 millions. These figures strikingly indicate the preponderating value to this country of its agriculture, yet they do not show this as emphatically as might be, for this reason, that whereas the gold obtained from the mines is appraised at its full ultimate value of £4 per ounce, the agricultural produce is taken in most cases at its wholesale value as raw material. But thisis not the full value of agricultural produce. The final produce is not the cattle i: the sale yards, but the butcher’s meat delivered to the house; it isnot the wheat in bags, but the loaf delivered ty the baker. If the agricultural values were based upon Scientific Agriculture. 520 retail prices of the finished products as ready for the ultimate consumers, it is easy to see that we might have perhaps 30 millions sterling, instead of 154 mill- ions, as in the above table. ln this way we can form some estimate of the comparative values of the agri- cultural and mining industries of the country. But what about the manu- facturing industries? We are unable to present their value as so many pounds sterling ; but the classified list of the manufacturing industries above given affords us a more _ instructive insight than such a bald valuation would do. This list shows us the marufacturing industries under thirty-rine headings, and also shows the number of workers in each—the total number of workers being 52,700, Now, out of these different groups of manufacturing industries, the following, namely, (1) chaff-cutting, (2) flour and oatmeal, &c., mills, (8) biscuits, jam, &c., factories, (4) bacon and meat preserving works, (5) butter and cheese factories, (6) soap and candle works, (7) brewing and malting, (8) wool washing and tanning, (9) woollen mills, (10) boots and shoes, (11) saddlery, &c., (12) Saw- mills, and (13) bone and manure mills obtain nearly all their raw material from the country’s agriculture, that is to say, thirteen out of thirty-nine groups of industries, or one-third of the whole, are engaged in working up agricultural produce into forms suitable tor the final consumers. The workers employed in these thirteen groups number 16,074, or again nearly one-third of the whole. But in addition to these, several others, namely, the chicory, mustard and spice factories, the tailoring under- clothing, and hat and cag factories, furs, ropes, saw-moulding, joinery, and cabinet-making, the cooperage, dairy implement, brush, and basket factories, cart factories, chemical works, paper mills, and unspecified obtain a portion of their raw material from the produce of the land. Hence we may estimate that out of the 52,700 manufacturing workers, fully 20,000 are engaged in working up agricultural raw material. There are about 128,000 workers directly employed on the land in agricultural pursuits, and if to these we add th 20,000 already mentioned, we get 148,000 engaged in agriculture and industries connected therewith. But what are the other 32,700 doing? Nine hundred and fourteen are making agricultural implements 1,283 are making railway engines and rolling-stock for carrying agricultural produce, or | passengers largely doing business connected there- with, some thousands are making engines and machinery for cultural work or industries, others are making clothing, sugar, tobacco, and various other articles to be consumed by farmers and their families, or by people doing busi- ness in connection therewith. In brief, all these manufacturing industries exist, either for the purpose of.working up raw agricultural produce or in great part for supplying the needs of the agricultural population and of those working in industries, business, and professions ultimately dependent on agriculture. These figures, then show, that, in the widest sense our national life is based on the produce of the land. It is the agriculture that feeds the railway, that feeds the industries, and that feeds the professional and business life of the cities. Some may think I have spent too much time in bringing out this gener- ally acknowledged fact. My experience has been that it is not a generally acknowledged fact, and that many who do acknowledge it do not fully realize its significance and importance. That half of the population which dwells in © cities is especially prone to lose sight of this fact, and too often there grows up a’ sense of aloofness and of actual jealousy between the town and country, parti- cularly in regard to the expenditure of public moneys. It would be instructive if we could all | trace our incomes to their ultimate source. The suburban tradesman—baker, butcher, grocer—supplies articles which are mainly of agricultural origin, toa number ot families, the oread-winners of which are, in one case, a clerk in a bank which advances to city merchants, who supply country storekeepers, who in their turn give credit to farmers; in another case, a mechanic who helps to make machines which are used in the manufacture of agricultural implements, or of engines for country use; ina third case, the bread-winner is a reporter on the staff of a metropolitan journal. which is read by an agricultural popu- lation in the country, and by a popu- lation engaged in the city in business based ultimately on the agriculture of — the country ;in other cases the bread- winners are musicians, lawyers, doctors, clergymen, teachers, and so on, all of whom are engaged in serving a popu- lation whose business is based on the country’s agriculture. I suppose that on the averagefully two-thirds of every DECEMBER, 1911.] ‘virtues and activities. X y or] ys d las x r man’s income in this colony would be found to bederived, directly or indirectly, from the produce of the land. I remember some years ago, in a lecture delivered before a farming audi- ence, referring to an advertising placard which I had seen. The illustration was a homely one, but it will bear repetition even from a scientific platform. The placard contained a series of pictures. Atthe top was a picture of the Queen who rules over us all; underneath this were pictures ot the soldier who fights for all; of the parson who prays for all; of the lawyer who pleads for all, and so on; and down at the bottom was a picture of a man following the plough, and under him was written—‘* The farmer who pays for all.” No one in this community should lose sight of the fundamental truth indicated in this homely illustration. Every man, woman, and child is dependent for existence upon Mother Karth. Those occupations which have for their aim to make the earth bring forth her riches are at the foundation of our prosperity. Every citizen in the community is virtually concerned in the proper cultivation of the land. The more prosperous the agricultural. community, the more numerous become the openings for men in other walks of life, and to raise the status of the agriculture is to raise the status of the whole nation. Thus, in its widest sense, the nation is fed by its agriculture. Not only, how- ever, in this wide sense, butalsoin a higher sense is this statement true. The moral aud _ intellectual growth of a nation is largely determined by the ‘conditions of its rural life. Itis well recognised that the country and the city develop different qualities of charac. ter, and each brings into play special Often the nimble thought of the city contemns the slow conservatism of the country. and pic- tures the farmer as the Boestian type of stupidity and ignorance, How false is this picture, none know better than those who have had intimate acquaint- ance with the farming population. Thereare good men and indifferent in all walks of life, but there is no man fitted to command one’s respect more than the first-class farmer, the man who has carved out his prosperity by persist- ent industrious toil on the land. The knowledge and insight such aman has derived from personal observation and contact with nature is astonishing, his readiness and resource are suchas to put many of us to shame, and the fresh- ness of his feelings, his hospitality and open-heartedness, come to the man of 66 ‘é 521 Scientific Agriculture. the world as a refreshing tonic. Hi- conservatism is generally excessive caus tion taught by experience. The moral dignity of his calling is beyond question. Washington deseribed agriculture as the noblest occupation of man. And read also what Emerson says :— “The glory of the farmer is that, in the division of labours, itis his part to create. All trade rests at last on his primitive activity. He stands close to nature. His profession has in all eyes its ancient charm, standing nearest to God, the First Cause. He has grave trusts con- fided to him. In the great household of nature, the farmer stands at the door of the bread-room and weighs to each his loaf. Itis for him to say whether men shall marry or not. Heis the con- tinuous benefactor. The farmer is a hoarded capital of health, as the farm is the capital of wealth, and it is from him that the health and power, moral and intellectual, of the cities came.” Perhaps the most pressing problem in our nation-building is the improvement of the conditions of country-life so as to encourage the growth of the country population, and to call forth the greatest number of men of this type. The country is the recruiting ground of the cities, and its best men are a perennial source of fresh vigour and impulse ina nation’s life, a constant antidote to the selfishness and pessimism engendered by city strife and competition. We thus, then, I trust, realize the high and preponderating importance in many senses of a country’s agriculture. Now, agriculture is not a science ; it is a business. What then has science to do withit? And how should any one venture to speak of the scientific direct- ing of a country’s agriculture? Well, what is science ? It is really remarkable that, notwith- standing the wonderful growth during the last half-century in industrial deve- lopment, in machinery, inventions, ia diseoveries, in the knowledge and practi- eal utilization of the forces of nature, there are still men, even some of promin- ent positions and comparative edu- cation, who deny to science any practi- cal- value. On the other hand we have had academic statements that, in human affairs, science has little significance except for practical purposes. Notwith- standing such attacks on opposite sides, science is more and more justifying its position by the rapid improvement of its world-wide organization, the enorm- ous swelling of its ranks, the increased volume of its output, and the ever-widen- ing sphere of its activities. In these Scientific Agriculture. colonies many men of practical affairs regard science as the fad of amateurs. The scientific man is to them a theorist, whose ideas are not based on the solid facts of experience, but are tae bubbles of imagination blown from the lather of books. Science must not be held respon- sible for all that is said and done in the name of science: and even the best of scientific men are but men, with their share of the human liability to err. But science is not theorizing, and the scienti- fic man will produce less theories ina life-time than the self-styled practical man will spinin a year. Huxley, in one of his apt phrases, described science as ‘trained commonsense.” The real mean- ing of science is knowledge, and surely no one will deny the practical usefulness of knowledge, Science is, however, something more than ordinary every-day knowledge. Itis knowledge obtained by thorough and exhaustive examination of many facts by patient well-planned accurate experiments, and by unpreju- diced iogical thinking, as to the meaning of the facts thus brought to light. Its methods are those of common sense improved by training, discipline, and exercise. Science is not the exclusive property of the professional scientist, but is the common heritage of all men, and is free to every one who will enter it with open mind, industrious work, and honest thought. There are men inall ranks who are born with the scientific east of mind, and the practical farmer, the man in business, the journalist, the legislator, and so on, may be men of scientific method and habit of thought. The more scientific men are in all walks of life, the more practical they ‘are, and the less given to be guided by prejudice and imperfect knowledge. The scientific directing of a country’s agriculture meaus then the guiding of that agriculture according to knowledge and the dictates of common sense. Now let us see something of what science can do for agriculture. Mr. Fenton, our Government Statist, has shown that in 1897 there were 3,260,312 acres of land under tillage in Victoria. Now, itis, as I have already indicated, very much to the interest of every citizen in this community to know what these 3} million acres of land are pro- ducing. Are they yielding to the country the best in quantity and quality that they might yield? As to quantity, their average yield of the four staple crops during the last eleven years was - as follows :— 522 ‘ AVERAGE PRODUCE PER ACRE OF PRINCIPAL CROPS IN VICTORIA, 1888-1898, eels Wheat. Oats. Potatoes, Hay. March. Bushels. Bushels. ons, Tons. 1888 . 10°81 22,92 4°11 1°41 1889 7°10 14°20 3°04 “75 1890 via 23°87 3°33 1°48 1891 ... 11°13 22°96 3°79 1°37 1892... 10°26 23°43 3°50 1°39 1893 . 11°04 25°75 3°51 1°44 1894 . 10°38 22,62 3°54 1°22 1895 8°33 21°14 3°49 1:26 1896... 4°01 11°28 2°67 *84 1897... 4°49 16°25 3°37 1:08 1898 6°38 16°35 1°52 L'14 Average... 8°52 20°01 3:26 1°22 In Great Britain the averages during the same period were—Wheat, 29°49; Oats, 38°18; Potatoes, 5°85. Here we see that our 3+ million acres are producing an average of only 8} bushels of wheat, 20 bushels of oats, 3} tons of potatoes, and 14 tons of hay. In Great Britain they produce three and a half times as much wheat from an acre of land as we do, twice as much oats, and one and four-fifth times as much potatoes. We cannot compare their hay returns with ours, because their hay is from meadow grass, whereas ours is from green oats and wheat. It may be argued that we cannot get as high average results here as in Great Britain, because our average climate is not so favourabla, That is a conclusion I would not admit without discussion, Our southern dis-. tricts, in some places, have almost ideal agricultural climates; and our northern districts, though they have drought | and fierce summer heats, have their set off in the British Isles in the rigorous winters of the north. But, making due allowance for climate, let us ask if our acres are producing all they might doif more science, that is to say, more correct knowledge, were imported into their cultivation. That climate is not responsible, for everything is proved by the fact that we sometimes may see 20 bushels of wheat on one farm and only 7 or8 onan adjoining farm or 10 tons of potatoes per acre grown by one man and only 3 or 4 tons by his neighbour. V4) I have here a table giving a few results, culled out of many, obtained from field experiments carried out under my direc- tion from time to time in various dis- tricts of Victoria. la F: / ; a ss Dacemper, 1911.) 523 Scientific Agriculture. BRAC TABLE SHOWING A FEW RESULTS OF TusT PLoTs IN VICTORIA, Pa ; ds] a } oS 4 7 6 a a i a © wn Patt a 2 A 1 ‘ om ped . he . as if TS | \ Ses 7 (S28 | ba | ee | sees ; TO B® PAR | ors Aa 6 ah © fe Sue a eal ace petals tae a |/0O4K | 2a |MaeS } 1889, | 1892. | 1893. | 1890 1896, 1893. ee Plot. tons tons. | tons. | tons, |bushels.|bushels. 1 Light dressing fi veal | 44 0 32 410 83 26 2 Medium dressing ~... eal 448 654 rs of 155 B25 3 No manure ... a ay ee. 147 148 36 45 18% 4 Heavy dressing iG OOF 79 57t 7 194 33 5 No nitrogen... — ann a ae 65 rs 18 4 14 28% 6 No phosphoric acid _ ... AB § 29 “5 3% 1k 222 7 No potash .., ay eh ee 63 63 ES 18 314 8 Nomapure ... - Ee aN uns 16 14 3 2h 1Z 9 Lime and sameas1_... Aas? 38% é 13 23% 10 Lime and sameas5_... Jl 4E T3t 22 ie 15 * 20 tons farmyard manure. +20 tons seaweed and 1 ewt. superphospate. The facts shown in this table are of was only 13 bushels per acre, The gain very great practical interest and import- - ance. On plot 3 the corps were grown on the soils in their natural condition without the artificial addition of plant food. This is how the vast majority of crops in this colony are grown. Of the 8z million acres under cultivation, only ~ about 226,000 acres, or one-fourteenth of the whole were manured in 1897. Now, in 1896 the average wheat yield of the colony was 401 bushels per acre. Turn- ing to the experimental plots of wheat at Natimuk in that year we find that, on plot 3, the soil yielded 43 bushels per acre, or approximately the same as the _ average of the coiony. That year was a year of drought, and the low, average yield of wheat was almost universally regarded as the maximum obtainable | with such unfavourable climatic condi- tions. But let us look at the other plots. In that same year, plot 2 with a -medium dressing of manure, yielded _ 163 bushels per acre, or three and a /quarter times as much as the manured ; and plot 4, with the heavy dressing, yielded 193 bushels, or four times as much as the unmanured. It was exceed- ingly interesting to see over 19 bushels of wheat per acre obtained at a time when many of the sunrounding farmers had crops too poor to be worth harvest- ing. Tbe results from Kerang were also of special interest. A tew years ago, when irrigation began to attract attention in this colony, it was found that the aver- age yield of our irrigated wheat crops due to irrigation was so slight that it venerally did not repay the cost of the irrigation. Mr. Patchell, of Kerang, tested the effect of irrigation combined with manuring, and these figures show the result. The irrigated bat uomanur- ed soil on plot 3 yielded 182 bushels per acre. This was 5% bushels in excess of the colony’s average of irrigated wheat, but still was nothing to boasi of. Ona plots 2and 4, which were manured as well as irrigated, he obtained 33 bushels per acre, a higher yield, in fact, than the English average. Ina letter to me, Mr. Patchell explained that he was unable to irrigate these experimental plots sufficiently, owing to short supply of water; with more water he believed he could have obtained still better results, and very probably he could. I have under conditions of favorable rain- fall obtained as high as 54 bushels per acre, and crops of even 70 bushels have been known, Our table of test field results gives us no returns from oat crops. but let us turn to the potatoes. Here we see that in 1890 from plot 8, the untreated soil at Childers, Mr. Whelan obtained a crop of 3} tons per acre, that is to say, practically the same as the average for the -whole colony, which in that year was8s tons per acre, But from the two adjoining treated plots he obtained 5? tons and7 tons respectively, there being in the latter case a gain of close on 4 tons due to the treatment of the soil, I may say that, during the last year Scientific Agriculture. on some experimental crops at Kyneton, there was a gain of 5 tons due to similar treatment; and you will see from the table that in 1893, at Mr. Ritchie’s Port Fairy plots also, there was a gaia of 5 tons due to this treatment. Now, let us turn to Mr. Goldie’s hay results obtained at Port Fairy in 1889, His untreated soil on plot 3 yielded at the rate of 23 tons, which is double the average yield of the whole colony, both ‘his soil and climate being much more favourable than the average. But look at the yields he obtained from the adjoining plots, in the one case 4% tons, and in the other 54 tons per acre. The latter was so much beyond ordinary experience that many people refused to accept itas correct. Mr, Goldie assured me that he himself was surprised at it, and took steps to confirm its correctness. I have during the last two or three months obtained 44 tons from an ex- perimental plotat Werribee, andlam sure 4 tons might often be obtained. Look also at Mr. Goldie’s mangold results obtained in 1892. ‘he untreated soil yielded at the rate of 144 tons, but the treated plots yielded on the one side four anda half times as much, namely, 65} tons, and on the other side five anu a half times as much, name- ly, 79 tons. Plot9 yielded 88 tons, and on one occasion Mr. Goldie forwarded returns showibng as high as 103 tons per acree I doubted the correctness of the last result, but only recently Mr. Goldie has, | understand, publicly harvested a crop yielding more than 100 tons per acre, It is not possible to see returns like these without feeling that our lands are not producing anything near what they might produce if they were subjected to other treatment than that they now receive. For the sake of making a general statement, I have summarized the returns of ten of these experimental fields takex promiscuously, and, taking the yield of the untreated soil on plot 3 as 100 I have calculated the average improvement on the different plots. The following are the figures obtained :— GENERAL AVERAGE OF RETURNS 5 FROM TEN ‘l'HST HIELDS. Quantity Plots. Plot 1. Complete manure, light dressing ap 181 fen x medium 2 aie 209 » o& No manure 100 >» 4. Complete manure, heavy dressing 273 Qualily Plots. Plot 5. Sameasplot2,butno nitrogen .. 207 » 4. % a » Phosphoricacid... 110 ” 7 ” oe ” potash AS 259 8 Nomanure ng 99 524 _ [DecEMBER, Ido not claim that these ten fields were a fair sample of our 3} million cultivated acres; probably indeed, they were a trifle better than the average. These figures have no individual signi- ficance, they are merely a_ general statement. But they strongly suggested that, by applying more science, our Ay, Res : Bute 3 is * soils could be made to yield more than ~ twice as much as they are now yielding. The facts brought. out by these test fields are such as cannot be ignored. We cannot neglect them, or regard them as mere interesting curiosities. are pregnant with suggestion of wealth and prosperity to the country. They show that we have in these colonies possibilities, vast possibilities, which, as a young nation, we have not yet seri- ously considered. the time has now arrived when we must consider them in earnest. It will naturally be asked if the, treat- ment which has resulted in these vastly improved yields could be practically applied in actual work. Would not the cost be too great? If the treatment It appears to me that, They — could not be profitably applied, then the suggestion to adopt it would not be a scientific suggestion, for facts of profit and loss are as much data of science as any other facts. lf it were the fact that results like these could not under present conditions be profitably obtained, we should not, however, for that reason ignore them, or shelve the whole matter as being outside the practical. It would be the business of science to experiment and investigate further, in order to find out how to bring them within the sphere of the profitable. As a matter of fact, however, they are already within that sphere. Presently I will endeavour to show this. | First, however, let me briefly explain — the principles which underlie these field experiments. You will see that there is distinct method in these plots. | are scientifically planned. I wish to dwell on this point, because farmers sometimes carry out field experiments of their own, and on more than one. occasion such experimenters have claim- ed tor their tests the superior merit_ that they are not scientific experiments, but practical ones. Scientific experi- ments may be all very good in their way, and no doubt are, but what is wanted, say these men, is practical tests. And their idea of manure experiments is to buy as many as possible of the various trade manures offered in the market, to put an equal money value of each manure on to each practical They - p j - A . Ducemper, 191.) _ separate plot, and to see which plot gives the biggest yield. Time will not permit me now to indicate how utterly misleading and unpractical such experi- ments are, It would be easy to get all kinds of strange conclusions from such experimenting. For instance, here are the 1eturns from nine plots in an experimental field harvested a few weeks ago :— Plot 1 yielded 207 lbs. per plot. 39 99. olg 99 99 Le) vw OOS) Ol Co DO iw =I Hoo 99 LP) 21 LB) The manure applied to each of the above plots had the same money value. Which, then, was the best manure? Clearly, we should say. the one given to plot 2. As a matter of fact, however, each plot received identically the same manure, The truth is, none of the plots received any manure at all. The vari- ations in the results were due to vari- ations in the soil itself, or to some other accidental circumstances. Now, had we been manuring these plots on the princi- ple of equal money values of trade manures, we might have by chance put an absolutely worthless manure on to plot 2; and what a splendid advertise- ment this experiment would have given to such a manure. By so-called ‘ practi- cal” experiments of this kind, numbers of farmers have been known actually to injure the crops on some of their plots by the wrong use of essentially valuable manures; and the anomalous result has occurred of their giving the palm to the least valuable fertilizer, on the ground thatit did the least injury to the crops. . Now, a really practical manure experi- ment takes into account the nature of the food which plants require to feed upon, and it will be so planned as to find out if the soil experimented upon supplies enough of this food to insure the maximum growth of crop. As to which vendor's. manures should be selected for carrying out the test is of no consequence whatever to the experi- ment. Preferably, on general grounds, one would choose the manure or manures which supplied the required plant foods at the lowest price and in the most available form, Briefly, I may state that in practical agriculture it is found in general necessary to consider only three of the plant foods, namely, nitrogen, phos- phoric acid, and potash, A mixture 525 Scientific Agriculture. containing these three plant foods in standard proportions is called a com- plete manure. If from this mixture one or two of theses constituents be omitted, or be given in zonsiderably reduced proportions, then the quality of the manure is altered. Now, the experi- mental fields, the results of which I have presented to you, are laid out on such a plan as tofurnish an answer to the two leading questions which have to be considered in practical agriculture, namely: (1) How much manure is to be used ? and (2) What kind? Thus we have a plot which receives no manure, then we have a plot which receives one measure of manure, that we call the light dressing; another re- ceives two measures of manure, that we call the medium dressing; then another receives three measures, and that we call the heavy dressing. These four plots give us a test as to the quantity of manure required. Thus referring to the _ figures on page 9, and comparing plot ‘1, which had the light dressing. with plot 3, the untreated soil, we find that One measure of complete manure has . caused an increase of 81 per cent. in the crop.» On plot 2, which had two meausres of complete manure, the additional measure has caused an addi- tional 78 per cent. in the crop, that is to say, twice the quantity of manure has given practically twice the increase. Evidently then the whole of the medium dressing is required. On plot 4, how- ever, which received three measures of manure, the third measure has caused an additional increase of only 14 per cent., and probably this small increase would not repay the cost of the manure required to produce it. With figures like this before us, we should say that the medium dressing was the one of maximum profit. These plots would then have shown us the quantity needed. Then we have another set of plots in answer tothe question as to the quality required. On plot5 we give the same amount of phosphoric acid and potash as on plot 2, but we give no nitrogen, Now, if the soil can of itself supply enough nitrogen, plot 5 will yield as much as plot 2, and we shall naturally conclude then that nitrogen manuring is unnecessary. If, on the other hand, we get no better result off plot 5 than without any manure at all, we say that, all the nitrogen given on plot2 is need- ed. If we get an intermediate result then we may conclude that only a _ por- tion of the nitrogen given on plot 2 is necessary. Plot 2, in;the above-given returns, yielded an increase of 159 per cent,, but plot 5, to which no nitrogen was given, yielded an increase of 107 per Scientific Agriculture. cent. We should say that some nitrogen was necessary, but not the full dressing ; probably one-third of the iuil dressing would have beenenough. Similarly plot 6 shows us the requirements in respect of phosphoric acid. We see that with- out phosphoric acid there is practically no better result than with nothing at all—there is a gain of only 10 per cent., instead of 159 per cent. In such cases we need have no hesitation in assuming that all the phosphoric acid given on plot 2 is necessary. Plot 7, without potash, gives exactly the same result as plot 2 with potash. Clearly from such a result we may conclude that potash manuring is unnecessary. Plot 8is a duplicate unmanured plot. If it gives practically the same result as plot 3, we have confidence that the ex- pe1iment has been properly carried out. If, however,the results of these duplicate plots do not agree within reasonable limits we shall place less reliance on the whole experiment. Insuch case the test must be carried out with greater care the next season. A field experiment laid out ona plan such as this is a scientific experiment; and I think no one after following the explanation of it will deny it the merit of being practical. We are now in a position to consider the question of the profitableness of results such as those quoted from the experimental fields. I have on several occasions shown that not_only are they profitable, but that only with treatment of this kind can real profits in most cases be made- We will take the case of Mr. Whelan’s experimental potato crop in 1890. Most farmers in this country simply make a living; from a business point of view they cannot be said to make a profit. If they were to charge for their labour at ordinary rates, and were to reckon interest on the capital value of their farms, it would be found that hal- ance under present conditions was gener- ally on the loss side. Thus, the net outcome of 3} tons of potatoes produced on plot 3 of Mr. Whelan’s experimental field would be as follows :— Two ploughings and harrow- &. INZS o. ay ne Seed Two hoeings Harthing up Harvesting . Marketing ue Interest on capita 07) jek ent | CLOTOIN te OH. — eoocaceoo: an) Oo] BOHOOHE x | Total cost Value of 3} tons at 35s, per ton 5 1 Loss a RO Or noo vot ooo 526 ae Be. tDecestont, dh Now, compare this with the result © obtained on plot 4. This plot received a dressing of 54 lbs. nitrogen per acre, 90 — lbs. phosphoric acid, and 66 lbs. potash. An examination of the results from the different plots shows that all this was not necessary. The fullamount of phos- _ phoric acid was required, but only half the nitrogen and one-third the potash. This mixture would at present be most cheaply purchased in the following form:- Sige as 144 lbs. sulphate of ammo- nia at 12s. 6d. per cwt... 014 4 193 lbs. concentrated super- phosphate at 12s. 6d. per t cwt, Ba pees 37 lbs. potash chloride at y / 13s, 6d. per cwt. 3 6 £20 (48 Freight and application 0 4 6 ‘ £2 5 0 | The financial result then comes out as follows :— &. s. d. Two ploughings and harrow- ings ... a ap ae Seed dy NOS WO Two hoeings x MOR 360 Harthing up BONA MG Harvesting wl. 0) 10 Marketing . 115 0 Manuring ane May ote () Interest on capita Pease le atiyy | 7 ———— Total cost . £9 14 6 . Value of 7 tons potatoes at 35s. per ton 33 ae 5 0 Profit £210 6 | By adopting a suitable system of rota- ieee tion of crops, a still greater profitcould be obtained ; for there are certain crops, - namely peas, beans, clover, cow peas. soy-beans, crimson clover, lupines and other of the leguminosze, which have the valuable quality of causing the soil to be enriched in nitrogen from theair. By introducing these crops into a rotation, the cost of the nitrogen manuring, ~ amounting in the above ease to 14s. 4d., may besaved. By that means the profit could be raised to £3 4s. 10d. per acre a sufficiently handsome result, we imagine to satisfy both the farmer and the finan- cial institutions which have to aid him. The above result, however, does not represent all the profit. There is still more to come; for it has been many times demonstrated that the wholeof the manure is not used up inthe first ~ season of application. Under themost — _favourable conditions only about two. i _- DEcEMeER, 1911.] 4 thirds of it are used up by the first crop; there may be, indeed, only one-half or one-third of it used, The rest remains in the ground in the great part for the use of subsequent crops. This is shown clearly enough in the following results obtained by Mr. John Goldie, at Port Fairy. A dressing of manure was given in 1889, and the crops obtained in 1890 and 1891 were as follows :— ' Mangolds—1890, Wheat—1891. per acre. per acre tons. cwt. bushels Plot. 1. 29 10 335 As 2h ee 41 14 42 ” Be 21 14 28 Fa 4. 44 4 442. < 0 5 We 339 10 394 : be 6 27 6 801 fe Cas 44 11 384 bs SLO LOM ee 282 Here we find on plot 7, as compared with plot 8 an increase of 25 tons of mangolds and 10 bushels of wheat. If the mangolds are valued at the very low rate of only 5s. per ton, and the wheat at only 2s. per bushel, this was a gain of £7 5s. per acre. The cost of the manure in this case would have amounted to only £1 9s. per acre. We may conclude this section with one or more illustration. The problem of profitable manuring in our dry north- ern districts, where the great bulk of our wheat is grown, has presented certain difficulties which have been overcome only by several years’ experi- mental work. .In the earliest attempts it was found thatthe crops were often seriously injured by the application of fertilizers to the land. The manured crops made remarkable growth in their - early stages, while there was plenty of moisture in the soil; but afterwards, when the hot dry weather setin, they dried up. The farmers concluded that the manures were ofa scorching nature, 527 Scientific Agriculture. and caused the crop to be burnt up. The truth was that the crops made such prolific growth in their early stages that they rapidly used up the seanty store of soil moisture, and in their later stages, when their large size gave them a corres- pondingly large need of moisture, there was tess soil moisture left for them. They consequently died off for want of water. The manures were used only in light dressings,as ideas of light dressings went in those days. But it takes time to climb down from notions of tons to the acre. It is not much more than a generation ago since an application of 10 tons of manure to the acre was regarded in the old country asa light dressing. With improvement in know- ledge it has been found possible to make artificial fertilizers of such quality that 5 or 6ewt. of them would go as far as 10 tons of the old bulky stuff. But in our dry districts we regarded 5cwt. asa heavy dressing, and came down to2 ewt., IScwt. and 1 ewt. Still we had not gone far enough. My attention was first directed to the possibility of get- ting out of the ewts., and using only a few lbs. to the acre, by the experience of one of our Victorian wheat-growers, Mr. Salter, who dipped his seed wheat while it was wet from the pickling tub into superphosphate, and thereby gota few. pounds of the material to stick to the seed. He believed he obtained substantial benefit thereby. Several farmers, hearing of his experiments, tried his method, with I believe, on the whole, favourable results. : Last year I carried out experiments in a dry wheat district with much smaller quantities of manure than I had ever before used, going down to as little as 10 lbs. to the acre. The follow- ing results have been received from Mr, Telford, of Mount Pleasant, St, Arnaud :— _ WHEAT ON Fattow LAND. Sown 25TH APRIL, REAPED 29TH DECEMBER, 1899. in an g s& 10 > ey ra ae 5 xo |PARD ® rears ec ers es gna Millnong = = A Pewee oes | Se [88 aes os |oaa| ee" | ae | ES [essa See aoe S| Ble B a) av erie to piaty' 2 a 12 oot : Rei rege!) ||) 8 (oe 8 S) was ub senrdinivs.) id. /|s.()@e| Sa) dk Board Plot AS ae woe], 12°78, ]- = i ; iy Hy oF 1. 10 lbs. concentrated superphos- phate... ne ...| 16°46 3'84 Mero L Ley 565683) 9) ).7 2, No manure Ae He on 359 a Vals os BAe NN 3, 20 lbs. concentrated superphos- | phate .... Abs v2.) 18°22 6:00 | 12 0 2.3 9 9 | 15 0 4, 30 lbs. concentrated stiperphos- phate ais Le eel Loree Or2O ey 12a > 45:).9 8115 9 5. No manure. a we. 11°63 ae bol aa a) ea 6. 26 lbs. ordinary superphosphate| 15°58 3°58 UO Teg 6 0 8 1l 7. 26 ibs. Thomas’ phosphate vee] 13°84 147 211 M2 1 9 3 8 8. No. manure naa peal Lavae — - — — — fi Scientific Agriculture. Only two days ago I received from Jeparit, a drier district than St. Arnaud, still more striking results. (The treat- ment of the plots was the same as at St. Arnaud, and the following were the returns from the first five plots : — Plot 1 2. 3. 4, 5. Bushels per acre 790 3°84 15°60 14°23 3°84 Gain due to manure 4°06 = 9°76 11°09 = To our forefathers a result such as that would have appeared incredible. To them 10 tons would have been a light dressing. Now we speak of 10 lbs. asa light dressing; and the experiment shows that 30 lbs. was a heavy one. By the expenditure of only 133d. in manure the produce was raised in value by nearly 10s. per acré. To me it appears that this is one of the victories of science; a victory which may not indeed capture the imagination; but which in the near future may be worth some millions sterling to these colonies, But the addition of artificial plant food to the soil is only one of the -methods by which the land may be made to yield more produce. Improved methods of tillage are able tc produce remarkable improvements in the growth of crops. Onthis subject whole treatises have been written, and it is not my intention now to enter into details; but we should probably not be far out if we were to state that by improved tillage alone, without manuring at all, the average of the wheat yields of this colony might be raised at least 50 per cent. Tillage operates in many ways, but in our dry districts its most im- portant operation is that of a water conserver. In districts which receive 25 or 380 inches of rain annually, 2 or 3 inches more or less is not counted very much; but where there are only 10 or 12 inches a year, every inch has to be regarded as of great value. What is the real value of an inch of rain? Has this question ever been seriously con- sidered? One inch of rain per acre, if it were all used in the growth of wheat, and none of it wasted, would produce 5 bushels, and 10 inches would produce 50 bushels. What is done with the rain which falls on the land? The answer is that it is lost. Nine-tenths of it is allowed to evaporate again into the air uselessly— The soil should be a storage reservoir for this moisture, keeping it locked up until required for use, So badly, however, is this storage managed that only about one- tenth of the rainfall is put to use. How to make use of that wasted nine-tenths is one of the problems science has to investigate on behalf of ne In part. this matter has been already investigated, and it was some years ago demonstrated by the American experi- menters that the loss of moisture by evaporation from the soil was appre- ciably less if the soil was kept stirred © by the cultivator or harrow. the Storr Agricultural Station, eva- poration in sixteen days during the summer was found to be as follows :— Heavy Soil. Light Soil, Inches. Inches. Not stirred 1:66 1°31 Surface stirred 1:26 0°69 Saving of moisture due q to cultivation 0°40 0-62 There was in only two weeks a saving in one case of two-fifths of an inch of the wasted rainfall, which was equal to2 bushels of wheat per acre, and in the other case three-fifths of an inch, or equal to three bushels of wheat. This fact explains why harrowing a young wheat crop, or hoeing between the Thus, at. drills, should have been found by those — who have tried it to be beneficial. This is a matter which requires further experiment and demonstration; and it appears to me one of the most promising lines of investigation which may ultim- ately result in greater practical benefit — than a costly system of irrigation, But attention to the soil as regards supply of either plant food or moisture, is not the only method of increasing our agricultural wealth, It has for a long time been /known that considerable differences exist in the prolificness of seed, not only of seed obtained from the same field or crop, but also of seed from the same plant. Thus Burbidge, in his ‘Cultivated Plants, their Propagation and Improvement,” quotes elaborately obtained and Euglish experimenters. Mark, at the experiment station of Halle and Leipsic, conducted experiments in the growth of beans and peas from large and small seed, and measured and recorded the development of the plants — in minute detail. The plants from the larger seed were of more uniform growth, of earlier development, produced heavier crops, and a greater proportion of good grain to inferior. The following table gives the yield of ite from ot plants of each kind :— ey 3 results from both German. Dr. Gustav - DecemBER, 1911.) Advantage Beans, Birgu, -HTOny |. “of large large small spAdavan seed. seed. aranile Yielded grain of Ist quality .«. 162 121 _ Yielded grain of 2nd quality .. 6 25 = Total grain ... 168 146 15 per cent. Peas. Yielded grain of _ 1st quality . 485 19 _ Yielded grain of ' 2nd quality ... 19°0 Total grain ... 67°5 56 21 percent. —— — In 1891, in connection with the work of the Intercolonial Rustin Wheat Con- ference, I carried out an extensive series of experiments, selecting in a variety of ways nearly 10,000 seeds of wheat, each of which was sown separately in holes one foot apart, in a_ specially prepared seed bed. An extended sum- mary of this very labourious series of experiments was published in the third report of the Conference. The follow- ing short table shows some of the results obtained :— TABLE SHOWING DIFFERENCE IN PROLI- FICNESS OF DIFFERENT GRAIN FROM THE SAME WHEAT PLANT. 2\ Bee ee 8 3 moo vonog Si - BD 7 = n Tile) as oO Description of Seed = 2S Bie Shand Sown. Se Les seeks S maQ PROS, a 3 goo a §33 <823 onl =) Large seed weighing 0Z per cent more than 3°5 gram- - mes per 100 seeds ... 393 29°4 21 Small seed weighing y less than 3'5 grammes per 100 seeds ... w 476 24°3 — Seeds from large head ~ containing more than 80 seeds... ww. 434 29'4 25 Seed from small heads containing less than 80 seeds_... sax 435 «23:5 _ Large seed weighing more than 3°5.gram- mes per 100 from large heads Ae e218. 32:7 29 Small seeds: weighing less than 3°5 grammes per 100 from large heads $4 vue 175 25°4 _ Large seed weighing _ more than 3°5 gram- mes por 100 from small heads 53 vee LG) 26:7 20 67 “1529 Scientific Agriculture. ( ney | Gt hy me ] | 3. $88 oeee . . O- fa Rae Description of Seed «9% 8°, S2n°s ~ Sown, So) in oy.) eae gaz Bee os os 5 sg” gia 5038 A 6 oS (in some cases about 10 per cent. of the purchase money of the holding—which varies between £170 and £300, including stock—is considered sufficient), and the State advances the rest at 3 per cent. interest, and with great facilities in- the matter of repayment, retaining & _ mortgage on the land. Thanks to bene- ficial legislation, a great portion of the agricultural population in Denmark own. the land they work. There are about 2,117 large estates, 75,320 peasant farms of from 20 to 150 acres, and 68,000 small - holdings varying from 3 to 7 acres, | Prosperity of Peasant Farmers and Small Holders.—The peasant farmers and small holders are very prosperous ; the latter are paying off the mortgages on their holdings, and it is found that the previous movement of the rural | population to the towns has been in a large measure arrested. In this connec- tion it may, too, be mentioned that since the State has offered pecuniary Tie ¢ DrcempEr, 1911.] assistance to agricultural labourers to acquire their holdings, there has been falling off in the number of emigrants. Advantages of Co-operation to Small Agriculturists.—The peasant farmers and small holders, being naturally men of small means, would in many instances have found it very difficult to bring their produce to an advantageous mar- ket, By means of co-operation the small man is able to reach the best market possible. The co-operative dairy, of which he is a member, buys his milk of him atthe market rate, and sells him back at a low price the separated milk on which he feeds his pig. The pig he sells to the co-operative bacon factory at a price determined by the demand of the British market, while his eggs are disposed of to the co-operative egg export association. In this manner he receives as good a price as if he were able to bring his produce himself to Copenhagen, nor do his benefits from co-operation cease there. He obtains all he wants for himself, his family, or his farm from a co-operative supply associ- ation, whilea similar association insures him. Character of the Danish Peasant.—It must not be forgotten that the Danish peasant is a very hard-working man. His hours are generally longer than in England, and his way of life cheaper. He is also very honest. This nonesty, and the mutual trust which results from it, may be taken to be the moral found- ation of the co-operative movement in Denmark. Without this mutual trust, which is doubtless strengthened very greatly by the tact that, distances being small, most members of a co-operative undertaking are personally known to each other, it is difficult to imagine how the co-operative movement could have grown so rapidly. Education.—To this innate honesty one must add an excellent education, received in the first instance at the State school, and later at one of the high schools, agricultural colleges, or cottars’ schools. These schools, by bringing young men and women of the agricul- tural classes together, are undoubtedly not without their value in preparing ea for working along co-operative ines, These observations may, perhaps, be considered beside the mark, but the extraordinary success which has attend- ed the introduction of co-operation into Danish Agricultural life, cannot be as- cribed solely to geographical formation and favourable legislation, ‘in this movement. 5389 «Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. Co-operative Dairies.—The first co-oper- ative dairy in Denmark was founded in 1882 in Jutland, and the movement almost immediately became general. So quickly, indeed, did co-operative dairies spring up over the whole country that in 1908, which unless otherwise stated, will be the year of all figures given in this report, there were some eleven hun- dred such dairies. Extent of the Movement.—A _ better idea of the extent of the movement will be gathered from the fact that there are 174,742 farms with cows in Denmark; of these 148,863, or 82°3 per cent., are in the hands of men who are members of a co-operative dairy. N.B.—As_ these figures date from 1903, it may safely be taken that there has been some increase since that year, and it may be added that when the statistics were taken, some 4,800 of the circulars sent out were returned either not filled up, or unsatis- factorily filled up, so that these figures represent a minimum not a maximum. Again, of the 1,066,698 cows in Denmark, 862,986, or 80°9 per cent. are owned by farmers who are members of co-operative dairies, while of the remainder about 10 per cent, deliver their milk to joint dairies, so that about nine-tenths of the milk produced in the country is dealt with in dairies working on the principle of association. Participation of Different Classes in the Movement-—At this point it is of interest to note the manner in which the different classes of farms participate Of the very small farms only 3:1 per cent. are members of a co-operative dairy, but at the same time the milk of 58 per cent. of all the cows owned by this class of peasant farmer is delivered to some such dairy. In other words, most of these farmers are too small to possess a cow, while more than half of those that do are members of a co-operative dairy, The next class most weakly interested in the co-operative dairy movement is that of the large farmers—in many cases the great land-owners—of whom only 43'3 per cent. are members of a co- operative dairy. In this case the reason is to be found in the fact that they are very often owners of dairies in which they deal with their own milk—in some few cases even adding toit by buying milk from their smaller neighbours, Between these two extremes about 85 per cent. of all the farmers are members of a co-operative dairy, 2.e., about 85 per ceat. of the milk produced in the country is sold to a co-operative institution, Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. Benefit of Co-operative Dairies to Smaller Farmers:—The immense benefit of this movement to the smaller farmers can hardly be over-estimated. It was formerly practically impossible for the smaller man to deal with the milk produced on his farm in such a manner as tosecure a highand uniform standard of butter and cheese. He had to rely on the local market for the sale of his produce, and there was besides a con- siderable wastage of by-products. Under the co-operative system—which owes its success largely to the introduction of _ the centrifugal separators, which render it possible to deal with larger quantities of milk expeditiously—the smaller farmer is assured of the best market obtainable, has more time for properly attending to his farm and stock, is able to buy back ata very low figure by-products such as separated milk, which he may need for his own purposes, and, most important of all, he has won the reliance of the market on the high and uniform standard of his produce, Management of aCo-operative Cream- ery.—The Society having been formed, an executive committee is selected, it in turn electing its chairman, vice-chair- man, and treasurer. The elections hold fora year. The committee appoints a manager, who is generally paid a lump sum yearly, out ot which he has to pay the employees and himself. This system has many obvious disadvantages, and it is not unlikely that it will in time be changed. The manager, besides engaging the employees and supervising the work- ing of the dairy, has to keep the books and generally control the whole business of the undertaking. Fittings of the Creamery.—The cream- ery is almost invariably supplied with steam-driven centrifugal machines, and has one or more separators and pasteur- isers, according to the amount of milk dealt with. The machines generally drive an electric plant and a cooling apparatus. All utensils are very care- fully cleaned, as are the milk cans before their return to the farmer. Most of the machines and utensils appear to be of Danish manufacture, but English. and German marks are sometimes seen. Great attention is paid to cleanliness in every department, and the farmers also are required to observe a very high standard in this respect. Cartage of Milk.—The cartage of milk is generally done by the dairy society, who, in most cases, let it out toa con- tractor. The dairy charges the farmer so much per hundred pounds of milk. These charges vary from three to ten ore (rather less than 3d, to about 1jd.), 540 *) MHL ya 4 La ° © The farmers are bound to deliver the) milk on the main road, where it is collect- — ed by the carrier. It is common sight in Denmark to see two or three milk — [DacEMBER, 19fi aN ~ ; cans standing by the side of the roadfor —— the carrier to pick up. a hundred pounds supplied by the dairy. Treatment of the Milk.—The milk is of milk and are weighed on receipt at the creamery and — subseriber’s account. . entered to the Payment is made according to the amount of butter-fat contained in the milk. Every dairy makes regular tests of the milk supplied by its subscribers, and any falling below a certain standard is immediately notified to him, and if the fault is not, remedied his milk is refused. Great care is also exercised to prevent milk from any diseased animals being sent to the creamery. Some co- operative societies even go the length of © undertaking partially to indemnify a subscriber who suspects one or more of his cows of being tuberculous, and, in consequence, does not send his milk to the creamery. Formation of a Co-operative Dawry.— The capital required to start an average Danish creamery varies from £1,200 to ~ £1,500. This sum, which wonld cover everything, is advanced to the Co-oper- ative Society by a bank or other insti- tution having money to invest. The- farmers forming the society pledge themselves, each according to the number of cows on his farm, to be liable for this loan. The bank holds a mortgage on the tactory or creamery, and has further right of recovery against each farmer in proportion to the extent of his guarantee. The farmer undertakes to sell all the milk produced on his farm for a certain number of - years—the period varies in the different societies from seven to twenty years—to the co-operative dairy, and to observe a certain number of rules as to feeding — of cows, treatment of milk, utensils, and’ soon. Infringements of these rules are punishable by fine, but such cases are of very rare occurrence. Each member signsan agreement drawn up in the above sense, binding himself and his farm to the observance of the rules there- in contained. Itthus follows that if a farm changes hards during the period for which the farmer has become a guarantor, the liability rests on the new owner. ( Number of Creameries in Denmark in 1908.—The figures for the year 1908 show that there were in all 1,345 creameries in. Denmark at the beginning of the year. Of this number thirty-three belonged to These cans hold — j Ducempur, 1911.] _ private persons (Heeresgaardsme jerier), 211 were communal dairies (Faellesme jerier), and the remainder, 1,101, were co-operative dairies. Associations of Co-operative Dairies.— The greater number of these dairies are again associated in various ways. The most comprehensive of these associations is, perhaps, the Committee of the Feder- ated Danish Dairy Associations (De samvirkende Danske Mejeriforenings Forretningsudvalg). This Committee, which was founded in 1899, consists ot the Presidents of the Associated Dairies’ Unions of Jutland, of Zealand-Lolland- Falster, and of the Funen Dairies’ Asso- ciation, in other words, ot the dairy association of the whole of Denmark proper. Its object is to consider the proposals to be laid before the yearly meetings of the association, and to endeavour to concentrate and unite the efforts of the various societies in all matters connected with dairy associ- ations. The State, in the yearly budget for 1907-8, granted the Committee Kr. 4,000 (£222) towards the expenses of butter exhibitions, and Kr. 1,000 (£55) for the wages of a consultant in the control of the dairies. Taking next the local associations of dairies, the Presidents of which form the Committee above-mentioned, we find the Associated Dairies’ Union of Jut- land, composed of all the thirteen minor dairy associations of the peninsula, who again have as members 504 dairies. The object of this association is to form a connecting link between the various dairy associations of Jutland, and in general to further the interest of the dairy in- dustry by holding butter competitions, exhibitions. giving advice, and so on. Each dairy association pays a yearly contribution calculated upon the amount of milk dealt with (in the year 1907-8 this contribution was Kr. 3 (8s. 4d.) per million pounds of milk), and each associ- _ation sends one representative for each ‘seven dairies of the association. The union has a yearly budget of Kr. 14,000 (£777). The subscriptions amount to Kr. 6,000 (£333). The State contributed Kr. 6,650- (£369),. which was expended in securing the services of an expert as consultant, in arranging butter exhibi- tions, and generally in forwarding the production of milk and butter. The Associated Dairies Union of Zea- land and Lolland-Flaster has a member- ship of five dairy associations, or in all 140 dairies. The Dairy Association of Funen is composed of 145 dairies. Both these associations have generally the same object as the Jutland union above- mentioned, ‘4 541 Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. Election of the Boards of Co-operative Institutions.—As a general rule all asso- ciations in Denmark coming within the scope of co-operation are controlled by a committee and chairman elected for different lengths of time—usually for a year. It has been found that it is better to keep such committees separate, and as a consequence we find a number of such boards—in the smaller districts and ‘villages often composed of the same men—directing different undertakings in the various branches of agricultural co-operation, and work side by side throughout the land, The contributions to the dairy asso- ciations are generally based on the amount of milk dealt with; in the case of the dairies themselves sometimes on the number of cows belonging to the subscriber, sometimes on the amount of milk; while in the case of bacon fac- tories the subscription is, asa rule, regu- lated by the number of hogs slaughter- ed, the subscriber in this latter case generally guaranteeing a fixed sum. Larger product of the Cows on Smaller Farms.—The average yield of milk from cows on farms of the two _ smallest classes is considerably higher than that on larger farms. This is probably large- ly due to the fact that on the smaller farms the number of cows kept is pro- portionately fewer, and the farmer is consequently able to attend to them personally and more thoroughly than is possible on a larger scale. Control Societies.—In 1895 a new de- parture was made in agricultural asso- ciations, by the formation of the first Control Society (Kontrolforening); the number had increased to 479 in 1907, with an aggregate membership of about 12,000. ‘These societies are aided by the State, the subvention in i906-7 being Kr. 120,000 (£6,666). Formation of Control Societies.— Though not actually co-operative under- takings, these societies are formed on co-operative lines by the farmers in various districts. A membership of eight is necessary before the society can re- Geive State aid, though this aid may be refused by the Minister of Agriculture in certain circumstances. Object of Control Societies—Improve- ment of Breed of Cattle.—The principal aim of these societies is to improve the milk-producing capacities of the breed of cattlein Denmark. With this object an expert is appointed as’controller (it is calculated that one controller can look after about 1,000 cows). This ofticer travels from one farm to another in his district and gives the farmers advice as < st oA ane gta has PRN sk ja [DeceMeEr, 19 a: ue Vets a. ht a ee Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. 542 Bie area Wert borg “ye to the cows they should select for breed- ing purposes, and the bulls to which it would be best to put them. The farmer has to keep a record of the weight of milk yielded by each cow, and of the butter-fat contained therein, together ’ with details as to the amount and nature of the fodder supplied to the cow. By this means the controller is able to advise as to the profitableness of the animal. The practice of breeding only from such cows as are good milkers . is said to be tending towards the pro- duction of a breed possessing unusually developed capacities in this direction. Other Functions of the Controller.—Be- side the main object of improving the breed of cattle, the controller also gives advice on other branches of agricultural industry, such as the pigs, roots, &c. He also keeps duplicate account books for each farm, being both auditor and adviser to the farmer. Co-operative Bacon-curing Factories.— Second only in importance to the dairy- ing industry in Danish agricultural life is the bacon-curing industry. In1887 the import of Danish pigs in living state into Germany was prohibited, and the Danish farmer was himself obliged to look for another market. One or two old-established firms in Copenhagen had for some years been dealing with British market in salted bacon, and hence the first inclination was towards Great Britain. These firms were private concerns, and used the opportune excess of supply over demand to reduce the price given to the Danish farmers for their pigs, while maintaining to a very large extent the price to their customers in London. This state of things was eminently unsatisfactory to the farmer, who having the success of the recently started co-operative dairies before his eyes, decided to experiment in co-oper- ation in this branch of agriculture also, and the first co-operative pig-killing and bacon-curing factory in Denmark was founded at Horsens in 1888. A certain amount of difficulty was experienced at first, the established private firms naturally offering such position, and the experience gained in co-operative dairy- ing being only to a slight degree applic- able to this new departure. Growth of the Movement.—Despite various obstacles, the success of the movement was assured from the begin- ning. Hight new co-operative factories were established in the second year of the movement, and the number has grown yearly since, The number of co-operative pig-killing and bacon-curing factories in 1908 was thirty-six, with a membership of about 95,000, (Besides these co-operative factories there were — twenty-four private firms, so that the — total number of enterprises in this branch of the industry was sixty.) : Constitution and Organisation of Co-operative Pig-killing and Bacon-cur- . ing Factories.—The constitution of a co-operative pig-killing and bacon- curing factory is, mutatis mutandis, materially the same as that of a co-oper- aative dairy. The area over which the members of a co-operative slaughtery are scattered is naturally larger than that covered by adairy. Theconsignments to the factory are neither daily nor in small quantities, ag in the case of dairies, but at longer intervals and in larger quantities. Again, the perishable nature of milk necessarily limits the distance over which it can be transported, while with the live pig this is not the case. The risk of transport are borne by the factory once the pig has been consign- ed; moreover, the factory bears the cost of transport for such pigs as are sent by train, so that all pigs, whether from far or near, arrive at the factory — at an equal minimum of cost to the farmer. \ The money for erecting the factories was raised by loans, as in the case of the dairies, the guarantee being in this case also for a certain number of years, generally five, seven, cr ten. In most cases the original loans have al- ready been paid off, and the factories are owned by the members themselves. The members bind themselves to deliver all their pigs to the factory (generally with the exception of the sows and hogs for breeding purposes and young pigs under a certain weight). They may, however, sell to a fellow-member, upon whom the obligation towards the factory devolves. Special rules are made as to the admittance of new members subsequent to the foundation of the factory. The members elect their committee, which in turn elects its chairman and vice-chairman, and appoints a director of the factory, and in some cases certain other officials. The Director manages the factory under the control of the committee. The Associated Danish Co-operative Pig Slaughteries.—This association (De Samvirkende Danske Andels-Svine-slag- terrier) was founded in 1897, and thirty- three out of thirty-six co-operative slaughteries in Denmark belong to it. It consists of members of the committees — of all the associated factories, who elect’ a committee of five of their members, — who stay in office for *wo years; andof — DEcrmpuR, 1911.] “two tactory directors who hold office fora year. The expenses of the associ- ation are divided among the associated factories in proportion to the number of pigs they have slaughtered. and varies from one to two Gre per pig—in all about Kr. 15,000 (£888). — The objects of this association are to represent the interests of the industry as regards legislation, to secure the best information as to transport of and demand for slaughter-house products, to work for the improvement of Danish bacon by affording the assistance of scientific consultants, &c., and to pro- mote rational pig breeding. (There are other associations for the improvement of the various breeds of pigs, some of which are assisted by the Government, but which are not co-operative in their constitution.) A very important function of this association is: ‘To diffuse immediately the latest intelligence regarding the bacon industry among those concerned.” The endeavour to introduce a common quotation of prices for bacon produced in Denmark has only met with partial success up to the present. The abattoirs of Jutland and Funen have established a board which, on the receipt of bi-week- ly dispatches from England, fixes the price as far as these abattoirs themselves are concerned. The Zealand and Lol- land-Falster markets are, however, somewhat influenced by the neighbour- hood of Copenhagen, and it has hitherto been found impossible to establish a general quotation for the whole country. The association, however, keeps its members informed of the state of the market and of the number of the pigs slaughtered in Denmark and Ireland, so that a very good idea of the prices can be formed by the factory directors. The action of the association in having a scientific veterinary expert at the disposal of its members (the Government have madea grant of Kr. 2,000 (£111) yearly towards the expenses of this expert) has contributed largely to the success of the Danish bacon industry. The Agricultural High School has also placed its laboratory at the disposal of the aecoclahion for purposes of experi- ment. It is also due to the association that the veterinary control of exported meat, which was regulated by the Law of July 29th, 1903, was recently revised, and that the standard was so raised that foreign customers of Denmark can_ be certain that they receive nothing but absolutely sound meat. 543 Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. THE WORK OF THE ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION. (From the Manila Bulletin.) We have read with great interest the proposal of the Association to encourage the establishment of banks throughout the archipelago as well as the announce- ment that in several cities and muni- cipalities evidences that hearty co- operation on the part of the leading Filipino citizens has been engaged. As is well set forth by the Association the urgent need of the country isthe active circulation of money which for one reason and another has been with- drawn and hoarded. The postal savings bank has served to sncourage the people who heretofore hoarded their wealth to utilize the bank, and there is reason to believe that lack of confidence in bank- ing institutions throughout the pro- vinces has been more or less overcome, and the way prepared for the very necessary local institution as an avenue far safe deposit and local investment. All the money available in a municipality is now in large measure hoarded, serving no purpose and could be utilized through the bank to aid in the greater develop- ment of agriculture and industry, and the investment thus made would be right at home where the community generally would benefit. Such institutions would inspire con- fidence and educate the growing gener- ation in a broader conception of local economics. Instead of the scarcity of money and usurious rates of interest money would be plentiful and at reasonable rates. The Philippine Legislature is to be asked to meet the people half way to subscribe an equal amount outof the insular treasury to that provided by the Filipino subscribers. We believe this to be a very reasonable proposal. Insular funds could not be utilized to better advantage. It would be one step and an important one in the direction of economic emancipation, We have been advocating for years that the greater influence and activity of the government should be directed in encouraging the Filipino to economic independence. It is true that little or no inclination to advance along material lines were demonstrated, so that there was very little the government could do. But the provosal vf the Economic Asso- ciation is what we have heen looking for. The Filipino as an individual comes forward witha desirable proposition. He offers to put up a pledge of so much to back his faith in the Island’s indus- \ Agricultural Finance & Co-operation. trial future if the Government will cover it. This seems to us to be the very spirit we have been hopefully anticipating. If the legislature fails to respond and go partners in this economic adventure, then that body will be guilty of the admission that the majority of its mem- bers have less faith in the country’s industrial future than the individual Filipino who is willing to put his money in it. EDUCATION ny THE COUNTRY wT (From Nature, No, 2,194, Vol. 88, November 16, 1911.) The Teaching of Agriculture in_ the High School.—By Garland A. Bricker, pp. XXV+202. (New York: The Mac- millan Co., London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1911.) Price 4s. 6d. net. Students of rural affairs have long realised that much dissatisfaction exists in country districts with our present system of education, In whatever way it is judged, according to its critics, it has failed; the children sent out from the country schools are not better fitted for work on the land than their fathers were; on the contrary, they are kept at desk work during the period when it is supposed that their respective faculties are at the best, and when they would; on the land, most rapidly learn the ways of animals, of plants, and of soils. Even the friends of the system will concede that it has been evolved without any special regard for country requirements, and without taking ac- count of the fundamental differences in habits of thcught and in points of view between the dwellers in the town and those in the country. More and more it is being realised that the future development of the rural district, or to put it still more widely, of the country civilisation, must run on different lines from that of the city, and experiments are therefore being made to evolve a system of education that shall train children to lead the life of the country. The experimental scale is largest in the States, as one might ex- pect, and in the book before us Mr. Bricker has collected such of the mate- rial as is at present available, thus use- fully filling a gap in our education liter- ature. Itis, of course, as yet too soon to speak about results, but during the experimental period it is useful for edu- cationists to know what their American confréres are doing. Of the elementry school but little is said. The nature study idea is for the present the -best we have, and has 544 [DECEMBE = 0. oe already a copious literature of its own. The work of the elementary school, ac- cording to the author, should confine itself to an elementary study of the com- mon things of the farm, field, and forest. Something of the relative importance peg of these things to man should be studied and fixed in the mind of the child before he leaves school. It is in the secondary school, or, as it is here called, the high school, that the scholars will take up — agriculture as such, but there isno break in the sequence of studies because agri- cuiture will be looked upon as nature- study plus utility. But the study of agriculture is to be an education and — not simply a manual training. ‘If the essence of true culture is to see the fundamental and eternal shining out through the seemingly trivial and transitory, there is no subject better adapted to provide culture than the subject of agriculture.” To be treated in this broad way, agri- culture requires a larger place in the school curriculum than the established secondary schools are able or willing to give it; hence the necessity for separate agricultural schools. Two possi- ble dangers are indicated; specialised schools may emphasise class distinctions unworthy of a democratic country ; edu- cation that makes a strong appeal to economic motives may be harmful if it places its powerful sanction on self- seeking ideals. ‘The purely practical man, of course, will ask: Of what use are culture and adornment if the power to earn a livelihood is lacking? But this must not be the point of view of the agricultural teacher. He must rather insist on the other question: Of what use is the best capacity to make a living without a corresponding power to ~ make life worth while? and make agri- culture a cultural as well as a vocational subject. In short, the secondary school is to be the directive and constructive agent of the new rural civilisation that the best men in the States (and, for that matter, in this country also) are endeavouring to foster. A chapter is devoted to the description of schools already established. They are, as one would expect. of several types, but in all of them boys and girls are educated together, entering at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and remain- ing for three or four years. Agriculture for the boys and household science for the girls form the respective centres of the courses, and the education is made as real as possible, z.e., the thing itself, — whether a horse, a maize seed, or @ growing crop is beforethe class, and not simply a picture. heer h ee ge agricultural | DECEMBER, 1911.) The author then proceeds to a dis- cussion of methods. The logical arrange- ment of subject followed in a college course is not the best for the boy with his limited experience and his incom- plete and unorganized knowledge. It is necessary to adopt a_ psychological arrangement, i.e., a sequence of studies adapted to the changing and the develop- ing powers of the scholar. That the subject generally accords with instincts, and the impulses of the average boy is a - tremendous help, and yet, unintelligently directed by the teacher, this help may prove a great danger. Into the psycho- 545 Miscellaneous. logical discussions we need not enter. The author’s aim is toshow that peda- gogic principles can and should be applied to the teaching of agriculture, and that the subject can and should be made cultural as well as vocational. The book affords a striking illustra- tion of how much further the Americans have got then we ourselves. We are only commencing—if indeed we have seriously commenced—to apply the science of education in our agricultural teaching. Those who propose to essay ‘the task will obtain useful help from this book. MISCELLANEOUS. PERADENIYA EXPERIMENT _ STATION. Minutes of a meeting of the Committee of Agricultural Experiments held at the Experiment Station, Peradeniya, on 9th November, 1911. Present :—The Director, R. B. Gardens (Chairman), the Assistant Director, the Government Entomologist, the Govern- ment Mycologist, the Government Chemist, Mr. W. N. Tisdall, and the Secretary. j The Progress Report since the previous meeting was read. Resolved :— 1. That the tapping of Manihot dicho- toma be discontinued. 2. That the name of the paddy that is to be planted out be ascertained, that it be planted 10’ x 10’, and that the manuring be continued with the exception of the plots being experimented on by Dr. Lock. 3. That Government be approached re the sale of the cattle now on the Station, with a view to ac- quiring a better class of stock, J. A. HOLMES, Secretary C. A. E., and Superintendent, E. S. P PROGRESS REPORT ON EXPERIMENT STATION FRomM 7TH SEPTEMBER TO 9TH Oc10BER, 1911. THA,—The tea has been flushing well, and the results of systematic green manuring are very appreciable in the plot thus treated. Supplies are being put in according as they are obtained, but it is somewhat difficult to get them from the original sources. 69 Cacao.—Two sprayings have been effected since the last meeting and a fair crop is now being gathered. RuBBER.—Para, Plot 78 was manured “as previously. Plot 87 has been forked. Appended are the monthly averages for the various acres. Ceara and Mani- hot rubbers are yielding very poorly. Coconuts.—Plot No. 8 was ploughed, making two ploughings for the year. Plot No. 9 had its bi-mensual applic- ation of soluble mixture, Plot No. 18. Cattle were tied at night to the trees for the third time, PapDy.—The paddy field is just about to be planted with nursery grown seedlings. CoFFEE.—A variety of coffee obtained by Mr. Bamber in Java known as Uganda Coffee has just been planted out. GREEN MANURES.—Leuceena glauca. When pruned, Weight of organic matter, 25, 1, 1911 176 , 4, 1911 136 31, 5, 1911 132 9, 8, 1911 164 13, 10,1911 165 Total ... 773 lbs, GENERAL.—A portion of the pewly- cleared land is already sown in Maize, Castor and Sweet Potatoes. Various varieties of local products are on crder to plant up the remaining acres. Cassava of two varieties planted in April, 1911, has just been harvested, Cost of crop, | acre a » Rs 17°38 Green cassava weight for 4 acre t 1,613 Ibs, Red aK ‘4 a 2,696 ,, Total 4,309 ,, Profit from selling at one cent{per lb, ,, Rs, 25°71 \ Miscellaneous. 546 (DECEMBER, 191]. - RUBBER—PARA. ITINERARY IN VIYALUVA — | MONTHLY AVERAGES FOR THE VARIOUS (UVA PROVINCE). . ACRES. hee ; : (Report by the Agricultural Instructor — Flot 79. of the Central Circuits.) - — - Average in Average in I have the honour to report that I ee en oy. shave, with the kind assistance of Mr. nae oo 93.36 ge Bikile Ratemahatmaya, carried out a Tins tee a 198 useful programme ot work in Viyaluva. July 1 § 39-94 1:38 2. I started work in Viyaluva with anust Ohi 81°75 112 a ploughing demonstration at Timbiri- September i 919 3-96 Zaspitiya got up by the Ratemahatmaya, Saad who was present with his headmen and 231-98 819 paddy cultivators at the demonstration. ALAR The plough used was the Empire—lately introduced by Messrs. Hunter & Co. Plot 82 A. Those who witnessed the demonstration Average for 12 months, agreed with the Ratemahatmaya that viz., August, 1910, to the plough worked well. The Ratemahat- z As 586'14 20°78 maya has ordered more ploughs and is lending them out to villagers. Plot 82 B. : A 3. Iheld meetings or conferences at Average for 12 months, 58894 20°88 Soranatota, Tenneparguva, and Bera- July, 1911 Plot 82 C mada, and went fully into the subject of : } Agricultural Improvement. At present — ; June tre 29°02 1-02 the only cultivations carried on by the July eee 615 2°18 villagers are paddy and chena, and August see 50°00 177 these on the primitive methods, without September wee 61°62 2°18 any consideration of improved and Plot 30 A. & B. modern methods. This Ratemahatmaya, Usi 1 ‘ who takes the greatest interest in all sing, the Bamber pricker only re- matters of agriculture and the general sulted in a very large percentage of improvement of the division, has not scrap in the proportion 3 to 1, owing to only adopted improved methods of small excresences on the bark. paddy cultivation, but Ie ponte ape + . rotation of crops in chena lands, It is a Ae arty PROD Used FUR nUEL ne i now for the villagers to take them up. They have the opportunity to see for Manures.—-Apply 1912 and leave un- themselves the good results of such ex- touched 1918 and 1914. periments. Mr. Bibileis carrying on a 9 half-acre plots, }{ acre surface - sour ey rotation in a chena close to manured. is residence. ye 4. There has been a great tendency 1. Ten tons cattle manure as mulch. 3 ; aaaenh Bie Tals Cone cattle mabe forked an in Viyaluva to sow more seeds than a zh i : actually necessary for a paddy field, and 3. 200 lbs. basic slag buried in trench po transplanting is carried on. Me. with leaves. Bibile has this year set an example by 4. 200 lbs. basic slag broadcast and sowing as much seed as is necessary, lightly disc harrowed(scratched and I understand that the cultivators in). who had apie pated iste gna ; _ beginning to realize that hitherto there Poa ibe. crane wna oraad has been a great wastage of seed paddy. cast and disc harrowed, : f | : There has also been a practice to culti- 6. 200 Ibs. basic slag and 100 lbs. Yate paddy lands out of season, but the potassium sulphate broadcast present irrigation rules do not permit and disc harrowed. this. I have taken every opportunity to 7. 200 lbs. basic slag, 1001bs. Potassium speak to the people on the possibilities sulphate and 400 lbs. Castor of improving paddy cultivation, and I cake. think that, with the example set by the 8. 3 ecwt. of bone dust. Ratemahatmaya. there is good prospect of improvement. 5. The methods of chena cultivation Kach plot consists of two rows'of trees in Viyaluva is not satisfactory. Kurak- between which the various manures are kan is the only dry grain largely cultiv- to be applied. ated. Very little of other grains or 9, Unmanured. Decemper, 1911.) pulses are grown. Certain parts of this division are suitable for cotton cultiv- ation and tobacco. I gave full instruc- tions to those who undertook to cultivate cotton and tobacco. 6. Thereis no garden cultivation in Viyaluva to speak of. Most kinds of native vegetables, and in some localities also foreign vegetables, can be success- fully grown. At Tennepanguva School, at the time of my visit, vegetables were thriving well. Inthe near future suffi- cient landis to be given to Soranatota and Beramada schools. With these school gardens ag models, to show the villagers how to cultivate marketable products, and with the assistance of Agricultural Instructors, I think the dis- trict should be able to produce sufficient vegetables for local consumption. 7. There are no permanent -cultiv- ations carried on by the natives, Coco- nut and arecanut do well in some parts. There are Tea and Rubber estates belonging to EHuropean Companies. At Beramada there is a rubber estate of over 1,000 acres. 8. The chief hindrances ‘to progress are the laziness and conservatism of the people. It is well known that, if the villager has sufficient to eat, he is not inclined to stir, And the villagers of Viyaluva are no exceptions. They are conservative to a degree and sceptical in the face of convincing proof that new methods are an improvement on their own. 9. Water Supply.—The present state of the irrigation channels is satisfactory, and the irrigation rules do not permit of any wastage of water. The water supply is limited and the rainfall low. 10. There is only one school garden, viz., Tennepanguwa. When land is ac- quired for other school gardens, and a fair water supply made available on the premises, there should be. good work done. The garden at Tenne- panguwa isin a sorry state just now, as tbe drought has killed all vegetation. ll. I have every reason to hope that the agricultural condition of Viyaluva will continue to improve with the help of Bibile Ratemahatmaya, who greatly facilitated my work in that district. His headmen met me with the villagers whenever [ had aranged to hold confer- ences and give demonstrations. WALTER MOLEGODE, Agricultural Instructor. 547 Miscellaneous. NEW FOREST LEGISLATION IN ITALY. In the last two numbers (July and August) of the Bulletin of Social and Economie Institutions, published by the International Institute of Agriculture, there is a special study on the above subject, from which we derive the following details :— Previous to June, 1910, when the law on the State Forest Lands was promul- gated, Italian Forestry questions were regulated by the law of 20th June, 1877, and some others of less importance. The law of 1877, with a view to ensuring the stability of the soil, a good water system, and, secondarily, good local sanitary conditions, forbade all detorest- ing and clearing of forest soil, subjecting to the vincolo forestale (forestry régime) the woods and lands denuded of trees on the summits and slopes of mountains, down to the higher limit of the chestnut zone, as well as those that by their character and _ position, might, if deforested or cleared, become a public danger. The law further instituted, in every province, a forestry committee, presided over by the Prefect, to settle the rules for forest cultivation, wood cutting and other delicate matters. But, in spite of these provisions, there was reascn to lament an excessive and_ill-regulated deforesting, giving rise to landslips, devastating torrents and tloods, often producing serious crises in the economy of the mountain regions. The necessity for special remedial measures was then apparent. Some of these were provided in the law of 2nd June, 1910, ‘* On the State Forest Domain and the Protection and Encouragement of the Forestry”; others are contained in two bills (80th November, 1910); the first on Modvfications of the Forestry Law of 1877 and Provisions for Mountain Pas- tures and Agriculture, the second on ‘Forestry Training.” The main article of the law of 2nd June, 1910, is the formation of a State Forest Administration as an independ- ent institute, ‘‘to provide for the ex- tension of forest cultivation and the trade in national forestry produce by in- creasing the State forest property and rendering it inalienable and by the ex- ample of a good industrial régime.” The domain is formed: (a) of State forests already declared inalienable ; (b) of State forests at present administered by the Finance Department ; (c) of State lands held to be economically only Miscellaneous. 548 suited for forest cultivation; (d) of wooded lands purchased by the Forest Domain Institute or in any way becom- ing the property of the same; (e) of tree- less lands purchased or expropriated by the same; (f) land reafforested or to be reafforested, by vritue of special laws by the Department of Public Works, and that the Agricultural Department shall think fit to incorporate in the Domain. Woods and lands that thus come to form part of it are inalienable, and must be cultivated and utilised accord- ing to aregular economic plan, approved by the Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce. Art. 17 of the law is especially interest- ing. It authorizes the forestry admin- istration to receive advances and lcans from the Land Credit or Agricultural Credit Institutes and the Savings Banks. For the protection of forest cultivation, it is provided that the woods belong- ing to the Communes, the Provinces, public institutions, corporations, asso- ciations and limited liability societies must be utilised as prescribed by the forestry authority. For reafforestation of severally damag- ed woods, the Department is authorized to direct gratuitously the technical labour and_ to give prizes of from 50 to 100 franes per hectare; Lands, bare or covered with bush or grass, when they are scientifically reafforested by their owners or by con- sortiums of owners are exempted from the land tax for 15 years if cultivated as copsewood, for 40 years if cultivated for the production of full grown trees, The central or local forestry authority further gives gratuitous assistance to the forest cultivators for the defence of small mountain properties and encour- ages the foundation of associations and consortiums of forest proprietors. The sum of 83 million francs has been assigned for the carrying out of the law during the first five years ; at the end of which period the amounts necessary each year will be inscribed on the Agri- cultural Estimates. To complete this fundamental law, the two bills above mentioned were present- ed to the Chamber. By the first, pro- vision is made for a more scientific system of preserving the woods and grazing lands and for the increase of forest industries. The vwincolo forestale is modified in accordance with the dic- tates of science and practical experience, and the provincial forest committee 4 bain | reorganized wth the ‘participation of persons technically and legally qualified. The criterium of the chestnut zone, hitherto taken as the limit of the lands of the forestry régime, is consequently abolished, Other provisions deal with — the penalities and the conciliation insti- tute for contraventions of the forestr regulations, Finally, a very important and novel, portion of the bill relates to mountain pastures. It establishes subsidies for the creation, improvement and regul-— ated use of the grazing grounds and mountain meadows and for the works connected with the regulation of the water supply. The period damaged grazing grounds must lie fallow is also regulated ; this naturally causes a break in the owner’s use of them, but he receives adequate compensation during the period the State is arranging for the restoration of severely damaged grazing grounds. The second bill has reference to ‘forestry troining”: in it the found- ation of a ‘‘ Higher National Forestry Institute” is proposed, the principal ob- ject of which is to provide for the superior technical instruction of the forestry officers required for the service of the special State Forest Domain In- stitute and for the application of general and special forestry laws. It is also proposed to institute a ‘‘ Royal Forestry Experimental Station,” to assist in the progress of forest cultivation by means of scientific and technical research. ~ Finally, provision is made for secondary forestry training, itinerantteaching and for the training of the forestry guards. (Summarised from the Bulletin of Hco- nomic and Social Intelligence, Year 11, N.7&8, July 3lst and August38lst, pub- lished by the International Institute of Agriculture.) REPORT ON THE DANISH SYSTEM OF TAXATION, (From the Diplomatic and Consular Reports, April, 1907.) (Continued.) Reform of the System of Taxation.— The motives for the reform of taxation in Denmark may be summarised as follows :— obits (1.) The growth of the local burdens year by year. , (2.) The injustice of using the old valuation as a basis for local taxation, [DecemBER, 1911. ables) +’ aN ys . 4% Drcemser, 1911.) (8-) The inequality arising from the fact that non-agricultural land and buildings did not contribute towards the local taxation. (4.) The prevailing dissatisfaction as to the payment of tithes. Finally, Parliament determined to create an entirely new system in lieu of endeavouring to effect improvements in the old., and the building tax, based on a per- manent valuation, areal property tax, based on periodically recurring valu- ations, was established, with, at the same time, an income and _ property (capital) tax to the State. All the old State taxes (except the title tax) were abolished. THE TAXES ABOLISHED IN 1903. Value in Value in 1,000,000 Kr. 1,0002. Copenhagen ... 2°1 120... Other towns... 1-7 90 Rural districts 7:2 400 Total 11 610 THE NEW TAXES AFTER THE ASSES- : MENT, 1904. Value in Value in * 1,000,000 Kr. 1,0002. Copenhagen ... 49 270 - Other towns... 2 130 Rural districts 66 370 Total 13-9 770 Although the total returns from the State taxes are increased by 26 per cent., the burden of the rural districts is made lighter by 8 percent. It is evidentfrom these figures that the agricultural class has been relieved considerably as com- pared with the other classes of the population. The 18,900,000 kr. (770,0002.) are raised as follows :— TABLE SHOWING INCOME TAx, PROPERTY TAX AND REAL PROPERTY Tax. Income Property Real Tax. Tax. Property Tax. ‘Total. we 6 q 6 eS 6.688 8 sx 9g. sé & = ns tae 4 AE aes a ge gepesss 85.88 82 25 Bo Sa se Bop ao Ss do Sm Petr eee bs lh been a mn =} al Copenhagen... 2,99 160 O07 40 13 70 49 270 Other towns 1°2 70 04 20 O08 650 24 140 Rural districts 2°2 120 15 980 29 160 66 360 Total.. 6°3 350 26 140 280 13°9 770 The new real property tax does not amount to more than _ 5,000,000 kr. (280,000/.), as compared with 10,800,000 kr. oF 549 In place of the old land taxes - Miscellaneous. (600,0002.), which was the yield of the old veal property taxes (land and build- ing taxes). The real property owners in the cities and towns have been relieved of taxes to the amount of $00,000 kr. (50,0000.) (from 3,000,000 to 2,100,000 kr.), equal to a reduction of 30 per cent.: the burdens of the owners in the country have been lightened by 4,900,C00 ir. (270,0000.) (from 7,800,000 to 2,900,000 kr.), or by 68 per cent. The owners of large properties with high mortgages on them have gained very much, as they will have to pay but a small income and property tax. The income tax should be the same for all people of the same financial stand- © ing; but this equality, as yet, does not exist, as many of the smaller farmers do not appear to understand that the pro- duce of their property used for personal consumption should be reckoned as income, so that practically they are paying aless tax than townspeople of the same financial standing. The present Taxation for State pur- poses.—With reference to the income tax, it will be sufficient to point out that the tax is progressive (up to 2$ per cent.), with a tax-free income of 800, 700 and 600 kr. (442., 891. and 381.) respective- ly in Copenhagen, the market towns and the rural districts, and that the taxable income comprises the total yearly income from every source in cash or gcods of money value. Increase of fortune, occurring through rise in value of goods, or through inheritance, insurance money, &c., is not regarded as income, neither is capital consumed, no loans, nor daily payments, &ce., receiv- ed for the transaction of business on public service. From the total income are to be deducted working expenses _ (used to procure the income) of all kinds, the money paidin taxes, the money used for interest on mortgages, and tor the repair of real properties. of limited companies (who pay 2 per cent. income tax), 4 per cent. of the paid-up share capital is deducted before’ assessing their income. The property (capital) tax is 0°6 kr. (8d.) on each 1,000 kr. (55.) of property. Properties of less value than 3.000 kr. (166/.) are tax free when their owners do not pay income tax. By “property” is understood all sorts of real and mov- able effects, money bonds, capital value of rents, &e, Exceptions are made in favour of: (1) Household furniture, clothes, pictures, &c., in private use; (2) prospective rights, such as the right to an insurance sum not yet due; (3) the In the case Miscellaneous. BO: capital value of rents, privileges and similar matters of wholly personal char- acter (annuities, &c.). Debts are de- ducted from the property. The basis for the assessment of the real property tax are recurrent valu- ations (made every tenth year, with an interval of ouly five years between the first two valuations.) The valuation includes the trade value of the property, ue not live-stock, dead-stock, plants, Cc. As a guide for the valuers, the actual selling prices and valuations for mort- gage purposes are to be used: the State tax is 1l'l kr. (14°85d.) for every 1,000 kr. (55/.). value'of real property. On dwelling-houses with flats of a letting value as low as 60, 120 and 180 kr. respectively (81. 6s., 61. 18s., 10l.) for rural districts, towns and Co- penhagen, this taxis not leviable. With regard to agricultural properties, the following sums are to be deducted from the assessed value :— Deduction. Currency. Sterling. Kroners. & If the assessed sum be— Below 8,000 kr. (440/.) ... 2,000 110 Between 8,000 and 2,000 kr. (4407. and 660/.) —..._ 1,000 55 On houses for single families, occupied by working men, fishsermen or mechan- ics, without assistants, and from whose assessed value nothing is deducted in accordance with the above provisions, there is a deduction to the following extent :— Deduction. Currency, Sterling. Kroners. If the assessed sum be— Below 3,0U0 kr. (167/.) ... 2,000 110 Between 3,000 and 4,500 kr. (1672. and 2502 ) Between 4,500 and 6,000 kr.(2507. and 337.) ... 500 27 Finally, it should be mentioned that if any agricultural property, according to the new law, should have to pay more in State real property tax thanit paid formerly in State land taxes, the new tax is to be reduced to the amount that was paid previously. This provision will, however, not apply after July 1, 1929. The greatest advantages, however, have been conferred upon the tithe- paying farmers. The abolition of the tithes is arranged so that the tithe- owners will be entitled to receive a compeneation, which is twenty-five times the amount of the yearly paid tithes, and of this sum the State defrays seven-twenty-fifths and the former tithe- . 1,000 55 he Lowe paying farmers eighteen-twenty-fifths. The subsidy from ths State will amount to between 40,000,000 and 50,000,000 kr. (2,225,000/. and 2,750,000/.). The tithe- payer has the option of choosing. whether he will pay the whole commu- tation sum in cash or half-yearly instal- ments of 2'25 per cent.of the said sum for 553 years. The tithe-owner receives — his money either in cash or in 4 per cent. Government bonds, Present Local Taxation.—Local Pro- perty Tax.—The agricultural landowner is relieved, as will be seen, of State taxation at the expense of the other landowners and of the people who possess large capitals and incomes, while at the same time his local taxes are reduced. The owner of real property in the country, who does not carry or agri- culture, and accordingly did not pay any local tax on his property (except in proportion to the productive power of bis ground, which did not mean very much for the non-agricultural inhabit- ants), will now have to pay on the trade value of his property. The local land tax is abolished, and replaced by a real property tax based on the same valuation that applies to the State tax. In order — that too great a revolution in the value and prices of the estates ‘should not take place, as might be the case if both the local and the State land tax were abolished and replaced by another tax, the law provides that from 1905 one- fifth of the local real property taxis to . be levied on the new basis and four- fifths as land tax, according to the old appraisement; from 1910, two-fifths on the new basis and three-fifths on the oJd, and so on, so that the new real pro- perty tax will not be in full operation before 1925. The principal difference between the State and the local, real property taxis that certain properties of a public character, which are ex- empted trom the State tax, can be taxed locally, and that the State tax is - fixed at 1:1 per cent. of the property value, whereas the local tax will vary according to the requirements of the different parishes and counties. Local Income Tax.—In leaving the local property tax and entering upon the questicn of the personal taxes, it may be worth noting that the pro- portion that exists in the parishes between assessment on real property and on ‘‘property and ability tax” zannot be altered to the disadvantage of the property holders. unless the alteration is decided on by a bare majority in the Parish Council and by a majority of three-fourths of the members of the County Council. ; ws P: , ay th yi [Deceveer, 1911. i » , ¥ SY, f , / DECEMBER, 1911.] With reference to the local personal income tax (‘‘ property and ability tax”) the following new-main provisions ought to be mentioned :— (1) In future the income tax is to be paid not only by persons living in the municipality (parish), but also by per- sons who earn their means of livelihood there. This will be of no little import- ance, not only for the cities, which will be able to levy taxes on persons who have their business in the city but their residence outside, but also for the parishes, where it will not be necessary to tax theland tothe same extent as formerly, the landlord being no longer in a position to evade the income tax by residing outside the municipality. The provisions as to the manner in which the municipality of residence and the municipality (or municipalities) of trade are to share the tax are too detailed to be specified here. (2) The local assessment had formerly to be based on the ‘‘whole financial position” of the person concerned, where- as in future the income used for the assessment cf the State income tax will also be used as the first basis for the local income tax. The County Councils have to form rules for the assessment of the parishes according to the _ pro- posals of the Parish Councils, In the rules it can be provided that the local tax-paying income is fixed by adding to the tax-paying income for State income tax purposes: (1) Up to 50 per cent. for incomes from capital, tithes, or other perpetual rents; (2) up to 35 per cent, for incomes from real properties ; (8) up to 25 per cent. of pensions, annuities, &c.; (4) up to 15 per cent. for incomes which may later on be replaced by pensions. This additional amount is to represent the same percentage for all incomes derived from the same source in the same parish. Further, it may be provided in the rules that the tax on inccme, fixed in this manner, can be raised in respect to any individual tax-payer, ac- eording to his ability, up to 25 per cent. on such grounds as proportionately great incomes, small family, exceptionally high profit during the last year, or special success ia business. Or it can be dimin- ished up to 635 per cent. on account of proportionately small incomes; many children, old age, sickness, great losses or failures during the last year. [n- comes less than 800 kr. (44/.)—1,0U00 kr. (55l.) in the towns—may ve diminshed at the discretion of the Board of Assess- ment, but the tax is not to be entirely remitted. (The last provision is made in order to preserve the inhabitants’ voting rights.) 551 Miscellaneous. The practical results of these provi- sions, that leave only a limited power with the Board of Assessment, cannot as yet be told. (8.) Limited companies, co-operative societies, &c., will in future have to pay local income tax, but never more than 3 per cent. of their net profit, and in the taxation of their net profit they are relieved from such part of the tax as corresponds with that part of their gross profit, which they earn outside the country. Co-operative societies do not pay the tax, except when transacting business outside the circle of their membership, and the tax, therefore, will be of but little interest for the rural districts. (4.) Erom the tinancial year 1904-05 the State pays 1,500,000 kr. (82,5000.) yearly to the local bodies. This State subsidy is distributed to the towns and the counties in proportion to figures, obtain- ed by multiplying the total expenses tor school teachers’ pay, old age pensions. out and in-door reliet to the towns and the counties, by the percentage which these expenses amount to in proportion to the State income and property tax as paid in the towns and counties. The counties pay half of their subsidy to the parishes on the same principle. After the commencement of 1904-05, a parish cannot assess a higher amount than was assessed in any of the years 1901, 1902 and 1903, less the subsidy, unless the Parish Council so decides by a majority of its members on two meetings held with at least a fortnight’s interval. Conclusion.—Taking it all round, the reform of taxation has undoubtedly helped to relieve the agriculturists. It is difficult to say whether the larger and the smaller agriculturists have been relieved proportionately, From several parts of the country complaints are made by the smaller farmers, but very little is heard from the larger ones, and, bearing in mind that dissatisfaction in- variably arises whenever a new tax is introduced, these complaints may per- haps. be regarded as of little conse- quence. The townspeople have more reason to be dissatisfied. Whether the old land tax and the tithes were taxes or ground rents, their abolition has certainly made room for @ more equitabdle system of taxation. It is difficult to say what effecu the reform may have on agriculture, and it is very probable that it may have hardly any traceable effect, for with all its deficiencies the old system did not obstruct agriculture. As a matter of fact, the farmers have now succeeded in Miscellaneous. having their taxes reduced and in having rural taxation extended to others than agriculturists. It now remains to be seen whether the farmer will profit by the increase in value which the reduction in the taxes will bring to his land, or whether it will only lead to an increase in the mort- gages. In the latter case his financial standing in a few years will be no better than it was before the reform of 1908. THE USE OF WIND-BREAKS. (From the Agricultural News, Vol. X., No. 227, January 7, 1911.) In most parts of the West Indies, con- spicuous examples can be easily found of the great degree to which the growth of plants is retarded by exposure to con- stant winds. The larger trees, as regards the tips of the , upper branches, are shaped to slope upward from the wind- ward to the leeward side, showing that the wird has had an action similar to that of pruning on one side of the brauches only; while the herbage around them is scanty, and seems to be barely permitted to exist. Such are the conditions that obtainin regard to the ordinary, hardy plants. There is small wonder, then, that the agriculturist, when he is raising varieties of a delicate nature, and possibly of exotic origin, finds it necessary to provide protection for them against the wind. Itis these circumstances that have given an origin to the important subject of the planting of wind-breaks. Wind-breaks, or shelter belts, as they are often termed, may be either per- manent or temporary, according to the nature of the crop thatthey are de- signed to protect. For perennial crops, auch as limes or cacao plants that will form large trees are required, Annual crops, such as cotton and most kinds of ground provisions do not necessarily demand large or long-lived plants for purposes of protection. The permanent wind-break, planted at the same time as the crop which it is intended to protect, grows up with this generally at a quicker rate, so that when the plants of the latter have attained maturity, the wind-break is available for their protection. Among the plants more commonly used in the West Indies in this connection are pois doux (Inga laurina), Madura; or Nicara- gua shade tree (Gliricidia maculata); a quickly growing plant, galba (Calophyl- lum Calaba) which withstand sea- blasts well; savonnette (Lonchocarpus 552 ide hal y! ae violaceus) ; white cedar (Tecoma leucoxy- — lon) used more particularly in Mont- serrat, while bamboos have also been employed for the purpose, although ~ their great drying action on the soil — forms an _ objection to their extended employment, The temporary wind-break most com- monly used are Guinea corn and pigeon peas. In cotton cultivation, one or the other of these may be planted at the head of the rows, on the windward side, if the best results are to be obtained. As in the case of the permanent wind- breaks, the protecting crop grows up with the main one, and the period of its — existence is more or less that of the plants which it is designed to shelter. The advantage of wind-breaks of this kind is that they can be removed when the principal crop is harvested, leaving the ground entirely clear for such cultural operations as may be necessary. They possess disadvantages on account of the fact. that their sheltering action extends to a short distance, only to leeward to them, necessitating the taking up of valuable space where the area of cultivation is large by succes- sive rows of shelter belts; and because they are of little or no usein storms or in very high winds. It will be well to consider, at this stage, the general effects of wind-breaks. Reference has been made already to their directhy protective quality, by which they prevent mechanical injury by wind. Among such damage is tke breaking off of branches and the re- moval of flowers and fruits, by which the productive capacity of the trees is lessened, and in the first instance oppor- tunities are given for invasion by disease. The chances of serious loss of lowers and fruits in chis way are not usually great in cacao orchards; it is in citrus cuitiv- ation that greater harm is likely to accrue from this cause. In any case, the presence of a shelter belt, where this is required, lessens the stunting action of the wind, and thus removes one of ‘the largest handicaps that have to be met by the plants in their struggle for existence. The ways in which the wind-breaks are of use to plants are, however, gener- ally secondary. They often serve to ameliorate the conditions under which ~ the plants are existing, to such an extent as to enable them to attain a state of energetic healthfulness in which they ~ resist successfully all attacks of diseases and pests; while much of the effort that _ would be otherwise required in combat- ing untoward conditions is employed in- ‘ ; ora ¥ 7 aS [> gO RNS Ons © aaa Wed BS CeO Lam os + Dacemeer, 1911) “producing good crops of a useful qual- ‘ity. The agriculturist cannot afford to ignore these two most important aspects of the employment of shelter for plants against the wind. The presence of belts of plants ofa kind other than -those which form the principal cultivation is of much use in the checking of epidemics of disease. These start in a certain place or places, and, often travelling with the wind, spread easily, because they can pass through an uninterrupted area of the very plant that is the object of their attack. If, however, a wind-break com- posed of a plant or plants on whicha disease has little or no effect occurs in its paths, its course is interrupted, and the changes of safety of the plantations on the other side of the shelter belt are increased to a useful degree. This circum- stance makes it important that wind- breaks should be chosen in consideration of their power to resist disease, and of the diseases to which they are most subject, a matter to which further re- ference will be made below. One of the subsidiary results of the presence of the plants which form a permanent wind-break is that the exist- ence of these in the soil lessens the washing that takes place at times of heavy rain, so that they possess a use- ful forest effect. The importance of this cannot be over-estimated, particu- larly where permanent crops are being grown on steep slopes in regions of heavy rainfall. Not the least among the advantages of the existence of wind-breaks is the assistance that this gives in conserv- ing the water in the soil, and in decreas- ing transpiration from the leaves of plants. Where shslter belts are tound, the force of the air currents is lessened, so that the rate at which moisture is carried away from the areas over which they travel are diminished touseful degree. Wind-breaks serve also to temper the ebilling effect of cool winds; this result is, however, of no great importance in the West Indies except in the more mountanious islands. minor matter, but one worthy of mention, is that they are said to encourage the presence of birds ; though whether this is of advantage or not will depend on the circumstances of the special case. Reverting to suitable wind-breaks for crops of one season, it seems that more attention may well be given to the feasibility of providing those which are of a permanent nature. Where such provision can be made, as will have been seen from what is said above, special 70 559 permanent wind-breaks, Miscellaneous. ; / advantages will accrue, in that the pro- tectiye effect of belts of this kind will extend over a far larger area than that ~ which can be sheltered by a temporary wind-break, and that such protective effect will be available during storms in which the temporary belts, from their very nature, would cease to do the work that is required of them. It is recognized that there is little incent- ive when ground is being opened for the growing of one-season crops to plant Nevertheless this course is followed in some districts in the French West Indian islands, and the suggestion is made that its further adoption would be of advantage, and wceuld make for its justification. A final matter is to point out that care is required in the choice and planting of wind-breaks, The plants employed in them are often leguminous, because of their known property of assisting in adding nitrogen to the soil, and because the prunings from them are likely to be richer in nitrogen than those from ordinary plants. There should be the assurance that they are not subject to the diseases and pests tnat are most likely to attack the plants which they are designed to protect, and in planting them due regard must be had to the conditions of the estate on which they are in use, or it may be found that they have been placed in such a position in regard tothe prevailing winds as to render inadequate the protection from them. Care in these matters will give the agriculturist an asset which at once increases the living energy of his plants, protects them from disease, and con- serves the soil and the water that are required for their needs. A DICTIONARY OF TERMS USED IN AGRICULTURE, BOTANY, CHEMISTRY, AND ALLIED SCIENCKS: For THE USE OF PLANTERS AND OTHERS. By J. C. WILLIS AND M. WILLIS. (Continued from page 463.) Hemp, Bow- string te Becwueria zeylanica, Cc. Hemp, Madras... Crotalaria juncea Hemp, Manila ... Musa textilis Hemp, Mauritius. Furcrea gigantea Hemp, Rajmahal Marsdenia tenacissima Hemp, sisal... Agave rigida var. sisal- ana ... Crotalacia juncea Hemp, sun ... Sisal Hemp Henequen Miscellaneous. 554. Henna ... Lawsonia alba Humic acids Herb -. A plant without woody tissue above ground and usually dying Howe after flower- Humus ng Herbaceous (stem) nN Be woody above . Organic ade ei ay from decayin ever table matter in t : 4 soil ay -- Products of decaying © organic matter in A ne aus 7 the soil ro yaline ... Dransparent Peat Do. (leaf) Thin, noe leathery Hybrid .. Offspring of two dis- Herbarium FF collection of dried tinct species cw ae X plants Hybridising ...Crossing of two dis- Heredity .. Transmission of charac- tinct species alg A ters from parent to Hybrid tea ...Cross of China and) Sy 4 f offspring Assam teas + Hermaphrodite Hydrocarbon ... A compound of carbon Le flower .. Flower containing both and hydrogen with ch Herring bone . Heterostyled Hibbert bean Hibernating Hilling Hilum Hindi cotton Hing (Hind.) Hippocrepiform Hirsute Hispid Hispidulous Hogshead (ale)... Holing Hominy Homologous Hopper Horse bean Horse-eye bean Horse gram Horse-radish tree stamens and carpels .. Tapping by lateral chan- nels from a central groove .. With different lengths of stamens and of styles in different individuals of the same species Hydrolysis Hydrometer -«- (West Indian) Phaseo- lus lunatus .. Remaining quiescent Hygrometric during winter Hygroscopic .. Making hills round Hymenoptera ... plants as they grow Hyphe .. Sear, where seed-stalk separates from seed Hyphomycetes... .-An almost valueless sport that appears among Egyptian .. Asafcetida Hypochil Horse-shoe shaped .. With long distinct Hypocotyl NS ara - With rough, brist HA if Hypogeal (ger- .. Slightly hispid mination) 52 gallons odd .. Making holes atregular Hyson . distances for the Ichneumon fly... reception of young plants Igneous ..- Maize meal . Hquivalent as regards Ilami descent Imago oe ... Receptacle .. (West Indian) Cana- Imbricate valia ensiformis (West Indian) Mucuna Immune — is, urens -- Dolichos bilorus Immunity .. Moringa pterygosperma Imparipinonate... Hot bed . Nursery bed made warm withferment- Imperfect ing manure (flower) Hullah .. Depression Inarching Huller .. Machine for breaking up the parchment layer outside coffee beans .. Moisture-absorbing ay .. Attracting water ae Bees, ants, wasps, etc, ... Threads composing a .. A grade of green tea ... Ageratum .. Overlapping, like the — ... Of one sex only ey .. Grafting in which the aS the generalformula Cx H2n + 2 Nie ..The combining of a substance with the elements of water an followed by a split- “eit ting up * as . An instant for find- SEY ing the specific gra- vity of a liquid fungus Pa, Fungi- Boarinnepeenneee ata simple or branched ify hyphe. ° Fungi wey Imperfecti : .. Basal part of lip of — orchid flower .. The stem-axis below the cotyledons in ~~ an embryo ra ... With cotyledons below ground A parasite of cater- pillars, &c. .. Rocks produced by vol- canic action Adult stage of an in- sect 7eTas tiles on a roof Not suscep to in- © fect if InsnceapHiee to in- fection ee Leaf with an uneven Pye number ofleaflets == scionis leftattached — : to its own roots till it has united witl the stock © — Ducemesr, 1911.) .. With notches in the . margin . With denate notches Incised Inciso-denate .. Included ... Not projecting Incumbent .. A radicle lying on the . back of one cotyle- don, thé cotyledons not being folded on themselves Indehiscent (fruit) .. Not splitting to let out the seeds Indefinite .. Over 20 in number and usually varying from flower to flower Indian butter tree ... Bassia butyracea Indian Colza_... Sinapis glauca Indian Copal ... Vateria indica Indian Corn _... Zea Mais Indian Jalap-... Operculina Tarpethum Indian liquorice Abrus precatorius Indian Madder... Oldeulandia umbellata, ‘Rubia cordifolia Indian Maho- _gany _... Toon Indian plum~ ... Flacourtia Indian sarsapa- rilla ... Hemidesmus indicus Indian Walnut...Aleurites triloba India rubber ... Dried latex containing ) Caoutchoue Indigenous ... Native Indigo ... Indigofera tinctoria and other species Infectious ... Liable to transmit. dis- ease Inferior -«- Ovary completely im- mersedin and unit- ed to the hollow re- ceptacle, only the styles being free Inflated ... Hnlarged in a balloon- i like manner Inflexed .« Bent inwards — Inflorescence ... Part of the plant bear- ing flowers Infrafoliar ... Below the leaves Infundibular ... Funnel-shaped Innate (anther) Fixed to the filament by its base --- Intentional treatment of a subject or plant with the spores or virus ofa disease to induce the appear- ance of the disease .. Substance fatal to in- sects Inserted .. Placed on Insertion ... Of leaf, mode of union with stem; of parts of flower, mode of union with the rest of the flower Inoculation Insecticide 555 Miscellaneous. Insoluble __ ... Not capable of dissolv- ing Inspissation ... Thickening by evapor- ation Integument ... Coat Internode ... Portion of stem _ be- tween the points of insertion of two successive leaves Interpetiolar ... Between the petioles Intrapetiolar ... Within the petioles Introrse anthers Opening towards the centre of flower Involucel ... Small involucre Involeurate ... Provided with an in- volucre Involucre -- Whorl of bracts sur- rounding an inflor- escence Involucrent ... Adjective of last Involute With margins rolled inwards Ton .-- Component of a chemi- cal compound set free by electrical decomposition Ipecacuanha ,.. Uragoga lpecacuanha | Irregular flower Flower in which one or more members are missing from outer whorls, or in which the members of any one whorl are not all alike ... Watering of land artifi cially ... Berries fallen to the ground and collect- ed at end of season Irrigation Jackal coffee Jaggery .. Sugar produced from the sap of Arenga, Borassus, Cocos, and. other palms Jagra ... Jaggery Jal ... Oats Jak .. Artocarpus intergri- folia Jalap ..- Ipomoea Purga Jambu ... Hugenia Jambos Jannovitch ... A variety of Egyptian cotton Janum ... Kish leaf Jarul ... Lagerstroemia flos-regi- ne Jasut ... Shoe flower Jat ... Kind, class Jatamansi ... Nardostachys Jatam- ansi Jav +. Barley Java Almond ... Canarium commune Javaradish ...A variety of radish with edible pods Jayant (Hind.)... Sesbania aculeata hara ... Rice Jheels .. Swampy lands Jhuming +» Chena Miscellaneous. Jowar, jowari, juar Ju aBhalpose hemp Jungle rope Jute Jute hessian Kabook, Kabul. Kach- Kela Kachu (Ind.) Kad addy Kadjan ‘Kainit hoe (Bengal); Kamala Kamaranga Kamela Kanakkapulle ... Kanda Kang, Kangu Kangani Kankarc Kanoff Kanthal Kaas Karala Karambola Karet rubber Katira Katti Keel Kerosene emul- sion* Kew pine Khair Khaka siris Khaki Khaki Cotton Kharif Khor Kheinti ae Mat ee SOAP -- Sorghum Vulgare -- Crotalaria tenuifolia .. A creeper used as rope ... Corchorus capsularis, C. olitorius, etc. .. Gunny Laterite .. Plantain used as veget- able ; «- Colocasia Antiquorum Small native shop. roughly plaited from palm leaf .- A mineral found in Ger- many, which sup- plies the bulk of the world's potash man- ure - Plantain .. Mallotus philippinensis Sao ae Carambola allotus Philippinensis Accountant nion ”. Setaria italica, Millet Overseer ... Lime-stone nodules .. Hibiscus cannabinus . Jak -- Cotton .. Niger seed, Guizotia abyssinica Ld Averrhoa Carambola .- Ficus elastica Gum of Astragalus us Knife ...A boat-shaped structure formed by union of the two anterior petals in Legumi- nose ie .. Having a keel .. Plantains used as fruit 4 |b. Kerosene 2 gals. Soft water 1 gal. .. Smooth Cayenne varie- ty of pine -- Acacia latifolia .. Albizzia Lebbek .. Cotton stuff dyed with Cutch .- A yellowish coloured variety of cotton «. Rains crop Khas khas ose ... Acacia Senegal .. Second cutting of Opium indigo fo Ee EE en ED Bes * Dissolve the soap in the water heated to boiling, add the Kerosene, ian fluid results. gf water, and churu tilla For use add 1 part to 10 556 Khurps. Kiong bean Kilingu Kino Kiryat (Hind.)... Kist (Hind.) . ... Weeding Heoks rs : ne ... Phaseolus Vulgaris — . Young plant of Pal | myra palm We oe “ ... A resin-like substance, soluble in water;an astringent, used in — megiayne and in tan- ng Aeide ographis Bavieu * lata m, % .. Land Revenue ae Kitul .. Caryota urens : Kling .. A Tamil (Straits Settle- . ments) Kunol-kohl ... Brassica oleracea, var, Kodo .. Paspalum scrobicula- tum - Kodo millet ... Paspalum scrobicula- tum Kodra .. Paspalum scrobicula- tum Kola ... Cola acuminata, etc. / Kulthi, Kulthi- F Kalai .. Dolichos biflorus, horse- | gram j Kumbu .. Pennisetum ty phoi- deum J Kumegnat .. Citrus Japonica y Kungu ... Panicum miliare Kunkur .. Kankas Kurakkan .. Hleusine Coracana Kuichi bark ...Holarrhenadysenterica = Kurumba ..Unripe coconut con- | taining fluid Kuruni .. About $ bushel; or ex- tent ‘of land that can be sown with it Kusum .. Safflower, Carthamus tinctorius Laboratory .. Building equipped for ZN scientific work ay) Lae .. A resinous secretion from the lac-insect, ya Tachardia | _ Lace .. A form of prepared ane’ rubber ‘ Lacerate .. Deepiy aad irregularly |. - divided i Lacinize .. Long segments 2 Laciniate .. Divided into several long segments Lac insect - ,.. Tachardia sp. Lacuna ... Air space in tissue Ladang .. Chena, 6 V ie Me Lady’s fn Bere ... Bandakai bey aS Lageniform .. Mlask-shaped = ae Lagos rubber ... Funtumia elastica Stig", Lalang pills peat arundi- Lamellate (Made t up » of thin layers Laminated .. Composed of plates G Lanceolate .. About 3 times as long — as broad and taper: — LR ing gradually to bh wards the tip it 4 Decemeprr, 1911.) Lang Lantana bug Larva Laterite Latex Laticiferous Layering * Leaf” Leaflet Leat-scar Lechuguilla Legume - Leguminous Lemongrass Lenticel Lenticular Lentil Lepidoptera Lesion Letpet tea ' Lettuce Levee Liane Life-history ; Ligulate Lima bean Lint Lime Linear Lineate Lines Lining Linseed Lint Lip Liso Litre Litter ‘Littoral 4 ... Lathyrus sativus .. Orthezia insignis (scale insect) «. The early stage of an insect . Red friable soil, com- mon in the tropics . The milky juice of a ‘plant .. Latex-bearing ... Pegging downand part- ly burying a branch to form a new plant ... Plucked tea ... One of the blades of a compound leaf ... Scar whence a leaf has fallen .. Agave fibre .. A pod opening on both sides ; characteristic of family Legumin- ; osee ... Belonging to Legumin- ose .. Cymbopogon citratus _«. An opening in the bark, filled with powder ~ through which res- piration goes on .. Lens-shaped .. Lens esculenta .. Butter flies and moths .. Injury A peculiar kind of tea made in Burma ... Lactuca sativa ... A bund along a river +. A woody climber .. Details of the various stages through which the life passes .. Strap-shaped .. Phaseolus lunatus . The free part of a united calyx, etc. «. Citrus medica, var. acida .-. Line-shaped ... Marked with lines --. Coolies’ dwellings -.. Marking out in lines for planting .. Linum usitatissimum ». Cotton after removal of the seed - A lower petal forming a flap to a flower »». A variety of cacao ».. A French measure of capacity = 1:76 pints .. Material used for bed- ding animals ee On the beach Miscellaneous. ... Asoil intermediate be- teen sand and clay .. Divided into propor- tionately large seg- ments at the outer end Lobster cater- pillar Lobulate Locullus Loculicidal Locust Lodicule Log wood Lomentum Longicorn Lorate Loriform Love grass Love lies bleed- ing Loxa bark Lumber Lunate ye Lyrate (leaf) Macaw palm Mace Maceration Macropodous - Madar Madar Madder, Indian Madre de cacao .-- Stauropus alternus ... Diminitive of lobed .. A compartment ... Splitting down the cen- tre of each cavity .. Various species of grasshoppers .. A little scale in a grass flower .. Haematoxylon campe- chianum .. A pod constricted be- tween the seeds, ¢.g., that of Acacia decurrens . A family of beetles characterized by long antenns ... Strap-shaped .. Strap-like ... Andropogon aciculatus ... Amaranthus spp, . Cinchona officinalis ... Cut timber .. Half-moon-shaped .-. Solution of alkali ... Like that of mustard .. Acrocomia fusiformis .- The aril of the nutmeg Soaking in water till decay of the softer parts sets in ».. With cotyledons .-- Calotropis gigantea . Krythrina indica Rubia cordifolia Krythrina umbrosa ooo Maggot .. Legless larva of a fly Maguey . Agave americana Mahua, Mahwa Bassia latifolia Maize ... Zea Mais Maka, Makkai (Ind.) ... Maize al .. Prepared indigo after beating Malabar Tallow Vateria indica Malay apple Male Bamboo ... Malle Malt Mamilla Mamilliform Mamote Mana .. Hugenia malaccensis Dendrocalamus strictus --. Gardener . Partly germinated grain ... One of the cushions i in Cacti ... Cushion like .. A digging hoe »» Cymbopogon confertis florus \ _ Miscellaneous. Manchineel -- Hippomane Manchi- nella Mandar (Hind)... Erythrina indica Mandioca . Manioca Mangabeira rub- ber .. Hancornia speciosa Mango .. Mangifera indica Mangosteen Garcinia mangostana Manicoba rubber Manihot Manila hemp Manila nut Manioca .- Musa textilis .. Ground nut .. Tapioca, Manihot uti- lissima . A variety of tea Manjib (Ind.) :.. Rubia cordifolia Manna .. Dendrocalamus strictus Manure, green... Plants grown between the main crop and cut or ploughed in Manipur tea Maragogipe...An upland Brazilian variety of coffee Maravuli .. Cassava Marble wood ... Diospyros Kurzii Marcescent .. Withered ‘but not fall- ing Marl .. Soft chalky clay rock Mast wood iw Mee a Inophyl- um Masua .. Lentil Maté - Tea of Ilex paraguay- ensis Math (Ind.) .- Phaseolus aconitifolius Matico ... Piper angustifoliuim Matikalai ... Phaseolus Mungo ' Maund .. 80 lbs. Mauritius grass.. Panicum muticum Mauritius hemp. Furcrea gigantea - Mauritius pine... A variety of the pine- apple Mealy bug . Scale-insects of the fa- mily Dactylopiine Medeloa . Dalbergia assamica Medium plucking Taking bud and three leaves Ray of soft tissue run- ning through the wood of a stem Medullary ray ... Megass .. Refuse after crushing sugar cane Melegueta pepper ..- Amomum Melegueta Membranous ... Like a membrane of thin tissue Mendel .. fhe author of the re- searches upon which recent progress in breeding is based Mendelism ... study of breeding, ete. upon Mendelian lines Mentum .. Extension of foot of column in Orchids Mercerising ». Lreatment of cotton with caustic soda to give it silky appear- ance 558 Mericarps .. Portions into wh without the seed Intermediate layer of | fruit wall Mesophyll _... Central tissue of lear Metabolism ...Chemical change of food, etc., within the plant . A variety of Egyptian cotton ; . Rocks that have under- dropping Mesocarp ae Met afiffi Metamorphic .. gone serious alter- © ation Metamorphosis., Change of structure Meter, Metre A measure of length, 39°37 inches Mexican rubber Castilloa elastica — _ Micro-organism A microscopic living organism Micropyle .. Opening into a seed Mildew .. A superficial fungus growth ii Milk bush .. Huphorbia tirucalli Milk tester .. A machine to test the some fruits split up | Vin amount of fat in milk Millet .. Panicum, Sorghum, etc. Millimetre . One-thousandth of a meter Millipede .. Myriapoda with 3 pairs of limbs oneach joint of the body (Centi- pedes have only I pair) Mirchi .- Chilli Miri ... Pepper Mita-alu ... Sweet-potato Mixed gardens... See Willis, Agriculture in the Tropics, p. Molasses after the crystalliza- tion of sugar Monadel pons: --«. In one bundle Monandrous'... With one stamen Moniliform .. Like a row of beads Monkey nut... Ground-nut Moncecious a! With male and female flowers on the same plant Monochlamy- deous . With only calyx or corolla, not both > Monocotyledon Plant with one Coha . ledon Monotypic ayecus with one species Mordant . A substance causing a dye toremain “fast” Morhun . First cutting of indigo Mosaic disease A disease of tobacco of somewhat doubt: | 182 ... The syrupy liquid left 4 ful origin and causa me Gries: 1911.) ! . 559 | Mosquito blight .. Helopeltis'theivora and . Antonii . The part of the plough which turns over the furrow-slice Moulmein cedar Cedrela Toona Mountain dak Carica candamarcensis of tea Mould board Mowha .. Bassia latifolia Mucronate « With sharp terminal point Mug (Ind.) ... Phaseolus Mungo ‘Mukalana .. Virgin forest Mulch . Anything laid on the soil to hinder eva- : ' poration Muli (Ind.) .. Radish Multivoltine ... With many broods in a year Mungh-phali (Ind.) ... Groundnut Munj .«. Saccharum arundina- ceum Mupnj fibre S Leaf-sheaths of Saccha- . - rum arundinaceum .. Rough with short firm Muricate _ outgrowths Muriform .. Wall-like Muscovado :- Raw sugar Musk melon ... Cucurbita moschata Mustard ... Brassica sp. Mutation ... Sudden change Muticous ... Blunt Mycelium ... Body of a fungus Mycologist ... Student of fungi Mysore thorn ... Cesalpinia sepiaria Myxomyceto ... Aslime fungus . Nagli(Ind.) ... Kurakkan Nagphana ... Opuntia Dillenii Name «. Entry on the check-roll Nase-berry ... Sapodilla Nashtar ... Knife for cutting opium. Natal Java in-~ digo ... Indigofera arrecta Navel orange ... A variety of orange Navicular .. Boat-shaped Nebong palm ...Oncosperma filamen- tosa Nectary ... A honey-gland Nelu ... Strobilanthus Nematode .. An eel-worm .. Caterpillars of a family of moths (Limacodi- de) with stinging spines Nettle grub Neuter .- Neither male nor female Nibs ... Shells of cacao beans Nicotine .. An alkaloid in tobacco Nidus «.. Substratum Niger seed ... Geezotia abyssinica Nil, Nila ,.. Indigo Nilgiri nettle ... Girardinia hetrophylla Nim ... Nelia Azadirachta Miscellaneous. Nitrification, Nitrifying ... Production of nitrites in the soil by a micro-organism Nitrogen-fixing organs ... The micro-organisms of Leguminossx, etc., that cause absorp-. tion of nitrogen from the air .. Joint of a stem, where th 8 leaves are attach- e ... Knobby . Little Proes on roots of | Leguminuecsee, inha- bited by nitrogen- absorbing bacteria ..Central portion of a cell .. Ravine, dry for part of the year, Nut .. Hard not-opening fruit Nutmeg .. Myristica fragrans Nutrient solution Solution containing the necessary food mate- rials for growth Node Nodose Nodules Nucleus Nullah Nympha .. An immature insect Oblong (leaf) ...Sides parallel, ends tapering rapidly Obovate ... Ovate with large end outwards Obsolete aw ogc aneny or want-~ ng BA Blane. ended . With a circularpateh of colour (To be continued.) Obtuse Ocellate Correspondence. PADDY CULTIVATION IN CEYLON DURING THE XIXTH CENTURY. Derryclare Hstate, Kotagala, Ceylon. Sir,—In Mr. EH. Hllivtt’s article in October ‘‘7.A.” on ‘' Paddy Cultivation in Ceylon during the XIXth Century,” I note he mentions a *‘Mr.” Rodney. This is evidently meant for my maternal great-grandfather, Captain the Hon’ble John Rodney, R.N., who was Colonial Secretary of Ceylon from, I think, 1806 to 1883. He was a Captain in his own right as also an Hon’ble, having been in the Navy prior to coming out to Ceylon, and being the third son ot Admiral _ Lord George Brydges Rodney, R.N. Yours faithfully, J.R, MANNERS. 28th October, 1911. MARKET RATES FOR 560 , ‘ TROPICAL PRODUCTS. (From Lewis & Peat’s Monthly Prices Current, London, 11th October, 1911,) QUALITY, QUOTATIONS . QUALITY. QUOTATIONS — ALOES, Socotrine cwt.|i*air to fine 167s 61 a 728 6a. |LNDIARUBBER.(Contd. ) Fa Zanzibar & Hepatic ,, |Common to good «l403 a 72s 6d orneo Common to good 18 3d a 983d ARROWROOT (Natal) Ib.|Fair to fine 18d a 9d Java y Good to fine red - (3s 6d a3s 9d BEES’ WAX, cwt. Penang Low white to prime redjj5 4 9s Zanzibar Yellow Slightly ‘lrossy to fair .../¢6 128 6d a £6 15s Mozambique Fair to fine red ball ...|35 3d as 8d East Indian, bleached }’ |Fair to good £7 16s a £8 Sausage, fair to good . Need 3s 10d 1» unbleached,, |Dark to good genuine ., PE Fs a £6 786d Nyassaland Fair to fine ball 2s 9d a 8s 2d Madagascar », |bark to good palish £5 10s a £6173 6d Madagascar ~ |Fr to finepinky & white; 2séda3s CAMPHOR, Japan » |Retined is 53d a 1s-8d Majunga & blk coated ..|25 4 25 2d Chin » |Fair average quality .../140s A Niggers, low to good ..|éd a 3s CaRDAMOMsS, Mucieonis Good to fine bold 2s 11d a 3s 3d New Guinea Ordinary to fine ball ..|9s gd a 3s Middling lean yoda sis (INDIGO, E,I. Bengal |Shipping mid to gd violet|3s 2d a 388d Malabar, Tellicherry | Good to fine bold '../25 9d a 38 3d Consuming mid. to gd.josgda3sid ~ Calicut Brownish 25 3d a Ys 7d Ordinary to middling |2s 5d a 248d Mangalore ,, {Med brown to fair bold Qs 10d a 38 7d Oudes Middlingto fine |956a a, 2/8 nom. . Ceylon, Mysore ,, [Small fair to fine plnmp vs :d a 387d Mid. to good Kurpah —_|gg 24 a 28 6d 2 Malabar Fair to good 1s lid a 3s 2a Low to ordinary ls 6d a 28 Seeds, E.I,& Ceylon ,, |Fair to good «-|23 7d a 2s 8d Mid. to fine Madras None here ‘ Ceylon Long Wild ,, |Shelly to good .léd a 1s 6d MACE, Bombay & Penang|Pale reddish to fine |9s5 3d a 2s 6d \ CABLULK VIL, Calcutta,, |Good 2nds . |33d a 33d per Ib. Ordinary to fair 25 a 23 20 CHILLIES, Zanzibar cwt.) Dull to fine bright bl austaliss PEM wali », Z00d pale |25 9, 9s 4d ombay 1 4d a 5d CINCHONA BARKk.— Ib. Crown, Renewed 38d avd MYRABOLANES, ewt|UG and Coconada 4s 6d a 5s Ceylon Org. Stem lod a 6d Bombay ,, Jubblepore 4s 6d a 6s 3d Red Org. Stem |1d a 4td Bhimlies 5s a6s 6d Renewed 3d a 53d Rhajpore, &. 4s 6da ds 9d Root lida 4d engal ,, {Calcutta 8s 9d a 4s 3d CINNAMON,Ceylon Ists|Good to fine quill 6idals 5d NUTMEGS : 64’s to 57’s 10d als t pen Bi ha gage ” 5 5d a 1s 4d Singapore & Penang ,, ys 6d a7a ards ” ” 5d ¢ S j Ss 54d \ 4ths Ph e Wa ated NUTS, ARECA ewt,/Ordinary to fair fresh te ales Chips, &¢..|Fair to fine bold vad Sod NUX VOMICA, Cochin |Ordinary ‘to good 9s 6d a 11s CLOVES, Penang lb.|Dull to fine bright pkd.|iida 1s 2d per cwt. Bengal ” ” 7s 6da 88 6d Amboyna -|Dull to fine 9d a 10d Madras |__ sy ” 8s a 9d Ceylon ; v: a 9d a 10d OIL OF ANISEED ,, |Fair merchantable [5s 2d { Zanzibar Fair and fine bright |gd a 84d CASSIA ,, |According to analysis |3s 4da 3s 7d Stems -|Paix 3d2!- LEMONGRASS ,, |Good flavour & colour COFFEE NUTMEG », |Dingy to white 144 a ld Ceylon Plantation cwt.|\edium to bold 20s a 112s CINNAMON ,, |Ordinary to fair sweet 2dals 4d i _ Native Good ordinary Nominal CITRON ELLE Bright & good flavour |i1ja Liberian » |Fair to bold 70s & 788 ORCHELLA WEED—ewt . r COCOA, Ceylon Plant. ,, |Special Marks 758 & 85s 6d Ceylon ., |Bair «110s X 3 Red to good 65s a 73s Madagascar », |Pair -l10s Native Estate » |Ordinary to red 438 a 6438 PEPPER — (Black) Su eae Java and Celebes ,, |Small to good red 25s a 80s Alleppy «& Tellicherry|Fair + |53d x e COLOMBO KOU »» |Middling to good 15s, a 20s Ceylon ,, ,, |», to fine bold heavy ..|54d a 6d ; CRKOTON SEEDS,s1ft.cwt.|Dull to fair Jus a 75s Singapore Fair . see ae 5S CUBEBS Ord. stalky to good 160s 2. 170s Acheen & W. C. Penang Dull to fine + [gd a 6d GINGER, Bengal, rough,, Fair 35s nom, (White) Singapore ,, {Fair to fine oe «(8d a 9d Calicut, ae A » |Small to fine bold 80s a 89g Siam -,, |Pair 7s wae (73d. B&C,, |Small and medium 60s a 70s Penne », [Bair * se oe TAD Cochin Rough ,, |Common to fine bold 40s a 45s ntok », {Bair : - |8ad é Small and D’s 40s RHUBARB, | Shenzi |Ordinarytogood —.. |is2da 286d - Japan »s| |Unsplit 378 Canton ..{Ordinaryto good -|10d a 1s 1d @UM AMMONIACUM ,, Ora: blocky to fair clean|40s a 72s 6d High Dried, .|Fair to fine fat + |8hd a 95d ; ANIMI, Zanzibar {Pale and amber, str. srts |£15 a £16 Dark tofairround —..\asd a 74d » little redj£12 a x14 SAGO, Pearl, large ..|Bair to fine --|1ss a 198 Bean and Pea size ditto|75sa £12 10s medium ” ” 17s a 18s 6d - Fair to good red sorts |£7 a £10 smal tes 14s a 15s ‘ Med. & boid glassy sorts|£5 a £7 SEEDLAC ewt,|Ordinary to gd. soluble |52s 6d a 723 6d Madagascar _,, 4RABIC KH. 1. & Aden Turkey sorts Ghatti Kurrachee Madras ASSAFCTIDA KINO MYRRH, Aden sorts cwt Somali OLIBAN UM, drop ” ”” ” ” LE) a pickings siftings , INDIA RUBBEK Ceylon, Straits, Malay Straits, etc. Assam Rangoon Fair to soot palish ...)£4a£8 15s red »../£4 a 27 Ls Ordinary to good pale/40s a 50s nom. 50s a 65s Sorts to fine pale .../35 a 453 nom, Reddish to good pale .,.|30s a40s_,, Dark to fine pale .../30sa 40s ,, Clean fr. to gd. almonds|£18 10s a £21 53 com. stony to goed block}25s a £15 Fair te tine bright 9d als Middling to good 52s 6d a 603 50s a 52s 6d Good to fine white 45s a 50s Middling to fair 35s a 40s Low to good pale 12s 6d a 27s 6d Slightly foul to fine 20s a 22s 6d Fine Para bis. & sheets re 9d. Ceara éd ” » Crepe ordinary to fine.. a 6d a 4s 9d Fine Block [48 9d Serap fair to fine alte a 431d Plantation Fair Il to ord. red No. 1 re a3d 8d a ta ys 9d a 2s 8d SENNA, Tinnevelly Ib. |Fair greenish SHELLS, M. o PEARL— Egyptian ewt.|Small to bold Bombay 35 ” Af Mergui a ” a3 Manilla ,, |Fair to good Banda ,, poorts TAMARINDS, Calcutta... per cwt. Madras |Stony and inferior TOR. LOISESHELL—. Zanzibar, & Bombay lb. |Small to bold Pickings e l8s 6d a 21s TURMERIC, Bengal ewt.|Fair 22s 6d Madras. ,, |\Finger fair to iine bold|25s a 27s * Do, ,», |Bulbs [bright|18s "7 Cochin: _,, |Finger . 118s ~ |Bulbs .. [14s ’ VANILLOES— Ib, Mauritius...) Ists/Gd crystallized 3} a8hi injlésa20s Madagascar ... } 2nds|oxy & reddish 34a ,, |14s 6d a 17s Seychelles ...J 3rds|Lean and inferior 4/133 6d a \4s Gdc, VERMILLION .. Fine, pure, bright ao } «»|408 WAX, Japan, squares Good white hard Good to fine bold green ad Mid. to fine bl’k not stony 10s 212s [nom, 3d a 43d Commonspeckyand small|1$da 23d ia “ ae 6d .|£1012/6 a 142/6 -|£8 a £14 2/6 j21s 6d a 24s 6d -|48 a 5S -|11s 6d a 28s THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE Tropical Agricu turist and Magazine of the C. A. 8. CoMPiILED AND Epitep sy A. M. & J. FERGUSON. No, 6.] DECEMBER, 1911. [Vol. IX. BAMBOO FOR PAPER MAKING. POSSIBILITIES OF ANOTHER EASTERN INDUSTRY. There is not 30 years’ supply of wood for papermakers’ pulp left in North Europe and America. The price of pulpis jumping. The demand for paper is increasing by leaps and bounds, and a famine in wood pulp from the world’s northern forests is inevitable. Whole countries have been placed on the first stage of the dread road that ends in such deserts as those of Central Asia, by the short- sighted greed of the lumber interest. One fear, however, that of a universal famine in paper, is now being dispelled. The news is the more wel- come because it is coupled with the hope that the destruction of our woodlands may also be stayed, and that wisdom may in time lead to reafforest- ing. Bamboo forms an excellent material for the manufacture of paper and thisis already being turned to commervial account. Mr, R W Sindall, a consulting chemist and wood pulp and paper expert, who, in 1904, made an enquiry into the possibility of making paper-pulp and paper in Burma, proved that from the bamboo an excellent pulp could be made and that it could be exported to England ata price that should prove exceedingly remunerative. A difficulty has been in the bleaching, but this has now been obviated. Treated by the ordinary bi-sulphate process and by anew method simple and inexpensively bleached, it yields, it is stated, an excellent pulp, felting readily, and producing a paper pliant, resistant, and opaque, of enduring colour, thicker than other paper of the same weight, and forming one of the very finest materials for writing and printing, and of exceptional value for engraving. In order that all these excellent qualities may be preserved in the paper, however, it is essential that no part of the preparatory treatment of the pulp is ‘carried out away from the district where the 71 bamboo grows. Mr. H Vincent, an American expert, estimates that, under intelligent ad- ministration of cheap tropical labour, the cost of a ton of bleached pulp should not exceed £6, and that it should be worth, at an extremely modest estimate, £10. Mr. Sindall calculated the cost of a ton of unbleached Burma pulp landed in London or Liverpool at £7 10s. Having regard to the quality of the pulp, he thought that a much higher price would be secured for it in the London market, as ordi- nary wood pulp realised from £8 to £9 per ton. Roughly, therefore, it costs as much to puta ton of unbleached Burma pulp on the English market as it would cost by Mr. Vincent’s scheme to produce a ton of bleached pulp at the factory in the Panama zone. It would seem, then, that the planting of bam- boos for paper-making is an undertaking which might well be started. It is thought that if paper were supplied from the tropics, instead of from the present sources, 16 will involve acon. siderable readjustment ofthe pulp industry, and the solving of many questions, among which that of labour will not be the least. This is consi- dered in some quarters to be an objection to the growing of bamboos. It is a mistake, however, so to regard it, If bamboo comes to the rescue, it will go far to save the forests, which, if bam- boo or other material be not used, will become so thinned that there will be no industry to re- adjust. It will also bring down the price of paper. It remains to be seon if the industry is one which might be undertaken in Ceylon. It cer- tainly is, Many, all, one may say, of the low- country districts of Ceylon are eminently suit- able for the growth of the bamboo, which can be cultivated like any garden crop. After being cut down, the grasses, or rods, grow up again in about two years, Ceylon has the climate for the growth of the product, the labour for its transformation into pulp, and the 562 water necessary for its manufacture. Machinery can, of course, be provided. Mr. T. P. Masila- many, of Jaffna, in a recent article in the ‘* Morning Leader” of this town, gave particu- lars of the cost of a plant, the expense of work- ing it, and of the estimated profits, which he put down at 24 per cent. per annum. The figures he gives have every appearance of reliability, and it would thus seem that still another may be added to the long list of tropical and Ceylon industries, If Ceylon does not wish again, as in the case of rubber, to remain behindhand, she must hasten, for the idea is at present being vigorously pushed in Indo-China, by an Anglo-French Company, a representative of which passed through Colombo a short time ago. The work is being undertaken on a very big scale, the very latest things in machinery have been provided, and they are absolutely confident of producing very large quantities of paper within a very short time. The growth of bamboos for the production of paper is certainly worth the attention of Ceylon capitalists. PLANTING IN JAVA AND TRAVAN- GORE. TrA-RUEBER-COCONUTS-COFFEE. Mr, C. E. Welldon has just returned from a very interesting visit to Java, Sumatra, Johore and the Malay States seeing much of Robusta Coffee, Tea, Rubber and Coconuts. He was greatly impressed with the tea in Java and con- siders that Para rubber in suitable districts in Java will be as good as any rubber in Sumatra or the Straits. Fever on some of the best plantations has been severe, but all possible provision is made forthe health of the Managers, employes and coolies. He was struck with the yield of coconuts in Sumatra and Java and expects more land will be planted up with this product, He stated that the profits on Robusta Coffee in East Java are very large and that up to date leaf-disease has not done harm and is not re- ducing the crops so we may hear more of this product during the next few years. TOBACCO IN CEYLON. A WaRNING TO THE SANGUINE. After the recent discussion at the Agricul- tural Society we asked Mr. Vollar (so long of the Doombera Valley) to give us his opin- ion and he kindly writes:—‘* I can give you very little information about tobacco as 4 pay- ing industry in Ceylon. My experience was the only one that ever made anything out of it—if even by myself. The German (experts) who bought the crop from me and looked after the curing made a loss, I should say, of £10,000,— I should say the Ceylon climate is unsuitable for growing the wrapper leaf—it grows too rank, and the strange thing is that seed taken from plants of imported seed reverts—if not the first year in the second—to the coarse indigenous Ceylon tobacco. Hence nothing, I think, can be made with the ‘weed’—I burn a lot of it myself.’’ The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist RUBBER TAPPING. THE SHERIDAN-PATTERSON IMPROVED PROCESS. Warwick, Ambawella, Oct. 18th. Dear 81zr,—A little over twelve months ago you published a letter from me describing a new system of tapping which I had started. Its claim to originality was based on .thesystem allowing for the annual increment in girth of the rubber tree and in substituting dividing the tree into thirds, instead of {into fourths, as had then been proposed in the Straits and by Pro- fessor Hans Fitting, so that there might always be a strip of untapped bark, or bark not less than four years old to perform the functions necessary for the nutriment of the tree. In dividing a young tree directly into fourths oreven into thirds, I found the strip of bark available for tapping too small ona tree 18 in. in girth at three feet from the ground, so 1 devised the method which 1 attempted to describe in my letter. Briefly the system was to. take any tree of i8 in. or even J6 in. in girth at 3 feet, and to divide it into half, and then with two or three cuts at a foot apart to tap out this section which should take twelve months. Atthe com- pletion of the 12 months the tree would have increased in girth and be from 22 inches to 24 inches at 3 feet from the ground. I then pro- posed taking another 2 or 3 cuts above the pre- vious cuts and carrying on for another twelve months, by which time the tree would have in- creased a further four to six inches. My idea then wasto take 2-3rds of the untapped half, and mark it out from the bottom with two or three cuts as before, and tap it out, and when this was completed go up above these cuts with another two or three cuts again. The tree would then have been tapped four years and still have an untapped section. The fourth year’s tapping would then be over this untapped section (which is the third of the second half of the tree, of which 2-3rds is tapped out) and over one-third of the originally tapped half, the tree then being divided into 1-3rd for evermore, The practical adaptation of this system has shown that it works out well, butit is found better to only put two cuts on the first half, then when this is tapped out to divide the other half of the tree into 2-3rds and put two or three cuts on this 2-3rds section giving another year’s work. When this is completed, say intwelve months’ time, if the renewed bark of the first year’s tapping is sufficiently good, the 1-3rd of the second half that is intact, and 1-3rd of the first year’s section, can be taken straight away and the tree is divided into thirds. But if, as is most probable, the renewal of the first section tapped is not considered sufficiently recovered. then put on two or three cuts above the second year’s tapping and carry on for another twelve months by when the first section tapped will be good enough in almost all cases to have 1-3rd of its area taken in, and the 2-3rds left will be sufficiently renewed to perform all the necessary functions of the bark, which necessity is being so en- tirely ignored by many systems of tapping and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—December, 1911. now in vogue which take half of the tree one year and half the next, and so on. Once the tree is got into sections of three, which will I think generally prove to be in three years in the best districts, and four years where bark is thinner (or at higher elevations or in dry zones) the 1-3rd section will be tapped each year, so that there will always be on the treea strip of bark of not less than 1-3rd of its cir- cumference which is at least two year old renewal and the system is elastic because never more than 3 cuts will/be puton at atime so that at any time a section can be gone above for another. year making the other sections a year older. The system, therefore, has the advantage of enabling a young tree to be profitably tapped when 16 in. to in girth at three feet from the ground, and it adapts itself to any district or elevation, and the period of renewal can be ex- tended from 3 years to 6 years as desired. That the tapping above after the first or second year makes no reduction in yield is proved by yields secured from:fields where the system is in vogue. It even appears that the leaving of the untap- ped section increases the yield andin any case it must prove beneficial to the tree,— [ am, &c.,, J.SHERIDAN PATTERSON. II. Warwick, Ambawella, Dec, 3rd. Sir,—Mr Petch in his very instructive book “The Physiology and Diseases of Hevea Brasiliensis ” says that : ‘‘the adoption of the quarter system, necessitates waiting until the trees are six to eight years old before a quarter section is sufficiently large to be worth tapping,” and I consider that there is the same objection to the one third section until a tree is six years old any how.” Mr Petch in referring to my system, in which I get over these objections by starting on half the tree ic the 4th or 5th year, or when- ever it is 16” in girth at three feet from the ground, considers that 1 anticipate too great an annual increase in girth and quotes Mr Willis as stating that ‘‘noestate had reached an annual average increase of four inches, and the best was three-and-a-half.’ How Mr Willis got his figures of all Ceylon Estates, and which he considers the best, I do not know, but I have received the following figures as to one estate, which though they may be excep- tional, support my contention as to the effect of cultivation on Rubber when it is 4 to 5 years old. These trees have never been tapped on both sides, which may partly account for the very satisfactory growth. They were tapped on one side only the first year, and are being tapped on 2/3rd of the remaining side in the second tapping. The average rate of increase between 1809 and 1910 is given as follows ;— No Acr Inches, 1 field 48 (1905 planting) A He 2 25 vee 3 i 16 (original figures missing) 4 alge > (9B . wa 645 5 29 6 Also “an. 8-acre field ‘Increased 525 inch— a 3-acre field 53-5 inch and an 8-acro field 6% 563 inch. All these fields were manured in 1908, and kept quite clean. On an adjoining estate a manured plot planted in 1906, and manured in 1909, increased in girth 5 inchesin 9 months, at the rate of 62-3inches in 12 months, I quote these figures to show that anyhow on some estates, with certain treatment, a 5-inch annual increment in girth may be obtained in the fourth, fifth and sixth years, which are all that my system is concerned with. Even if the increase were only 4 inches, it would not render the system unsuitable, as I only tap up to 27 inches on the lower side of the cut and to 30 inches on the upper. Mr. Petch’s second objection, is to tapping for two years on one side, both as affecting the food supply and the yield, I found by exper- ience that there was this objection, betore reading Mr. Petch’s criticism, and I altered the system, so that in the second year I now tap 2-3rd of the untapped half (which is 1-3rd of the whole tree) only putting on two cuts as before, as I tind that when trees are young, the fewer the cuts the better the flow continues. On page 94 of his book Mr. Petch states that “the greater number of wounds interferes more with the flow of latex and causes a more rapid diminution of yield.” I proved to my own satisfaction in 1908, that on old trees (say 8 to 12 years old) 3 cuts at the foot apart, gave prac- tically as much latex as 6 cuts at the foot apart, and of course the economy of bark is obvious, On young trees 1 found 2 cuts gave practically as much as 3cuts. In my revised system, the third year’s tapping can be either above the lst year’s tapping or include the still untapped sec- tion according tothe girth of the tree, and the state of the renewed bark. My contention is, that on this system, you can adapt your period of renewal to local conditions, if 5 years renewal is necessary, you can get 5 years. If 4 years is necessary, you can get 4 years, whereas if only 3 years is found necessary then you have your tree easily arranged into thirds. In the mean- time you have been able to tap the tree profi- tably without doing any harm, when only l6in in girth at 3 feet. Good 5-year-old rubber tap- ped on this system is yielding 150 |b per acre, 6 year-old rubber 200 lb and 7-year-old rubber 300 lb, planted mostly 15 feet by 15 or 164 feet by 164. 1 am glad to see that Mr Petch emphatically condemns the use of the pricker, excepting asa makeshift in such places as Hevea Brasiliensis ought not to have been planted, and emphasises the damage being done by tapping one side of a tree one year and the other side the next, point- ing out that the damage done by such systems, though not immediately apparent, will show up in future years, if a long enough renewal is not allowed,—I am, &c., J. SHERIDAN PATTERSON. III. Deo. 7th. Srr,—I must say that I think Mr, Sheridan Patterson deserves the thanks of the Rubber- planting community for publishing the results of his observations and experience in con- nection with his improved system of tapping 564 rubber trees. I feel sure there is a great deal yet to be learned about the proper harvesting of the latex in different districts and at different altitudes in Ceylon, and the more notes of actual experience we can get together the better.--Truly yours, PROPRIETOR. [There can be but one opinion held among experts who have extended practical know- ledge of all the various methods of extrac- ting latex, and who have given Mr Patter- son’s method the trial it deserves. There are methods of tapping that destroy the tree almost as surely and rapidly as the bar- barous fashions obtaining in parts of Africa and America. The Patterson system of tap- ping the tree in sections, allowing for increase - in girth, and taking, as _ circum- stances demand, from four to five years in working round the bole, permitting the fullest bark renewal and sap supply, secures at once a copious flow of latex, and preserves the health and power of growth of the tree. There is always a large area of bark uninjured, per- mitting the tree to secure the steady noutish- ment required for its continued growth and the renewal of the latex supply, and four years, at least, during which growth is continuous, elapse before the old wounded areas are again approached, This means everything for the tree, steady growth, better powers of disease resist- ance, and less liability to wound infection, There is only one point in this method where controversy arises. There is some difference of opinion as to annual rate of growth. Mr. Petch, and others contend that the annual increase of four to five inches in the girth of the tree reckoned by Mr Patterson can refer only to exceptional trees, or to trees exceptionally well situated as to locality and soil. Even if this be con- ceded, it in no way vitiates the advantage of Mr Patterson’s truly scientific and rational method of tapping. It is certain that these same trees that do not put on five inches of girth a year would be very much more handi- capped by another method of tapping, and that the Patterson system gives trees more chance of attaining to the increase noted by Mr Sheridan Patterson where he has experimented. In the matter of keeping the numbers of cuts low, and intheir objection to the use of the pricker Messrs Petch and Patterson are agreed, whilst every practical planter will support Mr Pat- terson in his plea for full manuring and clean cultivation. At the same time'we waut more and more detailed information published on all sorts of obscure points, and particularly, as ‘‘ Pro- prietor ” says in his letter appearing above, on the proper harvesting of latex in different districts and at different altitudes. Theory is . excellent, but it must be supplemented by prac- tical experience and experience has a way of varying according to locality and circumstance, —A.M.&J.F.] The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist MR. W. WICHERLEY ON THE VALU- ATION OF COCONUT ESTATES. Marawila, Nov. 20th, Dear Si1r,—In your issue of November,*you have an extract from the Financial Times under the above heading and signed by Mr. Wicherley. When Mr. Wicherley was _ here last year, he posed as an authority on Rubber, especially on Ceara Rubber. He made application to Gov- ernment on behalf of an influential Company to buy a very large area of land inthe Wanni. The Government pursued an indefensible dog-in-the- manger policy, and imposed conditions which no sensible man could possibly accept. During the time of his visit, there were wild rumours that he had at his back capitalists of unlimited means, and that as a first instalment several coconut estates of well-known Sinhalese families in the Negombo and Chilaw districts were to be acquired and formed in a Company, and thereafter the trade iu copra was to be cornered ! He went away and did not return, but amuses himself by occasionally writing about coconuts and a coming boom, in financial papers. On the present occasion, he poses as an expert valuator. He nowhere in his letter indicates that he is writing about coconut estates in Ceylon. That can, however, be safely guessed. It isa libel on native estate owners to say that their estates are ;‘‘for the most part grossly neglected as regards cultivation and wastefully managed into the bargain.” I believe I have visited and valued more ‘‘native-owned ” estates than any other valuator, and 1 cannot subscribe to the abcve. I will not take exception to his statement that a full bearing tree will yield 40 to 60 nuts per annum, but I will qualify it by adding ‘‘ under favourable circumstances.” Nor is he far wrong when he states that 4,000 to 5,000 nuts go toa ton of copra. The general experience, however, is, that a given weightof copra will yield two-thirds oil and one-third poonac. In very few instances are the husks of coconut used for fibre making, In most instances they are used for packing drains, protecting supply plants or for burning in quantities between the trees. Some penny-wise-pounds-foolish people sell their husks. These people can have no idea of the wanton robbery of the soil the sale of husks involves. Miz. Wicherley is quite correct when he states that ‘‘ valuations of coconut estates based on the per capita value of each tree are fallacious and utterly worthless from an investor’s point of view.” Yes. From the investor's point of view only. No careful valuator and one with a sense of responsibility does this. Mr. Wicherley states that ‘‘ one of the recog- nised systems is to take a qualified expert’s re- port on the property as a whole and then to dissect the certified ‘counts’ of nuts for each of the six picking periods over the previous four years, carefully noting the picking of the fifth period, as this should always give the largest proportion (20 to 425 per cent.} of the total ‘‘ yield.” and Magazine of the Ceyton Agricultural Society.—December, 1911. The above is very funny and excites the risi- bility of ‘texperts,’ who will not call them- selves ‘‘experts,” unless they can both report on and value estates ; they find no necessity to dissect or perform any other surgical operation _ onthe figures of each picking, when they have the total of the six pickings. Besides, it is very wide of the mark to say that the fifth picking gives the largest preportion of the. total yield. Kvery coconut planter, of even very limited ex- - perience, knows that this is not the case. It puzzles one to be told that “the safest plan isto take an average of 20-45 per tree and . divide the total into thousands.” What in the name of commonsense does this mean ? Multi- ply that amount by three, and in this manner we get approximately the net annual income from the estate, What is three? Is it three pounds ? Ifso, we get the gross and not net annual income. No careful valuator who has a care for his re- putation, will value indiscriminately all coconut estates, especially those yielding ‘20-45 nuts ” per tree per annum, at 12 years’ purchase. Mr. Wicherley’s process of valuation is thus:— 500 acres at 60 trees equal 30,000 trees, at 40 nuts per tree equal 1,200,000 nuts by 3 equal £3,600 at 12 years’ purchase equal £45,200. I will value the same estate, taking Rs. 20 as the equivalent of £1. Thus :— 500 acres at 60 trees equal 30,000 trees, at 40 nuts per tree equal 1,200,000 nuts at £3 or Rs. 60 per thousand equal td £3,600 Expenditure at/£2or Rs. 40per acre... £1,000 Net annual income be £2,600 §2,600 by 10 years’ purchase £26,000 To the investor, mine is a safer valuation. —Truly yours, B. RUBBER IN THE CONGO. The Government of the Congo are paying special attention to the growth of the planta- tion rubber industry, having planted 30,000 of the Hevea Braziliensis, and ordered seven areas in the Bangala and Equator districts to be brought under cultivation. Experiments with the Manihot Glaziovii have been conducted at twenty different Government posts, the plants numbering 185,000, while other species will also be dealt with as well as the 11,000,000 old rubber vines known to exist in the country,—dH. & C. Mt ,Nov. 17. BANANA STUFFING. A new bananarecipe is sayoury banana stut- fing (for roast pork, goose, or duck, etc.). Peel six to eight ripe bananas and chop rather coarsely. Season well with salt and pep- per, and add haif a breakfast oup of white breadcrumbs, a beaten egg, chopped parsley, and savoury herbs to taste. Mix the whole well, and stuffthe meat or birds in the usual manner with this preparation. The delicate flavour of the bananas gives a delicious aroma to'the birds when cooking..—-H, News, Nov. 1. 565 CAGAO MANURING EXPERIMENTS AT PERADENIYA. AN ABLE AND EXHAUSTIVE REPORT. The cacao manurial experiments have been one of the main features of the Experimental Station at Peradeniya since its inception in 1902. But although these experiments have now been in progress for nine years, no attempt has hitherto began made to give anything like a complete account of the information which may be drawn from them. We are, therefore, all the more beholden to Dr. R. H. Lock for his very able and interesting report—constituting the ‘*Circulars and Agricultural Journal of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon,” for October, 1911,—on experiments in manuring old cacao at the Ppradeniya, between 1903 and 1911. Not only are these the most elabo- rate manurial experiments ever carried out in a tropical country, but they are probably quite as thorough as any experiments carried out in any part of the world with a permanent crop. The deductions to be drawn from them should, therefore, arrest the attention of all who have to deal with permanent crops, as well as of all who are interested in tropical agriculture. Dr. Lock pcints out in the first instance that the conditions of experiment have been far from ideal. The plots—25 in number, each measuring one acre, except three, each of which is divided into twosections of half an acre each, —include a mixture of varieties irregularly planted ; and a varying number of coconuts— in some cases over thirty ina single plot—have been allowed to stand among thecacao, The crop of cacao does not, however, seem to bear any direct relation to the number of coconut trees, for one of the best yielding plots of the former contains no less than thirty-three of the latter. It was Mr. Herbert Wright, who, in 1902, planned the experiments in consultation with Mr. Kelway Bamber. The irregularity of the plots was then fully realized by Mr, Wright who pointed out the desirability ef establish- ing even plots of young cacao upon which more reliable tests could be carried out; but when the duty of scientific superintendence was as- signed to Dr. Lock in 1908, it was considered advisable to allow the treatment of the plots to continue without alteration for two or three years or more, in order that such conclusions as could be drawn from them should rest upon more or less solid ground. Soanew plot, 5 acres in extent, was established in 1908 from seed exclusively derived from a single tree of a good Forastero strain, and it is hoped that this plot will allow of the carrying out of experi- ments which will afford a more satistactory test of the influence of different artificial manures upon the growth and yield of cacao. Before the beginning of the experiments described in Dr. Lock’s report, the whole estate, including the experimental plots, had been allowed to fall into a condition of neglect. In particular, al- bizzia trees planted for shade had grown into a veritable forest, and their removal could only be accomplished at the cost of considerable damage to the cacao, In association with the excess of shade, disease was rampant, Cacao canker was 566 80 prevalent that in May, 1902, when the sys- tematic treatment was begun, over 90 per cent of the trees on the whole station were diseased. By vigorous measures this number had been reduced below 10 per cent on the experimental plots by the end of 1903. Nevertheless, through- out the experiments the loss of crop from this scourge represents & considerable item. The total crop from each plot from 1903 onward is recorded in a comprehensive table from which we quote as follows :— ToTaL NUMBER oF PopS PRoDUCED BY HAcH PLot FRom 1903-1911. Bus i) se m co) Plot. ‘Treatment. 1903. 1905-(6, 1908-09. 1910-11. @ 38 cba teviaties u as C 1905-11. 1 Unmanured 9311 15459 16163 7402 11755 9'0 27 nmanured 7087 £3036 14758 7750 9026 74 3 Lim» once 223 11773 9061 6360 7341 57 4 Cattle manure 4563 10251 8888 5093 6478 50 5 Lime forked 3225 8762 6751 4587 5676 4°4 6 Lime Unforked 2523 9151 7145 5326 6330 49 7 Basic slag and ammonium sulphate 2777 =—-:10952) 7581 = 540% ~— 6836 5°3 8 Kainit 2685 8653 7239 5450 6245 4°8 9 Bone dust 2256 8274 8193 6666 7191 55 10 Unmanured 3662 10276 7952 6417 7392 57 94a Potassium chloride 4232 14094 11614 6992 9189 Tol, 946 Potassium sulphate 4523 14688 9770 5770 8715 67 95a Sodium nitrate 4230 12824 8398 4614 7090 55 95b Ground- nut cake 4432 12628 8864 4544 7858 57 96a Concentrated superphos- phate 3408 12270 8952 4582 7891 57 966 Precipitated phosphate 4330 9058 9380 5192 6395 53 98 Fish manure 887 5677 7966 87981 6959 5°4 99 Blood meal 668 6530 4969 4414 5285 4°1 100 Castor cake 1125 6718 9827 5292 6360 4°9 101 Basic slag and potassium Sulphate 2155 6149 8735 54386 6091 4°7 107 Basic slag, castor cake, and potassium sulphate _ 10600 9057 6334 7833 6°0 108 Ground nut cake and \ potassium sulphate _ 9684 7744 6805 7307 56 109 Potassium nitrate _ 8890 4961 4340 5564 4°3 110 Basic slag _ 10956 5950 4542 6386 49 111 Ammonium sulphate _ 11268 9311 698C 8284 63 Average 3622 10088 8668 5822 7195 55 Average calcu- lated to cwt. 2'8 V7 67 4-5 5.5 a The recovery of the cacao from its initial en- feebled condition was marked by an increase in the general crop, which rose to a maximum in the season 1905-U6 in the case of practically all the plots ; but the crop of 1906-7 was compara- tively pocr. In 1904 dadaps were planted over the whole area at the rate of 300—400 to the acre. These should have been kept lopped, but were allowed to get out of hand and to become closely crowded in 1906. With this fact, says Dr. Lock, the comparatively poor crop of 1906-07 may perhaps be associated. During 1907 the greater number of the dadaps were cut down, leaving only 30-40 per acre for pur- poses of shade. VThecrop for 1908-09 was the The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist second best on record. The same dadap trees have continued to stand up to the present date as a source of lofty and even shade. Dr. Lock gives a complete list of the manured plots with a description of the treatment which each one has received. ‘The general method of applica- tion of all the fertilizers was to scatter the manure inacircle round each tree and fork it lightly into the soil. At the beginning of the experiments the diameter of the circle was from three to four feet, but this was gradually in- creased to six feet, at which point the various circles generally moet, the average distance between the trees being approximately twelve feet. More recently the manures have been applied in straight lines between the_ trees. Speaking generally, the soils of these plots are distinctly favourable for the growth of cacao, their mechanical condition especially being excellent, Arrangirg the plots in order of average crop gathered for 1905-11, Dr. Lock shows as the first remarkable result that the unmanured plots | and 2 come out easily at the head of the series. There is no exact record of the treatment of these two plots prior to 1908. They are, however, situated adjacent to the cattle sheds, and it is understood that the plots received large quantities of dung in the form of a mulch. We have independent reasons for regarding surface mulching as a specially valuable treatment for cacao, and we know from the results of the Rothamsted experiments that the effect of dung may persist in the soil for an indeterminate number of years. Dr. Lock has, therefore, little reason for surprise at the position taken by these two plots; but, after a series of interesting comparisons, he comes to the conclusion that of all fertilizers continuously applied, the best resultjis obtained from those which contain phosphoric acid, especially when this constituent is combined with nitrogen in such a form as bone-dust or fish manure. He says we may even go so far as to express the opinion that either of these ferti- lizers will probably yield a profit when applied to old cacao. There isno direct evidence that the application of any other form of manure leads to a profit. With regard to the above, Dr. Lock asks: To what are we to attribute a result so entirely contradictory of those ob- tained in the West Indies? We have no data; he says, from which to reply to this question, but itis evident that extreme caution must be used in attempting to apply the results of the experiments of this nature. It is hoped that future experiments with young cacao will lead to more definite conclusions. Beside can- ker fungus, squirrels are said to levy a consider- able toll on the cacao crops at the Experimental Station. They eat holes in the ripe or nearly ripe pods and remove the contents. Tables are given showing an annual average destruction of 528 pods by squirrels and of 725 pods by canker fungus—which means a loss of nearly a hundred- weight of cocoa beans. Dr, Lock winds up his report with an exhaustive summary and dis- cussion in which he states that the differences of crop which can be attributed to the action of definite chemical constituents are extremely slight, and it seems clear that the continued application of most artificial’ manures to a and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— December, 1911. 567 cacao soil like that of Peradeniya is a waste of money, under the conditions of this experiment. Disappointing as the manurial re- sults may appear at first sight, they are by no means devoid of interest when considered in the light of general agricultural principles. Apart from the question of actual fertilizers, several important facts have come to light bearing on the general cultivation of cacao, As to the effect of treatment other than manurial, Dr. Lock says it is not impossible that judi- cious pruning might lead to a somewhat bet- ter result, but upon this point the experi- ments under discussion afford no_ evidence. The practice of forking the soil during dry weather is decidedly harmful, even when only carried out to the small extent involved in burying artificial manure of little bulk. Two factors probably contribute to cause the dam- age herein involved: (1) the actual physi- cal injury to the surface-feeding roots of the cacao trea, and (2) the increased evaporation from the soil caused by the removal of the surface mulch of leaves which is always pre- sent on goodcocoa land. This in turn doubt- less leads to further damage to the exposed roots. There seems to be no doubt, therefore, that forking as an annually recurrent practice must be condemned. In the cultivation of cacao in Ceylon nothing is more important than the proper treatment of shade. If the shade is too heavy, the attacks of canker during wet weather are facilitated ; whilst absence of shade encourages the visitations of Helopeltis during the drier months. The shade tree par excellence for cacao in Ceylon is the dadap, and any excess of leafy branches affords an invaluable mulch, Hinally, Dr. Lock says, the result of the experiments at Peradeniya warns us to excercise the greatest possible caution in drawing deductions from the results of ex- periments inthe manuring of permanent crops in the tropics. The greater part of Dr. Lock’s report had been completed when the new edition of the lateMr J H Hart’s book on cacao came into his hands for review, and it is stated that Mc Hart’s experience of cacao culti- vation in the West Indies agrees closely with the deductions drawn from actual experiments at Peradeniya. Hart considers that the appli- cation of strong manures to trees in good health and in average bearing would tend to encourage rank and sappy growth, which would be non-productive, and loss of crop would re- sult, and alsc that to dig deeply about the roots of a surface-feeding plant for the purpose of applying manure would be absolutely absurd. In conclusion, we quote in full the following practical recommendations by Dr. Lock :— PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS. A.—For Further Experiments at Peradeniya. 1. The application of the present series of manures should be brought to an end without exception, A differential result as between the different plots is then more likely to assert itself than if the manures are continued. The sepa- rate gathering of cropfrom the different plots should therefore still be carefully carried on. 2. Experiments in pruning should be begun. This may best be effected by dividing existing plots into two, and pruning one-half whilst the other remains unpruned. : 3. Forking and the burying of leaves in trenches should be discontinued, and the sur- face mulch should be encouraged as much as possible. This does not apply to the burial of husks, which must be continued for sanitary re2sons. B,.—For the Improvement of Estates in Poor Condition. 1. The most important step is to get a high shade of dadaps in sound condition. I[f there is difficulty in getting dadaps to grow, artificial manures can probably be applied to them with greater advantage than to the cacao itself. A small quantity of basic slag and sulphate of potash, in the proportion of two of the former to one of the latter, applied about three feet from the base of the young dadap, should afford considerable encouragement to its growth. If shade is too heavy, on the other hand, it should be thinned out the operation being performed at the end, and not at the beginning, of the dry weather. Aboutthirty well-zrown dadap trees per acre is generally sufficient, and even these should have some branches lopped at the begin- ning of the south-west monsoon in districts which get heavy rain at this season. The old dadaps should be cut out periodically, and their places taken by newly-grown cuttings ; seven yearsis probably quite long enough for any dadap to stand, 2. Removal of excessive shade is the first step in thetreatment of canker—the greatest scourge of cacaoin Ceylon. Other important measures are collection, if possible weekly during the season of heavy crop, of all diseased pods, which should be deeply buried, and the excision of diseased bark. In this connection it may be pointed out that it isgenerally better to remove the whole of a cankered branch than to peel off the bark from three-quarters of its surface, as is often done. Spraying may also be resorted to. 3. If cattle manure is available it may ba applied freely asa surface mulch. In the dry weather especially some form of surface mulch is very desirable. And since, if the cacao is in poor condition, itsown leaves will not be sufficient for this purpose, they should be sup- plemented by any cut grass, jungle leaves, and ‘‘cheddy” that can be collected. 4. if artificials are to be applied, the best appear to be bone or fish manure, in com- bination with a potash salt if the soil is deficient in thatconstituent. These should not be dug in deeply, but applied on the surface, and the soil just scraped over them with as little disturbance of the cacao roots as possible. Dadaps, as pre- viously stated, may be fed up with phosphatic and potassic manure in small quantities and their leaves applied as a mulch. 5. In places where the growth of cacao is pour no pruning is likely to be required beyond the removal of weak and cankered branches, The need for pruning is indicated by over-luxuriance in the growth of the trees which run to leaf in- stead of producing crop. It is difficult to lay down any definite rules for pruning, since this is a master for practical study and experience, the 568 The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist Manihot Glaziovii for normal tropical climates. Manihot Dichotoma for rather dry regions. Manihot Piauiensis for light sandy soil only in rather dry regicns. These three varieties are very suitable for elevations; especially Dichotoma and Piauiensis which have been successfully planted up to 5,500 feet. seeds true to name carefully prepared and tested, we supply for trial orders, postage paid to all countries, in _ Parcels of 10ibs. net at £3, after receipt of money order or cheque. 10 lbs. contain about 3,700 seeds of Dichotoma or Piauiensis; about 6,300 seeds of Glaziovii; if requested the parcels can also be assorted, according to orders in two or three of these varieties.—Prices for bags of 135 lbs. on application. Hevea Plantations have found the Manihots very useful for elevations unsuitable for the culti- vation of Hevea, thus making use of idle land. Gevekoht & Wedekind Telegraphic-Address : “Gevekind Hamburg.” A. B. C. Code 5th Edition. Hamburg 1. object being to get an even distribution of stout branches suitable for bearing fruit without ex- cessive crowding. The proper time for pruning would appear to be shortly before the chief flowering season, for the sap being thus directed into the flower buds may be expected to leal to a better setting of the crop. Weare afraid we have not done sufficient justice to Dr. Lock’s report in the above summary. The report is so scientific and at the same time so practical that we would ad- vise our planting friends to obtain a copy and ‘read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” it. SENSITIVE PLANT. The Chamber of Agriculture of New Caledonia is offering sensitive plaut seeds Mimosa pudica to the agriculturists of that Island. Judging by the price (50 centavos per kilo) and the direc- tions for insuring rapid germination of the seeds, it would seem that the matter is being taken up quite seriously by the said chamber. This is somewhat remarkable in face of the fact that in many, if notall, tropical countries this plant has become a weed and in some instances a serious pest, killing out the natural grasses and inter- twining its spiny stems among the forage and thereby rendering it practically worthless. One good report of it in the Philippines has reached this Office, but the statement that this plant was much relished by cattle leads one to suspect that there must be considerable variation of indivi- dual preference among animals in regard.to this plant—or else that some semi-spineless form has originated here,—Philippine Agricultural Review for October. THE GRAPE-FRUIT FOR CEYLON. Dec. 5th. Dear Sir,—Can any one say if the grape-fruit has been grown at all in this Island, in low, medium or high elevations? I append an extract from a London weekly by Jast mail which should stir up the R. B. Gardens or Agricultural Society.— Yours truly, A LOVER OF “GRAPE-FRUIT,” (Zatract referred to.) ‘*T wonder if many of your readers are aware of the charm of the grape-fruit,” writes a corre- spondent. ‘lt makes a delightful beginning to lunch, and is delicious at breakfast. Just now they cost threepence each, and the heaviest should be selected, as these are always the juic- iest. Divide the fruit in two across the grain with a sharp steel knife, and remove the little leathery heart. Next go round the edges, cut- ting and loosening the pulp; remove all the pips, empty the pulp on a plate full of fine sugar, mix it very well, put half of the pulp back in each skin, sprinkle with more sugar, and let stand for twenty-four hours. Serve half a grape- fruit to each person on a little plate; it is eaten with a small spoon. Another way which is usual in America is to mix the pulp with mayonnaise dressing, and to slip an oyster into each portion. I find, however, that our frierds like the first recipe better,” and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Socrety.— December, 1911, YIELDS FROM YOUNG AND OLD RUBBER TREES. Hitherto it has been impossible to give any- thing like an adequate survey of the yields likely to be obtained from ‘Hevea trees under cultivation in the Middle East. Now, however, we have detailed information regarding results obtained during the last six years from trees ranging in age from 2? to 25 years of age, grow- ing under very dissimilar conditions and tapped con systems remarkable for their variability in principles. We now possess records of yields from exceptionally young and old trees, from trees with a difference of twenty years in age, from individual estates, and lastly from the whole of the tapped trees in the peninsula during specified years. YrELDs FROM YouNG TREES IN MaLaya, The yields obtained during the last five years in Malaya have been largely responsible,for stim- ulating interest, agriculturally and financially, in the rubber planting industry. There are now about a hundred London companies producing rubber in Malaya alone, and the yielda obtained over large acreages as well as from notable trees have so far given every satisfaction. The yield from very young trees is by no means insignificant. An experiment was made in Selan- gor during 1909 with 2,845 trees which wore ouly 22 years old ; these were tapped for two months and gave an average yield of 0°297 lb. per tree. Tapping for only eight months 2,843 trees, 34 years old, gave 1°24 lb. per tree, and in nine months 6,426 trees 32 years old gave 1°06 lb. per tree. Another record shows that 6,444 trees 4% years old gave, in two months, 0°178 lb. per tree, and 4,420 trees, 52 years old, for the same period yielded 0:248 lb. of rubber. In another field, 400 trees, 42 years old, tapped for six months gave 1107 lb. per tree, and 4,674 trees 52 years old, during the same period returned an average of 0°961 lb, per tree. A large number of trees, all 52 years old: were tapped during 1909 for two, four and six months, and yielded respectively 0 248, 0°503 and 0:997 lb. per tree, or an increase of approxi- mately 50 per cent for each two months’ tapping. We have already pointed out that other advices from the East have been received which show that some trees 34 to 44 years old in the Straits Settlements and in Klang have given at the rale of nearly onelb, of rubber per annum per tree. The bark of these trees is relatively soft and does not compare favourably with the harder texture of that on trees which have taken a longer time to attain the tappable size. Excellent results have been obtained on Malay estates by cutting a large V or Y ata foot to eighteen inches from the base of the tree, the V extending half round the tree; when the tree is large enough a second V is cut on the reverse side. By such a method the young trees can be tapped regularly—almost every alternate day— the rubber is extracted only from the thick part of the bark, and a high yield is obtained from the basal regions. 72 569 From oLp TREES In marked contrast with the above are the unexpected high yields obtained, in twelve montks, from individual trees on various pro- perties. On Jugra estate we are informed that seven to nine year-old trees gave seven lb. per tree, and on Cicely eight-year-old trees gave 8 Ib. The Federated Malay States Company pos- sess over 2,900 94-year-old trees which gave 24,000 lb. of rubber in one year, or an average per trea of 8:'2lb. Twelve-year-old trees on lLinggi yielded 10°71b. in twelve months, Batu Unjor is reported to have secured i0'73 lb. per tree from 6,800 trees at the age of from 11 to 12 years, A_ yield of 284 lb is also recorded from the 17-year-old trees growing near the churchyard at Parit Buntar. Similarly high yields, equal to one pound of rub- ber for each year’s growth have been published from time to time, butit is extremely doubtful whether such yields can be relied upon annually, In several instances the trees have been growing under exceptionally favourable conditions, and many do not appear to have been tapped until they attained quite an advanced age. YIELDS IN CEYLON. It is quite manifest from acomparison of the figures available in this office that, up to the present, Ceylon takesa second place compared with Malaya, in point of annual yieid from young trees and from definite acreages of known age. It so happens that the yields from old trees in Ceylon are exceptionally high. It is neverthe- less, clear that the soil or climatic conditions in Ceylon are less favourable, in the first few years, to the growth of Hevea brasiliensis. Whether the moist conditions in Malaya will prove to be as beneficial to old trees as the dry environment in Ceylon remains to be proved... {t must be pointed out that, though the rubber in Ceylon may only have been produced at the rate of 150 lb. per acre, per annum, other products on the same land have returned good crops during the same period. From Younc TREEs. There are very few, if any, estates in Ceylon where the trees are sufliciently large to permit of tapping under four years of age. In this respect there is a striking difterence with Malaya, where tapping is often started as soon as the trees are three years old. Purely as an experiment some two-year-old trees were tapped in Kalutara, but the yield therefrom was insignificant. In this district quite a number of trees, tapped when four years old, have given over 100 lb per acre in the first twelve months. A yield of 4 Ib. per tree is recorded from 2,119 trees, four years old, on the estate, and of 0°63 lb. per tree from 747 . trees at the same age on Mahawale. On Rayigam 6,000 trees, four to five years old, gave 4 lb of rubber each, and a further 1,500 yielded 0-41 Ib, each. Light tapping of young trees on a well- . known Kalutara property gave 1°72 Ib. of rubber per tree. From OLD TREES. At one time a yield of two to three lb. per tree from eight to eleven-year-old trees on Kepiti- gala estate was considered good. One tree on Elpitiya, 46 inch in circumference and eleven- 570 years-old, gave 16 lb. of rubber when tapped on the spiral system. The Elpitiya tree had a cir- cumference of 46 inches; the tapping was com- menced in October, 1904; the tree was rested in November, tapped again in December, rested in January, 1905,- and continuously tapped from February to June, 1905. Tapping was recom- menced in September, 1905. The tree appeared quite healthy in April, 1908. Individual trees of unknown age (probably 20 to 25 years) on Culloden estate, gave 10, 18, 23, and 25 1b. of rubber in twelve months, tapped on various systems, These trees gave an average of 18 lb. per tree, per annum, for four years. Several trees at Peradeniya, when 29 years old, gave 63 lb. each in eight months, and were still in good condition. Others on the same site gave three lb. each in twelve weeks. Upon the Imboolpitiya estate, in the Ambag- amuwa district, at an elevation of 2,000 feet, several 28-year-old trees were tapped from 18th December, 1905, to 18th March, 1906, and there- fore during three very dry months. One tree tapped seventeen times gave 3 lb.7 oz. of dry rubber, two others, tapped twenty-one times, gave 11 lb, 7 oz. The largest yield appears to have been obtained from the old Heneratgoda trees during 1909 and 1910. During that period the largest tree gave 160 lb. or at the rate of 80 lb. per annum. This, from a tree planted in 1876, gives une some idea of what yield can be obtained from Hevea on very poor soil at thirty-five years of age. It is only fair to add that the trees at Heneratgoda have never been systematically tapped and were not until a few years ago even experimentally operated upon.—India Rubber Journal, Nov. 11. WATTEGAMA AND RANGALA REVISITED. THE CHANGE IN 40 YEARS! A flying visit from Kandy, made by our ** Senior” to these North-Eastern planting districts recently, was chiefly interesting, for the great changes which have occurred during the past two, three and still more 1n four decades of years. Some of these were noted in the great extension of cultivation, the number of varied products now in evidence, and the in- creased number of villages and the population along the sides of each cart road. The ride on horseback from Kandy to Kelebokka was once described to us by Mr. M. H. Thomas, before there existed any cart-road whatsoever, to Panvila or beyond, and nothing North of the Mahaweliganga save the one military route to Matale; and the late Mr. Tytler, senior, had frequently to make his journeys between Dumbara and Pitakande or Hoolankande in the ‘ forties,” on foot or on _horse- back, in danger of floods, robbers or rioters! Our earliest visit to Matale, Kele- bokka, Panvila and Rangala and Meda- mahanuwara was in 1864 when coffee—the only staple—was in its pristine vigour and at this time district and branch roads were just coming into evidence. How strange, however, that during the 47 years since, the The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist connection (of 3 or 4 miles ?) between the cart road to the Knuckles and the local road to Rangala has never been undertaken! No doubt it is a difficult trace; but how much inconvenience and trouble such a junction would have saved, and would have aided devel- opment, especially of village life and indus- tries. There is scarcely a mile of road in the Kandyan districts which does not serve to support a series of native huts, boutiques or bazaars—a village in fact, which was never heard of in pre-planting days. But that is also true of our main line of railway, although only 44 years old, and is gradually becoming true of each succeeding line or extension, except on the Northern line. What a change would be effected if a prosperous populous village existed every 2 or 3 miles between Anuradhapura and Jaffna, alongside the rail- way or road. Meantime, what a picture of prolific varied vegetation is afforded North of and_all round Kandy, and on to Matale, on to Kelebokka and to Teldeniya as well as through the Dumbara valley! Can anything in the tropical world equal these districts in native crops, in varied indigenous fruit shrubs or trees and in introduced products in cacao, rubber, coconuts, arecas, breadfruit trees, &c., &c. Rubber has come to reinforce cacao in the Wattegama and Matale valleys and ‘“ Para,’ as well as ‘‘Ceara,” is now found to flourish in growth, and harvesting of latex, up to 2,000 feet above sea-level. Around Panvila there are several illustrations, and we had a bird's-eye view of one promising rubber plantation (Giddawa) in a new divi- sion close to the Hooluganga. But the most interesting and instructive part of our ‘‘ flying trip” was along the Teldeniya road (traversed last 47 years ago!) and thence up the Rangala road (never passed over before, though most of the estates were visited by other routes) as far as to far-famed Duckwari. ‘‘ Far- famed,’’ because the name embodies four different plantations well-known by their names in the ‘‘coffee " days. Mr. Duckworth’s Batte- galla valley especially, was regarded as one of the richest deposits of soil (for ‘' cherries”) in the island. What wonderful crops (up to a ton an acre) did not poor ‘‘ Jock Milne” pick from the coffee bushes there, and how the Messrs. Young on Rangala and Andrew Nicol, Martin, Anderson, Wright, Kose, Rudd, Esdaile, Fielder, Munton, Edwards, &c worked hard there for many years, plant- ing, cultivating and reaping ; but now there is not a single coffee bush in all the dis- trict; but instead, there is tea galore, of fine jat, vigorous and luxuriant. In addition to 800 acres of tea, the ‘ Duckwari ” Company has 270 acres of rubber and nearly as much of cardamoms and so, the experienced Manager (nine years in charge) and his two Assistants have no want of variety in their products or work. It added to our personal interest to find that in the Manager, and hospitable host, we had a grandson (the oniy one in the island) of the original ‘‘Gzorez Brrp,” the man who planted the first Ceylon coffee estate in 1824 and who, therefore, must have been the very first ‘‘ planter” ever heard of in the Central Pro- and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—Deceméer, 1911, vince of Ceylon, [There ought to be a good portrait of this most persevering planter, excel- lent man, and interesting historic personage, in the Hall of the Planters’ Association, Kandy.] Yo turn to practical items of the day, the new Duckwari Factory is well on towards comple- tion. It will be remembered that the old Factory (a converted coffee store) was acci- dentally destroyed by. fire, recently ; and now its successor is to be a credit to its de- signers and builders, and a great advant- age to all interested in its working and the products prepared in it for shipment. It was a disappointment to us to have no time on this occasion to run over the adja- cent estates and get a proper idea of the Rangala district as a whole, and some notion of Nitre Cave and revive associations with old Medamahanuwara, Better luck next time! The run back to Teldeniya, and up to the turn of the road into and through Dumbara (with reminiscent thoughts of such friends—nearly all deceased—as Tytler, Sout- tar, ‘“ Ned” Mortimer, John Brown, Black- law, Watson, Greig, Vollar and Forsyth) the crossing of that fertile valley, the passage of the new iron bridge over the Mahaweliganga, and then on up to Kandy, was very enjoyable, and crowned a notable day for us in not the least important of the Northern Planting Districts. CULTIVATION OF IPECACUANHA IN INDIA. Attractive for many years to British experi- mentalists in plant cultivation for materia medica has been the idea of growing ipeca- cuanha in British India, and just now, when for two years we have seen the root from South America fetching higk prices on the London market, users have naturally enquired whether our great Eastern Empire cvuld not afford us some relief. As a matter of fact, the efforts of the scientific cultivator have been directed to this question for many years, but we fear, with but moderate success, Thelate Dr. Auderson, superintendent of the Royal Botanic (sardens, near Calcutta, first conceived the possibility of growing ipecac. for commercial purposes in India. Dr. King brought the first plants to Calcutta in 1866, but despite every care they did not flourish. Plants sent to the Rungbi planta- tions, near Darjeeling, did better, and by 1873 there were several thousand young plants in Sikkim and district. Somewhere about this time the Bombay Government sought consignment of the plants for cultivation at the cinchona plant- ations at Mahabaleshwar. The earlier work was confined to getting a large stock of plants for experimenting purposes, and a stimulus was given to the cultivation by the discovery that the plants, unlike most others, can be propa- gated freely by root cuttings. The plant re- quires a thoroughly tropical climate—that is, a fairly equal day and night temperature. In the Government teak plantations at Nilambur, in the Madras Presidency, some measure of success was early obtained. The position in 1902, as defined by Sir George Watt in a special hand- book, seem to have been that, with the excep- tion of the locality in South India mentioned 571 above, no other district had been shown to afford the hope that it can become an important commercial producer. There were, he added, doubtless many other similar regions where it might be grown. The plant grows slowly, and has little in it to attract the attention of the cultivator, so that it may be doubted when private effort may be expected to relieve the Government of its present endeavours. Lately reported as in transit for the London market were a few bales described as from the Bengal Government’s cinchona plantations, and Mr David Hooper, writing to us in this connection, suggests that the sort referred to must be Johore, but adding the following information as to the general status of Indian ipecacuanha as 4 commercial commodity :— ‘‘T have recently been to the Bengal Govern- ment cinchona plantations in the Darjeeling district, and saw the ipecacuanha growing there. It thrives well under a light shade below the gardens at an altitude of 1,500 ft. There are about four or five thousand plants looking in good condition; they belong to the original stock introduced some years ago. At the Mungpir nurseries (3,800 ft.) there are several hundreds of cuttings ready for distribution ; none of the roots, however, have been collected and sent to the London market. In the Madras Government cinchona plantations ipecacuanha has been grown experimentally at various eleva- tions for a long time, but [ have seen no notice in the annual reports of the drug being col- lected commercially, I think the root you re- fer to must be from Johore. I wish it could be grown on a large scale in British India.” It is, however, a fact that from time to time plantations of ipecac. in India have been up- rooted and the produce sold in England, Still the conclusion on the whole seems to be that Indian ipecacuanha is till in an experimental stage, and, moreover, when it emerges therefrom if ever, it will remain for proof whether the medicinal properties are preserved in the Indian cultivated stoek.—B. & C. Druggist, Nov. 10. THE CONDITIONS BEST SUITED TO EUCALYPTUS .TREES. The native home of the valuable eucalypts is in the warmer portion of Australia and a few of the adjoining islands. The question of hardi- ness to frost is of paramount importance to the growing of Eucalyptus in the continental United States, because the range of the tree is there de- termined by its ability to cold. In Hawaii, how- ever, the questien of frost hardiness is not of great consequence because, outside of the summits of the three highest mountains in the islands, the temperature everywhere in the territory is suffi- ciently high for the growing of Eucalyptus, Several species of eucalypts have been planted within the last three years on the west slope of Haleakala, on the island of Maui, at an eleva- tion of between 6,000 and 6,500 feet, and a num- ber of them are doing very well, notably the peppermint gum (£. amygdalina), the bine gum (Z. globulus), the mountain ash (#. siberzana) and the broad-leaved iron-bark (JZ. stderopholta). Here the temperature is almost never lower D172 than 35°F. How much higher than 6,500 feet these trees would grow it is difficult to state, but there is no reason to believe that the tem- perature would be too low for a proper growth of the eucalypts at elevations as high as 7,000 or 8,500 feet, since the thermometer rarely drops below 32°F. The temperature and moisture conditions most favourable to the growth of Eucalyptus in Hawii are an abundsnt rainfall, say between 50 and 100 inches per year, and a rainy season alternating with plenty of strong, warm, sun- shine. Prolonged rain suddenly followed by in- tense sunshine and heat is injurious, especially to seedlings, The eucalypts are intolerant of shade, and re- quire plenty of light for their proper develop- ment. When given too much light, however, the eucalypts will branch out immoderately and will then not be of much value as a timber tree, The trees in their seedling stage can endure more shade than the older trees, and the very young seedlings require a certain amount of shade for their growth. When all are planted at the same time, the eucalypts can grow in dense stands and the trees will then form straight, cylindri- cal trunks, They will not grow, however, plan- ted in the shade of other trees. Most of the eucalypts have well developed root systems, and as a rule are not easily thrown down by ordinary winds, and a few species can therefore thrive in windy situations. The trees seem to suffer more by constant than by unusu- ally strong winds, and the ordinary trade wind in an exposed situation will be more barmful than an occasional kona storm. The foliage of blue gum (#. globutus) and of red gum (Z. ros- trata) is particularly sensitive to strong winds. Sugar gum (Z, corynocalyx) and peppermint gum (amygdalina) can stand much wind, though the trees will often lean to leeward and are then unfit for straight timber. The swamp mahogany (EZ. robusta) is generally considered sensitive to strong winds in California, but in Hawaii 1t is found to grow straight and of good form even in the most exposed situations. The eucalypts, as a rule, prefer a very moist soil and respond readily to irrigation in dry situ- ations. Swampy land, however, is not favourable to good growth, especially if the roots of the trees are constantly flooded. The red gum (2. rostrata) 1s probably the least exacting in the respect, and will thrive in wet swamps. Swamp mahogany (Z, robusta), blue gum (ZH. globulus), and the bastard mahogany (ZH. botryoides) will also endure excessive moisture, The sugar gum (E. corynocalyx), onthe other hand, is the most intolerant in this respect. Unlike agricultural crops, trees are not fasti- dious as to the quality of the soil on which they grow, There is hardly a soil so poor as not to be ableto support some tree growth. The chemical composition of the soil is of little importance, provided its physical composition is favourable. The physical composition of the soil is impor- tant because it determines to a large extent the amount of available soil moisture. A deep, loose, moderately fine-grained, sandy loam, is the best for most species of eucalypts, as it is . for almost all other forest trees,— West Indies Agricutural News, Oct. 14. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist THE CULTIVATION OF THE NUTMEG. During the earliest period in the history of its commerce, the nutmeg, a native of the wilds of the Moluccas, pandered for years to the greed of the Dutch. For. perceiving the fact that in the world, as then known, it grew only in the evergreen forests of the ‘Spice Islands,” not only was ‘its cultivation prohi- bited by them but quantities of the nuts were actually burnt to keep up prices when they declined. Thus, for years, the outside world was held in the veriest bondage of trade by the Dutch--the most intrepid and venturesome maritime nation and the greatest fetchers and carriers of the time. Nemesis, however, over- took them in the shape of the great blue wild pigeon which, swallowing the nut in its red aril, digested the mace and cast the seed on land and sea beyond its home. This interest- ing fact in the distribution of the nutmeg coming, in time, to be generally known, its cultivation was, in spite of the Dutch,: intro- duced into all or most of the countries lying about the balmy spice groves. Thence it en- tered the gardens of the Straits and. through them has spread both far and wide, —in fact, throughout the tropics of the world. But the most productive regions of its cultivation continue to be uear its home; for, though plantations of it flourish in the West Indies its greatest yield is still in the Hast,—the Malay Peninsula, island of Ceylon, and the silt-laden banks of the rivers of the West Coast. In these it is that the nutmeg tree—that graceful fra- grant child of the sun—piercing the umbrage of its associates with its pert and shapely pointed crown, bears, amidst its dark green foliage, its golden pear shaped fruits in abundance. Maturing in the seventh month from the fading of the flower, the fruit splits open into two fleshy halves and discloses the glossy black shell of the seed enclosed in a net of the scarlet mace. This seed or nut, whole or shelled,is the nutmeg which, for centuries past, has always met the demand of the world fora mild, engrossing, and wholesome spice. Of all the famous spices of the Kast, it is not only this but even more—its fine and essential aromatic oils, whilst being the least aggressively pungent are also the most agreeably flavoured and gratefully fragrant obtained from a spice. The nutmeg isa dioeclous tree, 2.¢., the male flowers, which are distinct from the female, are borne un separate individuals. These cannot, as arule, be distinguished from those that bear the female flowers until both male and female trees begin to blossom, in or about the seventh year from planting. The tree is in leaf _ throughout the year and delights to live in the midst of other shady evergreen trees like itself. For its successful cultivation, it de- mands shade, at least for the first five-years of its life, a climate with a rainfall of at least 60 inches, and a well drained rich alluvial loam or virgin forest land for soil. It also prefers a low lying situation and needs protection from strong and drying winds. Protection from wind 1s an essential factor for its successful and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— December, 1911. growth anywhere; for being a very shallow- rooted tree, it is easily blown down by the wind, Organic plant-food in the soil is, per- haps the next important factor ; for without it _in a readily available form the tree is thriftless and its yield poor. For these reasons it is, chiefly, that in the systematic cultivation of the nutmeg tree, the best results are always obtained by raising it on the banks of rivers or streams that had been erstwhile covered with virgin forest. In any other soil or situa- tion the tree requires to be heavily manured, watered in the dry weather, and protected from wind. Its cultivation demands some care and attention though no special skill appears to be called for. It may be pursued in the following manner :—Select for seed large round fresh nutmegs from fruitful mature trees in full bearing rejecting those that rattle in the shell. Sow the seed, in the shell, about a foot and an inch below the surface, in prepared beds or boxes of good soil, in a cool and shady place. Keep the seed beds moist by frequent watering. When the seeds sprout, after a month or two, water the plants freely parti- cularly in dry weather. On selecting the site for the plantation clear the Jand and pit it at about 25 or 30 feet apart keeping the pits open for a month or two. Just before planting mix the soil excavated with two parts of burnt earth and one of old cattle-manure. When the plants are 2 or3 feet high and have from 3 to 4 verticles of branches transplant them in showery weather screening from wind and the heat of the sun. Water soon after the plauts are put out and, thereafter if possible, every second day or at least once a week throughout the dry weather. Banana nurses between the plants give them the requisite shade and pro- tection. Earth up all roots that break out through the surface, keep the soil below the crowns clean weeded. and plough, harrow, or otherwise keep the soil between both lands and nurses in a thoroughly perfect degree of tilth. The plants should be mulched with dry leaves in the hot weather. The nutmeg is re- markably free from the attacks of insect pests or fungi ; but is occasionally subject to invasiou by Loranthus (Indian Mistletoe) and allied green semi parasites. These parasites as well as all suckers from the stem should be carefully removed when they appear. For manuring, carefully loosen the soil lying immediately over the rvots and spread the manure evenly upon it, Manure annually after the first fall of rain and until the plants are five years old with the manurial compost suggested above at the rate of three or four bushels per tree. After the fifth and up to the fifteenth year the proportion of the ingredients may with advan- tage be altered to equal quantities of both burnt earth and cowdung and the amount ap- plied itself doubled or tripled, except in the case of the male trees which being left in the proportion of one to every ten female trees should be treated so as to be kept healthy and strong but not so vigorous as the female trees. After the fifteenth year the dung in the ma- nure should be only about a month or two old and form double the quantity of the burnt earth, | Other organic manures in place of cattle dung 573 that may be used with much succeas aro groundnut oil cake and vegetable mould. The nutmeg begins to bear in the sixth or seventh year, attains to full between the fifteenth and thirtieth years and continues to bear two or three crops a year annually up to the eightieth year when the yield begins to decline. Trees more than a hundred years old planted by the descendants of the Dutch in Cochin are still in . good condition and bearing on the right bank of the Periyarin north Travancore, Again a small garden of nutmeg trees planted by Dr. Helferat Kaupya in Mergui are still productive under the care of the Chinese Babas. About two-thirds the number of trees planted out will be generally female trees which bear on an average in the fifteenth year about 2,000 nuts each. Varying with size from 80 to 150 nuts weigh a pound, so that the yleld per tree at the lower rate is about 13 pounds per annum. The yield of mace is usually about one-fifth the weight of the shelled nuts but its value is twice as much asthe latter. The price of nutmegs in the London market varies from 6d to 1s per pound and of the mace from 1s to 23 per pound according to size and quality. The value of the annual yield of an acre holding only 30 bear- ing trees estimated on the lowest weights of produce and on the mean, in each case of the market rates would be about 18. This is the possible average annual return from an acre in the fifteenth year which is but the com- mencement of maturity but as the estate would be productive for at least seven years previous to maturity a considerable and increasing pro- fits admit of being annually taken from and after the commencement of productivity.—Capital. THE EGONOMIC VALUE OF TEA. Thomas Martindale of Philadelphia, who has just returned from a hunting trip in the Maine woods, ina letter to the ‘‘Journal of Commerce” lauds thevalue of tea as a beverage. He says: ‘* Let us contrast the economy of the use of tea as against the present prevailing prices for coffye. ‘he consumer can, or should, easily buy a pound of really good tea for 50c, and out of this 16 ounces of tea the consumer gets an average of 240 cups of good, strong tea, or about 1-5ofa cent per cup, whereas a pound of good coffee, costing say 30c, will only produce about 75 cups, or very much more than double the price of tea. As between the virtues of the two beverages I have over and over again tested them under the best conditions that a man can have, namely in the pursuit of big game where the hardest sort of walking, say up to the high mountain elevations, or downto the lowly bogs is necessary, day after day, inall conditions of weather, rain or snow or excessively low or equally excessive high temperatures prevail. Under thiscrucial test toa will sustain a man’s vigor and keep his spirits up much easier than coffee without leaving any bad after effects such as sleeplessness and indigestion. The rank and file of the working people of Great Britain, Russia, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and in our own far Northern sections as well as in those of Canada have found this 574 tact out long ago. When the trapper is outfit- ting for the winter, next to his bacon, salt and flour always comes the pound or the two pounds of tea, Coffee indeed being not thought of at all. Ihe Hudson Bay Company in outfitting its trappers in the Far North load their dog sleds up with a liberal supply of white fish, which does equally as well for the dogs as the trapper. If wild geese have been killed in plenty during the previous fall, a few of those - for the trapper only are strapped on the sled ; then comes some salt, a little bacon, flour, matches, afew candles and surely the pound of tea. On my recent hunting trip of 38 days I took with me a canister containing 12 ounces of the top line of a chop of ‘String’ Foochow Oolong. My guide and { used from it morning and night, and also at times when we came to our cabin for dinner. It was always good, always cheering, always nourishing, and that 12 ounces lasted us for the whole trip and a little Jeft. In England particularly the consumption of tea is always increasing. There when ‘riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces’ tea is the final comforter. An English writer elo- quently extols ‘tea as a soothing drink ; the dissolvent of all unmannerly humors, the ally of all good grocers, the friend of the whole human race, the contemner of class, the com- fort of the duchess and of the washwoman, the faithful companion in all ranks of life of every waking and many half-waking hours.’ It is this humely impartiality of tea that makes the eulogist’s task so easy.” Mr. Martindale also looksfur a higher range of prices on tea, as a result of the present rebellion in China and says: ‘Inthe meantime the man who sits down and waits for. present values to shrink and go back to the former low levels will, like Kip Van Winkle, wake up some day and find that the world ‘indeed to move’ and that he has been left high and dry ona rocky shore without tea and minus his profits from not being on the band wagon rather than behind it.”—American Grocer. ROSELLE. The roselle (Hibiscus subdariffa) which was introduced and distributed to a limited extent this spring by the Bureau, is making a most satisfactory growth at the experiment stations, and a good yield of fruit and seed for future distribution is expected. The roselle is an annual related to the cotton and okra, and is probably the only plant in the world whose calyces are utilised for food. The plant flowers in October and the rapidly devel- oping fleshy calyces are picked and used in making sauces, jellies, or jams, very similar in flavor to those made from the cranberry. A good wine is also made from the calyces. A very agreeable cooling drink may be made from the leaves and tender twigs, steeped in boiling water. In India the roselle is grown priucip- ally for its fibre. The many useful] qualities of the roselle and the ease with which 1t may be cultivated are ‘sure to make it a favourite among all classes as soon as it becomes known in the Philippines.— Philiopine Agricultural Review for October. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist RICE, DRY GRAIN, COCONUTS, TO- BACCO AND COTTON IN N. PROVINGE. The paddy crop of the peninsula and Pu- neryn having failed in 1909 for want of rain, © on which it is entirely dependent in the north- east monsoon, the population was feeling the pinch in 1910. Ploughing rains in 1910 were not altogether timely, but fields were sown, and the crop was almost on its last legs owing to drought when heavy rain fell and saved it. Im December a period of drought set in, and for the second time the crop was in jeopardy, when on the last day of the year there was heavy rain, sufficient for the crop till harvest time. The harvest was medium to good, an improvement on several years past. In 1910-11 paddy has been between Rs.2 and Rs.2°50 per bushel; the price of the various kinds of dry grain has _ been normal. Coconuts have suffered greatly from the long periods of drought. Tobacco has been a good crop. This industry, on which the people depend for ready cash, was in great trouble during 1910 owing to the Indian Government putting up the duty on Jaffna tobacco exported to Travancore toa figure which stopped the trade. An adjust- ment was eventually arrived at, the old duty being re-established on condition that no more than the average quantity of the last five years should be exported from Jaffna. On this ar- rangement there is overproduction this year, and the necessity for other products to replace tobacco to some extent is apparent, but not easy to organise, as the Jaffnese are conservative in the extreme and lack power of co-operation Some tobacco traders are, however, waking ar- rangements to secure a lease of a land near the town of Jaffna for experimental purposes, and encouragement has been given to this project by a visit of Mr. Van Leenhoft, a tobacco expert recently in Ceylon on Government account, Mr. Van Leenhoff examined the local conditions of this industry. and will report to Government. Cotton is grown in the island of Delft, and there is some thriving in the Jaffna Jail. Para rubber is growing on Government land at Vavuniya; it iskept alive by irrigatiou.—Mr. Freeman's Ad- ministration Report for 1910. PLANTING IN TRINIDAD. Whilst clean-weeding in the East is almost a sine qua non, in Trinidad and Tobago the nearest approach to clean-weeding is that car- ried out on sugar estates, while in cacao plan- tations the weeds are merely kept back to some extent by the practice of ‘‘ brushing,” that is, slashing them down with cutlasses, leaving the roots in the ground and scattering the seeds over the soil. According to a brochure recently issued by the first-named Colony’s Department of Agriculture, rubber planting there is in its infancy, and, owing to lack of confidence or the necessary technical knowledge in cultivation and extraction of latex, the progress has not been very rapid. There are at present in Trinidad 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 :— and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—December, 1911. 575 Hevea, 80,004; Castilloa, 600,0C0; Funtumia, 25,000. It is not possible to compare the growth of these trees with those of similar age in Eastern 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 condi- tions is much greater than in the case of trees surrounded by weeds or shading the soil with other trees and shrubs. The entire northern halt of Tobago possesses soils and environments well adapted to rubber culture. Many estates have already entered upon the productive stage. and the yield per tree, as well as the quality of the product indicate that Tobago must be re- garded as one of the most important, if not the most important, rubber producing island in the West Indies. An idea of the rapidity at which the Tobago rubber industry is growing may be gathered from the fact that in six years its export of rubber has risen from 91 lb. to 4,348 lb. The cultures are as yet young and only an insignificant area has been tapped. It is estimated that about 120.000 rubber trees are now under cultivation in that island. The con- stantly increasing demand for rubber has been so great that this article is now recognised as one of the staple agricultural products of the tropics. The colony of Trinidad and Tobago is singularly favoured both as to soil and climate, but has so long prospered on its two great sta- ples, cacao and sugar, that scant attention has been given to other pursuits. Rubber was first planted in the colony by a few progressive proprietors of an experimental turn of mind. The ample rewards which came to them goon induced other planters to devote parts of their acreages to rubber culture. Year by year these have been extended by bona fide planters. The rubber industry of the colony is free from spec- ulative features, and Trinidad and Tobago offer today one of the richest fields for the tropical agriculturist desirous to devote his capital and energy to the growing and remunerative rubber industry,—F. Times, Nov. 1. SOYA BEAN CULTURE IN CEYLON. The soya bean which has come into prominence recently, owing to its commercial value, has now been successfully experimented with in Ceylon, The Agricultural Society secured a large quantity of seed some time ago from the Far East, and experiments were carried out at the Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, but the cultivation proved a failure. The Secretary of the Ceylon Agricultural Society has now succeeded, how- ever, in turning out a large crop in the Govern- ment stock gardens. in Colombo, producing two varieties, the Japan (white seed) and the Java (black seed), and seed will, it is said, be shortly available for distribution. It is expected that the cultivation of the soya bean will be taken up largely in Ceylon, for besides its value as an article of food it can be exported to the Euro- pean and American markets.— Royal Society of Arts Journal, Nov. 17. THE BANANA INDUSTRY OF SAN- TIAGO DE CUBA. The production of bananas is second in im- portance among the agricultural industries of Santiago de Cuba. There are three districts where bananas are grown for export. Saetia, on Nipe Bay; Sagua de Tanamo, on Tanamo Bay, and in the region about Baracoa. The plantings at Saetia and Sagua de Tanamo are on lowland along the valleys of the Yumuriand Tanamo Rivers. The soilisa deep loam, formed from the deposits of the rivers and streams flowing from the Mayari mountains on the south and from decomposed vegetation. At Baracoa, the plantings are in the valleys and on the moun- tain slopes. The soil is also a deep loam from a disintegration of the rocks and earlier vegeta- tion. There has been a large decrease in banana growing for export during the last de- cade, Large areas devoted to that industry have been planted in sugar-cane because greater re- turns are derived from land planted with cane, and because the fruit produced in Cuba cannot compete with that of the Central American States, the winters of Cuba being too cold and dry. All the bananas produced for export are sent to the United States.—Journal of the Roya Society of Arts, Nov, J0. RUBBER SUPPLIES. It seems likely that the cultivation of Ceara rubber on the Upper Blue Nile will be carried on successfully, and that a good deal of wild rubber will be got from the Bahr-el-Ghazal pro- vince. The [mperial Institute furnished reports during 1910 to the Government of the Sudan on Landolphia and Ceara rubber on the basis of investigations conducted in the scientific and technical department, followed in some instan- ces by submission of samples to manufacturers and experts for technical trial or valuation. The report gives details of two consignments. A ‘small consignment of rubber from the Bahr- el-Ghazal, derived from the indigenous vine, was forwarded for examination and subsequent sale, The rubber was in the form of biscuits and sheet, varying fron light to dark brown; it was of good quality and contained from 92°7 to 93°6 per cent. caoutchouc in the dry material. The consignment, weighing 647 lbs., was divided into four lots and sold in London at prices rang- ing from 6s. 9d. to 88. 4d. per lb. Brokers re- ported that the rubber was exceptionally strong and that prepared with a little more care it should realise prices comparing favourably with those of Eastern plantation rubbers. A sample of Ceara rubber, derived from two-year-old trees at Mongalla, consisted of clean biscuits of pale yellow rubber which exhibited good physical properties. Great care had been used in the preparation. It was not quite as good in com- position as specimens of Ceara rubber from Ceylon. but it was superior to several samples from Hast Africa which have undergone exami- nation at the lmperial Institute.—Journat of the Royal Society of Arts, Nov, 10. 576 A BLEEDING RUBBER TREE. A planter in Johore sent sometime ago an account of arubber tree which continued for a long time to exude latex without any apparent reason. Possibly other of our readers have come across similar instances, The tree is, he says, a well grown tree, orig- inally a seed planted at stake in October, 1908, growing ona very old grey clay flat on the edge ofadrain. The girth of the tree on August 17 was 12 inches at three feet from the base, on three occasions | have dug out large lumps of rubber from the base of the tree. The first time was @ year previously and the last at the date of his letter, when he obtained v pounds of rub- ber. The roots of the tree are quite healthy and the tree by no means top-heavy, the branches not too large for the tree to support and there is ro reason to suppose that the tree hashad a wrench from a high wind. The latex oozes from the point where the large roots proceed irom the collar of the tree. The latex also gushes out ata point where one of the branches joins the main trunk and runs down the stem. This bleeding has been going on for a whole year, and yetthe crowa of the tree looks per- fectiy healthy and has put out fine new shoots, There is not a dead branch on the tree nor an unhealthy looking leaf. He remarks that at the rate of rubber production in this way, it would be satisfactory to have a number of such trees as it only took him two minutes to dig out 2 pounds of wet rubber, and acooly could collect 150 poundsa day ata cost of 50 cents, i.e., a third of acent a pound, and even cheaper on contract rates. I have not seen the tree and can giveno sug- gestion as to the cause in this case, but the amount of latex produced by so small a tree is rather remarkable, asit seems to be a good deal more than onecould obtain from so small and young a tree by ordinary tapping.—Ep.— Agri- cultural Bulletin, for Nov.,, 191]. CHINESE POMELOS, OR GRAPE- FRUIT. Various kinds of pomelos are grown extensi- vely in southern China, all of which vary more or less widely from the American grape-fruit, although belonging to the same family. Those grown in Amoy are the largest, and are regarded by foreigners as the best produced in China. A smaller kindis grown in the Foochow district, many of which are shipped to Amoy, there given the Amoy ‘‘chop,” and then returned to Foochow as imported Amoy pomelos, The ob- ject of this, of course, is to give an inferior fruit the benefit of the Amoy reputetion. The Amoy pomelos compare favourably with the American fruit in point of size, are thick- skinned, comparatively juicy, but decidedly bitter. The Chinese themselves prefer the Kwangsi pomelo, which is smaller but sweeter. —Royal Society of Arts Journal, Nov. 3, [The Agricultural Society should try and get seed.— A.M. & J. F.J Tre Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist RUBBER IN ANGOLA. For the following valuable notes on Angola Iam indebted to Mr. E H Heron, for several years on the staff of the Department of Agricul- ture in the Mozambique Province of Portuguese East Africa. Having resigned his engagement Mr. Heron (whois an Australian and a graduate of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, New South Wales) was travelling to England on the Grantully Castle, and was invited by Mr Robert Williams to accompany his party on the trip up the railway from Lobito Bay: “ All the rubber at present obtained in this part of Angola is collected by the natives from the root of Land- olphia Kirkii. This rubber, if collected pro- perly, is always valuable ; clean consignments in London realise only 1s.6d. per 1b, less than the best Para. With regard to plantation rubber, two varieties of Manihot have been grown by Dr. Bravo with good success. He has already tapped some of these two-year-old trees (stand- ing 10ft. high), and obtained as much as loz. each tapping. ‘Manihot rubber grows well at an altitude of from 850 to 1,200 metres ; the soil of Angola is also well adapted to it, being very friable, loose, containing no clay and not too rich. The raintal is apparently ample.—London Times, ov. 28. BLASTING TREE STUMPS. At Studley Horticultural and Agricultural College yesterday some interesting experiments in the blasting of tree stumps were conducted by Mr W Wheatcroft on behalf of Nobel’s Explo- sive Company. The method adopted was to bore several holes, about 3ft. deep, into the stumps. Into these dynamite cartridges were put and they were exploded by electric current, the stump being blown out of the ground. Experiments in blowing up trees were also carried out; in that case the charge was laid at the roots. Altogether about forty tree stnmps and three standing trees were removed. An important element is the saving in expense. Under the old method of removing roots the cost in some cases was equal to the value of the timber. Under the new method it is estimated that each root will cost not more than 2s.—M. Pos, Nov. 18. DESTRUCTION CF LANTANA. The Chamber of Commerce of New Caledonia has just sent an expert to Hawaii to collect aud take back a quantity of the flies which have been found to greatly assist in keeping that ter- rible weed in check there. This shrub which caused so much damage in Hawaii a few years ago is now generally scat- tered throughout the Philippines and is spread- ing, not rapidly perhaps, but surely, unless more active measures are taken to eradicateit. So far as we know the only efforts made to destroy this plant on a large scale have been made at and near La Carlota experiment station, Occidental Negros.—Philippine Agricultural Review for October. and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—December, 9111, For Use in ‘TABLOID’ FIRST-AID BRAND TRADE Mark Outfits ranging from pocket First- Aid (as tllustrated) to equipments for large estates, mines, XX 292 577 Emergencies . No. 710 ‘Tasuorp ’ First-A1Ip Ideal for individual use. ‘Can be constantly carried in pocket, saddle-bag, etc. In scarlet enamelled metal. Price in London 2/0 ; a Obtainable at the principal pharmacies in all countries BURROUGHS WELLCOME & Co., LONDON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MESSRS. SCHIMMEL & GO.’S SEMI- ANNUAL REPORT. OCTOBER 1911. CampHor OIL. Very little that is new has happened in the camphor oil market during ths last few months. As before, the United States have continued to be the principal buyers, and have occasionally been willing to pay prices for which there was really no justification in view of the marked quietness of the camphor market and the falling tendency of turpentine oil. For the moment scarcely any camphor oil is offering but in spite of this fact prices have not become materially firmer, Both in Europe and in the U.S. large supplies of crude oi! are available, and the existence of these affords some security that for some time to come no surprises are to be feared. Moreover, as stated above, there has been a not inconsiderable reduction in the prices of turpentine oil. Hence it is hardly likely that from this quarter there will be any inducement for an advance of camphor oil, which most frequently serves as a substance for turpentine oil. In spite of this reduction, how- ever, the demand for the various grades of light and heavy camphor oil has continued to be ex- tremely brisk at unchanged prices, which clearly proves that these oils have everywhere become indispensable ; that as compared with the num. 7% erous other turpentine oil substitutes, their employment offers certain advantages; and finally that in certain cases camphor oil is to be preferred even to turpentine oil. According to a report from the British Consul at Tamsui, which has just been published, the energetic action by the Japanese Government against the savages in the interior of Formosa has had the result of opening up in the north of the island an extensive forest district, rich in camphor trees. Several important native tribes were overthrown at the end of 1910 or have voluntarily surrendered, so that in the course of the present year a new and im- portant region has been made available for Japanese civilisation. The quality of the camphor trees is said to vary considerably in the different districts. The camphor oil which is prepared from the trees in the north are decidedly richer in camphor than those pre- pared from the trees in the south, -- hence the opening-up of the northern forests is of special importance. The Japanese Government con- tinues to support the planting of new camphor trees’ by placing trees from the Government schools of Forestry at the disposal of the planters. The distillation of camphor oil from the leaves is still in the experimental stage. As in previous years, the entire production of camphor oil in Formosa was sent to Japan in 1910 to be worked up for camphor, 578 According to the same source, the exports of camper from Formosa in the year 1910 were as ollows :— lb. United States 2,942,800 Germany 1,808,000 France 908, 667 United Kingdem .. 542,400 India f 249,333 Japan ie 35,072 Total 6,486,272 lb. (Value : £404,112.) It is further reported that last year the Japa- nese camphor refiners had to pay 5 yen 80 sen (= 11/103d.) per 100 kin (133 1b.) more for their crude camphor than was paid by their compe- titors in Europe and America, and that in con- sequence they started an energetic movement for the purpose of inducing their Government to sell crude camphor within the Japanese Empire atthe same price as abroad. It was pointed out that the cost-price of camphor was of great importance in view of the fact that the manufacture of celluloid has recently been started in Japan, and that camphor is the principal raw material for this manufacture, In the meantime the Government of Formosa has ordered the price of camphor for shipment to Europe to be raised, as from April Ist, 1911, from £5 5s. to &7 LOs. per case, A chapter in the Yearbook of the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, by 8. C. Hoodand R. H. True, contains particulars of the present posi- tion of camphor cultivation in the United States, of which an American periodical pub- lishes an extract, dealing principally with the yields which have been obtained thus far and with the prospects of the future development of the plantations. It is stated that an ex- amination of 1,000 trees in the Statesof Flor- ida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Cali- fornia revealed considerable variations in the yield of camphor from leaves and from branches. For instance, afew trees which had grown up in the shade of other trees or of high buildings only yielded 0°70 per cent. of crude distillate, whereas other trees, which had grown on poor soiland had received no care, yielded up to2°77 percent. distillate. These figures, however, represent the extremes on either side ; asa general rule a yield of from 1-75 to 2°25 percent. may be expected, calcu- lated on green material. The crude oil contains from 75 to 80 per cent. pure camphor, which thus equals an output of from 1°35 to 1°50 per cent calculated on green material. This yield may be increased by trimming the trees, and especially by growing them in hedges. To such an extent is it possible to increase this yield, that the out- put obtained up to the present from hedge rows grown at distances of 15 feet (space between the separate trees 6 feet, height of the trees 8 feet), amounted for each of the two trimmings which were made yearly to 8,000 lb. of green material per acre, corresponding to a total yield of pure camphor of from 175 to 2001b. yearly. The planting of camphor trees is specially recom- mended on light, sandy soil, such asis found in many parts of the Southern States, especially The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist in Florida. At the same time it is desirable, in view of the high cost of transport, to erect a distillery, and if possible also a refinery, in im- mediate vicinity to the plantation. In order to keep such a plant going rationally a plantation of at least 200 acres is required, The cost of production calculated per pound is of course less when operations are conducted on a large scale, and it may be assumed that a plantation of 500 acres would be sufficient to warrant the production of camphor at the lowest possible price. D. E. Hutchins, lately Conservator of Forests, communicates some interesting information on the natural occurrence of camphor-trees in German East Africa. According to this autho- rity, the camphor-tree is abundant and shows a good natural production in a forest situated in the neighbourhood of Wilhelmstal and leased by a Mr Wiese. At one place in the West Usambara Mountains, for example, Hutchins counted 26 seedlings of camphor on 20 squareyards. Their appearance, he states, was more vigorous than that of the suckers which constitute 99 per cent of the reproduac- tion in British Hast Africa, Unfortunately, Hutchins omits to state whether the tree is botanically allied to the true camphor-tree (Cin- namomum Camphora). Hutchins regards it as curious that neither the botanical staff at the Imperial German Biological-Agricultural Insti- tute at Amani nor the forest officials at Wilhem- stal had recognised the tree. SYNTHETIC QCAMPHOR. The Journal from which we take the above particulars points out that, some years ago, Hutchins, on behalf of the British Colonial Office, investigated the potentialities of the forests of Kenia, British Hast Africa, and on that occasion reported on the occurrence there of the ‘‘lbean camphor-tree’* but that nothing appears to have been done since then to confirm the camphor-bearing properties of that tree. As a result of the fall in price of natural camphor which took place some time ago, the manufacture of the synthetic article of course received a heavy blow. An editorial article in a French journal states} that a( French?) company which controls several processes relating to the manufacture of camphor has circularised its shareholders to the effect that the cost of pro- duction of syntheticcamphor must bekept as low as possible, and that with the prices now ruling for the raw material, turpentine oil, itis im- possible to make the manufacture pay. The company, however, was in possession of a new process for the preparation of a cheap turpen- tine oil, for the carrying-out of which it was intended to float a subsidiary company. The writer of the editorial comment asks how it would be possible by such means to bring about a considerable reduction in the cost-price of synthetic camphor without causing first of all a general reduction in the price of turpentine oil as a result of the working of the new pro- cess and he enquires whether, for this reason, it would not be more remunerative to sell the —_—= —_~ * Comp. Report October 1907, 26. + Journ. d’Agriculture tropicale 11 (1911), 156 and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— December, 1911. new cheap turpentine oil as such, instead of using it to prepare artificial camphor. CINNAMON OIL, CEYLON (G. Ph. V),. Within the past few months cinnamon chips have continued to show only slight fluctuations, and quite recently it was even possible to buy at somewhat reduced rates, The prices of our pure distillate have remained unaltered, CITRONELLA OIL, Quotations of Ceylon citronella oil (Schimmel’s test) had for a long time been in the neighbourhood of 10d. cif., but within the last few months a firmer tendency has gradually ,become perceptible, and under its influence the quotations finally advanced to Is. up to ls. 2d. cif. European ports. This tightening of the prices is somewhat diffi- cult to understand, especially in view of tho fact that as a rule July and August are the very months in which the Jargest arrivals come for- ward in Ceylon and also because in our opinion the demand both in Europe and in America has not improved, but on the contrary, has, if anything, fallen off. It is pos- sible that the parties interested believe them- selves justified in raising their quotations on account of the not inconsiderable decrease in the exports during the first 7 months of the pre- sent year, for the latest availablo figures relating to the citronella exports from Ceylon are as follows: From January Ist to August 21st 1911 915,683lb. In the corresponding period of 1910 1,070,732,, ” 29 be 9 " 1909 1,1€6,731,, The above figures show that the deficiency of the present year’s exports compared with those of 1910, to which attention was already drawn in our April Report, has not, as might have been expected, been equalized. The sluggish state of trade which has prevailed in this article in recent months should have been suflicient to show that there could be no question of any increase in the demand, and the raising of the prices could there- fore at best be due to artificial manoeuvring, un- less indeed the higher requirements as to quality which have been set up within the past few months have caused the native dealers to raise their ideas of the value. However this may be, we are inclined to think that the present firm tendency will not be of long duration, and that if prices should nevertheless rise still higher, the large soap-makers, who are the principal con- sumers, will find it easy to turn to other arti- cles which, after all, are not more expensive than citronella oil. The pure estate oil with a geraniol-content of 57 to 62 per cent, which was introduced by usin the spring of the present year, has already secu- red a number of regular buyers, but generally speaking this exquisite quality is not by far es- teemed as it deserves to be. To our regret we have observed that, curiously enough, the very firms of soap-makers, especially in England, who formerly were always the first to insist upon certain standards of quality, and who were in the habit of referring to the insufficiency of ‘‘ Schim- mel’s test,” are now, when we iave succeeded in procuring at a low rate an oil which answers 579 their requirements, taking little or no notice of this new quality. Java citronella oil has continued to be dvail- able in such ample quantities that we have even been enabled somewhat to reduce our prices. A method for the acetylation of citronella which originally appeared in the Chemist and Druggist, and which has recently been reprin- ted in an American contemporary), has inspired a searching criticism by U Kleber. First of all Kleber corrects the assertion which 1s made in the description of this method that the acetate of sodium is added for the purpose of absorbing the water formed in the course of esterification with acetic anhydride. Asa matter of fact. the sodium acetate merely plays the part of a catalyser, for since no _ water whatever is formed in the course of the reaction, none can be absorbed. Moreover, every trace of water which might be present would be absorbed, not by the sodium acetate, but by the acetic anhydride, with generation of a corresponding quantity of acetic acid; hence, in order to obviato errors, Kleber expressly re- commends the use of fused instead of dry sodium acetate, on the ground that the ordinary crystalline salt, although it looks dry, in fact contains 3 molecules of water of crystallisation, which would effect the decomposition of a por- tion of the acetic anhydride. Further, according to Kleber it is impractic- able to wash out the acetylated product with water, because too many washings would be re- quired to remove the acid completely. The object is much more quickly attained, he states, by shaking once with a solution of common salt, running off the aqueous solution, and complet- ing the neutralising process with a 10 per cert. carbonate of soda solution, which should be added in small portions, the mixture being vigorously shaken each time. The completion of the reaction is indicated by the ces- sation of pressure in the separating funnel after shaking 4). When the oil has been acetylated and washed out it must not be dried with anhydrous sodium bisulphate, as laid down in the Chemist and Druggist, but with anhydrous sodium sulphate, because the first-named agent, owing to its acid properties, might split up the geranyl esters, Warming on the water-bath also is not only superfluous but positively objectionable, Halt- an-hour is not enough to saponify the ester which is formed; the oil should be left upon the water-bath at least one hour, two hours is still better. Kleber next refors briefly to the geraniol-tost, the general introduction of which for. commer- cial purposes would scarcely, in his opinion, afford the universal panacea against adultera- tions which it is claimed to be by others. Kle- ber specially holds this view because the prac- tised sophisticator would find ways and means of imparting to his oil the required acetylation- value by means of esters, alcohols (fusel oil, &c,) and acids, and because the ‘‘average phar- macist,” judging blindly by the acetylation value, would fail to detect such additions, 580 Another English periodical now enters the field with proposals relating to the tests which Ceylon citronella oil should be required to meet. It demands that the constants of the oil shall be as follows :— D 15° 0'898 to 0°910, aD—7 to — 13°, acid content (calc. as aceticfacid) not to exceed 0°25 per cent., acetylisable constituents (calc. as geraniol) not less than 58 per cent. soluble in 2 or 3 vols. 80 per cent. alcohol; the solution must remaino clear up to an addition of 10 vols. With regard to these suggestions we wish to point out that the maximum limit of the sp. gr. should be raised to 0°915 at least; we have oceasionally—although very exceptionally— known it to be still higher (up to 0°920). ‘he maximum limit for the rotation has also been fixed too low, for only recently we examined samples of guaranteed pure oils, expressly distilled for us in Ceylon, which gave only— 16°. It would likewise be impossible to main- tain strictly the requirements relating to colu- bility, rather would it be necessary to admit that the diluted solution may turu slightly opalescent, for an absolutely clear solution 1s an exception. In connection with the fixing of constants, the journal referred to also gives a prescription for the determination of geraniol, which, although differing somewhat from that in 1ts precursor, the Chemist and Druggist, shows an equal deter- - mination to pass by in silenceeverything that has recently been published on the subject of the acetylation of citronella oil, and to set up some ‘‘special method.” ‘There can be no doubt that our own prescription, which is foun- ded upon experimental basis, must be familiar to the English chemists who are concerned in this matter, and it is therefore surprising that in spite of this knowledge they should again per- sist in taking a course of their own. Such a proceeding certainly cannot help the problem forward. We can only repeat again and again that in the case of citronella oil in particular it is necessary to work by a clearly-detined method if it is desired to obtain results which shali correspond to the actual perceutage of total geraniol in the sample, and which shail be comparable with each other. In our last Report we gave a detailed account of our method, the trustworthiness of which has been proved by tests with mixtures of known geraniol- and citronellal-content, and we may, therefore, content ourselves here with reference to that Report. It goes without saying that in our laboratories our estimations are exclusively made according to this method, for which reason we refrain from quoting the English methods here. LEMONGRASS OIL, in one of our earlier Reports we described several lemongrass oils produced in the Jalpaiguri District of Northern India. Mr. J. H. Burkill, of Calcutta, who sent us the samples of the oils in question at the time, has now briefly informed us in writing The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist that this particular species of grass has been identified since then as Cymbopogon pendulus, Stapf. This information is of particular interest because up to the present only two grasses have been known to produce lemongrass oil, namely C. flexuosus, Stapf, which yields the Malabar oil, and C. citratus, Stapf, the parent-plant of the sparingly-soluble, so-called West Indian lemon- grass oil. The oil from OC. coloratus, Stapf, which is also one of the lemongrasses, has only lately become known, and is said to possess char- acteristics resembling those of a mixture of lemongrass and Java citronella oils, ARTIFICIAL RUBBER is a substance which the chemist can make, even as he can make artificial diamonds ; but during a number of years of experiment the one process has remained nearly as expensive as the other. But no chemist will be surprised to find some merning that artificial rubber has been made in a way and on a scale to ensure commer- cial success for the product, There isa report, which we repeat with all the reserve due toa fact that cannot be scientifically verified, that Badische Anilin-und-Soda Fabriken has at last succeeded in making artificial rubber on a com- mercial scale. The ‘‘ Badische,” as if is shortly called, is the greatest of the German chemical manufactories, and the one that is not un- commonly held up by Presidents of the British Association as an example, which the: British manufacturer should imitate, of the application of science to industry. lt has a staff of a hun- dred chemists, some of whom are engaged in pure research ; and the scope of their work may be inferred from the fact that this organisation, which first wrested the manufacture of the ani- lin dyes from Great Britain, is the origin of the larger number of the modern drugs used in wedicine, from phenacetin to sulphonal and adrenalin, It is also the firm which, after spend- ing a quarter of a million of money in chemical experiments, succeeded in making artificial indigo. It is small wonder that anticipation should look to the Badische for the first an- nouncement that the making of indiarubber can _ now be transferred from the laboratory to the factory. The number of patents known to be associated with the synthesis of rubber that have recently been taken out by the firm has given substance to the idea. It will be by no happy accident that the re- sult will be arrived at, but as the conse- quence of patient experiment which is part of the history of chemistry. ‘the first step was taken twenty years ago or more, when some chemist, untrammelled by any commercial as- piration, found at last what was the essential constituent of caoutechouc—or of indiarubber as we may popularly call it. To Harries belongs the chiet credit ; though Greville confirmed his patient analysis by evoking the essential sub- stance “isoprene” from heated rubber. Now “isoprene,” a hydro-carbon, 1s a chemical com- pound whose molecules are a combination of five atoms of carbon with eight of hydrogen. The chemist now, so to speak, knew where he was. Hithertohe might have made artificial rubber in his crucibles, but he would never and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Soviety.—December, 1911. have been sure of it, ‘‘Isoprene” identified it. After this for some yearschemists experimented with ways of turning back the isoprene into rubber, ‘filden once tound a bottle of isoprene in his laboratory that had somehow converted itself partiaily into rubber, or caoutchouc ; and he believed be had found a less accidental method by treating it with hydrochJoricacid, But other chemists tried for years in vain to repeat Til- den’s experiments, and if any firm, or any chemist, did produce what he called artificial rubber, the production was received with deep _ suspicion rather than congratulation. In Janu- ary of last year the indomitable Harries took out a patent for heating ‘‘isoprene” with strong acetic acid in such a way that the desired caoutchouc was produced —but it was nearly as precious as rubies. What, therefore, was wan- ted—perhaps we should say is wanted—was cheap ‘‘usoprene.” Now there 1s another very common hydrocarbon, whose molecule, com- bining ten atoms of carbon with sixteen atoms of hydrogen, is clearly indicated as the suitable parent of ‘‘isoprene,” It is oil of turpentine. he problem of altering C10 H16 into U5 H8is theretore the real problem of artificial rubber. We can put it much more lengthily by saying that it may bedoue rather after the following way. Oil of turpentine contains pinene. Pinene heated, gives dipentine. Standinger and Kleven, by heating dipentine in a partial vacuum, have extracted ‘‘isoprene,” ‘‘ lso- prene” heated with strong acetic acid gives rub- ber. Cheapen the process ait all or any of these stages and the trickis done.—Z. Post, Nov. 3. MANURING FOR RUBBER. The Department of Agriculture has recently been asked by a number of planters to advise as to what manures to apply to rubber trees and in what quantities they should be used, On the majority of plantations it is doubtful whether any Manuring is required, ‘Where are a num- ber of places, however, where the growth or the general vigour of the trees is not equal to that on others. Inthese places, provided it is not the cultivation or the drainage that is at fault, manuring may prove of advantage. Cultivation in most places will be found of greater advan- tage than manuring. If every rubber field could be changkolled twice a year or receive an equi- valent cultivation with ploughs, disc harrows. etc., it is certain that both the immediate and permanent benefits would be great. Uf course with old trees which have formed an interlacing root system near the surface of the soit such cultivation would bedangerous, but with young plantings cultivation is strongly recommended. On fairly flat lands which have been thoroughly cleared of timber and stumps, probably mechanical cultivation by ploughs or disc har- rows will be found more economical and more effective. The following recommendations for manurial treatment have been drawn up by Mr BJ Eaton, Agricultural Chemist, Federated Malay States, lt must be borne in mind that they are based on general principles and are not the result of experiments, Manurial experi- 581 ments have been started by the Department of Agriculture, but reliable results will not be obtainable from them for some years, It is proposed to publish similar notes for other types of soils. MANURIAL TREATMENT FOR PARA RUBBER ON Heavy Ciay SOILs. The following treatment is to be recommended for clay soils :— laked lime .. to 1 ton per acre Basic blag (phosphate manure) as 350 Ib. do Ammonium Sulphate 150 Ib. do Potassium Sulphate... 100 lb. do The lime and basic slag should be applied about a month or two months before the other manures as they decompose Ammonium Sul- phate. The Ammonium Sulphate and Potassium Sulphate should be mixed together and then roixed with earth and subsequently spread. Lf concentrated manures are used they trequentiy injure the roots with which they come in contact, and the earth is added as a diluent. With trees one or two years old it is preferable to dig a shallow trench (4 to 6 inches deep} ata radius of 2-3 feet round the tree, sprinkle the manure round andsubsequently cover with earth again. With older trees, where the roots in- terlace, the manures may be broadcast and the whole surface forked over, The following can be used in place of Ammo- nium Sulphate :— Castor seed cake, or Linseed cake, or Cotton seed cake or Para seed cake, or Ground-nut cake. These should be applied at the rate of about 600 lb. per acre, It itis found that the cost of the quantity recommended is cheaper than the Ammonium Sulphate, | would recommend their use. Instead of Potassium Sulphate may be employed. Kainit (12 per cent Potash) 400 lb. per acre, or Potassium Chloride 1U0 lb. per acre, The cost of the above quantities should be compared with that of 100 |b, of Potassium Sulphate, Instead of Basic Slag, Perlis Guano or other Phosphatic Guano may be substituted. Periis Guano (containing 15 per cent Phos- phoric Acid) at the rate of 500 lb, per acre, should be very economical, as its price is only $25 perton, In the first instance as a trial would suggest the use of the most economical fertilizer, until more is known of the different effects on the Para rubber tree on different soils oi the various nitrogenous, phosphatic or potash fertilizers. The average cost per acre ot the above formula excluding lime, will amount to $20 to $25 per acre. ‘his does not inciude transport, freight or labour. Lime can be purchased at 8U cents to $1 per picul, L, Lewron Brain, —Agriculiural Bulletin, No. 11 for Nov, 582 RUBBER FUTURE DELIVERY DEALINGS. The following circular on plantation rubber has been issued by Mr. William Schultz, mana- ger on behalf of the London Producing Clearing House, Limited: The company wil! be prepared, on or after November 6 next, under their cus- tomary rules for deposits, margins, etc., to register contracts for plantation rubber delivered in Antwerp in conformity with the rules for delivery fixed by the Caisse Internationale de Liquidation et de Garantie des Operations en Marchandises, laid down in their Regloment pour les affaires a termes en Caoutchouc de Plantation. An abridged extract of these rules will be found below. For further information please apply to the company’s offices, where also a limited number of complete copies of the Réglement may be had at 6d. each. The unit of contract will be 2,500 kilos net, equal to 5,510lb. Samples of type plantation rubber may be seen at the Company’s offices. Prices will bein English currency per lb. net less 2 per cent. discount, or in francs and cen- times per kilo net less 2 per cent, at the option of contracting parties. The deposit is, until further notice, £100 for each contract of 5,510 lb., payable by both buyer and seller. Margins will be regulated on the basis of the quotations fixed daily by the com- pany’s brokers. Business will be accepted only from the company’s authorised brokers. The minimum rate of brokerage will be 4 per cent for buying-and } per cent for selling. The com- pany’s fees are 12s. on each side for every unit of contract, and are payable by contracting parties. Pending the establishment of a secured Lon- don terminal market for rubber, we are glad to offer our clients an opportunity to have a guaranteed contract for this article, and we have much pleasure in expressing our sense of the courtesy shown us by the Caisse Inter- nationale in this matter. From the above it will be seen that the Ant- werp rules are being followed, and that the de- livery of rubber is to be in Antwerp unless otherwise stipulated. Strange as it may seem, although London is the largest market for rub- ber there is no machinery here for secured ter- minal contracts in this article. The necessity for such contracts in the case of rubber has been recognised on the Continent for some time. Antwerp has taken the lead and established an up-to-date market, while Ham- burg is making active preparations, which will shortly be completed, with a similar object in view. ‘Ihe present action of the London Pro- duce Clearing House is intended to offer a re- medy and to retain business here which would otherwise go abroad, and itis hoped that this action will soon be followed by an arrangement in London similar to that which prevails at Antwerp. The extract of Antwerp rules is as follows: The basis of contract is type plantation, Hevea Brasiliensis, first latex unsmoked in thin crepes, stored in Antwerp in a warehouse admitted by The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist the Caisse Internationale (for the option to de- liver at other ports see below). Rubber must be sound and offair and merchantable quality, packing free and in good condition. Every ten- der must be accompanied by a certificate of quality. Seller has the option to tender, subject to ascale of differences fixed by experts: (1) Plantation rubber, Hevea Brasiliensis, first latex consisting partly or wholly of smoked or unsmoked in all sorts, forms, preparation and shades, (2) Rubber, consisting entirely of hard cure fine Para, with the exclusion of Peru, Rio- Negro, and—or —Tapajos. Sellers may not deliver: (1) Lots found by ex- perts to be on the average more than lir. per kilo inferior to type. (2) Lots consisting of rub- ber ‘‘suranne.” Allowances for inferior rubber will be credited to buyer in full. Inthe case of superior rubber the maximum allowance credited to seller will be lfr. per kilo. Types will be deposited with the Caisse [nter~ nationale. Samples may be had against pay- ment. Thedifference between basis of contract and Para will be fixed every month, not later than the 25th, to serve as guidauce fuc experts during the next month (for deliveries in Novem- ber, 1911, itis 0.90fr. per kilo, equal to about 3$d. per lb.) Certificates of quality are valid as long asthe units they represent remain intact, but not for more than twelve months for hard cure fine Para, and six months for plantation first latex. The fees for valuation are 125fr. per tender. Copies will be delivered free of charge. If types arealtered, the new types will beapplicable only for such month for which no ccntracts are registered, Sellers may tender at the earliest three clear working days before the first working day of the month for delivery, and not later than four clear working days before the last working day of the month of delivery. Buyer may take up tender at once, but not later than three clear working days after date of tender. Payment is made to the Caisse Internationale, who settles with seller within twenty-four hours, Seller is entitled to carry over his contract to the following month, informing the Caisse Inter- nationale of his intention not later than five working days previous to the end of the month of delivery, and paying a penalty of 5 per cent. on his contract, calculated at the quotation of the date of his notification. This prolongation cannot take place more than three successive times on the same contract. The penalty is payable to last buyer, who is bound to accept it, and to have his contract carried over ac- cordingly. Sellers shall also have the option to deliver stored wholly in a warehouse admitted by the Caisse Internationale: At London on payment of a fine of 175fr. per contract. At Liverpool on payment ofa fine of 200fr. At Havre on pay- ment of a fine of 175fr. Valuations for these rubbers must take place in Antwerp, and all extra charges incurred will be paid by seller. The intention of seller to deliver in these places must be notified to the Caisse Internationale not later than the 15th day of the month of delivery, und Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.—December, 1911. If one-fourth of the Antwerp stock be de- stroyed by fire or any other catastrophe, any seller who shows that bis tenders were thus destroyed may defer delivery for thirty days without paying any penalty. After that delay he may be called upon to deliver. : All disputes, of whatever nature, will be sub- mitted for arbitration to the Chambre Arbitrale et de Conciliation pour Caoutchouc & Anvers, and all contracting parties are bound to abide by their award and not to gotolaw.—H. & ©. Mai , Nov. 3. THE SMOKE CURE FOR} RUBBER. Little is known in Java about the cure of latex by smoking, this being the primitive method adopted nearly a century ago by the Amazon Indians and still survives, in the treat- ment of wild grown Hard Para. Dr. K Goeter, writing to the Sumatra Post, explains the Bra- zilian treatment of the latex, and goes onto say : ‘‘ It is, however, most noticeable and, ac- cording to the experiences of Trillat and other investigators, that wood smoke contains another substance (besides creosote) having strong conserving properties, namely, formaldehyde, which, dissolved in water, is the formaline or formal of commerce, It was therefore thought probable that this stuff would be found in small quantities in smoked rubber. This was, indeed, found to be so. With the help of various sensitive reactions, I could undoubtedly show the presence of formaldehyde in smoked rubber sheets so that by reason of this result it may be taken that the conserving work of smoke on rubber must at least be partly attributed to the presence of formaldehyde inthe smoke. Inthedevelopment of smoke, it would be well to bear this in mind, by en- deavouring to get a smoke that is as rich as possible in formaldehyde. Now it has been found that organic substances, for instance, sugar, will, through incomplete combustion, produce more formaldehyde when they are placed in contact with metals. From this we may also conclude that smouldering wood in contact with 4 metal, such as iron, will give a smoke with a higher percentage of formaldehyde than when that contact with a metal does not exist. The wood must smoulder ; therefore, it must burn with- out flame, and this is only attained by limit- ing the admission of air. If there is too much air, less smoke is obtained and more fuel is used up; so that it is less economical from two points of view. It might be well also for planters to bear in mind that in smoke a poisonous gas, the woll-known carbonicoxida is formed, of which the relative quantity in- creases under the last-named conditions, From a hygienic point of view, the health of the coolies working continually in an atmosphere of smoke should be considered. Whether smoking has a direct influence on the physical properties, for instance, on the elasticity of the product, I should not dare at present to decide. As a fact, it can only be said now that smoked rubber keeps better and is not so liable to mould as unsmoked rubber. As a rule, a higher price is paid for smoked rub- ber on this account.” 583 COPRA AND VANILLA IN THE SEYCHELLES. ADMINISTRATION REPORT FOR 1910. The export of copra has risen steadily, and with improved methods of cultivation should continue to progress. The export of soap and other products of the coconut palm will only show an increase when there is a considerable fall in the price of copra, but the quantity of nuts collected is steadily advancing. A moderate crop only of vanilla was harvested. Vanilla plantations are being gradually restricted to the higher zones of the mountains owing to successive dry seasons. With the legislation in France and the United States restricting artificial substitutes, there has been a continu- ance of the remunerative prices of the past two years, and as there is a growing reluctance on the part of manufacturers to use the artificial vanillin there seems no reason why vanilla cul- tivation should not continue to form one of the principal industries of the Colony. I am aware that this opinion is contrary to that of a number of experts. When in England in 1907, I was told by a distinguished man of science, whose researches have been mainly connected with tropical products, that plantation vanilla was in its death throes. In that. year the Seychelles crop realised a million rupees, the price rose steadily (apart from a temporary drop in 1908) and good prices have ruled ever since. [tis not as if vanilla has to be cultivated at the expense of less capricious products : the orchid will grow and thrive where coconuts and rubber will not. It is true that the yield fluctuates considerably, but even the famine harvest of 1909 (11 tons) realised over Rs. 209,000, and was third in value in the exports for that year. The standard of cultivation is being steadily raised as is evidenced by the regular increased yield of coconuts. The planting of Para rubber has continued ona more extensive scale owing to the acquisition of 4 number of estates by a company styled the Seychelles Rubber and Coconut Estates Co., Ltd. This company was floated during the year, and purchased a num- bor of good estates. The price paid for the land was relatively high, but the vendors accepted a large proportion of the purchase price in shares. Under the present energetic management the operations of the company should have a bene- ficial effect on the agricultural progress of the Colony. INDIAN AND CEYLON TEA SHARE VALUES. SuBSTANTIAL Riss Durinc LAst QUARTER. From the following figures, compiled, as usual, by Mr. George Seton, of the Indian Tea Share Exchange, Winchester House, E.C., it will be seen that the value of the shares of the forty-five representative tea-planting companies selected by him for particular observation, after dip- ping alittle during May and June rose steadily during the quarter ended September 30th, and stood at avery high level at the beginning of October. 584 Face value of 45 Companies’ shares £9,500,000 Market value, lst Sept., 1902 (lowest) 6,050,000 . Ist Jan., 1904 8,200,000 ay 1st Jan., 1905 7,200,000 of ist Jan.,, 1906 8,950,000 a 1st, Jan., 1907 9,650,000 ¥3 Ist Jan,, 1908 10,500,000 ae ist Jan., 1909 9,950,000 A Ist Jan., 1910 11,550,000 ay ist April, 1910 13,859,000 if 1st July, 1910 14,500,900 y 1st Oct., 1910 14,450,000 iF 1st Jan., 1911 16,400,000 a ist Feb., 1911 15,500,000 Ss ist April, 1911 (corrected) 16,010,000 fi ist May, 1911 15,900,000 Fy 1st June, 1911 15,900,000 x 1st July, 1911 15,709,000 oA ist Oct., 1911 16,550,000 As the grand total of the share and Deben- ture capital of the 170 or so companies alto- gether registered in the United Kingdom amounts to about double the above figure, the fluctuations of the entire volume may be thus approximately computed :— Face value of 170 Companies £19,U00,000 Lowest value, Ist Sept., 1902 12,100,000 Market value, 1st Jan., 1905 14,400,000 x 1st July, 1905 15,400,000 x 1st Jan., 1906 17,900,000 ff) ist July, 1906 17,800,000 of 1st Jan., 1907 19,300, 00 ig ist July, 1907 20, 90),0U0 eS 1st Jan., 1908 21,000,000 n 1st Jan., 1909 19,990,000 oh ist July, 1909 21,300,000 es Ist Jan., 1910 23,100,000 7 1st July, 1910 29,000,0 0 NS 1st Oct., 1919 28,900,000 “ Ist Jan., 1911 32,800,000 ist Feb., 1911 31,000, 00 3 ist April,1911 32,100,000 3 ist July, 1911 31,400,000 Be Ist Oct., 1911 33,100,000 The Tea market has continued steadily to ‘improve as the autumn advanced, with not only the commoner and cheaper grades of tea rising in price, but nearly all other grades, especially the finest, sharing in the improvement. Good trade at home has been supplemented by in- creasing inquiry from abroad, especially from Russia, but also from Belgium and Germany and other central European countries, where recently great efforts have been made to direct public attention to the merits of good Indian tea, which efforts are now beginning to reap a tardy reward. The share market, taking its cue from that for the produce, has ruled strong and business has latterly been on a very large scale, while values, have, with only a few exceptions, ad- vanced smartly, though it willbe seen from the above figures that the aggregate value for the first time exceeded the figure of January Ist last, The advance during the nine months has been uneven—several leading shares were now standing lower than they did last Christmas, In other cases, however, the advance has bsen quite phenomenal. Ceylon shares have for the most part, declined, owing to the coilapse ia rubber, in which product most of them have an interest,as well as in tea.—F. Times, Oct. 31. The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist BLIGHT-RESISTANT COFFEES. Since the advent of the coffee blight (Hemileia vastatrix) into the Philippines some twenty-five or thirty years ago, it has been practically im- possible to raise even a fair crop of coffee below 2,000 feet elevation. This blight destroyed the coffee industry not only in the Philippines but in Java, Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula at about the came time that it reached this Archipelago. An attempt is being madenow byseveralof the old coffee countries to discover or create one or more varieties of coffee which will be resistant to this fungus,and it is believed there is some hope in some of the new hybrids of robusta coffee( Coffea robusta). This Bureau now has growing at the Lamao experiment station a considerable quan- tity of this coffee, and a littte later seed will be distributed to any one who wishes to experiment with the variety. However, like several of the non-commercial coffees this robusta does not have a first-class flavour, thought it is in some respects better than that of either Liberian (C, liberica) or the Inhambane coffee of Mozambique, Another trouble with the new coffees is that they are for the most part very weak in caffein, the active principal of the beverage—some of them possessing nostimulating qualities whatever. —Philippine Agricultural Review, for Oct. RUBBER IN BRITISH EAST AFRICA. In the September issue of “ L’Agronomie Tropical ”’ some interesting particulars with re- gard to rubber in British Hast Africa are given by Mr A C MacDonald, the Director of Agricul- ture there, The larger part of the rubber so far exported, he mentions, has consisted of that ob- tained from indlgenous species of Landolphia, which are to be found in the coastal districts of Takaungu, Witu, and Mwele, and on the andi plateau, which is 6,000 feet high. So far, the methods of tapping have been so crude as annu- ally to reduce the extent of the rubber produ- cing districts, the plants, in many cases, being bled to death. In the forests of Nandi, coagula- tion by sprinkling the wound with salt after the incision, has had to beabandoned, asthe monkeys come along, lick off the salt, and gnaw the lianes. Endeavours are being made to give the plants a rest, inorder to permit of their regene- ration, and the effect ofthis treatment is to be carefully noted. Another form of rubber is obtainedfrom the Mascarenhasia elastica, but its value, up to the present, is not exactly known. In some of the more favourable loca- lities, Hevea braziliensis (Pavia) hassome chance of success, but as a general rule 16 does not grow very well, especially near the coast and the lakes. Ceara (Manihot Glaziovii) does ex- tremely well near the coast to the north and south of Mombasa, and in the region extending from Mazeras and Changamwe to Ribe, as well as in a large part of the Lake district, as experiments conducted during the last three years have shown. Fifteen hundred to 2,000 acres have already been planted and the plan- tations are constantly extending. So far tap- ping has beendone for sample purposes only, but the rubber obtained from trees two to two and a half years old has been valued at 5s. a lb, HAN Akh VAP 0 ae 7 ri Tv ry it irae i, a vy vane Lien! 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